Puppet Masters

As deadline passes, Afghan cease-fire appears to be holding

RFE/RL
Wed, 27 May 2020 18:37 UTC

Even though calls for the Taliban to prolong a cease-fire with the Afghan government have gone unanswered so far, there have been no signs of renewed fighting and the militants say they will release more prisoners.

A Taliban-declared three-day lull in fighting, which ended on May 26, provided a rare break from the violence, prompting the government to call on the militants to extend the cease-fire so long-delayed peace talks could begin.

Amid the cease-fire, Afghan authorities released some 1,000 Taliban prisoners -- part of a pledge by the government to free up to 2,000 militants in response to the Taliban's cease-fire move.

A senior member of the Taliban on May 27 told the AFP news agency that the militants were planning to free about 50 to 100 Afghan security force members as early as May 28.

New evidence of US ties to terrorists in the Middle East

Valery Kulikov
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 27 May 2020 18:22 UTC

Globally, it is widely believed that the United States tends to use terrorist organizations as hired guns in order to pursue its own interests all over the world. Since September 11, 2001, the White House has been implementing its expansionist policies, under the guise of the 'War on Terror', to seize natural resources and riches of other nations. And this was especially evident after the US interventions in Libya in 2011 and then Syria, and Washington's actions in Afghanistan and the entire Middle Eastern region.

The sheer length of the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and Washington's inability to achieve its desired goals all point to the true motives behind the US 'War on Terror'. At first, the United States and its allies decided to use al-Qaeda (terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) to destabilize the situation in the region and overthrow legitimate governments there. Then, after the plan failed, the US helped establish the Islamic State (also known as IS, ISIS, ISIL and Daesh, a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation), which was to be used as a direct means of intervening in the region.

'Do what I say, not what I do': Hypocritical Irish PM tells his people not to picnic during lockdown, then sunbathes bare-chested while picnicking

Jason O'Toole
RT
Tue, 26 May 2020 18:12 UTC

In his latest PR blunder, and ignoring his own government's Covid-19 advice, Leo Varadkar was snapped enjoying a picnic in a park. The tasteless photos of him laughing and joking have left a bad taste in the mouths of the public.

It's perplexing how a supposedly media-savvy politician such as the Irish caretaker prime minister, or taoiseach, Leo Varadkar has such an unfortunate propensity of putting his proverbial foot in it.

In his short tenure as leader, Varadkar has suffered more hiccups than a drunken sailor on shore leave. And that's despite setting up a new government strategic communications unit and spending "more than 126 times the amount" on advertising and marketing than his predecessor during his first year in office alone.

Just one example of how he's nothing short of an international embarrassment: in the fall of 2018, the world's media reported how he wrote a gushing letter on official state notepaper to gay icon Kylie Minogue in a desperate effort to meet her when she was visiting Dublin.

Congress poised to grant Israel its entire military wish list (in the middle of a US health crisis) with no strings attached

Josh Ruebner
Mondoweiss
Wed, 27 May 2020 16:42 UTC

Congress is set to pass its most far-reaching bill related to Israel at the height of a national public health emergency.

With the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's passage of the United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2020 last week, the current Congress is now poised to enact with little transparency its most far-reaching bill related to Israel at the height of a national public health emergency.

According to Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), the committee vote took place "without even bothering with a pretense of public discussion" and was especially egregious because the committee voted on a wholly new version of the bill which "was not made public until long after the hearing ended."

The opacity of the committee's vote on the bill was even more shocking considering its importance.

Ostensibly the main purpose of the bill, S.3176, is to codify in law the levels of military aid and funding for missile defense agreed to by the United States and Israel in a 2016 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Comment:

To be sure, some of that "aid" will find its way back into congressional pockets:

The power of the Israel Lobby in the US - How many politicians can you buy with $6.3billion?

China aims to launch digital yuan by 2022 Winter Olympics

Issaku Harada
Nikkei Asian Review
Wed, 27 May 2020 16:00 UTC

China seeks to have its planned sovereign digital currency ready in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics here, the central bank revealed Tuesday, as the coronavirus pandemic accelerates a shift away from cash.

The government plans to run pilot tests at Olympic venues, though there remains no official timetable for a release, People's Bank of China Gov. Yi Gang told Chinese media in an interview released by the central bank. Limited trials are underway in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and the Xiongan New Area in the northern province of Hebei, he said.

If the government is satisfied with the results of this year's tests, the currency "will be issued next year," said a member of the State Council, China's cabinet, with knowledge of the project. "If it's not satisfied, more tests will be conducted next year."

Comment: Looks like the fake pandemic is paving the way for long desired controls over how people spend their money or if they can spend their money at all.

Trump: 'I have no target date.' Bring US troops home from Afghanistan 'as soon as is reasonable'

Sputnik
Tue, 26 May 2020 21:25 UTC

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he has no target for when US troops in Afghanistan should return home and that troop withdrawal should occur "as soon as is reasonable."

The US president noted that while he desires a full military withdrawal from Afghanistan, he has not yet set a target date. Trump told a White House news conference:

"We're not acting as soldiers, we're acting as police, and we're not sent over there to be policemen. But we're there 19 years, and I think that's enough. We want to bring our soldiers back home ... we can always go back if we have to. If we have to go back, we'll go back raging, and they [the soldiers] will go back as warriors, fighters, but right now we're policing, and we're not meant to be police force."

When asked if the US Thanksgiving holiday on November 26 was a target date, Trump responded:

"No, I have no target. [US troops will return] as soon as is reasonable. Over a period of time, but as soon as reasonable. We're down to 7,000-some-odd soldiers right now, and in Iraq, we're down to 4,000 soldiers. So we're making a lot of progress."

Senior US military officials are expected to discuss options for withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan with Trump over the next few days. Complete withdrawal of troops could occur as early as before the November presidential election, officials familiar with the matter told the New York Times this week.

Tech looking at a long, hot summer of antitrust

Margaret Harding McGill
Axios
Tue, 26 May 2020 01:00 UTC

© MarketWatch photo illustration/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Acquisition sprees by at least two of the four big tech companies under scrutiny — Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. — has piqued the interest of lawmakers and privacy advocates.

Google, Facebook and other tech giants face a summer of regulatory grilling as long-running investigations into potential anticompetitive practices likely come to a head.

The big picture: Probes into the power of Big Tech launched by federal and state authorities are turning a year old, and observers expect action in the form of formal lawsuits and potentially damning reports — even as the companies have become a lifeline for Americans during the pandemic lockdown.

What they're saying: William Kovacic, a George Washington University law professor and former Federal Trade Commission chairman:

"I think all of [the antitrust enforcers] have foreshadowed there would be some event by the end of the summer. I think they've poured a lot of cement around their feet so they don't have a lot of room to maneuver on this. They have to do something that indicates forward motion come early autumn."

Comment: With the November election right around the corner, and the reality of a faulty mail-in fiasco already in the making, big tech will most likely opt to delay any current legalities in favor of a jiggered change of leadership. There is no doubt these companies will 'support' a win for the Democratic Party and thereby self-alter the parameters of their individual legal predicaments.

Clinical Trial, Phase 1: Novavax injected coronavirus vaccine into 130 healthy Aussie volunteers; Phase 2: Expand to USA

Michael Bonner
Mass Live
Tue, 26 May 2020 00:00 UTC

About 130 healthy volunteers were injected with a potential vaccine for the coronavirus at two sites in Australia, Novavax, a United States biotechnology company, announced on Monday.

The potential vaccine is in the first of a two-step phase, Novavax said. The company expects to have results from the clinical trials in July. President and Chief Executive Officer of Novavax Stanley C. Erck said in a statement:

"Administering our vaccine in the first participants of this clinical trial is a significant achievement, bringing us one step closer toward addressing the fundamental need for a vaccine in the fight against the global COVID‑19 pandemic. We look forward to sharing the clinical results in July and, if promising, quickly initiating the Phase 2 portion of the trial."

The second portion is expected to be conducted in multiple countries, including the United States, Novavax said. It would also assess immunity, safety and COVID‑19 disease reduction in a broader age range. In the first portion, the potential vaccine was provided to volunteers from 18 to 59 years of old.

Comment: The Novavax testing is kicking off a storm of concerns:

The new initiative got off the ground with a massive $388-million investment from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI) - its largest donation to date - a public health foundation established by billionaire Bill Gates.

In doling out his vast fortune to a number of similar health initiatives over the years - primarily through his own Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - the Microsoft mogul has drawn intense suspicion and doubt from the conspiracy-minded, who posit that Gates is committed to a "depopulation" agenda to rid the planet of its useless eaters.

News of Gates' connection to the Novavax trial set off alarms for some netizens, many warning the project is "not to be trusted" and urging Gates himself to volunteer to be the first guinea pig to receive the rushed-out vaccine.

Novavax is not the first US biotech firm to launch clinical trials for a coronavirus inoculation, however, with Massachusetts' Moderna rolling out human testing in March and reporting positive results - to which internet sleuths have yet to discover any 'damning ties.' At least five other vaccines are underway elsewhere, including three in China and two others in the United Kingdom and Russia.

It's not about following the money...doing that is late to the game. In the age of a complete overabundance of rules and regulations for EVERYTHING...the bankrolling of a fake pandemic in order to require a mandatory global vaccine by one rich guy has somehow been overlooked?

Trump: WH will 'do something' on Hong Kong issue by end of the week

Charles Lanyon
South China Morning Post
Wed, 27 May 2020 04:54 UTC

Lawmakers in the United States on Tuesday hoped to ratchet up pressure on Beijing over moves from the Chinese government to crack down on Hong Kong's autonomy, even as President Donald Trump told reporters his administration would soon "do something" about the situation.

US senators have proposed a bill that would allow for sanctions against anyone with a role in violating "China's obligations to Hong Kong under the [Sino-British] Joint Declaration and the Basic Law", and on banks who do business with them.

The bipartisan "Sanctions Bill to Defend Hong Kong's Autonomy" is the work of Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen and Republican senator Pat Toomey, and is in response to what Toomey's office calls "increasingly brazen interference from the Chinese Communist Party".

When asked if he was prepared to use sanctions against China over the issue, the president said:

"We're doing something now. I think you'll find it very interesting. It's something you're going to be hearing about ... before the end of the week - very powerfully."

The bill's proposal follows a new national security law for Hong Kong put forward by Beijing last week that would ban treason and other perceived offences in the city. The Chinese government's move was met with widespread dismay and alarm in Hong Kong, which has already been roiled by massive pro-democracy protests over the past year, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

Comment: Wow...no interference there! These are China's lessons and it is up to China to find its way - or not. These senators might take a long look at the USA and see what needs fixing here.

China is reportedly attempting to outlaw "any act of treason, secession, sedition [or] subversion against the Central People's Government" in Hong Kong.

People's Daily newspaper dismissed the prospect of US sanctions as a "nothingburger" and a bluff - and - Trump's claims about Hong Kong "will hardly fool all Westerners, let alone manipulate the whole international community. As the US is entangled in the [Covid-19] epidemic, its actual ability to intervene externally is weakening. The White House claimed it would impose sanctions on China, but the tools and resources at its disposal are fewer than those it could mobilize before the outbreak. It is only bluffing."

Rouhani: All governmental bodies to implement law 'countering Israel' hostility to Iran or Palestinian Authority

Sputnik
Tue, 26 May 2020 17:40 UTC

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has issued an executive order to all government structures to implement the law passed last week on launching a comprehensive retaliation against any of Israeli's action that Tehran might consider hostile to itself or the Palestinian Authority, the IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

Hassan Rouhani ordered all ministries, the Supreme National Security Council and the Judiciary to each work out measures within their respective frameworks in response to Israel's actions that are believed to be a threat to international and regional peace and security, especially with regard to Palestine. Such measures may reportedly include producing movies that reveal the Israeli war crimes and atrocities committed during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

There is a total of 16 articles in the anti-Israeli bill, which was unanimously adopted by 43 votes in the Iranian parliament on 12 May. It was then approved by the country's Guardian Council and, until now, only lacked the president's green light before becoming a law.

Tornadoes here in Aus too, as I reported here [Link]

Tsidkenu

Small tornado also struck Armidale. We had another tornado hit farmland near Bathurst last week. This summer will be the summer of floods, hail...

Tsidkenu

What mandate? There still is no "mandate" [Link]

Tsidkenu

Set up a vaccine clinic in your front yard this Halloween [Link]

Tsidkenu

.. .. 2031? Hope this Comet "BB" hits on the 1st anniversary of Agenda 2030 during their annual vaxx parade

Jibrish

Puppet Masters

As deadline passes, Afghan cease-fire appears to be holding

New evidence of US ties to terrorists in the Middle East

'Do what I say, not what I do': Hypocritical Irish PM tells his people not to picnic during lockdown, then sunbathes bare-chested while picnicking

Congress poised to grant Israel its entire military wish list (in the middle of a US health crisis) with no strings attached

China aims to launch digital yuan by 2022 Winter Olympics

Trump: 'I have no target date.' Bring US troops home from Afghanistan 'as soon as is reasonable'

Tech looking at a long, hot summer of antitrust

Clinical Trial, Phase 1: Novavax injected coronavirus vaccine into 130 healthy Aussie volunteers; Phase 2: Expand to USA

Trump: WH will 'do something' on Hong Kong issue by end of the week

Rouhani: All governmental bodies to implement law 'countering Israel' hostility to Iran or Palestinian Authority

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