lewrockwell--2020-04-03--The Medically Induced Police State

The Medically Induced Police State

I have long feared a police state .
Not the figurative one we ’ ve been letting develop for years now .
I mean a literal one .
Where they can stop you for any reason and ask you for your “ papers.
” Where they can restrict your movements , and your associations .
Where they can confine you to your homes .
Yesterday , this became an unfortunate reality for me and all other Virginians .
Mayor Ralph “ Blackface ” Northam signed an Executive Order that essentially locks my state down .
Police can stop any motorist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If they aren ’ t going to a doctor or the store , they can be charged with a misdemeanor .
For now .
And those essential personnel who are still working have been given papers .
Yes , “ show me your papers ” is finally here in the land of the free .
Over the course of just a few weeks , America and most of the world has been subjected to a power play that rivals anything that George Orwell could have dreamed up .
Whole countries locked down .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ People restricted to their houses .
“ Social distancing ” mandating that people stay six feet apart from one another .
The closing down of virtually all businesses .
No more going to the movies , or restaurants , or casinos , or concerts .
Professional sports leagues and even the NCAA ’ s lucrative March Madness basketball tournament have been cancelled .
All schools have been closed indefinitely .
1984 ( Signet Classics ) George Orwell Best Price : $ 1.49 Buy New $ 3.58 So , surely all these draconian , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is going on ?
Instead , the world has basically come to a standstill over a virus strain , which has not even conclusively been proven to exist , that has killed a fraction of what the common flu kills every year , in this country and around the world .
The Coronavirus has been around for decades .
Just look at the back of your can of Lysol .
It informs you that their product protects you from “ Human Coronavirus , ” among other things .
Many of us strongly suspect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lumped in with those purporting to be COVID-19 , the dastardly strain in question , which all the best and brightest “ experts ” inform us could spread across the world like wildfire .
The primary source for all the fear porn which has been emanating from our putrid state-run media for weeks , came from United Kingdom epidemiologist Neil Ferguson , who issued a dire warning that 2.2 million could die from COVID-19 in the United States alone .
Without quite the attention given his initial predictions by the hysterical media , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ numbers were wrong .
Very , very wrong .
His weak admission that perhaps 20,000 could die was not very convincing .
And a pair of Stanford professors of medicine followed that up by saying the predictions of fatalities “ may be too high by orders of magnitude.
” Instead of responding reasonably to these indications that those who initiated the alarmist talk from our journalists and politicians were utterly wrong , our leaders have doubled down on the heavy-handed , unwarranted response .
More states like mine have gone into lock down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Law , without any visible troops in the streets .
Given the lack of opposition to this authoritarianism , they haven ’ t needed any .
Without firing a shot , as the saying goes .
Citizen journalists have posted a myriad of videos on You Tube , which depict not the “ overwhelmed ” hospitals that are literally bursting at the seams with corpses , but instead largely empty facilities .
Jason Goodman has been filming around hospitals in New York City , the alleged epicenter of the alleged epidemic , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believed .
Idle ambulances everywhere .
Disinterested EMT workers and hospital employees .
Many , if not most of them not wearing masks .
Police harassing him from filming on a public street .
I have a friend who lives in New York City , and he just called me this morning to report how non-busy the biggest hospital in Brooklyn looked .
Something very strange is going on here .
Fauci : The Bernie Mado ... Ortleb , Charles Buy New $ 5.99 Meanwhile , Dr. Colleen Smith , a doctor who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whatever that is , violated every HIPAA regulation imaginable when she filmed inside an ICU at New York City ’ s Elmhurst Hospital .
Dr. Smith complained about a lack of equipment and resources , the same establishment mantra we ’ ve heard time and time again from establishment sources , which is invariably blamed on hapless Donald Trump .
Her video was published by the New York Times .
The same day she was filming inside , Elmhurst Hospital was videotaped outside by a citizen journalist .
You guessed it- it resembled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve made clear to so many who are parroting the mainstream line , “ people are dying !
, ” yes , people are dying .
They do everyday .
As Bob Dylan , also back in the news this week with a better late than never song about JFK assassination truth , once said , “ he not busy being born is busy dying.
” The question is , what are the people whose deaths the state-controlled media is fixated upon dying from ?
How many of these deaths are actually from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or less frightening strains of virus , like the regular flu or the generic Coronavirus ?
There are many disquieting indications that the wild overreaction to this is a hoax , even if the virus is not .
The photograph of ominous rows of coffins supposedly emanating out of Italy , which has been allegedly hit so hard by COVID-19 , which was proven to be from another country , taken years earlier .
The Italian reports indicating that 99 % of the fatalities attributed to this virus came from “ other pathologies.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of China , that the Chinese were including deaths from pneumonia along with the scary COVID-19 cases .
It is no exaggeration to say that , considering the draconian response , those in charge have a tremendous vested interest in significantly increasing the numbers .
Both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control were caught lying about the same thing in 2009 ; they falsely inflated the Swine Flu figures .
Sharyl Attkisson lost her job with CBS for exposing the CDC .
No investigative journalism is allowed in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ internet .
The CDC and WHO are front and center here , along with our perpetually dishonest politicians and laughable , lapdog establishment press .
They are the ones selling this narrative .
Why would any intelligent person believe them ?
Eton Executive Travele ... Buy New $ 34.93 I have been lied to my entire life by the most powerful authority figures .
I worked for the Medical Industrial Complex for 44 years , until being fired two years ago for helping a handicapped co-worker .
You read that right .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ right to work ” state .
It gives them a right to fire you for no reason .
Our healthcare system is hopelessly inefficient and just as corrupt as any other part of America 2.0 .
The medical profession itself is the third leading cause of death in this country .
When you enter a hospital , you take your life in your hands .
So excuse me for not trusting in all the white coats issuing their dire pronouncements .
In Virginia , our unofficial Martial Law is in effect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many businesses will never reopen after being closed for nearly three months .
How many employees will be laid off , and be left to deal with the ever-increasing cost of living with their $ 1200 checks that constituted the trickle-down droppings from the $ 5.5 trillion dollar “ stimulus ” package , which Ron Paul called “ a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the elite ?
” Picture the massive unemployment claims , somehow paid for by payroll taxes which are not going to be collected from all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ paying them .
And we still haven ’ t heard a peep of protest from anyone with a large public platform .
Not a single corporate leader whose dedication to capitalism compels him to protest the literal shutdown of almost all commerce .
There is a stunning uniformity of opinion on this massive overhaul of our society , which happened in the blink of an eye .
Only naysayers like me , with the voices we have on the internet , are pointing out how shockingly wrong all of this is .
America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watered-down , often embarrassing form a month ago , is forever gone .
Once our leaders have demonstrated they can institute such authoritarian restrictions on the populace , with virtually no resistance , it is a certainty they will do it again .
Expect to see the kind of ridiculous color-coded “ terror threat ” warnings we saw after 9/11 .
When the unquestioned authorities declare that we are at “ code red ” in terms of a new viral threat , America will just go back into lock down mode .
Americans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to sell this narrative has been an astonishing number of celebrities .
This virus evidently is predisposed to attack famous people who have shown unswerving devotion to the Deep State .
It was entirely predictable that the likes of Tom Hanks , Greta Thunberg , Prince Charles , and Chris Cuomo would test positive .
For the Coronavirus , as it is worded in all the celebrity cases , not for COVID-19 .
This could be the lazy , unintentional intermingling of a generic term for the deadly strain that has stopped the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ admission that technically they are telling the truth- the tests can only determine whether one has Coronavirus , not any particular strain of it .
Dr.Jino Iodim High Pot ... Buy New $ 30.00 ( $ 0.25 / Count ) But there is a huge difference between the two terms ; testing positive for the generic Coronavirus is no big deal .
It could just be a common cold , or an indication someone is a carrier , with no symptoms at all .
If everyone in past years had been frightened by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sniffle , who knows how many might have been positive ?
They have somehow convinced most of the public that this virus strain is potentially far more deadly than anything since the Bubonic Plague , despite numbers that remain a fraction of what we see every flu season .
With even the most severe flu seasons , nothing has ever been closed or cancelled .
Certainly there was never any kind of lock down .
This has all been sold to the public on the basis of protecting us .
After all , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have only our best interests at heart .
And what is more terrifying to anyone than the state of their health ?
None of us want to put our loved ones ’ lives in danger .
And so we become even more compliant than normal .
Benjamin Franklin wisely warned , “ Those who would give up essential Liberty , to purchase a little temporary Safety , deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
” Considering the continuous fear porn coming from our leaders , few of us probably feel safe .
And their totalitarian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all of us feel demonstrably less free .
The Best of Donald Jeffries

I have long feared a police state. Not the figurative one we’ve been letting develop for years now. I mean a literal one. Where they can stop you for any reason and ask you for your “papers.” Where they can restrict your movements, and your associations. Where they can confine you to your homes.
Yesterday, this became an unfortunate reality for me and all other Virginians. Mayor Ralph “Blackface” Northam signed an Executive Order that essentially locks my state down. Police can stop any motorist and ask where they are going. If they aren’t going to a doctor or the store, they can be charged with a misdemeanor. For now. And those essential personnel who are still working have been given papers. Yes, “show me your papers” is finally here in the land of the free.
Over the course of just a few weeks, America and most of the world has been subjected to a power play that rivals anything that George Orwell could have dreamed up. Whole countries locked down. People quarantined who have no illness. People restricted to their houses. “Social distancing” mandating that people stay six feet apart from one another. The closing down of virtually all businesses. No more going to the movies, or restaurants, or casinos, or concerts. Professional sports leagues and even the NCAA’s lucrative March Madness basketball tournament have been cancelled. All schools have been closed indefinitely. 1984 (Signet Classics) George Orwell Best Price: $1.49 Buy New $3.58 (as of 10:53 UTC - Details)
So, surely all these draconian, unprecedented moves indicate that something really dangerous is going on? Instead, the world has basically come to a standstill over a virus strain, which has not even conclusively been proven to exist, that has killed a fraction of what the common flu kills every year, in this country and around the world.
The Coronavirus has been around for decades. Just look at the back of your can of Lysol. It informs you that their product protects you from “Human Coronavirus,” among other things. Many of us strongly suspect that cases of simple Coronavirus have been lumped in with those purporting to be COVID-19, the dastardly strain in question, which all the best and brightest “experts” inform us could spread across the world like wildfire.
The primary source for all the fear porn which has been emanating from our putrid state-run media for weeks, came from United Kingdom epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, who issued a dire warning that 2.2 million could die from COVID-19 in the United States alone. Without quite the attention given his initial predictions by the hysterical media, Ferguson quietly acknowledged last week that his numbers were wrong. Very, very wrong. His weak admission that perhaps 20,000 could die was not very convincing. And a pair of Stanford professors of medicine followed that up by saying the predictions of fatalities “may be too high by orders of magnitude.”
Instead of responding reasonably to these indications that those who initiated the alarmist talk from our journalists and politicians were utterly wrong, our leaders have doubled down on the heavy-handed, unwarranted response. More states like mine have gone into lock down mode. It is akin to Martial Law, without any visible troops in the streets. Given the lack of opposition to this authoritarianism, they haven’t needed any. Without firing a shot, as the saying goes.
Citizen journalists have posted a myriad of videos on You Tube, which depict not the “overwhelmed” hospitals that are literally bursting at the seams with corpses, but instead largely empty facilities. Jason Goodman has been filming around hospitals in New York City, the alleged epicenter of the alleged epidemic, and it has to be seen to be believed. Idle ambulances everywhere. Disinterested EMT workers and hospital employees. Many, if not most of them not wearing masks. Police harassing him from filming on a public street. I have a friend who lives in New York City, and he just called me this morning to report how non-busy the biggest hospital in Brooklyn looked. Something very strange is going on here. Fauci: The Bernie Mado... Ortleb, Charles Buy New $5.99 (as of 02:55 UTC - Details)
Meanwhile, Dr. Colleen Smith, a doctor who specializes in “medical simulation,” whatever that is, violated every HIPAA regulation imaginable when she filmed inside an ICU at New York City’s Elmhurst Hospital. Dr. Smith complained about a lack of equipment and resources, the same establishment mantra we’ve heard time and time again from establishment sources, which is invariably blamed on hapless Donald Trump. Her video was published by the New York Times. The same day she was filming inside, Elmhurst Hospital was videotaped outside by a citizen journalist. You guessed it- it resembled a ghost town.
As I’ve made clear to so many who are parroting the mainstream line, “people are dying!,” yes, people are dying. They do everyday. As Bob Dylan, also back in the news this week with a better late than never song about JFK assassination truth, once said, “he not busy being born is busy dying.” The question is, what are the people whose deaths the state-controlled media is fixated upon dying from? How many of these deaths are actually from underlying causes like diabetes or pneumonia, or less frightening strains of virus, like the regular flu or the generic Coronavirus?
There are many disquieting indications that the wild overreaction to this is a hoax, even if the virus is not. The photograph of ominous rows of coffins supposedly emanating out of Italy, which has been allegedly hit so hard by COVID-19, which was proven to be from another country, taken years earlier. The Italian reports indicating that 99% of the fatalities attributed to this virus came from “other pathologies.” The story in early February out of China, that the Chinese were including deaths from pneumonia along with the scary COVID-19 cases. It is no exaggeration to say that, considering the draconian response, those in charge have a tremendous vested interest in significantly increasing the numbers.
Both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control were caught lying about the same thing in 2009; they falsely inflated the Swine Flu figures. Sharyl Attkisson lost her job with CBS for exposing the CDC. No investigative journalism is allowed in this country, outside of amateurs on the internet. The CDC and WHO are front and center here, along with our perpetually dishonest politicians and laughable, lapdog establishment press. They are the ones selling this narrative. Why would any intelligent person believe them?
Eton Executive Travele... Buy New $34.93 (as of 08:53 UTC - Details) I have been lied to my entire life by the most powerful authority figures. I worked for the Medical Industrial Complex for 44 years, until being fired two years ago for helping a handicapped co-worker. You read that right. That’s the chance you take in a “right to work” state. It gives them a right to fire you for no reason. Our healthcare system is hopelessly inefficient and just as corrupt as any other part of America 2.0. The medical profession itself is the third leading cause of death in this country. When you enter a hospital, you take your life in your hands. So excuse me for not trusting in all the white coats issuing their dire pronouncements.
In Virginia, our unofficial Martial Law is in effect until June 10. Just imagine how many businesses will never reopen after being closed for nearly three months. How many employees will be laid off, and be left to deal with the ever-increasing cost of living with their $1200 checks that constituted the trickle-down droppings from the $5.5 trillion dollar “stimulus” package, which Ron Paul called “a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the elite?” Picture the massive unemployment claims, somehow paid for by payroll taxes which are not going to be collected from all those unemployed workers who are no longer paying them.
And we still haven’t heard a peep of protest from anyone with a large public platform. Not a single corporate leader whose dedication to capitalism compels him to protest the literal shutdown of almost all commerce. There is a stunning uniformity of opinion on this massive overhaul of our society, which happened in the blink of an eye. Only naysayers like me, with the voices we have on the internet, are pointing out how shockingly wrong all of this is.
America, even as it existed in its watered-down, often embarrassing form a month ago, is forever gone. Once our leaders have demonstrated they can institute such authoritarian restrictions on the populace, with virtually no resistance, it is a certainty they will do it again. Expect to see the kind of ridiculous color-coded “terror threat” warnings we saw after 9/11. When the unquestioned authorities declare that we are at “code red” in terms of a new viral threat, America will just go back into lock down mode. Americans will be used to it.
Helping to sell this narrative has been an astonishing number of celebrities. This virus evidently is predisposed to attack famous people who have shown unswerving devotion to the Deep State. It was entirely predictable that the likes of Tom Hanks, Greta Thunberg, Prince Charles, and Chris Cuomo would test positive. For the Coronavirus, as it is worded in all the celebrity cases, not for COVID-19. This could be the lazy, unintentional intermingling of a generic term for the deadly strain that has stopped the world. Or it could be an admission that technically they are telling the truth- the tests can only determine whether one has Coronavirus, not any particular strain of it. Dr.Jino Iodim High Pot... Buy New $30.00 ($0.25 / Count) (as of 09:29 UTC - Details)
But there is a huge difference between the two terms; testing positive for the generic Coronavirus is no big deal. It could just be a common cold, or an indication someone is a carrier, with no symptoms at all. If everyone in past years had been frightened by fear porn into getting tested for any sniffle, who knows how many might have been positive? They have somehow convinced most of the public that this virus strain is potentially far more deadly than anything since the Bubonic Plague, despite numbers that remain a fraction of what we see every flu season. With even the most severe flu seasons, nothing has ever been closed or cancelled. Certainly there was never any kind of lock down.
This has all been sold to the public on the basis of protecting us. After all, our leaders care about us. They have only our best interests at heart. And what is more terrifying to anyone than the state of their health? None of us want to put our loved ones’ lives in danger. And so we become even more compliant than normal.
Benjamin Franklin wisely warned, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Considering the continuous fear porn coming from our leaders, few of us probably feel safe. And their totalitarian response to an invisible enemy should make all of us feel demonstrably less free.
Reprinted with the author’s permission.
Aleratec Natural Bambo... Buy New $38.99 (as of 09:24 UTC - Details)
The Best of Donald Jeffries


lewrockwell--2020-04-03--China Rolls Out the Health Silk Road

China Rolls Out the Health Silk Road

When President Xi Jinping was on a phone call in mid-March with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti , before the arrival of a China Eastern flight from Shanghai to Milan full of medical help , the key takeaway was the Chinese pledge to develop a Health Silk Road ( Jiankang Sichou Zhilu ) .
That was in fact already inbuilt in the Belt and Road Initiative playbook since at least 2017 , under the framework of enhanced , pan-Eurasian health connectivity .
The pandemic only accelerated the timeline .
The Health Silk Road will run in parallel to the multiple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Silk Road .
In a graphic demonstration of soft power , so far China has offered Covid-19-related equipment and medical help to no fewer than 89 nations – and counting .
That covers Africa ( especially South Africa , Namibia and Kenya , with Alibaba in fact announcing it will send help to all African nations ) ; Latin America ( Brazil , Argentina , Venezuela , Peru ) ; the arc from East Asia to Southwest Asia ; and Europe .
Empire of Chaos Pepe Escobar Best Price : $ 24.50 Buy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ include Italy , France , Spain , Belgium , the Netherlands , Serbia and Poland .
But Italy , most of all , is a very special case .
Most are donations .
Some are trade – like millions of masks sold to France ( and the US ) .
Less than a year ago Italy became the first G-7 nation to sign a memorandum of understanding formally joining Belt and Road – much to the displeasure of Washington and the Atlanticist galaxy in Brussels and beyond .
Earlier this year in Sicily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Enrico Fardella , Professor of History at Peking University and an expert on China-Mediterranean relations .
Italy is supported on myriad fronts – not only at the highest political level but also via the Chinese Red Cross , Sino-Italian associations , tech/logistics Chinese companies and donations from Alibaba , Huawei , ZTE and Lenovo .
There are three Chinese medical teams in Italy at the moment .
This all ties up with the larger Belt and Road picture , featuring investments in Genoa and Trieste , two key ports and future Belt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power offensive is carefully calibrated to offset the current paralysis of global supply chains .
China is now working overtime to supply many parts of the world with medicine and related healthcare items – always with the Belt and Road framework in mind , as if doubling down on Globalization 2.0 .
That spells out the interconnectivity of nations that badly need development and infrastructure along with the need for good health systems and practices .
And that prepares the terrain for , when Covid-19 is more or less tamed and the Chinese @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Road reboot : an inexorable historic trend based on a new economic model that Beijing deems more equitable , and in the interests of the Global South .
Eton Executive Travele ... Buy New $ 34.93 A Health Silk Road is already in effect when we see China , Russia – and Cuba with its first-class health system – sending teams of doctors and virologists as well as planes with medical equipment to Italy , and China sending drugs , test kits and supplies to illegally sanctioned Iran .
China immediately understood what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ravage many hot points of world-famous Made in Italy .
With its offer of skilled , cheaper manufacturing , China had initially lured key Italian fashion houses to outsource their production to China , and most of all to Wuhan .
The connectivity – which has been there for decades – works both ways .
Chinese investors started to arrive in northern Italy in the early 1990s .
They bought a string of factories ; renovated them ; created their own , top Made in Italy brands ; and brought in tens of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in these factories .
There are plenty of direct flights from Wuhan to Lombardy – to serve at least 300,000 Chinese who have moved permanently to Italy to work in Chinese-owned factories producing Made in Italy .
So it ’ s no wonder Doctor Giuseppe Remuzzi , director of the Mario Negri Pharmacology Institute in Milan , became a superstar in China .
In an interview that went viral , Remuzzi talks about his explosive findings in conversations with general practitioners in Lombardy .
Fireproof Document Bag ... Best Price : $ 14.99 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr. Remuzzi , at 4:19 : “ Do you know what happened ?
Certain family doctors , who have the best antennas in the territory , at least the most able and attentive ones , have told me recently that they were seeing grave cases of pneumonia , which we had never seen in other years .
These pneumonia cases had nothing to do with typical flu pneumonia , they were interstitial pneumonias , they had to do CT , radiography [ to diagnose it ] , and this was seen in October @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus has been circulating a long time.
” That was indeed in parallel with or even before the first coronavirus cases in Wuhan in mid-November .
It ’ s been already scientifically established that the virus strains in Wuhan and in Lombardy are different .
Which came first , and where from , remains a matter of incendiary debate .
Inevitably the Health Silk Road would have to be dismissed by the Atlanticist gang as a disinformation ploy exploiting the pandemic to “ destabilize ” and weaken Europe .
That ’ s the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whose personnel love to blast Russia and China for a living .
So for the Brussels bureaucracy , the Health Silk Road is not about saving lives ; it ’ s about “ destabilizing ” the EU and improving Xi Jinping ’ s domestic image after China lied , lied and lied again about the extent and severity of coronavirus .
That happens to be the exact same narrative of the Trump administration , US corporate media and US intelligence .
Does it matter ?
Not for those 89 nations that are receiving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of demonization bark while the Health Silk Road caravan passes .
The Fourth Turning : An ... Howe , Neil Best Price : $ 7.92 Buy New $ 12.04 Antiviral Strategies a ... Vasquez , Alex Best Price : $ 24.05 Buy New $ 23.75

When President Xi Jinping was on a phone call in mid-March with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti, before the arrival of a China Eastern flight from Shanghai to Milan full of medical help, the key takeaway was the Chinese pledge to develop a Health Silk Road (Jiankang Sichou Zhilu).
That was in fact already inbuilt in the Belt and Road Initiative playbook since at least 2017, under the framework of enhanced, pan-Eurasian health connectivity. The pandemic only accelerated the timeline. The Health Silk Road will run in parallel to the multiple overland Silk Road corridors and the Maritime Silk Road.
In a graphic demonstration of soft power, so far China has offered Covid-19-related equipment and medical help to no fewer than 89 nations – and counting.
That covers Africa (especially South Africa, Namibia and Kenya, with Alibaba in fact announcing it will send help to all African nations); Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru); the arc from East Asia to Southwest Asia; and Europe. Empire of Chaos Pepe Escobar Best Price: $24.50 Buy New $36.65 (as of 05:45 UTC - Details)
Key recipients in Europe include Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Serbia and Poland. But Italy, most of all, is a very special case. Most are donations. Some are trade – like millions of masks sold to France (and the US).
Less than a year ago Italy became the first G-7 nation to sign a memorandum of understanding formally joining Belt and Road – much to the displeasure of Washington and the Atlanticist galaxy in Brussels and beyond.
Earlier this year in Sicily, I discussed these intricacies in detail with Enrico Fardella, Professor of History at Peking University and an expert on China-Mediterranean relations.
Italy is supported on myriad fronts – not only at the highest political level but also via the Chinese Red Cross, Sino-Italian associations, tech/logistics Chinese companies and donations from Alibaba, Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo. There are three Chinese medical teams in Italy at the moment.
This all ties up with the larger Belt and Road picture, featuring investments in Genoa and Trieste, two key ports and future Belt and Road nodes.
This Chinese soft power offensive is carefully calibrated to offset the current paralysis of global supply chains. China is now working overtime to supply many parts of the world with medicine and related healthcare items – always with the Belt and Road framework in mind, as if doubling down on Globalization 2.0.
That spells out the interconnectivity of nations that badly need development and infrastructure along with the need for good health systems and practices.
And that prepares the terrain for, when Covid-19 is more or less tamed and the Chinese economy fully recovered, the Belt and Road reboot: an inexorable historic trend based on a new economic model that Beijing deems more equitable, and in the interests of the Global South. Eton Executive Travele... Buy New $34.93 (as of 08:53 UTC - Details)
‘Chinese lie‘
A Health Silk Road is already in effect when we see China, Russia – and Cuba with its first-class health system – sending teams of doctors and virologists as well as planes with medical equipment to Italy, and China sending drugs, test kits and supplies to illegally sanctioned Iran.
China immediately understood what was at stake as it saw Covid-19 ravage many hot points of world-famous Made in Italy. With its offer of skilled, cheaper manufacturing, China had initially lured key Italian fashion houses to outsource their production to China, and most of all to Wuhan.
The connectivity – which has been there for decades – works both ways. Chinese investors started to arrive in northern Italy in the early 1990s. They bought a string of factories; renovated them; created their own, top Made in Italy brands; and brought in tens of thousands of skilled Chinese seamstresses to work in these factories.
There are plenty of direct flights from Wuhan to Lombardy – to serve at least 300,000 Chinese who have moved permanently to Italy to work in Chinese-owned factories producing Made in Italy.
So it’s no wonder Doctor Giuseppe Remuzzi, director of the Mario Negri Pharmacology Institute in Milan, became a superstar in China. In an interview that went viral, Remuzzi talks about his explosive findings in conversations with general practitioners in Lombardy. Fireproof Document Bag... Best Price: $14.99 Buy New $19.99 (as of 08:53 UTC - Details)
Here’s Dr. Remuzzi, at 4:19: “Do you know what happened? Certain family doctors, who have the best antennas in the territory, at least the most able and attentive ones, have told me recently that they were seeing grave cases of pneumonia, which we had never seen in other years.
These pneumonia cases had nothing to do with typical flu pneumonia, they were interstitial pneumonias, they had to do CT, radiography [to diagnose it], and this was seen in October, November, December. So this virus has been circulating a long time.”
That was indeed in parallel with or even before the first coronavirus cases in Wuhan in mid-November. It’s been already scientifically established that the virus strains in Wuhan and in Lombardy are different. Which came first, and where from, remains a matter of incendiary debate.
Inevitably the Health Silk Road would have to be dismissed by the Atlanticist gang as a disinformation ploy exploiting the pandemic to “destabilize” and weaken Europe. That’s the narrative promoted by EUvsDisinfo, an NGO whose personnel love to blast Russia and China for a living.
So for the Brussels bureaucracy, the Health Silk Road is not about saving lives; it’s about “destabilizing” the EU and improving Xi Jinping’s domestic image after China lied, lied and lied again about the extent and severity of coronavirus. That happens to be the exact same narrative of the Trump administration, US corporate media and US intelligence.
Does it matter? Not for those 89 nations that are receiving much-needed help and equipment. The dogs of demonization bark while the Health Silk Road caravan passes.
Reprinted with the author’s permission.
The Fourth Turning: An... Howe, Neil Best Price: $7.92 Buy New $12.04 (as of 08:30 UTC - Details) Antiviral Strategies a... Vasquez, Alex Best Price: $24.05 Buy New $23.75 (as of 11:07 UTC - Details)


lewrockwell--2020-04-03--The Attack on Civil Liberties in the Age of COVID-19

You can always count on the government to take advantage of a crisis , legitimate or manufactured .
This coronavirus pandemic is no exception .
Not only are the federal and state governments unraveling the constitutional fabric of the nation with lockdown mandates that are sending the economy into a tailspin and wreaking havoc with our liberties , but they are also rendering the citizenry fully dependent on the government for financial handouts , medical intervention , protection and sustenance .
Unless we find some way to rein in the government ’ s power grabs , the fall-out will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for years—government overreach , invasive surveillance , martial law , abuse of powers , militarized police , weaponized technology used to track and control the citizenry , and so on—has coalesced into this present moment .
Battlefield America : T ... John W. Whitehead Best Price : $ 10.95 Buy New $ 18.80 The government ’ s shameless exploitation of past national emergencies for its own nefarious purposes pales in comparison to what is presently unfolding .
Deploying the same strategy it used with 9/11 to acquire greater powers under the USA Patriot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shadow government , a.k.a .
the Deep State—has been anticipating this moment for years , quietly assembling a wish list of lockdown powers that could be trotted out and approved at a moment ’ s notice .
It should surprise no one , then , that the Trump Administration has asked Congress to allow it to suspend parts of the Constitution whenever it deems it necessary during this coronavirus pandemic and “ other ” emergencies .
It ’ s that “ other ” emergencies part that should particularly give you pause , if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by action , I mean a loud and vocal , apolitical , nonpartisan outcry and sustained , apolitical , nonpartisan resistance ) .
In fact , the Department of Justice ( DOJ ) has been quietly trotting out and testing a long laundry list of terrifying powers that override the Constitution .
We ’ re talking about lockdown powers ( at both the federal and state level ) : the ability to suspend the Constitution , indefinitely detain American citizens , bypass the courts , quarantine whole communities or segments of the population @ @ @ @ @ @ @ religious gatherings and assemblies of more than a few people , shut down entire industries and manipulate the economy , muzzle dissidents , “ stop and seize any plane , train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease , ” reshape financial markets , create a digital currency ( and thus further restrict the use of cash ) , determine who should live or die… You ’ re getting the picture now , right ?
These are powers the police state would desperately like to make permanent .
Bear in mind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump Administration , acting on orders from the police state , are officially asking Congress to recognize and authorize barely scratch the surface of the far-reaching powers the government has already unilaterally claimed for itself .
Unofficially , the police state has been riding roughshod over the rule of law for years now without any pretense of being reined in or restricted in its power grabs by Congress , the courts or the citizenry .
This current pandemic is a test to see whether the Constitution—and our commitment to the principles enshrined in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis and true state of emergency .
Here ’ s what we know : whatever the so-called threat to the nation—whether it ’ s civil unrest , school shootings , alleged acts of terrorism , or the threat of a global pandemic in the case of COVID-19—the government has a tendency to capitalize on the nation ’ s heightened emotions , confusion and fear as a means of extending the reach of the police state .
This coronavirus epidemic , which has brought China ’ s Orwellian surveillance out of the shadows and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threatens to bring the American Police State out into the open on a scale we ’ ve not seen before .
Every day brings a drastic new set of restrictions by government bodies ( most have been delivered by way of executive orders ) at the local , state and federal level that are eager to flex their muscles for the so-called “ good ” of the populace .
This is where we run the risk of this whole fly-by-night operation going completely off the rails .
It ’ s one thing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order to flatten the curve of this virus because we can ’ t afford to risk overwhelming the hospitals and exposing the most vulnerable in the nation to unavoidable loss of life scenarios .
However , there ’ s a fine line between strongly worded suggestions for citizens to voluntarily stay at home and strong-armed house arrest orders with penalties in place for non-compliance .
More than three-quarters of all Americans have now been ordered to stay at home and that number is growing as more states fall in line .
The Change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Best Price : $ 2.03 Buy New $ 10.60 Schools have canceled physical classes , many for the remainder of the academic year .
Many of the states have banned gatherings of more than 10 people .
At least three states ( Nevada , North Carolina , and Pennsylvania ) have ordered non-essential businesses to close .
In Washington , DC , residents face 90 days in jail and a $ 5,000 fine if they leave their homes during the coronavirus outbreak .
Residents of Maryland , Hawaii and Washington state also risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in prison and a $ 5,000 fine for violating the stay-at-home orders .
Violators in Alaska could face jail time and up to $ 25,000 in fines .
Kentucky residents are prohibited from traveling outside the state , with a few exceptions .
New York City , the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. , is offering its Rikers Island prisoners $ 6 an hour to help dig mass graves .
In San Francisco , cannabis dispensaries were included among the essential businesses allowed to keep operating during the city-wide lockdown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gatherings of any number , including parties , weddings and religious ceremonies , and warned the restrictions could continue for weeks or months .
One city actually threatened to prosecute residents who spread false information about the virus .
Oregon banned all nonessential social and recreational gatherings , regardless of size .
Rhode Island has given police the go-ahead to pull over anyone with New York license plates to record their contact information and order them to self-quarantine for 14 days .
South Carolina ’ s police have been empowered to break up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people .
Of course , there are exceptions to all of these stay-at-home orders ( in more than 30 states and counting ) , the longest of which runs until June 10 .
Essential workers ( doctors , firefighters , police and grocery store workers ) can go to work .
Everyone else will have to fit themselves into a variety of exceptions in order to leave their homes : for grocery runs , doctor visits , to get exercise , to visit a family member , etc .
Throughout the country , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the National Guard have been mobilized to support the states and the federal government in their fight against the coronavirus .
Thus far , we have not breached the Constitution ’ s crisis point : martial law has yet to be overtly imposed ( although an argument could be made to the contrary given the militarized nature of the American police state ) .
It ’ s just a matter of time before all hell breaks loose .
If this is not the defining point at which we cross over into all-out totalitarianism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a test to see how easily we will surrender .
Generally , the government has to show a compelling state interest before it can override certain critical rights such as free speech , assembly , press , search and seizure , etc .
Most of the time , it lacks that compelling state interest , but it still manages to violate those rights , setting itself up for legal battles further down the road .
These lockdown measures—on the right of the people to peaceably assemble , to travel , to engage in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which might pass muster for a short period of time , but can it be sustained for longer stretches legally ?
A Government of Wolves ... John W. Whitehead Best Price : $ 1.16 Buy New $ 2.99 That ’ s the challenge before us , of course , if these days and weeks potentially stretch into months-long quarantines .
At the moment , the government believes it has a compelling interest—albeit a temporary one—in restricting gatherings , assemblies and movement in public in order to minimize the spread of this virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while we may tolerate these restrictions on our liberties in the short term , we should never fail to be on guard lest these one-time constraints become a slippery slope to a total lockdown mindset .
What we must guard against , more than ever before , is the tendency to become so accustomed to our prison walls—these lockdowns , authoritarian dictates , and police state tactics justified as necessary for national security—that we allow the government to keep having its way in all things , without any civic resistance or objections being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t be naïve : the government will use this crisis to expand its powers far beyond the reach of the Constitution .
Travel too far down that slippery slope , and there will be no turning back .
As I make clear in my book “ Battlefield America : The War on the American People , ” if you wait to speak out—stand up—and resist until the government ’ s lockdowns impact your freedoms personally , it could be too late .
Just because we ’ re fighting an unseen enemy in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t mean we have to relinquish every shred of our humanity , our common sense , or our freedoms to a nanny state that thinks it can do a better job of keeping us safe .
Whatever we give up willingly now—whether it ’ s basic human decency , the ability to manage our private affairs , the right to have a say in how the government navigates this crisis , or the few rights still left to us that haven ’ t been disemboweled in recent years by a power-hungry police state—we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once this crisis is past .
Neither should we .
The Best of John W. Whitehead

You can always count on the government to take advantage of a crisis, legitimate or manufactured.
This coronavirus pandemic is no exception.
Not only are the federal and state governments unraveling the constitutional fabric of the nation with lockdown mandates that are sending the economy into a tailspin and wreaking havoc with our liberties, but they are also rendering the citizenry fully dependent on the government for financial handouts, medical intervention, protection and sustenance.
Unless we find some way to rein in the government’s power grabs, the fall-out will be epic.
Everything I have warned about for years—government overreach, invasive surveillance, martial law, abuse of powers, militarized police, weaponized technology used to track and control the citizenry, and so on—has coalesced into this present moment. Battlefield America: T... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $10.95 Buy New $18.80 (as of 10:15 UTC - Details)
The government’s shameless exploitation of past national emergencies for its own nefarious purposes pales in comparison to what is presently unfolding.
Deploying the same strategy it used with 9/11 to acquire greater powers under the USA Patriot Act, the police state—a.k.a. the shadow government, a.k.a. the Deep State—has been anticipating this moment for years, quietly assembling a wish list of lockdown powers that could be trotted out and approved at a moment’s notice.
It should surprise no one, then, that the Trump Administration has asked Congress to allow it to suspend parts of the Constitution whenever it deems it necessary during this coronavirus pandemic and “other” emergencies.
It’s that “other” emergencies part that should particularly give you pause, if not spur you to immediate action (by action, I mean a loud and vocal, apolitical, nonpartisan outcry and sustained, apolitical, nonpartisan resistance).
In fact, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been quietly trotting out and testing a long laundry list of terrifying powers that override the Constitution.
We’re talking about lockdown powers (at both the federal and state level): the ability to suspend the Constitution, indefinitely detain American citizens, bypass the courts, quarantine whole communities or segments of the population, override the First Amendment by outlawing religious gatherings and assemblies of more than a few people, shut down entire industries and manipulate the economy, muzzle dissidents, “stop and seize any plane, train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease,” reshape financial markets, create a digital currency (and thus further restrict the use of cash), determine who should live or die…
You’re getting the picture now, right?
These are powers the police state would desperately like to make permanent.
Bear in mind, however, that these powers the Trump Administration, acting on orders from the police state, are officially asking Congress to recognize and authorize barely scratch the surface of the far-reaching powers the government has already unilaterally claimed for itself.
Unofficially, the police state has been riding roughshod over the rule of law for years now without any pretense of being reined in or restricted in its power grabs by Congress, the courts or the citizenry.
This current pandemic is a test to see whether the Constitution—and our commitment to the principles enshrined in the Bill of Rights—can survive a national crisis and true state of emergency.
Here’s what we know: whatever the so-called threat to the nation—whether it’s civil unrest, school shootings, alleged acts of terrorism, or the threat of a global pandemic in the case of COVID-19—the government has a tendency to capitalize on the nation’s heightened emotions, confusion and fear as a means of extending the reach of the police state.
This coronavirus epidemic, which has brought China’s Orwellian surveillance out of the shadows and caused Italy to declare a nationwide lockdown threatens to bring the American Police State out into the open on a scale we’ve not seen before.
Every day brings a drastic new set of restrictions by government bodies (most have been delivered by way of executive orders) at the local, state and federal level that are eager to flex their muscles for the so-called “good” of the populace.
This is where we run the risk of this whole fly-by-night operation going completely off the rails.
It’s one thing to attempt an experiment in social distancing in order to flatten the curve of this virus because we can’t afford to risk overwhelming the hospitals and exposing the most vulnerable in the nation to unavoidable loss of life scenarios. However, there’s a fine line between strongly worded suggestions for citizens to voluntarily stay at home and strong-armed house arrest orders with penalties in place for non-compliance.
More than three-quarters of all Americans have now been ordered to stay at home and that number is growing as more states fall in line. The Change Manifesto: ... Whitehead, John W Best Price: $2.03 Buy New $10.60 (as of 01:25 UTC - Details)
Schools have canceled physical classes, many for the remainder of the academic year.
Many of the states have banned gatherings of more than 10 people.
At least three states (Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) have ordered non-essential businesses to close.
In Washington, DC, residents face 90 days in jail and a $5,000 fine if they leave their homes during the coronavirus outbreak. Residents of Maryland, Hawaii and Washington state also risk severe penalties of up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine for violating the stay-at-home orders. Violators in Alaska could face jail time and up to $25,000 in fines.
Kentucky residents are prohibited from traveling outside the state, with a few exceptions.
New York City, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., is offering its Rikers Island prisoners $6 an hour to help dig mass graves.
In San Francisco, cannabis dispensaries were included among the essential businesses allowed to keep operating during the city-wide lockdown.
New Jersey’s governor canceled gatherings of any number, including parties, weddings and religious ceremonies, and warned the restrictions could continue for weeks or months. One city actually threatened to prosecute residents who spread false information about the virus.
Oregon banned all nonessential social and recreational gatherings, regardless of size.
Rhode Island has given police the go-ahead to pull over anyone with New York license plates to record their contact information and order them to self-quarantine for 14 days.
South Carolina’s police have been empowered to break up any public gatherings of more than three people.
Of course, there are exceptions to all of these stay-at-home orders (in more than 30 states and counting), the longest of which runs until June 10. Essential workers (doctors, firefighters, police and grocery store workers) can go to work. Everyone else will have to fit themselves into a variety of exceptions in order to leave their homes: for grocery runs, doctor visits, to get exercise, to visit a family member, etc.
Throughout the country, more than 14,000 “Citizen-Soldiers” of the National Guard have been mobilized to support the states and the federal government in their fight against the coronavirus.
Thus far, we have not breached the Constitution’s crisis point: martial law has yet to be overtly imposed (although an argument could be made to the contrary given the militarized nature of the American police state).
It’s just a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.
If this is not the defining point at which we cross over into all-out totalitarianism, then it is at a minimum a test to see how easily we will surrender.
Generally, the government has to show a compelling state interest before it can override certain critical rights such as free speech, assembly, press, search and seizure, etc. Most of the time, it lacks that compelling state interest, but it still manages to violate those rights, setting itself up for legal battles further down the road.
These lockdown measures—on the right of the people to peaceably assemble, to travel, to engage in commerce, etc.—unquestionably restrict fundamental constitutional rights, which might pass muster for a short period of time, but can it be sustained for longer stretches legally? A Government of Wolves... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $1.16 Buy New $2.99 (as of 10:15 UTC - Details)
That’s the challenge before us, of course, if these days and weeks potentially stretch into months-long quarantines.
At the moment, the government believes it has a compelling interest—albeit a temporary one—in restricting gatherings, assemblies and movement in public in order to minimize the spread of this virus.
The key point is this: while we may tolerate these restrictions on our liberties in the short term, we should never fail to be on guard lest these one-time constraints become a slippery slope to a total lockdown mindset.
What we must guard against, more than ever before, is the tendency to become so accustomed to our prison walls—these lockdowns, authoritarian dictates, and police state tactics justified as necessary for national security—that we allow the government to keep having its way in all things, without any civic resistance or objections being raised.
Most of all, don’t be naïve: the government will use this crisis to expand its powers far beyond the reach of the Constitution.
That’s how it starts.
Travel too far down that slippery slope, and there will be no turning back.
As I make clear in my book “Battlefield America: The War on the American People,” if you wait to speak out—stand up—and resist until the government’s lockdowns impact your freedoms personally, it could be too late.
Just because we’re fighting an unseen enemy in the form of a virus doesn’t mean we have to relinquish every shred of our humanity, our common sense, or our freedoms to a nanny state that thinks it can do a better job of keeping us safe.
Whatever we give up willingly now—whether it’s basic human decency, the ability to manage our private affairs, the right to have a say in how the government navigates this crisis, or the few rights still left to us that haven’t been disemboweled in recent years by a power-hungry police state—we won’t get back so easily once this crisis is past.
The government never cedes power willingly.
Neither should we.
The Best of John W. Whitehead


lewrockwell--2020-04-03--Who are the Narco-Terrorists?

Who are the Narco-Terrorists?

In December 2019 , Donald Trump offered to intervene in Mexico , i.e .
“ to go after the Drug Cartels ” .
The Mexican president turned down Trump ’ s generous offer .
And then President Trump confirmed that his administration was considering categorizing “ drug cartels ” as “ terrorists ” , akin to Al Qaeda ( with the exception that they are “ Catholic terrorists ” ) .
They would henceforth be designated by Washington as “ foreign terrorist organizations ” .
What is the intent ?
Extend the “ War on Terrorism ” to Latin America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ R2P ) .
Go after the “ Narco-terrorists ” .
The Globalization of W ... Michel Chossudovsky Best Price : $ 13.94 Buy New $ 18.75 And now , US federal prosecutors are accusing Venezuela ’ s President Nicolás Maduro of participating ( according to the NYT ) “ in a narco-terrorism conspiracy , in a major escalation of the Trump administration ’ s efforts to pressure him to leave office ” .
The unspoken truth is ( which the NYT fails to mention ) : 1 .
Al Qaeda and its related @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Middle East , Africa and Southeast Asia are creations of the CIA .
2 .
The CIA protects the multibillion dollar global drug trade as well as the Mexican and Colombian drug cartels .
Moreover , it is estimated that 300 billion dollars ( annually ) worth of drug money is routinely laundered in casinos across America including Las Vegas and Atlantic City… as well as in Macau and Singapore .
Guess who are the World ’ s richest casino owners .
4 .
Both American and Latin American politicians are known @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Flash back to the 1990s : George H. W. Bush , the dad of Bush Junior had developed close personal ties with Carlos Salinas de Gortari ( former president of Mexico ) and his dad Raul Salinas Lozano who , according to the Dallas Morning News ( February 27 , 1997 ) was “ a leading figure in narcotics dealings that also involved his son , Raul Salinas de Gortari… And Raul was an intimo amigo of Jeb Bush , ( former Governor of Florida ) and the brother of George W @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ties to the Bin Laden Family as well as ties to the Salinas de Gortiari family .
Is it relevant ?
The following text was published in May 2015 under the title Jeb Bush , the Mexican Drug Cartel and “ Free Trade ” .
The Bush Family and Organized Crime .
It also documents the signing of the North american Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ) by a Mexican head state with links to the Drug Cartels .
Michel Chossudovsky , April 2 , 2020 The Globalization of P ... Chossudovsky , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New $ 15.42 Jeb Bush is a presidential candidate .
[ was in 2015 ] But Jeb is not only the brother of George W. and the son of George H. W. Bush .
Jeb Bush also had close personal ties to Raul Salinas de Gortari , brother of Mexico ’ s former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari .
In the 1990s , Raul the “ drug kingpin ” , according to Switzerland ’ s federal prosecutor Carla del Ponte , was one of the main figures of the Mexican Drug Cartel .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sunshine State– was a close friend of Raul Salinas de Gortiari ( image right ) : The personal relationship between the Bush and Salinas families was a matter of public record .
Former President George H. W. Bush had developed close personal ties with Carlos Salinas and his father , Raul Salinas Lozano .
( left ) Raul Salinas Lozano was the family patriarch , father of Carlos and Raul Junior .
According to the former private secretary to Raul Salinas Lozano ( in as statement to US authorities ) : Former president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lozano were “ intimo amigos ” .
Americau2019s u2019War ... Michel Chossudovsky Best Price : $ 2.99 Buy New $ 24.95 According to former DEA official Michael Levine , the Mexican drug Cartel was a “ family affair ” .
Both Carlos and Raul were prominent members of the Cartel .
And this was known to then US Attorney General Edward Meese in 1987 one year prior to Carlos Salinas ’ inauguration as the country ’ s president .
When Carlos Salinas was inaugurated as President , the entire Mexican State apparatus became @ @ @ @ @ @ @ members of the Cartel .
The Minister of Commerce in charge of trade negotiations leading up to the signing of NAFTA was Raul Salinas Lozano , father of Raul Junior the Drug kingpin and of Carlos the president .
And it is precisely during this period that the Salinas government launched a sweeping privatisation program under advice from the IMF .
The privatisation program subsequently evolved into a multibillion dollar money laundering operation .
Narco-dollars were channelled towards the acquisition of State property and public utilities .
Richard Barnet of the Institute for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Congress ( April 14 , 1994 ) that These included the sale of Telefonos de Mexico , valued at $ 3.9 billion and purchased by a Salinas crony for $ 400 million.
( Ibid ) .
Raul Salinas was behind the privatisation programme .
He was known as ” El Señor 10 por Ciento ” [ Mr. 10 Percent ] “ for the slice of bid money he allegedly demanded in exchange for helping acquaintances acquire companies , concessions and contracts [ under the IMF sponsored privatisation program ] ” ( The News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 1997 ) .
Raul Salinas de Gortari is the brother of former president Carlos Salinas de Gortiari , who signed the North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ) in December 1992 alongside US President George H. W. Bush and Canada ’ s Prime Minister Brian Mulroney .
( image left ) In a bitter irony , it was only after this historical event , that Carlos Salinas ’ family links to the drug trade through his brother Raul were revealed .
War and Globalisation : ... Chossudovsky , Michel Best Price @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bush Senior administration was fully aware of the links of the Salinas presidency to organized crime .
Public opinion in the US and Canada was never informed so as not to jeopardize the signing of NAFTA : In other words , at the time the NAFTA Agreement was signed , both Bush Senior and Mulroney were aware that one of the signatories of NAFTA , namely president Salinas de Gortiari had links to the Mexican Drug Cartel .
In 1995 in the wake of the scandal and the arrest of his brother Raul @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take up residence in Dublin .
His alleged links to the Drug Cartel did not prevent him from being appointed to the Board of the Dow Jones Company on Wall Street , a position which he held until 1997 : Washington has consistently denied Carlos Salinas ’ involvement .
“ it was his brother Raul ” , Carlos Salinas “ did not know ” , the American media continued to uphold Salinas as a model statesman , architect of free trade in the Americas and a friend of the Bush family .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirmed that the brother of the former Mexican president had deposited some 100 million dollars in drug money in Swiss banks : A few months later in January 1999 , after a four-year trial , Raúl Salinas de Gortari ( left ) was convicted of ordering the murder of his brother-in-law , Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu : “ After [ Carlos ] Salinas left office in 1994 , the Salinas family fell from grace in a swirl of drug-related corruption and crime scandals .
Raúl was jailed and convicted on charges of money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his brother-in-law ; after spending 10 years in jail , Raúl was acquitted of both crimes .
… “ The Salinas family ’ s demise caught the Bushes by surprise ” ?
( Forbes , April 2015 ) The Bushes knew who they were all along .
Former DEA official Michael Levine confirmed that Carlos Salinas ’ role in the Mexican drug cartel was known to US officials .
US President George H. W. Bush was regularly briefed by officials from the Department of Justice , the CIA and the DEA .
Did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] a candidate for the White House under a Republican ticket– know about Raul ’ s links to the Drug Cartel ?
.
Was the Bush family in any way complicit ?
These are issues which must be addressed and debated by the American public across the land prior to the 2016 presidential primary elections .
According to Andres Openheimer writing in the Miami Herald ( February 17 1997 ) : US authorities waited until after Carlos Salinas finished his presidential term to arrest Mexican drug lord Juan Garcia Abrego , who was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s brother Raul .
In turn , Raul Salinas was an “ intimo amigo ” of Jeb Bush : But there is more than meets the eye : while the Bushes and the Salinas have longstanding ties , Wall Street was also involved in the laundering of drug money : The involvement of Citbank in the money laundering operation is documented by a Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs Report ( US General Accounting Office “ Private Banking : Raul Salinas , Citibank , and Alleged Money Laundering ” Washington , 1998 ) .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2005 .
All charges were dropped .
The matter involving the Bushes and the Salinas has largely been forgotten .
Meanwhile , American political history has been rewritten… Not to mention the 1992 “ Free Trade ” Agreement ( NAFTA ) , which was signed by a head of State with links to organized crime .
Does that make it an illegal agreement ?
The legitimacy of NAFTA has so far not been the object of a legal procedure of judicial inquiry .
An “ illegal NAFTA ” sets the stage for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ negotiated behind closed doors .
All is well in the American Republic .
At least until the forthcoming 2016 presidential elections .
This article is in part based on research conducted in 2002 .
An earlier GR 2002 article on this topic is entitled : Bush Family Financial Scams The original source of this article is Global Research .

In December 2019, Donald Trump offered to intervene in Mexico, i.e. “to go after the Drug Cartels”. The Mexican president turned down Trump’s generous offer.
And then President Trump confirmed that his administration was considering categorizing “drug cartels” as “terrorists”, akin to Al Qaeda (with the exception that they are “Catholic terrorists”).
They would henceforth be designated by Washington as “foreign terrorist organizations”.
What is the intent?
Create a justification for US-led “counterterrorism” (military) operations directed against Latin America countries?
Extend the “War on Terrorism” to Latin America? “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P). Go after the “Narco-terrorists”. The Globalization of W... Michel Chossudovsky Best Price: $13.94 Buy New $18.75 (as of 08:35 UTC - Details)
And now, US federal prosecutors are accusing Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro of participating (according to the NYT) “in a narco-terrorism conspiracy, in a major escalation of the Trump administration’s efforts to pressure him to leave office”.
The unspoken truth is (which the NYT fails to mention):
1. Al Qaeda and its related terrorist organizations (including ISIS) in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia are creations of the CIA.
2. The CIA protects the multibillion dollar global drug trade as well as the Mexican and Colombian drug cartels. Moreover, it is estimated that 300 billion dollars (annually) worth of drug money is routinely laundered in casinos across America including Las Vegas and Atlantic City… as well as in Macau and Singapore. Guess who are the World’s richest casino owners.
4. Both American and Latin American politicians are known to have ties to the drug trade.
Flash back to the 1990s: George H. W. Bush, the dad of Bush Junior had developed close personal ties with Carlos Salinas de Gortari (former president of Mexico) and his dad Raul Salinas Lozano who, according to the Dallas Morning News (February 27, 1997) was “a leading figure in narcotics dealings that also involved his son, Raul Salinas de Gortari… And Raul was an intimo amigo of Jeb Bush, (former Governor of Florida) and the brother of George W, Bush.
The Bush family has ties to the Bin Laden Family as well as ties to the Salinas de Gortiari family. Is it relevant?
The following text was published in May 2015 under the title Jeb Bush, the Mexican Drug Cartel and “Free Trade”. The Bush Family and Organized Crime. It also documents the signing of the North american Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by a Mexican head state with links to the Drug Cartels.
Michel Chossudovsky, April 2, 2020 The Globalization of P... Chossudovsky, Michel Best Price: $3.75 Buy New $15.42 (as of 12:10 UTC - Details)
***
Jeb Bush is a presidential candidate. [was in 2015]
But Jeb is not only the brother of George W. and the son of George H. W. Bush.
Jeb Bush also had close personal ties to Raul Salinas de Gortari, brother of Mexico’s former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari. In the 1990s, Raul the “drug kingpin”, according to Switzerland’s federal prosecutor Carla del Ponte, was one of the main figures of the Mexican Drug Cartel.
Jeb Bush –before becoming Governor of the Sunshine State– was a close friend of Raul Salinas de Gortiari (image right):
“There has also been a great deal of speculation in Mexico about the exact nature of Raul Salinas’ close friendship with former President George Bush’s son, Jeb. It is well known here that for many years the two families spent vacations together — the Salinases at Jeb Bush’s home in Miami, the Bushes at Raul’s ranch, Las Mendocinas, under the volcano in Puebla. There are many in Mexico who believe that the relationship became a back channel for delicate and crucial negotiations between the two governments, leading up to President Bush’s sponsorship of NAFTA.” (Prominent intellectual and former foreign Minister of Mexico Jorge G. Castañeda, The Los Angeles Times. and Houston Chronicle, 9 March 1995, emphasis added)
The personal relationship between the Bush and Salinas families was a matter of public record. Former President George H. W. Bush had developed close personal ties with Carlos Salinas and his father, Raul Salinas Lozano. (left)
Raul Salinas Lozano was the family patriarch, father of Carlos and Raul Junior. According to the former private secretary to Raul Salinas Lozano (in as statement to US authorities):
“… Mr. Salinas Lozano was a leading figure in narcotics dealings that also involved his son, Raul Salinas de Gortari, his son-in-law, Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu, the No. 2 official in the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and other leading politicians, according to the documents. Mr. Ruiz Massieu was assassinated in 1994.” (Dallas Morning News, 26 February 1997, emphasis added).
Former president George H. W. Bush and Raul Salinas Lozano were “intimo amigos”. Americau2019s u2019War... Michel Chossudovsky Best Price: $2.99 Buy New $24.95 (as of 07:00 UTC - Details)
According to former DEA official Michael Levine, the Mexican drug Cartel was a “family affair”. Both Carlos and Raul were prominent members of the Cartel. And this was known to then US Attorney General Edward Meese in 1987 one year prior to Carlos Salinas’ inauguration as the country’s president.
When Carlos Salinas was inaugurated as President, the entire Mexican State apparatus became criminalised with key government positions occupied by members of the Cartel. The Minister of Commerce in charge of trade negotiations leading up to the signing of NAFTA was Raul Salinas Lozano, father of Raul Junior the Drug kingpin and of Carlos the president.
And it is precisely during this period that the Salinas government launched a sweeping privatisation program under advice from the IMF.
The privatisation program subsequently evolved into a multibillion dollar money laundering operation. Narco-dollars were channelled towards the acquisition of State property and public utilities.
Richard Barnet of the Institute for Policy Studies, testified to the US Congress (April 14, 1994) that
“billions of dollars in state assets have gone to supporters and cronies” (Dallas Morning News, 11 August 1994).
These included the sale of Telefonos de Mexico, valued at $ 3.9 billion and purchased by a Salinas crony for $ 400 million.(Ibid).
Raul Salinas was behind the privatisation programme. He was known as ”El Señor 10 por Ciento” [Mr. 10 Percent] “for the slice of bid money he allegedly demanded in exchange for helping acquaintances acquire companies, concessions and contracts [under the IMF sponsored privatisation program]”(The News, InfoLatina, .Mexico, October 10, 1997).
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Raul Salinas de Gortari is the brother of former president Carlos Salinas de Gortiari, who signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in December 1992 alongside US President George H. W. Bush and Canada’s Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.(image left)
In a bitter irony, it was only after this historical event, that Carlos Salinas’ family links to the drug trade through his brother Raul were revealed. War and Globalisation:... Chossudovsky, Michel Best Price: $1.90 (as of 03:08 UTC - Details)
The George H. W. Bush Senior administration was fully aware of the links of the Salinas presidency to organized crime. Public opinion in the US and Canada was never informed so as not to jeopardize the signing of NAFTA:
“Other former officials say they were pressured to keep mum because Washington was obsessed with approving NAFTA”. “The intelligence on corruption, especially by drug traffickers, has always been there,” said Phil Jordan, who headed DEA’s Dallas office from 1984 to 1994. But “we were under instructions not to say anything negative about Mexico. It was a no-no since NAFTA was a hot political football.” (Dallas Morning News, 26 February 1997)
In other words, at the time the NAFTA Agreement was signed, both Bush Senior and Mulroney were aware that one of the signatories of NAFTA, namely president Salinas de Gortiari had links to the Mexican Drug Cartel.
In 1995 in the wake of the scandal and the arrest of his brother Raul for murder, Carlos Salinas left Mexico to take up residence in Dublin. His alleged links to the Drug Cartel did not prevent him from being appointed to the Board of the Dow Jones Company on Wall Street, a position which he held until 1997:
Salinas, who left Mexico in March 1995 after his brother, Raul, was charged with masterminding the murder of a political opponent, has served on the company’s board for two years. He was questioned last year in Dublin by a Mexican prosecutor investigating the murder in March 1994 of Luis Donaldo Colosio, who wanted to succeed Salinas as president. A Dow Jones spokesman last week denied that Salinas had been forced out of an election for the new board, which will take place at the company’s annual meeting on April 16… Salinas, who negotiated Mexico’s entry into the free trade agreement with the United States and Canada, was appointed to the board because of his international experience. He was unavailable for comment at his Dublin home last week.” (Sunday Times, London, 30 March 1997).
Washington has consistently denied Carlos Salinas’ involvement. “it was his brother Raul”, Carlos Salinas “did not know”, the American media continued to uphold Salinas as a model statesman, architect of free trade in the Americas and a friend of the Bush family.
In October 1998, The Swiss government confirmed that the brother of the former Mexican president had deposited some 100 million dollars in drug money in Swiss banks:
“They [Swiss authorities] are confiscating the money, which they believe was part of a much larger amount paid to Raul Salinas for helping Mexican and Colombian drugs cartels during his brother’s six-year term ending in 1994. Mr Salinas’ lawyers have maintained he was legally heading an investment fund for Mexican businessmen but the Swiss federal prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, described Salinas’ business dealings as unsound, incomprehensible and contrary to customary business usage. (BBC Report)
A few months later in January 1999, after a four-year trial, Raúl Salinas de Gortari (left) was convicted of ordering the murder of his brother-in-law, Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu:
“After [Carlos] Salinas left office in 1994, the Salinas family fell from grace in a swirl of drug-related corruption and crime scandals. Raúl was jailed and convicted on charges of money laundering and of masterminding the assassination of his brother-in-law; after spending 10 years in jail, Raúl was acquitted of both crimes. …
With the scandal unraveling, Jeb’s friendship with Raúl did not go unnoticed. Jeb has never denied his friendship with Raúl, who [now] keeps a low profile in Mexico. Kristy Campbell, spokesperson for Bush, did not respond a request for comment. The Salinas family’s demise caught the Bushes by surprise. “I have been very disappointed by the allegations about him and his family. I never had the slightest hint of information that President Salinas was anything but totally honest,” Bush senior told me in the 1997 interview. (Dolia Estevez, Jeb Bush’s Mexican Connections, Forbes, April 7, 2015, emphasis added)
“The Salinas family’s demise caught the Bushes by surprise”? (Forbes, April 2015) The Bushes knew who they were all along.
Former DEA official Michael Levine confirmed that Carlos Salinas’ role in the Mexican drug cartel was known to US officials.
US President George H. W. Bush was regularly briefed by officials from the Department of Justice, the CIA and the DEA.
Did Jeb Bush –who is now [2015] a candidate for the White House under a Republican ticket– know about Raul’s links to the Drug Cartel?.
Was the Bush family in any way complicit?
These are issues which must be addressed and debated by the American public across the land prior to the 2016 presidential primary elections.
According to Andres Openheimer writing in the Miami Herald (February 17 1997):
“witnesses say former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, his imprisoned brother Raul and other members of country’s ruling elite met with drug lord Juan Garcia Abrego at a Salinas family ranch; Jeb Bush admits he met with Raul Salinas several times but has never done any business with him.”
US authorities waited until after Carlos Salinas finished his presidential term to arrest Mexican drug lord Juan Garcia Abrego, who was a close collaborator of the president’s brother Raul. In turn, Raul Salinas was an “intimo amigo” of Jeb Bush :
Juan Garcia Abrego, a fugitive on the FBI’s most-wanted list, was flown to Houston late Monday, following his arrest by Mexican police … Garcia Abrego, the reputed head of Mexico’s second most powerful drug cartel, had eluded authorities on both sides of the border for years. His arrest is an enormous victory for the U.S. and Mexican governments. CNN, January 16, 2015
But there is more than meets the eye: while the Bushes and the Salinas have longstanding ties, Wall Street was also involved in the laundering of drug money:
A U.S. official said the Justice Department has made significant advances in its money-laundering investigation against Raul Salinas de Gortari and has identified several people who can testify that the former first brother received protection money from a major narcotics cartel.
If the U.S. were to indict Mr. Salinas, it could have implications for a Justice Department investigation into possible money laundering by Citibank, where Mr. Salinas had some of his accounts. Citibank, a unit of Citicorp , has denied wrongdoing. (WSW, April 23, 2015)
The involvement of Citbank in the money laundering operation is documented by a Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs Report (US General Accounting Office “Private Banking: Raul Salinas, Citibank, and Alleged Money Laundering” Washington, 1998).
The End Game
Raul Salinas de Gortiari was set free in 2005. All charges were dropped.
The matter involving the Bushes and the Salinas has largely been forgotten.
Meanwhile, American political history has been rewritten…
Not to mention the 1992 “Free Trade” Agreement (NAFTA), which was signed by a head of State with links to organized crime. Does that make it an illegal agreement? The legitimacy of NAFTA has so far not been the object of a legal procedure of judicial inquiry.
An “illegal NAFTA” sets the stage for the TPP and TTIP “agreements” negotiated behind closed doors.
All is well in the American Republic.
At least until the forthcoming 2016 presidential elections.
This article is in part based on research conducted in 2002. An earlier GR 2002 article on this topic is entitled: Bush Family Financial Scams
The original source of this article is Global Research.