Blindspot #23 - #BabySatan on display in Illinois, Crimea fight CONTINUES

2 years ago
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Blindspot #023
#BabySatan on display in Springfield, Illinois,USA & the fight for Crimea CONTINUES

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In this, perhaps the final Blindspot of this rather weird year, we look into three stories:

1. The UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation's Food Price Index at a decade-level high
2. Ongoing tensions in and around Crimea & Ukraine
3. An exhibit by the Satanic church of Illinois, USA, of a statue of the 'Baby Baphomet' right next to the usual Christmas nativity scene featuring, of course, the polar opposite - Baby Jesus.

It is strange times indeed.

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On the FAO Food Price Index:

The UN reported recently: “The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 134.4 points in November 2021, up 1.6 points (1.2 percent) from October and 28.8 points (27.3 percent) from November 2020. The latest increase marked the fourth consecutive monthly rise in the value of the FFPI, putting the index at its highest level since June 2011. Among the sub-indices, in November those for cereals and dairy rose most significantly, followed by sugar, while those for meat and vegetable oils were down, albeit slightly, from the previous month.”

The last time it was this high it also coincided with the outbreak of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ in 2011. It is a known fact that one of the major factors that contributed to political uprisings in Egypt, was wheat shortages, and food shortages in the country. When the world food price index reaches these levels, all bets are off against social unrest, food riots, and compromised human security.

On the Crimea situation, some notes from the show:

The fights for Crimea, and Taiwan have been grabbing headlines for a very long time, and does therefore not necessarily mean these are blindspots. But, the blindspots may be hiding behind the sensationalist headlines that occupy the information battlefronts between Western powers, Russia, and China respectively. What is hidden behind the sensationalist headlines is a global containment strategy aimed at strategically limiting Russia, and China strategic manoeuvrability.

Today we will mostly focus on Crimea, but, let it be noted the two BRICS member states, China and Russia, are both facing very specific counter-actions by Western powers due to claims- and counter-claims regarding control/rightful ‘ownership’ of these territories.

For anyone vaguely paying attention to the northern hemisphere, it is evident that bilateral and multi-lateral relations are under strain as geopolitical and strategic positioning issues take centre stage.

Of late the new German Chancellor has been making policy noises that make it seem as if there is new or different and much more anti-Russian attitudes running around Germany since Angela Merkel hung up her political gloves. This also, of course include ongoing tensions regarding a European energy, and specifically natural gas crisis.

On the 28th of December, 2021, news broke that the Russian Federation and USA will hold talks on arms control, and the Ukraine, on 10 January, 2022. This comes after significant diplomatic wars of words between not only the USA and Russia, but also Russia and NATO.

As covered in a previous Blindspot, the actual post-Cold War Blindspot to note is the aggressive expansion of NATO into former Soviet Republics. Of course it is not only NATO, but the European Union as well that has gradually expanded its footprint to envelop former Soviet Republics similarly. This issue has become hotly debated and reported on the recent weeks.

On 27 December RT reported: “Speaking during a briefing for military attachés and other foreign diplomats, in Moscow, on Monday, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin accused NATO of readying up for an all-out war with Russia. The military development of the bloc has been redirected in full to prepare for a large-scale, high-intensity armed conflict with Russia,”

ABC News and other outlets also picked up on this statement and echoed similar sentiments, only from the proverbial ‘other (non-Russian) side’ of the fence of the Ukraine/Crimea frontlines.

RT also reported recently: "Relations between Russia and NATO got increasingly worse in recent months. In October, Moscow said it would suspend all direct ties with NATO, shutting down its offices in Moscow in response to the expulsion of eight Russian diplomats from its Brussels headquarters. At the time, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the bilateral channels were used by the bloc for “whipping up propaganda and putting pressure on Russia” instead of meaningful dialogue.

To round off, let us look at two maps, the first indicating EU expansion into former eastern block nations, and the second that of NATO expansion following on the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War.

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