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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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Interview with 'Russian Roulette' co-author Isikoff reveals big problems with 'collusion' theory

michael isikoff
One of the most dangerous aspects of journalism is that, when reporters specialize in a subject, they can easily become inherently invested in a narrative surrounding it which is the most popular or helpful to them personally.

When it comes to the investigation into Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election, it has always seemed to be a landscape ripe for confirmation bias to overtake a group of "experts" who are mostly very anti-Trump, as well as desirous that a story on which their opinion is greatly valued be perceived as the most significant political scandal of our time.

As someone who has long been on the fence about what really happened in this case (my basic position is that Donald Trump is guilty of serious offenses, probably obstruction of justice and perjury, but maybe not actual "collusion," depending on how that highly nebulous term is defined), I was really looking forward to my interview with famed Yahoo investigative reporter Michael Isikoff.

Star of David

Presence of 4 Hezbollah tunnels near Israeli border confirmed by UN spokesman - two cross 'Blue Line'

hezbollah tunnels lebanon israel
© Associated Press/Mohammed Zaatari
An Israeli military digger works on the Lebanese-Israeli border next to a wall that was built by Israel in the southern village of Kafr Kila, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has confirmed the existence of all four of the tunnels that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) discovered along the border between Israel and Lebanon, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Monday.

"Based on the UN's independent assessment, the peacekeepers have so far confirmed the existence of all four tunnels close to the Blue Line in Northern Israel," Dujarric said, referring to the UN-drawn line of demarcation between Israel and Lebanon. "UNIFIL at this stage can confirm that two of the tunnels cross the Blue Line."

Comment: The 'Blue Line' is not a border for political or diplomatic purposes, despite Israel's attempt to portray it as such.
[T]he IDF website continues to argue, incorrectly, that the Blue Line is a border, or a de facto border. It is not. Maybe, someday, it might become a border - or it might not. But for the time being, the Blue Line is nothing other than a demarcation line.

What it demarcates, according to the UNIFIL statement above (confirmed in the internally-contradictory IDF statement, here, which was written with a great deal of imprecision due in part to a certain linguistic laziness, and in part to impatience with any other views), is "the line towards which the IDF withdrew upon conclusion of Operation Litani in 1978, according to UN Security Council Resolution 425".

This confused, contradictory and confusing IDF statement also says, however, that "The Blue Line is an international border between Israel and Lebanon which was determined by the United Nations after the IDF withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000".

But, the United Nations does not determine international borders.
Israel's done a nice job of spinning out this story to detract from Bibi's political woes.


Bad Guys

Canadian unit of US based General Dynamics warns Trudeau gov't that cancelling Saudi deal would cost billions of dollars in penalties

General Dynamics LAV 6.0
© Justin Tang/Canadian Press
A General Dynamics LAV 6.0 is seen behind people gathering around a scale model at the CANSEC trade show in Ottawa on May 30
General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) on Monday put pressure on Ottawa over the sale of armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia, warning that the federal government would incur "billions of dollars of liability" by unilaterally scrapping the deal.

The remarks by the Canadian unit of General Dynamics - which one defense expert called unusual - reflect increasing tensions over a $13 billion agreement that is becoming politically awkward for the Liberal government.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in an interview aired on Sunday, said for the first time that he was looking for a way out of the deal.

Political opponents, citing the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia's involvement in the Yemen war, insist Trudeau should scrap a pact that was negotiated by the previous Conservative government.

Ornament - Blue

Because...Russia: The BBC's one-size-fits-all bogeyman keeps on giving...even on the streets of France

marianne bare breast yellow vest gilet jaune
© Reuters / Benoit Tessier
Given the rash of conspiracy theories leveled against Russia of late, it is no surprise that the BBC is deep-sea fishing for a Kremlin angle to explain the protests against the government of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Dear failing leaders of France, are basement-level ratings getting you down? Are violent riots spooking the tourists? Are running street protests at the height of the holiday season placing a drag on consumer spending? Have no fear because the BBC is here with a one-size fits all bogeyman to explain virtually everything. Please have a seat because the name alone will send shock waves of bone-chilling fear surging through your entire body.

This new and improved beast of burden to explain every uprising, lost election, accident and wart, popularly known as 'Russia' - a strategy rebuked by none other than President Putin as "the new anti-Semitism" - provides craven political leaders with a ready-made alibi when the proverbial poo hits the fan. Yes! It can even rescue Emmanuel Macron, who just experienced his fifth consecutive weekend of protests in the French capital and beyond.

Here is the real beauty of this new media product, which promises to outsell Chanel No.5 this holiday season. Reporting on 'Russia' does not require any modicum of journalistic ethics, standards or even proof to peddle it like snake oil to an unsuspecting public.

Comment: That the BBC is a state-funded propaganda arm of the British establishment explains a lot:


Cult

NATO psychoanalysis: Schizophrenia

nato maniac

Just another week screaming at the sky at NATO HQ

Comment: This is the fourth article in a series by Patrick Armstrong.


NATO sorrowfully explains its problems with Russia on its official website:
For more than two decades, NATO has worked to build a partnership with Russia, developing dialogue and practical cooperation in areas of common interest. Cooperation has been suspended since 2014 in response to Russia's military intervention in Ukraine but political and military channels of communication remain open. Concerns about Russia's continued destabilising pattern of military activities and aggressive rhetoric go well beyond Ukraine.
None of this - of course - is NATO's fault: on the contrary NATO is concerned that
Russia's military activities, particularly along NATO's borders, have increased and its behaviour continues to make the Euro-Atlantic security environment less stable and predictable, in particular its practice of calling snap exercises, deploying near NATO borders, conducting large-scale training and exercises and violating Allied airspace.

Comment: A nice rundown on how Russophobia is whipped up and maintained by the Military-industrial Complex (on both sides of the Atlantic) through media psyops run by the intelligence services.


Snakes in Suits

Financial elite bow to pressure from Moscow, allow Russian businessman to attend World Economic Forum in Davos

Oleg Deripaska
© Jason Alden/Bloomberg
Aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska
The World Economic Forum in Davos has bowed to pressure from Moscow and gone back on its decision to ban three Russian businessmen subject to US sanctions from the exclusive conference, following high-level diplomacy involving the Swiss government.

Russia had threatened to boycott January's event after its organisers barred aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska, industrialist Viktor Vekselberg and state bank head Andrei Kostin, who are all subject to wide-ranging sanctions imposed by Washington.

The about-turn by the prestigious mountain-top business and political conference is likely to irritate US authorities who have sought to use the sanctions to punish Moscow for "malign activities" including the annexation of Crimea and alleged meddling in the 2016 US election. It is a victory for the Kremlin and its attempts to show that Russia remains a powerful global player despite the western restrictions, which have been in place since 2014.

Chess

UK attorney general reportedly tells ministers 'we will remove May after Brexit'

Geoffrey Cox

Geoffrey Cox
Mr Cox is being held in contempt of parliament after failing to publish full information from the Brexit legal advice on December 5. In the advice, now revealed, Mr Cox said the UK could be trapped in the customs union "indefinitely".

The Prime Minister has faced an uphill battle after she was forced to pull a Common vote on her deal in order to renegotiate the terms with Brussels - only to return from last week's EU summit empty handed.

But the Telegraph reports that during a call with frontbench minsters Michael Gove, Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt, Mr Cox said MPs should "swallow" Theresa May's Brexit Withdrawal Agreement for the time being.

Sources told the newspaper the Attorney General suggested the Prime Minister "would need to be removed for quarter one [April of next year] so we can take over the next stage" - immediately after the UK leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019.

Attention

EU blames US for 'deep crisis' of WTO globalist trading system

World Trade Organization building entrance
© Xu Jinquan / Xinhua / Global Look Press
The European Union (EU) warned Monday at the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the multilateral trading system is in "a deep crisis" and the United States is "at its epicenter."

At a WTO review of U.S. trade policies, held every two years, EU Ambassador to the organization Marc Vanheukelen regretted that protectionist "rhetoric has turned into reality," adding that "the repercussions of tariffs and other restrictions are being felt at the heart of this organization, and more generally in global growth prospects."

Light Saber

British left strikes back against 'lobster shagger' Jordan Peterson for attack on Jeremy Corbyn

jordan peterson
Superstar clinical psychologist and clean room advocate Jordan Peterson has irked the British left after tweeting a link to an article critical of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with the caption: "elect him at your peril."

Peterson, who regularly attacks left wing ideologies and references 'cultural Marxism' - a theory which has been labelled anti-Semitic - linked to an article in the online magazine Quillette.

The piece, penned by Tomiwa Owolade, attacked Corbyn over his foreign policy in which he has engaged with figures and groups considered persona non-grata by the Western establishment.

Following his tweet, Peterson was soon attacked by luminaries of the Corbyn-supporting left, with Novara Media's Ash Sarkar and her colleague Michael Walker leading the charge.

Comment: Mr. Peterson might want to apply some critical thinking regarding his views on Corbyn. It seems he's bought the British deep state's narrative on Jeremy Corbyn, believing every claim made about him because, in Peterson's mind Corbyn= labour/liberal, liberal = Democrat, Democrat = party that fuels the radical left in the US (and Canada).


Bad Guys

Is the US planning to foment war in Latin America?

bolton
© AFP/Yuri Kadobnov
US National Security Advisor John Bolton
Little by little, the partisans of the Cebrowski doctrine are advancing their pawns. If they must cease creating wars in the Greater Middle East, they'll just turn around and inflame the Caribbean Basin. Above all, the Pentagon is planning to assassinate an elected head of state, ruin his country, and undermine the unity of Latin-America.

John Bolton, the new US National Security Advisor, has relaunched the Pentagon's project for the destruction of the State structures in the Caribbean Basin.

We remember that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Secretary for Defense at that time, Donald Rumsfeld, created the Office of Force Transformation and nominated Admiral Arthur Cebrowski as its Director. Its mission was to train the US army for its new role in the era of financial globalisation. It was designed to change military culture in order to destroy the State structures of the regions which were not connected to the global economy. The first chapter of this plan consisted of dislocating the « Greater Middle East ». The second stage was intended to perform the same task in the « Caribbean Basin ». The plan was designed to destroy some twenty coastal and insular States, with the exception of Colombia, Mexico and as far as possible, territories belonging to the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Holland.

When he arrived at the White House, President Donald Trump opposed the Cebrowski plan. However, two years later, he has so far only been able to prevent the Pentagon and NATO from handing over States to the terrorist groups they employ (the « Caliphate »), but not to stop manipulating terrorism. Concerning the Greater Middle East, he has managed to diminish the tension, but the wars still continue there at lower intensity. Concerning the Caribbean Basin, he restrained the Pentagon, forbidding them to launch direct military operations.