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Year 1 of Russiagate: What have we learned

Aaron Maté
The Nation
Fri, 09 Feb 2018 21:35 UTC
russiagate demonstration anti trump
© Associated Press / Steven Senne
Demonstrators called for an investigation into possible Russian involvement in the 2016 election, Boston, February 26, 2017.
The relentless pursuit of this narrative above all else has had dangerous consequences.

The publication of a House Republican memo alleging surveillance violations in the Russia probe has prompted President Trump to declare that he is "totally" vindicated. As many have pointed out, that is not true. While the memo makes a plausible case that a surveillance warrant of campaign volunteer Carter Page was obtained on questionable grounds, it also acknowledges that it was another campaign aide, George Papadopolous, who triggered the opening of the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation three months earlier. Whether or not Page should have been monitored in the first place, the status of his surveillance warrant will not be what resolves this investigation.

That said, the memo is not necessarily the disaster for Trump and the Republicans that it is widely considered to be. Many of Trump's political opponents remain tethered to the eventual emergence of proof that his campaign colluded with the Russian government in order to win the presidency. But the evidentiary basis so far for Russiagate is thin, to say the least. Meanwhile, the relentless pursuit of this narrative above all else has had dangerous consequences.
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Star of David

Polish adviser says Israel wants 'monopoly on the Holocaust'


Associated Press
Sat, 10 Feb 2018 00:01 UTC
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
© AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski
In this Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018 file photo, survivors and guests walk past the "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate at the former Nazi German concentration camp on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Oswiecim, Poland. An adviser to Poland’s president has said that Israel’s reaction to a law criminalizing some statements about Poland’s actions during World War II stems from a “feeling of shame at the passivity of the Jews during the Holocaust.” Andrzej Zybertowicz made the remark in an interview published Friday, Feb. 9 in the Polska-The Times newspaper. The law imposes prison terms of up to three years for falsely and intentionally attributing Nazi crimes to German-occupied Poland.
An adviser to Poland's president says he thinks Israel's negative reaction to a law criminalizing some statements about Poland's actions during World War II stemmed from a "feeling of shame at the passivity of the Jews during the Holocaust."

Andrzej Zybertowicz, a Nicolaus Copernicus University sociology professor who also serves as a presidential adviser, called Israel's opposition to the new law "anti-Polish" and said it shows the Mideast nation is "clearly fighting to keep the monopoly on the Holocaust."

"Many Jews engaged in denunciation, collaboration during the war. I think Israel has still not worked it through," Zybertowicz said in the interview in the Polska-The Times newspaper Friday.
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Airplane

Witnesses speak to RT from the scene of deadly plane crash


RT
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 21:50 UTC
antonov an-148
© Marina Lystseva / Sputnik

Seventy-one people died when a passenger plane crashed just minutes after take off from Moscow Domodedovo Airport. Emergency teams are working in heavy snowfall to access the crash site, RT's correspondent Murad Gazdiev reports.

The Antonov An-148, operated by Saratov Airlines, took off from Domodedovo for the city of Orsk in the Urals at around 14.21 local time, only to vanish from radar a few minutes later. Police set up a cordon around the crash site some 60 kilometers east of Moscow, stopping all vehicle access, even for locals. Making their way on foot, RT's crew and senior correspondent Murad Gazdiev got as close as possible to the scene of the crash.

Comment: 71 dead in Moscow passenger plane crash

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Birthday Cake

Man cheats death when he decides not to fly Saratov Airlines


RT
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 21:36 UTC
departure board
© Ilya Pitalev / Sputnik
Passengers are looking at an arrival and departure board at the Moscow Domodedovo airport on February 11, 2018.
A Russian man has cheated death - on his birthday. After deciding not to fly aboard the Saratov Airlines plane that crashed near Moscow on Sunday, Maksim Kolomeitsev says a chill ran down his spine when he heard the news.

Real estate agent Kolomeitsev was scheduled to travel home aboard the ill-fated Saratov Airlines Antonov An-148 jet that crashed near the Russian capital on Sunday, but a trivial turn of events made him change his plans - and saved his life.The man, who was born in the Russian city of Orsk where the Saratov Airlines flight was heading, but now lives in Sochi, had decided to celebrate his birthday with his family and friends in his hometown, and booked his seat aboard the doomed flight.

Comment: 71 dead in Moscow passenger plane crash

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Lemon

The Left's mindless backlash against the Jordan Peterson phenomenon

David Solway
PJ Media
Mon, 05 Feb 2018 20:39 UTC
Jordan Peterson
© Rene Johnston / Toronto Star/ File
Jordan Peterson giving a lecture at the University of Toronto last year. Peterson is the author of bestselling self-help book 12 Rules for Life.
When we had lunch together one afternoon a few months back, Canadian psychologist and university professor Jordan Peterson, who has risen to meteoric prominence for his courageous stand against political correctness and legally compelled speech, looked distressingly frail and was on a restricted diet prescribed by his physician. The ordeal the press and the University of Toronto's administration, which had threatened to discipline him for his refusal to accede to legislation forcing the use of invented pronouns, had obviously taken its toll. (Note: Peterson was willing to address individuals by their chosen pronouns, but was not willing to be forced to do so by law.)

Our conversation ranged over the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, C.G. Jung and Fyodor Dostoevsky, Peterson's chief secular resources, as well as the Book of Genesis, the Prophetic literature and the Gospel of John, Peterson's biblical lynchpins. His meditations on these texts have obviously struck a chord with his audience. From Nietzsche's complex web of ideas, he focuses on the notion of critical strength to combat cultural weakness and the primacy of the individual over the group. From Jung comes the theory of the hero archetype, the feral "shadow" component of the psyche which must be both acknowledged and mastered, and the "animus dominated" feminist on a quest for societal control. He elaborates on the political wisdom of Dostoevsky's novels The Devils and The Brothers Karamazov,and expands on a favorite quote from Notes from Underground, "You can say anything about world history. ... Except one thing. ... It cannot be said that world history is reasonable."
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Heart - Black

Two people killed after terrorists shell centers of Russian humanitarian aid in Damascus


Sputnik
Mon, 05 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC
Russian humanitarian aid Syria
Russia has repeatedly provided humanitarian assistance to Syrians in need amid the ongoing conflict in the country.

Centers of the distribution of humanitarian aid from Russia have come under shelling in the center of Damascus, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

According to a police officer at the site, two people have been killed and several others injured as a result of the attack.

One mortar exploded near the building of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Another shell landed near a temple of the Antiochian Orthodox Church. According to church representatives, there are wounded.

Comment: As Eva Bartlett writes, the US-backed terrorists have been intentionally targeting high-density civilian areas with mortars throughout the war. None of the areas hit are governmental or military sites so the attacks are just vengeful acts against the people of Damascus for not supporting them.

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Star of David

Israeli airstrikes in Syria - was it 'a dialogue by fire'?


RT
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 03:12 UTC
Israeli Helicopter
© RT.com
Israeli helicopter intercepts Iranian drone.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has pounded a dozen targets in Syria and one of its own fighter jets crashed under anti-aircraft fire, sparking fears it may wade deeper into the conflict. But is Israel really looking for a fight?

In the incident on Saturday morning, an Iranian drone allegedly crossed into Israeli territory where it was promptly shot down by an IDF helicopter. The Israeli Air Force then retaliated for the incursion by dispatching its fighter jets to hit government and Iranian targets in Syria, only for one of its F-16s to crash to the ground after coming under heavy anti-aircraft fire.

The Israeli military then launched another series of airstrikes, which a leading commander said was Israel's largest such operation since the 1982 Lebanese campaign.

On the face of it, it does look as though Israel may be wading into a battlefield which has already played host to a myriad of foreign actors. Brigadier General Hossein Salami of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps said his forces could create "hell for the Zionists," while the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern that Israeli involvement could throw the fragile Syrian peace process into jeopardy.


Comment: If Israel didn't want an escalation, it would not have entered Syrian air space and bombed both Syrian and Iranian targets. Israel's aggression hides behind narratives accusing the 'other guy.'

From Sputnik: (Propaganda alert!)
The United States considers the latest incident on the Israeli-Syrian border to be Iran's "calculated escalation" of tension, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Saturday.
"The United States is deeply concerned about today's escalation of violence over Israel's border and strongly supports Israel's sovereign right to defend itself. Iran's calculated escalation of threat and its ambition to project its power and dominance, places all the people of the‎ region - from Yemen to Lebanon - at risk.‎ The U.S. continues to push back on the totality of Iran's malign activities in the region and calls for an end to Iranian behavior that threatens peace and stability," Nauert said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Sputnik that the United States is concerned about "destabilizing activities" of Iran and supports Israel's right to defend itself.
"Israel is our closest security partner in the region and we fully support Israel's inherent right to defend itself against threats to its territory and its people. We share the concerns of many throughout the region that Iran's destabilizing activities that threaten international peace and security, and we seek greater international resolve in countering Iran's malign activities," Rankine-Galloway said. The spokesman stressed that the US Defense Department did not take part in this military operation.
From Haaretz:
IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Ronen Manelis said
"We identified an Iranian drone UAV which took off from Syrian territory. The drone was identified by IAF systems and was downed by an IAF helicopter.The Iranian drone fell in our territory and is in our possession."

"As part of the country's defenses, sirens were activated but there was no danger for the residents of Beit She'an. It was decided to attack the trailer from which the Iranians launched the UAV. This was a surgical action deep in Syria, target destroyed."

"This is a serious Iranian attack on Israeli territory. Iran is dragging the region into a situation in which it doesn't know how it will end. We are prepared for a variety of incidents...whoever is responsible for this incident is the one who will pay the price."


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Attention

Iranian security chief on Israel's latest strikes: Era of 'hit-and-run' is over


Sputnik
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 18:55 UTC
Israelitank
© Reuters/Ammar Awad
israeli tank overlooking Mazdal Shams in the Golan Heights
The Iranian security chief has commented on the Israeli airstrikes in Syria on February 10, which triggered retaliatory fire from Syrian air defense.

"The Syrian nation proved this time that it will respond to any act of aggression, as the era of hit and run is over," Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council told reporters in Tehran on Sunday, speaking on the sidelines of rallies marking the victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

The official went on by responding to Israel's Defense Forces' report of attacks against "additional Iranian targets in Syria," referring to an alleged Iranian drone in the area.

"The claim by the Zionists (that they have carried out sorties) to damage Iranian bases in Syria is a lie," Ali Shamkhani stated, adding that Iran had an "advisory, not a military presence" in Syria, the security official reiterated, denying Israeli allegations that its warplanes had scrambled in reaction to an Iranian drone.

Shamkhani explained that no forces would fly military jets to hit a drone.

Comment: RT reports Israel intercepted the drone by helicopter and Israel says it has it in its possession. Israel struck Syrian and Iran targets in Syria and a Syrian retaliation downed an Israeli jet that crashed in the Golan Heights. Perhaps this is an example of how information conforms to suit the teller. See also: Israeli airstrikes in Syria - was it 'a dialogue by fire'?

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Arrow Down

Pelosi underwhelms Dems with her Dreamers protest

Heather Caygle
Politico
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 10:36 UTC
Pelosi
© Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor Wednesday for a record-breaking eight hours, vowing to speak - and stand - until Republicans concede protections for so-called Dreamers. But for some members on both ends of her caucus who tuned in, the daylong protest did little to repair the fissure pitting lawmakers against one another on immigration and budget talks.

"There's all kinds of ways, I assure you, that leadership exercises its influence - the least of which is a floor speech," said Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), an unabashed critic of leadership on immigration issues.

Gutiérrez, one of the most vocal members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and who is retiring at the end of this year, has been torching House and Senate Democratic leadership all week over a bipartisan agreement to raise long-term funding levels for defense and domestic programs.

Though Pelosi participated in the negotiations that produced Wednesday's deal, she had the least leverage of all the leaders. That sway diminished even further after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) enthusiastically endorsed the deal. Pelosi could still rally her caucus to oppose the agreement, but at the very real risk of shutting down the government.
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Snakes in Suits

UN human rights chief: 'assault on democracy' in the Maldives


ABC News
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 11:01 UTC
Gayoom
© Deccan Chronicle
President Yameen Abdul Gayoom
The U.N. human rights chief on Wednesday called the declaration of a state of emergency in the Maldives and the resulting suspension of constitutional guarantees an "all-out assault on democracy."

Political turmoil has swept the Maldives since a surprise court ruling last week that ordered the release of jailed opposition leaders, including many of President Yameen Abdul Gayoom's main political rivals. He imposed a state of emergency on Monday.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said the restrictions "create a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of the president."

Maldives became a multiparty democracy 10 years ago but lost much of those gains after Yameen was elected in 2013. Zeid said in a statement issued by his office in Geneva that Yameen
"has, to put it bluntly, usurped the authority of the state's rule-of-law institutions and its ability to work independently from the executive." What is happening now, he said, "is tantamount to an all-out assault on democracy."
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