(Transcript)
Puppet Masters
(Transcript)
© REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi
Protesters pose for photos in front of a burning building near the fifth police precinct during the fourth day of protests after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. May 29, 2020.
Protesters pose for photos in front of a burning building near the fifth police precinct during the fourth day of protests after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. May 29, 2020.
"It's ANTIFA and the Radical Left. Don't lay the blame on others!" Trump insisted as he sent a barrage of tweets about the violent outbreaks across the country.
Those who clashed with law enforcers, set police vehicles on fire, looted shops and destroyed property in Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta, Portland and other cities, were "'Organized Groups' that have nothing to do with George Floyd," Trump stated.
© DOJ/Getty Images/American Oversight
US President Donald Trump and the WHO
US President Donald Trump and the WHO
In what was billed as a "press conference" in the Rose Garden, Trump said the United States would sever its ties with the WHO and redirect U.S. funding to other organizations.
He also has instructed his administration to end "policy exemptions" and "special treatment" for Hong Kong, in response to China's encroachment on its autonomy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had announced last week that new Chinese laws affecting Hong Kong were a "death knell" for the territory, which has enjoyed a degree of independence since Great Britain handed over control to Beijing in 1997.
Comment: Germany weighs in on advice for WHO:
News that the US has severed all ties with the World Health Organization (WHO) was met with criticism in Berlin, which called on the global body to reform in order to stay afloat. It also urged the EU to fill the funding void.See also:
German Health Minister Jens Spahn took to Twitter on Saturday, lamenting what he called "a disappointing backlash for International Health." He called upon the WHO to change if it is to make "any difference for the future."
Berlin, whose turn to lead the European Union comes in July, will help the health body keep its head above water, Spahn assured: "And the EU must take a leading role and engage more financially. That's one of our priorities for our EU presidency."
While the evasive message didn't name names, it marked a slight nod to US President Donald Trump who announced the termination of the US' relationship with the WHO the day prior.
- Global battle erupts as Trump pulls WHO funding over coronavirus response
- Trump says US terminating relationship with WHO, UN sets up privately funded 'independent' organization to deal with coronavirus
- Don't hold your breath: WHO chief promises independent & 'transparent' review of its handling of Covid-19 pandemic response
- Trump says US may put a 'very powerful hold' on funding to World Health Organization - UPDATE
- Trump at the UN: WTO 'violates every single principle on which it is based'
- Trump threatens to make WHO funding freeze permanent
© AP
The Pentagon says that the goal has been for 8,600 troops to be left in the country by mid-July, and they are so ahead of schedule they say they'll meet that number in June, which is just a few days away. The White House, by contrast, suggested that the US has somewhere in the realm of 7,000 troops left in Afghanistan and that this is set to drop even further.
Since the US has made troop levels largely a secret, which is true is not always apparent. Either way, the number of troops keeps declining, and at a rate where the US could be out of Afghanistan within less than a year if they keep up the pace. President Trump is yet to set any specific date, but others have reported the goal is to be out by the November election.
At any rate, Afghanistan today looks grim. As already stated by President Trump himself, the US has spent more than a trillion dollars and lost more than 2,400 troops there, with no victory in sight. Many US commanders have also declared the strategic situation "a stalemate".
Comment: See what Trump had to say this week:
Trump: 'I have no target date.' Bring US troops home from Afghanistan 'as soon as is reasonable'
© Leah Mills/Reuters/Dinis Balibouse
US Sec of State Mike Pompeo • Iranian FM Javad Zarif
US Sec of State Mike Pompeo • Iranian FM Javad Zarif
"Some don't think Black Lives Matter," Zarif wrote, telling "those of us who do" that a war waged against racism is "long overdue for the entire world." The top Iranian official was commenting on the mayhem sweeping through the US over the police killing of an African American, George Floyd.
It is "time for #WorldAgainstRacism," Zarif's statement proclaimed. It also featured a re-write of a previous statement by Secretary of State Pompeo, which lambasted Iran for allegedly "squandering its citizens' resources" and employing "futile tactics of suppression, imprisonment of protesters" along with "the denial of Iranian frustrations."
Zarif replaced the words "Iran" and "Iranian" with "American," "America" or "US" in the repurposed statement. He was apparently applying the comment in relation to what is happening now across the United States.
Comment: To be the 'observer' versus the 'observed' reveals the difference between clarity and mirage. Both Zarif and Pompeo have points to make, unacceptable to the perspective of the receiver.
© Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Former VP Joe BIden • US Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Former VP Joe BIden • US Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
On Thursday, Minnesota-based MintPress News reported that U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) was the district attorney at the time Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin shot and killed Wayne Reyes in 2006.
According to MintPress News, between 1999 and 2007, Klobuchar
"did not bring charges against more than two dozen officers who had killed citizens while on duty - including against Chauvin himself.The site reported Klobuchar "declined" to bring charges against the officer who was filmed putting his knee on the neck of George Floyd on Monday, allegedly causing his death.
"Chauvin was involved in a fatal accident in 2005, killed Wayne Reyes in 2006, shot another man while in uniform in 2008, and had a litany of complaints against him. To be fair to Klobuchar, the Reyes shooting happened in October 2006, as her time as state prosecutor was coming to an end and she was campaigning for the senate. By the time Chauvin's case finally made it to a grand jury, she had relinquished her role."
Comment: Apparently neither Biden, nor his potential running mates, pass the 'sniff test.'
See also:
- US presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar invokes Putin to justify staff mistreatment
- Fired Minneapolis officer charged with murder in death of George Floyd
- So Joe Biden wants a female sexual assault survivor as his running mate. Why on Earth does he think that might be helpful?
- Michigan residents sue Governor Whitmer over coronavirus pandemic orders
- Michigan pilot gives a literal 'F U' to governor over coronavirus lockdown
- Armed protesters demonstrate against Whitmer's coronavirus lockdown inside Michigan state capitol
© REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Protesters set fire to a police station in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US May 28, 2020.
Protesters set fire to a police station in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US May 28, 2020.
Owens speculated that the fires and looting in Minneapolis was being carried out by activists linked to the billionaire, after noting that Police Chief Medaria Arradondo claimed the criminal activity was being instigated by people not native to the city.
"My guess: As he did with Antifa, Democrat George Soros has these thugs on payroll. He is funding the chaos via his Open Society Foundation," the conservative commentator tweeted.
Comment: She may have a point:
This won't be Ms. Owens' first run-in with Antifa:
- Black conservative Candace Owens attacked by crazy Antifa mob
- Trump warns Antifa had better hope the 'other side' doesn't mobilize: They are 'tougher, smarter & angrier'
- Gabriel Nadales: I'm a former Antifa member and enough is enough -- Antifa must be stopped
- Minneapolis 'war zone': Rioters take over police station amid clashes, fires & tear gas - UPDATES
Progressive House Democrat Keith Ellison promotes Antifa book in selfie
At least 13 Biden campaign staff members posted on Twitter on Friday and Saturday that they made donations to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which opposes the practice of cash bail, or making people pay to avoid pre-trial imprisonment. The group uses donations to pay bail fees in Minneapolis.
Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement to Reuters that the former vice president opposes the institution of cash bail as a "modern day debtors prison."
The scamdemic fear-mongering is ongoing and the propaganda is getting worse daily, even as their OWN DATA shows otherwise. Instead of giving the public the facts, the media continues to push for an extended lockdown, freedom trampling regulations, mass surveillance, and our permanent enslavement for their political overlords.
© Current Affairs
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
HONDURAS:
When the dozen oligarchs who control Honduras overthrew Honduras's popular democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya on 28 June 2009, and installed a military junta which set about exterminating its opposition, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was able, alone of officials in the Western Hemisphere, to keep that regime in power (despite efforts by all other governments in the Hemisphere to restore the legal government), by arranging increased military and economic aid to the new government. Soon afterward, Honduras had the world's highest murder-rate, and a surging outflow of poor people through Mexico into the United Sates as refugees from the exploding violence at home.
Comment: Trump has since tweeted about Antifa being labeled a terrorist organization by the federal government:
While Attorney General Barr announced that the Justice Department would use its network of 56 regional Joint Terrorism Task Forces to investigate "the violent radical agitators who have hijacked peaceful protest and are engaged in violations of federal law."
"The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly," a statement from Barr read.
See also: