#Flashback #Syria

Syrian Revolution: "A Syrian officer would receive from 15 to $30,000 for betraying his country. A $137 billion wasted on the attempts to topple Assad’s gov, while some of these funds were stolen by field commanders that became millionaires overnight."

https://www.investorvillage.com/smbd.asp?mb=4165&mn=54592&pt=msg&mid=17721817

Space Oddities
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/06/space-oddities.html

Jeff Bezos is going to space, says a CNN report: Jeff Bezos will be flying to space on the first crewed flight of the New Shepard, the rocket ship made by his space company, Blue Origin. The flight is scheduled...

#UK #NATO #Estonia
#BlameRussia 🙃

https://www.rt.com/russia/525987-british-soldiers-drunk-fault/

British squaddies get drunk, must be Russia's fault! Analyst blames ‘Putin’s operatives’ after soldiers thrown off Estonian train

This is brilliant!

Want to become a journalist covering #Russia for Western media?

Once you get past self-serving bluster, it’s really a very safe, well-paid, and rewarding job but only on condition that you follow a set of guidelines

1. Mastering and parroting a limited set of tropes is probably the most important part of your work as a journalist in Russia. Never forget to mention that Putin used to work for the KGB. Readers should always be reminded of this:

2. Not sure who is doing what? Not sure how Russia works? Just make a sentence with the word ‘Kremlin’. Examples include “this will create problems for the Kremlin,” “the Kremlin is insecure,” etc.

3. This ‘Kremlin’- is always wrong, and its motives are always nefarious.

4. If visitors to your blog or Twitter criticize you for your one-sided coverage, don’t try to argue with them (or explain your reasoning). This will only hurt your professionalism. Instead, call them a "Putin propagandist" & block them on Twitter

5. Your job as a journalist isn’t to be objective. Instead, personal grievances against the Russian authorities should always be prioritized. Remember, Putin is the Stalin of our age.

6. Hyping anti-government demonstrations is of the utmost importance. A demonstration in downtown Moscow of 500 people, at which your fellow journalists outnumber the protesters? Revolution tomorrow!

7. An important rule is that reporting on Russia, for Western media, means NOT researching important issues or looking past the rhetoric. To partially invert what CP Scott once said, “Comment is free, and facts aren’t sacred.”

8. You must also learn to suppress any cognitive dissonance you might get from arguing that Russia is really weak & in a state of seemingly perpetual collapse (“dying bear,” “rusting tanks,” etc), but at the same time a dire threat to Western security & civilization itself.

9. Every non-systemic opposition member is a potential ally. Don’t cover any negative sides of these people, as this will only complicate things for your reader. Ignore that Navalny makes frequent racist remarks or how Pugachev was found 'highly unreliable' by a UK court, etc

10. Speaking of democracy – as far as a democratic journalist like yourself is concerned, anybody who is against Putin is a democrat. Even if they are not.

11. Most of the systemic opposition – i.e., those who participate in Russian elections – are really Kremlin stooges in disguise. Even though the Communists are by far the formal biggest opposition bloc, it's the people the West likes who are the “genuine Russian opposition.”

12. Everything in Russia involves around Putin. There is no one else in Russia, never was, and it is he who decides everything in the biggest country on this planet.

13. You must cultivate a burning, righteous hatred for RT, and anyone who works or even appears there. Never directly compare it with Western media bias, because that is “moral relativism” Attack them like your credibility is on the line! (And it is!)

14. While almost all Russia-focussed news outlets in the English language are state-funded, remember that only those supported by Moscow itself are bad. Thus, RT and Sputnik are “state-run.” But RFE/RL is “US funded" & Meduza & The Moscow Times are "independent," etc.

15. Whenever you study conflicts between Russia and other countries, always blame everything on Russia – regardless of objective facts, and especially when the conflict is with a staunch Western ally.

16. Guessing is fun! In the event you find guessing a bit too taxing on your imagination, just interview some marginal, highly unpopular Russian political figure like Gleb Pavlovsky, Valery Solovey or Evgeny Chichvarkin.

https://www.rt.com/russia/525873-russian-propaganda-western-narrative/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

#Ukraine #WarCrimes
June 2014
Regime bombing #Lugansk, killing civilians

Biden Seeks Allies For War On China
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/06/biden-seeks-allies-for-war-on-china.html

U.S. President Joe Biden is currently in Europe. President Biden @POTUS - 14:26 UTC · Jun 10, 2021 I believe we are at an inflection point in history. A moment where it falls to us to prove that democracies will...

G7: Desperately Seeking Relevancy | ZeroHedge
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/g7-desperately-seeking-relevancy

Brief interview I did while in Syria:

https://youtu.be/UOfzKn57yYY

Another 'Nuclear Iran' Claim By David Albright Gets Debunked
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/06/another-nuclear-iran-claim-made-by-david-albrights-isis-gets-debunked.html

Two days ago FOX News ran another sensational story about Iran's nuclear program. Satellite images of Iran nuclear site raise alarms as IAEA meets in Vienna However the claims in that story are based on a report by David Albright's...

So basically according to Spiegel if people post lists of Belarusian officials that have to be assassinated they are "heroes" but if a group on Telegram is against lockdowns its members are definitely "terrorists" and it must be closed. Tells a lot about Western dictatorships.
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-telegram-billionaire-and-his-dark-empire-a-f27cb79f-86ae-48de-bdbd-8df604d07cc8

Why Is There A Biden-Putin Summit And What Is It Supposed To Achieve?
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/06/why-is-there-a-biden-putin-summit-and-what-is-it-supposed-to-achieve.html

On June 16 the Presidents of Russia and the United States will hold talks: Biden ends the trip Wednesday with summit in Geneva with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. The White House announced Saturday that the leaders will not hold a joint...

Please Support Moon of Alabama
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/06/please-support-moon-of-alabama.html

This post is pinned to the top. Please scroll down for fresh content. --- Dear reader, your support is essential to keep this site going. Moon of Alabama provides news and analysis which other media cover late or not at...

Jeez, Whitney has gone through hell. Please support her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMZiQw-NruY

#Belarus

US, UK Information Warfare Behind Regime Change Drive In Belarus


https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/06/us-uk-information-warfare-behind-regime-change-drive-in-belarus.html

#Russia #Putin #NBC

Vladimir Putin answered questions from NBC correspondent Keir Simmons

http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/65861

#UK
Priti Patel’s new threat to British journalists

UK government’s little-known proposed reforms to Britain’s Official Secrets Acts pose far-reaching threats to the media and the public’s right to know. They could land journalists and others in jail for 14 years for publishing information the government claims damages national security.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-06-15-priti-patels-new-threat-to-british-journalists/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&amp&__twitter_impression=true

#Belarus #Ryanair flight
#Russia #Putin

Putin Teaching A Journalist And Other New Bits Around Ryanair Flight 4978

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/06/putin-teaching-a-journalist-and-other-new-bits-around-ryanair-flight-4978.html

#BidenPutinSummit

The plane with the Russian delegation and Kremlin pool could not land in Geneva for an hour due to the landing of the plane with Biden

https://sharij.net/samolyot-s-rossijskoj-delegacziej-chas-ne-mog-sest-v-zheneve-iz-za-posadki-samolyota-s-bajdenom-foto

#NorthKorea

North Korean defector says 'even North Korea was not this nuts' after attending Ivy League school

https://news.yahoo.com/news/north-korean-defector-says-apos-150720135.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABBGiiaNRo4fDR7omvanNfeetumsvfjLv3ykc0AVKgRQ1GH3lOZmNLObKGSsmtNfzi1_8tObxFhu9to-ZVKsRunQwL7sw8m9FHfNEG43zOcu6U0blHQPXSip4iZv8SkFSFWYxI4tO3Etie_BwjPaHCugQ2pPqy4ncLbAclU8Y7aV#click=https://t.co/tovbxP2cU2

#Ireland

Police are to be handed new powers, including the right to issue a fine of up to €30,000 to anyone who refuses to surrender an electronic device’s password

- evil #Russia!
- relax, it's #Ireland
- oh, that's ok then (if you're not Irish, that is)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/police-ireland-passwords-garda-siochana-b1865589.html

I didn't know at the time, but Biden actually had a teleprompter going at the Geneva press conference — which he wanted separately from Putin, so it could be noscripted and controlled. He even acknowledged he would call on the list of names "they" (his handlers) gave him. The White House press corps didn't mind, lapdogs of the Empire as they are. The only thing they wanted from Biden is fire and brimstone about "evil killer Putin."

Unfortunately for them, he did not deliver. Instead, there was a lot of Freudian confession through projection and admission that his understanding of Russia relies on the think-tank-land "experts" (you know, the people who've been catastrophically and entirely wrong for decades).

My take on Biden's presentation is that it further illuminates his reliance on, and preference for, the Narrative over reality. Maybe because his handlers think they can control it, by controlling the media coverage and language itself. Very Orwellian of them, indeed.

What I didn't manage to address in the op-ed, because I was running out of room, was his hinting at the US wanting a confrontation between Russia and China — another talking point from DC think-tankers, but one that is not grounded in reality at all. Biden is literally recycling Richard Nixon's foreign policy, from the time he was first elected to the Senate half a century ago, and thinking it will work again. I'd ask if someone wants to tell him, but... what's the point?