Russian Brass Sez the Ukraine Received No New Buk Missiles Since 1991

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Editor:

Note well that Russia, a legitimate state actor, wasn’t part of this “investigation”. On the other hand, the illegitimate and illegal American-installed Ukrainian junta was part of it. That means that the “findings” were American-manufactured rubbish. After all, the Yanks do like sabotaging airliners, don’t they?

BMD

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On Friday, the Minoborony Rossii said in an official statement:

Since the moment the USSR ceased to exist in 1991 and the split of the military equipment that followed, the Ukraine, which then obtained about 20 Buk SAM battalions, hasn’t received a single new air defence missile.

On 24 May, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and the Ukraine published an interim report of its probe into the MH17 disaster over Ukraine in 2014. The investigators claimed that the launcher that fired the missile might have been from Russia’s 53 Air Defence Brigade stationed near Kursk. The Minoborony Rossii dismissed all JIT charges to this effect, saying that not a single air defence system of the Russian forces ever crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border. It also stated that it provided exhaustive evidence to the Dutch authorities concerned to prove unequivocally that Ukrainian Buk crews were responsible for shooting down the passenger plane.

25 May 2018

TASS

http://tass.com/world/1006378

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Macron Emphasises “We Must Follow” All Inked Agreements… Even Iran Deal

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On Friday, during a plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), French President Emmanuel Macron stated that all parties must honour signed accords, including the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear programme:

I want us to respect each other so that there won’t be any kind of interference. If we sign an agreement, we need to stick to it, no matter who chooses to leave. What we sign, we must follow. We must fight for sovereignty to remain an inalienable right. I’m committed to the sovereignty of France and the choice it made when it signed a nuclear agreement with Iran. It was our choice. Today, we need to develop a multilateral approach to international issues. It includes sovereignty. We can’t trust each other if we don’t respect ourselves, and I think that we need to fight for all to respect sovereignty in this sphere. Sovereignty serves as a necessary base for cyberspace, data protection, and sovereign debates. There needs to be strong sovereignty for us to implement all global rules.

In 2015, Iran and six major powers (Russia, the USA, France, the UK, China, and Germany) agreed on a final Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which particularly stipulated the removal of sanctions imposed on Tehran. In turn, Iran would limit its nuclear programme and submit it to international supervision. On 8 May, Trump announced that Washington was pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. He said that the USA would restore previous sanctions against Iran and introduce new ones in case Tehran attempted to pursue its nuclear ambitions. In the wake of Trump’s decision, the leaders of the UK, Germany, and France called on other participants of the deal to continue their commitments to it. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran wouldn’t abandon the JCPOA and would continue to comply with its obligations, as long as the agreement takes into account Iran’s interests. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed disappointment in Trump’s decision and called it a front for the USA to settle its political scores with Iran.

25 May 2018

TASS

http://tass.com/world/1006600

NFL Owners Never Voted on the New National Anthem Policy. Wait… What?

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On Wednesday, the National Football League (NFL) announced a new policy regarding player protests during the national anthem… stay in the locker room, stand, or face a fine. Now, it looks like the owners never officially voted for the policy after all. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said during the NFL’s announcement:

Clearly, our objective as a league and to all 32 clubs, which was unanimous, is that we want people to be respectful of the national anthem.

Both President Donald Trump and Vice President Pence applauded the move by the NFL. However, sources reported the owners never held a formal vote, so, who approved it unanimously? According to a report by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, during two days of meetings on league matters in Atlanta:

The NFL just did a little informal polling and thought everyone would be cool with it.

Sources said league executives polled owners and knew how they’d vote but didn’t hold an official tally, which is atypical for a major resolution. The new policy leaves it to teams to discipline their own players for acts deemed disrespectful during the anthem. However, it also gave the league wide powers to fine teams as well. The NFL Players Association already made a public statement that the league never consulted them on the new anthem policy, also atypical of major changes affecting players. Moreover, not all team owners are singing the new anthem policy’s praises either. Three team owners distanced themselves from this policy as well. San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York announced he abstained from any decision about the policy. Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis also claims to have abstained. Their abstentions contradict Goodell’s claim of a unanimous vote by all 32 owners.

Meanwhile, New York Jets chairman Chris Johnson vowed to pay any fines for his players who demonstrate during the national anthem:

I don’t like imposing any club-specific rules. If somebody [on the Jets] takes a knee, that fine will be borne by the organisation, by me, not the players. I never want to put restrictions on the speech of our players. Do I prefer that they stand? Of course. However, I understand if they felt the need to protest. There are some big complicated issues that we’re all struggling with, and our players are on the front lines. I don’t want to come down on them like a ton of bricks, and I won’t. There’ll be no club fines or suspensions or any sort of repercussions. If the team gets fined, that’s just something I’ll have to bear.

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Johnson’s announcement drew some criticism, but his Twitter post also drew praise. The new anthem policy is catching a lot of flak on social media. Many accused the NFL in general or Roger Goodell in particular of simply pandering to the President and Vice President on the issue, without regard for the players or fans. People also questioned the NFL’s priorities. Whether the new policy stands or not remains to be seen.

24 May 2018

Amelia Mavis Christnot

Second Nexus

https://secondnexus.com/news/nfl-owners-never-voted-anthem/

26 May 2018. Bishop Lazar On Allowing Politics to Trump Faith (Pun Intended)

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As followers of Christ, we shouldn’t expect the secular authorities to do for us what we can’t accomplish through our faith and moral leadership. Too often, instead of being moral leaders, we Christians become nagging moralists, with a skewed concept of what constitutes true morality, as we compartmentalise our moral concepts and precepts into “people we’re for” and “people we’re against” without stopping to think that we’re against no one and for everyone. We don’t recall that the only people Jesus spoke harshly to and about where the political moralists of His day. We also forget that the moral leaders of the secular world and the religious leaders compromised themselves with the secular world who finally crucified Christ. The religious leaders used the political leaders and system in order to accomplish the execution of Christ.

Apostle St Paul wished to make it clear that one can’t do evil hoping that good will come of it. Yet, that’s precisely what so many Christians in America are doing today. Primarily, the Evangelicals and Fundamentalists support wickedness and immorality, hoping that thereby the American Supreme Court will be loaded with fanatical rightwing people who’d place religious ideology above the rule of law and the US Constitution. They’re willing to fall into a political idea and political idolatry for the purpose of accomplishing an agenda that has itself become idolatry. This idolatry is surely based in the heresies of raptureism, chiliasm, and apocalypticism. These heresies are based in egotism.

Christ redeemed us as members of the Bride of Christ, the Church, which is in the world, but not of the world. We’re saved by faith, not by political power. As the Desert Fathers said, ”One Christian is no Christian”. We’re a community, but we’re not a community which is here to persecute other people. We aren’t here to support one nation against another, as is done in the Middle East, but there are Christians willing to sell their souls in order to accomplish this. It isn’t a moral act or a Christian act to sell your soul to wickedness in order to accomplish an agenda. We’re here to proclaim the Gospel to those who’d hear it and to continue to love those who won’t hear it and to desire even their salvation. We aren’t here to load the political system with our doctrines. We must remember that when you dance with Caesar, Caesar always leads. Let’s not partake of evil hoping that some good would come of it.

24 May 2018

Vladika Lazar Puhalo

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