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US quits Chengdu Consulate as China retaliates for closure of Houston outpost

Joel Gehrke
Washington Examiner
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 18:52 UTC
chengdu consulate us china
© EPA-EFE
Police stand guard in front of the US consulate in Chengdu on July 26, 2020.
State Department officials have vacated one of the seven major United States diplomatic facilities in China after Beijing ordered the closure in retaliation for the shuttering of the Chinese Consulate in Houston.

"Today, we say goodbye to the US consulate in Chengdu," officials at the U.S. embassy in Beijing wrote in a social media post. "We will miss you forever."

The closure of the American Consulate in Chengdu attracted thousands of observers over the weekend, as locals gathered to witness a symbolic demonstration of the worsening relationship between the U.S. and China. U.S officials also broadcast the lowering of the American flag at the consulate.

"I hereby officially retire our colors and present them to you," the commander of the Marine Corps detachment said in a presentation to Consul General Jim Mullinax.

The diplomatic tit for tat took place as President Trump's administration intensifies a crackdown on suspected Chinese intelligence operations in the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered the closure of the Houston Consulate as Justice Department officials unveiled a wave of indictments that accused Chinese researchers at American universities of hiding their ties to the People's Liberation Army — a scheme that consulate officials have helped orchestrate, according to U.S. officials.

"I think most people are just curious," one observer, Xu Junqing, said of the crowd that turned out for the closing. "But I think it will reopen again because, if China and the U.S. stop cooperation, there's no good to the whole world."

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Vader

The real 'Russian Playbook' is written in English

Patrick Armstrong
The Strategic Culture Foundation
Fri, 17 Jul 2020 17:26 UTC
kremlin Playbook russia propaganda
© Twitter
I hadn't given The Russian Playbook much attention until Susan Rice, Obama's quondam security advisor, opined a month ago on CNN that "I'm not reading the intelligence today, or these days — but based on my experience, this is right out of the Russian playbook". She was referring to the latest U.S. riots.

Once I'd seen this mention of The Russian Playbook (aka KGB, Kremlin or Putin's Playbook), I saw the expression all over the place. Here's an early - perhaps the earliest - use of the term. In October 2016, the Center for Strategic and International studies ("Ranked #1") informed us of the "Kremlin Playbook" with this ominous beginning
There was a deeply held assumption that, when the countries of Central and Eastern Europe joined NATO and the European Union in 2004, these countries would continue their positive democratic and economic transformation. Yet more than a decade later, the region has experienced a steady decline in democratic standards and governance practices at the same time that Russia's economic engagement with the region expanded significantly.

Comment: The unnamed organization, named:

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Light Saber

Defense lawyer tells court US attorney general may be using Assange case for political ends

Ben Quinn
The Guardian
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 16:46 UTC
assange extradition protest
© Keith Mayhew/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock
Demonstrators protest in defence of Julian Assange in London, July 2020.
WikiLeaks founder's defence makes allegation at UK court hearing as part of extradition case

The US attorney general, William Barr, may be using Julian Assange's extradition case in the UK for political ends, the WikiLeaks founder's defence team alleged during a court hearing at which he appeared by video link from prison for the first time in months.

It was a fact that Donald Trump had described the defence case as "a plot by the Democrats", Edward Fitzgerald QC told the hearing at Westminster magistrates court.

Fitzgerald said a new superseding US indictment, produced months after the start of attempts in the UK to secure his extradition, had been "sprung" on his defence team.

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Arrow Down

Sweden: The One Chart That Matters

Mike Whitney
The Unz Review
Sat, 25 Jul 2020 00:00 UTC
People dying Sweden
While the Covid-19 epidemic continues to drag on in the United States, it's largely over in Sweden where fatalities have dropped to no more than 2 deaths per day for the last week. Sweden has been harshly criticized in the media for not imposing draconian lockdowns like the United States and the other European countries. Instead, Sweden implemented a policy that was both conventional and sensible. They recommended that people maintain a safe distance between each other and they banned gatherings of 50 people or more. They also asked their elderly citizens to isolate themselves and to avoid interacting with other people as much as possible. Other than that, Swedes were encouraged to work, exercise and get on with their lives as they would normally even though the world was still in the throes of a global pandemic.

The secret of Sweden's success is that its experts settled on a strategy that was realistic, sustainable and science-based. The intention was never to "fight" the virus which is among the most contagious infections in the last century, but to protect the old and vulnerable while allowing the young, low-risk people to circulate, contract the virus, and develop the antibodies they'd need to fight similar pathogens in the future. It's clear now that that was the best approach. And while Sweden could still experience sporadic outbreaks that might kill another 2 to 300 people, any recurrence of the infection in the Fall or Winter will not be a dreaded "Second Wave", but a much weaker flu-like event that will not overwhelm the public health system or kill thousands of people.

Comment: Among the many who have been rendered deaf, dumb, blind and hystericized about the virus, and who have been writing about the Swedish model, there has been an all-too-few number of good journalists who are peircing the think veil of BS - and managing to bring some much needed objectivity to the discussion.

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Blackbox

US-Israel war crimes and war criminals: Who will be held accountable?

Philip Giraldi
The Unz Review
Thu, 23 Jul 2020 00:00 UTC
Netanyahu
There is something unique about how the United States manipulates the "terrorism" label to avoid being accused of carrying out war crimes. When an indigenous militia or an armed insurgency like the Taliban in a country like Iraq or Afghanistan attacks American soldiers subsequent to a U.S. invasion which overthrew the country's government, it is considered by Washington to be an act of "terrorism." Terror attacks de facto permit a carte blanche response, allowing virtually anything as retaliation against the parties involved or countries that support them, including the assassination of foreign government officials. But for the attacker, whose perspective is quite different, the incident often could reasonably be described as legitimate resistance to a foreign occupier and much of the world might agree with that assessment.

So, it all comes down to definitions. The United States covers its version of reality through liberal use of the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) which more-or-less gives a blanket approval to attack and kill "terrorists" anywhere at any time. And how does one become a terrorist? By being included on the U.S. government's heavily politicized annual list of terrorist groups and material supporters of terrorism. That was the argument that was used by the United States when it killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January, that his organization, the Qods Force, was on the "terrorist" lists maintained by State and the Treasury Department and he was therefore held to be guilty of any and all attacks on U.S. military carried out by Qods or by presumed Iranian surrogate militias.

Comment: Good on the ICC for reminding the world that there is even such a thing as 'war crimes' - and that there are international laws applying to governments that are responsible for oppressing, maiming and murdering innocent civilians. It is likely that nothing substantial will come from the ICC's investigations in terms of indictments and sentences, but let the malevolent ones be reminded, and quake a bit, at the thought of being fully found out and condemned for their inhumanity.

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Vader

Illinois' governor Pritzker goes full Covid-19: 'People who do not wear masks are the enemy'


MSN
Sun, 26 Jul 2020 22:54 UTC
Illinois Governor Pritzker
© Rockford WIFR-LD (KWQC)
As COVID-19 numbers rise throughout the country, Illinois' governor said coronavirus cases aren't skyrocketing, but they are trending upward and restrictions could be put back for certain regions in the state.

"Today we're reporting nearly 1,600 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. "(They) are highest in the month of July. I will remind everyone that we look at these numbers via seven day rolling averages and not one day totals. But a rise is still arise, and it is on all of us to bring these numbers down," Pritzker said.

As of Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health said there are 165,301 COVID-19 cases in the state, including 7,347 deaths. As of Tuesday night, 1,456 people were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 337 patients were in the ICU and 132 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

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Camera

Talent agency ordered to detail all speaking fees paid to Trudeau family

Sam Edwards
The Post Millennial
Fri, 24 Jul 2020 16:35 UTC
justin trudeau wife sophie

A talent agency in Toronto has to yield records by July 29 detailing fees that have been paid to Trudeau family members for speaking at events.
A talent agency in Toronto has to yield records by July 29 detailing fees that have been paid to Trudeau family members for speaking at events, according to Blacklock's.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received almost $300,000 in fees as an MP.

Speakers' Spotlight of Toronto acted as Trudeau's talent agency and was ordered on July 22 by The Commons ethics committee to surrender "a copy of all records" involving Trudeau's paid appearances over the past twelve years along with paid appearances made by his wife, mother and brother.

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Attention

'DEEPLY REVOLTED': Liberal Party MP speaks out anonymously about Trudeau's corruption

Roberto Wakerell-Cruz
The Post Millennial
Fri, 24 Jul 2020 22:25 UTC
justin trudeau


While the party has shown a front of unity, dissenting voices from within are beginning to let themselves be known, albeit anonymously.

The Trudeau Liberals are in the middle of yet another scandal, in what will certainly result in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's third ethics violation — the most collected by any prime minister in Canada's history.

And while the party has shown a front of unity, dissenting voices from within are beginning to let themselves be known, albeit anonymously.

With Finance Minister's Bill Morneau's embarrassing account of his $41,000 WE Charity-funded vacations to Kenya and Ecuador, it appears as though the Liberal ship, at the very least, has a leak or two.

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Caesar

Why they came for, and killed, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi

Steven Sahiounie
Mideast Discourse
Sat, 25 Jul 2020 09:00 UTC
Muammar Qaddafi
This investigation sets forth a timeline of events Libya and examines the reasons behind the attack, overthrow, and murder of Muammar Qaddafi, the late leader of Libya. According to western mainstream media propaganda, he was deposed in a popular uprising of his people, and his brutal crackdown of those home-grown protests created the need for the US and NATO to intervene for humanitarian reasons, under "the responsibility to protect".

1933: US President Franklin Roosevelt replaced gold domestically with central bank-created reserves, but gold remained the reserve currency internationally.

1944: The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were created in the USA, to unify this bank-created money system globally. An IMF ruling said that no paper money could have gold backing. It is banks, not governments, which create most of the money in Western economies, through the process called 'fractional reserve' lending. After 1944, the US dollar traded interchangeably with gold as a global reserve currency.

1971: When the US was no longer able to maintain the dollar's gold backing, a deal was made with OPEC to 'back' the dollar with oil, creating the 'petro-dollar'. Oil would be sold only in US dollars, which would be deposited in Wall Street and other international banks. The dollar is the reserve currency based on that deal made with the Saudis, in which the Saudis as the world's largest oil producer agreed to accept only dollars for oil.

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Megaphone

Tory MP Lord Balfe slams Russia Report, calls accusations against Russian gov't 'pathetic'


RT
Sat, 25 Jul 2020 23:50 UTC
london
© Reuters / Hannah McKay
The controversial 'Russia Report', which accused Moscow of meddling in Britain's Brexit referendum and last year's general election, is just "pathetic," Conservative peer Lord Balfe MP has told RT.

Speaking to RT's Going Underground on Saturday, Lord Balfe told host Afshin Rattansi that accusations the Kremlin was controlling domestic affairs in Britain were "rather pathetic, frankly," and noted it wasn't unusual for some members of Parliament to have business connections to Russia.

"Full marks for the Russian government" if they were somehow behind Brexit, he joked. "I don't think it had much to do with any foreign government," he added, offering that it was down to "the basic xenophobia" of the people who voted to leave the European Union.
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