Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Governments & airlines lobby European Commission to refuse customer refunds for cancelled flights

Charlie Weston
Independent.ie
Thu, 30 Apr 2020 10:32 UTC
Airbus
© PA Wire/PA ImagesAn Airbus A320-214 owned and operated by Aer Lingus
IRELAND is one of 12 countries that have put their names to a letter calling on the European Commission to change the rules on refunds for cancelled airline flights.

It comes after both Ryanair and Aer Lingus refused to comment last week when asked if they were lobbying the Government to have the rules changed.

The joint letter, which is also signed by the governments in France and the Netherlands, points out that European Commission Regulation 261/2004 and "its obligation to reimburse cancelled tickets in cash, if the passenger so decides, places airlines in a difficult situation where they are facing a serious cash flow challenge".


Comment: Are citizens not facing 'serious cash flow challenges'?


The letter calls for the rules to be changed temporarily to allow airlines to issue vouchers instead of refunds.

The joint letter states:

Comment: See also:

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Stock Down

Best of the Web: The death of US oil

Art Berman
Oil Price
Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:00 UTC
us oil
It's game-over for most of the U.S. oil industry.

Prices have collapsed and storage is nearly full. The only option for many producers is to shut in their wells. That means no income. Most have considerable debt so bankruptcy is next.

Peggy Noonan wrote in her column recently that "this is a never-before-seen level of national economic calamity; history doesn't get bigger than this." That is the superficial view.

Coronavirus has changed everything. The longer it lasts, the less the future will look anything like the past.

Most people, policy makers and economists are energy blind and cannot, therefore, fully grasp the gravity or the consequences of what is happening.

Comment: See also:

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Stock Down

UK banks preparing for "severe" recession, profits at Lloyds bank crash by 95%

John-Paul Ford Rojas
Sky News
Thu, 30 Apr 2020 10:21 UTC
Lloyds
Lloyds took a £1.43bn hit as it revised its economic forecast for the UK
The UK-focused group has put aside £1.43bn as it prepares for a big downturn expected to squeeze its customers.

Lloyds Banking Group has reported a 95% fall in first quarter profit as it counts the cost of the coronavirus to the economy.

Profits of £74m for the January-March period were down from £1.6bn in the same period a year ago, as the UK-focused lender set aside £1.43bn to cover the expected slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The group, which owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland as well as Lloyds Bank, sees the economy shrinking by as much as 7.8% this year under a "severe downside" scenario.

Comment: So banks have provided a meagre £4.1 billion to British businesses from the £330 billion allocated and backed by the government? Is it any wonder the UK economy is facing a depression? Even before the manufactured coronavirus 'crisis' the economy was teetering on the edge because of the corruption at the top, the tyrannical lock down just gave it a little push.

See also: And check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: Introducing Political Ponerology, plus some odds and ends

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Bullseye

Gregg Jarrett: Michael Flynn should have all charges dropped, be allowed to sue his persecutors

Gregg Jarrett
Fox News
Mon, 27 Apr 2020 23:50 UTC
Michael Flynn
© Getty ImagesArmy Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn
Michael Flynn is the victim of one of the worst miscarriages of justice in modern times — an innocent man who was unfairly targeted by the FBI, wrongfully prosecuted by special counsel Robert Mueller, and coerced into a guilty plea under threat.

New court documents finally handed over to Flynn's lawyer contain exculpatory evidence that has been long sought, yet concealed until now. The charge against him should be dismissed. Then, he should sue the very people and government that persecuted him under the pretext of a legitimate prosecution.

The unvarnished truth is that the retired Army lieutenant general and former National Security Adviser never did anything wrong and committed no crimes. He was set up by unscrupulous FBI officials, then relentlessly pursued by Mueller's team of overzealous prosecutors who were desperate to show that President Trump and his campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election.

Comment:

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Snakes in Suits

Powell: Unsealed FBI handwritten notes and emails reveal agents plotted perjury trap on Flynn

Sara Carter
SaraACarter.com
Wed, 29 Apr 2020 23:44 UTC
michael flynn_andrew mccabe
U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan unsealed four pages of stunning FBI emails and handwritten notes Wednesday, regarding former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, which allegedly reveal the retired three star general was targeted by senior FBI officials for prosecution, stated Flynn's defense attorney Sidney Powell. Those notes and emails revealed that the retired three-star general appeared to be set up for a perjury trap by the senior members of the bureau and agents charged with investigating the now-debunked allegations that President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russia, said Sidney Powell, the defense lawyer representing Flynn.
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Radar

Rouhani to US: This waterway is called Persian Gulf, not 'New York' Gulf


Press TV
Wed, 29 Apr 2020 11:05 UTC
Rouhani
In light of Washington's incessant acts of military adventurism in the Persian Gulf region, President Hassan Rouhani has once again reminded the United States to whom the waterway truly belongs.
"The Americans should know that this waterway is called 'the Persian Gulf.' It is not called 'the New York Gulf' or 'the Washington Gulf,'" President Rouhani told a cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday, in remarks on the occasion of the National Persian Gulf Day.
"They should understand the circumstances [surrounding the body of water] by taking into consideration both its name and the nation that has preserved it for thousands of years, and, therefore, stop hatching plots against the Iranian nation every day," the president stated.

The Americans, he added, can clearly witness how the Iranian nation has been and continues to be successful in all areas, including providing security for the maritime area.


Comment: The US came perilously close to starting a war with Iran last year, and though it didn't happen then - its clear that some of the same crazed people in Washington are still itching to inflict carnage on the Persian country.

See also:

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Propaganda

Washington Post blasted for claiming 'Trump allies' are 'amplifying' Biden accuser Tara Reade

Joseph A. Wulfsohn
Fox News
Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:46 UTC
the washington post
The Washington Post was slammed late Monday night for its bizarre framing of the latest developments that emerged surrounding the allegations made by Tara Reade against former Vice President Joe Biden.

Reade, who came forward last month accusing then-Senator Biden of sexual assault when she was a Senate staffer in 1993, has had more corroborating evidence surface in recent days.

A "Larry King Live" clip from 1993 purportedly showing Reade's mother calling into the show anonymously and alluding to her daughter's "problems" with a "prominent senator" was brought to light on Friday. And on Monday, two more people, a former neighbor and a former colleague of Reade's, came forward to back her claims after conversations they had back in the 90s.
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Bad Guys

Moscow shoots down blatant Czech propaganda that accuses Russia of poisoning plot


RFE/RL
Tue, 28 Apr 2020 20:46 UTC
Mayor Ondrej Kolar
Prague 6 Mayor Ondrej Kolar angered Moscow after his district removed a statue of Marshal Ivan Konev, who led Red Army forces during World War II.
Russia has rejected as slander a Czech media report of an alleged poisoning plot against Prague officials, including the city's mayor, as the Czech counterintelligence agency refuses to comment on the allegations.

The investigative Czech weekly Respekt reported on April 26 that a suspected Russian intelligence officer had traveled to Prague more than three weeks ago with a suitcase containing the lethal toxin ricin. It quoted Czech security sources as saying the target of the poison plot was Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib and a district mayor.

The report comes amid fresh tensions between Prague and Moscow and suspicion that Russia was behind a recent wave of cyberattacks in the Czech Republic.

However, Russia claimed it was the victim, not the Czech Republic, of a disinformation campaign.

Comment: It's quite a ridiculous claim to suggest Russia is targeting the lives of politicians because of a name change of a city square and the petty removal of a statue. Those who put their nose out as a mindless anti-Russia drones actually do make themselves targets though. Not by Russia but by more nefarious types who try to prop up the Russia boogeyman trope.

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Binoculars

US AG Barr instructs US attorneys to watch for state and local governments violating civil liberties

Tristan Justice
The Federalist
Mon, 27 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC
Barr
© Office of Public Affairs/FlickrUS Attorney General Bill Barr
U.S. Attorney General William Barr instructed U.S. attorneys to monitor cases of state and local governments infringing on citizens' civil liberties Monday as municipalities remain on lockdown nationwide amid the pandemic over the novel Wuhan coronavirus. Barr wrote in a department memo:
"Millions of Americans across the nation have been ordered to stay in their homes, leaving only for essential and necessary reasons, while countless businesses and other gathering places have been ordered to close their doors indefinitely.

"These kinds of restrictions have been necessary in order to stop the spread of a deadly disease - but there is no denying that they have imposed tremendous burdens on the daily lives of all Americans."
As the pandemic brought swift and abrupt change to modern life, millions of Americans have been subject to draconian measures implemented by states shutting down businesses deemed by "non-essential" and restricting citizens' freedom of movement. In Michigan, the state's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had even barred travel "between residences" and banned the sale of gardening seeds.

Comment: In other words, lawyers taking on coronavirus-related cases will make out like bandits should Barr pursue a strong and necessary line of demarcation with consequences for infringement on civil liberties.

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Propaganda

Is Trump in China's pocket? Politico bombshell is completely and predictably wrong

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Wed, 29 Apr 2020 00:19 UTC
TrumpXi
© NewsisUS President Donald Trump • China President Xi Jinping
After Politico posted a sensational report claiming that US President Donald Trump owes millions to a Chinese bank, all of the information in it turned out to be wrong, leaving the outlet struggling to explain itself

The original story, published Friday morning, reported that Trump's real-estate partner received a $211 million loan from Bank of China for a New York property back in 2012 - and was eagerly picked up and trumpeted by legions of the US president's critics.

Politico had to correct it almost right away, however, when the Bank of China issued a statement saying the loan had been sold off long ago.

In a telling admission, Politico noted that they had not actually reached out to the Bank of China for comment. But the story was not retracted; instead, the publication changed the title to past tense, and left in the claim that the Bank of China was still listed as a creditor on publicly filed paperwork by Wells Fargo, another bank involved in the deal.

Comment: When the mindset of the reader meets the agenda of the media...anything said will be believed.

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