Puppet MastersS


Better Earth

The Taliban did in one year what Washington couldn't in 20, sparking new panic

Rachel Marsden
RT
Tue, 11 Apr 2023 16:24 UTC
poppy field, Afghan worker, Taliban
© Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesFILE PHOTO. Afghan worker work at a poppy field in Kandahar, Afghanistan on April 06, 2022. Farmers demand an alternative for plantations after Taliban's ban on poppy cultivation.
It's been nearly a year since the Taliban banned Afghan poppy farming used for the production of opioids. The impact of the move is set to hit global markets sometime soon, given the delay from farm to customer.

You'd think that would bring a welcome sigh of relief. Apparently not. Reports are now suggesting that a lack of Afghan heroin on the global market and a reduction of available natural opioids like heroin could lead to increased use of synthetic opioids like fentanyl. If that's the case, then it's only because Washington and the West are about as competent at curtailing skyrocketing drug overdose deaths as they were at tackling the cultivation of Afghan opioids back when they had control of the country. Synthetic opioids from China and Mexico are increasingly being used, as are those procured through prescriptions within America's own healthcare system.

Over the course of the US-led Global War on Terror that kicked off in Afghanistan in 2001, heroin overdoses in the US and elsewhere spiked. Despite having control over the country and its government for two decades, Washington not only failed to curtail farming and exports of Afghan opium, but oversaw an increase.

Comment: See also:

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Map

Best of the Web: Russo-Ukrainian War: Pentagon Leak Biopsy

Big Serge
bigserge.substack.com
Mon, 10 Apr 2023 07:45 UTC

Comment: Long story short, they're probably legit. Russia-Ukraine War analyst 'Big Serge' explains why he thinks so...


The Pentagon
© Public domain
Another winter has ended, and spring has again arisen on the war in Ukraine. Amid the thaw and attendant mud, Russian forces - including the indominable Wagner Group - have pushed the Ukrainian grouping in Bakhmut to the brink, with the AFU now clinging its last defensive toehold in the city. Bakhmut has become the largest battle of the 21st century, and is now entering its climactic phase.

Nevertheless, battlefield developments have been upstaged to some extent by the apparent leak of classified US military intelligence documents which provide a sweeping view into the inner workings of the Pentagon's war.

I am not entirely clear on Substack's content policies as it relates to such documents. It is certainly too late for the US Government to contain the leak, as the images have by this point been shared, screenshotted, and downloaded countless times, but that does not preclude an attempt to limit its circulation via a whack-a-mole campaign of content deletion. In any case, desiring neither to violate US law nor run afoul of Substack's content rules, prudence dictates that I ought not embed the images directly in this post, but they are not hard to find - the "Rus Fleet" Telegram channel has them up at the moment, for example. Use your own discretion.

Comment: Some of the documents (which are actually photographs of physical documents):
pentagon documents leaks ukraine
So that's the content from these leaked documents which concerns US military support/analysis of the Ukrainian regime.

With the caveat that just because these docs may be 'legit', this doesn't mean their contents are reliably factual, there are also photographed documents of intelligence reports about the role of Western, active-duty, 'special forces' soldiers participating in the Russia-Ukraine War; details about internal South Korean government deliberations over whether to send weapons to Ukraine (which the US no doubt discovered via spying on its 'ally'); another report claiming that Israeli foreign intel outfit - 'the Mossad' - is supporting the protest movement in Israel against Netanyahu; and other documents implying that the US has inside sources in both the Wagner PMC and the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Spicy stuff!

No surprises there for Sott.net readers, but the 'optics' are bad for US narrative-makers and the US govt's ever-deteriorating relations with the whole world.

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Eye 1

China is 'ghosting' the US because normal diplomacy has proven useless

Timur Fomenko
RT
Tue, 11 Apr 2023 03:07 UTC
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping
© AP Photo/Alex BrandonU.S. President Joe Biden, left, arrives with Chinese President Xi Jinping for a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit meeting, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, in Bali, Indonesia.
A recent Politico article, citing unnamed US officials, claims that China is "ghosting" the US, ignoring American attempts to re-establish diplomatic communications after they broke down in February.

If you aren't familiar with the term, 'to ghost' someone is social media-era slang that means to leave a conversation hanging by suddenly ceasing to reply. This, according to officials cited by Politico, is what's going on between the US and China, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken attempting to reschedule his Beijing visit, which he canceled after the recent 'spy balloon' incident, and the Chinese giving him the diplomatic cold shoulder.

The way the article frames it, Washington is making attempts to "stabilize an increasingly volatile relationship," but "thin-skinned" Beijing is avoiding engagement because it, among other things, resents US arms sales to Taiwan and US officials' contacts with Taiwan's pro-independence politicians.
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Document

Leaked documents expose US-NATO Ukraine war plans

Alexander Rubinstein
The Grayzone
Fri, 07 Apr 2023 05:42 UTC
leaked ukraine docs 1
The New York Times has reported "a significant breach of American intelligence in the effort to aid Ukraine" through the leak of classified documents which have been shared on social media. It correspondents cited "senior Biden administration officials" who apparently tipped the outlet off to the story. Documents circulating on Telegram which closely resemble those referred to by the Times are reproduced at the end of this article.

The Times writes, "Military analysts said the documents appear to have been modified in certain parts from their original format, overstating American estimates of Ukrainian war dead and understating estimates of Russian troops killed. The modifications could point to an effort of disinformation by Moscow, the analysts said... The analysts warned that documents released by Russian sources could be selectively altered to present the Kremlin's disinformation."

Neither the New York Times nor the "military analysts" it cited explain how the documents were altered, or why they have the appearance of tampering. However, because the leaked documents have arrived in the form of photographs of printed documents, rather than original files, the possibility of forgery or alteration must be considered.

The leaked documents claim that Russia has sustained troop losses ranging from 16,000 to 17,500 while Ukrainian losses amount to as many as 71,500 - a staggering differential that stands at odds with the triumphalist narrative projected by Kiev. They are dated March 1 2023 and appear to be part of an ongoing briefing effort to analyze the war's progress and plan a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
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Dollar

Jonathan Sumption: BBC was pro-lockdown because of the threat to its licence fee

Will Jones
The Daily Sceptic
Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:00 UTC
Jonathan Sumption
The BBC may have leaned towards pro-lockdown coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in a reaction to the threat to its funding, former Supreme Court Justice Lord Jonathan Sumption has said.

"The BBC, which is probably the most influential single media organ, was consistently pro-lockdown. It was, of course, under threat to its financial model from the Government and it therefore wanted to show that it was 'good boys'," he told the Telegraph's Planet Normal podcast with Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan. He continued:

Comment: See also:

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Light Sabers

By flirting with Washington, Taiwan's leader angers not only Beijing, but her own voters too

Bradley Blankenship
RT
Tue, 11 Apr 2023 00:05 UTC
China is done playing with Tsai Ing-wen, and her own constituents are increasingly nervous
Taiwan president with Kevin McCarthy
© AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, FileHouse Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., right, and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen deliver statements to the press after a Bipartisan Leadership Meeting at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Wednesday, April 5, 2023.
Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last Wednesday as she was transiting through the States on a visit to Central America.

Many US anti-war and Chinese-American activists as well as Chinese commentators have criticized the meeting as political theater aimed at ratcheting up cross-strait tensions. Beijing's response to the event has been even more serious.

First, a word on what Tsai said on her visit to the third-highest constitutional official in Washington. "It is no secret that today the peace we have maintained and the democracy which [we] have worked hard to build are facing unprecedented challenges," she said in joint remarks alongside McCarthy. "We once again find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat and the urgency of keeping the beacon of freedom shining cannot be understated."

Comment: See also:

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Eye 2

Dalai Lama apologises after kissing young boy and asking him to 'suck' his tongue, in bizarre interaction captured on video at charity event in India

David Averre
Daily Mail
Mon, 10 Apr 2023 10:33 UTC
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama has apologised after a unsettling video appeared on social media in which he kissed a young Indian boy on the lips before asking him to 'suck' his tongue
The Dalai Lama has apologised after an unsettling video appeared on social media in which he kissed a young Indian boy on the lips before asking him to 'suck' his tongue.

Footage of the uncomfortable incident showed the moment the Tibetan spiritual leader invited the boy on stage during a charity event at his temple in Dharamshala, India in February.


Comment: It's notable that this occurred in February but it's only just coming to light now.


In the video, the boy asks the Dalai Lama 'can I hug you?', to which Tenzin Gyatso responds: 'Okay - come!'

Comment: Considering the Dalai Lama's association with, and promotion by, the Western establishment, this probably shouldn't be so surprising. Although indeed it is sinister and shocking.

It's telling that, at points, the child looks away (presumably, towards adults), and he looks rather uncomfortable or at least unsure. It's rather similar to the equally sinister footage of Joe Biden when he's accosting children at events.

See also: Dalai Lama Stuns Audience... Admits: "I Love George Bush"

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Bullseye

Medvedev: Ukraine will 'disappear', nobody in the world cares about 'country 404', not even the US


RT
Sat, 08 Apr 2023 20:31 UTC
ukraine flag
© Sputnik / Viktor Antonyuk
Ukraine will disappear because its Western backers, the rest of the world, and even its own citizens have no need for the troubled country to keep existing, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has implied.

"Why would Ukraine disappear? Because nobody needs it," Medvedev, who now holds the position of deputy head of Russia's Security Council, wrote in a post on the VK social network on Saturday.

The EU doesn't need Ukraine because supporting the country amid the conflict with Russia "on the order of their American mentor, plunged the Europeans into a real financial and political hell," he insisted. Detrimental anti-Russia sanctions, spiking inflation, high energy prices and the "decay" of businesses have already led to protests in various parts of the continent, the official pointed out.

"The prospect of decisively planting Ukrainian blood-sucking parasites on the neck of the shriveling EU" is real and, if it happens, it's going to signal the demise of the bloc, Medvedev warned.
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Red Flag

FBI flags slang terms 'Chad', 'based', 'red-pilled', 'it's over', to target 'racially-motivated violent extremists'

Libby Emmons
The Post Millenial
Mon, 10 Apr 2023 20:18 UTC
fbi agents
© Getty Images / Spencer Platt
Only a few months after it was revealed that the FBI labeled Catholics who attend Latin Mass as extremist, an information request from the Heritage Foundation found that the FBI uses some dozen words to flag "violent extremism."

These slang terms, as seen on social media, are Chad, Looksmaxxing, It's over, Roastie, NEET, Normie, Blue Pill, Red Pill, Black Pill, Stacy, Based, and LARPing. The FBI defines the key terms, along with other terms that are decidely racist, and links the slang terms to these racist ideas.

The FBI's "Domestic Terrorism Reference Guide" on "Involuntary Celibate Violent Extremism" offer a threat overview for incels that aims to identify them by the slang they use. It discusses how "incels" are men who "seek to commit violence in support of their belief that society unjustly denies them sexual or romantic attention, to which they believe they are entitled." The guide goes on to describe that these men "blame political or social movements, such as feminism, for empowering others to deny them romantic or sexual attention."
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Eye 1

Intelligence leak exposes U.S. spying on adversaries and allies

Shane Harris, Dan Lamothe
The Washington Post
Sat, 08 Apr 2023 07:48 UTC
AustinMilley
© Military TimesUS Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A. Milley
U.S. and European officials scrambled to understand how dozens of classified documents covering all manner of intelligence gathering had made their way online with little notice...

On Saturday, as U.S. officials and their foreign allies scrambled to understand how dozens of classified intelligence documents had ended up on the internet, they were stunned — and occasionally infuriated — at the extraordinary range of detail the files exposed about how the United States spies on friends and foes alike.

The documents, which appear to have come at least in part from the Pentagon and are marked as highly classified, offer tactical information about the war in Ukraine, including the country's combat capabilities. According to one defense official, many of the documents seem to have been prepared over the winter for Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other senior military officials, but they were available to other U.S. personnel and contract employees with the requisite security clearances.

Other documents include analysis from U.S. intelligence agencies about Russia and several other countries, all based on information gleaned from classified sources.

Comment: Dubious. More likely the US manufactured or adjusted 'intel' to deflect US machinations in order to tank Russia in world opinion and shore up waning support from the folks at home - a 'Hail Mary' that reveals the level of desperation.

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