Long, productive, rewarding, and also sad, day in Aleppo. The sad–tragic–part was meeting a man, Abdel Aziz, who was held in the terrorists’ underground prison in the Eye/Children’s Hospital complex, occupied by terrorist factions until liberation of eastern Aleppo areas in late 2016. Held for over a year, he said, in solitary confinement most of that time, he said. Solitary confinement was a narrow, suffocating, cement and metal cell just wide enough for an adult to fit in. At best he could probably sit, knees to chest… but not lie down. He was one of many civilians kept in such horrific circumstances. He started to cry when I asked him questions about this unjust incarceration, so I didn’t push much beyond asking the very basics. This man is traumatized, probably for life. (In Gaza and beyond) [LINK]

Ted Galen Carpenter | Western officials implicitly assumed that Russia could be intimidated and eventually compelled to accept Ukraine as part of NATO. They dismissed the Kremlin’s increasingly pointed warnings that efforts to make Kyiv an Alliance asset would cross a red line that violated Russia’s security. Their assumption that Moscow would tamely accept a NATO presence inside Russia’s core security zone proved to be spectacularly wrong, and Ukraine is now paying a very high price in treasure and blood for their miscalculation.

One might hope that NATO leaders would have learned an important lesson from such a costly mistake. However, they are stubbornly ignoring a new set of ominous warnings from Moscow, and this time, the price of such tone-deaf arrogance could be utterly catastrophic. Indeed, it is creating the risk of a nuclear clash between Russia and the United States. In his first speech announcing the "special military operation" in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin warned all outside parties (clearly meaning NATO members) not to interfere. 💬 "Anyone who tries to interfere with us . . . must know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences as you have never before experienced in your history." [Emphasis added]

The Neoconservatives Are Setting Up the World for Nuclear War (Paul Craig Roberts)

💬 "The United States and its NATO allies continue to pump weapons into Ukraine. I can confirm that any transport from the North Atlantic alliance that arrives in the country with weapons or materiel for the Ukrainian armed forces will be considered by us as a legitimate target for destruction," Shoigu said according to state sources.

The warning comes after the US has led the way in providing billions in military aid to Kiev, and the UK approved a fresh $375 million package. Germany has also approved sending heavier weaponry, though Berlin has also said its own military stockpiles are depleted and running low.

Reality on the Ground in Ukraine (Stephen Lendman)

The 90 M777 howitzers that the United States is providing to Ukraine will not only make it more difficult for the Russians to move out in the open but the guns could also support a future Ukrainian offensive to reclaim Russian-occupied parts of their country, experts told Task & Purpose. About 70 of the 155 mm guns along with roughly 70,000 artillery rounds have been transferred to Ukraine so far, a senior defense official told reporters on Monday. [May 2.] More than 200 Ukrainian troops are expected to be trained on how to operate the howitzers by the end of Monday with another 50 Ukrainian service members scheduled to begin training later this week.

M777 Heavy Howitzers Are Now In Service With Kiev Forces (Video) (South Front)

The US has been training Ukrainian forces for eight years and is using a major base in Germany to continue doing so, a top general said .

The US military is currently training Ukrainian troops to operate new howitzers, drones and other NATO-supplied equipment at the Grafenwoehr range in southern Germany, the head of the 7th Army Training Command confirmed on Wednesday. Brigadier General Joseph Hilbert told reporters that the US military has trained over 20,000 Ukrainian troops over the past seven years, in anticipation [sic] of a conflict with Russia. Grafenwoehr, located in eastern Bavaria, was originally built by Imperial Germany ahead of the First World War. It was expanded by the Wehrmacht in 1938 and used to practice Blitzkrieg tactics. The US military occupied it in 1945 and has operated it ever since.

U.S. unit that was withdrawn from Ukraine back to Europe to train troops (Anti-Bellum)
Pentagon steps up training for Ukrainian troops (RT.com)

Is climate change real? The answer is no, and especially so with regard to carbon dioxide (CO2), which has almost no impact whatsoever on the climate. In a 40-minute presentation, World Climate Declaration signatory David Siegel presented evidence to show that there is no climate emergency and no need to worry about CO2. Based on input he received from the international CLINTEL network, Siegel wants the world to know that there is no reason to panic. The global net-zero CO2 policy, also known as "NetZero," is misleading, unrealistic and destructive, he says. "CO2 budgets are not based on science, but they are based on fear," CLINTEL revealed in a report.

Someone who's over there demolishes three whopping lies about "Ukraine," with visual evidence beyond dispute.

The practice of publishing false stories for financial or political motives has probably been around much longer than that, but today it has been elevated to a science and an art form, a black art form, that is truly one of the greatest threats to the future of Humanity in the world today. It is mass brainwashing on a global scale, abetted by science and technology, a war on human consciousness, a concentrated and deliberate attack on people's ability to see reality, to discern fact from lies, it is a war against the truth.