WORLD_IN_FIRE

2021-05-26 14:02:21 Russian woman Sapega, arrested in Minsk, admitted in a video posted on the Internet that she is the editor of a Telegram channel that publishes personal data of Belarusian security officials Open / Comment

2021-05-26 12:02:26 US CENTRAL COMMAND AGAINST BAIDEN

Along the way, Biden is doing very badly. He is not just contradicted, but knives are stabbed in the back one by one. Now more than 500 functionaries (acting), party and state, write him an open letter about what he should do with Israel, then Blinken contradicts Psaki, and both - Sullivan. And now an acting general, one of the highest ranks of the armed forces, "regrets" that the US is leaving Afghanistan. And this is still published in the Associated Press!

I quote: "During a trip to the Middle East last week, Marine Corps General J. Frank Mackenzie, who heads US Central Command, responded to a persistent question from military and political leaders he met: Is the US still committed to its country and region and what other support they can get. "

And further: "The Middle East, in a broad sense, is an area of ​​intense competition between the great powers. And I think that as we adjust our position in the region, Russia and China will be very careful to see if there is a vacuum, which they can use, "Mackenzie told reporters traveling with him." I think they see the United States changing positions to look at other parts of the world, and they feel there are opportunities. "

Under Trump, this was not the case, for which the functionaries did not like him!
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-china-europe-middle-east-government-and-politics-21995550f2a657e70768645425f21d78 Open / Comment

2021-05-26 10:11:08 The other day in the state of Florida an event took place, in my opinion, a historical one. State Governor Ron DeSantis, an ardent supporter of Trump and, of course, a Republican, signed a law that from now on, those Florida residents who are censored or closed on social networks can judge social networks and demand monetary damages in the amount of up to $ 100,000 ... There has never been such a precedent in the country. It was believed that social networks are private companies that have the right to set and apply the rules themselves, and, therefore, to act with clients as they please. So social networks that unconditionally support Democrats and promote left-liberal views, some have limited, while others have completely deprived Donald Trump of the opportunity to publish in their open spaces. And at the same time, they shut down the accounts of hundreds, and maybe thousands of his supporters, who, in fact, are members of the Republican party. And this despite the fact that 90% of the mainstream media also support the Democrats. Thus, the Republicans, with their conservative convictions, were thoroughly gagged.
Well, social networks, of course, are private companies. But their influence on public opinion is enormous. So huge that in their significance for the life of the country they have long outgrown the status of a private company and have become, rather, a kind of institution of public good that cannot serve one party, one system of views. That's the way it was in Florida. It can be assumed that other states, among those controlled by the Republicans, will follow this example. Open / Comment

2021-05-25 19:45:38 OVER 500 ADMINISTRATION EMPLOYEES DEMANDED HARD MEASURES FROM BIDEN AGAINST ISRAEL
(exacerbating the split in the ranks of the Democrats)

Acting administration officials, as well as former campaign staff, representatives of the Democratic National Committee and state party activists signed an open letter to President Biden calling for harsh measures against Israel for violating Palestinian rights and presented a number of demands to the Israeli government. Here they are:

Open a humanitarian corridor in Gaza for the evacuation of the wounded and for the supply of essential medicines;
Take measures to protect Palestinians in Israel who face ongoing violent attacks by Israeli mobs under the protection of Israeli police;
Lift the blockade on Gaza, which has turned it into an uninhabitable open-air prison;
End the forced expulsion of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and from all Palestinian homes throughout the territory;
Stop the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

And here are the calls made to Biden:
Join our international allies in calling for an end to Israel's violations of international law, or at least stop obstructing United Nations efforts in this regard;
Ensure that US aid no longer funds the imprisonment and torture of Palestinian children, theft and demolition of Palestinian homes and property, and the annexation of Palestinian lands;
Investigate whether Israel's latest attack on Gaza violates the Leahy Act, which prohibits US military aid from funding foreign military units involved in gross human rights violations;
Remove federal tax incentives for donations to settler organizations that actively fund the ongoing dispossession and expulsion of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and other cities, revoking their 501 (c) 3 status;
Support the Palestinians' right to self-determination.

At the end of the letter, it reads: “We have joined your campaign to realize the vision of a nation that believes that everyone's life and fundamental rights are valued. We remain committed to this vision and we implore you to take action to ensure that Palestinians and the Israelis could live in peace and security. A return to the status quo is unacceptable because it deprives the Palestinians of peace, security and self-determination. "

This kind of documents addressed to the American president by representatives of his own party, moreover, were not written by the administration staff for a hundred years. In fact, Biden is required not only to unconditionally join the "two-state solution" of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but to almost side with, if not Hamas, then Fatah. That is, to be where the USSR was in the 1970-80s.

And how will Biden, with such and such a problem in the party, win the final victory over autocracies, external and internal?
https://matan-aradneeman.medium.com/dear-president-biden-b19600918a67 Open / Comment

2021-05-25 19:02:24 The mayor of the Swedish city of Gothenburg decided to retire from politics and became a garbage truck driver.

56-year-old Anne-Sophie Hermansson served as the head of Gothenburg for 2 years, but she did not manage to be re-elected, and then she decided to radically change the field of activity.

So the ex-mayor remembered her rights to drive a truck and wanted to become a garbage man. She received these rights on the advice of her father, who recommended that she always have a "backup plan."

The woman is happy and believes that the new job is less stressful than before, and it is a good change for her. Open / Comment

2021-05-25 17:02:27 A few days ago, a meeting of the Arctic Council at the level of foreign ministers was held in Reykjavik.

The Arctic today is a super-hot region, although it does not appear on the news agenda very often.

The struggle for the division of the Arctic spaces has intensified significantly in recent years due to the rapid melting of ice. The shelf is becoming more accessible, and navigation is becoming easier. Plus, the Arctic is a unique place from a military-strategic point of view.

The Arctic Council is, frankly, not the most "toothy" organization. In fact, since 1996, he has only dealt with local ecology and the problems of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic.

The Council does not resolve any territorial disputes or security issues.

But in vain. The militarization of the region is growing by leaps and bounds. That is why Minister Lavrov has already suggested organizing regular meetings of the chiefs of general staffs of the Arctic Council countries. I hope the initiative will be given a go. Open / Comment

2021-05-25 15:02:21 Democrats in the US Congress have offered to save $ 73 billion on re-equipping the nuclear arsenal - to reduce the number of deployed warheads from 1,500 to 1,000, and missiles from 400 to 150

Right. Fucking so many weapons? Open / Comment

2021-05-25 13:02:17 “As soon as dawn broke, we went to the fort and surrounded the pit where the prisoners were kept. On the slopes were two or three light machine guns. On command, the shooting began. The people being shot began to shout, rush about the pit, but they could not escape anywhere, bullets met them everywhere. After the execution, the soldiers chose better clothes for themselves. I took only gold teeth, ”Pranas Matyukas, a participant in the murders in the Kaunas ghetto, said at the trial in 1962.

In modern Lithuania, the "forest brothers" are considered national heroes and fighters for the independence of the state against the brutal Soviet invaders. The government is pursuing a purposeful policy to glorify them. Monuments are erected in honor of the partisans, streets are named. Former members of the underground regularly receive prizes from the parliament and government of Lithuania. Moreover, several former employees of the Soviet special services were convicted in independent Lithuania for taking part in the operations to eliminate the “forest brothers”.

Denying the glorification of the underground and insulting the "forest brothers" is now considered a criminal offense. For example, in November 2019, in Klaipeda, the trial of the deputy of the city council Vyacheslav Titov was held. As a parliamentarian, he opposed the installation of a memorial plaque in honor of Adolfas Ramanauskas, a local field commander and participant in the Holocaust. Open / Comment

2021-05-25 11:03:13 The White House declined to compare the incident with the Ryanair plane in Minsk and the forced landing of the then Bolivian president's plane in Vienna in 2013, on which Edward Snowden was sought.

“We work with our partners all over the world, I can't tell you anything else,” said Psaki. Open / Comment

2021-05-25 09:22:27 Algeria will partially reopen borders for international travel starting June 1, the government says. For starters, there will be two weekly flights to Paris and one weekly flight each to Marseille, Istanbul, Barcelona and Tunisia from three airports — in Algiers, Oran and Constantine. Open / Comment