Mese: dicembre 2020
Russia. Riaperto il laboratorio per armi artiche. Il monito del WSJ che nessuno udrà. Leggetemi.
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2020-12-31.
Chiunque avesse conosciuto di persona la Russia passata e quella attuale non potrebbe fare altro che concordare con quanto scritto dal US Department of Defense.
Russian Strategic Intentions. A Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) White Paper.
«The post-Cold War picture of Russia as weak and declining is outdated. Today’s Russia is formidable in cyberspace and a resurgent global power, from Crimea to Syria to the Arctic and beyond.»
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Questo il commento di Reuters.
«President Vladimir Putin has touted the Arctic as a vital region for Russian interests as climate change makes it more accessible, presiding over a buildup of military infrastructure and pushing to increase cargo volumes shipped via the Northern Sea Route across its northern flank.
The Central Scientific-Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering, that makes weapons for Russia’s military, said it had restored testing chambers to simulate extreme conditions. The chambers were closed after the Soviet breakup in 1991.
The facility can now test-fire small arms as well as special grenade launchers and small-cannon armaments at temperatures of between minus 60 and plus 60 degrees Celsius»
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Ma ciò che desta la maggiore sorpresa è l’editoriale del The Wall Street Journal, tempio della cultura liberal socialista.
«The U.S. should stop underestimating russian power»
«In recent days, Americans have learned that Russia’s equivalent to the CIA almost certainly executed the most devastating cyber-offensive in history»
«the attack fits neatly into a narrative that we have heard from pundits and policy makers for years: that Vladimir Putin has a weak hand in international politics—a wobbly economy, a relatively small military, stagnant population growth—but plays it well»
«this bit of conventional wisdom is that it seriously underestimates the value of the cards in Mr. Putin’s hand»
«Russia isn’t just formidable in cyberspace. It is globally resurgent in ways that we can’t afford to dismiss»
«As Mr. Putin put it two decades ago (attributing the quote to Winston Churchill), “Russia was never so strong as it wants to be and never so weak as it is thought to be.”»
«The post-Cold War picture of Russia as weak and declining is outdated»
«Russia still supplies much of the world with oil and gas—resources on which the global economy depends. But Russia does more than just mine, refine and sell petroleum; it also controls much of the world’s oil and gas pipeline infrastructure»
«That gives Mr. Putin the kind of leverage and influence over a host of countries (including most of Europe) that doesn’t show up in measures of relative power such as GDP. ….»
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Le avversità hanno fatto riemergere il retaggio russo come ofioliti: religione, storia, concezione sociale e nuova visione economica. La Russia si è compattata. Con 4,349 miliardi Usd equivalenti occupa il sesto posto nella graduatoria mondiale ppa dell’IMF. Ma il potere economico è solo un aspetto della sua ferrea volontà di emergere alle vette.
A Mr Putin è sempre venuto più che bene che l’occidente ed i suoi media lo sottovalutassero, denigrandolo e coprendolo di ogni sorta di menzogne. Non a caso le ha generosamente finanziate.
Più gli avversari sottovalutano e meglio si può agire.
E l’immagine di una Russia «a wobbly economy, a relatively small military, stagnant population growth» è destinata a restare a lungo nell’immaginario collettivo dei popoli occidentali, con grande gioia di Mr Putin.
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WSJ. The U.S. Should Stop Underestimating Russian Power
Vladimir Putin deploys capabilities and resources that have made his country a resurgent global player.
In recent days, Americans have learned that Russia’s equivalent to the CIA almost certainly executed the most devastating cyber-offensive in history. Over many months, the perpetrators planted malware in data systems throughout the U.S. government and Fortune 500 companies. Among the U.S. government agencies that the Russian security services appear to have infiltrated are the Departments of State, Treasury, Energy and Homeland Security, as well as the National Institutes of Health at the height of a deadly pandemic.
The full extent of the damage may not be known for years, but the attack fits neatly into a narrative that we have heard from pundits and policy makers for years: that Vladimir Putin has a weak hand in international politics—a wobbly economy, a relatively small military, stagnant population growth—but plays it well. Russia, in short, is a troublemaker but not a major threat.
The problem with this bit of conventional wisdom is that it seriously underestimates the value of the cards in Mr. Putin’s hand. Russia isn’t just formidable in cyberspace. It is globally resurgent in ways that we can’t afford to dismiss, from Crimea to Syria to sub-Saharan Africa, Venezuela, the Arctic, Europe and beyond. A proper assessment of Russian power means looking beyond traditional yardsticks such as GDP or military spending. As Mr. Putin put it two decades ago (attributing the quote to Winston Churchill), “Russia was never so strong as it wants to be and never so weak as it is thought to be.”
The post-Cold War picture of Russia as weak and declining is outdated. Russia has come a long way from the decrepit, indebted and lawless country that emerged after the Soviet collapse in 1991, a nation that the late Sen. John McCain described in 2014 as “a gas station masquerading as a country.”
Russia still supplies much of the world with oil and gas—resources on which the global economy depends. But Russia does more than just mine, refine and sell petroleum; it also controls much of the world’s oil and gas pipeline infrastructure. That gives Mr. Putin the kind of leverage and influence over a host of countries (including most of Europe) that doesn’t show up in measures of relative power such as GDP. ….
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Russia Reopens Soviet-Era Lab To Develop Weapons For Arctic Sub-Zero Conditions
Russia is believed to be greatly expanding and beefing up its ability to wage warfare in extreme cold and icy conditions after it was announced Thursday that a Soviet-era laboratory has been reconstituted and newly opened in order to test weapons in Arctic weather.
“The Central Scientific-Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering, that makes weapons for Russia’s military, said it had restored testing chambers to simulate extreme conditions,” Reuters reports of the facility which was shut down since the the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Institute issued a press release saying “the certification is the final step towards restoring this unique technological capability that had been lost after the fall of the USSR.” The complex’s test chambers will actually be able to simulate a variety of conditions to also include extreme heat as well as wet weather.
Russian media cited a senior technician, Sergei Karasev, as detailing further:
He said the test site will begin work on a number of weapons, including rifles, specially-made grenade launchers and small caliber cannons in “extreme temperatures” as low as minus 60 degrees.
The conditions are designed to mimic environments like the Arctic, but the facility will also recreate a number of other potential battlefields. Tests to see whether weapons can withstand tropical climes will be carried out in a combined heat and rain chamber, while a dust chamber mimics the pressures that deserts exert on firing mechanisms.
Typically when temperatures reach such extremes as minus 60 degrees Celsius, cars and machinery break down unless they are specially outfitted to operate in the extreme cold.
Without extensive protections even a person’s face can become frostbitten in just minutes after being exposed to such temperatures.
In remote locations like Russia’s Sakha Republic (Yakutia) for example, schools, colleges and public places will only stay open until temperatures as low as -52°C, but upon reaching that limit will shut down for safety reasons.
Much standard military equipment would also not work properly in these conditions, hence Russia’s focus on developing and testing weapons that are optimal in Arctic conditions. The plan is to also simulate how battlefield tactics would change in extreme and varied conditions.
Usa. Diventa possibile una nuova guerra civile.
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2020-12-31.
«Immortale odium et numquam sanabile vulnus.»
«the violence has become a new norm here.»
Negli ultimi anni l’occidente e soprattutto gli Stati Uniti hanno vissuto una vera e propria guerra civile, per il momento combattuta senza l’uso estensivo delle armi. Non si sottovalutino gli avvertimenti.
Il caso Floyd, cui seguirono settimane di guerriglia urbana cessate miracolosamente e totalmente poco prima delle elezioni, sono esempio di esercito guerrigliero provato sul campo e sempre pronto all’azione. Obiettivo il potere ottenuto con un colpo di stato
Stati Uniti. È in corso una guerra civile. Occorre prenderne atto.
Unione Europea che implode. La guerra civile in Svezia.
Trump. La guerra privata contro gli stati liberal. – Bloomberg.
Macron. ‘Rischio guerra civile in Europa’.
Trump e Suprema Corte. Clima da guerra civile. Il potere vero, quello che decide lo fa.
America. Guerra civile tra Puritani e Protestanti.
Guerra civile americana. Si avvicina lo scontro finale.
Trump. La guerra civile americana si avvia alla sua Gettysburg.
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«Here we are: the disaster that has been predictable for the past 30 years is looming. The United States is heading inexorably toward secession and civil war»
«Since the demise of the USSR, the “American Empire” no longer had an existential enemy and therefore no reason to exist»
«the globalization of trade has destroyed the middle classes in the USA and in almost all of the West»
«the United States is on the brink of secession and civil war»
«We must stop interpreting the presidential election as a rivalry between Democrats and Republicans, whereas Donald Trump has never claimed to be a member of the Republican Party, which he stormed during his 2016 campaign»
«We must stop pretending that Donald Trump does not represent the majority of his fellow citizens when he was first elected president in 2016»
«Please read the US Constitution, it will only take you a few minutes. It recognizes the sovereignty of the Federated States, not of the People»
«In the United States, almost all laws are drafted by organized pressure groups, regardless of who is elected to Congress and the White House»
«Donald Trump would probably have won the 2020 election if the United States were a democracy, but he lost because it’s an oligarchy and the politicians don’t want him»
«The Jacksonians, supporters of democracy, have no choice but to take up arms to make their cause triumph, as the Second Amendment to their Constitution explicitly provides»
«In the original sense of the Second Amendment, the right of Americans to acquire and bear all manner of weapons of war is intended to enable them to rebel against a tyrannical government, as they did against the British monarchy»
«Texas is one of two states that formed an independent republic before joining the United States»
«The process of dissolution of the United States could be faster than that of the USSR»
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Un problema di così vasta portata può essere proficuamente letto sotto molte angolature. Ne menzioneremo solo alcune.
– In tutto il mondo occidentale od occidentalizzato la visione conservatrice si oppone esistenzialmente a quella liberal democratica e/o socialista. Ma la forza elettorale delle due componenti è virtualmente eguale. A ciò conseguono vittorie elettorali per un ben piccolo margine, con lunghi strascichi rancorosi. I presidenti eletti non hanno il pieno governo delle situazioni ed hanno una opposizione interna volta più a denigrarli ed ostacolarli che a stabilire una linea politica estera efficiente per il bene della nazione.
– Il pressoché costante ribaltamento delle linee politiche ad ogni tornata elettorale rende semplicemente impossibile stabilire e perseguire un indirizzo stabile nel tempo, fattore che è punto di forza del sistema politico russo e cinese. Progetti strategici, quali il Rcep cinese o l’Unione Economica Euroasiatica russa, sarebbero impossibili in America.
– Ma allo stallo americano corrisponde il dinamismo orientale: il Rcep assomma il 40% del pil ppa mondiale, due volte quello degli Stati Uniti e quattro volte quella europeo.
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Da un punto di vista storico o l’occidente si rassegna alla devoluzione infelice, oppure attua dei colpi di stato per insediare governi forti.
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Civil War Becomes Inevitable In The USA.
Here we are: the disaster that has been predictable for the past 30 years is looming. The United States is heading inexorably toward secession and civil war.
Since the demise of the USSR, the “American Empire” no longer had an existential enemy and therefore no reason to exist. The attempt by George H. Bush (the father) and Bill Clinton to give the country a new life with the globalization of trade has destroyed the middle classes in the USA and in almost all of the West. The attempt of George W. Bush (son) and Barack Obama to organize the world around a new form of capitalism – financial this time – has been bogged down in the sands of Syria.
It is too late to turn the tide. Donald Trump’s attempt to abandon the American Empire and refocus the country’s efforts on its domestic prosperity has been sabotaged by the elites acquired to the puritanical ideology of the “Pilgrim Fathers”. As a result, the moment so feared by Richard Nixon and his election adviser Kevin Philipps has arrived: the United States is on the brink of secession and civil war.
What I am writing is not a fantasy, but the analysis of many observers in the United States and around the world. For example, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has just declared Donald Trump’s election fraud appeal inadmissible, not on legal grounds, but because “it would open Pandora’s box.
In fact, contrary to the misrepresentation of events that dominates the international press, either the outgoing president’s appeals are judged in law and he is obviously right, or they are judged in politics and proving him right will provoke civil war. But the conflict is already too far advanced. Judging him politically in defiance of the law will also provoke civil war.
We must stop interpreting the presidential election as a rivalry between Democrats and Republicans, whereas Donald Trump has never claimed to be a member of the Republican Party, which he stormed during his 2016 campaign. He is not an enlightened man, but a successor to President Andrew Jackson (1829-37). Yes, ideologically, the latter prefigured the “Southerners,” the “Confederates.
We must stop pretending that Donald Trump does not represent the majority of his fellow citizens when he was first elected president in 2016, when he has just helped thousands of candidates win local elections in his name, and when he has just won millions more votes than in 2016.
No one in Europe seems to dare to see what is happening in front of us, because everyone clings to the idea of a United States that is a paragon of democracy. Please read the US Constitution, it will only take you a few minutes. It recognizes the sovereignty of the Federated States, not of the People. Its main designer, Alexander Hamilton, said it and wrote in the Federalist Papers: its purpose is to establish a regime comparable to the British monarchy without aristocracy, certainly not a democracy.
This constitution lasted two centuries only because of the compromise of the First Ten Amendments (Bill of Rights). But in this age of globalization of information, everyone can see that the dice are loaded. This system is certainly tolerant, but oligarchic. In the United States, almost all laws are drafted by organized pressure groups, regardless of who is elected to Congress and the White House. The political staff is just a smokescreen that hides the real Power. Every decision of every politician is noted by these groups and directories compiling their docility are published every year.
The Europeans, who want to represent the United States as a democratic nation, keep claiming that the presidential election is a matter for the electorate. This is absolutely false. The constitution does not provide for the election of the federal president in the second degree by the people, but by an electoral college appointed by the governors. Over time, governors have ended up holding elections in their states before choosing the members of the Electoral College. Some have agreed to include it in their local constitutions, but not all. In the end, the federal Supreme Court doesn’t care, as it did when George W. Bush v. Al Gore was appointed 20 years ago. It explicitly stated that the potential election rigging that had taken place in Florida was not within its jurisdiction.
In that context, Donald Trump would probably have won the 2020 election if the United States were a democracy, but he lost because it’s an oligarchy and the politicians don’t want him.
The Jacksonians, supporters of democracy, have no choice but to take up arms to make their cause triumph, as the Second Amendment to their Constitution explicitly provides. In the original sense of the Second Amendment, the right of Americans to acquire and bear all manner of weapons of war is intended to enable them to rebel against a tyrannical government, as they did against the British monarchy. This is the meaning of the compromise of 1789, which the majority of them considered to have been broken.
General Michael Flynn, the short-lived National Security Advisor, has just called for the suspension of the constitution and the introduction of martial law to prevent civil war. The Pentagon, whose head was replaced a month ago by the outgoing president in favour of friends of the general, is standing by.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, announced that he will appear before the Texas court that will rule on local election fraud. Texas is one of two states that formed an independent republic before joining the United States. But when it joined, it retained a right to opt out. In 2009, then Governor Rick Perry threatened to secede. This idea is still going strong. Today, the local Congress is expected to decide on Representative Kyle Biedermann’s proposal for an independence referendum.
The process of dissolution of the United States could be faster than that of the USSR. It was studied at the time in Moscow by Professor Igor Panarin. Demographics have changed since then and have been analyzed by Colin Woodard. The country would then be split into 11 separate states on a cultural basis.
To these problems are added the complaints against the legislatures of some 20 states that passed laws during the Covid-19 outbreak governing elections in a manner contrary to their own constitutions. If these appeals, which are legally founded, are successful, they will have to annul not only the presidential election, but all local elections (parliamentary, sheriffs, prosecutors, etc.). It will not be possible to verify the alleged facts in Texas and elsewhere until the Federal Electoral Council meeting. Texas and other states with similar appeals, as well as those that will have to annul the election, will therefore not be able to participate in the nomination of the next President of the United States. In such a case, the only substitution procedure that applies is for the new Congress, in which the Puritans are in the minority and the Jacksonians are in the majority.
Mondo. Bond a tassi negativi ammontano a 18 Usd trilioni. Non mondo, bensì occidente.
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2020-12-31.
«World’s negative-yield debt pile at $18 trillion for first time»
«Increase has coincided with a broadly-weaker dollar in 2020»
«The world’s stockpile of negative-yielding debt has swelled to a fresh record in a sign that demand for havens is just as intense as that for riskier assets»
«The market value of the Bloomberg Barclays Global Negative Yielding Debt Index rose to $18.04 trillion on Thursday, the highest level ever recorded»
«About $1 trillion of bonds have seen their yields turn negative this week, meaning 27% of the world’s investment-grade debt is now sub-zero»
«Despite optimism about a global economic recovery next year sparking a rush to riskier assets like stocks and corporate debt, continued monetary support from central banks and concern about the relentless spread of the coronavirus has maintained investor interest in sovereign bonds»
«The rise in negative-yielding debt since March has coincided with a broadly weaker dollar»
«Bond bulls got a boost on Thursday when the European Central Bank boosted its asset purchase program by an additional 500 billion euros ($607 billion) in a bid to support the region’s economic recovery»
«In the euro area’s main debt markets in 10-year instruments, only Italian and Greek securities are trading in positive territory»
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Nella loro riservata, umile e discreta modestia, i liberal occidentali definiscono sé stessi come “il mondo“.
Ma secondo le statistiche dell’IMF i Brics hanno nel 2019 un PIL ppa di 46,620 miliardi Usd, contro i 20,290 degli Stati Uniti e 18,377 dell’Unione Europea. Occidente e paesi occidentalizzati hanno sistemi economici oramai nettamente inferiori a quelli dei Brics: considerarsi come fossero “il mondo” è del tutto inappropriato e fuorviante. Contano meno della metà.
Diciotto trilioni di titoli con interessi negativi sorpassa il PIL ppa dell’Unione Europea.
I titoli di stato ad interessi negativi sono sostenuti quasi esclusivamente dagli acquisti fatti dalle banche centrali occidentali Le Tabelle riportate in fotocopia dovrebbero essere più che eloquenti.
«Bond bulls got a boost on Thursday when the European Central Bank boosted its asset purchase program by an additional 500 billion euros ($607 billion) in a bid to support the region’s economic recovery»
Ma senza interventi strutturali e politici l’occidente non può continuare a stampare carta moneta a tempo indefinito, e più il tempo passa peggiore sarà l’epilogo.
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World’s Negative-Yield Debt Pile at $18 Trillion for First Time.
– Spanish 10-year bond yields fall below 0%, following Portugal
– Increase has coincided with a broadly-weaker dollar in 2020
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The world’s stockpile of negative-yielding debt has swelled to a fresh record in a sign that demand for havens is just as intense as that for riskier assets.
The market value of the Bloomberg Barclays Global Negative Yielding Debt Index rose to $18.04 trillion on Thursday, the highest level ever recorded. Spanish 10-year bonds were the latest to join the club, with rates sliding below 0% for the first time Friday.
About $1 trillion of bonds have seen their yields turn negative this week, meaning 27% of the world’s investment-grade debt is now sub-zero. Thanks to the slew of global issuance in 2020 as governments and companies wrestle with the impact of the coronavirus, that remains below the 30% peak reached last year.
Despite optimism about a global economic recovery next year sparking a rush to riskier assets like stocks and corporate debt, continued monetary support from central banks and concern about the relentless spread of the coronavirus has maintained investor interest in sovereign bonds. The rise in negative-yielding debt since March has coincided with a broadly weaker dollar.
Bond bulls got a boost on Thursday when the European Central Bank boosted its asset purchase program by an additional 500 billion euros ($607 billion) in a bid to support the region’s economic recovery. Meanwhile, both Australian bills saw sub-zero yields at auction for the first time, while Portuguese 10-year bond yields also dropped below 0% this week.
U.S. Treasury yields remain some of the few developed bonds still holding above 0%. In the euro area’s main debt markets in 10-year instruments, only Italian and Greek securities are trading in positive territory.
Germania. Il ministro della Salute Spahn supera la Merkel nei sondaggi di popolarità.
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2020-12-30.
«According to the Kantar poll in Bild newspaper, 52% of those surveyed said Spahn should play a major role in German politics in 2021, up from 28% at the end of 2019»
«Merkel’s approval rating was 51%, up 11 percentage points from the previous year»
«Spahn is clearly the winner of the year,” Bild quoted Kantar’s Torsten Schneider-Haase as saying. “From the point of view of the people, he is cutting a positive figure on coronavirus policy»
«German Health Minister Jens Spahn has taken over from Chancellor Angela Merkel as the nation’s most popular politician, a poll showed Sunday, highlighting his potential as a future leader of Europe’s biggest economy»
«Merkel is stepping down following the next election due in September 2021 after more than a decade and a half in power»
«The CDU will elect a new leader and probable chancellor candidate at a virtual congress next month»
«Spahn has backed Armin Laschet, the premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, while Friedrich Merz, a long-time Merkel rival, and Norbert Roettgen, a former environment minister, are also running»
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Nel settembre 2021 si terranno le elezioni politiche e dovrebbe essere eletto un nuovo cancelliere.
I giochi sono in corso.
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Merkel Supplanted by Spahn as Germany’s Most Popular Politician.
– Health minister seen key contributor to virus response
– Spahn was ‘clearly the winner of the year,’ pollster says
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German Health Minister Jens Spahn has taken over from Chancellor Angela Merkel as the nation’s most popular politician, a poll showed Sunday, highlighting his potential as a future leader of Europe’s biggest economy.
Spahn, 40, has long been considered a rising star in Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, and is widely perceived to have made a key contribution to Germany’s relatively successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Kantar poll in Bild newspaper, 52% of those surveyed said Spahn should play a major role in German politics in 2021, up from 28% at the end of 2019. Merkel’s approval rating was 51%, up 11 percentage points from the previous year.
“Spahn is clearly the winner of the year,” Bild quoted Kantar’s Torsten Schneider-Haase as saying. “From the point of view of the people, he is cutting a positive figure on coronavirus policy.”
Merkel is stepping down following the next election due in September 2021 after more than a decade and a half in power. The CDU will elect a new leader and probable chancellor candidate at a virtual congress next month.
Spahn has backed Armin Laschet, the premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, while Friedrich Merz, a long-time Merkel rival, and Norbert Roettgen, a former environment minister, are also running.
Arabia Saudita. Sovranità nazionale ed il caso Loujain al-Hathloul.
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2020-12-30.
«Saudi jails woman activist despite global outcry.»
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Tre sono i punti sui quali meditare.
Primo Punto.
«despite global outcry»
BBC. Chinese economy to overtake US ‘by 2028’ due to Covid
The Hill. China expected to surpass US economy in 2028: analysis
Bloomberg. China’s Economy Set to Overtake U.S. Earlier Due to Covid Fallout
DW. China to overtake US as largest global economy by 2028: report
Il sistema economico cinese ha già sorpassato quello statunitense se misurato nei termini del gdp ppa, ed adesso si appresta a superarlo anche in termini assoluti. Nel suo complesso, al momento, l’occidente rende conto di circa il 40% dell’economia mondiale: non rappresenta “il mondo”.
Ma a criticare l’Arabia Saudita è solo la fazione liberal di questo occidente, alla quale l’etichetta “global” proprio non si addice. Il resto del mondo, la maggioranza, non critica un bel nulla, anzi, la approva.
Secondo Punto.
Miss Loujain al-Hathloul, 31, ha svolto attività considerate illegali in Arabia Saudita, che quindi la ha condannata.
«She and other activists were detained in 2018 on charges including contacts with organisations hostile to Saudi Arabia»
A nostra conoscenza, in tutto il mondo non esiste uno stato che non persegua e condanni l’intelligenza con il nemico.
Terzo Punto.
«Amnesty International condemned her transfer to the Specialised Criminal Court»
Amnesty International è solo una ngo, con dirigenza cooptata, non elettiva, che non rappresenta altro che sé stessa e l’ambiente liberal da cui proviene.
Se nell’occidente liberal la sua voce è portata in palmo di mano, dalla gran parte del mondo è considerata essere organizzazione illegale, sovversiva.
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A nostro personale parere, l’Arabia Saudita ha problemi ben maggiori dell’ammissione delle femmine a guidare le autovetture.
Il vizio dei liberal di ergersi a censori inappellabili degli altri ha concorso efficacemente alla loro devoluzione. Per il momento sono solo sorpassati, poi verrà la condanna alla irrilevanza.
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Loujain al-Hathloul: Saudi woman activist jailed for five years
A prominent Saudi female activist, who campaigned for women’s right to drive, has been sentenced to more than five years in prison.
Loujain al-Hathloul, 31, has already been in a maximum security prison for two and a half years.
She and other activists were detained in 2018 on charges including contacts with organisations hostile to Saudi Arabia.
International human rights groups have repeatedly called for her release.
But on Monday, the country’s Specialised Criminal Court, which was set up to try terrorism cases, convicted her of various charges including trying to harm national security and advance a foreign agenda.
It sentenced her to five years and eight months in prison. Two years and ten months of the sentence are said to have been suspended.
She and her family have denied all charges. They have also said that she has been tortured in jail – accusations the court dismissed.
Hathloul was detained just weeks before Saudi women were finally allowed to drive in 2018 – the cause she championed.
Saudi officials insist her detention has nothing to do with that issue.
Hathloul’s family says she was held incommunicado for three months following her arrest, and that she was subjected to electric shocks, whippings, and sexual harassment. They also allege that she was offered freedom if she agreed to say she was not tortured.
Human rights experts have said her trial did not meet international standards.
In November, Amnesty International condemned her transfer to the Specialised Criminal Court, saying it exposed “the brutality and hypocrisy” of Saudi authorities.
The case is seen as further damaging the reputation of Saudi Arabia’s controversial de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, known as MBS.
He has led a programme of reforms, including lifting the ban on women driving, in a bid to open up the conservative kingdom to investment.
But he has also been condemned for the continued crackdown on rights activists, as well as the Saudi authorities’ role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Loujain Al-Hathloul is now even more famous for her incarceration than she was for her bold activism in the campaign for the right to drive.
She has come to symbolise the human rights abuses that stubbornly cast a long shadow over Saudi Arabia’s drive for economic and social reform – while it keeps an increasingly tight rein on political dissent.
When Joe Biden takes over as US president, he is expected to take a tougher stance on human rights violations.
But Saudi officials insist they will continue to chart their own course. The Kingdom believes its role as the world’s top oil exporter and regional power player matter to the international community above all else.
Al-Hathloul’s sentence, including years of suspended and already-served time, mean she and other activists could be freed in the new year.
That may help ease pressure on a Kingdom, which also does not want to be seen as bending to the dictates of others.
Usa. Georgia. La giudice distrettuale Abrams, democratica, blocca la verifica degli indirizzi.
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2020-12-30.
«Leslie Abrams Gardner (née Leslie Joyce Abrams; born December 6, 1974) is a U.S. District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Prior to being appointed to the bench, she was an Assistant U.S. Attorney. ….
On March 11, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Gardner to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia, to the seat being vacated by Judge W. Louis Sands, who took senior status on April 12, 2014. She received a hearing before the full panel of the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 13, 2014. On June 19, 2014, her nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote. On November 12, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on her nomination. On Monday, November 17, 2014 cloture was invoked by a vote of 68–28. On Tuesday, November 18, 2014 the Senate confirmed her by a vote of 100–0. She received her judicial commission on November 20, 2014.» [Fonte]
La giudice è la sorella dell’attivista democratica Stacey Abrams, che ha perso le elezioni a governatore della Georgia nel 2018.
«Every year approximately forty million Americans move their place of residence and/or business, but their old addresses often remain in mailer’s databases. As a result, mailings continue to go to old addresses and not the new ones. It is estimated that at least 8% of all mail is undeliverable because of incorrect addresses. This means lost opportunities, lost sales, and wasted money.» [National Change of Address]
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«A federal judge on Monday ordered two Georgia counties to reverse a decision removing thousands of voters from the rolls ahead of Jan. 5 runoff elections that will determine which political party controls the U.S. Senate»
«The counties seemed to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to invalidate registrations, the judge, Leslie Abrams Gardner, said in her order filed late on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of GeorgiaThe counties seemed to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to invalidate registrations, the judge, Leslie Abrams Gardner, said in her order filed late on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia»
«Defendants are enjoined from removing any challenged voters in Ben Hill and Muscogee Counties from the registration lists on the basis of National Change of Address data»
«The bulk of the registrations that the counties sought to rescind, more than 4,000 of them, were in Muscogee County, which U.S. President-elect Joe Biden won handily in November»
«Nearly 2.1 million people have cast ballots in the U.S. Senate runoff election in Georgia that will determine whether Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the fate of Biden’s agenda»
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I giudici liberal democratici emettono le sentenze sulla base della loro ideologia, non certo osservando costituzione, sentenze pregresse e leggi. Usano la giustiza per fini politici.
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U.S. judge orders two Georgia counties to halt voter purge ahead of Senate runoff
A federal judge on Monday ordered two Georgia counties to reverse a decision removing thousands of voters from the rolls ahead of Jan. 5 runoff elections that will determine which political party controls the U.S. Senate.
The counties seemed to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to invalidate registrations, the judge, Leslie Abrams Gardner, said in her order filed late on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
“Defendants are enjoined from removing any challenged voters in Ben Hill and Muscogee Counties from the registration lists on the basis of National Change of Address data”, Gardner wrote in the order. The judge is the sister of Democratic activist Stacey Abrams, who lost a race for Georgia governor in 2018.
The bulk of the registrations that the counties sought to rescind, more than 4,000 of them, were in Muscogee County, which U.S. President-elect Joe Biden won handily in November, Politico reported politi.co/2L3MGf6.
An additional 150 were from Ben Hill County, which President Donald Trump won by a wide margin, the report added.
Nearly 2.1 million people have cast ballots in the U.S. Senate runoff election in Georgia that will determine whether Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the fate of Biden’s agenda, according to state data published Thursday.
The runoffs pit Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff against Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, respectively.
If Republicans win one or both Senate seats in Georgia, they will retain a slim majority in the chamber and can block Biden’s legislative goals and judicial nominees.
If Democrats win both, the chamber will be split 50-50, giving the tie-breaking vote to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
PetroChina ha scoperto nel bacino Junggar nello Xinjiang gas per 100 mld mc e petrolio.
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2020-12-29.
«PetroChina，Asia’s largest producer of oil and gas, has struck a large natural gas discovery in northwest China’s Xinjiang region with an initial estimated reserve exceeding 100 billion cubic meters»
«This marks another breakthrough in the state oil firm’s natural gas development in the region, following a similar-sized discovery at Tarim basin in September last year»
«PetroChina tapped 610,000 cubic meters of daily gas flow and 106.3 cubic meters of crude oil at exploration well Hu-1, located in an exploration zone totalling 15,000 square kilometers at the southern rim of the Junggar basin»
«The oil and gas flows were struck at around 7,400 meters below the earth’s surface»
«Near the discovery, PetroChina is drilling three more exploration wells – Letan 1, Tianwan 1 and Tianan-1.»
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Scoperte di campi di queste dimensioni ricchi di petrolio e gas naturali è un evento del tutto benvenuto.
Tuttavia questa notizia si apre anche ad altre considerazioni.
La Cina si è messa in grado di poter fare prospezioni, e quindi estrarre, in zone climaticamente avverse, raggiungendo profondità di oltre i settemila metri, e per di più in un contesto geologico di granito.
Tutte le tecnologie coinvolte sono altamente sofisticate e richiedono sostanziosi know-how pluridisciplinari.
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PetroChina strikes big gas find in China Xinjiang’s Junggar basin: state media
PetroChina，Asia’s largest producer of oil and gas, has struck a large natural gas discovery in northwest China’s Xinjiang region with an initial estimated reserve exceeding 100 billion cubic meters, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported over the weekend.
This marks another breakthrough in the state oil firm’s natural gas development in the region, following a similar-sized discovery at Tarim basin in September last year.
PetroChina tapped 610,000 cubic meters of daily gas flow and 106.3 cubic meters of crude oil at exploration well Hu-1, located in an exploration zone totalling 15,000 square kilometers at the southern rim of the Junggar basin, Xinhua said.
The oil and gas flows were struck at around 7,400 meters below the earth’s surface.
Near the discovery, PetroChina is drilling three more exploration wells – Letan 1, Tianwan 1 and Tianan-1.
Xinjiang is among the top areas for PetroChina’s domestic exploration and production spending as the state energy giant has vowed to spend 150 billion yuan ($22.90 billion) between 2018 and 2020 to boost total oil and gas output at the region to 1 million barrels per day oil equivalent.
Usa. Cber. Previsioni. Marcia trionfale di Cina e Paesi asiatici.
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2020-12-29.
SenzaNubi 