Ties with Russia, China key to global peace – Iranian foreign minister
RT | April 19, 2025
Iran, Russia, and China intend to deepen their cooperation in order to promote global peace and security, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said in an exclusive interview with RT.
Tehran has been strengthening its ties with Moscow and Beijing in recent years, joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2023 and the BRICS group in 2024. Military cooperation has also expanded, most recently through joint naval drills conducted by the three countries off Iran’s coast in March.
Given the current international climate, working closely with Moscow and Beijing is “a necessity” for Tehran, Araghchi told the broadcaster on Saturday.
“We have started trilateral talks between Iran, Russia and China on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program for some time now,” he said, adding that two such meetings have already taken place. “We are ready to continue these talks and expand them to other issues,” the minister added.
Araghchi expressed confidence that “Iran, China and Russia – in a coordinated move – can take effective steps towards international peace.” The three partners “are serious about this,” he insisted.
Tehran’s top diplomat also said that bilateral “relations between Iran and Russia have never been so close and so strong” than at the current moment.
“We now have a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that raises the level of our relations to a strategic level. Major economic projects are underway between us. The volume of trade between us has increased tremendously,” he said.
Despite harsh Western restrictions slapped on both Iran and Russia, the two countries “are not waiting for the sanctions to be lifted, but we are expanding our relations in this situation,” Araghchi noted.
“We have the same and close positions on many international issues. I do not want to say that there are no disagreements between us. Sometimes there are also differences of opinion, but in most cases we have close positions with each other and, most importantly, we are in constant exchange of views,” he said.
Earlier this week, Russia’s Federation Council, the upper house of the country’s parliament, unanimously ratified the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement between Russia and Iran, which was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Peseshkian in January. The pact stipulates that the two nations will develop equal and mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of politics, defense, economy, security, trade, investment, energy, infrastructure and other areas.
Russia, China to Discuss Guarantees on Iran Deal with US – Iranian Lawmaker
Sputnik – 19.04.2025
The United States will not be the only one providing guarantees for a potential Tehran-Washington agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said ahead of the second round of US-Iran talks in Rome.
Russia and China will discuss with the US the issue of “more reliable guarantees” for Tehran, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a member of the Iranian parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, said.
“During the negotiations between Tehran and Washington, guarantees will not only be provided by the US. Countries such as Russia and China will enter into negotiations with the United States on more reliable guarantees,” Boroujerdi said, as quoted by the Iranian state agency SNN.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was on an official visit to Moscow on Thursday and Friday, and in the next few days, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA, Araghchi will visit China.
During his visit to Russia, the Iranian diplomat held a meeting and talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, conveying to him a message from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Araghchi also held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The parties discussed regional and international cooperation, as well as the situation around the US-Iran talks, the first round of which took place on April 12 in Oman.
Indirect talks between US Presidential Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Araghchi took place in the Omani capital on April 12. According to the US special envoy, they were positive and constructive. Araghchi also described the atmosphere of these talks as constructive and calm, and announced that the second round of talks between the Islamic Republic and the United States would be held on April 19.
Russia announces Easter ceasefire
RT | April 19, 2025
Russia will pause hostilities with Ukraine from 18:00 on Saturday Moscow time until midnight on April 21, President Vladimir Putin has announced.
The president announced the temporary ceasefire on Saturday after a meeting with Russian General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov. He expressed his hope that Kiev will show goodwill and observe the truce.
“At the same time, our troops must be prepared to react to possible violations of the ceasefire and provocations by the adversary, to any aggressive actions,” Putin stated.
Ukraine’s reaction to the Easter ceasefire will clearly demonstrate whether Kiev is able and sincerely willing to participate in the potential negotiations to bring the conflict to its end, the Russian president noted.
Putin invoked the 30-day energy truce between Moscow and Kiev, brokered by US President Donald Trump on March 18, noting Ukraine’s repeated violations.
“We know that the Kiev regime has violated the agreement on pausing energy infrastructure strikes more than a hundred times… Therefore, I ask you to be extremely attentive and focused, to be ready for an immediate full-force response,” he told Gerasimov.
Shortly after the president’s announcement, the Russian Defense Ministry released a short statement on the matter, urging Kiev to show reciprocity.
“The ceasefire regime is being introduced for humanitarian purposes and will be observed by the Russian Joint Group of Troops, provided that it is mutually observed by the Kiev regime,” the military said.
HEALTH FREEDOM’S BIG WIN IN IDAHO
The HighWire with Del Bigtree | April 17, 2025
President and founder of the Health Freedom Defense Fund, Leslie Manookian, shares how she helped pass Idaho’s sweeping new Medical Freedom Act, which protects individuals from coerced medical interventions. She describes the emotional rollercoaster of facing a governor’s veto and the ultimate victory that made the law even stronger.
Scott Ritter: Rubio’s Threats to Quit Ukraine Peace Talks Look Like Sabotage
Sputnik – April 18, 2025
Marco Rubio warned Friday that the US could walk out of the Ukrainian peace process if progress is not made “within days.” A day earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky accused Trump Ukraine envoy Steve Witkoff of “spreading Russian narratives,” and claimed Witkoff has no “mandate… to speak about Ukrainian territories.”
The US secretary of state’s remarks on potentially ending the US peace push in Ukraine signal dual frustrations: with Steve Witkoff’s influence over Ukraine policy, and with Russia’s demands for a lasting peace instead of a temporary ceasefire, military analyst and former Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter told Sputnik.
“I think this is an effort by Marco Rubio to insert himself into the process, but I want to remind people that he doesn’t make policy, especially policy concerning US-Russian relations,” Ritter emphasized.
Ritter sees Rubio’s comments as an attempt to “create the atmosphere of a failed policy” to try to get the US to abandon its current policy on Ukraine, but doesn’t see President Trump accepting this position.
Ritter also recalled that Rubio’s position in the Trump administration has forced him to pull a 180 degree turn on the traditional pro-Ukraine, anti-Russia posture he held throughout his career in the Senate.
“Rubio’s statement actually empowers Europe and Ukraine in many ways because now all they have to do is drag this out. The key here is for Europe and Ukraine is to get the United States out of the peacekeeping business and hopefully get the US back into the war-fighting business, that is, to continue their proxy conflict against Russia. That doesn’t seem to be the policy direction that Donald Trump favors,” the observer stressed.
Ultimately, Ritter said, what the Ukraine crisis needs right now is diplomacy. “This requires the United States to put pressure on Europe, to put pressure on Ukraine. The Trump administration doesn’t seem to have the leverage necessary to achieve that. This is where Marco Rubio is supposed to be stepping forward to take the lead diplomatically to see the president’s will translated into actual policy that can be implemented. But Rubio doesn’t seem to be inclined to do this.”
“So what I envision happening is, in a week or so, you’ll see Marco Rubio make a play with the Trump administration, with the president himself, to terminate America’s effort to bring this conflict to an end. But I don’t see Donald Trump accepting that. I see Donald Trump rejecting that advice and continuing to press forward and giving Steve Witkoff a chance to work with the Russians. But this is a process that if it continues, is going to take weeks, if not months, before you get the kind of detailed agreement necessary to allow Russia to accept a ceasefire,” Ritter summed up.
UK Government and Tony Blair Back AI-Powered Surveillance Push Including Digital ID and Facial Recognition

By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | April 18, 2025
A new push is underway in the UK to promote AI-powered mass surveillance via a number of controversial technologies and tools.
The country’s government, former PM Tony Blair, the College of Policing (the professional body for police in England and Wales), as well as legacy media outlet The Times, and Axon, a surveillance company, have converged behind this latest effort.
Axon was the headline sponsor during The Times’ Crime and Justice Summit this week, organized to present the result of an inquiry launched a year ago by the newspaper under the title, “The Crime and Justice Commission,” meant to look into the future of policing and the criminal justice system.
The final report contains recommendations to introduce mandatory universal digital ID and online age verification, as well as expand the use of live facial recognition, AI, and data analytics.
Age verification and banning users under 16 from social media would be enforced through a universal digital ID system, which would also be used to create what the report refers to as a “single unique identifier from birth.”
And while “ethical dilemmas” around this are acknowledged, the document calls for a single digital case file for the justice system.
Live facial recognition, which is currently tested or used in limited areas, should be expanded across the UK, according to the report, which also urges for AI and data analytics to be more involved in policing and the criminal justice system.
And while civil liberties and privacy campaigner Big Brother Watch slammed what it calls “an obsession” with Orwellian AI-powered surveillance that “reeks of authoritarianism and would be a hammer blow to our civil liberties” – Tony Blair and several other high profile figures emerged as enthusiastic supporters of the recommendations.
According to Blair, digital ID is a necessity (he and his foundation push for the mandatory kind), as is live facial recognition deployment in “busy places like train stations and events.” The former PM wants AI to be used for “spotting crime patterns, guiding patrols, and streamlining decisions.”
UK Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood suggested that some of the recommendations would become law, while other supporters of the report include the Home Office, life peer in the House of Lords Baroness Longfield, Independent Victims’ Commissioner for London Claire Waxman, and the College of Policing.
Exposed: Real Agenda Behind Scrapped $2 Million US Media Grant in Moldova
By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 17.04.2025
US taxpayers will no longer have to foot a $2 million bill for ‘Newsroom Sustainability’ in a post-Soviet republic 5,000 miles away after DOGE sniffed out another $215 million in State Department foreign aid waste.
Layers Within Bureaucratic Layers
The scrapped ‘Expanded Newsroom Sustainability and Engagement’ project was run by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), a USAID-linked State Dept sub-agency promoting ‘democracy, human and labor rights’ abroad through cash injections to the right actors.
Officially, the $2 million grant was meant to ‘support independent newsrooms and increase civic engagement through professional journalism’.
In reality, it was part of a vast web of US and EU-financed media in Moldova and other post-Soviet countries pushing the pro-Western, pro-EU and anti-Russian narrative.
Green Light for Attack Dog Journalism
The DRL, USAID, the European External Action Service and the Council of Europe have spent tens of millions of dollars annually funding Moldovan media like Recorder, ZDG and NewsMaker.
These outlets drag opposition parties (like Sor, now banned) and figures (like former president Igor Dodon) through the mud in corruption investigations and exposés, but ignore the alleged corruption and wrongdoing of ruling PAS Party elites.
While pro-EU media has flourished, independent and opposition outlets have faced shutdowns, sanctions and harassment, from fake tax inspections to legal threats.
This was made possible by draconian “anti-fake news” and “disinformation” laws, overseen by the country’s powerful Audiovisual Council and supported by the EU.
Could State Department’s Move Level the Playing Field?
$2 million in lost funding may not seem like much, but every little bit helps. USAID alone has already nixed $32 million in media support to Moldova and $22 million in elections-related aid this year ahead of September’s crucial parliamentary vote.
Cuts won’t bring back banned outlets, but they could deamplify the pro-West media narrative, and accordingly the political and media power of the Sandu government.
Weaponized Surveillance: Biden Admin’s ‘Counterterror’ Plan Declassified
By Svetlana Ekimenko – Sputnik – 17.04.2025
America First Legal Foundation (AFL) had appealed to the US Director of National Intelligence to declassify and release the Biden administration’s classified 2021 domestic surveillance strategy, with Tulsi Gabbard promising to comply with the request for transparency and accountability.
The Biden administration’s strategy gave the green greenlight to mass digital stalking and thought-tracking, as evidenced by the playbook newly declassified by Tulsi Gabbard.
The Biden Administration’s Strategic Implementation Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism empowers federal agencies to:
- Adopt pre-crime tactics, enhancing screening and vetting processes for federal employees, particularly those in sensitive positions
- Improve background checks by policing speech, tracking iconography and phraseology, vetting spending, and improving ideological filtering of public servants
- Incorporate mental health screening and community engagement lines to flag “threats” before a crime is committed
- Expand digital surveillance through tech platform partnerships
- Actively integrate foreign intelligence into data-sharing efforts
- Assess risks among military retirees during their transition to civilian life
Israeli officials head to Paris to ‘influence US position’ on Iran talks
The Cradle | April 18, 2025
Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Mossad chief David Barnea traveled to Paris for a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff, which will focus on the current nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran.
“Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer secretly flew to Paris to meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff for talks on the Iranian nuclear issue,” three Israeli sources told Hebrew outlet Walla on 18 April. Axios reported that Barnea will also be participating.
“Israel wants to clarify its positions and try to influence the American position in the talks,” the Walla report added.
One source cited in the report said that Witkoff is looking to negotiate a deal in which Tehran agrees to no longer enrich uranium.
According to three sources speaking with Iran International, Iran proposed during the last round of talks the idea of a cap on its uranium enrichment – as was the case in the 2015 nuclear deal under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which US President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018 during his first term.
The report says the proposal includes Iran temporarily lowering enrichment to 3.67 percent – the level from the 2015 deal. In exchange, Washington would allow Tehran to access frozen assets and export oil in the first phase.
Phase two would see the US lift additional sanctions and block the “snapback” mechanism, which allows for the immediate reimposition of sanctions on Iran by the UN Security Council, according to the report. Iran would, in exchange, allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to resume inspections of nuclear sites, including “surprise” inspections.
Witkoff called on Iran to end its enrichment and said the president has ordered a “tough deal,” contradicting an earlier statement signaling US openness to a cap on Iranian uranium enrichment.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on 16 April that the Islamic Republic’s enrichment of uranium is “non-negotiable.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened a bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities if a deal is not reached in the current talks, which are coinciding with his continued “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions on Iran.
Tehran has demanded an end to US pressure and threats, and says talks will continue in an indirect manner.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Trump recently “waved off” an Israeli proposal for a joint attack on Iran.
“I wouldn’t say ‘waved off,’” Trump said in response. “I’m not in a rush to do it. If there’s a second option. I think it would be very bad for Iran, and I think Iran is wanting to talk. I hope they’re wanting to talk. It’s going to be very good for them if they do. Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. It’s pretty simple,” he added.
Israel has for years been devising plots for a large-scale attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Tel Aviv has recently said that the only US–Iran deal it would find acceptable is one that completely eliminates Tehran’s nuclear program.
The next round of US–Iran talks will be held on 19 April in Rome.
Threats of Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Are ‘Unacceptable’ – IAEA Chief
Sputnik – 18.04.2025
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi called threats of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities “unacceptable.”
“The IAEA has always emphasized that threats against Iran’s nuclear facilities are unacceptable and that the attacks that are being discussed could not only worsen existing problems, but also create more serious environmental consequences,” Grossi was quoted as saying by the IRIB news agency on Thursday.
On Wednesday, The New York Times newspaper reported that US President Donald Trump did not allow Israel to attack Iranian nuclear facilities after he decided to pursue diplomacy with Tehran. Israeli officials were allegedly ready to attack Iran in May and counted on US support, promising to set back Tehran’s nuclear program by a year or more.
US proposes leaving former Ukrainian territories under Russian control – Bloomberg
RT | April 18, 2025
The US has presented its allies with the details of its peace plan to bring the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to an end, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing European officials familiar with the matter.
The contours of the plan were outlined during a meeting in Paris on Thursday. The proposal reportedly includes easing sanctions on Russia, as well as terminating Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO. The roadmap would effectively freeze the war, with the formerly Ukrainian territories held by Russia remaining under Moscow’s control, the sources suggested.
One of the officials told Bloomberg that the proposal still had to be discussed with Kiev, adding that the plan would not actually amount to a definitive settlement of the conflict. Moreover, Kiev’s European backers would not recognize the territories as Russian, the source suggested.
The Paris meetings involved senior officials from several countries. The US delegation was led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff. They met with French President Emmanuel Macron and also held discussions with top officials and negotiators from France, Germany, the UK, and Ukraine.
Earlier on Friday, Rubio signaled Washington was ready to “move on” if a way to end the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev could not be found shortly.
“We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term. Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” Rubio told reporters before departing from France.
Moscow has signaled a full ceasefire with Ukraine was highly unlikely, citing Kiev’s violations of previous deals. Speaking to reporters at the UN headquarters on Thursday, Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia said there are “big issues with the comprehensive ceasefire,” recalling the fate of the now-defunct Minsk agreements, which were “misused and abused to prepare Ukraine for the confrontation.”
The diplomat also cited repeated Ukrainian violations of a US-brokered 30-day moratorium on energy infrastructure strikes, implemented on March 18.
“How close we are to the ceasefire is a big question to me personally, because, as I said, we had an attempt at a limited ceasefire on energy infrastructure, which was not observed by the Ukrainian side. So, in these circumstances, to speak about a ceasefire is simply unrealistic at this stage,” Nebenzia said.
American Death Throes
By Georgia Hayduke • Unz Review • April 18, 2025
If the situation was hopeless, their propaganda would be unnecessary.
– Anonymous
They say the most dangerous animal you can encounter in the wild is one that is dying and cornered. A trapped coyote will lash out and attack you with every fiber of its being, even if it’s mortally wounded. Especially if it’s mortally wounded.
The American Empire and the so-called state of Israel are a pair of conjoined coyotes whose paws are clamped in the jaws of a bear trap, hanging on by a few threads of tendon. In their last gasps of life before they enter the great beyond, in one final adrenaline fueled frenzy, these dogs are lashing out and doing everything in their power to destroy financially, legally, and socially anyone who dares speak out against the crimes they are committing in Palestine. I learned this for myself not too long ago.
On a recent afternoon, I attended a march for Palestine hosted by my school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. A few days prior, two Saudi national grad students at my school had their student visas revoked for expressing support for the Palestinian cause on their social media. They had taken the first flights back to Saudi Arabia so they could avoid run-ins with the police. These students weren’t thieves or rapists or anything worthy of being expelled over. The only crime these students had committed was daring to speak out against the middle east’s sex offender capital on Instagram. I found the expulsion of these students personally intolerable.
I had never attended a protest before. The SJP had held protests on campus since October 2023, but I hadn’t gone to any because I am a very private person, and I like to keep my identity hidden from individuals and organizations who would see me fired for my political beliefs. I’m a bit of a coward. I’d rather be at home with my roommates making a pot of spaghetti than marching down the street holding a flag. Plus I didn’t want to get beat up by a cop. Anyway, I figured if I could pull off a disguise, and kept my opsec airtight, I could go to a protest and make it home without my name and address plastered all over the canary mission website. My disguise was simple enough: long pants, boots, and a ski mask, with a hoodie and sunglasses to cover my face and hair. Nothing I had on was personally identifiable. I left my phone and bag at home. I just looked like some hobo. I walked to campus instead of driving, and I didn’t put on my disguise until I got to some bushes near the railroad tracks where the SJP was meeting up. I figured the steps I was taking were overkill, but I found out they were not.
The crowd was about what you would expect. A group of muslim students gathered at the front with a wagon with some water bottles and granola bars in it. A group of dysgenic looking transgender students stood to their right, sallow and lanky pink hair flopping around their shoulders. The enemy of my enemy is my friend I suppose. Other groups of generic looking kids stood around them, talking quietly. Ordinary folks. It was heartening to see them. The annoying preacher who stands on the quad everyday yelling about abortion was there too, which struck me as odd. I would have expected him to have a sign reading “Real Patriots Stand With Israel”, but he seemed determined to defy stereotypes. He carried a sign reading “Free Mahmoud Khalil” and wore the Palestinian flag like a cape. There were a few other older adults there as well, including a mother with her baby. The crowd stood about forty strong.
Off to the side stood a small group of shady looking folks with fluorescent green hats on. I made small talk with a skinny young man who stood by me to my left. He’d been to many protests before, and wasn’t surprised by the makeup of the crowd. New people like me show up every time. I asked him about the green hatted crowd, and he told me that they were marshals whose job was to monitor any policemen who showed up. They were from a police brutality watchdog organization. This was necessary since the time the police savagely beat protesters on UNC’s campus about a year ago. Footage of the cops dragging a girl across the ground by her hair is publicly available. This reaction was obviously serious overkill, and hadn’t been seen at other student protests on UNC’s campus in years past. The Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, while rowdy, had a very subdued police presence. I do not recall anyone getting their hair ripped out by the po-po in 2020. There is one key difference between the attempted race riots of 2020 and the protests for Palestine of today: the protests for Palestine are actually threatening to the powers that be.
We marched in a loop across campus. We went from the student union, to the historic district, to the library, and back to the student union. Overall I’d say we covered about a mile of ground. We had supporters. There’s a large Arab population close to campus, and we’d see Arab guys roll down the windows of their cars and cheer for us. It felt nice to have some people on our side. The trouble that showed up took the form of a small group of nasally enhanced individuals wearing sunglasses who joined our march when we reached the historic district. This group was composed of a bunch of creeps wearing dark clothes and ballcaps, who would slink into the crowd and attempt to covertly take photos of the marchers with phone cameras up their sleeve. I asked my lanky comrade about these freaks, and he told me the ADL hires people, usually Hillel students, to monitor student social media related to Palestine. These losers go to all SJP marches, and they try to dox students that go to them. Completely covering my face and body wasn’t overkill at all. They also try to bait people into losing their cool and punching them, catching assault charges. Little digs to try and ruin the lives of anyone standing against them.
As we were walking, the skinny young man pointed out a loud girl standing at the front of the group. She had on a keffiyeh, and her hair was in a slicked back blonde ponytail. She walked in the street a lot, and the muslim students seemed leery of her. “That’s a fed.” he whispered. “What makes you think that?” I asked. “She’s way older than everyone, and she’s wearing cop sneakers. Ten bucks says she’ll try to get someone to act violent later.” I kept watch on that girl. I had no reason to trust the skinny guy, but better safe than sorry.
Another paranoia inducing character was the driver of a certain grey Dodge Charger with tinted windows that followed the march the entire time we made our way across campus. It is common knowledge that the Dodge Charger has replaced the Crown Victoria as the car of choice for smokey and friends, so I immediately thought it to be an undercover cop. The rest of the crowd came to this conclusion independently. The muslim kids thought it was someone from the ADL coming to take pictures of us. Either was possible, or it could have been some rando. At least I hope it was a rando, and we were being paranoid for no reason. But the loop that car took was not a logical loop. He stayed right behind us the whole time and made no stops. Being leery of him was a smart move.
When we got back to the student union, still eyeing the Dodge Charger, the loud blonde girl spoke up. “That’s a cop no doubt!” She said, a little too loud. “Let’s throw bricks at it!” Her behavior was cartoonish. She was acting in a bizarrely scripted fashion, like a parody of an antifa thug. None of her words felt organic or genuine. If anyone was a fed at that march, it was her. I stayed far away. I walked home as discreetly as possible, thinking about what I saw.
I had a few takeaways from this experience. For one, I was shocked by the amount of effort, time, and money being put into ruining the lives of college students by organizations like the ADL and Uncle Sam. If I hadn’t seen for myself groups of shady thugs trying to get photos of and pick fights with students who have the nerve to stand up to the American Empire, I wouldn’t have believed it if you told me. Especially due to the small scale of this protest. We never left campus, and the crowd was small, especially compared to previous marches, which went directly to the state capitol building. But the powers that be decided that this goofy little crowd was a threat. This group of awkward college students and aging boomers is of top priority for the state. Not murderers, not robbers, but a bunch of kids trying to pass calculus. Really makes you think.
This experience also taught me that there is hope. The ADL and the feds wouldn’t be putting so much effort into crushing dissidence if they weren’t scared. The idea that there are Americans out there who don’t buy the propaganda pushed on us every day, from every angle, from every movie and news source since birth keeps the ADL up at night in a cold sweat. All I can say now is this: Get mad. Get even. Don’t let them see your face. They’re scared. Give them a reason to be.
