https://twitter.com/DrEliDavid/status/1522699037899726848?s=20&t=Q8sUumrFND2uaWRwpULzNw
Not “corporate advocacy”, accurately “corporate terrorism”
https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1523109747536318465?s=20&t=Q8sUumrFND2uaWRwpULzNw
https://twitter.com/ElectionWiz/status/1523035246752833536?s=20&t=Q8sUumrFND2uaWRwpULzNw
https://twitter.com/AuronMacintyre/status/1523126254135914496?s=20&t=Q8sUumrFND2uaWRwpULzNw
(5) Big tech social media companies operate on joint access databases of the U.S. govt.
(6) As a result of #5, tech data processing costs are essentially subsidized.
(7) FB, Insta, YouTube, MS, Google, and all tech platforms operating on AWS are connected to intel.
(8) Twitter as a private company is adverse to this preestablished relationship.
(9) ODNI office as well as DHS, DOJ and FBI domestically have self-interest in blocking Musk.
(10) Starlink presents problem for pre-established ISP control nodes for internet traffic surveillance.
(11) Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) is well aware of this relationship between U.S. Intel and Social media.
(12) Current network of U.S. surveillance state is authorized by congress through SSCI notification.
(13) National Security shields prevent disclosure.
(14) Current surveillance system has been active for ten full years.
(15) Budget is hidden by using Ominibus and Continued Resolutions.
(16) Retaining opaque budgeting is why Congress stopped using ordinary budgetary processes.
(17) Last federal budget passed Fiscal Year 2008
(18) Expanded data processing and social media user metadata required massive expansion of data library.
(19) Funding for expansion delivered in federal infrastructure spending.
(20) Federal broadband expansion covered expenses for expanded server library and data processing.
(21) U.S. citizen data is all inclusive.
(22) Two-factor authentication sold under auspices of user security, was critical USIC developmental tool.
(23) U.S. Digital Identity database already exists.
(24) Database and geolocation used in J6 investigation is simple example of use.
(25) Current emphasis for future network expansion is facial recognition program to put it all together.
(26) China is approximately 5 years behind U.S. development of surveillance state.
(27) Huawei operation was/is to identify technology behind U.S. system and replicate.
https://twitter.com/TheLastRefuge2/status/1523121559082176512?s=20&t=Q8sUumrFND2uaWRwpULzNw
Comrade Neil Oliver Discusses Living as a Dissident Through Orwellian Times
May 7, 2022 | Sundance |
Comrades, in his weekly monologue Neil Oliver walks through the stages of mental exhaustion the corrupt globalists have created in order to retain power. Looking at the landscape through the prism of George Orwell’s prescient warnings, Oliver ponders if the mirrored reality is actually their roadmap.
The Ministry of Abundance positioned to discharge the pending scarcity. The Ministry of Peace now used to carry out wars without authority. The Ministry of Truth purposefully created to retain lies…. and so it goes. Indeed as the warning was predicted, even “to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak, facecrime it was called.”
The Global Ministry of Nutrition now instructs us to enjoy the benefits of eating bugs, slugs and “lab-grown meat” amid rising costs of farming. The Ministry of Residential Equity promotes the benefits of tiny houses; shared space cubicles where owning nothing leads to increased happiness. The Ministry of Education replaces academic endeavors with emotional learning. Math replaced by pansexual dance lessons for the non-binary kindergarteners. Smile Comrade, smile. WATCH
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/05/07/comrade-neil-oliver-discusses-living-as-a-dissident-through-orwellian-times/#more-232787
CNN Claims Pro-Life Supporters Will Turn Violent with SCOTUS Victory, Amish Extremists now Threatening ANTIFA Peacekeepers
May 7, 2022 | Sundance | 225 Comments
No, it’s not opposite day. This example is just another example of how the Ministry of Truth operates. Political violence is speech, unless actual speech is heard from their opposition; then, it becomes violence. War is peace. Water is dry, etc. George Orwell sighs. {Direct Rumble Link}
Knowing there is an increased likelihood of violence incited by far-left democrat activists and the White House, CNN moves their advance narrative engineering team into place to lay the blame for violence at the feet of their political opposition. With Roe -v- Wade potentially being overturned, Amish extremists are now going to lay siege to the peaceful assembly of ANTIFA in DC, or something equally stupid. WATCH:
If the issues were not serious, this nonsense from CNN would be funny. Far left activists have been threatening the Supreme Court justices and the White House has been provoking their political allies to keep up the anger against the court. As a result, every sub-chapter of leftist political activism has been triggered to a state of rage and grievance. The rhetoric and hatred expressed toward the justices on the court has been extreme.
However, CNN redefines the mob by calling them “right-wing”, the exact opposite of who is making the threats.
Keep in mind, none of the previous ANTIFA or Black Lives Matter violence could take place without the expressed support from the FBI. If the FBI wanted to stop riots, political violence or the unlawful intimidation of federal judges, they could.
It would be very easy for the FBI to intercept the people making threats and arrest them for intimidation of federal judges. 18 U.S.C. § 1503 – Whoever . . . corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice, shall be (guilty of an offense).” The reason the FBI and DOJ are staying silent, is because the FBI and DOJ support the targeting of the Supreme Court. It really is that simple.
It should be alarming how the Executive Branch of the United States Government is openly targeting the Judicial Branch of the United States Government, but that point seems to be completely missed by everyone. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland standing aside while extremists in the democrat party attack supreme court justices only highlights how political the DOJ and FBI have become.
Last night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson drew attention to the media portrayal and the violent targeting now condoned by DHS, DOJ, FBI and the White House. {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH:
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/05/07/cnn-claims-pro-life-supporters-will-turn-violent-with-scotus-victory-amish-extremists-now-threatening-antifa-peacekeepers/
8 May, 2022 10:25
HomeRussia & Former Soviet Union
Captured Ukrainian officer labels US-supplied Javelins ‘useless’
The Kiev troops defending Mariupol couldn’t fire a single US-made missile, the captured officer claims
The US-made Javelin anti-tank systems have been praised for their effectiveness by Washington officials and have been turned by Western Media into a symbol of Ukraine’s resistance in the conflict with Russia. But a commander of the Ukrainian marines, who ended up being captured during the fighting for Mariupol, has revealed to RT that the hardware doesn't really live up to the claims.
“The Javelins didn’t prove useful, especially in urban warfare,” Colonel Vladimir Baranyuk, the commander of Ukraine’s 36th Naval Infantry Brigade, said.
“We couldn't even launch one. I think it's completely useless in an urban environment, as something always gets in the way,” he explained.
Baranyuk's unit was also armed with Next-generation Light Anti-tank Weapons (NLAWs), supplied by Britain, but these also had their flaws, according to the officer.
“As for the NLAW missile launchers, well, we used them more often than the Javelins, but it has its own issue with the battery draining in cold conditions, making it impossible to launch,” he said.
Shoulder-fired Javelin missiles are equipped with infrared guidance and are said to be adopt a “top attack” trajectory to strike the roof of a tank, which is its most vulnerable part. Just like NLAWs, they're a “fire-and-forget” weapon, meaning that the missile guides itself to its target.
More than 5,000 Javelins have been supplied to Kiev by Washington. Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri said last week that it accounted for a third of the US stockpile of those systems. London, for its part, has already armed the Ukrainian military with over 4,000 NLAWs and other anti-tank missiles.
“The Javelin… have proven to be very, very effective in this fight,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in April, referring to the conflict in Ukraine.
An image of Christianity’s Virgin Mother Mary with a Javelin has become an internet meme during the conflict, with US President Joe Biden boasting earlier this week of Ukrainian parents calling their newborn kids “Javelin or Javelina” in honor of the American system.
Baranyuk and his marines had been tasked with guarding the northern outskirts of Mariupol, a strategic port city in the southeast of Ukraine, from the advancing Russian forces.
The commander was captured during a failed attempt to flee the city, which he claims he attempted together with several loyal men after realizing that Kiev's promises to send help to his encircled troops were lies.
Mariupol has seen the heaviest fighting during the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and suffered immense destruction. The city is now almost entirely controlled by Russian forces, with the Azovstal steel plant - where Kiev servicemen and nationalist fighters of the notorious Azov Battalion are holed up, now being the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance.
https://www.rt.com/news/555144-ukraine-javelin-nlaw-mariupol/
8 May, 2022 10:38
Ukraine's Zelensky praises US, scolds EU
The US has spearheaded economic reprisals against Russia while the EU has lagged behind, the Ukrainian leader said
(When will this puppet and the farce be over? When the whole world is a shithole country, as Ukraine is!)
The US is leading the charge on global sanctions against Russia, while EU nations have sometimes shown a lack of unity on the matter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“So far I think that the United States of America is the accelerator of the sanction policies and I think they do more than any other country,” Zelensky told Fox News on Saturday.
“This is the way it should be because they are the most powerful country right now. I see the same support with respect to sanctions from the United Kingdom.”
The president said the EU needs to form a “united position” on the matter. “They don’t have it with respect to certain sanctions,” he noted.
Zelensky argued that the West should continue ramping up the pressure on Moscow and carefully assess which measures are working and which are not.
“You know, Russia – when they get some sanctions, each day they are finding a way to circumvent [them],” he said.
Since Russian troops entered Ukraine, Western countries including NATO and EU members have imposed harsh measures against Moscow, freezing assets and cutting its banks from the SWIFT payment system.
Washington expanded the restrictions last month, blacklisting more than 40 individuals and entities, including financial service companies.
The European Commission has proposed phasing out Russian natural gas by 2030, but stopped short of an immediate ban on imports, despite pleas from Ukraine. Hungary, whose economy heavily relies on Russian energy, has threatened to veto an embargo on supplies from Moscow.
Russia has responded to the restrictions by requiring EU countries pay for gas in rubles.
On Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a phase-out of Russian crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of 2022. Reuters reported that under the scheme, Hungary and Slovakia would be allowed to continue buying crude oil until the end of the year under existing contacts.
Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, said on Sunday thata total of 10,128 restrictionshave been slapped on his country since 2014, “more than against any other state in history.”
https://www.rt.com/russia/555145-zelensky-us-sanctions-accelerator/
8 May, 2022 11:05
Lawmaker takes heat for ‘putting up with racism’ comment
Ahead of Australian election, a ruling coalition lawmaker has been accused of “tone deafness” on issue of anti-Chinese sentiments
A senator from Australia's ruling coalition has been criticized two weeks before the May 21 federal election, after he thanked the Chinese-Australians for “putting up with racism.”
Addressing participants at the Chinese Australian Forum on Friday, the Liberal Party senator for New South Wales Andrew Bragg admitted that, amid the coronavirus pandemic and tensions in bilateral relations with Beijing, his country has seen an increase in the number of racist incidents involving Chinese nationals. He claimed that much of the political rhetoric about China had been “at times unsophisticated” and emphasized that racism was unacceptable.
“Thank you for your steadfastness, thank you for putting up with some intemperate rhetoric at times, thank you for putting up with racism at times. It’s not good,” he said.
These remarks immediately sparked outrage among Bragg's political opponents and social media users, with one saying they show “a terrible tone-deafness.”
“To hear Senator Bragg attempting to distance himself from the racist comments and the actions of his colleagues, while at the same time seeming to present racism as something inevitable that he thanks us for putting up with, was insulting and offensive,” New South Wales state member of parliament Jenny Leong said, as quoted by AP.
She also accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government of “trying to woo local Chinese communities for electoral advantage, while at the same time whipping up anti-Chinese sentiment to serve their broader political agenda.”
Bilateral relations between Canberra and Beijing suffered a major blow in 2020 when the Australian government pushed for an independent investigation into the causes of the coronavirus pandemic without consulting China, which then blasted the call “a joke.”
In November 2020, China's embassy released a list of the country's grievances against Australia, which included, besides the called-for inquiry into Covid’s origins, state funding for “anti-China” research, visa issues, raids on Chinese journalists, and “spearheading a crusade” on China's affairs in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Recent weeks have seen rising tensions between the two countries over the Solomon Islands. Australia, the biggest aid donor to the islands, has criticized that state’s draft security pact with China.
Scott Morrison warned that Beijing building a naval base on the Solomon Islands would be a “red line” for Australia though he did not specify what exactly his statement meant.
According to research by the Lowy Institute published in spring 2021 amid the escalating tensions between Australia and China, 18% of Chinese-Australians had been physically threatened or attacked in the past year because of their Chinese heritage.
Citing high numbers of incidents involving Chinese nationals, Beijing media has been accusing Canberra of “chronic” racism.
(If you are not racist now, you will be by the time this is over, thats their plan. Keep on screaming “racist”, because they need to use it to label us when entering detention facilities.)
https://www.rt.com/news/555147-lawmaker-australia-racism-china/
8 May, 2022 08:47
Taiwan reveals why it sanctioned Russia
The island’s foreign minister wants the West to punish Beijing if it attacks his territory
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu hopes the world will impose sanctions on Beijing if it attacks Taipei, similar to those faced by Moscow over its offensive in Ukraine. China stated that it would not be intimidated by talks about sanctions and isolation, warning against ‘copy-pasting’ the Ukraine crisis onto the Asia Pacific.
On Friday, the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry, which had previously joined Western countries in sanctioning Russia, announced restrictive measures against Belarus. Speaking to reporters the following day, Wu admitted that there are almost no trade ties between Taiwan and these countries,so the move is purely symbolic.
“If we are threatened or invaded by force from China in the future, we also hope that the international community will understand Taiwan, support Taiwan, and sanction this kind of aggressive behavior. Therefore, Taiwan stands with the international community and takes these actions,” the minister explained.
The Taiwanese minister’s remarks came the day after Beijing warned the US and its partners that it would not be intimidated by threats.
Chinese Foreign Vice-Minister Le Yucheng included a “word of caution” for Taiwan in his speech at the ‘Seeking Peace and Promoting Development’ forum, saying that “reunification is the right way forward, and seeking foreign support to pursue independence will lead nowhere.”
“With regard to all the talk of sanctions and isolation on China, I can say for sure that China will not be intimidated,” Le said.
The minister also warned the West against trying to “copy and paste” the Ukraine crisis in the Asia-Pacific as any such attempts, in his opinion, are “doomed to fail.”
“For quite some time, the US has kept flexing its muscle on China’s doorstep, creating exclusive groups against China and inflaming the Taiwan question to test China’s red line. If this is not an Asia-Pacific version of NATO’s eastward expansion, then what is? Such a strategy, if left unchecked, would bring horrible consequences and push the Asia Pacific over the edge of an abyss,” he said.
Responding to criticism of Beijing for not joining the US and other Western countries in condemning and sanctioning Russia, the Chinese minister said that his country “pursues an independent foreign policy of peace and determines its position based on the merits of the matter.”
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned on Thursday that a Ukraine-style armed conflict could break out in East Asia.
Taiwan has been ruled by its own government since the civil war ended on mainland China in 1949. Beijing maintains that it favors a peaceful reunification, but has promised to retaliate if Taipei formally declares independence.
Like most countries, the US does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taipei but maintains close military cooperation with the island. President Joe Biden said last year that the US would defend Taiwan if China invaded.
Beijing has repeatedly warned Washington against arming Taiwan, as it regards any foreign activities around it as a violation of the ‘One China’ principle and meddling in its domestic affairs.
Taipei has openly admitted that it has been watching the Ukraine conflict “very carefully” to learn from it and use Kiev’s experience should Beijing opt for a military option to seize control of the island.
https://www.rt.com/news/555142-china-taiwan-sanctions-west/
8 May, 2022 07:10
Ukraine lied to its encircled troops – commander
The captured officer says he decided to flee after realizing that promised help wouldn’t be coming
Ukraine told troops besieged by Russian forces in Mariupol that help was on its way, while making no actual attempts to end the blockade of the city, the commander of the country's 36th Naval Infantry Brigade has told RT.
Colonel Vladimir Baranyuk and his unit were tasked with guarding the northern outskirts of Mariupol, a strategic port city in the southeast of Ukraine, amid the Russian military operation in the country.
He was even awarded the Hero of Ukraine honor for his “courage and effective actions in repelling enemy attacks,” with Kiev asserting that the colonel and the other defenders of Mariupol would never surrender.
But as the Russian forces kept gaining ground, Baranyuk ended up surrendering peacefully after being captured during a failed attempt to flee the city.
He was apprehended hiding in the fields together with a number of his men a few kilometers north of Mariupol.
The commander of the marines now says the Ukrainian government lied to him and his troops in order to keep them fighting.
“Kiev told us to hold on, [saying] that the units that will lift the blockade are coming, they’ll soon be here,” Baranyuk told RT.
The promise was made despite President Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser, Alexey Arestovich, openly acknowledging in interviews that Kiev “won’t be able to save” its forces in Mariupol.
“We were promised certain help. Naturally, this help didn’t arrive. And this pushed us to come out,” the colonel said, explaining his decision to flee.
It was “painful” for the troops when they realized that they had been left for dead, but “everybody, including myself, understood it,” Baranyuk added.
Mariupol has seen the heaviest fighting during the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The city, which suffered immense destruction, is now almost entirely controlled by Russian forces, with the Azovstal steel plant remaining the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance.
Kiev’s servicemen and nationalist fighters of the notorious Azov Battalion, who are holed up at the massive site, had been given numerous opportunities to lay down their arms by Russia, but rejected all of them. Moscow has said that those inside the plant want to surrender, but cannot do sodue to Kiev’s reluctance to give the relevant order.
https://www.rt.com/russia/555139-ukraine-mariupol-surrender-baranyuk/
8 May, 2022 06:06
Russia makes use of Nord Stream 2
Gazprom will use the pipeline’s onshore capacity for the domestic gas market
Russian energy giant Gazprom announced on Thursday that it will use the onshore capacity of Nord Stream 2, designed to pump natural gas to Germany, for Russia’s domestic market.
“As the Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipeline is currently not in use, and taking into account the gas supply requirements of consumers in northwest Russia, Gazprom has decided to use the excess onshore gas transmission capacity of Nord Stream 2 to develop gas supplies to the regions of northwest Russia,” the company said on its official Telegram channel.
Gazprom noted that only half of the pipeline’s capacity would be available for Europe if the pipeline was allowed to operate in the future.
“If the German side decides to commission Nord Stream 2, only one line of the pipeline with 100% load can be put into operation,” it said, adding that “the commissioning of the second offshore string of Nord Stream 2 may not begin until 2028.”
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline stretches from the Russian coast under the Baltic Sea to Germany. Its construction was completed in September 2021, and by December it was ready for operation. However, German authorities stopped certification of the pipeline prior to the conflict in Ukraine. The two-string pipeline was supposed to pump 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Russia to Germany.
https://www.rt.com/business/555006-russia-makes-use-nord-stream/
7 May, 2022 20:57
China ‘carefully’ studying Ukraine – CIA director
William Burns thinks that Beijing is learning as many lessons as it can to take Taiwan
Chinese President Xi Jinping is “unsettled” by the West’s reaction to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, and is looking “carefully at what lessons [he] should draw” and apply to a potential invasion of Taiwan, CIA Director William Burns speculated at a conference on Saturday.
Speaking at a Financial Times event in Washington, Burns told his audience that his agency has assessed that Russia’s advance through Eastern Ukraine and the scale of the West’s response may be influencing Beijing’s plans for Taiwan.
“It strikes us . . . that Xi Jinping is a little bit unsettled by the reputational damage that can come to China by the association with the brutishness of Russia’s aggression against Ukrainians [and] unsettled certainly by the economic uncertainty that’s been produced by the war,” Burns claimed.
The spy chief added that he believes China is taken aback by “the fact that what Putin has done is driving Europeans and Americans closer together” and is looking “carefully at what lessons they should draw” for a potential takeover of Taiwan.
(SeeEyeAye lies)
While American pundits and politicians – and leaders in Taipei and the broader East Asia region – have repeatedly warned that Russia’s offensive against Ukraine could “embolden” China to make a move on Taiwan, that has not transpired. Beijing maintains that Taiwan is its territory, but no signs of an imminent invasion or attack on the island have emerged.
However, the Taiwanese military has held live-fire military exercises in recent months, and the US government has pressed Taipei to order American weapons designed to repel a seaborne invasion by China. Beijing, meanwhile, has reportedly penetrated the island’s air defense zone on numerous occasions, with the most recent incursion on Friday involving nuclear-capable bombers, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said.
“I don’t for a minute think that [the Ukraine conflict has] eroded Xi’s determination over time to gain control over Taiwan,” Burns continued on Saturday. However, he claimed that events in Ukraine are surely “affecting their calculation.”
China has resisted Western calls to denounce and sanction Russia over the war in Ukraine, and has named the post-Cold War expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe as a key factor behind the conflict. Beijing has also condemned what it sees as US-led efforts to build anti-China alliances, such as the ‘AUKUS’ (US, UK and Australia) and ‘Quad’ (US, Australia, India and Japan) pacts.
Although Burns described Xi’s “main focus” as being on “predictability,” it is unlikely that Beijing is overly concerned with the “reputational damage” mentioned by the spy chief. China has already hammered the US and EU for accusing it of human rights abuses and has accused Washington of “war crimes” in response. Likewise, when urged by NATO leadership to condemn Russia, China’s foreign ministry in March said it would not listen to a “lecture on justice from the abuser of international law.”
https://www.rt.com/news/555133-cia-china-ukraine-taiwan/
7 May, 2022 17:32
HomeRussia & FSU
Ukraine claims all civilians have left besieged Azovstal
(I suspect this is a trap to get Russia to invade the plant where innocent people are still being held)
Russia had halted its operations at the sprawling facility to allow non-combatants to escape
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereschuk announced on Saturday that all of the women, children and elderly civilians trapped in the Azovstal complex in Mariupol have been evacuated. Russian forces had paused their assault on the plant to allow the escape of civilians, some of whom say they were held hostage there by militants.
“The President’s order has been carried out: all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal. This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed,” read a Telegram post from Vereschuk on Saturday evening.
Russia had held open a humanitarian corridor from the plant between 8am and 6pm Moscow time every day since Thursday. While Ukraine accused Russia of breaching its self-imposed ceasefire, civilians streamed out of the plant, where several hundred had been trapped for up to two months.
Donetsk People’s Republic forces said on Saturday that 50 civilians had left the plant for their territory that day, while the UN announced that 500 had been evacuated from the facility in the night between Thursday and Friday.
Russian politicians and military sources have accused the Ukrainian soldiers and neo-Nazi militias - including the notorious Azov regiment - occupying the plant of holding civilians there to barter for supplies. In video footage posted and later deleted by German magazine Der Spiegel, an evacuee said that her family had been kept “in a bunker” under Azovstal for two months, and were forbidden by the Azov militants from using the Russian-established humanitarian corridors.
Following Vereschuk’s statement,it is unclear whether any male non-combatants remain in the Azovstal complex, a gargantuan Soviet-built factory complex spread over 11 square kilometers, with a dense warren of fortified tunnels and bunkers underneath.
Russia claims to have established full control over the entire port city of Mariupol, except for Azovstal. On April 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin called off an operation to storm the plant, fearing heavy casualties among Russian troops, and ordered instead to impose a complete blockade of the Ukrainian forces holed up there. Reports in Ukrainian media claim that Russian forces nonetheless tried to storm the plant.
(Russia can wait them out because they are running out of food and the drugs that keep them doped up)
https://www.rt.com/russia/555130-azovstal-evacuation-complete-ukraine/
8 May, 2022 08:04
UK promises more military aid for Ukraine
The new pledge nearly doubles Britain’s previous spending commitments to Kiev
(It’s perplexing that these countries have to announce they are sending more equipment, since Russia tracks them and blows them up. Kek, not really)
The UK pledged a further £1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) in military support and aid to Ukraine on Saturday. London said the move nearly doubles London’s previous spending commitments to Kiev, and is the country’s highest rate of spending on a conflict since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Putin’s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine – it is also threatening peace and security across Europe,” Prime Minister Boris Johnston said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.
The extra money will come from a reserve used by the government for emergencies. Like other NATO member states, the UK has been increasingly supplying Kiev with weapons, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems and armored vehicles.
This week, London said it was sending 13 armored vehicles to Ukrainian police and the National Guard. The UK government has also been delivering tanks to Poland in order to replace those Warsaw has donated to Kiev.
Similarly, the US pledged an additional $150 million in military assistance to Ukraine on Friday. The package includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, as well as radars and electronic jamming equipment.
Russia has repeatedly criticized the West for “flooding” Ukraine with weapons, and warned in April thatforeign arms become legitimate targets once they reach Ukrainian soil.
https://www.rt.com/news/555140-britain-doubles-aid-ukraine/
8 May, 2022 10:07
German industry reels from anti-Russian sanctions
Production decline in March exceeded analysts’ expectations
German industrial production dropped more than expected in March, data released on Friday by the country’s statistics office shows. According to Destatis,Covid-related supply chain issues have been exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine. (They will never give up the Big Lie of Covid)
Production slid by 3.9% last month following a 0.1% increase in February, far outstripping expectations of a one-percent decline. On an annual basis, industrial output slumped by 3.5% in March following a 3.1% jump the month before.
Manufacturing production lost 4.6% in March and energy production was down 11.4%, while construction output gained 1.1%, according to the data. On Thursday, it was reported that manufacturing orders logged a 4.7% month-on-month decline in March.
The largest drop was recorded for capital goods, used by businesses in production, which tumbled by 8.3%.
“In these politically and economically difficult times, the decrease also shows a growing reluctance to invest,” the statistics office said in a statement.
Foreign orders from outside the eurozone nosedived 13.2% in March, while demand from inside the area strengthened by 5.6%. Domestic orders edged down by 1.8%.
“Many enterprises still have problems completing their orders because of interruptions in supply chains,which is due to continuing Covid-19 crisis restrictions and the war in Ukraine,” Destatis said.
(We will keep you locked down for any old reason we want to, “you will own nothing and be happy with it!)
https://www.rt.com/business/555074-german-industry-output-drop/
7 May, 2022 19:54
No evidence that Russia will nuke Ukraine – CIA
Despite alarm in Kiev, William Burns doesn't foresee Russia deploying tactical nuclear weapons
CIA Director William Burns told a Financial Times conference on Saturday that US intelligence agencies haven’t seen any “practical evidence” that Russia will use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously claimed that Moscow could use such weapons.
“We don't see, as an intelligence community, practical evidence at this point of Russian planning for the deployment or even potential use of tactical nuclear weapons,” Burns outlined at the conference in Washington DC, repeating a similar assessment he made at the beginning of April.
However, Burns added that in his opinion, Putin “doesn’t believe he can afford to lose [the conflict],” and the US should therefore “stay very sharply focused” on the potential nuclear threat regardless.
The Kremlin has insisted that it will not deploy nuclear weapons against its neighbor, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev stating on Friday that “Russia firmly abides by the principle that there can be no victors in a nuclear war, and it must not be unleashed.”
Nevertheless, Zelensky said last month that he was “convinced” Russia could use chemical or nuclear weapons to win victory in Ukraine, calling for the world to “be ready” for the possibility. Western media outlets have also speculated about the possibility of such a nuclear strike, citing Russia’s placing of its nuclear deterrence forces on high alert at the outset of the Ukraine conflict, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning that outside powers interfering with Russia’s war aims would face consequences “never seen in [their] entire history.”
Speaking to Newsweek on Thursday, Russia’s ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said that it was Moscow “that in recent years has persistently proposed to American colleagues to affirm that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, thus it should never happen.”
Unlike the kind of warheads mounted on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, tactical nuclear weapons are smaller, low-yield devices that can be dropped from planes, fitted to short-range missiles or fired from artillery pieces. Although no internationally-recognized definition exists, their yield typically varies from less than one kiloton to 100 kilotons. For reference, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War had a yield of 15 kilotons.
Russia, which possesses around 700 more nuclear warheads than the US, asserts that it could use nuclear weapons in the event of a first nuclear strike on its territory or infrastructure, or if the existence of the Russian state is threatened by either nuclear or conventional weapons. The United States, according to the Pentagon’s most recent Nuclear Posture Review, says that its nukes are intended to serve as a deterrent to nuclear attack on the US and its allies, but their use may also be considered in “extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States or its allies and partners.”
https://www.rt.com/russia/555132-cia-tactical-nuclear-ukraine/
8 May, 2022 12:34
Media reveals major flaws in UK housing plan for Ukrainian refugees
Hundreds of Ukrainians have reportedly been matched with “unsuitable” sponsors, while others can’t get visas
The UK government has reportedly been forced to rehome hundreds of Ukrainian refugees after their hosts in Britain turned out to be “unsuitable.”
The Observer broke the news on Sunday, citing sources linked to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
According to the head of the DLUHC, Michael Gove, both Ukrainians and their sponsors are subject to preliminary security checks. However, according to The Observer’s sources, the government has already let down 600 refugees who arrived to the UK to discover that “the people they have come to stay with have been found to be unsuitable.”
“These 600 Ukrainian refugees had been granted visas, but their sponsors were found to be unsuitable eitherbecause they had a criminal record or for some other reason,” one of the sources said.
The situation has apparently not surprised charities, some of which raised concerns over the new scheme in the very first days after it was established. In a letter to Gove in March, 16 refugee and anti-trafficking organizations warned of the dangers which the program poses for vulnerable women and children who arrive from the conflict-torn country.
“We are concerned that issues with the scheme means that it risks being a Tinder for sex traffickers. We are already aware of people with illegal motives who are advertising on social media,” said Louise Calvey, head of safeguarding with Refugee Action, a charity which was among the letter’s signatories.
As new data emerges about the system’s flaws, the charities accused the government of having a “reckless” and “unregulated” approach to protecting refugees.
Security issues, however, have not been the only cause for concern in relation to the Homes for Ukraine scheme. While some Ukrainians are suffering because they were matched with “unsuitable” sponsors, some responsible sponsors have criticized the UK authorities for delays in processing applications. Sky News interviewed several British sponsors who had prepared for their guests’ arrival weeks ago but are still waiting for the Home Office to issue the Ukrainians with visas. As sponsored refugees remain stuck in Poland and have reportedly run out of money,British hosts are covering their accommodation and living costs out of their own pockets, and feel like they’ve been “stitched up by the government.”
The UK government launched the Homes for Ukraine scheme in March following Russia’s offensive in the country. It allows British sponsors “to nominate a named Ukrainian or a named Ukrainian family to stay with them in their home or in a separate property.” The participants are required to provide homes or spare rooms rent-free for as long as they can, with a minimum stay of six months. In return, they receive £350 ($432) per month.
The Home Office insists that it is doing all its best to make the scheme as effective as possible.
“So far, more than 95,000 visas have been granted by the Home Office, with over 37,000 Ukrainians arriving safely in the UK, and thanks to changes made to streamline the service, we are now processing thousands of visas a day,” a ministry spokesman told Sky News.
Since the launch of Russia’s military attack on its neighboring country on February 24, more than 5.8 million refugees have fled Ukraine, with more than half of them arriving in Poland, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Roughly 7.7 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced.
These numbers represent Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II and one of the largest global refugee crises of the 21st century.
https://www.rt.com/russia/555126-refugees-uk-ukraine-flaws/
5 May, 2022 13:01
World’s ‘most dangerous drug trafficker’ extradited to US
Colombia’s most wanted warlord – known as ‘Otoniel’ – will face justice in an American court
Murderous Colombian drug kingpin and warlordDairo Antonio Usuga, also known as ‘Otoniel=’, was extradited to the United States on Wednesday to serve his sentence for drug trafficking, despite objections from his victims.
“I want to report that Dairo Antonio Usuga alias 'Otoniel' was extradited; the most dangerous drug trafficker in the world, murderer of social leaders and police officers,abuser of children and adolescents(they mean pedophile). Today, legality, the rule of law, the Public Force and justice triumph,” Colombian President Ivan Duque confirmed on Twitter.
However, family members of Otoniel’s victims disagreed with the president. Prior to the extradition, they had pleaded to keep the notorious criminal in the country so he could be tried for crimes against humanity in a Colombian court.
President Duque has argued that the drug trafficker will still face justice in Colombia. “This criminal was extradited to serve drug trafficking sentences in the United States,” he said. “But I want to be clear that once those are served, he will return to Colombia to pay for the crimes committed against our country.”
After a seven-year manhunt, Otoniel was eventually captured near the border with Panama in October. The operation involved 500 soldiers and 22 helicopters. Prior to his arrest, Washington had offered a $5 million bounty for the warlord’s whereabouts.
A leader of the notorious narcotics-trafficking Gulf Clan, Usuga stands accused of bringing at least 73 tons of cocaine into the US between 2003 and 2012. The Gulf Clan is believed to be one of the biggest exporters of cocaine in the world. Otoniel’s arrest was seen as the biggest blow to Colombia’s drug trafficking business since the assassination of Pablo Escobar in 1993.
https://www.rt.com/news/555016-otoniel-drug-trafficking-sentence/