Unknown commented
'Chilean-American war commentator Gonzalo Lira died shortly before noon on January, 11, 2024 at a hospital in Kharkiv, where he had been imprisoned for eight months since he was accused of justifying Russian war efforts in Ukraine.Lira came to prominence in 2022 when he emerged as a critical voice in an increasingly dictatorial Ukraine. His arrest in May 2023 on charges of “production and dissemination of materials justifying Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine” helped to galvanize domestic opposition to US funding for the war and led to calls for his release by tech baron Elon Musk and American political commentator Tucker Carlson.'https://thegrayzone.com/2024/01/12/gonzalo-lira-dies-ukrainian-prison/
Memorial photo for Gonzalo Lira (1968-2024)
https://i.4pcdn.org/pol/1705144031355912.jpg
Gonzalo Lira was brave but foolish to stay on Ukrainian-controlled territory.
He likely thought he was privileged as an American citizen, and as someone famous on the internet.
But neither fact saved him.
Neither did his connection to Scott Ritter who traveled in and out of Russia with impunity.
ReplyDeleteThe Taiwan election resulted in a major win for the 'autonomy from China - stay separate' party led by William Lai Ching-te, currently Taiwan's Vice-President.
ReplyDelete"Beijing is not happy, having immediately issued a rebuke after having urged the populace not to vote for him"
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/taiwan-elects-william-lai-president-slap-against-china-beijing-responds-stressing
Sad that most political discourse ignores the simple fact of people on a large island wishing to go their own way and keep things in their own style.
Taiwanese have made their home of 23 million a pleasant, distinctive place to live in or to visit ... why can't they just stay that way?
Although Taiwanese wish to keep good relations with their fellow Chinese, exchange lots of business and travel and so on ... nontheless they don't want to be ordered around and 're-made' under Beijing's surveillance-heavy, centrally-controlled government.
Especially painful, is seeing how many anti-NATO, anti-Western pundits, so eager to have Beijing as an anti-Western 'champion', ignore the self-determination wishes of the Taiwanese ... these pundits jump through hoops to justify 'Greater China', and pretend that it is ok to ignore what Taiwanese want for themselves
Western neo-cons seem mostly interested in an excuse to provoke China, without really caring for Taiwan's self-determination, just as they don't care about self-determination in Palestine, Donbass or many other places, Scotland, Catalonia, Kurdistan etc
Self-determination for everyone, Article 1 of the UN Charter ... still a good idea
he will be back - him& his act
ReplyDeletehttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240113-remembering-tom-hurndall/
ReplyDeleteA 1984 film, 'Countdown to Looking Glass', portrayed a scenario in which global war results from shipping being disrupted in the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz.
ReplyDeleteFull 1984 film, 'Countdown to Looking Glass', 87 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knSSUEdLcvg
Another key event in the film is that the US Secretary of Defense dies suddenly.
In real life now, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin strangely 'disappeared' for some days without US top government people being informed; he is allegedly in hospital now with complications from prostate surgery.
But there is a rumour Austin was injured or killed in a Russian strike on a site in Ukraine which Austin was secretly visiting, hence the lack of information and then scramble to cover:
'Real Raw News'
'Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was allegedly killed in Kyiv on January 3 when Russian cruise missiles peltered a command bunker where Austin and Lieutenant General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander in chief of the Ukrainian Army, met secretly'
https://realrawnews.com/2024/01/russian-claim-austin-dead-in-ukraine/
https://youtu.be/f0oAr_kZ-_E?si=ENWWCmRuuPCB97P0
ReplyDeleteNeil Oliver nailing it.