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Kremlin wants to improve ties with EU, but will prep for the worst as Brussels threatens sanctions


RT
Fri, 12 Feb 2021 10:36 UTC
Kremlin
© SputnikThe Kremlin, Moscow, Russia
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman has denied media reports that Russia will imminently sever diplomatic ties with Brussels, saying his government would consider extreme measures only in response to hostile actions.

On Friday, Dmitry Peskov told reporters that comments by Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov had been taken out of context by Russian-language media. In a preview of an interview aired earlier that morning, the diplomat was asked whether Moscow was heading for a break with the EU. "Our starting point is that we are ready," he said.

However, Peskov argued that the resulting headlines overlooked the fact that Lavrov was saying such a move would be considered only in response to damaging sanctions that hit sensitive areas of the economy. "This sensational headline is being presented without context," he said, "and this is a big mistake by the media. It changes the meaning." Lavrov added:
"Collectively, [the EU] is still our largest trading and investment partner. Many companies are working here. There are hundreds, thousands of joint ventures. If business is mutually beneficial, we will continue it."

Comment: Distraction is the priority when states are self-destructing:
Borrell said ministers will have the opportunity to debate any measures at a meeting on February 22:
"I wanted to test whether the Russian authorities are interested in a serious attempt to reverse the deterioration of our relations and seize the opportunity to have a more constructive dialogue. The answer has been clear: No, they are not. I will put forward concrete proposals."
Both the EU and the US have said they are mulling sanctions as a result of the arrest and imprisonment of opposition figure Alexey Navalny. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN on Monday that the White House was contemplating taking action against Russia:
"It seems apparent that a chemical weapon was used to try to kill Mr. Navalny. That violates the chemical weapons convention and other obligations that Russia has. We're looking at the situation very carefully and when we have the results, we'll look at that in the appropriate way."
Moscow has slammed the West for seeking to change the facts of the case. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Moscow news outlet RBK last week:
"Don't meddle in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. And we recommend that everyone deals with their own problems. Believe me. they have enough of their own problems in these countries. There are plenty of issues to deal with."


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Footprints

Lincoln Project co-founder resigns

Lachlan Markay
Axios
Sat, 13 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Schmidt
© Jamie McCarthy/Getty ImagesLincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt
Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt is resigning from the group's board amid a series of scandals that has rocked the high-dollar anti-Trump super PAC, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Schmidt, a veteran Republican operative, is the latest and most high-profile departure from the group, which is reeling from revelations that another co-founder, John Weaver, used offers of professional advancement in a series of attempts to solicit sex from young men.

Background: Schmidt's resignation comes amid a wave of damaging stories for the Lincoln Project.
  • The New York Times reported last month on allegations from 21 men that Weaver sent them unsolicited and sexually charged messages. One was 14 years old at the time, according to the report.
  • Multiple people have reportedly been contacted by federal law enforcement regarding the alleged conduct. The Lincoln Project said it has hired an external law firm to conduct an investigation into the matter.
  • The AP reported that the majority of the $90 million that the Lincoln Project has raised was paid to consulting firms tied to the group's founders and senior staff.
  • On Thursday, the group's official Twitter account tweeted screenshots of messages between a former senior staffer and a reporter writing a story on the group. Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway suggested the disclosures may have been illegal.

Comment: Schmidt exits with mea culpas:

Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt resigned from the embattled anti-Trump organization Friday night, claiming he did so to
"make room for the appointment of a female board member as the first step to reform and professionalize the Lincoln Project. Presently, the Lincoln Project is made up of four middle-aged white men. That composition does not reflect our nation, nor our movement. I am resigning my seat on the Lincoln Project board to make room for the appointment of a female board member as the first step to reform and professionalize the Lincoln Project.

"My purpose in writing this isn't to express what and when I knew about John Weaver, but how I feel about him, what he did and how many people he hurt. This is my truth. John Weaver has put me back into that faraway cabin with Ray, my Boy Scout leader. I am incandescently angry about it. I am angry because I know the damage that he caused to me, and I know the journey that lies ahead of every young man that trusted, feared and was abused by John Weaver."

While Schmidt said he is "enormously proud of the Lincoln Project," he offered an apology to co-founder Jennifer Horn, who resigned from the group last week, over the public dispute that was launched. He called her
"an important and valuable member of our team. She deserved better from me. She deserved a leader who could restrain his anger. I am sorry for my failure. Private messages should never have been made public.

"For me, it's time to step back from the front - to get healthy mentally, physically, and spiritually. Stay strong, There is much work to be done."
Besides Lincoln Project advisers Tom Nichols and Kurt Bardella, as well as LPTV host Nayyera Haq stepping away from the organization, fellow adviser and LPTV host Tara Setmayer also indicated her potential exit on Twitter. In addition, CNBC reported Friday that top megadonors are considering abandoning the group.

Last week, co-founder Jennifer Horn announced her resignation, which sparked a public spat between her and the group. Late Thursday, the Lincoln Project allegedly published private Twitter messages Horn sent to a reporter. Those tweets were later removed after co-founder George Conway, who left the group in August, warned that its actions may have broken federal law.
See also:

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Dollars

Duterte to US: You want VFA? You have to pay

Llanesca T. Panti
GMA News Online
Fri, 12 Feb 2021 07:11 UTC
Duterte
© UnknownDuterte and members of Iligan Infantry
Brigade
Rodrigo Duterte served notice to the United States government that it should pay the Philippines to resume the activities under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA}.

"I want to put notice, if there is an American agent here, if you want VFA, you have to pay. You have to pay because it is a shared responsibility," Duterte said at the inspection of new air assets of the Philippine Air Force in Clark Air Base in Pampanga on Friday night. "Your share of responsibility does not come free because after all, when the war breaks out, we all pay," he added.

Inked between the Philippines and the United States in 1999, VFA allows American forces to hold joint military exercises, counter intelligence training and engage in humanitarian aid missions with their Filipino counterparts.

The VFA, however, prohibits US troops from engaging in combat operations.
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Eye 1

DC court denies FOIA documents, ruling Trump tweet wasn't admission CIA funded Al-Qaeda in Syria


Sputnik
Sat, 13 Feb 2021 19:36 UTC
jihadist
© AFP 2021 / RAMI AL-SAYED
A DC Court of Appeals has sided with the US Central Intelligence Agency in claiming that just because former US President Donald Trump tweeted about something is not proof that it actually existed.

The case concerned a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Jason Leopold of BuzzFeed News for documents on CIA funding for anti-government rebels in Syria after Trump tweeted about ending the program.

"The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the facts on my ending massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad," Trump tweeted on July 24, 2017, as part of a rant about media bias.

The tweet formed the basis of Leopold's FOIA request for "payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad," which the CIA refused to answer, saying that by giving an answer to his request it would be admitting to something that was illegal.

Loepold then sent a second request, this time seeking "agency records relating to payments to Syrian rebels," according to a suit filed in a DC federal court in 2019 seeking release of the documents. At first, the court came down on the reporter's side, but the intelligence agency appealed and a new trio of judges reversed the previous order.
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Attention

Biden administration to allow 25,000 'asylum-seekers' into US from Mexico while cases are pending

Paul Sacca
The Blaze
Fri, 12 Feb 2021 18:06 UTC
border wall mexico
© Ariana Drehsler/AFP/GettyA section of border wall
In yet another move to upend former President Donald Trump's immigration policies, the Biden administration announced that the United States would let around 25,000 asylum-seekers into the country as they await their hearings. This is a stark contrast to the Trump-era immigration policy that kept asylum-seekers in Mexico as they waited for their immigration hearings.

"Building on a series of Executive Orders last week, the Biden Administration is announcing another step in our phased strategy to reform the nation's immigration system," the Department of Homeland Security announced on Thursday in a statement.

"Beginning on February 19, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin phase one of a program to restore safe and orderly processing at the southwest border," the department said. "DHS will begin processing people who had been forced to 'remain in Mexico' under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). Approximately 25,000 individuals in MPP continue to have active cases."

Comment: Biden has bent to the progressive crazies: And the real reason?

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Green Light

Even AIPAC was alarmed by rise of Israeli racist party in 2019. Now, who cares!

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Fri, 12 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Itamar Ben-Gvir
© wikipediaItamar Ben-Gvir
What happens when Israel just keeps turning into such a rightwing Jewish-supremacist country that American Israel-lovers lose their stomach for defending it? Or they get tired of telling us all about the Good Israel that's waiting to be redeemed? I think that's happening, and here is a news story that supports that view.

Two days ago Benjamin Netanyahu, eager to lose no rightwing votes in his bid for reelection in March, signed a vote-sharing agreement with a party that includes extremist racists. Vote-sharing deals mean that two parties can get another seat in parliament by combining their "leftover" votes. Otherwise those extra votes would simply be parcelled to other parties. Netanyahu needs to keep those seats on his side.

Last week, Netanyahu actually midwifed the birth of this new racist party - Religious Zionism - out of smaller factions so that Religious Zionism would have a better chance of exceeding the threshhold. If a party falls below the threshhold in the election- 3.25 percent/four seats in parliament — it doesn't get any seats at all.

Comment: Faux outrage or not, Israel has been allowing itself to fully manifest its racist, hateful and malevolent policies - in both word and deed - for many years. This Middle Eastern country will, despite its support in the West and elsewhere, be the very maker of its own undoing as it continues to push the uppermost limits of pathological sentiment and policies. Further, Netanyahu will do or say almost anything to fulfill his ultimate goal to remain in power and be in such a position to see that Iran and Syria be brought to its knees - which these nations will not allow. As a result, Netanyahu will, in effect, very likely be presiding over the destruction of the very country he claims to be protecting.

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Bulb

Fighting back: Trump's impeachment defense team slam Dem's hypocrisy with long montage of liberals doing the same thing they accused Trump of doing

Jim Hoft
Gateway Pundit
Fri, 12 Feb 2021 12:48 UTC
Trump lawyer
The Democrats demonized President Trump for using the word 'fight'. Trump's attorneys responded today with a collage of clips from each of the Democrats in the room using the word 'fight'.

This portion of today's events on Capitol Hill was excellent. The Democrats claim that because President Trump used the word 'fight' in his speech on January 6th in Washington D.C. However, what every Democrat in that room forgot was that they too had used the word previously in political speech.

The montage went on for 13 minutes. (The video montage starts at 7:10 timeframe.)


Comment: The above presentation is a priceless explanation of what's terribly wrong in Washington. And though too little too late perhaps, it should serve as a stark reminder of what Truth really looks and sounds like - and what a whole portion of the sick political class will do absolutely anything to avoid.

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Eye 1

US tech giants partnering with India's Modi to crack down on dissent

Alan MacLeod
Mint Press News
Sat, 13 Feb 2021 12:23 UTC
india police
© Bikas Das | APA policeman pushes a pedestrian during a protest by student activists during a protest in Kolkata, India, Feb. 11, 2021.
The far-right government of Narendra Modi is attempting to silence dissent online amid enormous national farmers' protests — and it is finding willing partners in Silicon Valley social media giants.

Earlier this week, the Indian government successfully lobbied YouTube to remove a number of videos, including a popular Punjabi song that had become an anthem to the protest movement. Indians trying to access the song "Ailaan" by Kanwar Grewal, a video amassing over six million views in just four months, are met with the message: "This content is not available on this country domain due to a legal complaint from the government."

Comment: For further insight into what's going on, see:



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Attention

State lawmakers discuss impeaching Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Zach Williams
City & State
Fri, 12 Feb 2021 00:01 UTC
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
© Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. CuomoThe governor is facing political heat like never before.
Democrats and Republicans alike are expressing outrage following a bombshell report in the New York Post about why it took Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration so long to release data on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. State Senate Republicans are calling for new investigations. Fourteen Democratic state senators have joined calls to roll back the sweeping emergency powers granted to the governor during the pandemic. "It's being thrown around a bit," state Sen. Jessica Ramos told City & State on Friday of making Cuomo the first governor to be impeached in more than a century.

Removing Cuomo from office appears to be a remote possibility at this point, but the governor is facing political heat like never before. What ultimately happens to the governor could hinge on the extent to which Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins end up taking the most dramatic action pushed by Democratic legislators as outrage grows over the governor's handling of nursing home deaths.

Comment: More from Spectrum News NY1:
State Democrats Consider Revoking Cuomo's Emergency Powers
Zack Fink | 1:30 PM ET Feb. 12, 2021

In a pushback against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Democratic state lawmakers are strongly considering revoking broad emergency powers they granted him last year to manage the pandemic. The move comes in the wake of the governor's top aide privately admitting this week that the Cuomo administration intentionally withheld statistics about COVID-19 deaths of nursing home residents.

In an online conversation with state lawmakers, Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa said the administration "froze" any release of the statistics out of fear that they could spur an investigation by Donald Trump's Justice Department. DeRosa's remarks were first reported in the New York Post.

...

On Friday morning, members of the Democratic majority in the State Assembly held a closed virtual conference to discuss revoking the governor's powers. Sources tell NY1 that there was no conclusion, but the majority of members argued in favor of modifying or rolling back Cuomo's powers, while others seemed more inclined to simply let them expire as they are scheduled to do at the end of April.

A minority countered that having more than 50 local health departments making different decisions wasn't ideal, either.

Lawmakers from New York City expressed frustration over the governor and Mayor Bill de Blasio frequently being at odds during the pandemic and putting out competing and conflicting information, saying that some of the conflict could be avoided if Cuomo's emergency powers were revoked.

...
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Evil Rays

Head of Strategic Command: US must prepare for "very real possibility" of nuclear war with China

Alan Macleod
Mint Press News
Fri, 05 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Vice Adm. Charles A. Richard
© Nati Harnik | APVice Adm. Charles A. Richard, commander of US Strategic Command, speaks during a change of command ceremony at Offutt AFB in Nebraska, Nov. 18, 2019.
Writing in the U.S. Naval Institute Journal, Admiral Charles A. Richard warned that the military must "consider the possibility of great power competition, crisis, or direct armed conflict with a nuclear-capable peer" and update and modernize its approach to its two principal adversaries.

"There is a real possibility that a regional crisis with Russia or China could escalate quickly to a conflict involving nuclear weapons," he wrote, demanding that the United States "prepare for the conflict we prefer, instead of one we are likely to face."

Richard accused the Chinese of "mak[ing] technological leaps in capabilities in every domain" and Russia of "aggressively modernizing its nuclear forces." He concluded that "the probability of nuclear use is low, but not impossible, particularly in a crisis and as our nuclear-armed adversaries continue to build capability and exert themselves globally," and that the U.S. risks suffering "embarrassment" or worse if they do not act.

The admiral's words closely echo a recent report from the Atlantic Council — a body that is filled with top American generals and closely linked to NATO. The council advised President Biden to draw a number of "red lines" around China, past which the U.S. would respond militarily. These included virtually any Chinese military actions in the South China Sea, cyberattacks on its neighbors, or even a North Korean strike on its adversaries. Any backing down from the brink, the council insisted, would mean national "humiliation" for the United States.

Comment: Actually the "crazies" (as former president George Bush, Sr. ironically called them), have been repeating this same dangerous rhetoric for some time now. Though it remains to be seen if the psychopathic warhawks will actually follow through with full-fledged aggression, it is insane statements like Admiral Richard's that seem to be the consensus among all-too-many of them.

See also:

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