russia-insider--2020-04-16--Russia Is Flush with Cash but Preparing for the Worst Just in Case

Unlike many other emerging markets Russia does not have a shortage of dollars , but is preparing a FX repo mechanism just in case it is needed .
Following the near disaster in 2014 where the government and companies very nearly ran out of foreign exchange , but time round everyone is better prepared .
Caught out by margin calls in 2014 when the value of shares and bonds pledged as collateral on loans fell below pre-agreed levels , suddenly the borrowers had to come up with cash to cover the difference .
That nearly bankrupted a few .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been paying down their debt so that they will not be caught with their trousers down in the event of another crisis .
“ The situation with foreign currency liquidity is far from an emergency : if in 2014 the banks had a net investment position ( foreign assets minus liabilities ) , then by the end of 2019 the banks were net lenders worth more than $ 80bn , ” said Dmitry Dolgin , chief economist for Russia at ING , as cited by Reuters .
The CBR has just released its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as of April 1 , 2020 , which shows the level of debt is down again to $ 450bn .
With reserves at $ 560.6bn as of the end of March , even after a crisis-related 7 % drop in reserves , Russia still has $ 110bn more cash than it does debt .
It has been a central plank of Russian President Vladimir Putin ’ s policies since he took office in 2000 to reduce Russia ’ s indebtedness and hence remove any leverage any outside body might have on the Kremlin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its IMF debt early and then followed with the London Club and Paris Club of commercial creditors .
Most recently , the CBR sold off over $ 100bn of its US treasury bill holdings .
At the same time the central bank has built up enormous reserves , about a third of which is in the form of solid gold ( $ 119bn as of April 1 ) .
Since the beginning of the year Russia ’ s external debt has fallen by 8.3 % , or $ 40.8bn , to the current @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several safety mechanisms at work to cushion the blow from the oil price shock and stop-shock of the coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) pandemic .
CBR governor Elvira Nabiullina introduced a fully floating currency in the last crisis in 2014 and has been prepared to let the ruble tank in the worst of the crisis , which preserves the central bank ’ s precious store of foreign exchange .
At the same time the revolution in the financial markets that followed hooking Russia up to the Clearstream and Euroclear international settlement systems has pulled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investors to the local Russian Ministry of Finance ruble-denominated OFZ treasury bill market .
As those investors bring dollars to buy a ruble-denominated bond the devaluation has also reduced the government 's overall debt following revaluations , says Nabiullina .
The local bond market was affected by the collapse of oil prices .
Foreign investors sold more than $ 3.5bn worth of the Russian government bonds in March as the coronavirus caused unprecedented panic .
Data from the Moscow Exchange shows non-residents reduced their holdings of OFZs by a record RUB284bn ( $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ largest ever divestment recorded in a single month and more than double the previous high of RUB141bn in June 2018 .
However , despite the broken records , the absolute amount that left was still relatively modest in comparison to the amount that stayed : foreign investors in Russia ’ s OFZ still account for c.31 % of all the outstanding bonds , down from 35 % a few months ago .
Investors did not , however , stay invested in the equity market , which saw a massive $ 1.2bn outflow over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ record $ 1.4bn outflow in the third week of March alone .
But with the worst of the selling over , what margin calls that would have come due have already done so without bankrupting any significant company or destabilising the market .
With only modest levels of debt to finance , the future repayments of Russian companies ’ foreign currency debt will not have a noticeable effect on the ruble exchange rate , as was the case in the previous crisis , notes Sberbank as cited by Reuters .
“ Gross payments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on external debt ) are estimated at $ 4.4bn .
Judging by the statements of the Central Bank , the share of intragroup payments there is low , but , according to their estimates , these companies have a sufficient supply of foreign currency liquidity , ” said Dolgin of ING Bank .
Nabiullina reassured at the start of April that there was plenty of liquidity on the market , something that is borne out by the low level of repo transactions .
Repos are a short-term mechanism where banks can swap their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are usually used for liquidity management , but in times of crisis banks also use them to borrow cash quickly .
Repo volumes did dramatically spike over the weekend when the OPEC+ production cut deal collapsed on March 6 but the panic only lasted four days , after which calm returned .
The demand for dollars has skyrocketed around the world , especially amongst emerging markets that are struggling to come up with money to refinance their debt .
In case these problems spill over into Russia Nabiullina promised to set up a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banks can quickly raise additional dollar resources should they need them , but analysts believe the mechanism is unlikely to be needed .
“ The demand for additional foreign currency liquidity , if it suddenly arises , can be satisfied by the currency swap that the Central Bank offers daily in the foreign exchange market .
If necessary , the central bank will also be ready to use the already tested instruments , especially repo auctions in foreign currency , ” Nabiullina said at a press conference at the start of April .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the moment .
Not only does it have massive amounts in reserves , it also had a very good first quarter , earing a $ 21.7bn current account surplus – higher than expected .
What happens to Russia ’ s cash position going forward is anyone ’ s guess and will depend on where the price of oil settles and just how bad the global slowdown will be .

Unlike many other emerging markets, Russia does not have a shortage of dollars, but is preparing an FX repo mechanism just in case it is needed.
Following the near-disaster in 2014 where the government and companies very nearly ran out of foreign exchange, but this time around everyone is better prepared. Caught out by margin calls in 2014 when the value of shares and bonds pledged as collateral on loans fell below pre-agreed levels, suddenly the borrowers had to come up with cash to cover the difference. That nearly bankrupted a few. So over the last six years, companies have been paying down their debt so that they will not be caught with their trousers down in the event of another crisis.
“The situation with foreign currency liquidity is far from an emergency: if in 2014 the banks had a net investment position (foreign assets minus liabilities), then by the end of 2019 the banks were net lenders worth more than $80 bn,” said Dmitry Dolgin, chief economist for Russia at ING, as cited by Reuters.
The CBR has just released its figures for Russia’s external debt as of April 1, 2020, which shows the level of debt is down again to $450 bn. With reserves at $560.6 bn as of the end of March, even after a crisis-related 7% drop in reserves, Russia still has $110 bn more cash than it does debt.
Russia's external debt fell again in 1Q20 to $450bn vs the $560bn in reserves. If Russia paid off all its debts tomorrow it would still have $110bn in cash
It has been a central plank of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policies since he took office in 2000 to reduce Russia’s indebtedness and hence remove any leverage any outside body might have on the Kremlin. It started with Russia paying off its IMF debt early and then followed with the London Club and Paris Club of commercial creditors. Most recently, the CBR sold off over $100 bn of its US treasury bill holdings. At the same time, the central bank has built up enormous reserves, about a third of which is in the form of solid gold ($119 bn as of April 1).
Since the beginning of the year, Russia’s external debt has fallen by 8.3%, or $40.8 bn, to the current $450 bn figure.
And Russia has several safety mechanisms at work to cushion the blow from the oil price shock and stop-shock of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. CBR governor Elvira Nabiullina introduced a fully floating currency in the last crisis in 2014 and has been prepared to let the ruble tank in the worst of the crisis, which preserves the central bank’s precious store of foreign exchange.
At the same time, the revolution in the financial markets that followed hooking Russia up to the Clearstream and Euroclear international settlement systems has pulled in some $40 bn worth of foreign investors to the local Russian Ministry of Finance ruble-denominated OFZ treasury bill market.
As those investors bring dollars to buy a ruble-denominated bond the devaluation has also reduced the government's overall debt following revaluations, says Nabiullina. The local bond market was affected by the collapse of oil prices. Foreign investors sold more than $3.5 bn worth of the Russian government bonds in March as the coronavirus caused unprecedented panic. Data from the Moscow Exchange shows non-residents reduced their holdings of OFZs by a record RUB284 bn ($3.63 bn) over the month - the largest ever divestment recorded in a single month and more than double the previous high of RUB141 bn in June 2018. However, despite the broken records, the absolute amount that left was still relatively modest in comparison to the amount that stayed: foreign investors in Russia’s OFZ still account for c.31% of all the outstanding bonds, down from 35% a few months ago.
Investors did not, however, stay invested in the equity market, which saw a massive $1.2 bn outflow over the first quarter, peaking with a record $1.4 bn outflow in the third week of March alone. But with the worst of the selling over, what margin calls that would have come due have already done so without bankrupting any significant company or destabilising the market.
With only modest levels of debt to finance, the future repayments of Russian companies’ foreign currency debt will not have a noticeable effect on the ruble exchange rate, as was the case in the previous crisis, notes Sberbank as cited by Reuters.
“Gross payments by companies and banks in April (on external debt) are estimated at $4.4 bn. Judging by the statements of the Central Bank, the share of intragroup payments there is low, but, according to their estimates, these companies have a sufficient supply of foreign currency liquidity, ” said Dolgin of ING Bank.
Nabiullina reassured at the start of April that there was plenty of liquidity on the market, something that is borne out by the low level of repo transactions. Repos are a short-term mechanism where banks can swap their bonds for cash at the CBR and are usually used for liquidity management, but in times of crisis banks also use them to borrow cash quickly. Repo volumes did dramatically spike over the weekend when the OPEC+ production cut deal collapsed on March 6 but the panic only lasted four days, after which calm returned.
The demand for dollars has skyrocketed around the world, especially amongst emerging markets that are struggling to come up with money to refinance their debt. In case these problems spill over into Russia Nabiullina promised to set up a new foreign exchange repo mechanism so that banks can quickly raise additional dollar resources should they need them, but analysts believe the mechanism is unlikely to be needed.
“The demand for additional foreign currency liquidity, if it suddenly arises, can be satisfied by the currency swap that the Central Bank offers daily in the foreign exchange market. If necessary, the central bank will also be ready to use the already tested instruments, especially repo auctions in foreign currency, ”Nabiullina said at a press conference at the start of April.
And Russia is flush with cash at the moment. Not only does it have massive amounts in reserves, it also had a very good first quarter, earing a $21.7 bn current account surplus – higher than expected. What happens to Russia’s cash position going forward is anyone’s guess and will depend on where the price of oil settles and just how bad the global slowdown will be.


russia-insider--2020-04-16--Jihadis Who Surrendered to Syrian Army Claim They Were Trained on US Base - Russian Military

The surrendered militants said that US instructors had been preparing them for terrorist acts and sabotage at oil and gas and transport facilities , according to the information provided by the Russian military 's centre for the Syrian reconciliation .
A group of 27 militants who surrendered to the Syrian army said they had been trained at the US military base , Rear Adm. Oleg Zhuravlev , the head of the Russian Defence Ministry 's centre for the Syrian reconciliation , said during a briefing on Wednesday .
The US also provided them with weapons and vehicles , he added @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clash , the militants who broke through lost three pickups , 27 people escaped , they are currently under the protection of Syrian government forces in Palmyra .
They surrendered dozens of small arms , grenade launchers and heavy machine guns , including Western-made ones '' , Zhuravlev said .
On the night from 13 to 14 April , a group of militants , who were trained at the US forces ' base in the vicinity of the Rukban camp , tried to get out of At-Tanf area .
The militants planned to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life , Zhuravlev said .
On the border of the 55-kilometer security zone , they were attacked by a detachment of the US-backed Jaysh Maghawir al-Thawra ( `` Revolutionary Commando Army '' ) radical group .
`` According to the testimony of the members of the illegal armed groups who surrendered to the government , the Americans provided them with pickup vehicles and weapons .
US instructors trained them to carry out sabotage at oil and gas and transport infrastructure , as well as organise terrorist acts in the territory controlled by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The armed conflict between the Syrian government and opposition groups , including terrorists , began in 2011 .
By 2016 , terrorist forces were significantly subdued , while the government and opposition concluded a ceasefire , with Russia , Iran , and Turkey acting as its guarantors .
Militants remain in control of a small pocket of areas in the Idlib province in northwest Syria .

The surrendered militants said that US instructors had been preparing them for terrorist acts and sabotage at oil and gas and transport facilities, according to the information provided by the Russian military's centre for the Syrian reconciliation.
A group of 27 militants who surrendered to the Syrian army said they had been trained at the US military base, Rear Adm. Oleg Zhuravlev, the head of the Russian Defence Ministry's centre for the Syrian reconciliation, said during a briefing on Wednesday.
The US also provided them with weapons and vehicles, he added.
"As a result of the clash, the militants who broke through lost three pickups, 27 people escaped, they are currently under the protection of Syrian government forces in Palmyra. They surrendered dozens of small arms, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns, including Western-made ones", Zhuravlev said.
On the night from 13 to 14 April, a group of militants, who were trained at the US forces' base in the vicinity of the Rukban camp, tried to get out of At-Tanf area. The militants planned to surrender to government and return to civilian life, Zhuravlev said. On the border of the 55-kilometer security zone, they were attacked by a detachment of the US-backed Jaysh Maghawir al-Thawra ("Revolutionary Commando Army") radical group.
"According to the testimony of the members of the illegal armed groups who surrendered to the government, the Americans provided them with pickup vehicles and weapons. US instructors trained them to carry out sabotage at oil and gas and transport infrastructure, as well as organise terrorist acts in the territory controlled by the Syrian government forces", he said.
The armed conflict between the Syrian government and opposition groups, including terrorists, began in 2011. By 2016, terrorist forces were significantly subdued, while the government and opposition concluded a ceasefire, with Russia, Iran, and Turkey acting as its guarantors.
Militants remain in control of a small pocket of areas in the Idlib province in northwest Syria.


russia-insider--2020-04-17--Unz.com, Described by ADL as 'Hardcore Anti-Semitic', Surges Past Most Alt Media, Left and Right, Ma

Unz.com, Described by ADL as 'Hardcore Anti-Semitic', Surges Past Most Alt Media, Left and Right, Many Mainstream Sites

`` Even more remarkable has been our growth relative to such venerable and mainstream opinion publications as The Nation and The New Republic , with our traffic regularly exceeding the former and surpassing the latter by some 60 % .
From the early 1980s onward , TNR had regularly been ranked for decades as America ’ s most influential opinion magazine ... '' It ’ s an ill wind that blows no good .
Although the early months of 2020 have been a horrible time for the world , starting with the American assassination of Iran ’ s top military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worldwide Coronavirus outbreak , our small website has gained a great deal of additional readership from these events , and our willingness to provide a perspective regularly absent from mainstream outlets .
January easily broke all traffic records and March totally eclipsed them once again , representing roughly a 50 % increase from our totals just 13 or 14 months earlier .
According to Alexa , our traffic rank now easily exceeds that of nearly all other alternative websites of the Left or the Right , often by a very wide margin .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that our traffic is roughly ten times or more greater than that of various rightwing outlets such as Takimag , VDare , or American Renaissance , and exceeds leftwing Counterpunch by a factor of 3.5 .
Even more remarkable has been our growth relative to such venerable and mainstream opinion publications as The Nation and The New Republic , with our traffic regularly exceeding the former and surpassing the latter by some 60 % .
From the early 1980s onward , TNR had regularly been ranked for decades as America ’ s most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political activities reached their media high-water mark in 1999 , when I graced their cover .
Therefore , I find it totally astonishing that just a few years after launching this webzine , we have pulled so far ahead , despite the enormous residual traffic still flowing to TNR ‘ s many decades of important archives .
Obviously , the Alexa metric may or may not be a reliable measure of readership , especially given its unspecified internal formula , presumably based upon some combination of pageviews , visits , and time spent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its competitor SimularWeb seem to tell a somewhat similar story .
According to that firm , our monthly visits are actually still 10 % below that of TNR , but our overall pageviews are 50 % greater while the total time spent on our website exceeds TNR by more than 300 % , an enormous margin .
Our webzine seemingly draws visitors for many minutes rather than just tens of seconds .
Certainly a very important factor behind this recent dramatic growth has been our early and heavy coverage of the Coronavirus epidemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ topic was largely ignored by the rest of the media .
As an example , we ran seven different pieces on that topic in January , totaling some 25,000 words , followed by another twenty-odd articles in February , including one by Anatoly Karlin bearing the provocative title “ Corona Will Kill Millions & Crater the World Economy ” .
Last month we also ran the lengthy comments of a purported 40-year veteran of American biodefense , who drew upon his expertise to strongly suggest that the Coronavirus may have been an American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) , which afterward resulted in horrifying accidental blowback to our own country .
Most recently , my own piece pointed to California public health officer Dr. Sarah Cody as the courageous individual whose prompt action in mid-March may have saved a million American lives , and it received a great deal of readership and distribution , being Tweeted out by a MSM journalist at Politico .
Although California had been the original epicenter of the Coronavirus transmission outbreak , our current per capita death rates are now running some twenty-five times lower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think a great deal of the credit goes to Dr. Cody and her colleagues .
I ’ m also very pleased to announce that Michelle Malkin , a prominent conservative author and columnist since the 1990s , has now joined us as a regular columnist , and transferred her past writings to our website .
Her very extensive archives total nearly 15,000 posts and columns , amounting to well over 6 million words , and may now easily be searched by text or stratified by date or topic .
Finally , for comparison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showing our own Alexa traffic rank compared with that of several dozen mostly alternative media websites of the Left and Right , along with a few more mainstream ones .
This is followed by a similar table showing our relative gain over the last few years .

"Even more remarkable has been our growth relative to such venerable and mainstream opinion publications as The Nation and The New Republic, with our traffic regularly exceeding the former and surpassing the latter by some 60%. From the early 1980s onward, TNR had regularly been ranked for decades as America’s most influential opinion magazine ..."
It’s an ill wind that blows no good. Although the early months of 2020 have been a horrible time for the world, starting with the American assassination of Iran’s top military leader and soon afterward marked by the worldwide Coronavirus outbreak, our small website has gained a great deal of additional readership from these events, and our willingness to provide a perspective regularly absent from mainstream outlets.
January easily broke all traffic records and March totally eclipsed them once again, representing roughly a 50% increase from our totals just 13 or 14 months earlier. According to Alexa, our traffic rank now easily exceeds that of nearly all other alternative websites of the Left or the Right, often by a very wide margin. For example, this standard metric suggests that our traffic is roughly ten times or more greater than that of various rightwing outlets such as Takimag, VDare, or American Renaissance, and exceeds leftwing Counterpunch by a factor of 3.5.
Even more remarkable has been our growth relative to such venerable and mainstream opinion publications as The Nation and The New Republic, with our traffic regularly exceeding the former and surpassing the latter by some 60%. From the early 1980s onward, TNR had regularly been ranked for decades as America’s most influential opinion magazine, and my own political activities reached their media high-water mark in 1999, when I graced their cover. Therefore, I find it totally astonishing that just a few years after launching this webzine, we have pulled so far ahead, despite the enormous residual traffic still flowing to TNR‘s many decades of important archives.
Obviously, the Alexa metric may or may not be a reliable measure of readership, especially given its unspecified internal formula, presumably based upon some combination of pageviews, visits, and time spent on site. But the numbers from its competitor SimularWeb seem to tell a somewhat similar story. According to that firm, our monthly visits are actually still 10% below that of TNR, but our overall pageviews are 50% greater while the total time spent on our website exceeds TNR by more than 300%, an enormous margin. Our webzine seemingly draws visitors for many minutes rather than just tens of seconds.
Certainly a very important factor behind this recent dramatic growth has been our early and heavy coverage of the Coronavirus epidemic, which begin in earnest while the topic was largely ignored by the rest of the media. As an example, we ran seven different pieces on that topic in January, totaling some 25,000 words, followed by another twenty-odd articles in February, including one by Anatoly Karlin bearing the provocative title “Corona Will Kill Millions & Crater the World Economy”.
Last month we also ran the lengthy comments of a purported 40-year veteran of American biodefense, who drew upon his expertise to strongly suggest that the Coronavirus may have been an American biowarfare attack against China (and Iran), which afterward resulted in horrifying accidental blowback to our own country.
Most recently, my own piece pointed to California public health officer Dr. Sarah Cody as the courageous individual whose prompt action in mid-March may have saved a million American lives, and it received a great deal of readership and distribution, being Tweeted out by a MSM journalist at Politico. Although California had been the original epicenter of the Coronavirus transmission outbreak, our current per capita death rates are now running some twenty-five times lower than in New York, and I think a great deal of the credit goes to Dr. Cody and her colleagues.
I’m also very pleased to announce that Michelle Malkin, a prominent conservative author and columnist since the 1990s, has now joined us as a regular columnist, and transferred her past writings to our website. Her very extensive archives total nearly 15,000 posts and columns, amounting to well over 6 million words, and may now easily be searched by text or stratified by date or topic.
Finally, for comparison purposes I’m providing a table showing our own Alexa traffic rank compared with that of several dozen mostly alternative media websites of the Left and Right, along with a few more mainstream ones. This is followed by a similar table showing our relative gain over the last few years.
(Note that for traffic rankings, smaller are better, i.e. in April 2020 we were ranked about the 14,000th most popular website on the Internet)


russia-insider--2020-04-17--Aerial View of a Typical Crimean Beach Resort Town and Region (Video, Anapa)

Anapa is a medium-priced resort .
One can see from the surrounding countryside that these regions have enormous tourist potential @ @ @ @ @ northern climate of most of Russia .
This post first appeared on Russia Insider Anyone @ @ @ @ @ copy , and redistribute the text in this content ( but not the images or @ @ @ @ @ or format , with the right to remix , transform , and build upon it @ @ @ @ @ long as they provide a backlink and credit to Russia Insider .
It is not @ @ @ @ @ .
Licensed Creative Commons

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russia-insider--2020-04-17--There Is No Russian-Saudi Oil War, it's a US-Saudi War Because the US Can't/Won't Cut Production

`` Everyone else cuts production , everyone else sees their revenues shrink , and everyone else pitches-in to put a floor under prices .
Everyone except the “ exceptional ” American oil producers from the exceptional United States .
They don ’ t have to do a damn thing . ''
The Russia-Saudi oil-price war is a fabrication concocted by the media .
There ’ s not a word of truth to any of it .
Yes , there was a dust up at an OPEC meeting in early March that led to production increases and plunging prices .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s oil-dumping strategy wasn ’ t aimed at Russia , it was aimed at US shale oil producers .
But not for the reasons you ’ ve read about in the media .
The Saudis aren ’ t trying to destroy the US shale oil business .
That ’ s another fiction .
They just want US producers to play by the rules and pitch in when prices need support .
That might seem like a stretch , but it ’ s true .
You see , US oil producers are not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They don ’ t cooperate with foreign producers , they ’ re not willing to share the costs of flagging demand , and they never lift a finger to support prices .
US oil producers are the next-door-neighbor that parks his beat-up Plymouth on the front lawn and then surrounds it with rusty appliances .
They don ’ t care about anyone but themselves .
What Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman want is for US producers to share the pain of oil production cuts in order to stabilize prices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ request .
Here ’ s a clip from an article at oilprice.com that helps to explain what ’ s really going on : “ … there was a sliver of hope that oil prices may rebound after Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia , Russia and allied oil producers will agree to deep cuts to their crude output at talks this week but only if the United States and several others join in with curbs to help prop up prices that have been hammered by the coronavirus crisis .
However , in an attempt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too , the U.S. DOE said on Tuesday that U.S. output is already falling without government action , in line with the White House ’ s insistence that it would not intervene in the private markets… .
… OPEC+ will require the United States to make cuts in order to come to an agreement : The EIA report today demonstrates that there are already projected cuts of 2 ( million bpd ) , without any intervention from the federal government , ” the U.S. Energy Department said .
That is not enough for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which on Wednesday made clear that market-driven declines in oil production shouldn ’ t be considered as cuts intended to stabilize the market , Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters on conference call .
“ These are completely different cuts .
You are comparing the overall demand drop with cuts to stabilize global markets .
It ’ s like comparing length and width , ” Peskov said…..Moscow ’ s participation is highly contingent on the US , and is unlikely to agree to output cuts if the US does not join the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On The Verge Of Collapse As Russia Balks At U.S. ‘ Cuts ' ” , oilprice.com ) Putin is being reasonable and fair .
If everyone else is forced to cut supply , then US oil producers should have to cut supply too .
But they don ’ t want to share the pain , so they ’ ve settled on a strategy for weaseling out of it .
They want their reductions in output ( from weak demand during the pandemic ) to count as “ production cuts ” .
They even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they call it “ organic production cuts ” , which means no cuts at all .
This is the way hucksters do business , not responsible adults .
What does Putin want from this deal ?
Price stability .
Yes , he ’ d like to see prices settle somewhere north of $ 45 per barrel but that ’ s not going to happen for a while .
The combination of a weaker demand ( due to the coronavirus ) and oversupply ( from the Saudis flooding the market ) have ensured that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ future .
Even so , Putin understood what the Saudis were doing by flooding the market , and he knew it wasn ’ t directed at Russia .
The Saudis were trying to persuade US oil producers to stop freeloading and cut production like everyone else .
That ’ s the long and short of it .
Check out this excerpt from an article by oil expert , Simon Watkins at oilprice.com : This is what the media fails to tell their readers , that US oil producers– who don ’ t participate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been exploiting OPEC production quotas in order to fatten the bottom line at the expense of others .
US producers figured out how to game the system and make a bundle in the process .
Is it any wonder why the Saudis were pissed ?
?
Here ’ s more from the same article : So you can see that this really had nothing to do with Russian at all .
The Crown Prince was simply frustrated at the way US oil producers were gaming the system , which is why he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flooding the market .
The obvious target was the US shale oil industry that was taking advantage of the quotas , refusing to cooperate with fellow oil producers and generally freeloading off the existing quota system .
And what ’ s funny , is that as soon as the Saudis started putting the screws to the US fracking gang , they all scampered off to Washington en masse to beg for help from Papa Trump .
Which is why Trump decided to make emergency calls to Moscow and Riyadh to see if he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s worth noting that domestic oil producers have been involved in other dodgy activities in the past .
Check out this excerpt from an article in the Guardian in 2014 , the last time oil prices crashed : “ After standing at well over $ 110 a barrel in the summer , the cost of crude has collapsed .
Prices are down by a quarter in the past three months… .
Think about how the Obama administration sees the state of the world .
It wants Tehran to come to heel over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Putin to back off in eastern Ukraine .
But after recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan , the White House has no desire to put American boots on the ground .
Instead , with the help of its Saudi ally , Washington is trying to drive down the oil price by flooding an already weak market with crude .
As the Russians and the Iranians are heavily dependent on oil exports , the assumption is that they will become easier to deal with… The Saudis did something similar in the mid-1980s .
Then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that sent the oil price to below $ 10 a barrel was to destabilize Saddam Hussein ’ s regime… .
Washington ’ s willingness to play the oil card stems from the belief that domestic supplies of energy from fracking make it possible for the US to become the world ’ s biggest oil producer .
In a speech last year , Tom Donilon , then Barack Obama ’ s national security adviser , said the US was now less vulnerable to global oil shocks .
The cushion provided by shale oil and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in pursuing and implementing our national security goals ” .
( “ Stakes are high as US plays the oil card against Iran and Russia ” , The Guardian ) This excerpt shows that Washington is more than willing to use the “ oil card ” if it helps to achieve its geopolitical objectives .
Not surprisingly , good buddy , Saudi Arabia , has historically played a key role in helping to promote those goals .
The current incident , however , is the exact opposite .
The Saudis aren ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quite the contrary , they ’ re lashing out in frustration .
They feel like they ’ re being squeezed by Washington ( and US producers ) and they want to prove that they have the means to fight back .
Flooding the market was just MBS ’ s way of “ letting off steam ” .
Trump understands this , but he also understands who ultimately calls the shots , which is why he took the unusual step of explicitly warning the Saudis that they ’ d better shape up and step @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hell to pay .
Here ’ s a little background that will help to connect the dots : “ ..the deal made in 1945 between the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Saudi King at the time , Abdulaziz , that has defined the relationship between the two countries ever since… the deal that was struck between the two men on board the U.S. Navy cruiser Quincy… was that the U.S. would receive all of the oil supplies it needed for as long as Saudi Arabia had oil in place , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the security of the ruling House of Saud .
The deal has altered slightly ever since the rise of the U.S. shale oil industry and Saudi Arabia ’ s attempt to destroy it from 2014 to 2016 , in that the U.S. still guarantees the security of the House of Saud but it also expects Saudi Arabia not only to supply the U.S. with whatever oil it needs for as long as it can but also – and this is key to everything that has followed – it also allows the U.S. shale @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grow .
As far as the U.S. is concerned , if t his means that the Saudis lose out to U.S. shale producers by keeping oil prices up but losing out on export opportunities to these U.S. firms then tough.. As U.S. President Donald Trump has made clear whenever he has sensed a lack of understanding on the part of Saudi Arabia for the huge benefit that the U.S. is doing the ruling family : “ He [ Saudi King Salman ] would not last in power for two weeks without the backing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Sad Truth About The OPEC+ Production Cut ” , Simon Watkins , Oil Price ) Trump felt like he had to remind the Saudis how the system actually works : Washington gives the orders and the Saudi ’ s obey .
Simple , right ?
In fact , the Crown Prince has already slashed oil production dramatically and is fully complying with Trump ’ s directives , because he knows if he doesn ’ t , he ’ s going to wind up like Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi .
Meanwhile , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be required to make any cuts at all or , as the New York Times puts it : “ It was not immediately clear if the Trump administration made a formal commitment to cut production in the United States.
” Got that ?
So everyone else cuts production , everyone else sees their revenues shrink , and everyone else pitches-in to put a floor under prices .
Everyone except the “ exceptional ” American oil producers from the exceptional United States .
They don ’ t have to do a damn thing .

"Everyone else cuts production, everyone else sees their revenues shrink, and everyone else pitches-in to put a floor under prices. Everyone except the “exceptional” American oil producers from the exceptional United States. They don’t have to do a damn thing."
The Russia-Saudi oil-price war is a fabrication concocted by the media. There’s not a word of truth to any of it. Yes, there was a dust up at an OPEC meeting in early March that led to production increases and plunging prices. That part is true. But Saudi Arabia’s oil-dumping strategy wasn’t aimed at Russia, it was aimed at US shale oil producers. But not for the reasons you’ve read about in the media.
The Saudis aren’t trying to destroy the US shale oil business. That’s another fiction. They just want US producers to play by the rules and pitch in when prices need support. That might seem like a stretch, but it’s true.
You see, US oil producers are not what-you’d-call “team players”. They don’t cooperate with foreign producers, they’re not willing to share the costs of flagging demand, and they never lift a finger to support prices. US oil producers are the next-door-neighbor that parks his beat-up Plymouth on the front lawn and then surrounds it with rusty appliances. They don’t care about anyone but themselves.
What Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman want is for US producers to share the pain of oil production cuts in order to stabilize prices. It’s an entirely reasonable request. Here’s a clip from an article at oilprice.com that helps to explain what’s really going on:
“… there was a sliver of hope that oil prices may rebound after Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia, Russia and allied oil producers will agree to deep cuts to their crude output at talks this week but only if the United States and several others join in with curbs to help prop up prices that have been hammered by the coronavirus crisis. However, in an attempt to have its cake and eat it too, the U.S. DOE said on Tuesday that U.S. output is already falling without government action, in line with the White House’s insistence that it would not intervene in the private markets…. … OPEC+ will require the United States to make cuts in order to come to an agreement: The EIA report today demonstrates that there are already projected cuts of 2 (million bpd), without any intervention from the federal government,” the U.S. Energy Department said. That is not enough for OPEC+ however, and certainly not Russia, which on Wednesday made clear that market-driven declines in oil production shouldn’t be considered as cuts intended to stabilize the market, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters on conference call. “These are completely different cuts. You are comparing the overall demand drop with cuts to stabilize global markets. It’s like comparing length and width,” Peskov said…..Moscow’s participation is highly contingent on the US, and is unlikely to agree to output cuts if the US does not join the effort.” (“Historic Oil Deal On The Verge Of Collapse As Russia Balks At U.S. ‘Cuts'”, oilprice.com)
Putin is being reasonable and fair. If everyone else is forced to cut supply, then US oil producers should have to cut supply too. But they don’t want to share the pain, so they’ve settled on a strategy for weaseling out of it. They want their reductions in output (from weak demand during the pandemic) to count as “production cuts”. They even have a name for this swindle, they call it “organic production cuts”, which means no cuts at all. This is the way hucksters do business, not responsible adults.
What does Putin want from this deal?
Price stability. Yes, he’d like to see prices settle somewhere north of $45 per barrel but that’s not going to happen for a while. The combination of a weaker demand (due to the coronavirus) and oversupply (from the Saudis flooding the market) have ensured that prices will remain low for the foreseeable future. Even so, Putin understood what the Saudis were doing by flooding the market, and he knew it wasn’t directed at Russia. The Saudis were trying to persuade US oil producers to stop freeloading and cut production like everyone else. That’s the long and short of it. Check out this excerpt from an article by oil expert, Simon Watkins at oilprice.com:
“Saudi Arabia was continually peeved …(because) its efforts to keep oil prices up through various OPEC and OPEC+ agreements were allowing these very shale producers to make a lot more money than the Saudis, relatively speaking. The reason for this was that U.S. shale producers…. were not bound in to the OPEC/OPEC+ production quotas so could fill the output gaps created by OPEC producers.” (“The Sad Truth About The OPEC+ Production Cut”, Simon Watkins, oilprice.com)
This is what the media fails to tell their readers, that US oil producers– who don’t participate in any collective effort to stabilize prices– have been exploiting OPEC production quotas in order to fatten the bottom line at the expense of others. US producers figured out how to game the system and make a bundle in the process. Is it any wonder why the Saudis were pissed?? Here’s more from the same article:
“This allowed the U.S. a rolling 3-4 million bpd advantage over Saudi in the oil exports game, meaning that it quickly became the world’s number one oil producer…. Hence, Saudi Arabia decided initially to unilaterally announce its intention for the last OPEC+ deal to be much bigger than that which it had pre-agreed with Russia, hoping to ambush the Russians into agreeing. Russia, however, turned around and told Saudi Arabia to figuratively go and reproduce with itself. MbS,… then decided to launch an all-out price war.” (oilprice.com)
So you can see that this really had nothing to do with Russian at all. The Crown Prince was simply frustrated at the way US oil producers were gaming the system, which is why he felt like he had to respond by flooding the market. The obvious target was the US shale oil industry that was taking advantage of the quotas, refusing to cooperate with fellow oil producers and generally freeloading off the existing quota system.
And what’s funny, is that as soon as the Saudis started putting the screws to the US fracking gang, they all scampered off to Washington en masse to beg for help from Papa Trump. Which is why Trump decided to make emergency calls to Moscow and Riyadh to see if he could hash out a deal.
It’s worth noting that domestic oil producers have been involved in other dodgy activities in the past. Check out this excerpt from an article in the Guardian in 2014, the last time oil prices crashed:
“After standing at well over $110 a barrel in the summer, the cost of crude has collapsed. Prices are down by a quarter in the past three months…. Think about how the Obama administration sees the state of the world. It wants Tehran to come to heel over its nuclear programme. It wants Vladimir Putin to back off in eastern Ukraine. But after recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, the White House has no desire to put American boots on the ground. Instead, with the help of its Saudi ally, Washington is trying to drive down the oil price by flooding an already weak market with crude. As the Russians and the Iranians are heavily dependent on oil exports, the assumption is that they will become easier to deal with… The Saudis did something similar in the mid-1980s. Then, the geopolitical motivation for a move that sent the oil price to below $10 a barrel was to destabilize Saddam Hussein’s regime…. Washington’s willingness to play the oil card stems from the belief that domestic supplies of energy from fracking make it possible for the US to become the world’s biggest oil producer. In a speech last year, Tom Donilon, then Barack Obama’s national security adviser, said the US was now less vulnerable to global oil shocks. The cushion provided by shale oil and gas “affords us a stronger hand in pursuing and implementing our national security goals”. (“Stakes are high as US plays the oil card against Iran and Russia”, The Guardian)
This excerpt shows that Washington is more than willing to use the “oil card” if it helps to achieve its geopolitical objectives. Not surprisingly, good buddy, Saudi Arabia, has historically played a key role in helping to promote those goals. The current incident, however, is the exact opposite. The Saudis aren’t helping the US achieve its objectives, quite the contrary, they’re lashing out in frustration. They feel like they’re being squeezed by Washington (and US producers) and they want to prove that they have the means to fight back. Flooding the market was just MBS’s way of “letting off steam”.
Trump understands this, but he also understands who ultimately calls the shots, which is why he took the unusual step of explicitly warning the Saudis that they’d better shape up and step in line or there’d be hell to pay. Here’s a little background that will help to connect the dots:
“..the deal made in 1945 between the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Saudi King at the time, Abdulaziz, that has defined the relationship between the two countries ever since… the deal that was struck between the two men on board the U.S. Navy cruiser Quincy… was that the U.S. would receive all of the oil supplies it needed for as long as Saudi Arabia had oil in place, in return for which the U.S. would guarantee the security of the ruling House of Saud. The deal has altered slightly ever since the rise of the U.S. shale oil industry and Saudi Arabia’s attempt to destroy it from 2014 to 2016, in that the U.S. still guarantees the security of the House of Saud but it also expects Saudi Arabia not only to supply the U.S. with whatever oil it needs for as long as it can but also – and this is key to everything that has followed – it also allows the U.S. shale industry to continue to function and to grow. As far as the U.S. is concerned, if t his means that the Saudis lose out to U.S. shale producers by keeping oil prices up but losing out on export opportunities to these U.S. firms then tough.. As U.S. President Donald Trump has made clear whenever he has sensed a lack of understanding on the part of Saudi Arabia for the huge benefit that the U.S. is doing the ruling family: “He [Saudi King Salman] would not last in power for two weeks without the backing of the U.S. military.” (“The Sad Truth About The OPEC+ Production Cut”, Simon Watkins, Oil Price)
Trump felt like he had to remind the Saudis how the system actually works: Washington gives the orders and the Saudi’s obey. Simple, right? In fact, the Crown Prince has already slashed oil production dramatically and is fully complying with Trump’s directives, because he knows if he doesn’t, he’s going to wind up like Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi.
Meanwhile, US shale oil producers won’t be required to make any cuts at all or, as the New York Times puts it: “It was not immediately clear if the Trump administration made a formal commitment to cut production in the United States.”
Got that? So everyone else cuts production, everyone else sees their revenues shrink, and everyone else pitches-in to put a floor under prices. Everyone except the “exceptional” American oil producers from the exceptional United States. They don’t have to do a damn thing.


russia-insider--2020-04-17--U.S. Ready to Send Ventilators to Coronavirus-Hit Russia, Trump Says

The United States , the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic , could send Russia ventilators to help the country battle its record-setting rise in coronavirus cases , U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday .
His announcement follows controversy over Russia ’ s shipment of medical supplies to the U.S. , which Moscow described as humanitarian aid and Washington said it had paid for .
Experts said the U.S. may have also violated its own sanctions after footage showed boxes of ventilators manufactured by a sanctioned Russian firm being unloaded in New York .
“ I think Russia is going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard time in Moscow .
We 're going to help them , ” Trump said in a televised briefing .
He noted that the U.S. was also ready to send coronavirus aid to other countries including Italy , Spain and France .
A growing number of doctors have said that Covid-19 patients appear to fade rapidly when they are put on ventilators and tubes are placed down their windpipes .
Trump vowed to unveil plans Thursday to reopen the world 's top economy , claiming the U.S. had `` passed the peak '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ daily death toll .
Trump told reporters his `` aggressive strategy '' against the virus was working and that `` the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases.
” The U.S. has recorded 639,664 coronavirus cases and 30,985 deaths — both indicators being the world ’ s highest — after seeing nearly 2,600 fatalities in the past 24 hours .
Russia has confirmed 27,938 coronavirus cases , making it the 14th most-affected country in the world , and 232 deaths as of Thursday .

Russia has confirmed 27,938 coronavirus cases, making it the 14th most-affected country in the world, and 232 deaths as of Thursday.Sergei Kiselyov / Moskva News Agency
The United States, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, could send Russia ventilators to help the country battle its record-setting rise in coronavirus cases, U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday.
His announcement follows controversy over Russia’s shipment of medical supplies to the U.S., which Moscow described as humanitarian aid and Washington said it had paid for. Experts said the U.S. may have also violated its own sanctions after footage showed boxes of ventilators manufactured by a sanctioned Russian firm being unloaded in New York.
Here’s Trump saying he’s planning to send ventilators to Russia because “they’re having a hard time in Moscow” pic.twitter.com/pb5xLhtZR3 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 15, 2020
“I think Russia is going to need ventilators. They're having a hard time in Moscow. We're going to help them,” Trump said in a televised briefing.
He noted that the U.S. was also ready to send coronavirus aid to other countries including Italy, Spain and France.
A growing number of doctors have said that Covid-19 patients appear to fade rapidly when they are put on ventilators and tubes are placed down their windpipes.
Trump vowed to unveil plans Thursday to reopen the world's top economy, claiming the U.S. had "passed the peak" of the coronavirus crisis despite a record daily death toll.
Trump told reporters his "aggressive strategy" against the virus was working and that "the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases.”
The U.S. has recorded 639,664 coronavirus cases and 30,985 deaths — both indicators being the world’s highest — after seeing nearly 2,600 fatalities in the past 24 hours.
Russia has confirmed 27,938 coronavirus cases, making it the 14th most-affected country in the world, and 232 deaths as of Thursday.


russia-insider--2020-04-19--It's Easter Sunday in Russia - Here's an Example of How Powerful Russian Church Music Is

Listen To This Amazing Russian Orthodox Christian Great Litany !
After the opening proclamation , the Great Litany is chanted @ @ @ @ @ liturgical service of the Orthodox Church , as well as virtually all sacraments and special @ @ @ @ @ all-embracing prayer of the Church for everyone and everything .
It consists of petitions to @ @ @ @ @ Lord have mercy .
The Russian liturgy is , at times , simply astonishing in @ @ @ @ @ This post first appeared on Russia Insider Anyone is free to republish , copy , @ @ @ @ @ this content ( but not the images or videos ) in any medium or format @ @ @ @ @ remix , transform , and build upon it , even commercially , as long as @ @ @ @ @ credit to Russia Insider .
It is not necessary to notify Russia Insider .
Licensed @ @


russia-insider--2020-04-20--Russians Are as Upset About the Weird Virus Hysteria as American Conservatives

For whichever reasons , Russia is treating the coronavirus hoax the same way as America and the rest of the Western world is treating it : stay inside , don ’ t even go to the park alone to work out , just only go to the grocery store .
Russia is apparently operating under the assumption that this is a bioweapon , being that Russians are intrinsically drawn to conspiracy theories .
So I guess actually believing that gives them more of a reason .
But just as white Americans have been demanding their freedoms be given back to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with these strange measures , and suggesting that the media is fabricating the threat .
There was an awkward moment in the Russian city of Novokuznetsk when former MHL ice hockey player Nikolai Starchenko launched into a verbal rade at a supposed member of the media , not knowing it was , in fact , the city ’ s mayor .
Starchenko , who has played two seasons in Russia ’ s junior ice hockey league ( MHL ) for Kristall Berdsk , was spotted in a public park and engaged in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was accompanied by members of the media .
Presumably thinking the masked questioner was just another journalist , Starchenko let fly with an expletive-laden rant at the gentleman , after it was suggested he should leave and head back home , rather than be out during the lockdown period .
“ Why should I leave ?
Cause you ’ ve said so ?
” he ranted .
“ I don ’ t think you f*cking got it right .
Why do I need this ( papers ) ?
I came here to work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and listen to your nonsense ?
” “ OK , I got it , I will just go to another place to f**king work out .
I ’ ll come back here the next hour [ when ] there won ’ t be [ a problem ] .
” He then ranted about the media ’ s reporting of the new coronavirus , suggesting reports of the seriousness of the virus were exaggerated or even fabricated .
“ Why all this fiction ?
” he continued .
“ Who needs all this circus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the people think it ’ s a circus .
Only you and the TV guys say this f**king nonsense .
People are f**king shocked , but you don ’ t give a f**k about what ’ s happening.
” However , the man on the receiving end wasn ’ t just a journalist .
Behind the mask was the Mayor of Novokuznetsk , Sergey Kuznetsov .
Kuznetsov posted the video of the incident on his Instagram , and used it to send a message to the public to stay committed to the lockdown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place to help beat the pandemic and hasten a return to normal life once again .
“ When patroling , one of the young men told me that we made this up !
” he posted in Russian .

For whichever reasons, Russia is treating the coronavirus hoax the same way as America and the rest of the Western world is treating it: stay inside, don’t even go to the park alone to work out, just only go to the grocery store.
Russia is apparently operating under the assumption that this is a bioweapon, being that Russians are intrinsically drawn to conspiracy theories. So I guess actually believing that gives them more of a reason.
But just as white Americans have been demanding their freedoms be given back to them, Russians are getting increasingly agitated with these strange measures, and suggesting that the media is fabricating the threat.
RT:
There was an awkward moment in the Russian city of Novokuznetsk when former MHL ice hockey player Nikolai Starchenko launched into a verbal rade at a supposed member of the media, not knowing it was, in fact, the city’s mayor.
Starchenko, who has played two seasons in Russia’s junior ice hockey league (MHL) for Kristall Berdsk, was spotted in a public park and engaged in a conversation with a masked man, who was accompanied by members of the media.
Presumably thinking the masked questioner was just another journalist, Starchenko let fly with an expletive-laden rant at the gentleman, after it was suggested he should leave and head back home, rather than be out during the lockdown period.
“Why should I leave? Cause you’ve said so?” he ranted.
“I don’t think you f*cking got it right. Why do I need this (papers)? I came here to work out. Why should I calm down and listen to your nonsense?”
“OK, I got it, I will just go to another place to f**king work out. I’ll come back here the next hour [when] there won’t be [a problem].”
He then ranted about the media’s reporting of the new coronavirus, suggesting reports of the seriousness of the virus were exaggerated or even fabricated.
“Why all this fiction?” he continued.
“Who needs all this circus? This is a circus. All the people think it’s a circus. Only you and the TV guys say this f**king nonsense. People are f**king shocked, but you don’t give a f**k about what’s happening.”
However, the man on the receiving end wasn’t just a journalist. Behind the mask was the Mayor of Novokuznetsk, Sergey Kuznetsov.
Kuznetsov posted the video of the incident on his Instagram, and used it to send a message to the public to stay committed to the lockdown and to the measures that are in place to help beat the pandemic and hasten a return to normal life once again.
“When patroling, one of the young men told me that we made this up!” he posted in Russian.


russia-insider--2020-04-20--Watch Putin's 2 Min Address, Wishing Russians a Happy Easter - What a Difference - Christian Russia,

Watch Putin's 2 Min Address, Wishing Russians a Happy Easter - What a Difference - Christian Russia, Anti-Christian Washington

Russia and most other Orthodox countries celebrate Easter a week later than Protestants and Catholics do .
Western Christians could @ @ @ @ @ would speak to their country this way .
Watch this video , and it is @ @ @ @ @ comparison between Putin and his counterparts in the West , with the lone exception of @ @ @ @ @ , Trump , Merkel , Macron , - they all look like shallow clowns in @ @


russia-insider--2020-04-21--The Intercept's Coverage of RussiaHoax Has Been Terrible - Editor Betsy Reed Caught Peddling Collusi

The Intercept's Coverage of RussiaHoax Has Been Terrible - Editor Betsy Reed Caught Peddling Collusion Delusion (Jimmy Dore Video)

Although we have to admit , Glenn Greenwald has been good on this .
But why did n't he call out Reed ?
Who is in charge over there anyway ?
So here just getting back to the Russia Gate .
You tweeted this out .
So Aaron , who is this ?
This was not Jeremy Scahill X ' Intercept podcast .
Who is this woman that 's gon na be speaking ?
Well this clip is Betsy Reid , who 's the editor in chief of the Intercept .
So listen to this , this is nuts , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the editor chief of the Intercept , and now you 're gon na find out why the Intercept 's coverage of Russia Gate sucked as bad as anybody 's , right ?
And holy shit , listen to - this is the editor .
Oh my god listen , and this , this idea of like , a conspiracy , which you know Muller defined narrowly and set a very high bar for as a tacit or Express agreement with the Russians .
I really think with the picture you get reading the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not sufficiently competent to execute an agreement like that .
Like , it 's just complete mess , but there are a zillion connections with the Russians and attempts to kind of , you know , work together in some loose way .
So I do think that there 's plenty of evidence of a kind of soft loose type of collusion in the report , but just not that , you know , high level of conspiracy .
And now you know why people who go to journalist school are usually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a perfect example .
She 's a horrible journalist .
She does n't know she 's not doing one due diligence thing about journalism .
She 's spreading again McCarthy Reds baiting bullshit that is evidence free , and she 's the editor of fucking major of the Intercept .
And so now you know why I do n't have any respect for anybody in journalism except maybe Erin , because they suck worse than I do .
I 'm fucking high when I get up in the morning and I 'll do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Intercept will any day of the week .
Let me throw it to you , Erin , why did you tweet that out ?
Well I 'm not going to endorse you or your blanket no you said that characterization .
I 'm a real Renison use Canon I 'm a loose cannon , that 's not you , you 're a real dude , but but on this issue the reason I highlighted that , that clip is because it shows that even at a website that brands itself and is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in really key ways an actual adversarial website , that website news outlet , when it comes to domestic issues on foreign policy , I think the Intercept really has a lot of shortcomings , but on domestic policy it is genuinely adversarial , there 's a lot of really good stuff .
And of course on Russia Gate they have as a columnist Glenn Greenwald , who led the pack , although that 's separate from their editorial decisions , which were shaped by this kind of mentality : This is delusional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you bite into a narrative as Betsy Reid the editor-in-chief of Intercept , that Trump conspired with Russia .
That even after the fact the report comes out and there 's not even a contact between anybody actually acting on the Russian government 's behalf , and anybody acting on the Trump campaigns behalf , because there 's nothing there and this whole thing was a scam .
You do n't have the intellectual honesty to say yeah , this was a scam , and instead you rationalize it by saying that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Russia , and that there was a soft kind of soft loose form of collusion .
Like , what does that even mean ?
So it 's a joke , and it shows the extent to which this kool-aid , this Russia gay koolaid grip , the progressive left .
It 's the point where the editor-in-chief of a major outlet and adversarial outlet is drinking the kool-aid and saying stuff like this , and it shows the climate that we are in that made it difficult .
If Bernie ever had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pushing back the fact that progressive adversarial outlets were going along with it made it that much more difficult , and made it that much easier for the neo liberals and their agenda to take hold , because you even had the peep the media outlets that were supposed to be holding them to account and saying , calling bullshit on this .
You even had them saying moronic stuff like this .
So just to recap my words , what you have there is the editor of a major news organization that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and what it 's actually doing is running the biggest PR stunt for the establishment of the history of my life , which is Russia gay and which which took everybody 's eye off the ball .
And you 're just doing the bidding .
You could not be a bigger tool if you let the CIA run that fucking magazine and print their Russia Gate articles that and then when you realize that everything you 've done has actually been undermining the country and the progressive movement , and any kind of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the other party in power that one and when you realize that , then you do n't have the intellectual honesty , courage , or integrity to tell the truth , even then , and you 're the editor of the Intercept !
You 're no better than Glenn Beck , you 're no better than Sean Hannity , you 're no better than Alex Jones .
You 're a conspiracy theorist .
But what 's even worse about you is that people are skeptical of Alex Jones , but people actually trust @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's the problem is .
They trust people like like the editor the Intercept when she 's doing a full-blown hundred percent McCarthy red-baiting evidence free conspiracy theories and she knows it .
That 's why people do n't trust the news , because the people who are the editors of our news magazines have zero integrity , and they reveal it every day .
All right so go yeah and I know you do n't agree with any of that , so do n't worry about it .
Well you know , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you know what we got this one wrong .
Glenn Greenwald was right our columnist the rest of us who push this and they had the Intercept James rising writing constantly about how Muller was that much closer to getting Trump on there .
We were wrong , we got this wrong or saying that yeah , actually , Muller found this kind of soft loose type of collusion .
I mean what 's more embarrassing , you know , in the lack the the lack of humility , the refusal to own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ damaging to journalism and damaging to their reputation it was damaging to the cause of defeating Trump , because there it helped prevent an honest reckoning with how disastrous this whole thing was .
And so by doing that you emboldened the wing of the party that that wants to defeat Bernie Sanders , because that 's why they launched this whole thing is because they could n't compete Sanders on real issues and they needed something that could help curb the anti-establishment sentiment that won the election in 2016 .
You know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people who you know .
It 's like when you get on a plane you want to think the pilot is a better person than you that he was n't up drinking last night like I was and that he did n't puff in the morning and that he 's actually got his shit together and he knows how to fly this plane and then I get into I somehow get slide over from comedy into journalism and I find out that all the pilots are fucking drunk and they 're all assholes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other and they gasp like they 're fucking passengers that 's what journalism is in America .
And that 's why guys like you and and and and Max and the people over at grey zone are rare , right , as you actually do journalism and you actually do due diligence and you actually do n't report innuendo or rumor , unless you make it clear this is just a rumor .
I 've heard you do n't actually report rumour as a fact and that 's really rare and that 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know on the outsides of journalism today you 're never gon na be welcomed into a newsroom so they could you could show them how to do it ?
They do n't want to fucking know how to do it right they want to know how to make it look like they 're doing it right so they can continue to climb in their career and get a paycheck that 's what journalists are okay you know generally .
Say quickly perfect example this is what we 're seeing right now with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on this from the start when you had this allegation in April 2018 that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack in the town of Duma you call bullshit on this immediately .
I did n't say anything cuz you know I you know like I I just did n't I did n't go there it was edgy was controversial you called bullshit on this immediately the trump ministration want launches a air strike on Syria based on this allegation .
The media universally goes along with it and you have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ advancing the Trump administration 's narrative - okay fast forward about a year about a year later and a leak comes out from inside the OPCW saying that a detailed engineering study had concluded that actually this chemical attack was staged , that the cylinders that supposedly carried the chemical weapon were manually placed on the ground , meaning they were not dropped from the sky , not by the Syrian government .
And what do we have since then ?
We have a complete complete censorship of this story in the media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report and then refusing to hear another whistleblower when that whistleblower comes forward and then another whistleblower so we have and then another whistleblower so there 's actually been four whistleblowers and we 've reported on all of them at the gray zone but meanwhile websites like the Intercept which advance the Trump administration is narrative have refused to even acknowledge the whistleblowers existence .
So there 's no trace on their website of any story about the OPCW and Duma the site of this alleged chemical attack that even it acknowledges the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just a so we do n't just have a scandal at the OPCW have a cover-up which by the way these whistleblowers say was done under US pressure .
You also have a media scandal that 's right just in the corporate media but in progressive media as well and I I just called out my old my old home Democracy .
Now where I worked for 10 years they also their only coverage of this was to basically do one segment whitewashing it with a supporter of the Syria proxy war and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more and more revelations have come out put up by WikiLeaks .
Democracy Now is totally ignored it so it 's just an example of where journalism is out .
Right now we 're on the issues where we need people to be standing up and telling the truth .
We have even our most noble sites because these sites are historically very noble anyways both Democracy Now and the intercept have done very noble things being cowardly and go on going along and doing the Trump administration is bidding on the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I am NOT noble and yet I have more nobility that democracy doubt does when covering Syria It 's amazing you got nothing on me you got nothing on me Jimmy Dore is kicking your ass which is why I actually have more subscribers on you tube then Democracy Now does .
I have more viewers that democracy now just fucking think about that .
And I started my show five minutes ago they 've been doing that show for about eighty years I think so I wanted to that is just stunning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Aaron that when the Intercept does n't cover the whistleblowers and when Democracy Now does n't cover them and when if they do they cover it in a whitewash way , those are n't accidents .
That is deliberate and intentional .
So when you go to the Intercept for news about Syria you just know that the Intercept is actively lying to you who was trying to get informed about a topic .
They are trying to mislead you actively .
A news organization wants you to have the wrong idea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and so does democracy now .
Just so you know so you can go watch those shows you can go read their stuff their coverage of this stuff and then you can come back here and you 'll find out the truth , cuz you 're not gon na get it from the Intercept and you 're not gon na get it from Democracy Now .
That 's how easy it is to out do fucking places like Democracy Now and the intercept I could do it that 's how easy it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ courage and integrity .
And so why do you think they 're intentionally misleading the people at the Intercept and the Democracy Now ?
What would be do you you do n't have to give a theory if you do n't want to but if you do I 'd love to hear it .
Well there 's a lot of pressure to conform to the establishment narrative .
If you want to be accepted in mainstream culture you have to conform and you know Max Blumenthal , someone who 's written about this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called the management of savagery where he talks about basically the Western public and this is you know this goes to every major war that the u.s. becomes involved in but the Western public has been subjected to a huge influence operation to either deny the fact that the u.s. launched a huge covert program inside Syria a proxy war inside Syria to basically destroy it and cut off a key ally of Iran and you had unfortunately a lot of you know a lot of pressure on progressive websites and successful pressure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you know , using all the familiar tactics of smearing someone of being a dictator apologist or a dictator lover if they question the narrativ , and we see this every single time the same thing happened when you opposed the Iraq war unfortunately whereas the Iraq war was opposed by progressive outlets like Democracy Now which actually led the way really in media upon pushing back on the Iraq war lives .
Now you 're seeing them enrolled in pushing the lies used to justify war on places like Syria and you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reasons I I just like to think that my best interpret my most charitable interpretation is that is that people are just credulous and not thinking enough and they 're being intimidated by fear of being smeared .
And this is why I do what I do is I want them to change I want them to reckon remember who they are and what they 're about same extent then with the Intercept which is basically founded on the leaks from Edward Snowden a whistleblower , and the Intercept is always prided itself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they do well what where are they in relation to these two to these now for whistleblowers here but the two the two main ones the actual inspectors who were involved in the Duma investigation .
Why are they silent now on these whistleblowers ?
And by the way when ou 're when whistleblowers come forward and even adversarial outlets are silent on them you 're actually putting them in danger .
There 's a long history of whistleblowers being bullied and when and what saves them is when there 's light on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whistle on and when the media ignores their stories and their plight it actually puts them in danger .
In the case of the OPCW it 's particularly serious because there 's a long history of the u.s. bullying the OPCW and even threatening people so for example Jose Boustany who is the opcw 's first director-general there 's a famous story and you can find it in Democracy Now or in the intercept where back when the Bush administration was going to war on Iraq Hosea Boustany was the head of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inspections and the opcw 's involvement john bolton , then serving under Bush personally , threatened Boustany and his family , saying we know where your kids live and they successfully forced Boustany out and that 's also successfully shut Boustany up for a while though he 's recently started to tell a story a little bit more .
And there 's you can go through case by case so when the media in the face of seeing whistleblowers being intimidated and whistleblowers being silenced when the media goes along with it it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ D in and like the intercept it 's it 's harmful to these whistleblower safety .
It 's really shameful .
I 'm gon na keep calling it out until they change .
I 'm hopeful that they will .
Yeah it 's a again it 's it 's such a horrible feeling to be involved in news and to have people who are supposed to be telling the truth and you know it 's like when I fought when I first found out NPR was completely a liberal claptrap garbage it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thought well if we do n't have NPR what do we have you know now it 's like well if we do n't have Democracy Now or the intercept what do we have we just got grey zone and Jimmy door baby that 's all we got because I do n't know good to me yeah I I tell everybody thanks for the lane and I do n't know if you 've been watching how people have been reporting the stimulus boat debacle what-have-you but the the progressive media is now running like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instead of pressuring them and exposing them and making them do better they 're actually they know they can count on them to lie for them just like Sean Hannity lies for Donald Trump which is really shocking to see .
Hey this is the part where I tell you our live shows our birth already and that I would tell you to go join our preview but but nobody has a fucking job so why do n't you just enjoy the video .

Although we have to admit, Glenn Greenwald has been good on this. But why didn't he call out Reed? Who is in charge over there anyway?
Transcript:
So here just getting back to the Russia Gate.
You tweeted this out.
Turns out the Intercept's Betsy Reed is just another gullible, Hillary tier NY liberal
So Aaron, who is this? This was not Jeremy Scahill X' Intercept podcast.
Who is this woman that's gonna be speaking? Well this clip is Betsy Reid, who's the editor in chief of the Intercept.
Oh, ok.
So listen to this, this is nuts, right, so. Here this is the editor chief of the Intercept, and now you're gonna find out why the Intercept's coverage of Russia Gate sucked as bad as anybody's, right?
And holy shit, listen to - this is the editor. Oh my god listen, and this, this idea of like, a conspiracy, which you know Muller defined narrowly and set a very high bar for as a tacit or Express agreement with the Russians.
I really think with the picture you get reading the report, is that the Trump campaign was not sufficiently competent to execute an agreement like that.
Like, it's just complete mess, but there are a zillion connections with the Russians and attempts to kind of, you know, work together in some loose way.
So I do think that there's plenty of evidence of a kind of soft loose type of collusion in the report, but just not that, you know, high level of conspiracy.
And now you know why people who go to journalist school are usually the worst journalists, and that's a perfect example.
She's a horrible journalist. She doesn't know she's not doing one due diligence thing about journalism. She's spreading again McCarthy Reds baiting bullshit that is evidence free, and she's the editor of fucking major of the Intercept.
And so now you know why I don't have any respect for anybody in journalism except maybe Erin, because they suck worse than I do.
I'm fucking high when I get up in the morning and I'll do a better job reporting Russia Gate than the Intercept will any day of the week.
Let me throw it to you, Erin, why did you tweet that out?
Well I'm not going to endorse you or your blanket no you said that characterization.
I'm a real Renison use Canon I'm a loose cannon, that's not you, you're a real dude, but but on this issue the reason I highlighted that, that clip is because it shows that even at a website that brands itself and is in many ways in really serious, in really key ways an actual adversarial website, that website news outlet, when it comes to domestic issues on foreign policy, I think the Intercept really has a lot of shortcomings, but on domestic policy it is genuinely adversarial, there's a lot of really good stuff.
And of course on Russia Gate they have as a columnist Glenn Greenwald, who led the pack, although that's separate from their editorial decisions, which were shaped by this kind of mentality: This is delusional, and this is what happens when you bite into a narrative as Betsy Reid the editor-in-chief of Intercept, that Trump conspired with Russia.
That even after the fact the report comes out and there's not even a contact between anybody actually acting on the Russian government's behalf, and anybody acting on the Trump campaigns behalf , because there's nothing there and this whole thing was a scam.
You don't have the intellectual honesty to say yeah, this was a scam, and instead you rationalize it by saying that the report showed a zillion connections between Trump and Russia, and that there was a soft kind of soft loose form of collusion.
Like, what does that even mean?
So it's a joke, and it shows the extent to which this kool-aid, this Russia gay koolaid grip, the progressive left. It's the point where the editor-in-chief of a major outlet and adversarial outlet is drinking the kool-aid and saying stuff like this, and it shows the climate that we are in that made it difficult. If Bernie ever had a chin to entertain the possibility of pushing back the fact that progressive adversarial outlets were going along with it made it that much more difficult, and made it that much easier for the neo liberals and their agenda to take hold, because you even had the peep the media outlets that were supposed to be holding them to account and saying, calling bullshit on this. You even had them saying moronic stuff like this.
So just to recap my words, what you have there is the editor of a major news organization that pretends it's doing adversarial journalism, and what it's actually doing is running the biggest PR stunt for the establishment of the history of my life, which is Russia gay and which which took everybody's eye off the ball.
And you're just doing the bidding. You could not be a bigger tool if you let the CIA run that fucking magazine and print their Russia Gate articles that and then when you realize that everything you've done has actually been undermining the country and the progressive movement, and any kind of progress whatsoever, or holding the account the other party in power that one and when you realize that, then you don't have the intellectual honesty, courage, or integrity to tell the truth, even then, and you're the editor of the Intercept!
You're no better than Glenn Beck, you're no better than Sean Hannity, you're no better than Alex Jones.
You're a conspiracy theorist. But what's even worse about you is that people are skeptical of Alex Jones, but people actually trust the Intercept, and that's what's the problem is. They trust people like like the editor the Intercept when she's doing a full-blown hundred percent McCarthy red-baiting evidence free conspiracy theories and she knows it.
That's why people don't trust the news, because the people who are the editors of our news magazines have zero integrity, and they reveal it every day.
All right so go yeah and I know you don't agree with any of that, so don't worry about it.
Well you know, like what's more embarrassing? So you know what we got this one wrong. Glenn Greenwald was right our columnist the rest of us who push this and they had the Intercept James rising writing constantly about how Muller was that much closer to getting Trump on there. We were wrong, we got this wrong or saying that yeah, actually, Muller found this kind of soft loose type of collusion.
I mean what's more embarrassing, you know, in the lack the the lack of humility, the refusal to own the mistake was it was not just damaging to journalism and damaging to their reputation it was damaging to the cause of defeating Trump, because there it helped prevent an honest reckoning with how disastrous this whole thing was.
And so by doing that you emboldened the wing of the party that that wants to defeat Bernie Sanders, because that's why they launched this whole thing is because they couldn't compete Sanders on real issues and they needed something that could help curb the anti-establishment sentiment that won the election in 2016.
You know, it's just nuts to see people who you know.
It's like when you get on a plane you want to think the pilot is a better person than you that he wasn't up drinking last night like I was and that he didn't puff in the morning and that he's actually got his shit together and he knows how to fly this plane and then I get into I somehow get slide over from comedy into journalism and I find out that all the pilots are fucking drunk and they're all assholes and then they all cover for each other and they gasp like they're fucking passengers that's what journalism is in America.
And that's why guys like you and and and and Max and the people over at grey zone are rare, right, as you actually do journalism and you actually do due diligence and you actually don't report innuendo or rumor, unless you make it clear this is just a rumor.
I've heard you don't actually report rumour as a fact and that's really rare and that's why you're not you're you know on the outsides of journalism today you're never gonna be welcomed into a newsroom so they could you could show them how to do it?
They don't want to fucking know how to do it right they want to know how to make it look like they're doing it right so they can continue to climb in their career and get a paycheck that's what journalists are okay you know generally.
Say quickly perfect example this is what we're seeing right now with the OPCW the the duma scandal you were on this from the start when you had this allegation in April 2018 that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack in the town of Duma you call bullshit on this immediately.
I didn't say anything cuz you know I you know like I I just didn't I didn't go there it was edgy was controversial you called bullshit on this immediately the trump ministration want launches a air strike on Syria based on this allegation.
The media universally goes along with it and you have outlets like the Intercept putting out articles advancing the Trump administration's narrative - okay fast forward about a year about a year later and a leak comes out from inside the OPCW saying that a detailed engineering study had concluded that actually this chemical attack was staged, that the cylinders that supposedly carried the chemical weapon were manually placed on the ground, meaning they were not dropped from the sky, not by the Syrian government.
And what do we have since then? We have a complete complete censorship of this story in the media we refusing to hear that first engineering report and then refusing to hear another whistleblower when that whistleblower comes forward and then another whistleblower so we have and then another whistleblower so there's actually been four whistleblowers and we've reported on all of them at the gray zone but meanwhile websites like the Intercept which advance the Trump administration is narrative have refused to even acknowledge the whistleblowers existence.
So there's no trace on their website of any story about the OPCW and Duma the site of this alleged chemical attack that even it acknowledges the existence of these whistleblowers that's not just a so we don't just have a scandal at the OPCW have a cover-up which by the way these whistleblowers say was done under US pressure. You also have a media scandal that's right just in the corporate media but in progressive media as well and I I just called out my old my old home Democracy.
Now where I worked for 10 years they also their only coverage of this was to basically do one segment whitewashing it with a supporter of the Syria proxy war and since then this many months ago since more and more revelations have come out put up by WikiLeaks. Democracy Now is totally ignored it so it's just an example of where journalism is out.
Right now we're on the issues where we need people to be standing up and telling the truth.
We have even our most noble sites because these sites are historically very noble anyways both Democracy Now and the intercept have done very noble things being cowardly and go on going along and doing the Trump administration is bidding on the most serious issue you know war and peace I am NOT noble and yet I have more nobility that democracy doubt does when covering Syria
It's amazing you got nothing on me you got nothing on me Jimmy Dore is kicking your ass which is why I actually have more subscribers on you tube then Democracy Now does. I have more viewers that democracy now just fucking think about that.
And I started my show five minutes ago they've been doing that show for about eighty years I think so I wanted to that is just stunning so let me just make the point to Aaron that when the Intercept doesn't cover the whistleblowers and when Democracy Now doesn't cover them and when if they do they cover it in a whitewash way, those aren't accidents.
That is deliberate and intentional. So when you go to the Intercept for news about Syria you just know that the Intercept is actively lying to you who was trying to get informed about a topic.
They are trying to mislead you actively. A news organization wants you to have the wrong idea on purpose about what's happening, and so does democracy now.
Just so you know so you can go watch those shows you can go read their stuff their coverage of this stuff and then you can come back here and you'll find out the truth, cuz you're not gonna get it from the Intercept and you're not gonna get it from Democracy Now.
That's how easy it is to out do fucking places like Democracy Now and the intercept I could do it that's how easy it is it doesn't take intelligence it takes courage and integrity.
And so why do you think they're intentionally misleading the people at the Intercept and the Democracy Now? What would be do you you don't have to give a theory if you don't want to but if you do I'd love to hear it.
Well there's a lot of pressure to conform to the establishment narrative. If you want to be accepted in mainstream culture you have to conform and you know Max Blumenthal, someone who's written about this extensively, he has a great book called the management of savagery where he talks about basically the Western public and this is you know this goes to every major war that the u.s. becomes involved in but the Western public has been subjected to a huge influence operation to either deny the fact that the u.s. launched a huge covert program inside Syria a proxy war inside Syria to basically destroy it and cut off a key ally of Iran and you had unfortunately a lot of you know a lot of pressure on progressive websites and successful pressure to go along with it.
And you know, using all the familiar tactics of smearing someone of being a dictator apologist or a dictator lover if they question the narrativ, and we see this every single time the same thing happened when you opposed the Iraq war unfortunately whereas the Iraq war was opposed by progressive outlets like Democracy Now which actually led the way really in media upon pushing back on the Iraq war lives.
Now you're seeing them enrolled in pushing the lies used to justify war on places like Syria and you know what I can speculate on the reasons I I just like to think that my best interpret my most charitable interpretation is that is that people are just credulous and not thinking enough and they're being intimidated by fear of being smeared.
And this is why I do what I do is I want them to change I want them to reckon remember who they are and what they're about same extent then with the Intercept which is basically founded on the leaks from Edward Snowden a whistleblower, and the Intercept is always prided itself on championing whistleblowers like that's what they do well what where are they in relation to these two to these now for whistleblowers here but the two the two main ones the actual inspectors who were involved in the Duma investigation.
Why are they silent now on these whistleblowers?And by the way when ou're when whistleblowers come forward and even adversarial outlets are silent on them you're actually putting them in danger. There's a long history of whistleblowers being bullied and when and what saves them is when there's light on the abuses that they're blowing the whistle on and when the media ignores their stories and their plight it actually puts them in danger.
In the case of the OPCW it's particularly serious because there's a long history of the u.s. bullying the OPCW and even threatening people so for example Jose Boustany who is the opcw's first director-general there's a famous story and you can find it in Democracy Now or in the intercept where back when the Bush administration was going to war on Iraq Hosea Boustany was the head of the OPCW he was trying to push for inspections and the opcw's involvement john bolton, then serving under Bush personally, threatened Boustany and his family, saying we know where your kids live and they successfully forced Boustany out and that's also successfully shut Boustany up for a while though he's recently started to tell a story a little bit more.
And there's you can go through case by case so when the media in the face of seeing whistleblowers being intimidated and whistleblowers being silenced when the media goes along with it it's especially whistle blowing out advocates like D in and like the intercept it's it's harmful to these whistleblower safety. It's really shameful.
I'm gonna keep calling it out until they change. I'm hopeful that they will. Yeah it's a again it's it's such a horrible feeling to be involved in news and to have people who are supposed to be telling the truth and you know it's like when I fought when I first found out NPR was completely a liberal claptrap garbage it was like oh I used to oh I thought well if we don't have NPR what do we have you know now it's like well if we don't have Democracy Now or the intercept what do we have we just got grey zone and Jimmy door baby that's all we got because I don't know good to me yeah I I tell everybody thanks for the lane and I don't know if you've been watching how people have been reporting the stimulus boat debacle what-have-you but the the progressive media is now running like a protection racket for the progressive politicians instead of pressuring them and exposing them and making them do better they're actually they know they can count on them to lie for them just like Sean Hannity lies for Donald Trump which is really shocking to see.
Hey this is the part where I tell you our live shows our birth already and that I would tell you to go join our preview but but nobody has a fucking job so why don't you just enjoy the video.