Finland Officially Joins NATO Creating the Largest NATO Land Border Directly Attached to Russia


Posted originally on the CTH on April 4, 2023 | Sundance 

CONTEXT:  There is no currently visible outcome where the Build Back Better collective western global alliance energy policy can succeed without escalating to a direct NATO war against Russia.

The economic outcomes of the BBB agenda are currently being felt via western, energy driven, supply side inflation.  The monetary countermeasures to that inflationary damage, raising central bank interest rates, creates instability in finance and subsequent banking collapse.

Simultaneous to the ‘western’ central bank intervention, the BRICS alliance members are withdrawing from dollar dependency as a trade mechanism.  When all those unneeded dollars return home, the dollar value collapses – and all western economies attached to the dollar as a trade currency collapse along with it.

The Western bankers need a war to generate the industrial economic activity that uses the returning dollars.  Unless and until the dollar is digitized, there is no currently visible outcome where the Build Back Better agenda is not dependent on an expanded war with Russia.

(Via Axios) – Finland became the 31st member of NATO on Tuesday — a once-unthinkable step that significantly changes the security landscape in Europe.

Why it matters: Finland’s membership more than doubles NATO’s borders with Russia and formally ends Helsinki’s decades of official nonalignment. It’s also a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin who, in launching the Russian invasion of Ukraine, vowed to block the alliance’s eastward expansion. It’s the alliance’s ninth enlargement since its founding in 1949.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg sent a message to Moscow while officially welcoming Finland into the alliance: “President Putin wanted to slam NATO’s door shut. Today we showed the world that he failed, that aggression and intimidation do not work. Instead of less NATO, he has achieved the opposite: more NATO. And our door remains firmly open.”

Finland President Sauli Niinistö said it was a “great day for Finland” but also an important day for the security and the stability of the alliance.

[…] Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov earlier Tuesday called Finland’s NATO accession an “encroachment on Russia’s security” that would require Russia to take unspecified countermeasures.

Putin had previously said that Russia had no “territorial differences” with Finland or Sweden, so it was “up to them” whether they joined — but Russia would respond to any deployments of NATO military units or infrastructure to their territories.

The Russian embassy in Sweden issued an even more pointed warning last week, saying on Facebook that any “new members of the enemy block will become a legitimate target” of “Russia’s retaliatory measures,” including those of military nature. (read more)

The End of the Petrodollar?


Armstrong Economics Blog/World Trade Re-Posted Apr 4, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Another oil deal has been initiated without the use of the dollar. The India Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that their latest trade deal with Malaysia would be settled in Indian rupees. “This initiative by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is aimed at facilitating the growth of global trade and to support the interests of the global trading community in Indian Rupees (INR),” the formal statement noted.

Indian has benefitted from the West’s distraction from the Ukraine war. The RBI is allowing 18 counties to open Vostro accounts and has been attracting new deals in trade and manufacturing. New Delhi and Moscow have strengthened their relationship as India is not imposing sanctions.  The Indian Commerce Ministry said its five-year plan is to “encourage” the use of the rupee on an international scale, while also planning to expand exports $2 trillion by 2030. Trading in rupees will also allow India to save on conversion spreads and limit the country’s dependence on the volatile dollar.

The BRICs treaty (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) remains strong and oil giants Saudi Arabia and Iran would like to join the partnership. The Saudis stated at the beginning of the year that they were open to settling trade in currencies other than the USD. “There are no issues with discussing how we settle our trade arrangements, whether it is in the US dollar, whether it is the euro, whether it is the Saudi riyal,” Al-Jadaan said during Davos. As we have seen in recent months, Saudi Arabia is aligning itself with China over the US.

The Vietnam war and other government missteps made it impossible for the US to maintain the fixed price of gold established under Bretton Woods. The USD relative to gold fell as the supply of dollars grew, pushing Nixon to abandon the Bretton Woods system entirely. US government debt was rapidly rising as confidence in the dollar plummeted. America needed an enticing way to sell its debt, and that was when Nixon convinced Saudi Arabia, the largest crude exporter, to purchase Treasurys in dollars in exchange for military aid. Hence the “petrodollar” was born. The creation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) only further enhanced the dollar’s dominance in energy purchases.

Here we are yet again amid another war and a high budget deficit. The Saudis no longer need protection from America, and siding with Western interests would be a deterrent to its international deals with countries in the BRICs alliance and some in the OPEC+. Despite the green agenda, the world cannot operate without oil. The major oil exporters are now aligning and cutting out the US as their middleman.

The US Begins to Arm Taiwan


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Apr 3, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The evidence of the coming global war is overwhelming. In a move that will prompt a direct response from China, the US announced that it would deliver 400 Javelin man-portable anti-tank systems to Taiwan. The delivery is strategically planned to begin during the second half of this year into 2024. Reports claim that this deal was created under Trump, of course, but the timing could not be more on point for the international conflict our computers have been indicating.

These advanced weapons can penetrate armor 800 millimeters thick and come equipped with fire-and-forget technology. Ukraine has used these American-made missiles to repel troops and they are extremely effective. This is not intended to prevent China from invading. It is in preparation for when they do invade.

China will never relinquish Taiwan. It would be considered a great shame for the nation and an embarrassment on an international scale. They will do everything possible to keep Taiwan under the One China policy. China is taking notes on how Russia is operating in Ukraine. Russia had little time to prepare, whereas China has had 75 years. China is the second-largest economy in the world and will surpass the United States. The US is no longer a feared nation as it has lost every war since the second world war. The woke ideology prominent in American politics makes our nation appear weaker than ever before. America became the financial capital of the world after the second world war; China will secure that title after the third.

Has Bakhmut Fallen? Zelensky the Real War Criminal


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Apr 2, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

There are yet unconfirmed reports that the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced late on Sunday, April 2nd, 2023. that his forces have raised the Russian flag over the administration building of the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine. There is no question that Bakhmut will fall. Zelensky has sent over 100,000 men to their death there desperate to keep the money flowing into Ukraine. It is a sad state of affairs when a high-heel dancing idiot orders generals to fight to the death all for his pride and money. The fall of Bakhmut is simply inevitable and the West’s propaganda that Russia would be defeated and that they were weak was all wishful thinking of the Neocons who can think of nothing but war.

Zelensky should be charged with treason and bribery. He was elected promising to end the war and broker peace. Once he got in, he sold his soul o the Neocons and filled his pockets to live forever comfortably. Some Ukrainians are wondering if he did this to punish Ukraine for its persecution of Jews.

He hid being a Jew before the election. Even made jokes about persecuting the Jews. This has a lot of people very confused since he suddenly became Jewish after the election. He married a non-Jew and had his children baptized. He jokes about the confiscation of property of Russians and Jews.

By the time he is finished, 500,000+ Ukrainian will have died because of him and his greed! He could swap his high heels for an army helmet and always appear in an army T-Shirt to get money. That did not give him the experience to win a war. Pray for all the Ukrainians he sent to their death.

CNN wrote:

The Kremlin saw Zelensky’s predecessor, outgoing President Petro Poroshenko, as representing the “party of war,” and the election results in Ukraine were greeted by official Russia with what could be described as cautious hope for a reboot in relations.

“There are chances to improve Ukraine’s interaction with our country,” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Facebook. “What is needed for this? Honesty. And we need a pragmatic and responsible approach.”

The day before Putin launched his special operation, Zelensky announced to the world he would seek nuclear weapons to force Putin’s hand. This was all choreographed by the Neocons who always want war. They will never stop.

Europe Wants War At Any Cost


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Apr 2, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Federal Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren of the Netherlands has handed the Netherlands Army to be subordinated by Germany. He put out the standard propaganda that he did so because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. They ignore the fact that it has been the West who started the civil war and propped up this fake leader in high-heels to send waves of Ukrainians to their death. All because the Western monetary system is collapsing and they desperately need war especially after keeping interest rates NEGATIVE since 2014 wiping out banks and pension funds throughout Europe. The “complete integration of all three Dutch army brigades into Bundeswehr structures” is a “milestone” they have declared.

On top of that von der Leyan will most likely take over NATO. She sold out all Europeans to Pfizer buying billions of doses of their vaccine using an executive order denying the people or parliament to even vote. They will never be used. What did she get in return? She will be a puppet for the highest bidder in the Neocon world. How such people can even look at themselves in the mirror has always astonished me.

NATO will now stage the largest military exercise in history by June. It will most likely create some excuse to wage war against Russia. They need this war desperately to restart a new monetary system that they have been planning with Bretton Woods II. There is no remorse for those who die in battle. They do not care about the families driven from their homes. This is all in the political game of kicking the can down the road and always blaming someone else.

Col Macgregor on the Neocons


Armstrong Economics Blog/Neocons Re-Posted Apr 2, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

This is Important – I Have Been Warning – Ukraine Has Been Losing


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine re-Posted Apr 1, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

You should listen to this carefully. The Neocons will have at least another 500,000 people’s blood on their hands. I have stated that Putin NEVER sought to invade and conquer Ukraine. It was also a Special Action only to free the Russian Dunbas. The American Neocons are the ones who have been pushing this to defeat Russia. They never cared about the people of Ukraine. They have been used as cannon fodder. Perhaps as we enter the final days into the target of the ECM – April 10th, it will have this defeat to deal with. To all of those who bought into the whole Putin is just evil scenario, you better think again, why are you so easily manipulated by Neocon propaganda? Because this is not going to end.

Zelenskyy Sends “New Democracy” Jackboots to Shut Down Orthodox Christian Religion in Ukraine


Posted originally on the CTH on April 1, 2023 | Sundance 

In the aftermath of their assembled COVID-19 powers, the “new western democracy” is an ever-evolving phrase. This version doesn’t have any structural voting representation at the core of the word “democracy,” and is generally akin to totalitarianism with a police state to back it up.

While the United States is sending hundreds of billions to fund the new form of “western democracy” in Ukraine, the outlawing of political opposition, the shutting down of non-state-controlled media, and now the cancellation of religion has a historical rhyming to it. Leftists in the general sense are supporting these new constructs within this newly defined version of democracy, and the western corporate media seem to be subservient to the fiats.

In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sent the state police to shut down Metropolitan Pavel Lebed, the leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Pavel Lebed is now under house arrest.

Pavel’s sin against the Ukraine regime is described by Politico: “in his public speeches repeatedly insulted the religious feelings of Ukrainians, humiliated the views of believers of other denominations and tried to form hostile sentiments towards them,” said the SBU, which also published what it alleges are phone intercepts from Pavel’s sermons. He also “made statements that justified or denied the actions of the aggressor country,” according to the service.”

(Politico) – Ukrainian investigators are searching the home of Metropolitan Pavel Lebed, an Orthodox Church leader, who they accuse of justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and inciting inter-religious hatred.

Ukraine’s security service (SBU) confirmed on Saturday that Pavel, who runs Ukraine’s most important monastery, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, is suspected of violating the country’s criminal code. (read more)

(Radio Free Europe) – […] Around three dozen Orthodox priests around the country have been arrested by Ukrainian law enforcement since the February 2022 invasion, accused of unspecified acts of sabotage or of gathering intelligence and sending it to Moscow.

In November, Ukrainian security agents raided the Monastery of the Caves complex, searching for what they said were weapons or anti-Ukrainian propaganda. A Russian Orthodox Church spokesman called it an “act of intimidation” against Ukrainian believers. (read more)

History tells us that churches and organized religion are always the first targets of the totalitarian state, because they represent a unity of purpose and assembly that is not reliant on the totalitarian state.  In all communist regimes, religious worship is generally banned.

As the “new western democracy” takes shape in Ukraine, a system of government supported by the U.S. government and NATO, what we see now is an outcome that is something entirely different from the traditional secular democratic norms.

In the United States there are many voices identifying how Christianity itself is under attack from the ideology of leftist government.  In Ukraine those attacks are manifesting more openly as orchestrated by the state.

As we enter the most holy of Christian weeks leading up to Easter, there is a rhyming in current events.

US Sent 365 Attack Craft to Confront Russia


Armstrong Economics Blog/Neocons Re-Posted Mar 31, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Marty; It looks like NATO is preparing to invade Russia. What the hell is going on?

HR

ANSWER: Ads I have explained, the Neocons are in full control of US foreign policy. They are intent on starting a war BEFORE 2024. They have 300,000 troops on the border of Russia in Poland. The US has 365 attack aircraft ready to roll. They have used Ukraine to weaken Russia’s conventional forces. They think they can take Russia in less than one week. They believe that Russia will not push the button. What if they are wrong? They believe in their own propaganda.

They have waged a brilliant campaign. They pretend their warmongering is being patriotic. They do not care about America, its people, or anything honorable. They used Ukraine as cannon fodder and they will do the same with Americans. They are INTERNATIONALISTS and in their view, it is to dominate the world. Who cares about Americans? There are too many of us anyhow. Thin the herd is their view.

Welcome to World War III