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Iran properly snubs Biden overture for nuclear talks: "LIFT sanctions, we WILL respond"

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Fri, 19 Feb 2021 18:17 UTC
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
© Official Presidential website/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
Iran has snubbed the White House's signaling on Thursday that it's ready to sit down for EU-sponsored talks toward restoring the 2015 nuclear deal. For the first time in the Biden administration a senior US official said "We are ready to show up if such a meeting were to take place" - in what's clearly an invitation for Iran to signal the same. But Tehran has slapped it down, sticking with its line that Washington must begin dialing back sanctions first.

Bloomberg reports on the latest Friday after a flurry of statements out of the US administration which appeared to belatedly extend an open hand: "Iran said the U.S. must first return to the 2015 nuclear deal and lift sanctions if it wants talks with the Islamic Republic, appearing to snub an effort by the Biden administration to begin direct discussions before officially rejoining the accord."

Comment: More background on this complex chess game:

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Hammer

Trump just thumped the Democrats and that's a "win" for the country

Mike Whitney
The Unz Review
Sun, 14 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Trump Biden battle
"Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun...I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people." Donald Trump, President of the United States
The Democrats approached the impeachment with the same cockiness that they approach everything. They thought they'd stomp their feet and run around with their hair on fire, and eventually people would see the righteousness of their cause. But it didn't go down like that. Instead, the Trump defense team opened a can of whoop ass on the lot of them leaving the Dems wondering what hit them. They seemed surprised that they couldn't win a conviction based on vitriol, character assassination and slanted news coverage. And they were genuinely shocked when their doctored videos and fake evidence was exposed to the public as the fraud it was. This was supposed to be the final drubbing of Donald Trump, instead, it turned out to be a revealing window into the degraded soul of declining party. In the end, Trump walked away unscathed while the Dems were left licking their wounds. Hurrah for Trump!

Now Trump is more powerful than when he was in the White House. His following has grown, his reputation as a fighter has ballooned, and his Democratic opposition has been exposed as incompetent, vindictive and thoroughly corrupt. That's about as close to a total victory as it gets in politics. Trump has effectively vanquished his enemies and made himself the most powerful politician in America. He's a conservative Colossus, a Republican kingmaker who is now in a position to hand-pick the party's leaders in the next election cycle and (perhaps) for many cycles to come. As Marjorie Taylor Greene so aptly put it: "Trump IS the Republican party. It's his party now".

Who would disagree?
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Control Panel

NATO's Atlantic Council urges Biden to enforce regime change in Belarus

Paul Antonopoulos
InfoBrics
Thu, 18 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Biden Lukashenko
A recent online meeting hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank discussed ways to force regime change in Belarus. The think tank detailed a plan with the aim of removing Aleksander Lukashenko, the current president of Belarus, from power by utilizing sanctions and other methods of pressure.

The Washington-based Atlantic Council is affiliated with NATO and receives funding from international billionaires like Adrienne Arsht, global companies like Goldman Sachs, Facebook and Google, as well as the Rockefeller Foundation and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. These are only a few examples of their extensive funding. Some of the most powerful and influential figures in the world participate in the operations of the think tank, as well as a representative of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Belarus' main opposition figure.

Objectives of the virtual meeting, entitled "Biden and Belarus: A strategy for the new administration," includes organizing Washington's control over the Belarussian opposition movement. In addition, they suggest a new position for a senior organizer to administer and maintain sanctions against Minsk, and appoint a senior official to administer assistance to the opposition. Their agenda also emphasized recognizing Tikhanovskaya's position as the true leader of Belarus and delegitimize Lukashenko by relocating the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the Belarussian capital of Minsk, Julie Fisher, to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

Comment: One can be fairly sure that, under a Biden administration, so-called regime change operations as thought up by groups like the Atlantic Council - to encircle and economically pillage Russia and other countries in its proximity - will continue faster and more aggressively than ever. And what we're witnessing in Belarus is no exception.

See also:

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Green Light

Russia holds the key to German sovereignty

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Germany's Angela Merkel and Russia's Vladimir Putin.
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Germany's Angela Merkel and Russia's Vladimir Putin.
A more sovereign Germany closer to Russia and China may be the straw that breaks the US hegemon's back

Last week we traced the necessary historical and geopolitical steps to understand Why Russia is driving the West crazy.

And then, last Friday, right before the start of the Year of the Metal Ox, came the bombshell, delivered with customary aplomb by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In an interview with popular talk show host Vladimir Solovyov - with the full transcript published by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Lavrov said Moscow "must be ready" for a possible "break with the European Union."

The ominous break would be a direct result of new EU sanctions, particularly those "that create risks for our economy, including in the most sensitive areas." And then, the Sun Tzu-style clincher: "If you want peace, prepare for war."

Comment: For an insightful examination of US geopolitical goals vis a vis Germany and Russia's relations, don't miss:

STRATFOR Chief outlines psychopathic Zio-Anglo-American plans for world domination in speech to Chicago Council on Global Affairs

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Attention

'Zero Covid' will lead to even harsher restrictions

Neil Clark
RT
Thu, 18 Feb 2021 13:08 UTC
wales coronavirus lockdown
© REUTERS/Carl Recine
FILE PHOTO: Signs asking people to stay at home are seen near Llwyn-on Reservoir, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, Britain, June 2, 2020
The left has bought heavily into 'Zero Covid' as a policy goal, but the concept is fundamentally flawed, as it overstates the threat and offers overkill solutions.

Zero Covid? Who could possibly be against that?

But while initially the total elimination of coronavirus sounds like quite an attractive idea, the devil most certainly is in the details. If ever there was a case of the cure being worse than the disease, this is it.

The first of the four "key steps" the UK Zero Covid group lists for its strategy is: "A full UK-wide lockdown until new cases in the community have been reduced close to zero."
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Russian Flag

'Cancel culture' in 'dying' US, & opposition media bans in E. Europe makes Russia the world's 'last island of freedom'

Jonny Tickle
RT
Thu, 18 Feb 2021 19:34 UTC
Duma Vyacheslav Volodin
© RIA
Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin.
Russia is the world's final bastion of freedom. That's according to the State Duma speaker, who pointed to the decline of leftist politics in the US and the restrictions on Russian-language media in the Baltics and Ukraine.

"Democracy is a procedure, with norms and rules," Vyacheslav Volodin said, speaking to parliament on Wednesday. "Do you see what is happening in the United States? The country is dying. They canceled everything."

"Where is their labor movement? Where is the socialist party? Where is the once strong Communist party? No. Just like in Ukraine, there is no free media. All the opposition media has been shut down."

Comment:

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Light Sabers

Russia rejects EU court's order to release convicted fraudster & opposition leader Navalny


Yahoo
Wed, 17 Feb 2021 15:30 UTC
Navalny
© Babuskinsky District Court Press Service via AP
In this photo taken from a footage provided by the Babuskinsky District Court Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gestures during a hearing on his charges for defamation in the Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow, Russia. Navalny is accused of defaming a World War II veteran who was featured in a video last year advertising constitutional amendments that allowed an extension of President Vladimir Putin's rule.
Europe's top human rights court has ordered Russia to release jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a ruling quickly rejected Wednesday by Russian authorities who are bent on isolating the Kremlin's most prominent foe.


Comment: A significant majority of Russian's do not support Navalny and they can see he's being used as a pawn by the West.


The decision by the European Court of Human Rights had demanded that Russia free Navalny immediately and warns that failing to do so would mark a breach of the European human rights convention.


Comment: The EU court doesn't seem as concerned about the rights of whistleblower Julian Assange currently being tortured in a British jail, nor about its own citizens petitioning for their release from lockdown: 'No legal basis': Court orders Dutch government to scrap coronavirus curfew - UPDATE: Not so fast!


Russia's justice minister dismissed the court's demand as "unfounded and unlawful."

Comment: For more on just who Navalny really is, see: Pro-western liberal, anti-migrant nationalist, or political opportunist: Who exactly is Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny?

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Broom

Psaki: Biden won't meet world leaders for 'a couple of months' following revelation Kamala is taking his phone calls

Andrew White
National File
Tue, 16 Feb 2021 18:31 UTC

Comment: We knew the situation was bad, but we didn't know it was THIS bad!


PSAKI
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admitted today that Joe Biden will not be meeting with world leaders in-person for "a couple of months."

This news comes after the revelation that Vice President Kamala Harris has assumed one of the traditional roles of the presidency, and has begun taking Head of State calls with foreign leaders on behalf of the President.

This news comes amid suspicions that Harris would be running the show throughout the duration of Biden's presidency due to the President's apparent cognitive decline. Harris has already had phone calls with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"It will be a couple of months before the President has an in-person or invites a foreign leader to meet in person here at the White House," said Psaki during a White House press conference.


Comment: A country's strength, purpose and integrity are often reflected in the leaders it promotes. Its growth or decline may be symbolically and literally understood through its representation.

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Bad Guys

National Guard may occupy Washington DC through the fall

Tristan Justice
The Federalist
Wed, 17 Feb 2021 18:27 UTC
capitol washington
© C Buisco / Flickr
As of Monday, about 6,000 troops remain in Washington D.C. occupying the nation's capital. According to Fox News, internal government communications show the occupation may last through the fall, as opposed to the currently public March end date.

According to one internal email shared with Fox News, the Pentagon's assistant secretary of defense, Robert Salesses, wrote:
If it's not possible to sustain at the current level the [National Guard] personnel, we need to establish the number of [National Guard] personnel ([D.C. National Guard] and out-of-state) we can sustain for an extended period - at least through Fall 2021 - and understand additional options for providing DoD support, to include use of reserve personnel, as well as active component.
The military occupation took its grip on Washington in response to the January riot when a horde of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building. No such show of military force was deployed in the aftermath of the militant Black Lives Matter riots that shook the city for days.

Fencing erected around the Capitol building for President Joe Biden's inauguration may now become permanent.

Comment: This is absolutely not an overreaction, and not a sign of creeping totalitarianism and election fragility on the part of the new administration. Biden's administration is unprecedented in the level of truth, transparency, and all-around goodness it is offering. Never before has an administration been so perfect, legitimate, and fighting for the will of "We The People."

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Bad Guys

Biden Administration: 'We don't know at this point' when life will 'return to normal' from lockdowns

Ryan Saavedra
The Daily Waire
Wed, 17 Feb 2021 17:41 UTC
Biden
© SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that the Biden administration does not know or have a timeline of when life is going to return to normal from the pandemic.

"The question of when we get some semblance of normalcy, that timeline also seems to be shifting," a reporter said to Psaki. "Dr. Fauci had said a sense of normalcy maybe in the fall, that's when you might be able to go to theaters, go to sporting events, still with masks, of course."

"Now, it seems that's being slid to early next year, the president said maybe around Christmas, what's going on here?" the reporter asked. "When do we think we will get back to some taste of normalcy?"

"Well, this is the question, as I'm sure is the case for all of you, that every neighbor, every friend, every family member asks, at least me in the street when I'm walking my dog in the morning," Psaki responded. "We want to be straight with the American public, though, it is — we are not in a place where we can predict exactly when everybody will feel normal again, and it has, there are a number of reasons."

Comment: Inconsistent and contradictory communication is a common theme found in many people's lives at different levels. Sandra Brown, author of Women Who Love Psychopaths provides some insight into crazy-making communication from the perspective a a woman involved in a relationship with a psychopath. It may apply in different ways to people's lives.
Crazy-Making Communication

How does all these communication malfunctions come together as a 'relational cluster butt kick?' How does it affect the actual interactive process of talking? The attempts at communication are crazy-making and will cause her to question her communication skills, how she views her ability to express herself, and eventually her sanity.
communication triangle
The triangle represents the roles the psychopath and her play in the communication process. Each of them moves around the triangle taking on different roles in the interchange. He is the wounded one while she plays the role of either liberating him or tormenting him. He may later shift and take on the role of liberator to her or tormenter to her. She in turn, might switch roles and become the wounded one. When one role shifts, it forces the other person into one of the other two remaining roles. Each shift shifts someone else.

These roles can shift moment by moment, sentence by sentence. One moment he acts as if she is the tormenter and in the next moment expected to liberate him. In the next argument he might aggressively be the tormenter and she, the wounded one. The same argument over the same topic only moments or days later could result in totally different roles by each of them. No consistency whatsoever is held and no resolution reached each time they enter into an attempt at communication.

Nowhere else in her life does she communicate this way. At work, she may hold a highly responsible position and communicate normally, without drama and crazy-making language. However, as soon as she enters into communication with him, the communication lapses into these three well-defined roles. Even when she attempts to communicate normally and utilize the skills she uses in everyday communication with others, the process still pulls her in and she is unable to communicate outside the three roles of Wounded One, Tormentor, or Liberator.

With the psychopath, communication is reduced to a very juvenile emotional age. He brings to this communication process other dysfunctional and aggravating behaviors which contribute to communication problems. For example:

- impulsivity

- splitting one person against the other

- knows-it-all so she can't contribute any new information

- lying

- drama

- manipulation

- juvenile decision-making skills

- changing subjects

- meaning/language differences

- blaming

- immature emotional age

- doesn't take responsibility for his behavior/choices

- abandonment issues and acts like a victim

- gaslighting

- projecting his behavior on others


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