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Arm twisted? Australia joins the US' anti-Iran flotilla in as limited a way as possible

2 Aussi ships
© Facebook/Royal Australian Navy/LSIS Tara Byrne/Commonwealth of AustraliaAustralian Navy
Australia will send a frigate and a spy plane in support of Washington's dubious initiative to boost security in the Straits of Hormuz by filling it with foreign warships, increasing the risk of miscalculations and provocations.

"The government has decided that it is in Australia's national interest to work with our international partners to contribute," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday morning. "Our contribution will be limited in scope and it will be time-bound."

Following the US and UK lead, the former British colony will reinforce the sparse coalition with a P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance plane this year and will dispatch a frigate next January for at least six months' patrol, foreign affairs minister Marise Payne and defense minister Linda Reynolds said in a statement.

Besides this 'limited' contribution, Canberra also agreed to provide intelligence and other assistance, as the US faces an uphill battle trying to muster support for its "maritime policing" initiative. Previously, only the UK and Israel had volunteered to battle the much-hyped Iranian threat, following a series of mysterious attacks on oil tankers that were pinned on Tehran and reciprocal vessel seizures by Iran and the UK.

The Islamic Republic, meanwhile, believes the US is simply trying to enforce its unilateral oil sanctions through military pressure after failing to do it via political extortion.

Comment: See also:


Chess

Elizabeth Warren admits to vague 'mistakes', possibly regarding her phony Native American ancestry claims

Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren admitted Monday that she had "made mistakes" regarding her claims of Native American ancestry — which led to President Trump dubbing her "Pocahontas."

"Like anyone who's been honest with themselves, I know that I have made mistakes," the Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential candidate said at the Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum in Sioux City, Iowa, without specifying exactly what she was apologizing for.

"I am sorry for harm I have caused. I have listened and I have learned a lot, and I am grateful for the many conversations we have had together," she said.

Chess

Judicial Watch files request to depose Hillary Clinton on her illegal email server and destruction of State Department documents

Hillary Clinton
© Getty ImagesHillary Clinton testifies at the Benghazi hearings in 2015
Judicial Watch announced today that a federal court ordered a hearing for Thursday, August 22, 2019, on the Clinton email issue. On December 6, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Lamberth ordered Obama administration senior State Department officials, lawyers and Clinton aides to be deposed or answer written questions under oath. The court ruled that the Clinton email system was "one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency."

The court ordered discovery into three specific areas: whether Secretary Clinton's email use of a private email server was intended to stymie FOIA; whether the State Department's intent to settle this case in late 2014 and early 2015 amounted to bad faith; and whether the State Department has adequately searched for records responsive to Judicial Watch's request. Judicial Watch deposed nearly a dozen witnesses and will seek addition witnesses and documents from the court, including the deposition of Hillary Clinton and Cheryl Mills, her chief of staff at State and personal lawyer who directed the destruction of 33,000 State Department Clinton emails. Lawyers for Clinton and Mills are expected at the hearing Thursday.

Comment: We wish Judicial Watch the best of luck in cornering Killary and her minions. Wonder how many times she will take the Fifth?


Star of David

MSM slings fake 'anti-Semitism' charge against Trump, rather than question his actual loyalty to Israel

trump israel western wall
© Reuters/Jonathan ErnstDonald Trump visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem in 2017
The media has willfully misinterpreted Donald Trump's words to portray the most pro-Israel US president in history as an anti-Semite. It makes more sense to chide him for sacrificing US interests to please Benjamin Netanyahu.

Here is the full Trump quote from Tuesday, in which he rejected Democrat Bernie Sanders' idea that Israel should stop accepting American aid, after its reluctance to let in congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who have publicly endorsed the BDS campaign.

"The concept of even talking about this - even three years ago - of cutting off aid to Israel because of two people that hate Israel and hate Jewish people - I can't believe we're even having this conversation," Trump said.

Comment: The extent to which the US and Israel have mind-melded is something to behold. Trump's obsequious devotion to Israel is revolting, but the entire culture seems to have shifted into making no distinction between the two countries. We used to refer to USrael as a wry joke. It's no longer a laughing matter.


Question

Why did Epstein's lawyers convince the prison to end 'suicide watch'? Did they set him up to die? - UPDATES

Barr
© UnknownUS AG William Barr
As it turns out, Miami Herald reporter Julie K Brown was right about Epstein managing to manipulate MCC staff into letting him off of suicide watch. Because, according to an ABC News report, Epstein's defense attorneys successfully lobbied for him to be taken off suicide watch on July 29, about a week before he was found dead in his cell.

The revelation comes as AG William Barr warned any and all of Epstein's alleged accomplices on Monday that he would look over the "serious irregularities" in the prison's treatment of Epstein, and that Epstein's death doesn't mean his co-conspirators won't be brought to justice.

Before Epstein could be removed from suicide watch, he had to undergo several psychiatric evaluations allowing prison officials to make the move.

As has already been reported, though there are cameras on Epstein's former cell block, they don't show the inside of the cells, meaning there's likely no video of Epstein committing suicide.

Comment: Update (Aug 21): Suspicions were again raised after it was learned that Epstein signed his will just two days before his death, leaving behind a nearly $600 million trust (how he earned the money that allowed him to purchase all his assets is still a mystery).

A new lawsuit reveals that the alleged pedophile would leave behind 'Massage For Dummies' books to the alleged sex abuse victims.

Epstein didn't just come to attention of authorities in the US. Turns out French authorities are looking at his exploits in Paris, where he owned a small apartment that is reportedly adorned with photos of naked young women.

There's also a new complaint in federal court by two women that Epstein trafficked women to his Florida office and home while on "work release" from jail in 2009. Keep in mind law enforcement in Florida was supposed to be supervising Epstein's activities while he was on work release.

Epstein's condition after his "suicide" is still being questioned. Dr. Mark Siegel went on Tucker Carlson to claim that, according to his sources, the autopsy revealed Epstein had hemorrhaging in his neck. According to Dr. Siegel, this is a sign of strangulation - not hanging:


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Dollars

Aggravation in Korean-Japanese Relations: The Japanese Angle

japan south korea flags
The trade war between Japan and South Korea is going on, and the author needs to clarify why Tokyo lost its temper at last.

The South Korean mass media, naturally, see the reasons for the trade war not as Seoul's desire to ignore international law, but rather having to do with the internal political problems in Japan: Shinzo Abe needs internal unity of the country as the Japanese government has faced such problems as instability in connection with the trade dispute between the US and China, concern of the population in connection with the increase in consumer tax and the changes to the pension system. In this situation, South Korea is perfectly suitable as an "external enemy" who will distract and will rally the people. Alas, precisely the same expressions can be applied to Moon Jae-in as well, even in terms of concern about what the democratic president is doing with pensions, minimum wages, nuclear power, etc.

As the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said already on July 22, the main problem in the relations of South Korea and Japan is that of compliance or non-compliance with their bilateral agreements. He mentioned the violation of the 1965 Agreement with Japan by the South Korean party, noting that South Korea was not implementing the international agreements which are the base for improvement in the relations.

In the author's opinion, it would be useful to remind the readers about the nature of this agreement, thankfully, among the range of documents signed at the time, there were several devoted to "resolving the issues connected with property and claims for the compensation of damage." Japan paid South Korea $200 million as a grant, another $300 million in loans with a favorable interest rate and $300 million in private loans on commercial terms. All this money was to go to the economic development of South Korea. In exchange, the parties confirmed that "the issues connected with property, rights and interests of the two High Contracting Parties and their peoples (including legal entities) and claims for the compensation of damage between the High Contracting Parties and between their peoples are hereby settled completely and finally."

Comment: See also:


Bullseye

End the Fed! Trump says Fed 'biggest problem' for US economy, calls Powell 'golfer who can't putt'

trump
© Reuters / Kyodo
US President Donald Trump has lashed out at the US Federal Reserve and its chairman Jerome Powell, saying they are the only thing that is stalling America's economic growth.

"The only problem we have is Jay Powell and the Fed. He's like a golfer who can't putt, has no touch," the US president proclaimed in his tweet on Wednesday. Taking another jab at the Fed chairman, Trump tweeted that "so far he has called it wrong, and only let us down."

Powell, who Trump appointed in February 2018, has been a constant target for the president's angry remarks. While the heads of the US Federal Reserve are appointed by acting presidents, the Fed follows an independent monetary policy. It has raised interest rates seven times during Trump's presidency, repeatedly sparking his indignation. A steadily growing US economy is one of Trump's 2020 re-election campaign focal points.


Comment: That's probably as close a US president can get to attacking the moneymasters without getting shot.


Quenelle

Kiev court rules to launch corruption probe against Poroshenko and Klimkin

poroshenko klimkin
Then-President Petro Poroshenko (left) and Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin (right) meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Lviv in 2015.
A court in Kyiv has ordered Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau to launch a probe against former President Petro Poroshenko and former Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin on charges of abuse of power.

Ukraine's registry for court decisions placed the August 15 ruling of Kyiv's Solomyanka District Court on its website on August 21, saying that the ruling cannot be appealed.

It is not clear what charges Poroshenko and Klimkin are facing.

According to the court ruling, the case was initiated by an unidentified individual.

In recent weeks, Poroshenko was questioned twice as a witness by the State Bureau for Investigations in a tax evasion case.

Poroshenko lost a reelection bid in April to Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

A day after Zelenskiy's inauguration in May, Andriy Portnov, a former deputy head in the administration of ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, returned to Ukraine from self-imposed exile abroad and filed several lawsuits against Poroshenko, accusing him of economic crimes and illegal attempts to retain power, among other things.

Chess

'Uncharted waters': Italy's government falls as Salvini gambles on snap election win

salvini
© Reuters/ RC/zuzItaly's Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini at Senate
Italy's flamboyant Deputy PM Matteo Salvini managed to end his own government's term. He hopes for a big win in an early election, but may find himself in the opposition instead, analysts told RT.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced his resignation on Tuesday, delivering a scathing attack on Salvini and accusing him of being an "opportunist" and putting his political ambitions ahead of the country's needs.

The decision was widely expected, since otherwise the government would have faced a vote of no confidence, in which Salvini's right-wing, anti-immigration League party would have voted to scrap the government. Salvini had earlier called for a snap election, declaring that the coalition between his party and the left-wing Five-Star Movement was no longer workable and that the choice should be given "back to the voters."


Comment: The Duran's Seraphim Hanisch comments:
Matteo Salvini has been upsetting the European globalist applecart over the last several months, with great success. His steadfast refusal to allow migrant ships' passengers to debark in Italy exposed the highly political nature of this effort to flood Europe with mostly Muslim migrants who then burden the governments of their host European nations and also gain power. As we can see from the snipped of the Guardian's report above, Mr. Salvini is Italy focused, religion focused and family focused. His fearless stance on these issues has been winning the hearts and minds of the Italian people.
...
This latest move by the Italian prime minister appears to be intended to prevent snap elections, which Mr. Salvini wants. However this is a risk, as those elections may well come anyway. How would they go?

Well, Mr. Salvini has cut illegal immigration into Italy by over 90% since becoming Italy's Interior Minister. His frequent and open defiance to European globalist norms and the visibility given to "suffering migrants", which is being used as a prop by the Sorosian-minded globalists, is only winning him and his party more and more support. In Italy now, Lega Nord is the most popular and powerful single party in Italy's parliament. It appears that nationalism and the preservation of sovereignty, culture, family and religious traditions are a winning combination for the average Italian.



Propaganda

Twitter bans 'state media' from advertising in hybrid war attempt to censor China

Jack Dorsey
© Reuters / Anushree FadnavisTwitter CEO Jack Dorsey (November 2018 file photo)
As mainstream media outlets accused Twitter of allowing a Chinese news agency to advertise its reporting on the Hong Kong protests, the platform announced it would ban all "state-controlled" media advertising within a month.

"Going forward, we will not accept advertising from state-controlled news media entities," Twitter announced on Monday afternoon.

What exactly amounts to a "state controlled" media will be "informed by established academic and civil society leaders in this space," Twitter said.

The devil, as usual, is in the details. The policy will not apply to "taxpayer-funded entities, including independent public broadcasters," the company said, in language that seems tailor-made for outlets such as the BBC or Voice of America (VOA), and seems both broad and flexible at the same time, to the point of being arbitrary.

Comment: RT comments that the US hybrid war against China via the Hong Kong protests, and now social media censorship, is a poor rehash of the 'Russia bots' and the 2016 election:
'Sowing discord' again? Twitter wades into Hong Kong protests with hunt for 'Chinese bots'

In another high-profile purge, Twitter has announced the deletion of nearly 1,000 accounts from its platform, citing fears that "Chinese bots" are "sowing discord" in Hong Kong after months of heated protests there.

After coming under fire recently for its alleged role in protests in China, Twitter has taken steps to combat what it called a "significant state-backed information operation focused on the situation in Hong Kong," according to the company's Monday blog post. In all, the firm said 936 accounts were permanently suspended "for a range of violations" of its policies.

"Based on our intensive investigations, we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation," the blog post said of the deleted accounts. "Specifically, we identified large clusters of accounts behaving in a coordinated manner to amplify messages related to the Hong Kong protests."


By now we can be sure this "reliable evidence" will prove very little.


Using the "sow discord" language directly out of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, the company's blog post reads much like a rehash of the 2016 presidential election, in which so-called "Russian bots" supposedly played an outsized role.

Also reminiscent of 2016's "Russian bot" craze is Twitter's connect-the-dots reasoning, in this case identifying a "cluster" of suspicious accounts "behaving in a coordinated manner," though the company did not elaborate on how such a determination was made. A recent court ruling determined Mueller's team did not prove any connection between the Russian government and the company that managed the purported "Russian troll farm" - despite making very similar claims of "coordinated behavior."

Twitter is certainly no stranger to purges, especially those of the politically motivated variety; in recent months, in fact, the company apparently can't keep its hands off the banhammer.

April saw British European Parliament candidates Carl Benjamin and Tommy Robinson exiled from the platform, while Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya was given the boot in June - for no stated reason. The Russian Embassy in Syria briefly fell victim in July, but was soon reinstated, however weeks later three Iranian news agencies would suffer the same fate. Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a reporter from the right-of-center Daily Caller were censored on Twitter for reporting the contents of death threats against the senator.

While accounts are removed from Twitter on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, the platform's major purges are apparently related to political considerations, and the great hunt for 'Chinese bots' seems to fall into that category. However, it also amounts to meddling into internal affairs of a major world power.

China has previously warned the US against sticking "their noses in our affairs" in relation to the ongoing Hong Kong protests, with China's freshly appointed ambassador in Moscow, Zhang Hanhui, reminding that Hong Kong is Chinese and not "American" or "English."
RT also reports that Facebook is getting in on the censorship action:
Facebook said it also removed a number of "fake" accounts and pages linked to people associated with the Chinese government after a tip-off from Twitter.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang refused to comment on the claims made by the social media giants, but said Chinese people "have the right to express their point of view" on the protests.

"What is happening in Hong Kong, and what the truth is, people will naturally have their own judgment. Why is it that China's official media's presentation is surely negative or wrong?" Shuang asked during a daily news briefing.
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