By Doug Bandow
World leaders seem to be welcoming Mohammed bin Salman back into the fold.
Is Saudi Arabia Coming Out of Exile?
Tag: CATO Institute
Mail fraud? Biden’s postal inspectors tracked pro-gun activists
The U.S. Postal Service monitored protesters across the country, snooping on Americans focused on issues involving guns and President Biden’s election, according to records obtained by The Washington Times.
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“We determined that certain proactive searches iCOP conducted using an open-source intelligence tool from February to April 2021 exceeded the Postal Inspection Service’s law enforcement authority,” the Postal Service watchdog said in a March audit. “Furthermore, we could not corroborate whether other work analysts completed from October 2018 through June 2021 was legally authorized.”
Mail fraud? Biden’s postal inspectors tracked pro-gun activists
H/T: John Crump News
Welcome to the club!
US partially lifts Iran sanctions to stoke “anti-government protests by providing internet access, the Treasury Department said”
US partially lifts Iran sanctions
Iranian officials have already alleged that forces from “outside the country” are working to stir up unrest over Amini’s death. On the same day that protesters first took to the streets in Iran, China warned fellow members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which Iran joined that day, to beware of foreign-instigated “color revolutions.”
H/T: Syriana Analysis
Related:
Millions rally across Iran to condemn violent foreign-backed riots
“The enemy’s recent plot, which is followed by collecting, unifying, organizing and training all the failed and scattered capacities and equipping them with weapons of violence and Daesh-style behavior, is a vain attempt and doomed to failure,” the IRGC said in the Thursday’s statement.
At least 35 people have been killed, including five security personnel, during the “fiery but mostly peaceful” protests (over 60 ambulances have been destroyed). MEK claims that the death toll is 4X more than is being being reported.
On another note, Elon Musk told Augustin Antonelli that he will “save” Cuba, as well. Agus Antonelli is from the right wing think tank, Fundación Libertad. Fundación Libertad is affiliated with the Atlas Network, which has “quietly” received funding from the NED, the State Department, and the USAID.
How Government Officials Bully Social Media Companies Into Censorship
A new Cato report sheds light on “jawboning,” or attempts by state actors “to sway the decisions of private platforms and limit the publication of disfavored speech.”
How Government Officials Bully Social Media Companies Into Censorship
How Wall Street Is Funding The Culture War
The leading right-wing pugilist against “critical race theory” is backed by Wall Street execs whose financial crisis crushed communities of color.
How Wall Street Is Funding The Culture War
If you’re kid is learning critical race theory, congratulations on them getting into law school! 🤡
On The ‘Woke’ Flight To Taiwan + More
On The ‘Woke’ Flight To Taiwan
That too old ‘woke’ lady with the massive freezer full of very expensive ice-cream let it know through Taiwanese media that she wants to arrive in Taipei tomorrow, August 2, at 22:30 local time (14:30 UTC) and stay over night.
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There is also this thought, by Cynthia Chung, which might become relevant:
In October 2019, Jake Sullivan, who became U.S. National Security Advisor in 2021, stated in an interview that the U.S. needed a clear threat to rally the world and play the role of saviour of mankind and that China could be that organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy. In the 2019 interview, he acknowledges that the problem was that people were not going to believe that China is a global threat, that their view of China is too positive and that the United States would need a “Pearl Harbour moment,” a real focusing event to change their minds, something he calmly stated that “would scare the hell out of the American people.”
She correctly traces such ‘Pearl Harbour moment’ thinking back to neo-conservative movement. Chung closes with this:
Thus, when Jake Sullivan observes that there is not enough anti-China sentiment to bolster an image of the United States as a “saviour of mankind” against China and that America is in need of a “Pearl Harbour moment” I would be very wary.
The circus around Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan in the coming days, and evident glee that is coming forth from many of these neocons frothing at the mouth over this prospect is a clear sign that something incredibly reckless and stupid is about to happen.
Pelosi’s airplane might indeed be shot down on her completely irrelevant and unnecessary trip to Taiwan, and if it is, don’t be surprised if it was the Americans themselves who are behind it, who have shown they are willing to do anything for that “Pearl Harbour moment.”
Related:
Read More »Ukraine Government issues blacklist of ‘Russian propagandists’
Ukraine Government issues blacklist of ‘Russian propagandists’
Related:
Other Americans on the list included:
Ukraine declares Rand Paul, Tulsi Gabbard, other Americans are Russian propagandists
Republicans plot foreign intervention pullback
Republicans plot foreign intervention pullback
Policy: Heritage is consciously shifting gears on foreign policy, with an eye toward less military involvement in Europe and more attention on China in particular, Roberts told Axios in an interview.
What happens to weapons sent to Ukraine? The US doesn’t really know
What happens to weapons sent to Ukraine? The US doesn’t really know
Because the US military is not on the ground, the US and NATO are heavily reliant on information provided by Ukraine’s government. Privately, officials recognize that Ukraine has an incentive to give only information that will bolster their case for more aid, more arms and more diplomatic assistance.
“It’s a war — everything they do and say publicly is designed to help them win the war. Every public statement is an information operation, every interview, every Zelensky appearance broadcast is an information operation,” said another source familiar with western intelligence. “It doesn’t mean they’re wrong to do it in any way.”
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For months, US and western officials have offered detailed accounts about what the West knows about the status of Russian forces inside Ukraine: how many casualties they’ve taken, their remaining combat power, their weapons stocks, what kinds of munitions they are using and where. [BS!]
But when it comes to Ukrainian forces, officials acknowledge that the West — including the US — has some information gaps.
Western estimates of Ukrainian casualties are also foggy, according to two sources familiar with US and western intelligence.
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The risk of a similar scenario happening in Ukraine also exists, the defense official acknowledged. In 2020, the Defense Department inspector general released a report raising concerns about the end-use monitoring of weapons being sent to Ukraine.
But given the nearly insatiable short-term needs of Ukrainian forces for more arms and ammunition, the long-term risk of weapons ending up on the black market or in the wrong hands was deemed acceptable, the official said.
Doubling Down On Double Standards – The Ukraine Propaganda Blitz
‘The American population was bombarded the way the Iraqi population was bombarded. It was a war against us, a war of lies and disinformation and omission of history. That kind of war, overwhelming and devastating, waged here in the US while the Gulf War was waged over there.’ (Howard Zinn, ‘Power, History and Warfare’, Open Magazine Pamphlet Series, No. 8, 1991, p.12)
Doubling Down On Double Standards – The Ukraine Propaganda Blitz
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