Rule of thumb for when your government supports things your conscience suggests may be wrong
If a person/entity is doing good or endorsing morally upright causes, be aware that the US elites will almost inevitably oppose that person/entity – while almost inevitably supporting the immoral.
If you have any doubts about persons or entities that the US media have been supporting, or, inversely, that they have been supporting, I recommend a rule of thumb, to whit:
If a person or entity is doing good or endorsing morally upright causes, then be aware that the US elites - on BOTH sides of the aisle - will almost inevitably oppose that person or entity – while almost inevitably supporting the immoral thing. This is because your State and Defense Departments, your lawmakers and presidents are literally criminally insane.
Example: Normal people with moral convictions know that genocide and slaughter of children is wrong. Sure enough, the US government elites support Israel’s murder and genocide in Palestine, while Iran, the country we are taught to hate, as well as its protégé Yemen, fiercely oppose this genocide.
Don’t waste time and energy trying to figure out who is right and who is wrong. Don’t waste time trying to make a case for the US being the good guy, because you know down deep inside you that the US government that supports Israel’s war crimes in Palestine is a snake in the grass. In the religious sense, you can make the case that it is Satanic.
Follow your conscience and you will not go wrong.
The example of Navalny, as explained below, is just another example.
Our sincerest thanks to JS for this:
Who was Alexei Navalny? A violent white supremacist and fascist on U.S. payroll
By Sara Flounders, Workers World, February 20, 2024
https://www.workers.org/2024/02/77031/
SYNOPSIS:
Alexei Navalny was a violent white supremist whose history is well-known. The U.S. and Western corporate media’s wall-to-wall coverage of Navalny’s death has completely whitewashed his past history of the most extreme and vicious racism. If his political views are mentioned at all, he is politely referred to as an “ultranationalist.” Barely mentioned are the millions of dollars in U.S., British and German funding of his organization of racist thugs in 43 Russian cities.
Always omitted in this biased coverage are the detailed accusations by Russian prosecutors charging Navalny with “rehabilitation of Nazism” and “financing extremism.”
Navalny’s many statements, his participation in racist marches filled with swastikas and other Nazi symbols and his looting of small shops owned by migrants are well-known. Yet the corporate powers always showered Navalny with praise and extensive funding. Now, in death, he is outrageously compared to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.
U.S. officialdom and corporate media, appearing distraught over Nalvalny’s death and alleging poor conditions of his imprisonment, show no concern for political prisoners such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier or Julian Assange and so many others.
YouTube has taken down thousands of sites, citing “objectionable material” for videos supporting Palestinian resistance or for coverage criticizing NATO. However, Navalny’s ultra right extremist YouTube sites have 8 million subscribers and a YouTube staff of 130. The video showing Navalny calling Central Asian and Muslim peoples of the Caucasus in Russia “cockroaches that must be exterminated” while he fires a gun is still posted on YouTube.
Below is a 2021 Workers World article, “Alexei Navalny: Why is Biden supporting a Russian fascist?” which has been lightly edited.
Keep reading: https://www.workers.org/2024/02/77031/
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Here’s your air strike update for Feb 21, 2021
Translation with my notes in bold and in [brackets]
https://ok.ru/yesttaka/topic/157795582064817
The Russian Aerospace Forces have delivered a missile strike and are continuing to destroy the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
On February 21, 2024, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue a special operation in Ukraine to protect Donbass, as well as the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. On February 21, 2024, the Russian armed forces launched a powerful missile attack on Ukraine. Tonight, our front-line bombers, plus Tu-22M3 missile carriers, carried out multiple strikes on the near and far rear of the enemy (Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Kharkov, Donetsk, Poltava and Sumy oblasts).
Glide bombs and medium- and long-range missiles (including Kh-22/32) were used. The attack was carried out with Kh-22/32 missiles launched from Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers. Last night, the Russian Armed Forces again used drones and Russian missiles against Ukrainian Armed Forces facilities located in the rear zone of the Ukrainian army to destroy enemy targets in so-called Ukraine.
The air raid alert in the eastern oblasts of Ukraine went off last night, and the Russian Armed Forces launched a missile strike on Kramatorsk, Slavyansk and Druzhkovka.
The Russian Aerospace Forces struck the location and headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Chuguev. Powerful explosions after a missile attack on the workshop of the Yuzhmash plant in the Dnepropetrovsk oblast. Missile strikes were carried out on industrial facilities in Kremenchug, and in Nikolaev and Zaporozhye oblasts.
A missile strike hit an oil depot in Kremenchug in the Poltava oblast. The Russian Armed Forces launched a missile strike at the temporary deployment point of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Druzhkovka near Kramatorsk. Druzhkovka suffered the most; Russian missiles hit the temporary deployment point of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of a gas equipment plant. At the time of the strike, there were 15 pieces of equipment there, as well as from 200 to 300 personnel, who were destroyed as a result of the missile strike. There was a strike on Kramatorsk, with powerful explosions, a blow to the filtration station, and water service disappeared in the city in the evening.
Since Banderite troops in Ukraine canceled February 23, the Russian Aerospace Forces will still congratulate them with massive air and missile strikes.
On February 21, 2024, the Russian Armed Forces destroyed 1,585 militants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
In the Kupyansk direction, on February 21, 2024, tank crews of the “Western” group of troops in the area of the Northern Military District provide fire support to motorized rifle and assault units of the Russian troops, act as part of armored groups, destroy military equipment and hidden enemy personnel. The crews of the T-72B3M tanks of the West group of forces destroyed platoon strong points and manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kupyansk direction. Russian air defense forces detected and destroyed four Ukrainian UAVs in the Kupyansk direction within 24 hours. In the Kupyansky direction, crews of D-30 howitzers are ironing out the enemy on the approaches to the front line. The 122mm howitzer's crews operate with the precision of a sniper rifle. The active actions of units of the “Western” group of forces inflicted fire damage on units of the 14th, 32nd mechanized, 25th airborne brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 115th Terrestrial Defense Brigade in the areas of the settlements of Chugunovka, Kharkov oblast and Stelmakhovka, Lugansk People’s Republic. In addition, five counterattacks were repelled in the area of the village of Sinkovka, Kharkov oblast.
Over 30 Ukrainian Armed Forces militants, two armored combat vehicles, four pickup trucks, and an Akatsiya self-propelled artillery unit were destroyed.
In the Krasnolimansky direction, on February 21, 2024, units of the Center group of troops inflicted a complex fire defeat on the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Stelmakhovka, Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People's Republic and Yampolovka in the Donetsk People's Republic. The Russian Armed Forces are advancing towards Terny. Advancement to the village in recent days has been 350 km. There is 1 kilometer left to the settlement.
Over 320 Ukrainian Armed Forces militants, 2 tanks, 10 armored fighting vehicles, 5 infantry fighting vehicles, Strela air defense systems, D-30 howitzer, 22 army vehicles were destroyed.
In the Donetsk direction, on February 21, 2024, the Russian Armed Forces are moving from Sladkoye, trying to cut the Ukrainian Armed Forces supply route in Ugledar. The powerful work of Russian aviation and artillery continues against targets in areas where Ukrainian troops are concentrated. A unit of the “Southern” group of forces improved the situation along the front edge of the line of combat contact, inflicted fire damage on units of the 28th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 241st terrestrial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Kurdyumovka and Krasnoye in the DPR, and also repelled an attack by assault groups of the 42nd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the village of Bogdanovka in the DPR. Army aviation crews on Ka-52M helicopters struck strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Donetsk direction. Units of the “Southern” group of forces improved the situation along the front line and defeated units of the 93rd mechanized, 81st airmobile brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 241st terrestrial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Belogorovka, Kleshcheevka and Razdolovka of the Donetsk People's Republic.
Over 425 Ukrainian Armed Forces militants, two tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, two armored combat vehicles, 20 vehicles, a D-30 howitzer, and a AN/TPQ-36 radar station were destroyed. In addition, in the area of the Mayaki settlement of the Donetsk People's Republic, an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was destroyed.
**
The arrest and imprisonment of Julian Assange was a state-perpetrated crime!
But what can we expect of a government that funds and approves genocide?!
Chris Hedges analyzes the show trial designed to censor all Westerners. How dare they call Putin a “brutal dictator”?
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Tucker talks
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New Israeli crime: grand larceny
“Israeli soldiers were at the Bank of Palestine headquarters in Gaza last week to prevent money from reaching Hamas,” an Israel military spokesman told Maariv, without providing further details.
He said this step “was decided at the political level.”
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240211-israeli-soldiers-steal-over-54m-from-gaza-bank-report/
**
21.02.2024
The Russian military occupied more advantageous positions in the Avdeevsky direction
MOSCOW, February 21 - RIA Novosti. Russian units took more advantageous positions in the Avdeevka area, the Ministry of Defense reported.
"
“In the Avdeevka area, units of the Center group of troops occupied more advantageous lines and positions, and also defeated concentrations of manpower and equipment of the 24th, 53rd mechanized, 59th motorized infantry and 3rd assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of populated areas Rozovka and Vodyanoye of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the report says.
In addition, Russian fighters repelled seven counterattacks near Lastochkino, Kirovo and Pervomaisk in the DPR.
Enemy losses were:
up to 450 military personnel;
one tank;
four infantry fighting vehicles;
six armored combat vehicles;
five cars;
Grad multiple launch rocket system;
howitzer D-30.
**
Translation with my notes in bold and in [brackets]
https://ria.ru/20240221/ekonomika-1928590823.html
Excerpt from:
It was not in vain that they pranced - the Ukrainian economy is destroyed forever
Kirill Strelnikov
After the EU and US imposed massive sanctions, Joe Biden spoke to the spirits of dead people and boasted that the sanctions were “devastating Putin’s economy” and that Russia had already suffered a “strategic defeat” in Ukraine. The main point of Biden's otherworldly message was that "Russia will emerge from the conflict with Ukraine crippled - both militarily and economically."
Another thing was also implied - that the puppet Kiev regime, with the support of the entire “free-democratic world,” is building up its muscles day by day, and the pumped-up David in lace shorts is about to finish off the anorexic Goliath in earflaps.
However, sports nutrition specialists [figurative meaning] from NATO and the EU turned out to have fake diplomas, and in fact, it is not Russia, but Ukraine that is now dying.
Yesterday, in an interview with the Japanese television channel NHK, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal sadly admitted that since the beginning of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Ukrainian economy has shrunk by almost a third: “We have lost 30 percent of our economy and 3.5 million jobs.”
Even if we rely on these figures, it is not a fact that there are enough resuscitators in the world to pump out the Ukrainian economy: in fact, it already needs an undertaker.
…
Real gross domestic product (GDP) in the territory of the Kyiv regime after Vladimir Zelensky came to power decreased significantly and today does not exceed $60 billion. This is the maximum drop since the collapse of the USSR. At the same time, 65 percent of this money is planned to be spent on defense - which means there is very little left for the real sector.
Ukraine's budget deficit for 2024 is 1.54 trillion hryvnia (20.5 percent of GDP - a new record for the entire existence of the country), and financing is expected to be covered mostly from external borrowings. The National Bank of Ukraine predicts a steady decline in international financial assistance receipts. But even if a miracle happens and they give everyone and everything they promised (which they won’t), this will not be enough to fully cover the budget deficit.
**
WHO evacuates more critical patients from Nasser Hospital
In the past 24 hours, Israeli forces committed 11 “massacres” in various areas of the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health on Telegram, killing at least 118 Palestinian martyrs and injuring 163 people.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it evacuated another 21 injured people from the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis overnight. The medical complex has been under Israeli fire and siege since mid-January.
PRCS’s evacuation mission was coordinated with the World Health Organization (WHO), and transferred patients and the injured to field hospitals in Rafah for treatment.
Wafa news agency reported that Israeli artillery bombed the vicinity of the Nasser Hospital on Wednesday morning, where at least 120 injured and patients remain inside it.
WHO posted video footage of the evacuation mission from inside the Nasser Hospital, which was cloaked in darkness due to a lack of fuel to operate electric generators. WHO said that it led two rescue missions in the past days, evacuating 32 critical patients from the hospital.
“Weak and frail patients were transferred amidst active conflict near the aid convoy. Road conditions hindered the swift movement of ambulances, placing the health of patients at risk,” WHO wrote on the X platform along with a video.
WHO used four PRCS ambulances to transfer patients to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis, Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza City, and the International Medical Corps, the UAE and Indonesian field hospitals in Rafah.
A doctor with the WHO recorded a video inside the Nasser Hospital on Tuesday evening, describing how the medical facility has been for days without electricity or running water.
“Medical waste and garbage are creating a breeding ground for disease. WHO staff said the destruction around the hospital was ‘indescribable.’ The area was surrounded by burnt and destroyed buildings, heavy layers of debris, and no stretch of intact road,” WHO said.
The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) no longer functions in the Nasser Hospital, where at least 130 patients and 15 doctors and nurses remain inside it.
Dr Ashraf Al-Qidra, Gaza’s Ministry of Health spokesperson, said on Wednesday that eight patients died inside the Nasser Hospital in the past four days due to a lack of electricity to operate medical gear.
“The bodies of the eight martyrs began to swell and show signs of decomposition, posing a danger to other patients,” Dr. Al-Qidra said on Telegram. “The Israeli occupation refuses to remove the bodies of the martyrs so that they can be honored with burial, which is their most basic human right.”
Palestinian families have had to bury their relatives in the yards of hospitals on numerous occasions since October, as Israeli forces sieged and assaulted the facilities in the Gaza Strip. In late January, Palestinians, under the risk of being shot by Israeli snipers, had to bury 150 bodies inside the Nasser Hospital courtyard.
PRCS warned on Wednesday that the Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis remains under Israeli forces’ siege. PRCS said that Israel blocked for the eighth time an attempt to deliver food and medical supplies to the Al-Amal Hospital, which is at risk of running out of fuel and drinking water. Seven members of Al-Amal staff remain in Israeli detention since the facility was stormed in early February.
PRCS also said that Israeli forces have continued to jam cellular signals and disrupt landline and internet communication with the outside world for the past 36 days, Wafa reported.
…
**
Author’s Introduction and Update
We must act decisively in support and in solidarity with Julian Assange.
In this regard, we must understand the history: On how Assange was betrayed and misled by those who allegedly supported him.
In October 2021, the U.S. government began a legal challenge to extradite Julian Assange from the U.K. “to face charges of violating the Espionage Act”.
The U.K. Supreme Court turned down Assange’s appeal to “prevent his extradition to the United States”.
On April 20, 2022, a U.K magistrates court formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the US “on espionage charges”.
In recent developments,
… it will be revealed whether Julian Assange’s appeal in the British courts against being extradited to the US succeeds or not during a two-day hearing, which is scheduled to take place in London on Tuesday and Wednesday [February 20, 21, 2024], The Guardian reported.
In a meeting organized by the Foreign Press Association, his wife, Stella, warned that he could be put on a plane to the US within days if the appeal fails, fearing his death if he is extradited. This is the final chance for Assange to challenge then-former Home Secretary Priti Patel’s decision in June 2022 for an extradition.” (Al Mayadeen)
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have confirmed that “the prosecution of Assange represents a global threat to media freedom.”
“The ongoing prosecution of Julian Assange jeopardizes media freedom everywhere in the world,” the IFJ and EFJ said in a joint statement.
Video
**
Yes, the author of the article below is correct. ALL Neocons are criminally insane. Our State and Defense Departments are controlled by the criminally insane.
The world is slowly waking up to this fact.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/494131/Only-criminally-insane-minds-can-cause-so-much-panic-in-Gaza
Only criminally insane minds can cause so much panic in Gaza
January 26, 2024 - 13:34
Israeli rulers, even those considered rather moderate, have been seeking a plan to depopulate Palestinians from their motherland. Probably the October 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel provided the ill-wishers in Israel with an excuse to go ahead with the plan more speedily and more cruelly.
Photo: victim of US-backed Israeli-perpetrated violent crime: https://media.tehrantimes.com/d/t/2024/01/26/4/4831277.jpg?ts=1706263326399
Punishing an entire 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip for the October 7 attack has no justification. Only mad persons and those who formulate vicious plots in their minds can cause so much tragedy for hundreds of thousands of people.
Words fail to describe the sufferings of the Palestinians in Gaza. It is even difficult to imagine the tragedies that the Gazans have suffered since October 7.
Imagine more than two million people who are being ruthlessly attacked from the air, land and sea; denied water and food; seeing dear ones caught under demolished buildings; not being given the time to grieve the family members killed in incessant bombardments; being denied to sleep; forced to leave their cities or camps and take shelter in schools, mosques, churches, UN headquarters, or hospitals and even dropping bombs on them while taking refuge there.
All these crimes are taking place for more than two million population in just 365 square kilometers. There is no safe place for them to go. They are being targeted while being forced to leave from one place to another.
Richard Falk, an international law and international relations scholar who taught at Princeton University, describes such a situation as “a nightmare beyond even Kafka’s darkest imagining”.
Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, has told Al Jazeera, “We’ve never seen 2.2 million civilians made to go hungry within weeks. We have never seen this degree of hunger used as a weapon so quickly and so completely, ever.”
“It doesn’t happen by chance. Starvation, wherever it happens, is always the result of political choices and this is the same case here,” Fakhri said.
Alex De Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the U.S., also says the speed at which “starvation” has been brought about among Gaza’s population is “unprecedented”.
“I’ve been studying this for 40 years and I’ve never seen a population reduced [to this level of hunger] with the same speed and rigor and ruthlessness,” De Waal told Al Jazeera.
**
Our thanks to WD for this:
Nobody who has picked a fight with the Russians comes out winning. Neither the Mongols/Turks/Poles/Swedes/French/Germans. Now it is time America loses its fight with Russia. More exactly the folks in the neocon cabal and their favorite country. Russia supports Iran and its allies Iraq, Syria against their favorite country. I do not see Jewish influence lessening.
keep up your good work Don. We are on the same page.