31 May, 2023 10:40

Ex-Biden aide Tara Reade flees to Russia over safety concerns

Tara Reade said she faced persecution in her own country over her claim that she was raped by the US president 30 years ago

Tara Reade, an ex-congressional aide to US President Joe Biden who accused him of sexual assault, has indicated that she intends to apply for a Russian passport.The ex-staffer-turned-journalist recently moved to Russia, claiming she no longer felt safe in the US.

Speaking on Tuesday at a press conference, Reade said that after being constantly persecuted in the US over her allegations, she hoped to “find safety” in Russia – a country she never regarded as an enemy – adding that she “appreciates my friends in Moscow… that have opened their arms” to welcome her.

“I’m going to make a request, and it is a large one. I’d like to apply for citizenship in Russia from the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin,” the ex-aide stated, promising to be “a good citizen.”

In 2020, at the height of the US presidential race, Reade accused Biden, then the presumptive Democratic nominee, of having sexually assaulted her in 1993 when she was working for him as an aide in the Senate. Biden has unequivocally denied the allegation.

Reade said that when she told one US congressman that she was ready to testify on the corruption in the US government, ==the latter expressed concerns about her physical safety=. She also went on to describe herself as a whistleblower, who under US law should be protected.

“Where is my protection?… It is remarkable that Joe Biden raped me when I worked for him at the US Congress, and I’m supposed to be the fugitive. That is ridiculous,” she stated.

Speaking to Sputnik, she said that while the decision to move to Russia was “very difficult”, she liked staying in the country. “I'm still kind of in a daze a bit but I feel very good,” Reade noted. “I feel very surrounded by protection and safety.”

(Very interesting times we live in.)

https://www.rt.com/russia/577203-tara-reade-biden-russia-passport/

31 May, 2023 12:08

Civilians injured in latest Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Belgorod Region

The local governor has announced that children will be evacuated from border areas

At least four people have been injured in the latest large-scale shelling of Russia’s Belgorod Region, which borders Ukraine, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Wednesday.

In a statement on Telegram, Gladkov said that the situation in the border town of Shebekino was “deteriorating,” adding that in the early hours of the morning thesettlement had been hit by a “massive strike” from Ukrainian forces.

The bombardment resulted in four people receiving injuries, Gladkov said, describing the condition of one man as “serious” after he suffered fragment wounds in the neck and back. The official added that one woman had also been taken to hospital with arm injuries, while another two people received medical assistance at the scene.

The Ukrainian attack featuredmissiles fired from Soviet-era Grad multiple rocket launcher systems, and resulted in around a dozen buildings suffering minor damage, including a local school, Gladkov said.

The governor announced that “starting from today, we are taking children out of the Shebekino and Grayvoron districts.” He added that the authorities would soon send thefirst 300 children to the city of Voronezh, around 250km north-east of Belgorod.

Along with other areas bordering Ukraine, Belgorod Region has facedincessant shelling for months, resulting in civilian casualties and widespread destruction.

Earlier in May, the region was also targeted by a deadly Ukrainian cross-border raid. Kiev denied responsibility, stating that the operation had not been conducted by regular troops. Instead, responsibility was claimed by the ‘Freedom of Russia Legion’ and the ‘Russian Volunteer Corps’ (RDK) composed of collaborators fighting for Ukraine.

The latter organization is notorious for its neo-Nazi ideology, and previously staged a similar incursion into Russia’s Bryansk Region, also bordering Ukraine.

https://www.rt.com/russia/577213-civilians-injured-belgorod-shelling/

>>18929593

Miniature minds focus on nothing of import!

31 May, 2023 10:10

Chechen unit on the offensive in Donbass – MOD

An Akhmat special ops force is attacking Ukrainian troops near the town of Maryinka, the Defense Ministry has announced

Russian forces are conducting offensive operations against Ukrainian troops in the area outside Donetsk in Donbass, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the ministry announced that assault detachments of the Russian 5th motorized rifle brigade and an Akhmat special forces unit are successfully attacking Ukrainian troops near the town of Maryinka, around 30km west of the capital of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

The Akhmat unit is part ofRussia’s National Guard and is based in the Chechen Republic. It was named after Akhmad Kadyrov, the region’s first president and father of current leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.

The reports of successful attacks come after Kadyrov declared on Tuesday that Chechen units would face combat in the DPR, adding that troops “are getting ready for assault action.”

The ministry also claimed that Ukraine hadlost 200 soldiersin the Donetsk area, as well asthree armored and 12 transport vehicles, one artillery piece, and two multiple launch rocket systems.

Russian forces have alsodestroyed Ukraine’s last navy warship, the Yury Olefirenko, according to the statement. The Soviet-era landing ship was sunk by a high-precision strike in the port city of Odessa, the ministry claimed.

It added that in the last 24 hours, Russian air defenses had intercepted 12 missiles launched from US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as one UK-supplied long-range Storm Shadow missile.

Since the start of hostilities in Donbass in 2014, which were triggered by a Western-backed coup in Kiev, the town of Maryinka has become a frontline city hosting strong Ukrainian fortifications. The area has also been used by Kiev’s troops to repeatedly shell civilians in Donetsk.

(Chechen forces are brutal,Chechen Special Forces are a 100x more brutal!Patrick O’Donnell said Chechens will keep on killing even when a building fell down on them and were dying, at Falujah)

https://www.rt.com/russia/577202-chechen-unit-on-offensive-donbass/

31 May, 2023 07:55

Pentagon may need another cash infusion for upkeep of F-35s – auditors

The program to produce the most expensive weapon in the US arsenal has been plagued by cost increases and delays

The Pentagon’s flagship F-35 fighter jet program may require an additional$38 billion to cover maintenance costsstemming from technical issues with the cooling system that result in engines overheating, US government auditors have said.

In a new report released on Tuesday, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) pointed out that the F-35 program “continues to experience schedule delays, cost growth, and late deliveries.”

The Pentagon is alsostruggling to complete a flight simulatorfor the jet, a necessary step to demonstrate that the aircraft is ready for full-rate production,even though over 125 units per yearare already being manufactured, the report says.

Meanwhile, since 2019 procurement costs have soared by $13.4 billion, partly because the Pentagon stretched out purchases of the aircraft over a longer period of time, the report reads, although it states thatthe “program’s cost reporting mechanisms do not fully explain the reasons for cost growth.” (Crime, graft, bribes and theft! MIC at its best! As usual.)

The GAO noted that one of the major challenges the Pentagon is facing is modernization of the F-35’s engine and heat management system.

“The cooling system is overtasked, requiring the engine to operate beyond its design parameters. The extra heat is increasing the wear on the engine, reducing its life, andadding $38 billion in maintenance costs,” the report says.

The program to procure the most expensive weapon in the US arsenal – each plane costs some $80 million – has been beset by numerous issues. According to the GAO, it isnow a decade behind scheduleand exceeds original cost estimates by $183 billion, while the Pentagon is projected tospend a whopping $1.7 trillion to buy, operate, and sustainthe aircraft over the program’s entire lifespan.

Despite the colossal expenditure, in March US Air Force Lieutenant General Michael Schmidt, the program’s manager, said that while the Pentagon has more than 540 F-35s,only about half of them are capable of going on a limited variety of missions. Moreover, he estimated that less than 30% of the jets could be described as fully combat-ready.

https://www.rt.com/news/577192-pentagon-f35-audit-cost-increase/

31 May, 2023 12:35

Serbian military issues warning over Kosovo violence

The defense minister has said that Serbs being "killed or displaced" is a red line

Belgrade would not stand by if the ethnic Albanian authorities in Kosovo start killing or displacing Serbs in the breakaway region, Defense Minister Milos Vucevic has warned. The statement came amid heated protest by Serbs in Kosovo over mayoral elections in several towns, which they have described as a travesty.

Speaking to the public broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia on Wednesday, Vucevic assessed the risk of a violent escalation in the north of Kosovo as “big, probably the biggest possible.”

Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti, and his “unilateral, illegal, illegitimate decisions” are what led to the current tensions in the region, according to Vucevic. He also accused Pristina of denying ethnic Serbs their basic human rights and freedoms.

The minister pointed out that theSerbian military is “ready to carry out any task,” adding that Belgrade has defined any infringement against its “vital national and state interests” as a red line.

“We are talking about scenarios where,God forbid, someone kills Serbs, that physical liquidation begins of our people by the Kosovo police, the expulsion of Serbs,” the Serbian official clarified.

Vucevic emphasized that anysuch actions “would really be not only a red alarm, but also the moment when Serbia can’t just talk and sit idly by.”

Hundreds of Serbs protested outside the city council in the town of Zvecan again on Wednesday, the Serbian media has reported. The demonstrators reportedly unfurled a 250-meter-long Serbian flag in front of the building, which is guarded by NATO’s KFOR forces and the Kosovo police.

On Tuesday, the US-led military bloc announced plans to deploy 700 more troops to the region.

This followed violent clashes between NATO forces and Serbian protesters in northern Kosovo on Monday, which left 25 KFOR personnel and around 50 demonstrators injured.

The peacekeepers attempted to break up a rally decrying the inauguration of an ethnic Albanian mayor in a Serb-majority area. Local Serbs, who have long sought autonomy in Kosovo, had boycotted Pristina-backed elections in several municipalities. However, the Kosovo authorities declared the votes legitimate despite a turnout of less than 4%, with four ethnic Albanian mayors taking office as a result.

Last month, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic placed the country's military on high alert and deployed units to the administrative line dividing Serbia proper and the breakaway province of Kosovo.

Backed by the US and several NATO countries, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008. However, Russia, China, and a number of other countries have refused to recognize the independence of what was historically a province of Serbia.

(Clintons love death, diverts from their own problems at the time.)

https://www.rt.com/news/577206-serbia-military-kosovo-defense-minister/

31 May, 2023 08:31

1/2

Yakov Rabkin: I left the USSR to enjoy free speech in the West. Fifty years later, it no longer exists

In the 1970s, the Soviets made it impossible to access the foreign press. Now the US-led bloc is doing the same with Russian media.

By Yakov Rabkin, a professor emeritus of history at the Université de Montréal, author and public intellectual

Fifty years ago I left the Soviet Union for one reason: My desire for freedom. I was disgusted by the one-sided world view fostered by the banning of foreign publications and the jamming of Western radio stations. The obedient media, toeing the party line, repulsed me and made me laugh.

I left behind my hometown (then Leningrad, now St Petersburg), my friends, my brother and the graves of my parents and grandparents. Applying to emigrate meant taking a risk, because you almost always risked losing your job, many friends and even relatives, with no guarantee that you would even be granted an exit visa.

Fear of the authorities (even if they were far more "vegetarian" than in Stalinist times) restricted open discussion of politics to the "kitchen cabinet,” with a small circle of trusted friends.

I was lucky. Just a few months later, my Soviet citizenship was revoked and I was able to buy a one-way train ticket to Vienna. My dream of freedom had come true. Although I was only allowed to take $140 out of the Soviet Union, the first thing I bought in Austria was a copy of the International Herald Tribune newspaper.

In November 1973, I joined the University of Montreal, which has since become my professional home.In addition to teaching and research, I followed with interest the political debatesabout the Vietnam War, the CIA's role in overthrowing the Salvador Allende government in Chile, and the implications of the October War in the Middle East. Debate raged over America's flirtation with China and, of course, relations with my own country. Some praised the Brezhnev-Nixon détente, others feared its pitfalls.

What struck me most in the newspapers and on television was the diversity of opinion. Letters to the editor offered a wide range of viewpoints, some of which not only criticized Western policies but also offered alternatives. It wasn't long before I began to express my own views, first in letters to publications and then in articles. I was excited by the opportunity to engage in free political debate and to make my contribution as a citizen and a scholar. After all, society had created the conditions for me to share the results of my research and observations broadly.

However, things have changed. Today, when it comes to some important international political topics, freedom of discussion is severely restricted.

One such issue is Israel. It takes a lot of courage to criticize the country without fear of being accused of anti-Semitism. In the early 1970s,Abba Eban, a South African by birth, whose eloquence as Israel’s UN representative and later foreign minister became legendary,devised a long-term strategy. His aim was tosilence his country's critics by accusing them of anti-Semitism. His efforts continue to bear fruit: accusations of apartheid against Palestinians in Israel, and even boycotts of Israeli supermarket products, have been officially banned in many Western countries as manifestations of anti-Semitism. Israel's policy towards the Palestinians is thus removed from the realm of open debate….

https://www.rt.com/news/577194-free-speech-in-the-west/

>>18929801

2/2

An evenmore important issue that has disappeared from rational discussion is policy towards Russia. This issue is all the more important because Moscow has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Long before February 2022, when President Vladimir Putin announced the military campaign in Ukraine, most NATO countries (as well as Kiev itself) had restricted access to Russian media, something that did not happen in the West even during the Cold War. Just as the Soviets justified their jamming of Western radio broadcasts with the need to protect against "ideological sabotage,” NATO and its member states have created many institutions in recent years to protect citizens from, so-called, "Russian disinformation."

Onceprominent Western scientists such as Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University and John Mearsheimerof the University of Chicago have all butdisappeared from the mainstream media: their criticisms of Western policy towards Moscow are often dismissed as Kremlin propaganda. Their views must now be sought on alternative websites in the vastness of the internet.

Moreover, the few attempts to take a dispassionate look at Western policy in Eastern Europe face insurmountable obstacles. Recently, for example, the association Montréal pour la paix (Montreal for Peace) attempted to organize a debate between prominent international relations experts on Canadian foreign policy. It promised to present "facts you have never read or heard from our media or from the offices of Justin Trudeau and Melanie Joly"(Canada's prime minister and foreign minister respectively). The institution that had initially agreed to rent space for the event, according to its staff,succumbed to pressure from its "Ukrainian neighbors" and cancelled the deal. Another institution agreed, but quickly changed its mind "so as not to offend its regular customers.”

The event had to be moved to a nearby park, where several dozen middle-aged people gathered to listen to the panel. About the same number of young people arrived waving Ukrainian flags and anti-Russian posters. Police arrived to separate the two groups to prevent violence. The demonstrators tried to drown out the speakers by occasionally singing loudly or shouting "Glory to Ukraine!” But there was something strange about their behavior.

When one of the experts, Yves Engler, author of several books on Canadian foreign policy, said that Ukrainians had the right to resist Russian troops, the demonstrators began chanting "Shame!" The event was held in French, but it turned out that most of the bold demonstrators not only did not understand French, but also had difficulty speaking English. So their anger could not have been directed at what the speakers were saying.It was clearly against freedom of speech on the war in Ukraine.

Freedom of speech is not just a democratic right. It is also a way of defining and weighing alternatives. When conflict becomes an epic struggle between good and evil, rationality is replaced by moral judgment and noble indignation. This undermines all diplomacy and, in turn, exacerbates the danger of nuclear war, the inevitable consequence of which, as US military strategists recognized as early as 1962, is Mutually Assured Destruction, or ‘MAD’.

Unanimity, una voce, one-sided debate – call it what you like. But this is about more than just the denial of free speech.The climate it has created threatens the very survival of humanity.

(The first people the Bolsheviks eliminated were intellectuals, doctors, professors, scientists, political and war historians, artists, poets, etc.)

https://www.rt.com/news/577194-free-speech-in-the-west/

This is the best explanation by Bannon, on what McCarthey and McHenry agreed to and betrayed Congress and America. The donors to politicians don’t want this conversation on taxes during an election cycle so McCarthy caved. These are the billionaires oligarchs that elect the elite traitors!

Bannon: No Cap On 2YR Debt Ceiling, A Cartel Scam

40 minutes

https://rumble.com/embed/v2ogla8/?pub=4

>>18929928

Sorry this video is21 minutes

Is this any more clear? MTG, Jordan and Massie betray America! MTG is so full of shit, and we discussed yesterday Jordan will never punish the DS, Massie is just as bad, he said he knew he shouldn’t be doing it, but he wants to see what happens!

McCarthy’s revenge still in play, he and his guys are threatening or bribing everyone. McCarthy can shove his phony commission up his ass!

Does it make sense now “, a US Congressman told Tara Reade he fears for her safety, thats why she’s emigrating to Russia?

https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1663916615442878465?s=20

Is this any more clear? MTG, Jordan and Massie betray America! MTG is so full of shit, and we discussed yesterday Jordan will never punish the DS, Massie is just as bad, he said he knew he shouldn’t be doing it, but he wants to see what happens!

McCarthy’s revenge still in play, he and his guys are threatening or bribing everyone. McCarthy can shove his phony commission up his ass!

Does it make sense now “, a US Congressman told Tara Reade he fears for her safety, thats why she’s emigrating to Russia?

https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1663916615442878465?s=20

>>18930034

MTG always talking about her voters in GA support her, guaranteed there’s a great many that listen to Bannon and know she sold them out for power. The war room barely forgave her supporting McCarthy as speaker. The longer she’s in the swamp the more she enjoys the dark powers they her. Primary her! Or at least fix her voice so it doesn’t like fingernails on a chalkboard!

https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1663879980873392135?s=20

“We Got Nothing”: Rep. Nancy Mace Slams McCarthy’s Debt Limit Deal, “Clean Debt Ceiling Better Than This Deal”.

She has serious flaws but she has some superior skills!

https://rumble.com/embed/v2oku7n/?pub=4

31 May, 2023 15:43

Russia sinks Ukraine’s ‘last warship’ – MOD

The Yury Olefirenko was destroyed in a high-precision airstrike on the port of Odessa, Moscow has claimed

The Russian military has destroyed Ukraine’s“last warship,” the Yury Olefirenko, in a high-precision airstrike, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Wednesday.

“On May 29, as aresult of a strike by a high-precision weapon of the Russian Aerospace Forces on a warship mooringin the port of Odessa, the last warship of the Naval Forces of Ukraine, the Yury Olefirenko, was destroyed,” the ministry stated in a report shared on its Telegram channel.

A day earlier, war correspondent Andrey Rudenko also reported that the Yury Olefirenko had been sunk after a series of overnight airstrikes on military facilities in Odessa, citing Ukrainian sources.

Rudenko claimed that a fire had broken out on the deck of the vessel, which is said to havecaused the detonation of ammunition in the hold.The journalist said that significant losses had been reported among the crew.

Ukrainian officials have yet to confirm the sinking of the ship. Oleg Chalyk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, told Reuters that he would not respond to Russian claims, and that the Ukrainian Navy would not disclose the details of any losses.

Originally named the SDK-137, the Yury Olefirenko was a type 773 medium landing ship that wasbuilt by Poland in 1971 for the Soviet Navy. It was transferred to Ukraine in 1994 and renamed the Kirovograd, and was stationed in Crimea.

When the peninsula voted to reunite with Russia in 2014, the vessel temporarily came under the control of the Russian fleet. However, it was later returned to Ukraine and towed to Odessa, where it received its latest name in 2016.

In its report, the Russian Defense Ministry also claimed that Ukraine had lost 200 soldiers in the Donetsk area, as well as three armored and 12 transport vehicles, one artillery piece, and two multiple launch rocket systems.

In the past 24 hours, Russian air defense systems intercepted 12 missiles launched from US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as one UK-supplied long-range Storm Shadow missile, the ministry added.

(Well at least Russia is having victories! America not so much.)

https://www.rt.com/russia/577226-russia-destroys-ukraine-warship/

Rep. Nancy Mace: Republicans “Need to Have the Courage” to Vote Against McCarthy’s Debt Limit Bill

6:12 minutes

https://rumble.com/embed/v2okv36/?pub=4

The Administration is taking a lap because of their victory, that cements his ultra progressive policies into law, and perpetuity.

1 hour ago

E.J. Antoni: Biden WH Celebrating Debt Limit Deal, McCarthy Gave Away “Progressive Wish List”

11:32 minutes

Call your congressman and House leadership McCarthy, McHenry etc.Vote NO on this budget TODAY

https://rumble.com/embed/v2ol1n8/?pub=4