Trump Closer to Putin Than Trump Toward His Own People

Putin's Official "President of Russia" Press Release website records June 1, 2020
http://en.kremlin.ru/catalog/persons/498/events/63444

"Telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the United States of America Donald Trump at the initiative of the American side.

June 1, 2020 18:45

The presidents exchanged views on the coronavirus response measures taken by both countries. Vladimir Putin expressed appreciation for the supply of US ventilators to Russia.

The Russian President congratulated Donald Trump on the successful launch of the Crew Dragon manned spacecraft on May 30, which carried American astronauts to the International Space Station. A common attitude towards the development of mutually beneficial cooperation in the space sector was confirmed.

The presidents addressed world oil market developments in the context of implementing the OPEC+ agreement. It was stated that this multilateral agreement, reached with the active support of the presidents of Russia and the United States, would lead to a gradual restoration of oil demand and price stabilisation.

Mr Trump informed Mr Putin about his idea of holding a G7 summit with the possible invitation of the leaders of Russia, Australia, India and the Republic of Korea.

The importance of enhancing the Russian-American dialogue on strategic stability and confidence-building measures in the military sector was noted.

The presidents agreed to continue contacts at various levels. The conversation was constructive, businesslike and substantive."

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Meanwhile on the same day, June 1, 2020 https://www.npr.org/2020/06/01/867532070/trumps-unannounced-church-visit-angers-church-officials


Peaceful Protesters Tear-Gassed To Clear Way For Trump Church Photo-Op

June 1, 202011:50 PM ET

The plaza between St. John's Church and Lafayette Park was full of people nonviolently protesting police brutality late Monday afternoon when U.S. Park Police and National Guard troops, with the use of tear gas, suddenly started pushing them away for no apparent reason.
And then it became clear.

President Trump wanted to walk from the White House through the park to the Episcopal church. Camera crews scrambled to keep up with him as he strode through the park, followed by his daughter Ivanka [Note: Ivana/ "Ivanka" are feminine forms of the name Ivan, popular in Russia...] and her husband, Jared Kushner, along with Attorney General William Barr and other administration officials...."

French SSN Submarine Fire "Not Nuclear"

From Agency France Press (AFP) via France 24, June 13, 2020
https://www.france24.com/en/20200613-france-says-no-nuclear-accident-during-submarine-fire comes:

"France says 'no nuclear accident' during submarine fire

[Toulon Naval Base, France] A fire that raged for 14 hours on [the Perle (S606)(English “Pearl”) one of France's [Rubis-class SSNs] did not lead to an atomic accident as steps were taken to protect its reactor, the defence minister said [on June 13, 2020].

The submarine was under renovation in the southern base of Toulon when the blaze broke out at about 10:30 am (0830 GMT) on [on June 12, 2020] in a hard-to-access part of the lower bow section, the [French] navy said.

It then took around 100 firefighters and 150 support crew to put out the blaze by around midnight (2200 GMT [June 12, 2020]), the navy said in a statement.

"There was a fire, but no, there was not a nuclear accident," Defence Minister FlorenceParly said.

Parly added that during the fire "measures were taken in the rear area to protect the nuclear reactor compartment".

The navy said earlier there were no casualties and no risk of radiation because the nuclear fuel had been removed during the renovation of La Perle (The Pearl), one of France's six nuclear attack submarines.

The extent of the damage -- and what started the fire -- were not immediately clear but an official with the Naval Group repair centre called the incident "serious."

The regional authorities said that pollution and radioactivity tests carried out by independent experts had not found anything out of the ordinary.

But French nuclear watchdog association CRIIRAD said that a nearby measurement found that radioactivity levels had oscillated at low levels for a few hours in the days leading up to the fire.

The NGO said the "troubling" phenomenon "could have several explanations," but that it did "raise questions".

Parly responded by saying that "a natural radioactive element was emitted in infinitesimal quantities before the fire," adding that it showed that "we have an extremely sensitive and effective detection system".
Parly said a damage analysis would determine whether the vessel can be repaired, adding that it was lucky that almost all of the sub's equipment was not on board.

A judicial investigation and technical probe have been launched.

The submarine, which entered service in 1993, docked at Toulon in January for 18 months of renovation work that was to keep it operational until the end of the decade...”

Trump: Russia's Top Agent of Influence

Judging by this June 1st phone hookup, Trump and Putin remain on excellent terms.

"President Trump of the "high IQ" boast likes to win. He’s such a winner that he’s won the SVR award for Russia’s Most Valuable Agent of Influence, with special mention for "Damage to American Democracy" and "Trashing the Western Alliance”. For Russia's best agents, involved in Operation Trump The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" and even "The Order of St. Andrew" are insufficient. Each has been awarded the ultimate accolade, “Hero of Trump's Dump”.

Trump's latest trick? NBC reports, June 12, 2020 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/trump-authorizes-sanctions-international-criminal-court-officials-n1229916 

"The Trump administration launched an attack [June 11, 2020] on the International Criminal Court, which is set up to prosecute war crimes and genocide [the Trump administration] authorizing economic sanctions against officials investigating or prosecuting U.S. personnel without Washington’s consent." 

Here's the “Trump, PUTIN's PUPPET song” 

 

Langley's Lo Hung Phúc on China - Australian Relations

A buddy from the Australia-New Zealand desk at Langley sent me the following essay. It’s by Ms Lo Hung Phúc known simply as “Phúc” by her friends and frenemies. Now Phúc’s main concern is the extent China is compromising Australia’s unquestioning strategic loyalty to the US.

A measure of US respect for Australia was the Trump Administration repeatedly getting the spelling of Australia's then Prime Minister Turnbull wrong.

Ms Phúc has come into some unexplained wealth that has raised eyebrows. Some call it Phúc’s “BBB” (Beijing Bonus Bonanza). Phúc MAY be a double for Beijing or even a triple “mole”. Who knows!

Anyways here’s Ms Phúc’s latest analysis of the threat that Australia will no longer be a vassal of  America during the unreliable, isolationist Trump Administration. For whatever reason Ms Phúc has coloured it revolutionary red...

“China hopes that Australia can have its independent China policy, and that Australia's relations with the US do not target third countries - including China.

Australia, as a key US ally, leans toward the US for security while depending on China for trade. After all, it is a Western country culturally and politically, and geographically hanging off the edge of Asia.

As a member of the Five Eyes network, an intelligence-sharing alliance among Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US, Australia acts as a fervent US follower. When the US deems it not a good time for it to pick a fight with China at the frontline, Australia often jumps out and tests the reaction of each side.

Malcolm Turnbull, Australia's 29th prime minister, once defined the China relationship in one word - "frenemy," a portmanteau of "friend" and "enemy."

In Turnbull’s recently published memoir, he pointed to his speech during Asia's premier defense summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue, in June 2017, in which he expressed concerns over China's growing power, as the public start date of the current icy age between Australia and China.

A few months later at a conference in Melbourne, attending Australian politicians, academics and former government officials raised concerns that Australia's lack of an independent foreign policy from its conventional US-centric approach had undermined Australia's national interests.

Rational Australian experts are right in saying that Canberra's policy toward Beijing is ragged. But the question is how to save it. Australian politicians should realize that their country's security arrangements with the US and their adaptation of a rising China are not a zero-sum game.

Some Australian media have been quick to point out that China's latest Beef and Barley import suspension is revenge for an Australia-initiated inquiry into COVID-19 and called it "economic coercion."

But it's not. It's reasonable from China's point of view.

by Lo Hung Phúc”

Canadian Drug Smuggler Killed by Australian Shark

Well they say drug smuggling in shark infested waters can be dangerous. See Bob who crossed the Pacific to Australia's sunny Great Barrier Reef . Youtube below (and here ) :

Bob held his breath all the way

"Simple enough" you might say. 

But then Bob and his drugs were swallowed by something rather large. Youtube below (and here).

Moral of the story. Don't do, or smuggle, drugs. They're bad! OK!

Pete

China's Electronic Mass Surveillance System in Hong Kong Soon: Part 2

In addition to 91 million Communist Party members who, at the human intelligence level (humint) level, are required to report disloyalty to China's Ministry of State Security China has a vast electronic/internet mass surveillance system. Much of this effort is in Hong Kong already, but the new security laws will make coverage even more intense.

1. "Mass surveillance in China is the network of monitoring systems used by the Chinese Communist Party to supervise the lives of Chinese citizens.^[1] It is primarily conducted through the government, although non-publicized corporate surveillance in connection with the Chinese government has been speculated to occur. China monitors its citizens through Internet, camera as well as through other digital technologies.^[2][3] Mass surveillance in China is closely related to its Social Credit System, [see flow chart below at 2. ] and has significantly expanded under the China Internet Security Law and with the help of local companies like Tencent, Dahua Technology, Hikvision, SenseTime, ByteDance,^[4] Megvii, Huawei and ZTE, among many others.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]} 

As of 2019, it is estimated that 200 million monitoring CCTV cameras of the "Skynet" system have been put to use in mainland China, four times as many surveillance cameras in the United States.^[2][13][14] By 2020, the number of surveillance cameras in mainland China is expected to reach 626 million.^{[15][16][17]"}

In connection with camera surveillance, the Chinese government is developing a social credit system that rates the trustworthiness of [Chinese and soon Hong Kong] citizens by analyzing their social behaviors and collecting fiscal and government data.^[79][80][81] After capturing people's activities and identifying them through facial recognition techniques, the government links their activities to this personal credit rating so that the information is stored in a quantifiable and measurable way. 

Under this algorithmic surveillance system, people, their identities, and their actions are connected to a citizen score.^[82] By utilizing information gathered about the citizens' activities captured by cameras and analyzing them with AI and data mining techniques, the state calculates and updates their citizen scores regularly. 

Participation in this system is currently voluntary but will become mandatory in 2020.^[3][80][82] Many Chinese citizens have already started using the Sesame Credit created and operated by Alibaba, an e-commerce company.^[82] The Sesame Credit is designed such that those with good credit scores can live a more convenient life than others with low credits scores.^[3][80] For instance, people with high credit scores do not need to pay deposits when checking in at hotels and can obtain visas more quickly than others.^[79][80] On the other hand, people with low credit scores cannot easily eat in restaurants, register at hotels, purchase products, or travel freely.^[79][80]"

MORE SEE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_China

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2.

China's Social Credit System, including Travel Ban and other restrictions. Click here to vastly expand image so its readable. (Image courtesy https://nhglobalpartners.com/chinas-social-credit-system-explained/ ).

Scary!!