I want to wish our readers a Merry Christmas. I sent out a bunch of Christmas cards this year even though I know that is one of our traditions that has been cancelled. Last year and this year I received a Christmas card from Beatrice in England. Since you did not include a return address, I will give you a special Merry Christmas from Father Christmas this year.
David DeGerolamo
See Russia Take Territory In Intense Artillery & Frontline Battle Underfire From Ukraine.
In this Report I go to the frontline in the heat of battle near Bakhmut / Artemovsk in Donbass with the Russian forces ,”Wolves” volunteer brigade, to cover the Ukraine war in Donbass. I show you how “Wolves” volunteers in intense Artillery battle support the taking of Ukraine controlled territory near Bakhmut / Artemovsk & Soledar frontline by Russian assault teams.
Watch until the end as there is something special.
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If you want a good portion, start at minute 13:45.
I have written on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” before, but it has been several years, and I think a recapitulation is in order given current events.
The ARSH 1951 film “Scrooge” starring Alastair Sim is the definitive film version of “A Christmas Carol”. It is traditional viewing for me on Christmas Eve night, and has been since childhood. For those of you with any ties to the Kansas City area, the old independent Channel 41 would show “Scrooge” at 10:00pm on Christmas Eve annually, followed by either Luciano Pavarotti’s ARSH 1978 Christmas concert, or (sigh) the non-Christian Mormon choir singing Christmas Carols.
But “A Christmas Carol” took on a whole new life and depth of meaning for me when, after my in-depth study of Diabolical Narcissism several years ago, I realized that the reason why “A Christmas Carol” is such a compelling story, is because it depicts an all-out miracle. The “transformation” of Ebenezer Scrooge is nothing less than the supernatural healing of a full-blown Diabolical Narcissist psychopath.
December 24th is the Day of Military Glory in Russia, established in honour of the capture of the Ottoman fortress of Izmail by Russian troops in 1790.
This victory was the high point of the Russo-Turkish war of 1787-1791 and a true testament to Alexander Suvorov‘s military genius.
This was one of several conflicts between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, this time sparked by the latter’s attempt to regain Crimea and other territories that had been acquired by Russia in the previous war. Despite a series of brilliant victories by the Russian forces, the Ottoman Empire was still reluctant to accept the peace terms proposed by the Russian Empire.
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The history of how Russia took and maintained control of Crimea from the Ottoman empire almost 250 years ago is not a factor in the West’s news cycles. Khrushchev (a Ukrainian) gave Crimea to Ukraine after Stalin’s death.
We have to ask why we are supporting a war in Ukraine for areas that are Russian.
David DeGerolamo
A new book has exploded on the alternative / conspiracy / fringe landscape over the past few weeks – I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense. Zerohedge, Bombthrower Media, et al, we all occupy this space. Let’s call it, “anti-mainstream”.
The book is called “The Great Taking” and there is now a YouTube video documentary of it here. You can’t actually find it on Amazon (deliberate choice by author, I presume); I bought my copy via Lulu, but you can download the PDF for free here.
At the risk of oversimplifying it: The Great Taking puts forth a warning that a virtually unknown entity called “The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation” (DTCC) is effectively the “owner” of all the publicly traded companies in the world, and in fact all debt-based assets of any kind:
“It is about the taking of collateral (all of it), the end game of the current globally synchronous debt accumulation super cycle. This scheme is being executed by long-planned, intelligent design, the audacity and scope of which is difficult for the mind to encompass.
Included are all financial assets and bank deposits, all stocks and bonds; and hence, all underlying property of all public corporations, including all inventories, plant and equipment; land, mineral deposits, inventions and intellectual property. Privately owned personal and real property financed with any amount of debt will likewise be taken, as will the assets of privately owned businesses which have been financed with debt.”
Over the course of the book, the author describes a 50-year process by which ownership of shares in public companies, and all debt collateral has been “dematerialized”.
OR
The One Quadrillion Dollars Derivatives Bubble: “The Great Taking”: How They Plan to Own It All
What happens if the DTCC goes bankrupt? Under The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) of 2005, derivatives have “super-priority” in bankruptcy. (The BAPCPA actually protects the banks and derivative claimants rather than consumers; it was the same act that eliminated bankruptcy protection for students.) Derivative claimants don’t even need to go through the bankruptcy court but can simply nab the collateral from the bankrupt estate, leaving nothing for the other secured creditors (including state and local governments) or the banks’ unsecured creditors (including us, the depositors). And in this case the “bankrupt estate” – the holdings of the DTCC/Cede & Co. – includes all of our stocks, bonds, digitized securities, mortgages, and more.
It sounds like conspiracy theory, but it’s all laid out in the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), tested in precedent, and validated by court rulings. The UCC is a privately-established set of standardized rules for transacting business, which has been ratified by all 50 states and includes key provisions that have been “harmonized” with the laws of other countries in the Western orbit. The UCC makes boring reading and is anything but clear, but Webb has diligently picked through the obscure legalese and demonstrates that the amorphous “they” have it all locked up. They can take everything in one fell swoop, without even going to court. Ideally, we need to get Congress to modify some laws, beginning with the super-priority provisions of the Bankruptcy Law of 2005. Even billionaires, notes Webb, are at risk of losing their holdings; and they have the clout to take action.
Australia is the latest country to reject a request from the United States to send warships to the Red Sea under the command of the Pentagon’s Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect commercial vessels along the critical maritime trade route from Iran-backed Houthi.
Defense Minister Richard Marles told Sky News that Australia’s military would not send a “ship or a plane” to the Red Sea but would triple the number of troops for the US-led maritime force.
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Reuters said about twenty countries have signed up for the Pentagon’s new operation. However, several countries, including Australia, Spain, Italy, and France, have rejected the Pentagon’s request to participate in the operation.
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I saw this information early this morning before Australia joined the nations abandoning the US. Or more correctly, the nations abandoning the illegal US government. On its own, this story should concern everyone. You can read this piece for a larger understanding of this situation:
In order to set the stage properly I’m going to have to go back in time. So, let’s start with October 7th and the attack on Israel by Hamas. In the October issue of the Gold Goats ‘n Guns Newsletter, I laid out why I thought everyone had an incentive to allow and/or instigate that event.
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I read the assessment by Aristophanes on Twitter before the above articles were published. If people truly understood the consequences that have already been unleased, they would understand that WWIII has begun. They would also understand that the United States will pay a large price for its actions.
What we need to understand is that Western nations are now abandoning the United States’ government. Or I should say intelligence agencies since Biden has been exposed as a puppet. What happens when the country responsible for sowing discontent and war around the world for over 50 years becomes vulnerable? We have a front row seat to find out as the stage for terrorism throughout the country is now in place. It seems even the people responsible for destroying the Republic must ensure that we are destroyed completely: internally and externally.
David DeGerolamo
I got my hair cut this week. As I walked in, the owner made a joke of my last name as a welcome. No worries. I had the other barber cut my hair. As the barber cut my hair, he asked if I was doing alright and I said fine. I like to listen instead of talking to get information.
He asked if I was going out of town for the holidays and I said no. He said he was staying home also as he did not want to travel in these times. I said that I understood as I do not travel any farther than that which would allow me to walk home. He understood and made a statement that we now live in a Banana Republic.
As I was leaving, I asked the owner for his thoughts on the Russian diplomatic jet landing in Washington, D.C. He did not hear about and asked for my opinion which I withheld. Since I had to wait for my ride home, I sat outside on the bench.
The owner came out to talk to me outside concerning the Russian jet. I told him that any war negotiations would occur on neutral ground. My best guess was that Russia was submitting evidence of US war crimes and an ultimatum to whoever is in charge. I also said that if we went to war with Russia, we would lose. The barber was incredulous and said that the US would win because Russia has inferior equipment.
I should have invested in Kool-Aid stock since people still love to drink it.
David DeGerolamo
As the sun sets here at the Winter Solstice of 2023, I would like to draw attention yet again to what, in my estimation, is one of the most strategically significant battlefield humiliations inflicted upon NATO over the course of the Ukraine War: the progressively comprehensive defeat of their precision-guided strike missile inventory — ATACMS, HARMS, JDAMS, GMLRS fired from HIMARS, cruise missiles (Storm Shadow and SCALP).
The Russians have demonstrated that they can routinely shoot down ANY species of strike missile the US/NATO can field against them — not all of them all of the time, but most of them most of the time.
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No other military on the planet has previously attested this level of capability. The US does not have it, and is at least a decade away from developing it.
h/t Matt Bracken on Twitter
