Author: Alicia

Every part of the planet is now facing the choice offered by two competing voices. “The question is the crisis,” Lyndon LaRouche stated starkly in his Feb. 27 dialogue with the Manhattan Project. “Are you going to die? Are you going to live? And that’s it, two voices.”

Half of humanity—the BRICS and allies, led by Russia and China—has already chosen to live, and is offering to help save the rest of the planet. The trans-Atlantic sector has, so far, chosen to die. What else does it mean to continue tolerating Wall Street, and leaving the evil killer Obama in the White House? What else does it mean when we countenance the current Presidential election charade, and when we allow formerly productive workers to kill themselves in record numbers, with drugs, alcohol, and outright suicide? What of the destruction of NASA, and the creative, mission-oriented outlook it represented?

However, Russian President Putin’s flanking intervention into the Syrian, and broader regional situation, beginning in September 2015, has dramatically reshaped the entire geometry of global affairs. Obama, despite himself, has been boxed into cooperating with Russia in the current Syria ceasefire, which continues to hold as the American and Russian militaries increasingly coordinate. Dramatic, positive changes are unfolding in Iran, Egypt, and other nations that have chosen to ally with the BRICS process. And the population inside the United States— despite decades of being dumbed down into pragmatism by the British, and now being suffocated by an electoral Roman Circus—are responding with unfamiliar optimism to LaRouche movement organizing, which is uniquely resonant with the current policy thrust of both Putin and the Chinese government of Xi Jinping. After all, many of their policies, most emphatically the New Silk Road, were initially designed and promoted by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche.

Exemplary of this incipient Renaissance is the highly successful Schiller Institute conference held Feb. 27 “in the shadow of the Johnson Space Center” in Texas, featuring LPAC National Committee member and former Democratic Congressional candidate Kesha Rogers, which reactivated and reinvigorated NASA veterans and others around our required mission: that Man is ultimately a space-based species of Reason, as Rogers emphasized. Similar, changed receptiveness was evident in the recent Seattle conference addressed by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the Georgetown University event keynoted by Matthew Ogden, in LaRouche movement World Land-Bridge conferences in Hermosillo (Mexico) and Lima (Peru), and elsewhere.

It is the LaRouche organization’s unique “devotion to creative discovery,” as LaRouche described it in his Manhattan Project discussion, and only that, which puts us in a position to shape global developments for the Good. But it also imposes on us rigorous internal conditions, which require us to clarify when organizations are not part of that commitment, and thereby become barriers to the success of our endeavors.

“The whole purpose of mankind is the ability of mankind, to make discoveries, which the discoverer will never fully harvest,” LaRouche stated to the Manhattan Project gathering. “But only the persons who are of that spirit of behavior will be able to deliver an example of what is necessary, for the future of mankind.”

A memorandum on India’s joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is expected to be signed at a SCO summit in Tashkent, Bakhtiyer Khakimov, Russian president’s special envoy for SCO affairs and the Russian foreign ministry’s ambassador at large, said on Feb 25, Tass reported Friday. India’s full membership was decided at the previous SCO Summit at Ufa last year. Another South Asian nation, Pakistan, is awaiting the full membership this June. The summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will take place in Uzbekistan’s capital city of Tashkent on June 23-24, 2016.

Bakhtier Khakimov told reporters that Iran’s acceptance as a full member of the SCO is now under consideration. “We take it as a premise and work on it,” he added, Trend News reported. Khakimov said that in principle, all SCO member states support Iran’s accession to the organization. There are no objections to Iran’s candidacy. But there are certain nuances in the approaches to the process of accession itself, he added.

India’s inclusion, and the future inclusion of Iran, in the SCO as full member will enhance security and developmental activities in the region encompassing Eurasia, South Asia and part of Middle East. India’s inclusion was also  necessary since the SCO is led by two major BRICS nations, China and Russia. India will be the third BRICS nation in the group. 

Not only is the Attorney General of the United States, Lorretta Lynch, the US Attorney who gave drug money laundering bank, HSBC, a free pass with a Deferred Prosecution Agreement, but the head of the FBI, James Comey, was plucked by Obama from a plum job at HSBC, which Comey took in January, 2013, just after HSBC got the deferred prosecution deal. Comey’s job for HSBC was as a leading member of the bank’s “Financial System Vulnerabilities Committee,” formed immediately after HSBC settled with the federal government for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for the deadly Mexican drug cartels.

Get it? The Attorney General of the US and the head of the US FBI are both part of the deal that let HSBC off the hook.

In addition, Stuart Levey, Obama’s Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for administering sanctions against terrorist supporters and closing off terrorist and criminal money laundering left the Obama administration to become HSBC’s Chief Legal Officer, a top position in the London headquarters along with the board of Directors.

As reported in the EIR article, “Obama Kills Again: The Case of HSBC,”reported on Feb. 22 by the British Daily Mail, could blow open the secret findings of the “Monitor,” Michael Cherkasky,

The Mail says that Cherkasky’s findings could “In the worse case scenario” cause HSBC “lose its banking license in the US.” The paper says that HSBC’s annual report released last week “revealed that an independent monitor installed by the US government had flagged up significant concerns” about measures that HSBC is supposed to take to “fight crime.” Cherkasky “also refused to sign off on its efforts to improve compliance,” with US federal law, the Mail said. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking at an hour-long press conference with Secretary of State John Kerry following their meeting in Washington Tuesday, made several crucial proposals which, if accepted, could get the US out of the suicidal course set by President Obama for war on China. Speaking on the Korea crisis, Wang Yi said that he and Kerry had agreed on a formulation for a UN resolution condemning the North Korea nuclear test and missile launch, which will be released after review by both government. But, he added, such a resolution “cannot provide a fundamental solution to the Korean nuclear issue. To really do that, we need to return to the track of dialogue and negotiation.”

He said Kerry agreed on that, but added that the Chinese side had “put forward a basic proposal: that is, we want to pursue in parallel tracks the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the replacement of the Korean armistice with a peace agreement. We know certain parties have different views on this proposal.”

This marks a significant intervention. The North will only discuss the peace agreement, and Obama will only discuss the nuclear program. Pyongyang absolutely cannot and will not give up their nuclear weapon program under the threat of war from Obama, knowing what the US did to Iraq and Libya when they stopped their nuclear program. If a peace agreement could be found which assured their security, then they could consider alternatives on the nuclear program.

Kerry stuck to Obama’s line — give up the nuclear program and well consider a peace plan — but China has put a workable plan on the table.

Wang Yi also spoke to the immediacy of the crisis, saying that he and Kerry agreed that “we need to monitor the situation on the peninsula very closely in the coming two months. Various factors of instability might intertwine and have an impact, so under that situation its very important that the various parties have more dialogue so as to prevent the heightening of tension or escalation of the situation. In particular, we must prevent the situation on the peninsula from spinning out of control.” On the South China Sea, Wang Yi said that despite the hollering from the west, the region is more peaceful than other parts of the world, and no commercial vehicle had encountered any threat to the freedom of navigation. Insurance fees had not risen a penny, he said (the free market says there is no problem!). On the other hand, he said: “I hope friends in the media will not only see the radar [China’s radar site on one of the islands] but more importantly, perhaps, that every day the advanced armaments and equipments emerging in the South China Sea, including the strategic bombers, the missile destroyers — why people have chosen to disregard or ignore them?”

He also directly denounced the Philippines, which has broken the Declaration of Conduct on the South Cina sea, signed by all parties, “whose Article 4 stipulates that disputes will be resolved through peaceful negotiations by the directly concerned parties. China and the Chinese side has always faithfully acted to implement the DOC. And it is exactly one country and let me not avoid mentioning the name — that is, the Philippines — has violated the stipulation.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking at an hour-long press conference with Secretary of State John Kerry following their meeting in Washington Tuesday, made several crucial proposals which, if accepted, could get the US out of the suicidal course set by President Obama for war on China. Speaking on the Korea crisis, Wang Yi said that he and Kerry had agreed on a formulation for a UN resolution condemning the North Korea nuclear test and missile launch, which will be released after review by both government. But, he added, such a resolution “cannot provide a fundamental solution to the Korean nuclear issue. To really do that, we need to return to the track of dialogue and negotiation.”

He said Kerry agreed on that, but added that the Chinese side had “put forward a basic proposal: that is, we want to pursue in parallel tracks the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the replacement of the Korean armistice with a peace agreement. We know certain parties have different views on this proposal.”

This marks a significant intervention. The North will only discuss the peace agreement, and Obama will only discuss the nuclear program. Pyongyang absolutely cannot and will not give up their nuclear weapon program under the threat of war from Obama, knowing what the US did to Iraq and Libya when they stopped their nuclear program. If a peace agreement could be found which assured their security, then they could consider alternatives on the nuclear program.

Kerry stuck to Obama’s line — give up the nuclear program and well consider a peace plan — but China has put a workable plan on the table.

Wang Yi also spoke to the immediacy of the crisis, saying that he and Kerry agreed that “we need to monitor the situation on the peninsula very closely in the coming two months. Various factors of instability might intertwine and have an impact, so under that situation its very important that the various parties have more dialogue so as to prevent the heightening of tension or escalation of the situation. In particular, we must prevent the situation on the peninsula from spinning out of control.” On the South China Sea, Wang Yi said that despite the hollering from the west, the region is more peaceful than other parts of the world, and no commercial vehicle had encountered any threat to the freedom of navigation. Insurance fees had not risen a penny, he said (the free market says there is no problem!). On the other hand, he said: “I hope friends in the media will not only see the radar [China’s radar site on one of the islands] but more importantly, perhaps, that every day the advanced armaments and equipments emerging in the South China Sea, including the strategic bombers, the missile destroyers — why people have chosen to disregard or ignore them?”

He also directly denounced the Philippines, which has broken the Declaration of Conduct on the South Cina sea, signed by all parties, “whose Article 4 stipulates that disputes will be resolved through peaceful negotiations by the directly concerned parties. China and the Chinese side has always faithfully acted to implement the DOC. And it is exactly one country and let me not avoid mentioning the name — that is, the Philippines — has violated the stipulation.”

Obama and his Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are under fire for persisting in their practice of rubber-stamping Big Pharma’s production of addictive and deadly opioid painkillers, and pushing them on medics to over-prescribe. For months, Federal and state lawmakers have appealed to the FDA and other agencies to stop this. There has been a rise in opioid overdoses (up 200 percent since 2000) linked to the rising rate of opioid pill prescriptions for painkillers.

Obama rebuffed an appeal made to him Monday at the National Governors Association event in Washington, D.C., to have the FDA imposer tighter controls on the prescription opioids. Obama duplicitly said, “If we go to doctors right now and say, ‘Don’t overprescribe,’ without providing some mechanisms for people in these communities to deal with the pain that they have or the issues that they have, then we’re not going to solve the problem, because the pain is real, the mental illness is real.”

Tuesday, three Senators held a press conference slamming Obama’s FDA—Edward Markey (D-MA), Joe Manchin (D-W VA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). They publicized the crisis, on the eve of today’s Senate vote to confirm Obama’s new choice to head the FDA, Dr. Robert Califf. Last month, both Markey and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) put procedural holds on the nomination of Califf, who is currently deputy FDA commmisioner, because of his close ties to Big Pharma.

Markey said, “We need the leader of the FDA to be a tough cop on the beat, not a rubber stamp approving the latest Big Pharma painkillers that are the cause of this deadly scourge of opioid addiction and overdoses. The FDA must begin by agreeing to convene advisory committees for all opioid approval decisions, period. We are hemorrhaging lives by the day, and reforming the FDA is the first step needed to staunch the flow of suffering and death.”

Manchin said, “With 51 Americans dying every day due to an opioid overdose, the FDA now more than ever needs a champion who is committed to changing the way the agency handles opioids.”

According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Yahoo News reports, 47,055 people died from a drug overdose in the U.S. in 2014—more than any other year on record. Some 61% of those fatal overdoses involved opioids, mostly prescription painkillers such as OxyContin or Percocet, and heroin.

According to a release from Markey’s office, the FDA has approved 11 so-called “abuse-deterrent opioids” (a term Markey calls an oxymoron) since 2010. Of those 11, the FDA sought advisory committees’ advice on only four, in many cases even after “warnings from the medical community about potential abuse—concerns borne out by subsequent experience with the drugs.”

Before arriving at the FDA last September, Califf spent years at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, which, unlike most academic research institutions, gets 60% of its finances from industry, according to the Triangle Business Journal. Califf’s financial disclosure lists seven drug companies and a device maker that paid him for consulting, and six others—including Merck, Novartis, and Eli Lilly—which supported his university salary, according to Sanders.

That there is a way out of geopolitics and permanent war, if the United States is freed from the grip of the British empire—that is, Obama is removed—was demonstrated also in the press conference held by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Secretary of State John Kerry, following their meetings in Washington Tuesday. The nuances of their nearly hour-long conference await the transcript and review, but the spirit is exemplified by the following.

The press conference was opened, 45 minutes later than scheduled, by a strong statement by Secretary Kerry that both nations understand that the U.S. and China share one of the most consequential relationships in the world, and that they must act accordingly. Both nations are deeply committed to dialogue, and recognize that their two powerful nations, with the two largest economies in the world, have the ability to make good things happen, despite clear differences in specific areas. Areas of cooperation on global affairs were identified, and only within that context were the contentious areas of North Korea and the South China Sea diplomatically elaborated.

Foreign Minister Wang agreed; we have more points of agreement than disagreement. As diplomats, our responsibility is to identify problems and resolve them; to clear the way ahead and remove obstacles.

Both emphasized the necessity of talks, and knowing each other’s thinking, if “misjudgements” which could become dangerous are to be avoided. Kerry specified military-to-military talks as crucial, and referenced the Cold War time, when the U.S. and Soviet Union had tens of thousands of nuclear warheads pointed at each other, until Reagan and Gorbachov decided at Rejkavik that this was “insane.” So, we must understand each other.

In his final answer, Wang said that Middle East peace, African development, fighting diseases, non-proliferation, all require U.S.-China cooperation. Our two countries should make “the pie of our common interests” bigger, he suggested. We should look through a telescope to visualize the future, rather than a microscope to magnify our differences! 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced in the evening of Feb. 22, that an agreement had been reached on conditions for a ceasefire in Syria between all but the jihadi terrorists. All parties involved in the conflict, outside those terrorists, have until Feb. 26 at noon, to indicate their willingness to participate, with the ceasefire then to go into operation the following day. Taskforces have been set up to work out details.

The address given by President Vladimir Putin to the Russian people on the agreement on Monday night, following a conversation with President Obama which he initiated, best summarizes the terms reached and commitments made. Putin made clear this was no “quick fix,” but rather grew out of much work, including making “use of the positive experience we accumulated over the course of cooperation in eliminating chemical weapons in Syria.”

Enforcement of the ceasefire between the groups who agree to participate is to proceed thusly: “Russian and American troops will jointly delineate the territories where these groups are active. No military action will be taken against them by the Armed Forces of the Syrian Arab Republic, Russian Armed Forces and the US-led coalition. In turn, the opposition will cease all military action against the Armed Forces of the Syrian Arab Republic and other groups supporting them,” Putin stated.

Strikes against ISIS, Al-Nusra and other UNSC-designated terrorist groups will continue.

A communication hotline and, if necessary, a working group to exchange information, will be set up. “Russia will conduct the necessary work with Damascus and the legitimate Syrian leadership. We expect that the United States will do the same with regard to their allies and the groups they support,” said Putin. These actions “will be enough to radically reverse the crisis situation in Syria. We are finally seeing a real chance to bring an end to the long-standing bloodshed and violence.”

Most importantly: “Russian-American agreements on the cessation of hostilities in Syria, and their joint implementation in coordination with all nations participating in the International Syria Support Group, can become an example of responsible actions the global community takes against the threat of terrorism, which are based on international law and UN principles,” he concluded. A far cry from the disasters in Somalia, Iraq, Libya, Yemen which resulted from “one-sided actions not sanctioned by the UN.”

Less than 24 hours later, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenko reported that Russia had provided the U.S. the contacts for the hotline, and had set up a “coordination center” at its airbase near Latakia, Syria, tasked to monitor compliance with the ceasefire, facilitate contacts between the Syrian government and opposition, and provide humanitarian aid.

Syrian President Bashir Assad announced that parliamentary elections will be held on April 13, and Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told Lebanese television channel Al Mayadeen that “Damascus has agreed to stop military operations” against all but the terrorists.

In a joint press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Tuesday afternoon, Secretary Kerry reported that he hoped to hear soon that the Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), then meeting, also accepted the ceasefire. All parties involved, Syrian government and opposition, and other countries, must make the commitment to implement the agreement, he said—singling out no party in particular (unlike the British).

Reflecting the global effects and efforts which went into this accord —which now must be made to stick over British imperial sabotage— Kerry cited the Chinese role in creating conditions for this ceasefire. Kerry pointed out that Foreign Minister Wang had flown the longest and the farthest of any Foreign Minister, to participate in the international discussions on an end to the Syrian conflict held in Munich.

“Nobody and nothing under the natural laws of this universe impose any limitations on man except man himself.” —Krafft Ehricke

We have known our society is inextricably connected with our cosmic and solar environments since at least the geomagnetic storm known as the Carrington Event of 1859. However, unlike all other species that have inhabited Earth, humanity alone possesses the ability to change our mode of living as we discover, respond to, and ultimately control how the celestial environment effects our biosphere. The human space program—typified by NASA—is the world’s leading basis for this kind of science-driven transformation of civilization, which is precisely why it is under attack by budget cutting politicians and radical environmentalists. Tune in LIVE, this Saturday, February 27 at 3PM Eastern/2pm Central/12 Pacific.

Featured Speakers:

Tom Wysmuller — Member of The Right Climate Stuff research group, Member, NASA Alumni League
Kesha Rogers — Two time nominee for U.S. Congress for the district representing Johnson Space Center
Megan Beets — LaRouche Policy Institute, Science Policy Researcher