BC GOVERNMENT
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

It's important to recognize that the intended impact of the murderous US blockade of Venezuela isn't just regime change, but also forcing the Chavista government to liberalize the economy, privatize state institutions, allow in foreign capital, and adopt the dollar (thread below)

 Venezuela's economy has been almost entirely dependent on oil for 100 years. This is a problem going back many decades before Chavismo.

This made it very susceptible to being hurt by US sanctions, which expanded into a full economic blockade that has killed 10,000s of civilians.
The US economic war on Venezuela -- through blockade, sanctions, attacks on the currency, hyperinflation, blocking oil exports in an oil-based economy, and internal sabotage and hoarding by right-wing oligarchs who still dominate import-heavy industries -- forced it to dollarize.
Inflation in Venezuela is complicated, but there has been a sustained economic attack on the currency, called the bolívar, by the USA and right-wing Venezuelan capitalist oligarchs who use websites to create a black market rate which drives up the exchange rate many times per day
The US blockade and sanctions, inability to export oil and get access to foreign currencies, and internal sabotage by right-wing opposition - which uses the black market rate to drive up insane inflation - forced President Maduro to legalize the US dollar
https://t.co/NKyCJ3QKjH
I've seen it in my reporting in Caracas. Everyday Venezuelans on the street pay in US dollars. Dollars are everywhere

The USA and right-wing opposition destroyed the national currency, forcing Venezuela to use a currency that only the US gov't controls, subordinating its economy
The forced liberalization-at-gunpoint of Venezuela's economy led banks to start storing dollars. This was happening at the peak of the US government's violent coup attempts.

This is not a mere side effect; it is an intentional goal of the US hybrid war
https://t.co/L7wGtB2VdU
The US imperial strategy against Venezuela is: If Washington can't violently overthrow its elected Chavista government in several coup attempts, it can at least greatly weaken Caracas' sovereignty by dollarizing the economy and subordinating it to the USA (which prints dollars)
One of the Venezuelan government's responses to the US economic war and forced dollarization has been to experiment with using other currencies. President Maduro kicked off 2021 by announcing that banks can now open accounts in foreign currencies.
https://t.co/htDta2CQ79
Faced with the US blockade and attempted dollarization of its economy, Venezuela began listing oil prices in the Chinese yuan.

Then the Chavista gov't and its oil company PDVSA offered to pay suppliers and contractors into accounts in China using the yuan https://t.co/rZWXH7KS9t
To resist the forced dollarization, Venezuela also created a cryptocurrency, called the Petro, which is pegged to the price of a barrel of oil and backed by oil, gas, gold, and diamond reserves.

You can buy products in stores in Venezuela with the Petro
https://t.co/ihnpkrv6tj
To resist subordination to the US dollar, Venezuela and Russia have negotiated how to do trade without the dollar, making transactions using Moscow's ruble and Venezuela's state-sponsored oil-backed Petro cryptocurrency
https://t.co/iOBs7ZoBM7
A lot of these studies of Venezuela are politically motivated and distorted by the right-wing opposition, but it is indisputably true that most economic transactions in Venezuela today are being done in foreign currencies -- mostly dollars, but also others
https://t.co/15PX1j889z
The point of this thread is to show that regime change is not the only goal of US hybrid war on independent nations like Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, etc.

Of course Washington's top goal is overthrowing their governments, but if it can't, it tries to subordinate their economies.
What is so interesting is to see how Venezuela had broken new ground experimenting with other possible solutions and alternatives to the US dollar.

It has been forced to dollarize while resisting it at every stage, trying new economic strategies to see what benefits its people
In a new year's speech, President Maduro announced Venezuela is going to try to move toward a 100% digital economy in 2021, getting rid of paper money. This could help strengthen the bolívar and soften the impact of inflation.

China has done this as well.
https://t.co/g4VFQYuhqh
It is amazing to see how many economic transactions in Venezuela have already gone digital. When I was buying food in the streets of Caracas in 2019, almost every street vendor had a card slider attached to their phone so people could buy digitally. It's a way around inflation.
Every time the Venezuelan govt and people find a new economic strategy to get around the murderous US blockade, the US tries to block it.

Venezuelans often make payments with the app Zelle, so the US pressured banks to stop allowing it. The war never ends
https://t.co/yORMqq9Jc4
The US empire once again showed its monstrous criminality in its obsessive, sadistic drive to crush Venezuela's economy and strangle its people.

But what is inspiring is to see how Venezuela, while being forced to make many compromises, always resists and tries to move forward.
Finally, when I say the monstrous war criminals who run the US government have been trying to strangle Venezuelans, it is not hyperbole. They boast of it.

US imperialists are modern reincarnations of Adolf Eichmann. And history will never forgive them.
https://t.co/LKLoYhF1Jg

More from Government

\uff2c\uff41\uff44\uff59 \uff22\uff4c\uff41\uff5a\uff45\uff53
Ｌａｄｙ Ｂｌａｚｅｓ...
@Lady_Blazes
Oh my Goodness!!!

I might have a panic attack due to excitement!!

Read this thread to the end...I just had an epiphany and my mind is blown. Actually, more than blown. More like OBLITERATED! This is the thing! This is the thing that will blow the entire thing out of the water!


Has this man been concealing his true identity?

Is this man a supposed 'dead' Seal Team Six soldier?

Witness protection to be kept safe until the right moment when all will be revealed?!

Who ELSE is alive that may have faked their death/gone into witness protection?


Were "golden tickets" inside the envelopes??


Are these "golden tickets" going to lead to their ultimate undoing?

Review crumbs on the board re: 'gold'.


#SEALTeam6 Trump re-tweeted this.
GOVERNMENT
J.B. White
J.B. White
@RattlerGator
1 of 52

As our national civics lesson continues to unfold on its march toward our 59th Presidential Inauguration on January 20, 2021 and Donald Trump’s second term, 45’s unmasking exercise (that’s a large part of what his first term had to be) continues toward its big climax.

2 of 52

In his 2017 Inaugural Address, President Trump proclaimed on behalf of his administration, “we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people.”

3 of 52

From my very biased vantage point, here’s how I like to think of that sentence.

It likely was the announcement of his two-pronged military campaign.

The first prong is obvious; it’s against foreign interference.

4 of 52

As we now clearly see, nothing short of a military campaign would suffice when global influencers have totally co-opted elements of our two major political parties.

5 of 52

The other prong has an internal focus: Washington, D.C.
GOVERNMENT
Advertisement
Cleveland Documenters
Cleveland Documenters
@cledocumenters
Last week, @CleCityCouncil started reviewing Mayor Frank Jackson’s proposed city budget for 2021. There was robust discussion, and Documenters were there to cover it. Here’s a thread of what we learned last week about the #CLEBudget

First, it helps to know where we are in the budget process. From today through Feb. 24, the council will meet about the General Fund budget. The council will then agree on a budget with their changes (if any); 15 days after doing so, they can vote to make the budget official.


In other words, there’s still time to use your voice! The #refundcleveland tool can help. Create the #CLEBudget you want and send it to your council member. Click “Change the Budget” on the homepage and follow the on-screen instructions from there.

Want to know the budget basics? Our #CLEBudget primer details the timeline, different types of budgets and the funds involved, and defines budget-related terms. It can be a helpful guide during City Council’s discussions.

And don’t forget: all these meetings are livestreamed on City Council’s YouTube channel. They’re slated to start at 9 a.m. every business day from today through the 24th. You can also follow along with #CLEDocumenters live-tweet threads and
GOVERNMENT
Neil Tester
Neil Tester
@NTtweeting
I know you’ve all been waiting for my thread on today’s @DHSCgovuk White Paper https://t.co/lrNsuFoCum
and the accompanying recommendations from @NHSEngland https://t.co/810SaS9euc Wait no longer 😀 1/9


2/9 I’m not trying to cover everything in the documents but here are some thoughts on things others might not focus on so much. Good to see consistent messages about the strategic roles of the voluntary sector and local government. Detailed work needed to bring that alive.


3/9 Very pleased to see issues core to @RichmondGroup14 priorities at the centre of the challenges the White Paper aims to address: namely the growing needs of people with long-term and multiple conditions, the role of mental health in that mix and the impact of Covid on that.


4/9 White Paper rightly acknowledges that a new legal framework is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for integration and improvement. Culture, behaviour, relationships and leadership will be what make the most difference, though a better governance platform will help.


5/9 Important clarity in both the White Paper and @NHSEngland FAQs document that voluntary sector provision retains a key role as part of the planned changes to competition and procurement.
GOVERNMENT
Matt Marinett
Matt Marinett
@matthewmarinett
So the Canadian government will soon be introducing legislation aimed at regulating platforms with respect to harmful speech, spearheaded by Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault. I'm concerned b/c we haven't seen a lot of serious thought from the Gov on this. A thread:

Guilbeault has taken this on as part of a large digital regulatory agenda that also includes things like requiring Canadian content on streaming services, and potentially forcing intermediaries to pay for news (like Australia).

We don't know what form the legislation will take, but there's cause for concern that it's partially going to look a lot like the German NetzDG law, and require hate speech and other illegal speech to be taken down quickly. It will also include a new regulator to do...something

The concern comes from the PM's mandate letter to the Minister, which asked him to "create new regulations for social media platforms, starting with a requirement that all platforms remove illegal content, including hate speech, within 24 hours or face significant penalties."

I haven't seen anything to suggest Guilbeault has moved away from this. His office was quoted recently as saying "our approach will require online platforms to monitor and eliminate illegal content that appears on their platforms."
GOVERNMENT

You May Also Like

Vigilant AFA
Vigilant AFA
@AfaVigilant
One fascist to watch in 2021 is Joseph Charles "Oakman" Golinske of SE MI. He's been a Proud Boy for a couple years, but took a break recently from the group and promotes himself through the "Oak Nation" channel on Telegram.


Most people may be familiar with him as the tall guy in the Proud Boys bridge shot, from their August 17, 2019 attack on Portland, which featured an American Guard bus trying (and failing) to bludgeon antifascists with hammers.


He was also with his g/f at the time (Dominique Tota, left of Tarrio), and that's definitely a twitter account folks will want to block/report because he posts on it.


He's been plenty active at the pro-Covid/anti-mask/ReOpen protests in Lansing MI, seen here with Jerry Wayne and an effigy of Gretchen Whitmer, who his militia friends tried to kidnap and publicly execute.


Outside of the Proud Boys, his solo "career" with Oak Nation features the same misogyny, classism and gateway to far-right domestic terrorism the Proud Boys themselves feature. Here's him peddling oxychlorinque and bragging about harassing service workers.
FOR LATER READ
Maurice Casey
Maurice Casey
@MauriceJCasey
I am reading through reams of late-1920s communist poetry and easily my favourite title so far is: "To a Lady who Rejected a Poem about Spring as a Petit-Bourgeois Deviation"

The last lines:
"So here's my hat into the air,
Three cheers for your amazing hair,
For coal mines, and for turbines, too,
For steel, the Comintern and you!"

A not exactly graceful (though possibly satirical) title: "Lines Disassociating Myself from Yessenin and Supporting the Otherwise Unfounded Legend that I am a Foremost Proletarian Writer"

An excerpt:
"Goodbye verses of Yessenin
Goodbye literary slop-
You are not the line of Lenin
You are not the line of WAPP

Never shall I moan a
simple lyric from the heart
I'll devote my new corona
to the proletarian art"

The poet was Joseph Freeman, who published much of his revolutionary verse in the New Masses, a stylish journal of the interwar American literary Left.
CULTURE
Advertisement
Jim O'Shaughnessy
Jim O'Shaughnessy
@jposhaughnessy
I’m torn on how to approach the idea of luck. I’m the first to admit that I am one of the luckiest people on the planet. To be born into a prosperous American family in 1960 with smart parents is to start life on third base. The odds against my very existence are astronomical.


I’ve always felt that the luckiest people I know had a talent for recognizing circumstances, not of their own making, that were conducive to a favorable outcome and their ability to quickly take advantage of them.

In other words, dumb luck was just that, it required no awareness on the person’s part, whereas “smart” luck involved awareness followed by action before the circumstances changed.

So, was I “lucky” to be born when I was—nothing I had any control over—and that I came of age just as huge databases and computers were advancing to the point where I could use those tools to write “What Works on Wall Street?” Absolutely.

Was I lucky to start my stock market investments near the peak of interest rates which allowed me to spend the majority of my adult life in a falling rate environment? Yup.
ALL
Jaya_Upadhyaya
Jaya_Upadhyaya
@Jayalko1
MEENAKSHI AMMAN, MADURAI (TN)
#bharatmandir #navratri2021

A paadal Petra sthalam where Shiva took the form of Sundareswarar (the handsome one) and married Devi Parvati (Meenakshi).
Devi is also known by the name Angayarkanni (mother with the beautiful fish eyes).
@GunduHuDuGa


Devi Meenakshi emerged from yagna fire as a 3 year old girl when Pandyan King Malayadwaja and Kanchanamalai were praying for a child.
It is said that Devi was born with three breasts and there was a prophesy that her superfluous breast would melt away when she met her husband.


Devi ruled over Madurai and captured Indralok. She went on to capture Kailasha. When she saw Shiva, her 3rd breast disappeared and she realised that Shiva would be her consort.
The divine marriage was attended by all Devas and Sri Vishnu (as her brother) gave her hand to Shiva.


It is said that Indra found a swayambhu lingam at Kadamba Vanam. He placed it in Madurai where the kshetram stands. Here, Shiva is seen on the vehicle of Indra.
The Golden Lotus Tank is said to be the place where a golden lotus blossomed for the puja performed by Indra.


The Meenakshi Thirukalyanam festival is celebrated in the Chithirai month to mark the divine marriage of Meenakshi Amman. The festival includes a procession where Meenakshi and Sundareshwara travel in a chariot and Sri Vishnu gives away his sister in marriage to Shiva.
ALL
KrishnaLeela
KrishnaLeela
@Talesofkrishna
🌿𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓 : 𝑫𝒉𝒓𝒖𝒗𝒂 & 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒏𝒖

Once upon a time there was a Raja named Uttānapāda born of Svayambhuva Manu,1st man on earth.He had 2 beautiful wives - Suniti & Suruchi & two sons were born of them Dhruva & Uttama respectively.
#talesofkrishna https://t.co/E85MTPkF9W


Now Suniti was the daughter of a tribal chief while Suruchi was the daughter of a rich king. Hence Suruchi was always favored the most by Raja while Suniti was ignored. But while Suniti was gentle & kind hearted by nature Suruchi was venomous inside.
#KrishnaLeela


The story is of a time when ideally the eldest son of the king becomes the heir to the throne. Hence the sinhasan of the Raja belonged to Dhruva.This is why Suruchi who was the 2nd wife nourished poison in her heart for Dhruva as she knew her son will never get the throne.


One day when Dhruva was just 5 years old he went on to sit on his father's lap. Suruchi, the jealous queen, got enraged and shoved him away from Raja as she never wanted Raja to shower Dhruva with his fatherly affection.


Dhruva protested questioning his step mother "why can't i sit on my own father's lap?" A furious Suruchi berated him saying "only God can allow him that privilege. Go ask him"
RELIGION