Puppet MastersS


Stop

Canada violates arms treaty by selling sniper rifles & armored vehicles 'misused' by Saudi Arabia in Yemen war, rights groups say

Saudi troops
© Reuters/Faisal Al NasserSaudi troops walk at their base in Yemen's southern port city of Aden.
NGOs Amnesty International and Project Ploughshares accused Ottawa of "willful blindness" and breaking arms trade laws in its multibillion-dollar weapons and equipment exports to Saudi Arabia - despite evidence of their "misuse."

A new report by the rights groups points to "persuasive evidence" to show that Canadian arms transfers - including light armored vehicles (LAVs) and high-powered sniper rifles - are being "diverted for use" in the Saudi-led coalition's war in Yemen.

This has "exacerbated the armed conflict" that has been raging in Yemen since 2015, states the report, which accuses the Trudeau government of "misinterpret(ing) or ignor(ing)" key conditions of the 2014 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Canada signed the treaty - which regulates global arms trade - in 2019.

Comment: War is only a financial boon if it isn't your war.


Attention

Insistence on Israeli membership in African Union will eventually tear apart bloc, says Algerian FM

Lamara/African Union
© Odd Andersen/Getty Images/AFPAlgerian FM Ramtane Lamamra • African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra has chastized the chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission for defending his decision last month to grant Israel observer status at the African bloc, saying insistence on the measure will eventually result in the breakup of the regional organization.

Lamamra, in an interview with Algeria's al-Fadjr daily newspaper on Saturday, said:
"Moussa Faki Mahamat sought to defend himself [in the face of growing condemnations over the step] and accordingly made the latest remarks. He is unaware of the consequences that the decision will cause."
He said Faki's comments will not dissuade South Africa, Tunisia, Eritrea, Senegal, Tanzania, Niger, Comoros, Gabon, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Mali and Seychelles from expelling Israel from the 55-member African Union.

Comment: Legitimate concern, fear of a paradigm shift or an internal power play - the African Union has much to sort out regarding the re-entry of Israel into their midsts, given its loyalty to Palestine - a case of Buyer Beware!
Algeria has established itself as Israel's number one enemy in Africa since the announcement of normalizations with Arab countries. Algeria's reaction to Israel's nomination was twofold, the first through a statement from the Foreign Affairs Department and the second after having managed to convince a few countries.

On July 25, Algerian diplomacy published a statement reacting to Israel's return as an observer to the African Union (AU), a function that the country has already had in the past, notably under the former name OAU, i.e. before 2002. Algerian Foreign Ministry said in its statement:
"The recent decision of the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union to accept a new observer, who falls under his administrative powers, would not affect the constant and effective support of the continental organization for the just Palestinian cause, as well as its commitment to embody the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to establish their independent state, Jerusalem their capital.

"This decision, which was taken without prior extensive consultations with all member states, has no power to legitimize the practices and behavior of the new observer, which are totally contrary to the values, principles and objectives enshrined in the Constitution. of the African Union.

"It should also be recalled that the working systems of the African Union do not give any possibility to the 87 observer states outside Africa to influence the positions of the continental organization, which the exclusive prerogative of the member states."
Fearing that Israel might influence or destabilize its hegemony within the continental organization, Ramtane Lamamra has managed to garner the support of 6 countries according to the accounts, like his ally South Africa for all time.

According to other estimates, after several days of haggling with the countries, their number would have reached 9 according to some sources and 14 for others, and would include countries like Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Egypt, Niger , the Comoros and Djibouti.

In a letter sent on August 2 to the President of the Commission, 7 countries including Algeria criticized the Commissioner for not having respected "the aims and principles" of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, which was "Respected by his predecessors" and consider that this position harms the interests of the African Union.

With this sling led by Algeria against the presence of Israel as an observer member, it is above all a war launched against the Hebrew State and the translation of a fear of its presence on African soil.



Arrow Down

Brazil's Bolsonaro loses his bid to reform voting system

Bolsonaro
© ReutersBrazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
President Jair Bolsonaro has suffered a major defeat in Congress when Brazilian lawmakers rejected a proposal to require printed receipts at some electronic ballot boxes.

Without presenting any evidence, Bolsonaro has insisted Brazil's electronic voting system is prone to fraud, and that printouts would allow for auditing results. The proposed constitutional change needed 308 votes in order to pass, and received 229 Tuesday night.

The opposition, however, also fell short of reaching an overwhelming majority to rebuff the president's relentless efforts to undermine confidence in the voting system. Only 218 lawmakers voted against the measure.

Electoral authorities and even many of Bolsonaro's political allies opposed the proposal, saying the system is fully reliable and the change could create opportunities for vote buying. Critics contend Bolsonaro is trying to sow doubt among his passionate supporters about the 2022 election results, setting the stage for potential conflicts similar to those spawned by then U.S. President Donald Trump's allegations of fraud in the United States.

Arrow Down

US embassy: American citizens to leave Afghanistan IMMEDIATELY, right after Taliban claims to capture 2nd largest city

Us embassy kabul afghanistan
© Getty Images / Paula BronsteinUS embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan
Amid the whirlwind advance of the Taliban, the US embassy in Kabul has urged all American citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately, offering to loan them cash for plane tickets if necessary.

"The US Embassy urges US citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately using available commercial flight options," read a security alert from the diplomatic outpost on Thursday. The embassy offered loans to Americans unable to afford plane tickets home, and assistance with immigrant visas for foreign family members.

The alert went out shortly after the Taliban claimed to have captured Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city. Earlier, they claimed victory in the city of Ghazni, 150km (95 miles) from the capital. Ghazni is the 10th Afghan provincial capital to fall to the Taliban since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan began in May.

Comment: The U.S. is reprising its Vietnam withdrawal:


Syringe

CDC recommends pregnant women get COVID-19 vaccine

pregnant woman vaccination
© Reuters/Hannah Beier
Pregnant women should be vaccinated against COVID-19, based on a new analysis that did not show increased risk for miscarriage, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

The CDC said it has found no safety concerns for pregnant people in either the new analysis or earlier studies. It said miscarriage rates after vaccination were similar to the expected rate. Pregnant women can receive any of the three vaccines given emergency authorization -- Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson.


Comment: Without long-term studies on the effects of the vaccine, it would be foolish for any pregnant woman to get a covid vaccine.


The agency had not previously recommended pregnant women get vaccinated but had said that they should discuss vaccination with their health care providers.

Comment: Soon they will be mandating that a child just out of its mother's womb be immediately vaccinated.


Bullseye

Stop obsessing about Moscow & fix human rights violations in your own backyard, Russian embassy in Washington tells US State Dept

Russian Embassy in Washington, U.S.
© Reuters / Joshua Roberts
The Russian embassy in Washington has urged the US State Department to pay attention to the human rights situation at home instead of constantly criticizing Moscow, noting that America has enough problems to deal with itself.

On Thursday morning, the embassy's Twitter account called out the US State Department spokesman.

"[Ned Price] keeps criticizing Russia for assumed human rights violations. Meanwhile, it is high time the US drew its attention to the internal situation," the tweet said, including a link to an article posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website assessing the situation of human rights around the world.

The tweet came shortly after Price told journalists that the American authorities have been closely monitoring developments concerning the new charges against imprisoned opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

Pistol

After 20 years, Pentagon still lacks control over hired guns

soldier with gun
© Shutterstock/PRESSLAB
A new GAO report finds gaping holes in oversight in the military's unwieldy private security contractor biz.

One might reasonably assume that in the over 20 years since the 9/11 attacks, the Pentagon would have finally managed to figure out how to exercise effective supervision and control over its private military contractors.

You know, the hired guns in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, many of whom bubbled up to our consciousness with notorious war scandals in places like Fallujah and Nisour Square. In other words, the government should have established some sort of oversight strategy by now.

Reasonable perhaps. But wrong, according to a July 29 report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which said:
The Department of Defense (DOD) has been unable to comprehensively identify private security contractor (PSC) contracts and personnel supporting contingency, humanitarian, peace-keeping, or other similar operations.
That is GAO's genteel way of saying the government still doesn't have very good visibility into PSC activities.

Map

Best of the Web: Taliban's 'master plan' in Afghanistan: All roads lead to the battle for Kabul

Afghan militia fighters
© AFP / Farshad UsyanAfghan militia fighters keep watch at an outpost against Taliban insurgents at Charkint district in Balkh Province in June.
City after city has fallen from government to Taliban control but Afghanistan's end-game is still unclear

The ever-elusive Afghan "peace" process negotiations re-start this Wednesday in Doha via the extended troika - the US, Russia, China and Pakistan. The contrast with the accumulated facts on the ground could not be starker.

In a coordinated blitzkrieg, the Taliban have subdued no less than six Afghan provincial capitals in only four days. The central administration in Kabul will have a hard time defending its stability in Doha.

It gets worse. Ominously, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has all but buried the Doha process. He's already betting on civil war - from the weaponization of civilians in the main cities to widespread bribing of regional warlords, with the intent of building a "coalition of the willing" to fight the Taliban.

The capture of Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz province, was a major Taliban coup. Zaranj is the gateway for India's access to Afghanistan and further on to Central Asia via the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).

India paid for the construction of the highway linking the port of Chabahar in Iran - the key hub of India's faltering version of the New Silk Roads - to Zaranj.

At stake here is a vital Iran-Afghanistan border crossing cum Southwest/Central Asia transportation corridor. Yet now the Taliban control trade on the Afghan side. And Tehran has just closed the Iranian side. No one knows what happens next.

Microscope 2

Flashback Remember this? Obama criticizes states' Ebola quarantine rules

obama ebola statement
The United States must continue to be a global leader in the fight against Ebola by supporting health workers traveling to West Africa, President Barack Obama said.

"America in the end is not defined by fear — that's not who we are," Obama said in a Tuesday address, critiquing some states' policies of forcing returning humanitarian workers into quarantine.

Comment: Oh how times have changed.




Megaphone

Best of the Web: 'Delta variant can infect vaccinated, mass testing pointless, need to live with the virus', AstraZeneca lead scientist tells Britain's parliamentary group

Pollard
Sir Andrew Pollard thinks testing may soon only be used to diagnose COVID in someone with symptoms.
The Delta variant of COVID-19 has wrecked any chance of herd immunity, according to the Oxford scientist who led the AstraZeneca vaccine team, as he called for an end to mass testing so Britain could start to live with the virus.

Scientists who addressed Britain's all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus said it was time to accept that there is no way of stopping the virus spreading through the entire population, and monitoring people with mild symptoms was no longer helpful.

Professor Andrew Pollard, who led the Oxford vaccine team, said it was clear that the Delta variant can still infect people who have been vaccinated, which made herd immunity impossible to reach, even with Britain's high uptake.


Comment: Throughout history herd immunity has been achieved through mass infection, not through mass injections; moreover, it's likely that the experimental injections are in large part to blame for the rise in virulent variants.


Comment: That's an alarmingly wrong, and potentially deadly, comment from the paediatrician, because the data already shows that children, even those with multiple comorbidities, are at no risk from the coronavirus and its current variants, and there's increasing evidence showing that young people are more at risk of severe side effects from the experimental injections: See also: Police response times "under strain" because of staff shortages caused by "pingdemic," as NHS app calls for self-isolation