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'Enough is enough': Iran calls on world community to force Israel to destroy its nukes

Ilya Tsukanov
Sputnik
Sat, 03 Oct 2020 17:06 UTC
Shavit
© CC BY-SA 3.0 / טל ענבר / Shavit 3rd stage
Tehran and Tel Aviv have engaged in a years-long debate about one another's nuclear intentions, with Israeli officials accusing the Islamic Republic of trying to build up a nuclear arsenal to attack Israel, and Iran countering by pointing out that the Jewish State is the only nation in the Middle East which actually already has nuclear weapons.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has appealed to the international community to pressure Israel to join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and eliminate its stockpile of nukes.
"The international community must compel Israel - which has aggression in its very DNA - to promptly accede to the NPT and destroy its nuclear arsenal," Zarif said, speaking in a pre-recorded virtual address to the UN on Friday.

Comment: It's likely that Iran has a nuke, but history has shown us that those running Israel are the ones who would be most likely use theirs:

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NPC

Not the 'Bee' (really!): Dem senator says Covid-19 won't stop Trump because his real campaign surrogate, PUTIN, will 'ramp up' activities to compensate


RT
Fri, 02 Oct 2020 19:24 UTC
Democrat Senator Chris Murphy

Connecticut Democrat Senator Chris Murphy goes over the edge with TDS
A Democratic senator has declared President Donald Trump's recently-revealed positive coronavirus test will barely be a stumbling block to his re-election, insisting his alleged Russian puppet master Vladimir Putin will step in.

The Russians are going to take up the slack in promoting the president's re-election as Trump retreats into quarantine, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy told CNN on Friday, claiming the Kremlin would "increase the pace of interference operations" to cover for the president's expected retreat from the campaign trail.

"The Russians have learned" from 2016's never-proven election-meddling activity, Murphy warned, suggesting "They are now trying to use US persons and fake websites in order to proffer a narrative that helps President Trump's reelection."

Comment: RT came in for a little Russia-bashing too, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:
The mere act of reporting that Democratic voters are worried about presidential candidate Joe Biden catching the coronavirus - after President Donald Trump tested positive - apparently amounts to Russian meddling in US elections.

"Russian state media is amplifying concerns that Trump could have exposed Joe Biden to coronavirus at the debate," wrote Dustin Volz of the Wall Street Journal on Friday.


"Public health experts have said this scenario is unlikely," Volz notes, adding that US intelligence agencies have "assessed Russia is interfering in the election to harm Biden's campaign."

The actual story Volz was tweeting about simply reported on the concerns shared on social media by a number of prominent Democrats.

Does that make comedian Kumail Nanjiani or actress Patricia Arquette "Russian assets"? If so, NYT contributor Wajahat Ali is certainly KGB, and former US ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul has finally been unmasked as a sleeper agent of the Kremlin!

In its article, RT quoted actual people who were concerned about Biden's health. About an hour later, ABC News merely asserted that "new concerns surfaced" that Trump may have exposed Biden to Covid-19 during the debate on Tuesday, no sources provided. By the Wall Street Journal reporter's logic, apparently that would mean ABC is run by Russian President Vladimir Putin personally. Those are the rules.


Volz, whose Twitter bio notes he writes "about a lot of three-letter agencies" (which means spies), feels the need to highlight a US intelligence "assessment" alleging Russian interference in the 2020 election.

That's a strange thing to amplify in this context, given that a similar "assessment" said the same thing back in 2017 and also had an obsession with RT. That assessment then fueled the evidence-free 'Russiagate' conspiracy theory, which has since been repeatedly debunked - except in the minds of US journalists embedded with "three-letter agencies," obviously.


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Attention

President Trump and first lady test 'positive' for The Covid - UPDATES

Zeke Miller and Jill Colvin
Associated Press
Fri, 02 Oct 2020 05:40 UTC

Comment: Whatever is going on here, the timing - weeks before Trump's likely re-election - is strange...


Donald Melania Trump
© AP Photo/Julio Cortez
President Donald Trump stands on stage with first lady Melania Trump after the first presidential debate with Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president tweeted early Friday.

Trump's positive test comes just hours after the White House announced that senior aide Hope Hicks came down with the virus after traveling with the president several times this week. Trump was last seen by reporters returning to the White House on Thursday evening and looked to be in good health. Trump is 74 years old, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has now killed more than 200,000 people nationwide.

"Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!" Trump tweeted.


Trump announced late Thursday that he and first lady Melania Trump were beginning a "quarantine process" after Hicks came down with the virus, though it wasn't clear what that entailed. It can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test.

The diagnosis marks a major blow for a president who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them even as cases continue to rise with four weeks before Election Day. And it stands as the most serious known public health scare encountered by any sitting American president in recent history.

Comment: Trump is reportedly experiencing 'mild' symptoms. Pence and his wife have tested negative, but RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel reportedly tested positive on Wednesday. Stocks slumped after the announcement about Trump.

Biden and Jill are reportedly 'praying' for Trump and Melania's health and safety - very presidential, very fake. Many are now worried that Trump gave Biden Covid during the debate:



Putin also wished the Trumps a swift recovery, saying: "I'm sure your vitality, strong spirit and optimism will help you beat this dangerous virus." The Sputnik V vaccine creators offered their vaccine to the White House staff.

UPDATE: Trump is reportedly fatigued but in good spirits, and has been treated with the "Regeneron polyclonal antibody cocktail and several supplements." Melania has a cough and a headache, but the rest of the family has tested negative. Trump will be flown to Walter Reed for a few days as a "precautionary measure." The campaign has shifted to "virtual mode" while Pence has assumed more White House duties.

Rachel Maddow had the decency to pray for the President and First Lady, only to be blasted by her audience.

Pelosi discussed continuity of government plans and discussion with the military on MSNBC:


Biden tested negative today, for what it's worth.

UPDATE: Now at Walter Reed, Trump is "doing very well", according to his doctor, but notes that the Covid hasn't yet entered the inflammatory phase (assuming Trump even becomes symptomatic). He says Trump hasn't needed supplemental oxygen, and has started a course of Remdesivir antiviral therapy.

Senators Thom Tillis and Mike Lee, along with Kellyanne Conway, are the latest to have tested positive. (So far no one seems to be showing any actual symptoms besides a mild cough, unsurprisingly.) Also Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien.

Also unsurprisingly, Democrats are happy to see Trump get Covid, according to a new poll. It's more than that, of course. For example (more at the linked article):


Twitter says it will remove posts calling for the death of Trump. (So far, many of the examples linked to above are still up, however. For another large collection of such tweets, go here.)

Update: Trump's doctor has had to clarify his clarification of the time of Trump's test, and whether or not he has needed oxygen: "The president was first diagnosed with Covid-19 on the evening of Thursday, October 1st and had received Regeneron's antibody cocktail on Friday, October 2nd." While saying he hadn't needed oxygen today, he dodged the question of whether he had needed oxygen at any point. Trump's chief of staff had revealed that his condition was "very concerning". Oh, and Chris Christie (who helped Trump prepare for the debate) also has the Covid, and has checked himself into a hospital as a precaution.

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Attention

'What could go wrong?' Former FBI assistant director suggests bipartisan committee 'vet candidates' to prevent another Trump


RT
Thu, 01 Oct 2020 20:16 UTC
Trump rally
© Reuters/Lucas Jackson
Frank Figliuzzi, former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, says a President Trump "can't happen again," so a "bipartisan committee," rather than voters, should "vet" and approve future candidates.

Figliuzzi, who worked under Robert Mueller at the FBI, made it clear during a Thursday appearance on MSNBC he buys into conspiracy theories about Donald Trump being influenced by the Russian government, calling him "the most vulnerable president in history."

Vaguely mentioning various business dealings the president had previously had with foreign companies, the current NBC News national security contributor said the US needs to have a "national discussion" to avoid another Trump.

"We've got to have a national discussion about how we vet a presidential candidate. We screwed this up," he said.

The NBC contributor suggests a "bipartisan committee" that would require tax returns and personal financial information to be handed over before a candidate can be approved. "We got this wrong, and this can't happen again," he said of Trump.


Comment: If Trump was the 'most vulnerable' he wouldn't still be Prez! If he truly is, then he is assuredly the most 'clean' of recent occupiers of the Oval Office. Tax returns remain the standing assault. Everything else thrown at Trump by the Democratic party has melted into a puddle. Their feet? Soaking wet last time we checked!

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Arrow Down

Biden & Dems slammed as hypocrites for resuming in-person canvassing despite criticizing Trump for doing so during Covid-19


RT
Fri, 02 Oct 2020 00:39 UTC
Biden supporters
© Reuters/Mike Segar
Joe Biden's campaign is facing criticism for now focusing on in-person canvassing after spending months avoiding it and criticizing Donald Trump's campaign for holding events during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said Thursday:
"We're now expanding on our strategy in a targeted way that puts the safety of communities first and foremost and helps us mobilize voters who are harder to reach by phone now that we're in the final stretch."
The strategy will focus on multiple swing states with several hundred volunteers canvassing in states like Nevada, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

She is one of many Biden campaign and Democrat Party officials whose past comments are now revealing a 'flip-flop' of sorts on the issue of in-person campaigning in 2020, which the Trump campaign has been doing for months.

Comment: Hypocritters! We should expect logic and equality in an otherwise controversial, contested and nasty presidential campaign? Dream on!

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Bullseye

Meet the Biden-supporting general deploying military grade information warfare tools against Trump supporters


Revolver News
Thu, 01 Oct 2020 00:00 UTC
McCrystal
© Unknown
General Stanley McChrystal
General Stanley McChrystal delighted the left and the war-loving neoconservatives today by joining his name to the ranks of military-industrial complex "national security" professionals supporting Joe Biden.

This development should not be surprising. While Trump enjoys overwhelming support from the military rank and file, the brass has been largely corrupted for some time. As the President himself pointed out, many of the generals and national security bigwigs have their fortunes tied to the continuation of precisely the never-ending war policies that Trump successfully ran against in 2016.
General Stanley McChrystal is a certified military brass swamp creature deep in the bowels of the military-industrial complex. His specific business ventures are disturbing, even by swamp standards. According to a Fox News report, General McChrystal was involved in a venture that aimed to redeploy information warfare tools-originally designed to combat ISIS-against Trump supporters. From Fox News:

Comment: A McChrystal conspiracy in the offing...? Rolling Stone magazine called McChrystal "The Runaway General" and others deem him a psychopath.

See also:

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Beaker

Blame Kadyrov? Chechen boss asks Navalny why he wasn't accused of poisoning, instead of 'ridiculous' accusations against Putin

Johnny Tickle
RT
Sat, 03 Oct 2020 15:26 UTC
Kadyrov
© Reuters/Sputnik
Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov
Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has told opposition figure Alexey Navalny to blame him for his alleged poisoning, claiming that it is "more convincing and plausible" than the accusation thrown at Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Writing on Telegram, Kadyrov accused Navalny of blaming Putin "without any evidence." The opposition figure told German magazine Der Spiegel that he believes Putin organized the alleged Novichok attack, saying that he has "no other explanation for what happened." According to Kadyrov, this accusation is "ridiculous."
"Thanks to Putin, there's a tolerant attitude toward the opposition in the country...If there were an eccentric head of state, all the radical opposition scum would have been thrown out of the country long ago with far-fetched excuses."
According to Kadyrov, Navalny is:
"a toy in the hands of those who want the collapse of Russia. Why didn't you name me, Kadyrov, as the culprit or the customer [of the poisoning], to make it more convincing and plausible? At least it wouldn't look as ridiculous."
Following the opposition figure's interview with Der Spiegel, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called him a "shameless scoundrel," declaring that Putin had saved his life.

Comment: See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Facebook, Twitter, Google CEOs will testify before U.S. Senate committee

David Shepardson, Nandita Bose
Reuters
Fri, 02 Oct 2020 07:09 UTC
Twitter/Facebook/Google
© Twitter/Facebook/Google/KJN
The chief executives of Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet-owned Google have agreed to voluntarily testify at a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee on Oct. 28 about a key law protecting internet companies.

Facebook and Twitter confirmed on Friday that their CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, respectively, will appear, while a source said that Google's Sundar Pichai will appear. That came a day after the committee unanimously voted to approve a plan to subpoena the three CEOs to appear before the panel.

Twitter's Dorsey tweeted on Friday that the hearing "must be constructive & focused on what matters most to the American people: how we work together to protect elections."

The CEOs are to appear virtually.

In addition to discussions on reforming the law called Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects internet companies from liability over content posted by users, the hearing will bring up issues about consumer privacy and media consolidation.

Republican President Donald Trump has made holding tech companies accountable for allegedly stifling conservative voices a theme of his administration. As a result, calls for a reform of Section 230 have been intensifying ahead of the Nov. 3 elections, but there is little chance of approval by Congress this year.

Comment: See also:

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Handcuffs

Arrest of Hamas co-founder by Israeli security forces denounced as attempt to undermine Palestinian reconciliation


RT
Fri, 02 Oct 2020 17:40 UTC
Sheikh Hassan Youssef
© AFP/Abbas Momani
Sheikh Hassan Youssef
Israeli security forces have arrested senior Hamas leader Hassan Youssef. The two rival Palestinian groups, Hamas and Fatah, have both condemned the move as being politically-charged and a bid to ruin their reconciliation talks.

Youssef was taken at his home in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning. While Israeli authorities have not provided any official information about the move, local media reported that the Hamas co-founder was detained over alleged "renewed" activity by the group.

After helping to found Hamas in the late 1980s, Youssef was repeatedly arrested by the Israeli authorities and spent years behind bars. Hamas has always maintained he was only involved in its political activities, and not associated with its military wing. His arrest was condemned by both Hamas and its rival, Fatah. Hamas claimed the arrest was a politically-motivated move, designed to destabilize the ongoing reconciliation process between the two groups.
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Star of David

Israeli tourism minister resigns to protest Netanyahu lockdown policies


Yahoo! News
Sat, 03 Oct 2020 17:46 UTC
Asaf Zamir Israel tourism minister
© Israel Knesset
Asaf Zamir, Israel's Tourism Minister
Israel's tourism minister resigned from the fractious government Friday, saying he doesn't have an "ounce of trust" in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accusing him of putting his personal and legal issues ahead of the response to the coronavirus crisis.

Asaf Zamir is a member of the centrist Blue and White Party, which battled Netanyahu's right-wing Likud in three stalemated elections in under a year before forming an emergency government with it in May to combat the pandemic.

Israel went into a second nationwide lockdown last month and is now grappling with one of the worst outbreaks in the world on a per capita basis. The emergency government has been roiled by infighting and has faced widespread criticism over its confusing and often contradictory response to the pandemic.

Comment: 'Pandemic' or no, the Palestinians continue to suffer:

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