Blast Hits Power Plant In Central Iran Sunday As Mainstream Media Admits 'It's Likely Israel'

Yet another strange and unexplained explosion has rocked central Iran on Sunday, reports state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Citing no injuries during the large explosion, it occurred at a power station in the city of Islamabad, which is in the central province of Isfahan.

At this point, the spate of 'mystery' blasts and fires which has damaged key military, nuclear, and industrial sites across Iran - especially in and around Tehran - is approaching a dozen in only the past month.

Like with many of the prior incidents, many of which were deadly, Iranian officials downplayed that it was potentially Israeli or US-backed sabotage on its facilities, saying it was likely caused by the erosion of a transformer.

Separately on Sunday, cellophane factory in northwest Iran erupted in fire. Video and images showed a huge cloud of smoke billowing from the site through the day as firefighters struggled to put it out.

Wow. The fires won’t stop. A major fire erupted today at a paint factory in Tabriz, northwestern Iran, where a majority of the people are Azerbaijani. pic.twitter.com/8VXhh6HFXY

— Mike (@Doranimated) July 19, 2020

Iran’s civil defense organization chief, Ghulam Reza Jalali, was cited in state media as saying Iran is not ruling out sabotage on the power plant either by internal opposition groups or externally supported entities.

To review, all of this comes after earlier this month an advanced centrifuge assembly plant at Iran's Natanz nuclear site was destroyed in a mysterious fire which is increasingly being blamed on Israeli or US intelligence:

A former official suggested the blaze could have been an attempt to sabotage work at the plant, which has been involved in activities that breach an international nuclear deal.

On 26 June, an explosion occurred east of Tehran near the Parchin military and weapons development base that the authorities said was caused by a leak in a gas storage facility in an area outside the base.

Other recent incidents reported by Iranian news agencies include a fire at industrial complex where gas condensate storage tanks are sited, one at a petrochemical factory and an explosion in Tehran, the capital, which killed two people.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/another-blast-hits-power-plant-central-iran-us-media-says-its-likely-israel

"Zero Logs" VPN Company Exposes Millions Of User Logs

A Hong Kong-based UFO VPN - which claims a 'zero logs' policy, maintained a database without any password, exposing over 20 million user logs per day which consisted of 894 GB of data.

The logs reportedly included passwords, IP addresses, geographical location, connection timestamps, session tokens, device information and the OS used.

This is in stark contrast to UFO VPN's stated privacy policy that "We do not track user activities outside of our Site, nor do we track the website browsing or connection activities of users who are using our Services."

The exposure, discovered by Comparitech security's Bob Diachenko, was discovered after search engine Shodan.io indexed the server hosting the data. Diachenko discovered the exposed data four days later and notified UFO VPN. Two weeks later, he notified the hosting provider, and the next day - more than two weeks after UFO VPN was notified, the database was secured.

If bad actors managed to get their hands on the data before it was secured, it could pose several risks to UFO VPN users.

The plain-text passwords are the most clear and direct threat. Hackers could not only use them to hijack UFO VPN accounts, but might also be able to carry out credential stuffing attacks on other accounts. If the same password is used across multiple accounts, they could all be compromised.

IP addresses could be used to discern users’ whereabouts and corroborate their online activity. VPNs are often used to hide users’ real locations and online activity.

The session secrets and tokens could be used to decrypt session data that an attacker might have captured. For example, if an attacker intercepted encrypted data being sent through the VPN on a compromised wi-fi network, they could conceivably decrypt that data with this information.

Email addresses could be used to target users with tailored phishing messages and scams. -Comparitech

The company told Comparitech in an email: "Due to personnel changes caused by COVID-19, we’ve not found bugs in server firewall rules immediately, which will lead to the potential risk of being hacked. And now it has been fixed," adding "We don’t collect any information for registering."

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/zero-logs-vpn-company-exposes-millions-user-logs

‘Attempt to spoil a peace deal’: Taliban spokesman says ‘Russian bounties’ story is fake news

A Taliban official has dismissed as fake and a byproduct of US political infighting the sensational New York Times report claiming Russia had paid it to kill US troops in Afghanistan, in a segment on RT’s show Going Underground.

The story – based on anonymous sources – was broken by the Times last month, and triggered a fresh wave of anti-Trump indignation in the media and on the left. President Donald Trump himself called the story a “phony hit job,” while his own Defense Department and Joint Chiefs of Staff said they were unable to corroborate it.

“This Russian bounties, it is not true,” Taliban spokesperson and US-Taliban negotiator Suhail Shaheen told RT’s ‘Going Underground’ on Saturday. “We are not fighting for anyone for money.”

Shaheen did not deny attacking US soldiers, but said that his forces do so based on “ideology,” and for the cause of “establishing an Islamic government,” not for cash.

The story, he said, “has to do with internal politics” in Washington, and is aimed at spoiling a peace agreement signed between the US and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, in February. Talks are currently underway between the militants and the US-backed Afghan government to shape a post-US Afghanistan.

Shaheen’s suspicion echoes that of some anti-war commenters in the US, who argued that the New York Times story was aimed at undermining the peace process, in a bid to keep the US engaged in its nearly two-decade war in Afghanistan.

When pressed on the source of his militia’s funding, Shaheen maintained that the bulk of the Taliban’s finances come from taxes levied on the populace in their territory. Commenters in the west, however, accuse the Taliban of profiting from opium production, despite their anti-drug stance.

https://www.rt.com/news/495239-taliban-deny-russian-bounties/

Executives Of Bankrupt Companies Made $131 Million In Bonuses This Year

While a wave of bankruptcies continues to wash over the country as a result of the pandemic (and just poorly run businesses), that hasn't stopped the executives of some of the biggest trainwrecks in recent business history from collecting fat bonus checks, despite driving their respective companies into the ground. Among the higher profile names are companies like J.C. Penney, Chesapeake Energy and Hertz, who have all filed for bankruptcy protection this year.

They have also all awarded their executives significant bonuses totaling $10 million, $25 million and $1.5 million respectively in the weeks - or sometimes days - leading up to their bankruptcies. And they're not the only ones.

Out of the 100 companies that have filed for bankruptcy since the Covid lockdowns began, Bloomberg estimates that 19 of these companies have committed to paying a total of $131 million in retention and performance bonuses.

The companies claim the bonuses are to keep their management teams in order to lead their turnarounds. Yes, the very same management teams that led the companies to bankruptcy to begin with. And the bonuses are tough to claw back unless they are made after a company officially files for protection with the court.

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/executives-bankrupt-companies-made-131-million-bonuses-year

Pedophile-chasing cop jumps from 13th FLOOR WINDOW to nab suspect in Kazakhstan

A daredevil police officer jumped out of a 13th floor window as he chased a suspected sexual assailant of a teenage girl. Not only did the policeman not die, but he even managed to catch the suspect.

Police Major Bakytzhan Bakirov was taking part in an operation to apprehend a man, who had earlier broken into an apartment in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, stealing a large sum of money and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

Bakirov had posed as a plumber to get inside the suspect's rented flat, located on the 13th floor of a residential building. However, sensing that something wasn't right, the alleged criminal attempted to flee, deciding to jump out the window in a near-suicidal move.

A 13th floor is typically more than 30 meters high, but the dedicated cop followed the fleeing suspect without any hesitation.

"There was only one thought in my head – I must detain him! I wasn't thinking of anything else. I didn't even understand how I made that jump, but there was no fear," Bakirov recalled in an interview with the Kazakh police website.

The rash move could well have ended badly for the officer, but luckily he landed on a terrace that was just two floors below. "I had no idea it was there," he said.

The suspect, who chose the window as an escape route, apparently knew about the terrace. It didn't help him much, however, as Bakirov gained on him and didn't let go until the reinforcements arrived. And the 36-year-old did all that despite seriously fracturing his foot in the fall.

https://www.rt.com/news/495228-kazakhstan-police-pedophile-jump/

“If Chinese Communists Told NBA to Join the Taliban, the NBA would Say, ‘Where’s the Line?'” – Sen. Kennedy DUNKS on NBA Brass

Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) joined Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures this morning.

Senator Kennedy accused the Chinese Communist Party of being bullies who understand only strength. “If you’re too nice to them if you turn the other cheek, they just stab you in the neck.”

Sen. John Kennedy: The poster child of what the general was talking about is the leadership at the National Basketball Association. The NBA leadership is so greedy, so anxious to do business with China, that they do whatever the Chinese Communist Party tells them to do. If the Party told the leadership of the NBA to join the Taliban, the NBA leadership would say, “Where’s the line?”

Sadly, he’s right.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/chinese-communists-told-nba-join-taliban-nba-say-line-sen-kennedy-dunks-nba-brass-video/

German Armed Forces Missing Tens Of Thousands Of Rounds Of Ammunition

Germany's military confirmed Friday 60,000 rounds of ammunition are unaccounted for, along with another 48,000 rounds from an elite special forces unit with connections to right-wing extremism, reported DW News.

A Defense Ministry spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur the Bundeswehr (Federal Defence Forces) is investigating the missing ammunition from its inventory. The spokesman gave no clear answer for the reasons behind the disappeared ammo.

An earlier report from newspaper Die Welt on Friday had said at least 60,000 rounds of Bundeswehr ammunition had gone missing since 2010, according to a confidential reply to a government information request filed by several parties in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag.

Only around 36,000 of over 96,000 missing cartridges of varying caliber have been located, the government reportedly said. -DW.

The 48,000 rounds missing from the Special Forces Command (KSK) was heavily scrutinized after lawmakers found right-wing extremism was deeply embedded within its ranks.

"We are now investigating intensively and assessing our practices — not just in the KSK," the ministry spokesman said.

The investigation of missing ammo will determine if criminal activity was involved or just poor inventory keeping.

"Sloppiness will be stopped, every case of diversion will be reported, and the public prosecutor's office will be called in," the spokesperson added.

In early July, DW warned right-wing extremism is on the rise in Germany, and the country's domestic intelligence agency said some of these folks are prepared to use violence.

The questions Germans need to be asking - Where did all the ammo go?

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/germanys-armed-forces-missing-tens-thousands-ammunition

Hiring Liberals Was Policy: CDC Employees Made Over 8,000 Political Contributions to PACs Since 2015 — Only 5 Were to Republican Causes

Obama sure did a number on America, didn’t he?

Even the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) is a highly political organization today.

Obama ruined everything.

The Daily Caller News Foundation reported –CDC employees since 2015 have made over 8,000 political donations.

Only 5 donations went to Republican causes.

This is not an accident.

It was policy to only hire Democrats.

This explains their confused and ever changing coronavirus policy

Michael Coudry makes a good point.

The CDC HR department must have looked into the political background of candidates.

This organization must be audited.

President Trump made a good move when he moved the coronavirus reporting from the leftist organization.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/hiring-liberals-policy-cdc-employees-made-8000-political-contributions-pacs-since-2015-5-republican-causes/

Clashes with police and dozens of arrests as mass brawl erupts in central Frankfurt

Things got out of hand in a Frankfurt square where thousands had been enjoying the summer weather and some beer on Saturday night. A number of revelers engaged in a violent fight, triggering a massive police response.

Roughly 3,000 Frankfurt residents had flooded the Opernplatz, the square surrounding an opera house turned concert hall in Germany’s financial hub. The place has become an open-air “party zone,” local media reported.

The mood was largely peaceful at the start of the evening but turned tenser as the night progressed. Some drinkers were caught on film flipping rubbish bins over, while others roamed around looking for trouble.

Shortly after midnight, a massive brawl broke out between dozens of people. The fracas quickly grew more violent, with one street fighter falling to the ground and lying motionless – at which point, police had to intervene.

However, when officers moved in, the crowd “openly and directly” turned their rage on to them, Frankfurt Police’s chief told reporters. They pelted them with bottles while some bystanders clapped, cheered, and yelled ‘ACAB’ – a pejorative acronym that stands for ‘all cops are b****rds.’

Letzte Nacht war die #Partyszene in #Frankfurt aktiv: Die Feiernden™ verwüsten den #Opernplatz, verletzen dabei aber nur wenige Polizisten.https://t.co/kolGJST7rFpic.twitter.com/vyqEIvQJ3q

— Hartes Geld (@Hartes_Geld) July 19, 2020

The police finally managed to quell the scuffle, having made 39 arrests. But the victory didn’t come without casualties, as five officers were injured and had to be rushed to hospital for trauma treatment, Frankfurt Police said, wishing their wounded colleagues well in a tweet.

Mass gatherings around the Opernplatz have created another headache for Frankfurt in recent weeks, too. The square, located at the heart of the historic downtown, is frequently piled high with garbage produced by the influx of thousands of partygoers.

Letzte Nacht ist es auf dem Opernplatz anscheinend eskaliert. Schläger rein, Einsatz Polizei, totales Desaster! pic.twitter.com/yVFVJXqjzX

— Flaneurin (@frau_eckstein) July 19, 2020

The authorities have had to provide an additional 400 bins across the city, and to depend on the help of volunteer garbage collectors, who start cleaning up the area early in the morning.

https://www.rt.com/news/495215-frankfurt-brawl-arrests-partyzone/

Colin Powell: We Need to Rename Confederate-Named Bases ‘as Quickly as We Can’

Sunday on CBS’s “Meet the Press,” former Secretary of State Colin Powell said we need to rename military bases named after Confederate leaders “quickly.”

Powell said, “I would rename the bases. We hadn’t thought about that a few years ago. But now with Black Lives Matter and all the issues that are before us, I think it is a good idea to rename the 10 bases in the United States Army that are named after Confederates. I never really thought about it. I went to Fort Benning, Georgia, named after a Confederate, and I did all my training there, but it never stuck to me that this name should be changed. So I fully support what John Millie is doing. I think it’s something we should do quickly as we can.”

He added, “The Confederate flag is now an explicit demonstration of another time, place and country that has nothing to do with the United States of America, it was the Confederate States of America, they were not part of us, and this is not the time to keep demonstrating who they were and what they were back then. This is time to move on. Let’s get going. We have one flag and only one flag only, and that’s the flag we should all support, and all display and all be proud of.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/07/19/colin-powell-we-need-to-rename-confederate-named-bases-as-quickly-as-we-can/

UConn Student Government Leaders Resign Because They Are White

The president and vice president of the UConn student government resigned this month on the basis of their skin color. Vice President Alex Ose said that she stepped down to make room for “black, indigenous, and people of color” to step into leadership roles.

According to a report by the College Fix, two leaders of the UConn student government resigned so that their positions could be filled by minority students.

“I feel that it is my duty to step down from my position to make space for BIPOC (black, indigineous and people of color) voices to truly rise and be heard. It is my responsibility to make space, not to create an echo,” student VP Alex Ose said.

Ose even encouraged her peers to follow her lead. She suggested that every white member of the student government should step down so that their position could be filled by a minority student.

“I am asking all members of USG to truly consider their intent in holding their positions, and to urge everyone to truly think if they are making space for the voices that need to be heard right now,” Ose added. “I call upon the senators and executive board to consider also stepping down to make space for BIPOC voices.”

University of Connecticut Student Government President Joshua Crow also stepped down in July. Crow suggested that his decision to step down would provide a platform for “marginalized” groups.

“It is important in this time to ensure that marginalized groups have the platforms they need,” Crow wrote in a statement. “It is my hope that my stepping aside facilitates this.”

Confusingly, Crow’s replacement, Will Schad, is also a white male. Schad, however, claims that he will only serve in an interim capacity. Schad said that he will immediately schedule elections so that students can vote on new leaders.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/07/19/uconn-student-government-leaders-resign-because-they-are-white/

More Grooming Gang Arrests in Child Sexual Exploitation Epicentre of Rochdale

Greater Manchester Police have arrested a number of suspects involved in historical grooming gang crimes committed against women between 2002 and 2006 in Rochdale, England, one of the country’s most notorious grooming gang epicentres.

The arrests pre-date the infamous grooming gang that operated in the town between 2005 and 2008, which was finally busted by police in 2012 after years of being overlooked by the local police.

The latest arrests came as a part of Operation Lytton, which is one of 49 ongoing investigations into child sexual exploitation in the Greater Manchester area. Police have identified 271 victims of abuse and some 300 suspects.

So far, however, the identities of the suspects have not been made public.

A report by think tank Quilliam has found that more than eight out of ten men convicted of grooming gang offences have an 'Asian' background, while victims are "almost exclusively white girls". https://t.co/WMYGngGPDf

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) December 10, 2017

A statement from Greater Manchester Police quoted by the Manchester Evening News explained that “Op Lytton is one of a number of ongoing major investigations into child sexual exploitation across Greater Manchester. This is a complex criminal investigation into non-recent abuse committed in Rochdale between 2002 and 2006.”

“A number of arrests and interviews have already taken place and the investigation continues,” the statement said, but added that “due to the sensitivities associated with offences of this nature, victims are at the forefront of our investigation and it would be inappropriate to release any further information at this time.”

The former Crown Prosecution Service chief prosecutor in the North-West, Nazir Afzal, praised the operation, saying: “I have always said justice delayed is better than justice denied so I very much welcome GMP’s investigation into non-recent child sexual abuse in Rochdale.”

“What we dealt with in 2012 was merely the tip of a national iceberg which agencies didn’t see coming. Now they must continue to put right their earlier wrongs,” Afzal added.

Grooming Gang Victim Speaks Out After Encountering Rapist Who Was Supposed to Be Deported https://t.co/nYIzDEI18y

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 15, 2020

Three men who were jailed for their roles in the infamous Rochdale grooming gang, Qari Abdul Rauf, Abdul Aziz, and Adil Khan, have been revealed to be living in a town where they preyed on young girls, years after being slated for deportation.

In 2012, the men were convicted of a series of charges relating to the sexual abuse of children as young as 12. The men were all released early from prison, however.

As the three rapists held dual citizenship in Pakistan and the United Kingdom, they had their British citizenship revoked following their convictions, with the government promising they would be removed — but this has not happened, despite the trio losing a series of taxpayer-funded appeals.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/07/19/more-grooming-gang-arrests-in-rochdale-for-child-sexual-exploitation-offences-dating-back-to-2002/

Mexican Government on Damage Control After Cartel Reveals Armored Paramilitary Unit

Mexico’s top security official is trying to downplay a cartel-produced video purportedly showing an armored paramilitary unit. The unit includes a large contingent of cartel gunmen wearing high-end tactical gear and posing by what appears to be dozens of factory-made armored trucks and SUVs. The release of the video comes just one day after Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador visited the region.

The incident took place Friday afternoon as suspected members of Mexico’s Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion leaked a two-minute-long video. The video shows what appears to be hundreds of gunmen in military-style uniforms next to a long line of armored SUVs. The video also reveals a large contingent of gunmen who are perhaps better armed and equipped than Mexico’s own security forces.

In the video, the men shout their allegiance to CJNG, praise their leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, and claim to be part of a special forces unit from the cartel.

Details of the video have not been made public. However, several security officials claim the video comes from Jalisco. The timing of the video raises questions about CJNG openly challenging the government as just one day earlier, Mexican President Lopez Obrador visited that state as part of a work visit.

Just hours after the video surfaced, Mexico’s Public Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo took to social media to claim that authorities were analyzing the video to determine its authenticity.

The top security official also claimed that despite the appearances of the video, no criminal organization has the capability to successfully challenge Mexico’s government.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2020/07/18/mexican-government-on-damage-control-after-cartel-leaks-paramiltary-flex-video/

22 Migrants Held by Armed Human Smugglers Rescued in Texas near Border

U.S. Border Patrol officials in the Rio Grande Valley Sector received information regarding a group of migrants being held against their will by armed human smugglers. The smugglers held the migrants in a stash house located in Rio Grande City, Texas. Agents notified the Starr County Sheriff’s Office and CBP Air and Marine Operations and requested assistance.

Agents working in collaboration with the sheriff’s office made entry into the residence and found 23 migrants inside. Rio Grande City Station Border Patrol agents report the victims were being held against their will by an armed human smuggler. The migrants, from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, were determined to be illegally present in the United States, officials stated. CBP officials did not disclose the age or gender of the migrants being held against their will.

The Starr County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested a 49-year old man at the scene and seized one shotgun, one rifle, and an airsoft gun that were located in the residence. The suspect will face state charges for the alleged crimes.

On operations like this, Air and Marine Operations helicopter aircrews assist Border Patrol and local law enforcement by providing air cover. During nighttime operations, they also provide light and other technology to assist in the apprehension of people who might attempt to flee.

Breitbart Texas reports extensively on the warehousing of migrants in crowded and often filthy conditions in stash houses.

Most recently, Laredo Sector agents found 33 migrants locked in a stash house near the border with Mexico. The agents found all 33 came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico.

The migrants are frequently held against their will and extorted for additional smuggling fees. The migrants are often beaten or sexually assaulted and family members are threatened if they do not pay the additional ransom, Border Patrol officials previously told Breitbart Texas.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2020/07/18/22-migrants-held-by-armed-human-smugglers-rescued-in-texas-near-border/

Kuwait's emir in hospital, crown prince takes over some duties

Kuwait’s 91-year-old ruler Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah was admitted to hospital on Saturday, and underwent successful surgery on Sunday morning, with the country’s crown prince temporarily carrying out some of his duties, Reuters quoted a report by the state news agency KUNA.

Sheikh Sabah has ruled the OPEC oil producer and US ally since 2006. His office, in a statement carried by state news agency KUNA, did not specify what kind of surgery he underwent.

A royal order was issued assigning Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, the emir’s designated successor, “to take over some constitutional jurisdictions of His Highness the Emir temporarily”, KUNA said in a separate statement.

Last year, Sheikh Sabah was admitted to hospital in the United States while on an official visit there, after suffering what his office described as a health setback in Kuwait in August. He returned to the Gulf Arab state in October.

Kuwait’s central bank governor issued a statement on Saturday after news of the emir’s hospitalisation stressing the strength and stability of the dinar currency, which is pegged to a weighted basket of the country’s big trading partners.

S&P Global Ratings on Friday revised Kuwait’s outlook to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’, saying it expects the country’s main liquidity buffer, the General Reserve Fund, to be insufficient to cover the state budget deficit.

The government has been trying to bolster its finances which have been hit by low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, and has been rapidly running down the General Reserve Fund.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200719-kuwaits-emir-in-hospital-crown-prince-takes-over-some-duties/

The RAND Corporation and the New Manhattan Project

The RAND Corporation appears to have been central to the development of today’s New Manhattan Project. Their founding and evolution involves many organizations and individuals associated with the project and they have been involved in many areas of research germane to the New Manhattan Project. To learn all about today’s New Manhattan Project, please refer to the new, greatly revised and expanded second edition of the author’s book Chemtrails Exposed: A New Manhattan Project available exclusively at Amazon.

The story of the RAND Corporation

During World War II, the importance of air war capabilities became apparent. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Nazi Germany’s superior aerospace capabilities, and other developments impressed upon American military leadership the need for a tremendous expansion of the Army Air Forces. An Army Air Force general by the name of Henry ‘Hap’ Arnold (1886-1950) took up these challenges by the horns.

General Hap Arnold is already familiar to readers of this work. He was responsible for the post-war series of reports titled Toward New Horizons, also known as the von Kármán Reports. Toward New Horizons laid out a path for this desired expansion of aerospace capabilities and resulted in the creation of something called the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, which was tasked with carrying out the dictums of Toward New Horizons. The RAND Corporation was formed as a sort of sister organization to the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. In this relationship, the RAND Corporation handled research and development of new technologies, while the Scientific Advisory Board evaluated RAND’s work and advocated for further production and implementation.

Arnold got the idea for the RAND Corporation in September of 1945 from an Army Air Force test pilot by the name of Franklin R. Collbohm (1907-1990). Arnold and Collbohm had first met during the war when Collbohm furnished Arnold with radar technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). With the end of hostilities and the impending dissolution of military science, Collbohm suggested to Arnold that an organization be created in order to retain and utilize scientists for military purposes as well as bypass a lot of bureaucratic red tape that had previously hindered the development of new military technologies. Shortly thereafter, a meeting at Hamilton Air Force Base in Marin County, California was convened in order to initiate the creation of such an organization. Attending this meeting were: Arnold, Collbohm, the head of Douglas Aircraft, Donald Douglas (1892-1981), the Vice President and Head of Engineering of Douglas Aircraft, Arthur E. Raymond (1899-1999), and scientist Edward Bowles (1898-1990) of MIT. At this meeting Arnold pledged to allocate $10M of unspent wartime funds to the Douglas Aircraft Corporation for a study about future warfare called Project RAND. RAND was short for ‘research and development.’ Collbohm was appointed as RAND’s first director. RAND’s first headquarters were at the main Douglas Aircraft plant in Santa Monica, California. Today their world headquarters are still located in Santa Monica, California.

More

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/07/the-rand-corporation-and-the-new-manhattan-project.html

Ohio governor warns state 'could become Florida'

Gov. Mike DeWine (R) warned on Sunday that Ohio “could become Florida” as COVID-19 cases surged to new highs in the state.

The governor told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that his state is at a “crucial stage” as Ohio is “headed in the wrong direction” toward Florida’s status as a U.S. epicenter of the pandemic.

“We are at the point where we could become Florida, you know,” DeWine said. “Where you look at our numbers today versus where Florida was a month ago, we have very similar numbers. So we're very, very concerned.”

“While we did a great job early on in Ohio, we're now headed in the wrong direction, and frankly, I'm very, very concerned about that,” he added. “So we're going to move ahead with more orders from us this week.”

“Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd pressed DeWine on why he hasn’t issued a mask mandate.

“I don't think anybody in Ohio who's watched what I've done over the last four months doubts that, you know, I'll do what we need to do to protect Ohioans,” the governor responded.

DeWine added that officials “certainly would not rule out” a statewide mandate.

The governor said that the spread is “not just about masks,” adding that gatherings in bars and churches and casual get-togethers are contributing to the spread. He emphasized that this means “it’s not all about orders.”

“Orders are important, but it's also about getting people to understand, ‘Hey, this is, this is very, very serious,’” DeWine said.

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/508020-ohio-governor-warns-state-could-become-florida-in-pandemic

US researchers traced mobile phone signals at defense sites in Russia - newspaper

The newspaper reporters the US researchers implemented an experimental project aimed at demonstrating opportunities of using cellular communication data from the open sources for defense or intelligence needs

NEW YORK, July 19. /TASS/. A team of US academic researchers from the Mississippi State University tracked signals of mobile phones in Russia last year under the US Army-funded project, including in the area of the Russian Navy’s test range in Nyonoksa, Wall Street Journal reported in its electronic version on Saturday.

The group of US scholars together with graduate research assistants and undergraduate interns monitored movements of holders of mobile phones, who were present in Nyonoksa on the next day after the incident at the Russian Navy’s test range last August. According to the newspaper, GPS data indicated that phones later moved to Moscow, St. Petersburg and closed defense facilities in Severodvinsk and Archangelsk.

The newspaper reporters the US researchers implemented an experimental project aimed at demonstrating opportunities of using cellular communication data from the open sources for defense or intelligence needs. The newspaper refers to documents received from Mississippi State upon the request as to the source of its data.

Edric Thompson, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, which funded the project, said it was selected for military funding because it had "good potential use for being able for our soldiers to share information with each other," Wall Street Journal says.

Researchers used the Locate X service developed by Babel Street, the company specializing in software for intelligence purposes, the newspaper reports.

The incident occurred at the military test site near Severodvinsk on August 8, 2019. Russia’s Rosatom corporation later said that a fire and explosion that followed during a missile test on a sea platform killed five of its employees and injured three others, who were taken to the hospital.

https://tass.com/russia/1180107

Police release all 28 arrested at anti-government rallies in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv

22 let go conditionally, 6 placed under house arrest, including two who allegedly assaulted cops and one who set a dumpster ablaze

Judges on Sunday ordered the release of all 28 anti-government protesters who were arrested during mass demonstrations on Saturday evening in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, which turned violent as they came to a close.

Twenty-two of the protesters were conditionally released, while six were placed under house arrest, including one demonstrator suspected of assaulting a police officer at the demonstration outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence; another suspected of hurling a lit torch at police officers after the Charles Clore Park protest in Tel Aviv; one suspected of setting a dumpster ablaze at the same rally; and two more accused of attempting to do the same.

Police asked the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court to extend the remand of six of the 13 protesters arrested in Tel Aviv, but the judge rejected the request.

However, she scolded the demonstrators for destroying property, saying no reasoning justified their actions.

מאות חוסמים את הטיילת בתל אביב אחרי מחאת העצמאים, צועקים ״ביבי הביתה״ וקוראים לנהגים להצטרף אליהם. חשבתי שהברדקיסטים עלו הערב לירושלים ושבתל אביב יהיה פסטיבל אבל נראה שיש מספיק זעם לכולם pic.twitter.com/ecbf6IG1Cd

— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) July 18, 2020

Both demonstrations on Saturday evening drew in several thousand Israelis, with the Tel Aviv rally focusing on the government’s economic policies amid the resurgent coronavirus pandemic and the Jerusalem one calling on Netanyahu to resign over his corruption trial.

In both cities, protests began in areas designated by police but later spilled over into the streets, with demonstrators marching through the cities, blocking roads and sometimes clashing with cops.

In the capital, large crowds marched though a series of roadblocks meant to contain them and blocked roads as they paraded for hours through the streets around the area, largely peacefully, waving anti-Netanyahu banners to the beats of drums and loud vuvuzelas.

Little to no social distancing was observed between participants, though most wore masks. The majority of protesters were young people — from late teens through 20s and 30s.

המשטרה מנסה לפנות באמצעות רכב התזה את המפגינים שחוסמים את רחוב בצלאל בירושלים וקוראים "מדינת משטרה" @moyshis pic.twitter.com/rjoss6r6pA

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 18, 2020

Police later clashed with some of the protesters and used water cannons in an attempt to disperse them.

Officers were filmed violently removing anti-Netanyahu protesters blocking the road near Jerusalem’s Sacher Park. A number of the demonstrators were heard shouting “Nazis” at the officers.

The Jerusalem protest was the fourth such rally in the past week at the junction of Gaza Street and Balfour Street.

The thousands demonstrating at Charles Clore Park generally maintained social distancing.

But later Saturday night, police said they arrested protesters in Tel Aviv who hurled objects and pepper-sprayed an officer.

גן סאקר: האלימות החלה. המפגינים קראו לעבר המכתזיות "נאצים" pic.twitter.com/9lZ2Dnyqso

— שחר גליק (@glick_sh) July 18, 2020

As the rally came to a close, hundreds blocked roads near the park as they marched and continued chanting.

Unlike the previous economic protest in Tel Aviv last week, this week’s rally also included members of the “black flag” movement that has warned that Netanyahu is eroding Israeli democracy through his attacks on the justice system and police amid his corruption trial.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-release-all-28-arrested-at-anti-government-rallies-in-jerusalem-tel-aviv/

Serbian tyrant caught in a pincer, the stage is set for his spectacular fall

We spoke too soon, it turns out, about the Dr. Vladimir Mentus, the young Serbian sociologist, being released from prison and charges against him being dropped. At one point several days ago the appellate chamber did vacate the of the misdemeanour court judge’s decision sentencing Dr Mentus to thirty days for participation in the protests, specifically for “insulting” the police, and remanded the case to the lower court for reconsideration in line with its analysis. So is Dr Mentus now back home with his family? Not at all, the lower court has resentenced him to 30 days in prison, but on slightly altered grounds that he participated in acts of disorder which resulted in damage to public property. That is the way the travesty known as the “justice system” operates in Vučić’s “European Serbia.”

But unenviable as the position of Vučić’s political prisoner Vladimir Mentus may be, the tyrant Alexander Vučić is in a far worse jam. He is caught in a pincer between the demands of his Western sponsors to sign off on the recognition of Kosovo, and the swelling internal discontentment which delegitimizes him. At present, but for its disgraced president Serbia does not have any legally functioning institutions. The cabinet’s mandate ran out over a month ago. Since constitutionally the President’s role is ceremonial (although additional powers belonging to other branches of the government were unlawfully seized by the usurper) if a legally binding decision on Kosovo were to be taken, it could be done only by the prime minister and the cabinet, which are currently in a lame duck, caretaker capacity. As for Vučić’s fraudulently elected “parliament,” which needs to change the constitution for the separation of Kosovo to be legally possible, it has not been constituted yet and diehard protesters have vowed to make sure it never is and are demanding the annulment of the phony elections. Without parliament to approve it, the new government cannot be legally constituted nor can the act of treason Vučić has obligated himself to commit be performed with an appearance of constitutional regularity. So those who engineered Vučić’s installation eight years ago must deal with their puppet’s meltdown just as the task for which they installed him – recognition of the narco-state of Kosovo – is going into high gear and approaching its projected climax.

Dr Vladimir Mentus will very likely be out of the pokey in thirty days, but will Alexander Vučić by them still be around?

Ultimately, that decision will not be made by the usurper, or even by the leaderless and unorganized Serbian people, but by Western power centers and their intelligence services. They are now assessing Vučić’s overall usefulness in light of the bloody mess that his stupid and inept conduct has created. They must, of course, also calculate into their equations the impending crash of the Serbian economy, with projected one million unemployed roaming the streets. Not to be forgotten is another significant category of victims, the 1,700,000 pensioners facing a drastic reduction in their monthly allotments as government income shrinks and foreign loans, taken out under even the most usurious conditions, become increasingly difficult to arrange. Faced with the obligation of paying off billions of euros in soon to mature debts due to international creditors, with the hefty interest that those loans carry, and looking after his jobless subjects or the pensioners whom Vučić has already fleeced with impunity on numerous occasions, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what the cornered tyrant will do. The result will be a renewed explosion of social unrest compared to which the recent turmoil will seem no more than a minor bump in the road. These are huge factors shaping the hard-nosed assessment of Vučić’s viability by whoever is assessing his usefulness, and the folks doing the assessment right now as I write this are nothing if not hard-nosed.

https://thesaker.is/serbian-tyrant-caught-in-a-pincer-the-stage-is-set-for-his-spectacular-fall/

NYT, FBI, Spy inside WH. NEW DOCS prove COUP plot to remove Trump

The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss the newly released documents that show the New York Times was reporting false information related to the Trump-Russia collusion narrative cooked up by the Clinton campaign, and the FBI knew the information being reported was fake, yet said nothing.

https://theduran.com/nyt-fbi-spy-inside-wh-new-docs-prove-coup-plot-to-remove-trump/

Witnesses to start testifying in Netanyahu trial in January, 3 times a week

Attorney for PM had sought delay because he ‘cannot interrogate witnesses’ wearing masks; prosecution wants Case 4000, the most serious, heard first; PM not present at hearing

A judge ruled Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial will begin to hear testimony from witnesses in January 2021, with hearings to be held three times a week.

Netanyahu’s trial on charges of accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust opened in May in the Jerusalem District Court. Though the prime minister attended the first hearing, he did not make an appearance in the courtroom on Sunday.

The premier’s defense attorney had asked for a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, citing the requirement to wear face masks as an obstacle to proceedings.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/witnesses-to-start-testifying-in-netanyahu-trial-in-january-3-times-a-week/

President Trump calls Mary Trump's tell-all 'stupid' and 'vicious'

President Trump says his niece Mary 'was not exactly a family favorite'

President Trump said his niece Mary L. Trump “was not exactly a family favorite” and that he and his family “didn’t have a lot of respect or like for her.”

Trump made the comments during an exclusive interview on “Fox News Sunday” a few days after his niece’s tell-all, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,” set a first-day record for Simon & Schuster after the publisher said Thursday it sold 950,000 copies, including presales. During the interview Trump called his niece’s book “stupid” and “vicious.”

Host Chris Wallace noted that one of Mary Trump’s “main points” is that she said President Trump’s father Fred Trump Sr. damaged the whole family.

Speaking on ABC News on Thursday she said, “He learned to become the killer you mentioned. The man who needs to succeed at all costs … who will do anything to get attention, financial rewards and to win.”

During the exclusive interview, Wallace asked President Trump, “Do you see any truth in that?”

“My father liked to win,” Trump said in response. “My father was a very good man. He was a strong man.”

“It’s disgraceful that she said that,” he continued, then noting that she was “not exactly a family favorite” and “we didn’t have a lot of respect or like for her.”

“I would’ve never said that except she writes a book that’s so stupid and so vicious and it’s a lie,” Trump went on to say. “My father was a great, wonderful man.”

Mary Trump is a clinical psychologist and the daughter of the president’s older brother, Fred Trump, Jr. who died in 1981.

The president stressed that his niece is “not a person that I spent very much time with,” adding that now he is “glad” he spent “very little time” with her.

Wallace then noted that the president has “developed a pretty thick skin over the years from decades of attacks in New York tabloids” and the press as well as his political opponents in Washington, D.C.

“But even for Donald Trump, does it hurt you at all to be attacked in such personal terms by a member of your own family?” Wallace asked the president.

“Yeah,” Trump said in response. “It hurts me more about attacking my father, not being kind to my mother. I have a mother who was like a saint. She was incredible. She was an incredible woman and she [Mary Trump] was nasty even to my mother.”

“She’s a very scarred person,” he continued. “She was not much of a family person.”

The president went on to say that he thinks his father was “the most solid person I’ve ever met and he was a very good person.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/president-trump-calls-mary-trumps-tell-all-stupid-and-vicious

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