veteranstoday--2020-09-07--Will Trump Pardon Snowden and Assange if Relected?

Speculations about a presidential pardon for the whistleblower Edward Snowden , who leaked National Security Agency ’ s classified information to the press in 2013 , have grown since last month after Donald Trump commented on the case in an interview [ 1 ] with The New York Post on August 13 .
“ There are a lot of people that think that he is not being treated fairly , ” Trump said in the interview , “ I mean , I hear that.
” At another occasion , during a news conference at his golf club in Bedminster , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There are many , many people — it seems to be a split decision — many people think that he should somehow be treated differently and other people think he did very bad things , I ’ m going to take a very good look at it.
” What lends credence to the speculations that Edward Snowden could be granted a presidential pardon is the fact that a US Court of Appeals held the National Security Agency ’ s ( NSA ) program , leaked by Snowden , illegal last week [ 2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any wrongdoing .
Top US intelligence officials had publicly insisted the NSA had never knowingly collected data from private phone records , until Snowden exposed evidence to the contrary in 2013 .
Following the revelation , officials said the NSA ’ s surveillance program had played a crucial role in fighting domestic terrorism , including the convictions of Basaaly Saeed Moalin , Ahmed Nasir Taalil Mohamud , Mohamed Mohamud , and Issa Doreh , of San Diego , for providing aid to al-Shabab militants in Somalia .
But on Wednesday , September 2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claims were “ inconsistent with the contents of the classified records ” and the program had violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act .
The ruling , however , will not affect the 2013 convictions of the financiers of the al-Shabab militants .
Following the court ruling , Edward Snowden felt vindicated and jubilantly tweeted : “ I never imagined that I would live to see our courts condemn the NSA ’ s activities as unlawful , and in the same ruling , credit me for exposing them , and yet that day has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Julian Assange is more complicated since after serving a 50-week sentence for skipping bail , he is being kept in the high-security Belmarsh prison where his health is deteriorating .
He appeared before the British Old Bailey Court today , September 7 , for the hearing of a US extradition request , where fresh charges were brought against him .
He had already been indicted by a grand jury in the US on 18 counts of violating Espionage Act and could serve up to 175 years in prison if convicted .
Nevertheless , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wikileaks for exposing the lies and deceits of Hillary Clinton , when she served as then-President Obama ’ s Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 , in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential elections .
In fact , in a November 2018 article titled “ Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy ” [ 3 ] by the Guardian newspaper , the author of the report Luke Harding alleged that Donald Trump ’ s former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in March 2016 , and was offered pardon in exchange for helping Trump campaign defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential elections .
It bears mentioning that unlike dyed-in-the-wool globalists and interventionist hawks , such as Barack Obama , Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton , who can not look past beyond the tunnel vision of political establishments , it seems that pacifist and non-interventionist Donald Trump not only follows news from conservative mainstream outlets , like the Fox News , but is also familiar with alternative news perspectives , such as Breitbart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to alt-right American libertarian movement .
The biggest hurdle in pardoning the whistleblowers and pursuing a non-interventionist foreign policy to appease Trump ’ s alt-right electoral base has been the American deep state , led by the State and Defense department bureaucracies .
Regarding the foreign policy , a clear schism between the White House and the American deep state , led by the Pentagon and the State Department , was evident throughout Trump ’ s four-year tenure .
After being elected as the US president in January 2017 , Donald Trump delegated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s conflict zones , such as Afghanistan , Iraq and Syria , to the Pentagon .
Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis and former National Security Advisor H.R .
McMaster represented the institutional logic of the deep state in the Trump administration and were instrumental in advising Donald Trump to escalate the conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria .
They advised Trump to substantially increase the number of American troops deployed in Afghanistan , and in Syria , they were in favor of the Pentagon ’ s policy of training and arming 30,000 Kurdish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ northern borders along Turkey .
Both the decisions backfired on the Trump administration .
The decision to train and arm 30,000 Kurdish border guards infuriated the Erdogan administration to the extent that Turkey mounted Operation Olive Branch in the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin in northwest Syria lasting from January to March 2018 .
It was the second military operation conducted by the Turkish armed forces and their Syrian militant proxies against the Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria .
The first Operation Euphrates Shield in Jarabulus and Azaz in northern Syria lasted from August @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the foiled coup plot against the Erdogan administration in July 2016 .
Nevertheless , after capturing Afrin in March 2018 , the Turkish armed forces and their Syrian jihadist proxies mounted Operation Peace Spring in October 2019 and occupied a 30 kilometers deep stretch of land between Tal Abyad and Ain Issa in northeast Syria .
Thus , it didn ’ t come as a surprise that Trump replaced H.R .
McMaster with John Bolton as National Security Advisor in April 2018 and Bolton too was sacked in September last year .
Similarly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tendered his resignation in December 2018 over President Trump ’ s announcement of withdrawal of American troops from Syria following the defeat of the Republican Party candidates in the US midterm elections in November 2018 .
In fact , Trump ’ s entire national security team remained a liability for him during his tenure as president , hampering his efforts to disengage from global conflicts .
Nevertheless , he has grown more confident and assertive in the last year of his presidency .
In July , the Trump administration announced plans to withdraw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to cut funding for the Pentagon ’ s European Deterrence Initiative , though the main factor that prompted Trump to pull out American forces from Germany was German Chancellor Angela Merkel ’ s refusal to attend G-7 summit in person due to coronavirus outbreak .
The summit was scheduled to be held at Camp David on June 10 but was cancelled .
About half of the troops withdrawn from Germany were re-deployed in Europe , mainly in Italy and Poland , and the rest returned to the US .
Besides withdrawing 12,000 troops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also pledged to scale down American troop presence in Afghanistan after reaching a peace deal with the Taliban on February 29 .
The United States currently has about 8,600 troops in Afghanistan , and plans to cut its troop levels in Afghanistan to “ a number less than 5,000 ” by the end of November , Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced in August , before the complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan by April next year , as stipulated by the terms of the peace pact reached with the Taliban at Doha @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mosul and Anbar from the Islamic State in Iraq in July 2017 and Raqqa in Syria in October 2017 , the Trump administration has decided [ 4 ] to reduce the number of American troops deployed in Iraq from current 5,200 to 3,500 troops in the next three months .
Similarly , before the evacuation of 1,000 American troops from northern Syria last year , the Pentagon had 2,000 US forces in Syria .
After the drawdown of US troops at Erdogan ’ s insistence in order for Ankara to mount a ground @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has still deployed around 1,000 troops , mainly in oil-rich eastern Deir al-Zor province and at al-Tanf military base .
Al-Tanf military base is strategically located in southeastern Syria on the border between Syria , Iraq and Jordan , and it straddles on a critically important Damascus-Baghdad highway , which serves as a lifeline for Damascus .
Washington has illegally occupied 55-kilometer area around al-Tanf since 2016 , and several hundred US Marines have trained thousands of Syrian militants in the military base battling the Syrian government .
It ’ s pertinent to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State , the purpose of continued presence of the US forces at al-Tanf military base is to address Israel ’ s concerns regarding the expansion of Iran ’ s influence in Iraq , Syria and Lebanon .
[ 1 ] Trump Says He ’ ll Look Into a Pardon for Edward Snowden : [ 4 ] US to reduce number of troops in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,500 in next three months .
Nauman Sadiq is an Islamabad-based attorney , columnist and geopolitical analyst focused on the politics of Af-Pak and Middle East @ @ @ @ @ @

By Nauman Sadiq for VT
Speculations about a presidential pardon for the whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked National Security Agency’s classified information to the press in 2013, have grown since last month after Donald Trump commented on the case in an interview [1] with The New York Post on August 13.
“There are a lot of people that think that he is not being treated fairly,” Trump said in the interview, “I mean, I hear that.”
At another occasion, during a news conference at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump said: “There are many, many people — it seems to be a split decision — many people think that he should somehow be treated differently and other people think he did very bad things, I’m going to take a very good look at it.”
What lends credence to the speculations that Edward Snowden could be granted a presidential pardon is the fact that a US Court of Appeals held the National Security Agency’s (NSA) program, leaked by Snowden, illegal last week [2], thus implicitly acquitting Snowden of any wrongdoing.
Top US intelligence officials had publicly insisted the NSA had never knowingly collected data from private phone records, until Snowden exposed evidence to the contrary in 2013.
Following the revelation, officials said the NSA’s surveillance program had played a crucial role in fighting domestic terrorism, including the convictions of Basaaly Saeed Moalin, Ahmed Nasir Taalil Mohamud, Mohamed Mohamud, and Issa Doreh, of San Diego, for providing aid to al-Shabab militants in Somalia.
But on Wednesday, September 2, the Court of Appeals said the claims were “inconsistent with the contents of the classified records” and the program had violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The ruling, however, will not affect the 2013 convictions of the financiers of the al-Shabab militants.
Following the court ruling, Edward Snowden felt vindicated and jubilantly tweeted: “I never imagined that I would live to see our courts condemn the NSA’s activities as unlawful, and in the same ruling, credit me for exposing them, and yet that day has arrived.”
The case of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is more complicated since after serving a 50-week sentence for skipping bail, he is being kept in the high-security Belmarsh prison where his health is deteriorating. He appeared before the British Old Bailey Court today, September 7, for the hearing of a US extradition request, where fresh charges were brought against him. He had already been indicted by a grand jury in the US on 18 counts of violating Espionage Act and could serve up to 175 years in prison if convicted.
Nevertheless, Donald Trump is personally indebted to the Wikileaks for exposing the lies and deceits of Hillary Clinton, when she served as then-President Obama’s Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential elections.
In fact, in a November 2018 article titled “Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy” [3] by the Guardian newspaper, the author of the report Luke Harding alleged that Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2013, 2015 and in March 2016, and was offered pardon in exchange for helping Trump campaign defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential elections.
It bears mentioning that unlike dyed-in-the-wool globalists and interventionist hawks, such as Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, who cannot look past beyond the tunnel vision of political establishments, it seems that pacifist and non-interventionist Donald Trump not only follows news from conservative mainstream outlets, like the Fox News, but is also familiar with alternative news perspectives, such as Breitbart and New York Post, though belonging to alt-right American libertarian movement.
The biggest hurdle in pardoning the whistleblowers and pursuing a non-interventionist foreign policy to appease Trump’s alt-right electoral base has been the American deep state, led by the State and Defense department bureaucracies.
Regarding the foreign policy, a clear schism between the White House and the American deep state, led by the Pentagon and the State Department, was evident throughout Trump’s four-year tenure. After being elected as the US president in January 2017, Donald Trump delegated operational-level decisions in the Middle East’s conflict zones, such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, to the Pentagon.
Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis and former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster represented the institutional logic of the deep state in the Trump administration and were instrumental in advising Donald Trump to escalate the conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria.
They advised Trump to substantially increase the number of American troops deployed in Afghanistan, and in Syria, they were in favor of the Pentagon’s policy of training and arming 30,000 Kurdish border guards to patrol Syria’s northern borders along Turkey.
Both the decisions backfired on the Trump administration. The decision to train and arm 30,000 Kurdish border guards infuriated the Erdogan administration to the extent that Turkey mounted Operation Olive Branch in the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin in northwest Syria lasting from January to March 2018.
It was the second military operation conducted by the Turkish armed forces and their Syrian militant proxies against the Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria. The first Operation Euphrates Shield in Jarabulus and Azaz in northern Syria lasted from August 2016 to March 2017, immediately after the foiled coup plot against the Erdogan administration in July 2016.
Nevertheless, after capturing Afrin in March 2018, the Turkish armed forces and their Syrian jihadist proxies mounted Operation Peace Spring in October 2019 and occupied a 30 kilometers deep stretch of land between Tal Abyad and Ain Issa in northeast Syria.
Thus, it didn’t come as a surprise that Trump replaced H.R. McMaster with John Bolton as National Security Advisor in April 2018 and Bolton too was sacked in September last year. Similarly, Secretary of Defense James Mattis also tendered his resignation in December 2018 over President Trump’s announcement of withdrawal of American troops from Syria following the defeat of the Republican Party candidates in the US midterm elections in November 2018.
In fact, Trump’s entire national security team remained a liability for him during his tenure as president, hampering his efforts to disengage from global conflicts. Nevertheless, he has grown more confident and assertive in the last year of his presidency.
In July, the Trump administration announced plans to withdraw 12,000 American troops from Germany and sought to cut funding for the Pentagon’s European Deterrence Initiative, though the main factor that prompted Trump to pull out American forces from Germany was German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refusal to attend G-7 summit in person due to coronavirus outbreak. The summit was scheduled to be held at Camp David on June 10 but was cancelled. About half of the troops withdrawn from Germany were re-deployed in Europe, mainly in Italy and Poland, and the rest returned to the US.
Besides withdrawing 12,000 troops from Germany, the Trump administration has also pledged to scale down American troop presence in Afghanistan after reaching a peace deal with the Taliban on February 29. The United States currently has about 8,600 troops in Afghanistan, and plans to cut its troop levels in Afghanistan to “a number less than 5,000” by the end of November, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced in August, before the complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan by April next year, as stipulated by the terms of the peace pact reached with the Taliban at Doha, Qatar.
Finally, after liberating Mosul and Anbar from the Islamic State in Iraq in July 2017 and Raqqa in Syria in October 2017, the Trump administration has decided [4] to reduce the number of American troops deployed in Iraq from current 5,200 to 3,500 troops in the next three months.
Similarly, before the evacuation of 1,000 American troops from northern Syria last year, the Pentagon had 2,000 US forces in Syria. After the drawdown of US troops at Erdogan’s insistence in order for Ankara to mount a ground offensive in northern Syria, the US has still deployed around 1,000 troops, mainly in oil-rich eastern Deir al-Zor province and at al-Tanf military base.
Al-Tanf military base is strategically located in southeastern Syria on the border between Syria, Iraq and Jordan, and it straddles on a critically important Damascus-Baghdad highway, which serves as a lifeline for Damascus. Washington has illegally occupied 55-kilometer area around al-Tanf since 2016, and several hundred US Marines have trained thousands of Syrian militants in the military base battling the Syrian government.
It’s pertinent to note that rather than fighting the Islamic State, the purpose of continued presence of the US forces at al-Tanf military base is to address Israel’s concerns regarding the expansion of Iran’s influence in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
Footnotes:
[1] Trump Says He’ll Look Into a Pardon for Edward Snowden:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/15/us/politics/trump-snowden-esper.html
[2] NSA surveillance exposed by Snowden ruled unlawful:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54013527
[3] Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/27/manafort-held-secret-talks-with-assange-in-ecuadorian-embassy
[4] US to reduce number of troops in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,500 in next three months.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-troops-iraq-pentagon-trump-soldiers-a9694081.html
About the author:
Nauman Sadiq is an Islamabad-based attorney, columnist and geopolitical analyst focused on the politics of Af-Pak and Middle East regions, neocolonialism and petro-imperialism.


veteranstoday--2020-09-07--Breaking: Navalny comes out of coma, proves Novichok claims a hoax

There is not even a theoretical chance that Russia would have done this officially .
It had no motive to , actually just the opposite .
Navalny ’ s opposition has no effect whatsoever on anything the Russian government wants to do .
Once the US NGOs interfering in the Russian election process were kicked out , the opposition voting strength dropped off two thirds when their funding left .
I figured the Novichok poisonings out all by myself .
I did not even have to hire an expensive spy to steal the information for me .
There was never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a very public knocking off of defectors .
So now , let ’ s consider who would have had a motive…the US , Britain ?
Yes and yes .
As for Germany , I would be lying if I said yes .
On first blush , it is not their style ; but their claims to have found Novichok in his blood when the Russians did not , puts Germany on the suspect list , especially when it did not supply any proof .
This has become the new normal in geopolitics , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , despite having huge Intel agencies that are paid a ton of money to get proof .
You need proof to go to the UN Security Council .
I remember the Cuban missile crisis clear as a bell , even though a young boy at the time .
Like the circus that Britain put on with the ex-Russian spy and daughter , who seem to have disappeared so they can not be interviewed , that fiasco is now solidly in the hoax column .
There was no Russian motive there either .
Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some old Cold War turncoat spy .
What was turned over had nothing to do with Putin ’ s presidency , and no one cared any more .
There are a number of old spies running around the US , having a great time .
I met Soviet sleeper agent Jack Barsky in Atlanta when he was guest speaker for our Atlanta Chapter of the Assoc .
for Former Intelligence Officers .
I later interviewed him and booked him as a speaker for my Military Order of World Wars chapter .
They were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ featured him on VT .
I have video of Barsky which is waiting in the big pile of other fascinating interviews to get edited and archived where political correctness can not take it down .
Barsky never did much , and was released after a full debriefing .
He wrote a book , The spy who came on from the cold , and was living a normal life in Atlanta after having his East German kids fly over for a reunion after they found out why their dad was never around .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and he has never had any issues with the old KGB… Jim W. Dean ] “ I rule out his poisoning , because there are no symptoms .
But even if a concentration 400 times less than the lethal dose was used , he would come out of a coma , but miosis [ constriction of the pupil ] would still be observed .
There were no such symptoms here ” , Rink said .
According to the scientist , Novichok was developed in order to replace nuclear weapons on the battlefield @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Navalny fell ill during a domestic Russian flight on 20 August .
He was initially treated in the Siberian city of Omsk , where the plane made an emergency landing .
Two days later , once the doctors established he was fit for cross-border aerial transportation , the 44-year-old was flown to the Charite hospital for further treatment .
Last week , the German government said that doctors found traces of a nerve agent from the Novichok group in his system .
Moscow responded by pointing out to the lack of evidence in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian doctors had found no toxic substances in Navalny .
Within the context , Moscow sent requests for legal assistance and more information on Navalny ’ s case .
In response , German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Berlin could share the information about Navalny , but it was a multistage process .

…from Sputnik News, Moscow
[ Editor’s Note: I would have lost a bet with Gordon that the West would have given up on these staged Novichok poisonings so as not to expose the ones they have gotten away with so far. Survival in the offensive Intel world requires never establishing a behavior pattern.
There is not even a theoretical chance that Russia would have done this officially. It had no motive to, actually just the opposite. Navalny’s opposition has no effect whatsoever on anything the Russian government wants to do.
Once the US NGOs interfering in the Russian election process were kicked out, the opposition voting strength dropped off two thirds when their funding left.
I figured the Novichok poisonings out all by myself. I did not even have to hire an expensive spy to steal the information for me. There was never anything for Russia to have gained by a very public knocking off of defectors.
So now, let’s consider who would have had a motive…the US, Britain? Yes and yes. As for Germany, I would be lying if I said yes. On first blush, it is not their style; but their claims to have found Novichok in his blood when the Russians did not, puts Germany on the suspect list, especially when it did not supply any proof.
This has become the new normal in geopolitics, to make huge claims with no proof, despite having huge Intel agencies that are paid a ton of money to get proof. You need proof to go to the UN Security Council. I remember the Cuban missile crisis clear as a bell, even though a young boy at the time.
Like the circus that Britain put on with the ex-Russian spy and daughter, who seems to have disappeared so they cannot be interviewed, that fiasco is now solidly in the hoax column. There was no Russian motive there either.
Russian Intel does not give a crap about some old Cold War turncoat spy. What was turned over had nothing to do with Putin’s presidency, and no one cared anymore. There are a number of old spies running around the US, having a great time.
I met Soviet sleeper agent Jack Barsky in Atlanta when he was a guest speaker for our Atlanta Chapter of the Assoc. for Former Intelligence Officers.
I later interviewed him and booked him as a speaker for my Military Order of World Wars chapter. They were fascinated by his story, and I featured him on VT.
I have a video of Barsky which is waiting in the big pile of other fascinating interviews to get edited and archived where political correctness cannot take it down.
Barsky never did much and was released after a full debriefing. He wrote a book, The spy who came on from the cold and was living a normal life in Atlanta after having his East German kids fly over for a reunion after they found out why their dad was never around.
I check in on him now and then, and he has never had any issues with the old KGB… Jim W. Dean ]
Jim's Editor’s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal
Jim's work includes research, field trips, Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more. Thanks for helping. Click to donate >> – First published … September 07, 2020 – The fact that Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was put out of coma indicates that it was not Novichok nerve agent used against him in the event of his poisoning, Russian scientist Leonid Rink, who was directly involved in the development of Novichok, said. “I rule out his poisoning, because there are no symptoms. But even if a concentration 400 times less than the lethal dose was used, he would come out of a coma, but miosis [constriction of the pupil] would still be observed. There were no such symptoms here”, Rink said. According to the scientist, Novichok was developed in order to replace nuclear weapons on the battlefield and has a 100 percent lethality. “So this isn’t Novichok”, Rink noted. Navalny fell ill during a domestic Russian flight on 20 August. He was initially treated in the Siberian city of Omsk, where the plane made an emergency landing. Two days later, once the doctors established he was fit for cross-border aerial transportation, the 44-year-old was flown to the Charite hospital for further treatment. Last week, the German government said that doctors found traces of a nerve agent from the Novichok group in his system. Moscow responded by pointing out to the lack of evidence in Berlin’s claims and noting that Russian doctors had found no toxic substances in Navalny. Within the context, Moscow sent requests for legal assistance and more information on Navalny’s case. In response, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Berlin could share the information about Navalny, but it was a multistage process.
Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT. Read Full Complete Bio >>>
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veteranstoday--2020-09-07--Zoot Suit Riots Were More About Racism Than Fashion

The Zoot Suit Riots : Causes , Significance , and Legacy Health Editor ’ s Note : The TV series , Penny Dreadful : City of Angels ( Showtime ) is a good interpretation of this time and pretty entertaining in the bargain…..Carol The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of violent conflicts that occurred from June 3 to June 8 , 1943 , in Los Angeles , California , during which U.S. servicemen attacked young Latinos and other minorities who wore zoot suits—outfits featuring balloon-legged trousers and long coats with wide lapels and exaggeratedly padded shoulders .
While ostensibly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ” lack of “ patriotism ” during World War II , the attacks were actually more about race than fashion .
Racial tensions at the time had been heightened by the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial , involving the 1942 slaying of a young Latino man in a Los Angeles barrio .
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Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.
She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues.


veteranstoday--2020-09-07--Magnificent: Biden on our real ‘Fallen Angels,’ our dying veterans (nothin’ slow about Joe)

Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War .
He is a disabled veteran and has worked @ @ @ @ @ for decades .
Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of @ @ @ @ @ .
He manages the world ’ s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with @ @ @ @ @ has traveled extensively , is published around the world and is a regular guest on @ @ @ @ @ than “ several ” countries .
He is also a trained chef , wine enthusiast @ @ @ @ @ specializing in historical weapons and restoration .
Business experience and interests are in energy and @ @ @

and on a sicker note, that other asshole:
I’ve seen Trump sh*t his Depends on a soundstage, snort Adderall and let his 16 year-old daughter give him a lap dance and still this speech maybe the craziest thing I’ve seen. He will roll right over this election. He won’t leave WH without force. @realDonaldTrump
tRump looks to his Adderall munching "Apprentice" experience for help in recreating his image. Elected POTUS largely due to an image writers portrayed as a hot-shot CEO. Americans met the "realdonaldtrump" the hard way. pic.twitter.com/guqNG2t1O2
My guess is that after the story about Trump calling our troops 'losers' that he is disregarding doctors advice post stroke and snooting Adderall again.
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veteranstoday--2020-09-07--Gordon Duff Calls for the Immediate Arrest of 5 Supreme Court Justices for Treason

The article below was the highest rated Google News article for 2010 .
VT/Duff had done this 3 times , unprecedented by any individual or news organization .
Today , VT is totally banned on Google/Facebook and YouTube .
A decade ago this was recognized as the most important political article ever written in the history of American journalism .
With a new election heading to the Supreme Court , it needed to come out of the closet .
VT : Five members of the Supreme Court declared that a “ corporation ” is a person , not a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ natural laws , subject to no God , no moral code but one with unlimited power over our lives , a power awarded by judges who seem themselves as grand inquisitors empowered meant to hunt down all heretics who fail to serve their god , the god of money .
Their ruling has made it legal for foreign-controlled corporations to flush unlimited money into our bloated political system to further corrupt something none of us the trust and most of us fear .
The “ corporation/person ” that the 5 judges , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States over to isn ’ t even American .
Our corporations , especially since our economic meltdown are owned by China , Russia , and the oil sheikhs along with a few foreign banks .
They don ’ t vote , pay taxes , fight in wars , need dental care , breathe air , drive cars or send children to school .
Anyone who thinks these things are people is insane .
Anyone who would sell our government to them is a criminal and belongs in prison .
There is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ gang of five ” bribe sucking clowns above the law .
There is nothing in the Constitution that even mentions corporations much less gives them status equal to or greater than the Executive , Legislative and Judicial branches of government .
The Supreme Court of the United States has no right to breathe human life into investment groups owned by terrorist sympathizers , foreign arms dealers or groups working for the downfall of the United States and everything we believe in , but 5 “ justices ” have done just that .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ our government , above our people , one above any law .
Five judges have created institutionalized gangsterism as the new form of government for the United States .
No American soldier can ever go to war fighting for a Chinese hedge fund , a German bank or a Saudi Arabian fertilizer company .
Will our new debates in Congress be between members representing the opium warlords against the Colombian cartels ?
Their cash , which long ago has infiltrated one major corporation or bank after another is now heading for your local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ secure borders for America are for these new political “ influencers ?
” For years we complained about AIPAC , the Sierra Club , the NRA , trial lawyers , trade unions , NAM ( National Association of Manufacturers ) and the churches that got involved in politics .
Behind all of these were people , American citizens , and , on some occasions , Americans who fought for their country , raised kids here and were invested in the survival of America although they didn ’ t always act that way .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ we aren ’ t even sure we have an America anymore .
Anyone who believes that a massive flood of corporate money into politics won ’ t throw control of both houses of Congress into the hands of the wealthy nations that are also our primary strategic enemies , you know the ones , the ones loaded with oil cash , the ones with 10 cent an hour labor and legal systems that shoot first and ask questions later .
They just were told they can buy the United States , not just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the lives of our soldiers .
They can now make our laws , raise our taxes , decide on our civil rights , where we can live , if we can own guns , how late we stay up , where and what we drive and , eventually , how we think .
The Supreme Court has given foreign-owned corporations the eventual power to silence us all .
When a corporation commits a crime , nobody goes to jail .
When wars come , they don ’ t fight , they simply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poisoned or workers are killed , they seldom even pay a fine .
However , when they want something , billions in tax money for “ bailouts ” or fat contracts or special laws , they have always gotten it .
It has been a battle to control corporations for 140 years .
Sometimes the American people have lost , sometimes they have won .
Our greatest presidents are the ones who reined in corporate power and kept the influence of money over humanity in check .
Think of Theodore Roosevelt , Woodrow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Dwight Eisenhower , and John Kennedy .
Without them , we would be living in work camps , stuck at machines all day , our children at our sides .
We would be paid in beans and salt pork , dying at 40 years , in filth like people around the world who live in countries controlled by corporations .
Based on the justices that we want to be prosecuted being Reagan/Bush “ conservatives ” you would think this is a liberal/conservative issue .
Nothing could be further from the truth .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ been done by a branch of our government .
There is nothing “ conservative ” about our Supreme Court going insane and abandoning our Constitution and making medical decisions , not to give life to a fetus , but to a bank account .
This is nothing but an extremely unAmerican and unpatriotic group of thieves believing that Americans had given up so many of their civil liberties in silence during the Global War on Terror scam that opening the “ Pandora ’ s Box ” of class conflict could now be done @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ corporate person ” is now a Baron or Duke , the great landlords of the medieval period .
Americans are now destined for serfdom .
Their political and economic theories , what are they ?
Is it conservatism or feudalism ?
We are already burdened with a representative government that has tied itself to the money spigot because of the incredible cost of media exposure in campaigns .
People running for office in ancient Rome would purchase thousands of animals for slaughter in the arena .
Mass executions were staged as media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the arenas in every Roman city were built for that purpose , today replaced by television and the internet .
We thought we had changed since that time .
We were wrong .
The framers of the Constitution created the Supreme Court , the Electoral College and originally had Senators appointed , not elected , to protect the wealthy from having their money and land seized by the masses who would otherwise have controlled the government .
This was the 1780s .
The only “ democracy ” we knew about was ancient @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people living there were slaves .
27 Amendments later , including the Bill of Rights , we have worked to define justice and decency .
Generations have fought and died to keep life in our imperfect system from 1780. Who would have thought that 5 people could destroy it all ?
Political debate in America is sometimes extreme , often bordering on violence .
Feelings are high .
How many times have you heard people threaten to leave the country because “ their America ” no longer exists ?
We know that few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a real threat , no people on earth are to be feared like Americans .
When help is needed , no people on earth are to be trusted and relied on like Americans .
This is the pride we have in our country and ourselves .
We never agree on anything .
We aren ’ t supposed to , we are Americans .
Everything we built has been based on a balance , race , religion , ethnicity , social standing , political beliefs , regional interests , all striving and compromising to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proud of , something all of us are willing to fight for and many are .
Americans all agree on one thing , that our government in Washington is out of control and has been for some time .
We all have different ideas on this but agree on the fact itself .
We wonder where the politicians come from , men too often “ less great ” than those of the past , in fact , less great than average .
Decisions are continually made that most find puzzling and , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ underbelly of corruption and self-interest .
Now , 5 members of the Supreme Court , people none of us voted for , a group that is answerable to no authority and , seemingly , no law or moral code , a group famous for immoderation , poor judgment , and low personal integrity has , either through blindness , avarice or insanity clearly done something so malicious , so unjust and so utterly inconsistent with our Constitution that they , themselves , have become an “ enemy of the people.
” What is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not within the scope of the authority given through the Constitution .
Their acts are outside the law , their acts are those of a conspiracy , their acts are meant to diminish our freedoms , our sacred institutions and even endanger our lives .
Typically , such acts are called crimes and those who commit them are criminals .
What could drive judges , albeit judges appointed with little thought as part of a cheap political ploy , to abandon any American constituency ?
Corporations have no religion .
They care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no allegiance to a flag , a family or any moral ethic .
They serve no person , owe no loyalty other than to stockholders , shadowy groups of Russian oligarchs , Chinese banks , corrupt dictators grown fat on the spoils of their people or the international consortium ’ s of bond and currency speculators who have , for decades , abandoned any economic law to build the ethereal “ house of cards ” we call the “ world economy.
” The control of the American electoral process has been given to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now standing against them .
Years ago “ they ” bought our newspapers and our television networks .
Facts and truth became whatever they wanted us to believe .
“ They ” gained control of what many thought and what almost all of us see and hear .
That wasn ’ t enough .
They wanted it all .
As their control has grown , so has terrorism , continual war , economic poverty for millions of Americans and insensitivity to justice and humanity .
Who would expect anything else from a corporation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and no face ?
The Founding Fathers led America on the path to freedom and eventual democracy .
The Federalists limited the ability of an impetuous electorate to seize power and “ reform ” America into chaos and anarchy .
This system of government was predicated on the belief that love of country would always burn brightly in America and with progress , freedom , and bounty was the inevitable reward of our industry .
It is only now too obvious that so much has happened that was unforeseen .
It is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrongs when we find them .
This was how America was created .
We are drowning in wrongs , we all finally agree on this .
The time is now .
Party politics have failed .
Political theories are little more than empty rhetoric meant to mislead and misinform .
The state has become church and church has become a state .
The state is less just and church less godly .
All we have left is “ we , the People.
” This is how we began and it is now all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is time for the states to call for a Constitutional Convention to establish , not just a Republic , but a Democracy , by and for the people , the American people , rich and poor , a nation loyal to itself , not tied to corporations , a vast military-industrial complex or endless foreign alliances .
If it is to be a genuinely conservative nation , one with individual freedoms , a small government , fewer taxes , and more opportunity , a nation as intended , then we will all have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corpse we are creating in Washington is emitting a stench we can no longer abide .
We will be saying goodbye to our Supreme Court , our seniority system in Congress and our political machines pretending to be “ parties ” and hello to paper ballots , a free press , term limits and the ability to yank a scoundrel out of office when we catch one .

The article below was the highest rated Google News article for 2010. VT/Duff had done this 3 times, unprecedented by any individual or news organization. Today, VT is totally banned on Google/Facebook and YouTube.
A decade ago this was recognized as the most important political article ever written in the history of American journalism.
With a new election heading to the Supreme Court, it needed to come out of the closet.
VT: Five members of the Supreme Court declared that a “corporation” is a person, not a “regular person” but one above all natural laws, subject to no God, no moral code but one with unlimited power over our lives, a power awarded by judges who seem themselves as grand inquisitors empowered meant to hunt down all heretics who fail to serve their god, the god of money.
Their ruling has made it legal for foreign-controlled corporations to flush unlimited money into our bloated political system to further corrupt something none of us the trust and most of us fear. The “corporation/person” that the 5 judges, the “neocon” purists, have turned the United States over to isn’t even American.
Our corporations, especially since our economic meltdown are owned by China, Russia, and the oil sheikhs along with a few foreign banks. They don’t vote, pay taxes, fight in wars, need dental care, breathe air, drive cars or send children to school. Anyone who thinks these things are people is insane. Anyone who would sell our government to them is a criminal and belongs in prison.
There is nothing in the Constitution that makes this “gang of five” bribe sucking clowns above the law. There is nothing in the Constitution that even mentions corporations much less gives them status equal to or greater than the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government.
The Supreme Court of the United States has no right to breathe human life into investment groups owned by terrorist sympathizers, foreign arms dealers or groups working for the downfall of the United States and everything we believe in, but 5 “justices” have done just that. We now have a new government above our government, above our people, one above any law. Five judges have created institutionalized gangsterism as the new form of government for the United States.
No American soldier can ever go to war fighting for a Chinese hedge fund, a German bank or a Saudi Arabian fertilizer company. Will our new debates in Congress be between members representing the opium warlords against the Colombian cartels? Their cash, which long ago has infiltrated one major corporation or bank after another is now heading for your local representative. How important do you think secure borders for America are for these new political “influencers?”
For years we complained about AIPAC, the Sierra Club, the NRA, trial lawyers, trade unions, NAM (National Association of Manufacturers) and the churches that got involved in politics. Behind all of these were people, American citizens, and, on some occasions, Americans who fought for their country, raised kids here and were invested in the survival of America although they didn’t always act that way. This was an American problem. Now we aren’t even sure we have an America anymore.
Anyone who believes that a massive flood of corporate money into politics won’t throw control of both houses of Congress into the hands of the wealthy nations that are also our primary strategic enemies, you know the ones, the ones loaded with oil cash, the ones with 10 cent an hour labor and legal systems that shoot first and ask questions later.
They just were told they can buy the United States, not just our government, but our military, and the lives of our soldiers. They can now make our laws, raise our taxes, decide on our civil rights, where we can live, if we can own guns, how late we stay up, where and what we drive and, eventually, how we think. The Supreme Court has given foreign-owned corporations the eventual power to silence us all.
When a corporation commits a crime, nobody goes to jail. When wars come, they don’t fight, they simply rake in cash. When children are poisoned or workers are killed, they seldom even pay a fine. However, when they want something, billions in tax money for “bailouts” or fat contracts or special laws, they have always gotten it. It has been a battle to control corporations for 140 years. Sometimes the American people have lost, sometimes they have won.
Our greatest presidents are the ones who reined in corporate power and kept the influence of money over humanity in check. Think of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and John Kennedy.
Without them, we would be living in work camps, stuck at machines all day, our children at our sides. We would be paid in beans and salt pork, dying at 40 years, in filth like people around the world who live in countries controlled by corporations.
Based on the justices that we want to be prosecuted being Reagan/Bush “conservatives” you would think this is a liberal/conservative issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing less “conservative” has ever been done by a branch of our government. There is nothing “conservative” about our Supreme Court going insane and abandoning our Constitution and making medical decisions, not to give life to a fetus, but to a bank account.
This is nothing but an extremely unAmerican and unpatriotic group of thieves believing that Americans had given up so many of their civil liberties in silence during the Global War on Terror scam that opening the “Pandora’s Box” of class conflict could now be done with nobody saying a word. Their “corporate person” is now a Baron or Duke, the great landlords of the medieval period. Americans are now destined for serfdom. Their political and economic theories, what are they? Is it conservatism or feudalism?
We are already burdened with a representative government that has tied itself to the money spigot because of the incredible cost of media exposure in campaigns. People running for office in ancient Rome would purchase thousands of animals for slaughter in the arena. Mass executions were staged as media events for political campaigns. In fact, the arenas in every Roman city were built for that purpose, today replaced by television and the internet. We thought we had changed since that time. We were wrong.
The framers of the Constitution created the Supreme Court, the Electoral College and originally had Senators appointed, not elected, to protect the wealthy from having their money and land seized by the masses who would otherwise have controlled the government. This was the 1780s. The only “democracy” we knew about was ancient Athens, where the majority of the people living there were slaves.
27 Amendments later, including the Bill of Rights, we have worked to define justice and decency. Generations have fought and died to keep life in our imperfect system from 1780. Who would have thought that 5 people could destroy it all?
Political debate in America is sometimes extreme, often bordering on violence. Feelings are high. How many times have you heard people threaten to leave the country because “their America” no longer exists? We know that few really mean it.
When faced with a real threat, no people on earth are to be feared like Americans. When help is needed, no people on earth are to be trusted and relied on like Americans. This is the pride we have in our country and ourselves. We never agree on anything. We aren’t supposed to, we are Americans.
Everything we built has been based on a balance, race, religion, ethnicity, social standing, political beliefs, regional interests, all striving and compromising to build something we are all secretly very proud of, something all of us are willing to fight for and many are. Americans all agree on one thing, that our government in Washington is out of control and has been for some time. We all have different ideas on this but agree on the fact itself.
We wonder where the politicians come from, men too often “less great” than those of the past, in fact, less great than average. Decisions are continually made that most find puzzling and, in fact, are driven by a rotten underbelly of corruption and self-interest.
Now, 5 members of the Supreme Court, people none of us voted for, a group that is answerable to no authority and, seemingly, no law or moral code, a group famous for immoderation, poor judgment, and low personal integrity has, either through blindness, avarice or insanity clearly done something so malicious, so unjust and so utterly inconsistent with our Constitution that they, themselves, have become an “enemy of the people.”
What is their power? What they have done is not within the scope of the authority given through the Constitution. Their acts are outside the law, their acts are those of a conspiracy, their acts are meant to diminish our freedoms, our sacred institutions and even endanger our lives. Typically, such acts are called crimes and those who commit them are criminals.
What could drive judges, albeit judges appointed with little thought as part of a cheap political ploy, to abandon any American constituency? Corporations have no religion. They care nothing for the unborn. They have no allegiance to a flag, a family or any moral ethic. They serve no person, owe no loyalty other than to stockholders, shadowy groups of Russian oligarchs, Chinese banks, corrupt dictators grown fat on the spoils of their people or the international consortium’s of bond and currency speculators who have, for decades, abandoned any economic law to build the ethereal “house of cards” we call the “world economy.”
The control of the American electoral process has been given to them. No serving politician can survive now standing against them. Years ago “they” bought our newspapers and our television networks. Facts and truth became whatever they wanted us to believe. “They” gained control of what many thought and what almost all of us see and hear. That wasn’t enough. They wanted it all. As their control has grown, so has terrorism, continual war, economic poverty for millions of Americans and insensitivity to justice and humanity. Who would expect anything else from a corporation with no blood, no heart, and no face?
The Founding Fathers led America on the path to freedom and eventual democracy. The Federalists limited the ability of an impetuous electorate to seize power and “reform” America into chaos and anarchy. This system of government was predicated on the belief that love of country would always burn brightly in America and with progress, freedom, and bounty was the inevitable reward of our industry.
It is only now too obvious that so much has happened that was unforeseen. It is not a denial of our traditions to correct wrongs when we find them. This was how America was created. We are drowning in wrongs, we all finally agree on this.
The time is now. Party politics have failed. Political theories are little more than empty rhetoric meant to mislead and misinform. The state has become church and church has become a state. The state is less just and church less godly. All we have left is “we, the People.” This is how we began and it is now all we have to move forward. It is time for the states to call for a Constitutional Convention to establish, not just a Republic, but a Democracy, by and for the people, the American people, rich and poor, a nation loyal to itself, not tied to corporations, a vast military-industrial complex or endless foreign alliances.
If it is to be a genuinely conservative nation, one with individual freedoms, a small government, fewer taxes, and more opportunity, a nation as intended, then we will all have to live with it. The bloated corpse we are creating in Washington is emitting a stench we can no longer abide. We will be saying goodbye to our Supreme Court, our seniority system in Congress and our political machines pretending to be “parties” and hello to paper ballots, a free press, term limits and the ability to yank a scoundrel out of office when we catch one.


veteranstoday--2020-09-07--Apprentice staffer accuses Trump of Drug Use

Due to the nature of independent content , VT can not guarantee content validity.We ask you toso a clear comprehension @ @ @ @ @ media is understood and given its proper place in the world of news , opinion @ @ @ @ @ by author exclusively .
Expressed opinions are NOT necessarily the views of VT , other @ @ @ @ @ , sponsors , partners or technicians .
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@ @ @ @ @ responsibility of author and NOT VT .

Former Apprentice Staffer Noel Casler Accuses Donald Trump of Drug Use and Inappropriate Behavior https://t.co/a0CRhlUuQC via @people
*
One of the reasons Trump always had Keith Schiller next to him 24/7 was to prevent moments like this which have been occurring for at least as decade. Drugs will do that. @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/kh0a9DOycq — NoelCaslerComedy (@CaslerNoel) September 7, 2020
But since it’s Labor Day 2020, maybe we shouldn’t have to think of laborious thoughts for a couple hours. On a lighter note…
It’s Labor Day, which means Betsy Devos has to put away the white yacht until Easter. @BetsyDeVosED — NoelCaslerComedy (@CaslerNoel) September 7, 2020 *
*


veteranstoday--2020-09-07--Making a hash of Brexit wasn’t enough….

Making a hash of Brexit wasn’t enough….

People in the UK are shocked that the Government is thinking of recruiting Tony Abbott , whose time as Australia ’ s prime minister was hardly a roaring success , to act as Britain ’ s new trade envoy .
He was ousted in 2015 by his own party for failing to provide Australia with the economic leadership it needed , say reports .
Some branches of the media claim that the appointment has already been made but I ’ ve seen no official confirmation at the time of writing .
Nick Cohen has put pen to paper in The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the no-nonsense title ‘ What hiring a failed Australian prime minister tells us about corrupt Britain ’ .
He reminds us that Abbott is noted for his outrageously sexist and misogynistic remarks and thought climate change was “ probably doing good ” as fires devastated his country .
Abbott ’ s experience in business and industry seems somewhat sparse , even non-existent .
Cohen writes : “ Abbott is a product of the global network of right wing thinktanks that has learned how easy and cheap it is to manipulate British politics.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said so far about Britain ’ s trade problem is : “ Free trade agreements with economically advanced Commonwealth countries are the obvious place for Britain to start.
” We didn ’ t need to be told that .
All the same , most Brits will be surprised that 4 years after the Brexit vote those Commonwealth deals are not already in place .
So what makes Abbott the best pick ( in Boris Johnson ’ s mind ) to be Britain ’ s rep abroad ?
The elephant in the room is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and his blind obedience to its lobby .
In 2012 he was reported in Jewish News as saying : “ In so many ways , [ Israel is ] a country so much like Australia , a liberal , pluralist democracy… .
a beacon of freedom and hope in a part of the world which has so little freedom and hope… .
When Israel is fighting for its very life , well , as far as I ’ m concerned , Australians are Israelis .
We are all Israelis in those circumstances.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Middle East was truly pathetic then and probably still is .
In 2014 a piece in The Guardian by Jennine Abdul Khalik described Australian views on Abbott ’ s attitude to the Israelis ’ murderous onslaught on Gaza : “ Whilst Israel continues its latest full-scale offensive against Gaza , I am left deeply bothered by the Abbott government ’ s silence .
“ Aside from a short statement by foreign minister Julie Bishop disparaging Hamas and praising Israel on how it handled a ceasefire negotiation , our government has offered no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of international law .
“ It is telling when Tony Abbott extends his condolences to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over three murdered Israeli students attending a religious seminary in the settlements , but seems unable to express any sympathy for over 600 Palestinians killed in this ongoing assault – a third of them children .
In construing this quiet , it appears that Abbott and his party do not consider a Palestinian person to be worth even two hundredths of an Israeli .
“ Why is it that Palestinian lives are not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diplomatic action ?
For the same reason Netanyahu labelled Gaza , home to 1.8m Palestinians , a “ fortress of terror ” .
There is a belief that Palestinians are terroristic by default , for just existing , living , being , and are thereby disposable for it .
“ While the violence continues , the Abbott government enables Israeli impunity .
Last year , the Liberals [ led by Abbot ] opposed a UN resolution ordering an end to all settlement activities.
” Expanding trade with the nasties while ignoring their atrocious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where Abbott ’ s focus will be .
‘ Passionate Zionist ’ Boris , writing to Conservative Friends of Israel , said : “ I am proud to be a friend of Israel , and I am proud too of the United Kingdom ’ s close relationship with Israel and the many ties we share .
I have always admired the courage , determination and robustness of the Israeli state – the only true democracy in the region .
That is why , as Mayor of London , I confronted the hateful rhetoric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to bend to calls for a boycott of Israeli goods .
It is why one of my proudest moments as Foreign Secretary was facilitating the first ever official visit to Israel by a member of the Royal Family .
And it is why , as Prime Minister , I will always support Israel ’ s right to self-defence and I will work to counter Iran ’ s destabilising activity in the region .
I am determined that the UK-Israel partnership should grow even stronger , including by stepping up our trading ties .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ just that – to strike a comprehensive free trade deal with Israel.
” Fully onboard then .
And Abbott will fit in perfectly with Boris ’ s passel of lamebrains who are eager to expand trade in all directions with the racist regime .
That includes the ever faithful Liz Truss , Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade .
She writes : “ Israel and the UK are natural trading partners .
Brexit provides a distinctly unique chance for even greater cooperation between our two countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ growth in bilateral trade and investment.
” She has brushed aside concerns about Abbot and is reported by the i as saying he had done “ an excellent job on trade ” when in government in Australia .
However , the shadow International Trade Secretary , Emily Thornbury , has written in the i that Abbot is “ a man addicted to picking fights ” and “ confrontational , aggressive , thin-skinned and nasty ” .
She added : “ We know the Government has a big problem on trade .
But if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Johnson can come up with , we ’ re in even more trouble than we think.
” Truss succeeds Liam Fox , a crazed stooge for Israel and a sworn enemy of Iran .
Fox was International Trade Secretary from 2016 to 2019 but it isn ’ t clear what he actually did to secure Britain ’ s post-Brexit trading future .
While Defence Secretary he was quoted on the Conservative Friends of Israel website as saying : “ … We must remember that in the battle for the values that we stand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for democratic liberal values against repression – Israel ’ s enemies are our enemies and this is a battle in which we all stand together or we will all fall divided.
” He ’ s a little mixed up .
Some people call Israel a theocracy , others insist it ’ s an ethnocracy .
It certainly isn ’ t a western-style democracy with “ liberal values against repression ” .
And in June 2015 Fox declared : “ Any claims that [ Iran ’ s ] intentions are exclusively peaceful should not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nuclear intentions can not be seen outside the context of its support for terror proxies , arguably the defining feature of its foreign policy .
The risks are clear.
” He could have been talking about the US or even the UK .
Fox obviously wasn ’ t trying to set up trade deals with Iran , which would likely have been more lucrative than business with Israel had we built on the business relationships that existed before the UK switched support to Saddam in the Iran-Iraq war .
He was forced to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scandalous goings-on between him , his “ close friend ” Adam Werritty , the UK ambassador to Israel and Israeli intelligence figures allegedly involved in plotting sanctions against Iran .
The UK Government has announced that it is “ working closely with the Israeli government to implement the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement.… and to host a bilateral trade and investment summit in London.
” This despite Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in which Israel promised to show “ respect for human rights and democratic principles ” on pain of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is supposed to have been carried over into the new UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement .
But Israel continues to show contempt for these principles , is given immunity , and Britain continues to reward its criminal behaviour and lavish upon it special trade advantages .
This despite Labour ’ s Lisa Nandy having last year put this question in Parliament : “ Will [ the International Trade Secretary ] seek the inclusion of a binding human rights clause in a future free trade agreement with Israel to establish that the ( a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ b ) provisions of the agreement shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles as is provided for in Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
” To which the Minister of State for Trade Policy replied : “ The UK-Israel Agreement incorporates human rights provisions of the EU-Israel Trade Agreements , without modification.
” We are about to discover if this is the usual pack of lies .
And an activist has just copied me a letter received from the Foreign Office which says : “ The British Government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The UK and Israel have a strong and important trading relationship and we are firmly opposed to boycotts or sanctions.
” So maintaining trade with a brutal , apartheid regime is more important to Zionist Boris ’ s government than human rights ?
A corrupt Britain indeed .
So will trade with the nasties continue to trump human rights when Tony Abbott gets to work ?

by Stuart Littlewood, Britain
– First published … September 07, 2020 –
People in the UK are shocked that the Government is thinking of recruiting Tony Abbott, whose time as Australia’s prime minister was hardly a roaring success, to act as Britain’s new trade envoy. He was ousted in 2015 by his own party for failing to provide Australia with the economic leadership it needed, say reports.
Some branches of the media claim that the appointment has already been made but I’ve seen no official confirmation at the time of writing.
Nick Cohen has put pen to paper in The Guardian and produced a powerful article with the no-nonsense title ‘What hiring a failed Australian prime minister tells us about corrupt Britain’. He reminds us that Abbott is noted for his outrageously sexist and misogynistic remarks and thought climate change was “probably doing good” as fires devastated his country.
Abbott’s experience in business and industry seems somewhat sparse, even non-existent. Cohen writes: “Abbott is a product of the global network of right wing thinktanks that has learned how easy and cheap it is to manipulate British politics.”
Probably the most sensible thing Abbott has said so far about Britain’s trade problem is:
“Free trade agreements with economically advanced Commonwealth countries are the obvious place for Britain to start.” We didn’t need to be told that. All the same, most Brits will be surprised that 4 years after the Brexit vote those Commonwealth deals are not already in place.
Elephant in the room
So what makes Abbott the best pick (in Boris Johnson’s mind) to be Britain’s rep abroad? The elephant in the room is Abbott’s fawning admiration for Israel and his blind obedience to its lobby. In 2012 he was reported in Jewish News as saying:
“In so many ways, [Israel is] a country so much like Australia, a liberal, pluralist democracy…. a beacon of freedom and hope in a part of the world which has so little freedom and hope…. When Israel is fighting for its very life, well, as far as I’m concerned, Australians are Israelis. We are all Israelis in those circumstances.”
His grasp of right and wrong in the Middle East was truly pathetic then and probably still is. In 2014 a piece in The Guardian by Jennine Abdul Khalik described Australian views on Abbott’s attitude to the Israelis’ murderous onslaught on Gaza:
“Whilst Israel continues its latest full-scale offensive against Gaza, I am left deeply bothered by the Abbott government’s silence.
“Aside from a short statement by foreign minister Julie Bishop disparaging Hamas and praising Israel on how it handled a ceasefire negotiation, our government has offered no condemnation of Israel’s clear breaches of international law.
“It is telling when Tony Abbott extends his condolences to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over three murdered Israeli students attending a religious seminary in the settlements, but seems unable to express any sympathy for over 600 Palestinians killed in this ongoing assault – a third of them children. In construing this quiet, it appears that Abbott and his party do not consider a Palestinian person to be worth even two hundredths of an Israeli.
“Why is it that Palestinian lives are not valuable enough for comment, let alone diplomatic action? For the same reason Netanyahu labelled Gaza, home to 1.8m Palestinians, a “fortress of terror”. There is a belief that Palestinians are terroristic by default, for just existing, living, being, and are thereby disposable for it.
“While the violence continues, the Abbott government enables Israeli impunity. Last year, the Liberals [led by Abbot] opposed a UN resolution ordering an end to all settlement activities.”
Expanding trade with the nasties while ignoring their atrocious record on human rights
We can imagine where Abbott’s focus will be. ‘Passionate Zionist’ Boris, writing to Conservative Friends of Israel, said:
“I am proud to be a friend of Israel, and I am proud too of the United Kingdom’s close relationship with Israel and the many ties we share.
I have always admired the courage, determination and robustness of the Israeli state – the only true democracy in the region. That is why, as Mayor of London, I confronted the hateful rhetoric from some of my competitors and refused to bend to calls for a boycott of Israeli goods.
It is why one of my proudest moments as Foreign Secretary was facilitating the first ever official visit to Israel by a member of the Royal Family. And it is why, as Prime Minister, I will always support Israel’s right to self-defence and I will work to counter Iran’s destabilising activity in the region.
I am determined that the UK-Israel partnership should grow even stronger, including by stepping up our trading ties. Brexit gives us the opportunity to do just that – to strike a comprehensive free trade deal with Israel.”
Fully onboard then. And Abbott will fit in perfectly with Boris’s passel of lamebrains who are eager to expand trade in all directions with the racist regime.
That includes the ever faithful Liz Truss, Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade. She writes:
“Israel and the UK are natural trading partners. Brexit provides a distinctly unique chance for even greater cooperation between our two countries, and there is exceptional scope for growth in bilateral trade and investment.”
She has brushed aside concerns about Abbot and is reported by the i as saying he had done “an excellent job on trade” when in government in Australia.
However, the shadow International Trade Secretary, Emily Thornbury, has written in the i that Abbot is “a man addicted to picking fights” and “confrontational, aggressive, thin-skinned and nasty”. She added:
“We know the Government has a big problem on trade. But if Tony Abbot is the best answer Boris Johnson can come up with, we’re in even more trouble than we think.”
Truss succeeds Liam Fox, a crazed stooge for Israel and a sworn enemy of Iran. Fox was International Trade Secretary from 2016 to 2019 but it isn’t clear what he actually did to secure Britain’s post-Brexit trading future.
While Defence Secretary he was quoted on the Conservative Friends of Israel website as saying:
“… We must remember that in the battle for the values that we stand for, for democracy against theocracy, for democratic liberal values against repression – Israel’s enemies are our enemies and this is a battle in which we all stand together or we will all fall divided.”
He’s a little mixed up. Some people call Israel a theocracy, others insist it’s an ethnocracy. It certainly isn’t a western-style democracy with “liberal values against repression”. And in June 2015 Fox declared:
“Any claims that [Iran’s] intentions are exclusively peaceful should not be regarded as credible… Iran’s nuclear intentions cannot be seen outside the context of its support for terror proxies, arguably the defining feature of its foreign policy. The risks are clear.”
He could have been talking about the US or even the UK. Fox obviously wasn’t trying to set up trade deals with Iran, which would likely have been more lucrative than business with Israel had we built on the business relationships that existed before the UK switched support to Saddam in the Iran-Iraq war.
He was forced to resign as defence secretary in 2011 following scandalous goings-on between him, his “close friend” Adam Werritty, the UK ambassador to Israel and Israeli intelligence figures allegedly involved in plotting sanctions against Iran.
The UK Government has announced that it is “working closely with the Israeli government to implement the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement.… and to host a bilateral trade and investment summit in London.” This despite Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in which Israel promised to show “respect for human rights and democratic principles” on pain of the Agreement being suspended.
That important provision is supposed to have been carried over into the new UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement. But Israel continues to show contempt for these principles, is given immunity, and Britain continues to reward its criminal behaviour and lavish upon it special trade advantages.
This despite Labour’s Lisa Nandy having last year put this question in Parliament:
“Will [the International Trade Secretary] seek the inclusion of a binding human rights clause in a future free trade agreement with Israel to establish that the (a) relations between the parties and (b) provisions of the agreement shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles as is provided for in Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.”
To which the Minister of State for Trade Policy replied: “The UK-Israel Agreement incorporates human rights provisions of the EU-Israel Trade Agreements, without modification.” We are about to discover if this is the usual pack of lies.
And an activist has just copied me a letter received from the Foreign Office which says:
“The British Government firmly opposes calls to boycott Israel. The UK and Israel have a strong and important trading relationship and we are firmly opposed to boycotts or sanctions.” So maintaining trade with a brutal, apartheid regime is more important to Zionist Boris’s government than human rights?
A corrupt Britain indeed. So will trade with the nasties continue to trump human rights when Tony Abbott gets to work?
Stuart Littlewood
2 September 2020


veteranstoday--2020-09-07--Lancet Publishes Russia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Findings

Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus , Ohio and received her diploma as a registered @ @ @ @ @ Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature @ @ @ @ @ of Toledo , College of Nursing , and received a Master ’ s of Nursing @ @ @ @ @ has traveled extensively , is a photographer , and writes on medical issues .
Carol @ @ @ @ @ Katherine , and Stephen – two daughters-in-law ; Suzy and Katie – two granddaughters ; @ @ @ @ @ – and one grandson , Alexander Paul .
She also shares her life with husband @ @ @ @ @ , and two rescue pups .


veteranstoday--2020-09-08--Biden, unlike Trump, won’t Hide Military Wounded from the public

VT : Under Trump , health care for veterans became non-existent .
Staff cuts were massive but something worse , a Trump con game began , pushing veterans out of VA health care , using armed security guards to confront people and hiring trolls to confront and insult veterans seeking treatment .
To Trump , this was his way of cutting costs and saving his rich friends money with massive tax cuts .
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VT: Under Trump, health care for veterans became non-existent. Staff cuts were massive but something worse, a Trump con game began, pushing veterans out of VA health care, using armed security guards to confront people and hiring trolls to confront and insult veterans seeking treatment.
To Trump, this was his way of cutting costs and saving his rich friends money with massive tax cuts.


veteranstoday--2020-09-08--Street Criminals Killed in Gang Attack with Martial Art an African Young Cook

“ We didn ’ t touch it .
We reject all accusations .
We intervened to divide , we saw a riot and we arrived.
” This is what Marco and Gabriele Bianchi said during the interrogation to validate the arrest for the murder of Willy Monteiro Duarte .
Francesco Belleggia , 23 , Mario Pincarelli , 22 , and the brothers Gabriele and Marco Bianchi , aged 25 and 24 , are all accused of intentional homicide in competition after being arrested by the Carabinieri .
Impudently , they therefore deny having beaten the boy to death , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he had intervened in defense of a friend involved in a violent quarrel unleashed by the gang already known to the police for criminal episodes .
According to the investigators , the young man was instead kicked and punched , even in the head , until he remained lifeless on the asphalt .
A ‘ punishment ’ taken for having defended a friend of his shortly before.It happened on sunday night .
A quarrel between young people in the night outside the clubs of Colleferro , in the province of Rome , ended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 21-year-old Italian of Cape Verdean origins who lived in Paliano , in the Frosinone area , died from being beaten in the street by some peers .
The four were arrested by the carabinieri of the Colleferro company who had tracked them down shortly after the beating in nearby Artena , where they had escaped with a large engine car .
These are boys between 22 and 26 , with a police history .
Among them are the two Bianchi brothers who practice MMA , a combat sport in which multiple forms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrested are accused of manslaughter .
It all happened around 3am .
As reconstructed by the investigators , Willy would have been ‘ punished for having defended a friend shortly before .
The boy had intervened in defense of a schoolmate during a quarrel , perhaps over a girl , with one of the arrested , dividing them .
After a few minutes he would be joined by the four who beat him up .
Two other peers were injured who , witnessing the scene , intervened and reported injuries deemed curable in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ useless for Willy who arrived dead at the hospital .
The Carabinieri have ruled out the racial motive .
The commander of the Colleferro Carabinieri station was among the first to rush to the scene of the attack .
Thanks to the knowledge of the area and the testimonies collected , the military blocked the four alleged perpetrators shortly afterwards in the center of Artena , where they had fled by car .
Dismay and despair in Paliano for the death of Willy , a great Jellow-Red Rome soccer fan and promise of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s sports center , who was studying in a hotel school and working as an assistant cook in a restaurant in the area .
City mourning was proclaimed yesterday in Colleferro and Paliano .
This terrible story has dismayed all of Italy and in particular the area of Rome , the scene of a very serious episode of violence last summer when two American boys killed the Deputy Brigadier of the Carabinieri Mario Cerciello Rege with 11 stab wounds .

by Fabio Giuseppe Carlo Carisio for VT Italy
“We didn’t touch it. We reject all accusations. We intervened to divide, we saw a riot and we arrived.” This is what Marco and Gabriele Bianchi said during the interrogation to validate the arrest for the murder of Willy Monteiro Duarte. Francesco Belleggia, 23, Mario Pincarelli, 22, and the brothers Gabriele and Marco Bianchi, aged 25 and 24, are all accused of intentional homicide in competition after being arrested by the Carabinieri.
Impudently, they therefore deny having beaten the boy to death, in 4 and using martial arts, after he had intervened in defense of a friend involved in a violent quarrel unleashed by the gang already known to the police for criminal episodes.
According to the investigators, the young man was instead kicked and punched, even in the head, until he remained lifeless on the asphalt. A ‘punishment’ taken for having defended a friend of his shortly before.It happened on sunday night.
A quarrel between young people in the night outside the clubs of Colleferro, in the province of Rome, ended in tragedy. Willy Monteiro Duarte, a 21-year-old Italian of Cape Verdean origins who lived in Paliano, in the Frosinone area, died from being beaten in the street by some peers. The four were arrested by the carabinieri of the Colleferro company who had tracked them down shortly after the beating in nearby Artena, where they had escaped with a large engine car. These are boys between 22 and 26, with a police history. Among them are the two Bianchi brothers who practice MMA, a combat sport in which multiple forms of martial arts are used.
Those arrested are accused of manslaughter. It all happened around 3am. As reconstructed by the investigators, Willy would have been ‘punished for having defended a friend shortly before. The boy had intervened in defense of a schoolmate during a quarrel, perhaps over a girl, with one of the arrested, dividing them.
After a few minutes he would be joined by the four who beat him up. Two other peers were injured who, witnessing the scene, intervened and reported injuries deemed curable in 10 days. Unfortunately, help was useless for Willy who arrived dead at the hospital. The Carabinieri have ruled out the racial motive.
The commander of the Colleferro Carabinieri station was among the first to rush to the scene of the attack. Thanks to the knowledge of the area and the testimonies collected, the military blocked the four alleged perpetrators shortly afterwards in the center of Artena, where they had fled by car. Dismay and despair in Paliano for the death of Willy, a great Jellow-Red Rome soccer fan and promise of the football team of the city’s sports center, who was studying in a hotel school and working as an assistant cook in a restaurant in the area. City mourning was proclaimed yesterday in Colleferro and Paliano.
This terrible story has dismayed all of Italy and in particular the area of Rome, the scene of a very serious episode of violence last summer when two American boys killed the Deputy Brigadier of the Carabinieri Mario Cerciello Rege with 11 stab wounds.