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Brazil's Bolsonaro loses his bid to reform voting system

Marcelo Silva da Sousa
My Northwest
Wed, 11 Aug 2021 10:56 UTC
Bolsonaro
© Reuters
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
President Jair Bolsonaro has suffered a major defeat in Congress when Brazilian lawmakers rejected a proposal to require printed receipts at some electronic ballot boxes.

Without presenting any evidence, Bolsonaro has insisted Brazil's electronic voting system is prone to fraud, and that printouts would allow for auditing results. The proposed constitutional change needed 308 votes in order to pass, and received 229 Tuesday night.

The opposition, however, also fell short of reaching an overwhelming majority to rebuff the president's relentless efforts to undermine confidence in the voting system. Only 218 lawmakers voted against the measure.

Electoral authorities and even many of Bolsonaro's political allies opposed the proposal, saying the system is fully reliable and the change could create opportunities for vote buying. Critics contend Bolsonaro is trying to sow doubt among his passionate supporters about the 2022 election results, setting the stage for potential conflicts similar to those spawned by then U.S. President Donald Trump's allegations of fraud in the United States.
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US embassy: American citizens to leave Afghanistan IMMEDIATELY, right after Taliban claims to capture 2nd largest city


RT
Thu, 12 Aug 2021 17:43 UTC
Us embassy kabul afghanistan
© Getty Images / Paula Bronstein
US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan
Amid the whirlwind advance of the Taliban, the US embassy in Kabul has urged all American citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately, offering to loan them cash for plane tickets if necessary.

"The US Embassy urges US citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately using available commercial flight options," read a security alert from the diplomatic outpost on Thursday. The embassy offered loans to Americans unable to afford plane tickets home, and assistance with immigrant visas for foreign family members.

The alert went out shortly after the Taliban claimed to have captured Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city. Earlier, they claimed victory in the city of Ghazni, 150km (95 miles) from the capital. Ghazni is the 10th Afghan provincial capital to fall to the Taliban since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan began in May.

Comment: The U.S. is reprising its Vietnam withdrawal:

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Syringe

CDC recommends pregnant women get COVID-19 vaccine

Michael Erman
Reuters
Wed, 11 Aug 2021 17:45 UTC
pregnant woman
© Reuters/Hannah Beier
Pregnant women should be vaccinated against COVID-19, based on a new analysis that did not show increased risk for miscarriage, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

The CDC said it has found no safety concerns for pregnant people in either the new analysis or earlier studies. It said miscarriage rates after vaccination were similar to the expected rate. Pregnant women can receive any of the three vaccines given emergency authorization -- Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson.


Comment: Without long-term studies on the effects of the vaccine, it would be foolish for any pregnant woman to get a covid vaccine.


The agency had not previously recommended pregnant women get vaccinated but had said that they should discuss vaccination with their health care providers.

Comment: Soon they will be mandating that a child just out of its mother's womb be immediately vaccinated.

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Bullseye

Stop obsessing about Moscow & fix human rights violations in your own backyard, Russian embassy in Washington tells US State Dept

Jonny Tickle
RT
Thu, 12 Aug 2021 17:37 UTC
Russian Embassy in Washington, U.S.
© Reuters / Joshua Roberts
The Russian embassy in Washington has urged the US State Department to pay attention to the human rights situation at home instead of constantly criticizing Moscow, noting that America has enough problems to deal with itself.

On Thursday morning, the embassy's Twitter account called out the US State Department spokesman.

"[Ned Price] keeps criticizing Russia for assumed human rights violations. Meanwhile, it is high time the US drew its attention to the internal situation," the tweet said, including a link to an article posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website assessing the situation of human rights around the world.

The tweet came shortly after Price told journalists that the American authorities have been closely monitoring developments concerning the new charges against imprisoned opposition figure Alexey Navalny.
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Pistol

After 20 years, Pentagon still lacks control over hired guns

David Isenberg
Responsible Statecraft
Fri, 06 Aug 2021 00:00 UTC
soldier with gun
© Shutterstock/PRESSLAB
A new GAO report finds gaping holes in oversight in the military's unwieldy private security contractor biz.

One might reasonably assume that in the over 20 years since the 9/11 attacks, the Pentagon would have finally managed to figure out how to exercise effective supervision and control over its private military contractors.

You know, the hired guns in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, many of whom bubbled up to our consciousness with notorious war scandals in places like Fallujah and Nisour Square. In other words, the government should have established some sort of oversight strategy by now.

Reasonable perhaps. But wrong, according to a July 29 report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which said:
The Department of Defense (DOD) has been unable to comprehensively identify private security contractor (PSC) contracts and personnel supporting contingency, humanitarian, peace-keeping, or other similar operations.
That is GAO's genteel way of saying the government still doesn't have very good visibility into PSC activities.
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Map

Taliban's 'master plan' in Afghanistan: All roads lead to the battle for Kabul

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Tue, 10 Aug 2021 00:00 UTC
Afghan militia fighters
© AFP / Farshad Usyan
Afghan militia fighters keep watch at an outpost against Taliban insurgents at Charkint district in Balkh Province in June.
City after city has fallen from government to Taliban control but Afghanistan's end-game is still unclear

The ever-elusive Afghan "peace" process negotiations re-start this Wednesday in Doha via the extended troika - the US, Russia, China and Pakistan. The contrast with the accumulated facts on the ground could not be starker.

In a coordinated blitzkrieg, the Taliban have subdued no less than six Afghan provincial capitals in only four days. The central administration in Kabul will have a hard time defending its stability in Doha.

It gets worse. Ominously, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has all but buried the Doha process. He's already betting on civil war - from the weaponization of civilians in the main cities to widespread bribing of regional warlords, with the intent of building a "coalition of the willing" to fight the Taliban.

The capture of Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz province, was a major Taliban coup. Zaranj is the gateway for India's access to Afghanistan and further on to Central Asia via the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).

India paid for the construction of the highway linking the port of Chabahar in Iran - the key hub of India's faltering version of the New Silk Roads - to Zaranj.

At stake here is a vital Iran-Afghanistan border crossing cum Southwest/Central Asia transportation corridor. Yet now the Taliban control trade on the Afghan side. And Tehran has just closed the Iranian side. No one knows what happens next.
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Microscope 2

Remember this? Obama criticizes states' Ebola quarantine rules

Everett Rosenfeld
CNBC
Tue, 28 Oct 2014 16:13 UTC
obama ebola statement
The United States must continue to be a global leader in the fight against Ebola by supporting health workers traveling to West Africa, President Barack Obama said.

"America in the end is not defined by fear — that's not who we are," Obama said in a Tuesday address, critiquing some states' policies of forcing returning humanitarian workers into quarantine.

Comment: Oh how times have changed.



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Megaphone

'Delta variant can infect vaccinated, mass testing pointless, need to live with the virus', AstraZeneca lead scientist tells Britain's parliamentary group

Sarah Knapton
Sydney Morning Herald
Wed, 11 Aug 2021 12:07 UTC
Pollard

Sir Andrew Pollard thinks testing may soon only be used to diagnose COVID in someone with symptoms.
The Delta variant of COVID-19 has wrecked any chance of herd immunity, according to the Oxford scientist who led the AstraZeneca vaccine team, as he called for an end to mass testing so Britain could start to live with the virus.

Scientists who addressed Britain's all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus said it was time to accept that there is no way of stopping the virus spreading through the entire population, and monitoring people with mild symptoms was no longer helpful.

Professor Andrew Pollard, who led the Oxford vaccine team, said it was clear that the Delta variant can still infect people who have been vaccinated, which made herd immunity impossible to reach, even with Britain's high uptake.


Comment: Throughout history herd immunity has been achieved through mass infection, not through mass injections; moreover, it's likely that the experimental injections are in large part to blame for the rise in virulent variants.


Comment: That's an alarmingly wrong, and potentially deadly, comment from the paediatrician, because the data already shows that children, even those with multiple comorbidities, are at no risk from the coronavirus and its current variants, and there's increasing evidence showing that young people are more at risk of severe side effects from the experimental injections: See also: Police response times "under strain" because of staff shortages caused by "pingdemic," as NHS app calls for self-isolation

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Sheriff

Regime change efforts in Belarus have entered a stalemate. But Russia might be working towards an 'Armenian solution' for Minsk


RT
Wed, 11 Aug 2021 12:05 UTC
Putin Lukashenko
© Sputnik
FILE PHOTO. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko talk during their meeting, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Just one year on from Belarus' disputed presidential election, the tense situation in the country has ground into a stalemate between the government and opposition activists. The next move seems unclear even to the major players.

In the wake of the vote, activists failed to overthrow veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko, even though last fall it felt like another 'spring' revolution was inevitable. The contributing factors have been outlined repeatedly. First, the authorities opted for a ruthless crackdown and there was no noticeable discord among the security services organizing it. Secondly, Moscow offered support, sending a clear signal it would not tolerate a regime change in the country at present. Third, the response by the West was tepid - nothing compared to the overwhelming solidarity with protesters, backed up by material support, that we saw in Ukraine.

Comment: See also:

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Dig

Rep. Devin Nunes: AG Merrick Garland might try to bury Durham report

Martin Walsh
Conservative Brief
Tue, 10 Aug 2021 00:00 UTC
Nunes
© Doub Mills/Pool/Getty Images
Representative Devin Nunes
Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, argued a month ago that he expects Justice Department Special Counsel John Durham to release a "damaging report" on the FBI's failed investigation into Donald Trump's alleged ties with Russia.

Less than a month ago, Nunes asserted that prison sentences could fall on a number of former senior Obama officials.

Now, Nunes does not sound quite so confident the report will ever see the light of day.

In an interview with Newsmax, Nunes said Attorney General Merrick Garland "seems to be kind of a puppet for the Left" and questioned whether he'll "bury the report." Back in February during his confirmation hearing, Garland refused to definitively say that he would make Durham's final report available to the public.


Comment: Nunes is not the only one waiting...this report needs to make obvious the hidden agendas and those involved that set the stage to create the circumstances we are in today. It is all connected.

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