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'The CIA is listening & may kill me': Duterte considers ditching his smartphone to avert potential assassination attempts

Duterte on phone
© Erik de Castro / Reuters
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is thinking of dumping his smartphone over fears that the CIA is constantly eavesdropping on his conversations and might use his private information to eventually assassinate him.

"I know, the US is listening. I'm sure it's the CIA, it's also the one who will kill me," Duterte said in Cebu City on Tuesday, rejuvenating fears that Washington may seek his demise over his independent foreign policy and willingness to obtain weapons from other global suppliers.

To avert possible smartphone intrusion by outside powers, which Duterte said could include "Russia, China, Israel, and maybe Indonesia," the 73-year-old leader is considering going back to using a basic cellphone, with which eavesdropping and interception is harder.

Radar

Russian Defense Ministry: Russia's strikes on terrorists in Syria killed over 86,000 terrorists since 2015

Syria war
© Reuters /Omar Sanadik
Russia's strikes on terrorists in Syria have killed more than 86,000 militants and 830 gang leaders, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday, also publishing detailed information about the operations in Syria.

"A total of 830 gang leaders, more than 86,000 militants, including 4,500 immigrants from the Russian Federation and the CIS countries, were eliminated," according to a video posted on the ministry's YouTube channel.

The crisis in Syria started in 2011, when various opposition groups attempted to overthrow the Syrian President Bashar Assad during the Arab Spring riots. Russian military started the operation in the country in 2015 in order to stop civil war and help the internationally recognized government to fight radical militants, including those of the Daesh* terror group.

Comment: That's 86,000 mostly pathological mercenaries and agents of US/Saudi/Israeli geopolitical chaos that have been wiped off the face of the earth. And while we don't celebrate the deaths of anyone, we do acknowledge the will, the fortitude and the incredible efficiency of the Russian and Syrian coalition to put an end to the rampant and relentless destruction of Syria and her people.

Lest we forget, it all began with this fateful speech to the UN by Russian President Vladimir Putin - given days before Russia got militarily involved in Syria:




Attention

Internet abuzz after tweet by Assange's mother suggests Seth Rich was DNC leaker

Seth Rich
The internet is buzzing with theories after Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange's mother, Christine Assange, tweeted - and then deleted - what many believe to be a suggestion that murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich "leaked docs proving corruption."

In response to the question "why did Julian publish damning docs against Hillary at such a crucial time which gave Humpty Dumpty Trump the upper hand?" Christine Assange replied "Its the duty of media to inform citizens about corruption," adding "a #DNC #Bernie supporter disgruntled with rigging leaked docs proving corruption."

"What should Wikileaks should have done? Hold on to them till after the election to advantage #Hillary?" she continued, adding "You are shooting the messenger!"

tweet assange DNC leaks
christine assange tweet DNC leaks

Comment: More on the controversy surrounding Seth Rich and the convenient timing of his death:


Bad Guys

Obama's Ambassador to Russia McFaul dissembles, then reveals about Magnitsky Act

Michael McFaul
© Maxim Shemetov / Reuters
Michael McFaul walks outside as he leaves the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow, May 15, 2013
Michael McFaul, President Obama's senior director of Russian affairs at the National Security Council and then ambassador to Russia, gave a neocon tour d'horizon at the Council on Foreign Relations May 11. [Republicans/Democrats, they are all neocons now.] He was there to promote a new book. I asked him about the Magnitsky hoax. I got expected evasions at the Council, but later found revelations in the book. Here's the Q & A.

Q: My name's Lucy Komisar. I'm a journalist.

About the Magnitsky Act, which is an irritant now in U.S.-Russia relations, William Browder's allegation of the murder of the man he calls his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was the basis of the act, establishing the first targeted Russian sanctions in 2012.

Bad Guys

Brennan denies briefing Reid about 'dodgy dossier,' but Congress still wants answers

John Brennan

John Brennan
In the late summer of 2016, then FBI Director James Comey had already been advised that former Senate Majority leader Harry Reid would be sending him a letter asking to investigate allegations that President Donald Trump's campaign had colluded with Russia, according to documents obtained by Congress. The letter, which was written several days after former CIA Director John Brennan met with Reid, has raised speculation among some congressional investigators that Brennan privately briefed Reid about the dossier. A government watchdog group is now seeking to verify what Brennan knew about the unverified anti-Trump dossier, which was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele.

Making the matter more precarious was that Reid's letter was leaked several days later to the New York Times in the lead up to the presidential election. The letter stated, "evidence of a direct connection between the Russian government and Donald Trump's campaign continues to mount."

Documents obtained by Congress revealed senior bureau officials were already expecting Reid's letter even before the senator wrote it, according to congressional sources. Brennan, whose security clearance was pulled last week by President Trump, is now a contributor for MSNBC.

Document

Russia and Central Africa sign new military cooperation agreement

Russia and the Central African Republic
Russia and the Central African Republic (CAR) signed a military cooperation agreement on August 21. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and his CAR counterpart Marie-Noelle Koyara met on the sidelines of the Army 2018 defense expo outside of Moscow to finalize that agreement. According to the Russian defense chief, Central Africa "is a promising partner on the African continent." The document covers arms shipments and personnel training. Central African officers will undergo training courses at Russian military academies and colleges. This year, Russia has already sent light arms, rocket launchers, and anti-aircraft guns for two battalions. It has 175 military and civilian instructors deployed in that country to train the personnel.

In mid-December, the United Nations granted Russia an exemption to the arms embargo on the CAR, paving the way for deliveries of weapons to that war-torn country that is still immersed in an internal conflict. The embargo is effective until Jan. 31, 2019.

USA

Trump is basically right: The media is no friend of the American people

Mainstream media
© Defend Democracy Press
Over the course of his turbulent presidency, Donald Trump has accused various media companies, with special attention reserved for CNN, as being purveyors of 'fake news.' In one early-morning Tweet last year, he slammed the "FAKE NEWS media" as the "enemy of the people."

This week, over 300 US newspapers ran editorials on the same day - an event in itself that points to some high degree of collusion and groupthink - denouncing Trump's insensitive portrayal of them, as if the notion that journalists were not in the same sleaze league as lawyers, politicians and professional con artists never crossed anyone's mind before. Even the peace-loving Mahatma Gandhi recommended "equality for everyone except reporters and photographers."

But is the MSM really an "enemy of the people?"

Comment: See also:


Apple Green

Russia offers China 2.5 million acres of farmland amid worsening trade war

trade wars
China and Russia recently announced a new age of diplomacy between the two countries, at a time when President Trump is targeting both with precision-guided economic warfare.

China finds itself reeling under trade disputes with the US, as the next round of tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods is expected to start on August 23.

Earlier this week, Russia offered to bail out China from the trade war with Washington. Moscow offered 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of arable land available to Chinese farmers to meet its large-scale demand for soybeans - and of course, prevent a massive soybean shortage that would lead to political/social upheavals across the country.

Maybe, the US trade war on China should be interpreted as a piece in a much larger chessboard: A war on Eurasia integration, or the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative.

one belt one road

Comment: See also:


Bullseye

US complains about Russian 'meddling' while it funds organization to sow chaos abroad

Filmed inside the Capitol, this Grayzone special explores the National Endowment for Democracy, a taxpayer funded organization that has interfered in elections, mobilized coups, and orchestrated public relations campaigns against nations that resist Washington's agenda.


On June 13, 2018 the US government-funded National Endowment for Democracy presented its 2018 Democracy Award to a collection of Korean activists who aim to topple the communist government of North Korea.

The event was timed to coincide with President Donald Trump's peace summit in Singapore with Kim Jong-Un. The ceremony appeared to be the opening shot of a massive public relations effort aimed at stifling normalized relations with North Korea.

Carl Gershman Andy Card

NED founder Carl Gershman and NED director Andy Card with a group of Korean defectors and activists
I covered the ceremony because these organizations are doing precisely what Congress accuses Russia-funded media outlets and troll farms of doing in the United States. They interfere in other countries' politics with foreign money. The only difference is they do it openly, and in the name of spreading freedom.

Founded in 1983 by then president Ronald Reagan, the National Endowment for Democracy became an international vehicle for the neoconservative agenda. Its founding cadre were Cold War ideologues who were, like so many early neoconservative operatives, former Trotskyists who once belonged to the Social Democrats USA party.

Comment: Excellent reporting by Blumenthal. See also:


Attention

Corruption 101 - Connecting some dots

Corruption 101
© Twitter
I am passing this on from someone who's connecting some dots with input from sources he cannot reveal.

Here's what it looks like when all the pieces are sewn together

It smells like conspiracy and treason. Everyone needs to read this. Slowly, and patiently, because it's very important......

From 2001 to 2005 there was an ongoing investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

A Grand Jury had been impanelled.

Governments from around the world had donated to the "Charity".

Yet, from 2001 to 2003 none of those "Donations" to the Clinton Foundation were declared. Now you would think that an honest investigator would be able to figure this out.

Look who took over this investigation in 2005: None other than James Comey; Coincidence? Guess who was transferred into the Internal Revenue Service to run the Tax Exemption Branch of the IRS? None other than, Lois "Be on The Look Out" (BOLO) Lerner. Isn't that interesting?

But this is all just a series of strange coincidences, right?

Guess who ran the Tax Division inside the Department of Injustice from 2001 to 2005?

No other than the Assistant Attorney General of the United States,

Rod Rosenstein.

Guess who was the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation during this time frame?

Another coincidence (just an anomaly in statistics and chances), but it was Robert Mueller.

What do all four casting characters have in common?

They all were briefed and/or were front-line investigators into the Clinton Foundation Investigation.

Another coincidence, right?