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US Foreign Policy Has Become One Giant Relentless Program of Psy-Ops

white house
© AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite
To say the US conducts "foreign policy" is patently a misnomer. US policy is nothing short of low-intensity warfare against the whole planet. Its "foreign policy" is nothing more than a continuous program of psychological operations.

An important element of this colossal corruption of politics is America's so-called news media which plays a crucial role in concealing and propagating the psy-ops.

Just look at US conduct over the past year with regard to geopolitical rivals, foes and even supposed allies. American behaviour is that of a hegemon and tyrant that brooks no dissent. Ultimatums, economic sanctions, threats of punishments, threats of annihilation, actual military intimidation. These are all forms of aggression or low-intensity warfare. In the case of Iran or Venezuela, the warfare is approaching the brink of all-out violence.

To think this is a development peculiar to the Trump presidency is a grave mistake. US foreign policy was always prone to aggression and warfare, certainly since the Second World War. Ever since the GW Bush administration in the early 2000s, the US has degenerated into a permanent state of aggression, often involving waging simultaneous wars. Now under Trump, US belligerence is manifest in every aspect of policy. It has become all-consuming.

Star of David

Days after lifting ban, Israel reduces Gaza fishing zone again, attacks fishermen with heavy artillery

gaza fishing boats fishermen palestine
© Agence France-Presse
Palestinian fishermen arrive with their catch at the seafront of Gaza City on April 2, 2019.
Israeli authorities have reduced the permitted fishing zone off the coast of the besieged Gaza Strip "until further notice," less than a week after lifting a ban on Palestinian fishing boats operating off the coastal enclave.

The head of the Fishermen Committees in the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Zakaria Bakr, told Palestinian Ma'an news agency on Thursday that the fishing zone had been reduced from 12 nautical miles to only five nautical miles.

Bakr added that Israeli naval forces prevented Palestinian fishermen from retrieving their fishing nets, which they had cast seven nautical miles off Gaza's coast.

Comment: Due to Israel's land blockade, Gaza depends inordinately on fishing as a means of feeding it citizens. It's particularly cruel of the IDF to toy with them in this way.


NPC

Canadian government imposes 'social justice' on all universities

University College, University of Toronto, Canada
© Wikipedia
University College, University of Toronto, Canada
The Liberal government of Canada has formulated a new program to which all universities are expected to commit. It is called "Dimensions: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion." A "Charter" for "Dimensions" has been distributed to all university presidents, who are urged to sign, endorsing the program for their universities.

Minister for Science and Sport Kirsty Duncan launched this program, using the "independent" funding councils-The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), The National Science and Engineering Council (NSERC), and The Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-as the conduit for "Dimensions" grants. This is not the first time that Minister Duncan has imposed "equity, diversity, and inclusion" conditions for grants; in 2017, new diversity criteria were enunciated for the Canada Research Chair grants.

The pressure continues through subsequent grant years. Minister Duncan says, "Our government is committed to promoting equity and diversity within research and to supporting the next generation of research leaders." Ted Hewitt, president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and chair of the Canada Research Chairs Program Steering Committee assures us that they have "A strong action plan to address equity, diversity and inclusion."

What is this "equity, diversity, and inclusion" in aid of? According to the Charter of the Dimensions program, the objective is "to foster increased research excellence, innovation and creativity within the post-secondary sector across all disciplines." Who could object to "increased research excellence, innovation, and creativity," which is the conventional and legitimate objective of research administrators? What is new here is the means by which these results would be allegedly brought about: "through increased equity, diversity and inclusion."

Pistol

'Laser weapons' to define Russia's military potential in 21st century - Putin

Peresvet combat laser system
© Sputnik / Russia's Ministry of Defense
Peresvet combat laser system.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin says that laser technology will play a crucial role in the nation's military might as he spoke about the "first practical results" of the country's Peresvet combat laser system.

Putin highlighted the importance of developing laser technology, including the "tactical-level combat laser complexes," at a defense-themed cabinet meeting on Friday.
Such types of weaponry will at large be defining the combat potential of the Russian Army and Navy... throughout the whole of the 21st century.
Putin said that the government will study "the first practical results" of the laser system Peresvet's performance when used by the military. The cutting-edge weapon formally entered test service in December.

Comment: Laser weapons aren't the only upgrade coming to the Russia's arsenal: Russian Army may get powerful Udav handguns this year - manufacturer
The Russian Army will likely get brand new 9mm Udav ('Boa') handguns this year, its maker said. The weapon is set to replace the legendary Makarov pistol, extensively used by the armed forces and police.

The final decision is up to the defense minister, but the pistol's manufacturer is confident that the army will receive the new weapon soon.

"I believe an order will be issued this year, and we will send out the pilot batch [of handguns] to the troops," the company's head, Albert Bakov, told Russian media on Friday.

The gun completed trials and was cleared for mass production in April. The weapon is equipped with an 18-round magazine, which is 10 rounds more than the famous but ageing Makarov pistol (PM) that it is set to replace. Although similar in design, Udav is said to be more powerful than the PM, and has less ricochets.

Different variations of the Udav handgun have been developed for use by the military, special ops units, and civilians.



Attention

Trump hopes Iran submits without a fight, Bolton wants war; Philip Giraldi, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts share their concerns

Bolton/Pompeo/Trump
© AP/Andrew Harnik
Security Advisor John Bolton • Sec of State Mike Pompeo • President Donald Trump
The US is increasing pressure against Iran, prompting concerns that the ongoing war of words may translate into an armed conflict.

Former Reagan administration official Dr Paul Craig Roberts and CIA veteran Philip Giraldi have shared their concerns over the US administration officials' apparent attempt to ignite a clash in the region. Tensions continue to simmer in the Persian Gulf, with the war of words between Iran and the US heating up.

On 15 May, Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami stated that Tehran had "the highest level of defence-military preparedness to confront any type of threat" from the US and Israel. The statement came on the heels of reports of a US military build-up in region.

"The US is putting pressure on Iran by the build-up", opined Philip Giraldi, a former CIA counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer. "[Donald] Trump believes that it will make Iran submit without any fighting, but Bolton wants an incident of some kind to happen to start a war".

Stop

Tulsi Gabbard: President Trump must avoid 'very stupid and costly war' with Iran

Tulsi Gabbard
© Reuters/Brian Snyder
Candidate Tulsi Gabbard
Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard came out swinging against a possible conflict with Iran, slamming President Donald Trump for allowing war hawks to run his administration.

The president is "on the brink of launching a very stupid and costly war with Iran" and must be stopped, she said in a campaign video tweeted out Thursday, adding that Trump is going back on promises to stay out of such conflicts.

Comment: See also:


Cut

Totalitarian? Media collude to censor Christchurch mosque shooter trial, spare public the details, follow PM's lead

Brenton Tarrant
© REUTERS
Brenton Tarrant, whose face cannot be shown due to a court order, and whose words likely won't be cited either.
Opposing New Zealand's press restrictions on the coverage of Brenton Tarrant's trial is not some abstract free speech argument, it's about reining in a media that thinks it knows what's best for the public.

The country's five major media corporations responsible for the coverage of the proceedings against the man accused of killing 50 people during the March 15 shootings at two Christchurch mosques, have signed a voluntary "indefinite" protocol "to limit any coverage of statements that actively champion white supremacist or terrorist ideology."

The outlets will not cite excerpts from the gunman's manifesto, 'The Great Replacement', they will not quote anything he says in support of his actions, and if he does a raised-arm salute or perhaps even the OK sign (the neo-Nazi gesture du jour) these can only be shown in pixelated form.

This has been widely received as an unequivocally virtuous gesture - "not giving the extremist a platform" is being treated as a win for ethics over typical media salaciousness.

Instead, the audiences of these media outlets should feel alarmed and insulted. The New Zealand media evidently holds the public in such dubious regard that it believes that we could not be trusted to make up our own minds on the merits of an ideology propagated by a mentally unbalanced fitness trainer who committed one of the least-justifiable acts of violence against innocents in recent memory.

Comment: See also:


USA

'Envy of the world' or 2020 campaign pitch? Trump's immigration plan targets both

Migrants/Fence
© MPR News
President Donald Trump has unveiled a sweeping proposal to overhaul legal immigration to make the US "envy of the world," but basically admitted it amounts to a Republican campaign platform for 2020.

The proposal, reportedly authored principally by Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, envisions changes to asylum laws in order to prevent abuses of loopholes by migrants crossing the southern border illegally, as well as overhauling the issuance of "green cards" on a merit-based points system, including a requirement that immigrants learn English and pass a civics test.

"This is the big, beautiful, bold plan," Trump said at the White House Rose Garden on Thursday, adding adding that it would be nice to have something on a smaller scale implemented sooner.

Comment: RT, 5/17/2019 Trump warns 'Don't get comfortable!' Record detentions, migrants will be 'sent home'
Donald Trump has called on Democrats to vote for his immigration reform to fix the 'National Emergency" on the US' border with Mexico, saying that migrants are being detained in record numbers to be repatriated.

In a string of tweets Friday morning, Trump again promised a crack down on illegal immigration, announcing that serious measures were already being taken by border patrol to curb the crisis.

Aside from current measures, he also said that the country's "removal forces" would be beefed up, and that laws would be changed in order to assure that those coming in illegally will be "removed from our Country."

See also:





Snakes in Suits

Trump dossier taken 'seriously' but 'not necessarily literally', says ex-top FBI lawyer James Baker

James Baker
© MSNBC
Former FBI General Counsel James Baker
Former FBI General Counsel James Baker is defending the FBI's handling of the Trump dossier, saying "we took it seriously" but "we didn't necessarily take it literally" and did not treat it as "literally true in every respect."

The dossier, packed with salacious and unverified claims about President Trump's ties to Russia, was written by British ex-spy Christopher Steele and formed a key part of the FISA applications used to justify surveillance warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Sitting down with Yahoo News' Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman for a Skullduggery podcast released on Wednesday, Baker said the FBI treated the dossier as "something that we were obligated to deal with and obligated to assess. He did not provide any details on what, if anything, the FBI verified in the dossier.

Comment: James Baker's interview with Andrea Mitchell:




Star of David

Spending binge: Israeli settlements funding sky-rocketed with Trump

Israeli settlement
© Ariel Schalit/AP
The international community has objected to Israel's moving people into settlements.
Israel's government went on a spending binge on its illegal West Bank settlements following the election of US President Donald Trump, according to official data obtained by AP news agency.

The government statistics, released by Israel's finance ministry, showed Israeli spending in the West Bank in 2017, Trump's first year in office, rose to about $459m, from about $330m in 2016. The 2017 figures were the highest in the 15 years of data provided by the finance ministry, though spending also climbed in 2016.

At the time, President Barack Obama, a vocal critic of the settlements, had cool relations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In contrast, the lowest year of Israeli spending was 2009, when both Netanyahu and Obama took office, when it was about $210m.

Hagit Ofran, a researcher with the anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now, said it appeared that Trump's election had emboldened Israel's pro-settler government. "They are not shy any more with what they are doing," she said. "They feel more free to do whatever they want."

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, offered even sharper criticism. "This proves that the current US administration encouraged settlement activities," he said.

Since capturing the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, Israel has settled about 700,000 of its citizens in the two areas, which are considered occupied territory under international law.

Comment: See also: