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Australian PM Morrison defends lockdown strategy as daily cases hit record

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison
© REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison looks on during a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in front of the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, June 15, 2021.
Australia will stick to its lockdown strategy against the coronavirus until at least 70% of its population is fully vaccinated, but after that it will have to start living with the virus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.

The country set a record with 914 infections, its highest daily figure, as the southern and eastern states of New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory remain under a strict lockdown.

"You can't live with lockdowns forever and at some point, you need to make that gear change, and that is done at 70%," Morrison said in a television interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corp's Insider program.

Comment: Australia has let the mask slip, going full fascist police state on the populace. Everyone should be paying attention, since there's little doubt this will be exported to other countries in the future.

See also:


Bullseye

Re the 'experts': It's time for a purge in nearly every sector

fauci hearing
© J. Scott Applewhite/Pool/AP Photo
Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci responds to accusations by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as he testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 20, 2021.
The United States' military mission in Afghanistan has collapsed in chaos and ignominy. The catastrophe has many parents. But surely "the experts" upon which our leader relied bear much blame.

They were the ones who often failed to comprehend the power of religious belief and the role pride in Islam played in the Taliban's unyielding commitment to victory. They were the ones who thought we could remake Afghanistan into a western liberal image. They were the ones who failed to comprehend the intractable tribal nature of Afghan society.

To say the least, Afghanistan has vividly exposed the utter stupidity of our vaunted foreign policy and national security experts. Our hapless Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, for example, assured us that Kabul would not fall from "Friday to Monday." He was right. It fell from Friday to Sunday.

Eye 2

Emmanuel Macron's Covid 'health pass' tyranny reveals the true extremism of globalist faux-centrism

macron
Macron was billed as the 'moderate candidate' in the 2017 French presidential election but there's nothing moderate about this authoritarian who has transformed France into a police state under the guise of countering a virus.

A few weeks ago, I was in the picturesque Suffolk coastal resort of Southwold. There is a large mural of the novelist George Orwell - who once lived there - at the entrance of the renovated pier. It couldn't have been a more appropriate moment to be reminded of the author of '1984' for, in 2021, we are truly living in Orwellian times. Almost everything we are being told is an inversion of the truth. Extreme policies are being enacted across much of the Western world by those claiming to be 'moderates', while those who oppose the removal of basic, inalienable human freedoms and making them conditional on taking a new-on-the-market vaccine, or proving one's 'health status', are the ones being labelled 'extremists' - and categorised by the elite's propagandists as either 'far-right' or 'hard-left'.

Nowhere is this better illustrated than in France.

It is now obligatory to present a 'Pass sanitaire' - proving you have been vaccinated or tested negative for Covid-19 or have recovered from the virus, to gain access to cafes, restaurants, health centres, libraries, department stores, long-distance trains and a whole host of public places. France has gone from a relatively free society to a 1940s-style 'Where are your papers?' state in an incredibly short time and without any proper parliamentary scrutiny or public debate. Macron the 'moderate' has turned into Macron the dictator.

Putin

Putin: Mandatory vaccination shouldn't be forced on anyone, people should just be encouraged to get jab instead

Putin
© Sputnik / Mikhail Voskresenskiy
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with members of the United Russia party to discuss its election platform in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for September 17-19, in Moscow, Russia.
Those who are reluctant or anxious about signing up for a Covid-19 vaccine should be encouraged and incentivized to roll up their sleeves, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, while railing against coercion and intimidation.

Speaking on Sunday as part of a meeting with members of the governing United Russia party, ahead of parliamentary elections next month, Putin paid tribute to those behind the immunization drive. "We need to do everything we can to overcome this pandemic," he said, "and the best tool we have in this fight is vaccination."

However, at the same time, the president insisted that there must be "no imposition" of jabs on the public, and that the rationale for signing up for doses to protect against Covid-19 "needs to be explained." According to Putin, "it is possible, and necessary, to create different kinds of incentives" in order to increase the number of people eager to be immunized, and these are preferable to tough rules and undue pressure.

Comment: As with the majority of leaders on the planet, it's difficult to know Putin's real thoughts on the manufactured Covid hysteria, because they're all clearly being leaned on by some incredible (if fallible) force, but, as of now, it would appear that he's at least taking the least draconian stance he can possibly take, particularly when compared with his Western counterparts:


Bullseye

'Situation in Kabul calm for eight days, no alternative to the Taliban' - Russian ambassador

Afghanistan kabul airport
© Shekib Rahmani/AP Photo
Hundreds of people gather near a US Air Force C-17 transport plane at a perimeter at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 16, 2021
Russia's Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov has said that he does not believe in the expansion of the radical Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) to other countries.

"I do not believe in it (the expansion - TASS). I do not believe that they will go [to other countries]. They have too much to do at home. The country is destroyed," he said on the YouTube channel Solovyev Live on Saturday when asked if expansion was part of the Taliban's plans.

The situation has been calm in Kabul for eight days, Russia's Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov said on the YouTube channel Solovyev Live on Saturday.

Comment: Al Jazeera provides more commentary from Ambassador Zhirnov:
Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov says the Taliban has made encouraging pledges and dismisses resistance efforts as doomed.

Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan has praised the conduct of the Taliban in the days since its takeover, saying there was no alternative to the hardline group and resistance to it would fail.

The comments on Friday by Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov reflect efforts by Russia to deepen already well-established ties with the Taliban while stopping short, for now, of recognising them as the legitimate rulers of a country Moscow tried and failed to control before the Soviet Union withdrew its last forces in 1989.

Russia wants to ensure that the instability in Afghanistan does not spill over into Central Asia, part of the former Soviet Union it regards as its own back yard, and that the region does not become a launchpad for other armed groups.

Speaking to Reuters news agency from Kabul by Zoom, Zhirnov said the security situation in the capital was much better than it was before the Taliban took control of it and spoke optimistically about the future.

"The mood in Kabul can be described as one of cautious hope," said Zhirnov.

"There was a bad regime which disappeared and people are hopeful. They say it can't be worse so it should be better. But this is another test for the Taliban to pass. After they restore order, they should start improving the socioeconomic situation," he said.

Zhirnov's comments contrast sharply with those of some Western politicians and rights activists who are deeply sceptical that the Taliban has moderated its violence towards those they see as incompatible with their nascent emirate governed by strict Islamic law.


Western politicians may be sceptical but they also had 18 months to prepare for their withdrawal knowing that the Kabul administration would fall and yet the only real chaos we see in Afghanistan is that caused by, and surrounding areas held by, the West: UK's Afghanistan evacuation plane empty amidst Kabul airport chaos, despite having '18 months to prepare'


Zhirnov said the facts on the ground had changed and the Taliban had made a set of encouraging pledges.


"We can't wave reality aside. They [the Taliban] are the de facto authorities. There is no alternative to the Taliban in Afghanistan," said Zhirnov.

The son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, one of the main leaders of Afghanistan's anti-Soviet resistance in the 1980s, has pledged to hold out against the Taliban from his stronghold in the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul.

Afghan First Vice President Amrullah Saleh has also said he is in Afghanistan and the "legitimate caretaker president" after President Ashraf Ghani fled.


Ousted president Ghani did a runner with 1 helicopter and 4 cars stuffed with cash.


Zhirnov said Saleh's declaration violated the constitution and that Panjshir-based attempts to resist the Taliban were doomed.

"They have no military prospects. There are not many people there. As far as we know they have 7,000 armed people. And they already have problems with fuel. They tried to fly a helicopter but they have no petrol and no supplies," he said.

Zhirnov also questioned the idea that all of the Afghans trying to flee the country were doing so because of the Taliban.

"Many people now see this situation ... as a possible ticket to a new life [in the West] and this may not be related to the Taliban," he said of the chaotic exodus.
For more on the situation in Afghanistan, check out SOTT radio's:



Footprints

Tony Blair calls US Afghanistan withdrawal 'imbecilic' - What, then, was the Bush-Blair invasion of 2001?

BushBlair
© Reuters/Win McNamee
Bush and Blair met in Washington to discuss the ongoing operations in Afghanistan, November 7, 2001.
Serial warmonger Tony Blair has blasted the US decision to pull out from Afghanistan, but history tells us the real madness was invading the unconquerable country in the first place.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair -aka 'The Blair Creature'- is not a happy bunny this Sunday, folks. He has said that the decision to withdraw western forces from Afghanistan was made "in obedience to an imbecilic slogan about ending the 'forever wars'." What he calls the US' 'abandonment' of Afghanistan was "tragic, dangerous and unnecessary."

In fact we could say the same about Tony Blair himself - and certainly the wars of choice he promoted.

Imbecilic? That's the perfect word to describe what happened in October 2001 when Afghanistan was invaded in response, we were told, to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, even though none of the terrorists were Afghan nationals.

Had Blair read just a little bit of history, he would have pursued an exclusively diplomatic path to try and get Osama Bin Laden handed over and not have been so keen to send in the troops.

Comment: History repeats. Afghanistan is the current lesson.


Briefcase

Soldiers fight back against military's upcoming vaccine mandate by filing lawsuit against the Pentagon

Dose prepping
© Kenny Holston/NYTimes
Dose prepping at Fort Bragg, as less than 50% offered the vaccine have accepted it.
The Department of Defense will require all U.S. military troops to take the COVID-19 vaccine by September 15th. The Associated Press earlier reported on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's memo. The AP reported that
"the deadline could be pushed up if the vaccine receives final FDA approval or infection rates continue to rise. I will not hesitate to act sooner or recommend a different course to the President if l feel the need to do so. To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force."
An Armed Forces member refusing to take the vaccine is subject to punishment under the U.C.M.J., the AP's report noted. The punishment for refusal to obey an order may escalate up to court martial.
"Some unvaccinated service members have suggested they'd get the shot once it's required, but others are flatly opposed."
Now, some of those 'flatly opposed' soldiers are filing a lawsuit in court against the coming military vaccination mandate. Those listed on the lawsuit as defendants are Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Health & Human Services Xavier Becerra, and Janet Woodock, Acting Commissioner of the Food & Drug Administration.

Comment: See also:




No Entry

Don't want Afghan militants in Russia, says Putin

Putin
© AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan would directly impact the security situation in Russia, while adding that he does not want Afghanistan militants arriving under the guise of refugees, local Russian media reported.

TASS news agency quoted Putin as saying:
"Does that mean that they can be sent without visas to those countries, to our neighbours, while they themselves (the West) don't want to take them without visas? Why is there such a humiliating approach to solving the problem?"
His remarks came days after Putin demanded the countries to stop interfering in Afghanistan, saying the west "must stop the irresponsible policy of imposing foreign values from abroad". The Russian president said he hoped the Taliban would "guarantee the security of locals and foreign diplomats" and that the country would not break apart after the withdrawal of US-led forces.

Arrow Up

Leaks suggest Durham probe is making progress

Durham
© US Department of Justice/AP
Federal prosecutor John Durham
Recent media reports point obliquely to significant developments in John Durham's special counsel investigation. He's using a grand jury to subpoena documents and witness testimony regarding the FBI's illegal spying operation against Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. And now stories in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post say Durham may be looking to make criminal charges against "lower-level FBI agents" as well as outside sources who passed false information to federal law enforcement.

If that's accurate, the latter category could include political operatives, foreign spies, big-name Beltway lawyers, journalists, and computer experts. But current and former government officials say the reports seem intended to shape the narrative on behalf of those Durham may really have in his crosshairs — senior FBI officials, including former Acting Director Andrew McCabe.

Since the November election, I've expressed skepticism regarding Durham's investigation. Without Durham's former boss Attorney General William Barr holding anyone accountable before the 2020 vote, there was nothing stopping the FBI and other federal agencies from continuing to interfere in elections on behalf of their preferred candidates. There was also nothing ensuring that Durham would be allowed to continue his probe with a Trump loss.

Briefcase

FTC files another antitrust lawsuit against Facebook

Facebook/Apps
© Android Police/KJN
Splitting up?
The Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 on Wednesday to file a new antitrust complaint against Facebook, after a federal judge dismissed its previous complaint in June. FTC Chair Lina Khan, along with her two fellow Democratic colleagues, voted in favor of filing the complaint, while the two Republicans opposed it, Politico reported.

The goal of the lawsuit is to make Facebook sell off Instagram and WhatsApp, which would be the first court-ordered, antitrust breakup of a company since the 1980s with AT&T.

Facebook attempted to get Khan recused from the case, as she had previously worked on a 2020 House Judiciary Committee antitrust probe regarding online market competition. But the FTC's Office of General Counsel denied Facebook's petition, saying, "As the case will be prosecuted before a federal judge, the appropriate constitutional due process protections will be provided to the company."

The social media company criticized the FTC's lawsuit. Facebook spokesperson Christopher Sgro said in a statement:
"There was no valid claim that Facebook was a monopolist — and that has not changed. Our acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were reviewed and cleared many years ago, and our platform policies were lawful. The FTC's claims are an effort to rewrite antitrust laws and upend settled expectations of merger review, declaring to the business community that no sale is ever final."
The FTC's initial complaint was filed in December, claiming that Facebook either buys or buries its competitors, meaning if it is unable to buy them, then it would effectively make them noncompetitive.

Comment: When influence outweighs commerce, it is beyond time to change the system. It is no longer a commodity nor service; it is leverage.

See also: