How the world ends

I'm writing this letter to myself. I need to talk to someone, even it is only my self. I need to believe that what happened was real.

All that I know of the past was learned by word-of-mouth histories from those who came before me and those few historians who remain now. Some matters I know directly. We don't talk much anymore to each other because it takes too much physical effort. It has been tiring to write this letter by the dim light available to me either in or outdoors, day or night. But it helps to distract me from the situation everyone is in.

I was part of the BMR or the Baltimore Metro Resistance. I was part of the BMR when I was young and I guess I still am a member now. My parents migrated to Baltimore from Virginia. They are gone now, killed in fighting by bullet, blade, bomb, artillery or missile. That's what I was told. I often wish now that I would have died with them, such are the circumstances these days.

There were other resistance groups in the former United States of America that I know of:

• Los Angeles
• Houston
• New Orleans
• Saint Louis
• Chicago
• Detroit
• Boston
• New York City
• Philadelphia
• Charlotte (North Carolina)
• and Miami.

Millions flocked to these locations in hopes of defending themselves from the brutal federal and state militaries; para-military security forces and mercenaries, and local police.

When I was very young, I became a courier in the BMR transporting everything from letters, food, ammunition, tools, medicine, water. I eventually became a competent, adaptable fighter with about an average talent for writing. There were so many thousands of us that were BMR fighters but only about 100 of us at any one time had the responsibility to compose three page letters that would serve as a narrative of the day or night's activity. The letters included stories of combat, the details of terrain, retreat or advance, stalemates and casualties, poems, puzzles, trivia, anything that could be read for a few moments of escape. Once composed the many letters written by all of us went into a zip lock plastic bag, and circulated throughout our metro area for reading.

War does funny things

War does funny things, I suppose, like bring people together or tearing them apart or both. In tearing apart the United States, the government, clearly not intending to do so, brought people together, at least in our case. Our BMR was made up of black, white, latino, asian, and mixed race fighters, young and old, LGBTQ, anyone who accepted our cause. History, race, ethnicity or class no longer mattered to any of us. Sure, their were leaders and order necessary for operations, everyone below a leader was trained in how and when to fight and with what. Tactics and strategy did not belong to an elite particularly since no one could afford to be located at a central command post.

The only reference points in time I have for a starting point for the emergence of the resistance groups, or I suppose city-states, is 2020 to 2045. Beyond that, I don't know whether it is now late in the 21 St Century or early in 22nd Century. Our oral historians told us that, at least in the then United States, martial law was declared during those years and the US Constitution and Bill of Rights were suspended. Government pensions, medical benefits, food assistance, environmental protections and every form of civilian aid were suspended apparently in about 2025 by presidential order. Elections were also suspended with the president appointing those who he thought should represent the people. Tribunals took the place of courts.

A few other presidents came and went, I was told, but the die was cast: the allure of power was too much to for anyone to care about the general populace.

These were frantic times in the BMR as everyone knew an attack by government forces was imminent. But with the number of metro areas offering refuge and armed resistance, plus the ongoing wars the government was waging overseas, there would have to be careful planning by the enemy military leaders. Our strategists and tacticians reminded us that high ranking government military commanders were plodding, conventional thinkers bound up in the false promises of technology.

I learned that during the initial setup of the BMR, major food and clothing chains, drug stores, camping and fishing outlets, boats docked of any type, fuel from gas stations, water sources, weapons of all types from gun shops and ammunition all took part in emptying their shelves and stocking all the goods at various hardened sites in the BMR. Bank vaults, below ground parking garages and wherever there was a below ground facility were stocked. Prepositioned stocks of weapons, ammo and food were stored outside the Baltimore City limits. Shipping containers loaded with canned goods or plastic water bottles were submerged in the Baltimore harbor.

Tunnel construction began in earnest, tiered defenses were setup for BMR's inner, outer and suburban areas. Choke points were set that would funnel attackers into kill zones. Booby traps, crude land-mines and even crossbows were used during the fight. Bicycles and skate boards were put to good use since fuel was severely rationed. Methods of communication had to be devised that would not emit heat because they would be detected by electronic warfare packages on enemy aircraft. We had to devise a low flying drone defense and we had to find a way to hide critical weapons and stores from satellites. Again, we lucked out because a lot of satellite and drone time was allocated by the government forces to their overseas conflicts.

Advantages

We had the good fortune to have in the BMR Johns Hopkins medical and research personnel on our side along with most of the air and space staff moving in with us from Goddard space flight center not far away. Many from nearby Fort Meade and some from the former National Security Agency joined us. I am not sure of the functions of many of those people but I know that doctors, technologists, space researchers and weapons developers were among them. We were able to develop our own drones that were used for reconnaissance.

I have heard that nearly 40 percent of those forces joined the resistance bringing with them weapons, munitions, vehicles and, more importantly, training. I learned too that a some Virginia Class Submarines, three strategic ballistic missile nuke submarines, a handful of AEGIS warships, and even one Carrier Strike Group joined the resistance too.

Of those, two Virginia Class attack submarines joined the BMR along with two AEGIS warships. Initially, no one in the BMR was sure what to do with this firepower but it didn't take long for the technologists and military personnel that came ashore to suggest good use of the Navy vessels.The one SSBN that was aligned with the BMR may have served as a deterrent to the government nuking us.  But it and one of the two Virginia attack class subs would have to take to the deep ocean to be effective. I did not learn of their fate. We were not nuked, I know that.

The other attack submarine that stayed with us had a nuclear power source. I don't understand how they did it (though we did have some pretty smart people in our camp) but they were able to move the nuclear power source to a facility deep within the BMR. I guess the idea was to use it to power a BMR of the future. I'm not sure what came of that effort though in the end it didn't matter.

The Virginia attack sub arrived to us loaded with cruise missiles and a couple of Navy SEAL units. The SEALS would push back an attack by other Navy SEALS dispatched by submersible from pro-government submarines to infiltrate and terrorize the BMR. They were essential to our defense and raiding/scouting efforts.

Cruise missiles were fired from our Virginia attack sub and I think they found their way to artillery and tank emplacements that initially surrounded us. The AEGIS warships managed to fend off some aircraft and missile attacks but ultimately succumbed to anti-ship missiles homing in on their heat signatures. The sub was eventually sunk by torpedo, I think.

The Nukes Times ended

We figured we had a fighting chance against our opponents but make no mistake: it was because events were taking place outside the United States that might make our struggle successful. It is one thing to quell an internal rebellion, quite another to succeed against 100 million resistance fighters tucked away in metro areas while trying to win wars in foreign lands, on and below the world's oceans, and in space. We figured that our opponents would eventually run short of fuel and munitions with so many to fight and we, luckily, were right.

Still, like all the other resistance groups around in the former United States and around the world , we lost thousands and thousands during the relentless barrages from air, sea and land. We started out poorly in defending the BMR on the ground but after fits and starts managed to push back our enemies. We learned that the Miami, Florida and Charlotte. North Carolina BMRs were defeated. Both Florida and North Carolina had a heavy government military presence and even with the help of those in the military that came to the aid of the resistance it wasn't enough.

We celebrated the cessation of fighting for a short time. We all were skeptical that it was really over but our scouting parties found abandoned tanks, vehicles, artillery pieces and a lot of dead and decaying bodies.  The peace was short lived. Then nukes came. And then the planet rebelled.

During some short time period, some fateful decisions were made by the former United States, Russia, Pakistan, India and China.

Who knows the sequence but the end result was horrifying. I guess the first thing to say was that China decided that US  Pacific fleet forces, the three Carrier Strike Groups there, were vulnerable. China decided to take on those forces with their conventional forces and suffered badly. The Chinese surface, subsurface and air forces were largely destroyed. Given that hundreds of millions of their own people were fighting their Peoples Liberation Army within their own borders the vaunted advantage of PLA ground forces vanished.  With their naval forces destroyed by the United States and Pacific allies, they decided to launch nuclear weapons at Japan, Okinawa, Guam and Taiwan where the US fleet had a presence. The same weapons were launched at the three carrier groups in the China area of operations with the result being the elimination of US forces.

At the same time. Russia decided that the time was ripe for moving further into Ukraine, the Baltic's and Europe, into  a barely armed Germany. Meager NATO forces supported by sacrificial US support units were no match for the Russians. Seeing defeat, the US launched scores of tactical nukes to stop the onslaught. At the same times, India and Pakistan decided to settle their scores by launching their stock of nukes at each other. Nuclear warheads flew between those two countries and around the globe. We learned that Newport News, San Diego, sub bases on the East and west coasts of the United States were destroyed by nukes. Washington, DC, Houston and New Orleans were also eliminated. Ground based missiles anywhere in the world, in our case in the Northwest, were cratered by nukes turning those places into radioactive no go zones.

The Nukes Time ended. Our skies were psychedelic with colors that defied sense. Orange, gray, blue, yellow, black colors would appear each day. It was getting cold as the sun seemed to fade into the distance. Our Geiger counters registered high but tolerable radiation. But many of us started feeling sick.

We learned, thanks to our telecommunications, internet and satellite technicians that the scene was the same all over the planet. Populations of the former United States, Russia, China, India, Pakistan Europe, Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico Indonesia, the African nations, were all now displaced moving by sea or land in hopes of surviving somewhere.

After the Nuke Time there was another calm period. Many of us were worried about this. We had all forgotten about Climate Change and planetary disturbances.

Earth Revolts

I remember one day waking up in the BMR thinking that the Earth had fallen away under me. I learned that the West Coast earthquake had finally come putting Los Angeles and the West Coast of the United States into the Pacific ocean. The volcano that was said to be dormant in the Pacific northwest exploded sending soot and tremors throughout the former United States. It was undeniable that the Earth said Enough! There were earthquakes and subsequent Tsunami's everywhere. Volcanic eruptions around the Earth were so severe that the sky turned black.

Snowflakes made of ash fell from the sky. Respiratory distress was the norm. People coughed so hard that they vomited blood.

Probably the worst image of the times was picked up by a couple of our drones roaming over Ocean City, Maryland. Marine life started to appear on the beaches dead or dying. Thousands of people mauled each other and the dead, beached creatures for something to eat. The video was awful particularly since we knew that anyone eating the toxic meat from the oceans would have convulsions and vomiting with 24 hours and would die. The worst thing we saw from these video feeds was that people slaughtered each other for what they thought was good food.

All the coastal cities in the world are gone, sunk into the oceans. The oceans have turned into some viscous polluted mass. The seas and vicious weather pursue us up into the high ground or wherever we go.

I am ending this letter. I will drink a pint of vodka, take many  opioids and go into the black. But before that, I will put this letter into the zip lock bag and bury it somewhere.

****

John Stanton can be reached at jstantonarchangel@gmail.com

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The great pandemic hoax

The Great Pandemic Hoax? Is the Coronavirus a Bioweapon?

On January 30, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the "coronavirus outbreak (to be) a public health emergency of international concern."

On Sunday, US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci said the coronavirus "almost certainly is going to be a pandemic."

The WHO defines a pandemic as a "worldwide spread of a new disease."

  

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls it "a disease that spreads across several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people."

Britain's Health and Safety Executive says a viral outbreak can be characterized as a pandemic if it's "markedly different from recently circulating strains," notably if "humans have little or no immunity" to it.

The NYT quoted former CDC director Thomas Frieden, saying it's "increasingly unlikely (that the coronavirus) can be contained," adding:

"It is therefore likely that it will spread, as flu and other organisms do, but we still don't know how far, wide, or deadly it will be."

  

The term Pandemic

The term pandemic applies to a disease that affects large numbers of people worldwide - clearly not applicable to the coronavirus outbreak based on evidence so far. See below.

According to Mayo Clinic's Dr. Pritish Tosh:

"In epidemiologic terms, an outbreak refers to a number of cases that exceeds what would be expected." 

"A pandemic is when there is an outbreak that affects most of the world." 

"We use the term endemic when there is an infection within a geographic location that is existing perpetually."

An epidemic refers to an infectious disease outbreak in a particular country or community.

How do the above definitions apply to the coronavirus outbreak in China? 

Here are the latest numbers through Monday: 20,622 confirmed cases, 426 dead in China, the outbreak mostly in Wuhan and surrounding areas.

Cases in other countries aren't anywhere near epidemic or pandemic levels. Judge for yourself:

Australia - 12, mostly individuals who returned from Wuhan or Hubei province

Cambodia - 1

Canada - 4

Finland - 1

France - 6

Germany - 10

India - 3

Italy - 2

Japan - 20

Malaysia - 8 (all Chinese nationals)

Nepal - 1

The Philippines - 2

Russia - 2

Singapore - 18

South Korea - 15

Spain - 1

Sri Lanka - 1

Sweden - 1

Taiwan - 10

Thailand - 19

UAE - 5

UK - 2

US - 11

Vietnam - 8

Most of the above cases apply to Chinese nationals or individuals who returned from the country, in most or all cases from Wuhan.

In response to a question asked me by a friend on the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak to people in the US, I explained that the chance of being in an auto accident or harmed by one at home is far greater.

I also stressed that establishment media, especially US cable channels, are the most unreliable sources of information on the coronavirus outbreak, featuring fear-mongering reports. 

  

Some examples include:

NYT: "Beijing Sees 'Major Test' as Doors to China Close and Coronavirus Deaths Surpass SARS"

Washington Post: "States scramble to carry out Trump's coronavirus travel order"

Wall Street Journal: "Coronavirus Closes China to the World, Straining Global Economy"

Fox News: "Experts worry about pandemic as coronavirus numbers increase"

CNN: "Wuhan coronavirus: Confirmed cases top 20,000 as China marks deadliest day"

Other establishment media headlined reports are similar.

According to the CDC, at least 15 million flu illnesses have been reported so far during the 2019 - 20 season, resulting in 140,000 hospitalizations and 8,200 deaths in the US.

These numbers reflect a national epidemic. Yet little about this is reported - other than annual recommendations to get flu shots, sponsored by Big Pharma.

  

The greatest medical fraud

Natural News calls them "the greatest medical fraud in the history of the world." Why?

Because they "contain over 50 ppm mercury, an extremely toxic heavy metal linked to kidney failure, birth defects, spontaneous abortions and neurological damage." 

The same goes for other vaccines, potentially more dangerous than diseases they're meant to protect against.

They're a bonanza for Big Pharma. On February 1, CNBC reported that "(i)nvestors (are) rush(ing) into biotechs (that are) working on coronavirus vaccine(s)."

A dozen or more companies are working on developing them, clinical testing to begin in a few months, the profit potential huge. When approved for sale, they'll be marketed worldwide, advertising promoting them.

On Monday, Natural News reported that the coronavirus was "engineered by scientists in a lab using well documented genetic engineering vectors that leave behind a 'fingerprint,' " adding:

"(T)he WHO and CDC are covering up this inconvenient fact..."

Law Professor Francis Boyle drafted the US Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 - signed into law by GHW Bush, revoked by Bush/Cheney on the pretext of rebuilding America's defenses at a time when the nation's only enemies are invented. No real ones exist.

Boyle believes the potentially deadly coronavirus is a biowarfare weapon, genetically modified for this purpose.

China's Wuhan BSL-4 lab is a WHO-designated research lab, Boyle explaining that the organization is fully aware of what's happening and how.

Boyle's assessment contradicts claims about the virus originating from a Wuhan seafood market or being connected to coronaviruses found in bats.

  

Engineered

Indian Institute of Technology scientists "discovered that the Wuhan coronavirus has been engineered with AIDS like insertions" - meaning it's not a naturally occurring phenomenon if true, adding:

It's "quite unlikely for a virus to have acquired such unique insertions naturally in a short duration of time."

China is using AIDS drugs to treat infected patients. China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention is working on developing a vaccine.

In 2003, media spread fear-mongering about a SARS pandemic proved way overblown, 800 deaths reported after hysteria subsided.

In the same year, 42,643 people in the US were killed in 6,328,000 police-reported motor vehicle accidents, 2,889,000 people injured.

In 2009, the WHO falsely predicted a global Swine flu H1N1 pandemic that could affect "as many as two billion people over the next two years."

At the time, evidence suggested that the H1N1 strain was bioengineered in a US laboratory, vaccines produced for it extremely hazardous and potentially lethal. 

No national or global emergency existed. No pandemic or epidemic occurred. The CDC estimated that from 8,330 to 17,160 deaths resulted from the strain.

Fear-mongering at the time aimed to convince people to take experimental, untested, toxic and extremely dangerous vaccines that can damage the human immune system and cause health problems ranging from annoying to life-threatening.

A similar scenario is in play today. Vaccines could be rushed to market, Big Pharma promoting their use.

  

The US bio warfare program

The US had an active biological warfare program since at least the 1940s.

In 1941, it implemented a secret program to develop offensive and allegedly defensive bioweapons using controversial testing methods.

During WW II, the US Chemical Warfare Services began mustard gas experiments on about 4,000 servicemen.

In 1945, the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) implemented "Program F." 

It was the most extensive US study of the health effects of fluoride - a key chemical component in atomic bomb production.

It's one of the most toxic chemicals known, risking harm to the central nervous system.

Yet low concentration amounts are in drinking water and toothpaste, little or nothing reported officially or by establishment media on its toxicity.

Since at least the 1940s, VA patients were guinea pigs for medical experiments.

The Pentagon earlier released biological agents in US cities to learn the effects of germ warfare in populated areas, tests done secretly.

In 1953, the CIA initiated Project MKULTRA - a multi-year research program to test drugs and biological agents for mind control and behavior modification, unwitting human subjects used.

From the 1960s at least through the 1980s, the US used biological agents against Cuba.

During the Vietnam War, the Pentagon's use of hugely toxic Agent Orange and sarin nerve gas killed, disabled, or caused chronic illnesses for millions, mainly civilians.

In all US wars, radiological, chemical, biological and other banned weapons are used, inflicting a devastating toll on people in targeted areas.

Is the coronavirus a bioweapon as Francis Boyle believes? Most likely, it'll be contained in the weeks ahead, reported numbers of individuals infected falling, not rising.

When all is said and done, ongoing fear-mongering will likely prove to be a bonanza for Big Pharma.

As for the coronavirus, it may end up a footnote in medical history - thousands affected in China, not millions, mainly in and around Wuhan, small numbers elsewhere.

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Life after INF Treaty: The virus of war can never be killed

February 2, 2020 marked one year since the day when US President Donald Trump announced Washington's decision to suspend obligations under the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (commonly known as the INF Treaty). This day also marked six months since the date of its final termination (August 2, 2019).

Over the past few years, the United States has been making thorough preparations to withdraw from the treaty. Back in 2014, the Capitol Hill was discussing allegedly reliable intelligence data about the Russian 9M729 missile (the modernized ground-based cruise missile of the Iskander-M system), which was supposedly violating the INF Treaty.

Russia received the first official accusation about its violation of the INF Treaty in a letter that Barack Obama sent to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Starting from October 2019, Washington's falsified arguments evolved into large-scale anti-Russian campaign in Western media.

Today it is clear that the USA was promoting its far-fetched theses to shift responsibility. At the same time, Russia's claims to the United States regarding the INF Treaty were purely  substantive.

Claim I - target missiles

To test prospective missile defense systems, the US armed forces actively use ballistic target missiles, such as Hera, Aries, Chimera and others. These missiles are actually medium-range ballistic missiles, the production and testing of which is prohibited by Article VI of the INF Treaty.

Washington has been holding such tests since 2001 (more than 100 tests have been conducted to date). Their chronicle is available on the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency's website www.mda.mil (access to the site from Russian IP addresses was closed after Vladimir Kozin, an expert at the Center for Military-Political Studies of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and Foreign Affairs, referred to the site for evidence of Washington's violations of the INF Treaty).

Claim II - Unmanned attack aerial vehicles

In the text of Article II of the INF Treaty, the term "cruise missile" refers to an unmanned vehicle equipped with its own propulsion system, the flight of which for most of its trajectory is achieved through aerodynamic lift. This term is fully applicable to USA's MQ-1B Predator and MQ-9A Reaper drones, having a range from 500 to 5500 km.

The Americans shrugged off the Russian claim by saying that the qualitative structure of arms has changed and that there was no such class of weapons as UAVs in 1987.

Claim III - Mk-41 launchers

The ground launch systems used to launch the Standard-3 anti-missiles are identical to deck-based Mk-41 missile launchers that are capable of launching not only similar missiles, but also Tomahawk cruise missiles. The deployment of Mk-41 launchers as part of the Aegis Ashore system on land directly violated the provisions of Article VI of the INF Treaty.

In response to the Russian arguments, Washington objected that launchers of the missile defense system had structural changes that made them not quite identical to the Mk-41, that they were unable to launch cruise missiles.

The test of the ground-based cruise missile (CRNB), which the Americans conducted on August 18, 2019, two and a half weeks after its termination, clearly demonstrated Washington's two-facedness. The ground-based Mk-41 could always launch the Tomahawks. Moreover, on May 12, 2016, they were deployed at Deveselu air base in Romania and were capable of hitting Russian targets back then.

Why the INF Treaty was important

The INF Treaty was the only fully implemented arms control treaty. From the time of its signing to the control date in 1991, 1б846 Soviet and 846 American missiles with a range from 500 to 5,500 km had been destroyed - all of them being medium and shorter-range land-based missiles. Both the USSR and the USA had been completely satisfied with the implementation of the Treaty by that time.

    Along with the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense (ABM Treaty) and the Treaty on Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Arms (START), the INF Treaty was one of the key elements of a system, the development of which took decades.

 The Russian side sought to preserve the INF Treaty until the last moment. In response to absurd arguments from the Americans, Moscow made a move that was unprecedented in its transparency. On January 23, 2019, a joint briefing of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia was held in the Patriot Park to demonstrate key tactical and technical characteristics of the 9M729 missile, as well as peculiarities of its operation and use.

Despite the maximum openness of the Russian side, representatives of the United States and a number of Western allied states refused to attend the briefing. They did not even try to pay attention to Russia's arguments, because the fate of the INF Treaty had already been decided by that time.

The USA's pullout from the Treaty triggers erosion of other disarmament agreements - START III and the Open Skies Treaty.

History of arms control

The creation of nuclear weapons in 1945 made the United States a monopolist in the global projection of force. The hopes of the world community that the 1945 Yalta Conference would create a solid foundation for post-war peace and stability failed to materialize.

Fearing the spread of socialism in Europe and the USSR's dominance on the Eurasian continent, General Dwight Eisenhower's headquarters, by personal order from US President Harry Truman, developed the "Totality" plan, which stipulated for the atomic bombing of 17 major Soviet cities. The plan was developed in 1945 too.

In 1949, the Dropshot plan included 300 nuclear bombs for the USSR. Winston Churchill's famous Fulton speech in March 1946, the establishment of NATO in April 1949 and Truman's signing of the directive for the deployment of American nuclear weapons in Europe in September 1950 finally buried the plans for post-war cooperation of the Big Three.

The creation of the atomic bomb in 1949 and then the hydrogen bombs in 1953 in the USSR became a cold shower for the United States. The 1962 Caribbean crisis, which brought the world to the brink of a global nuclear war, gave rise to a large-scale anti-war movement and became a crucial moment. Many realized the perniciousness of the endless nuclear arms race.

The nuclear non-proliferation treaty

The multilateral international act designed to limit the circle nuclear was developed by the UN Disarmament Committee. It was signed on July 1, 1968 and entered into force on March 5, 1970.

Its participants are almost all independent states of the world with the exception of

•     Israel
•     India
•     Pakistan
•     DPRK
•     and South Sudan.

The treaty establishes that a state possessing nuclear weapons is a state that could produce and detonate such a weapon or a device before January 1, 1967. There were five such countries:

•     USSR,
•     USA,
•     Great Britain,
•     France
•     and China.

The non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The USSR and the USA grew to develop balance in matters of strategic offensive nuclear weapons during the 1960s and the 1970s. This prompted Washington to sign agreements with Moscow to limit strategic weapons and missile defense systems:

•     SALT-1 and the ABM Treaty in 1972,
•     as well as SALT-2 in 1979.

SALT-1 and SALT-2 Treaties

These agreements provided for the limitation of the number of ballistic missiles and missile launchers at their current level. They also demanded the adoption of sea-based ballistic missiles strictly in the quantity, in which obsolete ground-based ballistic missiles had previously been decommissioned.

Subsequently, the SALT treaties evolved into the START treaties, which heralded the transition from limiting the growth of strategic offensive arms to their reduction.

ABM Treaty

The Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense, signed on May 26, 1972, obliged the USSR and the United States to abjure the creation, trials and deployment of sea-, air-, space-based or mobile-ground missile defense systems or components to combat strategic ballistic missiles.

Each side pledged to have no more than two missile defense systems (around capital cities and in the area where the launchers of intercontinental ballistic missiles are concentrated), where no more than 100 launchers could be deployed within a radius of 150 kilometers. Subsequently, in July 1974, a protocol to the ABM Treaty was adopted that permitted one such system (for the USSR - with a center in Moscow, for the USA - in the state of North Dakota).

On December 13, 2001, US President George W. Bush announced Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the Treaty, but it remained in force for another six months.

After withdrawing from the ABM Treaty, the United States proceeded to the phased implementation of the project to create the global missile defense system that protects the United States and its regional segments (European missile defense system, the missile defense in the Middle East, the missile defense in Asia-Pacific).

According to both Russian and foreign military experts, the deployment of the global US missile defense system creates an illusion of impunity for the American leadership and undermines foundations of strategic stability, which provides for parity in strategic offensive weapons.

START Treaties

Having signed the START-I Treaty on July 31, 1991 in Moscow, the USSR and the USA, agreed to cut their nuclear arsenals so that each side would have no more than 6,000 warheads. However, the word 'warhead' in the context of the treaty should not be taken literally: the B-1B bomber, capable of carrying up to 24 nuclear munitions, was counted as one unit.

Only six months after the signing of START-I Treaty, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Four independent republics with nuclear weapons appeared on its territory: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In this regard, an additional agreement, known as the Lisbon Protocol, was signed to supplement the treaty on May 23, 1992. As a result of its implementation, Russia remained the only nuclear power on post-Soviet space.

The START-II Treaty, ​​signed by Boris Yeltsin and George W. Bush on January 3, 1993, which prohibited the use of ballistic missiles with separable warheads, was never destined to be ratified by the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation due to conditions that were unfavorable to Russia.

The START III Treaty, which currently remains in force, was signed by Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama on April 8, 2010 and entered into force on February 5, 2011. The document remains valid for ten years.

The START III ensures:

•     reduction of nuclear warheads to 1,550 units,
•     reduction of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-based ballistic missiles and ballistic missiles on board heavy bombers - to 700 units.

The main instrument for mutual control over the execution of the contract is inspection.

    According to available information, Russia currently has 816 units of strategic offensive weapons, while the United States has 930.

The future of the START III Treaty is unclear. Donald Trump and his administration continue speculating on uncertainty about the feasibility to extend this agreement. US officials voice statements about the inappropriateness of any further disarmament agreements between the United States and Russia without giving them a multilateral status with the involvement of China in the first place as China had repeatedly voiced its negative position on the issue.

In the event the action of the START III Treaty is not prolonged, Russia and the United States will find themselves in the brave new world already in February 2021. They will have legal obligations to limit strategic offensive arms.

Russia's role in maintaining the arms control system

Russia should certainly strive to maintain the international arms control system, albeit not at all costs.

Fueling the uncertainty surrounding the extension of the START III Treaty, the United States seeks to achieve most favorable conditions for itself. For example, the USA wants to see the new START IV Treaty regulating Russia's state-of-the-art nuclear arms, which Putin announced in his Address to the Federal Assembly on March 1, 2018.

The Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will fall under the new START Treaty. At the same time, the Kinzhal (Dagger) aviation missile system, the Avangard hypersonic gliding vehicle, the new unmanned underwater vehicls and laser weapons cannot be related by this agreement.

The Russian military doctrine remains defensive. Russia develops new weapons in an asymmetric response to US attempts to consolidate its global dominance in the world.

There can be no winners or losers in a nuclear war. The Russian Federation will continue its policy of containment, showing maximum wisdom, foresight and deliberation. We would like to see our American partners doing the same.

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The NFL and Roc nation's crocodile tears

The NFL and ROC nation's crocodile tears

In a highly publicized move, the National Football League (NFL) and Roc Nation, led by self-serving sellout Jay-Z, decided to "partner" with families of police shooting victims to belatedly bring "awareness" to the very issues Colin Kaepernick was protesting years ago-protests that resulted in him being blacklisted (or more accurately "whitelisted") from the NFL.

A recent article on the ABC News website reported how three family members of these shooting victims appeared on the talk show The View to discuss their dealings with the NFL and Roc Nation. 

During the conversation, one of The View's co-hosts, Sunny Hostin, inquired as to if they felt the NFL and Roc Nation were exploiting the families of police shooting victims "to give themselves cover" for their egregious treatment of Kaepernick.

The mother of Antwon Rose Jr., Michelle Kenney, replied, "I'm a Kaepernick fanatic. I was a Kap fan way before he took the knee, and I will be forever grateful for him for opening this conversation.  But Antwon is my son, so when you get a call from Roc Nation and the NFL and they say [they] want to take your platform to the next level, [they] don't want anything from you, and [they] have a plan, I have to remember that Antwon is my son, so I am all in."

She went on to add that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had "shed tears for her son," and that "you can't fake empathy."

I certainly agree with Ms. Kenney's desire to have her son, and the tragedy that took his life, remembered.  If I lost a family member in similar circumstances, I undoubtedly would reach out to any person or organization that would work to ensure my loved one was not forgotten.

What do they really want?

I do disagree, however, with the sentiment that the NFL and Roc Nation want nothing from these families.  They do want something:  To erase their racist treatment of Colin Kaepernick from America's collective memory, and to do so in the most despicable way possible-by exploiting the tragic deaths of others.   

I also disagree with Ms. Kenney's belief that you cannot fake empathy, especially when it comes to a loathsome person like Roger Goodell.

As a practical matter, human beings fake empathy all the time.  Every single day, millions of people watch movies and television programs that depict characters mourning and weeping over imaginary deaths.

As the public face of the NFL, Goodell is an actor.  His role is to maintain the illusion that the NFL is a bastion of integrity that thrives on the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play, so the predominantly white, Trump-supporting owners can continue to make billions off the backs of athletes who are overwhelmingly African-American. 

His role is also to cover-up and quash any reality that detracts from this illusion.  After all, even after retired players suffered debilitating brain injuries from repeated concussions caused while playing in the league, and some even committed suicide because of them, the NFL fought vigorously against compensating any of these players, asserting that they had "assumed the risk" leading to their injuries.

Tears shed

And how many tears did Goodell shed over the domestic violence and rape victims who saw their attackers embraced by the NFL with open arms?  How many tears did he shed over the tiny dogs that were fed to larger, more vicious ones, in former quarterback Michael Vick's dogfighting ring-the same Michael Vick who was vociferously defended by Goodell when he was named "honorary captain" of the 2020 Pro Bowl?  (And for those who argue Vick paid the price for his crimes, and is therefore deserving of this accolade, it must be remembered that Kaepernick committed no crime and no violation of NFL rules, yet he is still banished from the league.)

How meaningful are Goodell's "tears" when NFL teams shamelessly carry nicknames that are denigrating to Native-Americans?  And who created the sham workout for Kaepernick, complete with a "liability waiver" that even the Players Union is now disputing, just so he could then promote the lie that Kaepernick is no longer interested in playing.

It's a new century, but the song remains the same as it has throughout history:  Someone sees an injustice and decides to address it, only to be vilified, mocked, banished, scorned, hated, blacklisted, and in some cases executed or murdered, only to see that same cause hijacked by opportunistic hypocrites who lacked the courage to address that same injustice until it was safe and/or profitable to do so. 

So, while I sympathize with those who lost loved ones to police violence, there is no detergent so strong or no deodorant so powerful that they will wash away or mask the putrid stench of hypocrisy that defines the NFL and Roc Nation, nor conceal the fact that their so called "social consciousness" is nothing more than a cynical propaganda ploy designed to increase ratings and ensure those gambling dollars keep rolling in.

David R. Hoffman, Legal Editor of Pravda.Report

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UK - Brexit: A leap in the dark, a step over the White Cliffs

UK: A leap in the dark, a step over the White Cliffs

What will happen to the United Kingdom as it takes a monumental gamble, unaware of any of the enormous strategic issues which it faces as it leaves the EU?

The equation which constitutes the UK

Let us start with the precept that in the equation which constitutes the United Kingdom, as a nation (not as individuals), and England in particular, sheer unadulterated holier-than-thou arrogance is a constant factor. The concept of England über Alles, Britannia rules the waves, of supremacy, top-down superiority, the right to primacy inter pares bulge like horrific gargoyles from the buildings and squares of the country, glorifying wars and battles, glorifying murder, theft, vandalism and state terrorism which saw imperialist massacres destroy countless families around the globe.

The UK gassed the pets of the Chagos inhabitants

The UK is quick to lecture others on freedoms, democracy and human rights, but how many Britons know about the disgusting episodes in the country's history, such as for example the Chagos Islands, in the Indian Ocean, whose entire population the British deported and then gassed their pets? Yes, and then gassed their pets. Dogs were taken away from their owners by British cowards who then put them in a furnace and gassed them, repeating the scenes of a Nazi extermination camp.

Sir Bruce Greatbatch, KCVO, CMG, MBE, governor of the Seychelles, ordered all the dogs on Diego Garcia to be killed. More than 1000 pets were gassed with exhaust fumes. "They put the dogs in a furnace where the people worked", Lisette Talatte, in her 60s, told me, "and when their dogs were taken away in front of them our children screamed and cried". (John Pilger)

Then they gave the islands to the UK's bedmaster, the USA, which dictates London's foreign policy through NATO and forces the UK to pay a full 2 per cent of its GDP towards weapons systems to murder people. Sorry Mrs. Smith, no funding available for your son's cancer treatment.

When the critical mass gathers...

So much for freedoms, democracy and human rights. So when something like that is diluted among civilized nations with sensible and pleasant, balanced human beings, this tendency towards sheer and utter evil is watered down. Conversely, when a critical mass is formed, people get thrown out of their own homes thousands of miles away, pets get gassed or burnt alive, terrorist groups who play football with the heads of the little girls they have decapitated before and after raping them in front of their mothers get supported to conduct foreign policy. So now let us see what happens. Who will the UK invade next?

So now back to the point, what will happen to the UK after Brexit tonight? As I have been saying for a few years now, I predict that there will be an economic and social catastrophe. Why?

The economic disaster

In general terms, economically, the UK is heading for catastrophe because the world today is constituted by large trading blocks doing business among themselves, benefiting from synergies. What the UK is doing, is going against the economic grain in current practice. The consequences of this will be either that the UK substitutes its current trading flows with other partners outside the EU, which will incur massive and extra transportation costs, or else it continues to do half its trade with the EU, in which case there is an extra cost involved in doing trade with the block. You have to pay for access to the club whereas until today the UK paid membership fees and benefited from being part of the decision-making process. Now the access fee is higher than the membership fee, and the UK loses its voice. And any aid provided for floods in Yorkshire, for instance. But who cares about anything north of Tring in Westminster?

Taking our nation back, making our own laws

Talk about Britain making its own laws finally is ridiculous - the UK has been part of the EU law-making process, making the laws the UK has been following for the last half-century. So this idiotic notion that the UK is going to make its own laws fools only an idiot. What about the UK's foreign policy, mastered by Washington through NATO?

Scotland hauled out of Europe by its English bedmaster

In specific terms, the EU has no onus to make the divorce an easy process and basically, the UK will have to like what the EU throws it, or lump it. 450 million voices speak louder than 60 million. As regards Scotland, perhaps the way forward is to analyze the Act of Union in 1707 and find a get-out clause based on national importance, then that would provide the legal basis for remaining in the EU and leaving the Union with England.

The reality on the high street

What will happen to the (wo)man in the street? They will find that the added cost of doing business with the EU means higher costs for imports and less attractive exports. This will mean inevitable price rises in shops, and fewer sales. This will mean less income from exports, which in turn will mean less money available through  taxation to pay for public services. It will also mean that SMEs will feel the squeeze and go under because many or most already exist on tight margins, and extra expenditure will push them under. Since the SMEs and the backbone of the British economy, this means that the entire economic structure of the nation will be spineless. This will result in massive unemployment, meaning fewer funds for the common kitty and more public expenditure in social benefit payments. Add into this equation the falling value of the pound, given the economic uncertainty unraveling as the Brexit disaster becomes apparent.

After just a few months, entire regions of the UK will be left in poverty as the population wakes up from the hangover of its utter stupidity in voting to leave the EU. The consequences have been explained here and elsewhere time and time again, yet interviewees on the TV today were unable, mostly, to iterate an opinion or explain why they voted to leave.

The huge social cost

With the fall in funds available for emergency services, policing will be more of a challenge, the effects of endemic unemployment on families and regions will be accompanied by a rise in crime and marginalization, which will have drastic social effects. The British Universities do not cater for the needs of the work market, and the UK will soon find out that it needs the European Union citizens to maintain standards.

Accompanying this will be the realization among the 50 per cent of Britons who did not vote for Brexit that they already have the right of European Citizenship which is separate from nationality status. Read this article:

https://www.pravdareport.com/opinion/142328-eu_citizenship_rights/

Basically the content of this piece which I wrote last year renders Brexit pointless and useless.

So in short, the UK has decided to cast itself out of the party, fighting alone against winds and tides without the necessary equipment, dreaming in a pie-in-the-sky type of Quixotesque nirvana that it will somehow pull off the impossible. Get real. You guys just shot yourselves in the foot. Nobody is queueing up to do business. You closed the door, now you will have to pay for the key to open it, and this will not be on your terms.

So Boris Johnson, the Pied Piper, leads his lemmings off the White Cliffs of Dover. The entire Brexit party is one based on sheer arrogance. So ladies and gentlemen, pull up your chairs, switch on the TV and watch the BrexShit fly. Finally we all see the UK for what it is: a nation of arrogant, ignorant, stupid wannabe imperialists who have the mania they are better than everyone else and different. Different, yes. Thank God nobody else shares their values.

And yes, they gassed the pets.

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