(Primer) A Decade of EDCA: US military bases and its expanding war games in the Philippines

The outright re-establishment of US military bases in the country and its relentless and escalating war games on land, sea, and air are flagrant manifestations of US imperialist domination of the Philippines. This further tightens the grip of US imperialism on the Philippine neocolonial state, especially on the puppet Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

(Primer) A Decade of EDCA: US military bases and its expanding war games in the Philippines

Philippines’ Aggressive Territorial Claims In South China Sea: A New Threat to Regional Stability

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed a new Navy chief (Rear Admiral Jose Ma. Ambrosio Ezpeleta) amid tensions in the South China Sea, which include a number of maritime drills which are perceived as provocations by Beijing. One such military exercise earlier this month, for instance, included drills to simulate seizing an island in the disputed South China Sea. Last month Manila held military exercises in the same Sea together with Canada, Japan, and the United States, as part of Exercise Sama Sama 2024. The Philippines are also officially expanding their maritime claims. These developments are all connected.

Philippines’ Aggressive Territorial Claims In South China Sea: A New Threat to Regional Stability (archived)

Related:

What’s Really Going On In the South China Sea Between the Philippines and China

RFK Jr. claims Canadian Froot Loops have 3 ingredients. They have 17.

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RFK Jr. claims Canadian Froot Loops have 3 ingredients. They have 17.

Kennedy, known for his debunked medical claims, was wrong about the numbers of ingredients in Canadian and American Froot Loops, which are similar: 17 and 16, respectively. The biggest difference is the dyes, which in the American version are known as Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Blue 1. Canadian authorities limit the use of those dyes.

“Their highest priority is profit to stockholders,” she said.

About a decade ago, cereal giant General Mills spent two years listening to consumers who said they wanted natural colors in Trix, despite the cereal appearing more pale, Nestle said.

Other companies have tried to go natural over the years. Candy producer Mars said in 2016 that it would stop using artificial dyes in its confections, which include M&M’s and Skittles, within five years. But five years later, the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest criticized Mars for continuing to use the dyes. Mars posted on its website that “since that time, a cross-functional Mars team” found “consumer expectations regarding colors in food differ widely across markets and categories,” and thus the company would reevaluate its promise.

Some breakfast cereals and other processed foods have faced backlash in the United States over artificial colorings. Last month, activists* protested outside the Michigan headquarters of WK Kellogg Co. to demand that the company remove artificial dyes from its U.S. breakfast cereals.

[Marion] Nestle said the FDA is too cozy with cereal companies to properly regulate the multibillion-dollar businesses [regulatory capture]. She said Trump has shown no interest in regulating the food industry, but she would welcome Kennedy’s attempt to regulate corporate food producers.

I didn’t see WaPo mention that Kellogg’s promised to remove artificial food colorings by 2018, despite the fact that the article that they link to says it! 👇🏻

*Kellogg’s faces protests over food dyes in popular breakfast cereals

Nearly 10 years ago, Kellogg’s, the maker of Froot Loops and Apple Jacks, committed to removing such additives from its products by 2018.

Bernard-Henri Lévy and Iran International

I listened to an interview with Bernard-Henri Lévy. I’ve never actually listened to him before. The woman who interviewed him worked for Radio Farda (the Iranian branch of the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty). I suspected that the channel (Iran International English) was run by an Iranian opposition group. Daniel Davis interviewed one of the hosts earlier this week.

Related:

Saudi Arabia Sought Vice’s Help to Build a Media Empire

Tehran Designates London-Based Iran International News A ‘Terrorist’ Organization

Ofcom examining TV network over interview praising attack in Iran

Gunmen attack Iran military parade, killing civilians and troops

My previous posts on Bernard-Henri Lévy.

Trump’s pick for Sec. Of State Marco Rubio’s love affair with Israel, MKO, Pahlavi’s

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Marco Rubio, a Republican foreign policy hawk tapped by Donald Trump to lead the US Department of State in his new administration, is known for his confrontational stance toward Iran and close ties with anti-Iran groups.

Trump’s pick for Sec. Of State Marco Rubio’s love affair with Israel, MKO, Pahlavi’s

Related:

What is Really Behind Iran’s Unrest?

Trump nominates Marco Rubio as Secretary of State + More

PMOI/MKO/MEK

A brief, weird history of brainwashing

On an early spring day in 1959, Edward Hunter testified before a US Senate subcommittee investigating “the effect of Red China Communes on the United States.” It was the kind of opportunity he relished. A war correspondent who had spent considerable time in Asia, Hunter had achieved brief media stardom in 1951 after his book Brain-Washing in Red China introduced a new concept to the American public: a supposedly scientific system for changing people’s minds, even making them love things they once hated.

But Hunter wasn’t just a reporter, objectively chronicling conditions in China. As he told the assembled senators, he was also an anticommunist activist who served as a propagandist for the OSS, or Office of Strategic Services — something that was considered normal and patriotic at the time. His reporting blurred the line between fact and political mythology.

A brief, weird history of brainwashing

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Japan’s Ground-Based Air Defense Options to the Philippines

Japan’s Ground-Based Air Defense Options to the Philippines

Bilateral defense relations between Japan and the Philippines come at an all-time high, signifying the continuous cooperation between both maritime nations that share a common adversary and similar situation regarding territorial domains and integrity in the Indo-Pacific region.

With the success of the export of the aforementioned radar systems to the Philippines from Japan, the latter is now raising up an idea of the likelihood of selling its surface-to-air missile batteries for the Philippine military to consider, with a wide variety of variants coming from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force that might find its way for the likes of the Philippine Air Force. This is especially in line with the recently passed New Government Procurement Act or NGPA (Republic Act 12009), allowing the purchase of second-hand military hardware, provided it is economically preferable to the government.

Lansdale native, Marine veteran killed in action Sunday as volunteer fighter with Ukraine Army

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Lansdale native, Marine veteran killed in action Sunday as volunteer fighter with Ukraine Army

Former USMC 1st Sgt. Corey John Nawrocki was killed during a recon and sabotage mission near Bryansk, Russia.

According to The Moscow Times, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed responsibility Monday for killing four “saboteurs” of a Diversion Reconnaissance Group who attempted to cross into Bryansk with the A3449 military unit of UkrainePer reports, he was issued a military ID on Sept. 4, 2024.

Nawrocki, a North Penn High School graduate, spent 20 years with the U.S. Marine Corps, serving multiple tours of duty, finally retiring in 2021. He was a gunnery sergeant at the Marine Barracks Washington and served with the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines B-Co. and the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Blackfoot Co.

In February, Nawrocki, who received a Bronze Star for valor, was the distinguished keynote speaker at the Veterans Appreciation Brunch at Generations of Indian Valley in Souderton.

Related:

A3449: International Legion of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine

The International Legion of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, is a separate unit of foreign fighters subordinated to the Main Directorate of Intelligence and the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. The unit consists of several foreign units structured at various levels, typically being structured as either a battalion, or a squadron split into several teams – functioning completely separate from the regular International Legion under the Ground Forces.

Ilya Ponomarev (Free Russia Legion)