Mary Jane Freeman |

Beethoven: Sparks of Joy!

March 14, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Daily Beethoven — Sparks of Joy, General, General updates, Music updates

Beethoven: Sparks of Joy – Wind Quintet, Op. 16

Beethoven composed his delectable Opus 16 Wind Quintet in 1796, when he was riding a wave of public acclaim as a keyboard virtuoso and improviser. It’s likely that he modeled it on Mozart’s Quintet in E-flat, K. 452, also scored for piano, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn, which had been composed twelve years earlier.
There’s a delightful anecdote related by Ferdinand Ries about an 1804 performance of the Quintet, at which the ever-impish Beethoven suddenly began to improvise on the Rondo theme, amusing himself and the audience but quite annoying the other musicians, as they were constantly raising their instruments when they expected to resume playing, only to have to put them down again. When Beethoven finally returned to the Rondo, the audience was transported with delight.
This is a superb performance by Klára Würtz and the Netherlands Wind Soloists. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]

Great Leap Backwards: Kerry Mobilizes Deadly Green Finance

March 14, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Counterintelligence, Environmentalism updates, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Green New Deal

Kerry Mobilizing Green Finance Genocide

Mar. 13 (EIRNS)–John Kerry, the Biden Administration hit man to enforce the Great Reset, is now actively running operations on the major banks to be sure they follow the Great Reset to cut off credit to anything productive, and pump money into the Green Bubble. Politico ran a column Friday on Kerry’s role in the fascist scheme. “The push — which could include a new executive order on climate finance — comes as Kerry’s team and the White House scramble to line up new announcements for Biden’s April 22 Climate Leaders Summit,” Politico reports.

Kerry, it seems, served as the chairman of a global advisory council for Bank of America after leaving the Obama administration. Politico notes: “Kerry is leveraging personal relationships with Wall Street players as well as banks’ broad public promises to help fund climate efforts that they made alongside their pledges to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 or align with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

“The White House met with environmental and Wall Street watchdog groups on March 9 to discuss its approach to potential financial sector regulations and executive actions to limit risk from climate change-fueled shocks. Groups on the call included the Center for American Progress, Public Citizen, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club and 350.org, among others.”

China National Nuclear Has Started Construction of `SMR’

July 21, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in China, Economic development updates, General updates, Power & Energy

China National Nuclear Has Started Construction of `SMR’ —

July 18 (EIRNS) — China National Nuclear Corporation now has a small modular reactor “in the construction phase” after approval of its design by the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to articles in OilPrice.com and Global Times. The reactor is rated at 125 MW of power. The start of the construction phase is reported by OilPrice.com to have been delayed by four years after originally being scheduled in 2017. There is scant information in either piece as to the mode of construction or location of a factor to build units – the planned first reactor (“Linglong 1”) is perhaps the only unit to be located at the site, which is in Chiangjiang in Hainan Province in the south of China, a center of CNNC nuclear power production.
But the Global Times article contains an ambitious and accurate description of what fourth-generation small modular reactors will do: “Unlike 3rd-generation large reactors such as the Hualong 1, which has an electric power output of 1 million kilowatts, far greater than the power range of a small reactor, the Linglong 1 can realize the multi purposes of nuclear energy, such as heat supply for cities, industrial steam, seawater desalination, oil exploitation and other different needs, in addition to electricity generating. The energy generated by Linglong 1 can be applied to various scenarios such as industrial parks, islands, mining areas and energy supplied by high-energy consuming enterprises, meeting the development needs of Hainan.

Bolivian Coup Plotters Arrested

March 14, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Color Revolutions, Counterintelligence, General updates, Geopolitics updates

Bolivian Authorities Arrest Former Members of 2019 Coup Government, Charged With Sedition and Terrorism

March 13 (EIRNS)—Bolivian authorities arrested former members of the “government” illegally installed in November of 2019 following the coup d’etat that ousted President Evo Morales, on grounds that he had committed vote fraud. The government of current President Luis Arce is charging 13 individuals, including the former president Jeanine Anez, the former heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and several former cabinet ministers with “sedition, conspiracy and terrorism.” They are accused of orchestrating the coup, committing violent crimes against the Bolivian people, including the deaths of 37 people, and facilitating the economic looting of the state. Anez was arrested in the wee hours of this morning and flown to La Paz, and several others of the group are also under arrest. Anez’s Interior and Defense Ministers fled the country shortly after Arce won last October’s presidential elections.

EIR has documented that the ouster of Morales on Nov. 11, 2019 was a replay of the fascist 2014 “Maidan ” coup against Ukraine, straight out of the “color revolution” playbook of Gene Sharp and George Soros. https://larouchepub.com/other/2019/4649-coup_in_bolivia_a_replay_of_uk.html Recently declassified documents from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), obtained by {DeclassifiedUK} and published by investigative reporter Matt Kennard on March 8, also reveal the role of the FCO, along with British and U.S. intelligence and financier networks in the period leading up to the coup, preparing the groundwork for financial looting, which was then facilitated once Anez took over and saw the U.K. as Bolivia’s “strategic partner.” Mike Pompeo’s State Department and the Trump National Security Council backed Morales’s ouster, as did British Foreigh Secretary, Dominic Raab.

As a result of revelations about the FCO’s role, on March 10, Bolivia’s Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta called in the British ambassador, Jeff Glekin, for an explanation. Glekin denied everything and immediately had the embassy issue a press release proclaiming that charges against the U.K. were “disinformation.” But, as was documented in the Bolivian media in December of 2019 and January of 2020, Glekin participated in a planning meeting just a few days before the Nov. 11 coup at the Catholic University in La Paz, organized by the Archbishop, attended by the ambassadors of Brazil and the EU, as well as by the key local players involved in bringing down Morales. Discussion centered on the composition of the government that would replace him.

As might be expected, Anez is screaming that her arrest is “aberrant political persecution,” that she is being charged with “a coup d’etat that never happened,” and lied that her taking power in 2019 was a “constitutional succession due to vote fraud.” On cue, Jose Vivanco, director of George Soros’s Human Rights Watch, tweeted that there were “irregularities” in Anez’s arrest, and concluded that since there is “no evidence” that any of those detained were involved in acts of terrorism–an outright lie– the arrests were likely “politically motivated.” Now Anez is demanding that Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), who was instrumental in Morales’s removal, and the European Union send observers to Bolivia to see how she is being persecuted. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-03-08-revealed-the-uk-supported-the-coup-in-bolivia-to-gain-access-to-its-white-gold/

`The Place Where These Rivals Can Work Together’: Afghanistan

July 21, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Afghanistan, China, Economic development updates, General updates, Global Diplomacy, New Silk Road / BRI updates, Pakistan, Russia, World Land-Bridge updates

`The Place Where These Rivals Can Work Together’: Afghanistan —

July 18 (EIRNS) – An interesting statement by Pakistan’s ambassador to China, Javid Ahmad Qaem, was quoted in Global Times July 17. “The only place,” the Ambassador said, “where the U.S., China and India could really cooperate, and at least there could be a starting point to cooperate between these rivals, if I can call them that, is Afghanistan.”
            The same Global Times article which quoted Qaem made clear that China has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative – the Eurasia-wide infrastructure corridor development plan it initiated in 2013 – as the basis for cooperation in shifting Afghanistan from the theater of endless war and poverty to a nation developing and a contributor to stability. At the July 15-16 conference of 40 nations’ representatives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on “stability and connectivity” in the region following the NATO withdrawals, “China urges Central and South Asian countries to forge a closer regional connectivity partnership through high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” Global Times reported, not implying U.S. participation. A White House readout July 18 said only that A high-level US delegation led by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the international conference in Uzbekistan and discussed the evolving security situation in Afghanistan and the US support for the Afghan defense forces.”
            The impression is given by many media accounts (leaving aside those that forecast the Taliban overrunning Kabul this week) that China and Russia are working with the Taliban on new regional security concepts while the United States and India try to meddle. Russia at least is, according to an Asia Times report July 15, preparing to move at the UN for the Taliban to no longer be designated as supporting terrorism, if that movement maintains peaceful relations with the Central Asian Republics and does not support either al-Qaeda or the East Turkistan Independence Movement (ETIM, Uiygur separatist terrorists). The Taliban have proposed friendly relations with China.
            But the Afghan government has also made moves toward economic reconstruction potentials for the region, in anticipation of the NATO troops getting out. In February it agreed with Pakistan and Uzbekistan on a rail corridor from Peshawar, Pakistan to Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan to Tashkent, clearly linking to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and to the main Eurasian Land-Bridge rail corridor. It also discussed with Pakistan a highway in the same corridor but branching to Dushanbe, Tajikistan. And the Ghani government has started a 50 km gravel and asphalt road through the formidable Wakhan Corridor to the 5,000 meter-high Wakhjir Pass; it continued beyond it would be a rugged but short and direct route to China through Xinjiang Province.
            Afghan consultant to Ghani’s office Shokrullah Amiri, writing in Global Times July 18, says that the Afghan and Chinese governments have been consulting since May on the Wakhan Corridor also becoming part of the Belt and Road Initiative (it was a part of the 12^th Century Silk Road). This, said the Asia Times July 15 report, was why the Ghani government began on the road. Amiri has much more to say about the potential development of Afghan minerals and Afghan-China trade as a result. For more details, go here.

CGTN Publishes Helga Zepp-LaRouche Opinion Piece on ‘COVID Resilience Rankings’

July 17, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in COVID-19, Economic development updates, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Healthcare, Healthcare, Helga statement, article, transcript, Helga Zepp-LaRouche

July 16 (EIRNS)—A commentary from Helga Zepp-LaRouche, responding to “COVID Resilience Rankings” determined by Bloomberg, was published by CGTN today. Zepp-LaRouche lambasts the Bloomberg report, which gave the U.S. higher marks than China, in which she states, “Essentially this ranking is a demonstration of the thesis, that one can prove anything with statistics, as long as you define how the statistics are constructed. While most of the nominal facts of the listed rankings appear to be factual, the accompanying article in the section ‘Containment Formula’ belies the overall purpose and bias hidden behind the statistics. Here the worry is expressed, that the ‘underperformance of some of the world’s most prominent democracies’ as compared with ‘authoritarian countries like China’ has raised questions about the ability of democratic societies to cope with pandemics.”

Zepp-LaRouche continues: “The reality shows a quite different story. In Wuhan, China, it demonstrated that the prioritization of society’s well-being over individual liberty was very successful. The Chinese approach after the containment in Hubei Province to test, isolate, quarantine, continues to spot cases to the present day and has resulted in only 4,636 deaths to date. In the U.S., on the other hand, more than 600,000 people lost their lives with many people suffering from long-term COVID debilitating effects.” The full opinion article is here.

Yemen: A “man-made Hell” says WFP’s Beasley

March 12, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Agriculture, Color Revolutions, Economic development updates, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Healthcare, The Committee for the Coincidence of Opposites, World war danger updates

WFP Chief on Yemen: “This Is Hell”

March 11, 2021 (EIRNS)–David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Program, called the humanitarian disaster in Yemen “man-made,” and described the conditions in the war-ravaged country as “hell… the worst place on earth,” in a March 9 interview with the Associated Press. Beasley was speaking by video teleconference from Addis Ababa, following a tour of Yemen which included the capital of Sana’a. The WFP needs at least $815 million in Yemen aid over the next six months, but has only $300 million, he said, adding that the agency needs $1.9 billion overall for the year.

Beasley said that at a child malnutrition ward in a Sana’a hospital, he saw children wasting away from lack of food. Many, he said, were on the brink of death from entirely preventable and treatable causes, and they were the lucky ones who were receiving medical care.

“In a children’s wing or ward of a hospital, you know you normally hear crying, and laughter. There’s no crying, there’s no laughter, there’s dead silence,” he said. “I went from room to room, and literally, children that in any other place in the world would be fine, they might get a little sick but they’d get recovered, but not here.”

“This is hell,” he said. “It’s the worst place on earth. And it’s entirely man-made.” Yemen has been the victim of a Saudi war of aggression and a merciless blockade, under the direction of British policy-makers and with American support as well.

Beasley stressed that despite all the accusations, the Houthis have actually eased up on their restrictions on the work of humanitarian aid agencies. “We’ve turned a corner with the Houthis… in terms of cooperation, collaboration,” he said, adding that the only obstacle now is the lack of funding.

Flurry of Diplomatic Activity Around SCO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Takes Up Belt and Road Projects

July 17, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in BRICS updates, Economic development updates, General updates, New financial order updates, New Silk Road / BRI updates, World Land-Bridge updates

July 16 (EIRNS)—There continued to be a flurry of diplomatic activity around the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) ministerial and SCO Afghanistan Contact Group, which met July 13-14 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Before heading to Dushanbe, on July 12-13, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi stopped in Ashgabat to meet with Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and other officials. China’s Foreign Ministry reported that during the meeting Wang Yi said, “the two countries should sign as soon as possible documents on the alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Turkmenistan’s development strategy to revive the Great Silk Road,” and formulate a five-year plan for all-round cooperation.” This included China’s “cooperation with Turkmenistan across the whole industrial chain of oil and gas.” On July 15-16, after the SCO conferences, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan travelled to Uzbekistan, to meet with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The two leaders discussed cooperation in fighting COVID-19. Their “Joint Declaration on the Establishment of Strategic Partnership between The Republic of Uzbekistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan” emphasized: “The leaders stressed the importance of regional integration and connectivity as a cornerstone of economic development and progress. In this regard, they welcomed the exchange of high-level visits in the areas of trade, railways, transport and aviation.

“The two leaders reiterated their support for the Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway project as an important initiative to create a rail link from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea through Afghanistan and the Pakistani seaports of Karachi, Gwadar and Bin Qasim….

“The two leaders also recognized the immense potential of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor for the benefit of the entire Central Asianregion and beyond entailing greater connectivity and trade linkages through a network of transport, fiber optic cable, energy pipelines, and investment opportunities in its SEZs [Special Economic Zones].”

Over July 15-16 Uzbekistan President Mirziyoyev hosted the “Central and South Asia: Regional Interconnectedness. Challenges and Opportunities” with Prime Minister Khan and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, as well as Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov, Wang Yi, and the other participants in the SCO Foreign Ministers’ Council, representatives of the U.S., Israel, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Japan, EU and UN.

Meantime, Afghani researcher Ahmad Bilal Khalil wrote in “Afghanistan the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” in the July 14 issue of The Diplomat that Afghanistan’s development lies with the nations that comprise the SCO, for which he advocated Afghanistan having full membership. Khalil explained, “Afghanistan … has close economic and trade ties with most of the SCO member states…. According to the Afghan Statistical Yearbook, in 2017-18, more than 87% of Afghanistan’s total imports were from SCO countries; and more than 57% of Afghanistan’s total exports were destined to SCO member states.”

Space: China-Russia Lunar Exploration; will the U.S. Join?

March 12, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in China, Economic development updates, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Russia, Space updates

Global Times Praises China-Russia Space Cooperation; Offers Joint Work with the U.S. as Well

March 11, 2021 (EIRNS) – The March 10 edition of Global Times contained an enthusiastic editorial on the announcement earlier this week that China and Russia will be cooperating extensively in space. Under the headline “China, Russia joint lunar exploration generates high expectations,” the editorial was upbeat about the prospects.

“First, this plan is very likely to be implemented. Russia accumulated rich experience in lunar exploration during the Soviet Union era, and it has developed a strong space technology… China and Russia have the stable political conditions necessary for long-term cooperation. The cooperation will in turn strengthen bilateral strategic mutual trust and promote comprehensive cooperation in various fields.”

Global Times explained that although the U.S. Artemis program, launched in 2017, is also an international space cooperation project, China and Russia were excluded from participating in it. “China-Russia space cooperation has the conditions to achieve equal and mutual benefits, and none will dominate over the other. The Artemis program is obviously dominated by the US, and others, including the European Space Agency, play the secondary role.”

The Chinese-Russian approach will be different, the editorial argued. “The joint construction of the lunar scientific research station between China and Russia will provide new channels and areas for international space exploration and boost its true internationalization… In the long run, most resources needed for human development will come from outer space. One day, there will be many businesses in the space industry and future generations will see wonderful changes in this field.”

Chinese-Russian space cooperation “can also set a positive example with political implications. We also hope that China-Russia cooperation in lunar exploration will stimulate and promote greater international cooperation. The invisible boundary between the East and the West will be further broken. But of course, it depends on how the US reacts and interacts with China-Russia cooperation in the future.”

COVID-19: Brazilian Infections Critical Point; Lula de Silva says were avoidable

March 12, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in COVID-19, Economic development updates, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Healthcare

Lula Calls Bolsonaro an “Imbecile” for His Handling of the COVID Crisis

March 11, 2021 (EIRNS) – Brazilian former President Lula de Silva yesterday delivered his first public speech since his phony conviction for graft was overturned by the Brazilian Supreme Court earlier this week, and he used the occasion to rip into President Jair Bolsonaro as an “imbecile” for his handling of the COVID pandemic. “Many of these deaths could have been avoided,” Lula stated, referring to Brazil’s stunning 268,000 deaths. Brazil has the second- highest number of COVID deaths in the world, after the United States.

Speaking to a rally of metalworkers in Sao Bernardo do Campo, his historic base, Lula charged, “This country is disorganized and falling apart, because it has no government,” and he demanded “Health, jobs and justice for Brazil… The people need jobs.” Lula may run for President against Bolsonaro in the October 2022 elections, although some voices have surfaced in the country calling for Bolsonaro to be driven out of office immediately, if the country is to survive.

Bolsonaro’s outrageous disregard for human life and dismissive attitude about any and all anti-pandemic measures (“stop whining” about the pandemic, he told Brazilians a few days ago), has converted Brazil into a threat to the health of the entire planet. According to Fiocruz, a respected biological sciences R&D center in Rio de Janeiro, the new P1 strain of the coronavirus that has emerged in Brazil, which is thought to be twice as contagious as the original strain, may also evade immunity built up by having had the original version of COVID, with a chance of reinfection estimated at between 25% and 60%. Furthermore, P1 is just one of several “variants of concern” that have become dominant in six of eight states studied by Fiocruz.

“This information is an atomic bomb,” said Roberto Kraenkel, of the Covid-19 Brazil Observatory, according to the Washington Post.

Fiocruz also reports that 15 state capitals have intensive care units (ICUs) that are at more than 90% capacity, including the two largest states, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The national capital, Brasilia, is also reported to be at full ICU capacity, while two major cities — Porto Alegre in the south and Campo Grande in the southwest — have exceeded capacity. There is an imminent danger of the “overload and even collapse of health systems,” the R&D center warned.

BBC reported: “Scientists are concerned that Brazil has almost become a natural laboratory, where people can see what happens when coronavirus goes relatively unchecked… Global experts are calling for a plan — including rapid vaccination, lockdowns, and strict social distancing measures — to get the situation under control.” Brazilian epidemiologist Dr. Pedro Hallal told the BBC: “If we do not start vaccinating the population here very soon, it will become a massive tragedy.”

Brazil, with a population of 211 million, is by far the largest country in South America, and shares borders with 10 different nations: every country of South America with the exception of Chile and Ecuador. It has also has extensive historic ties and travel with Africa. And its population was one of the most ravaged by AIDS in decades past, opening up dangerous potentials in terms of its relationship to the coronavirus.

Page 44 of 54First...«434445 »...Last

Mary Jane Freeman

Recent posts