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Pentagon: US to deploy 3K troops to Afghanistan to assist in departure of embassy staff

EmbassyKabul
© Wikimedia Commons
US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan
Earlier, the US State Department ordered the evacuation of staff at the US embassy in Afghanistan in light of the "security conditions" being posed by the increasing control by the Taliban. Officials, however, have also stressed that the move it part of ongoing withdrawal procedures from the war-torn nation.

The US Department of Defense revealed on Thursday that it will be sending approximately 3,000 US troops to Afghanistan as part of the branch's efforts to assist in the departure of diplomats and other American civilians in the country.

The Thursday revelation was announced by Pentagon spokesperson Adm. John Kirby, who also informed reporters that the additional troops would be on top of the 650 US troops already stationed in Afghanistan. Kirby explained that 3,000 troops would be deployed to the Hamid Karzai International Airport over the "next few days," and that a reserve force of 3,500 to 4,000 will stage out of Kuwait.

Forces being ordered to Kuwait will be pulled from a combat team based out of North Carolina's Fort Bragg. "This is about prudent preparations," the admiral underscored when asked about the high troop figures. "We believe it's appropriate to the security situation."

Comment: They're sending over a force to avoid total humiliation then.


Russian Flag

BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford told to leave Moscow in reciprocal move protesting British sanctions against Russians

Sarah Rainsford
© Getty Images / Roberto Ricciuti
A British foreign correspondent working for the BBC in Moscow has been told her visa will not be renewed she must now leave the country, in a move that comes as relations between the two countries worsen amid a diplomatic rift.

A Foreign Ministry official revealed on Friday that Sarah Rainsford, a reporter for the state-funded broadcaster's Russia bureau, had been denied permission to remain in the country and would have to depart before the end of the month, Bloomberg reports.

Rainsford's right to remain in the country is due to expire on August 31, and an application for a new visa is said to have been rejected.

Light Sabers

China blasts 'political tracing' after WHO asks for more data to continue Covid-19 origins probe

medical test coronavirus
© Reuters / China Daily
Beijing opposes the renewed probe into the origins of the coronavirus by the World Health Organization (WHO) as it's driven by political, rather than scientific, concerns, Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said.

In a statement on Thursday, the WHO urged member states to "cooperate to accelerate the origins studies," insisting that "access to data is critically important for evolving our understanding of science."

The call appears to address Beijing's refusal to release data from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), fueling speculation by the West that the virus could have been made in a laboratory.

Bad Guys

Even Dems admitting it: Mayorkas says border crisis 'unsustainable' and 'we're going to lose' - leaked audio

Mayorkas
© Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
Mayorkas visited the Texas border where he announced that there were more than 212,000 migrant encounters by agents in July

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas met privately with Border Patrol agents in Texas and said in leaked audio that the border crisis is "unsustainable" and "we're going to lose" if "borders are the first line of defense."

"A couple of days ago I was down in Mexico, and I said look, you know, if, if our borders are the first line of defense, we're going to lose and this is unsustainable," Mayorkas said Thursday, according to the audio obtained by Fox News' Bill Melugin through a Border Patrol source. "We can't continue like this, our people in the field cant continue and our system isn't built for it."

Comment:


Sheriff

Prince Andrew 'not above the law', says Met police chief - as her team having 'another look at the material'

prince andrew

Prince Andrew is 'not above the law'
The duke denies all allegations, having previously said he has "no recollection" of ever meeting his accuser Virginia Giuffre. He says there are "a number of things that are wrong" about her account.

The Metropolitan Police commissioner has said "no one is above the law" when asked about allegations of sexual assault against Prince Andrew.

Dame Cressida Dick said a review into the case is under way but no investigation is taking place.

Comment: See also:


Biohazard

Who is Ginkgo Bioworks and how do they fit in the bio-Security, transhumanist agenda?

Ginkgo Bioworks
The Great Reset agenda is aimed at instituting a world technocratic control with a transhumanist bent. Is Ginkgo Bioworks one of the companies who will help create this nightmare?

In May, biotech firm Ginkgo Bioworks announced it was going public with a valuation of $15 billion. Ginkgo is a rising star in the biotechnology field, describing themselves as "The Organism Company". While their name is less known than other biotech giants such as Monsanto and Bayer, the scope of their research and projects will likely affect billions of people around the world in coming years.

Ginkgo Bioworks was founded in 2009 by a group of MIT scientists focused on "engineering biology" for a variety of purposes. Officially, Ginkgo Bioworks "designs, engineers, develops, tests and licenses organisms". The company refers to their work as "biology by design", stating that they "program cells to make everything from food to materials to therapeutics." Ginkgo's researchers use genetic engineering to design and "print" new DNA for a range of organisms, including plants and bacteria. These organisms can then be licensed out for artificial flavors and sweeteners, cosmetic ingredients, crop treatments and pharmaceuticals.

What Ginkgo lacks in name recognition they make up for in financial investments. In March 2015, Ginkgo raised $9 million from investors during the company's first significant fundraising round. A few months later they would receive another $45 million from a group led by Viking Global Investors. Just 3 years ago, the company was reportedly valued at over $1 billion after raising over $429 million in funding from investors, including Cascade Investment.

In November 2020 the U.S. government granted Ginkgo a $1.1 billion loan for "COVID-19 testing and the production of raw materials for therapies that may help address future pandemics".

Crusader

Switzerland: 730 Years of an Independent Sovereign Nation - Really?

Davos


The legend has it that Switzerland was celebrating on 1 August 2021 her 730th Anniversary. That's the legend about the creation of an independent, neutral and sovereign nation. It's a legend that has taken hold in every Swiss citizen's heart and mind. It's a legend that has made Switzerland around the world what it still is in reputation and - sometimes - even in appearance: a neutral, ethical country in the heart of Europe.


When we look closer, this legend was largely born from the pen of a German author who had never set foot in Switzerland. When Friedrich Schiller wrote the play "Willhelm Tell" in 1804, the basis for the heroic, unique and neutral Switzerland, he had never visited Switzerland. However, the legend has become reality, even though it was born 513 years after the alleged event took place.

This little detail is unimportant. What counts is the background to the story, namely that the territory that gradually became Switzerland, was originally inhabited by the Helvetians, or Helvetic Celts. As was much of Europe, they were largely dominated by the Habsburg Dynasty until the early 19th Century.

However, the Helvetians rebelled on or around the late 13th Century, when according to the Friedrich Schiller legend, called "Wilhelm Tell" - name of one of the legend's principal liberating hero's - the Governors of the three original cantons, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, got together on a mountain called Rütli, facing the Lake of Lucerne.

With an oath, a promise to God, the three governors united their lands in an act to defend themselves sovereignly against any aggressor, meant were in particular the rulers of the Habsburg Empire. According to the legend this happened on 1 August 1291 - 730 years ago. Thus, was the Confederatio Helvetica (Swiss Confederation) born.

Comment: We might take a little solace in the fact that not all in Switzerland are going along with the COVID agenda:
Police in Switzerland have threatened to stop enforcing COVID-19 rules over fears that the measures are disproportionately undermining the fundamental rights of citizens.

A group representing police officers in the Alpine country wrote a letter to the Swiss Federation of Police Officers (FSFP) warning of potential insubordination within the force over the enforcement of draconian laws.

"If the measures were to conflict with the general opinion of the population, disproportionately limiting their fundamental rights, many police officers would no longer be willing to apply them," the group wrote in the letter.

While the letter was received favorably by lockdown skeptics, the FSFP attempted to dismiss it by claiming it only represented a small number of police officers.

Adrian Gaugler of the Conference of Cantonal Police Commanders went further, threatening the officers with sanctions if they refused to enforce the measures.

"An officer who refuses to enforce the law can be punished," said Gaugler.

"Police refusing to enforce coronavirus measures is not unique to Switzerland," writes Chris Tomlinson.



Light Sabers

Amid fresh sanctions, Belarus cancels appointment of new US envoy, suspends all US govt sponsored projects in country

Belarus

FILE PHOTO
In response to a fresh round of sanctions from Washington, Belarus on Wednesday revoked its agreement for the appointment of a new US ambassador to the country.

The country's Foreign Ministry summoned US charge d'affaires, Ruben Arutyunyan, to also recommended the US Embassy in the capital Minsk to reduce its staff to five people by September.

In a statement, the ministry said there was no need for more diplomatic staff given the deterioration in bilateral ties and reduction of economic cooperation.

Comment: See also: Regime change efforts in Belarus have entered a stalemate. But Russia might be working towards an 'Armenian solution' for Minsk


Magnify

The NSA's Inspector General opens investigation into allegations of illegal spying on Tucker Carlson

Tucker Carlson
© Rich Polk/Getty Images for Politicon
Fox News Host Tucker Carlson
The independent watchdog agency which investigates potential wrongdoing by the National Security Agency (NSA) announced on Tuesday morning that it has opened an investigation into "recent allegations that the NSA improperly targeted the communications of a member of the U.S. news media." Though the oversight unit, the NSA's Office of the Inspector General, did not specify the journalist in question, the statement leaves no doubt that the investigation pertains to news reports that the identity of Fox News host Tucker Carlson had been improperly "unmasked" and illegally revealed within the intelligence community.

The full statement from the Inspector General reads:
NSA box

Arrow Up

Russian FM Lavrov: By indulging Ukraine's claims to Crimea, West is encouraging country's 'neo-Nazi' government policy

Swallow's Nest/Lavrov
© Sputnik/Reuters/Pavel Golovin
Swallow's Nest Castle, Gaspra, Crimea, Russia • Russian FM Sergei Lavrov
Moscow's top diplomat has reacted angrily to news that representatives of more than two dozen nations will attend a summit called by Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky to discuss how Kiev can now reassert control over Crimea.

Speaking to a group of young people involved with an art collective based on the disputed peninsula on Thursday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the West's support was pushing Zelensky to be more and more extreme in pursuit of his policy goals. The 'Crimean Platform' forum, he said, "will continue to nurture the neo-Nazi and racist mentality of the current Ukrainian government."

Blasting the participation of foreign attendees, he said that the US, EU and other supporters of Kiev's claims were behaving "shamefully." At least 37 states are expected to send delegates to the event, which will be timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union on August 24.