Since I left off the news in today's weekly watch I wanted to at least throw together a quick look at the proxy war between NATOstan and Russia. I hope you will add news sources you find reliable in the comments below as we all grapple with the end of empire.

Scott has a new channel.
but oops...it has been disappeared which speaks volumes... but now it is back again.

Gonzalo has a new channel too.

My only other social media: https://twitter.com/GonzaloLira1968
Because I've lost access to all my accounts and channels to the SBU (Ukraine's secret police), I don't have any way to promote my content—so please be so kind as to share this video with anyone whom you think might learn something. GL

The fighting is intensifying around him. 2022.05.08 What Living In A War Is Like

If you want to see this war from the ground Patrick Lancaster has been doing excellent work.
First Look Look with First Western Journalist In Russia & DPR Controlled Azovstal Territory Mariupol (Special Report)

After many months of intense fighting in Mariupol fighting has come to almost a standstill as of the newest ceasefire declared yesterday. 05/06/22. A month ago we should you how there was intense street battles across the city but day by day as DPR and Russian forces have taken control of more and more parts of the city the fighting has winded down to just a very small pocket of the city with only some Ukraine forces being in part of the Azovstal plant underground with many civilians. Yesterday I spent the day on the Azovstal territory a only heard one explosion. At least 12 civilians were released by the Azov. In this report I show you part of the territory of the Azovstol and talked to the Russian and DPR soldiers who are fighting for the Azovstal.
There are talks among the locals that the Russian and DPR forces are planning a May 9th Victory day celebration in Mariupol. Kids play freely in the streets in most of the city. Weeks ago Russia declared victory in Mariupol. The city is being cleaned and already some areas starting to be rebuilt. Life is coming back to Mariupol. It seems it is just a matter of time before the Azovtstal plant and Mariupol no longer has any Ukrainian troops in it so there is no question that the major fighting is over. Now it is time for our team to move forward to some of the other breaking news areas in Donbass and beyond

and one more... Ukraine Snipers Killed Civilians In Mariupol Says Residents

Another interesting channel is TOM, a French report with subscrpts. Here a historical perspective of US aggression.

and one more short to give you a taste.
The Mystery of the General
General Trevor Cadieu, a former top Canadian Army officer, has been in the Ukraine since April. There are rumours he was captured while trying to escape Azovstal. So far, there is no official confirmation from any source that he has been really captured. It’s odd that he would be in Azovstal anyway, if he’s so important. In any case, his backstory is interesting.

Alex is my go to guy for basic updates...
I enjoy seeing Cyprus scenes as he strolls around and discusses the day's news.
from yesterday...
Azovstal hostages, Kharkov retreat. Orban strong, Scholtz ready to kiss Elensky ring. Update 1

Borderless, Poland and Ukraine. India buys more Russian oil. Chelsea money to "charity." Update 2

The Duran is also good. Here's an example -
Pentagon denies involvement in targeting Russia. Neocons prolong war to bleed Russia

Another interesting source is....
The New Atlas which provides geopolitical analysis by Brian Berletic (aka Tony Cartalucci) ex-marine based in Bangkok, Thailand.
US Downplays Russia's Slow and "Uneven" Progress in Ukraine

I often find breakthrough news insightful as well.

As the United States escalates the war in Ukraine by sending another $33 billion, the possibility of nuclear war is coming into focus. Brian and Greg Mello discuss how the U.S. policy of waging proxy war on Russia via Ukraine raises the threat of a direct confrontation between the two nuclear-armed powers. What is the United States’ strategy in this nuclear game of chicken and what are the dangers of nuclear war?

Sometimes I find India's WION reliable like most of this clip. They tend to be anti-China so you have to keep that in mind.
How Defense Giants are making billions from the Ukraine war

The Ukraine-Russia war is being called a frozen conflict. For major arms manufacturers - it has opened a new line of revenue. Who is benefiting from the war in Ukraine? Palki Sharma tells you how the military-industrial complex is winning.

Scott Horton's podcast is often good.

Scott interviews Retired Colonel Douglas Macgregor about the war in Ukraine. Scott recently interviewed William Arkin who believes the Russians are actually losing this war. Macgregor has a very different take, and Scott gives him the opportunity to address Arkin’s argument. Macgregor shares his view of how the war has unfolded so far and how he expects it to evolve. He believes the Russians will pivot and attempt to occupy Eastern and Southern Ukraine. He thinks a battle for Odessa is looming and that the Russians will succeed in this endeavor. Scott then asks about reports about the Biden Administration’s new overt intentions to fund another color revolution in Belarus. Macgregor gives his take on how it may happen and then predicts that the Kremlin will respond with similar attempts in Latin America. Lastly, Scott and Macgregor talk about some of the institutional barriers facing those who want to change the foreign policy status quo in Washington.

My first go to print source is: https://www.antiwar.com/

I also like to check out Moon of Alabama
U.S. Pushes Fake Stories To Goad Russia Into Escalation

The geniuses (not) at the National Security Council want to goad Russia into direct attacks on U.S. forces or interests. That would give the U.S. an excuse to further escalate the war in Ukraine into an open confrontation. It would also diverts the attention away from domestic problems. To achieve this the NSC has pushed a number of stories to the media which claim that alleged Ukrainian successes are based on U.S. intelligence.

They often have a Ukraine open thread.

I also appreciate Caitlin's work https://caitlinjohnstone.com/
Ukraine Alone Makes Biden The Worst US President In A Long Time

It’s just a simple fact that the Biden administration is actually hindering diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to this war, and that it has refused to provide Ukraine with any kind of diplomatic negotiating power regarding the possible rollback of sanctions and other US measures to help secure peace. Washington’s top diplomats have consistently been conspicuously absent from any kind of dialogue with their counterparts in Moscow.

Statements from the administration in fact indicate that they expect this war to drag on for a long time, making it abundantly clear that a swift end to minimize the death and destruction is not just uninteresting but undesirable for the US empire. Ukrainian media report that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Zelensky on behalf of NATO powers that “even if Ukraine is ready to sign some agreements on guarantees with Putin, they are not.”

So using sources like these my take is Russia is slowly destroying the Ukrainian army. Europe is committing economic suicide, and the US is doing everything to prolong the war. The irony is all the US escalation is impacting US citizens worse than the Russians. As expected we in the US aren't handling the end of US empire well. There literally is no telling how this all plays out, but if we avoid nuclear annihilation, the US will be a more degraded nation. Get your garden growing or establish some connections with your local producers. I'll close with a warning from Chris...
Will You Starve to Death This Year?

The economy does not produce energy. It uses energy. It depends on energy. No energy = no economy. It’s a very simple equation really, and one that is easily intuited. But somehow, we have unserious people making unserious decisions that will have entirely serious consequences and I’d like you to avoid them as much as possible.

Currently, diesel prices in the U.S. and Europe are signaling that serious shortages are now upon the western world. What does this mean? Well, it simply means that less diesel will be used than before. High prices and actual shortages tend to have that effect. Which products or services will be diminished as a result? That I cannot say. Nobody can because our economy is actually a complex system which means it is inherently unpredictable.

Millions of independent decisions made by producers, consumer and transportation companies will combine into some sort of new behaviors. All we can do is know they are coming and watch them as they emerge.

For example, who could have predicted the sequence of events that caused natural gas to skyrocket in price leading key fertilizer companies all over the world to limit their production, if not shut it down entirely? How was it possible that various governments merely shrugged at this outcome and let it happen without using some of their free-spending habits to shore up this critical, vital component of farm productivity?

It would all be comically bad theater if it weren’t so deadly serious.

This fertilizer shortage – again, expressed as skyrocketing prices because supply, demand and price all balance out – has now translated into critical spring farming applications not being carried out, which in turn will result in massive food shortages and starvation later this year.

How bad will it be? We don’t know yet, but the early estimates place the yield declines at anywhere from 10% (for rice) to as much as 40% for Peru’s output. To put this in context, note that each year supply and demand are very tightly balanced, and usually match each other with only a very low single-digit percentage variance. A 10% decline in yields would be devastating. A 40% decline would be apocalyptic. Anything in between and you can pick your own adjective.

Just as bad, and another piece of the puzzle few consider, is that while the weight of the harvest may only be down 10%, the decline in food quality may be as troublesome. Failing to fertilize spring wheat will result in a decline in its protein content leading to a much poorer food stuff.

Add it all up and what do we have? You need to plant a garden. Please. I’ve been saying this for a couple of years now, and I think the fact that global publications are all now mentioning food shortages should be sufficiently motivating to all. Please. Plant a garden. Even a few planter boxes on a balcony. You can "go in" with someone nearby or join a local Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) group or strike a deal with a local farmer. You won’t regret it.

It’s quite urgent that you do one or several of these things as soon as you can.

These are interesting times and staying informed in these days of censorship and cancel culture make it even more difficult. That is one of the good things about the C99 community... staying informed and sharing resources. I hope you will add sources you find reliable in the comments below!