HABBENINGS: GLOBAL STRUGGLES, GLOBAL PROBLEMS, AND GLOBAL CONFLICTS

[VikLevaPatel]

Every Day Things Look Worse And Worse.



Keep in mind that the current situation will have totally changed by 2026.

Here's Xi’s new plan for China

Xi Jinping cannot help but conjure up new evil or new and far more threatening dangers. He simply can't help it.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida openly announced a shift away from his nation’s customarily cautious post-1945 security stance, vowing to upgrade his forces’ capabilities, reach and activities. He made clear his “severe” sense of new perils. “I myself have a strong sense of urgency that ‘Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow,’” he said. Hence, Tokyo will massively up its defense spend.

The Loop: China's special 'military operations', the fruit and veges facing shortages, and BTS on hiatus?

Global Times: Xi signs outlines that direct China’s military operations other than war

Sounds Like War by Other Means

war.jpg

The outlines will standardize, and provide the legal basis for Chinese troops to carry out, missions like disaster relief, humanitarian aid, escort, and peacekeeping, and safeguard China’s national sovereignty, security and development interests, experts said. The outlines aim to prevent and neutralize risks and challenges, handle emergencies, protect people and property, and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, and world peace and regional stability, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday. The outlines have important meanings for the Chinese armed forces to carry out their duties and missions in the new era, as they will make innovations in ways military forces are used and standardize the organization and implementation of the armed forces’ military operations other than war, Xinhua said.

https://archive.ph/yvBzw#selection-921.0-929.305

Xi Jinping has most certainly signed an ominous order, and whilst US imperialism fights a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, China is looking to expand its spheres of influence in South East Asia and the Pacific. Tensions are rising between the world’s major powers. Storm and struggle lies ahead.

China’s President Xi Jinping has given his defence force the power to protect its interests abroad in what could be the legal basis for the Chinese military going into other countries, and the use of restraints in Victorian hospitals reportedly increased by 56% in 2020-2021. It's the news you need to know, with Emma Elsworthy.

Taiwan is particularly worried about the wording because it sounds a bit like Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.

In the meanwhile, Zelenskyy has warned of 'brutal' battle ahead

He has warned that the battle over the Donbas "will surely go down in military history as one of the most brutal battles in and for Europe".

See these links also:

https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...81#post7522481

https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...70#post7522070

https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...17#post7522017

The geostrategic significance of the Black Sea region

https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...=1#post7523059

And let's not forget that US-led sanctions are killing millions

FOOD crises, economic stagnation and price increases are worsening almost everywhere following the Ukraine war. Sanctions against Russia have especially hurt those relying on wheat and fertiliser imports. Unilateral sanctions – not approved by the United Nations (UN) Security Council – are illegal under international law. Besides contravening the UN Charter, unilateral sanctions inflict much human loss. Countless civilians are at risk, depriving them of much, even life itself.

And in the UK …

Johnson’s handling of Ukraine has parked for the time being any challenge by Tory MPs against their leader, who is being robust and strong against Putin. Liz Truss has tried and failed to use Ukraine to don the mantle of Margaret Thatcher as a warrior leader. Somewhat similarly, in France, Emmanuel Macron is also using the Ukraine war for domestic political reasons. He has reminded French voters of the hostility to Nato and soft feeling for dictators of his main Left-wing challenger, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, France’s answer to Jeremy Corbyn.

This almost goes without saying....

More pain lies ahead.

Pound slides against dollar and euro; falling real wages mean ‘year of pain’ – as it happened

UK wages have fallen at the fastest rate in at least 20 years, once inflation is taken into account, as the cost of living squeeze tightens.

Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute, says the next year will be tough:

“The cost of living crisis is hitting hard with real regular wages falling more sharply this month than in any month this century.

We face a year of pain.

https://archive.ph/fPIBR

[VikLevaPatel]

by the end of the summer china will move on taiwan and russia will have a free hand to do what ever it likes.

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...355/#382507827

I'm starting to have a really bad feeling about this.

One thing is for sure. China, Taiwan and the United States would suffer serious economic damage from a war.

We know another thing for sure: World War Three is on the cards.

Still, "HATERs gonna hate", as the Internet meme says.

hater.jpg

And here's another thing to remember:

The history of the world is the history of human folly.

Everything just gets worse and worse.

More folly, more tragedy, more failure.

China Warns of Taiwan Demise After Official Claims Missiles Can Hit Beijing

"Taiwan of course would never invade China...nor would Taiwan actively strike Beijing or the Three Gorges Dam," You was quoted as saying. "But before China attacks Taiwan, it must consider Taiwan's existing capacity to strike Beijing...China should think twice before invading Taiwan." Taiwan "must let China know that even if it crosses the Taiwan Strait and successfully lands, it will still pay a price," he was quoted as saying.

In January, Taiwan's legislature approved an $8.55 billion special budget for the mass production of missiles. Taiwan produces a range of missiles for anti-ship and anti-air defense, but its offensive capabilities are the subject of regular speculation.

South China Sea fears soar as Xi 'lays groundwork' for military base near Australia

Tension has been mounting over the last 12 months between China and the west over multiple issues, including the status of the disputed island of Taiwan and the AUKUS deal between the US, Australia and the UK.

Taiwan: Has the risk of war increased following new China warnings?
‘Smash to smithereens’: China threatens all-out war over Taiwan
Tensions heighten in Taiwan Strait as China acts to extend military operations
Explained: Why US and China are at loggerheads over Taiwan
China has the power to take Taiwan, but it would cost an extremely bloody price
US official: ‘aggression’ against Taiwan will draw response like Russia has seen

‘Where the world is now, the Ukraine scenario is a much more likely outcome,’ says Colin Kahl, the US undersecretary for defence policy. Kahl also says indications are that Beijing ‘did not believe Russia actually planned to invade Ukraine’ and calls it an ‘intelligence failure.’

China, Taiwan and Japan each claim the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands northeast of Taiwan while China, Taiwan and several Southeast Asian countries claim various land forms in the South China Sea.

Here's an interesting historical tidbit: President Truman, a Democrat, supported Chiang Kai-shek, oversaw the Korean War and interfered in China-Taiwan relations.

[VikLevaPatel]

UK Home Secretary Patel approves extradition of Julian Assange to the United States

If extradited, he faces life imprisonment on charges under the Espionage Act for journalism exposing US war crimes, coup plots and human rights abuses and the complicity of the UK and other imperialist allies.

‘This should shock everyone’: Big blow for Julian Assange

A Home Office spokesperson said, “Under the Extradition Act 2003, the secretary of state must sign an extradition order if there are no grounds to prohibit the order being made. Extradition requests are only sent to the home secretary once a judge decides it can proceed after considering various aspects of the case.”

Assange has 14 days to appeal over the decision, the Home Office said. It said the courts found extradition would not be "incompatible with his human rights" and that while in the US "he will be treated appropriately".

“On 17 June, following consideration by both the magistrates court and high court, the extradition of Mr Julian Assange to the US was ordered. Mr Assange retains the normal 14-day right to appeal. On 17 June, following consideration by both the magistrates court and high court, the extradition of Mr Julian Assange to the US was ordered. Mr Assange retains the normal 14-day right to appeal.”

His supporters say he is an anti-establishment hero who has been victimised because he exposed US wrongdoing in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that his prosecution is a politically-motivated assault on journalism and free speech.

The Home Office on Friday said his extradition had been approved but he could still appeal the decision. WikiLeaks said he would.

Stella Assange, the wife of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, said on Friday (June 17) that she would appeal Britain's decision to approve his extradition to the United States to face criminal charges.

"In this case, the UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange," the Home Office said in a statement. "Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health."

Originally, a British judge ruled that Assange should not be deported, saying his mental health problems meant he would be at risk of suicide if convicted and held in a maximum security prison.

"Patel’s decision," says the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS), "obliterates any notion of democracy and due process."

WikiLeaks denounced the decision as a “dark day for Press freedom and for British democracy”. It announced it would appeal the decision to the UK High Court.

The Guardian also called it "a bad day for journalism", contending that "Priti Patel could have turned down the American request. By not doing so she dealt a blow to press freedom".

And AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL has called on the UK to refrain from extraditing Julian Assange, for the US to drop the charges, and for Assange to be freed.

WikiLeaks stated, “This is a dark day for press freedom and for British democracy. Anyone in this country who cares about freedom of expression should be deeply ashamed that the Home Secretary has approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, the country that plotted his assassination.

“Julian did nothing wrong. He has committed no crime and is not a criminal. He is a journalist and a publisher, and he is being punished for doing his job.

“It was in Priti Patel’s power to do the right thing. Instead she will forever be remembered as an accomplice of the United States in its agenda to turn investigative journalism into a criminal enterprise.

“The Home Secretary is condoning not only the criminality committed by the US government against Julian, but also those US government crimes exposed by WikiLeaks.”

https://archive.ph/AECh3
https://archive.ph/t5U9x
https://archive.ph/Jq7fA
https://archive.ph/zKq4Z
https://archive.ph/nDWly

Here are some interesting tidbits.

A growing band of non-profit outfits such as ProPublica, the Sunlight Foundation and WikiLeaks are helping to fill the gap left by the decline of watchdog media.

Forty years ago this week the New York Times began publishing the Pentagon Papers, the largest leak of classified documents in American history until WikiLeaks came along. Julian Assange's outfit is Barack Obama's problem, and though the current administration lacks the vindictiveness and criminality of the Nixon White House, it has pursued leakers with just as much vigour.

After a dictator took power in Peru in 1948, Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre, a Peruvian politician, found refuge in the Colombian embassy in Lima for six years, while army tanks surrounded the building. Mr Correa has said that Ecuador might take the Assange case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

WikiLeaks revealed much about America's "imperialist" stance in the Middle East, but it was mostly embarrassing gossip.

And as embassy cables published by WikiLeaks make clear, America's diplomats are sometimes closely involved in its firms' discussions with foreign governments, including even squeaky-clean Norway's, over proposed offsets.In less developed countries, where defence spending is generally rising, offsets are booming.

Hero or villain Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking sensitive documents to WikiLeaks.

If he is proven to have been the WikiLeaks source, then to us Bradley is a hero: he's the most important whistleblower in decades, Paterson said.

Manning has been charged with multiple counts of obtaining and distributing state secrets to unauthorised parties – WikiLeaks, in effect.

Chelsea Manning, who leaked a trove of classified documents to WikiLeaks, was sentenced to 35 years by a military court in August 2013.

Some see a clash between the idealistic promotion of open government and the hounding of WikiLeaks.

The Guardian, which was first published in 1821, is most recently renowned for its agenda-setting NSA and GCHQ revelations following disclosures by whistleblower Edward Snowden, its globally acclaimed investigation into phone hacking and the launch of its groundbreaking digital-first strategy in 2011 and its trailblazing partnership with WikiLeaks in 2010.

In 2008, WikiLeaks posted secret Scientology manuals, and lawyers representing the church demanded that they be removed.

Assange calls the site "an uncensorable system for untraceable mass document leaking and public analysis," and a government or company that wanted to remove content from WikiLeaks would have to practically dismantle the Internet itself.

Wikileaks' Global Intelligence Files revealed that groups such as Greenpeace, Amnesty International and animal rights organisation Peta were all monitored by global intelligence company Stratfor, once described as a "shadow CIA".

And, despite their protestations, European politicians no doubt already know what Mr Assange and Wikileaks are treating as news that American spying on the continent continues unabated, as the revelations by Edward Snowden, a former American National Security Agency contractor, showed all too clearly. The documents do, however, offer a nice lesson for business travellers: travel like a CIA officer.

Clooney, whose husband is Hollywood actor George, is an international human rights lawyer whose clients include WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is fighting extradition to Sweden.

Today Andrew Sullivan (via wikileaks) flags one of the most tragic, disturbing and riveting videos I have seen out of Iraq.

Related: WikiLeaks publishes secret draft chapter of Trans-Pacific Partnership Even those who favour opening up markets and liberalising trade oppose the TPP, since its backroom process inherently privileges incumbent industries, giving the largest companies even more market share and more power to set policies that stifle competition and innovation.

Mr Assange enjoys the protection of several liberal democracies, but is not really accountable to any of them. What is more, Mr Assange seems unwilling to reflect on the risks of what he is doing.

In the Berkeley video, Mr Assange says he believes that every major non-inevitable reform is driven by the release of information that some powerful organisation didn't want people to have.

WikiLeaks is not the only example. The Sunlight Foundation, based in Washington, DC, also campaigns for government openness and transparency, but in a different way from WikiLeaks.

Ironically, WikiLeaks itself sprang a leak and some of its material was passed to its estranged media partners, which no longer felt they had to co-ordinate publication with Mr Assange. The line between activism and journalism has always been somewhat fuzzy, but has become even fuzzier in the digital age. Despite WikiLeaks' difficulties, its approach is being adopted by others.

This bit sums it up nicely:

YOU don't have to be Julian Assange, the man behind WikiLeaks, to think that governments have a nasty habit of abusing their powers of secrecy.

Secondly, the desire for information.

Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have been jettisoned to fame or notoriety (choose your noun, please) not because of a passing political battle but for reasons much deeper:

the desire to possess, distribute and devour information.

https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...=1#post7524674

[VikLevaPatel]

Jules Assange, why u no use your real Chinese Surname

ja.jpg

'Assassination bid' part of Assange appeal

Assange is wanted by US authorities on 18 counts, including a spying charge, relating to WikiLeaks' release of vast troves of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables which its officials say had put lives in danger. His supporters say he is an anti-establishment hero who has been victimised because he exposed US wrongdoing in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that his prosecution is a politically motivated assault on journalism and free speech. His brother, Gabriel Shipton, told Reuters the appeal would include new information not previously taken to the courts, including claims made in a report last year of plans to assassinate him. "It will likely be a few days before the (14-day appeal) deadline and the appeal will include new information that we weren't able to bring before the courts previously. Information on how Julian's lawyers were spied on and how there were plots to kidnap and kill Julian from within the CIA," Shipton said.

And according to Independent Australia, a progressive journal focusing on politics, democracy, the environment, Australian history and Australian identity, "Julian Assange is being crucified for our sins". :crucify::crucify::crucify:

Sounds like he's been elevated to the status of a Messiah figure.

Or, at least, to one of the following statuses: legend, "real-life super hero," a historical hero, a god.

They are certainly pushing the boundaries.

Or least keep it real and don't push boundaries.

However, this one really takes the cake simply because every point is pure, unadulterated speculation. This letter calls him a "crusader journalist" and even asks the question: "Will the US get its way and “eliminate” an Australian crusader journalist who exposed its brutal war crimes?" (Letters, "Our right to the truth," The Age, June 18, 2022)

Oh my God, what the hell are they smoking over there?

As if that weren't enough, the writer of the letter goes on to make the unfounded and absurd assertion that if "Assange dies in an American cell, our basic right for the truth dies with him."

Could you please tell me more? That's quite an assertion.

Goodness gracious, they're going full throttle in support of their "real-life super hero."

Er, lets get one thing straight:

He's no messiah.

On the contrary, he apparently put other people's lives in danger and caused significant damage.

Assange, however, remains popular in Australia. That's right, there is a new hero in town.

This is media, and the media is all about soft power.

But in the end, they're all money making pieces of entertainment. Everything in the end is about money. Remember how the big sensationalized media factories inflamed and sensationalized the case of Schapelle Corby. But I still remember the sensationalized "white nightmare" of Schapelle Corby's imprisonment on the island for drug-smuggling, "like it was yesterday".

Every story needs a hero, and the Aussie media has found a star and a hero in Assange.

Not only that, but, says Independent Australia, with the conviction of a preacher, he "is being slowly murdered by the forces of the U.S. and British states, his crime has been to expose their crimes." Of all the stupid things I could have imagined, this bit of yellow journalism truly takes the cake. I'm speechless. And then last but not least, there's Assange’s run-in in Sweden. Sweden, as we all know, is pure as the driven snow, the Journal said with deliberate sarcasm/irony, and then sarcastically adding that "Assange must be guilty of whatever the Swedes are charging him with."

And now this:

Julian Assange extradition: Australia lobbies US officials for his freedom

The Trump administration brought charges against Assange under the Espionage Act relating to the leaking and publication of the WikiLeaks cables a decade ago.

In any case, this WaPo piece states that the Espionage Act has become dangerous because we forgot its intention, and, moreover, asserts that the Justice Department has increasingly weaponized the Espionage Act of 1917, in order to guard government secrets. And here lies the crux of the matter: The Julian Assange case exposes how changing concepts unintentionally broadened a law.

[VikLevaPatel]

There's a lot of bitching and backbiting going on and all of that. Expect a lot of bitching to continue in the future.

This "Public Enemy Number One" of the Establishment, it seems, can do NO WRONG.

Indeed, one writer, Kimberley Caines, goes as far as to say that "he has well-and-truly done his time and deserves to come home."

As if there wasn't enough going on in this spooky booby-hatch, they go and drag the David Hicks case into it!

And if all that wasn't enough to convince you, this should do the trick:

"Assange endured self-imposed exile in the Embassy of Ecuador in London for seven years, followed by his arrest and incarceration in Britain’s Belmarsh Prison — all because he published a series of leaked documents."

All because of — what? All because of leaks of classified information. That's all, that's all.

Translation: Move along, now. Nothing to see here, folks.

Why can't everyone leave him alone? He's surely suffered enough. Just leave him alone. Julian didn't do nuffin'!

6kg7nw.jpg

He can do no wrong here, even when he does. No crime was committed, and Julian has certainly not committed any crime. That is what they would have us believe. He is a man who seems to think he can do no wrong, a man who does not know just how much he does not know.

Moreover, and not surprisingly, Ms Caines thinks that the government is simply not doing enough. Haven't I heard this somewhere before? This is a reallllllly old, worn out line of thinking.

This article provides a brief but useful description of the man himself and of the site.

WikiLeaks didn’t gain mainstream global attention until 2010 — when it published more than 91,000 highly classified US military documents about the war in Afghanistan, and then an additional 400,000 classified documents on the Iraq war. The information was leaked to WikiLeaks by former US military personnel Chelsea Manning. This was, by all accounts, the largest leak of classified information in US military history. He continued to leak classified documents after the initial two leaks — including more than 250,000 more documents later in 2010. Naturally, the US is super upset about this and wants to convict Assange on 18 federal espionage-related charges, which could result in a sentence of up to 175 years in prison.

This section provides a brief but baffling description of the Act itself.

At its core, the Espionage Act is designed to prevent military and government personnel from accessing classified information and giving it to foreign governments, who can then use the information against the US. Basically, it’s designed to stop foreign spies. However, the Espionage Act does not allow for any sort of public interest defence, which means — in the eyes of the law — a jury can’t differentiate between a spy selling classified documents to a foreign government, and a whistle-blower exposing war crimes to the press. Obviously, these are two wildly different things.

The decision, of course, will be the subject of a final appeal within the British legal system by Assange’s lawyers. But Patel's announcement, says Oscar Grenfell, underscores the increasingly imminent danger that Assange will be dispatched to the US, where he faces 18 Espionage Act charges, carrying sentences of up to 175 years in prison, for exposing US-led war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and other allied abuses.

Here's something to ponder: How is Britain controlled by European courts?

This report reveals much about his character and lays bare some very strange and sobering facts about his history and about his personality:

By all accounts, Assange is an unappealing character who has been brazenly reckless, imprudent and unwise, if not stupid, in his actions and cavalier about other people’s lives in seeking to expose classified official information. He certainly has an unsavoury background. Having jumped bail in England in 2012 to escape an arrest warrant for extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault charges which were later dropped, he took refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London for 7 years but was later rearrested and has been held since then at a UK high security prison. His extradition to the US was then blocked by a UK judge because of concerns about his mental health.

His supporters, of course, believe he is a gallant "knight in shining armor" and "the greatest thing since sliced bread," and they will tell you, moreover, that he was merely exposing what had been "covered up" by the "close-knit establishment." In actuality the truth, itself, is the weapon. But there's a problem with this argument. As this same article rightly points out:

But many people wonder whether it can ever be acceptable in a democratic society to allow a self-appointed organisation like WikiLeaks to determine what ought to be exposed in the public interest and thereby justify the theft and leaking of classified information belonging to an elected government. It is argued that it went beyond the limits of investigative journalism, since, according to the US indictment, it involved conspiring to crack government computer codes and proactively, systematically and illegally hacking into government-owned computers containing classified material. Others, however, suggest that, rather than espionage, these acts – serious as they were -- amounted to no more than criminality rather than espionage.

So, Assange is really a bit of a nuisance and clearly does not deserve much, if any, sympathy. Or so we're led to believe. Yet the same article also raises clear questions about free-speech issues and asks whether it is "ever a crime to publish truthful information." They certainly pose highly relevant and constitutionally significant questions. Here's another question along the same lines: "Is there a danger that harsh treatment of him might embolden authoritarian states who regard a free press as their worst enemy."

Regardless of the outcome, the case "has the possibility to have some major impacts on press freedom in the US."

[VikLevaPatel]

Hunger is dehumanizing and is a dehumanizing force. And the starving of civilians is a "method of warfare" and is an ancient tactic of warfare. I'm sure I read somewhere that starvation is also the Jews's preferred method of dealing with enemies. In other words, they like to starve their enemies. I must have an incredible memory. In other words, the skin and memory of an elephant.

Well, fear not, they (Jews) are not alone in this regard.

Food is most certainly a weapon

In the last year the signs of a coming food crisis have been visible to all but the willfully blind. And things are about to get a whole lot worse. At the moment it's only the tip of the iceberg. "The war in Ukraine has shown how fragile the food system is," says Thomas Jonas, the CEO and co-founder of Nature's Fynd, a company that uses fungi to make meat and dairy substitutes. The world is, officially, indisputably, that fucked up. Simply put, in the Rolling Stone's own words: "the way we grow and distribute food is deeply fucked up."

Bucharest, Rome and the politics of starvation

The U.S. has historically used food as a tool of foreign policy, and with the increasing dependency of the U.S. on the raw supplies of the underdeveloped world, there is growing talk of using food to blackmail nations into adopting population control programs. One such proposal came in Rome by former U.S. government official Richard Gardner, who suggested a "global survival pact" under which rich nations would conserve food, energy, and raw materials in return for commitments by Third World nations to change their suicidal demographic, agricultural and environmental practices.

Concerned Demogr. Winter 1974;4(2):36-9.

Here's some more interesting information on the starvation issue.

Starvation is one of the oldest weapons of war. Romans used it to defeat and destroy Carthage in 146 B.C. The tactics have changed little over time. They include destroying food, farms and water supplies and cutting off besieged enemy populations.

It’s tempting to think that only totalitarians would use food as a weapon. Russia’s war on Ukraine today echoes the Holodomor, dictator Josef Stalin’s subjugation of Ukraine by starvation in 1933.

Adolf Hitler’s “Hungerplan” starved 4.2 million Soviet citizens to death in World War II. In 1977, Cambodia’s Pol Pot used mass starvation as a tool of titanic social reengineering in his Year Zero effort to turn his country into a purely agrarian nation.

But liberal states are not innocent. The Lieber Code of 1863, which President Abraham Lincoln issued to instruct the Union army on the limits of hostilities, provided that it is “lawful to starve the hostile belligerent, armed or unarmed,” specifying that fleeing civilians could be driven back into a besieged location “so as to hasten on the surrender.” The U.S. Department of Defense did not formally renounce this legal position until 2015.

This was not merely a paper doctrine. The Atlantic powers used mass starvation as a weapon in both world wars, employing comprehensive maritime blockades as a favored tactic.

The U.S. went so far as to call its effort to encircle the Japanese homeland in 1945 Operation Starvation. Britain used the same phrase for its mass civilian relocation program designed to defeat communists in Malaya in the 1950s.

When the Geneva Conventions, key treaties governing warfare, were drafted after World War II, the U.S. and Great Britain successfully resisted efforts to prohibit such methods, ensuring that starvation of civilians would remain permissible in war for several more decades.

The first significant steps toward outlawing starvation tactics came after war-driven famines in Nigeria’s breakaway Biafra region in the late 1960s and Bangladesh in 1972 and 1974. In 1977, nations adopted two additional protocols to the Geneva Conventions, each of which included the prohibition of “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.” Those protocols have been ratified by 174 and 169 states, respectively.

In 1998 the International Criminal Court Statute codified starvation methods as a war crime in international armed conflicts. A 2019 amendment expanded this doctrine to cover noninternational armed conflicts – conflicts between states and organized armed groups, or between organized armed groups. In addition to food, the legal definition of starvation also includes deprivation of water, shelter and medical care.

Without enough food, there is only hunger, chaos, and violence.

OK, I get it. World population is projected to grow. Yet, in the meantime, food productivity is indisputably in fast decline. This world is really fucked up right now and everything more-or-less sucks on a daily basis. So bad that it cannot be cursed enough.

Let the Hunger Games commence.

[VikLevaPatel]

POLITICIANS,
LIKE DIAPERS,
SHOULD BE
CHANGED OFTEN.
AND FOR
THE SAME REASON.

dia.jpg

What is politics? The broadest definition of politics, say Michael Rosen ‎and Annemarie Young (2019), is that it's about the use of power in all situations – from personal relationships to state power. Any use of power that influences behaviour is political.

Few would disagree with Edward Langley's comment, "What this country needs are more unemployed politicians."

I briefly define them here:

Politicians are like airlines. You can fly them economy, business or first class.

Politicians are also a fickle lot, and they are unpredictable.

Moreover, they are always happy to pander.

And let's not forget, politicians are no one's friends.

And they are certainly not noted for consistency.

This last one is probably the most frequently stated point, and probably the most realistic one as well.

Politicians are only interested in power and lining their own pockets.

So Long, Bertie Johnson

Goodbye to the Nominally Conservative Boris Johnson

The Guardian view on Boris Johnson’s resignation: good riddance

The prime minister has bowed to the inevitable, but he remains defiant and petty, and is still a threat to Britain

Some want instant replacement

'We don't like him either': Russia responds to Boris resignation

Boris Johnson: a terminal case of hubris syndrome

'Reminder of how tough politics can be': PM Albanese reacts to Boris Johnson's resignation

Johnson always unfit for office: Starmer

British Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says it's good news for the country that Boris Johnson will resign as prime minister "but it should have happened long ago". "He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale," Starmer said on Thursday. "And all those who have been complicit should be utterly ashamed." Johnson is expected to announce his resignatiion on Thursday following a series of scandals and mass resignations from his government. Starmer said the Tory party had inflicted chaos upon the country during the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. "They have been in power for 12 years. The damage they have done is profound. "Twelve years of economic stagnation. Twelve years of declining public services. Twelve years of empty promises."

Has he got a point? And is Labor any better?

BoJo was "the best one available" at the time, (which isn't saying much), and just in case anyone has forgotten, most of our elections really seem to come down to the lesser of two evils.

The absolute state.

Hitler would never let things get to this.

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...378/#385619373

All 3 of the white candidates are fucking embarrassing, why join the "CONSERVATIVE" Party if you are not Conservative. Whilst pol will berate the others just for being asian, the fact they at least come out with more hard speech is better than the aforementioned embarrassments.

it's literally illegal to be conservative in the UK if you're white

Literally just be courageous and speak your mind whenever you're around reasonable people in a polite and intelligent way, qny weaselly lefties can be easily rebuked and put down by staying calm but strong and properly articulating yourself. Speak your mind, anon, just don't be crass. If you get a fine or jail, drag your heels and contact media immediately, force them to make you a martyr.

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...521/#385709620

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER CANDIDATES AND THEIR VIEWS OUTLINED

>Grant Shapps has told close allies that his leadership bid will focus on bread and butter issues and disregard "small-minded matters", seeking a return to Cameron-style economic liberalism.
ok

>Sajid Javid is preparing a campaign based on cutting taxes and waging a culture war, according to BBC sources.
do you trust this guy waging a culture war considering the state of london

>Penny Mordaunt is preparing to run as an analogue to Kamala Harris or Jacinda Ardern, pledging to be a "moderate, liberal voice, standing firmly against extremism."
>run as an analogue to Kamala Harris
lol.lmao.

>Priti Patel is reportedly considering a leadership bid and will pledge to "gut legal immigration, slash taxes, end illegal immigration and wage a victorious cultural war against the far-left" if chosen, according to a former PPS and close ally.
>priti patel

>Tom Tugendhat has told a group of backbench Tory MPs that if he won leadership, his main focus would be on "spreading liberal values worldwide and reshaping British society to defend itself against the threat of the far-right."
tom what

>Nadhim Zahawi has told several Tory MP groups that if he is made Prime Minister, "[he] will make Margaret Thatcher look like Jeremy Corbyn in terms of policy."
is that the best line he could come up with. i have no fucking clue what that means.

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...521/#385704265

They're all shit and steering the UK towards destruction.

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...378/#385620779

>Tom Tugendhat has told a group of backbench Tory MPs that if he won leadership, his main focus would be on "spreading liberal values worldwide and reshaping British society to defend itself against the threat of the far-right."
WOW THE BIGGEST ISSUE IN OUR SOCIETY TODAY, THE FAR-RIGHT.
wtf. What far-right?
Oh and like clockwork he's a souf.

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...521/#385704925

And now it's all gone backwards.

The absolute state of British "conservatism".

The absolute state of Britain post-2022.

>Penny Mordaunt is preparing to run as an analogue to Kamala Harris or Jacinda Ardern, pledging to be a "moderate, liberal voice, standing firmly against extremism."

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...138/#385674618

>The 3 white candidates run on neoliberal status quo platforms

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...521/#385709605

>1 in 8 people in Britain are now taking antidepressants
>Pound hits two-year low against dollar
>Your new "Conservative" Prime Minister.

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...198/#385666497

One in eight people taking antidepressants as pandemic blues linger

Charities said the official figures were an “alarming” sign of an escalating crisis, with the numbers taking the pills rising by more than half a million in one year. The statistics show a record 8.3 million people being prescribed the drugs, of whom two thirds are female.

[VikLevaPatel]

"Let the fun begin!" Let the countdown begin. Let the games begin!



At the very least, let it begin.

It's hard to feel any sympathy (or empathy) for the current state of affairs. On the contrary, it is certainly easy to feel anything but sympathy for the world's current plight. And lack of empathy is obviously in my genes. Advanced genetic testing has shown this to be the case. Let me be very blunt: there should be no mercy. As instructed and prophesized in the Book of Psalms. Especially verse 106:34. That verse always reminds me of the plight of my Steppe (Pastoralist) and Iranian (Farmer) ancestors. See this post:

https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...=1#post7528434

A depressing state of affairs, but at least the ancient Israelite prophets seemed to agree on what the situation called for. And here no mercy or pity should be shown.

A question was asked recently about a coming "global famine" on the 4chan/pol/ site:

How would a mass die off in the billions affect those who survived? Would it be impossible to get back to normalcy?

And there's a response to this thought worth noting here. We should take heed of this quotation and precious tidbit:

Not much. North America and Europe are massive food exporters and the first thing that would happen in a food shortage situation is that the US/Canada and the EU/Ukraine/Russia stop exporting food. This means almost everyone on the Middle East/North Africa dies, around half the population of Sub-Saharan Africa dies, and 25%-50% of East Asians die. Lots of people in India probably die because it's a shithole and that's just what happens. Everyone else is either a food exporter or is right next to one. So think Mexico, for example. They're lucky to be next door to the US and Canada and in a free trade zone. They'll be fine, especially since they produce lots of food themselves. See the attached map for reference. If you are in a green or blue country you are just fine. If you are in a yellow country that's next door to a green or blue, you are probably OK, but might need to tighten your belt. Everyone else just starves to death. And if you look at where people will starve to death, no one will give a shit in real terms, only in abstract terms. The coming famine will make food more expensive for the West, and will lead to mass deaths most other places.

Droughts and famines, for one thing, are of common occurrence from the dawn of civilization in the Indian sub-continent. As the journal Biovigyanam (1985) has correctly observed. In his splendid book, "Capital, Interrupted" (published by University of Minnesota Press), Vinay Gidwani authoritatively covers, among many other subjects, the harrowing and excruciating famine in Gujarat, and makes the salient observation that the "Patels were able to turn a series of drought and famine years in the early part of the twentieth century into economic opportunity by migrating in large numbers to East Africa, repatriating hard-earned surplus capital from wage labor and trade to consolidate their control over land in Gujarat." Not only that, but by the time of Independence, with caste heroes such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the helm of Congress Party politics, Patels had become a national force and the undisputed power-holders in Gujarat.

And so let the fun begin.

[VikLevaPatel]

The absolute state of Britain post-2022.

From what I can see, there is an unwritten law across both sides of the Atlantic that you can only make it to the top, that is, to the highest political office in the land, if you're at least "half-white".

As the cases of Barack Obama and Leo Varadkar indicate, and in fact, you could say, as they have made crystal clear all along.

Indians themselves absolutely hate this all-too-visible election line up. Indeed, the high visibility of South Asians is a great matter of concern among South Asians. And for a good reason, too.

This is "certainly not going down" well with most Indians. And they will tell you frankly: it is detestable, even laughable and grotesque. And this is certainly cause for concern. And the consequences of such visibility are potentially concerning. This person probably speaks for the majority of Indians when he writes:

"Please don't make him the PM. He does nothing for Indians and is a complete stooge. Yet he will use Indians as election bait."

This one, even more so. He speaks for the majority of South Asians when he makes those pronouncements.

As a pajeet, I really doubt he would win, as British already have the sentiment that they are superior to India and Indians, so I really doubt they'd vote for their presumed subordinate.

I doubt Bongland is as mentally pozzed as USA

I fucking hope this is the case. Get a white guy in. I don’t want to get fucking hate crimed when this Hindu c*nt fucks up

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...238/#385841033

And the consequences of this are not trivial. The consequences of this are serious. The consequences of this are many and varied.

I'll add a few more. The consequences of this are obvious and profound. And it is all too plain to see. Moreover, unfortunately, the consequences of this are as dramatic as many people fear.

#ReadyForRishi? Not even once.

Here's an update on my previous post: https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...368/#386020368, https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...368/#386020398

Oh, what a f*cking bloody mess. F*ck! I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding!



Churchill is surely turning in his grave.



Thanks, Boris. You will never be a Disraeli or a "Dizzy".



And Dishy Rishi is obviously the worst option. And as is, I believe, correctly pointed out here, "[t]he fucking state of this "country" when two Indian women are the most based candidates. For me it’s priti or braverman."

The absolute fucking state of this. Indeed so.

It seems that, as the French say, the more things change, the more they remain the same.



This is a good question for which I have no answer.

lmao why are all the whiteys pozzed and brown ones actually conservative?

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...368/#386021182

And there is some truth to this.

Darkies can get away with actually based views, white people have to appease degenerates
Sorry state of affairs

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...368/#386021610

And as for Dishy Rishi. Is his height an issue here? Napoleon syndrome?

Everything about him, you could say, is detestable, even his physique, his smallness. And everything bad you could say about a person, you could say about him.

Alright, so he's a fucking midget! And probably suffering from 'Napoleon Complex' or 'Short Man Syndrome' – the idea that shorter men are overly aggressive and overcompensate for their height. And he's the one the media is shilling for as well. Good grief, no.

Indeed, Dishy Rishy has the most virulent case of Short Man Ego Overcompensation Syndrome since Napoleon Bonaparte.

Again, as noted here on 4plebs.org, "[p]eople liked him when he was handing out gibs but immediately forgot about him afterwards. Good luck getting bazza down the local to vote for a "darkie". The reaction of the working class who got the tories into power in the first place to him on tv is going to be "corr, he's picked up the language well.""

Some might call this Dishy Rishy Syndrome. Or even better, Sunak Syndrome. But just to be absolutely sure, this "Little Man Syndrome" isn't only his, but large swathes of the Indian population are affected with Small Man Syndrome and this number is expected to triple or quadruple by 2050, since the average Indian (South Asian or "Asian Indian") height is expected to shrink further.

wtf? i honestly had no idea rishi was a midget.

He's Indian. Have you ever heard of an Indian man above 5'8?

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...209/#293489231

Reminder: This paki is like 5'4 and tries really hard to hide it kek

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...238/#385844751

Priti Patel
>Hardline anti-immigration
>Wants to break international law to allow more deportations
>Wants to cut taxes
>Wants more police in cities
>Supports stop and frisk on black men
>Describes herself as socially, politically, economically and culturally conservative
>Pro-Brexit
>Hindu, Ugandan-Indian background
>Once told a friend that she "loves white men more than any other woman on Earth."
>Pro-British Empire

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...368/#386020398

Sajid Javid
>Thatcherite
>Remainer
>Pledges to cut taxes and spending
>From a muslim background but says he is not religious, Pakistani background

Nadhim Zahawi
>Favours massive tax cuts on income, corporations and national insurance
>Promised to increase pay for teachers by 9%
>Wants to introduce a cap on immigration of 50,000 per year
>Leaver
>Muslim, Kurdish background

Rishi Sunak
>Socially liberal
>Wants higher taxes and spending
>Trying to sell himself as "fiscally responsible"
>Leaver
>Hindu, Ugandan-Indian background

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...368/#386020368

Suella Braverman
>Pledged to get rid of "woke nonsense" in society
>Anti-LGBT
>Pro-Brexit
>Advocates for breaking international law to allow for deportation of migrants and solving issues with Northern Ireland
>Hard Brexiteer
>Wants to lower taxes
>Described herself as a "lover of the British empire" and that it was "the greatest force for good the world has ever seen"
>Buddhist, Indian background

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...368/#386020911

And there is too much of the smell of conspiracy in the air. It seems strange, to say the least. How tiresome, confusing, undramatic, and underwhelming. We live in strange times.

Yeah it's so strange. Most British politicians have a slow, methodical climb to the top. They work just about every ministerial job before eventually getting the big one.

This fucker just popped up one day as chancellor and oh now he's going to be PM 12 months later.

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...328/#386028400

>Puts in place some of the worst and most short sighted policies in decades
>Resigns
>PM quits
>Applies for his job
Is this guy for real?

https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/threa...328/#386035143

[VikLevaPatel]

Interesting times in British politics, and all this is new in British politics. But I can't say I've taken much interest in British politics, except as it involves the UK's "international relations".

Here are the cold hard facts.

Let me share with you my first cousin's response to this email. A family member sent him this message a few days ago, but, oh, what a difference a few days makes. Even a few days matter. (Or, in this case, what a difference two days make). And in Dishy Rishi's case, what a difference 12 months can make. SAME man, same place, but what a difference a year can make. This cousin of mine is a British Asian and a dentist by profession, but aren't they all? And he is married to a Tiwari Brahmin, with two kids in tow. Anyway, here it is in all its glory.

It seems Ben Wallace will get the job
UK is not ready to have a PM of colour - that’s the reality
It not competence
It is perception that matters

BJ dug his own demise
Too sure too brash
Did not carry himself with dignity
Just because he garnered votes in the last election did not give him license to do whatever he liked

His entire ministry got sick of his tantrums

Most importantly I personally do not like to see leaders treated in this way

Yes the cut and thrust of politics is getting nasty everywhere

Yes agree . The trouble with the Indians is they won't last on parliament as Pm and the population are sickened by their personal wealth . The man on the street will say ' I don't mind brown boys as long as they stay in hospital or supermarkets' it's rude but reality here but
Let's see Politics is most unpredictable old chap

And, if I read him right, he believes their wealth is very much resented, and the ethnic white British people are sickened by it. And at the same time, the browns desperately want to "fit in", as pointed out here. Frankly, I'm glad that he's being that honest. But that's the rude reality of the world. It would, indeed, be better for everyone to accept the realities on the ground, or the "ground realities", and in this instance, moreover, it would be in the "best interests" of the nation or society, and of the safety and security of everyone in society, to accept the hard, stark, brutal reality that race matters.

That's the cold reality of it. It may sound wrong, but it's the cold hard truth.