This week the NATO warmongers gathered in DC to rattle their small ineffectual sabres like petulant children led by a blithering idiot. Neil Oliver suggested this week that these leaders reminded him of the sorcerer's apprentice in Fantasia, when Mickey gets carried away with the use of magic to do his chores...but things quickly get out of hand. (Fantasia - The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Part 1), (Part 2). (Part 3) posted below...3 min)

In this analogy, who is the sorcerer that comes in and straightens out the mess?
Putin, Orban, Trump,...?

Trump shooting update:

Trump Gunman Reported To Be Thomas Matthew Crooks

• Shooter identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, NY Post
• Trump has responded, saying on Truth Social “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”
• Secret Service says one spectator was killed and two were critically injured.
• Former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear by a would-be assassin at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
• Trump could be seen grabbing his ear and falling to the ground, before standing up and walking off stage.
• Approximately nine shots rang out.
• A member of the crowd, as well as the shooter, are dead following the assassination attempt.
• One Trump supporter says he alerted Secret Service before the shooting and was ignored.
• Trump’s team reportedly asked for ‘beefed up protection’ and was rebuffed over and over by Biden DHS.

According to The Federalist’s Sean Davis, “A source familiar with Trump’s security detail tells @FDRLST that the former and future president’s detail has been asking for beefed up protection and resources for weeks, but has been rebuffed time and again by Biden’s DHS. DHS, which oversees Secret Service protective detail “wasn’t responsive to those requests” for more resources, the source said.”

Based on the link above of the shooter witness. one might think it was a deep state inside job.

Now back to the regularly scheduled OT...

Much like Mickey, western leaders have let things get out of hand. As Chas Freeman says, "They've inhaled their own propaganda and are now deluded"...and I'll add with their own false narrative of power and ability. Now they plan on war with China...why?...because China is aiding Russia in Ukraine. Well, China is now in Belarus participating in war games as Belarus joins the SCO

Pepe, Michael, and Alex address the importance of the SCO below...

Pepe Escobar : SCO Summit a Geopolitical Game Changer (26 min)

Could the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) become the cornerstone of a new multipolar world order? Join us as Pepe Escobar returns to "Judging Freedom" to unravel the seismic shifts ignited by the recent SCO summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. Despite scant Western media coverage, this gathering brought together ten formidable nations, including Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and Iran, to forge a powerful Eurasian security framework that stands in stark contrast to NATO and Western-centric paradigms. We also delve into the intricate web of relationships within the SCO and its burgeoning alliance with BRICS, emphasizing the collaborative efforts reshaping global geopolitics.
Furthermore, we explore the nuanced positions of key SCO member states, such as India's balancing act in a multipolar world and Kazakhstan's strategic partnerships amid East-West tensions. This episode provides a gripping narrative on recent events in Ukraine, debunking initial reports and presenting a clearer picture of a missile strike's true origins.

World Shaking Up! Epic Political & Economic Earthquakes Rock the Globe! | Michael Hudson (51 min)

The SCO is quite the contrast to NATO.
MICHAEL HUDSON and RADHIKA DESAI discuss NATO as an offensive organization since its inception in this transcript.

One more discussion of the SCO with Alex Krainer
You Won't Believe What Russia and China Are Planning—This Will Change History Forever | Alex Krainer

(40 min)

Let's contrast the SCO with NATO this week...
NATO Summit: Collectively Losing Their Mind

...
So what changed since March 2022 to allow the U.S. and NATO to risk, in the previous words of Biden, “World War III?”
What’s changed is that back then the White House and the Pentagon still thought the strategy of economic and information warfare plus a proxy ground war would defeat Russia in Ukraine, and ultimately bring down Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
But for more than a year now it’s been evident that the U.S. — and NATO — have lost the economic and information war, as well as the proxy fighting on the ground in Ukraine. One year into the war, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a dinner in February 2023 that he had to face facts: Ukraine would lose the war and should negotiate a settlement with Moscow.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Macron as telling Zelensky that “even mortal enemies like France and Germany had to make peace after World War II.” Macron told Zelensky “he had been a great war leader, but that he would eventually have to shift into political statesmanship and make difficult decisions,” the newspaper reported.
...
The economic war, intended to spur Russians to overthrow their government, has failed spectacularly. The ruble did not collapse despite sanctions on the Russian central bank. Nor has the economy.
Instead an alternative economic, commercial and financial system that excludes the West has arisen with China, India and Russia in the lead, and most of Asia, Africa and Latin America taking part in what appears to be the final chapter of Western colonialism. The sanctions instead backfired on the West, especially in Europe.
The information war has failed across the world. Only the United States and Europe, which consider itself “the world,” believe their own “information.”
The proxy war is being lost on the ground, though more than $100 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine has created a bloodbath. There will either be a negotiated settlement in which Ukraine loses territory; a total Russian victory; or potentially the final war.
The U.S. pushed Russia to the brink to provoke its intervention. It began with a 30-year NATO expansion eastward with NATO exercises on Russia’s borders while calling for Ukraine to become a member, a call reiterated at the summit yesterday.
...
In his speech to the summit, Biden on Tuesday couched NATO’s aggressive designs as defensive moves to counter a non-existent Russian threat to the rest of Europe. It’s similar to dressing up Israel’s genocide as “self-defence.”
...
Until the U.S. and its Western allies accept that the World War II era is ended they will continue to lead the world towards a Third World War.
...
All this adds up to a collective madness. After innumerable wars since history began, the world is being led to perhaps its final confrontation.
At the core is NATO’s apparent belief that Putin is bluffing about using nuclear weapons to defend Russia’s sovereignty. It is simply a bluff that cannot be tested.
The only solution is the two treaties Russia offered in December 2021 and a neutral Ukraine as it was under President Viktor Yanukovych, whom the U.S. helped overthrow in 2014 in part because of it.
NATO leaders haven’t demonstrated a willingness to give up any of their collective or individual power, which is devolving rapidly into collective and individual madness.

The irony here is the west military power is extremely weak and ineffective...all as they push for escalation and more war.

US Bodycount 35 KIA After Russian Missile Strike
“During the day [July 9],” said the Defense Ministry briefer in Moscow, “the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a group strike with high-precision weapons on American HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems prepared for strikes on the territory of Crimea, as well as the venue of an official meeting of the AFU [Armed Forces of the Ukraine] command staff. The objectives of the strike have been achieved. Four US-made HIMARS MLRS launchers were destroyed, as well as up to 35 foreign specialists who serviced them.” Several hours later, the Pentagon briefer, Major General Pat Ryder, announced “a great kickoff to NATO summit events this week.”
General Ryder wasn’t referring to the largest number of US battlefield deaths ever recorded under hostile Russian fire. He had nothing to say about the Ukraine battlefield action, and the reporters attending failed to ask him about it.

We are NATO. And we’re comin’ to get ya

We are the world. We are the people. We are NATO. And we’re comin’ to get ya – wherever you are, whether you want it or not.
Call it the latest pop iteration of the “rules-based international order” – duly christened at NATO’s 75th birthday in D.C.
Well, the Global Majority had already been warned – but brains under techno-feudalism tend to be reduced to mush.
Cut to the 2024 NATO Summit Declaration – obviously redacted, with stellar mediocrity, by the Americans, with the other 31 assorted vassal members duly assenting.
So here’s the main 2024 NATO “strategic” trifecta:

1. Extra tens of billions of dollars in “assistance” to the upcoming rump Ukraine; the overwhelming majority of these funds will be slushing around the industrial-military money laundering complex.
2. Forceful imposition of extra military spending on all members.
3. Massive hyping up of the “China threat”.

As for the theme song of the NATO 75 show, there are actually two. Apart from “China Threat” (closing credits), the other one (opening credits) is “Free Ukraine”. The lyrics go something like this: it looks like we are at war against Russia in Ukraine, but don’t be fooled: NATO is not a participant in the war.
Well, they are even setting up a NATO office in Kiev, but that is just to coordinate production for a Netflix war series.
...
The joint declaration directly blames China for fueling Russian “aggression” in Ukraine: Beijing is described as a “decisive enabler” of the Kremlin’s “war effort”. NATO script writers even directly threaten China: China “cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation”.
To counter-act such malignity, NATO will expand its “partnerships” with “Indo-Pacific” states.
...“Indo-Pacific” is a crude “rules-based international order” invention. No one across Asia, anywhere, has ever used it; everyone refers to Asia-Pacific.

Pepe deals with the topic with humor and insight...

Biden sees ‘no reason’ to talk to Putin
US President Joe Biden has said he has no reason to talk with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, including about the Ukraine conflict. However, he also said he would not refuse to engage with any world leader.

Alex did a great job this week covering Biden and the NATO meeting.

We have President Putin of Ukraine and US Vice President Trump...on the same day. Hey, you laugh or cry. I prefer laughing with Alex. (30 min)

Trump, Orban, Putin: Why are all the ‘dictators’ hellbent on peace?

Back in 2008, the “dictator” Vladimir Putin delivered his now-famous speech at the Munich Security Conference where he warned his Western colleagues on the dangers of military expansion.
“NATO expansion… represents a serious provocation that reduces the level of mutual trust. And we have the right to ask: against whom is this expansion intended? And what happened to the assurances our Western partners made after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact? Where are those declarations today? No one even remembers them.”
Despite Putin’s explicit warning, NATO went on to add an additional six members to the alliance, bringing the total number to 32, with Ukraine, ignoring Moscow’s major red line, scheming to be number 33. For anybody who asserts this is only a “defense alliance” would do well to consider what America’s response would be if all of Latin America and the border state of Mexico were joining a military alliance led by Moscow.

Orban meets Trump to talk ‘peace mission’

Why Viktor Orbán Deserves The Nobel Peace Prize
Orbán’s vigorous diplomatic activities have undoubtedly stirred the waters in Brussels. Critics argue that Orbán’s methods sometimes breach diplomatic protocols, but his engagement with pivotal figures in the Ukraine conflict illustrates the kind of bravery and initiative that many modern politicians lack. Orbán’s actions transcend superficial diplomacy; he is actively striving to move continents towards real solutions during a time of great division.

NATO preparing for ‘protracted wars’ – Pentagon
“That includes ensuring we are prepared for the possibility of protracted war, which every ally must be prepared for – and not just in Europe, either,” Hicks warned.

Why Is the West Preparing for War?

One result of the just concluded NATO Summit is Germany’s decision to host US intermediate-range missiles. Prior to 2019 when Washington cancelled the INF Treaty, the treaty prevented such deployment.
The INF Treaty was signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev on December 8,1987, and the treaty was ratified on June 1, 1988. The treaty was part and parcel of ending the cold war. Reagan called the treaty a “step toward a safer world.”
... what is clear is that Washington is pushing both Europe and Russia into preparing for war, and is itself preparing. The US Senate has joined the House of Representatives in creating a draft registration system from which to field a conscripted army. The Senate’s version includes women in the draft, as equal treatment requires. Clearly, Washington sees the need for a larger army than a volunteer army can provide.
Now that the Biden regime is supplying F-16s and long-range missiles to Ukraine, weapon systems that Biden said would never be given to the Ukrainians, along with targeting information, clearly Washington’s intent is to further widen the war by carrying it deep into civilian areas of Russia. Simultaneously, Washington is using its NGOs in Georgia to orchestrate a color revolution there in order to open a second front against Russia.
...
China is the main focus of Washington’s strategy of isolating Russia. At the recent NATO Summit China was accused of being a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. By allegedly supplying armaments to Russia, China is accused of challenging “our interests, security and values.”
...
There are so few people willing to fight for America that Congress entertains proposals to enroll immigrant-invaders, paid with citizenship for fighting for American hegemony.
America has reached the point that Rome reached. Once the Roman military was German, the Germans became the emperors. The Germans did a fairly decent job compared to the decadent Romans, but the Empire was exhausted by its internal conflicts and collapsed.
Perhaps it is the collapse of the West that Putin and XI are banking on. Why bother to fight people busy destroying themselves.

They are mad, and may drag us all into nuclear annihilation.

There's no doubt the US empire is falling. Interview after interview examine the collapse...
The Summit Of Retreat: Global NATO Is Finished | Amb. Chas Freeman (37 min)
Col. Larry Wilkerson: This is the American Empire Collapsing Before Our Eyes! (40 min)
Ray McGovern EXPOSES: How NATO's Actions Are SHATTERING Any Hope for World Peace! (55 min)
Larry C. Johnson: Ukraine Crumbles as NATO Scrambles - Israel Faces Humiliation Against Hezbollah! (62 min)

It isn't just NATO, but also the oligarchs who are declaring war on the people...

(23 min)

More from Jimmy and James Corbett...
Here’s How Cryptocurrency Lost Its Way! w/ James Corbett (2.5 min)
“Climate Change Is A GIGANTIC Global Power Grab!” – James Corbett (9 min)
Free Speech Means DECENTRALIZING The Internet! w/ James Corbett (10 min)
Debunking The Official 9/11 Story! w/ James Corbett (18 min)
Entire 1 hour interview here...

I caught a couple of interesting interviews that discussed safety...and how keeping us safe has led to a weakening of our nations, cultures, and society.

Ivor discusses his wakening to propaganda through diet and food misinformation, and later the pandemic lies re-enforced his doubt in the system. Toward the end they discuss the need for risk and how the promise of safety is really no promise at all but a threat. I found it interesting. (57 min)

Prof. Doctorow also touches on the use of "safety" at about 45 min in this 56 min clip.

NATO's Unity Crumbles: Pursuing Delusional Goals Leads to Catastrophic Failure! | Gilbert Doctorow

So as the world focuses on the NATO gathering, the genocide continues in Gaza.

Gaza apocalypse and the four horsemen (2.3 min)
There is now a famine in all of Gaza. A famine on the edge of the Mediterranean, where NATO navies are lined up. With tens of thousands of aid trucks blocked from entry

George Galloway continues in a 1.5 min clip...
Gaza. If you tolerate this your children will be next
The only surprising thing about October 7 and the breakout from the Gaza concentration camp is that it doesn’t happen every October 7, or every six weeks

Chris Hedges: The Old Evil
The Palestinians want their land back. Then they will talk of peace. The Israelis want peace, but demand Palestinian land. And that, in three short sentences, is the intractable nature of this conflict.
...
Israel has ordered the largest West Bank land seizure in more than three decades, confiscating vast tracts of land northeast of Ramallah. The extreme rightwing Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a Jewish colony and is in charge of colonial expansion, has promised to flood the West Bank with a million new colonists.

Many outlets are now reporting on the Israeli "Hannibal Directive".
Max Blumenthal: Israelis Killing Their Own - #HannibalDirective (30 min)

Max Blumenthal investigates the complex and controversial topic of Israelis killing their own, exploring the implications of the Hannibal Directive. In this thought-provoking discussion, Blumenthal examines the internal conflicts within Israeli society and the military policy's role in shaping the narrative broadcast on main steam media. Blumenthal and The Grayzone were one of the first to bring to light the order from the Israeli Government to issue the Hannibal Directive to the IDF. Gain insights into the societal tensions, political dynamics, and human rights considerations at play in Israel today.

Only an anti-fascist front can save us from the abyss - 972mag
Israeli society will emerge from this war more violent, nationalist, and militaristic than ever. The work of curbing its worst impulses must start now.
...it is impossible to ignore how Israel adopted a new national ethos under the auspices of this war - one that completely abandons any lip service to the idea of democracy in favor of fascist values.

‘I’m bored, so I shoot’: The Israeli army’s approval of free-for-all violence in Gaza - 972 magazine
Israeli soldiers describe the near-total absence of firing regulations in the Gaza war, with troops shooting as they please, setting homes ablaze, and leaving corpses on the streets — all with their commanders’ permission.

Israeli Newspaper Says Country ‘Collapsing’ as 46,000 Businesses Shutter

Israel’s GDP fell by nearly 20% from October to December 2023, though it rebounded with a 14% gain the next quarter, that was less than economists expected. Roughly 46,000 Israeli businesses have shut down since October 7, according to the Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv. The Israeli economy has been declining rapidly since it launched its campaign in Gaza,particularly after the Yemen Ansar Allah movement (aka Houthi) and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon have been taking action in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. The Houthis have blockaded the Red Sea from ships it says are connected with Israel or the United States. Because of their actions, the southern port of Eilat –the country’s busiest port before the war– has been virtually shut down since October 2023. Exacerbating the situation further, foreign tourism has also collapsed during the war, and as of December, nearly half a million Israelis have left the country and that was before tensions inflamed significantly between Iran and Israel.
Meanwhile, the Ansar Allah movement has been attacking Israel’s north, forcing tens of thousands of Israelis to evacuate the area, virtually wiping out businesses in the area. However, businesses around all of Israel are struggling, the paper said, with construction and ancillary industries being hurt the most but it noted that nearly every industry is being affected. Yoel Amir the CEO of Coface Bdi, a services and credit risk management firm, told the paper that they estimate 60,000 Israeli businesses could shut down by the end of the year. “This is a very high number that encompasses many sectors. About 77 percent of the businesses that have been closed since the beginning of the war, which make up about 35,000 businesses, are small businesses with up to five employees, and are the most vulnerable in the economy,” Amir said.

The Houthis continue disrupting shipping Pepe suggests the conflict between the Saudis and Yemenis may increase.

Riyadh abhors the Yemeni resistance like the plague. Instead of Sanaa, Yemen’s recognized capital city, it supports an anti-Ansarallah’ government’ sitting in Aden, sort of recognized by the ‘rules-based international order.’ In truth, though, that government actually sits in a luxury Riyadh hotel. Ansarallah has tried hard to negotiate a prisoner exchange involving captured Saudi pilots traded for jailed Hamas members in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has not only refused but threatened that bank transfers to and from Yemen would be blocked, and Sanaa’s international airport and sea ports would be shut down. Ansarallah’s response was stark: if Yemeni banking is blocked, the Saudi Arabian banking system would be destroyed. If Sanaa airport is targeted, the same would happen to Saudi airports.
So, the war that never ended is suddenly and ominously back on track. Ansarallah would have no problem targeting Saudi Arabia’s oil production as retaliation to a full blockade – considering its proven capability with brand-new missiles and naval drones. The consequences for global oil markets would be catastrophic. Yemen represents the classic case of a fierce resistance actor in the context of the emerging multipolar, multi-nodal world. So that begs the question of where multipolar/multi-nodal champion Russia stands when it comes to Yemen’s fight. Which brings us to the fascinating case of two Yemeni delegations that recently visited Moscow. One of them, led by a senior Ansarallah official, met in Moscow with the Russian President’s Special Envoy to the Middle East (West Asia) and Africa, Mikhail Bogdanov.
They discussed not only the ongoing Gaza genocide but also what Ansarallah describes as “the American–British aggression on Yemen,” a reference to ongoing western naval operations in the Red Sea that have – unsuccessfully – sought for months to thwart Yemeni ops against Israel-bound and Israel-associated shipping vessels.

I find it almost humorous to hear the bellicose rhetoric coming out of the west. They want to take on China, but can't defeat the Houthis...nor the Taliban. As Biden would say.."come on, man."

Biden or Not, U.S. Policy on Palestine Stays the Same

Time to Cool Down!
I know many of you have been experiencing extreme summer heat. Well this last story might be cooling ...as well as amusing.

You can't make this up. Nature is curious.

Well friends, I hope you all have a great Sunday. Lot of news this week, so I hope you'll share your insights, stories and thoughts below.