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May 7, 2021
Open Thread 2021-034
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One Ukrainian commentator was sad, because the Foreign Minister Klimkin was replaced by Kuleba, and now, when Blinken was visiting, wouldn’t it be much nicer if Klimkin and Blinken had talks? Would Klimkin blink and Blinken clink? Or other way around?
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 9 2021 0:42 utc | 101
I find the news reporting of the recent terror attack on the High School in Kabul depressing in itself.
The official reactions in the Western world seem to be de facto endorsement and praise by faint damnation (USA & no doubt rest or majority of 5 Eyes also) and mealy-mouthed hypocrisy from the EU. RT reporting was fittingly prompt and also objective. Much of the commentary from readers there seems to me to be pretty dreadful also, however.
Posted by: johnF | May 9 2021 0:43 utc | 102
What goes unnoticed but should be terrifying is dominance by the Intelligence Community. The 3 branches of government be damned – if the NSA/CIA isn’t tightly controlled and disciplined, they can blackmail any judge or congressperson or President.
If anyone doubts this, notice the amazing coincidences of convenient “credible reports” that suddenly appear about Russian bounties or Iran/China/Russia interfered with 2020 elections or whatever.
These shadowy actors have the near power to declare war, as with Syria
Posted by: Eighthman | May 8 2021 23:34 utc | 95
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It took heroic efforts to keep it “unnoticed”, and in recent years, TPTB gave up, so I think that your warning, dear Eighthman, comes too late. The present paradigm is for the population to cherish our secret services and loath all those that do not. It is even tacitly admitted that now and then an intelligence agency may misinterpret a detail or two, but INTERAGENCY CONSENSUS is the most sacred truth, whether promulgated officially or leaked for the benefit of the population (domestic and global).
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 9 2021 0:56 utc | 103
Even in a pandemic, empire never sleeps. 800 paratroopers from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, jumped into Estonia this morning as part of a massive training exercise. Everyone was allegedly vaccinated.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2021/05/07/paratroopers-with-82nd-airborne-fly-non-stop-to-jump-into-estonia-tonight/
Posted by: V Murphy Johnson | May 9 2021 1:29 utc | 104
Dominic Cummings’ blog is worth perusing. Exceptionally “intellectual”, it is hard not to be impressed. Perhaps that is the intention. Anyhow, the man is now banished from the Johnson Cabinet, apparently because of the intense animosity between Cummings and Johnson’s paramour, Carrie Symonds. Cummings’ Russian connections are noteworthy, and are detailed in John Helmer’s Dances with Bears archives.
Is the “poodle position” of the U.K. with respect to U.S. foreign policy a result?
Here is an interesting viewpoint:
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-stooge-in-number-ten
Posted by: Australian lady | May 9 2021 1:36 utc | 105
Boeing Asks Customers to Ground 737 MAX Jets over Electrical Issues
Our Bureau [Defense World.net] 12:38 PM, April 9, 2021 1747
Boeing Asks Customers to Ground 737 MAX Jets over Electrical Issues
The Albatross around Boeing’s neck, the 737 MAX airplane, has run into yet another problem.
On Friday, Boeing urged 16 of its customers to address a “potential electrical issue in a specific group of 737 MAX airplanes prior to further operations.”
The company said it wants those customers to check and verify if a sufficient ground path exists for a component of the electrical power system.
“We are working closely with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on this production issue. We are also informing our customers of specific tail numbers affected and we will provide direction on appropriate corrective actions,” the company said in a statement.
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A leading publisher of children books is issuing “A little plane that could not” as a new part of the series that started “The little engine that could”.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 9 2021 1:54 utc | 106
On India: New Delhi where all foreign correspondents hang in the same hotel bars, is not at all typical for whole India so don’t be fooled.
On PR China’s reactions to events in Delhi: Sympathy or schadenfreude?
India holds in the balance between West and East, choose wisely.
Posted by: Antonym | May 9 2021 2:41 utc | 107
Then there is the matter of the quite extraordinary secrecy around the people who fell ill with a previously unknown pneumonia in the US known as “Vaping disease” (which seems to have completely disappeared now) …
Posted by: foolisholdman | May 8 2021 19:57 utc | 89
The most likely cause of this seems to be toxic chemicals created by the heating of vitamin E acetate found in some THC cartridges.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7299285/
https://www.pnas.org/content/117/14/7553.long
Posted by: farm ecologist | May 9 2021 2:50 utc | 108
On re-reading of the reported comment by the US ambassador in Kabul, I must admit my earlier comment about ‘praise with faint damnation’ etc are exaggerated and that they may be unjustifiable. I’m sorry to have to say however also that the extent to which His Excellency’s sentiments will be shared and considered seriously by Western governments remains a subject of scepticism for me.
Posted by: johnF | May 9 2021 5:11 utc | 109
https://sebastianrushworth.com/2021/05/09/update-on-ivermectin-for-covid-19/
Posted by: Mina | May 9 2021 8:10 utc | 110
I still think it was crickets myself:
CIA rocked by ‘Havana Syndrome’ attacks
Posted by: Bemildred | May 9 2021 8:30 utc | 111
From Putin speech conmemorating the 76th aniversary of Victory over nazi Germany. Machine translated. A direct reference to banderostan and their masters.
History calls for conclusions and lessons to be learned. But, unfortunately, many with the ideology of the Nazis, those who were obsessed with the delusional theory of their exclusiveness, are again trying to put it to work. And not only all sorts of radicals and groups of international terrorists. Today we see gatherings of unbeaten executioners and their followers, attempts to rewrite history, to justify traitors and criminals, on whose hands the blood of hundreds of thousands of peaceful people.
Posted by: Paco | May 9 2021 10:20 utc | 112
William Gruff @100
There is NO EVIDENCE! Just over-active imaginations, paranoid thinking and psyops! Why else are intelligence services, psychologists and behaviourists are up to their eyeballs in the western Covid-19 plan-demic response if not for the purposes of propaganda, manipulation and psychological operations?????
Posted by: ADKC | May 9 2021 10:59 utc | 113
Bemildred @111
Mosquitos, not crickets! Actually, the virus in the mosquitos.
Some Canadian research suggested it was insecticides sprayed extensively against the Zika virus, which were the source of the environmental neurotoxin, which caused the damage.
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/canadian-research-points-to-pesticides-as-possible-cause-of-havana-syndrome
Although ‘directed microwaves’ are much sexier
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55203844
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | May 9 2021 12:38 utc | 114
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | May 9 2021 12:38 utc | 114
Oooooh, a neurotoxin, that’s practically a WMD isn’t it? And Zika virus. And microwaves. Can tinfoil hats be far behind? It’s just one cliche after another with these people, no imaginations at all.
I had been sort of hoping they would give up on this story and move on. At least offer something fresh.
Posted by: Bemildred | May 9 2021 13:34 utc | 115
Bemildred @111
Crickets combined with a sheltered childhood and youth devoid of crickets, “generalized anxiety disorder” from a delusional worldview causing cognitive dissonance, a fully justified case of “impostor syndrome” from an upbringing that stresses identity over competency, and the unshakable conviction that they are completely surrounded by mysterious and inscrutable enemies even nastier than themselves. The crickets just trigger the inevitable psychological meltdown in these “woke” CIA tools.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 9 2021 14:34 utc | 116
The one constant in all these cases of “Havana Syndrome” isn’t the proximity to any Cuban, Russian, Chinese, Venezuelan, Belarusian (etc. etc. etc.) operation. The one constant is the proximity to American state and security operations.
Hmmm.
Posted by: corvo | May 9 2021 17:07 utc | 117
Posted by: William Gruff | May 7 2021 20:38 utc | 36
re:origin of covid. totally agree Gruff.
Too many knowns hanging out there that need to be followed up on: u.s. athletes sick in Wuhan, Fort Dietrick shutdown and many “incidents”, Bill Gates and his pre-planning simulations……
Posted by: migueljose | May 10 2021 1:08 utc | 118
To William Gruff, migueljose and others considering the origins – and varied reactions to the virus, this is a very interesting although long interview of two MDs from Kenya. Toward the end of the interview they detail their experiences with WHO/Gates beginning from the 1970s with experimental vaccinations in Mexico, Nicaragua and Kenya.The Gates M.O. has been around for a very long time. https://www.globalresearch.ca/video-kenyan-physicians-say-powers-world-suppressing-effective-early-covid-treatment/5744776
Posted by: Miss Lacy | May 11 2021 0:37 utc | 119
Bemildred @ 111 and others who replied:
I’m more inclined to think, and Corvo’s reply @ 117 hints at this as well, is that the embassies are using electronics hardware and/or other systems causing the symptoms of “Havana syndrome” or most of them anyway. Any other symptoms are due to paranoia or people working in the embassies influencing each other and agreeing they are suffering from the same set of symptoms.
I’m sure these “Havana syndrome” symptoms have been reported by Canadian and US embassy staff in Havana or wherever long before the Cubans started fumigating areas close by to get rid of mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.
I have looked up these embassies on Google Maps and note that the embassies of Argentina, Sweden and Turkey are close to the Canadian embassy. Have these other embassies’ staff complained of health issues? The Swedish embassy staff would be most likely to complain if they were having the same issues with their health if insecticide spraying around the Canadian embassy were the issue. What about all the other businesses surrounding the Canadian and US embassies, aren’t they also affected by the spraying?
Posted by: Jen | May 11 2021 1:06 utc | 120
Several states are turning away COVID vaccine doses from their federal government allocations, as the daily average of coronavirus vaccine doses administered across the United States has fallen below two million for the first time since early March. Experts say the states’ smaller requests reflect a steep drop in vaccine demand in the United States.
Wisconsin officials have asked for just 8 percent of the 162,680 doses the federal government had set aside for the state next week, according to The Associated Press. Other States mentioned as cutting back: Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington State and Connecticut.
Posted by: Penelope | May 12 2021 5:38 utc | 121