Hard Currencies Emerge in Eastern Nations as the Result of Western Sanctions

Is Russia bluffing? Will Europe get gas after the deadline if they don’t pay? My prediction is that Russia isn’t bluffing. They planned this for a long time as a counter-measure. Next comes crude oil, coal, metals, rare earths, minerals, precious stones, noble gases, lumber, fertilizers, food oil, and grain — all may soon be sold in rubles.

The effect of agreeing on the European side is nil. They would simply exchange euros to rubles and pay that way. Very simple. But the effect on the Russian side is huge since it would bolster the ruble in effect reversing most of the sanctions. The effect of refusing on the European side is huge. Energy prices would almost double since 40 percent of their natural gas comes from Russia. The US can only make up about 10 percent of Europe’s gas loss in the short term and with a much more expensive delivery cost.

Meanwhile, the effect of a European refusal is virtually nil in Russia for the long term since the Asian market demand will make up for the loss of sales. In fact, Russia did its first oil sale to India using a rupees to rubles exchange. Saudi Arabia started accepting Chinese yuan for oil, thus undercutting the petro-dollar. The east has already found a way to circumvent western sanctions even while cutting off the west.

This was obviously a long term plan thought out ahead of time in 2021 or maybe even years before these sanctions.

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Update from Kiev - March 19, 2022

KIEV, Ukraine (Forerunner) — I have spent about an equal amount of time in both the countries of Russia and Ukraine. This time amounts to several months out of my life. Rather than stay in hotels and eat in restaurants, I spent the majority of my time with my friends and their families in over a dozen cities in each country. I have close friends from both countries who have strong feelings on either side of the current conflict. Since we are constantly barraged with war footage, we are taught to sympathize with our Ukrainian brethren and their heroic president while being conditioned to demonize Russians who support their president. However, the first casualty of war is always truth. How can we forget this so easily? I asked two questions to a friend in Kiev who is well-connected throughout the country due to his business dealings. ~ Jay Rogers

Video: Update from Kiev - March 19, 2022
Update from Kiev - March 19, 2022
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I also highly recommend the above video for a general background in Ukraine’s recent history. It is impossible to correctly understand the current situation without knowing something about Ukraine as a culture and a nation. The video is an excellent and balanced teaching that explains well various factors that led to the 2022 Russia-Ukraine crisis.

The Forerunner:– Most people don’t ever have the experience of living in a city being attacked by the second most powerful army in the world. What are your reflections and observations?

A:– We are okay, so far. There is hell going on near Kiev where the battles are [a few miles to the north and west of the city].

Also the cities of Mariupol and Kharkov are suffering heavily. My colleagues from Kharkov left the city for remote areas. The city is a battle arena at the moment. Mariupol is a half-million population city and the biggest shelter of the Azov Nazi Battalion that holds civilians as hostages.

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Jeff Bezos Meets the News Media Zombies

Video: Jeff Bezos Meets the News Media Zombies
Jeff Bezos Meets the News Media Zombies
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You may or may not be aware of Amazon Web Services, which is part of the Jeff Bezos owned conglomerate that seeks to rule the planet. Not only does Amazon have a virtual monopoly through on-line sales, but also makes billions of dollars by providing web services seeking to inform and influence the human race even beyond our planet by also pioneering privately-funded space exploration.

The following information on AWS can be found their Wikipedia article.

AWS is a subsidiary of Amazon providing on-demand cloud computing platforms to individuals, companies, and governments.

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Questions and Answers About the Ukraine Crisis - March 7, 2022

Here are a series of questions answered by one of my good friends who lives few miles away from the rumble in Kiev. – Jay Rogers

St Andrew's Church
St Andrew's Church is located at the top of the Andriyivskyy Descent in Kyiv.

KIEV, Ukraine (Forerunner) — I’ve been surprised so far to see so many people who agree we are not seeing the whole story from the western media. The solution to the Russia and Ukraine crisis has always been some simple concessions to Russia.

  1. Recognize the sovereignty of three breakaway regions (Crimea, Lugansk and Donetsk).
  2. Obtain a guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO.
  3. Agree to the demilitarization of regions surrounding Crimea and Donbass.
  4. Make a legal declaration of Ukraine’s neutral status — possibly a constitutional amendment.

These seem to me to be reasonable demands. Former U.S. representative Tulsi Gabbard was criticized for saying that such concessions in 2021 could have avoided this horrific military conflict. Numerous other commentators have agreed that now this ought to be considered a good exit strategy. Instead we given the unending narrative that Putin wants to occupy Ukraine permanently and resurrect the Soviet Union. Yet we are told we cannot interfere with his nefarious plan. We cannot go to war with a nuclear superpower either. Instead, we are to arm Ukrainians for a long drawn out resistance that will kill many thousands on both sides and finally ruin Putin. That is the media narrative, but I believe that scenario to be absurd and cruel.

I asked the following questions of my friend.

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What is really happening in Kiev, Ukraine

The following comes from a friend who was born and lives in Kiev, Ukraine. He has asked not to use his name because he could be at risk of attacks by Nazi radicals. This is the name used by Ukrainian Nationalist militias – “Nats” and “Natzis.” This is a real thing despite the incredulous reaction of our media to Putin’s goal of the de-Nazification of Ukraine. The following is shared to give accurate information for those who only hear the reports from CNN and FOX News. It is for the purpose of directing prevailing prayer, not saying which side within Ukraine is right. We should be praying for all involved. ~ Jay Rogers

The Forerunner: What’s your immediate view of everything so far?

A:- I see the agony of the Kiev regime and they care very little about our citizens. They distributed tens of thousands of AK, RPG and hand grenades among people who never touched firearms before, with no mind about criminals, drug addicts and alcoholics among them. All civilians killed within the city of Kiev are victims of “territorial defense” groups. We have information that these armed people are firing each other and at civilians who are suspicious in their opinion. So far, all you have heard about Russian saboteurs in Kiev is a lie. They shoot each other and later claim they neutralized Russian soldiers. Do not believe this baloney – when Russians capture Kiev, you will see and know the truth.

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Understanding the Ukrainian Crisis

After the Bolshevik Revolution, the Donbas region was incorporated into the Ukrainian portion of the Soviet Union. However, its overwhelmingly Russian population and industrial might have made the region a flashpoint of contention.

By Peter Hammond

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On the Brink of War
Along with the growing crisis over Red China’s threats to invade Taiwan, the world is facing the first real threat of a major war, possibly even including nuclear weapons, between nuclear-armed superpowers since the Cold War. In early November of 2021, the world was shocked by the sudden announcement of a massive Russian military build-up along Ukraine’s eastern border. The long-simmering territorial dispute over the Donbas, a region in eastern Ukraine that is culturally and linguistically Russian, almost overnight became a potential theatre for a major war between East and West. American and European leaders lined up in support of Ukraine and its president, Volodomir Zhelensky, even as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin drew a line in the sand. Ukraine, Putin insisted, was historically part of Russia’s sphere of influence and could not be permitted to join NATO. The West, in turn, accused Russia of threatening Ukraine’s sovereignty and vowed resolute action against Russia, including possible military involvement, should Putin invade.

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How should Christians view Russia and Ukraine?

I am starting to see more neo-conservatives and Christians supporting NATO’s position on the situation between Russia and Ukraine. A foundational problem is that there is a misunderstanding of the conflict because of the way that news pundits spin it. Although Christians should be patriots and support their country, we should also try to understand the perspective of the patriots of other nations, especially those with a rich Christian history such as Russia and Ukraine. Besides having a majority of Orthodox Christians, the two countries have the first and second largest populations of evangelical Christians in all of Europe.

The Russian Federation has maintained they have legal standing for protecting their own borders from an encroaching NATO military presence – for recognizing the sovereignty of Russians separatists living on Ukraine’s border – for their claim on Crimea’s naval base and territory in 2014 – and for protecting ethnic minorities in disputed territories on the border of Georgia from a mafia-run government in 2008.

Likewise, the United States has made numerous incursions into Latin America throughout our history to protect our military and economic interests, and to liberate nations from oppressive governments. Since the 1950s, the United States has conducted covert operations in the cases of Guatemala (1954), Cuba (1961), Guyana (1961–64), Chile (1970–73), Nicaragua (1981–90), as well as outright military invasions of the Dominican Republic (1965), Grenada (1983), and Panama (1989).

The Monroe Doctrine tells us that the United States is responsible for order in the Americas. Cuba was the Soviet Union’s ally and now maintains that relationship with Russia. The United States has had troops in Cuba since the 1800s at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. There is a military base there and it is U.S. soil. It is perfectly right for the United States to control this base as a matter of security. The Russians have a similar notion that they are the protectors of the Slavic people.

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The Ukraine Crisis: Facts Versus Lies

Let’s look at the media lies and propaganda and contrast it with facts. I write from the worldview of an American Protestant who places his Christian religion above his nationalism.

Since the Soviet empire fell and the various satellite nations of the Eastern Bloc gained their independence, the present Russian Federation, created in 1991, has done nothing to threaten the United States or to compromise its borders. They have not planted military bases near the United States, nor have they posed any threat to our domestic economy. Yes, Russia is competing with the US to provide natural gas to Europe, but they are doing so—ahem—in a capitalist free-market manner. Their product is quicker and cheaper. Remember, it was Germany who asked Russia to build Nord Stream II.

If the question is formulated, “Was the Soviet Union an enemy of the US?” then the answer would be yes. But there is no more Soviet Union, which Reagan accurately labeled “the Evil Empire” with its expansionist military aggression.

Russian president Putin has come under tremendous criticism in his own country for being conciliatory to the US in his public addresses, referencing the US as “colleagues and partners.”

Putin, along with his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, has always resorted to dialogue and cooperation rather than coercive military action, “foreign aid” bribes, or meddling in the internal affairs of other nations. When dealing with NATO, the foreign policy of Russia toward Ukraine has been strictly defensive. Their time is running out. Just as the United States in the early ‘60s did not want Russian nukes in Cuba, so too Russia does not want NATO military bases and missiles in the Ukraine.

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The Silent Scream

Ronald Reagan changed his view as a result of watching The Silent Scream – a movie he considered so powerful and convicting that he screened it at the White House.

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