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Pistol

Best of the Web: Rogue States: CIA accused by Spanish authorities after vicious armed attack on North Korean embassy in Madrid

Manuel Gonzalez, Patricia Ortega Dolz
El Pais
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 17:45 UTC
The North Korean embassy in Madrid.
© ULY MARTÍNThe North Korean embassy in Madrid.
Investigators from the Spanish police and National Intelligence Center (CNI) have linked an attack on the North Korean embassy in Madrid on February 22 to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

At least two of the 10 assailants who broke into the embassy and interrogated diplomatic staff have been identified and have connections to the US intelligence agency. The CIA has denied any involvement but government sources say their response was "unconvincing."

If it is proven that the CIA was behind the attack, it could lead to a diplomatic spat between Madrid and Washington. Government sources say that it would be "unacceptable" for an ally to take such action. Not only would it mean that the US agency had operated on Spanish soil without asking for authorization or informing the authorities, it would also be a violation of the international conventions that protect diplomatic delegations.

What's more, unlike other intelligence activities - such as cyberattacks, which are characterized by their discretion, the attack on the North Korean embassy was especially violent. On February 22 at 3pm, 10 masked men carrying alleged imitation weapons broke into the embassy, located north of the capital in the residential area of Aravaca. They tied up the eight people inside and put bags on their heads. The victims were beaten and interrogated. A woman managed to escape from a window on the second floor and her screams for help were heard by a neighbor, who contacted the police.

Comment: For these cowboys, the 'frontier' never ended when they hit California.

The Spanish version of the report has additional details (machine translated by Moon of Alabama):
After analyzing the recordings of the security cameras in the area, questioning the hostages and analyzing the diplomatic vehicles used in the flight, it has been possible to identify some of the assailants. Although the majority were Koreans, at least two of them have been recognized by the Spanish information services for their links with the American CIA.

The indications that point to the US espionage service, in probable cooperation with that of South Korea, are so strong that Spanish interlocutors have contacted the CIA to ask for explanations.
One of the darkest aspects of the assault on the North Korean Embassy in Madrid is the interrogation to which the head of the command, who called himself The Entrepreneur, subjected the charge of business, leading the diplomatic delegation since the ambassador was expelled. The head of the commando separated the diplomat from the rest of the hostages and locked himself alone with him. It is not known what he intended, but the current head of the Pyongyang delegation in Madrid probably knows a lot about Kim Hyok Chol, head of the North Korean delegation in the nuclear negotiations before the US, with whom he coincided when the latter was ambassador in Madrid, between 2014 and 2017.
Absolutely outrageous behavior in normal civilization, but S.O.P. for American spooks.

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Propaganda

Russian Senate approves rules on fighting 'fake news' & other misinformation


RT
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 17:43 UTC
Russia fake news
© Sputnik / Kirill Kallinikov
The upper chamber of the Russian parliament has approved two bills, which are meant to fight harmful misinformation and insulting publications online.

The two pieces of legislation, which earlier went in tandem through the lower chamber, give the Russian government the authority to seek removal or block certain content online. One deals with false information posing as genuine, as long as it poses a threat to health, public order or works of crucial infrastructure.

The General Prosecutor, or one of its deputies, will be able to demand removal of such content from the publisher. If the request is ignored, Russian telecom regulator RKN would be ordered to block public access to it.
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Handcuffs

French MPs approve anti-riot bill amid ongoing Yellow Vest protests - rights watchdog sounds alarm


RT
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 17:40 UTC
yellow vests paris airport
© AFP / Lucas Barioulet
The upper house of the French parliament has greenlighted a bill giving police broad powers to quell unrest. It comes as a rights watchdog warned of civil liberties being undermined in France due to crackdowns on protest.

Following hours of tense debate on Tuesday, the French Senate approved an anti-hooligan ('anti-casseurs') bill by a margin of 210 votes to 115.

The bill has courted widespread controversy, having been denounced as "liberticide" by the left, and hailed as a "the law of protections" by the French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.

The government insists that the legislation will allow to distinguish between law-abiding protesters and violent rioters, while providing protection for both law enforcement and Yellow Vest demonstrators. Speaking ahead of the vote on Tuesday, Castaner defended the bill, saying that it "safeguards the right to demonstrate," while brushing off concerns that it encroaches on civil freedoms.

"This text does not include an ounce of arbitrariness," he said.

His view has not been shared by many among the opposition.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Up

China offers help to Venezuela to restore power amid nationwide blackout


RT
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 10:42 UTC
blackout Caracas
© Reuters / Carlos Garcia RawlinsUnlit buildings are pictured during a blackout in Caracas
China says it is ready to help Venezuela to restore its power grid. The South American country suffered a five-day blackout, with Caracas accusing Washington of cyber "sabotage."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing had noted reports that the power grid had gone down due to a hacking attack.

"China is deeply concerned about this," Lu said, adding that Beijing "hopes that the Venezuelan side can discover the reason for this issue as soon as possible and resume normal power supply and social order.

"China is willing to provide help and technical support to restore Venezuela's power grid," said the spokesman.

Comment: The times when the US could wage covert wars on any country it felt like without other, equally powerful, nations getting involved are over:

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X

Best of the Web: Censorship hitting Left, Right, and Non-Aligned media: Now Zero Hedge gets the ban-hammer from Facebook - UPDATES: Facebook backs off, 'it was a mistake'

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Mon, 11 Mar 2019 18:55 UTC
zuckerberg water
Over the weekend, we were surprised to learn that some readers were prevented by Facebook when attempting to share Zero Hedge articles. Subsequently it emerged that virtually every attempt to share or merely mention an article, including in private messages, would be actively blocked by the world's largest social network, with the explanation that "the link you tried to visit goes against our community standards."


We were especially surprised by this action as neither prior to this seemingly arbitrary act of censorship, nor since, were we contacted by Facebook with an explanation of what "community standard" had been violated or what particular filter or article had triggered the blanket rejection of all Zero Hedge content.

To be sure, as a for-profit enterprise with its own unique set of corporate "ethics", Facebook has every right to impose whatever filters it desires on the media shared on its platform. It is entirely possible that one or more posts was flagged by Facebook's "triggered" readers who merely alerted a censorship algo which blocked all content.

Comment: See, it's not just 'conservative' sites being hit. 'Leftist' ones too, and old-timer, non-aligned sites like Zero Hedge and SOTT. The censors are - more or less - going after the most truthful sites first.

It's difficult to define what exactly crosses their 'red lines' of 'ideological infringement' because the reasons given, and the offending subject matter, are different each time, but it's essentially the censors acting 'on instinct' at the behest of the hive mind that controls them.

See also: UPDATE 12/10/2019: The social media community has reacted negatively to the ban, which Facebook has so far refused to comment on:
Users complained that Facebook blocked their attempts to share stories published by popular anti-establishment blog Zero Hedge, citing the violation of community standards, 'abusive' content, and 'errors' among the reasons.

"Over the weekend, we were surprised to learn that some readers were prevented by Facebook when attempting to share Zero Hedge articles," the publication wrote on Monday, calling the practice an "arbitrary act of censorship."



According to the blog, "virtually every attempt to share or merely mention an article, including in private messages, would be actively blocked" by Facebook with the explanation that the content breached the social network's community standards.

Some users on social media reported experiencing problems while trying to share Zero Hedge's stories on Facebook.

"Facebook has outright banned all posting of Zero Hedge links," right-wing commentator and host Paul Joseph Watson has tweeted.


Zero Hedge said that it didn't receive any notice from the tech giant, and its attempts to reach out to Facebook "have so far remained unanswered." The publication noted that some of its content may have been flagged by "triggered" readers. It also suggested that the Silicon Valley-based company may have decided to pull the plug on Zero Hedge as retribution for publishing stories critical of Facebook.

Bloomberg, which covered the story, said the social network didn't immediately respond to a comment request.

Mark Zuckerberg's company has come under fire from right-wing groups and public figures who accuse it of liberal bias and censoring conservatives. Last year, Facebook effectively banned controversial radio host Alex Jones and his show InfoWars, citing "hate speech."

In a similar fashion, the company suspended several prominent left-leaning anti-establishment pages, including groups tracking police brutality in the US.

Last month, Facebook, without any prior notice, promptly blocked four pages with millions of subscribers, run by Maffick Media, including 'In the Now' - for supposedly concealing the fact that they were partially funded by Russia. The pages have since been unblocked.

Launched in 2009, Zero Hedge is an anonymous anti-establishment blog. Its authors publish articles under the pen name Tyler Durden - a reference to the character from the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. The image of Durden, portrayed by Brad Pitt in the 1999 Hollywood adaptation, serves as the blog's logo on social media.
UPDATE 2: Breitbart reports Facebook is now claiming Zero Hedge blacklist was 'a mistake'
"We were especially surprised by this action as neither prior to this seemingly arbitrary act of censorship, nor since, were we contacted by Facebook with an explanation of what 'community standard' had been violated or what particular filter or article had triggered the blanket rejection of all Zero Hedge content," Zero Hedge explained, adding,
"it is just as possible that Facebook simply decided to no longer allow its users to share our content in retaliation for our extensive coverage of what some have dubbed the platform's 'many problems', including chronic privacy violations, mass abandonment by younger users, its gross and ongoing misrepresentation of fake users, ironically - in retrospect - its systematic censorship and back door government cooperation (those are just links from the past few weeks)."
Public figures, including Infowars Editor-at-Large Paul Joseph Watson and Thiel Capital Managing Director Eric Weinstein, also reported problems with posting Zero Hedge links.


The block prompted condemnation from President Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., MEP Nigel Farage, and others, with Trump Jr. declaring, "The censorship continues. How does ⁦@zerohedge⁩'s content not 'meet community standards?' FB doesn't agree with them and they hit the platform's obvious flaws at times. That's it and it's disgusting!"



The Facebook block, however, was eventually reversed, with a Facebook spokesman claiming the problem was a "mistake."

"This was a mistake with our automation to detect spam and we worked to fix it yesterday," claimed the spokesman. "We use a combination of human review and automation to enforce our policies around spam and in this case, our automation incorrectly blocked this link. As soon as we identified the issue, we worked quickly to fix it."

As reported by Bloomberg, "Since being founded in the depths of the financial crisis, Zero Hedge has built a dedicated following by serving up a mix of hardcore financial analysis and populist political commentary," and the blog is "known for its bearish bent and anti-establishment commentary."

Breitbart Tech reached out to Facebook for comment.
UPDATE 13/03/2019: Many are not buying Facebook excuses on the Zero Hedge posting ban:
The incident added fuel to longstanding allegations that Mark Zuckerberg's company harbors a bias against conservative and anti-establishment voices. Many commenters online remained skeptical as to whether Facebook's actions against Zero Hedge were an honest mistake.



Zero Hedge confirmed on Wednesday that the bewildering ban was "reversed" and things went back to normal. The blog's authors noted that they don't know which stories Facebook branded as "spammy," as the social network still hasn't contacted them.


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Bad Guys

Venezuela under attack: 7 notes on the US' electric shock treatment


Misionverdad.com
Sun, 10 Mar 2019 21:46 UTC
venezuela blackout
Caracas, 10 March 2019
Translated by Francisco Domínguez.

Between the afternoon of March 8 and the early morning of March 10, Venezuela was the victim of a new sabotage attack, the biggest in its republican history, this time on the Guri hydroelectric plant, which left at least 80% of the population without electricity, with the aim of undermining any attempt by the Venezuelan government to stabilize the economy and curb the insurrectionary context the United States and its minions, like Juan Guaidó, are trying to bring to fruition in the country.

1. Preparing for shock

Prior to the sabotage that shook the entire National Electric System, leaving much of the country without electricity during the last two days, several moves and pronouncements announced that they would resort to such an action of brute force.

Guaidó's false epic return lasted less than expected on the front pages; with the arrival of the "interim president" there were no critical defections in the Armed Forces (FANB) that together with widespread social revolt would install him in Miraflores to get hold of power. That round of recovery (his glorious arrival in Maiquetía), after the defeat on February 23, the day on which he took for granted the entry of "humanitarian aid," had no effect beyond the temporary media frenzy. As a result, Guaidó returned to the uncomfortable starting point of two months ago. Worn out by the February 23 defeat and without concrete actions of presidential command that would catapult him domestically, the orchestration of the following operations would be entirely run by the United States.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: US Regime Change Operation in Venezuela - This Time It's Legit?

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Vader

Analysis: Success of Venezuela regime change policy depends on 'credibility of US imperial blackmail'


Sputnik
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 16:33 UTC
US embassy venezuela
© Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters fileThe U.S. embassy building on in Caracas.
Washington has withdrawn its diplomats from Venezuela and Caracas has begun a new probe into self-proclaimed Interim President Juan Guaido for the power outages that, among other things, cut the capital's water supply. A journalist told Sputnik that US moves, while backed by "disturbing language," are a tacit admission of the coup's defeat.

In a letter address to Congress Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked for $500 million of "appropriate resources" in next year's budget for the Department of State to "respond to the crisis" or "support a democratic transition" in Venezuela.

Venezuela has been hit with several large blackouts in the last week, the first and largest of which caused power loss in 18 of the country's 23 states, Sputnik reported. On Tuesday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said, "We have apprehended two people who attempted to sabotage the communications system at the Guri Dam in order to impede the process of [power supply] restoration. They are being questioned." He further identified the cause of the Guri Dam power failure last Thursday as being a cyber attack by the United States.
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Attention

Foreign military briefing: General Shamanov compares Trump to Hitler, warns of new war


RT
Mon, 11 Mar 2019 12:19 UTC
Hitler/Trump
© Mike Malloy/trofire.com
Two years of Donald Trump's presidency has brought the international situation back to the moment when Hitler came to power, according to three-star Russian General Vladimir Shamanov.

Speaking at a briefing for foreign military attaches, Shamanov recalled that Hitler had begun preparing Germany for war just two years after coming to power. "Trump has been at the helm for two years, and we see the parallels," he said.

The general, who is head of the lower house's Committee on Defense, also warned non-nuclear nations that participation in US-led nuclear drills could make them the target of a retaliatory strike by Russia in the event of conflict.

"Along with regular weapons, Americans could stock you with nuclear ones," he explained. "We have to take it into account and you could become our priority strike targets, you have to be aware of it." The "eagerness" of some European countries to deploy military assets on their territories "raises eyebrows," Shamanov added.


Comment: Even Russians aren't immune to Godwin's law! President Trump is merely the latest leader that has been compared to Hitler. Others include: George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton ("Hitlery") and Barack Obama. But at least in Shamanov's case, he's making a connection that has some historical validity. Remember, while the Russians won WWII, it was at the cost of some of the greatest losses of the war, tens of millions dead. For the past 20+ years, the U.S. has expanded its influence in Europe, bringing NATO to Russia's doorstep, breaking promises, and for all intents and purposes acting as if it wishes war and the destruction of Russia - just like Nazi Germany. So the Russians are understandably defensive, especially after the recent US pullout from the INF treaty.

And as Shamanov observes, by allying themselves with the Americans, allowing American troops and weaponry on their soil (aimed at Russia), the Europeans are putting themselves on the frontline of any potential war with Russia, seemingly willingly. Perhaps they think they are protecting themselves from some mythical 'Russian aggression', but if that's the case, they are delusional and only making the situation worse - to their own disadvantage.

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Pistol

Russian Army reportedly tested over 300 models of new weaponry in Syria


Sputnik
Mon, 11 Mar 2019 14:11 UTC
Putin/sniper rifle
© Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via APRussian President Vladimir Putin aims a sniper rifle at a meeting focused on new arms programs.
The Russian army has tested 316 models of advanced weapons during its participation in the Syrian conflict, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Monday.

"We have tested 316 models of modern weapons", the minister told the lower house of the Russian parliament.

Shoigu also stated that since the beginning of the Russian campaign against terrorists in the Middle Eastern country, the military has carried out at least 166 strikes with long-range cruise missiles.

The Russian military has been supporting the Syrian Arab Army in its fight against terrorism since 2015 at the request of Damascus. Addressing the operations in the region last year, the Russian Defence Ministry stated its forces have killed more than 86,000 militants and 830 gang leaders of various jihadist organisations, including Daesh.

Comment: Testing weapons in realtime war conditions not only validates the caliber and effectiveness of Russian innovation in military tech, it boosts Russia's reputation as a trusted arms provider and garners higher profits for its defense industry. The U.S. may continue to be the world's biggest arms seller, but more nations are turning to Russia for weaponry, because it works. Meanwhile the U.S. is stuck selling garbage like the F-35. It's only a matter of time before countries start buying for quality instead of special relations with the Americans which turn out to be very one-sided.

From AP, 9/19/2018: Putin says Russia perfected weapons based on Syria campaign
Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the military's combat experience gained in Syria has helped develop new weapons systems. The Russian military has used the conflict to test its new jets, cruise missiles and other weapons in combat for the first time.

Speaking at a meeting focusing on military industries, Putin said that new Russian weapons excel their foreign equivalents. Putin singled out the new Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Su-57 fighter jet, the S-500 air defense system and the Armata battle tank, which are set to enter service in the coming years.
Comments from President Putin in Task & Purpose, 7/31/2018:
Putin said: "All of the new equipment was combat tested there. This has led to the improvement of modern strike systems, including missile systems. It is one thing to have them, and quite another thing to see how they fare in combat conditions.

"When we started to use these modern weapons, including missiles, whole teams from our defense industry companies went to Syria, and worked there on-site-it is extremely important for us-to finalize them and figure out what we can count on when using them in combat conditions."


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Ice Cube

Algeria: Could this be the iceberg that sinks Emmanuel Macron?

Scott McConnell
The American Conservative
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC
Macron
© Frederic Legrand–COMEO/ShutterstockPresident of France Emmanuel Macron
Recent unrest there now threatens France, with possibly another migration wave on the way.

After surviving several assassination attempts by French partisans of Algérie Française, Charles de Gaulle in March 1962 signed a peace agreement ending French sovereignty over Algeria. The war for Algerian independence had been long and vicious, marked by terrorism and torture. Everyone who mattered in French politics believed in 1954 that Algeria was an integral part of France, to be defended at all cost. But by 1962, their view had changed. With cold realism, de Gaulle remarked of the conflict, now in its seventh year, "As for France, it will be necessary for her now to interest herself in something else."

France did fine after granting independence to Algeria. Algeria less so. The Algerians who had taken the side of France, fought in its army, or served as administrators of the Algerian government fared terribly - many suffered appalling deaths at the hands of the vengeful victors. According to Alistair Horne's Savage War of Peace, 15,000 were killed in the summer after the March armistice.

An important reason de Gaulle broke with his conservative army supporters and became determined to negotiate Algerian independence was that he thought the French and Algerians were fundamentally different peoples. For him, Algérie Française, the "France of a hundred million" supplemented by Algeria's population and vast reserves of oil and gas, was total fantasy. His colleague Alain Peyrefitte quoted him as saying privately in 1959 that you could mix Arabs and French together, but like oil and vinegar in a bottle, after a while they would inevitably separate. He worried that an Algérie Française would lead inevitably to his home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises being transformed into Colombey-Les-Deux-Mosquées.

Comment: Relations between the French and Algerians are at a difficult juncture. France must decide whether to: 1) embrace the current trend of a growing Algerian/Islamic presence within France that portends irreversible changes to its society and way of life, or 2) endorse French nationalism at the expense of its friendly and lucrative relationship with Algeria and its people. Given current trends, two things seem certain: Change is coming and both options have serious drawbacks. Does Macron comprehend what is at stake? Does he have the leadership capacity and finesse necessary to meet the challenges and steer the way forward? The iceberg is there; where is Macron?

See also:

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