Richard Medhurst

Independent journalist. British 🇬🇧 Based at UN 🇺🇳 Lived around the world 🌍. International affairs, US politics and Middle East. ✉️ [email protected]

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

My statement outside the Old Bailey on the #Assange extradition hearing.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

"To my knowledge, this is the first publicly recorded instance of the auto-reboot feature saving a journalist in a real-life situation against a state actor"

My interview in Computer Weekly on GrapheneOS and how it protected my sources & me. By @SMaurizi
https://t.co/inQ4Ks8fWW

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

Remember the first "ceasefire"?

I told you the same day that it was fake and then posted my documentary on the Petrogas-dollar because of how certain I was there would be a permanent US blockade.

I gave you the entire game plan. It is a wonder to me what others have been "reporting" on this entire time, acting like anything has actually changed and falling for this endless cycle.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

The US already have the militaries of Japan, Germany, Korea, and NATO under their command.

There is nothing out of the ordinary about consolidating control over the IDF, who are already entirely US-equipped & funded.

In fact, it's the smart thing to do from Washington's POV.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

By the time I was bailed out of the police station, my phone had automatically rebooted and put all data back into a fully encrypted state.

This is one of the best features of GrapheneOS and first case I know of where it directly served a journalist.

https://t.co/inQ4Ks8fWW

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

When I was on bail, I couldn't speak freely about my GrapheneOS phone/tech details of arrest.

I refused to give them my encryption keys to protect sources & info, and they could've jailed me for that alone under RIPA.

Now you can read the details in Computer Weekly, by @SMaurizi

https://t.co/QTigSLG3es

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

These are mostly legal reasons I'm giving you, but really what it comes down to is the man is a US ally.

That's why President Maduro is in jail (in New York, of all places) — and Netanyahu never will be.

There's no need to complicate it.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

I told you Mamdani can't arrest Netanyahu:

—US isn't party to the Rome Statute
—Leaders enjoy diplomatic immunity
—Critics blast the US for blocking visas to Palestinian officials, yet expect a local mayor to execute an ICC arrest near UNHQ

Bit theatrical to say the least, no?

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

A blind, elder Dane (played by Rutger Hauer) talks to Uhtred after a successful invasion of Northumbria. He gestures to the puppet ruler they installed and says: "He calls himself king. He is king of nothing."

Exactly how Washington view Europe today and who can blame them.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

Same reason why Washington moved on Venezuela; why they need Greenland and Canada to block the GIUK gap. It's all centered around oil, gas, and building new trade routes to the Western Hemisphere.

Making the market come to America, and shielding the Dollar in the homeland.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

From the United States' point of view, Cuba is an issue because they're not only in the Western Hemisphere but too close to the heart of the US oil and gas industry. The Dollar is now dependent on the booming exports of the Gulf of America and Panama Canal — not the Middle East.

Washington can't afford to have a question mark around Cuba so close to the crown jewels. This is the material calculus that goes into what they're doing.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

You're seeing the kingpin assassinate his competition in real time on a global scale and think that he is making a mistake. I promise you he's not.

The less foreign oil on the market, the more US-dominated the market becomes.

Critically, the US are net exporters of both crude and fuel: meaning they not only produce more than anyone but can satisfy their own appetite.

In fact they are #1 in natural gas too and even with everything they consume, 25% of their production capacity is exported. They are making a killing both financially and geostrategically.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

The US are no longer vulnerable to oil shocks because they're the world's top producer and exporter.

I am begging people to leave the 1970s.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

Being energy independent, and controlling Venezuela's oil fulfills Dick Cheney's dream, and what he mapped out in 2001 in the National Energy Policy (co-written in private meetings with all the CEOs of American oil and gas companies).

https://t.co/rsQWj0XbMq

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

13 billion USD is a low-ball figure.

Venezuela's oil means energy independence for the US inside the Western Hemisphere.

It means cutting off China.

It means a second, strategic petroleum reserve for the United States.

It is the essence of the Petrogas-dollar.

[Financial Times @FT]

FT Exclusive: The Trump administration has collected more than $13bn in revenues from Venezuelan oil sales this year, according to FT calculations, but has said almost nothing about what has happened to the money. https://t.co/j1PIzzMlZf

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

There are no sides in the game.

Only the game.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

There's blind, dumb luck but no one is that lucky. Some very clever people in Washington and Wall Street sat down and planned all of this in Venezuela, Iran, Syria, China, to coincide and you're seeing the fruits of that strategy play out before you now on a global scale.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

The US also cut off 4% of China's oil imports — specifically the heavy, sour crude that China's teapot refineries rely on.

Then rerouted that crude to Gulf of Mexico refineries, giving the US a greater share of the diesel market

Multi-layered gains

https://t.co/cwuJWfALhy

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

The US sell Venezuela's oil on their behalf, and then deposit all the cash in USD, in the US, in accounts controlled by the Treasury.

The US Navy ensure only approved tankers go in and out.

All of this eliminates the need to occupy the oil fields while yielding maximum benefit.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

They placed the phone in a Faraday bag, which might stop someone erasing an iPhone later via iCloud.

But a Faraday bag does nothing to stop the auto-reboot on Pixels running GrapheneOS. This feature is hardcoded into the OS, and doesn't require any external command.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

By the time I was bailed out of the police station, my phone had automatically rebooted and put all data back into a fully encrypted state.

This is one of the best features of GrapheneOS and first case I know of where it directly served a journalist.

https://t.co/inQ4Ks8fWW

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

The auto-reboot feature is on by default and set to 18 hours.

If no correct PIN is entered, the phone reboots. Works flawlessly.

An 18hr window to extract keys from the RAM is already a nightmare, esp since it's never been done on Graphene—even had they known what device it was