If governments, companies and individuals were entirely transparent, there would be no need for analysts. We would still be confronted by incoherent information, but no surprises. Certain people would be better at navigating through all the contradictions and options generated, finding the ‘nuggets’ which will elevate them in a ‘free market’, while others are prone to pick dead ends at every turn. But we wouldn’t need to ask what was meant, what has been kept hidden, and who is ‘playing’ who.
A Dutch political oppositions party, widely regarded as a safe haven for ‘Conspiracy Theorists’ in the mainstream media, presented a bill demanding full transparency by the government. Unsurprisingly that bill didn’t make it, even though other opposition parties wanted to see the mails, and other forms of correspondence, going back and forth between the ‘World Economic Forum’ and government officials, which was how that party motivated their bill. But the leader of one popular party, which won big in the last elections, hesitated because she understood why the communication with institutions like NATO and ‘Interpol’ had to be kept secret. In principle I agree with her, that certain organizations need to be able to operate ‘in the dark’ to be effective. In fact, I would argue that some information which *is* exposed hampers the military, and police forces, if we could assume they are busy safeguarding the people and the country which is paying the bills.
In many cases the problem is not the information kept under wraps, but information widely published on behalf of the military, and law enforcement, which is a lie. Add to that the speculation by analysts which is way off the mark, and the people, as well as our representatives, are left in the dark, where the light should be shining bright. In particular if analysts allow themselves to be taken for a ride, using the misinformation as a starting point for their analysis. The resulting confusion is dangerous. As a lone blogger, without privileged access, relying on publicly available information, careful to avoid becoming anyone’s ‘mule’, I cannot afford to fall asleep at the wheel. Pieces of information are often crude. Putin visited Xi, and they were baking pancakes together in front of the camera, before retreating to do what was important. The press-briefing was informative, but the interesting parts were not in it. I’m not alone when I speculate they talked ‘shop’, synchronizing their agenda’s as the ‘Collective West’ appears to prepare for war with both countries, beyond the ‘proxy war’ in Ukraine. Biden said that Russia already lost that war. To which Putin responded, publicly, that if that was so, then why did the US have to send ATACMS, escalating the war? If Russia lost, why wouldn’t Biden join them baking pancakes? ‘That is actually funny!’, he added.
Right after Putin’s visit to Beijing, the Chinese announced they would be curtailing the export of ‘graphite’, which the ‘Collective West’ needs for its envisioned ‘Everything Electric’ future, which is a pipe-dream that is going to destroy Europe, and hurt the US badly, even if they would have unlimited access to all the minerals and commodities they needed. Without those, and with the BRICS-countries saying goodbye to the Dollar and Euro, while Europe is being cut-off from consumers in those countries for their products, revolution and mayhem is in the cards for the ‘Collective West’, including the United States. One very worried journalist with a huge following, Tucker Carlson, is revealing one lie after the other, and currently suggesting that there really is a ‘They’ which want this to happen. In my own analysis this is doubtful, in that it is not some kind of secret plan, coordinated at the ‘Highest Level’ by powerful people with a clear vision of where they want to go. But their ‘Empire of Lies’ is coming apart at the seams, and ‘maintenance’ requires extraordinary measures as they panic, and grab every straw to stay afloat, while the water level around them is rising, and the political climate they created is becoming harsh for their crops.
Putin himself flew to Perm after meeting with Xi, this mining town high up north in Siberia. Officially to be present as guest of honor at some sports event, but allow me to speculate that he had to talk to some local government officials and owners of these mines to expose the decisions made in Beijing on how to go forward, without the risk of his communication being intercepted. And his next stop was Rostov-on-Don, to talk to his top military staff in person. Obviously the press statement did not reveal what they were discussing, so everybody with a vested interest in this war in Ukraine, which includes bloggers and vloggers watching developments closely, are left with their own speculation. Dima, doing a wonderful job at his ‘Military Summary’ channel on YouTube, offered his viewers an explanation I don’t agree with. He pointed out that recent losses in the battle for Avdeevka on the Russian side angered Putin, and that his visit heralded a change as Putin himself would take charge. I wasn’t present at that meeting between Gerasimov and Putin, and no doubt recent developments in the Avdeevka sector, and elsewhere along the front line, were a topic of discussion. But my ‘gut feeling’ is that Putin had to see his military staff to share with them what Xi and he himself had agreed to, as the next phase of the war is about to be unleashed.
This typically is a situation where you do not want full transparency to spoil everything. Putin is not Xi’s ‘puppet’, or vice versa. Russia is not China’s ‘slave’, or vice versa. They are in this together, and coordinating in order to avoid damaging their relationship inadvertently. Putin met Orban in Beijing as well, apparently triggering a crisis within NATO, and my ‘gut feeling’ is that more dominos will fall in the not too distant future, as the ‘hawks’ within that organization are moving towards openly declaring war. It’s not the people who want war, but individuals selected, or ambitious to be seen as ‘tough’ in countries which are ‘unfriendly’ towards Russia, and/or China, for reasons related to what happened in the past, or ideological and cultural differences, pushing for acts of war. The president of Latvia suggested that NATO should consider blocking shipping from and towards Saint Petersburg. I have no idea what this individual is thinking. How this bit of transparant communication fits in. It sounds like a ‘brain fart’ of a disposable underling. An involuntary release of toxic words escaping from his mouth. No careful analysis of the consequences preceded this public statement, I’d say. And this kind of transparency is unwelcome, as long as we can trust a centralized leadership will contain these hot-heads, in which case I’m okay with military secrets, and actually encourage them so as to avoid accidents. But given the absence of ‘cooler heads’ in, or near the decision centers, and desire to go to war on a whim, converting lies to ‘accepted truth’, we need a different approach. Same with our judicial system, as it transformed into the ‘strong arm’ of politicians and power brokers we cannot trust to go after the criminals, as they float the idea of putting criminals in charge. We can do better, no doubt. But will we move in that direction before it is too late?