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Light Saber

Lukashenko: Belarus is being used as 'trampoline' to attack Russia, amid post-election crisis


RT
Sat, 22 Aug 2020 20:02 UTC
Alexander Lukashenko
© RTPresident of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko says he and Vladimir Putin "agree" that the forces allegedly directing the ongoing political crisis in Belarus are aiming to attack Russia next.

"In Russia, I often see the media saying: 'Oh, in Belarus, in Belarus...' But it's happening right here, on the western border [of Russia]," Lukashenko told RT in the city of Grodno, where he spoke at a supporters' rally on Saturday.

"We're being pressured, hounded. Myself and Putin have agreed that they're hounding us here to jump on Russia later. It's a trampoline, and we must destroy it. It's an opinion we share with President Putin," Lukashenko said.

Comment: Belarus is suffering the now-familiar tactics of color revolution, right down to the support of Tikhanovskaya, cast in the role of Juan Guaido. They just haven't gotten to the part where the West declares her president. He is being targeted for actually having an opinion on what is best for his country which, among other things, is not falling into line with the covid hoax, and championing conservative values.

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Arrow Down

No wonder the Brexit talks are going so badly: BoJo and his Rule Britannia team actively want No Deal

Chris Sweeney
RT
Fri, 21 Aug 2020 17:42 UTC
Johnson Juncker Barnier
© Reuters/Yves HermanBritain's PM Boris Johnson • EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker • EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier
Another round of negotiations between the UK and EU has just concluded with no progress. This should come as no surprise, as Boris Johnson has no intention whatsoever of agreeing any kind of deal.

In certain circumstances, you trust others blindly. On a plane, you don't ask the pilot to prove they're capable of navigating the skies, you take a leap of faith. It's the same when you're wheeled into hospital and a surgeon stands over you, wielding a scalpel.

The British public - regardless if they voted Remain or Leave - are doing the same with their government and Brexit. But it's becoming more apparent as every day passes that it has no genuine interest in making a deal with the EU.

The latest round of talks, the seventh so far, ended with the ironic agreement that nothing had been achieved. UK negotiator David Frost said:
"We have had useful discussions this week but there has been little progress. The EU is still insisting not only that we must accept continuity with EU state aid and fisheries policy, but also that this must be agreed before any further substantive work can be done in any other area of the negotiation."
Frost concedes that none of this was new to him; it's been the EU's position for some time. Yes, in any negotiation, one has to play cat and mouse to an extent to extract the maximum available. But only a fool would expect 27 nations to bend to the will of one.

Comment: Brits like to 'play out the hand', forgetting they are sitting on it.

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Target

Lavrov: Fighting Russia has become an existential necessity for NATO, if tensions are reduced alliance has no purpose


RT
Fri, 21 Aug 2020 19:22 UTC
Lavrov
© Sputnik/Press service of the Russian foreign MinistryRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Confrontation with Russia has become the sole reason for NATO's existence, and this encourages instability in Europe, creating artificial dividing lines on the continent. That's according to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

The veteran diplomat told the Moscow daily Trud that everyone knows there are no real threats to security in Europe but that NATO needs to invent them in order to keep itself relevant. Lavrov also drew attention to the fact that Russia has repeatedly proposed measures to reduce tensions and reduce the risk of incidents on the continent.
"Now, just like during the Cold War, fighting Russia on all fronts, including information and propaganda, has become the alliance's reason for existence. NATO has deployed extensive resources on the eastern flank, near our borders, including conducting exercises and improving military infrastructure.

"The alliance continues to expand its area of military and political influence, inviting all new countries under its 'umbrella' under the pretext of protecting them from Russia."
Lavrov further explained that the alliance adheres to the line of "containment and dialogue" in relations with Russia, although "as a result, there is practically no place for a real and open dialogue on pressing problems." In the same interview, the foreign minister accused Ukrainian authorities of not hiding their desire to use the conflict in the Donbass to preserve European Union sanctions pressure on Russia, by not fulfilling their obligations under the Minsk Agreements.

Comment: Russia is NATO's strawman. Always was. The war is in the mind, actionable via the collective.

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Dollars

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey donates $10M to Ibram Kendi's 'Center for Antiracist Research'

Tim Pearce
The Daily Wire
Thu, 20 Aug 2020 00:00 UTC
Dorsey
© Matt Crossick/PA Images/Getty ImagesTwitter CEO Jack Dorsey
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is donating $10 million to the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, launched in June by its director, Ibram Kendi.

Boston University announced the substantial donation in a press release issued on Friday. Kendi said the donation, given with "no strings attached," would be "transformative" to the newly-founded center. $1 million will go toward immediate use while $9 million will be placed in the center's endowment.

"I'm elated," Kendi said in the release.
"You want something, you work for something, you think something could be transformative — like a major gift to the center — but you never know when you're going to receive it. For Jack to commit to us and to trust us and invest in us, I'm still coming to grips with it."
Kendi also celebrated the gift on Twitter, saying,
"Racism is a juggernaut. Racist policies + ideas are ubiquitous. We need juggernauts combating racism. We need the ubiquity of antiracist research, policy innovation, narrative change, and activism. Thanks @Jack for supporting the @AntiracismCtr + so many racial justice orgs."

Comment: Kendi wrote: "The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination." How does that 'non' sense work, exactly? It promotes discrimination.


Kendi also insists that everyone, and every policy, is either "racist" or "antiracist." In his worldview, there are no neutral parties, even babies. He argues that if a government were truly antiracist, and not just "not racist," it would set up a 'Department of Antiracism,' whose unelected officers would have the power to monitor and punish politicians they deem racist.

Kendi declares that "Capitalism is essentially racist," and "racism is essentially capitalist." Under the current economic system, he insists that black people will "never" be equal to white people.
Besides spouting word salad, this guy has severe identification problems!

Here's another one:

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Arrow Down

Germany, France, UK reject US push to reinstate UN sanctions on Iran


RT
Thu, 20 Aug 2020 20:10 UTC
LeDrian/Maas/Raab
© TwitterForeign Ministers: Jean-Yves LeDrian, France• Heiko Maas, Germany • Dominic Raab, UK
The US exited the Iran nuclear deal and therefore has no right to demand a 'snap back' of UN sanctions on Tehran, the foreign ministers of three European powers involved in the JCPOA said in response to Washington's latest push.

"France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the so-called E3, note that the United States has not been a member of the JCPOA since their withdrawal from the agreement on May 8, 2018," their respective foreign ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian, Heiko Maas and Dominic Raab said in a statement on Thursday.

Therefore, the E3 "cannot support" the US demand for UN sanctions against Iran to be reimposed, as it is "inconsistent" with their current efforts to implement the deal, the trio added.

JCPOA stands for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the name given to the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated by the Obama administration, endorsed by all five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

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Target

Arab tribes pledge to take action against 'American occupiers' in Northeastern Syria

Oleg Burunov
Sputnik
Fri, 21 Aug 2020 07:30 UTC
Syria's clans/tribes
© SANASyria's clans and tribes
Earlier in August, Arab tribes accused Syrian Democratic Force (SDF) militants of assassinating tribal sheikhs in Syria's Deir ez-Zor and gave SDF units one month to withdraw from the northeastern province.

Prominent members of Arab tribes in the northeastern Syrian city of Aleppo have vowed to combat what they described as "American occupiers" and the US-backed militants from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). In a statement on Thursday, they signalled readiness to support popular resistance against American troops and their allies, also blaming the SDF and other militant groups for stealing Syria's resources.

The tribes specifically pledged to extend moral and material assistance to the popular resistance forces to help them liberate Syrian territory from US-backed militants. The elders also welcomed a number of recent victories gained by Syrian government forces in Aleppo, Idlb, and other northeastern cities "under the courageous leadership" of President Bashar Assad.
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Light Sabers

Reality split: Trump helps crush ISIS, end Korea nuke tests and avoid new wars but Republican haters warn he 'imperiled America's security'

Tony Cox
RT
Fri, 21 Aug 2020 18:27 UTC
Trump and crowd
© AP Photo/Evan VucciUS President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Wittman Airport, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The mainstream media is giddy that a group of 70 neoconservative Republicans have joined together to blast President Donald Trump - as if reporters failed to notice the Never Trump creatures when they emerged in 2016.

The latest Never Trumper assault on Orange Man is a letter by 70 former "security officials" who said, you guessed it, he's bad. The letter signers identify as Republicans so the story is played up to suggest that even folks in Trump's own party have come to realize how bad he is.

It's sort of like the strategy deployed at the Democratic National Convention, bringing out a parade of has-been and never-were Republicans to show they are "putting country over party" by endorsing the presidential candidate whose party hates the country.
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Cross

Turkish government reverts another Byzantine church into a mosque


Middle East Monitor
Fri, 21 Aug 2020 17:04 UTC
Kariye Museum
© AFP/BULENT KILICThe Kariye Museum, also known as the Church of the Holy Saviour, in the Fatih district in Istanbul.
The Turkish government has reverted a historic Byzantine church into a mosque today, using the same ruling as was used for the reversion of the Hagia Sophia last month.

The Byzantine-era Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, located near the crumbled ancient walls of Istanbul, was reverted after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed an edict today stating that "the management of the Kariye Mosque be transferred to the Religious Affairs Directorate, and (the mosque) opened to worship."

The site was first constructed as early as the 4th century, with most of the existing building dating back to the 11th century as a church that was then partially rebuilt 200 years later after an earthquake inflicted damage on it. Most significantly, it contains several Byzantine mosaics and frescoes from the 14th century, displaying Biblical scenes.


Following the Ottoman conquest of the city in 1453, the mosaics in the Chora church were plastered over and converted into a mosque, before then being converted into a museum by the secular Turkish Republic over 70 years ago in 1945.


Comment: Christians are not happy. Nikolay Balashov, an archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church, told Sputnik:
"It seems that the Turkish leaders are ready to continue to consistently ignore the global value of the heritage of conquered Byzantium, which they do not understand, and to openly demonstrate a contemptuous indifference to Christian cultural values", Balashov said, adding that Ankara's approach does not contribute to peace and mutual respect between followers of different religions.

The archpriest also said that although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's promised to maintain free access to Hagia Sophia's Christian relics, mosaics and frescoes are constantly covered. Balashov added that women have limited access to the site of the former church, and main cultural relics are not visible to them.

He suggested that the same fate awaits the Chora Church, where many valuable Byzantine-era mosaics and frescoes are being kept. The archpriest added that Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has fully lost influence "at home".
See also:

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Bad Guys

WHO warns Covid could last up to 2 YEARS as UK preps for 2nd lockdown and worldwide famine looms

Stephanie Nebehay
Yahoo News
Fri, 21 Aug 2020 16:49 UTC
Tedros Adhanom
Tedros Adhanom
The World Health Organization hopes the coronavirus pandemic will be shorter than the 1918 Spanish flu and last less than two years, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday, if the world unites and succeeds in finding a vaccine.

The WHO has always been cautious about giving estimates on how quickly the pandemic can be dealt with while there is no proven vaccine.

Tedros said the 1918 Spanish flu "took two years to stop".

"And in our situation now with more technology, and of course with more connectiveness, the virus has a better chance of spreading, it can move fast because we are more connected now," he told a briefing in Geneva.


Comment: By such logic, that should imply that it can spread and run its course in less time.


"But at the same time we have also the technology to stop it and the knowledge to stop it. So we have a disadvantage of globalisation, closeness, connectedness but an advantage of better technology.


Comment: How, pray tell, do you "stop" a virus that has already spread worldwide and which mutates? When we have "stopped" the common cold or flu, get back to us on that one, Tedros.


"So we hope to finish this pandemic (in) less than two years."

He urged "national unity" and "global solidarity".

"That is really key with utilising the available tools to the maximum and hoping that we can have additional tools like vaccine."

Comment: Meanwhile, the media and authorities are already prepping the UK for a pointless second lockdown. But worse, the UN is warning of a famine of biblical proportions due to the virus (primarily our response to it):
"All the data we have, including WFP forecast that the number of people experiencing malnutrition will grow by 80 percent by the end of the year, ... points to a real disaster," David Beasley, Executive Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP), said.
We are risking a famine of biblical proportions.
The rapid increase in the number of people who can't feed themselves will be just an immediate outcome of the pandemic, which caused a disruption of food growth and logistics worldwide. More long-term damage is bound to materialize in the years to come.

"Obviously social tensions will grow, migration will increase, conflicts will escalate and hunger will likely affect those who didn't experience it before," the official told the Russian news agency TASS.


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Handcuffs

Steve Bannon, 'We Build the Wall' organizers arrested, charged with defrauding donors UPDATES

Ronn Blitzer
Fox News
Thu, 20 Aug 2020 18:29 UTC
Steve Bannon
© UnknownSteve Bannon
Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Trump, was among four suspects arrested Thursday and indicted in connection with an online fundraising campaign that allegedly defrauded donors of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Justice Department announced.

According to the indictment, Bannon and co-defendant Brian Kolfage told the public that they were a "volunteer organization" and that 100% of the money raised would go toward their stated goal, which was to raise money for the federal government to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Those representations were false," the indictment said. Prosecutors claim that Kolfage, Bannon, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea took money for themselves as the campaign raised upward of $25 million. The indictment alleges that Bannon received more than $1 million through a nonprofit that he then used for personal expenses and to pay Kolfage.


Comment: UPDATE 20/8/2020: It may be Bannon and his associates have turned one wall into four.
Bannon made an appearance at the Manhattan Federal Court in New York City, August 20, 2020. He plead not guilty to fraud and money laundering and has been freed on a bond of $5M and ordered to remain in the US pending trial.
UPDATE 20/8/2020: The president briefly addressed his former advisor's arrest:
During a meeting with the Iraqi prime minister at the White House this morning, Trump remarked:
"I feel very badly. I haven't been dealing with him for a very long period of time. Haven't been dealing with him at all. Don't know anything about the project at all. It's a very sad thing by Mr. Bannon. I don't like that project. I thought it was being done for showboating reasons. It was something I very much thought was inappropriate to be doing," said POTUS, referring to the Build The Wall crowdfunding campaign.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany released a statement on the indictment as well,
"As everyone knows, President Trump has no involvement in this project and felt it was only being done in order to showboat, and perhaps raise funds ... The Trump Administration has already built over 300 miles of Border Wall, thanks to the great work of our Army Corps of Engineers, and will have almost 500 miles completed by the end of the year. Our southern border is more secure than it has ever been. President Trump has not been involved with Steve Bannon since the campaign and the early part of the Administration, and he does not know the people involved with this project."
UPDATE 21/8/2020: Bannon is defiant after his arrest...
Bannon
© AP/Craig RuttlePresident Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon leaves federal court, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, after pleading not guilty to charges that he ripped off donors to an online fundraising scheme to build a southern border wall.
"I am not going to back down. This is a political hit job. Everybody knows I love a fight," Bannon said on an episode of his show War Room. "I was called 'honey badger' for many years. You know, 'Honey badger doesn't give.' So, I'm in this for the long haul. I'm in this for the fight."

"What he said yesterday was absolutely correct," Bannon said of his former boss [Donald Trump]. "Building the wall is a function of government. But look how much trouble President Trump has had."

Upon exiting a Manhattan courthouse on Thursday, Bannon declared his arrest a baseless political ploy designed to halt the construction of the wall — a theme he returned to on his Friday broadcast.
"This is to stop and intimidate people that have President Trump's back on building the wall. We are never going to stop pushing the wall. This stuff is complete nonsense. I am not going to back down one inch."
The former top White House adviser also made light of the chaotic scene on Thursday that occurred as he left the courthouse and was swarmed by the media. "How did I miss turning to the TV cameras and going to the print cameras? Donald Trump would never make that mistake," Bannon said.
See also:
GoFundMe is refunding all donations made to the 'Fund the Wall' campaign, new 'We Build the Wall, Inc.' created

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