What About The Dollar: Russia, Iran Announce $20 Billion Oil-For-Goods Deal Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/02/2014 15:56 -0400 Spot what is missing in the just blasted headline from Bloomberg: IRAN, RUSSIA SAID TO SEAL $20B OIL-FOR-GOODS DEAL: REUTERS If you said the complete absence of US Dollars anywhere in the funds flow you are correct. Which is precisely what we have been warning would happen the more the West and/or JPMorgan pushed Russia into a USD-free corner. Once again, from our yesterday comment on the JPM Russian blockade: "what JPM may have just done is launch a preemptive strike which would have the equivalent culmination of a SWIFT blockade of Russia, the same way Iran was neutralized from the Petrodollar and was promptly forced to begin transacting in Rubles, Yuan and, of course, gold in exchange for goods and services either imported or exported. One wonders: is JPM truly that intent in preserving its "pristine" reputation of not transacting with "evil Russians", that it will gladly light the fuse that takes away Russia's choice whether or not to depart the petrodollar voluntarily, and makes it a compulsory outcome, which incidentally will merely accelerate the formalization of the Eurasian axis of China, Russia and India?" In other words, Russia seems perfectly happy to telegraph that it is just as willing to use barter (and "heaven forbid" gold) and shortly other "regional" currencies, as it is to use the US Dollar, hardly the intended outcome of the western blocakde, which appears to have just backfired and further impacted the untouchable status of the Petrodollar. More from Reuters: Iran and Russia have made progress towards an oil-for-goods deal sources said would be worth up to $20 billion, which would enable Tehran to boost vital energy exports in defiance of Western sanctions, people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters. In January Reuters reported Moscow and Tehran were discussing a barter deal that would see Moscow buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods. The White House has said such a deal would raise "serious concerns" and would be inconsistent with the nuclear talks between world powers and Iran. A Russian source said Moscow had "prepared all documents from its side", adding that completion of a deal was awaiting agreement on what oil price to lock in. The source said the two sides were looking at a barter arrangement that would see Iranian oil being exchanged for industrial goods including metals and food, but said there was no military equipment involved. The source added that the deal was expected to reach $15 to $20 billion in total and would be done in stages with an initial $6 billion to $8 billion tranche. The Iranian and Russian governments declined to comment. Two separate Iranian officials also said the deal was valued at $20 billion. One of the Iranian officials said it would involve exports of around 500,000 barrels a day for two to three years. "Iran can swap around 300,000 barrels per day via the Caspian Sea and the rest from the (Middle East) Gulf, possibly Bandar Abbas port," one of the Iranian officials said, referring to one of Iran's top oil terminals. "The price (under negotiation) is lower than the international oil price, but not much, and there are few options. But in general, a few dollars lower than the market price."Surely an "expert assessment" is in order: "The deal would ease further pressure on Iran's battered energy sector and at least partially restore Iran's access to oil customers with Russian help," said Mark Dubowitz of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a U.S. think-tank. "If Washington can't stop this deal, it could serve as a signal to other countries that the United States won't risk major diplomatic disputes at the expense of the sanctions regime," he added. You don't say: another epic geopolitical debacle resulting from what was originally intended to be a demonstration of strength and instead is rapidly turning out into a terminal confirmation of weakness. Also, when did the "Foundation for Defense of Petrodollar" have the last word replaced with "Democracies"? Finally, those curious what may happen next, only not to Iran but to Russia, are encouraged to read "From Petrodollar To Petrogold: The US Is Now Trying To Cut Off Iran's Access To Gold."
This is exactly what I was talking about. Russia does not have to fire one bullet to destroy the west. Why the west would provoke Russia/China/ Brics into using alternative currencies to trade oil/gas in is beyond me.
It is possible that there are Satanists controlling things who want a war. By Satanists I do not necessarily mean people in pointy black hats. Some people are perfectly possessed and do Satan's bidding.
SteveD, More Russian propaganda. Pat Buchanan 1 Apr 2014 War Party Oligarch Is the Republican Party's Middle East policy up for bidfor bid? For four days ending Sunday, a quartet of … Read More. 28 Mar 2014 Behind the Russian Rage As the old saying goes, you cannot truly understand a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes. Perhaps Americans,… Read More. 25 Mar 2014 Is Europe Cracking Up? A week ago, in the St. George's Hall in the Kremlin, Russia's elite cheered and wept as Vladimir Putin … Read More. Whose Side Is God on Now? In his Kremlin defense of Russia's annexation of Crimea, Vladimir Putin, even before he began listing the battles where Russian blood had been shed on Crimean soil, spoke of an older deeper bond. Crimea, said Putin, "is the location of ancient Khersones, where Prince Vladimir was baptized. His spiritual feat of adopting Orthodoxy predetermined the overall basis of the culture, civilization and human values that unite the peoples of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus." Russia is a Christian country, Putin was saying. This speech recalls last December's addressaddress where the former KGB chief spoke of Russia as standing against a decadent West: "Many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, including Christian values. Policies are being pursued that place on the same level a multi-child family and a same-sex partnership, a faith in God and a belief in Satan. This is the path to degradation." Heard any Western leader, say, Barack Obama, talk like that lately? Indicting the "Bolsheviks" who gave away Crimea to Ukraine, Putin declared, "May God judge them." What is going on here? With Marxism-Leninism a dead faith, Putin is saying the new ideological struggle is between a debauched West led by the United States and a traditionalist world Russia would be proud to lead. In the new war of beliefs, Putin is saying, it is Russia that is on God's side. The West is Gomorrah. Western leaders who compare Putin's annexation of Crimea to Hitler's Anschluss with Austria, who dismiss him as a "KGB thug," who call him "the alleged thief, liar and murderer who rules Russia," as the Wall Street Journal's Holman Jenkins did, believe Putin's claim to stand on higher moral ground is beyond blasphemous. But Vladimir Putin knows exactly what he is doing, and his new claim has a venerable lineage. The ex-Communist Whittaker Chambers who exposed Alger Hiss as a Soviet spy, was, at the time of his death in 1964, writing a bookwriting a book on "The Third Rome." The first Rome was the Holy City and seat of Christianity that fell to Odoacer and his barbarians in 476 A.D. The second Rome was Constantinople, Byzantium, (today's Istanbul), which fell to the Turks in 1453. The successor city to Byzantium, the Third Rome, the last Rome to the old believers, was — Moscow. Putin is entering a claim that Moscow is the Godly City of today and command post of the counter-reformation against the new paganism. Putin is plugging into some of the modern world's most powerful currents. <a onClick="return adgo(5541,10783,this.href);" href="http://adserver.adtechus.com/adlink...nfo;loc=300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=13579" target="_blank"><img src="http://adserver.adtechus.com/adserv...nfo;loc=300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=13579" border="0" width="300" height="250"></a> AD FEEDBACK Not only in his defiance of what much of the world sees as America's arrogant drive for global hegemony. Not only in his tribal defense of lost Russians left behind when the USSR disintegrated. He is also tapping into the worldwide revulsion of and resistance to the sewage of a hedonistic secular and social revolution coming out of the West. In the culture war for the future of mankind, Putin is planting Russia's flag firmly on the side of traditional Christianity. His recent speeches carry echoes of John Paul II whose Evangelium Vitae in 1995 excoriated the West for its embrace of a "culture of death." What did Pope John Paul mean by moral crimes? The West's capitulation to a sexual revolution of easy divorce, rampant promiscuity, pornography, homosexuality, feminism, abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, assisted suicide — the displacement of Christian values by Hollywood values. Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum writes that she was stunned when in Tbilisi to hear a Georgian lawyer declare of the former pro-Western regime of Mikhail Saakashvili, "They were LGBT." "It was an eye-opening moment," wrote Applebaum. Fear and loathing of the same-sex-marriage pandemic has gone global. In Paris, a million-man Moral Majority marched in angry protest. Author Masha Gessen, who has written a book on Putin, says of his last two years, "Russia is remaking itself as the leader of the anti-Western world." But the war to be waged with the West is not with rockets. It is a cultural, social, moral war where Russia's role, in Putin's words, is to "prevent movement backward and downward, into chaotic darkness and a return to a primitive state." Would that be the "chaotic darkness" and "primitive state" of mankind, before the Light came into the world? This writer was startled to read in the Jan-Feb. newsletter from the social conservative World Council of Families in Rockford, Ill., that, of the "ten best trends" in the world in 2013, number one was "Russia Emerges as Pro-Family Leader." In 2013, the Kremlin imposed a ban on homosexual propaganda, a ban on abortion advertising, a ban on abortions after 12 weeks and a ban on sacrilegious insults to religious believers. "While the other super-powers march to a pagan world-view," writes WCF's Allan Carlson, "Russia is defending Judeo-Christian values. During the Soviet era, Western communists flocked to Moscow. This year, World Congress of Families VII will be held in Moscow, Sept. 10-12." Will Vladimir Putin give the keynote? In the new ideological Cold War, whose side is God on now? Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of "Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?" To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com.
SteveD, More Russian propaganda. Franklin Graham: Obama Is Waging An “Anti-Christ” War Against God And Christians April 4, 2014 – Some of the people working in the Obama administration and in the White House are trying to “completely secularize our military” and are “hostile to Christians,” to the point that they “are anti-Christ in what they say and in what they do,” said Christian evangelist Franklin Graham, the son of world-renowned preacher Rev. Billy Graham. Franklin Graham made his comments during a Mar. 24 interview with Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, which published an updated report on religious persecution in the U.S. armed forces this month. During the interview on Washington Watch Weekly, Perkins asked Graham, “I would have to believe you’re also tracking, in fact I know you’re tracking because you were a part of it – when you were scheduled to speak at the Pentagon a few years ago they disinvited you – are you concerned about this intense religious hostility that we see manifesting in our nation’s military?” Graham said, ““No question. And my son just got back from his seventh [military] tour this weekend. So, I love the military. There has been huge pressure on the chaplains in our military – and our chaplains have been a wonderful thing for the military. But there is a move to get rid of the chaplains in our country, and to completely secularize our military. Actually, they are hostile to Christians. “A lot of this is coming from this administration and is being pushed by people within the White House,” said Graham. “And when I say White House, I’m not saying the president, because I’m not sure how much of this he’s aware of. But it’s people that work for him that have power, that are sitting in offices, and they are hostile to Christ.” “They are anti-Christ in what they say and in what they do,” said Graham. “And they are pushing this agenda into the military. It’s scary.” Earlier in the interview, Perkins had briefly discussed religious liberty in the military and spoke of moral decline in America. He had also asked Graham, “what will it take for America to come back to our moral principles?” Graham said, “This is a good question. When you look at scripture, when Israel turned their backs on God – and that’s what we as a nation have done and are doing – there was usually some type of calamity. There was a famine, there was a persecution from their neighbors, nations would come in and overrun them and destroy them.” He continued, “And it’s, kind of, when they were beaten down to the ground, that they would turn their hearts toward God once again. And they would cry unto the Lord, and He would hear them and He would deliver them. And I don’t know what’s going to have to happen in this country, but my prayer is that America will wake up before that [persecution] happens.” - See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/franklin-graham-some-administration-officials-are-anti-christ#sthash.g2sJ1pHe.d
There is of course a substantial amoung of truth in Vladimir Putin's 2013 statements regarding the West's aversion to Christianity, which should be heard as a stinging rebuke. However... in the light of the recent annexation of the Crimea the remarks in the same statements regarding 'international law', 'national sovereignty' have a hypocritical ring to them. It is interesting to note that the events of the last few months in the Ukraine have created a Christian consensus: whereas it might be tempting to portray this as the outplaying of Catholic-Orthodox tensions, my research has shown me that it was Orthodox priests who put their bodies on the line to protect the Maidan protestors against Janukovych's state apparatus, with St Michael's monastery functioning as a shelter/field hospital. Furthermore, although it was initially those Orthodox aligned with the Kiev Patriarchate (which has been in conflict with Moscow for two decades) that took a pro-Maidan stance, later on in the protests they were also joined by the Ukrainian Orthodox affiliated to the Moscow Patriarchate itself! Their acting head, Metropolitan Onufry, wrote directly not only to Patriarch Kirill urging his mediation in the crisis, but also appealing to Vladimir Putin to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity. http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/2970/christians_in_ukraine_ecumenism_in_the_trenches.aspx In other words, the situation on the ground is such that even a substantial element of the Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate (which has jurisdiction over 13,000 parishes in Ukraine as opposed to 15,000 in Russia) was against the annexation. So there is simply no way that Putin can possibly claim that the Church is behind current Russian foreign policy... One very unfortunate facet of the crisis has been the extremely negative pronouncements by some Orthodox in Moscow against Ukrainian Greco-Catholics under His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, blamed for the régime change in Kiev and seen as fifth columnists/Vatican stooges. From an ecumenical standpoint such words are especially regrettable and do not bode well for Catholic-Orthodox relations. My question in the present context is this: while absolutely acknowledging that the West is not guiltless in the current sequence of events, who has more credibility - Ukrainian Christians of all stripes, many of whom risked their lives in Kiev and have not been afraid to 'speak truth to power', or the Kremlin spin machine?
What I find hypocritical is the silence of almost everybody about the overthrow of an elected government and the appointment of a new one (who did appoint the Yats govt?).
Janukovych (who by the way now regards the annexation of the Crimea as a 'tragedy') was voted out by the Ukrainian parliament on Feb 22 after he fled the country. 328 votes out of 450 (including 36 members of Janukovych's own 'Part of the Regions', which renounced him on Feb 25). Now of course it can be argued that this was a hasty move by the opposition and that they should have taken longer to consider how to proceed, but given that VJ almost certainly turned the troops on the protestors and then removed himself from the scene it's really not surprising that they took this course of action, arguing that VJ had de facto withdrawn from the presidency. It should be pointed out that as he was clearly threatening martial law, Janukovych had very little internal credibility. When the Feb 21 agreement was brokered in the (mistaken) hope that it would lead to a unity government and the return of the 2004 constitution, Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski was seen on camera advising the Maidan representatives 'sign or you'll all be dead'...
What I find hypocritical is the silence of almost everybody about the overthrow of an elected government and the appointment of a new one (who did appoint the Yats govt?). Nice new catholic/Christian govt: WND Exclusive: Obama admits waging 'war on men' WND Exclusive: 'Big Government' Republicans facing 'Takeover'? < > WND RADIO U.S. sanctions target pro-life woman with no Crimea links 'This is payback for Russian restrictions on abortion, pro-family initiatives' Published: 18 hours ago Greg Corombos About | Email | Archive Greg Corombos is news director for Radio America. Subscribe to feed [iframe name="pmad-in1-frame" width="625" height="65" align="top" id="pmad-in1-frame" src="javascriptfunction() {document.open();document.write(" Yelena Mizulina A Russian lawmaker known for her outspoken support for traditional marriage and the unborn is among the officials listed in new U.S. sanctions against individuals for their alleged contribution to Russia’s unlawful grab of Ukrainian territory. Weeks ago, President Obama announced sanctions aimed at several individuals for their alleged roles in facilitating Russia’s actions. But Yelena Mizulina’s seems out of place on the list. Mizulina is chairwoman of the Russian Duma’s Committee on Family, Women and Children’s Affairs. She was also the lead sponsor of legislation banning Americans from adopting Russian orphans, fearing the children could suffer harm if adopted by homosexual partners. In the documents outlining the sanctions, the allegations against Mizulina simply cite “her status as a state duma deputy.” “Yelena Mizulina, as far as I know, has nothing to do with the controversy over the Crimea. She did sponsor a bill to make it easier for residents of the Crimea to have Russian citizenship. That was before the Crimea was incorporated into Russia. Other than that, (she had) absolutely nothing to do with the Crimea,” said Don Feder, communications director for the World Congress of Families, which promotes traditional values around the globe. “This is payback. This is payback for Russian restrictions on abortion. It’s payback for the child protection law. It’s payback for all the pro-family initiatives that the Russian people have undertaken in the last few years,” he said. Feder said this story is another alarming example of who is calling the shots for the Obama administration. “This administration is clearly controlled by the gay lobby. Whatever organized homosexuals want, the administration gives them. It was about a year or year-and-a-half ago that Obama announced that promoting gay rights abroad would be a major U.S. foreign policy initiative. You have to shake your head in wonder,” he said. “In fact, U.S. ambassadors have been ordered to march in gay pride parades all over the world, wherever they’re held.” Listen to the WND/Radio America interview with Don Feder: Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/04/u-s-sanctions-target-pro-life-woman-with-no-crimea-links/#5BdpLpVLmABOi2FO.99
By Putin pointing our the immorality in the US life styles of many, including the POTUS, he successfully draws the attention away from his own immoral behaviors, which many draw a blind eye to. Hard to find a moral leader of any country in today's world and this is a great indicator of our times and why it is the end times.
I have just received an email from TLIG (True Life In God - Vassula Reyden) and they mention this (regarding the speech of Putin): Vladimir Putin's Speech at the Valdai Club September 19th, 2013 Extracts Another serious challenge to Russia's identity is linked to events taking place in the world. Here there are both foreign policy and moral aspects. We can see how many of the Euro-Atlantic countries are actually rejecting their roots, including the Christian values that constitute the basis of Western civilisation. They are denying moral principles and all traditional identities: national, cultural, religious and even sexual. They are implementing policies that equate large families with same-sex partnerships, belief in God with the belief in Satan. The excesses of political correctness have reached the point where people are seriously talking about registering political parties whose aim is to promote paedophilia. People in many European countries are embarrassed or afraid to talk about their religious affiliations. Holidays are abolished or even called something different; their essence is hidden away, as is their moral foundation. And people are aggressively trying to export this model all over the world. I am convinced that this opens a direct path to degradation and primitivism, resulting in a profound demographic and moral crisis. What else but the loss of the ability to self-reproduce could act as the greatest testimony of the moral crisis facing a human society? Today almost all developed nations are no longer able to reproduce themselves, even with the help of migration. Without the values embedded in Christianity and other world religions, without the standards of morality that have taken shape over millennia, people will inevitably lose their human dignity. We consider it natural and right to defend these values. One must respect every minority's right to be different, but the rights of the majority must not be put into question. At the same time we see attempts to somehow revive a standardised model of a unipolar world and to blur the institutions of international law and national sovereignty. Such a unipolar, standardised world does not require sovereign states; it requires vassals. In a historical sense this amounts to a rejection of one's own identity, of the God-given diversity of the world. Russia agrees with those who believe that key decisions should be worked out on a collective basis, rather than at the discretion of and in the interests of certain countries or groups of countries.
Satellite photos released revealing Russian military build up It's not quite YouTube clips, but NATO has released satellite image-based proof that confirms the dramatic build up of Russian military forces along its borders. The images showing tanks, attack helicopters, and war planes, according to NATIO general Breedlove provide support for counter-moves by allies to safeguard their partners. Russia, for its part, has denied it has any plans to invade Ukraine and suggests that NATO is "using the crisis in Ukraine to rally its ranks in the face of an imaginary external threat to strengthen demand for the alliance ... in the 21st century."
Adolph Hitler in an early speech after obtaining power: "The government, being resolved to undertake the political and moral purification of our public life, is creating and securing the conditions necessary for a really profound revival of religious life, the struggle against materialistic views and for a real national community is just as much in the interest of the German nation as in [the interest] of the welfare of our Christian faith." "The government of the Reich ... regards Christianity as the unshakable foundation of the morals and moral code of the nation." Same speech, same purpose - get the idiots 'on side'. Hitler didn't mean it and St. Vladimir doesn't mean it, he wants to entrench his power just like Adolph. Hitler was telling lies and was being manipulative because he knew that he had to win over the Christians (temporarily) to get his way and because he was a psychopath who will say or do anything to achieve their goals, just like St. Vladimir the ex-KGB thug will say or do anything to enhance his power and draw more idiots under his influence. This man is as evil as they come and if you want to know what he wants just read the writings of his mentor, Alexander Dugin, who sees a future Eurasian commonwealth - under Russian 'patronage' of course - extending from Vladivostock to Dublin to defy US imperialism. Though no-one has yet asked the Europeans what they think.
SteveD, What issues in his speech posted above do you have a problem with? Can you imagine ANY western leader giving this speech? How about anyone in the catholic church? If it is between the zionist western banker controlled west (US imperialism) and Putin's Russia, I say go Russia! I noticed that you had no comments on Pat Buchanan's piece or Franklin Graham's piece, would you say they are Russian propagandists?
It would be very imprudent to put your faith in any world leader at this point. These are the end-times for a reason. Living in the Divine Will is the only hope any of us have. I you put your faith in man to resolve the issues of the day you will be consumed by his deceit sooner or later. Satan is cunning and so is all his stooges.
PRUDENCE: In view of the aforementioned fact, the faithful are not receiving any guidance from the Catholic Church regarding the alleged revelations of Luisa Piccarreta. Many have expressed confusion and others have been disturbed by the writings that do not appear to contain Catholic doctrines. As such, the following comments have been authored to warn the faithful of what appears to be false teachings in Luisa's work. The author of this writing does not believe that Luisa's work was divinely inspired. Rather, it was her own distorted reflections on spirituality. Fatima said...'Living in the Divine Will is the only hope any of us have' I dont really have any personal problem with Luisa , Fatima. But statements like this are surely over the top? Your own signature refutes this...Through the rosary and the scapular I will one day save the world" BVM
Mac, I am not sure what your point is. Is it that you don't agree with Luisa's writings or rather that they have not received papal approval? Mac, living in the Divine Will is not the absence of praying the rosary, wearing the scapular, or any other devotional for that matter. Any holy prayer, thought or action is living in the divine will. Luisa's writings, at least for me, have allowed me to enter deeper into the mystical life of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. You might be stuck on the 'either/or' argument. In the life of Christ you can have it all if you allow yourself to be open to gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. Living in the Divine Will is coming outside the comfort box we often times put ourselves in based on our own will. I am a dogmatic person, but am learning to come outside this box and feel the gifts of the Spirit that rigidity of the past did not let me do. A few weeks back I went to Alan Ames healing service (I am not a charismatic) and I saw gifts of the Spirit that I did not experience before. That is what Living in the Divine Will is all about.....letting the fullness of God's mysteries come alive within. I believe that one must live a contemplative life of prayer to live deeply in the divine will. St. John Paul II, to me is a great example of one who lived in the divine will. No one wrote, spoke traveled, suffered yet lived a deep-deep life of prayer has he did.
I think you help state Mac's point Fatima. How often did JPII talk about Luisa Piccarreta? Luisa may or may not be correct in her writings, but as of right now it seems we should not be emphasizing them: http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/luisa_piccarreta.htm There are better devotions and ways to join us to Our Lord (Rosary, Divine Mercy, etc.) that have been approved and have been shown to be fruitful. We have the gift of the Church who shows us the right path. Otherwise we can rely too much on ourselves and our own discernment which may or may not be correct.
