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Wed, 03 Nov 2021
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The age of Trump clearly shows that narrative is everything

donald trump AOK
Yesterday President Donald Trump tweeted the following:

"Endless Wars, especially those which are fought out of judgement mistakes that were made many years ago, & those where we are getting little financial or military help from the rich countries that so greatly benefit from what we are doing, will eventually come to a glorious end!"

The tweet was warmly received and celebrated by Trump's supporters, despite the fact that it says essentially nothing since "eventually" could mean anything. Indeed, it's looking increasingly possible that nothing will come of the president's stated agenda to withdraw troops from Syria other than a bunch of words which allow his anti-interventionist base to feel nice feelings inside. Yet everyone laps it up, on both ends of the political aisle, just like they always do. Trump supporters are acting like he's a swamp-draining, war-ending peacenik, his enemies are acting like he's feeding a bunch of Kurds on conveyor belts into Turkish meat grinders to be made into sausages for Vladimir Putin's breakfast, when in reality nothing has changed and may not change at all.

Comment: See also:


Attention

Duterte suggests 'kidnapping and torturing' auditors who interfere in govt policies

Duterte
© Lean Daval Jr/Reuters
Rodrigo Duterte recently threatened to have a bishop's head cut off.
The president of the Philippines has suggested kidnapping and torturing government auditors who look too closely into how the government is spending money.

Fed up with the Commission on Audit's (COA) constant scrutiny of government spending, President Rodrigo Duterte proposed a radical way to deal with the problem.
What's up with this COA? What if we kidnap someone from COA, we torture them here?
The 73-year-old leader admitted he doesn't like the "sons of b****es" always finding "something wrong" with the use of state funds, stressing that the COA's interference is making the implementation of government policies "difficult" for local officials.

Comment: Duterte is known for his colorful rants designed to capture attention...it's anybody's guess as to the seriousness of his threats.


Fire

The potential blow back from Macron's Yellow Vest crackdown

macron new year speech
© Reuters
The Yellow Vests have reached critical mass. And the movement has now created the perfect storm for President Emmanuel Macron.

He can no longer ignore it, even though he tried to do so. And his lack of understanding of the situation as well as his open contempt for his opposition has placed him in a political vice.

Ignoring the problem will only make him look weaker and more disinterested. He could address the situation, put France first and step aside for new elections, which is the decent thing to do.

But, he's chosen the predictable third option, crack down on the protesters in a futile show of strength. Authoritarians react to challenges like clockwork.

Disobedience is met with violence. More disobedience is met with more violence.

Comment: As noted in the article, pathocrats are often predictable in their inability to understand and their responses regarding the human condition, see: Political Ponerology: A Science on The Nature of Evil adjusted for Political Purposes For more SOTT commentary on the matter, see:


Briefcase

Labour MP to RT: The media isn't covering the Integrity Initiative scandal because they might be 'involved'

Chris Willimason integrity initiative
© RT
Chris Williamson, Labour MP for Derby North
The revelations about UK government-funded propaganda outfit the Integrity Initiative are a "real scandal" and more questions need to be asked about its activities and motives, Labour MP Chris Williamson has told RT.

British media has been reluctant to cover the Anonymous leaks which exposed the Scotland-based organization in November 2018, revealing that it had used its hefty government funding to interfere in the domestic politics of other European countries and to engage in a smear campaign against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn at home.

Speaking to RT's Afshin Rattansi on Going Underground, Williamson said that the media might be hesitant to cover the leaks because they themselves are implicated.

Comment:


Colosseum

Upheaval in London, Washington & Paris: Western Regime on The Brink of Collapse

London Washington Paris protest
© Global Look Press / Christoph Meyer/Dpa; Reuters/Kevin Lamarque; Reuters/Christian Hartmann
Despite the thrashing around of the NATO disinformation apparat, the imperial heartland has entered 2019 in a state of complete chaos.

Washington, London, and Paris - the three capitals of the Empire - are today effectively ungoverned, shutdown, tottering on the brink of collapse or under siege by their own people.

Their self-chosen Nemeses - Moscow and Beijing - meanwhile toast the New Year in a state of considerable optimism and self-confidence. These are the facts, this is the news.

We should start at the top of the Empire. The United States government has closed down amid stasis and a barrage of inter-governmental howitzers.

Comment: Living standards are declining so drastically and corruption is now so blatant that, for many Western nations, they've been left with little option but to begin to take action against their deluded rulers: For in-depth discussions on the topics above, check out SOTT radio's:


Propaganda

Publish fake news about Russia? In the West it's a good career move... with no downside

journalists scrum reporters
© Reuters/Jason Reed
Fighting "Russian disinformation" in the West has become a lucrative business. But, in reality, you're far more likely to encounter deceitful agitprop directed at Russia.

CP Scott remains a towering figure in the annals of British journalism. Editor of the then Manchester Guardian for an astonishing 57 years, he celebrated his paper's centenary by laying down a set of legendary principles.

"Comment is free, but facts are sacred," Scott intoned in the missive. Sadly, almost a hundred years later, facts are free and the right to spread disinformation is becoming sacred, as far as his successors are concerned. Particularly when it comes to coverage of Russia.

Stock Up

Russia's economy expands despite sanctions - World Bank

Moscow
© Sputnik / Anton Denisov
Moscow
The growth rate of the Russian economy increased last year, while inflation remained low, the World Bank said in its 2019 World Economic Outlook.

"Although economic sanctions tightened, Russia experienced relatively low and stable inflation and increased oil production. As a result of robust domestic activity, the Russian economy expanded at a 1.6 percent pace in the year just ended," said the report.

Beaker

'There were only technical issues': Kremlin says Russia & WADA reach agreement on lab data

Dmitry Peskov
© Sputnik / Natalia Seliverstova
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the Russian sports authorities and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have reached agreement on accessing data from a Moscow laboratory.

The Russian official refuted suggestions that the Russian side had violated its obligations to the anti-doping watchdog by blocking access to the lab where doping samples and data have been stored since 2011.

WADA officials arrived in Moscow on Wednesday in an attempt to finally extract data from the lab, which was named as a condition in reinstating the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in September after a three-year suspension.

"Basically, the Moscow laboratory data was ready for extraction during WADA's previous visit," Peskov said, TASS reported. "But some technical issues emerged regarding devices that should be used. I would say there were logistics issues, but not major discrepancies."

Attention

'They made a mess & are fighting fires': UK academic says Integrity Initiative fatally hurt by leaks

United Kingdom flag
© REUTERS/Phil Noble
Despite being ignored by Western media, leaks from Integrity Initiative have paralyzed the operations of this UK-funded covert influence network, and could lead to its dismantling, says a leading British academic.

"This has made a mess of [Integrity Initiative's] operations, they are spending most of their time now trying to fire-fight on the coverage this is getting. And they are not doing essentially what they are being paid to do, which is to counter the Russians," David Miller, Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bristol School for Policy Studies, told RT.

"The British government is getting bad value for money, if it was ever getting better value."

As part of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media, which studies Western attempts to control media coverage of key international events, Miller has played a crucial role in studying the four tranches of data anonymously uploaded and sourced from the previously little-known group, which has been backed by the UK Foreign Office, NATO and Facebook, to the tune of over £1 million per year.

Eye 1

US makes lame attempt to smear China's Huawei for its business links to Iran and Syria

huawei
© Jason Lee / Reuters
The U.S. case against the chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies, who was arrested in Canada last month, centers on the company's suspected ties to two obscure companies. One is a telecom equipment seller that operated in Tehran; the other is that firm's owner, a holding company registered in Mauritius.

U.S. authorities allege CFO Meng Wanzhou deceived international banks into clearing transactions with Iran by claiming the two companies were independent of Huawei, when in fact Huawei controlled them. Huawei has maintained the two are independent: equipment seller Skycom Tech Co Ltd and shell company Canicula Holdings Ltd.

But corporate filings and other documents found by Reuters in Iran and Syria show that Huawei, the world's largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment, is more closely linked to both firms than previously known.


Comment: Even if they were 'more closely linked' there's nothing to say that this was illegal by international standards.


Comment: The fact that these accusations are coincident with the US' trip to resolve the trade spat with China is telling. As noted in Finian Cunningham's article Why China's over the moon:
Not only are Trump's allegations of Chinese unfair trade and theft of technology spectacularly disproven by the historic moon landing this week, the denouement also reveals what the American trade war agenda is really about. Washington is using trade tariffs and sanctions, as well as slanderous smearing, as weapons in order to illegitimately thwart China as a global rival. Unable to do it by fair means, the Americans are resorting to dirty tricks.
See also: And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: 'Containing' Russia-China and Global Economic Collapse