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But the question begs, “Did the Cold War ever end?” and if not, why should we believe that the CIA’s involvement in such activities is buried in its past and that it has “reformed” its old ways?

Western Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys News

In order to answer this question, let us visit the sad case of Udo Ulfkotte. Udo Ulfkotte [YD link] is a well-known German journalist and author of numerous books. He worked for 25 years as a journalist, 17 of which were for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), including his role as editor. In his 2014 book “Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys News” Ulfkotte goes over how the CIA along with German Intelligence (BND) were guilty of bribing journalists to write articles that either spun the truth or were completely fictitious in order to promote a pro-western, pro-NATO bent, and that he was one of those bought journalists.

In an interview, Ulfkotte describes how he finally built up the nerve to publish the book, after years of it collecting dust, in response to the erupting crisis in Ukraine stating “I felt that the right time had come to finish it and publish it, because I am deeply worried about the Ukrainian crisis and the possible devastating consequences for all of Europe and all of us…I am not at all pro-Russia, but it is clear that many journalists blindly follow and publish whatever the NATO press office provides. And this type of information and reports are completely one-sided”.

In another interview Ulfkotte stated: “it is clear as daylight that the agents of various Services were in the central offices of the FAZ, the place where I worked for 17 years. The articles appeared under my name several times, but they were not my intellectual product. I was once approached by someone from German Intelligence and the CIA, who told me that I should write about Gaddafi and report how he was trying to secretly build a chemical weapons factory in Libya. I had no information on any of this, but they showed me various documents, I just had to put my name on the article. Do you think this can be called journalism? I don’t think so.”

Ulfkotte has publicly stated: “I am ashamed of it. The people I worked for knew from the get-go everything I did. And the truth must come out. It’s not just about FAZ, this is the whole system that’s corrupt all the way.”

Udo Ulfkotte has since passed away. He died January 2017, found dead in his home, it is said by a heart attack. His body was quickly after cremated and thus prevented any possibility of an autopsy occurring.

You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks

The Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act is a bipartisan bill that was passed into law in December 2016, it was initially called Countering Information Warfare Act. It was included together with theNational Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bill was brought into effect just weeks before Trump was to enter office….hmmm, foreshadowing much?

Soon after the 2016 U.S. election, the Washington Post led the charge asserting that it was due to Russian propaganda that the U.S. elections turned out the way it did, that is, that Hillary had somehow, inconceivably, lost to Donald Trump and that the American people had been turned against her like a child caught in the middle of a messy divorce case. But there is no need here to set the record straight on Hillary, when Hillary herself has done suffice damage to any illusion of credibility she once had. That ultimately not even Hillary could hide the fact that her closet full of skeletons turned out to be the size of a catacomb.

But we are told that citizens do not know what is best for one’s self. That they cannot be trusted with “sensitive” information and in accordance act in a “responsible” manner, that is, to have a strong enough stomach to do what is “best” for their country.

And therefore, fear not subjects of the land, for the Global Engagement Center (GEC) is here to make those hard decisions for you. Don’t know what to think about a complicated subject? GEC will tell you the right way!

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would allow for the Secretary of State to collaborate with the Secretary of Defense, and other Federal agencies in the year 2017 to create the Global Engagement Center (GEC). The GEC’s purpose in life is to fight propaganda from foreign governments and publicize the nature of ongoing foreign propaganda and disinformation operations against the U.S. and other countries.

Let us all take a moment to thank the GEC for such a massive task in the cause for justice all around the world.

The GEC had a very slow start in its first year, however, it has been gaining momentum in the last year under Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who seems especially excited over the hiring of Lea Gabrielle as special envoy and coordinator of GEC.

Mike Pompeo was the CIA Director from 2017-2018. On April 15, 2019, Pompeo participated in a discussion at the Texas A&M University where he voluntarily offered the admission that though West Points’ cadet motto is “You will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do.”, his training under the CIA was the very opposite, stating “I was the CIA Director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. It was like we had entire training courses. (long pause) It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment”.

This is apparently the man for the job of dealing with matters of “truth” and “justice”.

Lea Gabrielle was approved for her position by Mike Pompeo, what are her “qualifications”? Well, Gabrielle is also CIA trained, and while assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), she “directed and conducted global clandestine strategic intelligence collection operations.” Gabrielle also “deployed in tactical anti-terrorist operations in hostile environments”. After 12 years of active duty service, Lea Gabrielle became a television news journalist, who worked at NBC and FOX News.

Noticing a pattern?

The CIA really does not have the best track record for their role in “managing” foreign wars and counter-insurgency activities. In fact, they have been caught rather red handed in fueling such crisis situations. And these are the people who are deciding what information is fit for the American public, and western public in general, and what is not fit for their ears.

Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil

On March 5, 2020, Lea Gabrielle testified on the role of GEC in countering state-sponsored and non-state propaganda and disinformation. Gabrielle states: “We have the full support of Secretary Pompeo who is committed to deploying a broad suite of tools to stop America’s adversaries from using disinformation, malign propaganda, and other tools to undermine free societies.” She goes on to acknowledge that the hearing is focused on countering Russian government and CCP disinformation and propaganda. She then goes on to outline her criticisms of both governments with no factual detail or evidence but rather generalised accusations and criticisms, obviously pulling from her experience as a news journalist for NBC.

Following this, Gabrielle proceeds to outline her “rules of engagement” in countering this offensive with what seems to be the beginnings of McCarthyism 2.0, amounting to a threat to anyone who dares not take a hard stance against Russia and China, that such a person will be considered complicit in essentially committing treason. Hell, if Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard (who was unconstitutionally prohibited from participating in the final democratic presidential debates) have both already been accused of being a Russian agent, what can we expect for the average Joe?

Gabrielle concludes, “Both the Russian government and the CCP view censorship, media manipulation, and propaganda as appropriate tools to control public opinion. Both exploit open, democratic societies to further their own ends while tightening controls around their own countries.”

Don’t worry, the CIA will eventually admit that they are elbow deep in all of the above, it just won’t be released until 30 years from now…In the meantime, I wouldn’t believe everything you read in the newspaper to stoke the fires for another war.

Read more:

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/03/14/a-70-year-war-on-propa...

Coronavirus live news: Trump threatens to stop WHO funding as global cases pass 1.4 million

Boris Johnson still in intensive care; top EU scientist resigns over bloc’s response to virus; cases in Africa pass 10,000; Follow the latest updates.

Boris Johnson ‘stable’ in intensive care and not on ventilator, says No 10

US coronavirus updates – live

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At a glance: latest developments

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/apr/08/coronavirus-live-news...

Covid-19: Time to apportion the blame

By Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

If any of us mismanaged our companies or institutions the way the authorities have mishandled Covid-19 we would be out on the street.

We still risk being out on the street if we do not pay our rents and mortgages after a certain pre-set date which does not take into account our future ability to earn a living. The point is, those who have left us all in this situation will continue to receive their fat paychecks after a performance like this.

It is unorthodox to start firing off in all directions at a time of global crisis but just a minute here, if I screw up one inch, the system falls on top of me. I remember a time when a communication for a due payment of my tax contributions was sent to the wrong address (actually one that did not even exist) and guess who was fined for late payment?

If I miscalculate my VAT repayments by one cent, the system falls on top of me. If a bank employee mistakenly debits my account to the tune of 30 million Euro instead of crediting it with one million, which happened, my bank account gets frozen and I am charged for interest due on the "loan" (which happened). If an idiot in a call center on the other side of the world asks me a security question to which I answer correctly, and he happens not to have that answer on his screen, he freezes my account, which happened.

So why should I keep my mouth closed when those who are paid, handsomely, to protect us have left us in this situation? Tens of thousands dead, many more to come, hundreds of thousands sick, millions unemployed, jobs lost forever, university and school students with their academic years in tatters, industries ruined, people afraid to venture outside, like WTF is this?

Simulations of this type of emergency are run regularly, there was one in the USA just last year, called Crimson Contagion. And let us be honest here. NATO countries spend one point two trillion dollars annually, each and every year, on weapons systems to murder people. That is one point two thousand billion dollars, or 1.2 to the power 12 or 1,200,000,000,000 USD.  Each and every year. So if there is money for submarines, and sh*t, why isn't there money to provide a ready cure for a virus which is killed by soap suds?

That is just the collective military spending of NATO countries, it does not exonerate anyone else but we might say that if NATO did not exist, others would not need to spend so much in containing it, for NATO itself is like a virus.

Why have our health authorities left us open to this nightmare? There are stories of British doctors in the National Health Service (NHS) working to save lives with plastic trash bags over their heads! Who allowed the NHS to get so totally unprepared for such a scenario? Ah, but there's money for submarines. To keep you safe.

As for being taken by surprise, BULL!! I repeat, BULL!! I have been reporting on these pandemics for decades and I have been reiterating exactly the same points time after time after time, year after year after year. Each and every time our wonderfully mentally advanced and super-prepared, wizzy health authorities copy and paste the same old strategies. The WHO website was OUT OF DATE on some days of January this year while this monster was emerging

What have I been saying for decades?!

At the first sign of something like this, report it. The PR China, although the country has woken up and provided leadership, at first tried to cover the outbreak up, fearing what? What was it trying to cover up and why? If the outbreak had been isolated and quarantined when it appeared, that is, before the December 31st date and venue in Wuhan Wholesale Fish Market, things would have been different and this would have had a SARS-like history.

But let us not blame only China. The WHO once again adopted the posture of a voyeur, sitting back and watching, telling us to be "vigilant" and informing us as usual as this virus crossed the six well-known thresholds to global pandemic, Phase VI. Wow, like what a (rude word) surprise! General Health Directors were scoffing at reports that this could get very serious, they were laughing at the notion there would be human to human transmission chains while I was writing articles warning that this could be "the one" and now look where we all are.

So the bottom line is you study hard for your exams, you behave yourself at school, practise sports, try to excel at everything, go to University, get a job, try to keep it, try to find other areas of work so that you avoid having one boss, broadening your approach, then you try to get a house and keep it as you bring up a family, doing everything you should, paying your taxes, contributing to private pension plans and so on AND NOW THIS BREAKS OUT through no fault of our own and bang goes the lot down the pan, hook, line and sinker. Is this what we pay our authorities for? Is this fair?

It isn't as if they were not warned, for Christ's sake! They mismanaged the entire story from day #1. They spent BILLIONS of stupin weapons systems, spent BILLIONS on arming terrorists and sowing misery and havoc across the globe, they spent TRILLIONS on invasions and military bases and doctors are going around with plastic bags on their heads, old timers are being denied ventilators because "we haven't got enough" and their ventilator is likely being given to some (freakin') drug addict who spent his entire life screwing up families and wreaking social terrorism wherever his sorry ass went. Just when they need something in return, the system refuses them the right to live? Like WTF is this?

Forgive me, I will NOT spare those who deserve the blame in this as they would not spare me either, as the system has never spared me when I screw up by a cent in my tax returnsor if I am caught in a traffic offence when nobody is anywhere near my car at 4 a.m. Fair enough, I have to pay my taxes, I have to fill in the forms correctly and I have to obey the regulations.

And what about those who are supposed to be protecting us? I believe the lot of them should resign in utter humiliation and let someone else try another approach to health management which explores another way other than the obsession with vaccines, which considers ZINC as a (preventive) treatment for Covid, which considers using the drugs provided by Japan and Cuba and exploring the possibility, as from the word of doctors, that Hydroxychloroquine is the most effective drug already available. They should be exploring the fact that alkaline environments seem to be hostile to Covid-19.

They should have acted when they were warned what would happen. They didn't and they left us all vulnerable to this. And now guess what?

Guess who is going to pay for this mess for years to come? Why, we are. Who was it who bailed out the banks? We did with extra taxation, in many cases furtive taxation. So if we are going to be called upon to pick up the slack yet again, let us demand something in return.

I do not mind working harder and paying even more taxes than I do, which is quite enough already and very unfair because there are those who earn far more than I do and pay less, because I do not use mechanisms to try to escape. I pay what I am due to pay and fair enough. I do not even discount electricity, medicines or anything, I just pay what they ask. I do not mind even seeing the retirement age edge further and further away from me. I am 61. It used to be 65. Now it will probably be 70. Again, I don't mind.

But in future if anything happens to one single member of my family, or to me, because a hospital doesn't have a ventilator or because they didn't do a test or because the doctor was so exhausted he screwed up, or if I see a doctor working unprotected, something sinister is going to lunge behind my eyes.

They don't have money?????????????????????? They couldn't see it coming???? Then how come NATO soldiers are playing around with stupid war games in Estonia protecting it from what? An invasion from Saturn? If Russia wanted to it could carpet-nuke the place and blast it off the face of the Earth, Estonia and all NATO countries at the same time. Except Russia does not want to, never has and never will. So if they are spending one point two trillion dollars each and every year how DARE THEY say they cannot affors face masks and ventilators!! Like are they stupid or what? And if I could see this back in early January, why couldn't they?

Why can't they all get on together? If we can why can't they?

So fire the lot of them, give me their salaries and I will do everything myself and yes I will pay the due tax on what I receive.

Ladies and gentlemen, do I do NOT feel sorry for the world's health authorities, not one iota. Ask yourselves, what the HELL have they done to protect us??

Читайте больше на https://www.pravdareport.com/science/144466-covid_blame/

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While countries like China, Cuba and Russia are sending medical teams and supplies around the globe, the US abuses the coronacrisis to throw mud at China and break Iran and Venezuela. The Trump administration now even has been accused of 'modern piracy' and 'Wild West methods' by some of its closest allies.

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste", Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Barack Obama, once said.

What he meant by that was that in 2017 and 2018 the financial system had gotten so close to the abyss that it enabled the Obama administration to take measures that had been postponed for too long, such as a financial regulatory overhaul and the support of alternative energy initiatives.

The Trump administration is now giving a whole new meaning to Emanuel's expression. It's abusing the coronacrisis to intensify punitive measures on the already crippled health systems and economies of Iran and Venezuela.

It also looks like the US was involved in a foiled attempt of a former major general of the Venezuelan Army to kill Maduro and other government officials. The coup d'état would be executed between March 23 and 25, during the social and collective quarantine decreed by the Venezuelan authorities to stop the expansion of the coronavirus.

For some weeks now US officials have been hammering into the heads of the American people China is to blame. President Donald Trump and congressional leaders have repeatedly described COVID-19 as the 'Chinese virus' and the 'Wuhan virus'.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo even insisted the G7 should refer to COVID-19 as the ‘Wuhan virus’. And as always the US intelligence community and other anonymous sources are feeding the media with incriminating information journalists are unable to check ("China has concealed the extent of the coronavirus outbreak") or are simply not checked by journalists due to incompetence or laziness ("80% of Russia's coronavirus aid to Italy useless").

Blaming China is clearly a tactic the US government is using to distract from its own catastrophic failure to protect the American people against the virus.

Trump started attacking China shortly after the collapse of the US stock market and the New York corona outbreak. Previously he had been praising President Xi Jinping’s government for its handling of the virus outbreak.  

The US government's blame game goes hand in hand with private initiatives to make a fast buck by holding the Chinese authorities liable.

A personal injury law firm based in Florida, Berman Law Group, is bringing a suit on behalf of "individuals and business owners in the United States and the State of Florida, for damages suffered as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic."

A Washington based organisation, Freedom Watch, is doing the same in a Texas court. Freedom Watch even alleges the coronavirus "was prepared and stockpiled as a biological weapon to be used against China’s perceived enemies".

The bioweapon theory was promoted by US newspaper The Washington Times but has since then been debunked by numerous scientists, both in the US and elsewhere.

According to scientists who researched the virus and published their findings in the scientific journal Nature, COVID-19 "is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus". An international group of public health scientists wrote in the medical journal The Lancet: “We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin."

The Trump administration now even has alienated some of its closest allies. The German authorities accused the US of confiscating thousands of protective facemasks that the Berlin authorities had already paid for, calling it "an act of modern piracy" and "Wild West methods".

French politicians have also recently accused the US of buying up medical protective gear including face masks in China that had been meant for France. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he felt "concerned" by a report that a mask order arrived smaller than expected. "We understand that the needs in the US are very extensive, but it's the same in Canada, so we have to work together," Trudeau said.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/columnists/202004061078857385-coronacrisis-ameri...

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A funny cartoon video:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-01/china-state-media-propaganda-video-mock-us-coronavirus/12204836

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