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EARTH SHIFT REPORT 24
USA'S GLOBAL TRADE WARS Earth Shift Implications & Predictions
COPYRIGHT August 16, 2018, LADA RAY, AUTHOR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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EARTH SHIFT REPORT 24
USA'S GLOBAL TRADE WARS Earth Shift Implications & Predictions
COPYRIGHT August 16, 2018, LADA RAY, AUTHOR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No sharing/ reposting/ reprinting. No direct links to this REPORT PAGE or VIDEO pages! No linking or sharing!
Please bookmark this page or save its url so you can return to this report in the future!
Happy Reading & Watching!
Historic Caspian Convention signed by Russia and Iran in response to US Trade Wars & Black Sea/Azov aggression (ESR24 P1)
The exclusive Caspian Club during the USSR days consisted of only two members: Soviet Union and Iran. The Caspian Sea is unique in many ways. I consider it the heart of Eurasia; it is extremely rich in oil and natural gas, a unique fishing platform in the past, now home to rare and endangered species, and very vulnerable ecologically.
Caspian Club presently consists of five countries, which has made agreeing on mutually acceptable terms much more complicated. On the snapshot map: Caspian Sea is bordered clockwise by: Azerbaijan (pink), Russia (blue-gray), Kazakhstan (yellow), Turkmenistan (green), Iran (bottom).
HISTORIC CASPIAN CONVENTION FINALLY SIGNED
The breakthrough 5th Caspian Summit ended in Aktau, Kazakhstan on Aug 12, 2018. After 20 years of negotiations, the 5 countries members of the exclusive Caspian Club finally signed the Caspian Convention, regulating everything to do with Caspian Sea basin and the five surrounding territories.
The negotiations began over 20 years ago. It used to be much simpler: only the USSR and Iran bordered Caspian. Now it's five separate countries, three of which are post-Soviet republics. For 20 years Iran was refusing to sign the new convention, insisting on old borders. However, the other members were insisting on different distribution of the sea shelf. This Caspian Convention, already dubbed historic, has been signed after Iran agreed to new changes, proposed by Russia, and to giving up some of its Caspian rights. The compromise was reached, but the final borders will still have to be drawn. The stage has been set for the final resolution of the old issue.
Why Iran suddenly agreed to changes? Read on, I'll reveal the secret!
The breakthrough 5th Caspian Summit ended in Aktau, Kazakhstan on Aug 12, 2018. After 20 years of negotiations, the 5 countries members of the exclusive Caspian Club finally signed the Caspian Convention, regulating everything to do with Caspian Sea basin and the five surrounding territories.
The negotiations began over 20 years ago. It used to be much simpler: only the USSR and Iran bordered Caspian. Now it's five separate countries, three of which are post-Soviet republics. For 20 years Iran was refusing to sign the new convention, insisting on old borders. However, the other members were insisting on different distribution of the sea shelf. This Caspian Convention, already dubbed historic, has been signed after Iran agreed to new changes, proposed by Russia, and to giving up some of its Caspian rights. The compromise was reached, but the final borders will still have to be drawn. The stage has been set for the final resolution of the old issue.
Why Iran suddenly agreed to changes? Read on, I'll reveal the secret!
The new convention regulates fishing, exploration, ecological protection, oil and natural gas extraction, tourism and transportation. For example, there is a ban on fishing in the Caspian after it has been depleted of the valuable fish by previous century of poaching.
The five leaders defined Caspian as not quite a sea due to its inner status, with no access to world oceans, but also not quite a lake, due to its enormous size, on par with the Black Sea.
To be sure, Caspian Sea isn't quite inner any more ever since the USSR built the Volga-Don Canal, connecting Caspian with Black Sea. Thankfully, after the dissolution of the USSR, the iconic Volga-Don Canal remains the property of Russia, not ukro-Nazi Ukraine, who -- I wouldn't put it past them -- could have used it to let the NATO ships into Caspian, the heart of Eurasia. I briefly illustrate to you what US/Kiev are capable of in the Azov/Black Sea conflict escalation side note below.
However, the Volga-Don Canal, while being extremely useful for trade, is designed for small, river-sized ships, not for the full-sized ocean vessels. You'll see how it works below.
THE NORTH-SOUTH TRADE ROUTE
This also has been in the works for a long time: during the 5th Caspian Summit the leaders signed an agreement on the construction of new North-South trade routes, which also were discussed for the past twenty years, never progressing past discussion.
The North-South Railroad is a big project designed to connect Russia with Iran through Azerbaijan. And a circular Caspian railroad is being planned as well, connecting all five countries.
Let's be honest, the main investment in these routes will be on Russia, and this is why previously Russians bulked at putting up all that money. The railroad to Iran wasn't proving profitable due to the small amount of trade and due to how poor those four countries were. Russia didn't want to carry yet another burden.
But latest developments, namely the USA's aggressive trade wars, are accelerating the Earth Shift. This includes countries being pushed closer together and cooperating on mutually-beneficial projects to withstand US pressure. The common threat is what is making Iran and others to suddenly begin moving in the direction of closer cooperation.
Under the circumstances, the Caspian Route acquires a major strategic significance.
With trade wars against Russia, China, Iran, Turkey and EU/Germany, the US may achieve a very temporary victory, but in the long run this signifies a collapse. This is exactly how the Inverted Collapse (see ESW2) and the Earth Shift work. And this is exactly why I call Trump an Earth Shift Agent Extraordinaire (see ESR23, ESR16 and ESW1).
(I am preparing a complete report on USA's Global Trade Wars: read announcement at the bottom!)
SECRET INTEL:
The secret intel I have received is that Iran gave up some of its territorial claims and agreed to sign the Caspian Convention in exchange for assurances of its security. Lately, some of the members of the Caspian Club, namely Azerbaijan, and to a smaller degree, Kazakhstan, began playing games. Turkmenistan is simply a mess due to poverty and porous borders with Afghanistan, which have become a route for drug trafficking into Russia and EU, with added risk of a CIA-sponsored government coup. This means that Russia will soon have to secure Turkmenistan borders, the process which has already begun.
Recently, Azerbaijan invited US and NATO troops, along with Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia to take part in joint military exercises. This rattles Iran, not to mention Russia. The corruption of the post-Soviet elites is growing in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Although both Russia and Iran keep that process in check through their own levers of influence, the US has many financial and economic means of pressuring these elites into submission. I wrote on Patreon in February about how US pressured Kazakhstan into submission by freezing its entire foreign currency reserve held in the Netherlands. And Kazakhstan is supposedly Russia's closest ally! If Kazakhstan can be subdued that easily, what can be said about weaker and less dependent on Russia countries?
Therefore, a danger exists that eventually US or NATO bases may appear on Caspian. Azerbaijan's erratic shifts attest to that. Kazakhstan's questionable moves also send mixed signals.
Iran gave up some of its territorial claims to receive an absolute assurance that no US/NATO, or any other third party military will appear on Caspian. Only members' military is allowed.
Another bit of intel is that Russia gave Iran her own assurances of safety and protection. This essentially means that Russia - Iran cooperation will be growing in very interesting and unexpected ways, including potential military cooperation.
Again, it has to be stressed that the US is pushing countries together, thus, being a proper yang force for change, facilitating the Great Earth Shift, while at the same time orchestrating its own demise. This is one of the paradoxes we will be observing throughout this Earth Shift. MORE IN FUTURE PIECES!
BREAKTHROUGH:
As a result of all assurances and signed obligations the original Russian convention proposal was adopted. The signed convention and the economic development plans are huge for the area. Due to the resolved issues, the Caspian area may become an important part of the New Silk Road project.
Why is this a breakthrough? The Caspian Summit reached a cooperative solution of an old problem, or rather, of many old problems. Cooperation is hard to come by nowadays and it shows a different way of doing business. It is a rare occurrence in today's world, where new trade wars, started by the US, are growing like mushrooms. The Convention solidified the status of Caspian as peaceful, non-militarized and cooperative space.
BLACK SEA/AZOV AGGRESSION & NEW ESCALATION
Compare that to the war perpetuated by Ukraine, US and NATO in the Black Sea, and to how aggressively US and Ukraine are trying to expand that war into Azov Sea.
Therefore, a danger exists that eventually US or NATO bases may appear on Caspian. Azerbaijan's erratic shifts attest to that. Kazakhstan's questionable moves also send mixed signals.
Iran gave up some of its territorial claims to receive an absolute assurance that no US/NATO, or any other third party military will appear on Caspian. Only members' military is allowed.
Another bit of intel is that Russia gave Iran her own assurances of safety and protection. This essentially means that Russia - Iran cooperation will be growing in very interesting and unexpected ways, including potential military cooperation.
Again, it has to be stressed that the US is pushing countries together, thus, being a proper yang force for change, facilitating the Great Earth Shift, while at the same time orchestrating its own demise. This is one of the paradoxes we will be observing throughout this Earth Shift. MORE IN FUTURE PIECES!
BREAKTHROUGH:
As a result of all assurances and signed obligations the original Russian convention proposal was adopted. The signed convention and the economic development plans are huge for the area. Due to the resolved issues, the Caspian area may become an important part of the New Silk Road project.
Why is this a breakthrough? The Caspian Summit reached a cooperative solution of an old problem, or rather, of many old problems. Cooperation is hard to come by nowadays and it shows a different way of doing business. It is a rare occurrence in today's world, where new trade wars, started by the US, are growing like mushrooms. The Convention solidified the status of Caspian as peaceful, non-militarized and cooperative space.
BLACK SEA/AZOV AGGRESSION & NEW ESCALATION
Compare that to the war perpetuated by Ukraine, US and NATO in the Black Sea, and to how aggressively US and Ukraine are trying to expand that war into Azov Sea.
The latest breaking news is that Kiev continues escalating tensions with Russia in Black and Azov Seas. More than half a year ago Kiev attacked a Russian fishing boat and took it hostage, keeping the 10 person crew in horrifying conditions. They still remain hostages, their Russian passports were taken away, and pressure is being put on them to renounce Russian citizenship and declare themselves Ukrainian citizens (the ten person crew are all Crimeans, who chose to assume Russian citizenship).
Two days ago a new, much worse escalation occurred. Kiev took hostage another Russian vessel. This time it's something much more valuable. It is a new river mini-tanker, built in 2011, which was delivering oil products from Turkmenistan in Central Asia to Kherson, on the Black Sea.
Seemingly, it should be impossible to deliver oil via water from Central Asia all the way to the Black Sea. And that's how the Volga-Don Canal works! As discussed above, it allows the river-capacity vessels to transport goods between Caspian and Black/Azov Seas.
The spokesman for the tanker crew said that the vessel was lured into Kherson by Ukraine. They made deliveries of the badly needed oil to Kherson more than once throughout the year without problem. The permission to dock in Kherson was requested repeatedly, and confirmed repeatedly by the Ukraine authorities. The Russian tanker was boarded by SBU and the Russian crew of 12 arrested. It is presently being held hostage. Ukraine demands a ransom of $7 million.
Many in Russia are calling Ukraine 'a pirate state' and demand return measures, such arrests of Ukrainian crews and vessels. The problem here is that ALL 'Ukrainian' fishing vessels sail under third party flags, not a single under Ukrainian flag. The crew is Ukrainian, but the flag is formally that of another country, anywhere from Libya to Greece. There is even one sailing under Mongolian flag (Mongolia, a 100% landlocked country, has no access to any sea).
Instead of drastic moves, Russia, fully within the rules of international conventions, began stopping and searching all Ukrainian-staffed and Ukraine ports-bound vessels in Azov Sea. Considering Kiev continues threatening to blow up Crimean Bridge, this is a necessary measure. Another thing in the works: patrolling by the Russian fleet of the entire Azov Sea, basically securing it against Ukrainian piracy.
Russia may also consider curbing trade with Ukraine, or banning certain types of trade altogether. This is happening while Ukraine desperately needs Russian goods, as well as exports to Russia in order to survive. The trade between Russia and Ukraine continues growing every year, despite all ukro-nazi threats and attempts to destroy such trade. Russia is now considering banning at least some of the trade with Ukraine.
The tanker in question belongs to a major Russian bank, which also happens to be one of the major banks operating in Ukraine. The bank has been conducting negotiations with Ukraine to sell its branches and exiting Ukraine for good. After the tanker hostage situation the bank announced that it will NOT sell, but simply close all branches in Ukraine, take a loss and withdraw all assets. Many other Russian companies may decide on the same course of action.
What is happening in Black and Azov Seas hurts economies of both Russia and Ukraine. But it goes much further: it is yet another provocation -- and we've seen thousands of those since Saakashvili attacked S. Ossetia in 2008 -- designed to attempt dragging Russia into yet another escalation of crisis with an ex-Soviet republic.
This is yet another vicious attempt at divide and conquer by those who REALLY pull the global strings. The ultimate intention is to perpetuate the state of the civil war in order to prevent the two brotherly peoples, or more precisely parts of the same Rus - Russian people, from living and working peacefully together. It is designed to sow long-term hatred towards Russians by Ukrainians, and vice versa.
And here's your proof: using this escalation, the US State Dept issued a provocative to the extreme statement, announcing that NATO ships should be present not only in Black Sea, but also in Azov Sea. Azov Sea happens to be an internal sea shared only by Russia (mostly) and Ukraine. Of course, Russia would never allow US/NATO ships to enter Azov Sea, unless US is planning on going to war with Russia. The US statement is inflammatory and can only have the goal of creating additional escalation of already out of control conflict.
Together with escalating Azov/Black Sea conflict, Kiev is making inflammatory threats to attack Russia. 'Our missiles can reach Moscow,' recently announced a Kiev official and advisor to Poroshenko.
CONCLUSIONS
Against this backdrop, the Caspian Convention affirmed that Caspian is a strictly internal sea, shared by 5 sovereign nations. It banned NATO, US or any other outside powers from entering the Caspian basin or from having bases on territories of the five surrounding countries.
Russia and Iran have achieved what Russians have been trying to accomplish for years. They secured the Caspian as a peaceful sea, unapproachable for the US and NATO, regardless of who comes to power in the weak links: the three post-Soviet republics. Considering what is happening at the nearby Black and Azov Seas, this is a major breakthrough.
Essentially, geographically the Caspian represents the heart of Eurasia. The consequences of the deal are enormous, as the territories and influence of the countries bordering Caspian reach far into Asia, Middle East and Europe.
Two days ago a new, much worse escalation occurred. Kiev took hostage another Russian vessel. This time it's something much more valuable. It is a new river mini-tanker, built in 2011, which was delivering oil products from Turkmenistan in Central Asia to Kherson, on the Black Sea.
Seemingly, it should be impossible to deliver oil via water from Central Asia all the way to the Black Sea. And that's how the Volga-Don Canal works! As discussed above, it allows the river-capacity vessels to transport goods between Caspian and Black/Azov Seas.
The spokesman for the tanker crew said that the vessel was lured into Kherson by Ukraine. They made deliveries of the badly needed oil to Kherson more than once throughout the year without problem. The permission to dock in Kherson was requested repeatedly, and confirmed repeatedly by the Ukraine authorities. The Russian tanker was boarded by SBU and the Russian crew of 12 arrested. It is presently being held hostage. Ukraine demands a ransom of $7 million.
Many in Russia are calling Ukraine 'a pirate state' and demand return measures, such arrests of Ukrainian crews and vessels. The problem here is that ALL 'Ukrainian' fishing vessels sail under third party flags, not a single under Ukrainian flag. The crew is Ukrainian, but the flag is formally that of another country, anywhere from Libya to Greece. There is even one sailing under Mongolian flag (Mongolia, a 100% landlocked country, has no access to any sea).
Instead of drastic moves, Russia, fully within the rules of international conventions, began stopping and searching all Ukrainian-staffed and Ukraine ports-bound vessels in Azov Sea. Considering Kiev continues threatening to blow up Crimean Bridge, this is a necessary measure. Another thing in the works: patrolling by the Russian fleet of the entire Azov Sea, basically securing it against Ukrainian piracy.
Russia may also consider curbing trade with Ukraine, or banning certain types of trade altogether. This is happening while Ukraine desperately needs Russian goods, as well as exports to Russia in order to survive. The trade between Russia and Ukraine continues growing every year, despite all ukro-nazi threats and attempts to destroy such trade. Russia is now considering banning at least some of the trade with Ukraine.
The tanker in question belongs to a major Russian bank, which also happens to be one of the major banks operating in Ukraine. The bank has been conducting negotiations with Ukraine to sell its branches and exiting Ukraine for good. After the tanker hostage situation the bank announced that it will NOT sell, but simply close all branches in Ukraine, take a loss and withdraw all assets. Many other Russian companies may decide on the same course of action.
What is happening in Black and Azov Seas hurts economies of both Russia and Ukraine. But it goes much further: it is yet another provocation -- and we've seen thousands of those since Saakashvili attacked S. Ossetia in 2008 -- designed to attempt dragging Russia into yet another escalation of crisis with an ex-Soviet republic.
This is yet another vicious attempt at divide and conquer by those who REALLY pull the global strings. The ultimate intention is to perpetuate the state of the civil war in order to prevent the two brotherly peoples, or more precisely parts of the same Rus - Russian people, from living and working peacefully together. It is designed to sow long-term hatred towards Russians by Ukrainians, and vice versa.
And here's your proof: using this escalation, the US State Dept issued a provocative to the extreme statement, announcing that NATO ships should be present not only in Black Sea, but also in Azov Sea. Azov Sea happens to be an internal sea shared only by Russia (mostly) and Ukraine. Of course, Russia would never allow US/NATO ships to enter Azov Sea, unless US is planning on going to war with Russia. The US statement is inflammatory and can only have the goal of creating additional escalation of already out of control conflict.
Together with escalating Azov/Black Sea conflict, Kiev is making inflammatory threats to attack Russia. 'Our missiles can reach Moscow,' recently announced a Kiev official and advisor to Poroshenko.
CONCLUSIONS
Against this backdrop, the Caspian Convention affirmed that Caspian is a strictly internal sea, shared by 5 sovereign nations. It banned NATO, US or any other outside powers from entering the Caspian basin or from having bases on territories of the five surrounding countries.
Russia and Iran have achieved what Russians have been trying to accomplish for years. They secured the Caspian as a peaceful sea, unapproachable for the US and NATO, regardless of who comes to power in the weak links: the three post-Soviet republics. Considering what is happening at the nearby Black and Azov Seas, this is a major breakthrough.
Essentially, geographically the Caspian represents the heart of Eurasia. The consequences of the deal are enormous, as the territories and influence of the countries bordering Caspian reach far into Asia, Middle East and Europe.
GLOBAL TRADE WARS: Russia Buys Up Gold, as $5bln in Russian Money Gets Frozen in the West (ESR24 P2)
USA's GLOBAL TRADE WARS: What Is Happening & Why? (ESR24 P3)
Keep in mind that the global trade war has just begun, and it will continue for the foreseeable future, creating conditions for the acceleration of the Earth Shift, a shift away from the dollar, and Inverted Collapse of the USA. This is why I often refer to Trump as 'the unwitting Earth Shift Agent Extraordinaire.'
I'll explain much more in the following big article and in other future pieces. Today, I want to show you what is happening on two important financial fronts in regards to gold, US dollar and the Russian oligarchs' assets, which used to be sheltered from Russian taxes in the West! We'll also see why Putin was absolutely correct to warn Russia's rich...
GLOBAL TRADE WARS: Russia Buys Up Gold & Dumps Dollar; $5bln in Russian Oligarchs' Money Frozen in the West (ESR24 P2)
RUSSIA'S UNPRECEDENTED SELL-OFF OF US TREASURIES
Since January 2018 Russia accelerated the sales of the US Treasuries, and instead stepped up purchases of gold. This summer Russia got rid of over 80% of her USD reserves, which was in the vicinity of $100 bln in 2017, and has been just over $14 bln recently. Russia is in fact one of the four biggest sellers of US treasuries, next to China, UK and Japan. Note that not all of the sales by the three nations mentioned are permanent; some are tactical, and the treasuries may be repurchased by them later. But when it comes to Russia's sales, it has every indication of permanence.
Russia has been sharply reducing US dollar reserves since 2014, due to the threat of continuing US sanctions, a correct defensive measure and the return sanctions, if you will. Before 2014 Russia was the No. 3 holder to the US debt, after China and Japan, the position which continued sharply declining for the past 4 years, now being one of the smallest US dollar holders.
THE METAMORPHOSIS OF RUSSIAN CENTRAL BANK & ELVIRA NABIULLINA
The 2018 gradual treasuries sell-off took place as a result of constant escalating threats of new US sanctions coming from Washington. Russian Central Bank has often been harshly criticized in Russia for being too compliant with the FED and for unnecessarily supporting the US dollar. Elvira Nabiullina, the Head of Russia's Central Bank, was even accused of being an agent of the West within Russian government. The funny part is that I heard this from both Russians and anti-establishment Americans.
Elvira Nabiullina, Head of Russia's Central Bank
It is very interesting that Putin always defended her and her actions. There is a good reason some may have been suspicious of her motivations: after all, she studied at Yale, where she absorbed the worst of the neo-liberal debt-based and petrodollar-based economics. In fact, many Russian government's 'economic block' ministers have also studied in the US or UK.
But calling her a foreign agent or traitor was certainly too much. She has proven that in the past couple of years, when she masterfully handled attacks on the ruble and Russian financial system. She proved being tough in defending Russian interests, yet careful not to destabilize the Russian financial system.
I have explained in one of the Webinars (ESW6) that it was actually good and useful to have within the Russian government some people fully knowledgeable of how the Western economy and finance work. Just the mere fact of Nabiullina attending Yale (she also went to Moscow University) and rubbing shoulders with the world's financial elites doesn't mean she sold out. In fact, I always maintained it was just the opposite. If she was ever an agent, witting or unwitting, it was for Russia, not against.
The USSR considered it beneath Soviet people to learn the principles of Western finance and economics, dubbing it the 'crooked imperialistic capitalism' (and they were not wrong). As a result, when in the early '80s the US began manipulating world markets, oil price and US-dollar-based global financial system to induce the collapse of the USSR, no one saw it coming. The USSR was not ready to withstand the attacks, and didn't know how to handle them. Russia's today's economists do, since they know the Western system intimately.
As to why Russian Central Bank continued holding hundreds of billions in US dollar reserves up until 2014, despite criticism... The answer is rather simple: to paraphrase one finance minister: give me a different financial system and we'll hold different reserves. Central Bank and the ministry of finance are there to manage currency, reserves and country's finance based on the tools they have at the moment, not to invent new systems. Once the global finance system begins to change in earnest, they'll begin working with the new system, as they do now.
Returning to the 2018 sell-off. It is interesting that the Wall Street hands understand this very well and approve of Russia's sell-off move. I recently saw a Bloomberg article, giving a nod to Russia's actions (just wait, soon Bloomberg will be accused of being a Russian agent). From the Wall Street profit-based point of view selling-off treasuries makes perfect sense when your country is being threatened with new sanctions and frozen assets.
But Washington only sees red, like a bull. Washington only is interested in subduing, punishing and retaliating.
Washington, operating primarily on the 2D level of consciousness, is preparing to 'destroy Russia by November.' Yes, you've heard me right. We'll talk much more about new US sanctions and outright banditry in next posts.
RUSSIA ACTIVELY BUYS GOLD
But calling her a foreign agent or traitor was certainly too much. She has proven that in the past couple of years, when she masterfully handled attacks on the ruble and Russian financial system. She proved being tough in defending Russian interests, yet careful not to destabilize the Russian financial system.
I have explained in one of the Webinars (ESW6) that it was actually good and useful to have within the Russian government some people fully knowledgeable of how the Western economy and finance work. Just the mere fact of Nabiullina attending Yale (she also went to Moscow University) and rubbing shoulders with the world's financial elites doesn't mean she sold out. In fact, I always maintained it was just the opposite. If she was ever an agent, witting or unwitting, it was for Russia, not against.
The USSR considered it beneath Soviet people to learn the principles of Western finance and economics, dubbing it the 'crooked imperialistic capitalism' (and they were not wrong). As a result, when in the early '80s the US began manipulating world markets, oil price and US-dollar-based global financial system to induce the collapse of the USSR, no one saw it coming. The USSR was not ready to withstand the attacks, and didn't know how to handle them. Russia's today's economists do, since they know the Western system intimately.
As to why Russian Central Bank continued holding hundreds of billions in US dollar reserves up until 2014, despite criticism... The answer is rather simple: to paraphrase one finance minister: give me a different financial system and we'll hold different reserves. Central Bank and the ministry of finance are there to manage currency, reserves and country's finance based on the tools they have at the moment, not to invent new systems. Once the global finance system begins to change in earnest, they'll begin working with the new system, as they do now.
Returning to the 2018 sell-off. It is interesting that the Wall Street hands understand this very well and approve of Russia's sell-off move. I recently saw a Bloomberg article, giving a nod to Russia's actions (just wait, soon Bloomberg will be accused of being a Russian agent). From the Wall Street profit-based point of view selling-off treasuries makes perfect sense when your country is being threatened with new sanctions and frozen assets.
But Washington only sees red, like a bull. Washington only is interested in subduing, punishing and retaliating.
Washington, operating primarily on the 2D level of consciousness, is preparing to 'destroy Russia by November.' Yes, you've heard me right. We'll talk much more about new US sanctions and outright banditry in next posts.
RUSSIA ACTIVELY BUYS GOLD
Having sold off the dollars, Russia has been actively purchasing gold reserves instead, having been in the top five purchasers of gold in the past year.
What do Russian actions mean? This simply is a defensive reaction, or call it return sanctions against the dollar. Gold and silver, as we discussed in ESW3, are the Armageddon tools, the ultimate protection against financial and physical disaster. They are neither money nor investment, per se. But it is a good defense against the international banditry of the US. It effectively takes part of the Russian money reserves out of any dependence on the US, EU or anyone else, who could be pressured into freezing Russian reserves. As you'll see below, this is a real and present danger.
Presently, Russia officially has 20% of reserves in gold and 80% in various monetary instruments. The overall gold/monetary international reserve or Russia is nearly $500 bln. But only under $15 bln are in USD. The more of it is outside of the control of the dollar, the better. Due to the dollar-based trade, it appears Russia cannot get rid of all USD completely, but it is quickly moving in this direction, as more countries form bilateral trade agreements of which Russia is an active part.
Obviously, the US is extremely jealous, or shall we say, furious. They know that their power is slipping away, and they really don't know what hit them. If they understood my Earth Shift Theory, they would know, but believe me, they are simply not smart enough. And that is good!
This snapshot shows the official global distribution of top gold reserves.
What do Russian actions mean? This simply is a defensive reaction, or call it return sanctions against the dollar. Gold and silver, as we discussed in ESW3, are the Armageddon tools, the ultimate protection against financial and physical disaster. They are neither money nor investment, per se. But it is a good defense against the international banditry of the US. It effectively takes part of the Russian money reserves out of any dependence on the US, EU or anyone else, who could be pressured into freezing Russian reserves. As you'll see below, this is a real and present danger.
Presently, Russia officially has 20% of reserves in gold and 80% in various monetary instruments. The overall gold/monetary international reserve or Russia is nearly $500 bln. But only under $15 bln are in USD. The more of it is outside of the control of the dollar, the better. Due to the dollar-based trade, it appears Russia cannot get rid of all USD completely, but it is quickly moving in this direction, as more countries form bilateral trade agreements of which Russia is an active part.
Obviously, the US is extremely jealous, or shall we say, furious. They know that their power is slipping away, and they really don't know what hit them. If they understood my Earth Shift Theory, they would know, but believe me, they are simply not smart enough. And that is good!
This snapshot shows the official global distribution of top gold reserves.
According to it, in tons, each country possesses in descending order as of mid-2018: USA 8,133; Germany 3,369; Italy 2,451; France 2,436; Russia 2,170; China 1,842; Switzerland 1,040; Japan 765; Netherlands 612.
We understand that some of the numbers, such as the amount of USA's gold reserves, are pure fiction. German gold reserve, while being real, is held hostage by the US. When Merkel demanded the reserve be returned by Obama admin in return for Merkel being such a good agent of the USA, only a part of that gold was returned. Much of it (by some data 1/2 of German gold) remains in Fort Knox and/or under the New York Fed building. What happened to all the real gold in Fort Knox and NY Fed, both foreign and domestic, is anyone's guess. The alternative economists' consensus is that the physical gold is simply not there, at least nowhere near the amounts officially stated. There is enough for trade and transactions, and there is enough for the coin mintage; and for all that you can get away with 200 tons. But most of it appears to have been sold a long time ago. The proofs are being delivered all the time, such as when several years back China purchased gold from the US, it was discovered that the fake tungsten bars, covered with a thin layer of gold, were delivered. The story was hushed up and the US had to hurriedly buy real gold in open market and re-deliver it to China.
The gold reserve numbers are estimated based on each country's official announcements, complimented by the independent data of how much gold each country purchases and how much each country mines. While it gives you some idea, it's not necessarily spot on. The rule of thumb: Western countries have less real gold than they report, perhaps excluding Switzerland, whose numbers are probably accurate enough because they hold their gold domestically. Conversely, Russia and China have more. This especially concerns China, which, per some specialists, has been severely under-reporting. Same with Russia. No one can determine for sure how much is mined internally in Russia and China. The numbers can easily be understated.
We understand that some of the numbers, such as the amount of USA's gold reserves, are pure fiction. German gold reserve, while being real, is held hostage by the US. When Merkel demanded the reserve be returned by Obama admin in return for Merkel being such a good agent of the USA, only a part of that gold was returned. Much of it (by some data 1/2 of German gold) remains in Fort Knox and/or under the New York Fed building. What happened to all the real gold in Fort Knox and NY Fed, both foreign and domestic, is anyone's guess. The alternative economists' consensus is that the physical gold is simply not there, at least nowhere near the amounts officially stated. There is enough for trade and transactions, and there is enough for the coin mintage; and for all that you can get away with 200 tons. But most of it appears to have been sold a long time ago. The proofs are being delivered all the time, such as when several years back China purchased gold from the US, it was discovered that the fake tungsten bars, covered with a thin layer of gold, were delivered. The story was hushed up and the US had to hurriedly buy real gold in open market and re-deliver it to China.
The gold reserve numbers are estimated based on each country's official announcements, complimented by the independent data of how much gold each country purchases and how much each country mines. While it gives you some idea, it's not necessarily spot on. The rule of thumb: Western countries have less real gold than they report, perhaps excluding Switzerland, whose numbers are probably accurate enough because they hold their gold domestically. Conversely, Russia and China have more. This especially concerns China, which, per some specialists, has been severely under-reporting. Same with Russia. No one can determine for sure how much is mined internally in Russia and China. The numbers can easily be understated.
We discussed the gold, silver and all precious metals, as well as currencies, bitcoin and crypto-currencies, and even real estate, in great detail in Webinar 3: THE FUTURE OF MONEY.
Note that despite active buying by countries, gold is approximately where it has been for a while, and presently even slightly down. Silver, and especially platinum, have taken a hit: see Apmex.
This confirms what I've been telling you in ESW3, namely, the precious metals market, same as currency and stock markets, are being severely manipulated. I noticed that as far back as the beginning of 2000s, and that was why I left Wall Street. Ever since it got much, much worse.
THANK YOU DONALD TRUMP, THE EARTH SHIFT AGENT EXTRAORDINAIRE!
OVER $5 BLN IN OLIGARCH MONEY FROZEN; US ATTEMPTS TO BANCRUPT RUSSIA'S RICH TO SAVE TRUMP FROM IMPEACHMENT
The US/WEST are doing everything to convince Russia's rich that the only safe place for their money is Russia.
US recently froze over $150 mln in Russia-related money (read: belonging to Russia's rich).
$5 bln in Russian oligarchs' money has been frozen by the Swiss bank Credit Suisse, under the sanctions threat by the US. Other Swiss banks, scared of sanctions, said they'd to the same. It's not clear whether they've acted so far.
Note that despite active buying by countries, gold is approximately where it has been for a while, and presently even slightly down. Silver, and especially platinum, have taken a hit: see Apmex.
This confirms what I've been telling you in ESW3, namely, the precious metals market, same as currency and stock markets, are being severely manipulated. I noticed that as far back as the beginning of 2000s, and that was why I left Wall Street. Ever since it got much, much worse.
THANK YOU DONALD TRUMP, THE EARTH SHIFT AGENT EXTRAORDINAIRE!
OVER $5 BLN IN OLIGARCH MONEY FROZEN; US ATTEMPTS TO BANCRUPT RUSSIA'S RICH TO SAVE TRUMP FROM IMPEACHMENT
The US/WEST are doing everything to convince Russia's rich that the only safe place for their money is Russia.
US recently froze over $150 mln in Russia-related money (read: belonging to Russia's rich).
$5 bln in Russian oligarchs' money has been frozen by the Swiss bank Credit Suisse, under the sanctions threat by the US. Other Swiss banks, scared of sanctions, said they'd to the same. It's not clear whether they've acted so far.
Meanwhile, according to Washington, Russia's rich, who are 'linked to the Kremlin' as they put it, or speaking in common terms, those who have refused to succumb to US arms-twisting and demands to betray their country, are suffering staggering losses.
Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska
According to the joyous reports by the US Treasury, Oleg Deripaska supposedly lost nearly 1/2 of his assets as a result of sanctions, and Viktor Vekselberg lost $3 bln. According to the US Treasury, Vekselberg's company Renova had to part with some of its assets, losing $3 bln in Switzerland and Italy, as a result of US sanctions. Vekselberg's company denies they lost money, or that part of their assets were also frozen in Cyprus. Deripaska says nothing at all.
And here is the clincher: Putin and Russian government warned them for years that the storm is coming. In previous years I wrote about it repeatedly on FuturisTrendcast. Putin announced the tax amnesty and then prolonged that amnesty for those who would repatriate their capital. Some listened, but many did not. Now they are paying the price.
I'll tell you a secret:
Those who suffered during the turbulent '90s in Russia, and those who made their money illegally or semi-illegally during the '90s, were told by the US, UK, Switzerland and others that the only safe place for their money is in the West, and that Russia cannot be trusted. They were told: look at the USSR's track record; your money can be confiscated any time, unless you place it in safe US, UK, Cyprus, Panama or Swiss banks. These silly gullible rich believed the tale, proving that brains and money don't necessarily go together. They began siphoning their money out of Russia and deposing it offshore in what they thought were safe havens under the wing of 'Western rule of law and democracy.' It worked for as long as the US dollar system was not under threat. The moment it became clear to the US establishment, and closely associated with it UK and EU establishment, that the Western cushy system is crumbling, the superficial glitz of manners and law fell to the wayside. Now that the Dark State is under threat, we see the real face of the US/UK/Western system.
In the long run, what is happening only convinces Russians everywhere that they should repatriate their money and sell off US dollars.
NEW RUSSIAN OFFSHORES
This is breaking news: to counter the fact that the West simply cannot be trusted with assets, Russia began forming her own offshore zones in the western enclave of Kaliningrad and in the Far East. The projection is that many ex-oligarchs and various wealthy people living and/or keeping their assets in the West will begin transferring money to these offshore zones. The Western clientelle may prove to be just as numerous as ex-Russian.
CONCLUSIONS
What is happening is part of the Great Earth Shift. In my Webinars (ESW2, 3, 4, and 6) I warned you that the US Empire, unlike the old USSR, will refuse to go quietly; that the US & UK establishments (call it the Dark State if you prefer) will fight tooth and nail to preserve their privileges and advantage, stolen from others.
If Washington and London had any sense of responsibility, if they peacefully disbanded the old system that stopped working years ago (as admitted by non-indoctrinated Western economists), and then participated with the rest of the world in creating the new, more productive and more equitable monetary and currency system, then we could have gone through the whole process a lot more smoothly and amicably.
But their consciousness isn't high enough to comprehend that. They are stuck somewhere between 2D and 3D consciousness. This is not enough to trust them, as they don't see the world in terms of working together. They only see the world in terms of 'you are either my vassal or my enemy.'
If they are refusing to recognize the end of the old and the beginning of the new, then we'll have to do it the hard way.
Make no mistake, The Earth Shift is growing and developing, and there is no way of stopping it. The rebalancing away from the US/West is underway.
Warning! This process may be accompanied in some places by the destruction of the ill-gotten wealth.
If we, as individuals, understand what's happening, how and why, we won't be caught in it, and could even benefit greatly from the process of the Earth Shift. Those who still cling to the old model will be taught a harsh lesson.
One of the main reasons I do these Investment & Finance posts is to advise and guide you through the process of the Earth Shift.
And here is the clincher: Putin and Russian government warned them for years that the storm is coming. In previous years I wrote about it repeatedly on FuturisTrendcast. Putin announced the tax amnesty and then prolonged that amnesty for those who would repatriate their capital. Some listened, but many did not. Now they are paying the price.
I'll tell you a secret:
Those who suffered during the turbulent '90s in Russia, and those who made their money illegally or semi-illegally during the '90s, were told by the US, UK, Switzerland and others that the only safe place for their money is in the West, and that Russia cannot be trusted. They were told: look at the USSR's track record; your money can be confiscated any time, unless you place it in safe US, UK, Cyprus, Panama or Swiss banks. These silly gullible rich believed the tale, proving that brains and money don't necessarily go together. They began siphoning their money out of Russia and deposing it offshore in what they thought were safe havens under the wing of 'Western rule of law and democracy.' It worked for as long as the US dollar system was not under threat. The moment it became clear to the US establishment, and closely associated with it UK and EU establishment, that the Western cushy system is crumbling, the superficial glitz of manners and law fell to the wayside. Now that the Dark State is under threat, we see the real face of the US/UK/Western system.
In the long run, what is happening only convinces Russians everywhere that they should repatriate their money and sell off US dollars.
NEW RUSSIAN OFFSHORES
This is breaking news: to counter the fact that the West simply cannot be trusted with assets, Russia began forming her own offshore zones in the western enclave of Kaliningrad and in the Far East. The projection is that many ex-oligarchs and various wealthy people living and/or keeping their assets in the West will begin transferring money to these offshore zones. The Western clientelle may prove to be just as numerous as ex-Russian.
CONCLUSIONS
What is happening is part of the Great Earth Shift. In my Webinars (ESW2, 3, 4, and 6) I warned you that the US Empire, unlike the old USSR, will refuse to go quietly; that the US & UK establishments (call it the Dark State if you prefer) will fight tooth and nail to preserve their privileges and advantage, stolen from others.
If Washington and London had any sense of responsibility, if they peacefully disbanded the old system that stopped working years ago (as admitted by non-indoctrinated Western economists), and then participated with the rest of the world in creating the new, more productive and more equitable monetary and currency system, then we could have gone through the whole process a lot more smoothly and amicably.
But their consciousness isn't high enough to comprehend that. They are stuck somewhere between 2D and 3D consciousness. This is not enough to trust them, as they don't see the world in terms of working together. They only see the world in terms of 'you are either my vassal or my enemy.'
If they are refusing to recognize the end of the old and the beginning of the new, then we'll have to do it the hard way.
Make no mistake, The Earth Shift is growing and developing, and there is no way of stopping it. The rebalancing away from the US/West is underway.
Warning! This process may be accompanied in some places by the destruction of the ill-gotten wealth.
If we, as individuals, understand what's happening, how and why, we won't be caught in it, and could even benefit greatly from the process of the Earth Shift. Those who still cling to the old model will be taught a harsh lesson.
One of the main reasons I do these Investment & Finance posts is to advise and guide you through the process of the Earth Shift.
USA's GLOBAL TRADE WARS vs. China, Russia, Germany, EU & Turkey: Full Overview, Analysis & Some Predictions (ESR24 P3)
USA's GLOBAL TRADE WARS: What Is Happening & Why?
Because there are so many moving parts to this story, I'll tell it to you point by point. This is my summary of the various global trade war fronts, along with intel, observations and analysis. And I couldn't resist and included my Earth Shift & Inverted Collapse overview and some predictions. I may have more in the future articles.
NATO PROBLEMS:
Trump on the roll. He demanded that EU contributes more to the NATO budget, saying that the US pays too much, while others don't pull their weight. This shocked and dismayed many EU countries, who were quite sure they were safe on that front. Can't blame Trump, here he is actually fulfilling one of his campaign promises. The problem is HOW he is doing it: hint: very confrontationally and via threats. And that's what makes his EU 'allies' very uncomfortable. The more he is doing what he is doing in order to avoid impeachment (remember my prediction about his Dark State straitjacket?) and to prove he is worthy of the White House, the more he contributes to the destruction of existing Western system and the US Empire, thus facilitating the Earth Shift and the Inverted Collapse.
He is preforming the role played once by Mikhail Gorbachev to shake up and eventually destroy the Soviet Union, but in an inverted fashion. This is why I call Trump the 'American Gorbachev', and 'the unwitting Earth Shift Agent Extraordinaire.'
I also like the fact that via his actions Trump unknowingly is helping to destroy NATO from within. Yes, read my lips: he doesn't understand the true long-term consequences of his actions. From his perspective, he is saving money for the US, because why should USA have to carry on its shoulders everyone else? Very sound logic, especially when the times are getting lean. This is exactly how Gorbachev, Yeltsin and some Russians felt in late 1980-early 1990s, expediting the collapse of the USSR. When the pie becomes too small, regardless of the reasons, no empire wants to 'share.' Problem for the empire in question: that's how empires fall.
I'll leave outside the scope of this article the Inverted Collapse's striking truth: The USSR was the empire that bled itself to disproportionately subsidize others, while the USA did just the opposite - robbed the whole world to enrich itself, along with a few allies. This is why we call it the Inverted Collapse (ESW2). Since USA cannot rob others with the same impunity as before, it cannot as easily contribute to NATO. Absolutely logical.
Read more below on my USSR-USA deja vu!
And I'll just mention that eventually I'll have much more in one of my future books!
TARIFFS WAR:
This summer Trump has begun a global tariffs war. This war was originally aimed towards China and EU, but in the process the steel and other tariffs hit USA's closest ally Canada, as well. The EU and Canada may or may not receive certain allowances on case by case basis, after difficult and grueling negotiations. What's more, Trump may promise certain things, but later do the opposite. This applies to all countries, including allies, not just to those countries which traditionally have been rivals or enemies of the US.
TRADE WAR VS. CHINA:
It is interesting that China announced return sanctions and tariffs against USA exactly one minute after the US announced theirs. In previous years I wrote about the fact that China is grossly overexposed to American exports risk, as well as to the USD reserves. China continues being the largest holder of US Treasuries, although, much like Russia, it has been selling.
Trump's government has proudly reported to Congress that the tariffs against China are working and that Chinese economy is suffering 20% loss of GDP. Where they got these numbers is anyone's guess; this reminds me how Obama in 2014 supposedly 'tore Russian economy to pieces.' China says the opposite, taking the same approach as Russia and intending to have the last laugh. The strategy is patience: let Trump and USA make first moves and mistakes, and then China will respond when and how USA least expects it. This reminds us of Putin's usual winning strategy, doesn't it?
The US intends to up the ante by targeting another $200 bln in trade with China very soon.
As China responds, USA is beginning to lose trade with China. Russia and other countries are beginning to gain that very lucrative piece of the cake. This even includes until recently untouchable LNG gas. Till recently, China excluded gas from any political considerations, since it's so crucial to Chinese economy. If and when US loses its LNG delivery gas share, Russia will capture that huge market. China has already signaled that the room is being made for Russian companies. I may have more in future specialized post!
Do you want to know the irony and yet another Earth Shift paradox? Below you'll see new British FM complaining that the economic power is shifting too fast to the East. Yet, as we see from the Chinese example, the actions of the US only help accelerate this process.
This summer Trump has begun a global tariffs war. This war was originally aimed towards China and EU, but in the process the steel and other tariffs hit USA's closest ally Canada, as well. The EU and Canada may or may not receive certain allowances on case by case basis, after difficult and grueling negotiations. What's more, Trump may promise certain things, but later do the opposite. This applies to all countries, including allies, not just to those countries which traditionally have been rivals or enemies of the US.
TRADE WAR VS. CHINA:
It is interesting that China announced return sanctions and tariffs against USA exactly one minute after the US announced theirs. In previous years I wrote about the fact that China is grossly overexposed to American exports risk, as well as to the USD reserves. China continues being the largest holder of US Treasuries, although, much like Russia, it has been selling.
Trump's government has proudly reported to Congress that the tariffs against China are working and that Chinese economy is suffering 20% loss of GDP. Where they got these numbers is anyone's guess; this reminds me how Obama in 2014 supposedly 'tore Russian economy to pieces.' China says the opposite, taking the same approach as Russia and intending to have the last laugh. The strategy is patience: let Trump and USA make first moves and mistakes, and then China will respond when and how USA least expects it. This reminds us of Putin's usual winning strategy, doesn't it?
The US intends to up the ante by targeting another $200 bln in trade with China very soon.
As China responds, USA is beginning to lose trade with China. Russia and other countries are beginning to gain that very lucrative piece of the cake. This even includes until recently untouchable LNG gas. Till recently, China excluded gas from any political considerations, since it's so crucial to Chinese economy. If and when US loses its LNG delivery gas share, Russia will capture that huge market. China has already signaled that the room is being made for Russian companies. I may have more in future specialized post!
Do you want to know the irony and yet another Earth Shift paradox? Below you'll see new British FM complaining that the economic power is shifting too fast to the East. Yet, as we see from the Chinese example, the actions of the US only help accelerate this process.
DEJA VU OF THE CENTURY!
When I look at Trump's actions, I experience a total deja vu. I've already seen this once and I am old enough to remember it: this is how the Warsaw Pact and the Socialist block fell apart. The sequence and evolution of events is so incredibly similar that it's uncanny.
A very little known in the West fact is that many Soviet allies felt betrayed and abandoned first by Gorbachev, and then by Yeltsin. This is what's happening today with US allies. But since this is Inverted Collapse, I rather suspect it will be more the USA that will feel betrayed by the EU allies, not to mention Turkey, who are beginning to swiftly change the course, as they see where the wind is blowing.
To give you the properly balanced picture, in the case of the USSR there were mutual grievances, growing distrust and divergence between Russia and the Warsaw Pact/Soviet Block, as there are mutual grievances, distrust and divergence of interests between USA and its allies.
Oh irony! Europe is again at play, but moving in the opposite direction. (ESW2, ESW4 and ESW6 have the full picture).
But that is actually the point of the Earth Shift. It began roughly with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and it continues with the breakup of the Western system.
The whole idea is to build a new, better, system on Planet Earth.
We may be able to address it more in: GLOBAL TRADE WAR PREDICTIONS FROM THE EARTH SHIFT & INVERTED COLLAPSE PERSPECTIVES!
When I look at Trump's actions, I experience a total deja vu. I've already seen this once and I am old enough to remember it: this is how the Warsaw Pact and the Socialist block fell apart. The sequence and evolution of events is so incredibly similar that it's uncanny.
A very little known in the West fact is that many Soviet allies felt betrayed and abandoned first by Gorbachev, and then by Yeltsin. This is what's happening today with US allies. But since this is Inverted Collapse, I rather suspect it will be more the USA that will feel betrayed by the EU allies, not to mention Turkey, who are beginning to swiftly change the course, as they see where the wind is blowing.
To give you the properly balanced picture, in the case of the USSR there were mutual grievances, growing distrust and divergence between Russia and the Warsaw Pact/Soviet Block, as there are mutual grievances, distrust and divergence of interests between USA and its allies.
Oh irony! Europe is again at play, but moving in the opposite direction. (ESW2, ESW4 and ESW6 have the full picture).
But that is actually the point of the Earth Shift. It began roughly with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and it continues with the breakup of the Western system.
The whole idea is to build a new, better, system on Planet Earth.
We may be able to address it more in: GLOBAL TRADE WAR PREDICTIONS FROM THE EARTH SHIFT & INVERTED COLLAPSE PERSPECTIVES!
USA INTENDS TO DESTROY RUSSIA SOON, AND NOW IT'S NOT EVEN HIDING IT:
I have previously demonstrated to you in ESR23: PUTIN-TRUMP HELSINKI SUMMIT how Trump and Putin seemed to have a meeting of the minds in Helsinki, but upon his arrival back to the USA, Trump completely flip-flopped on his signals during the Summit.
There potentially can be another summit or meeting next year, but it'll depend on how far the trade war has gone. If Trump keeps digging the hole of sanctions, there may be none. There are presently calls in Russia to downgrade Russia-US diplomatic relations. Knowing Putin and his people, they'll try to continue finding bridges, no matter what, but Russia's hand can be forced.
The consequence of the Summit, regrettably, was even bigger and even more threatening sanctions against Russia. The whole threats and sanctions game has gone very, very far, and the sanctions proposed by the Trump admin as part of this Global Trade War will eventually impact 70% of Russian economy. This is essentially the ultimatum issued officially by Washington: 'Russia, submit to our demands, such as the return Crimea and Donbass to Ukraine, stop building Nord Stream-2 and many other things, or we will destroy you.'
Outright and without any excuses Washington now says that the goal is to destroy Russia economically, if they can't possibly do that militarily or politically. While the Congress is said to take the lead in this direct attack against Russia, Trump and his admin are in a competition with them: who'll slap more sanctions faster and who'll freeze more assets connected to Russia first (as you've read in previous article).
I will be talking about the US plan to DESTROY Russia - not my words, theirs! - in a separate article. At this time I'll just tell you that Russians are taking all this very seriously. If previously they tried to make light of things, or tried to negotiate and smooth out the edges, this direct threat has proven very difficult to ignore. Even those who have previously been on pro-West positions, are starting to waver.
I will also tell you that Russia, despite being still very much dependent on the USD and Western financial institutions, as well as on the trade with the EU, has many hidden resources and munitions with which to respond.
US can and will put tremendous pressure and sanctions on any companies and countries that will continue doing business with Russia, but in doing so, Washington will only accelerate its own demise.
I also would like to recall my old definition: those who start all out wars against Russia eventually lose, and lose catastrophically. It used to be possible to undermine Russia from within, such as in 1917 and 1991, but this strategy hasn't worked this time. The USSR was once deliberately undermined economically and financially, but it won't work this time either. An all out war against the Great Balancer will never end well for the aggressor, especially when it's The Time Of Russia (See ESW4).
We'll discuss this whole complex and convoluted situation in detail in separate article on Russia-US Trade War.
OH, THE IRONY... and perhaps, POETIC JUSTICE?
The Earth Shift Paradoxes continue!
There is much irony in what's going on: in the case of Canada and EU, Trump actually despises many neoliberal leaders in those countries, yet he is forced to negotiate and give them some leeway, due to the fact that they are old allies, and because the US establishment wants him to.
He seemingly likes and respects Putin, but that still didn't help to improve Russia-US relations, despite both Putin and Trump trying. As a matter of fact, the Helsinki summit proved very clearly that Trump yields no real power in the US, since he could not implement anything that was discussed, and had to backpedal on just about everything, and then some. Putin offered him genius solutions and gave him several valuable presents, but those could only be used in case Trump really did have power to change things. The result has proved that he doesn't.
It yet again proved my original predictions: Trump is in the fight of his life, he is firmly on survival mode and he continues being in a straitjacket. He can maneuver within the narrow channel allotted to him and he constantly has to give bribes to potential support groups, while constantly proving he is not a friend of Russia, to avoid impeachment.
In doing so, he overdoes things on a grand scale, and his inertia continues carrying him beyond the point of no return. In his desperation to stay afloat (recall his low GRIEF Calibration, denoting the desperation he feels!) he also succumbs to advice by worst hawks. All in all, I see that behind aggressive facade, there is a total panic in Washington.
Trump will continue shifting back and forth, and if he manages to avoid impeachment (which my prediction at this point is: he will), his presidency will never be a happy one. But then again, his entire life he's been a terribly confrontational person, so to him this may even seem somewhat normal.
At the same time Trump should logically be on the same boat and very much in tune with the new guard coming to power in some EU countries, such as Austria and Italy, but he doesn't seem to be able to tell the difference between neoliberals and conservatives in the EU. As is typical for Americans, they see red, and they just charge: attack first, think never.
The US is not able to tell apart those countries whose governments want to cooperate closer and in a more coordinated fashion with the US, such as Italy, or perhaps, Austria, or even Russia. The goal is to see everyone through the dark glasses of animosity. If you are not with us, you are against us. This isn't even the 3D consciousness. It is 2D consciousness: very black and white and very sharp, angry and with no nuances.
My calibrations of Trump and USA say it all. Read Quantum Calibrations for Trump, USA & US Army (with geopolitical updates and interpretations). Sometimes calibrations wisely predict things to come, which aren't on the surface yet, and that's what you'll see happen here.
As you know we now have my complete Patreon ARCHIVE, with links, posted on LadaRay.com.
To see all Calibrations posts links, or posts links by any other Feature or Category at a glance, go here:
PATREON LINKS BY FEATURE & SERIES
To see ALL Patreon article links chronologically go here
ALL PATREON LINKS
I have previously demonstrated to you in ESR23: PUTIN-TRUMP HELSINKI SUMMIT how Trump and Putin seemed to have a meeting of the minds in Helsinki, but upon his arrival back to the USA, Trump completely flip-flopped on his signals during the Summit.
There potentially can be another summit or meeting next year, but it'll depend on how far the trade war has gone. If Trump keeps digging the hole of sanctions, there may be none. There are presently calls in Russia to downgrade Russia-US diplomatic relations. Knowing Putin and his people, they'll try to continue finding bridges, no matter what, but Russia's hand can be forced.
The consequence of the Summit, regrettably, was even bigger and even more threatening sanctions against Russia. The whole threats and sanctions game has gone very, very far, and the sanctions proposed by the Trump admin as part of this Global Trade War will eventually impact 70% of Russian economy. This is essentially the ultimatum issued officially by Washington: 'Russia, submit to our demands, such as the return Crimea and Donbass to Ukraine, stop building Nord Stream-2 and many other things, or we will destroy you.'
Outright and without any excuses Washington now says that the goal is to destroy Russia economically, if they can't possibly do that militarily or politically. While the Congress is said to take the lead in this direct attack against Russia, Trump and his admin are in a competition with them: who'll slap more sanctions faster and who'll freeze more assets connected to Russia first (as you've read in previous article).
I will be talking about the US plan to DESTROY Russia - not my words, theirs! - in a separate article. At this time I'll just tell you that Russians are taking all this very seriously. If previously they tried to make light of things, or tried to negotiate and smooth out the edges, this direct threat has proven very difficult to ignore. Even those who have previously been on pro-West positions, are starting to waver.
I will also tell you that Russia, despite being still very much dependent on the USD and Western financial institutions, as well as on the trade with the EU, has many hidden resources and munitions with which to respond.
US can and will put tremendous pressure and sanctions on any companies and countries that will continue doing business with Russia, but in doing so, Washington will only accelerate its own demise.
I also would like to recall my old definition: those who start all out wars against Russia eventually lose, and lose catastrophically. It used to be possible to undermine Russia from within, such as in 1917 and 1991, but this strategy hasn't worked this time. The USSR was once deliberately undermined economically and financially, but it won't work this time either. An all out war against the Great Balancer will never end well for the aggressor, especially when it's The Time Of Russia (See ESW4).
We'll discuss this whole complex and convoluted situation in detail in separate article on Russia-US Trade War.
OH, THE IRONY... and perhaps, POETIC JUSTICE?
The Earth Shift Paradoxes continue!
There is much irony in what's going on: in the case of Canada and EU, Trump actually despises many neoliberal leaders in those countries, yet he is forced to negotiate and give them some leeway, due to the fact that they are old allies, and because the US establishment wants him to.
He seemingly likes and respects Putin, but that still didn't help to improve Russia-US relations, despite both Putin and Trump trying. As a matter of fact, the Helsinki summit proved very clearly that Trump yields no real power in the US, since he could not implement anything that was discussed, and had to backpedal on just about everything, and then some. Putin offered him genius solutions and gave him several valuable presents, but those could only be used in case Trump really did have power to change things. The result has proved that he doesn't.
It yet again proved my original predictions: Trump is in the fight of his life, he is firmly on survival mode and he continues being in a straitjacket. He can maneuver within the narrow channel allotted to him and he constantly has to give bribes to potential support groups, while constantly proving he is not a friend of Russia, to avoid impeachment.
In doing so, he overdoes things on a grand scale, and his inertia continues carrying him beyond the point of no return. In his desperation to stay afloat (recall his low GRIEF Calibration, denoting the desperation he feels!) he also succumbs to advice by worst hawks. All in all, I see that behind aggressive facade, there is a total panic in Washington.
Trump will continue shifting back and forth, and if he manages to avoid impeachment (which my prediction at this point is: he will), his presidency will never be a happy one. But then again, his entire life he's been a terribly confrontational person, so to him this may even seem somewhat normal.
At the same time Trump should logically be on the same boat and very much in tune with the new guard coming to power in some EU countries, such as Austria and Italy, but he doesn't seem to be able to tell the difference between neoliberals and conservatives in the EU. As is typical for Americans, they see red, and they just charge: attack first, think never.
The US is not able to tell apart those countries whose governments want to cooperate closer and in a more coordinated fashion with the US, such as Italy, or perhaps, Austria, or even Russia. The goal is to see everyone through the dark glasses of animosity. If you are not with us, you are against us. This isn't even the 3D consciousness. It is 2D consciousness: very black and white and very sharp, angry and with no nuances.
My calibrations of Trump and USA say it all. Read Quantum Calibrations for Trump, USA & US Army (with geopolitical updates and interpretations). Sometimes calibrations wisely predict things to come, which aren't on the surface yet, and that's what you'll see happen here.
As you know we now have my complete Patreon ARCHIVE, with links, posted on LadaRay.com.
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SANCTIONS WAR AGAINST IRAN
Trump pulling out of the Iran deal and threatening with sanctions any countries and companies working with it, is an old story of which I wrote previously. I won't say much here, except that the potential and current losses for the EU companies are staggering; all that's being achieved from Trump's position on Iran is more animosity between USA and its 'allies.' Despite EU and even UK continuing to talk about their desire to preserve the Iran nuclear deal and withstand US pressure, individual EU companies are pulling out of Iran, under the threat of the US sanctions. This is due to the fact that across the board, EU companies conduct 10-20 times more business with the USA than with Iran.
This administration continues on the path which was set by previous US administrations, first Bush and then widely expanded by Obama, proving that there is very little difference between republicans and democrats. When sanctions against Russia began in 2008, and then much bigger sanctions were imposed in 2014 and after, it were the European countries who had to suffer first and foremost.
The Iran sanctions war between US and EU wouldn't be too significant by itself, if it wasn't a part of the multi-front trade and currency global war conducted by Trump all over the world.
The dying US Empire has to do something to continue preserving its exclusive status around the world. The last 2-3 years proved that they are running out of munitions. Since a direct military attack against Russia and China (the main antagonists) is impossible, they have to resort to trade wars, info wars, color revolutions and other hybrid war instruments of the lower 4D. They have run out of all of these, except this last one: trade wars. This is their last ditch effort.
Basically, the US is now playing the role of the global aggressor, akin to the role the Nazi Germany played in mid-20th century.
No one wanted this war, but since it came, the other countries aren't sitting idle and everyone, except the laziest out there, are preparing adequate responses. That includes Iran. For more read about Caspian deal between Russia, Iran and three other countries.
Trump pulling out of the Iran deal and threatening with sanctions any countries and companies working with it, is an old story of which I wrote previously. I won't say much here, except that the potential and current losses for the EU companies are staggering; all that's being achieved from Trump's position on Iran is more animosity between USA and its 'allies.' Despite EU and even UK continuing to talk about their desire to preserve the Iran nuclear deal and withstand US pressure, individual EU companies are pulling out of Iran, under the threat of the US sanctions. This is due to the fact that across the board, EU companies conduct 10-20 times more business with the USA than with Iran.
This administration continues on the path which was set by previous US administrations, first Bush and then widely expanded by Obama, proving that there is very little difference between republicans and democrats. When sanctions against Russia began in 2008, and then much bigger sanctions were imposed in 2014 and after, it were the European countries who had to suffer first and foremost.
The Iran sanctions war between US and EU wouldn't be too significant by itself, if it wasn't a part of the multi-front trade and currency global war conducted by Trump all over the world.
The dying US Empire has to do something to continue preserving its exclusive status around the world. The last 2-3 years proved that they are running out of munitions. Since a direct military attack against Russia and China (the main antagonists) is impossible, they have to resort to trade wars, info wars, color revolutions and other hybrid war instruments of the lower 4D. They have run out of all of these, except this last one: trade wars. This is their last ditch effort.
Basically, the US is now playing the role of the global aggressor, akin to the role the Nazi Germany played in mid-20th century.
No one wanted this war, but since it came, the other countries aren't sitting idle and everyone, except the laziest out there, are preparing adequate responses. That includes Iran. For more read about Caspian deal between Russia, Iran and three other countries.
TURKEY'S REBELLION
At least Iran has been designated as the US enemy since last century. Turkey still happens to be the key NATO and US ally in the region. But that didn't save Erdogan from the attempted CIA coup and narrowly avoided, thanks to Putin, Qaddafi's fate (See ESR13).
It also didn't save Turkey from excruciating tariffs, imposed on its most valuable exports to the US. Furious Turks immediately retaliated by imposing crushing tariffs on US imports to Turkey. While US tariffs were in the area of 20-30%, Turkish response was much more devastating. Here's the snapshot chart:
At least Iran has been designated as the US enemy since last century. Turkey still happens to be the key NATO and US ally in the region. But that didn't save Erdogan from the attempted CIA coup and narrowly avoided, thanks to Putin, Qaddafi's fate (See ESR13).
It also didn't save Turkey from excruciating tariffs, imposed on its most valuable exports to the US. Furious Turks immediately retaliated by imposing crushing tariffs on US imports to Turkey. While US tariffs were in the area of 20-30%, Turkish response was much more devastating. Here's the snapshot chart:
Turkey's insurmountable return tariffs against US products: Alcohol 140%; cosmetics and tobacco products 60%; fruits 20%; cars 120%; rice 50%.
In addition, there is a blanket ban on US electronics, including computers and cell phones. You may have seen videos where Turks on camera are breaking American smartphones and merchants removing them from shelves (never mind that they were made in China).
The funny thing is when this happens, a country such as Turkey opens its markets to alternative suppliers, who'll be very happy to take over the niche. So, instead of the Chinese-made US electronics, Turkey will buy Asian electronics directly and at a lower price.
Remember how it happened with Russia after the 2014 US/EU sanctions, and Russia's return sanctions: all the niches were immediately taken over by domestic and alternative country suppliers. Once the US loses a niche here or there, it is irreversible.
If it were Turkey alone, the US would hardly feel the pinch. But we are talking US exports to a number of world countries simultaneously, including many of the richest. The impact may not be felt now, but eventually it'll create an unavoidable shrinkage of the US economy. More on this below.
Breaking news: Turkey is preparing a case against the US in WTO, and it has invited Russia and other countries to join the effort. The existing international rule of law is crumbling, including WTO, but this still could be interesting to observe. As a result of the anti-US claims in WTO, this organization may fall apart. There are constant calls in Russia for the country to exit WTO. This may happen at some point, but it's too early to talk about it. Much depends on what kind of position WTO will assume in this trade war.
In addition, there is a blanket ban on US electronics, including computers and cell phones. You may have seen videos where Turks on camera are breaking American smartphones and merchants removing them from shelves (never mind that they were made in China).
The funny thing is when this happens, a country such as Turkey opens its markets to alternative suppliers, who'll be very happy to take over the niche. So, instead of the Chinese-made US electronics, Turkey will buy Asian electronics directly and at a lower price.
Remember how it happened with Russia after the 2014 US/EU sanctions, and Russia's return sanctions: all the niches were immediately taken over by domestic and alternative country suppliers. Once the US loses a niche here or there, it is irreversible.
If it were Turkey alone, the US would hardly feel the pinch. But we are talking US exports to a number of world countries simultaneously, including many of the richest. The impact may not be felt now, but eventually it'll create an unavoidable shrinkage of the US economy. More on this below.
Breaking news: Turkey is preparing a case against the US in WTO, and it has invited Russia and other countries to join the effort. The existing international rule of law is crumbling, including WTO, but this still could be interesting to observe. As a result of the anti-US claims in WTO, this organization may fall apart. There are constant calls in Russia for the country to exit WTO. This may happen at some point, but it's too early to talk about it. Much depends on what kind of position WTO will assume in this trade war.
GOODBYE USA? SOME US 'ALLIES' CAN'T WAIT TO TURN THEIR ATTENTIONS TO RUSSIA
In this segment I want to talk about recent events some of you asked me about. These are: the Austrian wedding where Putin was the guest of honor, and on the same day, Putin's working visit to Germany for confidential talks with Merkel.
Of all his sanctions and trade wars, Trump has probably made the most crucial mistake with Germany. As Merkel and other German government officials lamented more than once: 'but we were such loyal vassals, why us?'
From the start, Trump showed with his every essence how much he despised Angela Merkel (I am not her fan either). I'm sure that wasn't very pleasant for frau Merkel and German establishment.
But Trump's real faux pas was made when he directly threatened the very bloodflow of Germany and its closest ally Austria, by telling them they needed to forget about their energy needs, aka, building Nord Stream-2 and buying Russian gas. Instead, according to Trump, the EU, but especially Germany, must buy American LNG gas, not only extremely harmful to the environment because of its invasive fracking process, but also much more expensive than Russian natural gas.
Trump went as far as chastising Merkel and Germany for being ungrateful to the US, and telling them to pick up the slack and support USA in its hour of need. The fury over such cavalier attitude towards German and EU economy was palpable in Berlin. Don't blame them: German exports would lose their competitive advantage due to expensive energy, should Germany be stupid enough to succumb to Trump's demands.
Germany happens to be the No. 2 exporter to the US after China. Only the cheap and abundant energy from Russia allows German companies to compete on the US market and worldwide. Germany and EU as a whole are the USA's biggest global competitor in the tech/high-tech sector of the economy. And that's what Trump really wanted: making German exports uncompetitive, so that the niche could be instead occupied by the US merchandise.
I don't blame Trump for wanting to bring manufacturing home. This is a logical move from his standpoint, although not very realistic. The problem is not what, but how he is doing it. This excessive theatrical performance is not so much designed to fulfill his election promises as to convince the voters they should vote republican during mid-term elections, and that Trump is their 'savior.' This whole trade wars and sanctions noise is also designed to convince everyone Trump is not a friend of Russia, tough on China and Iran, looks out for the little man and the US military, that he is much better than Obama, and that he should never, ever be impeached!
When Trump threatened Germany's lifeblood, even Merkel, the most sold-out to the US German chancellor ever, had to stand her ground. If Germany succumbs to the American pressure and refuses the Russian gas distribution deal of the century via Nord Stream-2 project, even this unscrupulous political animal understands that it will be the end of German economy, and of her political career.
Incidentally, despite all of the US threats and arms-twisting, this year Gazprom is reporting record sales of Russian natural gas to the EU.
One of the recent reluctant headlines in the German neoliberal press sounded like: 'Thanks to Trump, looks like we'll have no choice but to work with Russia.'
With this background, Vladimir Putin made two visits, one rather private, but full of meaning, and another official, but quiet and with very little disclosed. Did you notice how geopolitical talks lately are more and more conducted behind closed doors, with topics kept under wraps? This is becoming a trend. As we are progressing deeper into the Earth Shift and as the world structure continues changing, we'll see more and more secret negotiations, when real plans aren't announced, or even lied about, to mislead potential adversary.
Austrian wedding:
On pic above, Putin is dancing with the bride, Austria's foreign minister Karin Kneissl, at her traditional wedding. When that happened an immediate hysteria began among neoliberals and the Dark State of Austria and EU, calling on her to resign.
Austria has been a voice of reason in the EU for a long time, trying to convince others to take off Russian sanctions. Austria is also one of the two main centers for Nord Stream-2. Two distribution hubs are being built in Germany and one in Austria. Therefore, both Germany and Austria are extremely interested in the completion of the pipeline and in cooperation with Russia.
The new Austrian Chancellor, incredibly young Sebastian Kurz, has been a big proponent of better relations with Russia. Kurz was also at the wedding of Austria's Foreign Minister, where he and Putin had the chance to have a private chat. The OPEC president was there as well.
Austria's Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl had to answer some very uncomfortable questions after the photos and footage emerged of her dancing with Putin and then curtsying to Putin. Curtsying after a nice dance is a normal thing to do for a woman in any normal society in response to a man bowing, which Putin also did. But Kneissl was blamed for being 'too submissive', which just goes to show how far gone and corrupted the West has become. It's a big tragedy when the mentality of the entire West is so warped that a normal, dignified and traditional wedding, where the hosts are courteous and attentive to Putin, their guest of honor, causes a furor and calls for Austrian FM to resign!
Conclusion: No they won't make it easy for Austria or any country, they'll fight tooth and nail. But it is clear what business and normal politicians in Austria want: better relations and closer cooperation with Russia.
Talks with Merkel:
Putin only spent an hour in Austria, and on to Germany. During over three hours of confidential talks the main topic was Nord Stream-2 as well as Syrian refugees and how they can be helped to return home. Putin is trying to recruit help from wealthy EU countries in this regard.
Not much else is known, but I can confidently say that the real reason Putin visited Merkel, and probably also the Austrian wedding, was to develop a common strategy on how to combat US sanctions against Nord Stream-2.
This effectively spells the beginning of the real shift of Germany and Austria, as the anchors of the EU, further away from the US and closer to Russia.
This is only the beginning, too early to rejoice. There will be a lot of flip-flops on Merkel's and Austria's side. That said, Austria, under any government, was a lot more amicable towards Russia than most of the EU. The pressure on everyone is enormous, after all, the US is the elephant in the china shop who can do a lot of damage. We'll see how they'll be able to withstand this pressure.
Likely, they will -- they'll have to, because we are approaching the endgame.
In this segment I want to talk about recent events some of you asked me about. These are: the Austrian wedding where Putin was the guest of honor, and on the same day, Putin's working visit to Germany for confidential talks with Merkel.
Of all his sanctions and trade wars, Trump has probably made the most crucial mistake with Germany. As Merkel and other German government officials lamented more than once: 'but we were such loyal vassals, why us?'
From the start, Trump showed with his every essence how much he despised Angela Merkel (I am not her fan either). I'm sure that wasn't very pleasant for frau Merkel and German establishment.
But Trump's real faux pas was made when he directly threatened the very bloodflow of Germany and its closest ally Austria, by telling them they needed to forget about their energy needs, aka, building Nord Stream-2 and buying Russian gas. Instead, according to Trump, the EU, but especially Germany, must buy American LNG gas, not only extremely harmful to the environment because of its invasive fracking process, but also much more expensive than Russian natural gas.
Trump went as far as chastising Merkel and Germany for being ungrateful to the US, and telling them to pick up the slack and support USA in its hour of need. The fury over such cavalier attitude towards German and EU economy was palpable in Berlin. Don't blame them: German exports would lose their competitive advantage due to expensive energy, should Germany be stupid enough to succumb to Trump's demands.
Germany happens to be the No. 2 exporter to the US after China. Only the cheap and abundant energy from Russia allows German companies to compete on the US market and worldwide. Germany and EU as a whole are the USA's biggest global competitor in the tech/high-tech sector of the economy. And that's what Trump really wanted: making German exports uncompetitive, so that the niche could be instead occupied by the US merchandise.
I don't blame Trump for wanting to bring manufacturing home. This is a logical move from his standpoint, although not very realistic. The problem is not what, but how he is doing it. This excessive theatrical performance is not so much designed to fulfill his election promises as to convince the voters they should vote republican during mid-term elections, and that Trump is their 'savior.' This whole trade wars and sanctions noise is also designed to convince everyone Trump is not a friend of Russia, tough on China and Iran, looks out for the little man and the US military, that he is much better than Obama, and that he should never, ever be impeached!
When Trump threatened Germany's lifeblood, even Merkel, the most sold-out to the US German chancellor ever, had to stand her ground. If Germany succumbs to the American pressure and refuses the Russian gas distribution deal of the century via Nord Stream-2 project, even this unscrupulous political animal understands that it will be the end of German economy, and of her political career.
Incidentally, despite all of the US threats and arms-twisting, this year Gazprom is reporting record sales of Russian natural gas to the EU.
One of the recent reluctant headlines in the German neoliberal press sounded like: 'Thanks to Trump, looks like we'll have no choice but to work with Russia.'
With this background, Vladimir Putin made two visits, one rather private, but full of meaning, and another official, but quiet and with very little disclosed. Did you notice how geopolitical talks lately are more and more conducted behind closed doors, with topics kept under wraps? This is becoming a trend. As we are progressing deeper into the Earth Shift and as the world structure continues changing, we'll see more and more secret negotiations, when real plans aren't announced, or even lied about, to mislead potential adversary.
Austrian wedding:
On pic above, Putin is dancing with the bride, Austria's foreign minister Karin Kneissl, at her traditional wedding. When that happened an immediate hysteria began among neoliberals and the Dark State of Austria and EU, calling on her to resign.
Austria has been a voice of reason in the EU for a long time, trying to convince others to take off Russian sanctions. Austria is also one of the two main centers for Nord Stream-2. Two distribution hubs are being built in Germany and one in Austria. Therefore, both Germany and Austria are extremely interested in the completion of the pipeline and in cooperation with Russia.
The new Austrian Chancellor, incredibly young Sebastian Kurz, has been a big proponent of better relations with Russia. Kurz was also at the wedding of Austria's Foreign Minister, where he and Putin had the chance to have a private chat. The OPEC president was there as well.
Austria's Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl had to answer some very uncomfortable questions after the photos and footage emerged of her dancing with Putin and then curtsying to Putin. Curtsying after a nice dance is a normal thing to do for a woman in any normal society in response to a man bowing, which Putin also did. But Kneissl was blamed for being 'too submissive', which just goes to show how far gone and corrupted the West has become. It's a big tragedy when the mentality of the entire West is so warped that a normal, dignified and traditional wedding, where the hosts are courteous and attentive to Putin, their guest of honor, causes a furor and calls for Austrian FM to resign!
Conclusion: No they won't make it easy for Austria or any country, they'll fight tooth and nail. But it is clear what business and normal politicians in Austria want: better relations and closer cooperation with Russia.
Talks with Merkel:
Putin only spent an hour in Austria, and on to Germany. During over three hours of confidential talks the main topic was Nord Stream-2 as well as Syrian refugees and how they can be helped to return home. Putin is trying to recruit help from wealthy EU countries in this regard.
Not much else is known, but I can confidently say that the real reason Putin visited Merkel, and probably also the Austrian wedding, was to develop a common strategy on how to combat US sanctions against Nord Stream-2.
This effectively spells the beginning of the real shift of Germany and Austria, as the anchors of the EU, further away from the US and closer to Russia.
This is only the beginning, too early to rejoice. There will be a lot of flip-flops on Merkel's and Austria's side. That said, Austria, under any government, was a lot more amicable towards Russia than most of the EU. The pressure on everyone is enormous, after all, the US is the elephant in the china shop who can do a lot of damage. We'll see how they'll be able to withstand this pressure.
Likely, they will -- they'll have to, because we are approaching the endgame.
FRANCE IS UNSURE
France is lost. Trump offered Macron to take over the leadership in the EU, instead of Merkel, but Macron didn't respond one way or another, trying, as many do nowadays, to sit on two chairs at once. Some perks were offered, such an ease on the tariffs and sanctions, but if France went directly against Germany, it would potentially lose more.
Trump's offer to Macron only offended Merkel and Germany more, thus pushing it closer to Russia. I think it's brilliant of Trump (thank you, Donald), as it pushes Germany slowly in the right direction.
France is in a precarious position, losing billions due to Iran and Russian sanctions, plus new tariffs.
ONE LOYAL ALLY LEFT: UK... FOR NOW
It's lonely out there for the US. Recently, Trump produced yet another pearl of wisdom, saying that 'the US is stronger than China and Russia combined.'
There are many jokes that come to mind, but we are talking serious stuff here. Would USA be willing to test that statement, I'd ask? As I said many times, and this is one of the Earth Shift Theory's postulates:
USA and the West could only get away with keeping this system for so long because the rest of the world, unlike the yang West, is non-aggressive. Russia the Great Balancer is the yin-yang (two-sided, balanced) and the third and developing world is primarily yin. At this time China is developing as another yin-yang balancer, to assist Russia.
But everyone's patience runs out sooner or later, even when you are non-aggressive. USA, if it ever had any real allies, has lost them. There is just one left, the UK, who's more like a situational ally. Presently, Theresa May and her government are desperate for the US support against the demands of the EU and Germany to pay up for Brexit. An what did I predict in ESR12: it'll take UK forever to Brexit, or it will only be just the pretense of the Brexit! May, being in precarious position, needs US support on the UK government's lies regarding Skripal poisoning. They further need to keep the topic of 'Russia's punishment' fresh in the global media, in order to distract public attention from UK's many real problems. Trump, for his own reasons, is in a similar situation.
Besides, the two financial capitals of the world are also in the same boat as far as the Western system slowly collapsing. But change the UK and/or US governments, and the spread could become different.
Frankly, at this point, I don't think it would change that much with any government, because Dark State is too strong in both US and UK. In 5-7 years though we could see a different picture.
This is why there is a temporary alliance formed between USA and UK, primarily directed against Russia (openly) and Germany (clandestinely). Lately, China was added to the list of the US-UK arch-enemies.
France is lost. Trump offered Macron to take over the leadership in the EU, instead of Merkel, but Macron didn't respond one way or another, trying, as many do nowadays, to sit on two chairs at once. Some perks were offered, such an ease on the tariffs and sanctions, but if France went directly against Germany, it would potentially lose more.
Trump's offer to Macron only offended Merkel and Germany more, thus pushing it closer to Russia. I think it's brilliant of Trump (thank you, Donald), as it pushes Germany slowly in the right direction.
France is in a precarious position, losing billions due to Iran and Russian sanctions, plus new tariffs.
ONE LOYAL ALLY LEFT: UK... FOR NOW
It's lonely out there for the US. Recently, Trump produced yet another pearl of wisdom, saying that 'the US is stronger than China and Russia combined.'
There are many jokes that come to mind, but we are talking serious stuff here. Would USA be willing to test that statement, I'd ask? As I said many times, and this is one of the Earth Shift Theory's postulates:
USA and the West could only get away with keeping this system for so long because the rest of the world, unlike the yang West, is non-aggressive. Russia the Great Balancer is the yin-yang (two-sided, balanced) and the third and developing world is primarily yin. At this time China is developing as another yin-yang balancer, to assist Russia.
But everyone's patience runs out sooner or later, even when you are non-aggressive. USA, if it ever had any real allies, has lost them. There is just one left, the UK, who's more like a situational ally. Presently, Theresa May and her government are desperate for the US support against the demands of the EU and Germany to pay up for Brexit. An what did I predict in ESR12: it'll take UK forever to Brexit, or it will only be just the pretense of the Brexit! May, being in precarious position, needs US support on the UK government's lies regarding Skripal poisoning. They further need to keep the topic of 'Russia's punishment' fresh in the global media, in order to distract public attention from UK's many real problems. Trump, for his own reasons, is in a similar situation.
Besides, the two financial capitals of the world are also in the same boat as far as the Western system slowly collapsing. But change the UK and/or US governments, and the spread could become different.
Frankly, at this point, I don't think it would change that much with any government, because Dark State is too strong in both US and UK. In 5-7 years though we could see a different picture.
This is why there is a temporary alliance formed between USA and UK, primarily directed against Russia (openly) and Germany (clandestinely). Lately, China was added to the list of the US-UK arch-enemies.
The new FM of the UK - on the left pic above - after Boris Johnson left with a scandal (the rats are abandoning the sinking ship) has made his first visit to the US. But what's more interesting, he made his first public announcement also in the US, not in the UK, just showing how desperate UK government is for American support. In this case, it feels to me like the two who are drowning, cling to each other for dear life.
UK FM's public announcement during Washington talks sounded like this: The two top threats to the world are:
1. Aggressive and antagonistic behavior of Russia, who disregards international law and accepted rules of engagement. (Doesn't it appear he is describing the US and UK's behavior, not Russian?)
2. The shift of the economic balance to the East, and the absence of the clear desire by China to follow the Western system of values (read: to become like the West, and a proper Western vassal).
My first urge upon seeing this was to laugh. There is so much ignorant, juvenile arrogance and such a profound lack of basic understanding of what's happening, that it's scary. Usually, when there is so much disconnect with reality, bad things tend to happen.
The problem is that these ill-bred, oversized '5-year-olds' (no offense to real 5-year-olds) have the possession of nuclear, financial and economic weapons of mass destruction. Such specimens were brought to power by vote, and therefore, large segments of their respective populations agree with these politicians. But even if the populations of the US and UK disagreed, there is no one better to pick. And that's the tragedy of a long-time mass brainwashing and indoctrination.
DARK STATE & US CONGRESS AS ITS LEGAL ORGANIZATION, FEEL THE PINCH, BECOMING MORE AGGRESSIVE
That said, it has to be pointed out that it's the Congress that's initiating much of the animosity, especially when it comes to Russia, therefore forcing Trump's admin to follow in the same narrow channel (the Dark State straitjacket at work). Trump recently tweeted that he would consider taking off Russian sanctions 'if Russia did something good.' What he means by 'good' remains a mystery. At the same time the US Congress has passed a new round of sanctions, and US government is ready to pass the next round, which will aim at crippling 70% of Russian economy, if Russia doesn't submit to the US demands by November.
For the first time since probably Churchill's Fulton Speech and ensuing Cold War, it was openly announced on official level that the USA's ultimate goal is to dismember Russia and end her existence.
THE ROLE OF ASTROLOGY, and why I've been talking about it a lot THIS HOT SUMMER OF RETROGRADES & ECLIPSES
Another thing worth mentioning, is the fact that all these trade wars and threats towards Russia and others are being made under the influence of Mars Retrograde, Mercury Retrograde, plus 5 other planets, plus 3 major eclipses. Don't forget to thoroughly read ESR22, where all this is explained. Plus, read important new astrology update is in my Patreon post: I HAVE SOME GREAT NEWS!
Mars, in its negative manifestation, rules aggression, animosity, wars and conflict. It also rules villains and treachery. On the positive side it rules assertiveness and make-things-happen attitude. The US behavior confirms what I have asserted all along: USA's ascendant is Aries, ruled by Mars. Not Gemini, like some astrologers think, and definitely not even close to the benevolent Sagittarius (astrologers are arguing a lot as to USA's ascendant, which is unknown). My firm opinion is: USA's customary behavior and ways of doing business clearly point to Aries and Mars.
You all know I rarely do Western astrology reports, but I have talked a lot about it this unusual summer, due to how incredibly intense it has been: read more in I HAVE SOME GREAT NEWS!
Mars retrograde increased animosity in the world exponentially, and from this standpoint all these trade wars are explainable. When Mars goes direct in the end of August, it should gradually get less intense, and some of the sanity may return to the world.
Trump and US may even backtrack on some of his craziest things, but gradually, it's all going in the same direction of the Inverted Collapse. Also, anything begun during Mars retrograde is guaranteed to fail, therefore, US cannot win in these trade wars.
WORLD EVENTS GET MORE ERRATIC & CONFUSING AS EARTH SHIFT AND THE INVERTED COLLAPSE SPEED UP!
That said, the world events are getting more and more erratic, they pile up on top of each other very quickly and they are becoming harder and harder to follow.
However, if you are following my writing and speaking, and if you are up to speed on my theories, you'll be able to follow what's going on and stay calm and centered through the coming turmoils. The theories I am referring to are:
- EARTH SHIFT & RUSSIA THE GREAT BALANCER
- MULTIDIMENSIONAL UNIVERSE
- INVERTED COLLAPSE
P.S.
TRUMP'S SITUATION
I wanted to add a segment about the justification of Trump's actions, but decided against it. Sure, Trump promised his voters to return jobs home and he is also in a straitjacket and fighting for his life. Hitler was also 'provoked' by the UK. But it wasn't UK, it was Hitler who pulled the trigger of WWII. Hitler was the one who gave orders to bomb and exterminate whole countries. In the final analysis, that's who'll always be remembered as the aggressor.
Trump is the one, whose signature is on the Oval Office documents. He'll always be remembered as the one who started the Global Trade War. It may or may not be recalled that in doing so, he was trying to avoid impeachment by being more dark-state than the Dark State proper. (How far this war will go will depend on how much reason and common sense remains in the West.)
One of my readers commented once that Trump was a 'mystery.' Absolutely nothing mysterious about him. He is what he is, and please, whatever you do, don't idealize him. I warned the same thing when some well-meaning people idealized Obama, and then Bernie Sanders. These people are not messiahs, and they are not saviors. I warned also to not be too enthusiastic when some were jumping for joy about Brexit. And? Did my prediction come true, or what? Years later, how's Brexit doing? When I told truthfully what I foresaw in ESR12, I lost some of the 'followers', who only wanted to hear what they wanted to hear. It makes me sad how many people have the reality-distortion shades on and how many are unable and unwilling to see the reality for what it really is. Only a minority can and will. But maybe that's enough.
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