‘Our wars against Russia and Iran have failed, let’s try Cuba next’

from Redacted.inc

Is the U.S. planning a war with Cuba? It seems that way.

New reports say the CIA has moved a significant number of assets into Cuba, following the same playbook it used in Venezuela.

And Washington seems to be building a story to gain public approval, complete with official statements and government reports. All designed to shape what you think. The goal? Paint Cuba as the great enemy.

Marco Rubio has also been trying to sell us that view, stating in an interview: “people forget that when it comes to things like espionage and influence operations, they actually are an influence and espionage superpower.”

An espionage superpower? Really?

Most people think of the U.S., Russia, and China as superpowers, certainly not Cuba.

To support those claims, Rubio pointed to a recently released State Department report on Cuba that says the country has been responsible for violent insurgencies across multiple continents.

The report also linked Cuba to extremist movements in the U.S., including the Black Panthers, Antifa, anti-ICE collectives and Marxist militant organizations.

Are we supposed to believe that a tiny island is capable of all this?

The report even showcases this quote in oversized text: “Name any disturbance in the United States – on campus, in the streets, anywhere – and I’ll name you the leaders of it who have been to Cuba.” – Unnamed State Department official, 1970

An anonymous quote from more than 50 years ago? Is that really supposed to convince anyone?

So why push this narrative now?

Politico reports the U.S. is planning to send more intel assets to Cuba. The outlet says “Such intelligence moves could portend actions ranging from a U.S. military operation in Cuba to stepped up efforts to turn Cuban officials or ordinary citizens against the regime,” similar to what they are pulling on Iran right now.

And if the objective really is to turn Cubans against their government, Washington seems to assume the Cuban people aren’t intelligent enough to understand what’s really causing their suffering, which is U.S. sanctions.

The U.S. has imposed the longest-running trade embargo in history, over 60 years, which has left Cubans with no fuel, no electricity, and running water sometimes only for one hour a day. The reality is that the U.S. has been slowly killing the people of Cuba.

If Cuba isn’t a genuine military threat, then what is motivating all of this?

Possibly the fact that Cuba hasn’t fallen for Washington’s recent “humanitarian aid” rescue package or the false diplomacy it has offered, and so they are moving to Plan B.

Could there be another motivation? Cuba’s valuable beachfront real estate, much like the redevelopment visions that have been floated for Gaza?

America’s ‘two-party club’ is a failure

The same could be said of what it was like in NZ under the old ‘first past the post’ electoral system, which Luxon wants to return to and which Winston Peters rightly calls a power grab. Comrade Jacinda had a one-party government from 2020 to 2023 and how did that work out?

from the Taxpayers Union

Do you remember last month’s story of a Ministry of Justice bureaucrat who got caught smuggling gold bars for a gang?

Stuff Harrison

In case you missed it, Russell Harrison was arrested in June 2021 and remained on his taxpayer-funded salary for five years before pleading guilty to smuggling gold bars into Turkey for the notorious Comancheros motorcycle gang.

Well, your humble Taxpayers’ Union knew this had to be just the tip of the iceberg — so our investigations team kept digging and uncovered that, while on gardening leave, he had a starring role in a Health NZ advert.

Yesterday, we revealed that a single ad cost the taxpayer $490,000 😟

Health NZ ad

Did the Minister read our update? 😱

The pressure we kept on the Minister about this case clearly worked.

Yesterday afternoon, the Minister of Justice announced a rapid review into the Ministry by the Public Service Commission, describing his trust in the department as “seriously shaken”.

When we heard about Russell Harrison, we knew he couldn’t possibly be the only case. So, we dug a little deeper and fired off Official Information Act requests across the public service.

Call it a coincidence, but just an hour after Minister Goldsmith’s announcement, our investigations team received a response from the Ministry of Justice.

To no-one’s surprise, he was not the only member of staff on gardening leave pending an investigation.

In fact, the Ministry of Justice alone had four other people on gardening leave, under investigation for either criminal charges or serious misconduct.

And it didn’t stop there. The Ministry of Social Development had eight. Oranga Tamariki had 14 people on paid leave, one of them for 35 weeks!

It’s a victory for taxpayers that Minister Goldsmith has called for a review into the Ministry of Justice.

But there’s one small problem.

When we asked the Public Service Commission if they had anyone on gardening leave, they refused to answer the request.

The part of the public service responsible for the investigation won’t themselves open up to scrutiny. The irony is painful.

Let’s keep the pressure on!

The timing of Minister Goldsmith’s inquiry announcement – and the response from the Ministry to our investigations team – show that the Government act when they feel the pressure. 

We’ll keep the pressure on and keep uncovering where else the taxpayer is paying for bureaucrats on gardening leave.

Thank you again for your support,

Rhys signature
Rhys Hurley
Investigative Lead
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union

letter to the ‘Kapiti News’ editor about the Mayor’s comments

Incidentally, Matthew O’Byrne is a guy Geoffrey went to school with, he has been a partner in The Law Connection.

everyday in the Zelensky gangster mob

“Gratuities” for Polish government officials?

A Ukrainian consular attaché working at the Ukrainian Embassy in the Republic of Poland was detained at the border. He had attempted to smuggle out: $140,000, €68,000, 12 kg of gold, 13.8 kg of jewelry…

Where on earth did he get all that from?

amusement: a naughty prank, Wales

A 26-year-old man has been arrested after dressing as the “Grim Reaper” and climbing onto the roof of a Welsh hospital to stare at staff and visitors.

North Wales Police and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were called after the man dressed in the black hooded outfit was seen overlooking the entrance at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd hospital in St Asaph, Denbighshire, on Saturday, 6 June.

The man, later identified as Leon Gillespie, of Deganwy, was also seen brandishing what appeared to be a long blade.

what makes Poland different from western Europe

We’ve seen how the hundreds of thousands of uninvited African military age men have turned cities in western Europe into dangerous trash-strewn dumps. Not in Poland.