Rise of the Global South

Auto War: Trump Hits Tokyo and Frankfurt with a Sledgehammer

Trump’s trade war just went nuclear again, this time slamming the global auto industry with a 25% tariff hammer that sent shockwaves through European and Asian markets. The move, touted by Trump as a bold step toward reviving American manufacturing, has already vaporized over $14 billion in market value from Europe’s largest carmakers, according to The Telegraph. From Frankfurt to Tokyo, the message was clear: the United States is no longer playing by the old rules.

Japan took a heavy blow. Toyota’s shares dropped 2%, Nissan lost 1.7%, and Honda tumbled 2.5% in response to the announcement. This isn’t just investor jitters, it’s economic reality. Automobiles make up nearly 28.3% of Japan’s total exports to the U.S., pumping out roughly $63 billion annually. According to estimates from Nomura Research Institute, Trump’s tariffs could slice 0.2% off Japan’s GDP, about $8 billion gone, evaporated by the stroke of a presidential pen. The timing couldn’t be worse for Tokyo. With consumer inflation already above target, the Bank of Japan had been eyeing a long-awaited rate hike in May. That window may have just slammed shut.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba kept his response measured, stating Tokyo is evaluating “what’s best for Japan’s national interest,” and that all options are on the table. But the subtext was clear: Japan’s political class is scrambling to recalibrate its approach in the face of Washington’s increasingly erratic protectionism.

For Trump, this isn’t just economic policy, it’s domestic theater. He claims the tariffs will generate $100 billion annually in tax revenue and revive an American auto industry hollowed out by decades of neoliberal outsourcing. The tariffs are scheduled to kick in on April 2, with a second wave targeting car parts one month later. Meanwhile, S&P Global Mobility reports that nearly half of all new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. last year were manufactured abroad, underscoring how deeply integrated America’s auto market has become with the very nations now under fire.

But here’s where it gets deeper and darker.

This isn’t just about trade. It’s about empire in retreat, turning in on its own vassals. Trump is torching what remains of transatlantic and transpacific economic cooperation, turning Germany and Japan from loyal vassals into collateral damage. This is the late-stage imperial reflex: when you can’t win against China or Russia, you cannibalize your own "allies" to buy time and votes at home.

Europe, already battered by energy shocks and NATO overreach, now watches as its industrial core is gutted by the very hegemon it once pledged allegiance to. Japan, caught between hosting U.S. bases and courting Chinese trade, is learning the hard way what multipolarity means: adapt or perish.

This is the “America First” doctrine in its final form, not strategy, but economic Darwinism. Allies be damned. Supply chains be damned. Stability be damned. Trump doesn’t care if Tokyo burns or Frankfurt bleeds, as long as Michigan gets a few more factory jobs and the illusion of sovereignty returns to dying Rust Belt towns. Funny thing is many of these don't have recripocrical tarrifs at least until now, but the US simply couldn't complete.

The irony? While Washington imposes tariffs to build cars at home, Russia and China are building a new world economy, outside the dollar, outside dinosaur SWIFT, and increasingly outside the gravitational pull of American policy altogether. Eurasia is rising. BRICS is expanding. And the West, led by a tariff-throwing real estate mogul turned messiah, is punching its allies in the face, again. I love it.

What began as a trade war is ending as a self-inflicted collapse.

- Gerry Nolan

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Ozempic: The Miracle Shot That Maimed a Man

This is not just a medical tragedy. It’s a damn indictment.

Brad Roberts lost 70kg on Ozempic. The weight melted. The world applauded. Big Pharma cheered, another walking billboard for the billion-dollar injectable sold as the chemical messiah for obesity and modern vanity.

Then came the price.

He didn’t just lose weight. He lost his sight. His hearing. His memory. His speech. Now he lies bedridden and broken, a human casualty of a corporate experiment dressed up as a miracle. His family is demanding $35.8 million, but no dollar figure can restore what’s been stripped away by a drug that was rushed, glorified, and shoved down the public’s throat under the gospel of “better living through biotech.”

This isn’t some one-off adverse reaction. This is what happens when the temple of Western medicine is run by hedge funds and hedge funds are run by sociopaths.

Novo Nordisk didn’t just sell a drug.
They sold hope in a syringe, backed by influencers, TV doctors, and “studies” shaped by the same entities cashing in on the hype.
Forget informed consent, this was chemical colonialism, targeting insecurities, vanity, and desperation with a weaponized molecule.

Ozempic was never about health.
It was about profit and control, a slow re-engineering of the human body under the guise of wellness, turning citizens into test subjects in a global Phase 4 trial without a damn warning label for neurological collapse.

And where is the media now?
The same media that did cartwheels when Oprah whispered about her “magic shot”? The same publications that ran glowing profiles of the ‘skinny shot revolution’ while pocketing pharma ad dollars?

Silent.

Because Big Pharma is not just a cartel, it’s the high priesthood of late-stage capitalism, and questioning the gospel is heresy.

Brad Roberts isn’t a patient.
He’s collateral damage, a sacrificial lamb on the altar of biotech’s trillion-dollar profit engine. And as more cases surface, the public will learn what many of us already knew:

The miracle was always a mirage.
The cure was always a contract.
And the cost? It might be your life.

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😀☄️JFK FILES — Newly Unredacted James Angleton Testimony Reveals CIA’s Deep Ties to Israeli Intelligence

The 2025 release of James Angleton’s 1975 Church Committee testimony kept hidden.

Previously redacted line now reads: “both the Israeli intelligence agencies to correct.”

This replaces the vague “JFK Act 5 (g)(2)(D)” placeholder, showing Angleton was directly questioned about the CIA’s counterintelligence work with Israeli agencies, not just general operations.

The last version obscured Angleton’s specific reference to Israeli intelligence, masking the focus of the Church Committee’s inquiry into the CIA’s foreign liaison relationships.

The redaction hid that Angleton was being pressed on the nature of his counterintelligence efforts involving Israel.

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🚨JFK FILES, Schlesinger to Kennedy: THE CIA IS A STATE WITHIN A STATE

In 1961, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., one of JFK’s closest advisors made the case for completely dismantling the CIA’s operational arm and splitting it into two separate agencies; the National Intelligence Service and Foreign Research Agency to prevent the CIA’s rogue activities

Schlesinger lays out a frightening state of affairs; the CIA was running its own foreign policy:

-The CIA has its own military and air force, and its personnel outnumber US diplomats in important embassies

-CIA covert operations are moulding US foreign policy and are happening without Presidential approval, examples include Iran, Cuba and Guatemala

-The CIA’s failed secret wars such as the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion against Cuba are damaging the US’ credibility

Crimea’s Return: 11 Years of Reunification and a Lesson in Sovereignty

Eleven years ago today, on March 18, 2014, history was corrected. Crimea, taken from Russia in a backroom Soviet deal in 1954, was finally reunited with its rightful homeland. In an overwhelming democratic vote, the people of Crimea chose to break free from the chaos unfolding in Ukraine, a country rapidly descending into the grip of Western-backed ultranationalists, who turned a blind eye to neo-Nazi brigades terrorizing the Donbass. At the time, the world’s so-called “experts” laughed at Russia’s swift, decisive action. But today, with hundreds of thousands dead, a country gutted by war, and NATO openly salivating over a direct confrontation, it is clear: had Russia not acted in 2014, Crimea would have suffered the same tragic fate as Oddessa, Donetsk, Lugansk, and Kharkov.

And let’s not ignore the timing of today’s historic moment: Donald Trump, love him or hate him, knows the power of signals in diplomacy. Signals matter in diplomacy. The fact that he’s called Vladimir Putin today, on the very anniversary of Crimea’s reunification, should not be dismissed as coincidence. It’s a message. A reminder that history is written by those who act, not those who whimper from the sidelines.

The same Western puppets who screamed about “illegal annexation” had no problem engineering a coup in Kiev to install a regime that would obediently serve NATO’s interests. That regime, propped up by Washington and Brussels, immediately moved to outlaw the Russian language, glorify fascist collaborators, and set the stage for war. Crimea’s decision to leave was not just about national pride; it was a matter of survival. The peninsula saw what was coming, and it refused to become another charred battlefield in NATO’s war against Russia.

For years, the Western establishment mocked the idea that Ukraine posed a direct threat to Russia. They called it paranoia. Yet today, after thousands of Western-supplied tanks, missiles, and artillery shells have rained down on Russian cities, after NATO mercenaries have fought and died on Ukrainian soil, after Kiev has openly embraced neo-Nazism, deployed Nazi brigades and drone strikes on Russian civilians… who’s laughing now? Crimea’s vote in 2014 wasn’t just a correction of Soviet mistakes; it was an act of self-preservation.

Eleven years later, Crimea stands as proof that history can be rewritten, that sovereignty can be reclaimed, and that a nation that refuses to kneel will always find a way to stand tall. Today, Russia marks not just a reunification, but a vindication. And to those still clinging to the delusion that Crimea will ever return to Ukrainian control, keep dreaming. Crimea foretold what will come in the next chapter of reunification with Russia.

- Gerry Nolan

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Armenia and Azerbaijan Set to Sign Historic Peace Agreement, But at What Cost?

In a development that could reshape the South Caucasus, Armenia and Azerbaijan have finalized a draft peace agreement, with Yerevan accepting Baku’s proposals on the remaining disputed issues, according to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. The agreement, aimed at ending over three decades of hostilities, will establish diplomatic relations, reopen borders, and formally settle the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The deal follows Azerbaijan’s 2023 military operation, which saw Baku retake control of Karabakh, leading to the exodus of over 100,000 ethnic Armenians. Under the new agreement, Armenia is set to amend its constitution, removing any territorial claims over parts of Azerbaijan. This has been a core demand from Baku, and a precondition for peace. Yet, despite this so-called breakthrough, critical issues remain unresolved, Azerbaijan’s demand for a corridor to Nakhchivan, the fate of Armenian officials captured during Baku’s offensive, and the enforcement mechanisms of the agreement.

Pashinyan’s Role: Betrayal Dressed as Diplomacy
For those paying attention, this so-called “peace” isn’t a testament to diplomacy, it’s a surrender by Armenia’s Western-backed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The man who rose to power through a Soros-funded color revolution has spent his years in office undermining Armenia’s historical alliance with Russia, turning Yerevan into a pawn for Washington and Brussels. Instead of strengthening Armenia’s defenses and deepening its security ties with Moscow, Pashinyan gambled on Western “support”, which never materialized when it mattered most.

The moment Azerbaijan made its move in 2023, the West did nothing. No weapons, no sanctions on Baku, no calls for intervention. Blinken, Macron, and von der Leyen offered empty words while Azerbaijan took Karabakh unopposed. And Russia? Moscow had already warned Yerevan not to play dangerous games, but Pashinyan refused to listen. Instead, he turned Armenia into a de facto U.S. outpost, pushed for an EU mission, signed military deals with France, and even began flirting with NATO. This went beyond incompetence, it was suicidal treachery.

The Multipolar Reality: The West Doesn’t Save Its Puppets
Now, after gambling away Armenia’s strategic position, Pashinyan is being forced to make humiliating concessions, and Western media will call it a “historic peace deal.” The truth? This is a bitter capitulation, one that wouldn’t have happened if Armenia had remained committed to its true security partner, Russia.

The West doesn’t care about Armenia. It used Yerevan as a tool to provoke Russia, just as it used Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014. But when war came knocking, Pashinyan realized too late that Washington doesn’t back its pawns, it discards them.

Now, with the deal ready to be signed, Baku holds all the leverage. Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, is emerging as a regional powerhouse, while Armenia is left weakened, isolated, and facing a future dictated by terms it can’t control. This is the fate of nations that trust the West, they are sacrificed for geopolitical games they never had a chance of winning.

If Armenia had played its cards right, it would have been an integral part of the Eurasian security architecture, fully backed by Moscow. Instead, Pashinyan has delivered his country on a silver platter to Baku, Washington, and Brussels.

The lesson? The West doesn’t offer security. It offers ruin. And Armenia just paid the price.

- Gerry Nolan

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