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Pistol

Best of the Web: Rogue States: CIA accused by Spanish authorities after vicious armed attack on North Korean embassy in Madrid

The North Korean embassy in Madrid.
© ULY MARTÍNThe North Korean embassy in Madrid.
Investigators from the Spanish police and National Intelligence Center (CNI) have linked an attack on the North Korean embassy in Madrid on February 22 to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

At least two of the 10 assailants who broke into the embassy and interrogated diplomatic staff have been identified and have connections to the US intelligence agency. The CIA has denied any involvement but government sources say their response was "unconvincing."

If it is proven that the CIA was behind the attack, it could lead to a diplomatic spat between Madrid and Washington. Government sources say that it would be "unacceptable" for an ally to take such action. Not only would it mean that the US agency had operated on Spanish soil without asking for authorization or informing the authorities, it would also be a violation of the international conventions that protect diplomatic delegations.

What's more, unlike other intelligence activities - such as cyberattacks, which are characterized by their discretion, the attack on the North Korean embassy was especially violent. On February 22 at 3pm, 10 masked men carrying alleged imitation weapons broke into the embassy, located north of the capital in the residential area of Aravaca. They tied up the eight people inside and put bags on their heads. The victims were beaten and interrogated. A woman managed to escape from a window on the second floor and her screams for help were heard by a neighbor, who contacted the police.

Comment: For these cowboys, the 'frontier' never ended when they hit California.

The Spanish version of the report has additional details (machine translated by Moon of Alabama):
After analyzing the recordings of the security cameras in the area, questioning the hostages and analyzing the diplomatic vehicles used in the flight, it has been possible to identify some of the assailants. Although the majority were Koreans, at least two of them have been recognized by the Spanish information services for their links with the American CIA.

The indications that point to the US espionage service, in probable cooperation with that of South Korea, are so strong that Spanish interlocutors have contacted the CIA to ask for explanations.
One of the darkest aspects of the assault on the North Korean Embassy in Madrid is the interrogation to which the head of the command, who called himself The Entrepreneur, subjected the charge of business, leading the diplomatic delegation since the ambassador was expelled. The head of the commando separated the diplomat from the rest of the hostages and locked himself alone with him. It is not known what he intended, but the current head of the Pyongyang delegation in Madrid probably knows a lot about Kim Hyok Chol, head of the North Korean delegation in the nuclear negotiations before the US, with whom he coincided when the latter was ambassador in Madrid, between 2014 and 2017.
Absolutely outrageous behavior in normal civilization, but S.O.P. for American spooks.


X

Best of the Web: Censorship hitting Left, Right, and Non-Aligned media: Now Zero Hedge gets the ban-hammer from Facebook - UPDATES: Facebook backs off, 'it was a mistake'

zuckerberg water
Over the weekend, we were surprised to learn that some readers were prevented by Facebook when attempting to share Zero Hedge articles. Subsequently it emerged that virtually every attempt to share or merely mention an article, including in private messages, would be actively blocked by the world's largest social network, with the explanation that "the link you tried to visit goes against our community standards."


We were especially surprised by this action as neither prior to this seemingly arbitrary act of censorship, nor since, were we contacted by Facebook with an explanation of what "community standard" had been violated or what particular filter or article had triggered the blanket rejection of all Zero Hedge content.

To be sure, as a for-profit enterprise with its own unique set of corporate "ethics", Facebook has every right to impose whatever filters it desires on the media shared on its platform. It is entirely possible that one or more posts was flagged by Facebook's "triggered" readers who merely alerted a censorship algo which blocked all content.

Comment: See, it's not just 'conservative' sites being hit. 'Leftist' ones too, and old-timer, non-aligned sites like Zero Hedge and SOTT. The censors are - more or less - going after the most truthful sites first.

It's difficult to define what exactly crosses their 'red lines' of 'ideological infringement' because the reasons given, and the offending subject matter, are different each time, but it's essentially the censors acting 'on instinct' at the behest of the hive mind that controls them.

See also: UPDATE 12/10/2019: The social media community has reacted negatively to the ban, which Facebook has so far refused to comment on:
Users complained that Facebook blocked their attempts to share stories published by popular anti-establishment blog Zero Hedge, citing the violation of community standards, 'abusive' content, and 'errors' among the reasons.

"Over the weekend, we were surprised to learn that some readers were prevented by Facebook when attempting to share Zero Hedge articles," the publication wrote on Monday, calling the practice an "arbitrary act of censorship."



According to the blog, "virtually every attempt to share or merely mention an article, including in private messages, would be actively blocked" by Facebook with the explanation that the content breached the social network's community standards.

Some users on social media reported experiencing problems while trying to share Zero Hedge's stories on Facebook.

"Facebook has outright banned all posting of Zero Hedge links," right-wing commentator and host Paul Joseph Watson has tweeted.


Zero Hedge said that it didn't receive any notice from the tech giant, and its attempts to reach out to Facebook "have so far remained unanswered." The publication noted that some of its content may have been flagged by "triggered" readers. It also suggested that the Silicon Valley-based company may have decided to pull the plug on Zero Hedge as retribution for publishing stories critical of Facebook.

Bloomberg, which covered the story, said the social network didn't immediately respond to a comment request.

Mark Zuckerberg's company has come under fire from right-wing groups and public figures who accuse it of liberal bias and censoring conservatives. Last year, Facebook effectively banned controversial radio host Alex Jones and his show InfoWars, citing "hate speech."

In a similar fashion, the company suspended several prominent left-leaning anti-establishment pages, including groups tracking police brutality in the US.

Last month, Facebook, without any prior notice, promptly blocked four pages with millions of subscribers, run by Maffick Media, including 'In the Now' - for supposedly concealing the fact that they were partially funded by Russia. The pages have since been unblocked.

Launched in 2009, Zero Hedge is an anonymous anti-establishment blog. Its authors publish articles under the pen name Tyler Durden - a reference to the character from the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. The image of Durden, portrayed by Brad Pitt in the 1999 Hollywood adaptation, serves as the blog's logo on social media.
UPDATE 2: Breitbart reports Facebook is now claiming Zero Hedge blacklist was 'a mistake'
"We were especially surprised by this action as neither prior to this seemingly arbitrary act of censorship, nor since, were we contacted by Facebook with an explanation of what 'community standard' had been violated or what particular filter or article had triggered the blanket rejection of all Zero Hedge content," Zero Hedge explained, adding,
"it is just as possible that Facebook simply decided to no longer allow its users to share our content in retaliation for our extensive coverage of what some have dubbed the platform's 'many problems', including chronic privacy violations, mass abandonment by younger users, its gross and ongoing misrepresentation of fake users, ironically - in retrospect - its systematic censorship and back door government cooperation (those are just links from the past few weeks)."
Public figures, including Infowars Editor-at-Large Paul Joseph Watson and Thiel Capital Managing Director Eric Weinstein, also reported problems with posting Zero Hedge links.


The block prompted condemnation from President Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., MEP Nigel Farage, and others, with Trump Jr. declaring, "The censorship continues. How does ⁦@zerohedge⁩'s content not 'meet community standards?' FB doesn't agree with them and they hit the platform's obvious flaws at times. That's it and it's disgusting!"



The Facebook block, however, was eventually reversed, with a Facebook spokesman claiming the problem was a "mistake."

"This was a mistake with our automation to detect spam and we worked to fix it yesterday," claimed the spokesman. "We use a combination of human review and automation to enforce our policies around spam and in this case, our automation incorrectly blocked this link. As soon as we identified the issue, we worked quickly to fix it."

As reported by Bloomberg, "Since being founded in the depths of the financial crisis, Zero Hedge has built a dedicated following by serving up a mix of hardcore financial analysis and populist political commentary," and the blog is "known for its bearish bent and anti-establishment commentary."

Breitbart Tech reached out to Facebook for comment.
UPDATE 13/03/2019: Many are not buying Facebook excuses on the Zero Hedge posting ban:
The incident added fuel to longstanding allegations that Mark Zuckerberg's company harbors a bias against conservative and anti-establishment voices. Many commenters online remained skeptical as to whether Facebook's actions against Zero Hedge were an honest mistake.



Zero Hedge confirmed on Wednesday that the bewildering ban was "reversed" and things went back to normal. The blog's authors noted that they don't know which stories Facebook branded as "spammy," as the social network still hasn't contacted them.



Chalkboard

Best of the Web: Scientists see how bone marrow treatment for cancer can also benefit individuals with symptoms of schizophrenia

man graphc
A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient's leukemia - and his delusions, too. Some doctors think they know why.

The man was 23 when the delusions came on. He became convinced that his thoughts were leaking out of his head and that other people could hear them. When he watched television, he thought the actors were signaling him, trying to communicate. He became irritable and anxious and couldn't sleep.

Dr. Tsuyoshi Miyaoka, a psychiatrist treating him at the Shimane University School of Medicine in Japan, eventually diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia. He then prescribed a series of antipsychotic drugs. None helped. The man's symptoms were, in medical parlance, "treatment resistant."

A year later, the man's condition worsened. He developed fatigue, fever and shortness of breath, and it turned out he had a cancer of the blood called acute myeloid leukemia. He'd need a bone-marrow transplant to survive. After the procedure came the miracle. The man's delusions and paranoia almost completely disappeared. His schizophrenia seemingly vanished.

Comment: See also:


War Whore

Best of the Web: Lisa Page said FBI discussed charging Hillary Clinton with 'gross negligence' in 2016, and DOJ told them no

hillary clinton cell phone
© Reuters/Kevin LamarqueU.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton checks her phone in October 18, 2011
Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page testified last year that officials in the bureau, including then-FBI Director James Comey, discussed Espionage Act charges against Hillary Clinton, citing "gross negligence," but the Justice Department shut them down.

Newly released transcripts from Page's private testimony in front of a joint task force of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees in July 2018 sheds new light on the internal discussions about an investigation into Clinton's emails. This goes back to the FBI's "Midyear Exam" investigation, which looked into whether Clinton committed crimes when she sent and received classified information on her unauthorized private email server while serving as secretary of state.

Comey cleared Clinton of all charges in a press conference on July 5, 2016.

Page told the committee that the FBI "did not blow over gross negligence." Responding to a question from Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, Page testified the FBI, including Comey, believed Clinton may have committed gross negligence. "We, in fact - and, in fact, the Director - because, on its face, it did seem like, well, maybe there's a potential here for this to be the charge. And we had multiple conversations, multiple conversations with the Justice Department about charging gross negligence," she said.

Stock Up

Best of the Web: Italy is linking up with China's Eurasian megaproject, and there's nothing Washington can do to stop it

All roads seem to lead to Rome as Italy expresses its love for China's Belt and Road Initiative
colosseum
© AFPChinese tourists just can’t get enough of Venice, Florence, Rome – and shopping in Milan.
President Xi Jinping is due to arrive in Italy for an official visit on March 22. The top theme of discussion will be the New Silk Road, or the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

A day earlier, in Brussels, the EU is to debate a common strategy related to Chinese investments in Europe.


Comment: This, no doubt, was scheduled in response to the bilateral Italy-China summit.


A substantial part of the EU is already linked de facto with BRI. That includes Greece, Portugal, 11 EU nations belonging to the 16+1 group of China plus Central and Eastern Europe and, for all practical purposes, Italy.

Better Earth

Best of the Web: Nasrallah on the end of hegemony: 'Trump will leave Middle East and abandon US allies'

trump syria sand death
Interview with Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah Secretary-General, with Ghassan Ben Jeddou, founder of the pan-Arab and anti-imperialist Al-Mayadeen channel, January 26, 2019. Nasrallah provides astute geopolitical analysis of the situation in Syria and the wider Middle East.

This live interview, much anticipated in Israel and the Arab world, lasted for more than 3 hours.



Translation: unz.com/sayedhasan

Palette

Best of the Web: Progressivism and the West

Peter Paul Reben garden of eden
The biggest threat to Western civilization is posed not by other civilizations, but by our own pusillanimity - and by the historical ignorance that feeds it.

~Niall Ferguson
I was wrong.

For a long time, I considered the loose collection of ideas and assumptions I will call "progressivism" to be a regrettable but mostly tolerable side effect of affluence. This quasi-ideology-espoused by prominent progressives from the academy and Vox to Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren-holds that, inter alia: (1) All demographic groups are roughly equal on all socially valued traits; (2) racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry are ubiquitous; (3) almost all demographic disparities are caused by unfair discrimination; (4) diversity is an unalloyed good; and (5) there are many bigots who stand in the way of social progress, but eventually history will redeem the noble and we will inhabit a just society.

Wealth frees a person from immediate survival concerns and therefore increases the importance of symbolic identities. And this, coupled with youth's natural affinity for rebellion, almost inevitably leads to at least a passing phase of identity-based radicalism. So while others sounded the tocsin, proclaiming this a grave threat to social sanity, I remained skeptical. Of course, I agreed that social justice ideologies were often odious and possibly pernicious, especially inside the elite institutions where they most rapidly proliferated; but, I also thought that alarmism about the problem was equally unhelpful, diverting limited cognitive resources from more constructive activities.

However, I am no longer skeptical. I have come to believe that the hostility to the West embedded in this kind of thinking and activism is a serious and growing problem. It is therefore critical that we understand the motives that drive it and the conditions that enable it, and that we challenge its erroneous assumptions and persuade others of its corrosiveness, preferably without alienating those who find it appealing but are also willing to listen to reasonable objections.

Comment: See also:


Attention

Best of the Web: Moral Zealotry and the Seductive Nature of Evil

German Chancellery
A tempting fallacy about morality is to think that wickedness must arise from transparently abhorrent motives, and goodness from nice ones. Few explicitly endorse this crude dualism, but many breezily equate hatred with evil, love with goodness, or both. This way of thinking makes it difficult for us to see the dangers of moral zealotry, one of the most insidious motives for wicked behavior.

The notion of moral zealotry as a vice is somewhat puzzling. Shouldn't we want people to be as moral as possible? Republican Presidential hopeful Barry Goldwater is often quoted as saying, "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." That's true of idealized people who have perfect knowledge of justice and how best to pursue it, and whose commitment to goodness is untainted by less saintly motives. The rest of us are at risk of having our minds hijacked by intense, but not necessarily reflective, moral passions.

Comment: This 'nature' of evil, of the very things people may well do in the name of an ideology, the very things that can sway a whole country in a macro social way, can be read from the work of the late Andrew M. Lobaczewski's Political Ponerology: A Science of Evil Applied for Political Purposes

Political POnerology
Get it on Amazon or at Redpillpress.com



Bullseye

Best of the Web: Ilhan Omar rips Obama: A 'pretty face' who got 'away with murder' - UPDATE: Omar backtracks

Ilhan Omar and Barack Obama
Ilhan Omar and Barack Obama
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar ripped former President Barack Obama in an interview published Friday, belittling his "pretty face" and saying his agenda of hope and change was an illusion.

She cited the "caging of kids" at the Mexican border and the "droning of countries around the world" on Obama's watch - and argued that he wasn't much different from President Trump

"We can't be only upset with Trump," the freshman firebrand told Politico Magazine.


Comment: A politician in the US urging nuance and fair judgment? No wonder she's getting hit from both sides of the political spectrum at the moment. The last thing the Deep State wants is a fair accounting of its chosen leaders like Obama.


"His policies are bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies. They just were more polished than he was," Omar said.

"And that's not what we should be looking for anymore. We don't want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile."

Comment:

UPDATE 10/3/2019: RT reports that apparently Rep. Omar has been quietly read the riot act and is trying unsuccessfully to back off her comments on Obama:
Ilhan Omar has tried to walk back her scathing criticism of former president Barack Obama by tweeting a clip of her actual response to the reporter and accusing him of distorting her words, only to prove that he got it right.

Calling herself "an Obama fan," Omar claimed she was contrasting the former US leader with President Donald Trump, claiming the reporter had "distorted" her words deliberately.

The only problem? The clip she tweeted confirms the reporter got her words right. We hear Omar saying Democratic leaders have "conducted themselves within the system" in shameful ways - separating families at the border and drone-bombing countries around the world, just like Trump. She says Trump's policies are bad but that "many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies, they just were more polished than he was."

And the line that has everybody talking is there, crystal clear: "We don't want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile," Omar says.

The Politico reporter she'd accused of malicious misquotation, Tim Alberta, was quick to claim he'd been vindicated.
Sadly, Omar is getting a lesson in realpolitik. No matter how accurate her assessment of Obama is, if it goes against the Establishment narrative, she will be targeted by that Establishment. She said what she said, and they will beat her with it if she steps out of line again.


Bad Guys

Best of the Web: The US stealth war on Venezuela

hands off venezuela protest sign
© REUTERS / Juan Carlos Ulate
As Venezuela's nationwide crippling power outage goes into days, rather than hours, the suspicion grows that the South American country has been hit with a mass attack by the United States.

When US President Donald Trump and other senior White House officials earlier bragged that "all options are on the table" for Washington's regime change objective in Venezuela, it has to be assumed now that one of those options included a devastating cyber sabotage of the country's power infrastructure.

For its part, the government of President Nicolas Maduro is convinced that the US is waging an "electrical war" and is behind the latest power outages. Washington and its anointed Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido claim that the disruption is the result of "incompetent management" of the country by Maduro's socialist government.


Comment: The timing of this alleged outage is seemingly quite a coincidence. Is the government so incompetent that their electrical grid suddenly failed en masse for days with no solution in sight? Considering Maduro's currently perilous position, would the current Venezuelan government benefit from such a significant problem that impacts all its people? If not, who does benefit?


Comment: With the US beating the war drums for "regime change" in Venezuela and its history of covert warfare, coupled with this seemingly anomalous mass power outage incident, the evidence does currently suggest that the US is behind this current problem, with the goal of overthrowing Maduro.