Yakuza Smugglers, Myanmar, and Manhattan

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/09/takeshi-ebisawa-yakuza-leader-nuclear-materials-myanmar

This story is fascinating on several levels and yet there's something rotten about it. Even after reading the 43 page indictment, it doesn't add up.

Western Finance: Feeding on the Chaos

https://scheerpost.com/2023/02/16/zelensky-signs-agreement-with-jp-morgan-on-ukraines-reconstruction/

Profits are on the rise. The railroad industry is booming and Norfolk Southern is buying back stocks to increase their value even as they throw crumbs at the people in East Palestine, Ohio.  Utility companies across the United States and the world are raising prices even amid what are in some cases record profits.

Sri Lanka and Russian Oil

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/sri-lanka-is-open-buying-russian-oil-pm-tells-ap-2022-06-12/

As a country in a state of turmoil and caught between political and financial forces based both in China and the West, Colombo is looking for other options. And for obvious reasons Moscow is also looking for new markets. While the Russian oil industry has jumped through numerous hoops and played games with pricing to keep their markets open, the possibility of new markets must be appealing for those in Russia.

The Echoes of War in Asia

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/04/10/indonesia-us-war-games/

Even as the War in Ukraine rages on and the eye of the world is focused on the NATO frontier, there are storm clouds forming over Asia and signs that US militarism is preparing to assert itself on the Chinese frontier as well. Far from being passive, the Biden administration has been at the forefront of the re-assertion of the US Empire.

The Current Geopolitics of Sri Lanka

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/china-bags-another-lucrative-port-deal-in-sri-lanka

Sri Lanka has been the focus of a struggle between China and Washington for many years. India is also a player more or less serving or echoing the interests of the United States. India has an interest due to the large island's proximity and the fact that the Hindu Tamil people (a minority in Sri Lanka) have a significant population in India itself. For China and the United States, the interests are economic and strategic.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is known to be pro-China and this was one of the reasons he was forced out as president in 2015. After several years of ineffective rule, Rajapaksa returned to power in 2019 as prime minister under his brother's presidency. Sri Lanka's already suffering economy has taken a beating during the Covid era and 2021 has seen the nation slip into crisis mode.

Terrorist Timing in Turkey and Sri Lanka

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-turkey-security/erdogan-says-car-explosion-in-turkey-kills-three-may-be-terrorism-related-idUKKCN1U014D

After weeks of tension the Erdogan government is going ahead and taking delivery of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system. NATO and in particular the United States don't want to see this happen.

This will begin to detach Turkey from the NATO command structure and throw up barriers in terms of its larger strategies and even battlefield tactics.

Paisley and the May Government

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-44932312

This story is probably most interesting to me because it involves Ian Paisley Jr., son of the more famous Paisley who died in 2014. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) founded by Paisley Sr. in 1971 is currently in a coalition with Theresa May's Tories and while I've always followed British politics to some extent, I have as of late been paying a little closer attention.

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-dup-and-ulsters-christian-witness.html

Paisley's movement has followers in the United States and there are longtime bonds between Paisley's Free Presbyterian Church and American Fundamentalist circles, particularly the Anti- Billy Graham factions centred on Bob Jones University.

Another Defector from the US Pivot-to-Asia Strategy

https://in.investing.com/news/economy-news/insight-china's-"silk-road"-push-stirs-resentment-and-protest-in-sri-lanka-90314

Sri Lanka's Sirisena administration which came to power in 2015 appeared to represent a shift away from the pro-Beijing policies of Rajapaksa. But for various reasons this has not proven to be the case.

Western Media, the India Strikes and New Delhi's embrace of both Wall Street and the Pentagon

Millions of people were recently on strike in India, but our media has chosen to ignore it. While other leaders are castigated over human rights, Narendra Modi of India gets a free pass. This is even while his society is being stressed by economic upheaval and the concentration of wealth resulting from his Neoliberal economic policies. Paramilitary groups are attacking religious and ethnic minorities and yet, Modi is the new hero in Brussels and Washington. He has implemented the policies of Wall Street and now India is also embracing the aims of the Pentagon. India is a new frontline state in Cold War II.

The Indian people have not supported this and the bulk of the American population knows next to nothing about it.

Asian Alliances and Cold Wars: Past and Present Provocations

The United States continues to push into East Asia and is moving ever closer to the formation of a new Asian version of NATO. It must be remembered that though the USSR certainly occupied Eastern Europe and had attempted and eventually succeeded to establish new regimes in those countries, it was sabre rattlers like Churchill and the United States in forming NATO that really got the Cold War underway. While that narrative is unacceptable to Western convention it needs to be revisited.

Sri Lanka: A Pawn in the Asian Theatre of the New Cold War

The recent story of Sri Lanka, its civil war and aftermath represent yet another tortured tale, a series of proxy battles resulting in devious schemes and dark betrayals.