News Miscellany

[Watser?]

Ironically Land Day commemorates an event when Israelis murdered 6 Palestinians...

Forty-two years ago today, Israeli police shot and killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel as they were protesting the Israeli government's expropriation of thousands of donums of Palestinian land.

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/indept...054113738.html

[Watser?]

Furious China ramps up support for Russia on Skripal, calls West's actions "outrageous"

Which of course they are, with the state and corporate media acting like prostitutes, pretty much like they did before the Iraq war.

[Watser?]

And of course Israel's puppet regime vetoes any possible UN action: US objections at the Security Council encourage Israel to continue its aggression

[Watser?]

Proud war criminals

[Watser?]

When placed in the context of the global anti-Russia propaganda campaign spearheaded by Britain’s Conservative government, Thursday saw the greatest Easter miracle since Christ rose from the dead.

For weeks, the world’s media has cited uncritically government claims that double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned March 4 with a “weapons grade” nerve agent, known as a Novichok.

The agent was described as so deadly that the comatose Skripals were unlikely to ever recover, and that if they did they would be brain damaged and physically compromised. On Wednesday there were even media headlines that their life support might have to be turned off.

Yet Thursday saw reports from Salisbury NHS foundation trust that 33-year-old Yulia is no longer in a critical condition and was “conscious and talking.”

Yulia Skripal “improving rapidly�: The unravelling of the Russian Novichok narrative - World Socialist Web Site

[erimir]

It's true, the fact that the daughter, who was not the primary target and is in her prime years, was only comatose for almost a month after receiving fairly prompt medical treatment and remains in critical but stable condition shows it wasn't that deadly of a poison.

Why are people making such a mountain out of a molehill?

[Kael]

I mean, we can't very well hold people responsible for unsuccessful assassination attempts, now can we?

[Watser?]

Pathetic, so that's the new party line?

[But]

What's the alternative? A false flag operation?

[erimir]

Originally Posted by article Watser linked to

Above all there has been no convincing political explanation advanced as to why Russia would target the Skripals.

Look, former Russian spies who defected and gave information to UK intelligence are being poisoned and there's no reason to think it's connected to Russia, because, like, what's the motive?

Anyway, if "conspiracy theories" are advanced concerning Israel, the US or other Western governments, they are prima facie trustworthy. But if they concern Russia, Assad, Palestinians, or adversaries of Western powers, they are just ridiculous lies.

Seymour Hersh has reported a ridiculously on-the-nose conversation implicating the US, but provides no actual evidence? Must be true.

Whereas all the evidence we've seen about Trump and Russia adds up to bupkis, and furthermore, it's all a conspiracy from the wild-eyed liberals in the FBI to hurt the Republicans, and they've enlisted governments around the world into it, apparently.

[Watser?]

Originally Posted by But

What's the alternative? A false flag operation?

By now I'd call food poisoning a more likely alternative than the crap the UK comes up with...

[slimshady2357]

Originally Posted by Watser?

By now I'd call food poisoning a more likely alternative than the crap the UK comes up with...

Holy shit.

[Watser?]

Seriously, you think they can make up this crap to start a war on Iraq, but not to start a (new Cold) war with Russia? May was expelling diplomats before there was any evidence. This of course is totally normal.

[But]

I would think hearsay, bad intelligence sources and dubious documents from Africa are a bit different than having a shitload of investigators on site and two people in hospital.

[Watser?]

Yet, without any evidence of Russian involvement. Sorry, still not buying.

[erimir]

And of course there had been inspectors in Iraq and they didn't agree with Bush's claims.

[Watser?]

No evidence. But hey, let's just keep pretending there is because that is soooo much more politically convenient for everyone concerned.

Porton Down experts unable to identify 'precise source' of novichok that poisoned spy

[specious_reasons]

Originally Posted by Watser?

No evidence. But hey, let's just keep pretending there is because that is soooo much more politically convenient for everyone concerned.

Porton Down experts unable to identify 'precise source' of novichok that poisoned spy

Wait, they've identified the poison as "novichok" which is a nerve agent developed in Soviet Russia. According to the linked article,

However, he confirmed the substance required "extremely sophisticated methods to create, something only in the capabilities of a state actor".

It's not like there's no evidence, only that there's no clear evidence the substance was sourced from Russia.

[Watser?]

Uh huh.

Of course the Russians were convicted as soon as this happened. And now that there's no evidence, there's still evidence. It's like the Flat Earth Society here.

[But]

Who was convicted? I must have missed that.

[Watser?]

Diplomats were evicted, so somebody must have been.

[Watser?]

Also funny that I was supposed to wait until the end of the investigation to draw the conclusion that the Russians are not guilty. And now, after the investigation says there's no evidence, apparently they are still guilty. Seriously, when did you all join this cult?

[specious_reasons]

Originally Posted by Watser?

Uh huh.

Of course the Russians were convicted as soon as this happened. And now that there's no evidence, there's still evidence. It's like the Flat Earth Society here.

They've identified the poison - there's evidence of a poison being used.

Are you saying there's no evidence of an intentional poisoning? Can an unintentional food poisoning be diagnosed as a nerve agent poisoning?

I mean there's a possibility that the government is lying, but it that the most parsimonious answer? The hospital staff would all be complicit.

[The Man]

I'm by no means conversant with the requisite issues here, but this appears to be something:

British security services 'locate covert Russian lab behind Salisbury poison plot and believe Putin's scientists ran tests to see if nerve agent was suitable for assassinations'

The reporting is kinda vague, so I haven't really made complete sense of it.

[Watser?]

So lemme guess, you're all buying the increasingly ridiculous (and always so well timed to distract from any problems Trump and Netanyahoo are facing) accusations by al-Qaeda's White Helmets of chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian army?

Thought so...