Breaking the Overton Window -- s1e05 -- 20231128

== Our Sponsors ==

Getting Your Head Straight: Public Service as an Antidote to Despair
https://consulting.campaignfoundations.com/gyhs/grab_a_copy

Call Biden! Tell him to
Pick up the Phone, Joe, Publish the ERA!
https://greenalliance.sexbasedrights.org/take_action/Tell_President_Bid…

Islamic Relief USA
https://irusa.org

TODAY'S SEGMENTS.

== Welcome ==

Bismillah.

Welcome to the fifth episode of Breaking the Overton Window. I am your host, Hugh Esco. Today is November 27th, and in this brief episode we remember John F Kennedy on the 60th anniversary of the '63 Coup, his Peace speech and the nuclear Test Ban Treaty it helped to make possible. Next we continue with our coverage of escalation towards World War III, examining briefly the Biden Administration's provocations directed at China at a side meeting held during the recent APEC Summit held in California in November.

[[ breaking the window ]]

But first we begin our coverage this episode remembering our own nation's 1963 Coup, sixty years ago this November 22d, by sharing an excerpt from President John F Kennedy's commencement address to the graduating class of American University on June 10th, less than six months before his assassination.

[[ Peace Speech excerpt ]]

Jeffrey Sachs appeared recently on Chris Hedges' show on The Real News Network. Sachs shared this about the impact produced within eight weeks by JFK's speech seeking a 'genuine peace', with the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on August 5th. It was ratified by the US Senate on October 7th of that year, only six and a half weeks prior to his assassination.

[[ Jeffrey Sachs interview ]]

[[ excerpt, JFK final address to United Nations General Assembly ]]

[[ Jeffrey Sachs interview ]]

The Test Ban Treaty signed by President Kennedey banned nuclear testing underwater, in the atmosphere and out in space. It would be 1996 before the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was signed seeking to ban underground tests with an international treaty. On Ovember 15th, Newsweek reported that "Biden Official Weighs In On Underground Nuclear Bomb Test Rumors". Our government continues to develop and maintain its nuclear arsenal in the Nevada Desert. While it has not detonated a nuclear device underground since 1992, in October the US House sent the Senate an appropriations bill seeking $19+ billion to fund a 'modernization' program for the nation's nuclear weapons stickpile.

[[ breaking the window ]]

[[ ad ]]

[[ breaking the window ]]

We continue our coverage this week taking a brief look at a recent bi-lateral meeting between President of the United States, Joe Biden and President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping. They met with one another for four hours in a side meeting on November 15th during the APEC Summit in Woodside California, usa.

Although no agreements were signed, most significantly, our respective nations seem to agree in principal on initiating work to regulate Artificial Intelligence and to stem the flow the the ingredients and equipment used here domestically to manufacture and distribute phentnyl.

Wang Yi, Director of the Foreign Affairs Commission for the Chinese Communist Party, addressing the media after the meeting emphasized the intention of the People's Republic of China in its relationship with the United States of America, to "proactively advance a cooperative agenda in areas where their interests converge and engage in positive interactions in international and multilateral fora". He states that "it is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other; and conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequences for both sides. The right approach is to respect each other, coexist in peace and pursue win-win cooperation."

The diplomat also warned that "China has legitimate interests that must be safeguarded, principles and positions that must be upheld, and red lines that must not be crossed. If the U.S. side is bent on encircling and containing China under the pretext of competition, China will firmly uphold its sovereignty, security and development interests. . . . China urges the U.S. to honor the one-China principle, oppose “Taiwan independence,” stop arming Taiwan, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, and support China’s peaceful reunification." and further that "It is important that the U.S. side take China’s concerns seriously, lift unilateral sanctions, and provide an equal, fair, and nondiscriminatory environment for Chinese businesses."

With respect to Chinese business concerns, US restrictions on semiconductor imports and threats by members of the US Congress for regulation targeting the TikTok social media platform were raised. Other areas of tension include US sanctions on Chinese citizens and government officials.

Kim Iverson, in her program on November 17th, claimed that the super power Presidents had clashed over competing visions between peace and hegemonic power, with the Chinese President emphasizing cooperation and the US President focused instead on competition. Multiple media outlets reported on a gaffe at a post-summit press conference, that Biden had called Jinping a dictator, the second time he has done so publicly in the past year. The remark was characterized by the WION, World is One News, program as 'off-script'. Cameras on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken show his wincing at the remark.

Reuters reported that Mao Ning, Spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of the People's Republic of China stated: "This statement is extremely wrong and irresponsible political manipulation. It should be pointed out that there will always be some people with ulterior motives who attempt to incite and damage U.S.-China relations, they are doomed to fail."

China's economic initiatives are already challenging the hegemony of the Bretton Woods financial institutions and the US Federal Reserve over global finance and economics.

Writing about the Johannesburg BRICS Summit in August of this year, the Council of Foreign Relations reported that: "The slew of applications to join the BRICS is clearly a symptom of a deeper malaise. The West’s proclivity to deploy unilateral financial sanctions, abuse international payments mechanisms, renege on climate finance commitments, and accord scant respect to food security and health imperatives of the Global South during the pandemic are only some of the elements responsible for the growing disenchantment with the prevailing international system."

BRICS has discussed a common currency, much like the Euro now facilitating trade among the EU. The UAE has begun accepting Indian Rupees for oil, breaking the stranglehold of the US mediated petrodollars exercised over the global oil trade since 1973.

A February article, also by the CFR reporting on the Belt and Road Initiative, states "Launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, the vast collection of development and investment initiatives was originally devised to link East Asia and Europe through physical infrastructure. In the decade since, the project has expanded to Africa, Oceania, and Latin America, significantly broadening China’s economic and political influence." CFR worries "that China is laying a debt trap for borrowing governments". In short, BRICS now challenges the US dominated World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as the principal money lenders to the Global South.

I next want to share the opening of John Pilger's 2016 film, The Coming War on China. Pliger is an Australian born journalist and documentary film maker. His examination of the US military deployment in the Pacific and the resistence to our nation's military's presence was his 60th documentary in a career which began with reporting on the US military occupation of Vietnam. You can watch the nearly two hour film on FreeVee and Amazon. Check out the links in the references below.

[[ excerpt, John Pilger's The Coming War with China ]]

Meanwhile, seven years after Mr. Pilger's film, US military bases continue to encircle China, and no agreement was reached at the November 15th San Francisco Summit between Biden and Jinping on China's demand that our nation stop arming Tawian.

[[ breaking the window ]]

[[ ad ]]

[[ breaking the window ]]

I'm your host, Hugh Esco. This has been the fifth episode of Breaking the Overton Window. Watch for the next episode coming soon.

WATCH FOR OUR NEXT EPISODE