Puppet Masters
What the US is experiencing now is "more like the nonviolent movements that earned broad societal support in places such as Serbia, Ukraine, and Tunisia," the Atlantic's Franklin Foer said on Saturday, in a piece titled 'The Trump Regime Is Beginning to Topple'.
Foer doesn't go into the details of the events in Serbia and Tunisia, and he only brings up Ukraine in the context of the 2013-14 protests that turned violent and resulted in armed militias taking control in Kiev. In his telling, these were all genuine popular movements that overthrew 'dictators', which just so happened to be guided by a 93-page pamphlet written by US political scientist Gene Sharp.
Senator Scott says China trying to sabotage vaccine development - has no proof to back up his claims

FILE PHOTO: Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) attends a luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 14, 2020.
"We have got to get this vaccine done. Unfortunately we have evidence that communist China is trying to sabotage us or slow it down," he said during an interview on BBC TV.
"China does not want us ... to do it first, they have decided to be an adversary to Americans and I think to democracy around the world."
The European Union needs "a better mechanism for healthcare crises, just like we found one [to deal with] financial crises," Health Minister Jens Spahn told Germany's Rheinische Post this Sunday.
"The EU [should serve] as the core of an alliance for mutual assistance in case of a pandemic, a sort of healthcare NATO."
Each member state would benefit from that system, Spahn said. All 27 members could source protective equipment from a pan-European stockpile instead of relying on their own national reserves.
A likely front is the Levant, where preparations are being made to confront Israel and end its continued violations of Syria's sovereignty and bombardment of hundreds of targets in Syria throughout the years of the war. This particular issue may bring the Middle East into an all-out war; one mistake could turn fatal and drag the region into an all-out clash in which Syria will not be alone.
Comment: In all likelihood, yes; Israel will make a strategic mistake that it thinks is a clever move - and will be made to reap the whirlwind it has created. See also:
- Iran says it's in Syria to stay, and Damascus's response towards Israel is only postponed.
- Israel threatens to remove Iran from Syria in next 12 months
- Are Israel and Iran preparing for war?
- Israel threatens Iran "Syria will become your Vietnam" as it refuses to rule out pre-emptive strike
- Israel won't end Syria operations until Iran leaves, Defence Minister says
Israel will block Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, even while responding to the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the opening of Sunday's cabinet meeting.
He cited an International Atomic Energy Agency report released in recent days that says Iran refused to grant inspectors access to undeclared military nuclear sites.
"Iran systematically violates its commitments by hiding sites, by enriching fissile materials and other violations," Netanyahu said. "Certainly now it is necessary in light of these revelations for the international community to join the US and use crippling sanctions against Iran."
Comment:
- Turkey's Erdogan: Focus on Israeli nukes not Iran nuclear energy program
- Israel, not Iran, has an illegal nuclear arms program - here are the details
- Israel must be held to same nuclear scrutiny as Iran
- Incoming Secretary of Defense: Israel has nuclear weapons
- Nuclear, chemical and biological weapons: Israel's arsenal is a plague upon the world

A view outside the home in Salisbury of Sergei Skripal Inset: (L) Sergei Skripal (R) Yulia Skripal
The whereabouts of Sergei and Yulia Skripal have remained unknown since they were discharged from hospital after surviving a poisoning by a toxic chemical, which the UK authorities branded Novichok, in Salisbury in March 2018.
An unnamed senior British government official has confirmed to the Sunday Times that the father and daughter at the heart of one of the biggest scandals between London and Moscow have spent more than a year in an MI6 safe house before being given new identities and moved to New Zealand so that they could start a new life there.
However, the ex-double agent's niece, Viktoria Skripal, who lives in Russia, said that she didn't trust the report at all.
Comment: Might putting the Skripals 'on ice' so to speak have anything to do with hiding a potential connection to the Democrat coup attempt? Getting rid of the loose ends, and bashing Russia as a bonus?
- Why was Skripal poisoned? The dodgy Trump dossier may have something to do with it
- Coincidence? Sergei Skripal was close to consultant who was linked to the dodgy Steele dossier on Trump
- What prompted Yulia Skripal to tell her cousin she now 'understands everything'? Did her UK handlers keep her in the dark for months?
- We Can Actively Assume That Skripal Was Poisoned by The British Government
- Why the West is most likely responsible for Skripal poisoning
- Look Where They Tell You Not to Look
Speaking in an interview with the Yediot Aharonot newspaper, Tzur was asked what will happen in the Likud after the Netanyahu era, and replied, "The next Likud leader will be the head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen."
Asked why Cohen and not Gideon Sa'ar or Yuli Edelstein, he replied, "In order reach a leadership position in Israel, you need two qualities: charm and cruelty. Without the combination of both, you cannot be elected."
Comment: Those happen to be two key features of psychopathy, which explains a lot.
"And Yossi Cohen - I don't know if he is doing it, because I don't know him - but he's built in such a way that his abilities to be charming are spoken of extensively, and in his abilities to be cruel, he overpowers all other candidates. And when he concludes his service - and if he doesn't have things that will get in his way, he'll be a very serious candidate," Tzur predicted.

People walk along 16th Street NW with many gathering on and near the new "Black Lives Matter" lettering painted on the street in Washington, DC, on June 6, 2020
"I have just given an order for our National Guard to start the process of withdrawing from Washington, D.C., now that everything is under perfect control," Trump tweeted. "They will be going home, but can quickly return, if needed. Far fewer protesters showed up last night than anticipated!"
Unveiling the newly minted "Black Lives Matter Plaza" just steps from the White House, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Friday she would evict the National Guard from hotels, citing a "budgetary issue."
In response, Trump tweeted: "The incompetent Mayor of Washington, D.C., @MayorBowser, who's [sic] budget is totally out of control and is constantly coming back to us for 'handouts', is now fighting with the National Guard, who saved her from great embarrassment over the last number of nights.
"If she doesn't treat these men and women well, then we'll bring in a different group of men and women!" he said.
De Blasio took to Twitter at 11:20 a.m. saying: "This morning we committed to move resources from the NYPD to youth and social services as part of our City's budget. Our young people need to be reached, not policed. We can do this AND keep our city safe."
Comment: Is Mayor de Blasio grandstanding for votes and headlines or is he intent on this pursuit as stated? Clearly the NYPD will have something to say about any funding reallocation; the minimum effect downsizes its forces. If police are not on the job, it paves the way for Martial Law to be imposed by the military to exercise control over the public - an intended end result?












Comment: Also see: