… Put yourself in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s shoes against the backdrop of 35 previously exiled Russian officials from the United States as a result of the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment and Joint Analysis Report {BACKGROUND}.
QUESTION: What exactly would Vladimir Putin think about this admission from the CIA?
CIA Director John Ratcliffe admits the former CIA and FBI fabricated the intelligence that led to the expulsion of Russian officials under the false premise of Russia “hacking” the 2016 election. Why now?
How would Putin interpret this very public message?
President Trump then publicly says at the G7 in Canada, it was a big mistake to take Russia out of the G8; further saying -repeatedly- that sanctions hurt both sides, and there is a cost to sanctions.
Trump then bombs the Iranian nuclear facilities; and two days later Putin says there is no doubt in his mind that President Trump is committed to peace.
Then today the U.S. says the 2016 predicate for removing Russian officials from the USA was based on fraud within the intelligence community, per CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Good relations with Russia are of major importance. Great relations with Russia, if established, will be among the greatest foreign policy accomplishments ever. ABN
A court in Novosibirsk on Monday sentenced a Siberian cult leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ to 12 years in prison for harming the mental and physical health of his followers.
Sergei Torop, a former traffic officer who calls himself “Vissarion,” founded the Church of the Last Testament in 1991 after what he described as a divine revelation. He attracted thousands of followers to remote settlements in Siberia, including a core group of about 300 living in isolation atop a hill they called the Abode of Dawn.
Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office said Monday that Torop and two of his associates were found guilty of creating a religious organization that violated the civil rights of its members and caused bodily harm.
The United States recently completed the transfer of 10 former Coast Guard ships to four Asian countries, including two involved in territorial disputes with China, a Newsweek map shows.
The handover of cutters held both practical and politically symbolic significance in response to China‘s assertiveness in the South China Sea, where it claims sovereignty over most of the waters, naval analyst Collin Koh told Newsweek.
On 24 September 2011, at a meeting of the heads of Tibetan spiritual traditions, I made a statement to fellow Tibetans in and outside Tibet, followers of Tibetan Buddhism, and those who have a connection with Tibet and Tibetans, regarding whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue. I stated, “As far back as 1969, I made clear that concerned people should decide whether the Dalai Lama’s reincarnations should continue in the future.”
I also said, “When I am about ninety I will consult the high Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Tibetan public, and other concerned people who follow Tibetan Buddhism, to re-evaluate whether or not the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue.”
Although I have had no public discussions on this issue, over the last 14 years leaders of Tibet’s spiritual traditions, members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, participants in a Special General Body Meeting, members of the Central Tibetan Administration, NGOs, Buddhists from the Himalayan region, Mongolia, Buddhist republics of the Russian Federation and Buddhists in Asia including mainland China, have written to me with reasons, earnestly requesting that the institution of the Dalai Lama continue. In particular, I have received messages through various channels from Tibetans in Tibet making the same appeal. In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue.
The process by which a future Dalai Lama is to be recognized has been clearly established in the 24 September 2011 statement which states that responsibility for doing so will rest exclusively with members of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They should consult the various heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the reliable oath-bound Dharma Protectors who are linked inseparably to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas. They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition.
I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognize the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.
THE DALAI LAMA has said that the 600-year-old Tibetan spiritual institution will continue after his death, and that his office will have the sole responsibility of naming his successor.
The announcement came on Wednesday through a video message at the start of a religious leaders’ meeting in the Indian Himalayan town where he has lived for decades.
“In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” he said, according to an official translation. The Dalai Lama also said he had received multiple appeals over the past 14 years from Tibetans in exile, Buddhists across the Himalayan region, Mongolia, and parts of Russia and China urging him to ensure the continuation of the institution.
“In particular, I have received messages through various channels from Tibetans in Tibet making the same appeal,” he added.
The announcement comes ahead of his 90th birthday on July 6.
The announcement of the institution’s continuation was welcomed by many Tibetans. Jigme Taydeh, a civil servant with the Tibetan government-in-exile, said, “Whilst we rejoice at this confirmation of its continuation, we stringently object to China’s interference and plans to install a puppet Dalai Lama. Neither the Tibetans nor the world would recognise such mischief.”
The Department of Education announced that the University of Pennsylvania has agreed to resolve Title IX violations related to allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on the women’s team during the 2021-22 season.
As part of the resolution deal, Penn will adopt definitions for male and female consistent with biological sex; restore stolen records and titles to female athletes; and, issue personal apologies to each impacted female swimmer.
One of those swimmers is Paula Scanlan, a teammate of Thomas who has previously expressed the emotional distress she suffered from being forced to change with a biological male in the women’s locker room for an entire season.
Paula Scanlan, former University of Pennsylvania swimmer and teammate of Lia Thomas, testifies during the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution and Limited Government hearing on gender-affirming care for children.
“I am deeply grateful to the Trump administration for standing firm in protecting women and girls and restoring our rightful accolades,” Scanlan told OutKick. “It is because of their strong leadership that my alma mater now knows it has no choice but to begin the process of reforming its policies to uphold women’s rights. Today marks a momentous step toward repairing the past mistreatment of female athletes and forging a future where sex discrimination no longer limits girls’ potential.”
The reason we use the term semiotics on this site is when FIML partners do a FIML query, the data in their minds at the moment(s) in question is best described as raw semiotics.
That is, it is the raw material that makes up the composite of consciousness at the moment(s) in question.
This material, or data, can be sharply focused, vague, irrelevant to the subject at hand, emotional, associative, organized, disorganized, and so on.
When partners get good at observing this data accurately and describing it to each other, they will find that much of it, if not all of it, is connected to a psycho-semiotic network that underlies awareness, or intermingles with it, and gives rise to its states.
Understanding this network is extremely valuable and will provide partners with great insights into how and why they feel, think, and behave as they do.
It is very difficult (and I think impossible) to understand this network through solitary pursuits only.
The reason for this is a solitary mind will fool itself.
In contrast, two minds working together will be able to observe this network with much greater accuracy.
Language, semiotics, and emotion are fundamentally interpersonal operations, so it is reasonable to expect that deep comprehension of these operations will be best achieved through interpersonal activity. ABN
Turkmenistan has recently experienced a significant increase in diplomatic attention from both the United States and Russia, suggesting an intensifying geopolitical struggle for influence in the Central Asian nation.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Ashgabat to strengthen economic, cultural, and political ties, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau held separate phone conversations with the Turkmen Foreign Minister to discuss cooperation and expanding economic ties.
Moscow appears concerned by Washington’s growing engagement with Turkmenistan, with Russian media even speculating that a new airport in Jebel could serve American military interests.
Turkmenistan over the past year has taken tentative steps to open up trade connections with the West, underscored by the launch in March of a first-ever swap deal involving Turkey and Iran facilitating the export natural gas to the European Union.
The Russian Armed Forces have deployed armoured trains to resupply Army units in the disputed Donbas regions for ongoing high intensity engagements with Ukrainian and supporting Western forces.
New insight into the use of trains to support logistics was provided by state media’s publication of images of the armoured train Yenisey as part of a “combat coordination” exercise under Battlegroup Centre. Alongside the resupplying of frontline forces, the train has also been use for reconnaissance operations and to support the repair of railway lines.
Trains like the Yenisey also retain limited defensive combat capabilities, and integrate ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns and multiple heavy machine gun mounts.
Although the Donbas regions claimed by both Ukraine and Russia were integrated into the Ukrainian state before 2014, the railway lines were fully integrated with those in Russia when they were constructed in the Soviet era, allowing for relatively seamless resupply operations.
Lane splitting for motorcyclists will be allowed when two or more lanes of traffic are traveling in the same direction. It allows a motorcycle to pass another vehicle going in the same direction, and in the same lane, but at no more than 25 mph.
Motorcyclists are also not allowed to travel more than 15 mph over the speed of traffic while in relevant traffic lanes, according to public safety officials.
This is something that really is ‘safe and effective’. Lane-splitting allows bikes to get away from traffic while also reducing congestion for everyone. Been the law in California for a long time. Another good motorcycle law is allowing bikes to use high beams in the day. This has also been law in CA and is recommended for rider safety. In countries with lots of motorcycles, bikes are typically encouraged to move to the front of traffic waiting at stoplights so they can get out in front, thus reducing accidents and delays for everyone. ABN
American Buddhist Net 