Puppet MastersS


Briefcase

RNC files FEC complaint over Twitter's 'in-kind' contribution to the Biden campaign

Bronson Stocking
Townhall
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:10 UTC
Joe and Hunter
© AP/Charles Dharapak/KJNPresidential Candidate Joe Biden • Hunter Biden
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has filed a complaint against Twitter with the Federal Elections Committee (FEC) after the social media company censored two New York Post reports damaging to the Biden campaign. The RNC claims the censorship amounted to an "in-kind" political contribution to the Biden campaign in violation of campaign finance law.

Fox News reports the RNC complaint alleges that Twitter's censorship of the New York Post's reporting on Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings and Joe Biden's alleged knowledge of those dealings amounted to an "illegal corporate in-kind political contribution" to the Biden presidential campaign.

The complaint cites Federal campaign finance law that prohibits corporations from making contributions to federal candidates. A contribution, the complaint defines, as "'anything of value made by any person for the purpose of influencing an election,' and includes in-kind contributions such as services." The complaint, obtained by Fox News, reads:
"Respondent's suppression of the New York Post articles provides a thing of value to the Biden campaign. Respondent is acting as Biden's media operative, taking proactive steps to shield Biden from negative news coverage by blocking its distribution and muzzling those who try. If Respondent charged for this service, Biden no doubt would gladly pay a significant price."

Comment: See also:

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Russian Flag

Washington's 'no' to Putin's proposal of a New START extension is a political victory for Moscow

Scott Ritter
RT
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 20:10 UTC
Vladimir Putin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu
© Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERSVladimir Putin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov visit the Kapustin Yar training ground to oversee "Kavkaz-2020" military exercises
Putin intervened to state clearly and directly that a one-year extension of the New START treaty was the only option. The White House declined, setting the stage for a new arms race should Trump win in November.

Less than a week after US-Russian talks on the future of the New START treaty collapsed - amid recriminations from both sides stemming from a misunderstanding, whether deliberate or otherwise, regarding Moscow's position - President Vladimir Putin intervened in a high-profile bid to inject both clarity and a sense of urgency about the future viability of the last remaining arms control agreement between Russia and the US.

In a live, public broadcast of a video conference between Putin and the Security Council of the Russian Federation, the president issued instructions that left no doubt as to either his intent, or that of his diplomats, when it comes to New START. After noting that it had "worked properly" during its history in "performing its fundamental role as a constraint curtailing the arms race and a tool of arms control," Putin instructed Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the Russian position was
"...to extend the Treaty now in effect unconditionally for at least a year in order to have a chance to hold substantive talks on all the parameters of problems that are regulated by treaties of this kind, lest we leave our countries and all nations of the world with a vested interest in maintaining strategic stability without such a fundamental document as the Strategic Offensive Arms Limitation Treaty (i.e., New START.)"
and instructed him to
"...formulate our position to the US partners and try to obtain at least some comprehensible reply from them as soon as possible."

Comment: Keep in mind also that not only does Trump just love to renegotiate deals that make him look like he's getting the best deal, but has to continue the pretense of being "tough on Russia!" - because of the way that Washington and the media have portrayed his relationship to Putin.

See also:

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Attention

Guide to the 'Great Reset'

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Sat, 17 Oct 2020 18:19 UTC
The Great Reset
© Watcher Forum
You've all heard by now that The Great Reset is upon us. But what is The Great Reset, exactly, and what does it mean for the future of humanity? Join James for this in-depth exploration of the latest rebranding of the New World Order agenda and its vision of a post-human Fourth Industrial Revolution.

For those with limited bandwidth, CLICK HERE to download a smaller, lower file size version of this episode.

For those interested in audio quality, CLICK HERE for the highest-quality version of this episode (WARNING: very large download).

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Bad Guys

Dementia Joe falsely touts endorsement from trade union that backs Trump

Thomas Catenacci
The Daily Caller
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 17:08 UTC
Biden town hall
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesBiden wonders what he's doing at his town hall
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden falsely claimed Thursday that a trade union, which represents craftsmen and industrial workers, had "overwhelmingly" endorsed him.

Former Vice President Biden's comments came during a discussion on fracking at an ABC News town hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Thursday evening. The union, Boilermakers Local 154, endorsed President Donald Trump citing the president's energy policies, according to a Sept. 2. letter.

"The Boilermakers overwhelmingly endorse me, okay, so the Boilermakers Union has endorsed me because I sat down with them and went into great detail earlier to show their leadership exactly what I would do," Biden said.

Comment: Let it also be remembered that Stephanopoulos tenderly shielded Biden from any questions about Hunter, Ukraine, China and the torrent of incriminating material pouring out of his feckless son's laptop.

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Briefcase

Fisheries focus: No-deal Brexit looming as Boris Johnson urges EU to change approach


Independent.ie
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 17:41 UTC
primer ministro boris johnson
© REUTERS/Toby MelvilleUK Prime Minister Boris Johnson
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said unless there is a "fundamental change in approach" from the European Union then the UK will go for the "Australia solution" - Downing Street language for no-deal - in the post-Brexit trade talks.

Speaking to broadcasters, Mr Johnson said: "From the outset we were totally clear that we wanted nothing more complicated than a Canada-style relationship based on friendship and free trade.

"To judge by the latest EU summit in Brussels, that won't work for our EU partners.

"They want the continued ability to control our legislative freedom, our fisheries in a way that is completely unacceptable to an independent country.

"And since we have only 10 weeks until the end of the transition period on January 1, I have to make judgment about the likely outcome and get us ready.

Comment: From RT:
The "Australia solution" means the UK will not have any special agreement with the European Union, but rather would do business according to the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules starting from January, when the Brexit transition period ends. A no-deal divorce with the EU and trade on WTO rules, with all the applicable tariffs, is likely to trigger a sharp increase in prices across the UK.

London's rhetoric met with angry reaction in the EU, with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, suggesting the bloc would rather walk away from the negotiations as well but would not give in to Britain's pressure.

"We are ready for a deal, but not at any price," France's President Emmanuel Macron said, insisting that that Britain needed a deal more than the EU.


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Snakes in Suits

New Zealand election: Jacinda Ardern wins by landslide after so-called "calm" coronavirus response

Daisy Lester
Independent
Sat, 17 Oct 2020 00:00 UTC
Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Ardern
Labour Party leader has been lauded for her handling of the pandemic

Jacinda Ardern has won a landslide victory in New Zealand's general election as voters rewarded her for an effective response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ardern, 40, can now form the first single-party government in decades. She faces the challenge of delivering on the progressive transformation she promised but failed to deliver in her first term, in which Labour shared power with the nationalist New Zealand First Party.

After her party won 49.1 per cent of the votes and a projected 64 of 120 seats on Saturday, Ardern said: "Tonight New Zealand has shown the Labour Party its biggest support in 50 years.

"We have seen that support in urban seats and rural seats and seats we may not have expected. And to that I have only two words: thank you."

She added: "This is not an ordinary election and this has not been an ordinary time," and urged New Zealanders to "step forward together".

Comment: While Ardern's government hasn't gone full crazy with demands for mask-wearing and social distancing, it seems their other Covid measures have been more than bad enough:

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Laptop

Twitter rolls out 'DISPUTED' warnings for users trying to post 'misleading' content after backlash over Biden emails censorship


RT
Sat, 17 Oct 2020 17:29 UTC
twitter disinformation warning screen censorship
© Twitter
Twitter is cracking down on the spread of "misleading" content ahead of the US election, as users attempting to retweet anything similar to the NYPost's Hunter Biden leaks will now get a warning the material is "disputed."

Attempting to retweet offending content will trigger a prompt warning the user that the material they're trying to post is "disputed," Twitter revealed on Friday, posting an image of the new warning screen.

The user will be able to click a button to "find out more" about why Twitter doesn't want the material shared, and then presumably post it anyway.

Comment: The Federalist weighs in on Twitter's mad scramble to recover some credibility:
Vijaya Gadde, the global lead for legal, policy, and trust and safety at Twitter, claimed the company will be making "changes to the policy and how we enforce it" after Twitter began banning accounts that tweeted links to the stories, including members of Congress and from congressional servers.

Gadde claims Twitter will "no longer remove hacked content unless it is directly shared by hackers or those acting in concert with them," and it "will label Tweets to provide context instead of blocking links from being shared on Twitter."

Gadde cited that the changes are being made because Twitter wants "to address the concerns that there could be many unintended consequences to journalists, whistleblowers, and others in ways that are contrary to Twitter's purpose of serving the public conversation."

It appears that Twitter will still be censoring certain material by "labeling them," as Twitter and other big tech companies have routinely done in the past. "We believe that labeling Tweets and empowering people to assess content for themselves better serves the public interest and public conversation," wrote Gadde. "The Hacked Material Policy is being updated to reflect these new enforcement capabilities."

"All the other Twitter Rules will still apply to the posting of or linking to hacked materials, such as our rules against posting private information, synthetic and manipulated media, and non-consensual nudity," wrote Gadde.

The breaking news comes after Twitter suspended the Trump campaign's account, locked White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany's personal account, suspended the New York Post's Twitter account, and suppressed an official press release from House Judiciary Committee Republicans and others — all of whom were sharing the breaking New York Post story.

Sen. Ted Cruz announced the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Tuesday to subpoena Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and that he will testify next Friday.


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Snakes in Suits

Belarusian 'Guaido' Tikhanovskaya's links to NATO's Atlantic Council adjunct should raise eyebrows

Kit Klarenberg
RT
Sat, 17 Oct 2020 16:46 UTC
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya Belarus nato flag
© Sputnik / Viktor Tolocko; WikipediaSvetlana Tikhanovskaya
'Accidental politician' Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has captured the West's imagination, her lack of political experience presenting an ideal blank canvas for news-narrative weaving - and all too easily manipulated by malign forces.

From the moment she announced her candidacy for the Belarusian presidency after her husband Sergey was spuriously jailed for electioneering activities that would be considered normal in the rest of Europe, Tikhanovskaya has been a darling of the Western media. With her improbable ascension from stay-at-home mother to leading opposition figure, then proto-revolutionary leader-in-exile, documented on an almost daily basis.

Along the way, Tikhanovskaya has been keen to stress the upheaval in Belarus is neither pro-Western nor pro-Russian in character, but pro-democracy, a key message reiterated uncritically over and again by mainstream journalists. However, not a single one has deigned to mention, much less question, the fact that one of her key confidantes, Franak Viacorka, is a 'non-resident fellow' at Atlantic Council, a think tank that aggressively propagandizes in support of NATO, and wider American financial, political, military and ideological interests in Europe and beyond.
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Arrow Down

Biden town hall questioners included former Obama speech writer and wife of Pennsylvania Democrat: Report

Anthony Leonardi
Washington Examiner
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 15:14 UTC
biden townhall
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden took questions from audience members at an ABC News town hall event — including some, it turns out, from friendly sources.

One of those questioners was Nathan Osburn, a former speechwriter in the Obama administration who worked in the Commerce Department's Office of Public Affairs and the Small Business Administration, which was first reported by Fox News. Osburn was identified as a "former Obama administration speech writer" when speaking to the Philadelphia Inquirer about his support for failed presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg during the Democratic primary.

Osburn helped create the Philly for Pete group, which represented Buttigieg in a Philadelphia Pride parade and hosted his husband Chasten in the spring of 2019.

Comment: Many were surprised at how well Biden performed at the town hall (as in, he was actually able to answer questions without having a brain meltdown). Now we know why - prearranged questions from plants in the audience.

See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Sarkozy under formal investigation for 'criminal association' after accepting campaign funding from Libya's Gaddafi


France24
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 12:53 UTC
Sarkozy
France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy
French prosecutors placed former president Nicolas Sarkozy under formal investigation for "criminal association" on Friday related to allegations that he accepted campaign funding from former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Prosecutors are investigating allegations that former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi secretly gave Sarkozy €50 million for his inaugural presidential campaign in 2007. The allegations were first made by one of the late dictator's sons, Saif al-Islam, in 2011.

The new accusations of membership in a criminal conspiracy add to charges leveled in 2018 of "passive corruption", "benefitting from embezzled public funds" and "illegal campaign financing".
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