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Mon, 27 Sep 2021
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America's billion-dollar gas game: Nord Stream 2 threatens US energy exports to Europe


RT
Mon, 26 Jul 2021 20:57 UTC
nord stream 2
No wonder Washington wanted to block it

The US and Germany came to a historic agreement last week over the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, as a compromise between the hawks who have sought to sink the project and those who want to do business with Russia.

However, efforts to draw a line under the debate over the almost-finished energy link have clearly not pacified Ukraine's foreign minister. Dmytro Kuleba was quick to reply to the news on Wednesday, saying in a joint statement with Poland's foreign minister that the proposals put forward to alleviate the "security deficit" caused by Nord Stream 2 "cannot be considered sufficient."

The pipeline, which stretches through the Baltic Sea and connects the gas fields of Siberia directly to Germany, is already 98% complete, with the final stretches set to be laid in August. Though US President Joe Biden's White House has sought to portray the new settlement with Berlin as the final word on the matter, some American lawmakers are still pushing to see the US impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 project.
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Airplane

Jordan's king claims country has been attacked by drones with 'Iranian signature'

Ilya Tsukanov
Sputnik
Mon, 26 Jul 2021 12:10 UTC
US Marines/
© AP/Mohammad Hannon
US Marines approach a mosque in Jebel Petra desert near Amman, Jordan
Relations between Jordan and Iran have been icy since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Relations worsened further after Amman expressed support for the overthrow of the Syrian government of Bashar Assad in the early 2010s, which Iran supported diplomatically and militarily, and amid Jordan's warm ties with Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Jordan's King Abdullah II has alleged that his country has been attacked by Iranian-made drones.

Abdullah II said, speaking to CNN on Sunday:
"Unfortunately, Jordan has been attacked by drones that have come out that are Iranian signature that we have to deal with."
Asked when these attacks took place, the king said that they occurred "in the past year or so." He did not provide any additional information, such as who was using the drones or what they targeted, but went on to urge Amman's American allies to discuss a range of security matters with Iran.

Comment: Sounds more like a trade off. Jordan accuses Iran and Israel refrains (temporarily) from stealing its territory.

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Brain

Rep. Ronny Jackson, ex-White House doctor, predicts Biden will be forced to resign

Mary Kay Linge
New York Post
Sat, 24 Jul 2021 08:32 UTC
Doc Ronny Jackson
© Getty Images
Former WH doctor and freshman Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson
Rep. Ronny Jackson, the former White House physician-turned-congressman, says he's "terrified for our country" in the wake of President Joe Biden's disastrous town hall this week — and that he doubts whether the commander in chief has the cognitive ability to make it through a full term.

"He's completely LOST it!" Jackson (R-Tex.) tweeted Saturday, along with a video clip — recorded this week — in which Biden bizarrely answered a reporter's question about defunding the police by claiming that Republicans accuse him of "sucking the blood out of kids. Needs a cognitive exam NOW!" Jackson posted.


Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, and Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., says the president isn't inspiring confidence at home or on the world stage on Hannity.


Comment: Biden's struggles with communication are progressing in both form and function:
Some tweeters are calling for a publicly televised cognitive test with visuals on both ears! (Not a bad idea!)

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Stop

Biden and Iraqi PM to announce end to US military combat mission


The Guardian
Mon, 26 Jul 2021 08:52 UTC
al-Kadhimi
© Reuters
Iraqi PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi
Joe Biden and the Iraqi prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, are expected to announce on Monday an agreement to end the US military combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year, according to a senior Biden administration official.

The plan to shift the US military mission, whose stated purpose is to help Iraq defeat the Islamic State, to a strictly advisory and training role will be spelled out in a broader communique to be issued by the two leaders following a White House meeting on Monday afternoon, said the official.

The official said Iraqi security forces were "battle-tested" and have proved themselves "capable" of protecting their country. Still, the Biden administration recognizes that Isis remains a considerable threat, the official said.

Isis was largely routed on the battlefield in 2017. But it can still carry out high-casualty attacks. Last week, the group claimed responsibility for a roadside bombing that killed at least 30 and wounded dozens in a suburban Baghdad market.


Comment: On cue?


Comment: ISIS is the gift that keeps on giving - the excuse that never ends - the 'forever threat' made in America.

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Vader

Whither Afghanistan? And why getting out is harder than getting in

Philip Giraldi
The Strategic Culture Foundation
Thu, 22 Jul 2021 18:37 UTC
us military afghanistan
© Reuters/Parwiz Parwiz
Afghan National Army soldiers patrol the area near a checkpoint recaptured from the Taliban, in the Alishing district of Laghman province, Afghanistan
Given the lack of any deep thinking going on in the White House, Americans could easily find themselves in yet another Afghanistan.

The inability of the United States to comprehend what it was becoming involved in when, in the wake of 9/11, it declared a Global War on Terror, has to be reckoned one of the singular failures of national security policy over the past twenty years. Not only did the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq make bad situations worse, but the fact that no one is Washington was able to define "victory" and think in terms of an exit strategy has meant that the wars and instability are still with us. In their wake has been hundreds of thousands of deaths and trillions of dollars spent to accomplish absolutely nothing.

As a result, Iraq is unstable and leans more heavily towards America's adversary Iran than it does to Washington. The Iraqi Parliament has, in fact, asked U.S. forces to leave the country, a request that has been ignored both by Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Trump actually threatened to freeze Iraqi bank assets to pressure the Iraqis into accepting the continued U.S. occupation. At the same time, American troops illegally present in neighboring Syria, continue to occupy that country's oil fields to deprive the government in Damascus of much needed resources. Neither Iraq nor Syria threatens the United States in any way.

Comment: Mature countries are patient and plan for the long-term. Russia and China embody both qualities, as can be seen from this 2017 article. Four yeas on, they are following the principles articulated then.

3 geopolitical conflicts which show U.S. goals vs. those of China and Russia's: Venezuela, Afghanistan and North Korea

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Cult

French parliament passes law requiring Covid pass for restaurants, travel starting in August


France 24
Mon, 26 Jul 2021 17:46 UTC
france covid pass sanitaire smart phone
© Olivier Morin, AFP
A picture taken on July 4, 2021 in Paris shows a mobile phone whose screen bears a EU Digital Covid certificate.
The French parliament approved a bill early Monday that will require a health pass for access to restaurants, bars, trains and planes from the beginning of August. All venues accommodating more than 50 people already require proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test, including museums, cinemas and swimming pools.

France's parliament approved a law early Monday requiring special virus passes for all restaurants and domestic travel and mandating vaccinations for all health workers.

Both measures have prompted protests and political tensions.
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Attention

Rand Paul claims researchers 'afraid to speak out' against Fauci UPDATE

Samuel Chamberlain
New York Post
Tue, 20 Jul 2021 09:24 UTC
Rand Paul
© Greg Nash/AP
US Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) Fauci's worst nightmare!
Scientists who are skeptical of chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci's proclamations about the coronavirus pandemic don't want to go public with their concerns for fear it will affect their funding, Sen. Rand Paul claimed Tuesday.

Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, told Fox News Primetime of Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984:
"He's been there for 40 years, probably 39 years too long, but he controls all the funding, so people are deathly afraid of him. I get letters from scientists all the time. You can find them. They're very distrustful of what he's saying.

"They don't think he's making sense. They don't think he's reading the science accurately, but they're afraid to speak out because many of them are university scientists and they depend on NIH [National Institutes of Health] funds, and to cross him means it's the last money you'll ever get."


Comment: Senator Paul makes his position exceedingly clear.


Comment: UPDATE: 26/7/2021: Senator Paul sent a criminal referral on Dr. Fauci to the Justice Department:
Senator Paul sent an official request to Attorney General Merrick Garland to open a criminal investigation regarding Fauci's statement about funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
"I write to urge the United States Department of Justice to open an investigation into testimony made to the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on May 11, 2021."
According to The Examiner, Paul also informed AG Garland of comments made by molecular biologist Richard Ebright, who said in May that research conducted by the Wuhan lab "matches, indeed, epitomizes the definition of 'gain-of-function research of concern' for which federal funding was 'paused' in 2014-2017."

Paul also stated: "He's lying about whether or not he funded gain-of-function research, and yes, he should be punished."


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Control Panel

Biden doubles down on voters: Fraud in 2020 election is only a preview of what is coming

Philip Giraldi
Unz Review
Tue, 20 Jul 2021 00:00 UTC
votes stacked
President Joe Biden has now declared that the United States is facing an existential crisis comparable to what it experienced during the Civil War, a struggle that will produce a truly democratic form of government with universal franchise or which will result in the denial of basic rights to many citizens. And he is quite willing to address the issue employing a maximum of emotion and fear mongering unmitigated by a minimum of reasonable suasion, saying
"We're facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War. That's not hyperbole. Since the Civil War — the Confederates back then never breached the Capitol as insurrectionists did on January the 6th. I'm not saying this to alarm you. I'm saying this because you should be alarmed."
Of course, what may have occurred on January 6th has nothing to do with the issue currently in play, which is voting rights, though it is only one aspect of what is essentially a revolution sponsored by the Democratic Party to reorder the American political system in such a fashion as to guarantee its dominance for decades to come. Other steps will include greatly increased immigration, a war on so-called domestic terrorists and decriminalizing or choosing not to prosecute many felonies committed by party constituencies.

The voting rights legislation currently before Congress includes the interestingly named For the People Act and its successor the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, both of which would seek to restore certain unconstitutional aspects of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Most important, they would eliminate the ability of the states to pass legislation that creates conditions on registering and voting. The text of the John Lewis Act now before Congress refers to these steps as "discriminatory laws, needless barriers, and partisan dirty tricks."
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Snakes in Suits

UK's Labour Party to expel a thousand more party members, lost 120,000 after appointment of Starmer and ousting of Corbyn

Tom Blackburn
The Guardian
Sun, 25 Jul 2021 14:00 UTC
Labour
© Barcroft Media/Getty Images
Members of leftwing Labour groups protest outside the party’s NEC meeting last week in London.
Expelling leftwing members after thousands have already departed could spell the end for the 'broad church' strategy

Amid uninspiring opinion polling and after a very close shave in Batley and Spen - which prompted an outpouring of triumphalism way out of proportion with Labour's narrow win there - Keir Starmer has taken the opportunity to settle some scores. After a marathon nine-hour meeting of Labour's ruling national executive committee on Tuesday, it was announced, as expected, that four leftwing groups had been proscribed: Socialist Appeal, Labour Against the Witchhunt, Labour in Exile Network and Resist.

Reports suggest that the move could see up to 1,000 Labour members effectively expelled from the party. It isn't necessary to carry a torch for all or any of these groups to see the cynicism of the manoeuvre. For some, the decision to proscribe these groups has rekindled memories of Neil Kinnock's war on the Labour left in the 1980s; indeed, Socialist Appeal is the fragment of Militant that remained in Labour after the rest of the organisation was driven out three decades ago. As for the others, it is unclear how many of their members are still in Labour. Membership is down by about 120,000 from its peak under Jeremy Corbyn.


Comment: And that's why the establishment worked so hard to get rid of him: Sabotage: Labour's own senior staff acted to keep Corbyn out of power, leaked internal report reveals


Comment: In lacking an understanding of the nature of ponerology, any discussion of party politics and democracy is doomed to fail: Political Ponerology: A Science on The Nature of Evil adjusted for Political Purposes

See also:

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Pirates

US drops Nord Stream 2 sabotage attempts, revealing true motivation was not 'security'


RT
Sat, 24 Jul 2021 12:46 UTC
Nord Stream
© Sputnik / Thomas Oigster; (inset) REUTERS / Sergei Karpukhin
The Solitaire vessel performs work on laying the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline in Russian waters.
America has come back down to Earth. After years trying to sabotage the almost-complete, $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will link the gas fields of Siberia to consumers in Germany, Washington is dropping its objections.

Signing a new agreement with Berlin, the US has put itself behind Germany as its key ally in Europe. Not Ukraine, which has thrown up no end of objections and appeals over the project. As would be expected, there has been a furious reaction in some quarters.

Some are hysterical in a comical register: The Kyiv Post, for instance, mouthpiece of the North American-Ukrainian "diaspora,"cries" Betrayal!" in best British-yellow press style and declares Chancellor Angela Merkel to be "Ukraine's foe of the week."
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