Kagame and Warren

https://www.christianpost.com/news/rick-warren-criticized-for-hosting-rwanda-president-at-saddleback-church.html

Kagame is praised by the West and his legitimacy has been granted through the narrative created about him and his movement and the events surrounding the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. Kagame's subsequent warmongering and brutality are largely ignored.

Palantir: The Electric Eye in the Skynet

https://theintercept.com/2019/05/02/peter-thiels-palantir-was-used-to-bust-hundreds-of-relatives-of-migrant-children-new-documents-show/

The apostate and sodomite Peter Thiel has big plans for the future. He wants to be part of the state surveillance apparatus which in the end will spy on all of us. At this point it's clear Thiel has Deep State connections. Just how embedded he is within the larger machine and circles of power is anyone's guess.

The Asian Underground Railroad

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-northkorea-china-defectors-feature/chinese-raids-hit-north-korean-defectors-underground-railroad-idUKKCN1TH0VH

Beijing fears a massive influx of North Korean refugees. Despite the perceptions of some, the situation with regard to Pyongyang has not stabilised. Xi Jinping's recent visit to the DPRK was an attempt to shore up Kim Jong Un and indeed from his standpoint Xi's visit was a substantial feather in his cap.

There is no love lost between Beijing and Pyongyang and yet the Chinese government (CCP) fears a collapse and the flood of refugees that would result from it. And so they begrudgingly support the Kim regime. Additionally they do not want the Americans or their proxies (like the ROK) deciding the course of events right on their borders. This was in no small part the reason why Mao intervened in the autumn of 1950.

French Arms in the Era of Trump

https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/frances-weapons-exports-see-sharp-increase-on-european-market/

Nervousness surrounding US commitments to NATO continue to drive the EU to look inward. From the Franco-German Aachen Treaty signed in January 2019, to talk of creating a European Army, many of the nations within Europe are re-thinking security and strategy.

France and Germany have an increased standing in light of Brexit and France which has long served as a Western 'alternative' when it comes to arms is profiting handsomely as a result.

Kurds Reject the White Helmets

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/15b19407-31f2-4709-ab99-580b6a66dc72

Though outlets like Netflix and the Western media in general continue to tout the Syrian White Helmets, not a few in the West are on to them and continue to challenge their origin, actions and narratives. Along with the UK based (and largely fraudulent) Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) the White Helmets have played a major role in the Western shaping of the Syrian War narrative.

Haftar: Made in the USA

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190614-sisi-egypt-will-always-suppor

Contrary to the official narrative and policy I would argue that the United States has been supporting Haftar since his return to Libya in 2011.

Few would doubt that his part in the 2011 so-called Libyan Revolution was sponsored by Washington. But the official narrative posits that he fell out of favour during the subsequent and ongoing civil war which many date to 2014.

Suspicious Timing and Media Collaboration

In July 2018, just as Trump is set to meet with Putin in Helsinki, suddenly Maria Butina is arrested in the United States. The story was a sensation as Butina was painted as a 'Red Sparrow' in reference to the movie that had been released just months before in which a Russian spy uses seduction as a means of gaining intelligence. Western media reported that Butina was just such an agent and in light of the movie and television shows like 'The Americans', the story caused a sensation.

Tajikistan Persecution

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Jehovah's-Witness-jailed-for-four-months-for-reading-banned-Bible-47230.html

This is a real shame. Again, it is not my intent to defend the Watchtower Society and yet their persecution resonates with me in a particular way because of their apolitical stance.

Why do they face such ire? Well, in Russia and the former Soviet Union there is a hostility to 'sects' which are viewed as both Western and detrimental to traditional values and social stability.

The North Korean Embassy Raid

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-northkorea-usa/us-arrests-former-marine-connected-to-north-korea-embassy-raid-in-spain-idUSKCN1RV1AJ

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-authorities-make-first-arrest-in-mysterious-raid-of-north-koreas-embassy-in-spain/2019/04/19/bfee15e2-d984-4600-9b63-14270f9b0bb3_story.html?utm_term=.8c6ecd3a93e4

I've been watching the news since this story broke back in February but the story seems to have faded away. Why did a North Korean embassy in Spain become subject to a raid? What was this episode about? The basic questions are still largely unanswered.

Franco's Legacy: The War Continues

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/04/26/inenglish/1556272970_468527.html

Franco has been in the news a lot lately. From the plans to move his tomb, which many view as an affront to his opponents in the Civil War and the victims of his regime, to the return of the Spanish Far Right for the first time since his death in the 1970's, the Spanish people are revisiting the period.