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"The difference in golf and government is that in golf you can't improve your lie."

-- George Deukmejian

News and Opinion

The Burden Of Proof Is Always On The Ones Making The Claim (Even If It’s About Russia)

Well you’ll be shocked to learn that, while the Ukraine invasion we’ve been told for weeks was happening any day now still has not occurred, the US and UK have declared that Russia attacked Ukraine in an invisible and unverifiable way for which the evidence is secret.

“The White House blamed Russia on Friday for this week’s cyberattacks targeting Ukraine’s defense ministry and major banks and warned of the potential for more significant disruptions in the days ahead,” AP reports. “Anne Neuberger, the Biden administration’s deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, said the U.S. had rapidly linked Tuesday’s attacks to Russian military intelligence officers.”

“Technical information analysis shows the GRU was almost certainly involved in disruptive DDoS attacks,” adds a statement from the UK Foreign Office.

No evidence for this claim has been provided beyond the assertive tone with which American and British officials have uttered it, but that likely won’t stop arguments from western narrative managers that this “attack” justifies immediate economic sanctions.

You’ve probably also heard by now that President Biden announced at a press briefing that Vladimir Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine and violently topple Kyiv “in the coming days,” citing only “intelligence”.

“What reason do you believe he’s considering that option at all?” a reporter asked Biden after his speech.

“We have a significant intelligence capability, thank you very much,” the president answered, and made his exit.

As we were reminded earlier this month in an interesting exchange between State Department spinmeister Ned Price and AP’s Matt Lee, US officials firmly believe that simply placing assertions next to the word “intelligence” should be considered rock solid proof that those assertions are true, and the press are expected to play along with this.

And indeed, a large percentage of the political/media class is responding to Biden’s unevidenced claim that Putin has decided to launch a full-scale ground invasion of Ukraine as though that invasion is actually happening.

There are also accusations of false flags amid the fighting in eastern Ukraine and numerous other claims about what Russia is doing as it prepares for this invasion it’s supposed to launch, and it’s all just being blindly accepted as objectively true in mainstream political discourse. Nowhere is it questioned. Nowhere is the fault of the US and NATO in creating these tensions between Russia and Ukraine ever reported, nor are the geostrategic benefits the US hegemon stands to reap from this standoff. Few even bother trying to articulate what Moscow would gain from invading Ukraine, except the occasional infantile “they hate us for our freedom”-style think piece about how Putin just can’t stand democracy.

If online you question the veracity of any of these claims in light of the extensive history these institutions have of lying to us about just this sort of thing, it’s treated as a freakish and bizarre interjection that is at best misguided and at worst proof that you’re an agent of the Kremlin. I haven’t received so many notifications from people calling me a Russian operative since 2018, which to me is funny because everything I was saying about western Russia narratives in 2018 has since been completely vindicated.

And I think it’s important while this all unfolds to take a moment to remind ourselves that the burden of proof is always on the party making the claim. This is a basic principle we all hold true in matters of logic and debate and in the legal system, and really anywhere that disputed claims are scrutinized, and it doesn’t magically stop being the case just because a claim is spoken in an assertive tone by powerful people about a country they don’t like. If you make a claim in an irrelevant time-wasting Twitter argument you’ll immediately be asked for proof that it’s true, but if the most powerful government in the world makes an incendiary claim of potentially world-shaping consequence we’re all just expected to accept it, even though that government has a proven track record of making false claims.

Amazing interview with of the former MI6 chief with the Atlantic Council's @B_judah (the whole gang present) where the intel goon *admits* that many western "intel leaks" media outlets are dutifully conveying aren't real leaks but propaganda messages designed to undercut Putin. pic.twitter.com/UOzBxG5F5H

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 17, 2022

The onus is not on anyone else to prove that the US and UK governments are lying when they make these claims, the onus is on the US and UK governments to prove that they are telling the truth. At some point after Donald Trump’s election it became a mainstream liberal doctrine that you can say whatever you want about Russia no matter how outrageous and suffer no professional consequences if it proved completely false, and nobody’s really been pushing back on that. So many people built entire careers out of suggesting for years on end that the entire Trump family was going to be dragged out of the White House in chains for Kremlin collusion, and when this failed to prove true everyone just acted like it was fine and continued on with their careers.

But it’s not fine. It’s not okay that this bizarre cold war hysteria environment has melted everyone’s brain over the last five years. It’s not okay that the most basic standards of logic and evidence have been flushed down the toilet. It’s not okay that we now have MI6 spooks and CIA mouthpieces openly acknowledging that the government is using the western press to wage an information war geared at undermining Russia when both the government and the press are supposed to be simply telling us the truth.

I don’t know what’s going to happen with Ukraine. What I do know is that it would be good to drag the Overton window of acceptable debate kicking and screaming back to the point where the burden of proof needs to be met even, and especially, by the world’s most powerful people. And where, if that burden is not met, their claims are treated with all the disdain they deserve.

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Smart Diplomacy Can Still Resolve the Ukraine Crisis Without War

Macron paves way for potential Putin-Biden summit on Ukraine crisis

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has invited Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden to attend a summit aimed at de-escalating the Ukraine crisis, and the leaders have agreed in principle, Macron’s office has announced, amid further US warnings that war is imminent.

The Élysée Palace put out a statement on Sunday evening following last-minute diplomatic efforts by the French president to try to dissuade Russia from invading Ukraine.

“Presidents Biden and Putin have each accepted the principle of such a summit,” the statement said. “Its content will be prepared by secretary of state Blinken and Minister [Sergei] Lavrov during their meeting on Thursday 24 February. It can only be held if Russia does not invade Ukraine.”

Macron spoke twice to Vladimir Putin overnight, for a total of nearly three hours, consulting Joe Biden for 15 minutes in between the two calls. Amid a rising sense of urgency, the second Macron-Putin call was announced well after 2am in Moscow.

US Claims Russia Has KILL LIST, Ukraine Invasion IMMINENT

US intelligence believes Russia has ordered Ukraine invasion – reports

US intelligence has detected evidence that Russian troops amassed close to the border with Ukraine have received actual orders to proceed with an invasion, according to news reports.

CBS News was the first to report on Sunday that the Kremlin had given the green light to commanders among the more than 150,000 troops in potential attack positions. “Commanders on the ground are making specific plans for how they would manoeuvre in their sector of the battlefield,” Face the Nation reported.

The New York Times also said the Kremlin had ordered an invasion. That intelligence prompted Joe Biden to say this week that the Russian president Vladimir Putin had decided to go ahead with an attack, the newspaper said.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, told CBS the Biden administration remains convinced that Russia is pressing ahead with attack plans. “As President Biden said, everything we are seeing tells us that the decision we believe President Putin has made to invade is moving forward,” he said.

Pressed for details of why the US continues to believe an invasion is imminent despite repeated Russian denials, Blinken pointed to what he called “provocations” and “false flag operations” that could be used as justification for such a move.

Putin recognizes both the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics as sovereign states

Congratulations neocon jackasses.

Russia Announces Nuclear Drills Amid Tensions Over Ukraine

Amid ongoing calls for a diplomatic resolution to tensions over Ukraine, Russia's military announced Friday that it would hold nuclear drills this weekend.

Scheduled for Saturday, the drills will be overseen by Russian President Vladimir Putin and will involve the launching of ballistic and cruise missiles, Russia's Defense Ministry said, according to state news agency TASS.

The military exercises are designed in part to test the "reliability of the strategic nuclear and conventional forces' weapons," the ministry said.

Rejecting Russia's assertions of transparency surrounding the weekend action—which comes as Russia conducts ongoing drills with Belarus—France 24 international affairs commentator Douglas Herbert argued that the timing of exercises that normally occur in summer was "not coincidental" and said that "Russia is in a not very subtle way... reminding everyone" that it's a nuclear-armed superpower.

Joe Cirincione, an author and fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, had a similar takeaway.

"Upping the ante," Cirincione tweeted Friday. "Russia reminds us that it has the world's largest nuclear arsenal (~6,200), followed closely by U.S. (5,600)."

While Russian forces are coordinating their "massive" drills, the Associated Press reports Friday that NATO countries "are also flexing their might, beefing up military forces around eastern Europe, but insist the actions are purely defensive and to show unity in the face of Russian threats."

In addition, AP added, "the U.S. announced the $6 billion sale of 250 tanks to Poland, a NATO member that has been occupied or attacked by Russia over past centuries."

Russia, meanwhile, continues to reject Western allegations that it's planning an invasion of Ukraine and says the U.S. has failed to provide security assurances including Ukraine's exclusion from NATO.

'Ukrainian army is already integrated into NATO' - Putin

More than 160 House Republicans threaten to scuttle potential Iran deal

More than 160 House Republicans are threatening to scuttle or rip up a potential nuclear deal with Iran, warning President Biden that any agreement struck without congressional approval will be opposed by members of the caucus — and overturned if Republicans retake power.

In a letter to Biden on Wednesday, members of the House GOP referenced reports that Iran is asking for a “guarantee” that the U.S. will never reimpose sanctions as long as the Middle East nation agrees to comply with an agreement regarding its nuclear program.

The lawmakers, however, emphasized that Biden does “not have the power” to make such a guarantee, and threatened to oppose an agreement made between the two countries that does not first receive congressional approval. ...

The Republicans said they will oppose a deal to lift sanctions if Iran has not “fully dismantled their enrichment and reprocessing-related infrastructure capabilities,” among other terms — including that all Americans hostages are released and the country's sponsorship of terrorism is ended.

The letter, signed by a total of 165 GOP lawmakers, comes more than two weeks after the Biden administration warned that the U.S. and Iran only have “a handful of weeks left to get a deal” on a nuclear agreement.

Ex-Honduran President Hernández Arrested on Drug Charges; U.S. Backed His Narco-State for 8 Years

Surprisingly good:

OTTAWA UPDATE: Nearly 200 ARRESTED After BRUTAL Police Crackdown, Trudeau FULL ON Fascist?

Canadian police secure downtown Ottawa as truckers’ protest ends

Canadian police on Sunday secured the downtown core of Ottawa with fencing, as city workers cleaned up trash and snow plows cleared streets after two days of tense standoffs and 191 arrests ended a three-week occupation. Demonstrators used hundreds of trucks and vehicles to block the city center since 28 January, prompting the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to invoke rarely used emergency powers. ...

Seventy-six vehicles had been towed, police said on Sunday as stragglers packed up a logistics depot the so-called “Freedom Convoy” had set up in a parking lot to supply protesters camped several kilometers away, in front of parliament. ...

On Saturday, police used pepper spray and stun grenades on protesters, clearing most of the area in front of parliament. Other demonstrators abandoned positions in downtown during the night. Those arrested face 389 different criminal charges including obstructing police, disobeying a court order, assault, mischief, possessing a weapon and assaulting a police officer, Ottawa’s interim police chief, Steve Bell, told reporters.

“We’re not done with this operation yet,” Bell said, adding that over the “next several days” police will determine “how we maintain a presence and make sure that nobody returns to occupy our streets again”. ... Protesters who were filmed by police and have left the city will be held to account, Bell said. “We will actively look to identify you and follow up with financial sanctions and criminal charges,” he said, adding: “This investigation will go on for months to come.” ...

So far, 206 bank and corporate accounts have been frozen and one financial institution blocked a “payment processor” account holding C$3.8m ($2.98m), police said, adding that they were still collecting information on companies and people.

Canada Removes Freedom Protestors By GUNPOINT As US Deep State Freaks About 'DC Convoy'

Saagar Enjeti: Canada's Financial Warfare Shows We NEED Bitcoin

Lots of dirt here:

Credit Suisse leak unmasks criminals, fraudsters and corrupt politicians

A massive leak from one of the world’s biggest private banks, Credit Suisse, has exposed the hidden wealth of clients involved in torture, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other serious crimes. Details of accounts linked to 30,000 Credit Suisse clients all over the world are contained in the leak, which unmasks the beneficiaries of more than 100bn Swiss francs (£80bn)* held in one of Switzerland’s best-known financial institutions.

The leak points to widespread failures of due diligence by Credit Suisse, despite repeated pledges over decades to weed out dubious clients and illicit funds. The Guardian is part of a consortium of media outlets given exclusive access to the data. We can reveal how Credit Suisse repeatedly either opened or maintained bank accounts for a panoramic array of high-risk clients across the world.

They include a human trafficker in the Philippines, a Hong Kong stock exchange boss jailed for bribery, a billionaire who ordered the murder of his Lebanese pop star girlfriend and executives who looted Venezuela’s state oil company, as well as corrupt politicians from Egypt to Ukraine. One Vatican-owned account in the data was used to spend €350m (£290m) in an allegedly fraudulent investment in London property that is at the centre of an ongoing criminal trial of several defendants, including a cardinal.

The huge trove of banking data was leaked by an anonymous whistleblower to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. “I believe that Swiss banking secrecy laws are immoral,” the whistleblower source said in a statement. “The pretext of protecting financial privacy is merely a fig leaf covering the shameful role of Swiss banks as collaborators of tax evaders.” Credit Suisse said that Switzerland’s strict banking secrecy laws prevented it from commenting on claims relating to individual clients. ...

The Suisse secrets project sheds a rare light on one of the world’s largest financial centres, which has grown used to operating in the shadows. It identifies the convicts and money launderers who were able to open bank accounts, or keep them open for years after their crimes emerged. And it reveals how Switzerland’s famed banking secrecy laws helped facilitate the looting of countries in the developing world.

Krystal Ball: How DC Elites SACRIFICED Kids to Culture War Nonsense

'Morally Obscene': Sanders Blasts GOP, Manchin Over 41% Spike in Child Poverty

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday castigated the GOP and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin for killing the boosted Child Tax Credit after new research showed that child poverty spiked by 41% in January—the first month since July 2021 that eligible families didn't receive the popular benefit.

"In January, the child poverty rate increased by 40% in just one month—jumping from 12.1% to 17% as 3.7 million children slipped into poverty," Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote in a Twitter post. "How did this happen? Fifty Republicans and one corporate Democrat allowed the $300-a-month Child Tax Credit to expire. That is morally obscene."

The new figures come from a study released Thursday by the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, which found that the December lapse of the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) helped push child poverty to "the highest rate since the end of 2020."

"On its own, the monthly Child Tax Credit kept three million children from poverty in July; by December, it was keeping 3.7 million children from poverty and reducing monthly child poverty by 30%," the center noted in a policy brief. "A roundup of the available research reveals that the monthly Child Tax Credit payments buffered family finances amidst the continuing pandemic, increased families’ abilities to meet their basic needs, reduced child poverty and food insufficiency, and had no discernable negative effects on parental employment."

The study was published as Democratic lawmakers' efforts to extend the boosted CTC remained stalled due to the continued opposition of every Senate Republican and Manchin (D-W.Va.), who has reportedly told colleagues in private that he believes some parents used the monthly benefit payments to buy drugs.

"One U.S. senator 'heard stories' about people allegedly using the Child Tax Credit 'for drugs' without any evidence or data to back it up," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted Thursday. "He then used that as justification to nuke the entire national program, causing millions of kids to fall into poverty in weeks. Horrifying."

"Meanwhile," she added, "the press talks about it like it’s some beltway drama without ever showing the people who are sleeping in bubble jackets with no heat or the kids going hungry waiting for some guy in a yacht to decide if they are fully human or not. It’s just shameful, all of it."

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a lead sponsor of ambitious new legislation that would cut child poverty by an estimated two-thirds, said Thursday that "it is beyond revolting how little attention is given to the fact that the wealthiest nation in the history of the world can afford endless wars and trillions in tax cuts to the 1%, but cannot feed, house, or care for its own children."

57 Years After Malcolm X's Assassination, His Family Demands Fed Probe into FBI, NYPD Cover-Up

California Bill Would Allow Citizens to Enforce Assault Weapon Ban

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday endorsed legislation that would allow private citizens to enforce the state's ban on assault weapons.

California's new bill mimics a Texas law empowering private citizens to enforce the state's draconian abortion ban by suing anyone who "aids or abets" an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

After the right-wing dominated U.S. Supreme Court refused to strike down the Texas GOP's effort to kill Roe v. Wade, Newsom vowed to work with California lawmakers to craft similar legislation targeting gun manufacturers.

"If Texas can use a law to ban a woman's right to chose and to put her health at risk, we will use that same law to save lives and improve the health and safety of the people in the state of California," Newsom said Friday at a press conference. "There is no principled way the U.S. Supreme Court cannot uphold this California law. Full stop. It is quite literally modeled after the law they just upheld."

The Associated Press reported:

Newsom said he hopes the proposal forces the U.S. Supreme Court's hand on the Texas abortion law. He said it will either expose their "hypocrisy" if they should block California's proposal that affects the gun industry and not the Texas law on abortion, "or it'll get them to reconsider the absurdity of their previous decision."

While Republican-controlled states' previous attempts to ban abortions after six weeks—before many individuals know they're pregnant—have been blocked by courts, "Texas' new abortion law is unique in that it bars the government from enforcing the law," AP noted.

"The idea is if the government can't enforce the law, it can't be sued to block it in court," the news outlet continued. "That hasn't stopped abortion providers from trying to block the law. But so far, the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority has allowed the abortion law to stay in place pending a legal challenge."

The high court's refusal to invalidate Texas' law deputizing citizens to crack down on abortion providers motivated Newsom and Democratic lawmakers in California to develop analogous legislation that would permit citizens to go after gunmakers.

Erin Brockovich pollutant linked to global electric car boom

A Guardian investigation into nickel mining and the electric vehicle industry has found evidence that a source of drinking water close to one of Indonesia’s largest nickel mines is contaminated with unsafe levels of hexavalent chromium (Cr6), the cancer-causing chemical more widely known for its role in the Erin Brockovich story and film. The investigation also found evidence suggesting elevated levels of lung infections among people living close to the mine.

Recent years have seen a race between mining companies to gain control of the world’s largest nickel reserves in Indonesia. Nickel, an essential component in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, could bring transformational wealth to a country where Covid has pushed the number of people in poverty up to 10.19%. Yet people living on the remote Obi Island, which has recently become home to one of Indonesia’s largest nickel mines, just want clean and safe water.

Unlike other minerals used to power EVs such as cobalt and lithium – which have been linked to environmental damage and human rights abuses –nickel’s supply chain has so far gone largely unscrutinised.

The mining companies operational on Obi Island say their works pose no threat to local communities. Yet in the village of Kawasi, people are scared. ... Water samples taken by the Guardian near Kawasi and tested at government-certified laboratories suggest high levels of contamination from hexavalent chromium (Cr6), a cancer-causing chemical. The villagers also claim that since the mine arrived, people have been falling sick.

The Guardian was told by the village midwife clinic of more than 900 cases of potentially deadly acute respiratory infections (ARI) among the approximately 4,000 residents of Kawasi in 2020. More than half of the cases were reported to be in newborns or toddlers aged four and under.

Price Tag of Trans Mountain Expansion Nearly Doubles

Climate activists on Friday renewed calls for canceling the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline after the Canadian government responded to the project's soaring cost by pledging not to put any more public money into it.

"Trans Mountain never made any sense to build during a climate crisis," Emma Jackson, senior Canada organizing specialist with 350.org, said of the federally owned infrastructure. "Now, after a year where the pipeline was delayed by climate-fueled fires, heat, floods, and landslides, the government is pulling funding while the price tag has skyrocketed to $21.4 billion."

"This is the moment to cancel this project outright," she declared, "and put all of our energy and political will into a just transition that leaves fossil fuels in the ground and supports people, communities, and workers."

Climate campaigner Peter McCartney concurred in a statement from the Wilderness Committee.

"Everyone warned the federal government not to buy this cursed pipeline and anybody who has been tracking construction knows costs have spiraled out of control," McCartney said. "It's long past time for the federal government to put the shovels down, look at the evidence, and walk away from the project."

Trans Mountain Corporation (TMC) announced Friday that the price tag of the pipeline expansion has nearly doubled from an earlier estimate of $12.6 billion. ...

TMC is a subsidiary of a crown corporation—a federally owned organization structured like a private company—that controversially purchased the pipeline from Texas-based Kinder Morgan in 2018, earning Prime Minister Justin Trudeau widespread condemnation.

‘It’s a powerful feeling’: the Indigenous American tribe helping to bring back buffalo

A trio of bison has gathered around a fourth animal’s carcass, and Jimmy Doyle is worried. “I really hope we’re not on the brink of some disease outbreak,” said Doyle, who manages the Wolakota Buffalo Range here in a remote corner of south-western South Dakota in one of the country’s poorest counties. The living bison sidle away as Doyle inspects the carcass, which is little more than skin and bones after coyotes have scavenged it. ...

So far, at least, the Wolakota herd has avoided outbreaks as it pursues its aim of becoming the largest Indigenous American-owned bison herd. In the two years since the Rosebud Sioux tribe started collecting the animals on the 28,000-acre range in the South Dakota hills, the herd has swelled to 750 bison. The tribe plans to reach its goal of 1,200 within the year. ...

With their eyes on solving food shortages and financial shortfalls, restoring ecosystems and bringing back an important cultural component, dozens of indigenous tribes have been growing bison herds. Tribes manage at least 55 herds across 19 states, said Troy Heinert, executive director of the InterTribal Buffalo Council.

The pandemic, which has hit tribes particularly hard, added to the urgency of bison restoration, said Heinert, who is also the minority leader in the South Dakota state senate. The first animal harvested by Wolakota helped feed homeless residents of the Rosebud Sioux reservation. “It did highlight the fact that many of our areas on tribal lands do have some kind of food insecurity,” he said. “When trucks stopped coming in, it was rural and reservation communities that got hit hardest. Our people don’t have the ability to travel long distances to find new food sources.” ...

Millions of bison once roamed the US, but they were hunted nearly to extinction in the 19th century, partly to suppress Indigenous Americans as they were forced on to reservations. In many areas, bison were replaced by cattle, which overgrazed the western US and killed off native vegetation. Indigenous American leaders are hoping Congress will help tribes bring back the bison. The Indian Buffalo Management Act, modeled after a bill that provided federal help to fishing tribes, was passed by the House in December and is awaiting Senate approval.

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Could Western Media Hysteria Lead to War With Russia?

The Evidence for Invasion the US Could Produce

Ukraine - Who Is Firing At Whom And Who Is Lying About It?

Blackwater is in Donbas with the Azov Battalion

Massive folly: Biden’s 2023 defense budget could top $800 billion

New scientific review punctures myth of missile defense

Was the hacking of Ottawa trucker convoy donors a US-Canadian intelligence operation?

Banks Sink – Throwing More Cold Water on All That Talk that Megabanks Are a Great Investment

Ikea’s Race for the Last of Europe’s Old-Growth Forest

Ben Crump on Fighting for Justice for Daunte Wright, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin & Z'Kye Husain

Haitians Rise Up Against Hillary Clinton’s Economic Oppression

Trudeau & Cabinet Trained By Global Economic Cabal – Admits WEF Chairman

Trudeau Invoked Emergency Powers Despite Lacking Burden Of Proof: Canadian Civil Liberties Expert

A Little Night Music

Betty Harris - Ride Your Pony

Betty Harris - Nearer To You

Betty Harris - Trouble With My Lover

Betty Harris - Mean Man

Betty Harris - I'm Gonna Git Ya

Betty Harris - Mo Jo Hannah

Betty Harris - 12 Red Roses

Betty Harris - I Don't Wanna Hear It

Betty Harris - Trouble With My Lover

Betty Harris - There's a break in the road