Year Zero: Trump, Biden, Saudi Arabia, and the Intelligence Community

by Tommy Salmons | Sep 23, 2019 | Blog, Year Zero

In episode 68 Tommy looks at the latest news surrounding Hunter Biden, Trump, and the deployment of troops to Saudi Arabia to defend against the threat that is Iran. Tommy speculates that given the history of business interest and intelligence interest merging that the reason Trump is once again being threatened by leaks has to do with his unwillingness to stick to the protocol of National Security laid out before him upon taking office.

Listen to Year Zero

More Americans Soldiers To Saudi Arabia – A Reminder Of Who They Are Protecting

by Steven Woskow | Sep 22, 2019 | Blog

A brutal regime that seeks to maintain power at any cost.

More here

SAUDI Arabia has brutally executed 134 people so far this year, including six who were kids when they were arrested.

The slain were tortured and slaughtered by brutal methods – including crucifixion and beheading, according to a human rights organisation.

At least 58 of those killed were foreign nationals and most were accused of spreading Shia Islam – a crime in the Sunni Arab state.

There were 21 Pakistanis, 15 Yemenis, five from Syria and four from Egypt.

Two Jordanians, two Nigerians, a Somalian and two from unidentified nations were also included in the figures.

On April 22, a horrific mass execution was carried out by the savage regime involving 37 men being killed.

One was crucified and another had his head impaled on a spike.

Those killed during the beheading bloodbath had all been convicted of “terrorism offences” in the hardline kingdom.

Grandmother Sends 6-Year-Old Child to Government School, is Surprised They Sent Her to Jail

by Scott Horton | Sep 22, 2019 | Blog

What did you think, that the government wasn’t just waiting for a chance to kidnap your 6-year-old little grandbaby away so they can make their quota or whatever? Did you think they were going to take real good care of her? Snap out of it, this is the real world, not some TV show. The government hates you. They are out to get you. No law can protect you from their sloth and wrath. Try to stay out of their way. Like maybe don’t deliberately send your helpless children directly into their vile clutches, for example.

Australian War Crimes in Afghanistan

by Scott Horton | Sep 22, 2019 | Blog

via Pete.

Carter Administration Knew Of Israeli Nuclear Test, Turned A Blind Eye

by Steven Woskow | Sep 22, 2019 | Blog

Turning a blind eye is US policy towards Israel.

WASHINGTON – The Jimmy Carter administration was aware of an Israeli nuclear test that took place in the 1970s, but decided to turn a blind eye to avoid a possible setback ahead of the president’s reelection campaign, Foreign Policy reported on Sunday.

Carter administration knew of Israeli nuclear test, turned a blind eye

Carter also wanted to avoid any negative impact on the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, which was just a year old at the time, according to the report.

On the 40th anniversary of the nuclear test, the magazine used a team of scientists, academics, former government officials and nonproliferation experts to analyze the declassified documents and data.

What they found was that on September 22, 1979, Vela 6911, a surveillance satellite that monitored banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, underwater and in outer space, detected a “double flash” signal, which is characteristic of a nuclear test.

According to the report, US president Jimmy Carter wrote in his diary on September 22, 1979: “There was an indication of a nuclear explosion in the region of South Africa—either South Africa, Israel using a ship at sea, or nothing.”

If indeed Israel was behind the test, Carter would have been in a tough spot.

Under the 1977 Glenn Amendment to the Arms Export Control Act, the US should end arms assistance and apply automatic sanctions if the president determined any state – other than the nuclear states authorized by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – detonated a nuclear explosive.

To make the problem go away, the Carter administration decided to cover the satellite findings and to argue that there was no characteristic bomb signal. According to Foreign Policy, that became the administration’s line.

In the following month, the president’s science advisor, set up a panel of eight scientific experts, including a Nobel Prize winner, to examine the event.

In May 1980, the panel concluded, “It is our collective judgment that the September 22 signal was probably not from a nuclear explosion.”

According to the report, its members dismissed all evidence that suggested otherwise.

Carter, however, knew this was not the true story. He wrote in his diary on February 27, 1980, “We have a growing belief among our scientists that the Israelis did indeed conduct a nuclear test explosion in the ocean near the southern end of Africa.”

“The Carter administration was so afraid to enforce the Partial Test Ban Treaty against Israel’s 1979 violation,” Foreign Policy revealed, “that it did what it could to erase or keep hidden evidence of its detection of a test. Subsequent administrations, Republican and Democratic alike, went along with this, and the US government still pretends it knows nothing about any Israeli nuclear weapons.”

A discussion paper for the National Security Council meeting, dated January 1980, offered to “emphasize that one cannot tell whether September 22 event was nuclear or non-nuclear.”

The Foreign Policy report brings in-depth analysis of the scientific panel report and explains why it was impossible to determine that the flash was in fact not a nuclear test.

The Foreign Policy team stresses that there is no public smoking gun that conclusively ties Israel to the event, and no credible Israeli source has ever openly confirmed an Israeli test.

“We believe, based on a great deal of documented and anecdotal evidence, that the Vela event was indeed the detection of a low-yield Israeli nuclear test,” the report concluded.

From The Jerusalem Post

Misinformed Voters

by Matt Knight | Sep 21, 2019 | Blog

This will probably come as no surprise to regular readers of LI, but a 2018 survey on basic political knowledge revealed that the average American voter is not simply uninformed, but is systematically misinformed.

The survey asked 24 questions to a sample of 1,000 American voters, 18 of which had dichotomous responses (e.g. True/False). If you were to blindfold a respondent, give them two buttons to signify their responses, and never ask them the questions, they would still be right, on average, about 50% of the time.

Compare that to the American voter, who correctly answered only 42.9% of the time. In other words, they did significantly worse than a blind, random guess.

Voters did about as well as a random guess on those questions with three possible responses, answering correctly 32.8% of the time.

Finally, there was one question with four possible answers, which was correctly answered by 34% of respondents.

Overall, the average American voter answered correctly only 40% of the time. More details at the link above.

The Irony of Iran/Israel Tensions

by HypocriteTwins | Sep 21, 2019 | Blog

There’s a huge irony that during the 1980s, when Iran talked the most shit, Israel armed them. However, later in the 1990s, when Iran’s rhetoric moderated, Israel pressured America to increase sanctions. How & why did this irony come about?

Some say this irony can be placed on Iran for sabotaging the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians by arming extremist terrorist groups that objected to the Oslo agreements. However, how did this tension first begin? What is the root cause of it? Who is to blame for the modern conflict and failed peace talks with the Palestinians? Tune in to the brand new political comedy episode!