Tag Archives: Russia

Nica: Cigars or Surveillance?

10 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

I go ahead and call it: Nicaragua is the new Cuba – simply the best tasting cigars in the world (with some stiff competition from numerous countries).

Nica also has a long, sad history of civil strife, coupled with international meddling. The U.S. has been involved for decades as have the Russians. Now, the NZ Herald reports on new suspicions over a Russian facility outside Managua.

US officials are keeping a keen eye on a Russian complex nestled on the edge of a volcanic crater in Nicaragua.

The center, which is believed to be a satellite station, has been built near the Laguna de Nejapa in Managua – the capital of the Central American nation, according to Daily Mail.

The Washington Post reports the local government described the complex as, “simply a tracking site of the Russian version of a GPS satellite system”, but not everyone is convinced it isn’t something more sinister.

“Clearly there’s been a lot of activity, and it’s on the uptick now,” a US official and expert on Central America, told the newspaper.

Other officials said there are concerns the hub could be a “dual use” facility, meaning it could house equipment and workers with the ability to conduct electronic surveillance against American citizens.

From where the compound is located, it offers those who are based there a clear view of the US Embassy about 10 miles away in the heart of Managua.

I have no idea what is going on down there and, unless and until it disrupts the trade from Esteli or Jalapa, I don’t really care.

manuf2

Leave these folks to work. Smoke Shop Mag / Perdomo.

Nations spy on each other, tensions and reasons or not. That’s not my concern. My concern is earthy-flavored smokes. Let me make it clear to Washington and Moscow: leave my friends and sticks alone. Keep your braindead BS in Syria or Ukraine or anywhere else. Don’t make me come down there…

Advertisements

Well, This Isn’t Good

09 Sunday Apr 2017

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

There is good news tonight: congratulations to Sergio Garcia on a Masterful performance at Augusta. One may have noticed a slight lack of color on CBS; they let the azaleas slip for once (no one is perfect, even the National). I guarantee the color will be back next year – along with many, many astounding changes (more on that later [HUGE doings in Augusta in years to come…]).

In Russia, the color is red. That’s what Putin is seeing and how he describes the line Trump crossed last week in Syria.

One of the things that got Trump elected was the fear that a second President Clinton would merely be a shill for the war parties, who would steer us uncomfortably close to armed conflict with Russia. Trump channeled his inner 2000-era W and promised a humble foreign policy. That all went out the window – missile tube, rather – last week.

Vladimir+Putin+Russian+President+Vladimir+Y_IZ_7L-rq0l

Honestly, I would have picked another man to piss off… Drudge.

From The Daily Mail:

The Assad regime has denied it was responsible and the Russians have claimed it was a ‘false flag’ incident carried out by jihadists who want to stir up tensions between Russia and the US.

President Trump infuriated Moscow when he authorised an airstrike on a Syrian air base on Friday, which killed at least six people.

British Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said today it was the ‘right call’ for the Americans to bomb the air base as retribiution for a ‘barbaric, immoral and illegal’ act by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who he described as a Russian ‘proxy’.
But in a joint statement the Russian and Iranians said: ‘We will respond to any aggression’.

The Sun reported that a joint command centre in Syria said: ‘What America waged in an aggression on Syria is a crossing of red lines. From now on we will respond with force to any aggressor or any breach of red lines from whoever it is and America knows our ability to respond well.’

The Sun has a parallel story, perhaps most interesting because they dial back the rhetoric on the “definitive” narrative of the chemical attacks. Now, it’s only “suspected”. Next, will be privately written off and publicly ignored.

Right now, this all looks like two things: First, there’s tremendous rah-rah for Trump’s actions from the British Foreign Secretary. Second, there’s militant posturing from Damascus and Tehran. All well and good if it stays like that. Cooler heads might have a chance to prevail.

The British always have our backs. No change expected there. And neither Iran nor Syria have the ability to harm the U.S. in any significant fashion. It’s Russia that should worry sane people. They do have detrimental abilities.

Concerns mount that Kim-Jong Un(well) may have the ability to get one ICBM to Hawaii. Russia can get thousands of them everywhere. They can certainly disrupt American operations in Syria and the Med.

None of this is remotely good and it represents one of the major fears of last year’s campaign. Worst of all, is the fact that there is no rational basis for any of it – not for our intervention in Syria nor for anything but friendship with Russia.

To my previously dejected liberal friends, I say, “congratulations; it looks like your girl won after all”. To my Republican chums, I say, “congratulations; you elected Mr. Hilary Clinton”. To the rest of us, I say, “pray”.

The long odds are that this will all blow over. The short call is that it may blow up.

Developing…

 

Congratulations. You Elected Hilary Clinton…

07 Friday Apr 2017

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

America is completely and utterly out of control. Any hopes that a Trump Presidency would reverse course or hold position have now faded away. Last night the President lobbed nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Syria.

  • The US military fired more than 50 tomahawk missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield at 8.45pm EDT Thursday
  • Moves comes just hours after Trump said ‘something should happen’ following Tuesday’s gas-attack atrocity
  • Trump took action after more than 80 were killed and many more were injured in the Sarin poison gas attack
  • ‘Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack,’ he said after launching the strike
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a furious response calling airstrike an ‘illegal act of aggression’
  • US called ‘a partner of ISIS’ by al-Assad’s spokesman who said missile strikes are ‘reckless and irresponsible’
  • Trump says airfield used to store toxic weapons and was the base for the aircraft involved in the Sarin attack
  • Claims that nine were killed, and more were injured, in the strike which has severely damaged the airbase
  • US told Moscow it was launching an airstrike about 30 minutes in advance – but did not ask for permission

U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) conducts strike operations while in the Mediterranean Sea

Bombs away, suckers… Daily Mail.

The public, those few who are somewhat awake, seems elated. As of this writing, 65+% of a Drudge poll see the action as favorable. I ask, “favorable to whom”?

Not everyone is happy. Rand Paul cautiously reminded the President that, per the Constitution, Congress is supposed to approve war. A little too late, Rand. This episode, if worth nothing else, proves definitively that the old Constitution is dead and gone. Cling at your own risk.

Nigel Farage, an early Trump supporter, cautioned:

The MEP hit out by warning that those who voted for the US president would be ‘worried’ by his retaliation.

‘I am very surprised by this. I think a lot of Trump voters will be waking up this morning and scratching their heads and saying “where will it all end?”, he said.

‘As a firm Trump supporter, I say, yes, the pictures were horrible, but I’m surprised. Whatever Assad’s sins, he is secular.’

He added: ‘Previous interventions in the Middle East have made things worse rather than better.’

Current UKIP leader, Paul Nuttal, was a bit more blunt: “The U.S. bombing of Syria last night was rash, trigger happy, nonsensical and will achieve nothing. I hoped for better.”

We all hoped for better. Hope in one hand and ….

Vox Day criticized the move:

That being said, I will certainly be disappointed if the God-Emperor makes regime change in Syria an objective of his administration, and I will continue to oppose any military involvement in the Middle East, Europe, the Ukraine, and any military activity directed against China or Russia.

The Russians are beyond livid:

“That’s it. The last remaining election fog has lifted. Instead of an overworked statement about a joint fight against the biggest enemy, Isis (the Islamic State), the Trump administration proved that it will fiercely fight the legitimate Syrian government, in a tough contradiction with international law and without UN approval, in violation of its own procedures stipulating that the Congress must first be notified of any military operation unrelated to aggression against the US. On the verge of a military clash with Russia.

“Nobody is overestimating the value of pre-election promises but there must be limits of decency.

“Beyond that is absolute mistrust. Which is really sad for our now completely ruined relations. And which is good news for terrorists.

“One more thing. This military action is a clear indication of the US President’s extreme dependency on the opinion of the Washington establishment, the one that the new president strongly criticised in his inauguration speech.

“Soon after his victory, I noted that everything would depend on how soon Trump’s election promises would be broken by the existing power machine. It took only two and a half months.”

-Dmitry Medvedev

Medvedev correctly pointed out the attack was both illegal and came within an inch of initiating a real war with a real and capable enemy.

Where to start with this???

The underlying Sarin gas attack is questionable at best. The U.S. media has taken the government’s word verbatim. Still, there is no definitive proof it happened. And, if it did happen, there’s no proof Assad was behind it. And, even if it happened and Assad is responsible, there is absolutely no American interest in the matter and nothing to be gained from intervention. It is not our damned business.

Is this what you voted for? Trump is now enacting the worst fears associated with the Clinton campaign. He’s running headlong towards war with Syria, North Korea, and maybe even Russia – in addition to ongoing actions in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, and God knows where else. Madness. Sheer utter madness. I advised you all to abstain from the election. Hey, voters, this is on you!

The problem, for us, with radical Islamists, has nothing to do with their activities in their home nations. The problem is with their terrorism in our countries, like Sweden, home of the latest predictable attack.

The solution is very simple: 1) stop bothering these people in their countries, and 2) get them out of ours. Damned simple. And obviously not going to happen just yet. There must be a little more money to be given the banksters and the MIC. You voted for this.

You also voted for the jumbled, same-as-always home agenda. Trump, the businessman and outsider, is working hard to surround himself with more insiders and Wall Street criminals. He cannot marshal the idiots in the GOP, even as they hold a complete majority in D.C. No healthcare reform. No tax cuts. The wall may stall. The deportations and travel bans also stall even as easy solutions abound. A “neutral” budget with no redress of the $20 Trillion (on-books) debt nor the Fed’s funny money. Your vote wasted again.

*In fairness, the man is working to create some jobs and cut some regs. There’s that. Small things, mice among the elephants.

As Vox noted, the real war for the West will be fought in the West. The other side has been fighting for some years now, even as you’ve stared at the TeeVee. All the attacks on all the foreign nations are mere distractions. They garner easy support. Yet, few actually want to fight at home – fear of being called “racist” or something. I hear local Muslims are concerned about fictional backlash from tomorrow’s terrorist attack… The media, the SJWs, and the dullards will lend pitiful support. Madness.

None of our interventions in the Middle East and elsewhere over the past 25+ years have done anything except kill people, displace people, overrun the West with “refugees”, break things, empower terrorists, and waste money. We can’t ever win these wars because there is nothing to win or to gain. Syria is no different except that we risk war with Russia. And, that, we certainly cannot win.

All the while a real war (we must win if we are to survive) rages around us.

I love fun and games as much as the next man; I’m having a blast this Masters’s week. Yet, maybe, just maybe, it’s time to wake up and wise up.

Expect nothing but trouble (certainly no help from) the Washington-Wall Street-Fed-globohomo-MIC-media-GOP-DNC-Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama-Trump cabal.

Nothing. Maybe it’s time to revive that letter to Putin…

St. Petersburg Bombing

03 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by in News and Notes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Eleven are dead and scores wounded after a bomb detonated on a train. Interestingly the main suspect has turned himself in to police. He claims he is innocent and may be.

The St Petersburg metro attack suspect has handed himself in to police – but denies planting the nail bomb on the train which killed 11 people and injured 50 today.

Several Russian media outlets released the CCTV pictures of the bearded suspect, who was wearing a long, black top and a hat, blamed for causing the carnage by detonating a bomb that was packed with shrapnel while it was travelling between Sennaya Ploshchad and Sadovaya metro stations.

A second explosive device disguised as a fire extinguisher was found and defused in a nearby station and police issued a search warrant for two suspected terrorists.

Tonight, it has emerged that the bearded man who was identified on CCTV as the main suspect, handed himself in to police and insists he is innocent.

Russian authorities are also probing the possibility of a suicide bomber being involved – described as a ‘young man from Central Asia’.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the explosion, but previous attacks on Russia have been blamed on ISIS and Chechens.

 

ISIS has not claimed responsibility though they are reportedly happy with the carnage.

Developing…

Did Someone Hit the Vodka too Hard?

09 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Retired Russian colonel Viktor Baranetz wrote an entertaining article for Komsomolskaya Pravda: “Trump-Pump-Pump And Our Big Bang“. Baranetz seemed to have two main points, one thought-provoking and one off the wall nutty sounding.

“The U.S. is the permanent ‘world champion’ in the size of its military budget – almost $600 billion, which is 10 times more than Russias. Even if we add together the military budgets of the top ten countries in the world, they would not reach the American budget! Now it turns out that even that is not enough for Donald Trump. He intends to increase defense expenditure by $54 billion. This money would be enough to maintain five Polish armies. Or 10 Ukrainian ones.

“The American public is already grumbling at Trump, who prefers guns to butter. But cunning Trump understands what his trump card is: He is ‘buying’ the support of the army, as well as of military industry corporations. Former Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army Yuri Baluyevsky is certain that ‘the idea to increase defense expenditure was presented to Trump by the U.S. military, who argue a lot about the power of the Russian army, realizing this is an opportunity to get new money.’ But how will Moscow react to the growing military budget of the U.S.? Baluyevsky answers: ‘Russia will not compete with the U.S. in defense expenditure. We are in a different weight class. For us, the main question is how to ensure Russia’s defense at a lower cost. I am sure that we have already found asymmetrical responses. I don’t see a big problem here.’

“What are these mysterious ‘asymmetrical responses’ that our politicians and generals speak about so often? Maybe it’s a myth or a pretty turn of phrase? No! Our asymmetrical response is nuclear warheads that can modify their course and height so that no computer can calculate their trajectory. Or, for example, the Americans are deploying their tanks, airplanes and special forces battalions along the Russian border. And we are quietly ‘seeding’ the U.S. shoreline with nuclear ‘mole’ missiles (they dig themselves in and ‘sleep’ until they are given the command)[…]

“Oh, it seems I’ve said too much. I should hold my tongue.

Point 1:

The U.S. spends a ridiculous sum on “defense”. He’s 100% correct here in all his statements. He merely confirmed those poll study results – the U.S., the most powerful nation, militarily, spends ten times as much as the second nation, Russia. If Trump gets the extra $54 Billion, then it will be nearly 11 times as much.

Not that it is defense-oriented. The military budget largely serves three purposes: money, money, and more money for the MIC; a jobs program, and; foreign intervention. It’s offense, not defense. The U.S. military was also the world’s largest in 2001 when they couldn’t even defend their own headquarters.

Defense spending is to Republicans what education spending is to Democrats. More spent after a certain point just means spending more. Ah, well, it’s just money.

Point 2:

The mole missiles. Either Brother Barabetz was be facetious or else he must have just come from the bar. While designing missiles that burrow into the seafloor and wait for “the command” must be technically possible, I suppose that, and implanting (seeding) them, would be exorbitantly expensive. Too much so for $60 Billion per year.

And I can’t see them being that effective if they were real. Essentially they would amount to underground nuclear explosions. Powerful, yes, but not nearly as powerful as a conventional in-air detonation. And they could likely only be deployed against non-military targets. I assume we could detect the seeding construction near one of our sub bases, for example.

They already have a similar but better system available – on their subs.

The “moles” seem as plausible as that 50s or 60s sci-fi movie wherein the Chinese dug an invasion tunnel to America through the center of the Earth.

nimbus-image-1489021646569

It is possible the man was talking about something real and using the ridiculous as a cover. When you’re outspent and out-gunned, asymmetrical warfare is an option. Something like the self-correcting trajectory is possible and plausible.

I also noticed the man talked about defending Russia. It’s cheaper to defend that to attack.

Anyway, maybe he had a triple at lunch and felt pretty good. Maybe he’s off the reservation. Maybe he’s on to something. Dunno. You?

 

Getting the Bugs Out

04 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Imagine if you bought a house and discovered, shortly after moving in, that it was infested with termites or other destructive little critters. That pretty bad. Now, imagine if you discovered that the former homeowner, who sold you the house, had planted the bugs just to mess with you. That’s unconscionable.

And that’s exactly what President is literally facing right now.

Trump, in Trump style, just Tweeted:

3df21cd100000578-4281150-image-a-14_1488630523912

In typical, predictable, and quantifiable media style, the media (and the Democrat establishment) jumped all over the claim as “unfounded”.

Then, as often happens, the truth came out:

During the summer last year, the Obama administration filed a request with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) to monitor communications involving Trump and several advisers but the request was denied, according to Heat Street former editor, Louise Mensch.

Just a day before the 2016 election, Mensch reported that ‘sources with links to the counter-intelligence community’ confirmed that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) had granted a FISA court warrant in October to monitor activities in Trump tower.

On Wednesday, a New York Times report said White House officials took efforts in the closing days of the Obama administration to analyze and spread information about Russian election interference, driven by a concern that the material might get buried by Trump.

How smart is it, regardless of the underlying concerns, to FISA tap the incoming president? FISA actions and records, extremely questionable Constitutionally anyway, are secretive and sealed. About the only person who can access them is the president. That seems to have happened.

When does obsessive concern about fictional (or even real) Russian interference turn into obsessive interference with an Executive administration? We’re probably about to find out.

Rigging Election Rigging

05 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Evidence mounts that the “Russian” hacking of the DNC before November’s election was an inside (non-Russian) job.

These things are nearly always inside jobs. This has “disgruntled employee” written all over it. Every whistleblower deal does. Of course, the Democrats would want to bury this one deep because it would also imply that one of their own “did the right thing” and came forward. Which would, obviously, discredit the entire campaign and candidate, to say nothing of the party itself. WikiLeaks isn’t going to say one way or the other because of confidentiality and protecting their source if they even know. Every journalist worthy of the name protects his source. But they’re not going to sit by and watch Russia get blamed wrongly, either.

It also serves the purpose of trying to hamstring Trump as he comes into office. The Democrats have shown they’re willing to start the Second Cold War in order to do this. But the primary motive is self-preservation because if the American people found out this was an inside job, they’re going to see corruption in the Democratic Party pretty much confirmed by them. Not to mention the corruption of the cover-up and then blaming a nuclear-armed nation to do so. People are then going to wonder what else they’re not being told.

Now I can’t prove this was an inside job. But I say history shows that, in both the public and private sector, whistleblowing comes from the inside nearly ten times out of ten. This wasn’t “hacking”, this was whistleblowing. Because “hacking” would have involved disabling their computers and destroying valuable documents. Not revealing things that they DID SAY which would mortally damage their campaign if made public. Let’s compare apples to apples here, not apples to grapefruit. When the United States hacked into Iran’s computers, they inserted a “worm” which wreaked havoc on their systems and destroyed large parts of it. Ok, so why was this not the case with the Democrats’ computers? No, what happened is embarrassing FACTS were revealed. That’s not “hacking”, that’s whistleblowing.

Never mind the absence of evidence of Russian involvement (no idea what the Senate is listening to as I type this). The whistleblower angle is sufficient. And the fact that the cover-uppers are more than willing to risk a war we can’t win speaks perfectly of their character (or lack thereof).

Three things should happen here:

  1. Putin’s feelings are not hurt; heck, he’s laughing about this. Still, Trump should issue an apology as part of the relationship rebuild.
  2. The whistleblower(s), once identified, should be thanked (unless they were part of the cover-up [which would make this a false flag, BTW]).
  3. The cover-up crew should be exiled to Siberia.

russian-hacking

The Federalist Papers.

New Year, New War? Dangerous Aggressions

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

So, at the end of last year, the U.S. moved to expel Russian diplomats on the basis of some spurious allegations of election rigging. Again, the evidence and the specifics are mighty slim on that allegation. And, again, sources closet to the action say it was not Russia.

The whole thing smells funny. Almost it has the aroma of a false flag operation.

But the odor isn’t nearly as bad as what could be brewing in the Baltic region. Putin has allegedly moved increased military strength into western Russia, close to the Lithuanian and Polish borders. This matches similar recent moves by NATO.

The ever-deranged of D.C. are not happy nor content with tit for tat. They decided to escalate:

PRESIDENT Obama has deployed US special forces troops along Lithuania’s border with “aggressive” Russia.

Tensions between Washington and the Kremlin have reached Cold War levels amid reports Vladimir Putin is deploying nuke-ready missiles in the Russian province of Kaliningrad – which borders Poland, Belarus and Lithuania.

And Lithuanian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Asta Galdikaite confirmed America has offered additional military support following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

She said: “The United States was the first to offer additional safety assurance measures to the Baltic countries following the deterioration of the security situation in the region after the annexation of the Crimea.”

She added: “US Special Operations Forces presence in Lithuania is one of the deterrents” against military threats by Putin’s aggressive regime, reports the Express.

This is somewhat akin to playing “chicken” with two powerful trains on the same track. I wonder if this was the same President Obama who once (somehow) won a peace prize. I also rather hope the new administration will ratchet back the tensions in the Baltic, Ukraine, and in Syria. Prize or not, peace would be a good thing.

nintchdbpict000292256278-e1483542994554

I seem to recall Obama and Co. once referring to another president as a “cowboy”. Pot? Kettle? AP.

Russian Hacking White Paper

30 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

The agency which either allowed hacking of the U.S. State of Georgia or did the hacking (DHS) and the agency that stood by while the ATF sold or gifted 30,000 military weapons to Mexican drug cartels (FBI/DOJ [SIC]) have released a joint report on Russian hacking into the 2016 U.S. election.

nimbus-image-1483110493403

Make of this what you will. A truly exciting holiday read.

Terror In Turkey; Terror In Germany

19 Monday Dec 2016

Posted by in News and Notes

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

The Russian ambassador to Turkey was murdered by an Islamic terrorist today.

Russia’s ambassador to Turkey has been assassinated by an off-duty police officer in front of terrified witnesses allegedly in retaliation for the crisis in Aleppo.

The gunman -smartly dressed in a black suit and tie – reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” and said in Turkish “We die in Aleppo, you die here” after shooting Ambassador Andrei Karlov in the back.

The attacker was fatally shot by police after killing Mr Karlov and wounding three others in what Russia’s Foreign Ministry has called “an act of terrorism”.

Mr Karlov, 62, was delivering a speech at an art gallery in the capital of Ankara when he was shot from behind in an attack caught on camera, and then shot at least once more at close range as he lay on the floor.

c0dfjyuxeaa2o7s

More blessings from the religion of peace. The Mirror.

This isn’t good. The murder is bad enough but this one makes a tense situation much more volatile. The Russians will not tolerate this. Watch for rapid developments in and from this story.

And the world didn’t even have time to process that attack before ISIS (who else?) launched another assault in Berlin, Germany. There, a terrorist drove a large truck through the crowd at a Christmas market – reminiscent of the Nice, France truck attack this summer.

At least nine people have been killed and more than 50 injured after a lorry ploughed through a crowd of shoppers at a busy Christmas market in Berlin.

German police at the scene have indicated the incident is likely to be a terror attack.

The vehicle sped through a crowd of shoppers at the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz Square near the Kurfuerstendamm Avenue in west Berlin.

According to local reports the driver has not yet been apprehended, and police have now launched a manhunt.

That story is developing also. It happened while I was writing the above Turkey story. Sadly, attacks like this, against Westerners in places like Germany, have almost become routine, the new normal. This trend must be reversed.

The Germans (and the rest of the West) should watch the Russian reaction and emulate it.

Developing…