A Swiss firm which supplies fortified underground residences has unveiled its new L'Heritage bunkers - for ultra high-net worth individuals who want to ride out the apocalypse bathed in the lap of luxury they've grown accustomed to.

The company, Oppidum, commissioned French architect Marc Prigent to design the sprawling underground abodes for "unprecedented times" - with each one offering a minimum of 10,000 square feet of space.

The residences can be customized to the owner's tastes - and can include extra facilities such as an extra-large garage, a private art gallery, meeting lounges, an indoor garden, and even a spa with a private pool, according to .

The residences have two independent air filtration systems - a primary unit for peacetime operation which provides fresh air indefinitely, and a state-of-the-art secondary air filtration system that can protect against airborne contaminants "be it of radioactive, chemical, biological or nuclear origin," according to the website.

The main structure is a reinforced concrete shell designed for static and dynamic loads, blast or shock waves, seismicity and other factors, and shelters can even be "designed to the highest NATO STANAG 2280:2016 level of protection."

Heavy security is key, given that these bunkers are made to ride out an apocalypse in extreme luxury. To that end, fortified blast doors are controlled by a multi-biometric meter that scans a resident's face, iris, palm and fingerprints. Each residence also comes with an integrated, military-grade security system, as well as (of course) the ability to survive off-grid.

"They are places of serenity and absolute safety for owners and their families. We are privileged to offer our clients the highest levels of service, creating beautiful places that will protect them and their legacy for generations to come," said Oppidum founder and CEO Jakub Zamrazil in a statement.

The bunkers are available in the US, EU, UK and UAE.

The War of Economic Corridors has entered incandescent, uncharted territory: Pipeline Terror.

A sophisticated military operation -- that required exhaustive planning, possibly involving several actors -- blew up four separate sections of the Nord Stream (NS) and Nord Stream 2 (NS2) gas pipelines this week in the shallow waters of the Danish straits, in the Baltic Sea, near the island of Bornholm.

Swedish seismologists estimated that the power of the explosions may have reached the equivalent of up to 700 kg of TNT. Both NS and NS2, near the strong currents around Borholm, are placed at the bottom of the sea at a depth of 60 meters.

The pipes are built with steel reinforced concrete, able to withstand impact from aircraft carrier anchors, and are basically indestructible without serious explosive charges. The operation -- causing two leaks near Sweden and two near Denmark -- would have to be carried out by modified underwater drones.

Every crime implies motive. The Russian government wanted -- at least up to the sabotage -- to sell oil and natural gas to the EU. The notion that Russian intel would destroy Gazprom pipelines is beyond ludicrous. All they had to do was to turn off the valves. NS2 was not even operational, based on a political decision from Berlin. The gas flow in NS was hampered by western sanctions. Moreover, such an act would imply Moscow losing key strategic leverage over the EU.

Diplomatic sources confirm that Berlin and Moscow were involved in a  to solve both the NS and NS2 issues. So they had to be stopped -- no holds barred. Geopolitically, the entity that had the motive to halt a deal holds anathema a possible alliance in the horizon between Germany, Russia, and China.

Whodunnit?

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The possibility of an "impartial" investigation of such a monumental act of sabotage -- coordinated by NATO, no less -- is negligible. Fragments of the explosives/underwater drones used for the operation will certainly be found, but the evidence may be tampered with. Atlanticist fingers are already blaming Russia. That leaves us with plausible working hypotheses.

This hypothesis is eminently sound and looks to be based on information from Russian intelligence sources. Of course, Moscow already has a pretty good idea of what happened (satellites and electronic monitoring working 24/7), but they won't make it public.

The hypothesis focuses on the Polish Navy and Special Forces as the physical perpetrators (quite plausible; the report offers very good internal details), American planning and technical support (extra plausible), and aid by the Danish and Swedish militaries (inevitable, considering this was very close to their territorial waters, even if it took place in international waters).

The hypothesis perfectly ties in with a conversation with a top German intelligence source, who told  that the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND or German intelligence) was  because 

Of course not. If the hypothesis is correct, this was a glaringly anti-German operation, carrying the potential of metastasizing into an intra-NATO war.

The much-quoted NATO Article 5 -- ‘an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us' -- obviously does not say anything about a NATO-on-NATO attack. After the pipeline punctures, NATO issued a meek statement "believing" what happened was sabotage and will "respond" to any deliberate attack on its critical infrastructure. NS and NS2, incidentally, are  part of NATO's infrastructure.

The whole operation had to be approved by Americans, and deployed under their Divide and Rule trademark. "Americans" in this case means the Neo-conservatives and Neo-liberals running the government machinery in Washington, behind the senile teleprompter reader.

This is a declaration of war against Germany and against businesses and citizens of the EU -- not against the Kafkaesque Eurocrat machine in Brussels. Don't be mistaken: NATO runs Brussels,  European Commission (EC) head and rabid Russophobe Ursula von der Leyen, who's just a lowly handmaiden for finance capitalism.

It's no wonder the Germans are absolutely mum; no one from the German government, so far, has said anything substantial.

The Polish corridor

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By now, assorted chattering classes are aware of former Polish Defense Minister and current MEP Radek Sirkorski's tweet: "Thank you, USA." But why would puny Poland be on the forefront? There's atavic Russophobia, a number of very convoluted internal political reasons, but most of all, a concerted plan to attack Germany built on pent up resentment -- including new demands for WWII reparations.

The Poles, moreover, are terrified that with Russia's partial mobilization, and the new phase of the Special Military Operation (SMO) -- soon to be transformed into a Counter-Terrorism Operation (CTO) -- the Ukrainian battlefield will move westward. Ukrainian electric light and heating will most certainly be smashed. Millions of new refugees in western Ukraine will attempt to cross to Poland.

At the same time there's a sense of "victory" represented by the partial opening of the Baltic Pipe in northwest Poland -- almost simultaneously with the sabotage.

Talk about timing. Baltic Pipe will carry gas from Norway to Poland via Denmark. The maximum capacity is only 10 billion cubic meters, which happens to be  times less than the volume supplied by NS and NS2. So Baltic Pipe may be enough for Poland, but carries no value for other EU customers.

Meanwhile, the fog of war gets thicker by the minute. It has already been documented that US helicopters were overflying the sabotage nodes only a few days ago; that a UK "research" vessel was loitering in Danish waters since mid-September; that NATO tweeted about the testing of "new unmanned systems at sea" on the same day of the sabotage. Not to mention that  published a startling report headlined "CIA warned German government against attacks on Baltic Sea pipelines," possibly a clever play for plausible deniability.

The Russian Foreign Ministry was sharp as a razor: "The incident took place in an area controlled by American intelligence." The White House was forced to "clarify" that President Joe Biden -- in a February video that has gone viral -- did not promise to destroy NS2; he promised to "not allow" it to work. The US State Department declared that the idea the US was involved is "preposterous."

Pres. Biden: "If Russia invades...then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it." Reporter: "But how will you do that, exactly, since...the project is in Germany's control?" Biden: "I promise you, we will be able to do that." https://t.co/uruQ4F4zM9 pic.twitter.com/4ksDaaU0YC

-- ABC News (@ABC) February 7, 2022

It was up to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to offer a good dose of reality: the damage to the pipelines posed a "big problem" for Russia, essentially losing its gas supply routes to Europe. Both NS2 lines had been pumped full of gas and -- crucially -- were prepared to deliver it to Europe; this is Peskov cryptically admitting negotiations with Germany were ongoing.

Peskov added, "this gas is very expensive and now it is all going up in the air." He stressed again that neither Russia nor Europe had anything to gain from the sabotage, especially Germany. This Friday, there will be a special UN Security Council session on the sabotage, called by Russia.

The attack of the Straussians

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Now for the Big Picture. Pipeline Terror is part of a Straussian offensive, taking the splitting up of Russia and Germany to the ultimate level (as they see it). , by Paul E. Gottfried (Cambridge University Press, 2011) is required reading to understand this phenomenon.

Leo Strauss, the German-Jewish philosopher who taught at the University of Chicago, is at the root of what later, in a very twisted way, became the Wolfowitz Doctrine, written in 1992 as the Defense Planning Guidance, which defined "America's mission in the post-Cold War era."

The Wolfowitz Doctrine goes straight to the point: any potential competitor to US hegemony, especially "advanced industrial nations" such as Germany and Japan, must be smashed. Europe should  exercise sovereignty: "We must be careful to prevent the emergence of a purely European security system that would undermine NATO, and particularly its integrated military command structure."

Fast-forward to the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act, adopted only five months ago. It establishes that Kiev has a free lunch when it comes to all arms control mechanisms. All these expensive weapons are leased by the US to the EU to be sent to Ukraine. The problem is that whatever happens in the battlefield, in the end, it is the EU that will have to pay the bills.

US Secretary of State Blinken and his underling, Victoria "F**k the EU" Nuland, are Straussians, now totally unleashed, having taken advantage of the black void in the White House. As it stands, there are at least three different "silos" of power in a fractured Washington. For all Straussians, a tight bipartisan op, uniting several high-profile usual suspects, destroying Germany is paramount.

One serious working hypothesis places them behind the orders to conduct Pipeline Terror. The Pentagon forcefully denied any involvement in the sabotage. There are secret back channels between Russia's Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

And dissident Beltway sources swear that the CIA is also not part of this game; Langley's agenda would be to force the Straussians to back off on Russia reincorporating Novorossiya and allow Poland and Hungary to gobble up whatever they want in Western Ukraine before the entire US government falls into a black void.

Come see me in the Citadel

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On the Grand Chessboard, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan two weeks ago dictated the framework of the multipolar world ahead. Couple it with the independence referendums in DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye, which Russian President Vladimir Putin will formally incorporate into Russia, possibly as early as Friday.

With the window of opportunity closing fast for a Kiev breakthrough before the first stirrings of a cold winter, and Russia's partial mobilization soon to enter the revamped SMO and add to generalized western panic, Pipeline Terror at least would carry the "merit" of solidifying a Straussian tactical victory: Germany and Russia fatally separated.

Yet blowback will be inevitable -- in unexpected ways -- even as Europe becomes increasingly Ukrainized and even Polandized: an intrinsically neo-fascist, unabashed puppet of the US as predator, not partner. Vey few across the EU are not brainwashed enough to understand how Europe is being set up for the ultimate fall.

The war, by those Straussians ensconced in the Deep State -- neocons and neoliberals alike -- won't relent. It is a war against Russia, China, Germany and assorted Eurasian powers. Germany has just been felled. China is currently observing, carefully. And Russia -- nuclear and hypersonic -- won't be bullied.

Poetry grandmaster C.P. Cavafy, in , wrote "And now what will become of us, without any barbarians? Those people were some kind of a solution." The barbarians are not at the gates, not anymore. They are inside their golden Citadel.

Ever since I wrote the substack article on human augmentation and the UK Ministry of Defence and the German Military Complex , discussing that these two organizations advocate for human augmentation in a report entitled "Human Augmentation -- The Dawn of a New Paradigm", I have been wondering if the US government, that is to say the US Department of Defense (DoD) and the Administrative State which controls it, has developed similar plans.

This week I did a little research starting with the key words -- "human augmentation" and "DoD" and there "it" is. The "it" being the strategy playbook and battlefield field plan for creating human cyborgs…

For those who lust for more stimulation and shaping after reading the following, this substack also relates to our June 16 substack entitled "ARPA-H, Intelligence Community within NIH".

To begin -- there are various "hints" from various governmental agencies that human augmentation research is underway and has been ongoing for a number of years. For instance, this article:

Inside the Military's New Office for Cyborgs 2014

DARPA's Arati Prabhakar Tells Defense One That Cutting-Edge Biology Research Is the Future of National Security

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Defense One, April 1, 2014

The ability to link human brains to machines, create new life forms and build Star Trek-style disease detectors will be the focus of a new Defense Department office soon.

The new office, named the Biological Technology Office, or BTO, will serve as a clearinghouse for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, programs into brain research, synthetic biology and epidemiology. The office will cover everything from brewing up tomorrow's bioweapon detectors and connecting humans to computers to designing entirely new types of super-strong living materials that could form the basis of future devices. Here are the key areas in more detail.

This author does let "the cat out of the bag", so to speak, by his use of the word "cyborg" in the article's title. That is the "" But the actual content of the article does little to enlighten us as to what the DoD actually has planned.

It is getting hard to tell who is driving the bus here, the Pentagon or Paramount pictures' script writers. Do DARPA locker rooms have pinups of Jeri Ryan? Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Is Bruce Sterling actually a deep state operative and CIA consultant?

Moving on to more recent news.

Another fascinating title and article -- this search was a little like following the bread crumbs to grannies house…

Researchers Help DoD Consider Challenges of Human Enhancement

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DEVCOM CBC Public Affairs November 18th, 2019

Peter Emanuel, Ph.D., the Army's Senior Research Scientist for Bioengineering, sees a future 30 years from now where a U.S. Soldier can direct a swarm of drones in battle through a direct brain-to-machine connection using a neural implant. The implant also allows him to see exactly what each of those drones is seeing, then digitally integrate this information in his brain and send it as data to other machines, fellow Soldiers or his command and control element.

This is a little more helpful.

Note that the person being interviewed for this article is Dr. Peter Emanuel. This is important later on in this Substack. Trust me, it is a "Where's Waldo" kind of thing.

Also, interesting that now the DoD is using the language "human enhancement" -- so much softer and gentler than "human cyborg," don't you think?

This article is even a little more current. Of note -- The COVIDcrisis most definitely took the spotlight off the whole "human cyborg" research agenda. Something tells me that the DoD didn't mind that too much.

US Space Force Chief Scientist Says Human Augmentation ‘Imperative'

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The Defense Post, May 05, 2021

Human augmentation should be embraced by the West to keep up with the competition, US Space Force chief scientist Dr. Joel Mozer said during an event last week at the Airforce Research Laboratory.

"In our business of national defense, it's imperative that we embrace this new age, lest we fall behind our strategic competitors," Mozer said.

Mozer added that unprecedented developments are forthcoming in areas such as artificial intelligence, which will allow the military to craft tactics and strategies that "no human could." Autonomous programs will eventually provide real-time advice to commanders, and multiple autonomous agents will be able to assist commanders and decision-makers in reconnaissance and fire control.

The chief scientist further explained that human augmentation will eventually develop into technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality -- including "nerve stimulation" to enhance the simulation of physical sensations.

"You could put [an] individual into a state of flow, where learning is optimized and retention is maximized," Mozer said. "This individual could be shaped into somebody with very high-performing potential."

(I mean, who isn't up for a little "nerve stimulation" among friends?)

The language used is really helpful in tracking the origins of the ideas. Bruce Sterling's classic cyberpunk novel Schismatrix is all about the conflict between Shapers and Mechanists, Shapers being the group that alters the body through genetic modification and specialized mental training. Mechanists are the group that modifies bodies through computer software and external alterations.

Yeah, we've seen that movie too.

Then we have the , the report that begins to lay out the true intent of the military in all of this.

This large, year-long assessment -- commissioned by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and conducted by the DoD Biotechnologies for Health and Human Performance Council was published at the end of 2019. It is entitled:

"Cyborg Soldier 2050: Human/Machine Fusion and the Implications for the Future of the DoD"

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Subject terms: "Cyborg" and "Human/Machine Enhancement"

That abstract of that assessment reads:

Abstract: The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (Alexandria, VA) established the DOD Biotechnologies for Health and Human Performance Council (BHPC) study group to continually assess research and development in biotechnology. The BHPC group assesses scientific advances for improved health and performance with potential military application; identifies corresponding risks and opportunities and ethical, legal, and social implications; and provides senior leadership with recommendations for mitigating adversarial threats and maximizing opportunities for future U.S. forces. At the direction of the BHPC Executive Committee, the BHPC study group conducted a year-long assessment entitled "Cyborg Soldier 2050: Human/Machine Fusion and the Impact for the Future of the DOD". The primary objective of this effort was to forecast and evaluate the military implications of machines that are physically integrated with the human body to augment and enhance human performance over the next 30 years. This report summarizes this assessment and findings; identifies four potential military-use cases for new technologies in this area; and assesses their impact upon the DOD organizational structure, warfighter doctrine and tactics, and interoperability with U.S. allies and civil society.

This analysis was made public when published, but then COVIDcrisis soon overwhelmed us all and it quickly faded from public memory.

If you didn't read this report back in the beginning of 2020 or if you have forgotten about it, below is the executive summary of this 50 page report (or click on the linked title above to read the whole report):

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A DoD Biotechnologies for Health and Human Performance Council (BHPC; Alexandria, VA) study group surveyed a wide range of current and emerging technologies relevant to assisting and augmenting human performance in many domains. The team used this information to develop a series of vignettes as case studies for discussion and analysis including feasibility; military application; and ethical, legal, and social implication (ELSI) considerations. Ultimately, the team selected four vignettes as being technically feasible by 2050 or earlier. The following vignettes are relevant to military needs and offer capabilities beyond current military systems:

ocular enhancements to imaging, sight, and situational awareness; restoration and programmed muscular control through an optogenetic bodysuit sensor web; auditory enhancement for communication and protection; and direct neural enhancement of the human brain for two-way data transfer.

Although each of these technologies will offer the potential to incrementally enhance performance beyond the normal human baseline, the BHPC study group analysis suggested that the development of direct neural enhancements of the human brain for two-way data transfer would create a revolutionary advancement in future military capabilities. This technology is predicted to facilitate read/write capability between humans and machines and between humans through brain-to-brain interactions. These interactions would allow warfighters direct communication with unmanned and autonomous systems, as well as with other humans, to optimize command and control systems and operations. The potential for direct data exchange between human neural networks and microelectronic systems could revolutionize tactical warfighter communications, speed the transfer of knowledge throughout the chain of command, and ultimately dispel the "fog" of war. Direct neural enhancement of the human brain through neuro-silica interfaces could improve target acquisition and engagement and accelerate defensive and offensive systems.

Although the control of military hardware, enhanced situational awareness, and faster data assimilation afforded by direct neural control would fundamentally alter the battlefield by the year 2050, the other three cyborg technologies are also likely to be adopted in some form by warfighters and civil society. The BHPC study group predicted that human/machine enhancement technologies will become widely available before the year 2050 and will steadily mature, largely driven by civilian demand and a robust bio-economy that is at its earliest stages of development in today's global market. The global healthcare market will fuel human/machine enhancement technologies primarily to augment the loss of functionality from injury or disease, and defense applications will likely not drive the market in its later stages. The BHPC study group anticipated that the gradual introduction of beneficial restorative cyborg technologies will, to an extent, acclimatize the population to their use.

The BHPC study group projected that introduction of augmented human beings into the general population, DOD active duty personnel, and near-peer competitors will accelerate in the years following 2050 and will lead to imbalances, inequalities, and inequities in established legal, security, and ethical frameworks. Each of these technologies will afford some level of performance improvement to end users, which will widen the performance gap between enhanced and unenhanced individuals and teams. The BHPC study group analyzed case studies and posed a series of questions to drive its assessment of the impact to DOD programs, policies, and operations. The following are the resulting recommendations (not listed in order of priority): (RM- I have only posted the top summaries for these recommendations, please go to the report for more detail).

1. DOD personnel must conduct global assessments of societal awareness and perceptions of human/machine enhancement technologies.

2. U.S. leadership should use existing and newly developed forums (e.g., NATO) to discuss impacts to interoperability with allied partners as we approach the year 2050. This will help develop policies and practices that will maximize interoperability of forces.

3. DOD should invest in the development of dynamic legal, security, and ethical frameworks under its control that anticipate emerging technologies.

4. Efforts should be undertaken to reverse negative cultural narratives of enhancement technologies.

5. DOD personnel should conduct tabletop wargames and targeted threat assessments to determine the doctrine and tactics of allied and adversarial forces.

6. The U.S. Government should support efforts to establish a whole-of-nation approach to human/machine enhancement technologies versus a whole-of-government approach.

7. The DOD should support foundational research to validate human/machine fusion technologies before fielding them and to track the long-term safety and impact on individuals and groups.

This rabbit hole then led me to the DARPA website -- and wow! This research -to create human cyborgs, it is actually happening.

A quick glance at the Biological Technology Office and DARPA reveals that programatic goals of building cyborg capabilities are being conducted at an astounding rate. The webpage search engine allows a search of the non-classified programs already being developed. So, one can go to this site and envision many, if not most of these technologies listed as being used for warfare. The military is developing human augmentation for military uses, not civilian. This is important to keep in mind.

So, I spent a little time searching and webmining the more "interesting" DARPA projects. Below are just a few of the abstracts of research projects being funded by DARPA and the DoD:

The Measuring Biological Aptitude (MBA) program aims to address the need for a more capable fighting force by helping individual warfighters identify, measure, and track personalized biomarkers related to training and peak performance for specialized roles. If the program succeeds, MBA technologies will give warfighters the ability to understand the underlying biological processes that govern their performance. Specifically, these technologies would elucidate the internal expression circuits (e.g., genetic, epigenetic, metabolomic) that shape militarily relevant cognitive, behavioral, and physical traits. New devices for continuously tracking these expression circuits could be integrated into the body to provide instantaneous user feedback, helping the warfighter to improve performance throughout training, assessment, selection, and mission execution for a given military specialty.

DARPA's multi-year AI Next portfolio of programs and investments seeks to develop contextual reasoning in artificial intelligence systems to improve human/machine teaming.

The Agile Teams (A-Teams) program aims to discover, test, and demonstrate generalizable mathematical abstractions for the design of agile human-machine teams and to provide predictive insight into team performance. While human-machine teams have been the subject of considerable past work in artificial intelligence and autonomy, designing agile team architectures remains largely a trial-and-error enterprise. The A-Teams program seeks to create a systematic methodology to design teams that best use the capabilities of both humans and machines and that can achieve enhanced performance in uncertain, dynamic, and co-evolving environments. These new abstractions will be validated using experimental testbeds aimed to support reproducible evaluation of human-machine team architectures in a diverse range of problem contexts.

The Hand Proprioception and Touch Interfaces (HAPTIX) program is pursuing key technologies to enable precision control of and sensory feedback from sensor-equipped upper-limb prosthetic devices. If successful, the resulting system would provide users near-natural control of prosthetic hands and arms via bi-directional peripheral nerve implants.

The Safe Genes program supports force protection and military health and readiness by protecting Service members from accidental or intentional misuse of genome editing technologies. Additional work will leverage advances in gene editing technology to expedite development of advanced prophylactic and therapeutic treatments against gene editors. Advances within the program will ensure the United States remains at the vanguard of the broadly accessible and rapidly progressing field of genome editing.

Safe Genes performer teams work across three primary technical focus areas to develop tools and methodologies to control, counter, and even reverse the effects of genome editing--including gene drives--in biological systems across scales. First, researchers are developing the genetic circuitry and genome editing machinery for robust, spatial, temporal, and reversible control of genome editing activity in living systems. Second, researchers are developing small molecules and molecular strategies to provide prophylactic and treatment solutions that prevent or limit genome editing activity and protect the genome integrity of organisms and populations. Third, researchers are developing "genetic remediation" strategies that eliminate unwanted engineered genes from a broad range of complex population and environmental contexts to restore systems to functional and genetic baseline states.

Overall, the Safe Genes program is creating a layered, modular, and adaptable solution set to: protect warfighters and the homeland against intentional or accidental misuse of genome editing technologies; prevent and/or reverse unwanted genetic changes in a given biological system; and facilitate the development of safe, precise, and effective medical treatments that use gene editors.

The Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3) program aims to develop high-performance, bi-directional brain-machine interfaces for able-bodied service members. Such interfaces would be enabling technology for diverse national security applications such as control of unmanned aerial vehicles and active cyber defense systems or teaming with computer systems to successfully multitask during complex military missions.

Whereas the most effective, state-of-the-art neural interfaces require surgery to implant electrodes into the brain, N3 technology would not require surgery and would be man-portable, thus making the technology accessible to a far wider population of potential users. Noninvasive neurotechnologies such as the electroencephalogram and transcranial direct current stimulation already exist, but do not offer the precision, signal resolution, and portability required for advanced applications by people working in real-world settings.

The envisioned N3 technology breaks through the limitations of existing technology by delivering an integrated device that does not require surgical implantation, but has the precision to read from and write to 16 independent channels within a 16mm3 volume of neural tissue within 50ms. Each channel is capable of specifically interacting with sub-millimeter regions of the brain with a spatial and temporal specificity that rivals existing invasive approaches. Individual devices can be combined to provide the ability to interface to multiple points in the brain at once.

To enable future non-invasive brain-machine interfaces, N3 researchers are working to develop solutions that address challenges such as the physics of scattering and weakening of signals as they pass through skin, skull, and brain tissue, as well as designing algorithms for decoding and encoding neural signals that are represented by other modalities such as light, acoustic, or electro-magnetic energy.

The Neural Evidence Aggregation Tool (NEAT) program aims to overcome current limitations by developing a new cognitive science tool that identifies people at risk of suicide by using preconscious brain signals rather than asking questions and waiting for consciously filtered responses. By aggregating preconscious brain signals to stimuli, NEAT would determine what a person believes to be true, false, or indeterminate about specific types of knowledge that could be used to detect signs of depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation earlier and more reliably than ever before. If successful, NEAT will not only significantly augment behavioral health screening, but it could also serve as a new way to assess ultimate treatment efficacy, since patients will often tell their clinicians what they think the clinician wants to hear rather than how they are truly feeling. Ultimately, NEAT intends to augment current behavioral health screening programs by providing clinicians with previously unavailable information to enable earlier interventions and more reliable measures of successful treatment.

The research activities that are being conducted by DARPA and the DoD are considerable. Even the small sampling of abstracts published above only begins to document just how large this endeavor is.

These technologies are further along than we might think, and we deserve to know more about them. This is the future that our government is planning for us, whether we like it or not, and it is a future that is opaque. From genetic engineering to new synthetics development for neural implants, to replacing and enhancing limbs for warfare -- our military is "going there." But the truth is, some places "we" shouldn't go. Just because they "can," doesn't mean they "should".

If you have learned anything since January 2020, I hope that you have learned to question the wisdom and insight of the insider cliques within the US Government and "Administrative State" who believe that it is acceptable to march ahead with genetic and mechanical engineering of human beings without meaningful oversight, let alone self awareness and any sense of bioethical boundaries.

If we truly wish to have a say in these new technologies, society (which is to say "we") must be informed. "We" have a right to be informed. That means you and me. As these technologies develop, transhumanism will become all the rage. Think about that. These new technologies will be what future generations will have to look forward to. Human cyborgs are their futures. They, that is human cyborgs, will be our children and our grandchildren.

We are Borg. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. Your life as it has been is over. From this time forward, you will service us.

Thanks, Paramount. We need more "normalizing their vision of the future" in our lives please.

The military is already working on propaganda to "reverse negative cultural narratives of enhancement technologies." So, once again -- we are being played before we even know what the playing field looks like.

Like I said before, we have all seen that movie too.

The full scope of this program needs to be revealed to the American people. Although the executive report barely mentions gene editing technologies, the military is investing heavily in them and clearly with the intention of using them for the war fighter. The executive report barely skims the surface of the research that is currently being carried out by DARPA, and that is only one office within the Department of Defense. The public's right to know about this research and what the final goals are is crucial. Congress must demand answers and must demand open and transparent responses. As the report rightly points out, what happens in the military will make its way into the public sphere. We have a right to know what is being planned for our future "." I don't use that word lightly. But that is how the  has labeled human augmentation research.

Turns out that Silicon Valley darling and Klaus Schwab's evil mini me Yuval Noah Harari (author of Homo Deus, which literally means "Man God") is not so far out there in his thinking as we had thought.

The bioethics of human augmentation are complex. The regulatory processes must be developed before the technologies come into being, not the other way around. People must envision how these technologies will be used in civilian life, in military life and as life-saving treatments. People need to decide if and which of these technologies really are for the good of society. People need to become involved now.

That starts with education. Which begins with transparency by our government. In future Substacks, I hope that you and I will begin exploring the bioethics, the impact of these technologies, privacy issues, the targets, future visions of society and just what this all means.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

I have noted in the past that criminals tend to brag about their criminality when they believe there's nothing anyone can do about it. Frankly, in their narcissism many of them can't help but revel in the moment and let everyone know how "superior" they are to the rest of us. We witnessed many moments like this from elitists within globalists institutions the past couple of years at the height of the pandemic pandemonium.

There were people like the globalist academics at MIT proclaiming that we were "never going back to normal" and that we were going to have to accept the loss of many of our freedoms for the rest of our lives in order to combat the spread of covid. There were people like Klaus Schwab declaring the beginning of the "Great Reset" and the launch of what the Davos crowd calls the "4th Industrial Revolution." There have also been MANY political leaders like Joe Biden that strut around on the media stage accusing ideological opponents (conservatives mostly) of being "enemies of democracy."

If their vision of "democracy" is medical tyranny and the forced expansion of cultural Marxism, or if their idea of democracy is government cooperation with corporate monopoly and the erasure of our country's founding principles, then yes, I suppose I am indeed an enemy of "democracy."

The globalists were really basking in the glow of their assumed victory. They thought they had us peasants by the scruff of the neck and that their agenda was all but assured. But as I have been arguing since last year, the money elites may have celebrated a little too early.

The covid agenda utterly failed if the goal was to implement longstanding mandates and restrictions across North America and Europe. If you want to know what success for the globalists would have looked like, just examine China with its endless lockdown cycles and digital vaccine passports. The elites wanted that outcome for the west and they didn't get it. They came close, but millions of Americans, Canadians and Europeans stood their ground and the cost to force us into compliance would have been too great.

Even Joe Biden has openly admitted that the pandemic is over. They dropped the mandates because they knew if it came to war, they would lose.

If the goal of the pandemic fear factory was simply to get the population injected with the mRNA vaccines, here they also failed. With many states in the US 40% unvaxxed (according to official numbers) and many parts of the world with large unvaxxed populations, there is a massive control group for the covid vaccines. If there are going to be constantly developing health problems associated the mRNA vax (like Myocarditis) then the public is going to know what caused them because of this control group. The globalists needed near-100% vaccination and they did not get it. Not even close.

There is no escape for them -- They greatly overestimated the public's apathy when it comes to authoritarianism. The rebellion is too large and they will eventually be held accountable for their trespasses.

Case in point: The latest election in Italy has resulted in a landslide win for the conservative coalition and the new prime minister (and first woman prime minister), Georgia Meloni, gave a rousing victory speech this week which directly exposed the far-left invasion of western nations, globalism and the poisonous collusion with woke corporations to silence dissent. She called for a return to freedom, and what was the mainstream media response? They are calling her a "fascist."

The Italian election is just a small part of an ongoing trend, an awakening of the people to the imminent threats presented by globalists, and the globalists can't stop it.

The fear among them is palpable. Anti-globalism is now going mainstream, and as it does people are going to start looking for answers. Why have our economic conditions been so degraded? Why are we facing stagflationary crisis? Why are prices on everything continuing to climb? Why did we almost lose all of our civil liberties in the name of fighting a virus with a tiny 0.23% official median Infection Fatality Rate? Why are pointless carbon controls being instituted in the middle of a supply chain crisis? Why are politicians and banks making everything so much worse?

The public outcry for a reckoning is growing and it's the heads of globalists that will end up on the chopping block. All roads to destruction lead back to them and the policies they have forced upon the populace.

Of course, when criminals feel like they are being cornered they will sometimes set fires and take hostages in a last ditch effort to stay alive and slip through the net. I believe we are closing in on that stage of this terrible drama. It's important to accept the conditions of the battlefield as they are and not underestimate the enemy. The truth is, globalists have extensive means at their disposal to wreak havoc and they have already set some of these disasters in motion.

As I warned many years ago (way back in 2017 in my article ‘The Economic End Game Continues'), tensions with eastern nations are being used to diminish the role of the US dollar as the world reserve currency and the petro currency. The conflict is also causing resource shortages and supply chain weakness, not to mention an energy crisis in Europe that is now irreversible with the sabotage of the Nord pipelines.

I also predicted in 2017 that the Federal Reserve would repeat a pattern of raising interest rate into severe economic weakness causing increased economic turmoil. They used a very similar tactic at the onset of the Great Depression, which former federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke openly admitted was the cause of the long term deflationary collapse.

From my article in 2017:

"The changing of the Fed chair is absolutely meaningless as far as policy is concerned. Jerome Powell will continue the same exact initiatives as Yellen; stimulus will be removed, rates will be hiked and the balance sheet will be reduced, leaving the massive market bubble the Fed originally created vulnerable to implosion.

An observant person…might have noticed that central banks around the world seem to be acting in a coordinated fashion to remove stimulus support from markets and raise interest rates, cutting off supply lines of easy money that have long been a crutch for our crippled economy."

The Bank for International Settlement's, the central bank of central banks and the institution that writes global policy initiatives for all other member banks, called for MORE rate hikes last week. Aside from a minor intervention by the Bank of England, the evidence shows that the globalists WANT a crash and are engineering conditions of instability. They set up the dominoes in advance and now they have decided to knock them down. I think this is a fail-safe; a panic trigger in the event that they did not get the control they wanted from the covid pandemic.

They will blame Russia, they will blame China, they will blame conservatives, they will blame anything and anyone besides themselves in an attempt to divert public attention away from the international banking actions that created the crash conditions in the first place. We can't let them. Whatever happens next, it is vital that people remember who really did this to us and who needs to be punished.

Over the course of the next couple of years the establishment power brokers are going to attempt to use a chaos screen in order to sow seeds of fear in the population. They are going to try to exploit that fear to gain even more centralized governance and change the very foundations of our society while suffocating what's left of our liberties. It's the only play they have left, but at least we now know for certain that there are millions of us out there -- millions of people that will not comply and that will fight back. And, we know that the globalists are afraid; if they weren't then they would not be falling back to such drastic measures.

Hurricane Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm early Thursday morning as it traversed northeastward across central Florida, dumping torrential rain while still packing strong winds across a large swath of the state. 

The former Category 4 hurricane made landfall Wednesday afternoon west of Fort Myers near Cayo Costa. Ian unleashed widespread life-threatening storm surge flooding across the region.  

About 2.6 million homes and businesses are without power, according to PowerOutage.us. The most significant number of outages are based in the southwest Florida region, where the hurricane made landfall. 

Shocking footage yesterday revealed the surge sent a wall of water roaring inland that was as high as some homes. Streets were instantly transformed into rivers. We pointed out last night that total storm damage could be upwards of $70 billion. 

I'm sick to my stomach seeing these photos of the incredible storm surge that hit Fort Myers, Florida as the eye of Hurricane Ian moved onshore Wednesday. Easily over 10 feet of water up to the roofs in some spots. pic.twitter.com/S6tViQf5Kv

-- Eric Zernich (@EricZernich) September 29, 2022

My whole heart is broken, downtown Fort Myers Beach is completely under water. #fortmyersbeach #HurricaneIan #FortMyers pic.twitter.com/2V0GbB7jdk

-- Abbie (@Abbieamerican) September 28, 2022

Storm surge outside of my moms house on Fort Myers Beach. I'm so sick. pic.twitter.com/12ujJqmacH

-- Beth #GetCaroleHome (@itsbethbooker) September 28, 2022

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told ABC's Good Morning America that he believes "fatalities are in the hundreds" after Ian devastated his county, which includes Fort Myers, Cape Coral, and Bonita Springs, areas that experienced extreme storm surges yesterday and into the overnight. 

Hoping he's wrong, but Lee County, Fla. Sheriff Carmine Marceno says it's "confirmed" there are "fatalities in the hundreds" #HurricaneIan pic.twitter.com/WtJCfWPwb4

-- Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 29, 2022

Breaking Fort Meyers Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno says 100's dead in the wake of hurricane Ian #HurricaneIan #hurricaineIan #Ian pic.twitter.com/f2L7Tiwawq

-- wlctv.ca (@wlctv_ca) September 29, 2022

Now Ian is expected to enter the Atlantic Ocean later today and make landfall (again) along the South Carolina coast late Friday. 

The storm's economic impact on Florida's manufacturing, agriculture, and distribution sectors will be felt for weeks, if not months. It could also upend Florida's home-insurance market, where insurers likely face billions of dollars in losses. 

 

Update (0735ET):

Reuters quoted NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday, saying attacks against EU critical infrastructure would be met with a "determined response." He called the acts "sabotage. "

statement from the North Atlantic Council (NATO) read. 

Separately Stoltenberg tweeted:

The sabotage of the Nordstream pipelines is of deep concern. #NATO is committed to deter and defend against hybrid attacks. Any deliberate attack against Allies' critical infrastructure would be met with a united and determined response. https://t.co/XSiqWK20xF

-- Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) September 29, 2022

Stoltenberg nor NATO named the culprit behind the pipeline attacks, though some EU officials have suggested Russia. 

There was no mention of how NATO "arrived at its assessment that the damage, which it said has caused substantial environmental fallout and shipping disruptions, resulted from the intentional attack," WSJ noted. 

NATO's statement is a significant increase in tensions between Russia and the West ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's move to annex parts of eastern Ukraine. 

More details on the fourth Nord Stream leak are below. 

* * * 

Sweden's coastguard confirmed a new leak was discovered on the damaged Nord Stream pipeline system in the Baltic Sea on Thursday, according to Reuters. Add this to the three other leaks for a grand total of four that have been spewing natural gas into the water since Monday. 

While neither NS1 nor NS2 was operational during the suspected undersea explosions earlier this week, they were filled with NatGas to Germany, with Denmark estimating the leaks would dissipate by Sunday. 

There are two massive gas bubbles on the surface of the Baltic above the damaged pipelines in Sweden's economic zone. One gas bubble measures a staggering 2,950 feet in diameter, while the other is about 600 feet. 

Several EU heads have called the incident "deliberate" and "sabotage," with Finland stating that only a state actor was capable of the pipeline attack. 

The Baltic region is getting more intense by the day as Norway, now Europe's top natural gas supplier (recently displaced Russia), increased security at energy infrastructure sites, land terminals, and platforms on the Norwegian continental shelf. There were reports of mysterious drones buzzing oil rigs. 

The UN Security Council will meet Friday at Russia's request to review the damage to NS1 and NS2. Russia's US embassy asked for the meeting as it "insists on the need for a comprehensive and objective examination of the circumstances of the unprecedented attacks on Russian pipelines."

Reuters said the embassy commented on its Telegram channel that the US attempts to "squeeze out" Russian oil firms from the global energy market through "non-market methods and sanctions." 

The Russian prosecutor's office told Interfax the Nord Stream incident is being investigated as an "international terrorism" probe.

For now, NS1 appears as if it won't be operational anytime soon (NS2 was never operational though filled with gas). Before this winter and the reduction in NS1 capacity, the EU received about 40% of its NatGas via pipelines from Russia, a figure that Bloomberg now has around 9%. 

Update (1510ET):

Accuweather has declared Hurricane Ian made landfall around 1420 ET on North Captiva Island, a barrier island just west of Fort Myers, Florida. The storm came ashore with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph.

This is absolutely shocking... 

Horrific scene in Matlacha/Pine Island, Florida where storm surge and strong Cat 4 winds from #HurricaneIan has battered the small island community. pic.twitter.com/cdmKQLjYd5

-- Alejandro Galiano ❁ (@havanahistory) September 28, 2022

Naples. Houses are moving pic.twitter.com/nFVY9oP1y4

-- reallyryanbush (new acct) (@reallyryanbush) September 28, 2022

Fort Myers, Florida #hurricaineIan #USA pic.twitter.com/XM1vU42IRP #BreakingNews

-- Javi (@Javiergg9885) September 28, 2022

Storm surge outside of my moms house on Fort Myers Beach. I'm so sick. pic.twitter.com/12ujJqmacH

-- Beth (@itsbethbooker) September 28, 2022

Homes float away, several others damaged, as #Ian hammers Fort Myers Beach, #Florida. Over 5,24,000 homes and businesses without power in Florida#FLwx #HurricaneIan #Hurricane #FortMyers #Huracan #Cubano #LeeCounty #Viral #Climate #Rain #Storm #Tropicswx VC: Loni Architects pic.twitter.com/NFaJKWrkEo

-- Earth42morrow (@Earth42morrow) September 28, 2022

WATCH: A Lee's Summit couple on vacation on an island off Fort Myers, Florida, is stranded there as #HurricaneIan ravages the state with catastrophic storm surges. Story: https://t.co/CvTQQHxLqi pic.twitter.com/uYuLKKIPod

-- KCTV5 News (@KCTV5) September 28, 2022

Storm surge in Fort Myers looks like a yacht has broken free and is roaming the streets. #hurricanian #ianhurricane #Ian pic.twitter.com/Wfbn9MFB7p

-- Jayden X (@nojaydenx) September 28, 2022

Sharknado?

The storm surge is so powerful from #HurricaneIan that it has brought a shark into the city streets of Fort Myers. @BradHabuda pic.twitter.com/RHY0kK5RHR

-- Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) September 28, 2022

* * * 

Update (1247ET): 

The National Weather Service reports powerful Hurricane Ian is nearing landfall on the southwest coast of Florida. NWS expects "catastrophic storm surge and wind damage" will occur across Charlotte County, just north of Fort Myers. 

Recent readings showed Ian had sustained winds of 155 mph, only 2 mph shy of a Category 5 storm. As of 1144 ET, the storm's "outer eyewall" was about 20 miles from land, according to meteorologist Jason Boyer. 

Hurricane #Ian is slowing down as it nears landfall in SW FL. . The outer eye wall is 20 miles from mainland FL. . The storm remains intense, nearing category 5 (157+mph) strength. #flwx pic.twitter.com/TYECXi5JcP

-- Jason Boyer (@JasonBoyerWLOS) September 28, 2022

NWS provided satellite footage of Ian encompassing nearly the whole state of Florida. 

NWS shows a 12-18 feet storm surge forecasted for Charlotte County. 

Horrifying videos have been posted on social media showing Ian's wrath ahead of landfall expected this afternoon. 

Incredible video from Sanibel Island in Florida as Hurricane Ian moves in around midday Wednesday. The worst is yet to come unfortunately. #flwx #HurricaneIan pic.twitter.com/8rq2XAwoaY

-- Joliet Weather Center (@JolietWeather) September 28, 2022

LAST MOMENTS OF SANIBEL ISLAND SURGE PACK: Unfortunately, our @cyclonePORT was taken by the extreme winds and storm surge just moments ago. Here are the last moments on camera. @ryanhallyall pic.twitter.com/02a8hl4x2L

-- RadarOmega (@RadarOmega) September 28, 2022

Lanai sent airborne in Cape Coral, Florida by Hurricane #Ian's winds. Video sent in by a WINK viewer pic.twitter.com/TrbmocjL9A

-- Nash Rhodes (@NashWX) September 28, 2022

Sparks and flames explode from downed power lines in Naples, Florida, ahead of Hurricane Ian. LIVE UPDATES: https://t.co/pprirarnV5 pic.twitter.com/xs6iAmeVKE

-- ABC News (@ABC) September 28, 2022

Currently in Fort Myers, Florida. Video by Loni Architects #flwx #Ian #hurricane pic.twitter.com/8nfncFlG9G

-- Kaitlin Wright (@wxkaitlin) September 28, 2022

From NBC2's camera, there is a significant amount of storm surge inundation at Naples Grande, FL.#flwx #weather #Ian pic.twitter.com/mwhNt4O6Iy

-- Weather Track US (@weathertrackus) September 28, 2022

Live video on @weatherchannel shows dangerous storm surge from #Hurricane Ian making landfall in Fort Myers, #Florida. Even worse, much severe storm surge is yet to come.#Ian #FLwx #HurricaneIan @CollinGrossWx pic.twitter.com/Zjd1C19ad5

-- Dena Grayson, MD, PhD (@DrDenaGrayson) September 28, 2022

Dangerous and damaging storm Surge in Naples, FL from Naples Fire Dept. #HurricaneIan #flwx pic.twitter.com/ctpi0GcnQe

-- Mike Clay (@Mike_Clay) September 28, 2022

*RARE* first person view of storm surge. This camera is 6 feet off the ground on Estero Blvd in Fort Myers Beach, FL. Not sure how much longer it keeps working. You'll see it live only on ⁦@weatherchannel⁩ #Ian pic.twitter.com/WwHtvgVxjY

-- Mike Bettes (@mikebettes) September 28, 2022

Fort Myers, Florida #hurricaineIan #USA pic.twitter.com/XM1vU42IRP #BreakingNews

-- Javi (@Javiergg9885) September 28, 2022

* * *

Update (0739ET): 

Hurricane Ian continues to strengthen ahead of landfall. As of 0733 ET, the National Hurricane Center said Ian's sustained maximum winds were 155 mph, just 2 mph shy of a Cat. 5 storm. 

* * * 

Hurricane Ian strengthened into a powerful Category 4 storm expected to make landfall on Florida's southwest coast today and then traverse central Florida and emerge in the Atlantic by Thursday. 

At 0500 ET, the National Hurricane Center said Ian sustained maximum winds of 140 mph and gusts up to 165 mph. The storm's center was about 75 miles west-southwest of Naples and 105 miles south-southwest of Punta Gorda, moving north-northeast at 10 mph. 

Ian's path has shifted south of Tampa Bay, and landfall is now expected between Fort Myers and Sarasota on Wednesday morning or early afternoon before moving across the central part of the state. 

NHC warned a "life-threatening storm surge is expected along the Florida west coast and the Lower Florida Keys," with "devastating wind damage" expected near Ian's center.

"Catastrophic flooding is expected across portions of central Florida with considerable flooding in southern Florida, northern Florida, southeastern Georgia and coastal South Carolina," the weather agency continued.

"It's going to be historic," National Weather Service Melbourne meteorologist Kole Fehling in Melbourne, referring to the storm's landfall impacts. 

Fehling said Central Florida could be swamped with 15 to 20 inches of rainfall, with some areas receiving upwards of 24 inches. 

On Tuesday night, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told residents: 

Millions of Floridians are under evacuation orders or advisories as DeSantis activated the National Guard earlier this week before the storm's arrival. 

There are notable economic impacts due to adverse weather conditions in the region. On Tuesday evening, US energy companies idled 190,000 barrels of daily crude production, some 11% of US Gulf of Mexico output. 

Bloomberg pointed out that the "nation's production of phosphate fertilizer" is in the storm's path. 

Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research, said Mosaic's New Wales plant is "right in the middle of the damage swath," adding the facility "could be out for weeks." 

Bloomberg said Ian could cause $45 billion in damage, which would make it one of the most costly storms in the country's history. 

By late Tuesday, over 2,000 flights to and from Florida were canceled. Flight delays and cancelations could spill over to the rest of the country. 

The American Embassy in Moscow issued an unusual warning on Tuesday, urging all US citizens still in the country to flee immediately in the wake of Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization decree from last week. The urgent message is essentially  as the war in Ukraine ratchets up further, even increasingly accompanied by nuclear rhetoric.

The embassy's concern is that Moscow might not recognize that dual citizens should be exempt from military service. "Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals' U.S. citizenship, deny their access to U.S. consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service," the embassy statement warned.

This also as there are widespread reports of traffic jams at key land border crossings; for example at the Georgian border there is an over 10-mile long queue of cars awaiting exit, though guards on the Russian side are said to be making the process difficult.

Airline tickets to go abroad have also been harder to come by, also as prices soar, and it remains that European airspace remains closed to all Russian carriers, though European airliners can still fly direct from Russia to Europe.

"Those residing or traveling in Russia should depart Russia immediately while limited commercial travel options remain," the embassy statement added. Additionally, as Fox reports:

Since the invasion of Ukraine kicked off just over seven months ago, the State Department has urged Americans to avoid traveling to or going through Russia, given the unpredictability of the conflict.

Russia has further recently introduced elements of martial law in its criminal code, resulting in stiff penalties for any Russian who refused to fight in Ukraine.

Harrowing message from the US Embassy in Moscow: "U.S. citizens should not travel to Russia and those residing or travelling in Russia should depart Russia immediately while limited commercial travel options remain." pic.twitter.com/oRDG5hSpn7

-- Bill Browder (@Billbrowder) September 28, 2022

Interestingly, US officials have even speculated that ex-NSA employee and whistleblower Edward Snowden could possibly face conscription in the Russian military - after he was days ago granted citizenship by a decree signed by President Putin.

Annexation polls have closed Tuesday in four occupied regions of Ukraine, after five days of voting on whether or not citizens in these territories wish to join the Russian Federation. Marking the occasion, President Vladimir Putin said in a televised meeting with officials: "Saving people in the territories where this referendum is taking place... is the focus of the attention of our entire society and of the entire country."

Russia's state RT has announced partial results late in the evening (local time) showing a huge majority in both the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) supporting uniting with the Russian Federation. "In DPR, more than 98% of voters supported the idea to join Russia, according to early official figures. The referendum in LPR yielded a similar result, with more than 97% of voters supporting the potential reunification. In Lugansk, all the ballots have been already counted, according to local authorities, while Donetsk, so far, has processed just over a half of votes."

And on initial results from Zaporizhzhia, Russian's English language broadcaster reports, "Residents of the Zaporozhye region in Ukraine, which is partially controlled by Moscow, have elected to break away from the country and join the Russian Federation. More than 93% of voters have supported the idea to split from Ukraine and join Russia, official figures show after all the ballots have been counted."

The Ukrainian government and its Western backers have denounced the referendums as a "sham" - given it's happening in the middle of a war and occupation. Yet other observers have noted these are all historically Russian-speaking regions, and that even without the Russian invasion a strong pro-Moscow showing would be likely.

The votes were held starting late last week through the weekend in self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, and in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - despite Russian forces not currently being in control of every part of these territorial regions.

Not only has Kyiv vowed not to recognize any declared "independence" of these oblasts, it has even threatened lengthy prison sentences for any Ukrainian who organizes referenda or individuals who participate in the voting.

Meanwhile Russia's RIA said of voting across the occupied territories: First partial voting results from Russian-occupied parts of four regions of Ukraine show majorities of at least 96% in favor of becoming part of Russia. 

Zelenskyy said at a #UN Security Council meeting that if #Russia recognizes the results of the "referendums," then he and Putin have nothing more to talk about. pic.twitter.com/AMwTRXVscu

-- NEXTA (@nexta_tv) September 27, 2022

The Kremlin has announced a major Putin speech set for Friday, and it's believed the Russian leader will use the occasion to declare the Ukrainian territories now part of Russia. This will mean close to 20% of Ukraine's geographic territory will be claimed as under the Russian state.

Update (1445ET): 

German magazine Spiegel said the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recently warned Berlin about the increasing signs of a possible planned attack on the Nord Stream pipeline system. 

Spiegel reported, citing unnamed sources, that the CIA tipped off Berlin in the summer about possible attacks on NS1 and NS2. 

CIA warned Germany weeks ago of coming attack on natural gas pipelines Nord Stream I & II (from Russia to Germany), reports Der Spiegel. Russia could have pulled off such an attack but "It is difficult to see whether Russia or Ukraine could have an interest in such an incident" pic.twitter.com/7jZWvYdhgI

-- Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) September 27, 2022

"From Ukraine's point of view, the permanent interruption of gas supplies from Russia to Germany would be a possible interest in the room. On the contrary, there would be immense political disadvantages that could arise from an attack." pic.twitter.com/qziRb1gFUF

-- Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) September 27, 2022

* * * 

Update (1415 ET): 

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen told reporters Nord Stream pipeline system damage to NS1 and NS2 "are deliberate actions, not an accident."  

Danish gov speaking live now on Nord Stream leaks. PM Mette Frederiksen "These are deliberate actions, not an accident." pic.twitter.com/UMw4MOUgc9

-- Carl Fridh Kleberg (@FridhKleberg) September 27, 2022

* * * 

Update (1215ET):

CNN's White House and national security reporter Natasha Bertrand said the Biden administration "is not going to speculate on the cause" of the Nord Stream pipeline system damage to NS1 and NS2. 

Another CNN national security reporter, Kylie Atwood, tweeted that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it would be "in no one's interest" if NS leaks were confirmed as the result of an attack or sabotage.

Sec Blinken cites initial reports that the nord stream leaks may be the result of an attack or sabotage, which he says are not confirmed. But if they are confirmed he says such an attack is "in no one's interest."

-- Kylie Atwood (@kylieatwood) September 27, 2022

Remember what Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said earlier this year... 

January 27, 2022 VICTORIA NULAND: "If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward." pic.twitter.com/gYSaMd0yJc

-- AZ (@AZmilitary1) September 27, 2022

* * * 

Update (1025ET):

AFP News reported the US is 'ready to provide support' to Europe after the Nord Stream pipeline system leaks. 

There was no further information on what type of support, but one can only imagine it would involve increased LNG cargo shipments to the EU.  

There's only one issue... 

And then watch these floating hindenburgs encounter unexpected if catastrophic "events" as they sail to Europe https://t.co/aoMOWxWDry

-- zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 26, 2022

* * * 

Update (0932ET): 

Swedish broadcaster SVT reported that the Swedish National Seismic Network detected two underwater explosions near the Nord Stream pipeline system on Monday. 

Bjorn Lund, a professor in seismology and director of the Swedish National Seismic Network, said these two seismic events were explosions.  

Here's a map of the three leaks on the Nord Stream pipeline system. 

All blasts seem to be just outside territorial waters (though within EEZ) - that has potential legal implications regarding interference with sovereignty Also interesting is whether sheer size of methane bubbles (1km diameter) moves it back inside Danish territory... https://t.co/a3l0q0bByk

-- David Sheppard (@OilSheppard) September 27, 2022

Bloomberg's Javier Blas said the size of the "gas leak is huge." 

The size of the Nord Stream pipeline gas leak is huge. According to the Danish armed forces, it measures about 1 kilometer in diameter. The smaller circle in the center is approximately 200 meters wide https://t.co/7FJQNN5hNg

-- Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) September 27, 2022

So the question remains what (or who) caused the blasts? 

Remember what President Biden said weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine:  

No biggie, just a major gas leak in Nordstream 2 and suspected ‘sabotage,' it's a real mystery what's going on https://t.co/azIM4DF58T

-- Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) September 27, 2022

* * * 

Update (0920ET):

Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbaldet quoted the Swedish Defense Force's chief of operations, Michael Claesson, who said it's not ruled out that there's a connection to the gas leaks and Russia's mobilization last week. 

Claesson then told the paper that the incident was a "military matter." 

* * * 

Update (0910ET): 

Danish Defense Forces published the first images of the gas leaks from the Nord Stream pipeline system near the exclusive economic zone southeast of Bornholm island, according to the Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbaldet. 

The first images show a large surface area of gas bubbles in the Baltic Sea. 

Here are more images of one of the leaks. 

Another leak was reported by the Danish Defense Forces to be 1 kilometer in diameter on the surface water. 

UPDATE - The surface area of the largest Nord Stream gas leak shows a "disturbance" of well over 1 kilometer in diameter, according to the Danish armed forces. pic.twitter.com/u0r4cGjImo

-- Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) September 27, 2022

This is an absolutely massive leak. 

A handful of EU officials suspect the pipelines were sabotaged.  

* * * 

Update (0842ET):

Sweden's government held a crisis management meeting with other public authorities over the damage to the Nord Stream pipeline system, Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbaldet said, citing comments from Foreign Minister Ann Linde. 

Linde said Sweden may discuss the pipeline damage with Denmark later today.  

Denmark is tightening security around all energy assets as some European officials speculate the NS pipeline system was sabotaged. 

* * * 

The plot thickens about what caused damage to three lines of the Nord Stream gas-pipeline system under the Baltic Sea to Europe as some European officials now suspect sabotage.

Nord Stream AG, the operator of the NS pipeline system, published a statement Tuesday that read, "the destruction that happened within one day at three lines of the Nord Stream pipeline system is unprecedented ... and impossible now to estimate the timeframe for restoring operations of the gas shipment infrastructure." 

On Monday, NS2 gas pipeline and two NS1 lines reported rapid pressure drops, with gas leaks reported by Swedish and Danish authorities in the Baltic Sea near the exclusive economic zone southeast of Bornholm island. 

A more in-depth view of the incident area. 

Pressure drops in the NS gas-pipeline system could be the biggest signal that flows via NS1 might not resume this winter. Germany and surrounding countries are investigating the incident. NS2 cannot impact flows to the EU because the controversial idled conduit was never operational after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz canceled it after Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year.

Klaus Mueller, the president of the German energy network regulator, tweeted that the market situation remains "tense," but Germany and the EU are no longer dependent on NS supplies. 

Nord Stream AG issued an outage message that is active until Oct. 26, while the German economy ministry said it's investigating the incident. 

Dutch front-month gas, the European benchmark, was up nearly 10% at 190.50 euros per megawatt-hour on Tuesday morning. 

The simultaneous pressure drop of the NS lines suggests some market participants may watch for any indication of sabotage. 

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was hard to imagine NS gas leaks were caused by a "coincidence." 

Frederiksen didn't rule out sabotage, though she said it was too early to draw any conclusions, according to Reuters, quoting public broadcaster DR during a visit to Poland. 

A German security official told Bloomberg that NS damage appears to be the result of "sabotage."

German daily newspaper Tagesspiegel reported that "the Nord Stream pipelines may have been damaged by targeted attacks and leaked as a result."

A source close to the government, quoted in the newspaper, said, "everything speaks against a coincidence."

"

Die Welt, another German newspaper, reported the timing of the NS damage may suggest sabotage and was unlikely to be an accident. 

Reporters asked Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov if the NS system's pressure drop could be due to sabotage. He responded: "It is impossible to exclude any options."

There appears to be no immediate end to the gas leak from NS pipelines, according to the Danish national daily newspaper Berlingske, which quoted Danish Energy Authority. 

DANISH ENERGY AUTHORITY: GAS LEAKS FROM NORD STREAM PIPELINES WILL CONTINUE FOR DAYS -NEWSPAPER BERLINGSKE

-- zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 27, 2022

The energy authority said, "a lot of gas is coming out, so it is not a small crack, it's a really big hole. Nord Stream leaks can be a deliberate act, but it can also be something else, it's just extremely rare that something like this happens."

DANISH ENERGY AUTHORITY CHIEF: GAS BUBBLES FROM NORD STREAM 2 LEAK REACHING SURFACE OF THE OCEAN IN AREA MEASURING MORE THAN 100 METRES IN DIAMETER

-- zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 27, 2022