The Libra Festival 2025

“Not curiosity, not vanity, not the consideration of expediency, not duty and conscientiousness, but an unquenchable, unhappy thirst that brooks no compromise leads us to truth.”^[1]

Topics (linked to paragraphs): Libra The full moon Comets Eclipses Current events The Gaza ceasefire A victory for humanity The Great Awakening Collapsing narrative Current conditions Peace as spectacle The 8th front The EEF The SCO summit The Chinese military parade The China threat? The gold standard Cryptocurrency Iran and Venezuela Iacta alea est Ukraine update In conclusion

Greetings Everyone!

After the last letter I was waiting for an inner prompt on how to begin this letter. I usually start with news from home here in Rovereto. On Monday I got the prompt for which I was waiting, which takes us away from home in a sense, but still at home in another vein. Service starts at home in a fundamental way, and then flows outward from there. It is so in meditation also. We align ourselves in the heart and the head, depending on one’s practice, and later extend our consciousness outward. Mundanely, we start our day at home, or wherever we find ourselves on the day, and then go out into the world after we have finished the morning ministrations. In my case that relates to letting the dogs out, feeding them and then preparing the essential coffee for my wife and myself. That also includes biscottini for the four-legged friends who gather around, who know that biscuits come with coffee. The ‘kids’ will not be ignored. So, after finishing with the essentials on Monday and going out into the world the news from Italy was a bit different. It was the Libra equinox, the day after the partial solar eclipse and life in Italy was, shall we say, interesting. You may have heard about it.

My sister texted me from the US first thing that morning to ask me how we were going with the flooding, concerned about our safety. “What flooding? We don’t even have rain here.” It turns out there was indeed flooding in Italy, as we have seen frequently in recent years, and very often in the Po River basin. Italy has a long history of catastrophic flooding. Italy is situated as a long peninsula parked out in the middle of the Mediterranean, with hot African winds to the south that pick up moisture and Siberian colder and winter winds to the north – and the two fronts sometimes meet, precipitating the rain and snow. Anyway, we were safe. A moderate rain came to us the next day. But in checking the news, Lake Como and the surrounding area got hammered. American celebrities love to vacation there. They may think twice about it now. We have Lago di Garda here (the ‘Garda Sea’ as the tedeschi love to call it. It is their summer beachfront.) Who needs Como when one has Garda 15 km from the house, speaking of vacation spots? Still, it is terrible to see such flooding and misery. Just a few weeks ago there was a huge flood that washed out a lot of beachfront on the Adriatic coast, from the same causes as those with Como. We are largely protected from flooding here due to a diversion tunnel that was completed in the 1950s. Nevertheless the Adige River – a rather large one – runs directly through our fair city.

Moving on, the other news was more inspiring. On the same day, in cities across Italy, millions of Italians were out in the streets rallying for the Palestinians. This was the result of a general strike called by the Italian unions. Trains didn’t run for the day. Highways were blocked. Schools were closed. Ports didn’t operate. In a few cities the protests were violent, Milano and Bologna especially, where students and minorities clashed with police and generally set about trashing the place. Anger was boiling over because Meloni refuses to recognize the Palestinian State. It is interesting that none of the old Axis nations from WWII are recognizing Palestine. The Western nations that are recognizing Palestine now – after almost two years – are doing so not because of guilt over what the Israelis are doing, but for domestic political purposes. Most of the leaders of those nations have dismal approval ratings. Perhaps their hope is that in recognizing the Palestinian State their voters will forgive them. We are way past that now – a day late and a dollar short, as the saying goes. We will cover Palestine in depth in this letter in a bit.

Back to the local scene, we hardly noticed any difference in Rovereto because of the strike. We are a small city. There were no rallies here that day. But I did notice the kids were not in school. I found out why later in the evening. In all there were 75 cities involved with the rallies and strikes. We were proud of Italy that day…proud of its people and its unions. As for the government, Meloni may face a reckoning at the next election, whenever that will be. However – a note to organizers – that one general strike was enough of a catalyst for Meloni to send an Italian warship to accompany the Sumud Flotilla, because there are Italians involved with it. Had that general strike not taken place the flotilla would have been on their own. Count on it. We never know when elections are coming in Italy until the election billboards go up. But even on national Italian television, which is quite conservative, newsreaders were speaking out in solidarity with the flotilla. As far as I know those newsreaders still have their jobs. The next election will be interesting to watch.

Much of the world in the past had open and friendly relations with the Israelis, that is, until the genocide started. The nations of the West by and large partnered with Israel on a variety of matters, such as security, tech, military and intelligence, and still do. Those partnering nations are now one-by-one at least saying they are cutting ties. The idea of partnership is one that is most associated with the sign Libra, our current theme. We will come back to the Israeli issue in a bit, but for now we take a look at Libra and what the sign represents for us in the present interval.

Libra: Libra, as its symbol the balance scales indicates, is the major sign of the 12 signs that is concerned with what we might call ‘the middle way’ – the balancing of forces within one’s own nature. In the early stages of experience in that sign balance is achieved through the process of reasoned choice. In the vernacular we call such a process ‘weighing one’s options’ whenever a major decision in life has to be made. Such a choice is made by the reasoning (lower) mind at that phase. This lower phase of Libra is ruled by the planet Venus. In the early stages it is the most attractive option that draws the eye of the Libran type rather than what may otherwise be a proper, or wise choice. The lower phase of Venus rules baubles and appearances. In the lower Libran phase the Libran type is liable to exhibit extremes of behaviour as the balance scales tip one way and then the other, always running past the center, or balance point, the balance point going largely unnoticed. In considering Libra, the following quote provides a summary for the average person:

“It is a sign of balancing, of careful weighing of values, and of achieving the right equilibrium between the pairs of opposites. It might be regarded as the sign in which the first real vision of the Path appears and of the goal towards which the disciple must ultimately direct his steps. This Path is the narrow razor-edged Path which runs between the pairs of opposites and which—if it is to be safely trodden—requires the development of a sense of values and the power to utilise rightly the balancing, analytical faculty of the mind. It is also the sign of intuitive perception and, on the ordinary way of progression around the zodiac, it comes after the normally drastic experience of the man in Scorpio; this is usually of such a nature that the instinct to self-preservation has been aroused to such an extent that in the dire need of the man (not the disciple, at this time) a call to the soul has gone forth and has evoked response. The first few faint flashes of the intuition have been sensed and vaguely recognised. Then follows the experience in Libra wherein a life is spent in quiet, thoughtful reflection or in a condition of static unresponsiveness; it may be a life of balancing, of weighing this and that, and of determining which way the scales shall fall so that in the next sign [next life] certain designed results will occur…”^[2]

It is a long quote, but it summarizes the experience of the Libran type (Sun or Ascendant) who is poised to seek ‘the Higher Way’. The constellation of Libra, after which the sign takes its name, is one associated with magnetic attraction and distribution.^[3] Venus, as it expresses through Libra, is an attracting and integrating agent in its higher phase. Its influence in a horoscope will gradually supersede that of Mars as the decades pass, since the sign Libra is waxing in influence as we transition between the ages of Pisces and Aquarius.^[4] Venus represents the higher Self to our planet.^[5]

In common usage, Libra is spoken of as being all about relationships, meaning usually romantic ones to the general public, and marriage. But to be pointed about it, Libra relates to establishing partnerships, as in ‘signing on the dotted line’. In wider terms Libra is about partnerships of all types, with the more esoteric interpretation of that being the integration of the individual into a wider group or purpose. Romantic relations belong more to the sign Leo and the 5^th sector of a horoscope. Of interest, the 5^th house is where we find speculations represented, and any romantic relationship in its earlier stages can be seen as a type of speculation, as in how far said relationship will go. Libra represents the end agreement as a culmination of such a relation. Libra represents the law, sex and money^[6] – as in functioning, established partnerships – all three items which are involved in the marriage institution. The latter is one of the primary means through which we learn cooperation, sacrifice and service, especially when nature takes its course and children become a part of it.

The life of the Libran type always tends toward balance, consciously or otherwise. In the early phase the personal motto is ‘Let choice be made’^[7] as the person weighs their options, oblivious to the influence of the higher Self. Eventually though, choices which are made on the bases of personal biases, intrigue, material concerns, the lessons learned of the results of fickleness, showiness, extreme behaviors and shallow living all take their toll on a person. ‘There must be something more,’ becomes a gnawing question for the Libran type and the scales stop moving, however momentarily. The Libran enters the no-man’s land, where neither spirit nor outer concerns hold sway. Therein comes the opportunity for the Libran. Choice, eventually, must be made. It can be forced or it can be self-prescribed. Then the Uranian rulership of Libra begins to take hold, and a new rhythm is imposed. From the point of view of the higher Self there is all of eternity to decide because the higher Self is not subject to the concept of linear time. But to the person stuck in no-man’s land, time is of the essence, with none to waste. A sense of purpose evolves from such a state of existing and however faintly, the call of the higher Self is eventually registered. Once that sense of purpose is registered, then the choice is made. A gentle rhythm ensues and the narrow, razor’s edge path is carefully trod, leading ultimately in future lives to the ‘gates of Shamballa’. At that point the esoteric motto of the sign is in evidence: “I choose the way that lies between the two great lines of force.”^[8]

When Librans have found a sense of purpose in life and have stopped swinging to and fro in the throes of passion or influence, Librans can be an attractive and powerful influence on the lives of those with whom they come into contact. A recent and topical example of a Libran with a sense of purpose can be seen in the life of Charlie Kirk (14 Oct 1993), who had his Sun, Moon and Jupiter all in Libra. He was a celebrity in the conservative world in the US, especially among younger conservatives, with a large following and reach, typical of the Sun conjunct Jupiter. We don’t know his rising sign. Of particular interest here is that he co-founded a Gemini organization called Turning Point USA, the platform he used to reach most of his audience. Venus is also one of the rulers of Gemini. Now, we might not necessarily agree with his message or his ethics, but that he was able to attract people to it is beyond dispute. Other notable Librans across the spectrum with a strong sense of purpose are Pres. Jimmy Carter, Netanyahu, Barbara Walters, Nicholas Roerich, Camille Saint-Saëns, Vladimir Putin, Alfred Nobel, Frank Herbert, Mohandas Ghandi, and a long list of other celebrated personalities, as well as some infamous ones. Perhaps some clues about Libra can be gleaned from the following quote:

“Those Masters Who can work with magnetic energies, and with the three above Laws [of Attraction, Magnetic Control and Synthesis], have achieved a point of balance which makes Their work possible; it involves also a poised attention and directive power, permitting the inflow of energies from Libra which could not otherwise enter our planetary life at all. These Libran energies enter our solar system via the Heart of the Sun and are peculiarly amenable to magnetic attraction and distribution.”^[9]

Every developed Libra type has the opportunity to begin to work with the three bolded points in the quote above. The point of balance allows that they are not pulled away from their sensed purpose or the desired goal. The poised attention allows for contemplation of the energies and factors involved in the pursuit of the Libran’s sense of purpose. But the key to the realization of that purpose is the energy of the constellation of Libra itself – magnetic attraction and distribution. A Libran on the Path, so-to-speak, will choose according to the magnetic pull of the soul in every instance and thus distribute the wisdom sensed thereby. H.P. Blavatsky was said to be a developed Libran (most likely the rising sign for her mental body). In her we have the example of the best expression of the Libran type. With Libra:

“Here we have six planets and five rays of energy and the expression of the two lines of spiritual energy; Love-Wisdom in two of the rays and planets, and three of the rays and planets upon the first major stream of energy, will or power. You will note how three of these rays definitely predispose the Libran subject to concrete understanding, to intelligent will and to knowledge: the first ray (functioning through the 3rd and 5th rays) the fifth ray and the third ray. Hence the effectiveness of Libra upon the physical plane and the power of the developed Libran to project the inner spiritual purpose or intended will into physical expression. An instance of a person, equipped to do this, can be seen in H. P. Blavatsky.”^[10]

We do not have the space here to go into the six planets (Mars, Mercury, Uranus, Venus, Saturn, Neptune) and five rays (1, 3, 4 5. 6, 7) quoted above,^[11] But suffice it to say that a developed Libra type has the capacity to ‘move mountains’, even though the sign is said to be notable because it is said to lack any spectacular interest of any kind^[12] – except in the case of disciples and initiates. With these points in mind we move on to a consideration of the full moon and current events.

The full moon took place on 7 Oct 2025 at 03:48 UTC (14:48 AEDT, 11:48 EDT on the 6^th). In comparison to the two eclipses we just experienced this figure is rather non-descript, indicative of a no-man’s land. The full moon axis forms a hard triangle with the Sun sesquisquare to Uranus, indicating surprising turns of events. This is reinforced by Uranus being a point in the seemingly ever-present triangle with Pluto on the other leg of the triangle and Neptune at the apex. In fact we saw this with the so-called ‘peace plan’ for Gaza, covered below. Mars has moved off its square to Pluto but is sesquisquare to Saturn, giving a note of hubris and big plans with little forethought for execution. Venus is sextile Jupiter, giving a high note of idealism and hopefulness, exact on the 9^th, as well as opportunities for business, but it is also approaching an opposition to Saturn which would tend to bring hopes and optimism to naught. Venus completed its opposition to Saturn on the 11^th , wherein the hostage/prisoner exchange began implementation, all the while Israelis were violating the ceasefire, again covered below. From here we move on to a couple of more interesting items.

Comets: Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) will achieve naked-eye visibility from mid-October in the northern hemisphere, through to mid-November. When comets are visible to the naked eye they signify events, as discussed in the Libra 2025 letter (Topic: “The full moon”). The latest one to be discovered is Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN), which may or may not become visible to the naked eye. If it becomes visible it would be sometime in October and would appear low on the horizon near Mars on a dark evening just after sunset in the northern hemisphere. The naked-eye visibility of comets is important, because such visibility implies the manifestation of events. Then there is another, discovered in July, Comet 3i/ATLAS. The 3i designation means it is the 3^rd interstellar object to be discovered. This one will not become visible to the naked eye. But it is a great interest, because it originated outside our solar system somewhere within the disc of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The first of the two other interstellar objects was not a comet because there was no halo or tail observed. The first was named ʻOumuamua (19 Oct 2017) because it was discovered in Hawaii. The 2^nd was named 2i/Borosov, a comet, after the man who discovered it (19 Sep 2019 in Crimea).

There are over 4,580 known (catalogued) comets, with an estimated one trillion of them in our solar system. Around one comet per year is visible to the naked eye, with the really spectacular ones being called ‘great comets’. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is classed as a great comet, described in last year’s Libra letter. With both of these present comets possibly becoming visible in October we may be looking at some October surprises. These would follow on the eclipse period we have just witnessed, which normally goes for about a month overall when we have two eclipses. The comets would provide additional catalysts to what the eclipses have produced and will produce into the future. In that vein, given the Libran influence which we will experience as we slowly move fully into the Aquarian age, we are at present in an interlude between cycles and ages – a sort of no-man’s land, of a type that Libra represents.^[13] We know the past with all of its gains, failures and faults and yearn for a future where peace reigns amidst a brotherhood of nations. We stand in the no-man’s land feeling our way toward the promised land, in a manner of speaking. The eclipse period just passed has shed some light on a path forward out of our present no-man’s land.

Eclipses: There have been several important events coinciding with the two eclipses we just witnessed. Some of those events have gone largely unreported in the Western press. The most visible of those events for the US was the assassination of Charlie Kirk on the 10^th of September. We might list the events in chronological order, as follows:

• 7 Sep (total lunar eclipse)
• The French government collapsed after a no-confidence vote. A color revolution in Nepal led to the collapse of that government. Other governments are likewise under pressure.
• 9) Israeli attack on Doha
• 10) Assassination of Kirk. This is about Netanyahu’s 8^th front, covered below. There was also the Russian-made drone incursion into Poland. Note the wording.
• 11) Bolsonaro was convicted of a coup plot and sentenced to 27 years in prison. On the same day Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) was discovered.
• 17) Saudi-Pakistani defence pact is signed.
• 19) The US announced a revocation of the sanctions waiver against the Chabahar port in Iran, a major act of aggression against India, who relies on the port for trade in Central Asia. This is in addition to the 50% tariffs against India. On the same day Trump and Xi held a very positive phone call, with China later leveraging the call on the US dropping its antagonism against China regarding Taiwan independence.
• 21 Sep (partial solar eclipse) The UK, Australia and Canada announced their recognition of the Palestinian state on the day. France followed the day after.

These events have set a tone for the weeks and months ahead. What we will see in what follows here is that a precipitous point has been reached, wherein it is do-or-dissolve for the American-led Empire, along with the Neocons in the US and neoliberalism as a dominant economic world financial system. In fact, events are unfolding so rapidly that we can only begin to unpack them in this letter and continue on in the next letter or two. This is the time for which many of us have been waiting and holding the Light. With the preceding points in mind we move on to the current events.

Current events: The following events have taken place after the last letter (23 Sep):

• European states finally recognize the State of Palestine and then imposed snapback sanctions on Iran. The first was a political ploy in an attempt to calm their respective publics. It didn’t work and was an empty gesture anyway. The latter was a political move in an attempt to isolate Iran and prepare for the coming war there. That has not worked either. Iran is well placed now to weather any sanctions.
• The founder of the al-Nusra Front, against which Americans fought in Iraq and Syria, was warmly greeted in New York and addressed the UNGA. Any veteran who fought in the so-called global war on terror (GWOT) has to be gobsmacked and insulted at such a turn of events. This man, who had a $10 million bounty on his head by the US Government, is now being treated like ‘one of our own’. Well, we (our government) did help create and support him after all. So in that respect, he is just one of the boys.
• Trump gave an hour-long rambling word salad address at the UNGA, revealing he is being fed very poor information. It was an embarrassment to the nation and to himself. It was also a demonstration of his deteriorating mental state, as White House insiders are starting to report. That was followed by his rambling address to the 800 brass gathered at Quantico.
• After his address – such as it was – to the UNGA, Trump turned around and did an apparent 180 on Ukraine, stating that Ukraine could regain all its lost territory and then some so long as NATO (meaning Europe) supplies Ukraine with enough weapons. Basically, in that Truth Social post Trump just handed the war over to the Europeans and threw Zelenskyy under the bus. That post was actually a well-crafted troll piece in typical Trump style, mocking Kellogg and Caine. Most comment errs on the side that this was an obvious performance to bow out. The Russians saw through it.
• Italy and Spain each sent frigates from their respective navies to accompany the Sumud flotilla, comprised of 50 boats. The public thought those ships were meant protect the flotilla, but they turned around at the critical moment and left the flotilla to the mercies of the Israelis. But the dock workers in Genoa, in concert with those in Marseilles, vowed to shut down trade into Europe if the flotilla was attacked. Since then the flotilla has been intercepted and its participants arrested. No one in the flotilla was killed and most all were returned home after facing humiliation and abuse at the hands of their captors. Their tales of the experience in Israeli captivity were bad enough, but pale in comparison to what the Palestinian prisoners experience over months in Israeli prisons.
• Allegations are emerging about Charlie Kirk’s wife, implying not everything is as it seemed with Kirk, Turning Point USA and so on. It appears more and more that she and Charlie were both actors in what is turning out to be a huge American scandal. There were also videos emerging pointing to claims Kirk’s death was faked, which have been debunked. It is all a huge distraction, with far more important matters to consider. The truth will out.
• Don’t take Tylenol. It causes autism, you know? Daddy says so.
• The E3 have imposed the snap-back sanctions on Iran, as expected. This is covered below. The JCPOA ends on the 18^th of this month. The sanctions are meaningless.
• Netanyahu gave his speech at the UNGA. The vast majority of delegations walked out of the assembly in protest. Only 9 states remained, the UAE among them.
• The Soros-backed Maia Sandu in Moldova won stole the parliamentary elections in Moldova. Even with all the tricks played by the government – blocking highways to polling stations, sending only 10,000 ballots out to expats, blaming Russia for what the Moldovan government was doing and so on – the victory was underwhelming. In other words, if the EU had stayed out of it the opposition anti-EU parties would have swept the election.
• Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Prize for politics. She once asked Netanyahu for help in overthrowing Maduro. “If we win, we will move the Venezuelan embassy to Jerusalem to support Israel.” That’s democracy for you. The choice was terrible, aimed at avoiding the wrath of Trump. Machado is a regime change puppet and far right extremist. She also has a lengthy criminal record. She is in hiding in Venezuela and is widely loathed even among opposition parties. Machado is Washington’s new Guaidó.
• The Valdai Discussion Club, a Russian think tank, convened its 22^nd meeting at Sochi. The theme this year was “The Polycentric World: Instructions for Use.” Covered below…
• A ceasefire went into effect on the 9^th for Gaza. We start our investigations with this topic.

The Gaza ceasefire: We preface what follows in this topic with this paragraph. It is the case and has been throughout human history that liberation takes time and comes often at a heavy cost. The cost involves struggle, sacrifice, suffering and loss, even to the point of death. Before one scoffs, in wider terms this path to liberation in individual terms is called spiritual progress if it leads to an expansion in consciousness. Such a struggle is called the burning ground. That is what we are seeing in the world today. There is a point to be made here, as humanity across the board, with particular emphases on the Palestinians and Ukrainians is in such a burning ground. But they are not the only peoples suffering. Think about it. We will examine an outline as to why these conflicts will lead to spiritual progress for humanity in what follows. The strongest urge in human nature is to be free. Freedom is the very nature of the human soul. Struggle is the nature of the human personality until we realize the path to the soul. This applies to individuals and to groups. Then the battle for freedom is on as we struggle with our limitations. What we are seeing in the wars in Palestine and Ukraine is the dissolution of a ‘triangle of evil’^[14] with its three legs in Central Europe, the United States and Palestine for at least a century. That darkness has spread wherever Zionism is to be found. At long last the mass of humanity is beginning to see through it and to oppose it. The sacrifices of the Ukrainians, Russians (yes, Russians) and Palestinians – these most visibly – have exposed this evil for what it is over the past 3+ years with momentum gaining for the full removal of this evil. We are witnessing a great, liberating occult event. There are millions of other people likewise suffering and struggling, but about which we hear little due to censorship and bias in our media.

Our most basic limitations as individuals are the survival instinct (need for comfort), our attachments and our mental fixations. The Palestinians in Gaza in particular have suffered for years in an open-air concentration camp, periodically subjected to gross violations of human rights and murder by the Zionist regime in Tel Aviv, backed by the Anglo-Americans. The Zionist regime was never going to relent. Their aim was always to drive the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank, and then to proceed further. The Palestinians had tried every peaceful means to win their freedom, to no avail. It was inevitable that Al-Aqsa Flood happened on October 7^th 2023. Armed opposition was the only method left in a final bid for freedom from their imprisonment. Life in Gaza could hardly be called anything else. Their immense sacrifice has served to awaken humanity to the atrocities hidden from us by the media and our political classes. That brings us to the ceasefire.

A victory for humanity: Opinions differ as to who wins or loses with this ceasefire. What matters is that there is movement toward a lasting peace and freedom for Palestine, eventually. Their situation has changed dramatically since the last ceasefire in January if this year. Trump had pushed this deal through the week before the announcement of the Nobel Prize. His reasons for doing so were not lost on the public. He covets that prize for the satisfaction of his bloated ego, though he will say he has done it for the nation. No one outside the US looks upon Washington as peacemakers. Washington names its weapons ‘peacemakers’ and ‘peacekeepers’, its regime-change operations ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P), its naval coercive exercises as ‘freedom of navigation’, assassinations at home and abroad as ‘removal of an evil dictator’ or a ‘threat to national security’, and so on. Peace is anathema to the US military-industrial complex, which controls much of the US Congress. The rush to push through the deal followed closely on the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which caused a collapse of support for Israel among American conservatives. As a note, it has been proven through analysis that Tyler Robinson could not have fired the shot that killed Kirk. That shot came from another building. There was also the group of powerful influencers and donors who disapproved of Kirk’s turn away from Israel and thereby wanted him ‘out of the way’. The gaslighting about Israel and Washington to which we are all being subjected to as a result of the narrative collapse is rapidly increasing. That brings us to why this ceasefire is a victory for humanity on the way to liberation for Palestine and from world Zionism. Several catalytic events have brought us to this point:

• Al-Aqsa Flood itself on October 7^th 2023, the major catalyst of it all, and a Libran event, which has seen Gaza turned into a literal vision of a no-man’s land by the following bullet point, in preparation for Palestine’s liberation. It is clear now the Israeli regime cannot prevail over The Resistance.
• The start of the genocide by the Israelis, who in doing so walked into Sinwar’s trap the following day (See topic “Israel divided” in the Cancer Blue Moon letter for 2024). It is now known Israeli troops were told to stand down and let Al-Aqsa Flood happen, which was used to justify the genocide.
• The 12-Day War with Iran, which exposed Israel’s and the West’s military weaknesses, as well as their perfidy
• More recently, the enforced famine in Gaza, with images of starving children spread across social media.
• The attack on Doha, which sent shockwaves through the Arab monarchies
• The assassination of Charlie Kirk, which turned young conservatives in the US against Israel
• The Global Sumud (‘Steadfastness’) Flotilla and the arrest of its participants, which provoked rolling general strikes in Italy, the time-tested method for influencing governments

The Great Awakening: All of the above points have served as a great awakening for humanity to the crimes of the Israeli, Western and Gulf supporting states regarding the plight of the Palestinians. But the war did not start on October 7^th. It started over a century ago with the introduction of the ethno-nationalist ideology called Zionism in Europe and the US and then with the Balfour Declaration during the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. The Arab states were created then, too, with an eye toward their eventual normalization with the Zionist state. The genocide started in earnest with the Nakba and the foundation of the Israeli state in 1948. Today we see the beginning of the beginning of the end of Zionism and thereby the dissolution of Israel, at least in its present form. The soul of humanity, via the sacrifices made by the Palestinians is finally beginning to show. The genocide is no longer something happening ‘over there’ and which does not affect us.

We know as a result of the carnage in Gaza and what it has unearthed that we are all affected by it. We see it in the surveillance states – our own nations – that are emerging under cover of ‘combatting anti-Semitism’, in the loss of our standards of living, the loss of our civil rights if we speak out against the genocide, the perfidy of our Western politicians and in knowing that our Western leaders are held hostage – either willingly or through coercion – to the diktats of a foreign power. More than that, we are finding out that in our own countries the wealthy supporters of that foreign power, Israel, are also dictating policy to our ‘elected’ leaders against our interests. It should be obvious by now why ‘elected’ is in half-quotes. But the present ceasefire is a diplomatic victory for Hamas and a loss for Israel and Trump.

Collapsing narrative: Aside from his hopes for the Nobel Prize, Trump has been forced to this ceasefire. So has Netanyahu. The pro-Israel narrative is collapsing, and quickly. After the assassination of Charlie Kirk the MAGA base has been roiled, knowing the official line about the assassination is patently false. Candace Owens has been one of the most prominent truth-tellers about his death, with evidence Kirk was turning away from support for Israel, a mere two days before his assassination. The sale of TikTok to Larry Ellison, a known militant Zionist oligarch and major funder of Israel has alerted the youth of the US to the censorship and hasbara to which they are being subjected. They will likely leave that platform in droves. Twitter/X is next on the chopping block for censorship. Soon people who want views and news across the political spectrum will have to rely on foreign social media and news platforms. Telegram remains at this point largely unaffected. Now the pro-Israel set finds it has to pay out BIGLY for pro-Israel propaganda, to the tune of $7,000 per post. The collapsing narrative is happening rapidly as a result of the bullet points above. Once a narrative is lost, collapse of the vested interest soon follows. Thus, in order to slow the loss of support for Israel this ceasefire was hurried through, with hopes that it would somewhat cool the rising hatred of Israel, restore the narrative and bring people back on board, both to Trump and Israel. It will turn out to be a false hope.

The pressure is on for Trump to ensure the ceasefire holds and that peace evolves out of it. To affect that Trump will have to show political will and keep Netanyahu on a short leash. The seeds of the collapse of the ceasefire were thereby sown, if there was ever really a ceasefire. Actually, it was violated on the first day. In reality, there is no ceasefire. If Trump tries to keep Netanyahu in check then we can probably expect the Epstein material to begin leaking out. That will be an initial warning to Trump, as well as a huge headache for him – and good day for America. The first part of November, mentioned in the last letter, looks to be the apparent timeline. Between now and then the pressure on Netanyahu will be building, too. He has effectively told his coalition via Hebrew media that once the Israeli hostages are freed the genocide will recommence. Until then, Hamas will rearm, ready for the next phase. To save his political skin, Netanyahu will have to provoke some major action to pull the coalition back into line. So, we will soon enough see who controls whom – Trump or Netanyahu. The Hamas negotiators have known this all along and have played it to the advantage of the Palestinians. The wider world will be far less tolerant of a collapse of this ceasefire. The negotiators and senior officials of the other nations involved in the negotiating process have stated that this ceasefire is only a stopgap measure at best and that hostilities will resume as soon as the prisoner and body exchanges are complete. Meanwhile the genocide in the West Bank continues unabated.

This ceasefire will likely otherwise come to be known as a simple lull in hostilities. Forgive the cynicism, but the fact is the root causes of the genocide have not been removed. Israel and Hamas, as well as the other factions of The Resistance will take this time to rebuild, recover and jockey for political and military position until the next round inevitably comes – if they have any time. At most they have only a brief time. The root cause of the genocide is Zionism and simple greed on the part of the West and Arabs. Until Zionism is removed from human thought and influence the genocide will continue. It may be done by ‘salami slice’ over years as has been done for decades, or it may flare again as we have seen for over two years now. And with this ceasefire we are only looking at Gaza. The West Bank is under no such considerations, yet genocide, or at least ethnic cleansing is taking place there, too.

Any peace that results from this ceasefire will be momentary until the root causes are addressed and removed. The same will be the case for the war in Ukraine. We also need to be clear: The primary support for Zionism is in the United States. That is where the Zionist ideology has to be ended if there is to be any sort of peace in West Asia. Israel cannot prosecute its Zionist aims without the support of the United States. We might ask, well, what about Europe? Europe is in no position to support the Israelis, either financially or militarily. If Israel had to rely on Europe alone the regime in Tel Aviv would quickly collapse. The Europeans are too focused on and bound to Ukraine to be able to support Israel too. The EU is being strong-armed at the same time to enrich the US military-industrial complex racket to continue its attempts at weakening Russia.

Current conditions: Under the current conditions of this first phase of the ceasefire, the dismantling of the American aid hubs known as the GHF have gone largely underreported. These were otherwise known as killing centers, where Israeli snipers selected and executed their victims from a distance, while the Palestinians who were herded into those centers fought over food and were killed by armed Palestinian clans who conspired with Israel. Those factions were elevated, looters and extortionists, into positions of power, placed in the position of gatekeepers of survival when starvation was used as a weapon. The ‘rules-based order’ looked on in silence and complicity. Thousands of Palestinians were killed in those centers. Since the ceasefire Hamas fighters have appeared on the streets in policing operations. They are hunting down the Israeli-backed gangs who had terrorized the population there and had controlled any aid that had come into Gaza.

Hamas managed to take control of dozens of pickup trucks (in Hebrew), weapons and ammunition that Israel provided to the clans it operated in Gaza. The weapons included hundreds of Kalashnikovs, machine guns, ammunition, and even grenades. This is in addition to a large amount of money that was transferred to those clans. Some of those gang/clan members are being summarily executed in public in a purge of collaborators. As soon as the ceasefire was announced one of those gangs assassinated Palestinian journalist Saleh al-Jafarawi. Zionist-controlled Meta, who owns Instagram, proceeded to wipe his account with 4.5 million followers, and others have since proceeded to wipe out all of his archived material from the internet. The Zionists want all records of the atrocities committed in Gaza erased. There is a warning there, too: Archiving web pages is not a guarantee that they will remain permanent. The Zionists want us to forget the genocide ever happened. By Zionists we mean anyone who believes the Jews have a right to the land of Palestine, or that ‘Israel’ has a right to exist.

Two hundred US troops have landed in Israel to ‘monitor’ the ceasefire. This was terrible optics for the US, with comments to the effect that those troops are there to potentially die for Israel (Read the comments under that tweet, too). They will be housed at an Israeli air base. They may also become ‘tripwire’ troops if (when) war with Iran erupts again. Over 90% in a poll of tens-of-thousands of viewers on Galloway’s MOATS from almost all platforms believe the ceasefire will collapse. In fact it was never fully implemented. As of this writing there have already been over 35 violations of the ceasefire from the Israeli side. And now Netanyahu has cut the number of aid trucks in half. Of course, Hamas is blamed, claiming they are being slow in returning the bodies of dead Israeli captives. Those are buried under the rubble that the IOF bombing and building detonations have created. 19 such deceased captives remain in the Strip under the rubble. A few may never be found. Trump is already threatening to restart the genocide if those bodies are not immediately returned. The families of the deceased are calling for the abandonment of the ceasefire, too. Meanwhile aid trucks are lined up, poised to go in. It may just be a matter of days before the carnage begins again. As the supposed 2^nd phase of the ceasefire approaches, knowing Hamas will not disarm (Why would they, given their past experiences with the Israelis?), Trump is blustering again saying the IOF may have to go in and disarm them by force. That has gone so well over the past two years, hasn’t it? (satire) We might hope that Trump is not planning to send those 200 American troops into Gaza in an attempt to disarm Hamas. Those troops would be going in cold, whereas Hamas has two years of experience in guerrilla warfare.

Peace as spectacle: Meanwhile, as the fragile lull in Gaza progressed there were two spectacles that revealed much about Trump, Israel and US-Israeli relations. (See Blumenthal with Nima in Suggested viewing.) Trump landed in Israel to address the Knesset and promote his plan. That meeting turned out to be more of a celebrity roast than any sort of diplomatic mission. But while he had the podium (full speech) Trump took the time to point out Miriam Adelson, telling the world that she has a net worth of $60 billion from Sheldon Adelson’s casino empire. In other words, she has her fortune on the back of gambling, entertainment and people’s avarice and desperation. He asked her publicly where her loyalties were, to the US or Israel, but she didn’t answer. Everyone knew. He also pointed out in addressing her that she and her deceased husband were the most frequent visitors to the White House during Trump’s first term and that he was literally bribed by them to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to ditch the JCPOA and to give the Golan Heights to Israel. Apparently, MAGA=Miriam Adelson Goals Achieved. It was an affront to the American people, who saw that the POTUS can be bought and paid for. But that was not all. He pointed at the president of Israel (Herzog) and suggested he give Netanyahu a pardon, calling Netanyahu the ‘greatest wartime president’ (He’s the PM). Doing so would give Netanyahu a get out of jail free card, which might also end the operations in Gaza for a time. But it looks instead like Bibi will be finding excuses to skirt court into the near future. Trump trolled his daughter Ivanka for converting to Judaism and otherwise just carried on like his peace plan was a fait accompli. It was all theatre.

After his speech to the Knesset, Trump was on to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt for the signing of the Gaza peace deal itself. It was attended by the leaders of the nations most responsible for the genocide by support of Israel. It read like the who’s-who of Israel-firsters and enablers – Erdogan, Starmer, Meloni, Macron, Carney, Merz, Orban, Mahmood Abbas, Mitsotakis and Sisi, to name a few. In all 30 nations were named. There were also the head of FIFA (football), Guterres, Costa (EU Council President) and the Secretary General of the Arab League. Notably absent were Netanyahu, Pezeshkian, Bin Salman and Modi, not to mention the leadership of Hamas. And on the way to the summit three Qatari ambassadors were killed in a car wreck when the steering column on the top-of-the-line Mercedes they were in allegedly broke. It is also alleged they all fell from the 12^th floor of a tall building, so the Egyptian joke about assassinations go.

The summit was like having a wedding reception before the prospective bride and groom were even engaged. The Trump plan will not lead to peace, but the leaders all sat around deciding the fate of Palestine as if it was a done deal – without even asking the Palestinians. The agreement that was signed was scant on details, probably deliberately so. There was no outline on how to achieve said regional peace. Even the Gray Lady said the meeting was largely symbolic and a fine example of virtue signalling. But the summit did have value for what it exposed, which started with the leaders who were present, as mentioned above.

The more notable moments were the likes of Trump’s interaction with Starmer on stage where Starmer was put in his place. Marco Rubio had stated beforehand that Macron and Starmer had no right to be there anyway because they had recognized the Palestinian State. Starmer was mocked for Trump’s snub at home. Macron and Carney also had their cringe moments. Perhaps the most cringeworthy moment was when the Pakistani PM got on the podium, lauded Trump for his efforts and said Pakistan had nominated Trump for the Nobel. Meloni stood at the back with her hand over her mouth, with a look of “Oh, no!” on her face. All of the leaders present were summoned there at the last minute and the Europeans jumped at the chance, or perhaps the order to attend. Their treatment at the event, especially the E3 (UK, France and Germany), showed the suzerainty of Western Europe to the US. The suzerainty of Europe will be covered in the next letter.

The 8th front: Because Israel finds itself in an increasingly disintegrating state, having started wars on seven fronts, Netanyahu has realized he is losing the narrative war in the United States. The youth in the US have largely turned against Israel, and those people will be taking the reins of power in the US in due time. As a result of the collapsing narrative Netanyahu has decided to open an 8^th front – the narrative front. He has said this out loud. He wants Twitter/X and TikTok to be pro-Israel. The people buying TikTok will be controlling 80% of the operations. The three of them are Larry Ellison of Oracle, Mark Andreeson and Egon Durban of Silver Lake. These people are venture capitalists, by and large. You may have heard of Larry Ellison. He says we are going to be on our best behaviour because everything we do is being recorded, and AI will be monitoring all of it – and making decisions about our lives. He will probably see a revolution instead.

The UK is currently in turmoil over the announcement by Kier Starmer that the UK will be going to digital IDs, for dubious reasons, which is right in line with what Ellison is talking about. And the UK’s favorite alleged war criminal (As far as the public is concerned he should be in jail.), Tony Blair is behind it, with his son Euan being tipped to run the company that would implement it. No nepotism there, mind you. So, TikTok users, being faced with pro-Israel algorithms, may be leaving the platform in droves. You may want to know more about his company, Oracle, which is addressed in the next letter, where we will go more into AI. But for now we leave the theatre and return to realities evolving in Eastern Asia, which will lead us to a precipitating point to be touched upon here at the end of this letter.

The EEF: Every year Russia holds two economic forums, one in St. Petersburg and the other in Vladivostok. The forum in St. Petersburg goes by the acronym SPIEF, which was held in June this year, while the forum in Vladivostok goes simply by the acronym EEF – the Eastern Economic Forum. Both of these forums are well attended by friendly nations with the one in St. Petersburg being the more visible of the two. The two forums ‘link two ways’ (from Russia’s esoteric motto) for economic development. There is scant reporting on the EEF in the Western press. Yet in terms of Russia’s destiny, the EEF is the more important of the two. It has been said that Russia’s main work from now into the future will be in the East.^[15] The theme for this, the 10^th such forum, was “The Far East: Cooperation for Peace and Prosperity.” The event this year was attended by 6,000 people from 76 nations. Notably, it was attended by the PM of Mongolia, the PM of Laos, and the Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress of China.

Of the more important developments from The EEF this year a reciprocal cross border visa arrangement between Russia and China was announced, showing the increasing friendly relations between the two nations, which will serve to boost cross-border trade. Further, as noted by Artyom Lukin, professor of international politics at the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok:

“Putin has announced the next step: starting January 2027, a unified preferential regime for the entire Far East and Arctic, offering tax breaks and other benefits for business. There are hard numbers showing the region’s momentum, the expert added.

• Over the past decade, electricity consumption in the Far East has grown by 28% — twice the Russian average
• To meet rising demand, nuclear power plants are being planned
• Cross-border business contacts are booming
• Expanded trade in services such as tourism, education, healthcare, and IT”

But perhaps the most important development involves the Northern Sea Route (above), which has been called a game-changer for Asia:

“Powered by Russia’s Northern Sea Route and icebreaker expertise, it allows the bypass of US-controlled choke points like the Malacca Strait, where potential blockades threaten China’s trade…

• The route cuts transit times to Europe by up to 50%, reducing costs
• Investments in Russia’s shipbuilding and ports like Sabetta offer opportunities, alongside access to Arctic LNG and minerals

The key players are

• China’s Polar Silk Road gains strategic leverage
• India’s Vladivostok-Chennai route diversifies trade
• Japan & South Korea tap maritime expertise”

In these points we see why Trump’s (actually, the Washington establishment’s) focus on Greenland has come about, because it would conceivably serve as a choke point to the Northern Sea Route if the US were to establish a sizeable naval force in Greenland. As of the moment the US does not have the icebreaker capacity to leverage such a chokepoint. Then there was the SCO conference, where further economic news was announced.

The SCO summit: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit this year was held in Tianjin, China. The organization was originally founded to combat terrorism in Central Asia. Over the years it has morphed into a multilevel bloc, encompassing security, economics and integration with the BRICS block. There was a notable addition to the dignitaries in attendance, with the appearance of India’s Modi, the first time he had attended seven years. The reason for his attendance is not lost on the world at large: China and India are both seeking rapprochement after Trump’s tariff gambit and the threats and sanctions he has placed on India regarding Russian oil. That proposal effectively ends the Quad, because the Quad was organized as a hedge against China. So now, as Pepe Escobar has claimed we have the union of the new Dragon, the Elephant, and the Bear – the Big Three of the SCO.

There were further economic developments to come from this year’s summit. China has a new idea, with the inauguration of SCO Development Bank, which runs in concert and is integrated with the New Development Bank (BRICS) based in Shanghai and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a multilateral investment bank based in Beijing. What we are looking at here is a bloc that encompasses half of the world’s population, immense natural resources, emphasizing community instead of competition, as Asian peoples tend to be more collective in their thinking than individualistic, in distinction to how we are in the West. Putin and Xi had a very private one-on-one meeting, about which we know very little, in the old Chinese imperial palace. The declaration at the end of the summit emphasized the sovereignty of all states, non-interference in the affairs of member states, and total rejection of unilateral sanctions as tools of coercion. The declaration applies not only to the member states, but also to the partner states like the petro monarchies in the Persian Gulf region and the other Asian economic powerhouses such as the ASEAN group.

The SCO was founded in a pavilion in a Beijing park three months before 9/11. But instead of being a part of the global war on terror, the SCO has become a magnet for mutual cooperation between states in the region, leading toward a comprehensive greater Eurasian union, which as the decades pass will include many states in Western Europe, no doubt. The SCO issued a declaration at the end.

The Chinese military parade: The military parade in China, as a celebration of the defeat of fascism worldwide, must have caused some consternation in the halls of power in the West. It was a massive display of power, but more importantly, of deterrence. Probably more concerning was the presence of ‘Little Rocket Man’ (Kim Jong-un) walking side-by-side with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin as a guest of honor at the parade. The American intelligence establishment has known about the Chinese weapons development all along, so there were no surprises there in terms of the weaponry on display. But comparing the US Army’s 250 year celebration parade with the Chinese parade the difference could not be starker. The Vietnamese put on a good show with their parade, too, and not just the military part. The latter parade got no coverage in the West, but is worth a look. There were some messages to be taken from these parades.

The Chinese and Vietnamese military parades both show the rising power and influence of the East. They also showed the discipline and collective spirit of those nations. The Chinese parade was the more concerning of the two for the West because it showed without doubt that Russia, China and North Korea – all nuclear powers – are at least on friendly terms. They are also all three manufacturing powerhouses. Kim Jong-un has come in out of the cold regarding Russia and China and is poised to reap the benefits of the rising economic wealth of the East, wealth which the Western powers seem loathe to engage, meaning on cooperative terms. Our Western leadership and think tanks still appear to have the idea that the sovereign nations of the East can be ‘subdued’ and brought to heel under Western coercion.

The China threat?: So, why does the Washington in particular see China as a threat? As usual, the answer comes not because China poses some kind of military threat, but is instead answered when one begins to follow the money:

“…the US wants to resort to warmongering, the main objective of which would be to destroy China’s industrial base, and divert China’s investment capital and productive capacities towards defence. The US wants to go to war with China not because China poses some kind of military threat to the American people, but because Chinese development undermines the interests of imperial capital… The real reason for Western warmongering is because China is achieving sovereign development and this is undermining the imperial arrangement on which Western capital accumulation depends. The West will not let global economic power slip from its hands so easily.”

In other words, the West talks about war with China because the Chinese, through their own sovereign development, are destroying the profit margins of Western transnational corporations. Western claims about China posing some kind of military threat are pure propaganda. To put a broader stroke on the matter, in reality the ‘threat’ posed by nations like China, Russia Vietnam, North Korea, Iran and a few other relates to the status of the American dollar as the world’s reserve currency, the SWIFT system, World bank, IMF and other institutions being used as instruments of financial coercion against states that refuse to toe the West’s lines. But there is a little more to it, which points to why Trump has been so negative about BRICS and why the oligarchs in the West are nervous about the rise of the East.

The gold standard: The acid test for the world economy is where international sovereign wealth is held. Foreign central banks now hold more gold than they do U.S. Treasuries – a first since 1996. What it means is that foreign central banks are moving away from US Treasury notes as a store of wealth, meaning also those foreign banks (and governments thereby) are losing faith in the US as the premier financial safe haven. If we look at the graph in the tweet (linked above) we get a quick answer as to why, if we know a little bit of history. Gold holdings as a percentage of foreign reserves were at a peak in 1980, after which gold fell out of favour and started a precipitous decline. That year, roughly, was when Reaganomics and Thatcherism (market economics/neoliberalism) really took hold. Financial derivatives, deindustrialization (off-shoring) financialisation of everything and everyone in general, ‘corporate raiding’, ‘the markets’ – all of that and more in the economic sector came into vogue around that time. In other words, speculation and fantasy in economics and trade took the place of commodities of real value, like the gold standard.

The once mighty industries of the West were dismantled and shipped out of country to states where wages were low, workers were exploited, working conditions were poor and regulations non-existent. To put it another way, profit margins in Western industries ballooned while workers across the West lost their jobs and had their pension funds raided. Wealth was transferred to the top percentile of the population of the West. The pendulum swings, though. And China happened. Nixon went to China to inaugurate that cycle just described, but the West soon found the Chinese were smarter than the Western oligarchs thought. The Chinese looked after their people, while the Western powers looked after their own pockets. This is where we find ourselves today. The West’s economic system, based in fiat currencies, is under threat and increasing pressure. One of the West’s solutions to such a threat is the adoption of cryptocurrencies, largely spearheaded in the US.

Cryptocurrency: The very name ‘cryptocurrency’ hinges on the prefix – crypto. The term derives from the ancient Greek, kryptós, meaning secret or hidden. You might already have an idea where we are going with this topic from the derivation of the prefix. The reason we are bringing it up here is because of the restrictions China just placed on the sale and distribution of rare earth elements, which are essential for our economies and way of life these days. They are especially vital for arms manufacture. There are 17 of these elements, all but two being in the lanthanide series of elements, if you remember your high school chemistry. Most of the world’s supply comes from China (90%). The largest usage of them is in magnets and catalysts. The rise of electric vehicles and miniaturization has placed a heavy emphasis on rare earth elements (REE). Virtually every electric appliance these days relies on them. They are critical for the production of electronic components. The name is a bit misleading. They are not rare in terms of the total quantity of elements, but they are widely dispersed and appear in only minute quantities in ores. They could be called ‘crypto elements’. They are also difficult to extract. Until the early 1980s the US was the major refiner of these elements, but with the onset of globalization and outsourcing most of the production in the US was moved to – you guessed it – China. Deng Xiao Ping summarized the reason for taking on the production:

“Most of the world has oil. We have rare earths…it is of extremely important strategic significance; we must be sure to handle the rare earth issue properly and make the fullest use of our country’s advantage in rare earth resources.”

This was in the mid-‘80s. The man was visionary. For years now the US has relied on China for a cheap supply of those REEs. The US war machine is particularly vulnerable. Consider this:

“With China’s control over rare earths, how will the U.S. produce its arsenal? An F-35 consumes over 400kg of rare minerals, while an Arleigh Burke destroyer uses 2,600kg, and a Virginia-class submarine consumes 4,600kg. I’ll go further and say that the upcoming Constellation frigate will require no less than 2,000kg of rare minerals to be launched. And it doesn’t stop there, each Patriot missile or other modern American missile will consume at least 0.5-1kg of rare minerals for unit. Radars, space projects, everything requires rare earth minerals. The U.S.’s lack of planning is enormous, but Europe’s is even worse because it relies heavily on American dependence. The solution is to do what the Chinese do: invest in global infrastructure, rebuild ties with nations, and restore the global supply chain.”

Indeed, regarding the last sentence in the quote. But it is not just the war machine that will suffer from the restrictions. The price of virtually every electrical appliance will go up in the US as a result of China placing this chokepoint in the supply chain. It has done so in response to the US, and it is aimed primarily at the US. The reason is that Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick tried to play hardball with China by placing heavy restrictions on exports of high tech goods to China as part of the economic and trade war the US has tried to prosecute on that nation. With that action the Chinese said enough is enough and placed their sweeping restrictions on REEs. When China did that, Trump reacted in typical fashion and placed 100% tariffs on all imports from China, believing China would buckle. China’s trade with the US amounts to only 2½ % of China’s GDP. China will weather it, but the US cannot. It would take years for the US to rebuild its REE facilities. The US does not have that much time. The economy is in bad shape due to the US debt and the government is currently shut down due to the budget. We will soon see how soon TACO comes back into play. But what does that have to do with cryptocurrency?

When China announced its restrictions on REE it sent a shock wave through Washington. Trump’s response was infantile. As a result of his post the stock market lost upwards of 3% of its value ($2 trillion), while the crypto market took a hit of $18 billion – the largest selloff of crypto in history. All of this from a single tweet. Then we find out someone had leveraged a short on Bitcoin a mere hour before Trump’s countermeasure of 100% tariffs, to the tune of $300 million. Somebody knew what was coming. This smacks of insider trading. Bitcoin miners are the new stock market gurus. But there are a few takeaways from this. Bitcoin is little more than a glorified fiat currency, but based in computer software. Like LLM AI, it uses a lot of power. It is based in faith instead of real commodities. It can be hacked (with difficulty, mind you), unlike cash and metals. And there are examples of holders of the crypto coins being kidnapped, tortured or in some cases killed in order to steal their bitcoin wallets. And just so you know, Trump has around 40% of his wealth tied up in crypto. His son Barron is speculating big time in crypto, too. China’s restrictions on REEs may bring growth in a lot of the AI and the tech industries to a slowdown and could prove to be the black swan event that crashes the US economy. This brings us to BRICS and two nations in particular, which could also produce their black swan events, too.

Iran and Venezuela: We will cover both of these nations together because they have two matters in common – oil and hegemony. They are regional powers, both are resisting the United States and both of them have huge reserves of hydrocarbons and other natural resources. They are both also sovereign at this point, which the American-led Empire simply cannot abide. We start with Iran, because Iran is essential to the advancement of the BRICS bloc.

At the close of the 12-Day War the IAEA was thrown out of Iran due to the knowledge the organization had been used as a Trojan horse to pass Iran’s nuclear secrets to the Israelis and Americans. With the humiliating defeat the Israelis had suffered as a result of that war plans were immediately put in play on all sides to ensure either a successful attack the next time (the Empire) or a resounding defeat and collapse of the Zionist regime in Israel (Iran). There was immediate pressure by the Western powers for Iran to readmit the IAEA inspectors in order that the whereabouts of the 60% enriched uranium stockpile could be located. The Iranians knew what the West wanted, so the leadership in Iran played the long game and entered into negotiations to readmit the inspectors, much to the objections of the Iranian public. The public (and much of the world) saw that as naiveté and submission, but there was something else behind the Iranian leadership. Firstly the negotiations bought the Iranian military time to rearm and reorganize, because they knew the Israelis would not let their defeat pass.

Secondly, there was another reason, in that the Iranians knew the perfidy of the West and wanted to expose it once and for all. They knew the E3 was going to impose the snap-back sanctions, regardless, so the Iranians drew out the negotiations right up to the deadline, and as expected the sanctions were re-imposed. Russia and China have tabled a motion at the UNSC that the JCPOA be declared null and void. Two thirds of the world’s nations have refused to honor the sanctions anyway. The IAEA will no longer be required for inspections in Iran as a result of the end of the JCPOA. The E3 move was clearly a Western provocation. The sanctions followed the same playbook as those the West slammed on Russia in the wake of the Russian intervention in Ukraine. But times have changed.

The Iran of 2015 – who agreed to the conditions of the JCPOA even though the West ignored them and kept sanctions in place – is not the Iran of today. Iran today is far better placed to weather the sanctions. As soon as the sanctions were re-imposed the E3 disconnected Iran from the SWIFT system. The hope by the West, as they had hoped with Russia, is that economic conditions in Iran would become so severe that the people would rise up and overthrow ‘the mullahs’ (as the West likes to call the Iranian leadership). This is the same gambit the West has tried with Venezuela, which to this point has also failed. However, today’s Iran has comprehensive strategic partnerships with the 1^st and 4^th largest economies by PPP measure – China and Russia resp. – and is doing robust trade with both of them. The latter two nations are also helping Iran to rearm, with Russia recently having sent modern fighter jets to Iran and China helping with other means. Iran is set to become an oil transit hub. The Russians have just inked a deal to build four new nuclear reactors in Iran. The Iranians are well underway in building a new even more fortified nuclear facility a few kilometres away from Natanz. Iran has spies in Israel, too, and has just revealed details of the Israeli Dimona reactor facility along with passport photos of Israeli nuclear scientists. And Iran is extending its diplomatic reach across Central Asia and Africa.

For all of the reasons just outlined Trump is now dreaming the impossible dream of going back into the Bagram air base in Afghanistan (which the Soviets built), as if the US could just waltz back in. Iran, Russia, Pakistan and China have all said no way, nyet, never. The Taliban have stated that very bad things would happen to Americans if they try to take over the air base again. The reason Trump is talking about Bagram is illustrated in the four nations who oppose the Americans re-entering the base: Bagram is only a short hop away from all four of those nations. Trump’s announcement came days after the Saudi-Pakistan military alliance was announced, if that says anything. Iran had been holding talks with the Saudis on mutual defence concerns just days before the Saudi-Pakistan defence agreement. The talks reportedly went well. Then there is renewed talk of reviving the ECO Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad (ITI) rail network, which would connect Central Asia to Turkey with China, eventually. It is not a far stretch to connect the CPEC with the ITI, which would bypass the need for sea traffic. The ECO is an Iranian initiative from 1985, to which belong the largest part of the Central Asian states. The Israeli attack on Doha has been a catalytic event, showing once and for all that Israel is a destabilizing force in the region. With all the above being taken into account, Iran is rapidly growing in strength and is expanding its outreach. If the US is to disrupt BRICS, destabilize Central Asia and balkanize Iran for Israel, something must be done to stop Iran’s progress. War with Iran seems to be a certainty as a result. Then there is Venezuela.

Trump tried to depose Maduro in his first term in office, and failed. He authorized a raid aimed at taking out Maduro, one which became ridiculed as the ‘Bay of Piglets’, a reference to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in JFK’s term in office. Trump wants a 2^nd chance. Hence, we see Machado receiving the Nobel Prize this year, which the Western powers think would give her legitimacy (see bullet point under ‘Current events’, above). But Trump’s agitating against Venezuela is not at all about drug trafficking or ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom for the people of Venezuela’. Instead,

“This is about protecting power and profits, including the profits of big oil, gas, and mining companies (Venezuela has some of the world’s largest reserves in all), and those of the military-industrial complex. A full coup would be a disaster and another bloody coup added to the United States’ long history of calamitous military interventions in Latin America.”

Why are we seeing the rush to foment a coup in Venezuela, then? Firstly it has to do with the massive oil reserves just mentioned. But there is also China. The Chinese have made inroads to Venezuela, as have the Russians. The Chinese have just made delivery of their floating oil refinery platform in Lake Maracaibo, in Venezuela’s 2^nd-largest oil producing region, in Venezuela’s largest lake. They hope to reopen 100 wells in Venezuela. The Chinese aim is to boost oil production in Venezuela by 60,000 barrels per day, which would be shipped to China. The Chinese have inked a 20-year deal with Venezuela for oil production. For certain, the increasing Chinese presence in Venezuela is not lost on Washington. There is also a hidden Zionist hand in the opposition to Maduro in Venezuela. When people speak of the Neocons in the US they are unconsciously (or perhaps knowingly) talking about Zionism. The Neocon movement in the US was founded by hardened Zionists and it is this Neocon faction who wants to overthrow Maduro. Hence we see the Nobel going to Machado. It has long been known that the Nobel is heavily biased toward and a tool of the Empire.

Compared to Ukraine, Venezuela is larger. Iran is larger still. Venezuela is roughly1,000 miles wide and over 700 miles deep. There are high mountains on the western side, highlands comprising the southern half, Caracas backed by mountains and with Caracas being a densely-pack city of over 3 million inhabitants. If Washington decides to attempt a landing on Caracas they would be facing a guerrilla insurgency if the Venezuelan army supports Maduro. But as is the usual case in Washington, they see Venezuela as low-hanging fruit and Maduro as weak. The same is true regarding Iran. A war with either nation would prove to be very difficult and draining on the US economy at best, at a time when the American public opposes any such action. Any such conflict would quickly turn into a quagmire and attritional war for the US. Within weeks at most the US would find itself facing international condemnation, serious economic and logistical issues and long guerrilla conflicts in mountainous terrains. Such wars would be neither quick nor decisive, much as we are told otherwise. With everything we have examined in this letter we are led to one unmistakable conclusion:

Iacta alea est: The die is cast, as the English translation from the Latin title of this topic attests: the state of our world at the moment as power, influence and wealth transfers from the West to the East. This is all in line with the cycles, as we have examined in recent letters. As has been the case for centuries now, when the elite classes feel they are losing control of the populace and they see their wealth and prestige in danger they often result to war. This is what we are seeing in the old colonial Western powers. From the article from which the title of this topic was taken:

“…invading and conquering Venezuela doesn’t win anything of real importance for the United States. It would certainly do nothing to arrest the rapid decline of American global hegemony. And it would effectively cede Eurasia to the Russia, China, Iran bloc. As for Russia and China, it’s sheer madness for the United States to take on either one in a war. It’s ridiculous to even consider. The American military would be, over the course of just a few weeks, subjected to the most shocking defeat in its history – as I have written about on many occasions over the past few years. So that leaves Iran as the only objective under serious consideration.

The hopelessly propagandized American public and almost all of its imbecilic political leaders [including Israeli] believe the supposedly mighty US/Israeli air forces humiliated Iran with an overwhelming series of unstoppable air strikes. They believe Iran has been rendered effectively defenseless, and that neither Moscow nor Beijing nor Pyongyang would dare to undertake any moves to aid Tehran against the combined power of the US and Israel. I’m sure they’re mistaken, but no one is going to appreciate the scope and depth of the deception until it’s too late to turn back. So that’s where we stand here in the first week of October 2025 – on the brink of a war that will, once and for all, expose how utterly mythological American military supremacy truly is.

The power is pretended, The summer is past. The harvest is ended, And the die is cast.”^[16]

There is little more to say at this point, except to wait and see. However, as the final topic on current events in this letter, a brief mention of the situation in Ukraine is in order.

Ukraine update: Pressure is growing in intensity in Russia for Putin to finish the Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine. It is essentially a NATO war against Russia provoked by NATO expansion and Ukrainian ethno-nationalism, but we won’t quibble about it here. At this juncture in operations there are plans for Putin and Trump to meet again, this time in Budapest. This meeting is not to be a carry on from the Alaska summit. The situation regarding the war now is more serious, with relations between the US and Russia at rock bottom again, as recently stated by Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He blames the Europeans for the impasse, along with recent statements by Trump about sending Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. The truth is Trump has become frustrated with Putin because the Russians refuse to accept a deal. Why would they? They are winning on the battlefield. And aside from that the Russians had been very clear in Alaska about what their requirements for an end to the war would entail – the nationalist regime in Kiev gone, Ukraine becoming a neutral state (no NATO) and demilitarization – leading to an overall security agreement for the whole of the European continent, of which Russia comprises some 40%. The Europeans want the war to continue until Russia capitulates, which will not happen.

Putin and Trump had another one of their phone calls the other day, which the Russians called substantive, very open and frank, at Putin’s prompting. They gave a two week time frame for a summit. Why the rush? These things usually take months to prepare. Well, there are reasons. The Russians are hammering Ukraine’s infrastructure at a blistering rate, focusing on energy and rail traffic. What we are talking about here is the means to supply Ukraine’s troops. The Russians are beginning to blow up the bridges crossing the Dnieper River, which would basically separate the two halves of Ukraine, Russian-speaking and Russo-phobic. The strike on the bridge at Kremenchug was the harbinger of what is likely to come, as it cuts logistics to the Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine. The Russians are striking the traction for the trains and the electrical generating stations and substations that supply them. The most notable evidence of the strikes on the energy grid is the satellite pictures of Ukraine at night: The lights are out.

With power cut to the cities in Ukraine they will become unliveable and quickly. All of this is the main reason Zelenskyy travelled to Washington. He left disappointed and empty-handed. Apparently Putin dissuaded Trump on the Tomahawk question during the phone call. Winter is coming. The rasputitsa is starting, making any sort of movement difficult. But more to the point the last major Ukrainian defences in eastern Ukraine are largely encircled now and will fall in the next weeks ahead, signalling disaster for the Ukrainian army. That, combined with the power outages and the lack of gas and oil, will serve to hasten the end of the SMO, with a defeat for NATO. Hence, we had the threat of the Tomahawks being sent to Ukraine and the rush to the summit. Those missiles would have made no difference to the outcome. The Russians used them for target practice in Syria when Trump lobbed just over 50 of them into Syria as a ‘show of strength’ in his first term in office. We recall at the time how the media waxed lyrical about those ‘beautiful pictures of fearsome weapons’. We are also seeing quite a lot of delusionary remarks by Western pundits and officials, seeking to keep up narrative support for Ukraine. No one much believes it any longer, except for Western elites. And the latter is why the West is consistently misjudging its strategy and experiencing accelerating loss.

As a result of all the preceding regarding the military outlook, and seeking more franticly to avoid a defeat for NATO (the US) in Ukraine, a date for a summit will soon be set. But so long as the Western powers continue to believe that Russia is on its last legs and that they can pressure Russia into some sort of deal, the SMO will continue to Ukraine’s capitulation. Zelenskyy was in Washington seeking to secure more support, but he found the cupboard almost bare and Trump to be terse with him. American public support for Ukraine, like Israel, is cratering. When it comes to Ukraine, like we see from all of the above, iacta alea est.

In conclusion, in all we wait in anticipation of coming conflicts, or perhaps stare into the precipice, depending upon one’s view. Those conflicts may or may not have been pushed back in terms of the timeline, but evidence points to their coming, especially regarding Iran. If the latter happens it will mark a definitive point in the downfall of Zionism. In terms of peace and human values, this is a moment for which we have been waiting – for truth to be revealed, for powerful people to be exposed, for the soul of humanity to arouse. And that soul is stirring insistently as a result of our collective cry for justice to prevail and suffering to end. There is still much to do, but the pendulum is beginning to swing in favour of humanity, the scales rebalancing. The struggle will continue for a time yet, but there is always a turning point in favour of the human spirit. It would appear we have reached that point. Now we must hold the light steady instead of thinking victory is achieved. This is no time for relaxing. It is, in fact, the critical time to stand firm as breakthroughs come. Peace will come. Let us ensure it will be a just peace, with the causes of conflicts removed. Let our thirst after the truth be unquenchable.

Libra blessings,
Malvin
18 Oct 2025
malvin@malvinartley.com
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Suggested Viewing:
Dialogue Works: Israel’s DEAD END— Charlie Kirk— Iran & Russia vs NATO Ritter and Wilkerson
Understanding HAMAS: The Truth That Changes Everything Helena Cobban
Trump WRECKING the US economy Michael Hudson and Richard Wolff
The Iran War Threat RETURNS — But Iran Has Transformed into a
Military Giant! Wilkerson
India and Global Left: Gaza Ceasefire Reveals Israel’s Strategic Collapse Mohammad Marandi
India Today: Pakistan’s Army Chief & PM In White House: What Does It Mean For India Bisaria
Judging Freedom: Israel Losing US Support Fast Alastair Crooke
Order, Prudence, Rules are GONE! Alastair Crooke
US War on Iran is Immanent! Col. Wilkerson
Israel and Trump Still Want War Alastair Crooke
Tucker Carlson: The 9/11 Files: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Vanessa Wingårdh: Real or AI? The Internet Is Now Impossible to Trust (must see)

Picture Credits:
Libra: DeviantArt
General strike: Unione Sindacale di Base (USB)
Libra as justice: Emerj
Nicholas Roerich with Guga Chuahan: Svetoslav Roerich 1937
Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6): Photo by Alan Dyer (Forbes)
Sharaa: Al-Majalla English
Machado/Nobel: DNA India
Colt ‘Peacemaker’: Pietta
Ministry of Truth: Still from 1956 film 1984 Photo by Rex Features
Book cover: The Emergence of American Zionism, Mark A. Raider
Trump kissing Adelson: Open Secrets
Meloni expression: The Daily Jagran
Northern Sea Route: High North News
The ‘authoritarian trio’: courtesy of CNN
Gold vs. Treasuries: Vaulted
Rare earth elements: EGU Blogs
Missiles in Tehran: Alarabiya English
ITI Rail Route: Railfreight
Venezuela on US maps: From YouTube short
Zelenskyy t-shirt: The Telegraph cartoons

1. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, Briefe von und an Hegel, Volume 4, Part 1, Meiner Verlag, 1977, p. 168 ↑
2. Bailey, Alice A., Esoteric Astrology (1951) New York, NY, Lucis Pubs. p. 227 ↑
3. Bailey, The Rays and the Initiations, p. 404 ↑
4. Bailey, Esoteric Psychology II, p. 721 ↑
5. Bailey, Esoteric Astrology, p. 383 ↑
6. Ibid, p. 243 ↑
7. Ibid, p. 251 ↑
8. Op cit ↑
9. Bailey, The Rays and the Initiations, p. 404 ↑
10. Bailey, Esoteric Astrology, 249 ↑
11. Op cit p. 248 ↑
12. Bailey, Esoteric Astrology, p. 227 ↑
13. Ibid, p. 238 ↑
14. Bailey, The Rays and the Initiations, p. 430 ↑
15. Bailey, The Destiny of the Nations, p. 85 ↑
16. Adapted from Jeremiah 8:20 in The Bible ↑