Money may not have been motive in cyberattack
The article reads as if its sole purpose were a mind-manipulating psyop.
A health tech hacking is on friday's agenda, and it's a good thing I never open email. A CC goes to the government. It's click all, delete, in whatever month I happen to check it.
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Had I received a follow-up regarding Venezuela it would have been placed there.
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"Fearing defeat on an opposition amendment, ministers said they would pay for women from Northern Ireland to travel to England for abortions. Abortion is banned in Northern Ireland unless a woman’s life or mental health is in danger....."
Mass. rules bar building skin linked to London high-rise fire
"The $45 million Treadmark project was being built with the help of about $10 million in city, state, and federal subsidies. That funding enabled the developer to offer most of its 83 apartments and condos at prices affordable to lower- and middle-income residents....."
That isn't the end of it.
"Rupert Murdoch, who is executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, has long tried to cement his legacy by adding Sky to his company’s stable of global media assets. The media mogul hopes to use Sky’s satellite network and online streaming business to keep pace in a world where more consumers watch programming on their mobile devices....."
What is forgotten is the hacking into celebrity and authority phones and the paying of police for information, etc, etc.
In 1892, small frogs rained down on Moseley, England.
An omen from down under?
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China won’t let Nobel laureate get cancer treatment abroad
Last year, Rodrigo Duterte was sworn as president of the Philippines.
And he has been the target of a U.S. destabilization campaign ever since (actually fighting the drug war and getting friendly with Russia and China what did it).
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"Iraq recaptures al-Nuri Grand Mosque in Mosul, but only rubble remains" by Megan Specia and Rick Gladstone New York Times June 29, 2017
I saw the photos on BBC and it looks like an airstrike or tow. Sorry.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq announced the recapture of al-Nuri Grand Mosque in Mosul on Thursday from Islamic State militants, calling it a sign of the end of the extremists’ grip on the region and vowing to chase them out of the country.
“We are seeing the end of the fake Daesh state, the liberation of Mosul proves that,” Abadi said on Twitter, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. “We will not relent. Our brave forces will bring victory.”
Mosul has still not been entirely wrested from Islamic State control despite a complex eight-month battle for the city. But Thursday’s announcement signified a further push to eliminate the group.
As Iraqi forces claim control of the mosque for the first time since 2014, all that is left is debris. The mosque’s distinctive leaning minaret dominated the skyline of Mosul’s Old City for nearly eight centuries, standing as a symbol of the city’s deeply rooted cultural heritage.
That brings water to the surface, and we know one of the war aims is to destroy cultural identity.
The mosque complex is nearly gone, reduced to a pile of rubble June 21, after Islamic State militants packed the building with explosives as their grasp on the city continued to slip.
Just like last Friday.
The iconic 12th-century al-Hadba minaret is now just a stump, seen broken nearly to its base in footage released by Iraqi forces who entered the area where the mosque once stood. They assessed what remained as they stepped carefully through crumbling walls and climbed over debris that once made up one of the city’s grandest buildings.
It stood for all those centuries, through colonialism, sectarianism, and Saddam Hussein.
Cui bono?
The intricate detailing on the minaret can be seen peeking out over crumbling debris, but its top is gone.
After the city was captured by the Islamic State in 2014, the mosque played a starring role in the group’s propaganda as it grabbed power in the region.
It was the setting for a rare 2014 public speech by the group’s professed leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in which he declared a caliphate and asserted control over Mosul. It was the last time he was seen publicly.
See: Baghdadi Trained by Israeli Mossad, NSA Documents Reveal
He is allegedly dead now -- if he ever even existed.
The group’s notorious black flag has been flying from the top of the al-Hadba minaret since that summer.
Before the Islamic State seized control, the mosque was long a valued landmark the country sought to preserve.
In 2012, UNESCO identified the mosque’s minaret for assessment and preservation, after fears that its teetering posture could lead to collapse if measures were not taken. The local governorate had planned to work alongside local officials to ensure its survival. Last week, the director general of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, lamented the loss of the building.
“Al Hadba minaret and Al Nuri Mosque in Mosul were among the most iconic sites in the city, and stood as a symbol of identity, resilience and belonging,” Bokova said in a statement. “This new destruction deepens the wounds of a society already affected by an unprecedented humanitarian tragedy.”
The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has been under an intensifying assault in Mosul and across Iraq’s western border with Syria, where the extremist group is losing its grip on Raqqa, its de facto capital for the past three years. Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in both cities.
UNICEF said Thursday that thousands of children in western Mosul are stuck there because of the fighting.
“Boys and girls who have managed to escape show signs of moderate malnutrition and carry psychosocial scars of the conflict,” Peter Hawkins, the UNICEF representative in Iraq, said in a statement.
Yes, what is going to happen when these children who have known nothing but war grow up?
Aid groups that have been helping displaced civilians in Syria and Iraq expressed strong caution about the Iraqi prime minister’s victorious proclamation. They emphasized that the fighting in Mosul was by no means over.
The International Rescue Committee, which responds to the most urgent humanitarian emergencies in more than 40 countries, said in a statement that as many as 1.5 million Iraqis have been unable to escape Mosul, and that at least 150,000 people, half of them children, still live in other areas of Iraq controlled by the Islamic State.
“The retaking of Mosul does not mean an automatic end to the suffering of the 1.5 million people that spent more than two years living under harsh ISIS rule,” said Wendy Taeuber, the International Rescue Committee’s Iraq director. “Despite the declaration, ISIS still controls some areas in the Old City of Mosul and ongoing fighting will continue to threaten the lives of civilians.”
--more--"
Related: Mosul Raped and Destroyed, Not Liberated
Sure what it looked like from the BBC footage I saw.
Time for some nation building (after having destroyed them):
"Islamic State reverts to insurgent roots to pose long-term threat, study says" by Eric Schmitt New York Times June 29, 2017
WASHINGTON —The information was compiled by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point in a study made public Thursday that warns that any military gains will fall short without increased efforts to restore the security, governance, and economies in territory once held by the Islamic State, providing new evidence that the group is reverting to its insurgent roots and foreshadowing long-term security threats.
The military efforts just so happened to ruin the security, governance, and economies, which in turn gave rise to ISIS, and I've tired of the relentless war propaganda that we are winning but not really. That's the tell of playing both sides.
US diplomatic and military leaders say an even greater challenge than ousting the Islamic State, or ISIS, from its self-declared religious state, or caliphate, in eastern Syria and northern and western Iraq may well be the daunting political and economic reconstruction in the years ahead.
Think about that; supposed to have begun all that way back in 2003. Billions upon billions wasted, unless you consider the pockets of Halliburton and Bechtel as your won.
Counterterrorism specialists said the new study illuminates a trend that has been emerging for several months, as US-backed ground forces in Iraq and Syria have steadily rolled back territorial gains the Islamic State achieved in 2014 and used as the basis for its global appeal to Muslims to come join the caliphate. Now, its strongholds of Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria, its self-declared capital, are besieged, and senior leaders have fled as opposing forces close in.
“ISIS has anticipated the loss of its government for over a year,” said William McCants, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of “The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State.” “They are prepared to wage a war from the shadows to reclaim it.”
Oh, so they are behind the ransomware.
The the 20-page report’s authors, Daniel Milton and Muhammad al-Ubaydi, say their findings aim to draw a more accurate picture of the military challenges in Iraq and Syria, especially in maintaining security in cities large and small that have been reclaimed from the Islamic State.
“Despite all of these positive connotations, the liberation of cities in Iraq and Syria has proved to be much more of a mixed bag for those living in the aftermath,” the report said. “Part of this is the challenge of governing post-liberation areas where city infrastructure has been destroyed and where security threats still remain.”
Most people look back with nostalgia to the peaceful times of tyranny now. We lost the hearts and minds.
The report cites the example of Fallujah, which was freed by Iraqi forces in June 2016. Many months later, news media reports suggest that residents still face an array of challenges, such as destroyed buildings, live Islamic State munitions buried in the rubble, and the continuing threat of Islamic State attacks, the report said.....
--more--"
Deposing Morsi didn't help.
"Syria, Russia accuse US of plotting ‘provocation’" Associated Press June 29, 2017
DAMASCUS — Syria’s government and its ally Russia accused Washington on Thursday of concocting a ‘‘provocation’’ in Syria, which would then be blamed on President Bashar Assad’s government as alleged use of chemical weapons to justify an attack.
In a statement carried by the official news agency, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it rejects US allegations that Syria was preparing for a chemical weapons attack as ‘‘misleading’’ and ‘‘completely baseless.’’
It is so good to see them get ahead of this and point out the illogic of it all.
It said the objective of such allegations was to ‘‘justify a new aggression on Syria under ill-founded pretexts,’’ similar to what happened in April when the United States struck a Syrian air base that it said had been used to stage a chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing nearly 90.
Earlier this week, the White House warned that Assad was preparing for another chemical attack and said the Syrian ruler would ‘‘pay a heavy price’’ if he unleashes it.
Also Thursday, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Moscow has received information that Syrian rebels have fabricated video materials to accuse Damascus of a chemical attack.
Maybe there is hope for us all if they are being called out on those.
She said that according to the information Russia has, the towns of Saraqib and Arihah could serve as venues for the ‘‘provocation.’’ Both towns are in the province of Idlib and are controlled by the rebels.
She said such action could be aimed at derailing the next round of Syriam peace talks — brokered by Russia, Turkey, and Iran — next week in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana. The meeting is meant to determine specifics related to safety zones in Syria.
U.S. always sabotages peace talks.
Zakharova’s strongly worded statement reflects soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington even as President Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are expected to hold their first meeting, at the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Germany.
The United States in April struck the Shayrat air base in central Syria, which Moscow claimed some of the images from the scene were fabricated and criticized the international chemical weapons watchdog of failing to send its inspectors to the site of the attack and the air base allegedly used to launch it.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, confirmed on Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this week told him that Washington has information about Assad’s allegedly preparing a chemical attack.
Lavrov questioned the veracity of the information and suggested that extremists could take advantage of the US warning to stage a provocation in order to blame Assad.
Asked how Russia would react to a US strike on Syria, Lavrov said the response would be ‘‘proportionate.’’
--more--"
"5 found guilty in Russian opposition leader’s murder trial" AP June 29, 2017
MOSCOW — A jury on Thursday found five men guilty in the assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, bringing to a close a trial that Nemtsov’s allies believe failed to bring the slaying’s alleged masterminds to justice.
Nemtsov, a top political opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was shot late at night in 2015 as he was walking across a bridge just outside the Kremlin. His brazen murder sent shockwaves through the Russian opposition.
A jury at a Moscow court found the suspected triggerman, a former officer in the security forces of Chechnya’s leader, guilty of murdering Nemtsov, Russian news agencies reported. Four other men were found guilty of involvement in the killing.
It will now be up to the judge to sentence the five men.
Nemtsov’s allies have criticized the investigators for stopping short of investigating the possible role of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and top Chechen officers in the killing.
When the now-convicted gunman, former officer Zaur Dadayev, was arrested shortly after the slaying, Kadyrov vehemently defended him as a ‘‘true patriot.’’
Nemtsov’s family has petitioned investigators to look into Kadyrov’s possible involvement and to question Ruslan Geremeyev, commander of the police unit in which Dadayev served.
The police commander was summoned to testify, but he failed to show up. Investigators told the court last year that they visited Geremeyev’s property in Chechnya but ‘‘no one opened the door.’’
--more--"
On to the meeting:
"White House: Trump to meet Putin at G-20 summit" by Ken Thomas and Vivian Salama Associated Press June 29, 2017
WASHINGTON — President Trump will convene a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit of industrial and emerging-market nations in Germany next week, the White House said Thursday, amid swirling allegations about Moscow’s role in the 2016 elections.
That will be his second foreign trip, and I am already tired of him.
National security adviser H.R. McMaster confirmed that Trump will meet with Putin along the sidelines of the annual Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, part of an itinerary that will include meetings with several world leaders.
If there is an explosion before then, well.....
Trump’s first in-person encounter with Putin has been highly anticipated as Trump pushes back against allegations that some of his associates may have had contact with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign and the transition.
All 17 US intelligence agencies have agreed Russia was behind last year’s hack of the Democratic Party’s e-mail systems and tried to influence the 2016 election to benefit Trump. Members of his campaign are also under investigation for possible collusion with Russia in the lead-up to the campaign.
Trump has staunchly denied that he had any contacts with Russia during his campaign. Russian officials have denied any meddling in the election.
Gee, just yesterday they were saying.... maybe they can mend ties.
McMaster and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn would not say whether the president intends to address accusations that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying that the agenda is ‘‘not finalized’’ for this or any other meeting.
Cohn is really running the White House. He's always calling foreign leaders when Trump commits a faux pas.
‘‘Our relationship with Russia is not different from that with any other country in terms of us communicating to them really what our concerns are, where we see problems with the relationship, but also opportunities,’’ McMaster said.
The US-Russian relationship deteriorated during Obama’s eight years in office and Trump said he was hopeful of improving American ties with Russia.
What happened to Obama's Russian reset that was considered a success until the Ukraine coup of 2014?
But major disagreements remain over Ukraine and Syria, and Trump said in April that US-Russian relations ‘‘may be at an all-time low.’’ The meeting will also come as Congress considers legislation that would impose economic penalties against Russia and Iran, legislation that has stalled after it cleared the Senate.
Trump will be under pressure to side with the US intelligence agencies and press Putin on the issue of election meddling, something he has thus far been reluctant to do. Trump’s promise of closer cooperation with Russia has prompted concerns that the US will have diminished leverage over global issues and he could be more sympathetic to Russia.
Why? They have been wrong so often.
‘‘Putin is all about optics and symbolism,’’ said Julianne Smith, a National Security Council and Defense Department official under President Barack Obama. ‘‘He wants the meeting and the photo more than the discussion.’’
Sounds more like Trump, especially after watching the Ollie Stone interviews.
Russia has sought to put itself on equal footing with the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union, extending its territory where it can, countering US military action, and positioning itself as a rival.
As if they were Israel.
McMaster said that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is taking the lead on the discussions and ‘‘has been engaged in a broad, wide-range discussion about irritants, problems in the relationship but also to explore opportunities, where we can work together, areas of common interest. So it won’t be different from our discussions with any other country.’’
I sure hope he didn't sh** on the Russian porch again.
White House officials said Trump would also meet with the leaders of several other countries, including Germany, China, South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, and Singapore.....
The question is, do they want to meet with him?
--more--"
Related: McMaster’s War
Right next door to Russia. That is often forgotten.
"NATO agrees to send more troop trainers to Afghanistan" by Lorne Cook and Lolita C. Baldor Associated Press June 29, 2017
BRUSSELS — Two years after winding down its military operation in Afghanistan, NATO has agreed to send more troops to help train and work alongside Afghan security forces.
The move follows a request from NATO commanders who say they need as many as 3,000 additional troops from the allies. That number does not include an expected contribution of roughly 4,000 American forces.
‘‘We’re in it for the long haul. It’s a democracy. It’s asked for our help and it’s important that Europe responds,’’ British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told reporters. ‘‘Transnational terror groups operate in Afghanistan, are a threat to us in Western Europe.’’
I'm so sick of the discredited, shop-worn propaganda that is constantly regurgitated to justify endless war. I really am.
European nations and Canada have been waiting to hear what Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will offer or seek from them. US leaders have so far refused to publicly discuss troop numbers before completing a broader, updated war strategy.
Mattis says victory is just being there!
Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in Afghanistan this week, meeting with commanders to gather details on what specific military capabilities they need to end what American officials say is a stalemate against the resurgent Taliban.
The expected deployment of more Americans is intended to bolster Afghan forces so they eventually can assume greater control of security.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Thursday said the NATO increase does not mean the alliance will once again engage in combat operations against the Taliban and extremist groups. NATO wants ‘‘to help the Afghans fight’’ and take ‘‘full responsibility’’ for safeguarding the country.
Mohammad Radmanish, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s defense ministry, welcomed NATO’s decision and said Afghan troops were in need of ‘‘expert’’ training, heavy artillery, and a quality air force.
‘‘We are on the front line in the fight against terrorism,’’ Radmanish said in a telephone interview in Kabul.
But Afghan lawmaker Mohammad Zekria Sawda was skeptical. He said that the offer of an additional 3,000 NATO troops was a ‘‘show’’ and that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United States were unable to bring peace to Afghanistan when they had more than 120,000 soldiers deployed against Taliban insurgents.
As the war drags on, Afghans have become increasingly disillusioned and even former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has questioned the international commitment to bringing peace.
Many Afghans, including Karzai, are convinced that the United States and NATO have the military ability to defeat the Taliban. But with the war raging 16 years after the Taliban were ousted, they accuse the West of seemingly wanting chaos over peace.....
They are ON TO SOMETHING THERE, and once you realize it is western intelligence behind the phantom terror groups and the chaos.... cui bono?
--more--"
"Olmert, Israeli ex-prime minister, granted early release from prison" by Isabel Kershner New York Times June 29, 2017
JERUSALEM — Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister of Israel who is serving a 27-month sentence for bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice, and breach of trust, is expected to be released Sunday after a parole board cut his sentence by a third.
The board’s decision Thursday appeared to close a legal saga that has roiled Israeli society and politics for years. Olmert, forced to resign during an intensive, if inconclusive, round of peace talks with the Palestinians, was the first former head of government to be imprisoned for misconduct in Israel, though the crimes for which he was convicted did not take place during his tenure as prime minister, from 2006 to 2009.
He should have been convicted of war crimes in Lebanon, but....
Olmert entered prison in February 2016 after being convicted in various cases on charges of bribery, obstruction of justice, fraud, and breach of trust. He acknowledged having made “mistakes” but has consistently denied criminal wrongdoing.
The parole board’s decision was a great relief to Olmert, 71, his lawyers said. Prosecutors, who opposed a commutation of the sentence, had until the end of Thursday to appeal for a delay in the execution of the order, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so.
Olmert described his fall as “painful and strange” at the time, and the weeks leading up to the decision for his release have been no less tumultuous.
Police have been looking into the possibility that Olmert mishandled classified information when he gave part of a manuscript that he had written behind bars to one of his lawyers to take out of the prison.
Olmert’s lawyers argued that the manuscript would be subject to military censorship before publication and that there had been no security breach.
Just a way to keep him quiet, right?
Olmert — who as prime minister led a monthlong war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 and held extensive peace negotiations with the Palestinians and indirect talks with Syria — complained during a recent parole board hearing that the authorities were turning him into a “traitor,” according to Israeli news reports.
Who does he think he is, Vanunu?
Israel has remained silent about a 2007 airstrike that was widely attributed to it and that took place during Olmert’s tenure, destroying a nuclear reactor that was under construction in Syria.
The police inquiry this month prompted a public uproar and increased sympathy for Olmert after a raid at the offices of Yedioth Books, publisher of his memoir, as well as at the home of his editor. Officers seized material that was unrelated to Olmert’s book, a move that many Israeli critics saw as vastly overstepping their authority. A judge examining a case brought by Yedioth Books for the return of the materials warned that the raids and seizures undermined freedom of speech and the freedom of the press, cornerstones of the country’s democratic system.
Amid the brouhaha, Olmert suffered chest pain and was hospitalized for a week. He was discharged from the hospital Tuesday.
Olmert’s legal troubles began in 2008, two years after he became prime minister, and he was forced to resign from office under the growing weight of police investigations. A lawyer by profession, he entered public life in his 20s. He was convicted of taking bribes as mayor of Jerusalem — a role he filled from 1993 to 2003 — in part to facilitate the construction of a large housing complex known as Holyland, despite fierce local opposition.
He also ripped off the Yad Vasham, if you can believe it.
Now that's chutzpah!
Originally sentenced to six years in prison, Olmert had his prison term reduced significantly after the Israeli Supreme Court overturned a main part of his conviction relating to the housing project. He was also serving time for a separate case involving his relations with an American businessman, Morris Talansky. Some of the charges related to a period when he was serving as a government minister, but none pertained to his time as prime minister.
Talansky was handing him envelopes stuffed with cash.
Olmert is not expected to make a formal political comeback anytime soon; the law bars him from holding office for seven years.
But he could?
--more--"
Here is something that made me smile:
"Love Transforms Everything it Touches until Nothing Remains but Love
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Dog Poet Transmitting.......
Sure what it looked like from the BBC footage I saw.
Time for some nation building (after having destroyed them):
"Islamic State reverts to insurgent roots to pose long-term threat, study says" by Eric Schmitt New York Times June 29, 2017
WASHINGTON —The information was compiled by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point in a study made public Thursday that warns that any military gains will fall short without increased efforts to restore the security, governance, and economies in territory once held by the Islamic State, providing new evidence that the group is reverting to its insurgent roots and foreshadowing long-term security threats.
The military efforts just so happened to ruin the security, governance, and economies, which in turn gave rise to ISIS, and I've tired of the relentless war propaganda that we are winning but not really. That's the tell of playing both sides.
US diplomatic and military leaders say an even greater challenge than ousting the Islamic State, or ISIS, from its self-declared religious state, or caliphate, in eastern Syria and northern and western Iraq may well be the daunting political and economic reconstruction in the years ahead.
Think about that; supposed to have begun all that way back in 2003. Billions upon billions wasted, unless you consider the pockets of Halliburton and Bechtel as your won.
Counterterrorism specialists said the new study illuminates a trend that has been emerging for several months, as US-backed ground forces in Iraq and Syria have steadily rolled back territorial gains the Islamic State achieved in 2014 and used as the basis for its global appeal to Muslims to come join the caliphate. Now, its strongholds of Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria, its self-declared capital, are besieged, and senior leaders have fled as opposing forces close in.
“ISIS has anticipated the loss of its government for over a year,” said William McCants, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of “The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State.” “They are prepared to wage a war from the shadows to reclaim it.”
Oh, so they are behind the ransomware.
The the 20-page report’s authors, Daniel Milton and Muhammad al-Ubaydi, say their findings aim to draw a more accurate picture of the military challenges in Iraq and Syria, especially in maintaining security in cities large and small that have been reclaimed from the Islamic State.
“Despite all of these positive connotations, the liberation of cities in Iraq and Syria has proved to be much more of a mixed bag for those living in the aftermath,” the report said. “Part of this is the challenge of governing post-liberation areas where city infrastructure has been destroyed and where security threats still remain.”
Most people look back with nostalgia to the peaceful times of tyranny now. We lost the hearts and minds.
The report cites the example of Fallujah, which was freed by Iraqi forces in June 2016. Many months later, news media reports suggest that residents still face an array of challenges, such as destroyed buildings, live Islamic State munitions buried in the rubble, and the continuing threat of Islamic State attacks, the report said.....
--more--"
Deposing Morsi didn't help.
"Syria, Russia accuse US of plotting ‘provocation’" Associated Press June 29, 2017
DAMASCUS — Syria’s government and its ally Russia accused Washington on Thursday of concocting a ‘‘provocation’’ in Syria, which would then be blamed on President Bashar Assad’s government as alleged use of chemical weapons to justify an attack.
In a statement carried by the official news agency, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it rejects US allegations that Syria was preparing for a chemical weapons attack as ‘‘misleading’’ and ‘‘completely baseless.’’
It is so good to see them get ahead of this and point out the illogic of it all.
It said the objective of such allegations was to ‘‘justify a new aggression on Syria under ill-founded pretexts,’’ similar to what happened in April when the United States struck a Syrian air base that it said had been used to stage a chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing nearly 90.
Earlier this week, the White House warned that Assad was preparing for another chemical attack and said the Syrian ruler would ‘‘pay a heavy price’’ if he unleashes it.
Also Thursday, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Moscow has received information that Syrian rebels have fabricated video materials to accuse Damascus of a chemical attack.
Maybe there is hope for us all if they are being called out on those.
She said that according to the information Russia has, the towns of Saraqib and Arihah could serve as venues for the ‘‘provocation.’’ Both towns are in the province of Idlib and are controlled by the rebels.
She said such action could be aimed at derailing the next round of Syriam peace talks — brokered by Russia, Turkey, and Iran — next week in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana. The meeting is meant to determine specifics related to safety zones in Syria.
U.S. always sabotages peace talks.
Zakharova’s strongly worded statement reflects soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington even as President Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are expected to hold their first meeting, at the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Germany.
The United States in April struck the Shayrat air base in central Syria, which Moscow claimed some of the images from the scene were fabricated and criticized the international chemical weapons watchdog of failing to send its inspectors to the site of the attack and the air base allegedly used to launch it.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, confirmed on Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this week told him that Washington has information about Assad’s allegedly preparing a chemical attack.
Lavrov questioned the veracity of the information and suggested that extremists could take advantage of the US warning to stage a provocation in order to blame Assad.
Asked how Russia would react to a US strike on Syria, Lavrov said the response would be ‘‘proportionate.’’
--more--"
**********************
"5 found guilty in Russian opposition leader’s murder trial" AP June 29, 2017
MOSCOW — A jury on Thursday found five men guilty in the assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, bringing to a close a trial that Nemtsov’s allies believe failed to bring the slaying’s alleged masterminds to justice.
Nemtsov, a top political opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was shot late at night in 2015 as he was walking across a bridge just outside the Kremlin. His brazen murder sent shockwaves through the Russian opposition.
A jury at a Moscow court found the suspected triggerman, a former officer in the security forces of Chechnya’s leader, guilty of murdering Nemtsov, Russian news agencies reported. Four other men were found guilty of involvement in the killing.
It will now be up to the judge to sentence the five men.
Nemtsov’s allies have criticized the investigators for stopping short of investigating the possible role of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and top Chechen officers in the killing.
When the now-convicted gunman, former officer Zaur Dadayev, was arrested shortly after the slaying, Kadyrov vehemently defended him as a ‘‘true patriot.’’
Nemtsov’s family has petitioned investigators to look into Kadyrov’s possible involvement and to question Ruslan Geremeyev, commander of the police unit in which Dadayev served.
The police commander was summoned to testify, but he failed to show up. Investigators told the court last year that they visited Geremeyev’s property in Chechnya but ‘‘no one opened the door.’’
--more--"
On to the meeting:
"White House: Trump to meet Putin at G-20 summit" by Ken Thomas and Vivian Salama Associated Press June 29, 2017
WASHINGTON — President Trump will convene a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit of industrial and emerging-market nations in Germany next week, the White House said Thursday, amid swirling allegations about Moscow’s role in the 2016 elections.
That will be his second foreign trip, and I am already tired of him.
National security adviser H.R. McMaster confirmed that Trump will meet with Putin along the sidelines of the annual Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, part of an itinerary that will include meetings with several world leaders.
If there is an explosion before then, well.....
Trump’s first in-person encounter with Putin has been highly anticipated as Trump pushes back against allegations that some of his associates may have had contact with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign and the transition.
All 17 US intelligence agencies have agreed Russia was behind last year’s hack of the Democratic Party’s e-mail systems and tried to influence the 2016 election to benefit Trump. Members of his campaign are also under investigation for possible collusion with Russia in the lead-up to the campaign.
Trump has staunchly denied that he had any contacts with Russia during his campaign. Russian officials have denied any meddling in the election.
Gee, just yesterday they were saying.... maybe they can mend ties.
McMaster and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn would not say whether the president intends to address accusations that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying that the agenda is ‘‘not finalized’’ for this or any other meeting.
Cohn is really running the White House. He's always calling foreign leaders when Trump commits a faux pas.
‘‘Our relationship with Russia is not different from that with any other country in terms of us communicating to them really what our concerns are, where we see problems with the relationship, but also opportunities,’’ McMaster said.
The US-Russian relationship deteriorated during Obama’s eight years in office and Trump said he was hopeful of improving American ties with Russia.
What happened to Obama's Russian reset that was considered a success until the Ukraine coup of 2014?
But major disagreements remain over Ukraine and Syria, and Trump said in April that US-Russian relations ‘‘may be at an all-time low.’’ The meeting will also come as Congress considers legislation that would impose economic penalties against Russia and Iran, legislation that has stalled after it cleared the Senate.
Trump will be under pressure to side with the US intelligence agencies and press Putin on the issue of election meddling, something he has thus far been reluctant to do. Trump’s promise of closer cooperation with Russia has prompted concerns that the US will have diminished leverage over global issues and he could be more sympathetic to Russia.
Why? They have been wrong so often.
‘‘Putin is all about optics and symbolism,’’ said Julianne Smith, a National Security Council and Defense Department official under President Barack Obama. ‘‘He wants the meeting and the photo more than the discussion.’’
Sounds more like Trump, especially after watching the Ollie Stone interviews.
Russia has sought to put itself on equal footing with the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union, extending its territory where it can, countering US military action, and positioning itself as a rival.
As if they were Israel.
McMaster said that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is taking the lead on the discussions and ‘‘has been engaged in a broad, wide-range discussion about irritants, problems in the relationship but also to explore opportunities, where we can work together, areas of common interest. So it won’t be different from our discussions with any other country.’’
I sure hope he didn't sh** on the Russian porch again.
White House officials said Trump would also meet with the leaders of several other countries, including Germany, China, South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, and Singapore.....
The question is, do they want to meet with him?
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Related: McMaster’s War
Right next door to Russia. That is often forgotten.
"NATO agrees to send more troop trainers to Afghanistan" by Lorne Cook and Lolita C. Baldor Associated Press June 29, 2017
BRUSSELS — Two years after winding down its military operation in Afghanistan, NATO has agreed to send more troops to help train and work alongside Afghan security forces.
The move follows a request from NATO commanders who say they need as many as 3,000 additional troops from the allies. That number does not include an expected contribution of roughly 4,000 American forces.
‘‘We’re in it for the long haul. It’s a democracy. It’s asked for our help and it’s important that Europe responds,’’ British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told reporters. ‘‘Transnational terror groups operate in Afghanistan, are a threat to us in Western Europe.’’
I'm so sick of the discredited, shop-worn propaganda that is constantly regurgitated to justify endless war. I really am.
European nations and Canada have been waiting to hear what Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will offer or seek from them. US leaders have so far refused to publicly discuss troop numbers before completing a broader, updated war strategy.
Mattis says victory is just being there!
Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in Afghanistan this week, meeting with commanders to gather details on what specific military capabilities they need to end what American officials say is a stalemate against the resurgent Taliban.
The expected deployment of more Americans is intended to bolster Afghan forces so they eventually can assume greater control of security.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Thursday said the NATO increase does not mean the alliance will once again engage in combat operations against the Taliban and extremist groups. NATO wants ‘‘to help the Afghans fight’’ and take ‘‘full responsibility’’ for safeguarding the country.
Mohammad Radmanish, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s defense ministry, welcomed NATO’s decision and said Afghan troops were in need of ‘‘expert’’ training, heavy artillery, and a quality air force.
‘‘We are on the front line in the fight against terrorism,’’ Radmanish said in a telephone interview in Kabul.
But Afghan lawmaker Mohammad Zekria Sawda was skeptical. He said that the offer of an additional 3,000 NATO troops was a ‘‘show’’ and that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United States were unable to bring peace to Afghanistan when they had more than 120,000 soldiers deployed against Taliban insurgents.
As the war drags on, Afghans have become increasingly disillusioned and even former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has questioned the international commitment to bringing peace.
Many Afghans, including Karzai, are convinced that the United States and NATO have the military ability to defeat the Taliban. But with the war raging 16 years after the Taliban were ousted, they accuse the West of seemingly wanting chaos over peace.....
They are ON TO SOMETHING THERE, and once you realize it is western intelligence behind the phantom terror groups and the chaos.... cui bono?
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"Olmert, Israeli ex-prime minister, granted early release from prison" by Isabel Kershner New York Times June 29, 2017
JERUSALEM — Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister of Israel who is serving a 27-month sentence for bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice, and breach of trust, is expected to be released Sunday after a parole board cut his sentence by a third.
The board’s decision Thursday appeared to close a legal saga that has roiled Israeli society and politics for years. Olmert, forced to resign during an intensive, if inconclusive, round of peace talks with the Palestinians, was the first former head of government to be imprisoned for misconduct in Israel, though the crimes for which he was convicted did not take place during his tenure as prime minister, from 2006 to 2009.
He should have been convicted of war crimes in Lebanon, but....
Olmert entered prison in February 2016 after being convicted in various cases on charges of bribery, obstruction of justice, fraud, and breach of trust. He acknowledged having made “mistakes” but has consistently denied criminal wrongdoing.
The parole board’s decision was a great relief to Olmert, 71, his lawyers said. Prosecutors, who opposed a commutation of the sentence, had until the end of Thursday to appeal for a delay in the execution of the order, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so.
Olmert described his fall as “painful and strange” at the time, and the weeks leading up to the decision for his release have been no less tumultuous.
Police have been looking into the possibility that Olmert mishandled classified information when he gave part of a manuscript that he had written behind bars to one of his lawyers to take out of the prison.
Olmert’s lawyers argued that the manuscript would be subject to military censorship before publication and that there had been no security breach.
Just a way to keep him quiet, right?
Olmert — who as prime minister led a monthlong war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 and held extensive peace negotiations with the Palestinians and indirect talks with Syria — complained during a recent parole board hearing that the authorities were turning him into a “traitor,” according to Israeli news reports.
Who does he think he is, Vanunu?
Israel has remained silent about a 2007 airstrike that was widely attributed to it and that took place during Olmert’s tenure, destroying a nuclear reactor that was under construction in Syria.
The police inquiry this month prompted a public uproar and increased sympathy for Olmert after a raid at the offices of Yedioth Books, publisher of his memoir, as well as at the home of his editor. Officers seized material that was unrelated to Olmert’s book, a move that many Israeli critics saw as vastly overstepping their authority. A judge examining a case brought by Yedioth Books for the return of the materials warned that the raids and seizures undermined freedom of speech and the freedom of the press, cornerstones of the country’s democratic system.
Amid the brouhaha, Olmert suffered chest pain and was hospitalized for a week. He was discharged from the hospital Tuesday.
Olmert’s legal troubles began in 2008, two years after he became prime minister, and he was forced to resign from office under the growing weight of police investigations. A lawyer by profession, he entered public life in his 20s. He was convicted of taking bribes as mayor of Jerusalem — a role he filled from 1993 to 2003 — in part to facilitate the construction of a large housing complex known as Holyland, despite fierce local opposition.
He also ripped off the Yad Vasham, if you can believe it.
Now that's chutzpah!
Originally sentenced to six years in prison, Olmert had his prison term reduced significantly after the Israeli Supreme Court overturned a main part of his conviction relating to the housing project. He was also serving time for a separate case involving his relations with an American businessman, Morris Talansky. Some of the charges related to a period when he was serving as a government minister, but none pertained to his time as prime minister.
Talansky was handing him envelopes stuffed with cash.
Olmert is not expected to make a formal political comeback anytime soon; the law bars him from holding office for seven years.
But he could?
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Here is something that made me smile:
"Love Transforms Everything it Touches until Nothing Remains but Love
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Dog Poet Transmitting.......
Yes... the Oceana/East Asia assembly line, false news production centers, are brimming with reconstituted freeze-dried fecal ink of both the real and virtual kind, in both the literal and metaphorical sense. It's an interesting dichotomy, or irony, as you prefer, that although the smell has been chemically removed, or deodorized, it still stinks so bad that you either have to leave the room or change the channel or web-page at regular intervals to avoid Uncontrollable Retching Syndrome.
We went into that particular file drawer this morning; “Things that are true and unassailably so” and pulled out the folder that contains the names and genetic markers of the ones who own the media and it's the same as it is every day. These organized Satanists are a single arm of the globoctopus vampire squid that represents the investment portfolio of the international banker consortium that thinks they run the show down here. Everything you are hearing about Syria is designed for public consumption by them. They were also the principal financiers and architects of the destruction of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, The Ukraine (this admitted to by Victoria Neuland) and just about every country in recent memory that has been the staging ground for ritual mass murder, dedicated to the blood currency deity that they worship. They were the ones that orchestrated 9/11 as well and this is also in that same file. There are duplicates of all of these items in another file that is headed, “Shit we know about but nobody does anything about.” Duplicates are also in another file that is headed, “In God's hands.”
These hungry fiends have got their sights set on the destruction of Syria now. It is they who were behind the chemical weapons attacks; the false flag weapons attacks. They are now announcing, with no facts or evidence that Syria is planning another chemical weapons attack, even though they haven't done any to begin with. They're shutting down any observations to the contrary; whatever is contrary to the lies they are manufacturing, to justify whatever massive reaction they hope to generate by the American military, once they have performed their false flag chemical weapons attack and blamed it on Assad.
What has to be kept in mind is that the vicious monsters who serve The Dark Lord are on a time sensitive schedule. Certain things have to be accomplished within a particular time line. They are arrogantly confident about their ability to pull it off because they control the State Department of the United States, The Defense Department, The Intelligence Services, The American Congress and the White House as well as any other medium they require to provide a comprehensive and defensible platform for their actions.
As has been stated any number of times here; 'life is a dream' be it not so 'merrily, merrily' as we would hope. Corruption has spread through the medium of Materialism to nearly every location on Earth. Here we would like to state that Materialism is Satanism. They are indistinguishable. This accounts for their coming out into the open in such an obvious (to some of us) way as they have in recent times. This accounts for their sensitive time line as well because at no time can Evil rise up in such a manner without a corresponding force also coming into play. The Avatar is also at work but in a less visible fashion. The Avatar is working 'within'... presently within the hearts and minds of the populace though they know nothing of it. The Avatar is working on the planes above the manifest and influencing what comes into manifestation for the purpose of whatever demonstration he intends to make known to the world in an impactful and lasting fashion.
The Agents of Darkness are coming more and more into the open. Few of us are able to see all of the areas where they are at work but it is easy to see any number of movements and events taking place in the vast theater of contemporary existence. One needs only to look at every area of the entertainment industry, the media, the bleating of the doomed goats in government disservice, the sanctimonious and bejeweled representatives of religious hypocrisy and the white garbed new age prophets with deep pockets. Everywhere you look you can follow the money and see what is being paid for and... what is being paid for is the relentless corruption of the people; an enforced and progressive degeneration of consciousness with its focus on appetites; perverted and amplified through telepathic invasion and a blizzard of sounds and imagery through every medium at their disposal.
At the same time, in this very moment, the Avatar and all the angels of Heaven are constantly at work on the hearts and minds of everyone who is susceptible to that influence, granting hope and invisible reassurance wherever it is needed most. We must recognize this truth in our hour of need. When it seems that all is lost and that the palpable forces arrayed against us are overwhelming, we must realize that all force is borrowed force and exists in application for only so long as it is permitted to be. In an instant the permissions can be removed by the one to whom all force belongs. It is as simple as throwing a switch. Count on this as being one of the less obvious realities of the apocalypse but no less potent for that. Everything is under control.
Time and time again, on every stage that has ever been erected and then dismantled, the same pattern of events has played out. It is an endlessly repeating tale, with only on true winner and with the same lesson realized again and again. We keep coming to the fields of Armageddon to find the battle won. God is present in every character in every role that is performed. God is prior to, in the midst of and at the end of each and every story whose purpose is the lesson implicit in the telling. What meaning we take from anything is dependent on what we value. This is what determines whatever sense we make out of it. This is the Rashomon Effect.
When one does not know and knows that one does not know, they are in a position to be informed. As long as your bucket is filled with salt water, all of the water contains salt. It is best to have an empty bucket. That bucket can then be filled with the presence of that which knows everything and which then informs the one who knows nothing. Knowledge has importance only at the time when it is necessary to possess it. Otherwise it is just something clothed in words that might as well be a figurine on a shelf... there are books which contain powerful revelations but the revelations have no meaning or importance unless they are experienced in revelation. Once again... it is just words. There is an intelligence within us that has the power to illuminate that which otherwise is just words. Certain arrangements of words have been repeated over and over again. People extract various interpretations from them and this is accompanied by partial understandings. This leaves one open to errors in reasoning which can prove truly unfortunate down the road, up the road and around the bend as well. Everything is a lesson and even the slightest event in your life is a special dealing of the ineffable with your soul.
If you proceed through life, knowing that the ineffable is intimately involved in your life, you have made possible certain changes that might not come to pass otherwise. People can argue about it till Doomsday's Break but the enduring truth of life is that Love is the most powerful force in the universe and if you exercise it, it will grow. It will grow and grow and grow until it is the only consideration in your life. It will live in you and work through you and it will affect everything in your life and it will touch the lives of everyone you meet. It will instruct you and protect you. It will guide and lead you to the secret origins of its eternal residence and it will welcome you in.
There are other roads a person can take and they all lead somewhere but the road of Love is remarkable and unique, unlike any other route of passage. You can read all of the great books. You can practice all the rituals and routines of every spiritual tradition but no matter how deep and profound what you read may be and no matter how diligently you perform whatever discipline you might engage in, there is nothing so deep and profound as Love. You will find nothing so real and everlasting as Love. Why not accept this to begin with and avoid the disappointments that are woven into everything else? Let Love absorb and transform you. You will never regret what comes of this and the world will be left behind for those who find whatever importance they find in it. Without Love, nothing has any value and this... one will discover the truth of it... sooner or later.
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There are other roads a person can take and they all lead somewhere but the road of Love is remarkable and unique, unlike any other route of passage. You can read all of the great books. You can practice all the rituals and routines of every spiritual tradition but no matter how deep and profound what you read may be and no matter how diligently you perform whatever discipline you might engage in, there is nothing so deep and profound as Love. You will find nothing so real and everlasting as Love. Why not accept this to begin with and avoid the disappointments that are woven into everything else? Let Love absorb and transform you. You will never regret what comes of this and the world will be left behind for those who find whatever importance they find in it. Without Love, nothing has any value and this... one will discover the truth of it... sooner or later.
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