Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.

America Is Back Baby!

by Oui Fri Jun 11th, 2021 at 10:51:43 AM EST

America would be wise to tidy up a bit at home before spreading their form of democracy attached to slavery of the laborers and depletion of natural resources in third world countries.


Greece labor protests

Working extra hours daily without pay ...

Greek workers protest draconian employment legislation | WSWS - one month ago |

The strikes were called in response to the anti-working-class labour bill submitted to parliament, which will allow employers to increase the working day from a standard eight hours to 10 hours, without paying additional overtime. The government plans to pass the law in June.

Greece: New Education Bill Brings a New Students Movement

US - Greece Relationship Strengthened

Greek Dictatorship Military Junta US Support

On This Day July 24, 1974: U.S.-Involved Military Dictatorship Ends in Greece

Commonly known as the "Regime of the Colonels," or simply as "The Junta" in Greece, the dictatorship ended July 24, 1974.

The United States was heavily involved in supporting the right-wing juntas in Greece, as American leaders were seeking to preserve geo-political importance in the Eastern Mediterranean during the height of the Cold War.

Although the U.S. intervention was largely ignored or often suppressed, numerous books were written during the period after the fall of the Greek dictatorship, including Hostage to History: Cyprus from the Ottomans to Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens, who outlined then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's involvement in the junta via the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.

Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt now stationed in Athens ... of The Maidan Revolution of Feb. 2014.

The Eastern Question:
Russia, the West and Europe's Grey Zone

Indigenous People Arrested in Minnesota

Florida Education Revisionism

Arizona Gas Chambers to Use Zyklon B

Arizona Prepares for Executions With Gas Used in Holocaust Death Camps

Race Preference in US Death Penalty

Modeling Democracy in the Middle East Post-Colonialism

A long history of regime change and chaos …

 
Greatest ally the Jewish State of Israel – a failed Theocracy and Terror – 73 years and counting.

Israel's Iron Dome proves successful against Gaza rockets | DW News |

Temple Mount and Al Aqsa Mosque

Settlers on violent pogroms inside Israel against the Arab communities …

My recent diary …

Silwan Ethnic Cleansing - E Jerusalem

Later corrected to a 9-year old schoolboy …

In between wars and trauma … Palestinian school education … don’t hate the occupier!

The EU up in arms … NOT!

“Fixing” the roads between Palestinian villages on the Occupied West Bank …

Hope??

Only if world’s most powerful economic and military power is willing to act!

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'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jun 11th, 2021 at 12:29:01 PM EST
In secret memo, the US will repair its relationship with Europe by lifting the sanctions on trade imposed by the Trump administration.

VP Dombrovskis on the Trade Policy Review Communication at the European Parliament's International Trade Committee



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jun 11th, 2021 at 05:31:10 PM EST

Relief of steel and aluminum sanctions imposed by the previous administration is not agreed upon.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 08:37:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jun 12th, 2021 at 07:24:40 PM EST
Checking the President's Sanctions Powers
Passed in the same year that Congress declared war against Germany in World War I, TWEA gave the president power during wartime to prevent trade and financial transactions with enemy states and their allies and to freeze their assets in the United States. Subsequent amendments broadened the president's powers under TWEA. Most significantly, a 1933 amendment expanded the law's applicability beyond wartime to include "any other period of national emergency declared by the President."
[...]
IEEPA places no limits on who may be sanctioned, as long as the purpose is to address a threat that originates "in substantial part" from overseas. Sanctions may target foreign nationals with no ties to any government and may even target American citizens based in https://www.eurotrib.com/story/2019/5/6/204523/6235#102the United States.
archived The Dictator and The Decider
organized crime "Hundreds" of US sanctions will remain on Iran even if the US rejoins JCPOA
by Cat on Sat Jun 12th, 2021 at 07:44:42 PM EST
It is interesting how the US congress has gradually handed its power over to the administrative branch. Apparently the lack of term limits means that representatives aspire to lifetime appointments, and avoiding the difficulties of decision-making is a step in that direction.

Jimmy Carter's executive order about Iran is apparently still in effect--left over from 1979. Because it is easier for congress to just hand the whole Iran thing over to the president.

by asdf on Sat Jun 12th, 2021 at 11:01:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Let's take another look at thumbs on the scale of biennial Revenue Acts since 1913.
CRS | The Origins of the Modern Grants-In-Aid System: 1860-1932
The Sixteenth Amendment's ratification in 1913 provided Congress the authority to lay and collect taxes on income. Although the federal income tax initially generated only modest amounts, it provided Congress an opportunity to shift from land grants to cash grants to encourage state and local governments to provide additional attention to policy areas Congress considered of national interest. Between 1913 and 1923, Congress adopted new federal grant-in-aid programs for highway construction, vocational education, public health, and maternity care. Outlays for federal grants to state and local governments increased from $12 million in FY1913 to $118 million in FY1922.
[...]
The New Deal and the Rise of "Cooperative Federalism": 1932-1960
[...]
Faced with unprecedented national unemployment and economic hardship, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt advocated a dramatic expansion of the federal government's role in domestic affairs during his presidency, including an expansion of federal grant-in-aid programs as a means to help state and local governments combat poverty and create jobs. Congress approved 16 new, continuing federal grants to state and local governments from 1933 to 1938, and increased funding for federal grants to states and local governments from $214 million in FY1932 to $790 million in FY1938.
Twentieth Annual Report of the Federal Reserve Board, covering operations for the year 1933
by Cat on Tue Jun 15th, 2021 at 07:58:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Biden and Johnson reset the special relationship

Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill first met in the summer of 1941 on HMS Prince of Wales to create the Atlantic Charter, establishing the terms of their countries' relationship in war, and, as it was to prove, in peace.

Eighty years later, Joe Biden and Boris Johnson meet in front of a new HMS Prince of Wales to renew the constitution of the "special relationship", with the New Atlantic Charter.

Dutch saying: "for each his own". Appeals to the homefront, only the Europeans don't understand the Union of N Ireland with the UK.

Churchill shifted in his armchair. "The British Empire trade agreements," he began heavily, "are--"

Roosevelt broke in. "Yes. Those Empire trade agreements are a case in point. It's because of them that the people of India and Africa, of all the colonial Near East and Far East, are still as backward as they are."

Churchill's neck reddened and he crouched forward. "Mr. President, England does not propose for a moment to lose its favored position among the British Do-minions. The trade that has made England great shall continue, and under conditions prescribed by England's ministers."



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Jun 13th, 2021 at 08:15:13 AM EST
Wait, how come he was saying "has made England great"??? I thought it was the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Wasn't that just a point of contention between Macron and Johnson yesterday???
by asdf on Mon Jun 14th, 2021 at 04:25:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Scotland and Wales were always great. It's only England that had problems.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Mon Jun 14th, 2021 at 04:45:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

by Bernard (bernard) on Mon Jun 14th, 2021 at 06:05:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Guess the London government was a bit more frank on how it viewed the rest of Great Britain when it had a world spanning empire.
by fjallstrom on Tue Jun 15th, 2021 at 08:23:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

What did Joe ever do with Facebook to SKYE Australia?
by Cat on Tue Jun 15th, 2021 at 07:17:28 PM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 08:39:12 AM EST
On Foreign Policy, the EU Commission plays no role as NATO has the military might and Intelligence role.

Our economies, our values and our futures are closely linked. #EUTrade

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 08:41:57 AM EST

Even in Europe's neighbourhood, the EU Commission has a funding task and mops up after hostilities is followed by a refugee crisis.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 08:44:10 AM EST



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 08:46:42 AM EST

Quite a rift between the US and ally Turkey over last 5 years. Turkey, Erdoğan and Muslim Brotherhood nations were the preferred partners during the Obama administration ... a grotesque failure of ME foreign policy.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 08:49:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]
APsplainin "a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States" named "Juneteenth National Independence Day" for federal employees.
The bill would lead to Juneteenth becoming the 12th federal holiday. It is expected to easily pass the House, which would send it to President Joe Biden for his signature.

Juneteenth commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were ["]free["]. Confederate soldiers surrendered in April 1865, but word didn't reach the last enslaved Black people until June 19, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Galveston, Texas. That was also about two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the Southern Confederate states.
[...]
The vast majority of states [BWAH!] recognize Juneteenth as a holiday or have an official observance of the day, and most states hold celebrations. Juneteenth is a paid holiday for state employees in Texass, New York, Virginia and Washington.

TheHillsplainin popular support for "Juneteenth National Independence Day" with Gallup polling familiarity with historical significance of ["]the end["] of slavery in Texass instead of the 13th amendment of the United States Constitution, 6 Dec 1865.
More Americans are in favor of making Juneteenth a national holiday than not, according to a new poll released by Gallup on Tuesday [15 June 2021].

According to the poll, nearly 35 percent of Americans believe that Juneteenth should become a federal holiday while only about 25 percent are against it. Forty percent of Americans are undecided on the matter.
[...]
The poll was conducted May 18-23 among a random sample of 3,572 adults, aged 18 and older. It had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Texas Gov. Abbott signs anti-critical race theory bill, 16 June
by Cat on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 03:11:32 PM EST
Who are the 14 House Republicans who voted against a Juneteenth holiday? And why?
Senate Bill 475, the "Juneteenth National Independence Day Act", passed with 415-14 votes. The bill recognizes June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas learned slavery was ended, as a public holiday. President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had freed all enslaved African Americans in rebel states two and a half years earlier.
rap sheet enclosed with sample of explanatory statements, notably, focused on the name. Ironically, Chip Roy's rational comes closest to capturing the many objections I have to this freudian gesture presented without sense of the congress or preamble in lieu of deliberate and swift passage of H.R. 40, establishing commission duties to resolve and remedy US crimes against the enslaved and their descendants. For one, prepending "national" to the names of professional associations and cultural institutions--duplicated by generations of US blacks because of enforced segregation (apartheid)--emphasizes enduring equivocation about inalienable rights denied the very people US purports "equal protection". Neither name nor declaration is fit for purpose.
by Cat on Thu Jun 17th, 2021 at 12:40:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Maybe they voted against it because they disliked the implication that Blacks were such idiots that they didn't know what was going on in the country? In fact, they knew perfectly well that they were supposed to be free, but it needed the arrival of Federal troops to enforce it. More here.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Jun 18th, 2021 at 12:02:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Who are the 415 House reps who voted yes? And why?
APsplainin incoherent Truth and Reconciliation
Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., said that he would vote for the bill and that he supported the establishment of a federal holiday, but he was upset that the name of the holiday included the word "independence" rather than "emancipation."

"Why would the Democrats want to politicize this by coopting the name of our sacred holiday of Independence Day?" Higgins asked.

Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich., replied, "I want to say to my white colleagues on the other side: Getting your independence from being enslaved in a country is different from a country getting independence to rule themselves."

She added, "We have a responsibility to teach every generation of Black and white Americans the pride of a people who have survived, endured and succeeded in these United States of America despite slavery."

Lawrence is one of 173 H.R. 40 co-sponsors. The bill is 45 votes short of simple majority passage.
by Cat on Thu Jun 17th, 2021 at 02:08:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 05:08:40 PM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 06:15:14 PM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 06:17:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Passing low point ... restart basic diplomacy ... exchanging ambassadors ... we're talking to one another ... beyond Twitter and Instagram 😠 🇷🇺 🇺🇸



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 06:23:55 PM EST



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 06:26:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
by Cat on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 07:33:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Strategic dialogue... in 2008 Bucharest Summit the US threw Russia/Putin out of NATO non-member partnership ... halted the dialogue ! Each year of NATO expansion up to the Russian frontier, the US violated the agreements made with Soviet president Gorbachev.

Crossing Russian red lines ...

10 years after Bucharest
Why NATO should double-down on Georgian membership


'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 07:59:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 09:20:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
in order in which they appeared

Joe takes off his jacket to answer questions @ 3:35:34 when SANGER kicks of the presser with a Cold War proposition.

by Cat on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 07:42:10 PM EST
by Cat on Fri Jun 18th, 2021 at 12:48:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 09:34:00 PM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 09:36:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Having communication wires that directly connect your banks, your power grid controllers, your stock markets, and your military computers to the computers of hackers in offshore countries seems sort of dumb, in retrospect.
by asdf on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 11:30:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
A few of us said it was dumb at the time.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
by ATinNM on Thu Jun 17th, 2021 at 03:56:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Biden and Putin agree, 'nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought'

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 at 09:38:40 PM EST
Russian war games set stage for Biden and Putin's head-to-head | The Guardian |

An unexciting outcome - but not entirely lacking in substance. Such strategic stability dialogue has been patchy to nonexistent since the Russian seizure of Crimea in 2014, provoking fears of a conflict blowing up through miscalculation and distrust.

So obviously false by this journalist... putting blame on Russia where sole initiatief to make Russia a pariah state was by the Americans directly from White House and through "experts" of the Atlantic Council...

NATO Gen. Breedlove a complete whacko who led the attack on Russia ...

Trump's Revival of anti-EU Sentiment in Warsaw | July 6, 2017 |

My writings @ the Pond ...

Galeotti: The West's Paranoia About Putin | Dec. 2016 |

NATO and Soros Crossed Russia's Red Line in Europe | Jan. 2017 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jun 17th, 2021 at 05:27:47 AM EST
@WashingtonMonthly

If one doesn't have the basic facts straight but based on decades of media frenzy and propaganda ...

Give the Russian leader a stark choice--a return to normalcy for good behavior or even more economic punishment from the U.S.

"I'm not going to start Third World War for you," Jackson told Clark | The Guardian - Aug. 1999 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jun 17th, 2021 at 09:44:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
AMISH [sp?]: Mr President when President Putin was questioned about human rights today he said that the reason why he's cracking down on opposition leaders is because he doesn't want something like January 6th to happen in Russia, and he also says he doesn't want to see groups like Black Lives Matter forming. What's your response to that, please?
BIDEN. My response is kind of what I communicated. I think that's a ridiculous comparison. It's one thing for literally criminals to break through a cordon, go in the Capitol, kill a police officer, and be held unaccountable than it is people objecting, be marching on the Capitol and saying your are not allowing me to speak freely, you are not allowing me to do A, B, C, or D. And so they're very different criteria. Um, Steve, Steve Holland ...
by Cat on Thu Jun 17th, 2021 at 11:02:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Kremlin transcript
Question: Mr President, thank you so much for taking my question.

President Biden has said that he would respond if cyberattacks from Russia do not stop. I am curious, what did he tell you? Did he make any threats? And a quick follow-up, if I may, sir. The list of your political opponents who are dead, prisoned or jailed is long. Alexei Navalny, his organisation calls for free and fair elections and an end to corruption, but Russia has outlawed that organisation, calling it extremist. And you have now prevented anyone who supports him to run for office. So my question is, Mr President, what are you so afraid of?

Vladimir Putin: Let me reiterate what I said about various so-called foreign agents and individuals who are positioning themselves as the non-systemic opposition. I already replied to your colleagues - CNN, if I am not mistaken - but obviously the laws of the genre define what should be said when answering your question directly. Here you are, it will be my pleasure to do that again.

The United States has adopted a law, which says that the US will support certain political organisations in Russia. At the same time, it has declared the Russian Federation its enemy and said publicly that it will contain Russia's development. This begs the question: What political organisations should the United States and other members of the Western community support in Russia, if simultaneously they bankroll them? It is clear that we, like the Americans in the 1930's, have declared them foreign agents. But their operations are not banned, they can work.

Organisations that have been declared foreign agents are not obliged to stop their operations. But if it is an extremist organisation, this is quite another matter. The organisation you have mentioned openly called for mass riots and tried to involve underage people in them, which is illegal, contrary to Russian laws, and it also openly issued instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails for use against law enforcement officers, and also published personal information about police officers.

The United States recently had to grapple with the severe consequences of the events all of you remember, after the murder of an African American and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. I will not comment on this right now, but I would like to say that we watched the footage of pogroms, violations of the law and so on - we feel for the Americans and the American nation, but we don't want the same to happen in our country, and we will do our best to prevent this from happening. Fear has nothing to do with this.

Would you like to add anything? Please, pass over the mike.

Remark: You didn't answer my question, sir. If all of your political opponents are dead, in prison, poisoned, doesn't that send a message that you do not want a fair political fight?

Vladimir Putin: Speaking of who can be killed or thrown in prison. People went to Congress with political demands after the election. Criminal cases have been opened against 400 people, who face up to 20 or even 25 years in prison. They have been declared domestic terrorists and accused of other crimes. As many as 70 people were detained immediately after those events, and 30 of them are still under arrest. It is unclear on what grounds, because the US authorities have not provided us with this information. Several people died; a woman rioter was fatally shot by a police officer on the spot, although she was not threatening him with a weapon. What is happening in our country is also taking place in many other countries. I would just like to point out once again: we feel for the Americans, but we don't want the same to happen in our country.

by Cat on Fri Jun 18th, 2021 at 01:16:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
is the language of psychopathy.
by Cat on Fri Jun 18th, 2021 at 01:19:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Why post Geneva A/V and transcripts? Translations of parole don't write themselves, yo.
Vladimir Putin: I did not hear that part of the question - either it was not translated, or you just decided to ask a second question.

With regard to our obligations regarding Ukraine, we have only one obligation which is to facilitate the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. If the Ukrainian side is willing to do this, we will take this path, no questions asked.
[...]
With regard to our non-systemic opposition and the citizen you mentioned, first, this person knew that he was breaking applicable Russian law. He needed to check in with the authorities as someone who was twice sentenced to a suspended prison time. Fully cognisant of what he was doing, I want to emphasise this, and disregarding this legal requirement, this gentleman went abroad for medical treatment, and the authorities did not ask him to check in while he was in treatment. As soon as he left the hospital and posted his videos online, the requirements were reinstated. He did not appear; he disregarded the law - and was put on the wanted list. He knew that going back to Russia. I believe he deliberately decided to get arrested. He did what he wanted to do. So, what is there to be discussed?

AP FACT CHECK: Putin's twisted tale on rival; Biden GOP jab
PUTIN, defending Navalny's imprisonment: "This person knew that he was breaching the laws effective in Russia. ... Consciously, I want to underline this, ignoring the demand of the law, this gentleman went abroad for treatment. ... He didn't register with the authorities. ... He knew that he was then being investigated and he came back deliberately." -- Geneva news conference.

THE FACTS: He left the country in a coma; he did not leave Russia by choice.

Navalny  was taken into custody Jan. 17 when he returned to Russia from five months in Germany where he was recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin.

disgusting
by Cat on Sat Jun 19th, 2021 at 06:55:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
There is a way to frame this in the context of the gentleman disregarding the legal requirements before going abroad for medical treatment, during which the requirements were lifted, and again reinstated when it became obvious to the officials of the Federal Penitentiary Service that the gentleman had been released from the hospital.

In which case, of course, the AP fact checking failed, since that is the timeline according to the court.

by pelgus on Sat Jun 19th, 2021 at 07:52:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh yeah, we are so back.  Back in a time that never existed.
by rifek on Thu Jun 24th, 2021 at 10:17:22 AM EST

The South: Christians of Anglo-Celtic Stock vs. Black Men | @BooMan - Oct. 2017 |


'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jul 10th, 2021 at 05:58:20 PM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon Jul 19th, 2021 at 05:05:23 PM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Aug 3rd, 2021 at 06:34:40 AM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Aug 3rd, 2021 at 06:39:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Aug 3rd, 2021 at 06:40:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]


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