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Sat, 02 Oct 2021
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Over 1000 Afghan troops flee Taliban into Tajikistan

Barred Bridge
© US Army via AFP
Shir Khan Bandar bridge at the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border
More than 1,000 Afghan troops fled into neighbouring Tajikistan on Monday following clashes with the Taliban, as the insurgents amassed momentum on the battlefield.

The exodus of troops followed another weekend of fighting across much of the northern countryside where the Taliban have overrun dozens of districts, spurring fears that Afghan forces are in crisis.

"They did not want to surrender. They had asked for reinforcements but their call was ignored," said Abdul Basir, a soldier based with a battalion in Badakhshan province that had members flee over the border.

Afghanistan map zones

Comment: It is now an exercise in 'filling the vacuum' left by the US withdrawal and 'marking territory'.

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Arrow Down

We should thank the unemployed for their service. They've been used to control inflation

people lined up centrelink
© William West/AFP/Getty Images
Since the 1980s, policymakers have asserted there is a "natural" level of unemployment for prevailing conditions.
I want to show you something. It has to do with our economy and it's probably been invisible to you. The majority of journalists have no idea about it and few politicians would, either. But it affects everyone and it shouldn't be something only economists know about.

Who controls the levers?

In this era of coronavirus lockdowns, we've learned a lot about our economic policy settings. For example, we've learned widespread poverty is a policy choice in Australia. Governments have the power to lift hundreds of thousands of households out of poverty if they want to.

The federal government did it last year, when it increased unemployment payments during the initial lockdowns. That situation lasted a few months. But then it let those families fall back into poverty by taking those special payments away again, as the graph below shows.

Comment: As soon as we try to control something, the potential undergoes limitation.


Newspaper

Reporters Without Borders lists Viktor Orbán as 'press freedom predator' - only EU leader on the list

orban
© Omar Marques/Getty Images
Reporters Without Borders has labeled Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán a "press freedom predator" for muzzling the country's media.

The NGO, known by its French acronym RSF, on Monday released a list of 37 heads of state and government who it says "embody in a particularly drastic way the ruthless suppression of press freedom." Orbán is the only EU leader on the list.

The Hungarian prime minister, RSF says, has together with his ruling Fidesz party "brought Hungary's media landscape under their control step by step" since coming to power in 2010, with government-friendly businessmen taking over outlets and targeting independent media.

Besides Orbán, RSF's "predator" list this year includes new additions such as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam. Other figures remain on the list from the previous version in 2016, such as China's President Xi Jinping, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

"New names have been added in all regions of the world. Their methods of suppression are different, but serve the same purpose: to prevent critical reporting at all costs," RSF Director Christian Mihr said, adding that it is "frightening that those responsible often go unpunished despite committing brutal crimes."

Comment: Poland and Hungary - especially Orban - are at the top of the list of EU thought criminals. They're the only European countries who have made some show of resistance against takeover by the EU's special brand of woke totalitarianism. Any flaws or deviations from the program will be brought into focus, magnified, and made an example of - no matter how hypocritical.

See also:


Cult

Pollster warns Brits face never-ending 'woke' culture wars as American-style divisions beginning to take hold in UK

britain flags union jack garbage ground
© REUTERS/Simon Dawson
Union Jack flags lay on the ground at Parliament Square in London, Britain, February 1 2020
Escalating culture feuds could dominate British politics much like they already do in the US, American pollster Frank Luntz has claimed, citing new research revealing deep divides in voter attitudes in the UK.

The long-time Republican Party operative began examining the top causes of concern among British voters, after joining the London-based Centre for Policy Studies in May. Having surveyed several thousand people, he found that Britain was increasingly being divided along 'woke' versus 'non-woke' lines, rather than by the traditional social and cultural tensions felt between north versus south, cities versus rural areas and even men versus women.

In his study, which was first reported on by The Times, around 81% of Tory voters agreed with the premise that the UK was a nation of "equality and freedom", while a mere 19% said the nation was "institutionally racist and discriminatory". Among Labour supporters, 52% saw the UK as a bastion of freedom, and 48% said the country suffered from systemic racism.

Comment:


Light Saber

Wikileaks ally Vaughan Smith: News of key witness lying is 'devastating' for US case against Assange; it must be dropped

Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson wikileaks fbi
© Jonas Sverrisson Rasch/Dagbladet
Sigurdur Thordarson commonly known as Siggi hakkari, is a convicted criminal and FBI informant from Iceland known for various information leaks, sexually molesting multiple underage boys, numerous cases of fraud, and embezzlement from the Wikileaks organization
The US' case against Julian Assange must be dropped after a key witness confessed to lying, as the reputation of Western law and the future of journalism depend on it, UK journalist and friend to Assange has told RT.

The news that WikiLeaks volunteer turned FBI informant Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson fabricated some important parts of his accusations in the indictment against the site's co-founder Assange "was not a surprise," Smith pointed out. Those close to WikiLeaks have long known that the man "had behavioral issues," he said.

Smith gave Assange refuge in 2010 - first at the Frontline Club in London and then at his country house in Norfolk - when the publisher was fleeing from sexual assault allegations, which he consistently denied, in Sweden. The investigation was later dropped by the prosecutors.

Comment: Will the Empire back down in the face of such damning evidence against its case, or will the 'exceptional nation' lean on Britain to pervert justice in order for the US to get its hands on Assange?


Rainbow

Spreading 'human rights' at the tip of a bayonet: the LGBT agenda has now become a tool in Western foreign policy across the globe

gay pride flag
© Getty Images / John Lamparski
New York, USA
When it comes to issues of 'human rights' and individual liberties, every country in the world takes a different stance. Culture, religion, and nationality all play their roles, but now it's clear the West wants to change this.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted a picture of the rainbow pride flag raised outside the State Department in Washington, writing that the commemoration of two major LGBT events "reminds us how far we've come - and how much more we need to achieve, at home and worldwide." The key word here is "worldwide."

As the West elevates LGBT issues to be the highest measure of morality, reorganizing its culture accordingly, it begs the question - how will this manifest itself in foreign policy? Values are deployed as an effective instrument in Western power politics, with liberal democracy held up as a hegemonic norm that allows countries like the US to lead the world and exempt themselves from international law.

Even the CIA is rebranding itself now as an organization guided by the advocacy of LGBT rights, which is a clear indication that the celebration of 'our' righteous values will soon be expressed as derision and attack on the 'other'.


Comment: Don't miss: The Intersectional Empire Takes On The World


Cult

Fearmongering again: From hyping WMDs in Iraq to denying the existence of weapons of mass injections

Colin Powell
Eighteen years ago, the American public and countries that belonged in the "coalition of the willing" were duped into a war with Iraq that led to a genocide. At least 600,000 Iraqis perished over the span of a decade as innocent men, women and children were burnt at the altar of the military-financial complex based on a discredited theory that Saddam Hussein possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction and was intent on unleashing them against the West.

The crimes against humanity that were committed against a nation that never attacked us would not have been possible had it not been for the ever obsequious mainstream media. Instead of pushing back against talking points and doing independent validation of the lies they were being sold by George Tenet and his ilk, the supposed "free-press" parroted Bush and Blair administrations' propaganda and crippled society with fears of mushroom clouds blanketing America, the UK and beyond.

The non-stop stories of chemical weapons being unleashed against the United States and the malicious alliterations of biological bombs unleashing hell from Tikrit to Topeka conditioned Americans to accept a war that was planned by Project for a New American Century four years before the Twin Towers fell. On the eve of the "Operation Iraqi Freedom", what was in reality Operation Iraqi Liquidation, an astounding 72% of Americans supported a war against Iraq. At one point, George Bush's approval rating was 90%, the highest approval ratings in the history of polls.

mission accomplished

When Bush said “mission accomplished” on May 1st, 2003, his approval rating was north of 60%, a few years later the majority of Americans saw him for the lying war criminal that he was

Laptop

Biden: 'Initial thinking' recent ransomware attack not by Russian government

ransomware attack
President Biden said Saturday that the "initial thinking" is that the Russian government is not behind a ransomware attack that targeted a tool provided by Miami-based IT software management company Kaseya.

Speaking to reporters in Traverse City, Mich., Biden said he's directed the "full resources of the federal government" to investigate the attack, according to a pool report.

Biden said that he's also told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. would respond if Russia is deemed responsible for these kinds of attacks.

Comment: It's rather curious that Biden didn't go from the usual playbook by immediately blaming Russia. One would have to assume that avoiding the tried and true methods would have to fit into their plans in some way. We'll have to keep our eyes on this one.

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Propaganda

No Area 51,' and 'you can't blow up the Pentagon': DOD attempted CENSORING 'Independence Day' movie script, archive files reveal

Independence Day movie
© IMDB
Independence Day (1996) by Roland Emmerich
This July 4 weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the much-beloved 1990s alien invasion blockbuster 'Independence Day', a tubthumping tale of the US military fighting back against a global incursion by gigantic flying saucers.

You might think that this was a story the US Department of Defense (DOD) would love, and recently obtained archive files show how the producers approached the Pentagon seeking access to military bases for filming, as well as F-18 fighter jets so they could record audio and video for use in the aerial battle sequences.

Comment: See also: 70 years of cover-ups over UFOs are finally coming to an end. I believe we're on the verge of a profound breakthrough

And check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: Powers, principalities and UFOs


Arrow Up

Personal responsibility should replace government orders as UK learns to 'live' with Covid-19 - minister

lockdown protest Britain
© REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a placard during an anti-lockdown protest near the Houses of Parliament, London, Britain, June 14, 2021.
The UK is entering a new phase of its Covid-19 response in which personal judgment will replace draconian restrictions and mask mandates, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has said.

Jenrick told the BBC's Andrew Marr on Sunday that he was confident that all coronavirus measures would be lifted on July 19 as planned, stating that the success of the country's vaccine programme will allow for a return to normality.


Comment: The virus is seasonal and the country has probably achieved some kind of herd immunity, and so any ability to return to a new normal is not because of the experimental vaccine program.


While acknowledging that it was possible that cases might rise as restrictions are eased, he said that Britain would have to rethink how it deals with the disease.