Substack SitRep 18 September 2023: Russell Brand, Julian Assange, Niger crisis etc

Russell Brand under media fire, crisis in Niger continues, more missiles for Ukraine, and Florida couple wisely sells tickets to Heaven.

My internet data nears death even though we’re only halfway through this month. Being an apprentice to Truth doesn’t pay. So I’m giving you a mega newsletter, with 165 links, so that you’re busy whilst I take a ‘holiday’ from your wonderful company.

I’ve been following the war daily for 19 months. I keep saying I’m going to deliver a Zelensky article but haven’t found the time. I need to momentarily skip writing other articles, breathe, and plan instead of being reactive. I’ll keep doing this sitrep, but that alone requires me to absorb and choose the best from over 200-300 articles, podcasts and videos weekly - it’s a full-time job.

This page is my heart whereas my fragile balls dangle from another substack. If you need something more to do, and are keen for wooziness, check out Wicked Mike’s Ghosts.

DOUBLE WAKE UP!

There was a time when advertising didn’t need a warning label or banning because common sense understood the difference between comedy and murder. Nowadays, no common sense needed as they advertise in a manner that we don’t have to think for ourselves. But I would like you to remember the good old days…

Talking about my balls, here’s…

FREE BOOK

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COLD QUOTE

Lawrence Freedman, professor of war studies at King's College London, and writer for the New Statesman, said in an interview that:

“John Mearsheimer should be in disgrace. I’ve known John for years. He’s a clever guy and a contrarian. He was the one arguing that after Ukraine got independence that it should keep hold of its nuclear weapons. And he’s now relying on Big Serge, who is a Russian-supporting blogger, as a source of military advice and dissing perfectly good people who are explaining what’s going on.”

I commented that:

“I'm interested in who makes the best argument. For Freedman to discount Big Serge, and use him to diss Mearsheimer, is absurd and tinged with Russophobia. To be expected to ignore the Russian side, which is half of this conflict, is the same as saying we should only listen to Western propaganda. That's got a terrible history of warmongering, so maybe we should ignore that inconvenience too. It's far easier to accept lies for truth than try figure out the truth for ourselves. I question the morals of anyone who takes the easy route. That path litters humanity with the limbs of the young.”

HOT QUOTE

Journalist:

“US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a sensational statement that Ukraine is ready for talks with Russia. If they start, then the United States will ‘catch up’. What do you think about this?”

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov:

“I have read this statement. It's really weird. The Americans, who conduct and direct the actions of the Kiev regime on a daily basis, should probably know what statements and documents Vladimir Zelensky and his administration are accepting.

In 2022, Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree prohibiting any negotiations with the Russian government, Vladimir Putin. The whole world knows about it. If those who direct this regime have decided that the Ukrainians should be ready for negotiations, then, probably, the first step should be for them to ‘wish’, or order, this decree, which prohibits negotiations, to be canceled.

As for our position and [their claim] that Russia does not show any readiness and desire for negotiations, this is a shame. I understand that the US Secretary of State is a busy person, but he has some experts who register and analyze what the Russian leadership says. President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that we are not avoiding negotiations. And those who leave should understand that the longer they delay, the more difficult it will be to negotiate. This is our official position. Against the backdrop of the ban on negotiations, which was signed by Vladimir Zelensky, this position should not raise any questions.

A specific example is April 2022. Then we practically initialed the final agreement, and the Americans and the British officially forbade Kiev to sign it. Maybe Antony Blinken is uncomfortable with the role that the United States plays and decided to somehow ‘whitewash’ America's position, but so far it has not worked out very well.”

HOT PICS

Taken from ‘Uncensored Headlines’:

AN IMPORTANT ARTICLE YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

• How the CIA watched over the destruction of reporter Gary Webb

10 PRIORITY LINKS

1. The Empire’s Sin City of London

2. China's media spokesman puts British journo and his country in its place (watch the short video takedown )

3. Microsoft is using a hell of a lot of water to flood the world with AI

4. World's most famous Narco wife walks to her next episode

5. The mother of all debt traps

6. Elections in Russia’s 4 new (formerly Ukrainian) regions

7. Is this the end of the Soros empire?

8. Barack Obama belongs in a fucking cage

9. Ex-British Ambassador Craig Murray on what appears to be the imminent extradition to the U.S. of Julian Assange

10. Court temporarily halts Standard Bank’s bid to shut down Independent Media in South Africa

FROM ME THE PAST WEEK

• The Assassination

• Cocaine (and Me)

• The Russia Putin inherited was Hell on Earth (the best docuseries of 2022)

• The Cold War battleground of Moldova & Transnistria

• Russian Defence Ministry Report (14 September 2023)

• A horror movie called South Africa

RUSSEL BRAND SCANDAL

• Russell Brand: So this is happening

• A few thoughts on the Russell Brand furore

• Untouchable criminals vs. Russell Brand

THE HOT WAR

• The experience of war

• Lightning strikes twice

• North Korea’s Kim arrives in Russia’s far east for summit with Putin

• Update on the just completed talks of Korean leader Kim Jong Un with Vladimir Putin

• A day trip to Mariupol (video)

• Ukraine is running out of men as hope of victory fades

• Russia doubled tank and ammunition production despite sanctions

• A Message for Lt. Colonel (retired USArmy) Daniel Davis

• Macgregor: Ukraine's war over, Zhou's war beginning

• Putin: West destroying global economic system

• Inside Ukraine’s assassination programme

• Ghosts, Ghouls and Nazis

• We must never let ourselves become desensitized to this

• ‘War is good for business,’ declares executive at London’s Global Arms Fair

• Reviewing the ‘Born in the Bloodlands’ review

• Putin doesn't think US foreign policy will change if Trump is re-elected (and he's probably right)

• Ukraine made 'Great Strides' but more work before joining EU - Von Der Leyen

• Edward Slavsquat: At least we have each other

• Russia: The US is at War against us

• With long-range missiles for Ukraine, US crosses own red line

• Missiles used or about to be used in Ukraine, and about “Russian” ICBMs in North Korea

• Ukraine winter preparations in final stage with a month to go

• Russia mulls drastic measures as domestic fuel shortage crisis grows

• Ukrainian terror coming to the West?

• Ukraine grain conflict divides EU... again

• A Skeptic war news aggregator

• Why Arabs lose wars… and we do, too.

THE COLD WAR

• The US Air Force is clearing out jungles in the Pacific to prepare for war with China

• The South China Sea’s resource wars

• Two interviews with John J. Mearsheimer

• Turkey could leave the EU if necessary, Erdogan warns

• US-China, preserving the momentum

• SA to host AGOA summit after threats by US lawmakers to pull plug

• ‘A small fish in a sea of sharks’: The isle caught between China and Taiwan

• US sanctions five Turkish firms in wide-ranging Russia crackdown

• It's all about the optics censorship and the anesthetisation of the political

LIBYA

• Humanitarian imperialism created the Libyan nightmare

• Why the Media aren't telling the whole story of Libya's floods

• Libya floods: How missed warnings and bad calls left Derna to drown

SOUTH AMERICA

• China deepens ties with Venezuela, challenging US 'hegemonic mindset'

• Costa Rica, the once-peaceful land of ‘pura vida,’ battles violence as cocaine trade grows

• Venezuela notes - September 2023

• Friday reading list on Latin America

• Colombia’s surprising new export

USA

• America's first drug cartel wasn not Colombian or Mexican, it was the Italian-Jewish mob

• Walls are closing in on Joe Biden

• The nihilism of Trump's GOP

• White Nationalism and Donald Trump

• Rebooting America

• The world ends on September 30

• Are we living the fall of Rome?

• The crisis of the Western Left

• US auto-workers on strike

• The most Wall Street Journal op-ed in the history of Wall Street Journal op-eds

• After a century, oil and gas problems persist on Navajo lands

• How housing became unaffordable and why it matters so much

• New JFK assassination magic bullet revelation

• If you hired me to solve all crime, what would I do?

• Lies, damn lies, and ineffectual third party campaigns

• A security pact with Bahrain does not serve US interests

EUROPE

• Latest round of talks between Kosovo and Serbia fails

• The Pivot: Will Labour's approach change if they win a majority?

• UK designates Wagners as terrorists

• Czech rally against Government's pro-Western policies

AFRICA

• Zimbabwe’s president appoints son, nephew as deputy ministers

• ANC says VOETSEK to budget cuts!

• Psychology of poverty

• South Africa can’t crack the inequality curse

• What is the Cheetah Generation?

• Ethiopia’s ancient times & avoiding colonialism

• 4 ways bitcoin is building African prosperity

• Six months of war between Sudan’s security forces has cost thousands of lives and displaced millions

NIGER & NEIGHBOURS

• The Good Coup vs. the Rest

• The Niger crisis explainer

• Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso establish collective defense alliance

• This week in Africa, a news round-up

• African narratives, let's see how many hold up

• USA will not permit France to invade Niger

• Niger cancels 1,000 expired diplomatic passports

• Macron says France's Niger ambassador a 'hostage' in embassy

• Power being restored in Nigeria after nationwide grid collapse

ASIA

• A closer look at China's mortuary industry

• Beijing says it now has capacity to build Taiwan high-speed rail link from Chinese mainland

• China's plan to make Fujian a zone for integrated development with Taiwan

• Xi's new New World Order 'blueprint’

• Slew of Chinese external engagements

• Xi & Maduro Establish 'All-weather Strategic Partnership'

• Gallium’s dark side, the substrate’s subplot

• I Spy with my Little Eye – on China!

EVERYWHERE ELSE

• Why Sisi is turning Egypt into a large military camp

• Photos: Survivors question rescue efforts after Morocco’s earthquake

• Syria under attack...again. The US criminal cartel is not giving up

• Counting of votes over, Armenia PM Pashinyan's party wins but loses almost ¾ of voters

• Another BRIC in the wall: What Saudi Arabia’s joining means for the world

• Rallies held nationwide as Netanyahu heads to US

HEALTH

• Mechanism for Narcissism (Part 1)

• Mechanism for Narcissism (Part 2)

• It's been 20 years

• The power of noncompliance

• The desert of the real

• NASA confirms summer 2023 was Earth's hottest on record

• Greenwashing set Canada aflame

• Climate collapse and the grim silence of our leaders

• UK Medical Regulator receives a rare battering in The Commons

• Nipah outbreak in India: What do we know about this virus and how to stop it?

• Medical debt collection is a vicious multibillion-dollar industry in the US

• How they tricked us in 2020: Are they doing it again?

• High ranking academics call bull on researchers claiming only dumb people didn't get vaccinated

• The WHO and a quick collection of news

• Should you marry for genes or money?

• No room in the lifeboat

• Amazon Deforestation down 66% from last July in Lula’s Brazil

• Three Years of COVID: A Tale of S&M

SOMETHING ELSE

• You are crazy!

• The case for optimism… and rats

• Rabbit holes and men behind curtains

• One future: Leave the central banks alone, you monsters

• Most pro-capitalist show on television

• Motivation (by less of a shithead, more of a good person)

• Gramsci and firey but mostly peaceful protests

• Ressentiment - when envy becomes political

• The decay of adult friendship in America

• Senators get schooled by Musk et al on AI

• Patents or Prizes

PODCASTS/VLOGGERS

• Chris Hedges & Stella Assange (Part 1)

• Chris Hedges & Stella Assange (Part 2)

• The vultures circling Camp Lejeune victims

• Pretoria, City on the brink

• Freddie DeBoer on the Left eating itself

• Dr. Ron Paul on the long deliberate war on our liberties

• Matt Taibbi: America this week

MEANINGFUL MUSIC

“The candy store paupers lie to the share holders
They're crossing their fingers they pay the truth makers
The balance sheet is breaking up the sky
So I'm caught at the junction still waiting for medicine
The sweat of my brow keeps on feeding the engine
Hope the crumbs in my pocket can keep me for another night
And if the blue sky mining company won't come to my rescue
If the sugar refining company won't save me
Who's gonna save me?”

‘Blue Sky Mining’ is taken from Midnight Oil’s 1990 album of the same name. Well known as Australian activists, this was their greatest musical release. ‘Bedlam Bridge’, and ‘Forgotten Years’ belong in your protest playlist too.

VIDEO NEWS

VIDEO INTERVIEWS

DOCUMENTARIES

VASBYT

In South Africa, petrol increased 14.6% this year. Compared to last year, dairy is up 14.4% and sugar 18.7%. Eggs will jump because 4 million chickens got slaughtered after catching the flu (hopefully they’re not doing that to us yet).

The situation is worse at the till than what the State describes. Everyone I speak to is suffering.

I don’t understand how the Turks, Lebanese, and Argentinians survive their inflation. A testimony to survival without revolution, but still a “WTF” imagining in my head.

Our Afrikaners have powerful words that defy full effect in translation, but one of my favourites is “vasbyt” (pronounced fuss-bait). Literally, it means “hold on” but is more about pride and perseverance no matter the fucking odds.

Vasbyt!