People’

Nov. 7 (EIRNS)—With only a few hours remaining before the Presidential election in the United States, the cover of the current issue of Time magazine captures the mood in the country about the election process: Hillary and Trump are shown holding a sign reading “The End Is Near.”

But all things are not equal in this election. Nearly everyone is trying to figure out who is the lesser of two evils, as the press harps on the “totally divided nation.” But Lyndon LaRouche has made clear in the past weeks that the nation is in fact not divided—there is near unanimity in the hatred of Wall Street; the demand for Glass-Steagall to crush the “too-big-to-fail” speculative monsters on Wall Street; hatred of the perpetual wars we have fought under Bush and Obama; hatred of the open planning for a nuclear confrontation with Russia and China; hatred for the disintegration of the U.S. productive economy and the nation’s infrastructure; hatred for the drug epidemic which has torn families apart and destroyed the lives of millions of Americans, even while Obama preaches drug legalization; and, most of all, hatred for Obama. What is missing is a positive vision of what America can be, for itself and for the world.

It is this gap in people’s vision which the program presented by LaRouche, his Four Laws, is designed to fill, to restore optimism to a demoralized nation. And there are signs across the country that this concept is awakening the American people to this great task, at a great moment in history. The majority of the American people want Glass-Steagall; the leaders of industry want access to credit, to produce and to create jobs; the scientific leaders of the nation are prepared to restore American leadership in space, in fusion power development, and to teach a new generation of scientists. This is the inspiration the nation needs to rise above the degenerate political leadership and degenerate culture which has descended upon the country, and to restore the Hamiltonian policies which made this a great nation. We can, and must, restore that role today. With truly great leaders now running Russia and China, who are already building the rest of the world through win-win cooperation in science and development, the U.S. simply needs to join this new paradigm, and drive it forward, rather than threatening to blow it up.

Any effort to achieve this revolutionary shift in America must begin with the defeat of Barack Obama and his clone (or worse), Hillary Clinton. Even today, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg announced that 300,000 troops in Europe are to be placed on “high alert” to prepare for a war with Russia, while Hillary continues to rant that Russia and the KGB are threatening the Western world, and are the cause of her potential loss in the presidential race. Even the Green candidate for President, Jill Stein, who opposes Trump on nearly everything, agrees with him that Hillary’s announced plans for no-fly zones in Syria “amounts to a declaration of war against Russia,” and warned citizens that “in this election, we are not only deciding what kind of world we will have, but whether we will have a world or not going forward.” This is, of course, the warning that Lyndon LaRouche has been making since the systemic and escalating takeover of government policy by London and Wall Street following the assassination of John Kennedy.

There will be no pause, no “honeymoon” for whoever gets elected on Tuesday. LaRouche today emphasized that “we are heading into a big crisis—a very big crisis.”  The population is enraged at the collapse of the nation and will demand real solutions immediately. Ending Obama’s criminal warfare, implementing Glass-Steagall, cannot wait for the new government in January. The population is ready to act, and must act, immediately.

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

NATO Chief Promises Massive Defense Reinforcement amid Tensions with Russia

Nov. 7 (EIRNS)—The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told The Times of London that NATO troops will be put on a higher state of alert. “We have seen Russia being much more active in many different ways…. We have also seen Russia using propaganda in Europe among NATO allies and that is exactly the reason why NATO is responding. We are responding with the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War,” Stoltenberg said.

While he did not give precise numbers, U.K. Permanent Representative to NATO Adam Thomson told the newspaper that some 300,000 troops would be impacted by the measures, with the aim of shortening response times from half a year to two months.

These troops will back up the current NATO fast response troops that have a response time of several days.

Tensions Are High between U.S. and Turkey

Nov. 7 (EIRNS)—The Obama Administration is continuing to put pressure on Turkey because of its growing relations with Russia and their cooperation in Syria. The Western and even much of the Turkish media are attributing these tensions to Turkey’s opposition to the continuing cooperation between the United States and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Turkey sees as a front organization of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing, the People’s Protection Unit (YPG). Turkey also sees the PYD/YPG as allies of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) with which it is currently at war in southeast Turkey. Turkey has opposed the participation of these organizations in operations of the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition to capture Raqqa, ISIL’s “capital” in Syria which began this weekend. While this is true, the Russian angle is crucial.

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford made a surprise visit on Nov. 6 to Ankara to meet Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar officially to discuss joint strategies according to a statement by the Turkish Defense Ministry. Hurriyet reports that during the meeting Akar voiced Ankara’s disturbance over the U.S.-based Turkish Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen’s activities in the U.S.

The meeting came at the request of the U.S. side. Dunford had already met Akar last month, shortly after which Akar traveled to Moscow to meet Russian Chief of Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov.

Hurriyet journalist Tolga Tanis reports that the U.S. has refused to sell Turkey 7.62 mm machine guns, one of the very basic weapons used by the Turks and other NATO powers. According to Tanis they learned of the refusal on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Turkish-American Council in Washington last week. Tanis said he was told that the U.S. said it could no longer sell Turkey 7.62 mm machine guns, a decision based on “political reasons.” He wrote that the Turks, shocked by the decision, responded harshly during the meeting and said there would be consequences.

Tanis wrote that whereas Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik claimed that the problem was solved, Tanis himself still found it amazing that a simple arms sale was in danger of being blocked for political reasons which shows the level of tensions between the two countries.

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Dutch Activists Amassing Signatures To Sink Unconstitutional CETA by Referendum

BRUSSELS, Nov. 5 (EIRNS)—Activists in the Netherlands have gathered almost two-thirds of the signatures needed to hold a referendum on Europe’s free trade deal with Canada, which they say overly favors the interests of multinational companies. The Dutch have twice voted down EU initiatives in referendums, sinking a proposed EU constitution in 2005 and in April throwing into disarray plans for closer EU relations with Ukraine.

Over the past year, the activists have gathered the names of close to 200,000 supporters who have pledged to petition for a referendum on the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) once the Dutch parliament has ratified it.

In an article posted on the online daily the Post Online, Dutch mathematical engineer Kees Pieters makes the point that the Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanism of CETA is in total violation of the Dutch Constitution.

CETA’s Article 8.21 concerning the “Determination of the respondent for disputes with the European Union or its Member States,” subsection 6, outlines that “If the EU or a Member State of the EU is the respondent, pursuant to paragraph 3 or 4, neither the EU, nor the Member State of the EU may assert the inadmissibility of the claim, lack of jurisdiction of the Tribunal or otherwise object to the claim or award on the ground that the respondent was not properly determined pursuant to paragraph 3 or identified on the basis of the application of paragraph 4.”

Clearly, a supranational judicial body ruling over nation-states. Kees Pieters indicates this clearly violates article 112, sub 1, of the Dutch Constitution which mandates the Dutch courts the exclusive power “to settle disputes in the domains of civil rights and financial claims.”

As in 38 other regional or national assemblies of the EU, ratification of CETA by the Dutch Parliament has to take place in the coming months. Under Dutch law, 300,000 signatures are enough to trigger an advisory vote on any bill passed by Parliament. If voters reject the bill and turnout tops 30%, the government needs the consent of Parliament to proceed, possibly by offering concessions or amendments to reflect the popular will. A referendum defeat would throw up a further obstacle to the ratification of CETA, which was almost scuttled last month by the regional assembly of Wallonia in neighboring Belgium.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Clinton E-Mails: Now Her Maid Is Implicated

Nov. 7 (EIRNS)—The web of the saga of Hillary Clinton’s emails has now widened, to include … her maid.

An article by Paul Sperry, appearing in Sunday’s New York Post, says that Clinton often detailed Marina Santos—her Filipino maid—to print out e-mails for her, while she was on the road, so Clinton could review them when she returned home. “Santos also had access to a highly secure room called an SCIF (sensitive compartmented information facility) that diplomatic security agents set up at [her D.C. home],” Sperry writes. Calling Santos the “Betty Curie” of the “emailgate” scandal (referring to President Clinton’s secretary who acted as go-between for him with Monica Lewinsky), Sperry claims that “she may hold the secrets to emailgate,” and demands that she and her computer be brought before Congress for testimony.

Jill Stein Keeps Nailing Clinton as ‘Warmonger’

Nov. 7 (EIRNS)—Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for President—and no friend of Donald Trump—has nonetheless kept up a relentless attack on Hillary Clinton as a danger to world peace in the same manner as Trump. On television, Facebook and Twitter, Stein has continued to make her point. “Hillary brought us Libya almost singlehandedly,” Stein explained in a Fox Business interview Nov. 3, and stressing “she will lead the charge with a no-fly zone in Syria, and that basically amounts to a declaration of war against Russia.”

Later, during a Facebook Live interview with progressive Marc Lamont Hill, Stein elaborated, “In this election, we are not only deciding what kind of world we will have, but whether we will have a world or not going forward.” Also in her Twitter feed, we find strong charges: “If Saudi Arabia funded 9/11 and ISIS too, why does Obama protect them, Clinton arm them, & Podesta lobby for them?”

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

In Historic St. Petersburg Meeting, Medvedev and Li Map Out ‘Win-Win’ Vision for the Future

Nov. 7 (EIRNS)—Meeting today in St. Petersburg for the 21st Regular Meeting of Russian and Chinese Heads of Government, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev laid out a vision of “win-win” cooperation, to strengthen their strategic partnership through a stunning array of bilateral cooperation agreements.

Following their private discussions, the two leaders were joined by cabinet-level ministers and deputy ministers, as well as CEOs of major Russian firms, who signed agreements with Chinese government officials. Energy (including nuclear), trade and investment, science and technology, culture, infrastructure building, and security/anti-terrorism cooperation were just some of the areas in which cooperation agreements were signed.

“We have discussed practically all key issues of economic, investment and social cooperation between our countries,” Medvedev said in the press conference following the bilateral meeting. “Russia and China are bound by strategic partnership and cooperation. We are truly friends. We share a common approach to many global issues,” work together in many multilateral organizations—the United Nations, G20, BRICS, and Shanghai Cooperation Organization, “and [we] implement large projects, including the alignment of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt.”

The regular meetings held between the two heads of government, Medvedev said, “are really quite original, in the sense that we have no such mechanism in place with any other country. They fulfill the very important function of giving concrete substance to our relations and offer us the opportunity to discuss promising projects as part of our comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation.”

In an interview with TASS published Nov. 6, Li Keqiang echoed Medvedev’s sentiment, emphasizing that China’s and Russia’s collaboration in organizations such as APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation), BRICS and G20, “has major importance in promoting sustainable recovery of the global economy, improving global economic management and building an innovation-based, dynamic, interdependent and inclusive global economy.” As members of the UN Security Council, he said, both are making major efforts to ensure that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and “basic rules of international relations” are respected, “to find political solutions to the pressing international and regional problems, and to promote a more fair and balanced world order.”

As a sign of the depth of their cooperation, the Russian Prime Minister announced that he and Li agreed to set up a fifth inter-governmental commission that will deal with cooperation between Russia’s Far East and China’s northeastern region. In his remarks to TASS, Li had emphasized the importance of going beyond the governmental level to expanding cooperation at the interregional level. The establishment of this new commission, Medvedev said, “is evidence of the extent of our practical cooperation. The global economic situation is far from straightforward today, and this has affected our bilateral balance too. We have prepared a large package of documents that reflect the current state of relations in our partnership and signal new stages in developing the trade, economic, social and humanitarian ties between our countries.”

Li affirmed that trade and economic cooperation between the two governments will be “comprehensively developed. It is necessary to take measures to restore and expand bilateral trade, and at the same time encourage mutual investments and production cooperation.” China welcomes, he said, investments of “strong enterprises from Russia…. It is important to establish the guiding role of major strategic projects,” and at the same time support participation of small and medium-sized companies. [Emphases added]

Russia and China Sign Stunning Array of Bilateral Cooperation Agreements

Nov. 7 (EIRNS)—The many agreements signed today between Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang do reflect, as Medvedev put it, the depth of their strategic partnership, and their determination to positively affect the course of human development by linking the One Belt, One Road Initiative with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Of interest was the agreement to increase the share of national currencies in settlements, given the yuan’s recognition as a reserve currency, as Medvedev pointed out. Li Keqiang emphasized that China intends to maintain the stability of the yuan exchange rate within a “reasonable range,” as this is key for the development of bilateral cooperation. He firmly stated that, “the Chinese yuan is based on the economic power of China; in this sense, there is no ground for constant devaluation of the yuan.” [Emphasis added]

In this context, Russia is considering establishing a preferential trade regime with China, Medvedev said, although this will require hard work. “It requires agreements on a number of highly sensitive issues,” he said. The Russian Prime Minister did say that the two countries will seek to increase bilateral trade to $200 billion over the next three to seven years.

Medvedev also said he feared a collapse of the World Trade Organization and criticized efforts to establish the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), as a replacement for the WTO.

Below are some of the agreements signed:

• A joint Russia-China Venture Fund will be established to develop trade, economic investment, and scientific cooperation, RT reported;
• Nuclear energy: The two heads of government announced the development of strategic cooperation on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes;
• Russia’s Rosneft and China’s Beijing Gas Group Co., Ltd. agreed that Beijing Gas will purchase a 20% share in Rosneft’s Verkhnechonskneftegaz subsidiary. The deal will result in the establishment of a vertically-integrated structure for cooperation: The Chinese company acquires a stake in one of the largest deposits in Eastern Siberia with a developed infrastructure and the access to the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline, while Rosneft in its turn gets the possibility to enter the Chinese domestic gas market, including the end consumer, via swap gas supplies.
• General Agreement on Cooperation in the Construction of an Industrial Complex in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic;
• Cooperation Agreement between Russian Railways and Yingkou Port Group Co., Ltd.;
• Memorandum of Understanding Between Gazprom and China Development Bank on Possible Financing Projects;
• Russia’s VEB Bank signed with China Development Bank to borrow almost $1 billion for 15 years. VEB head Sergey Gorkov told RT that the agreement allows for “a special way of joint participation in investment projects…. I’m sure the agreement will push the development of new projects in Russia’s economy.”
• Russian state bank VTB signed several agreements with China Development Bank on trade financing in yuan for three and five year periods;
• Framework Agreement on the Sale of a Stake in Sibur Holding to the Chinese Silk Road Fund and China Development Bank International Holdings Ltd.

Aoun Meets Assad Envoy in Beirut

Nov. 7 (EIRNS)—Recently inaugurated President of Lebanon Michel Aoun received a visit by Syrian Minister for Presidential Affairs Mansour Azzam at Beirut’s Baabda Palace. Azzam called as a special envoy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to convey a congratulatory message from Assad and the Syrian people to the new Lebanese President.

Azzam’s visit will be followed by a visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, also to congratulate Aoun on his election last week.

The visits come at a time when the sharp division between the pro-Saudi and anti-Syria supporters of the March 14 Alliance and the pro-Syria March 8 Alliance, which includes Hezbollah and Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), reached a compromise over governing of the country. The compromise included backing for Aoun’s Presidency and naming Saad Hariri, leader of the March 14 Alliance, as Prime Minister.

Belgium Announces Joining AIIB, Silk Road

BRUSSELS, Nov. 4 (EIRNS)—At a Belt and Road Forum organized by the Chinese Embassy in Brussels on Oct. 21, Deputy Belgian Prime Minister Kris Peeters expressed his country’s interest in the Chinese New Silk Road initiative: “We have much to gain with this initiative. Belgium hopes to become a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) next year. Moreover the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge are ready to contribute to the success of the Belt and Road Initiative.”

In his remarks, China’s Ambassador to Belgium Qu Xing addressed the fact Belgium is strategically located in Europe for the One Belt, One Road plan: “Regarding the facilities connectivity, in September this year, one month ago, a block train of the China Railway Express arrived for the first time in Antwerp from Xining, in Qinghai province. A Chinese logistics company based in Chengdu is planning to invest for the construction of a ‘Euro-Africa-China Transshipment Center’ in Antwerp. Once the center comes into operation, Antwerp will become a frequent destination of the China Railway Express.”

Frank Geerkens with the Antwerp Port Authority said that trade with China has allowed his port to become the fastest growing in Europe. “I’m very happy here to say again the port of Antwerp is a privileged partner for the One Belt, One Road. One major reason is that it’s also a port that exports goods. You see the trade flows between China and Europe, there is imbalance. More goods coming in—that means more containers are loaded than being unloaded and empty when going back. We have a balance between incoming and outgoing container loads. That is One Belt and One Road again. It is two-way trade cooperation and interconnectivity.”

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Hybrid Rice Can Increase Crop Yield, To Feed a Growing World

Nov. 7 (EIRNS)—One of the important discussions that took place at a meeting on Saturday, Nov. 5, was of agriculture ministers from the China-Central and Eastern Europe countries, (CEEC) in Kunming, China. Under consideration was the critical contribution to ending world hunger that can be made by hybrid rice. As reported today in Global Times, China’s “father of hybrid rice,” Yuan Longping, stated that hybrid rice could help feed 70 million more people worldwide. “Hybrid rice will play an important role in the new century,” Yuan said, “in terms of food safety and the furtherance of world peace.” Statistics reported in the article from the United Nations Food Program, which most likely is an underestimate, but is still dramatic, show about 795 million people do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life.

Yuan took on the argument by critics who say that the focus should be more on quality than quantity, to which he replied that both should be improved. The “green” argument was presented, that the hybrid rice should not be promoted because it requires fertilizer and pesticides, which harm the “environment.” (Never mind the “environment” of starving people…)

Yuan reports that hybrid rice can increase crop yield by 20%. “Rice is the staple food for more than half of the world’s population,” he said. Rising population will require a 60% increase in rice production by 2030. Today, a 1 hectare rice field can sustain 27 people. “That number has to reach 43 by 2050,” he calculated. Today, about half of China’s rice fields use hybrid rice species, producing 60% of the rice. Using Yuan’s hybrid rice, China has increased output from 5.69 billion tons in 1950, to 19.47 billion tons last year.

According to Yuan, more than 4,000 technicians and agricultural officials from more than 100 countries have had training at the China National Hybrid R&D Center in central Hunan Province. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang send congratulations to the meeting, in which he said that China will align its development strategies with the 16 CEE countries “and share development experiences to further promote the level of agricultural cooperation, and bring benefits to the people of all these countries.”

OTHER

China Cracks Down on Anti-China Legislators Elected in Hong Kong

Nov. 7 (EIRNS)—Two young anti-China “democracy” activists, who were elected in the Hong Kong Legislative elections in September, changed the words of the oath of office, including using a slang term for China which was used by the Japanese during the war. Beijing has responded forcefully, issuing an “interpretation” of the Basic Law established when Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, such that any deviation from the oath, or any intentional denigration of the oath reading, excludes the candidate from ever serving in the legislature.

The New York Times coverage acknowledges that the Basic Law gives the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress the right to issue such rulings, but says that Beijing has only used that right when requested by the local Hong Kong government or judiciary.

Thousands of demonstrators came out to the streets Sunday, Nov. 6, anticipating the ruling today, but the local authorities quickly dispersed them to avoid the kind of chaos that shut down parts of the city in 2014 when the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy (NED—the “regime change” apparatus in the U.S.) led the occupation of the streets by anti-mainland youth.

People’s Daily reported that Li Fei, the chairman of China’s parliamentary committee on Hong Kong’s Basic Law, said: “If we do not suppress and crack down on Hong Kong independence in time, it will seriously undermine national sovereignty, security and development interests.” He said that the government “will not be ambiguous or lenient. There is a great patriotic tradition in the Chinese nation. All traitors and those who sell out their countries will come to no good end.”

The Standing Committee ruling also asserts that lawmakers will be held liable if they violate their oaths.

The Hong Kong government has fully supported the Standing Committee ruling.