25 Feb, 2023 10:45

Seymour Hersh shares opinion on Edward Snowden

There are still people in the US government who value the Constitution, the veteran journalist says

Thousands of people in the US intelligence community knew about illegal surveillance by the NSA, but Edward Snowden was the only one to speak out, renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said in an exclusive interview with Afshin Rattansi’s show ‘Going Underground’ on RT.

Hersh described as “quite interesting” the story of the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, who back in 2013 leaked a massive trove of classified documents revealing the agency’s extensive spying on the communications of American citizens and other shady practices.

Snowden was “a kid really into computers, not into political science,” which is why he“recoiled” when he learned that the law, which banned intercepting the conversations of Americans without a warrant, was changed under the pretext of the War on Terror.

There were 25,000 people employed by the NSA at that time, according to the Pulitzer Prize winner, and many of them knew that “the rules have changed.”

“Out of those many thousands, one [Snowden] spoke out about a direct violation of one the most sensitive things in the American Constitution,” he said. “There is something about the community that is bizarre.”

It took Snowden a lot of “guts” to do what he did and he’s now paying a high price, Hersh said, adding: “I don’t think it’s safe for him to ever come back in the country [the US].”

The former NSA contractor was charged in the US with theft of government property and giving classified data to unauthorized persons, among other things. His American passport was annulled, with Snowden now staying at an undisclosed location in Russia, where he received political asylum.

Hersh argued that the Snowedn affair should serve as a response to those who label him a “conspiracy theorist” over his reporting, including his recent bombshell article blaming the Biden administration for the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year.

The White House has rejected the story as “fiction,” but Snowden appeared to be convinced of its authenticity. “Can you think of any examples from history of a secret operation that the White House was responsible for, but strongly denied?” he wrote on Twitter a few weeks ago. “Besides, you know, that little ‘mass surveillance’ kerfuffle,”the NSA whistleblower added, referring to his own revelations.

Hersh told ‘Going Underground’ that “many in the US intelligence community,many in the military value the Constitution” and they have often been the sources for his reports.

Those people, some of who are high-ranking,“talked to me privately about the stuff they couldn’t stand…Those people are the people I know. And I will tell you right now – those are the people I’ll protect forever,” the journalist insisted.

https://www.rt.com/news/572053-hersh-snowden-nord-stream/

25 Feb, 2023 07:32

Biden clarifies position on warplanes for Kiev

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky doesn’t need F-16s at the moment, the US leader says

US President Joe Biden has said he’s currently ruling out the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia.

Biden was asked to comment on increasing calls from Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky for Western-made warplanes to be supplied to Kiev during his interview with ABC on Friday.

“Look, we’re sending him what our seasoned military thinks he needs now. He needs tanks. He needs artillery. He needs air defense, including another HIMARS [multiple rocket launcher,]” the US president said.

Those American weapons are intended to put Ukraine “in a position to be able to make gains this spring and this summer going into the fall,”he explained.

“[Zelensky] doesn’t need F-16s now. There is no basis upon which there is a rationale, according to our military, now, to provide F-16s,” Biden said.

However, he added that Washington has no way of knowing what Kiev might need in “a year, or two, or three from now.”

Interviewer David Muir pressed the president on the issue, asking if he was ruling the supply of jets in the future.

“I am ruling it out, for now,” he responded.

On Saturday, Biden declined to answer questions from reporters about what he told Zelensky regarding F-16s during his visit to Kiev earlier this week. “Well, that’s a private discussion,” he said before boarding his helicopter.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN on Thursday that fighter jets “are not the key capability” the Ukrainian military needs at the moment. “F-16s are a question for the long-term defense of Ukraine and that’s a conversation that President Biden and President Zelensky had,” Sullivan said.

British defense minister Ben Wallace said on Friday that London was also “not going to send our own Typhoon jets in the short term to Ukraine.”

Russia has long decried deliveries of arms to Kiev by the US, EU, UK and others, arguing that they only prolong the fighting without changing its outcome. Those deliveries and other forms of aid provided to Kiev have de facto already made Western nations parties to the conflict, according to Moscow

https://www.rt.com/news/572047-biden-ukraine-zelensky-jets/

25 Feb, 2023 05:11

Biden says he won’t visit Ohio town hit by toxic spill

US lawmakers are investigating the federal response to the environmental disaster, claiming officials waited too long to act

President Joe Biden has said he has no plans to visit East Palestine, Ohio – where a recent train derailment resulted in a massive toxic chemical spill – insistingthere was no “request” for him to travel there. (Liar snd why does he need to be asked?)

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Biden was asked whether he would visit the disaster-hit town, saying “At this point, I’m not.” While he offered no explanation for the refusal to meet with residents of East Palestine, the president went on to defend his administration’s response to the spill, amid vocal criticism from Republicans.

“You know, we were there two hours after the train went down – two hours… so the idea that we’re not engaged is just simply not there,” he said. “And initially, there was not a request for me to go out even before I was heading over to Kiev, so I’m keeping very close tabs on it.We’re doing all we can.”liar

GOP lawmakers in the House Oversight and Accountability Committee have launched a probe into Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s response to the chemical spill, claiming the high-ranking official “ignored the catastrophe for over a week.”

“This incident is an environmental and public health emergency that now threatens Americans across state lines,” Republicans wrote in a letter to Buttigieg. “The American people deserve answers as to what caused the derailment, and [the Department of Transportation] needs to provide an explanation for its leadership's apathy in the face of this emergency.”

The railway which operated the train that derailed in East Palestine, Norfolk Southern, has acknowledged the accident occurred after a wheel bearing on the vehicle gave out, saying that sensors on the train that should have detected the malfunction were not working properly. Intense friction in the bearing produced temperatures up to 215 degrees Fahrenheit and ignited a box car, with the blaze then spreading to 11 other cars containing hazardous chemicals, including vinyl chloride.

Officials later decided to carry out a controlled burn on site in order to prevent an explosion, after temperatures inside one of the tanks of vinyl chloride continued to rise to dangerous levels. However, the move has prompted fears of major environmental contamination among residents in East Palestine and neighboring towns, who have pressed local officials for assurances that their communities are safe

https://www.rt.com/news/572044-biden-wont-visit-ohio/

25 Feb, 2023 10:50

Russia remains Germany’s largest coal supplier – Bild

Berlin reportedly bought nearly 30% of its coal imports from the sanctioned country last year

Russia retained its position as Germany’s largest coal supplier last year despite sanctions that banned imports of the fossil fuel from the country in mid-2022, Bild newspaper reported on Saturday, citing data from the German Coal Importers Association (VDKi).

According to the report, Germany bought a total of 44.4 million tons of coal in 2022 – an 8% increase from the year before. While imports of the fossil fuel from Russia plunged by 37% compared to the 2021 figures, the country still delivered roughly 13 million tons to the European nation, representing around 29% of its total imports. Purchases from Germany’s other suppliers grew, but still fell short of Russian volumes.

The US supplied 9.4 million tons, a 32% increase year-on-year, while Colombia became the third-largest supplier with 7.2 million tons, a surge of 210%. Shipments from South Africa also rose dramatically by 278% year-on-year to 3.9 million tons. Australia was the fourth-largest coal supplier with 6.3 million tons.

The EU banned coal imports from Russia on August 10, 2022 as part of a Ukraine-related sanctions package that was announced last April. In 2021, Russia accounted for about 70% of the bloc’s coal imports, with Germany and Poland particularly dependent on the Russian fossil fuel, as much of these countries’ electricity is produced by coal-powered power plants. Taking into account the embargo, it appears that most of the Russian coal was delivered to Germany prior to or shortly after August 10.

Germany has been pushed to boost its coal use in recent months as a result of energy shortages and soaring power prices, which were caused by the reduction in gas supplies coming from Russia in the wake of Western sanctions. This has conflicted with the country’s long-established commitment to fight climate change and abandon ‘dirty’ fuel.

In a bid to ensure energy security, Berlin even ordered the resumption of activity at idle coal mines last September. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the country currently produces more than one third of its electricity from coal-fired plants. The phasing out of coal-fired power plants has been postponed until March 2024.

Earlier this month, VDKi head Alexander Bethe criticized EU and German policies, which seek to abandon coal in favor of cleaner energy, claiming that such plans are too ambitious. He said the notion that Europe will only need coal for another one or two winters is far from reality.

“It is irresponsible to talk about the end of hard coal without having reliable alternatives. First create efficient green technologies, and then give up [coal]. Not the other way around,” Bethe stated.

(They cut off natural clean natural gas and now burning coal? Does that make sense?)

https://www.rt.com/business/572049-russia-germany-largest-coal-supplier/

25 Feb, 2023 14:03

Ex-Russian president explains how ‘trophy’ weapons are used

Russia examined Western-supplied arms seized in Ukraine and learned some ‘useful things’, Dmitry Medvedev says

Russian arms makers have carefully studied Western weapons captured during the fighting in Ukraine and used this experience for the benefit of the country’s military, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said.

“Our country’s defense industry is working in such a manner that no large-scale supply of Western weapons to our enemies will be able to assure [Kiev] the advantage on the contact line,” Medvedev, who is now the deputy chair of the Security Council, pointed out in an article published in the Natsyonalnaya Oborona (National Defense) magazine on Saturday.

During the conflict in Ukraine, Russia managed to not only expand the production of military hardware, but also introduce new technologies and improve them, while remaining “on the march,” he pointed out.

“By the way, we’ve also studied enemy weapons, which were captured in the form of trophies and dismantled piece by piece in our military design bureaus,” the official, who is also President Vladimir Putin’s First Deputy in the Military-Industrial Commission, said.

“We’ve learned a lot of useful things for ourselves and turned the enemy’s experience to our own advantage,” Medvedev wrote.

He said that he had visited many production facilities of the military-industrial complex over the past year and saw them “working consistently, without failures” and fully coping with the state order, which has increased multifold amid the conflict.

Russia’s opponents have been “surprised” that Moscow managed to pull this off in such a short time frame, he also pointed out.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said last month that the country’s air defense systems, including Pantsyr-S1, had been upgraded with special software, making them more effective in intercepting missiles fired by US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers. Military experts suggested that the program was developed after the study of downed HIMARS ammunition.

According to Medvedev, the US has so far supplied more than 40 HIMARS launchers to Ukraine. Moscow has been saying that most of them have already been destroyed, while Kiev denies this.

https://www.rt.com/russia/572057-medvedev-western-weapons-ukraine/

Wag the tail?

https://twitter.com/catturd2/status/1629175986733416450?s=20

https://twitter.com/JohnBasham/status/1629495367115894784?s=20

Ultra MAGA party Max video on War Room

https://rumble.com/embed/v24r066/?pub=4

This video was just played on Bannon, watch it with 60s music…WATCHReally watch Anons

Ultra Maga Party 👑

4 days ago

STOLEN ELECTIONS = WWIII

https://rumble.com/embed/v27r66q/?pub=4

Investigative Journalist Sara Carter joins The Devin Nunes Podcast

Sara went to E. Palestine a couple of days before PDJT arrived but also there during his visit. This picture is from a citizen in the town of Trump.She said all the people were so happy to see PDJT and all of them commented on boots. She posted it on Truth Social

https://rumble.com/embed/v283d6c/?pub=4

>>18409455

Streamed on: Feb 24, 2:03 pm EST

Investigative Journalist Sara Carter joins The Devin Nunes Podcast

They discuss various things, E. Palestine, Trump visiting, Bidan and Buttigieg and Afghanistan

https://rumble.com/embed/v283d6c/?pub=4

25 Feb, 2023 17:09

Canada's Freedom Convoy crackdown was not the last or the worst one

The report on the government’s use of the Emergencies Act against Covid-19 protesters says it was fair and effective. So expect more like it

Rachel Marsden1/2

The final report on the Canadian government’s use of the Emergencies Act amid last year’s country-wide trucker protests against Covid-19 vaccine mandates is in, andit’s largely a roadmap for greater government control.

Former Canadian Liberal Party top advisor turned justice, Paul Rouleau, has issued the Public Order Emergency Commission’s report,which concludes that the government was indeed justified in using the measure, which included the ability to block bank accountsof not just the protesters but also those who donated to them. There are reasonable limits to free expression, Rouleau points out.

I guess this guy hasn’t been around downtown Vancouver during the Stanley Cup playoffs when the Vancouver Canucks lose a critical game. The unrest that broke out in 1994 and 2011 left hundreds injured and millions worth of property damage, but no federal emergency was declared. And let’s face it – the rioters’ lives were impacted a lot less by the results of the playoffs than by Trudeau’s Covid jab mandates. Guess it was just shrugged off as angry hockey fans who would ultimately calm down once the catalyst – the loss – dissipated. No threat to those in power and their forays into authoritarianism.

The head of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Services (CSIS),David Vigneault, underscored during the inquiry that he didn’t consider the Freedom Convoy to be a threat. “Mr. Vigneault stated that at no point did the service assess that the protests in Ottawa or elsewhere [those referred to as the "Freedom Convoy" and related protests and blockades in January-February 2022] constituted a threat to security of Canada as defined by section 2 of the CSIS Act and that CSIS cannot investigate actively constituting lawful protest,” according to an inquiry document. But Rouleau insists that the protests were “unlawful”, referencing the term several times in the report.

Rouleau also says that blocking participants’ bank accounts based on lists provided by the federal police to banking institutions was a tactic used by Trudeau’s government to entice protesters to desist. “The asset-freezing regime had two main purposes: first, discouraging people from remaining at the site of unlawful protests; and second, preventing further financial support from reaching convoy protests,” reads the report. “Seeking to prevent any funds from supporting the illegal protests was, in my view, a reasonable measure in the circumstances,”Rouleau concluded, while praising the “overall effectiveness” of the“powerful tool” in “bringing the emergency to a safe and speedy resolution”.

Canada is fucked, sorry frens

https://www.rt.com/news/571913-freedom-convoy-canada-covid19/

>>18409588

2/2

Great, just what we need – a newly rubber-stamped tool for government to “discourage participation and incentivize protesters to leave,” as Rouleau puts it. He adds, “I am satisfied that it played a meaningful role in shrinking the footprint of the protests, and in doing so, made a meaningful contribution to resolving the Public Order Emergency.”Sounds like Rouleau and the asset freeze should just get a room already and leave the rest of us to lament another nail being hammered into the coffin of Western democracy.

Incidentally, CSIS Director Vigneault also told the inquiry that there wereno foreign actors engaged in funding the protests, running contrary to suggestions in the Canadian state-backed press that Russia could be behind the movement. This includes former Bank of Canada and Bank of England chief Mark Carney’s now debunked suggestion that “Foreign funders of an insurrection interfered in our domestic affairs from the start. Canadian authorities should take every step within the law to identify and thoroughly punish them. The involvement of foreign governments and any officials connected to them should be identified, exposed, and addressed.”

Another striking aspect of the Rouleau report is his focus on “disinformation” as a contributing factor to the protests. “During the COVID-19 Pandemic, foreign state actors had significant success spreading false information about COVID-19, public health measures, and vaccines, done as a means to sow mistrust in democratic governments,” Rouleau wrote, disregarding the military-grade propaganda operation ran by the government itself. The Canadian military deployed tools honed during the war in Afghanistan to influence and shape public opinion around Covid – a fact that had already been widely publicized by Convoy protesters when they took to the streets.

Rouleau’s implication that the establishment was the voice of truth and science during the pandemic and that contradictory information could only be fake news risks opening the door to greater control and censorship of both online and traditional media in favor of establishment narratives. In whitewashing Trudeau’s authoritarian overreach, the final verdict on this crackdown effectively encourages more of the same.

https://www.rt.com/news/571913-freedom-convoy-canada-covid19/