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Campaign 2016, Foreign Policy, Intelligence, Media, Obama Administration, Politics, Secrecy, Trump Administration
German Intel Clears Russia on Interference
February 15, 2017 • 60 Comments
Exclusive: Mainstream U.S. media only wants stories of Russian perfidy, so when German intelligence cleared Moscow of suspected subversion of German democracy, the silence was deafening, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.
By Ray McGovern
After a multi-month, politically charged investigation, German intelligence agencies could find no good evidence of Moscow-directed cyber-attacks or a disinformation campaign aimed at subverting the democratic process in Germany. Undaunted, Chancellor Angela Merkel has commissioned a new investigation.
President Barack Obama talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G7 Summit at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria, Germany, June 8, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Last year, Berlin's two main intelligence agencies, the BND and BfV (counterparts of the CIA and FBI) launched a joint investigation to substantiate allegations that Russia was meddling in German political affairs and attempting to shape the outcome of Germany's elections next September.
Like the vast majority of Americans malnourished on "mainstream media," most Germans have been led to believe that, by hacking and "propaganda," the Kremlin interfered in the recent U.S. election and helped Donald Trump become president.
German intelligence agencies rarely bite the hand that feeds them and realize that the most bountiful part of the trough is at the CIA station in Berlin with ultimate guidance coming from CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. But this time, in an unusual departure from past practice, analysts at the BND and BfV decided to act like responsible adults.
Whereas former CIA Director John Brennan prevailed on his analysts to resort to anemic, evidence-light reasoning "assessing" that Russia tried to tip the U.S. election to Donald Trump, Berlin's intelligence agencies found the evidence lacking and have now completed their investigation.
Better still, the conclusions have been reported in a mainstream German newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, apparently because a patriotic insider thought the German people should also know.
Lemmings No Longer?
If BND President Bruno Kahl thought that his own analysts could be depended upon to follow their American counterparts lemming-like and find evidence – Curveball-style – to support the U.S. allegations, he now has had a rude awakening.
CIA Director John Brennan at a White House meeting during his time as President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser.
When the joint investigation was under way with his analysts doing their best to come up with reliable evidence of Russian perfidy, Kahl had behaved like his BND predecessors, parroting the charges made by his CIA counterpart, that the Russians were fomenting uncertainty and instability in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
In a rare interview with the mainstream newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, on Nov. 28, 2016, Kahl went out on what he probably thought was a safe limb, denouncing subversive "interference" by the Russians ("as they did in the U.S."). He was just a few months into his job and may have been naïve enough to consider what John Brennan said as gospel truth. (If he really is that gullible, Kahl is in the wrong profession.)
In the interview, Kahl played the puppet-doll Charlie McCarthy with Brennan in the role of Charlie's ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. Kahl told the Sueddeutsche that he agreed with the U.S. intelligence "assessment" that the Kremlin was behind the cyber attacks aimed at influencing the U.S. election.
He added: "We know that cyber attacks are taking place and that they have no purpose other than to produce political instability. … Not only that. The perpetrators are interested in delegitimizing the democratic process itself. … I have the impression that the outcome of the American election has evoked no sadness in Russia so far. …
"Europe is [now] the focus of these disruption experiments, and Germany especially. … The pressure on the public discourse and on democracy is unacceptable." Sound familiar?
Still, one might excuse the novice BND president for assuming his analysts would remember which side their bread is buttered on and follow past precedent in coming up with conclusions known to be desired by their masters in Berlin and the CIA.
So it must have come as an unwelcome surprise to Kahl when he found out that, this time, BND analysts would stand on principle and refuse to be as malleable as their Washington counterparts. His analysts could find no proof that the Kremlin was working hard to undermine the democratic process in Germany, and said so.
Worse still from the U.S. point of view, the two German intelligence agencies resisted the usual pressure from some senior leaders in Berlin (perhaps including Kahl himself) to jam whatever innocuous information they could find into the anti-Russian mosaic that Washington was constructing, a kind of Cubist version of distorted reality.
And So, a Do-Over
So, what do powerful officials do when the bureaucracy comes up with "incorrect" conclusions? They send the analysts and investigators back to work until they come up with "correct" answers. This turned out to be no exception. Absent evidence of hacking directed by the Kremlin, the Germans now have opted for an approach by which information can be fudged more easily.
CIA seal in lobby of the spy agency's headquarters. (U.S. government photo)
According to the Sueddeutsche, "Chancellor Merkel's office has now ordered a new inquiry. Notably, a 'psychological operations group' jointly run by the BND and BfV will specifically look at Russian news agencies' coverage in Germany." We can expect that any articles that don't portray Vladimir Putin in a devil's costume will be judged "Russian propaganda."
For guidance, Merkel may well give the new "investigators" a copy of the evidence-free CIA/FBI/NSA "Assessment: Russia's Influence Campaign Targeting the 2016 US Presidential Election." Released on Jan. 6, the report was an eyesore and embarrassment to serious intelligence professionals. The lame "evidence" presented, together with all the "assessing" indulged in by U.S. analysts, was unable to fill five pages; filler was needed – preferably filler that could be made to look like analysis.
And so, seven more pages were tacked onto the CIA/FBI/NSA Assessment, even though the information presented in them had nothing to do with the cause celebre of Russian hacking. No problem: The additional seven pages bore the ominous title: "Annex A: Russia – Kremlin's TV Seeks To Influence Politics, Fuel Discontent in US."
The extra pages, in turn, were then used to support the following indictment: "Russia's state-run propaganda machine contributed to the influence campaign by serving as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences."
Did an Insider Leak?
It is not clear how the German daily Sueddeutsche acquired the conclusions of the joint investigation or even whether it has the full 50-page copy of the final report. The newspaper did make it clear, though, that it now realizes it was played by Kahl with his unsupported accusations last November.
Russian President Vladimir Putin answering questions from Russian citizens at his annual Q&A event on April 14, 2016. (Russian government photo)
From what the newspaper was told, the analysts seemed willing to give the boss what he had already declared to be his desired conclusion, but the evidence simply wasn't there. The article quotes one security expert saying, "We would have been happy to give Russia a yellow card," a soccer metaphor referring to improper conduct. A cabinet source lamented, "We found no smoking gun."
Initially, the BND and BfV planned to release excerpts of their still classified inquiry, the Sueddeutsche reported, but it's now not clear when, if ever, the full report will be released.
The day after the Sueddeutsche story appeared, some other media outlets reported on it – briefly. Newsweek and Politico gave the scoop all of three sentences each. Not fitting with the preferred "Russia-is-guilty-of-everything" narrative, it then died a quick death. I have been unable to find the story mentioned at all in major U.S. "mainstream media" outlets.
If Americans became aware of the story, it was probably via RT – the bête noire of the abovementioned CIA/FBI/NSA report condemning Russian "propaganda." Can it become any clearer why RT America and RT International are despised by the U.S. government and the "mainstream media?" Many Americans are slowly realizing they cannot count on American network and cable TV for accurate news and are tuning in to RT at least for the other side of these important stories.
It was from a early morning call from RT International that I first learned of the Feb. 7 Sueddeutsche Zeitung report on Germany's failed hunt for evidence of Russian electoral interference.
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. An intelligence analyst for 30 years, McGovern was CIA's senior representative to the Analysis Department of the BND during the late 1970s.
Tags: Angela Merkel CIA Donald Trump Germany Ray McGovern Russia
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60 comments for "German Intel Clears Russia on Interference"
I have found that a daily wipedown with a solution of 60% vinegar and 40% citric acid eliminates almost all the commies from under my bed. Incidentally, it also tones my tummy and removes the bags from under my eyes.
I think that Ray McGovern's statement that Americans should rely on RT rather than the MSM is so far-fetched that he sounds a lot like Donald Trump. Statements like that tend to help to portray Consortium News as fake news. I know I'll hear all kinds of flak for saying this but take a good look at the opinions of a lot of the posters here supporting Donald Trump. Obama is not President any more. It is time to take a good long look at who you are supporting.
It is better to balance suspect sources than to trust any of them. The US oligarchy controls all large US media, so they are primarily propaganda operations. The US right wing seeks to create enemies to steal public funds for the MIC and Israel, which makes RT an essential balancing source.
Very few of the commenters here are naive about Trump, and few have made conclusions.
Daniel Borgström
Once again, our suspicions are confirmed. The "Russia-did-it" story was just another lie.
RBHoughton
Snowden has told us the economies of Japan, Germany and Brazil, three of America's greatest commercial competitors, have been accessed by NSA and each of those countries can be shut down in an afternoon – their electric power, water supply, air traffic control, railways, fuel distribution for vehicles, everything.
Ms Merkel's choice is compete submission to requirements or the collapse of the German economy.
I live in France and recently saw "Le Monde" headlines that Germany and France were worried by fears of Russian interference in their elections this year. This is just hyping up fears among so many who absorb the MSM, but based on NO FACTS.
Russia is just a convenient patsy.
ctrl-z
Breaking: German intelligence report shows Russia was too busy hacking the U.S. election to interfere in Germany's.
Patricia Victour
If your cable/satellite company offers it, give RTAmerica/International a look – It's on DISH in my area, or online at http://www.rt.com. What a breath of fresh air after the miasma at CNN/MSNBC, etc. Yes, it's state-sponsored, but at least you are aware you are watching state-sponsored content, whereas here in good ole USA, we are supposed to lap up every drop of spoiled milk fed to us by the MSM. If you are a better-informed person, you can quickly spot any possible Russian "propaganda" and then check for yourself with your own trusted sources (Consortium, etc.) to see if you are being misled. Chances are, generally, that you are not.
Isn't it obvious? The Russians have infiltrated the German intelligence agencies!
Die Anstalt, broadcast by the German TV channel ZDF. on trans-Atlantic swinger clubs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkldaRRPAw4
I am assuming you are being facetious. If not . . .
A little snark there
Obviously Putin's influence from the 1980s when he was an evil spy in Dresden and learnt German too well!!
I thought it was mermaids and witches and sorcerers. Or perhaps they infiltrated Russia first.
Lin Cleveland
Hey there, Ray McGovern! Thank you so much for exposing us to the truth. Just this week I heard an MSM reporter speak of Russian hacking as if the politically motivated accusation is a proven fact. The reporter didn't even say "alleged" hacking and I thought that omission a gross attempt to propagandize the U.S. citizen.
The "smoking gun" is Israeli interference in our politics to advance Israeli "security interests".
Not like it ever happened before:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4549995/george-w-bush-iraq-threat
germanboy
As a German, I can confirm that the foreign policy attitude regarding Russia, Middle East etc. is more or less the same as compared to the US. There is absolutely no evidence for Russian influence on German internal policy topics? Fine, let's keep on digging.
Influential members of almost all parties except the far left and journalists of almost all influential media outlets are involved in US-European think tanks or transatlantic "networks". Involvement of MSM journalists in belligerent foreign policy drafts and positive reporting about those drafts at the same time has long been exposed by investigative media. Many other myths (Damascus sarin attacks, White helmets, moderate syrian opposition) have been exposed by a small group of sincere and thoroughly working journalists – the vast majority of this alterntive journalism has been broadcast in public state-financed media. So there is still some resistance against the "group think" that rules Germany and has been tightening its grip during the last 6+ years (remember that our former chancellor Schröder refused to participate in the Iraq war and Germany's refusal to participate in the NATO campaign in Libya in 2011).
Tragically, I have to admit that over the past few years, Germany (while e.g. having promoted detente with Russia for decades) has been continuously developing a state of political and medial hysteric group think, that according to consortiumnews has been haunting the US for the past decades.
Joe J Tedesky
So should we Americans along with you Germans look towards Iceland for inspiration? Also good to hear from a European, we the people of this world should develop a more frequent conversation link with each other….good to hear your citizen opinion.
R.F.
The story of russian interference in the german election was brought up by Merkel together with the "fake news" accusations in her press conference right after Obamas farewell visit. If you watch or read what she said on that occasion, the striking thing is the lack of grammar and coherence in what she actually says.
It is obvious that she is being bullied and she plays along. What I fear is , that this will get worse. Once upon a time Germany and France stood up against the empire by denouncing the illegal war on Irak together with Russia. So France got the chance to make good on its lack of obedience and was allowed to lead the charge on Libia (just look up "Sarkozy" and "Wisner" to see, how neatly this was done). Merkel tried to resist, when it came to escalating Ucraine in 2015. I suppose that the current act of resistence by BND staff will just mean they will be bullied into submission.
By the way, I find it quite devastating that even on this site people have swallowed the "Russia stole the election" story. How at all ? Use your brains!
You are absolutely right, the fake news scare started around that time. Nevertheless, there has been unrest because of fake news in the past, you might want to google the "Lisa rape in 2016". Protests of russian immigrants in Germany against Merkel's migration policy (even Mr Lavrov intervened) because of an alleged rape of a 14 year old girl by refugees, which indeed turned out to be fake – the aforementioned clearance of Russia concerning interference in Germany also refers to that case.
The newest spin-off went viral yesterday, when news reports claimed emerging fake news in Lithuania concerning German soldiers raping minors during their NATO deployment which is also "alledgedly" orchestrated by Russia.
We have been lied to so many times, I'm not buying anything anymore. Sadly, media criticism in Germany has early been co-opted by very far-right movements which makes it very hard for people like me (that are not aligned to those racists) to criticise media coverage based on knowledge like this article without being denounced as a racist/conspiracy theorist/russian spy.
Interestingly, we had several intelligence leaks in the past that contradicted official German/EU/US foreign policy.
In leaked secret files, Turkey was slammed for acting as a "central playground for jihadi terror" and Saudi Arabia for their support of terrorism and war crimes in Yemen.
None of these stories was able to survive longer than a day due to reluctant coverage in the MSM.
Talking about Ukraine, Germany is surely aligned with US foreign policy. But if it was not for Merkel (and Obama giving her political cover for this in 2014), the current diplomatic approach to solving the crisis (in great need of improvement as it may be) would have been obsolete and thrown over by the powers that want escalation.
In fact myself I defected from MSM in may 2014 over Ukraine. As I can only think in basic terms my calculation was this: If they are lying to me on this, and they are doing it so obviously, this can only mean that they have been doing it all along. This means that you have to review the very foundations of your thinking. You see, our german grandfathers went to their graves as the assholes of the universe. There is nothing to discuss about this. Still, they knew a bit about the era they had lived in. And twenty years on, our media are telling us to support those fascists in the Ukraine? This is the decisive overstretch of the Western empire which we have all embraced with all our (very german) credulity towards the state. It hearts but we have to define what is true and what is detestably rightwing, and what is not.
You're absolutely right.
Although I'm not an expert in Iceland's foreign/internal policies, I do feel that we need to fight against the belligerent responses that have been emerging in the past years, not least because any escalation with Russia / a new cold war, will potentiall devastate Europe – and we've had enough of this.
The "rare interview with the mainstream newspaper" link is broken. Please fix. Thank you.
Bryan Hemming
The problem with Angela Merkel is that her family was one of the few that actually moved to East Germany when it came under communist rule. As the East German government exercised rule using the iron fist of the infamous Stasi it should come as no surprise that in order to get on it was essential to conform. Angela Merkel got on.
The East German communist government was more like the Third Reich with a change of clothes and a new flag than anything, and was the most tightly-controlled of all the East European satellites. The Stasi performed like the Gestapo. The idea of blind subservience to a super-power comes naturally to her, and replacing the former USSR with the US as a master fits her psychological make-up.
Adapting to the current mantra is part of her psyche, radical change is not. At this point in time she can no longer see which side of her bread is buttered, and is desperate to hang on to power. Like much of Europe, Germany is becoming more and more polarised with illiberal liberals on one side and right wing fanatics on the other. Many Europeans long for the illusion of security strong government gives them. With financial ruin looming they are grasping at straws. The Western world is facing disaster and our leaders are burying their heads in the sands.
Russia is not the problem, the United States is.
F. G. Sanford
"There was no smoking gun". That's always the convenient truth on either side of these controversies. As Dr. Walt Brown (the Kennedy researcher, not the crackpot physicist – some people confuse them) points out, "It's impossible to prove a negative to a certainty." I liked the mermaid analogy: "We haven't searched every inch of the oceans, so it's impossible say for sure."
What most people seem to fail to grasp here is what's at the crux of the issue. We now have "intelligence" agencies acting as though they have a prerogative to certify elections. What could possibly go wrong? A totally unelected, unaccountable. prepotent permanent bureaucracy masquerading as the guarantor of democratic stability? Don't look now, but the ancient Romans tried that shit. They went from 'Roman Republic' to 'Roman Empire' to 'Roman ruins' in the historical blink of an eye. The entire Michael Flynn saga is a perfect example of "shadow government" subverting a publicly elected administration. Regardless of anyone's distaste for the individuals involved, this represents perversion of the democratic process. And you, Brutus?
But, I watched that video of Maxine Waters talking to the "President of Ukraine", and all my concerns were relieved. Nope, those hackers don't stand a chance – not when we've got intelligent, articulate, insightful, knowledgeable and informed elected representatives like Maxine guard-dogging the democratic process! The "Deep State" just doesn't have a chance. They'll never put one over on Maxine!
Lastly, I'm curious to know how often the Supreme Court overturns its own decisions? For those expecting accountable legislation, it seems their focus is misdirected. These are legislative issues, but the misinformed and largely illiterate U.S. population apparently thinks it's the Supreme Court's duty to create rather than interpret laws. That would be the exact opposite of "democracy". The Supreme Court is an unelected bureaucracy as well, and recently, that have done little to curb the abuses of state tyranny. Just sayin'…and keep in mind, sarcasm and sanctimony are not the same device!
I kind of became convinced the Supreme Court went sour, first with Earl Warren and his Warren committee report on the JFK assassination, and then with the Supremes voting Equal Protection Clause was 7–2, and regarding the lack of an alternative method was 5–4 outcome thusly putting in office our forty third president…well that kind of did it for me.
Got to love Maxine. I picture her as a rather nice lady, and when the Democratic Party calls she ends her call with, 'okay so the Russians hacked sweet dear old friend Mrs Clinton, oh how's Hilary doing, tell Bill I said hello, now did Putin personally listen in on Hillary'? We should always remember that these politicians are beholden to somebody, I mean that's what politicians do….right? Remember Scott 'I'm like Reagan' Walker thinking he was talking to the Koch brothers? Funny how comedians and pranksters reveal more truth than our MSM.
We should take bets on if the Deep State's candidate for the presidency is Mike Pence, or should we review what happened to Spiro Agnew? Before that could we expect a in the dead of night change of leadership in the House? I know to much caffeine, but this is America where everything is big…including coups, and yet everyone thinks we never had one. Fact of the matter is America has had maybe one to many coups to count, but who noticed…no one.
Maybe Escobar is right. That this is going to plan, and Flynn had to go, but I'd like to ask Pepe why so much with the theatrics? Why not just replace Flynn, and tell the media to ease up a bit. I think Donald put the candle in his cake when he went down to Langley and forgot to bring the donuts. I think when we turn on CNN, or MSNBC, we are watching the front line of a war. Call it nationalist against globalist tug of war, call the two sides whatever name you like and what ever struggle metaphor you wish to use, but there is every reason to believe that this is a huge power play going down in real time action that we are watching it all unfold on our tv's at home…but America doesn't have coups…say it again, and then say it some more until you totally convince yourself and then go register to vote…it's the American way.
Sheldon Wolin and Inverted Totalitarianism
By Chris Hedges
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/11/02/sheldon-wolin-and-inverted-totalitarianism
Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism (2008)
By Sheldon S. Wolin
https://cryptome.org/2013/01/aaron-swartz/Democracy-Inc.pdf
"Under inverted totalitarianism," writes Wolin, "economics dominates politics – and with that domination come different forms of ruthlessness." The hijacking of American government by corporations has permitted the military-industrial complex (which, in a clever sleight of hand, is no longer considered part of the government) to bleed the country.
2014 Interview with Sheldon Wolin: Can Capitalism and Democracy Coexist?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGc8DMHMyi8
Yes, the Supreme Court is the committee of subversion of the Constitution, and they are very dedicated to that, solemnly announcing constitutional principles whenever that coincides with their corrupt purposes, lying as to the facts and law whenever that is profitable, and ignoring every other case altogether. They take only about one percent of the cases brought to them, and never ask for more resources to handle the others, which tells the whole story.
I know all of this from great personal experience in civil rights litigation.
The judiciary cultivates the science of lying and nothing more. It becomes sharply more corrupt from bottom to top. There is rarely a need to review a corrupt decision unless someone missed an opportunity to lie, and the ones at the bottom are trying hard to prove their ability to lie, cheat, and steal in judicial sounding tones. One would have to get rid of nearly every one of them to have a working judiciary.
Just today I spoke with a corrupt clerk at the Supreme Court, Jacob Travers, whose job is to suppress cases they don't want to take. His trick is to complain that the type size of petitions is wrong after the plaintiff has spent thousands printing it in just the right type style and size. he has done that to me several times, boldly lying and ignoring all facts and evidence, just like his bosses. Would he care to check the type size of some sample pages in different font brands of that same style, so that people know what font brand to buy before they have their documents printed? No, he reuses to do that. Just send him new boxed printed sets of documents, at thousands per experiment, until one meets his approval. He is allowed to do that with instructions as to which cases are allowed even to be presented to the court.
Think I'm making this up? Be my guest and try it, and see for your self what a sewage pile the Supreme Court is.
I'm hoping that it is a good sign that the German foot soldiers assigned to do the investigation stood their ground when handing in their findings to their masters. Remember the New York FBI team who didn't want to let go of Weirners computer and wanted to pursue investigating Hillary's emails, same thing the lower classes have had enough. So I hope this German reporting being honest, and not finding any Russian involvement in their election processes is score one for the people.
Reading some of the comments, I can't help but think of Craig Murray, and then Seth Rich. Not that I found the two names to have any solid connection, but that both names run a parallel in a possibly of duality.
Now here is an article which hits the nail on the head about another politician in our system who is at that very moment being demonized by the neocon establishment, and could use our support.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2017/02/david-gornoski/sacrifice-tulsi-gabbard/
Saving Tulsi could be just as important as standing off a MIC/Deep State take over of our democracy….considering she would make a great 36th president, if Trump is not replaced sooner.
Paul Craig Roberts from his view point calls it like it is. Read about it…..
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2017/02/16/trump-presidency-rip/
Pepe Escobar has a take on Flynn's resignation where he quotes the predictions of Mr X once more, and totally sees a much different chess game going on here.
http://thesaker.is/the-swamp-strikes-back/
I lived in Germany 1969-1983. I had family members in the East. My uncle, whom we really liked, turned out to be a Stasi. You all think this is funny, no problem. There are loyalties that I believe USA citizens do not understand. Please call me or contact me for my family's story. Born in 1963 by an American soldier and a German young woman. I know where of I speak
And I can translate it into good English.
N Dalton
Yuri,you are not welcome here – your comment lacks `basic respect and tolerance` and can not be accepted.
Wm. Boyce
Well, this is good that the Russians didn't interfere in German affairs. Doesn't mean they didn't have a go of it here, especially when they had so much to gain from a Trump "victory." Let the congressional investigation begin.
Also, how do we really know that there aren't mermaids? And furthermore how do we know that mermaids didn't swing the election? We haven't searched every inch of the ocean, and we don't know their intentions, assuming of course that they exist. Which seems like a reasonable assumption because it's obviously in their interest to exist.
Wm. Boyce, see my comment reply to CitizenOne above. There was an investigation and there's not proof of Russian interference. None.
backwardsevolution
RPDC – thank you for the humor. I read your comment out loud to my son, and we both had a good laugh.
Wm. Boyce – thank you for the laugh too. Congressional investigation? Bring it.
Exactly, let us put the dark state to investigation of the influence of witches and sorcerers. They have overlooked the obvious explanation and must be got back on track immediately.
Tell us about how well that has worked out, Wm.
CitizenOne
As best as I can figure, the lie that the Russians "swung" the election has been thoroughly debunked by this website since day one. This German Intel conclusion also finds there is no credible evidence of a Russian hand in the US election.
The common theme here is a global military industrial complex which is seeking to make Russia the big bad bear while scant few sources are independent enough from "the machine" to be heard above the media soap box news. It is sad that we need foreign sources of intelligence to verify what is obvious.
This whole thing with Flynn is a disgrace only because he lied. It is the age old tale it is not the act, but lying about it that condemns him. He should have said "yeah I called Putin, wished him a merry Christmas and said don't worry, now that we are in power we're gonna ditch Obama's sanctions. Easy on the trigger finger cowboy".
Just like Clinton should have said "Yeah I had sex with Monica. Next question?"
One thing is clear. Here in the USA there is every intention by the US media to blame Russia for everything.
I have an idea for an alternative narrative for the media to counter their "Blame the Russians" for everything.
How about if the media runs story after story on the front pages of every newspaper and website about the influence of dark money in our recent election? A full expose would be intriguing. I bet there is a really sinister plot there of some media moguls who viewed the passage of Citizens United as a ticket to their gravy train and how they suppressed news about the Supreme Court decision from the news since they knew people would object to the poisonous influence of corporate money in politics and how they knew they would be the net beneficiaries.
I bet they knew they were putting Trump out as bait to lure billions in ad revenues from 14 republican wannabies.
Does creating a puppet to lure money count as influencing an election? Hmm.
Who is the bigger enemy?
I happen to agree with Trump that the media is the enemy!
There is zero chance the media will frame the current fight over Supreme Court nominees in the light of which nominee might overturn Citizens United and which one won't. In case you have been living under a rock, that really is what the real battle for the Supreme Court is over and is also the real reason why it has been an especially vicious fight. It is especially vicious because it is all about money and political elections and who will control the government. One might think there would be some news coverage of the event.
What we hear about the election "It's the Russians" and what we do not hear about the election "It's the money" in America about who is to blame for the results is highly slanted away from the real root cause "the money" and focused on a phantom menace"the Russians"
CitizenOne, actually we have a reliable source of investigation about the so-called Russian "hack." It's the VIPS (Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity), about thirty or so retired CIA, NSA, FBI, military professionals who sent a long memo to Obama explaining that there's no proof that Russia hacked the DNC or tried to hijack our election. (That's what our country does.) People should know there's no proof and, in fact, the DNC wasn't hacked to reveal emails but rather the emails were a LEAK. Period. Also, Assange said vehemently that it was a leak. He should know. But as noted above, the MSM doesn't care about the truth, just wants to continue smearing Putin so we can eventually bring a war on that country, just as Hillary and the neocons wanted. Iran does not export terrorism either, yet it's a constant barrage of newspeople saying so, once again using the old tactic of repeating a lie so much that it becomes the truth in the majority's minds. People commenting here and reading this site know better but are not representative of main street in small towns or rural areas or even the cities.
I'm trying to figure out the best time to get out of this country and find some place better to live, say Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland….there are other places not run like this ignorant country. My friends in other countries think the USA is crazy.
The USG is crazy and tantamount to being hopeless, but I would invite your friends to take the essential action required of foreign states to correct the situation. They are quite welcome to begin the process of surrounding and marginalizing the US, which is the only path to reform of a totalitarian plutocracy. All western countries should dump the US from NATO and the UN, dump all US entertainment and mass media, dump the dollar, and denounce the US loudly for all of its interventionism. Then they will see a very slow enlightenment in the US.
Brad Owen
I doubt the sovereign independence of the European nations, and the sovereign independence of the Five Sisters, as the Deep State intelligence community refers to them (Australia, Canada, N.Z., U.K., USA). These nations have been turned into mere provinces of an over-arching covert, Empire, run from City-of-London and Wall Street (a tory town; and BTW RELYING on USA manpower to staff their Imperial Legions which is punishment for Washington, Lincoln, FDR and JFK/RFK/MLK, so we wouldn't even be allowed to withdraw from NATO. we're captives to Empire, same as the others), and their various meetings of their Managerial Elites at CFR, Trilateralists, Bilderbergers, Davos, Mt. Pelerin, ad nauseum. This has been a-building since the days of Cecil Rhodes' RoundTable Group, and the PanEuropa Project of the Synarchist Movement for Empire, going back a hundred, hundred fifty, years ago. WWII was their first attempt at bringing these plans to fruition. They've spent the intervening years working out the bugs of their plan to re-launch under an asymetrical WWIII, which has been going on since Sept. 11th, 2001…BUT… BRICS and New Silk Road, is giving serious pushback, hence all the hysteria about Putin and Russia, and Trump's "threatened" detente with Russia.
Considering a move to Nordic countries? Welcome!
Some possibly useful info for you, those who do not plan a move can skip this post.
I have experience mainly of Finland and Sweden (double citizen). You will, however, be disappointed on the MSM of these countries. During the election, the reporters/correspondents referred only to info from CNN, NYT, WaPo, so that the residents in these countries live with the same crooked picture of reality as in the US. It takes a lot of initiative to find sites like Consortium and other "fake news", but judging by the reader discussions in the newspapers, quite a lot of people do take the trouble to find a more balanced view. And immediately they are classified as Russian trolls by other debaters.
The election systems in both countries would be a delight for you. In Finland there are usually 5-6 candidates for president and (note!) all of them participate in the debates on TV. All are on the ballots during the first round. If no candidate receives over 50% of the votes, there is a second round between the two best candidates. The fight for the second place can be quite close.
And yes, there has been a woman president also.
Sweden is a monarchy, so no president. The Prime Minister is a near equivalent. In the parliamentary election there are several parties available, big and small. The strongest party in the election gets the Prime Minister post. Governments in both countries usually consist of more parties than one, coalitions are negotiated after the election.
And guess what: the results are counted within a few hours and results are confirmed in the early morning hours. Early / absentee voting is done well ahead of the elections, so all these ballots are at their districts before the counting starts on the election day.
It is a mystery for me, why the vote counting is such a mess in the US, and then come the re-counts and attacks on electoral college members, and Supreme Court involvement…
Long gone are the days when Sweden gave asylum for Vietnam war deserters. Now Sweden does exactly what US expects.
Finland has traditionally kept close contact with the Russian leaders, with personal visits back and forth. Last summer, Putin visited Finland for discussions with the Finnish president during half a day. Swedes are traditionally irritated by this and criticize Finland. Now they have seemingly had to swallow their criticism as the Swedish Foreign Minister has agreed to visit her Russian counterpart in Moscow.
Immigration has been a huge problem in both countries, and the massive waves of refugees in 2015 forced the earlier so liberal Swedish government to close the borders and start controlling travel documents of all persons, entering the country. Many refugee smugglers were caught, this had become a fantastic source of income for greedy criminals. There are regular attacks and fires at the refugee housing centers.
Finally very positive news for you if you are in the child bearing age: both countries have very generous maternity and baby care systems. Parents can care for the newborn at home for abt. 1,5 years at the government's expense, and the employers must give them parental leave for this period and must take them back after it. The leave is usually divided between parents as they choose.
Still coming? Start learning a language and getting used to the dark winters. In summer there are no nights at all, for compensation. Why did you leave Norway out from your list? It is a very nice place also. If you like fish.
By the way, in both countries a photo ID is a must when voting in any election, and the citizenship must be confirmed.
JWalters
Thanks for this important report. Perhaps the Zionist grip is starting to slip.
In another noteworthy analysis today –
"The Israeli interference in our politics is the conspiracy in plain sight that no one in the media talks about because they're too implicated themselves."
http://mondoweiss.net/2017/02/interferes-politics-scandal/
You're an idiot, plus some other expletives.
His post provides no evidence of that. Yours is not a fair response.
It is amazing that the German intel analysts actually told the truth, and that lies were not substituted. Clearly they don't have our brand of Democracy™ and have not learned that virtue=money, deals=productivity, gangsterism=aristocracy, tyranny=justice, democracy=mob rule, good government=subversion, humanitarianism=perversion, us=good, them=bad. We may hope that the US will retaliate by abandoning NATO.
Bill Bodden
Given Angela Merkel's tolerance for being spied on through her cell phone and, most likely, other communication devices, there is no reason to believe she will pursue evidence not in line with Washington's agenda.
Andrew Nichols
Looking to fit some facts round a policy….I wonder where we have seen this before. Wouldnt be an election on would there – Frau Merkel?
Dprang
In USA, there were deliberate attacks on the DNC but if Russia was involved which I believe in USA, it was concentrated on that election. I can understand chancellor Merkel would want to ensure it is not happening. I cannot think of anything worse for democracy if we cannot believe in the integrity of our vote.
doray
There is zero evidence of Russian interference in the US election. The bogus claim is the DNC's weapon of mass distraction from the fact that they ran the worst possible candidate, after rigging the primary against the best possible candidate.
The real enemy of We the People is the deep corporate state, which has been rigging elections for decades.
Virginia Jones
Absolutely right! I just wish Americans could read or see the truth!
You believe it???Why is that, when there is NO evidence, and as we see now, Trump gives NO support to Russia-just the opposite, and Pres. Putin and his team are far too sensible and experienced to have expected anything different. To pretend that the US system is democratic is farcical, and to blame Russia just makes the whose country look ignorant.


text:
BC SPCA > News Stories > Celebrating Canada 150
Celebrating Canada 150
From bison to bears to bighorn sheep, it's no secret that Canada is home to some amazing wildlife. Each year, millions of people visit our national parks, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of these iconic species.
"This mass appeal has a downside, however," says Meghann Cant, BC SPCA animal welfare educator. "It can put animals – and the habitats they depend on – at risk." The risk is especially high this year, as admission to all national parks is free in celebration of our country's sesquicentennial.
Fortunately, Cant says, there are some precautions you can take to help keep our wild spaces, and their inhabitants, wild:
1. Don't feed wildlife
"It's actually illegal to feed wildlife in our national parks," says Cant. Feeding wild animals causes them to lose their natural fear of humans. Over time, they can become dependent on handouts and may behave aggressively towards people and pets.
Feeding doesn't have to be intentional. "Animals are attracted to a range of smells," she says. "Even an empty dog food bowl can draw in an unwanted visitor!" Store all food and food-related items according to park guidelines.
"Also, don't toss things like apple cores or banana peels out the window as you're driving," adds Cant. Food scraps can lure wildlife dangerously close to the road, putting them at risk of getting hit.
2. Stick to the trails
"It can be tempting to leave the beaten path," says Cant. "But creating your own trails damages vegetation and disturbs wild animals."
The same goes for dogs! Dogs who roam free can chase or even attack wildlife, and some wild animals may respond aggressively. "Off-leash dogs can lead carnivores such as bears and cougars back to your family," says Cant. "Ungulates like elk could associate your dog with a wolf or coyote and attack."
For everyone's safety, keep your dog on a leash at all times unless in a designated off-leash area. "Some parks also have ecologically sensitive areas where even on-leash dogs aren't allowed," she adds.
3. Don't take wildlife selfies
"Now's the time to invest in a camera with a telephoto lens or a good zoom function!" says Cant. Approaching wild animals too closely causes them stress, and can put you in harm's way – especially when they feel cornered.
Parks Canada recommends that you keep at least 30 metres away from large animals and 100 metres away from bears. "Following animals or making sounds to startle or move them to get a better shot is also a no-no," she says.
4. Watch the roads
Roadways attract wild animals because they provide easy travel and access to forage. Be alert while driving, especially at sunrise and sunset when wildlife is most active. "Watch for shining eyes," says Cant. "And, remember, if you spot one animal, look for others because animals often travel in groups."
When you come across a traffic jam caused by roadside wildlife, it's tempting to pull over and jump out for a closer look. But remaining in your vehicle and passing by slowly is your safest option.
For more information, check out Park Canada's "Keep the Wild in Wildlife" tips.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Experts warn upcoming Libyan elections unlikely to heal rifts
Experts warn upcoming Libyan elections unlikely to heal rifts /node/1979851/middle-east
Delegates take part in an international conference to support the stability of Libya ahead of the country's presidential elections in December, in Tripoli, Libya, October 21, 2021. (Reuters)
https://arab.news/p4v5j
Christopher Hamill-Stewart
Armed groups have reportedly already strongarmed voters at polling stations and the full list of candidates has still not been finalized
LONDON: The political situation in Libya will remain unstable whether or not planned elections go ahead later this month, experts have warned, pointing to legal, political, and security failings that endanger stability in the near future.
In an event hosted Thursday by London think-tank Chatham House and attended by Arab News, a panel of speakers outlined their grim predictions for the future of Libya's political roadmap.
Wolfram Lacher, senior associate at the German Institute for International Affairs, warned that the political situation is even worse than in the lead-up to the 2014 election, which ultimately saw the eruption of conflict between Tripoli and Benghazi-based parties.
"The current situation is immensely more problematic than it was in 2014. It's not comparable at all," said Lacher.
Parliamentary and presidential elections are planned for Dec. 24 for the first time since the cessation of hostilities in a civil war between the Government of National Unity's Tripoli-based forces, the Government of National Accordand Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army, based in Benghazi.
Lacher explained that the years of division that ensued during that civil war have led to a more divided country than in pre-2014.
The creation of rival administrations, Lacher said, "essentially led to the whole constitutional architecture of Libya breaking down. There is no basis anymore than anyone agrees on."
He continued: "We've had two civil wars in Libya since (2014) that have inflicted deep rifts on the social fabric. The militias have grown incredibly powerful since 2014, and much more politically involved."
But Lacher warned that the legal process convened to run this month's elections actually threatens to enflame these divisions, not heal them — as the election was intended to do.
Libyan authorities are currently embroiled in a dispute over the legal basis upon which certain candidates, such as former Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, could run. Some candidates have argued that Dbeibeh should be barred from running for President because he did not comply with laws that force officials to resign a minimum of three months before an election takes place.
But these ostensibly legal technical issues — that appear administrative in nature — have an important role in deciding the outcome of the vote itself, as well as the political reality and intra-Libyan dynamics in the days following the vote.
Experts warned that militias and armed factions could refuse to accept the vote if it does not go their way, and use legal issues, such as certain candidates being allowed to run, as grounds to delegitimize the entire process. It is not clear what would happen if losing candidates choose to do this.
Zahraa Langhi, member of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, told participants that both the LNA and GNA are currently benefitting from a political stalemate in Libya, and so they have no true interest in seeing a free and fair election carried out.
"The current political stalemate, the political fragmentation — all these forces are benefitting from it," Langhi said, explaining that any delay in the election could "reward" those who spoil the election's integrity.
She also said that interim governments, convened as part of international multilateral measures, "failed miserably" to rectify Libya's political fragmentation — despite that objective being a "major, basic milestone in the roadmap to creating national unity."
Langhi lamented a failure by the UN to engage effectively with actors on the ground in Libya.
"The (UN) special envoy is leaving (his post) in a couple of days, leaving the whole process without oversight."
She said that the UN has left the issue of vetting candidates — fundamentally important to a safe and secure election — to Libya's judiciary, which she believes has "failed to address the issue."
Now Libyans are left with a series of candidates that Langhi said do not provide any real choice for Libyans, the most prominent of which are former Prime Minister Dbeibeh, former warlord Haftar, and possibly even Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi — son of late dictator Muammar Qaddafi. "This cannot continue," she said.
But Otman Gajiji, former chairman of the Libyan High National Election Commission, cast doubt on the possibility that Libyans will manage to vote freely and fairly at all.
Not only do Libyans not have enough time to familiarize themselves with the dozens of candidates currently in the running for election, he said, but a series of attacks on polling stations are a grim omen for voting day.
"There are new unofficial reports that four polling stations were attacked by armed groups in Aziziya, and one was in Tripoli — all voter cards, or most of the voter cards, were taken by these armed groups. For me that is a very bad sign," Gajiji said.
He added: "We are 22 days, three weeks, ahead of the elections. Such events are not a good indicator for the near future, or for the future of the elections."
Topics: Libya Libyan elections British think-tank Chatham House
Libya court reinstates Qaddafi presidential bid amid election chaos
Libyan elections must be held on time, says Egyptian president
Sudanese forces open fire on anti-coup protests, killing 3 /node/2006241/middle-east
Updated 32 sec ago
Monday's deaths bring to at least 67 the number of people killed in near-daily demonstrations in the capital of Khartoum and other cities and towns in Sudan
Activist Nazim Sirag said three protesters were killed when security forces opened fire to break up a march in Khartoum — several others were wounded by gunshots
CAIRO: Sudanese security forces opened fire on protesters Monday, killing at least three people and wounding several as thousands took to the streets in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country to denounce an October military coup, activists said.
The military takeover has scuttled hopes of a peaceful transition to democracy in Sudan, more than two years after a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime autocrat Omar Al-Bashir in April 2019.
The turmoil has been amplified after Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok stepped down earlier this month. Hamdok resigned after his efforts to bridge the gap between the generals and the country's pro-democracy movement failed.
Monday's deaths bring to at least 67 the number of people killed in near-daily demonstrations in the capital of Khartoum and other cities and towns in Sudan.
Footage circulating online shows protesters, mostly young people, marching in the streets of Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman. There were also protests in Port Sudan, Wad Madani Obaid and the western Darfur region.
Activist Nazim Sirag said three protesters were killed when security forces opened fire to break up a march in Khartoum. He said several others were wounded by gunshots.
The Sudan Doctors Committee, which is part of the pro-democracy movement, also reported the deaths and said dozens of others were wounded Monday in Khartoum.
The fatalities will likely further complicate UN efforts to find a way out of the ongoing crisis. The United Nations and Western governments have widely condemned the crackdown on protesters.
The demonstrations are called by the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Resistance Committees, which were the backbone of the uprising against Al-Bashir. The two groups reject negotiations with the military, insisting it hand over power to a fully civilian government to lead the transition.
The generals, meanwhile, reject the protesters' demands, saying that power will be handed over only to an elected government.
Topics: Sudan protests abdalla hamdok Omar Al-Bashir
Sudan to establish anti-terrorism force — Sovereign Council /node/2006226/middle-east
Updated 8 sec ago
Huge crowds have regularly taken to the streets demanding a return to civilian rule since a military coup on Oct. 25
Sudan's Sovereign Council is to establish an anti-terrorism force to counter "potential threats," it said in a statement on Monday.
Huge crowds have regularly taken to the streets demanding a return to civilian rule since a military coup on Oct. 25 ended a power-sharing arrangement that began after autocrat Omar Al-Bashir was toppled by a popular uprising in 2019.
Topics: Sudan Sovereignty Council of Sudan Omar Al-Bashir
Political consensus, elections needed to resolve Sudan crisis: El-Sisi
Two-year suspension for Jordan MP Al-Riyati after 'violent, indecent behavior' /node/2006221/middle-east
Raed Omari
Representative says fisticuffs 'a defense of God and honor of female colleague'
AMMAN: Jordanian MPs on Monday imposed a two-year suspension on their colleague Hassan Al-Riyati for "violent and indecent behavior" during the lower house's session on constitutional amendments.
A majority of lawmakers voted in favor of the parliamentary disciplinary committee's recommendation to impose a two-year membership freeze on Al-Riyati, a representative of Jordan's southern port city of Aqaba.
Al-Riyati was among three other MPs who engaged in fisticuffs when the chamber descended into a mass brawl on Dec. 28 last year following a heated discussion over controversial constitutional amendments.
The incident began after a session opened with a discussion on proposed constitutional amendments, under which the term "female Jordanians" was added to the title of the second chapter of the constitution on Jordanians' rights and duties.
Some MPs, especially women, claimed that the amendment will create discrimination between Jordanians based on gender.
The heated discussion ignited verbal altercations and an exchange of insults between House Speaker Abdul Karim Dughmi and Deputy Suleiman Abu Yahya, who accused Dughmi of an "inability to run the show."
In press remarks following Monday's session, Al-Riyati described the decision to suspend him as "unfair and biased," adding that the disciplinary committee's report on the case was "inaccurate and faulty."
Al-Riyati said that the committee recommended no disciplinary measures against other lawmakers who were also involved in the brawl.
"No single punishment was imposed on the MPs who insulted God and our female colleague using blasphemous and indecent behavior," Al-Riyati added.
The lawmaker said that he would challenge the suspension decision or would resign. "All options are on the table now, but I have not made up my mind yet."
Following the session on Dec. 28, Al-Riyati was given a hero's welcome by his supporters in Aqaba, about 300 kilometers south of the capital, Amman.
At the time, the deputy justified his violent behavior during the session as "a defense of God and the honor of his female colleague."
Topics: Middle East Jordan
Jordan parliament descends into mass brawl over amendment
Jordan reports 'dramatic' increase in drug smuggling attempts from Syria
Turkish court rules to keep philanthropist Kavala in prison /node/2006211/middle-east
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2019 that Kavala's rights had been violated and ordered his release — but Turkey has repeatedly refused to do so
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly disdains Kavala, accusing him of being the 'Turkish leg' of billionaire US philanthropist George Soros
ISTANBUL: A Turkish court ruled Monday that prominent Turkish civil rights activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala should stay in prison, despite his more than four years in pre-trial detention.
The hearing took place as a Council of Europe deadline that could trigger infringement procedures looms. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2019 that Kavala's rights had been violated and ordered his release. But Turkey has repeatedly refused to do so.
Kavala, who is in Silivri prison on the outskirts of Istanbul, did not participate in the hearing in line with an October statement that he would no longer attend trials via video conference because he didn't have faith the court would deliver a fair trial.
Kavala, 64, is accused of financing nationwide anti-government protests in 2013, attempting to overthrow the government by helping orchestrate a coup attempt three years later and espionage. He denies the charges, which carry a life sentence without parole.
He was acquitted in February 2020 of charges in connection with the 2013 Gezi Park protests. As supporters awaited his release, Kavala was rearrested on new charges. The acquittal was later overturned and linked to charges relating to the 2016 coup attempt, which the Turkish government blames on the network of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who denies any ties to the coup.
That trial is now part of a merged case involving 51 other defendants, including fans of the Besiktas soccer club who were acquitted six years ago of charges related to the Gezi protests before that decision also was overturned. Kavala is the only jailed defendant.
Kavala's lawyer, Koksal Bayraktar, had demanded his release.
"His continued imprisonment for 1,539 days is the continuation of lawlessness identified by the European Court of Human Rights," Bayraktar said. "End this lawlessness today so our client gets his freedom."
Taksim Solidarity, a group defending the small Gezi Park in central Istanbul, said before the third hearing that the peaceful 2013 protests, which were based on constitutional rights allowing citizens to demand democracy, couldn't be tarnished through the judiciary.
In October, Kavala's case also caused a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and 10 Western countries, including the United States, France and Germany, after they called for his release on the fourth anniversary of his imprisonment.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly disdains Kavala, accusing him of being the "Turkish leg" of billionaire US philanthropist George Soros, whom Erdogan alleges has been behind insurrections in many countries. He threatened to expel Western envoys for meddling in Turkey's internal affairs.
The European Court of Human Rights' 2019 decision said Kavala's imprisonment aimed to silence him and other human rights defenders and wasn't supported by evidence of an offense.
The Council of Europe, a 47-member bloc that upholds human rights, notified Turkey in December that it intended to refer the case to the court to determine whether Turkey refused to abide by final judgments, which are binding. It called on Turkey to release Kavala immediately and conclude the criminal procedures without delay. It asked Turkey to submit its views by Jan. 19 before a Feb. 2 session of the council.
Kavala is the founder of a nonprofit organization, Anadolu Kultur, which focuses on cultural and artistic projects promoting peace and dialogue.
The next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 21.
Topics: Turkey Osman Kavala Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkey extends detention of civil society leader Kavala
Three years in Turkish jail, philanthropist Kavala gloomy over Erdogan's reforms
Egypt, Algeria discuss foreign interference in Libyan affairs /node/2006141/middle-east
Mohammed Abu Zaid
FMs call for exit of all mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libyan territory during talks held in Cairo
Meeting touched on several issues of mutual interest, including developments in Sudan, Mali, and the Sahel and Sahara region
CAIRO: Egypt and Algeria agreed on the necessity of stopping any foreign interference in the affairs of Libya and the exit of all mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libyan territory during talks held in Cairo between Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra.
Lamamra's visit to Cairo, which began on Sunday, is the second in his capacity as a special envoy of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Egypt is the third Arab stop in the Algerian foreign minister's Arab tour, which he began in Saudi Arabia with the delivery of a written message from Tebboune to King Salman. Abu Dhabi was the second Arab capital Lamamra visited.
During the meeting, Ambassador Ahmed Hafez, the official spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, stated that the two ministers expressed pride in the relations between Egypt and Algeria and a desire to continue strengthening cooperation across various fields, including in economic and investment opportunities.
He added that the meeting touched on several issues of mutual interest, including developments in Sudan, Mali, and the Sahel and Sahara region. The two ministers stressed the need to coordinate within a framework of joint African action in a way that enhances efforts to achieve peace, security and prosperity on the continent, especially in light of the various security challenges.
They also stressed the importance of advancing Arab efforts in a similar way within the framework of the Arab League.
Topics: Egypt Algeria Libya Sameh Shoukry Ramtane Lamamra
Powers urge Libya to keep poll plan, want mercenaries out
Libyan rivals ink initial deal on pullout of mercenaries


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The young writers in our Wordplay Club write collaboratively and on their own.
Do your children love to write?
If so, Mentor Public Library has the perfect club for them—two actually.
Our Write On club is for teens. It meets on the third Monday of every month at our Main Branch.
They use different writing prompts and brainteasers to hone their writing skills. Any teen who wants to join their ranks is welcome. It's a fun, supportive place to practice and improve your writing with other teens who are doing the same thing.
Our next meeting is 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 16, at our Main Branch. You can register for it on our website.
Teen writers can hone their craft together at our Write On Club.
Likewise, we also have our Wordplay Club for younger writers in third through sixth grade.
They try different ways to boost their creativity. For example, sometimes they use randomly selected words to create a story or create poems with refrigerator magnets.
Wordplay Creative Writing Club meets at 4:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of every month at our Main Branch. The next meeting is Oct. 11.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Mentor Public Library, Wordplay, Write On, writing, writing club. Bookmark the permalink.


I made a rotisserie herb crusted bottom round for dinner a couple days ago. I use my black and decker toaster oven with the rotisserie kit for smaller roasts and it cooks beautifully. Anyone else here cook like this?
Years ago we would regularly rotisserie chicken, turkey, and some cuts of read meat. My wife bought a Ronco Showtime Rotisserie and it got a lot of use.
My friend is very good chef.


For starters, if you find yourself dealing with high stress levels often, cut out caffeine and other stimulants. Jumpstart your day with exercise instead. Physical activity can help boost your metabolism, make you happier and reduce the levels of stress hormones in your body. Of course, one of the other obvious things you can do to reduce stress is get enough sleep -- according to the National Sleep Foundation, the average adult should get seven to nine hours of sleep every night.


Our current system for medical innovation, though heavily financed by public money, has evolved into a business model designed to maximize return on private investment. It is not effectively responding to critical public health needs and incapable of upholding the right to health. Most new medical products offer little added therapeutic benefit, and the few that do are priced too high for most people and health systems. A radically new approach, "Health Innovation as a Public Good", is needed to reinstate medical innovation for the public interest. This approach is designed to promote innovation that improves public health outcomes globally, harnessing society's scientific and technological progress to deliver needed health technologies that are accessible and affordable.
This new approach combines elements from the first-generation non-profit Product Development Partnerships with the government responsibility, financing and leadership present in other sectors of strategic importance such as aerospace and defense. Focused on delivering therapeutic advances, it pursues a mission-oriented R&D pipeline informed by global public health needs. Publicly financed and under direct public leadership, it identifies priorities, deploys public and private sector implementing partners, allocates resources, manages portfolios, and makes critical decisions in a transparent and accountable way. Committed to open science and the commons, results are made publicly available to promote data sharing, crowdsourcing, and follow-on innovation. The resulting therapeutic interventions are public goods that can benefit all.
Financed by public money and not aimed at generating financial return, this new approach is cost-effective and sustainable. As it generates cheaper medicines for all public health needs, the Health budget's savings made when buying these medicines are reinvested for further innovation. Taken together with less wasteful R&D processes, a broader spectrum of health needs can be addressed in a more efficient way.
For a sustainable solution to the chronic crisis in access to medicines, the way in which medical innovation is defined, conducted, regulated and financed must be redesigned. It should be redirected to improve health outcomes as a matter of social justice and rights; not to generate profit. Medical innovation must be designed to generate improved health interventions, available and accessible to all, and contribute to the progressive realization of the right to health. For the purpose of this submission, "Public Health Innovation" will be used to designate medical innovation that addresses unmet health needs globally and delivers therapeutic advances that are affordable and accessible to all .
Despite the widespread belief that biomedical innovation has led to an era of unprecedented medical progress, there is mounting acknowledgement of the deficiency and inefficiency of our current medical innovation model . This model fails because it lacks public health directionality, leaves pharmaceutical innovation in the hands of a profit-driven system that provides few levers for the public to control the way priorities and prices are set, misdirects incentives for research which results in wasteful and duplicative processes, relies on high rent-seeking private finance, and has become unaffordable even for the wealthiest health systems.
In the current model, governments reward private investors who develop new health technologies with patents and monopoly pricing in a non-transparent "market." This is so even when significant public investment has supported research and irrespective of a new product's added therapeutic value. Economic and regulatory incentives have resulted in a highly financialized pharmaceutical business sector that fails to deliver the public health innovation we need. The majority of new medicines brought to market offer no therapeutic benefit over existing medicines. The few new drugs that do are unaffordable for most, save the wealthiest and well insured. Critical health needs remain unmet, such as treatment for poverty-related diseases, multidrug-resistant bacterial infections, and emerging infections like Ebola and Zika viruses . Though the challenge of access to medicines has long been a concern for low- and middle-income countries, high prices now threaten equitable access to treatment in the world's wealthiest countries.
The UN High-Level Panel has the unprecedented opportunity to call for a radical change. It should recommend a new approach to medical innovation that transforms the way the world treats medicines and other health technologies—not as luxury commodities but as public goods. Public Health Innovation must be driven by public health needs and social justice; be transparent and accountable to the population; and deliver products and interventions that improve health outcomes, and that are accessible and affordable to all. This new approach should harness science and technology for the public interest, not profit. It should not rely on private capital that needs return on investment to finance research and development.
This submission lays out the principles of such an approach, but the details—particularly around implementation and governance—will require further thinking and discussion among a broader group of stakeholders, which the panel could initiate.
"Health Innovation as a Public Good" (the "New Approach") combines elements from the first-generation Product Development Partnerships (PDPs), that manage not-for-profit needs-driven health technology development, with the government responsibility that is assumed in other sectors of strategic importance such as aerospace and defense.
In this New Approach, a decentralized network of public and private partners is implementing a mission-oriented R&D pipeline, tightly managed according to target product profiles informed by patient and public health needs. Financed by public money, the network functions under direct public leadership, has a participatory governance structure, and is ultimately accountable to citizens. Following R&D priorities defined by WHO and including all unmet global health needs, it identifies Public Health Innovation opportunities, allocates resources, manages portfolios, and makes critical stop/go decisions in a transparent and accountable way. Results are made publicly available to promote transparent data sharing, crowdsourcing, and follow-on innovation. Resulting therapies are public goods and available at a small margin over cost in what is essentially a generics market (under government license or contract).
In order to be financially sustainable, and in contrast to current approaches that focus on neglected diseases, the New Approach is applied across all global public health needs including therapeutic areas that are targeted by the commercial system and consume a large part of governments' pharmaceuticals budget (e.g. cancer, hepatitis C, cardiovascular disease). The substantial savings generated from less costly medicines in these areas can be pooled and allocated to Public Health Innovation responding to all health needs, for instance through a global biomedical R&D fund as proposed by others .
Given that it focuses on what the commercial system does not deliver, the New Approach is expected to develop in parallel, building upon ongoing public-interest initiatives that could come together into a crosscutting approach to advance the right to health and address public health needs, utilizing public resources in a cost-effective way.
- It considers Public Health Innovation a public good, which does not need to generate return on financial investment. It will be financed by public funds and be driven by public leadership, though the private sector would play an important role as a partner in the innovation process.
- It presents a structural, global, transformative and rights-based solution to the chronic problem of unequal access to medicines and to misdirected medical innovation that results from a market-based approach to health; it is not simply a remedy for the worse symptoms of that approach.
The current R&D system delivers what it was designed for: sales, profits, and a prosperous pharmaceutical industrial sector. These objectives shape R&D priorities, processes, and financing, in ways that often conflict with Public Health Innovation that is accessible and affordable to all.
Goal: Health-needs are prioritized, available scientific knowledge is utilized, and the sole aim is to improve health outcomes.
The lack of Public Health Innovation has been well documented for so-called type II and III diseases, which predominantly affect people living in developing countries. Yet, other health needs remain sidelined, including new antibiotics to combat growing multi-drug resistant infections. Only when infectious disease outbreaks become a global security concern is there financial incentive to fund needed R&D efforts—as with the Ebola and Zika virus outbreaks. Disease prevention and cure is neglected, as chronic or life-long treatments offer better prospects for medicines sales.
Profit motives also create wasteful distortions in the drug R&D processes. Most critically, research skews toward what can be patented and commercialized, rather than what brings most medical benefit. When those two objectives occasionally overlap it is by chance; not design. In its most extreme manifestation, commercial disease mongering has artificially created markets, as in the cases of restless leg syndrome, pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder, or low testosterone. In 2014, 41% of new drugs approved by the FDA targeted rare diseases. While such treatments are needed, Orphan Drug legislations that guarantee high prices and generous profit margins may further skew R&D priorities away from public health needs. A recent study found that in cancer research, many more trials test treatments that could prologue survival of terminal patients by a few months than that would improve long-term survival for early stage cancer patients. The latter studies take longer and are more complex, clashing with financial markets' demand for immediate gains.
The efficiency of the R&D process will dramatically increase by focusing squarely on improving health outcomes, without needing to take into consideration patentability, financial markets, or commercial prospects. It will target resources to address public health needs, determined by a WHO-driven process that can build on the recently created Global R&D Observatory. It will mobilize the world's scientific knowledge and technological capacity to provide cost-effective solutions for those needs. This may involve acquiring government access to patented technologies to further the public interest, as allowed under international law . Freed from the need to only pursue patentable technologies, a wealth of scientific opportunities that remain unexplored—or have been abandoned—will become viable.
Regulatory reform that demands evidence of improved effectiveness over existing options is a straightforward but crucial change that could be enacted today, improve the efficiency of the current system significantly, and be catalytic towards the aspired "Health Innovation as a Public Good" approach described here .
Goal: Public financing for that is cost-effective, sustainable, transparent and accountable to the tax payer.
There is significant public investment in R&D throughout the process, including basic research on which much biomedical and medical R&D relies. Product development is often financed, in part, by private capital. The pharmaceutical industry justifies high drug prices by citing the need to yield returns on such investments and to fund future innovation. Despite the lack of transparency on the actual cost of commercial R&D , it is clear that financing medical innovation with private capital is needlessly costly, and that the public ends up paying twice—once for the research, and again for the pricey medicines.
In recent years, the pharmaceutical sector has become exceedingly "financialized." It is interdependent with speculative financial markets and relies on equity investors and venture capital seeking to maximize returns in the short term. This is made possible by high drug pricing in a third-party payer "market," and driven by aggressive marketing. Focused narrowly on maximizing shareholder value, pharmaceutical companies spend more on repurchasing their own corporate stock and boost their stock prices than on R&D, while stifling innovation.
In addition, policy makers often assume that public research funding should be used to promote knowledge-based economic growth—by de-risking and bankrolling private sector efforts—rather than to further public health goals. As a result, public investments are typically undervalued when risk and rewards for medical innovation are assigned, and decisions on R&D priorities and prices are left to the private sector despite that their primary objective is to maximize shareholder value.
Because it relies on public financing (possibly supplemented by philanthropic funding), this approach does not require private capital, which is expensive and demands high and quick returns. Instead, by generating affordable medicines in place of expensive products, the savings produced within health budgets by buying cheaper medicines will be invested in R&D for the public interest, which itself would be less costly and wasteful than the current commercial model (see 3.3).
Though the risk of failure exists at each step along the R&D pipeline, the current system has institutionalized and accepted failure as inevitable attrition, without disciplining it, while transferring its cost to the payer through ever-higher prices.
A related inefficiency is that the pharma industry discards many potential medical breakthroughs simply because they are non-patentable (compounds that are already known, previously patented, or not inventive enough). Similarly, research efforts are wasted by trying to "invent around" competitors' patents and by trying to find a patentable compound within a compound class of proven benefit. Other inefficiencies result from research secrecy, causing duplication—if not distortion (see 3.4)—of results, as well as from the lack of mission-oriented research (i.e. with the goal of improving a specific health outcome) that characterizes much of the curiosity-driven or technology-driven innovation.
If the need for patent protection is removed, medical innovation can benefit from existing knowledge, as shown by DNDi's development of fexinidazole, a resurrected drug candidate that is currently in phase III clinical development as a breakthrough therapy for sleeping sickness, a neglected disease.
In contrast to basic research, biomedical innovation to address health needs and improve health outcomes must be guided by the end result, and closely managed to achieve to desired outcomes (not just scientific publications). An inspiring example from another sector is DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In contrast to NIH and other public health research funding schemes, where funding decisions are based on scientific merit as judged by peer-review, DARPA commissions mission-oriented project research to tackle a well‐defined innovation challenge. Funding recipients are judged based on whether they have met specific milestones, and the development process is actively managed.
An interesting step into that direction was the creation of the US National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Established to fund and accelerate translational R&D, it focuses on mid to late stage development of new health technologies. By transferring these to the private sector for end-stage development and commercialization, it essentially subsidizes and de-risk the private sector within the current commercial model. As a consequence, and critically distinct from a Public Health Innovation approach, there is no commitment to affordable pricing that would reflect the public contribution, nor is there a development pathway for technologies that could address unmet health needs that are not commercially attractive.
Another interesting example to learn from is BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. It was created by the US government to develop, manufacture and procure medical countermeasures to respond to health security threats like chemical and biological incidents or attacks and public health emergencies, showing that it is possible to harness government responsibility towards needed health innovation, if considered a strategic priority.
Much wasteful R&D could be eliminated and promising avenues could be freely and fully explored by actively managing mission-oriented R&D projects and portfolios in ways that are analogous to DARPA, BARDA and PDPs. Available science and technology can be harnessed as needed by obtaining government licenses with sole goal of addressing health needs and improving outcomes. The New Approach relies on a combination of grants, milestone prizes, and contracts to enlist relevant public and private partners. Guided by public health needs, independent of patentability or commercial prospect, and focused on efficiency and cost-effectiveness, the economics of Public Health Innovation are more amenable to public financing.
Goal: Reliable and publicly available evidence on safety and efficacy, in particular comparative effectiveness, obtained through independent studies, with open and transparent methods and shared data.
Safety and efficacy research and documentation are held by researchers and companies with vested financial interests in positive outcomes. Under the guise of commercial confidentiality, a systemic lack of transparency in the underlying research data and methods precludes adequate oversight and exposes people to potentially harmful treatments.
Companies tend to highlight products' potential benefits while downplaying their harms, including hiding known risks. The cases of Vioxx and Avandia are just the tip of this iceberg. In addition, and as highlighted under 3.1, regulators do not require drug makers to demonstrate improved effectiveness over existing products. This has incentivized a flood of "me-too" drugs for which the benefits are not established, but are promoted through heavy marketing30. The public health perils of this situation are increasingly highlighted by public health and human rights campaigners worldwide.
Beyond these harms, there is massive waste and duplication in both public and private clinical research as a result of non-published and non-shared research data.
An independent global network of existing clinical trial centers committed to Public Health Innovation, will conduct open source public interest clinical research under public leadership. It will work in close collaboration with regulatory and health authorities to design and conduct the clinical development of new candidate treatments with potential public health impact to demonstrate improved effectiveness over available interventions in a cost-effective way. Clinical trial designs, methods, results, and data will be in the public domain, providing full transparency, including on costs, and allowing follow-on research.
Like the regulatory reform proposed under 3.1, building such an independent clinical trial network and initiating public-interest trials is a crucial, and potentially catalytic step towards "Health Innovation as a Public Good" that can be implemented today.
1. Medical innovation can be described as the process by which society addresses individual and public health needs by developing novel preventive or therapeutic strategies that improve health outcomes. Health technologies like diagnostics, medicines, vaccines and medical devices, individually and combined, are elements of that process - tools to achieve improved health outcomes. Medical innovation is thus much broader than developing novel health technologies – it's about devising and implementing strategies and health interventions that improve health outcomes at the community level, which may or may not include using health technologies (often referred to as health commodities).
10. We use the term Public Good in a broad way, to indicate goods that are benefiting all and therefore should be available to all, a commons rather than a private good (as opposed to the narrower economic meanings it also has).
19. IP-based incentives are fundamentally unsuited to drive Public Health Innovation. This is mainly because: 1) there is no intrinsic connection between patents and improving health outcomes for patients (patentability criteria do not include improving patient outcomes, and it is impossible to know at the moment when a patent is applied for whether or not the patented technology will work in patients); 2) there are many opportunities for medical innovation that fall outside the realm of technologies that can be patented, such as open source research, innovation in health service delivery, developing off-patent compounds, adapting dose-regimens, or combining existing drugs; 3) many health technologies that are being patented and developed have little or no therapeutic value, but nonetheless are marketed aggressively and divert needed health care resources; and 4) IP is ultimately a tool to reward (private) financial investment, which is at odds with a commons-based approach to providing affordable access to needs-based medical innovation in the most cost-effective way.
28. There is a longstanding debate (e.g. D Light, 2011, http://bit.ly/1rpmlV1; S Morgan et al, 2011, http://1.usa.gov/1XPSO6i) about the actual cost of developing a new medicine, with cited figures ranging from less than US$40 million in actual R&D expenditures in a non-profit context such as PDPs (e.g. DNDi, 2014, http://bit.ly/1ceGd9w) to US$2.6 billion taking into account the costs of capital and failures in a financialized business model (e.g. Tufts University, 2014, http://bit.ly/1Hfvx6G). Without entering into this discussion here, a critical factor in estimating the cost of bringing successful medical innovation to the patient is the way in which the risk of failure, or attrition, is taken into consideration. Unfortunately there is little debate or transparency about how R&D processes as described here influence attrition rates, and therefore the overall cost of R&D, thereby validating perpetuating the statistics of an inherently wasteful system.


- Decide who you are dating service Tinder like is too much trouble. Fortunately, an American student found a solution: a sensor that feels how sweaty your hands are when you see profiles.
True Tinder Love Robot is actually an artificial hand with underneath sweat sensors and a screen. On screen profiles are displayed in the app and on the basis of how well the skin conducts electricity, which in turn will change based on how much you sweat, swipet hand to the left or right.The sensor is a project of telecommunications student Nicole Hey. She made it to the course ' Introduction to physical computer technology.


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Volvo CE Names 2019 Dealer of the Year and Uptime Dealer of the Year Winners
6/15/2020 By Press Information
Volvo Construction Equipment has named Tyler Equipment its 2019 Dealer of the Year in North America. The company also awarded Housby Heavy Equipment the title of 2019 Uptime Dealer of the Year.
Tyler Equipment is the Volvo Construction Equipment 2019 Dealer of the Year for its commitment to customer service, business success and strong culture.
The Dealer of the Year award recognizes the dealership in North America that best promotes the Volvo brand and the company's core strategies: to provide the highest uptime in the industry, offer unique customer solutions and ensure the best value at any stage in a machine's lifecycle.
Massachusetts-based Tyler Equipment's commitment to those areas contributed to its outstanding performance last year by growing general purpose equipment retail market share by 37% and road machinery equipment market share by 25% for the products they serve in their territory.
"Being in business for 98 years speaks for itself. The team at Tyler focuses on the customer first, and that's exactly as it should be," said Stephen Roy, Senior Vice President Region North America. "They understand what it means to be a unique solutions provider and focus on customer uptime."
Tyler Equipment was founded in 1922 and still has third- and fourth- generation family members at work. With more than 50 employees, the company provides sales, service, parts and rentals across southern New England. Their strong family culture, dedication to building and fostering long-term customer relationships and promoting the Volvo brand have resulted in tremendous gains.
"It's an honor to be the Volvo Dealer of the Year," said M. Brooke Tyler III, president. "We're dedicated to serving our customers with a personal touch, and we value the relationships we've built. For Volvo to recognize that just confirms it's the right way to do business."
Spotlight on Uptime
The Uptime Dealer of the Year award recognizes the North American dealership that demonstrates Volvo's commitment to being the No. 1 uptime provider in the construction industry, including with its new Service Commitment pledge to provide customers unrivaled service and support.
With Des Moines, Iowa-based Housby Heavy Equipment, these are not just words. Their actions prove their dedication to keeping their customers up and running. One example is keeping a fully stocked parts department, which allowed them to achieve 98% parts availability in 2019. Another is the outfitting of nine Mack trucks to use as service trucks to help improve customer uptime.
"From our expertly trained service staff to our dedicated customer service representatives, from our large parts inventory to our mobile lube truck, we are set up to help keep our customers on the job and productive," said Kelly Housby, President of Housby Heavy Equipment. "Uptime is a priority for our customers, and it's our priority, too. When we took over the Volvo CE distributorship, our focus was to hire the best parts and service team, followed by a great sales team, and build a culture that totally supports uptime with the integrity and care of the entire organization."
Housby joined the Volvo CE dealer network in 2017 and has represented Mack Trucks since 1969. The solid reputation for service that they've earned as a Mack dealer is replicating across its growing construction customer base.
Said Roy: "Housby's dedication to continually improving customer service and uptime are increasingly setting them apart from their competition. They are truly partners in making sure machines are working when they need to be."
John Krantz
Volvo Construction Equipment North America
jkrantz@2rm.com
Volvo Construction Equipment Americas
dave.foster@volvo.com


Veloce ® cycling and bike rental company : Hiking shore excursions close Sorrento and Naples.
Hiking shore excursions close Sorrento and Naples.
Few pictures from an hiking excursion arranged at the Avella castle, located between Naples and Vesuvius volcano, close 45mins by car from Naples or Sorrento. Usually this castle is closed and are opened for our company by local cultural association.


With Essential – the new Rieter Digital Spinning Suite platform, the company writes a new chapter in the digitization of spinning mills. The platform makes it possible to operate and control spinning mills with just a few clicks. It visualizes potential improvements for the entire spinning process at a glance. Essential offers more flexible and more accurate functionality than any other available solution; it is open to third-party applications.
Essential provides fact based optimization proposals, key performance indicators and even predicts downtime risks. This powerful tool supports management activities with comprehensive and clearly arranged digital analytics. With Essential you are unlocking the full range of digital value creation possibilities for your mill.