russia-insider--2020-07-07--Russian Christians Protest Sodomy at US, UK Embassies in Moscow

Despite the Trump administration ’ s stance against flying LGBT flags on embassy flag poles and despite a Russian law that bans LGBT propaganda that can or will be seen by children , the U.S. embassy in Moscow decided to fly the LGBT rainbow flag on its building last Thursday in honor of LGBT Pride Month .
The British embassy in Moscow did the same two days later , just days before Russians are to vote on a number of constitutional amendments , including to constitutionally define marriage as between one man and one woman .
“ Today , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ LGBTI Pride Flag during the # PrideFlagDay celebration… LGBTI rights are human rights .
Human rights are universal .
Pride month is designed to emphasize that everyone deserves to live a life free from hatred , prejudice and persecution , ” reads a message on the from June 25 .
Representatives of the British embassy posted a similar message on their Telegram account .
Their actions were not warmly received in Russian society .
The Orthodox movement “ Forty Forties ” [ named for the 40x40 churches that existed in Moscow before the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ embassies on Sunday under the slogan , “ Russia has its own values , ” with participants holding an icon of the Synaxis of All Saints Who Have Shown Forth in the Russian Land , report .
“ The Forty Forties movement linked this demarche of the two diplomatic representatives with the fact that the popular vote on the amendments to the Russian constitution began during these days , one of which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman , which contradicts the concept of state policy of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ values in the world , ” the movement stated .
The Orthodox activists also noted that the flags were hung in violation of Russian law .
“ This is illegal and shows disrespect for the laws of the host country by American and British diplomats , ” they said .
State Duma Deputy Vitaly Milonov has Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov to check the incidents for violations of Russian law .
The Moscow Patriarchate voiced its approval of the protests , noting that the demonstration of such symbols is “ disrespectful to the worldview @ @ @ @ @ @ @ share the concerns of the Orthodox community , which opposed the display of symbols related to sexual minorities at the embassies of the United States and Great Britain .
We believe that every country has the right to inviolability of its values , including those related to marriage and family , ” Vakhtang Kipshidze , Deputy Head of the Synodal Department of for Relations Between the Church and Society and the Media , told on Monday .
The displaying of such symbols is part of a political agenda that leads to discrimination against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ noted .
Meanwhile , Dmitry Peskov noted that he believes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is looking into the situation .

Photo: ria.ru
Despite the Trump administration’s stance against flying LGBT flags on embassy flag poles and despite a Russian law that bans LGBT propaganda that can or will be seen by children, the U.S. embassy in Moscow decided to fly the LGBT rainbow flag on its building last Thursday in honor of LGBT Pride Month.
The British embassy in Moscow did the same two days later, just days before Russians are to vote on a number of constitutional amendments, including to constitutionally define marriage as between one man and one woman.
“Today, the US Embassy in Russia is honoring THE LGBTI Pride Flag during the #PrideFlagDay celebration… LGBTI rights are human rights. Human rights are universal. Pride month is designed to emphasize that everyone deserves to live a life free from hatred, prejudice and persecution,” reads a message on the embassy’s Facebook page from June 25.
Representatives of the British embassy posted a similar message on their Telegram account on June 27 .
Their actions were not warmly received in Russian society.
The Orthodox movement “Forty Forties” [named for the 40x40 churches that existed in Moscow before the revolution—O.C.] held pickets at the embassies on Sunday under the slogan, “Russia has its own values,” with participants holding an icon of the Synaxis of All Saints Who Have Shown Forth in the Russian Land, report RIA-Novosti .
“The Forty Forties movement linked this demarche of the two diplomatic representatives with the fact that the popular vote on the amendments to the Russian constitution began during these days, one of which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, which contradicts the concept of state policy of the U.S.A. and Great Britain of promoting LGBT values in the world,” the movement stated.
The Orthodox activists also noted that the flags were hung in violation of Russian law. “This is illegal and shows disrespect for the laws of the host country by American and British diplomats,” they said.
State Duma Deputy Vitaly Milonov has specifically asked Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov to check the incidents for violations of Russian law.
The Moscow Patriarchate voiced its approval of the protests, noting that the demonstration of such symbols is “disrespectful to the worldview of many Russian citizens.”
“We share the concerns of the Orthodox community, which opposed the display of symbols related to sexual minorities at the embassies of the United States and Great Britain. We believe that every country has the right to inviolability of its values, including those related to marriage and family,” Vakhtang Kipshidze, Deputy Head of the Synodal Department of for Relations Between the Church and Society and the Media, told RIA-Novosti on Monday.
The displaying of such symbols is part of a political agenda that leads to discrimination against people of traditional beliefs, he also noted.


russia-insider--2020-07-07--New Constitution Means Russia’s Political Stability Strong While the West Sinks

Despite what American and European commentators may think , there really is a deep desire among people to vote for their own sovereignty .
And that impulse was on full display last week with the announcement of the results of Russia ’ s public vote to approve the changes to its constitution .
The final tally put the vote at 78 % in favor with a 65 % voter turnout for the referendum .
These are the most sweeping changes to Russia ’ s constitution since it was ratified back in 1993 , which vested the President with immense power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reforms differed in one important aspect from the original one – allowing for a president to serve more than two ‘ consecutive ’ terms – the over-arching theme of the changes was to devolve power out of the presidency putting more power in the hands of the elected representatives in the Duma .
The president ’ s cabinet is to be drawn from the Duma rather than the appointed by the president , while the State Council has been officially added to the constitution which can implement presidential edicts directly to the regions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a greater balance ( and tension ) between these various branches of government as the president loses control over appointing his cabinet but strengthens his ability to bypass the elected parliament .
What was clear at the outset of this process was that Putin was trying to prepare his succession while minimizing the potential for another ‘ foreign puppet ’ to wield the immense power of the Russian presidency , as it was under Boris Yeltsin .
Putin was looking to retire in 2024 , at 71 , with an eye of maintaining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leading the Security Council , which with these reforms has a more direct role in shaping military and diplomatic policy than it did before .
Back in December I did a podcast with Alexander Mercouris of The Duran where we discussed these potential changes in detail ( which pre-dates the changes to the president ’ s term limit ) which I think is important to review at this point since the changes are now law .
No matter what political perspective you come from there will be valid criticisms of these changes seeing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overall arc of them is to make Russia far more resistant to outside interference while reflecting the growing pride of Russians for their home and their surviving the hell imposed on them post-USSR .
And these changes have to be viewed through that lens .
In my mind Russia has been in a state of war with the West since late 2013 with the EU ’ s attempt to fast-track Ukraine into its bosom .
That morphed into the Maidan uprising and the subsequent reunification with Crimea and the War to Prevent Donbass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the height of Russia ’ s post-Soviet economic and societal collapse .
He knows who was behind it and where , metaphorically , the bodies are buried .
He is still making moves which are , at best , incremental changes which are achievable when obvious wholesale changes are necessary .
That ’ s what a lot of these constitutional changes represent , incremental changes necessary to secure Russia ’ s near-term future in the context of an infinitely hostile West in the death throes of Empire .
For that reason , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as all power is to be inherently distrusted .
And the Russian people understand the nature of the conflict to the degree that they were motivated to make a definitive statement about it .
The response from the western press has been suitably pathetic , leading with headlines which only emphasize the potential for Putin to remain in power until 2036 ( at which point he ’ ll be 83 ) and the small pockets of resistance to these changes .
The people crying the most today are the neoliberal/neocons and their intelligence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the past thirty years who planned on waiting him out .
These changes to the constitution may , in the end , as Gilbert Doctorow suggests , strengthen the presidency in unforeseen ways , but the one thing it does do is ensure that if Russia is to sink into autocracy it will do so on its terms and not on those that openly destroyed it back in the 1990 ’ s .
This is an age of extreme political instability which reflects the poisoned economic foundation those institutions are built upon .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ massive resistance to the existing order from all sides of the political spectrum .
Their anger and frustration have the same genesis while their goals are vastly different .
The powers that be are behind the ones aimed at tearing down the political order in the U.S. while opposing the same drive in Europe .
The irony shouldn ’ t be lost on anyone that a color revolution is underway in the U.S. where the institutional system is vested in a national government with individual states still operating in accordance with that national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a loose collection of treaties binds sovereign nations together into the European Union which has almost zero legal authority to enforce its edicts , but which has violently resisted all expressions of national sovereignty as barbaric .
So , the picture should be very clear what the dynamic is and who is pulling what strings to what end .
And this is why there is the kind of howling and teeth gnashing coming from the West over these reforms , they can not allow to stand any successful expression of national sovereignty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But I don ’ t think either of these dynamics will win out ultimately .
The U.S. in its current form may not survive its civil war but neither will Europe go gently into the long night of The Davos Crowd ’ s intended supranational police state either .
The key to Putin ’ s success has been his conservative nature which understands that change comes over time .
You can ’ t force lasting change .
You have to allow people time to get used to an idea while also be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wrong ones .
That ’ s why these changes passed with a near 80 % majority .
They were overwhelmingly in agreement with public opinion about what Russia ’ s future should look like and who should make those decisions .
As such Russians stated to the world the other day that the truly dangerous disease infecting the West – unrestrained liberalism bordering on the libertine – will not be public policy going forward .

Despite what American and European commentators may think, there really is a deep desire among people to vote for their own sovereignty. And that impulse was on full display last week with the announcement of the results of Russia’s public vote to approve the changes to its constitution.
The final tally put the vote at 78% in favor with a 65% voter turnout for the referendum. These are the most sweeping changes to Russia’s constitution since it was ratified back in 1993, which vested the President with immense power.
And while the final package of reforms differed in one important aspect from the original one – allowing for a president to serve more than two ‘consecutive’ terms – the over-arching theme of the changes was to devolve power out of the presidency putting more power in the hands of the elected representatives in the Duma.
The president’s cabinet is to be drawn from the Duma rather than the appointed by the president, while the State Council has been officially added to the constitution which can implement presidential edicts directly to the regions. In effect, there is now a greater balance (and tension) between these various branches of government as the president loses control over appointing his cabinet but strengthens his ability to bypass the elected parliament.
What was clear at the outset of this process was that Putin was trying to prepare his succession while minimizing the potential for another ‘foreign puppet’ to wield the immense power of the Russian presidency, as it was under Boris Yeltsin.
Putin was looking to retire in 2024, at 71, with an eye of maintaining a strong presence in Russian politics by leading the Security Council, which with these reforms has a more direct role in shaping military and diplomatic policy than it did before.
Back in December I did a podcast with Alexander Mercouris of The Duran where we discussed these potential changes in detail (which pre-dates the changes to the president’s term limit) which I think is important to review at this point since the changes are now law.
No matter what political perspective you come from there will be valid criticisms of these changes seeing the potential for abuse, but the overall arc of them is to make Russia far more resistant to outside interference while reflecting the growing pride of Russians for their home and their surviving the hell imposed on them post-USSR.
And these changes have to be viewed through that lens. In my mind Russia has been in a state of war with the West since late 2013 with the EU’s attempt to fast-track Ukraine into its bosom. That morphed into the Maidan uprising and the subsequent reunification with Crimea and the War to Prevent Donbass Secession.
Putin came to power at the height of Russia’s post-Soviet economic and societal collapse. He knows who was behind it and where, metaphorically, the bodies are buried. He is still making moves which are, at best, incremental changes which are achievable when obvious wholesale changes are necessary.
That’s what a lot of these constitutional changes represent, incremental changes necessary to secure Russia’s near-term future in the context of an infinitely hostile West in the death throes of Empire.
For that reason, they are welcome, if to be distrusted as all power is to be inherently distrusted. And the Russian people understand the nature of the conflict to the degree that they were motivated to make a definitive statement about it.
The response from the western press has been suitably pathetic, leading with headlines which only emphasize the potential for Putin to remain in power until 2036 (at which point he’ll be 83) and the small pockets of resistance to these changes.
The people crying the most today are the neoliberal/neocons and their intelligence agents who Putin has consistently outmaneuvered over the past thirty years who planned on waiting him out. These changes to the constitution may, in the end, as Gilbert Doctorow suggests, strengthen the presidency in unforeseen ways, but the one thing it does do is ensure that if Russia is to sink into autocracy it will do so on its terms and not on those that openly destroyed it back in the 1990’s.
This is an age of extreme political instability which reflects the poisoned economic foundation those institutions are built upon. All across the West we are seeing massive resistance to the existing order from all sides of the political spectrum. Their anger and frustration have the same genesis while their goals are vastly different.
The powers that be are behind the ones aimed at tearing down the political order in the U.S. while opposing the same drive in Europe. The irony shouldn’t be lost on anyone that a color revolution is underway in the U.S. where the institutional system is vested in a national government with individual states still operating in accordance with that national government.
While at the same time, a loose collection of treaties binds sovereign nations together into the European Union which has almost zero legal authority to enforce its edicts, but which has violently resisted all expressions of national sovereignty as barbaric.
So, the picture should be very clear what the dynamic is and who is pulling what strings to what end. And this is why there is the kind of howling and teeth gnashing coming from the West over these reforms, they cannot allow to stand any successful expression of national sovereignty lest the serfs get some funny ideas.
But I don’t think either of these dynamics will win out ultimately. The U.S. in its current form may not survive its civil war but neither will Europe go gently into the long night of The Davos Crowd’s intended supranational police state either.
The key to Putin’s success has been his conservative nature which understands that change comes over time. You can’t force lasting change. You have to allow people time to get used to an idea while also be willing to admit some changes made were the wrong ones.
That’s why these changes passed with a near 80% majority. They were overwhelmingly in agreement with public opinion about what Russia’s future should look like and who should make those decisions.
As such Russians stated to the world the other day that the truly dangerous disease infecting the West – unrestrained liberalism bordering on the libertine – will not be public policy going forward.


russia-insider--2020-07-07--Political Alignments in US Drive New Wave of Russia!, Russia!, Russia! Hysteria

There is particular danger at the moment that powerful political alignments in the United States are pushing strongly to exacerbate the developing crisis with Russia .
The New York Times , which broke the story that the Kremlin had been paying the Afghan Taliban bounties to kill American soldiers , has been particularly assiduous in promoting the tale of perfidious Moscow .
Initial Times coverage , which claimed that the activity had been confirmed by both intelligence sources and money tracking , was supplemented by delusional nonsense from former Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice , who asks “ Why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before calling for a “ swift and significant U.S. response.
” Rice , who is being mentioned as a possible Biden choice for Vice President , certainly knows about swift and significant as she was one of the architects of the destruction of Libya and the escalation of U.S. military and intelligence operations directed against a non-threatening Syria .
The Times is also titillating with the tale of a low level drug smuggling Pashto businessman who seemed to have a lot of cash in dollars lying around , ignoring the fact that Afghanistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for years .
Many of the dollars come from drug deals , as Afghanistan is now the world ’ s number one producer of opium and its byproducts .
The cash must be Russian sourced , per the NYT , because a couple of low level Taliban types , who were likely tortured by the Afghan police , have said that it is so .
The Times also cites anonymous sources which allege that there were money transfers from an account managed by the Kremlin ’ s GRU military intelligence to an account @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ alleged ” and consider for a minute that it would be stupid for any intelligence agency to make bank-to-bank transfers , which could be identified and tracked by the clever lads at the U.S. Treasury and NSA .
Also try to recall how not so long ago we heard fabricated tales about threatening WMDs to justify war .
Perhaps the story would be more convincing if a chain of custody could be established that included checks drawn on the Moscow-Narodny Bank and there just might be a crafty neocon hidden somewhere in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now faking up that sort of evidence .
Other reliably Democratic Party leaning news outlets , to include CNN , MSNBC and The Washington Post all jumped on the bounty story , adding details from their presumably inexhaustible supply of anonymous sources .
As Scott Horton observedthe media was reporting a “ fact ” that there was a rumor .
Inevitably the Democratic Party leadership abandoned its Ghanaian kente cloth scarves , got up off their knees , and hopped immediately on to their favorite horse , which is to claim loudly and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did it .
Joe Biden in particular is “ disgusted ” by a “ betrayal ” of American troops due to Trump ’ s insistence on maintaining “ an embarrassing campaign of deferring and debasing himself before Putin.
” The Dems were joined in their outrage by some Republican lawmakers who were equally incensed but are advocating delaying punishing Russia until all the facts are known .
Meanwhile , the “ circumstantial details ” are being invented to make the original tale more credible , including crediting the Afghan operation to a secret @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was also behind the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury England in 2018 .
Reportedly the Pentagon is looking into the circumstances around the deaths of three American soldiers by roadside bomb on April 8 , 2019 to determine a possible connection to the NYT report .
There are also concerns relating to several deaths in training where Afghan Army recruits turned on their instructors .
As the Taliban would hardly need an incentive to kill Americans and as only seventeen U.S. soldiers died in Afghanistan in 2019 as a result @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the intelligence allegedly relates to , one might well describe any joint Taliban-Russian initiative as a bit of a failure since nearly all of those deaths have been attributed to kinetic activity initiated by U.S. forces .
The actual game that is in play is , of course , all about Donald Trump and the November election .
It is being claimed that the president was briefed on the intelligence but did nothing .
Trump denied being verbally briefed due to the fact that the information had not been verified .
For once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ truth , confirmed by the “ intelligence community , ” but that did not stop the media from implying that the disconnect had been caused by Trump himself .
He reportedly does not read the Presidential Daily Brief ( PDB ) , where such a speculative piece might indeed appear on a back page , and is uninterested in intelligence assessments that contradict what he chooses to believe .
The Democrats are suggesting that Trump is too stupid and even too disinterested to be president of the United States so they are seeking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man who may be suffering from dementia .
The Democratic Party can not let Russia go because they see it as their key to future success and also as an explanation for their dramatic failure in 2016 which in no way holds them responsible for their ineptness .
One does not expect the House Intelligence Committee , currently headed by the wily Adam Schiff , to actually know anything about intelligence and how it is collected and analyzed , but the politicization of the product is certainly something that Schiff and his colleagues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One only has to recall the Russiagate Mueller Commission investigation and Schiff ’ s later role in cooking the witnesses that were produced in the subsequent Trump impeachment hearings .
Schiff predictably opened up on Trump in the wake of the NYT report , saying “ I find it inexplicable in light of these very public allegations that the president hasn ’ t come before the country and assured the American people that he will get to the bottom of whether Russia is putting bounties on American troops and that he will do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we protect American troops.
” Schiff and company should know , but clearly do not , that at the ground floor level there is a lot of lying , cheating and stealing around intelligence collection .
Most foreign agents do it for the money and quickly learn that embroidering the information that is being provided to their case officer might ultimately produce more cash .
Every day the U.S. intelligence community produces thousands of intelligence reports from those presumed “ sources with access , ” which then have to be assessed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is either completely false or cleverly fabricated to mix actual verified intelligence with speculation and out and out lies to make the package more attractive .
The tale of the Russian payment of bribes to the Taliban for killing Americans is precisely the kind of information that stinks to high heaven because it doesn ’ t even make any political or tactical sense , except to Nancy Pelosi , Chuck Schumer , Adam Schiff and the New York Times .
For what it ’ s worth , a number of former genuine intelligence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Scott Ritter , and Ray McGovern have looked at the evidence so far presented and have walked away unimpressed .
The National Security Agency ( NSA ) has also declined to confirm the story , meaning that there is no electronic trail to validate it .
Finally , there is more than a bit of the old hypocrisy at work in the damnation of the Russians even if they have actually been involved in an improbable operation with the Taliban .
One recalls that in the 1970s and 1980s the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Soviet presence in Afghanistan .
The assistance consisted of weapons , training , political support and intelligence used to locate , target and kill Soviet soldiers .
Stinger missiles were provided to bring down helicopters carrying the Russian troops .
The support was pretty much provided openly and was even boasted about , unlike what is currently being alleged about the Russian assistance .
The Soviets were fighting to maintain a secular regime that was closely allied to Moscow while the mujahideen later morphed into al-Qaeda and the Islamist militant Taliban subsequently took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. effort was delusional from the start .
So , what is a leaked almost certainly faux story about the Russian bounties on American soldiers intended to accomplish ?
It is probably intended to keep a “ defensive ” U.S. presence in Afghanistan , much desired by the neocons , a majority in Congress and the Military Industrial Complex ( MIC ) , and it will further be played and replayed to emphasize the demonstrated incompetence of Donald Trump .
The end result could be to secure the election of a pliable Establishment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States .
How that will turn out is unpredictable , but America ’ s experience of its presidents since 9/11 has not been very encouraging .
Philip M. Giraldi , Ph.D. , is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest , a 501 ( c ) 3 tax deductible educational foundation ( Federal ID Number # 52-1739023 ) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East .
Website is https : //councilforthenationalinterest.org , address is P.O .
Box 2157 , Purcellville VA 20134 and its email @ @ @ @ @ @

There is particular danger at the moment that powerful political alignments in the United States are pushing strongly to exacerbate the developing crisis with Russia. The New York Times, which broke the story that the Kremlin had been paying the Afghan Taliban bounties to kill American soldiers, has been particularly assiduous in promoting the tale of perfidious Moscow. Initial Times coverage, which claimed that the activity had been confirmed by both intelligence sources and money tracking, was supplemented by delusional nonsense from former Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice, who asks “Why does Trump put Russia first?” before calling for a “swift and significant U.S. response.” Rice, who is being mentioned as a possible Biden choice for Vice President, certainly knows about swift and significant as she was one of the architects of the destruction of Libya and the escalation of U.S. military and intelligence operations directed against a non-threatening Syria.
The Times is also titillating with the tale of a low level drug smuggling Pashto businessman who seemed to have a lot of cash in dollars lying around, ignoring the fact that Afghanistan is awash with dollars and has been for years. Many of the dollars come from drug deals, as Afghanistan is now the world’s number one producer of opium and its byproducts.
The cash must be Russian sourced, per the NYT, because a couple of low level Taliban types, who were likely tortured by the Afghan police, have said that it is so. The Times also cites anonymous sources which allege that there were money transfers from an account managed by the Kremlin’s GRU military intelligence to an account opened by the Taliban. Note the “alleged” and consider for a minute that it would be stupid for any intelligence agency to make bank-to-bank transfers, which could be identified and tracked by the clever lads at the U.S. Treasury and NSA. Also try to recall how not so long ago we heard fabricated tales about threatening WMDs to justify war. Perhaps the story would be more convincing if a chain of custody could be established that included checks drawn on the Moscow-Narodny Bank and there just might be a crafty neocon hidden somewhere in the U.S. intelligence community who is right now faking up that sort of evidence.
Other reliably Democratic Party leaning news outlets, to include CNN, MSNBC and The Washington Post all jumped on the bounty story, adding details from their presumably inexhaustible supply of anonymous sources. As Scott Horton observedthe media was reporting a “fact” that there was a rumor.
Inevitably the Democratic Party leadership abandoned its Ghanaian kente cloth scarves, got up off their knees, and hopped immediately on to their favorite horse, which is to claim loudly and in unison that when in doubt Russia did it. Joe Biden in particular is “disgusted” by a “betrayal” of American troops due to Trump’s insistence on maintaining “an embarrassing campaign of deferring and debasing himself before Putin.”
The Dems were joined in their outrage by some Republican lawmakers who were equally incensed but are advocating delaying punishing Russia until all the facts are known. Meanwhile, the “circumstantial details” are being invented to make the original tale more credible, including crediting the Afghan operation to a secret Russian GRU Army intelligence unit that allegedly was also behind the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury England in 2018.
Reportedly the Pentagon is looking into the circumstances around the deaths of three American soldiers by roadside bomb on April 8, 2019 to determine a possible connection to the NYT report. There are also concerns relating to several deaths in training where Afghan Army recruits turned on their instructors. As the Taliban would hardly need an incentive to kill Americans and as only seventeen U.S. soldiers died in Afghanistan in 2019 as a result of hostile action, the year that the intelligence allegedly relates to, one might well describe any joint Taliban-Russian initiative as a bit of a failure since nearly all of those deaths have been attributed to kinetic activity initiated by U.S. forces.
The actual game that is in play is, of course, all about Donald Trump and the November election. It is being claimed that the president was briefed on the intelligence but did nothing. Trump denied being verbally briefed due to the fact that the information had not been verified. For once America’s Chief Executive spoke the truth, confirmed by the “intelligence community,” but that did not stop the media from implying that the disconnect had been caused by Trump himself. He reportedly does not read the Presidential Daily Brief (PDB), where such a speculative piece might indeed appear on a back page, and is uninterested in intelligence assessments that contradict what he chooses to believe. The Democrats are suggesting that Trump is too stupid and even too disinterested to be president of the United States so they are seeking to replace him with a corrupt 78-year-old man who may be suffering from dementia.
The Democratic Party cannot let Russia go because they see it as their key to future success and also as an explanation for their dramatic failure in 2016 which in no way holds them responsible for their ineptness. One does not expect the House Intelligence Committee, currently headed by the wily Adam Schiff, to actually know anything about intelligence and how it is collected and analyzed, but the politicization of the product is certainly something that Schiff and his colleagues know full well how to manipulate. One only has to recall the Russiagate Mueller Commission investigation and Schiff’s later role in cooking the witnesses that were produced in the subsequent Trump impeachment hearings.
Schiff predictably opened up on Trump in the wake of the NYT report, saying “I find it inexplicable in light of these very public allegations that the president hasn’t come before the country and assured the American people that he will get to the bottom of whether Russia is putting bounties on American troops and that he will do everything in his power to make sure that we protect American troops.”
Schiff and company should know, but clearly do not, that at the ground floor level there is a lot of lying, cheating and stealing around intelligence collection. Most foreign agents do it for the money and quickly learn that embroidering the information that is being provided to their case officer might ultimately produce more cash. Every day the U.S. intelligence community produces thousands of intelligence reports from those presumed “sources with access,” which then have to be assessed by analysts. Much of the information reported is either completely false or cleverly fabricated to mix actual verified intelligence with speculation and out and out lies to make the package more attractive. The tale of the Russian payment of bribes to the Taliban for killing Americans is precisely the kind of information that stinks to high heaven because it doesn’t even make any political or tactical sense, except to Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff and the New York Times. For what it’s worth, a number of former genuine intelligence officers including Paul Pillar, John Kiriakou, Scott Ritter, and Ray McGovern have looked at the evidence so far presented and have walked away unimpressed. The National Security Agency (NSA) has also declined to confirm the story, meaning that there is no electronic trail to validate it.
Finally, there is more than a bit of the old hypocrisy at work in the damnation of the Russians even if they have actually been involved in an improbable operation with the Taliban. One recalls that in the 1970s and 1980s the United States supported the mujahideen rebels fighting against the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. The assistance consisted of weapons, training, political support and intelligence used to locate, target and kill Soviet soldiers. Stinger missiles were provided to bring down helicopters carrying the Russian troops. The support was pretty much provided openly and was even boasted about, unlike what is currently being alleged about the Russian assistance. The Soviets were fighting to maintain a secular regime that was closely allied to Moscow while the mujahideen later morphed into al-Qaeda and the Islamist militant Taliban subsequently took over the country, meaning that the U.S. effort was delusional from the start.
So, what is a leaked almost certainly faux story about the Russian bounties on American soldiers intended to accomplish? It is probably intended to keep a “defensive” U.S. presence in Afghanistan, much desired by the neocons, a majority in Congress and the Military Industrial Complex (MIC), and it will further be played and replayed to emphasize the demonstrated incompetence of Donald Trump. The end result could be to secure the election of a pliable Establishment flunky Joe Biden as president of the United States. How that will turn out is unpredictable, but America’s experience of its presidents since 9/11 has not been very encouraging.
Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is https://councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.


russia-insider--2020-07-07--Kazakhstan Holds the Secret for Greater Eurasia

The no holds barred US-China strategic competition may be leading us to the complete fragmentation of the current “ world-system ” – as Wallerstein defined it .
Yet compared to the South China Sea , the Korean peninsula , the Taiwan Straits , India-China ’ s Himalayan border , and selected latitudes of the Greater Middle East , Central Asia shines as a portrait of stability .
That ’ s quite intriguing , when we consider that the chessboard reveals the interests of top global players intersecting right in the heart of Eurasia .
And that brings us to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 9th largest country in the world , manage to remain neutral in the current , incandescent geopolitical juncture ?
What are the lineaments of what could be described as the Kazakh paradox ?
These questions were somewhat answered by the office of First President Nursultan Nazarbayev .
I had discussed some of them with analysts when I was in Kazakhstan late last year .
Nazarbayev could not answer them directly because he has just recently recovered from Covid-19 and is currently in self-isolation .
It all harks back to what was Kazakhstan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1991 .
The Kazakhs inherited a quite complex ethno-demographic structure , with the Russian-speaking population concentrated in the north ; unresolved territorial issues with China ; and geographical proximity to extremely unstable Afghanistan , then in a lull before the all-out warlord conflagration of the early 1990s which created the conditions for the emergence of the Taliban .
To make it even harder , Kazakhstan was landlocked .
All of the above might have led to Kazakhstan either dispatched to political limbo or mired in a perpetual Balkan scenario .
Enter Nazarbayev as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beginning , he saw Kazakhstan as a key player , not a pawn , in the Grand Chessboard in Eurasia .
A good example was setting up the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building measures in Asia ( CICA ) in 1992 , based on the principle of “ indivisibility of Asian security ” , later proposed to the whole of Eurasia .
Nazarbayev also made the crucial decision to abandon what was at the time the fourth nuclear missile potential on the planet – and a major trump card in international relations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Middle East to Central Asia knew that selected Islamic nations were extremely interested in Kazakhstan ’ s nuclear arsenal .
Nazarbayev bet on soft power instead of nuclear power .
Unlike the DPRK , for instance , he privileged Kazakhstan ’ s integration in the global economy in favorable terms instead of relying on nuclear power to establish national security .
He was certainly paving the way for Kazakhstan to be regarded as a trustworthy , get down to business neutral player and a mediator in international relations .
The trust and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen for myself in my pan-Eurasia travels and in conversations with analysts from Turkey and Lebanon to Russia and India .
The best current example is Astana , currently Nur-sultan , becoming the HQ of that complex work in progress : the Syrian peace process , coordinated by Iran , Turkey and Russia – following the crucial , successful Kazakh mediation to solve the Moscow-Ankara standoff after the downing of a Sukhoi Su-24M near the Syria-Turkish border in November 2015 .
And on the turbulent matter of Ukraine post-Maidan in 2014 , Kazakhstan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the West and its strategic partnership with Russia .
As I discussed late last year , Nur-sultan is now actively taking the role of the new Geneva : the capital of diplomacy for the 21st century .
The secret of this Kazakh paradox is the capacity of delicately balancing relations with the three main players – Russia , China and the US – as well as leading regional powers .
Nazarbayev ’ s office boldly argues that can be even translated to Nur-sultan placed as the ideal venue for US-China negotiations : “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ triangle and have built trusting relationships with each of them.
” In the heart of Eurasia And that brings us to why Kazakhstan – and Nazarbayev personally – are so much involved in promoting their special concept of Greater Eurasia – which overlaps with the Russian vision , discussed in extensive detail at the Valdai Club .
Nazarbayev managed to set a paradigm in which none of the big players feel compelled to exercize a monopoly on Kazak maneuvering .
That inevitably led Kazakhstan to expand its foreign policy reach .
Strategically , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Eurasia , with huge borders with Russia and China , as well as Iran in the Caspian Sea .
Its territory is no less than a top strategic bridge uniting the whole of Eurasia .
The Kazakh approach goes way beyond connectivity ( trade and transport ) , two key planks of China ’ s Belt and Road Initiative ( BRI ) , to get closer to the converging vision of BRI and the Russian-led Eurasia Economic Union ( EAEU ) : a single , integrated Eurasian space .
Nazarbayev sees the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” with Russia and with Turkic-speaking countries , including of course Turkey , as the foundation for his concept of Greater Eurasia .
The inevitable corollary is that the Atlanticist order – as well as the Anglo-American predominance in international relations – is waning , and certainly does not suit Asia and Eurasia .
A consensus is forming across many key latitudes that the driving force for the reboot of the global economy post-Covid-19 – and even a new paradigm – will come from Asia .
In parallel , Nazarbayev ’ s office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ purely Asian or Eastern answer is unlikely to suit the collective West , which is also in search of optimal models of the world ’ s structure .
The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative clearly showed that Western countries are not psychologically ready to see China as a leader.
” Nur-sultan nonetheless remains convinced that the only possible solution would be exactly a new paradigm in international relations .
Nazarbayev argues that the keys to solve the current turmoil are not located in Moscow , Beijing or Washington , but in a strategic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the interests of all global players intersect .
Thus the push for Kazakhstan – one of the key crossroads between Europe and Asia , alongside Turkey and Iran – to become the optimal mediator allowing Greater Eurasia to flourish in practice .
That is the uplifting option : otherwise , we seem condemned to live through another Cold War .

People walk on a bridge over the Ishim river in Nur-Sultan on June 8, 2019 on the eve of Kazakhstan's presidential elections. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP)
The no holds barred US-China strategic competition may be leading us to the complete fragmentation of the current “world-system” – as Wallerstein defined it.
Yet compared to the South China Sea, the Korean peninsula, the Taiwan Straits, India-China’s Himalayan border, and selected latitudes of the Greater Middle East, Central Asia shines as a portrait of stability.
That’s quite intriguing, when we consider that the chessboard reveals the interests of top global players intersecting right in the heart of Eurasia.
And that brings us to a key question: How could Kazakhstan, the 9th largest country in the world, manage to remain neutral in the current, incandescent geopolitical juncture? What are the lineaments of what could be described as the Kazakh paradox?
These questions were somewhat answered by the office of First President Nursultan Nazarbayev. I had discussed some of them with analysts when I was in Kazakhstan late last year. Nazarbayev could not answer them directly because he has just recently recovered from Covid-19 and is currently in self-isolation.
It all harks back to what was Kazakhstan really like when the USSR dissolved in 1991. The Kazakhs inherited a quite complex ethno-demographic structure, with the Russian-speaking population concentrated in the north; unresolved territorial issues with China; and geographical proximity to extremely unstable Afghanistan, then in a lull before the all-out warlord conflagration of the early 1990s which created the conditions for the emergence of the Taliban.
To make it even harder, Kazakhstan was landlocked.
All of the above might have led to Kazakhstan either dispatched to political limbo or mired in a perpetual Balkan scenario.
Have soft power, will travel
Enter Nazarbayev as a fine political strategist. From the beginning, he saw Kazakhstan as a key player, not a pawn, in the Grand Chessboard in Eurasia.
A good example was setting up the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building measures in Asia (CICA) in 1992, based on the principle of “indivisibility of Asian security”, later proposed to the whole of Eurasia.
Nazarbayev also made the crucial decision to abandon what was at the time the fourth nuclear missile potential on the planet – and a major trump card in international relations. Every major player in the arc from the Middle East to Central Asia knew that selected Islamic nations were extremely interested in Kazakhstan’s nuclear arsenal.
Nazarbayev bet on soft power instead of nuclear power. Unlike the DPRK, for instance, he privileged Kazakhstan’s integration in the global economy in favorable terms instead of relying on nuclear power to establish national security. He was certainly paving the way for Kazakhstan to be regarded as a trustworthy, get down to business neutral player and a mediator in international relations.
The trust and goodwill towards Kazakhstan is something I have seen for myself in my pan-Eurasia travels and in conversations with analysts from Turkey and Lebanon to Russia and India.
The best current example is Astana, currently Nur-sultan, becoming the HQ of that complex work in progress: the Syrian peace process, coordinated by Iran, Turkey and Russia – following the crucial, successful Kazakh mediation to solve the Moscow-Ankara standoff after the downing of a Sukhoi Su-24M near the Syria-Turkish border in November 2015.
And on the turbulent matter of Ukraine post-Maidan in 2014, Kazakhstan simultaneously kept good relations with Kiev and the West and its strategic partnership with Russia.
As I discussed late last year, Nur-sultan is now actively taking the role of the new Geneva: the capital of diplomacy for the 21st century.
The secret of this Kazakh paradox is the capacity of delicately balancing relations with the three main players – Russia, China and the US – as well as leading regional powers. Nazarbayev’s office boldly argues that can be even translated to Nur-sultan placed as the ideal venue for US-China negotiations: “We are tightly embedded in the US-China-Russia triangle and have built trusting relationships with each of them.”
In the heart of Eurasia
And that brings us to why Kazakhstan – and Nazarbayev personally – are so much involved in promoting their special concept of Greater Eurasia – which overlaps with the Russian vision, discussed in extensive detail at the Valdai Club.
Nazarbayev managed to set a paradigm in which none of the big players feel compelled to exercize a monopoly on Kazak maneuvering. That inevitably led Kazakhstan to expand its foreign policy reach.
Strategically, Kazakhstan is smack in the geographical heart of Eurasia, with huge borders with Russia and China, as well as Iran in the Caspian Sea. Its territory is no less than a top strategic bridge uniting the whole of Eurasia.
The Kazakh approach goes way beyond connectivity (trade and transport), two key planks of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), to get closer to the converging vision of BRI and the Russian-led Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU): a single, integrated Eurasian space.
Nazarbayev sees the integration of the Central Asian “stans” with Russia and with Turkic-speaking countries, including of course Turkey, as the foundation for his concept of Greater Eurasia.
The inevitable corollary is that the Atlanticist order – as well as the Anglo-American predominance in international relations – is waning, and certainly does not suit Asia and Eurasia. A consensus is forming across many key latitudes that the driving force for the reboot of the global economy post-Covid-19 – and even a new paradigm – will come from Asia.
In parallel, Nazarbayev’s office make a crucial point: “A purely Asian or Eastern answer is unlikely to suit the collective West, which is also in search of optimal models of the world’s structure. The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative clearly showed that Western countries are not psychologically ready to see China as a leader.”
Nur-sultan nonetheless remains convinced that the only possible solution would be exactly a new paradigm in international relations. Nazarbayev argues that the keys to solve the current turmoil are not located in Moscow, Beijing or Washington, but in a strategic transit node, like Kazakhstan, where the interests of all global players intersect.
Thus the push for Kazakhstan – one of the key crossroads between Europe and Asia, alongside Turkey and Iran – to become the optimal mediator allowing Greater Eurasia to flourish in practice. That is the uplifting option: otherwise, we seem condemned to live through another Cold War.


russia-insider--2020-07-09--Efforts to Censor Unz.com Backfire, Traffic Surges After Ban From Anti-Free Speech Google / Facebook

According to the old saying , it ’ s only an ill wind that blows no good .
Whether true or not , America society has certainly been buffeted from some extremely ill winds of late .
Our nation is still facing its worst disease epidemic in over 100 years together with the highest unemployment since the Great Depression .
Efforts to combat these ills have raised our unprecedented national debt to levels last reached at the end of World War II , but this time lacking the productive industrial base for servicing it .
Most recently , the easing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quickly followed by the worst national outbreak of riots and looting in two generations , with many of our historical statues and monuments falling prey to this American Cultural Revolution .
We ’ re now only a step or two away from seeing mobs attack and destroy the Jefferson Monument , Monticello , and Mount Vernon , along with every other symbol of America ’ s “ tainted ” past .
Meanwhile , our political leadership seems incompetent , helpless , or complicit in this mass insanity .
A key point of sharp @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seem intent on provoking a crazy war with China , the Democrats strongly disagree , instead preferring an equally crazy war with Russia .
Naturally enough our small webzine has been tossed and turned in recent months on these broader currents as we seek to fulfill our stated mission of providing convenient access to “ interesting , important , and controversial perspectives largely excluded from the American mainstream media.
” During March and April , our readership set new records , partly propelled during the latter month by my own long article pointing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadly Covid-19 pandemic had been the result of an appallingly-reckless American biowarfare attack against China ( and Iran ) .
Then just a week after the release of that extremely popular piece , we were suddenly purged from Facebook , soon followed by a similar purge by Google .
For five years , we had freely discussed the most controversial topics imaginable without suffering any ill effect , much to the surprise of numerous observers .
But now the world ’ s two most powerful Internet gatekeepers suddenly blocked all our past and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cause-and-effect relationship .
As a consequence , our regular daily traffic immediately declined by 15 % or more , a serious blow to our steadily-growing readership .
But events that are disastrous for a country may be beneficial for those who report and cover them , especially they are willing to provide important perspectives avoided by others .
The huge wave of protests , rioting , and looting that ushered in the month of May soon raised our traffic to new and unprecedented heights , and we have seen three record-breaking weeks in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far continuing .
Just a few days ago , we published a lengthy analysis pointing to the strong evidence that George Floyd—universally hailed by the global media as a martyred police victim—had actually died of a illegal drug overdose .
The early readership has been breaking records despite the Facebook and Google blacklisting .
How could such important facts have been totally excluded from all journalistic coverage ?
Well , consider that just a couple of weeks ago , the highly-regarded Editorial Page Editor of the New York Times—widely seen as a top @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of record—was purged merely for publishing an op-ed by a leading Republican senator that endorsed the proposed policies of President Donald Trump .
In such a climate of media fear , mainstream reporters and editors are hardly eager to report inconvenient truths .
Still , our continued blacklisting by Facebook and Google does remain a handicap , and a consequence of the latter has been especially vexing to me .
For the last ten years , my article The Myth of Hispanic Crime had regularly ranked # 2 among the 180 million search @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” and the 60 million for “ Hispanic Crime , ” an achievement for which I had become inordinately proud .
But although comparable search engines such as Bing and DuckDuckGo still rank my piece near the very top , Google has completely “ disappeared ” it .
I think a reasonable measure of a topic ’ s importance is the total number of search results it returns .
Communism and Communists dominated the entire twentieth century and the political party of that name still holds sway in gigantic China .
So a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million results , a vast number but still somewhat below the total for “ Latino Crime.
” Imagine how an academic or journalist might feel if his article analyzing Communism had spent a full decade ranked # 2 across the entire Internet , but Google had then suddenly decided to blacklist it for reasons entirely unrelated to its intrinsic or objective quality .
Search engines that manipulate their objective results for political reasons must surely develop a reputation for bias and begin to lose their credibility .

According to the old saying, it’s only an ill wind that blows no good.
Whether true or not, America society has certainly been buffeted from some extremely ill winds of late.
Our nation is still facing its worst disease epidemic in over 100 years together with the highest unemployment since the Great Depression. Efforts to combat these ills have raised our unprecedented national debt to levels last reached at the end of World War II, but this time lacking the productive industrial base for servicing it.
Most recently, the easing of an unprecedented national lockdown has been quickly followed by the worst national outbreak of riots and looting in two generations, with many of our historical statues and monuments falling prey to this American Cultural Revolution. We’re now only a step or two away from seeing mobs attack and destroy the Jefferson Monument, Monticello, and Mount Vernon, along with every other symbol of America’s “tainted” past.
Meanwhile, our political leadership seems incompetent, helpless, or complicit in this mass insanity. A key point of sharp division has been that while the Republicans seem intent on provoking a crazy war with China, the Democrats strongly disagree, instead preferring an equally crazy war with Russia.
Naturally enough our small webzine has been tossed and turned in recent months on these broader currents as we seek to fulfill our stated mission of providing convenient access to “interesting, important, and controversial perspectives largely excluded from the American mainstream media.”
During March and April, our readership set new records, partly propelled during the latter month by my own long article pointing to the very considerable evidence that the deadly Covid-19 pandemic had been the result of an appallingly-reckless American biowarfare attack against China (and Iran).
Then just a week after the release of that extremely popular piece, we were suddenly purged from Facebook, soon followed by a similar purge by Google.
For five years, we had freely discussed the most controversial topics imaginable without suffering any ill effect, much to the surprise of numerous observers. But now the world’s two most powerful Internet gatekeepers suddenly blocked all our past and future articles, which strongly suggests a cause-and-effect relationship. As a consequence, our regular daily traffic immediately declined by 15% or more, a serious blow to our steadily-growing readership.
But events that are disastrous for a country may be beneficial for those who report and cover them, especially they are willing to provide important perspectives avoided by others. The huge wave of protests, rioting, and looting that ushered in the month of May soon raised our traffic to new and unprecedented heights, and we have seen three record-breaking weeks in a row, with those trends so far continuing.
Just a few days ago, we published a lengthy analysis pointing to the strong evidence that George Floyd—universally hailed by the global media as a martyred police victim—had actually died of a illegal drug overdose. The early readership has been breaking records despite the Facebook and Google blacklisting.
How could such important facts have been totally excluded from all journalistic coverage? Well, consider that just a couple of weeks ago, the highly-regarded Editorial Page Editor of the New York Times—widely seen as a top 2021 contender to run our national newspaper of record—was purged merely for publishing an op-ed by a leading Republican senator that endorsed the proposed policies of President Donald Trump. In such a climate of media fear, mainstream reporters and editors are hardly eager to report inconvenient truths.
Still, our continued blacklisting by Facebook and Google does remain a handicap, and a consequence of the latter has been especially vexing to me.
For the last ten years, my article The Myth of Hispanic Crime had regularly ranked #2 among the 180 million search results Google returned for “Latino Crime” and the 60 million for “Hispanic Crime,” an achievement for which I had become inordinately proud. But although comparable search engines such as Bing and DuckDuckGo still rank my piece near the very top, Google has completely “disappeared” it.
I think a reasonable measure of a topic’s importance is the total number of search results it returns. Communism and Communists dominated the entire twentieth century and the political party of that name still holds sway in gigantic China. So a search on “Communism” returns 163 million results, a vast number but still somewhat below the total for “Latino Crime.” Imagine how an academic or journalist might feel if his article analyzing Communism had spent a full decade ranked #2 across the entire Internet, but Google had then suddenly decided to blacklist it for reasons entirely unrelated to its intrinsic or objective quality.
Search engines that manipulate their objective results for political reasons must surely develop a reputation for bias and begin to lose their credibility.


russia-insider--2020-07-09--Here's the Demographic Data on Americans Who Believe the 'Russian Bounties' Baloney - It's Depressin

Here's the Demographic Data on Americans Who Believe the 'Russian Bounties' Baloney - It's Depressing

There are intelligence reports !
Those reports contain information from US intelligence agents !
That information has been confirmed by Afghan officials !
The Taliban and the Kremlin deny it all , but of course they would .
They want us to cut and run , after all , and what better way to do that than to scandalously and saliently bribe militants who ’ ve been shooting at US troops for the last twenty years to continue shooting at US troops as they ’ ve done for the last twenty years ?
Check mate , losers , your plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We ’ ll keep the Afghanistan operation going for another two decades so we can funnel trillions more to the military-industrial complex and continue the pincer against the existential threat that wants to wipe Isr- , er , America off the map because of our freedoms .
Sorry Donald , we ’ re not letting a Putin puppet extract us from the longest conflict in our history at the behest of an American public that elected him to bring the troops home .
After that hoodwinking , or gaslighting , or whatever you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t even want us to leave anymore .
Just look at those survey results !
Parenthetically , 40 % of respondents answered “ not sure ” and were excluded from the preceding graph .
Perhaps they are cynically disengaged , not inclined to trust agencies where lying to the citizenry is par for the course .
If that mattered , maybe it would be something to celebrate .
It doesn ’ t matter , though .
The empire isn ’ t leaving Afghanistan until it collapses–the empire , that is .

There are intelligence reports! Those reports contain information from US intelligence agents! That information has been confirmed by Afghan officials!
The Taliban and the Kremlin deny it all, but of course they would. They want us to cut and run, after all, and what better way to do that than to scandalously and saliently bribe militants who’ve been shooting at US troops for the last twenty years to continue shooting at US troops as they’ve done for the last twenty years? Check mate, losers, your plan failed–we’re not going anywhere! We’ll keep the Afghanistan operation going for another two decades so we can funnel trillions more to the military-industrial complex and continue the pincer against the existential threat that wants to wipe Isr-, er, America off the map because of our freedoms.
Sorry Donald, we’re not letting a Putin puppet extract us from the longest conflict in our history at the behest of an American public that elected him to bring the troops home. After that hoodwinking, or gaslighting, or whatever you want to call it, they don’t even want us to leave anymore. Just look at those survey results!
Parenthetically, 40% of respondents answered “not sure” and were excluded from the preceding graph. Perhaps they are cynically disengaged, not inclined to trust agencies where lying to the citizenry is par for the course. If that mattered, maybe it would be something to celebrate. It doesn’t matter, though. The empire isn’t leaving Afghanistan until it collapses–the empire, that is.


russia-insider--2020-07-09--'Russian Bounties' Chutzpah: Actually US Taxpayers Have Paid Out Billions to the Taliban

There ’ s no reason for you to accept the story about the Russian military paying Afghan militants to kill American troops in Afghanistan .
The New York Times , Wall Street Journal and Washington Post all started this controversy late last week with incredibly thin stories .
They did not even pretend to claim that it was true the Russians had put bounties on U.S. troops , only that they had anonymous sources who claimed there was a government report somewhere that said that .
They were reporting the “ fact ” that there was a rumor .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were leaking the story .
All we were told was the story came from “ intelligence officials ” or even “ people familiar ” with the story .
They did not cite any evidence and did not claim to connect the rumored bounties to the deaths of any particular American soldiers or marines .
All three stories were written in language conceding they did not know if the story was true .
The Times wrote this “ would be an escalation , ” “ officials have said , ” “ it would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ would also be a huge escalation.
” [ Emphasis added . ]
( “ Escalation ” of what ?
Russia ’ s global dark arts war against American interests which also happens to only exist in the form of claims of anonymous government officials . )
The New York Times follow-up story was still very thin .
Again , the extremely vague “ intelligence officials ” and now the extremely broad “ special operations forces , ” who are not intelligence officials , are their claimed sources .
They do not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comment .
The sources claim that the intelligence report says that captured “ militants ” — again deliberately vague — were caught with some American cash and later admitted to Afghan National Security Force interrogators that they had been paid these Russian bounties .
Well the entire country is awash in American cash as well as every form of black market in drugs , guns , prostitution and the rest .
The U.S. itself has been paying the Taliban since 2005 or 2006 literally billions of dollars in protection money for convoys of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s even a whole book devoted to that subject called Funding the Enemy : How US Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban by Douglas Wissing .
They then spend that money buying American weapons , night-vision equipment and even Humvees from the Afghan Army the U.S. has built there .
Of course the Afghan government has a huge interest in perpetuating such tales as these , whether they tortured these statements out of these prisoners or not .
They want desperately for U.S. forces to stay to protect their power .
If making up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could undermine the Trump administration ’ s peace talks with the Taliban , then they just might do that .
Remember , just in this century , America ’ s intelligence agencies have lied about Iraq ’ s unconventional weapons and alliance with Osama bin Laden , Libya ’ s impending genocide , Syria ’ s “ moderate rebel ” bin Ladenite terrorists and false-flag chemical weapons attacks , and most recently the massive hoax that Donald Trump was a brainwashed , blackmailed secret agent of Putin ’ s Kremlin who had conspired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s rightful throne in the 2016 election .
They ’ re liars .
After all we ’ ve been through , we ’ re supposed to give anonymous “ intelligence officials ” in the New York Times the benefit of the doubt on something like this ?
I don ’ t think so .
The Wall Street Journal conceded yesterday that the National Security Agency is dissenting from the conclusion about the bounties , though of course not saying why .
However , just the fact that they put that in the paper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the conclusion and the media and political war that is being waged in the name of it .
The Pentagon also said on Monday it has not seen “ corroborating evidence ” to support the claims .
Current reports are that the supposed events all happened last year .
This raises major questions why the story was leaked to the three most important newspapers in the country in the way that it was last week .
The national security state has done everything they can to keep the U.S. involved in that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both into expanding it against their better judgement .
If Trump had listened to his former Secretary of Defense James Mattis and National Security Advisor H.R .
McMaster , we ’ d be on year three of an escalation with plans to begin talks with the Taliban next year .
Instead , Trump talked to them for the last year-and-a-half and has already signed a deal to have us out by the end of next May .
The national security state also has a continuing interest in preventing Trump from “ getting along @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to advance the tired debunked old narrative that Trump puts Russian interests before America ’ s , they will .
Of course that is the story TV is pushing again this week .
( I am not a Trump supporter .
But lies are lies and his position on Afghanistan is now correct . )
Before this supposed story broke last week , Sen. Angus King , the Democrat , was already complaining about Trump ’ s plans for a “ precipitous ” and “ hasty ” withdrawal from Afghanistan , after two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another year from now .
Shocking but not surprising , as they say .
What interest might Russia have in doing this ?
It ’ s America who switched sides in the Afghan war , not Russia .
They have supported the U.S. effort and U.S.-created government in Kabul since 2001 .
In 2012 , when the Pakistanis closed the “ southern route ” from Karachi through the Khyber Pass , Russia re-opened the “ northern route ” through their country to allow American supplies into Afghanistan for Obama ’ s “ surge.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Afghan National Army .
To get around their own sanctions , the U.S. has even had India buy helicopters from the Russians to give to the Afghan government .
There ’ s no question they are talking to the Taliban .
But so are we .
There were claims in 2017 that Russia was arming and paying the Taliban , but then the generals admitted to Congress they had no evidence of either .
In a humiliating debacle , also in 2017 , CNN claimed a big scoop about Putin ’ s support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ photos of Taliban fighters with old Russian weapons .
The military veteran journalists at Task and Purpose quickly debunked every claim in their piece .
Let ’ s say hypothetically that the story was true : The simplest explanation for Russia ’ s motive then would be that they were trying to provoke exactly the reaction they have gotten , which is renewed pressure on Trump to back out of the withdrawal deal with the Taliban since his political enemies will spin it as a “ win ” for Russia if we leave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provoke America to stay in Afghanistan ?
Could it be for the same reason that Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan backed the mujahideen against the USSR back in the 70s and 80s — to provoke them into committing national suicide by bogging them down in a no-win quagmire , killing hundreds of thousands of people and wasting uncountable billions of dollars ?
So what would that say about our policy now ?
Of course that ’ s all nonsense too .
The reason the Russians have supported our efforts in Afghanistan for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re protecting their friends in power and at least supposedly have been fighting to keep transnational Islamist terrorism at bay .
If they are backing the Taliban at all now it would be just a small version of their own “ Awakening ” policy [ from Iraq circa 2007 ] of supporting the local mujahideen against the new smaller and more radical groups claiming loyalty to ISIS there , since the Taliban have been their most effective opponents .
This is not much different than the current American policy which prioritizes the Taliban @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down and out for us .
Of course it ’ s America ’ s ( dis ) loyal Saudi and Pakistani allies who have been backing the Afghan Taliban insurgency against the U.S. occupation all these years , not the Russians .
Afghanistan will probably be mired in protracted conflict for years after U.S. forces finally leave , though hopefully all sides are tired enough of fighting now that they can negotiate acceptable power-sharing arrangements instead .
If the pressure is bad enough that Trump renounces his own deal , the Taliban will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. forces there .
That is not likely to happen though .
As far as America ’ s relationship with Russia — the single most important thing in the world for all people — this is just another setback on the road to a peaceful and acceptable coexistence .

There’s no reason for you to accept the story about the Russian military paying Afghan militants to kill American troops in Afghanistan. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post all started this controversy late last week with incredibly thin stories. They did not even pretend to claim that it was true the Russians had put bounties on U.S. troops, only that they had anonymous sources who claimed there was a government report somewhere that said that. They were reporting the “fact” that there was a rumor.
They wouldn’t even say which agencies were leaking the story. All we were told was the story came from “intelligence officials” or even “people familiar” with the story.
They did not cite any evidence and did not claim to connect the rumored bounties to the deaths of any particular American soldiers or marines.
All three stories were written in language conceding they did not know if the story was true. The Times wrote this “would be an escalation,” “officials have said,” “it would be the first time,” and again, “would also be a huge escalation.” [Emphasis added.] (“Escalation” of what? Russia’s global dark arts war against American interests which also happens to only exist in the form of claims of anonymous government officials.)
The New York Times follow-up story was still very thin. Again, the extremely vague “intelligence officials” and now the extremely broad “special operations forces,” who are not intelligence officials, are their claimed sources. They do not cite the CIA, who refused to comment.
The sources claim that the intelligence report says that captured “militants” — again deliberately vague — were caught with some American cash and later admitted to Afghan National Security Force interrogators that they had been paid these Russian bounties.
Well the entire country is awash in American cash as well as every form of black market in drugs, guns, prostitution and the rest. The U.S. itself has been paying the Taliban since 2005 or 2006 literally billions of dollars in protection money for convoys of U.S. supplies in the country. There’s even a whole book devoted to that subject called Funding the Enemy: How US Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban by Douglas Wissing. They then spend that money buying American weapons, night-vision equipment and even Humvees from the Afghan Army the U.S. has built there.
Of course the Afghan government has a huge interest in perpetuating such tales as these, whether they tortured these statements out of these prisoners or not. They want desperately for U.S. forces to stay to protect their power. If making up a story about Russia and the Taliban could undermine the Trump administration’s peace talks with the Taliban, then they just might do that.
Remember, just in this century, America’s intelligence agencies have lied about Iraq’s unconventional weapons and alliance with Osama bin Laden, Libya’s impending genocide, Syria’s “moderate rebel” bin Ladenite terrorists and false-flag chemical weapons attacks, and most recently the massive hoax that Donald Trump was a brainwashed, blackmailed secret agent of Putin’s Kremlin who had conspired with Russia to usurp Hillary Clinton’s rightful throne in the 2016 election. They’re liars.
After all we’ve been through, we’re supposed to give anonymous “intelligence officials” in the New York Times the benefit of the doubt on something like this? I don’t think so.
The Wall Street Journal conceded yesterday that the National Security Agency is dissenting from the conclusion about the bounties, though of course not saying why. However, just the fact that they put that in the paper seems to signal a very strong dissent from the conclusion and the media and political war that is being waged in the name of it. The Pentagon also said on Monday it has not seen “corroborating evidence” to support the claims.
Current reports are that the supposed events all happened last year. This raises major questions why the story was leaked to the three most important newspapers in the country in the way that it was last week. The national security state has done everything they can to keep the U.S. involved in that war, successfully badgering Obama and Trump both into expanding it against their better judgement. If Trump had listened to his former Secretary of Defense James Mattis and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, we’d be on year three of an escalation with plans to begin talks with the Taliban next year. Instead, Trump talked to them for the last year-and-a-half and has already signed a deal to have us out by the end of next May.
The national security state also has a continuing interest in preventing Trump from “getting along with Russia.” Anything they can do to advance the tired debunked old narrative that Trump puts Russian interests before America’s, they will. Of course that is the story TV is pushing again this week. (I am not a Trump supporter. But lies are lies and his position on Afghanistan is now correct.)
Before this supposed story broke last week, Sen. Angus King, the Democrat, was already complaining about Trump’s plans for a “precipitous” and “hasty” withdrawal from Afghanistan, after two decades — a withdrawal planned for completion another year from now. Shocking but not surprising, as they say.
What interest might Russia have in doing this?
It’s America who switched sides in the Afghan war, not Russia. They have supported the U.S. effort and U.S.-created government in Kabul since 2001. In 2012, when the Pakistanis closed the “southern route” from Karachi through the Khyber Pass, Russia re-opened the “northern route” through their country to allow American supplies into Afghanistan for Obama’s “surge.” They have sent arms to the Afghan National Army. To get around their own sanctions, the U.S. has even had India buy helicopters from the Russians to give to the Afghan government.
There’s no question they are talking to the Taliban. But so are we.
There were claims in 2017 that Russia was arming and paying the Taliban, but then the generals admitted to Congress they had no evidence of either. In a humiliating debacle, also in 2017, CNN claimed a big scoop about Putin’s support for the Taliban when furnished with some photos of Taliban fighters with old Russian weapons. The military veteran journalists at Task and Purpose quickly debunked every claim in their piece.
Let’s say hypothetically that the story was true: The simplest explanation for Russia’s motive then would be that they were trying to provoke exactly the reaction they have gotten, which is renewed pressure on Trump to back out of the withdrawal deal with the Taliban since his political enemies will spin it as a “win” for Russia if we leave. But why would Russia want to provoke America to stay in Afghanistan? Could it be for the same reason that Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan backed the mujahideen against the USSR back in the 70s and 80s — to provoke them into committing national suicide by bogging them down in a no-win quagmire, killing hundreds of thousands of people and wasting uncountable billions of dollars?
So what would that say about our policy now?
Of course that’s all nonsense too. The reason the Russians have supported our efforts in Afghanistan for the last 19 years is because we’re protecting their friends in power and at least supposedly have been fighting to keep transnational Islamist terrorism at bay. If they are backing the Taliban at all now it would be just a small version of their own “Awakening” policy [from Iraq circa 2007] of supporting the local mujahideen against the new smaller and more radical groups claiming loyalty to ISIS there, since the Taliban have been their most effective opponents.
This is not much different than the current American policy which prioritizes the Taliban’s keeping ISIS and al Qaeda down and out for us.
Of course it’s America’s (dis)loyal Saudi and Pakistani allies who have been backing the Afghan Taliban insurgency against the U.S. occupation all these years, not the Russians.
Afghanistan will probably be mired in protracted conflict for years after U.S. forces finally leave, though hopefully all sides are tired enough of fighting now that they can negotiate acceptable power-sharing arrangements instead. If the pressure is bad enough that Trump renounces his own deal, the Taliban will almost certainly go back to war against U.S. forces there. That is not likely to happen though.
As far as America’s relationship with Russia — the single most important thing in the world for all people — this is just another setback on the road to a peaceful and acceptable coexistence.


russia-insider--2020-07-09--'Unconscious for 9 Days': Jordan Peterson Opens Up About His Drug Detox Treatment in Russia

Dr. Jordan Peterson desperately needed medical attention , and he was n't able to get it in America .
He went to Russia , and successfully received the necessary treatment .
He tells more of the story here .
Now that he is back in good health , he is working on his next book .
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Canadian psychologist and lecturer Jordan Peterson has been dealing with some serious health and family issues in the past year , prompting him to take time out from the public eye .
The University of Toronto professor has now revealed more details @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his life since last summer .
Peterson has opened up about his “ intolerably dreadful ” experience of physical addiction to the psychoactive drug benzodiazepine in a new podcast recorded by his daughter Mikhaila .
He discussed in details the reasons and effects of the physical dependency he developed to benzodiazepine .
The professor was prescribed the drug back in 2016 to treat anxiety caused by a severe allergic response to food which lasted for several weeks .
After his wife of 30 years , Tammy , was diagnosed with an incurable form @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the medicine Peterson was taking was increased .
However , according to the psychologist , this merely increased his anxiety to unbearable levels .
While his wife “ miraculously ” recovered in mid-August 2019 , the professor ’ s state of health got worse .
He tried to stop taking the anti-anxiety drug entirely for some time , which he said was not a good idea .
He then developed a so-called “ akathisia ” disorder , which made him unable to stay still and live a normal life .
Peterson could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health condition in North American hospitals .
Therefore , in November 2019 , his family decided to take him to Russia to undergo detox treatment , which put him in an “ unconscious ” state for nine days while his body recovered from its addiction to benzodiazepine .
Following the treatment , Peterson managed to recover from akathisia and leave Russia benzo-free .
He then travelled to Florida and on to Serbia to continue his rehabilitation from anxiety and neurological complications caused by physical addiction to the drug .
The professor revealed that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back together ” at present as he has been working on his new book , preliminarily titled “ Beyond Order : 12 More Rules for Life ” , which he said is due in July and has been “ going pretty well ” .
Peterson , who rose to international prominence back in 2016 with his YouTube series criticizing Canadian legislation prescribing the mandatory use of gender-neutral pronouns in relation to non-binary people , also addressed his wide audience of supporters and critics during the podcast .
“ In my lectures and my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was anything other than one of the people who also needed to learn this lesson , these lessons .
So I included myself in the population of those who needed some moral improvement ” , he added .
After the Jordan-Mikhaila conversation was published , many of the professor ’ s fans rushed to share their joy that Jordan has finally returned to public life and was feeling visibly better .
“ The second I saw JP appear on my screen , I teared up .
We all owe that man so much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , another one added .
In June , Jordan Peterson turned 58 and his daughter Mikhaila shared a touching post celebrating his birthday .
Commenting on a photo featuring her sitting alongside her famous father , she said that the last year has been “ the most difficult year ” of Peterson ’ s life , but that the professor was going to “ take the next year by storm ” .

Dr. Jordan Peterson desperately needed medical attention, and he wasn't able to get it in America. He went to Russia, and successfully received the necessary treatment. He tells more of the story here. Now that he is back in good health, he is working on his next book . . .
Canadian psychologist and lecturer Jordan Peterson has been dealing with some serious health and family issues in the past year, prompting him to take time out from the public eye. The University of Toronto professor has now revealed more details about what has been going on in his life since last summer.
Peterson has opened up about his “intolerably dreadful” experience of physical addiction to the psychoactive drug benzodiazepine in a new podcast recorded by his daughter Mikhaila.
He discussed in details the reasons and effects of the physical dependency he developed to benzodiazepine. The professor was prescribed the drug back in 2016 to treat anxiety caused by a severe allergic response to food which lasted for several weeks. After his wife of 30 years, Tammy, was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer last year, the dosage of the medicine Peterson was taking was increased. However, according to the psychologist, this merely increased his anxiety to unbearable levels.
© CC BY-SA 2.0 / Gage Skidmore / Jordan Peterson
While his wife “miraculously” recovered in mid-August 2019, the professor’s state of health got worse. He tried to stop taking the anti-anxiety drug entirely for some time, which he said was not a good idea. He then developed a so-called “akathisia” disorder, which made him unable to stay still and live a normal life. Peterson could not get the necessary treatment for his health condition in North American hospitals. Therefore, in November 2019, his family decided to take him to Russia to undergo detox treatment, which put him in an “unconscious” state for nine days while his body recovered from its addiction to benzodiazepine.
Following the treatment, Peterson managed to recover from akathisia and leave Russia benzo-free. He then travelled to Florida and on to Serbia to continue his rehabilitation from anxiety and neurological complications caused by physical addiction to the drug.
The professor revealed that he now feels “things are put back together” at present as he has been working on his new book, preliminarily titled “Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life”, which he said is due in July and has been “going pretty well”.
Peterson, who rose to international prominence back in 2016 with his YouTube series criticizing Canadian legislation prescribing the mandatory use of gender-neutral pronouns in relation to non-binary people, also addressed his wide audience of supporters and critics during the podcast.
“If you gonna wait to learn from people who don’t make mistakes or don’t have tragedy enter their life, you gonna spend a long time waiting to learn something”, the professor said, while commenting on whether his ideas could be “taken seriously” now following the health crisis.
“In my lectures and my writings I’ve never suggested I was anything other than one of the people who also needed to learn this lesson, these lessons. So I included myself in the population of those who needed some moral improvement”, he added.
After the Jordan-Mikhaila conversation was published, many of the professor’s fans rushed to share their joy that Jordan has finally returned to public life and was feeling visibly better.
“It's like seeing a long-lost friend after decades. Stay strong, never give up and remember that when happiness descends upon you, enjoy it. We love you, we miss you”, one YouTuber wrote.
“The second I saw JP appear on my screen, I teared up. We all owe that man so much and he asks us for nothing”, another one added.
Glad to have you back dr. Peterson. Hoping for all the best after the hell you went through — Sign D4k before it's 50 mil (too late) (@am3nn) June 30, 2020
Welcome back @jordanbpeterson ! Glad to hear your voice again. It is much needed at this juncture in time. Wishing you all the best and hope to hear more from you?? — Parallel Tea Co. (@paralleltea) June 30, 2020
In June, Jordan Peterson turned 58 and his daughter Mikhaila shared a touching post celebrating his birthday. Commenting on a photo featuring her sitting alongside her famous father, she said that the last year has been “the most difficult year” of Peterson’s life, but that the professor was going to “take the next year by storm”.


russia-insider--2020-07-10--NEW: Easily Create a Free Blog on the Blockchain Which Is Impossible to Censor

If you support freedom of speech subscribe to Reclaim The Net .
A new alliance with Protocol Lab ’ s IPFS system will allow the blockchain firm , Unstoppable Domains , to offer the creation of personal websites more resistant to censorship .
This initiative began when Unstoppable Domains co-founder , Brad Kam , realized the enormous amount of censorship on the internet .
The most alarming thing is that most of the cases are recent .
The arrival of the internet to more people , combined with different social and political outbursts , has caused both companies and governments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suit them .
Kam expressed his concern about this and assured that this is a trend that will not stop ; in fact , he believes that soon , as technology becomes more accessible , censorship of the conventional internet will be more radical .
That is why at Unstoppable Domains they decided to implement a new function , CoinDesk reports , that would allow users to create content without any restriction .
For this , they will have the support of Protocol Lab ’ s InterPlanetary File System ( IPFS ) technology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ project was born , a tool with which anyone can create his or her site without fear of censorship .
dBlog has basic functions such as inserting videos , texts , images , and much more , but all this is hosted on the 3Box peer-to-peer server , which means that the data is not at a single point that can be blocked .
Due to the large number of domains registered in Unstoppable Domains ( more than 200,000 ) , the dBlog project has captured the attention of many people and companies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cryptocurrency investors , such as CoinShares CSO Meltem Demirors .
Demirors says she finds this new technology fascinating for preserving free speech , especially after personally experiencing the Turkish government ’ s censorship of Wikipedia in 2017 .
Brad Kam hopes that over time the service will become highly demanded and used to publish all kinds of content .

If you support freedom of speech subscribe to Reclaim The Net.
A new alliance with Protocol Lab’s IPFS system will allow the blockchain firm, Unstoppable Domains, to offer the creation of personal websites more resistant to censorship.
A new movement against internet censorship
This initiative began when Unstoppable Domains co-founder, Brad Kam, realized the enormous amount of censorship on the internet. The most alarming thing is that most of the cases are recent. The arrival of the internet to more people, combined with different social and political outbursts, has caused both companies and governments to indiscriminately censor content that does not suit them. Kam expressed his concern about this and assured that this is a trend that will not stop; in fact, he believes that soon, as technology becomes more accessible, censorship of the conventional internet will be more radical.
That is why at Unstoppable Domains they decided to implement a new function, CoinDesk reports, that would allow users to create content without any restriction. For this, they will have the support of Protocol Lab’s InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) technology.
Introducing dBlog
In this way, the dBlog project was born, a tool with which anyone can create his or her site without fear of censorship. dBlog has basic functions such as inserting videos, texts, images, and much more, but all this is hosted on the 3Box peer-to-peer server, which means that the data is not at a single point that can be blocked.
Due to the large number of domains registered in Unstoppable Domains (more than 200,000), the dBlog project has captured the attention of many people and companies.
Among the most prominent are some cryptocurrency investors, such as CoinShares CSO Meltem Demirors. Demirors says she finds this new technology fascinating for preserving free speech, especially after personally experiencing the Turkish government’s censorship of Wikipedia in 2017.
Brad Kam hopes that over time the service will become highly demanded and used to publish all kinds of content.


russia-insider--2020-07-10--The Country of Georgia Never Closed Churches, and Largely Avoided COVID Pandemic - Did God Intervene

The Country of Georgia Never Closed Churches, and Largely Avoided COVID Pandemic - Did God Intervene?

“ God will perform a miracle for a nation that is faithful to God and the fatherland . ''
Georgia has been one of the most successful countries in fighting COVID , with a population of 3.7 million , it has only 1000 cases and 15 deaths .
It recently reopened its borders and ended lockdown , which it at first pursued agressively .
Here is a recent BBC article about it .
The article mentions the fact that the Georgian church , which is Orthodox , is very powerful and was able to refuse to close churches or even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and then mentions in passing that most people followed advice of authorities and stayed home on Easter .
What the BBC does n't mention , because it is hostile to Christianity , is that faithful Christians continued coming to church throughout the lockdown , sharing communion , singing , and ignoring social distancing .
Here is another article about the standoff between the church and the unsuccessful efforts to lock it down .
A nation that is faithful to God and its fatherland will be miraculously blessed by God , His Eminence Metropolitan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Georgian Orthodox Church said during his Sunday sermon at the Holy Trinity Cathedral .
A miracle was seen in Georgia , where there was no eruption of the coronavirus epidemic despite the fact that the churches were never closed , as in many other countries , Met .
Daniel emphasized , reports 1tv.ge .
“ The Georgian ethos is one of the first , ” Met .
Daniel said .
“ Someone may ask how it survived .
It survived for two reasons : it was dedicated to the fatherland and to God @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and to his fatherland will not be abandoned by God and will often be saved by great mercy.
” “ We have seen an example of this mercy today , ” the Metropolitan continued .
“ How this country , in spite of many problems , turned out to be much more protected than larger states , and this happened because our people spared no expense , and the people who fight to the end for the country , for love , for morality , will see a miracle of God.
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Georgia , ” he emphasized .
“ This was that the spread of the conditions of the epidemic was as limited as possible , and despite that Church services never ceased , the epidemic did not break out in Georgia , ” Met .
Daniel said .
“ God will perform a miracle for a nation that is faithful to God and the fatherland .
Georgia had such dedicated patriots and that is why it has survived , ” the hierarch preached .
“ Life without Christ is death , and death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has saved us from this epidemic , ” he said .
In March , the Georgian Patriarchate stated that the closing of churches is an “ unjustified offense against God.
” Earlier that month , His Holiness Patriarch-Catholicos Ilia revealed that he had been granted a spiritual vision , which he understood to mean that “ with the help of prayer and the blessing of the Lord , we will be able to overcome this disease .
”

“God will perform a miracle for a nation that is faithful to God and the fatherland."
Georgia has been one of the most successful countries in fighting COVID, with a population of 3.7 million, it has only 1000 cases and 15 deaths. It recently reopened its borders and ended lockdown, which it at first pursued agressively. Here is a recent BBC article about it.
The article mentions the fact that the Georgian church, which is Orthodox, is very powerful and was able to refuse to close churches or even stop using common spoons for communion, and then mentions in passing that most people followed advice of authorities and stayed home on Easter. What the BBC doesn't mention, because it is hostile to Christianity, is that faithful Christians continued coming to church throughout the lockdown, sharing communion, singing, and ignoring social distancing.
Here is another article about the standoff between the church and the unsuccessful efforts to lock it down.
A nation that is faithful to God and its fatherland will be miraculously blessed by God, His Eminence Metropolitan Daniel of Chiatura and Sachkhere of the Georgian Orthodox Church said during his Sunday sermon at the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
A miracle was seen in Georgia, where there was no eruption of the coronavirus epidemic despite the fact that the churches were never closed, as in many other countries, Met. Daniel emphasized, reports 1tv.ge.
Photo: 1tv.ge
“The Georgian ethos is one of the first,” Met. Daniel said. “Someone may ask how it survived. It survived for two reasons: it was dedicated to the fatherland and to God. He who is devoted to God and to his fatherland will not be abandoned by God and will often be saved by great mercy.”
“We have seen an example of this mercy today,” the Metropolitan continued. “How this country, in spite of many problems, turned out to be much more protected than larger states, and this happened because our people spared no expense, and the people who fight to the end for the country, for love, for morality, will see a miracle of God.”
Georgian priests drive around Tbilisi on March 17 in an effort to protect the city against the coronavirus outbreak. (photo: Facebook, Georgian Patriarchate)
“We have seen the miracle that happened in Georgia,” he emphasized.
“This was that the spread of the conditions of the epidemic was as limited as possible, and despite that Church services never ceased, the epidemic did not break out in Georgia,” Met. Daniel said.
“God will perform a miracle for a nation that is faithful to God and the fatherland. Georgia had such dedicated patriots and that is why it has survived,” the hierarch preached.
“Life without Christ is death, and death with Christ is life. This belief has saved us from this epidemic,” he said.
In March, the Georgian Patriarchate stated that the closing of churches is an “unjustified offense against God.”
Earlier that month, His Holiness Patriarch-Catholicos Ilia revealed that he had been granted a spiritual vision, which he understood to mean that “with the help of prayer and the blessing of the Lord, we will be able to overcome this disease.”