Puppet MastersS

Megaphone

Smoke and violence in Beirut as Lebanese protests continue after new government formed

Lebanon
© Reuters / Aziz TaherSmoke rises as demonstrators gather during a protest against the newly formed government in Beirut, Lebanon
The streets of Beirut filled with smoke and echoed with shots, as demonstrators faced off against riot police in the Lebanese capital. The formation of a new government has failed to quell public anger.

After months of uncertainty, President Michel Aoun - a Maronite Christian - offered the post of prime minister to Hassan Diab, a Sunni Muslim. Diab's coalition received the support of Hezbollah, a Shia political and military movement influential in southern Lebanon. The fresh cabinet consists of 20 ministers.

Protesters continued to throng the streets of Beirut into Wednesday night, however, raging at corruption, unemployment, national debt spiraling out of control, and inadequate public services, as well as the web of sectarian alliances that traditionally dominates Lebanese politics.

Comment: See also: Lebanese president calls on ARMY to intervene as massive protests turn violent in Beirut


Sheriff

'Respect the rules!': French President Macron snaps at Israeli police in Jerusalem

Macron
© AFP / Ludovic MarinFrench President Emmanuel Macron asks the Israeli police to leave the 12th-century Church of Saint Anne in the old city of Jerusalem on January 22, 2020.
French President Emmanuel Macron gave Israeli police officers a tongue-lashing in Jerusalem, after the cops entered the French Church of St. Anne in the city's old quarter.

Footage shared on social media captured the altercation, which took place during Macron's visit to the Crusader-era church on Wednesday. Though situated in the Old City of Jerusalem, the church belongs to the French government, and Israeli officers had apparently tried to enter the premises ahead of Macron.

"Everybody knows the rules!" Macron shouted, speaking English. "I don't like what you did in front of me. Go out!"

"Please respect the rules as they were for centuries," he continued. "They will not change with me."

Comment: This is how the Israeli police treat a visiting President, and we know that the way they treat the local Palestinians and Christians is much, much worse:


War Whore

'Brazen disinformation': Syria narrative managers defend Douma chemical weapon hoax as OPCW comes under attack

douma attack syria
© HO / Douma City Coordination Committee / AFP
In the light of the increasing exposure of the OPCW as a deeply compromised instrument of power for the US-led global alliance, the role of aligned media in protecting discredited constructs must be examined.

On January 20, a quiet, unassuming expert laid bare the OPCW suppression of evidence that would demonstrate the illegitimacy of the bombing of Syria in April 2018 by the UK, US, and France. Ian Henderson is a former OPCW inspection team leader and an engineering and ballistics specialist. Henderson said he visited Douma with the first OPCW inspection team shortly after the alleged chemical attack on April 7, 2018. In an address to the UN Security Council Arria-Formula Meeting, Henderson presented his misgivings and spoke of the OPCW management information lockdown.

Henderson's analysis of the events, in particular the "chlorine cylinder dropped by Syrian air-force helicopters" narrative was inexplicably suppressed by the OPCW and omitted from the final report which fraudulently maintained the "likely" verdict that chlorine had been used.

Henderson's report had supported the conclusion that there had been no chemical attack. A number of other OPCW colleagues have also come forward with similar claims that their expert opinions were censored by the OPCW who appear to have been tasked with retrospectively justifying the US allied criminal aggression against Syria. A bombing campaign that resulted in the destruction of a laboratory complex and cancer research center, located in Barzeh on the outskirts of Damascus.

It is worth noting that had this been a "chemical weapons" factory as claimed by Western intelligence, the potential for civilian deaths would have been horrific in the event of "chemicals" being released into the atmosphere close to Damascus residents.

Comment: See also:


Attention

Trump challenges the Malthusian agenda at Davos Economic Summit: Cites Renaissance principle as key to humanity's future

Trump at Davos Economic Summit
© Unknown
If there is one thing you are not allowed to do while mingling with the technocrats in Switzerland during the annual Davos Economic Summit is criticism Malthusianism (the cynical belief that mankind must adapt to nature's limits rather than make creative discoveries). If one truly wishes to be seen as a complete pariah when in the company of Davos oligarchs, simply add a defense of sovereign nation states, protective tariffs and human creative reason to your speech and you are sure to receive about as much hate as any statesman could ever expect in a lifetime.

President Trump obviously either didn't get the list of "things not to say when in the presence of the world's financial elite" or just didn't care. My guess is the latter.

Comment: See also from Matthew Ehret:

Restoring Glass-Steagall (without the Green New Deal) is the only way to avoid complete economic collapse


Wolf

Lev Parnas's prolific text messages shows wide reach among Ukraine's oligarchs and political elite but not everyone took his calls

Lev Parnas Igor Fruman
© Staff/ReutersLev Parnas and Igor Fruman were charged with funneling foreign money into federal and state campaigns. They pleaded not guilty.
Lev Parnas, the Ukrainian American businessman at the heart of the Trump impeachment, adopted a tone of hearty bonhomie when exchanging messages with Ukraine's political elite, calling them "my brother" or "my friend," or telling them "I missed you" or "I embrace you."

The Florida businessman, whose family moved to the United States from the Soviet Union when he was a child, has said he was part of a multipronged effort led by former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani (R) to help President Trump's reelection campaign and damage a political opponent, former vice president Joe Biden.

Parnas has said he and his associate Igor Fruman used their deep knowledge of a Ukrainian government known for functioning on secret inside deals โ€” a reputation it is trying to change โ€” to support Giuliani's efforts. The two face federal charges over alleged campaign finance violations.

The trove of communications released in recent days from Parnas reveal a frantic schedule of meetings, telephone calls and mobile phone messages over the past year.

Comment: Giuliani has contradicted Parnas' assertions of working with him in Ukraine:




Windsock

UK's House of Lords passes Withdrawal Agreement to allow Brexit by end of January

uk eu
© Dominika Zarzycka / ZUMAPRESS.com via GlobalLookPressFile photo
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit bill has cleared its final parliamentary hurdle after Britain's upper house of parliament passed the legislation on Wednesday.

The move comes some three and a half years after the referendum in which a narrow majority voted for the UK to leave the EU, having joined in 1973. The referendum sparked a tumultuous period in British politics including the resignations of two Tory prime ministers and two general elections.

Earlier on Wednesday, the House of Commons overturned changes made to the legislation by the House of Lords which would have included protections for child refugees following Britain's exit from the EU. The House of Lords later passed the legislation without pushing the proposed changes.

Comment: Now there's just the stickier issue of actually leaving the EU: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal #26: Globalization vs Nationalism - The Hidden Causes of The Yellow Vest Protests in France


Stock Down

Best of the Web: IMF warns of new 'Great Depression', Russia ahead of the curve due to increased cash & gold reserves

Putin
© Sputnik / Alexei DruzhininFILE PHOTO: Vladimir Putin at Central Depository of Bank of Russia
Last week, the IMF issued a stark warning about the global economy. While most large Western states are vulnerable to a new crisis, Russia has prepared its defenses.

Kristalina Georgieva isn't any sort of conspiracy theorist; she's the head of the International Monetary Fund. And when she warns that the global economy risks another "Great Depression," you would think everyone would listen.

But the Western reaction to her statement last week has been muted, with plenty of media outlets leaving it 'buried in the mainstream'. Or simply ignoring the story.

For instance, rudimentary Google searches suggest neither the Financial Times nor the Economist have covered her comments at all. If so, it's ethically questionable but also understandable, in a cynical sense, given their complete attachment to the doctrine of Neo-liberal economics.

Comment: The US and its allies will have to face reality eventually:


Snakes in Suits

After 13 hours of contentious debate, US Senate passes McConnell impeachment rules

pretrial McConnell
© Erin Schaff/The New York TimesSenator Mitch McConnell, prior to the start of impeachment trial against President Trump.
The Senate passed Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's resolution laying out a blueprint for President Donald Trump's impeachment trial along party lines early Wednesday after a day of back and forth between House prosecutors and attorneys for the White House.

The Republican majority had voted down several amendments proposed by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to subpoena documents and call witnesses.

The vote came just before 2 a.m. Wednesday after Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., one of the House impeachment managers, suggested that senators were voting for a "cover-up," which drew sharp responses from the president's legal counsel.

Chief Justice John Roberts admonished House managers and Trump's counsel "in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world's greatest deliberative body. I do think those addressing the Senate should remember where they are."


Comment: See also:
Senate impeachment trial: Trump lawyers and Schiff go head-to-head accusing each other of obstruction






Attention

Beirut: Hour of reckoning approaches as violent anti-gov protests ravage the city

Beirut orange
© Reuters/Mohamed AzakirBeirut, Lebanon
As smoke rises over Lebanon's capital Beirut, scenes of utter chaos stand in sharp contrast to protesters' once-peaceful calls for reforms. With the Lebanese all but out of patience, the country now sits on the edge of civil war.

Hundreds were injured this weekend during violent clashes which pitted protesters against security forces in Beirut as Lebanon further slips into civil unrest, underpinned by calls for a complete institutional overhaul.

Months into an uprising which sought to unite a country otherwise defined along ethnic and sectarian lines, Lebanon - and more so its capital are now centre stage for violent confrontations between a system characterised by an antiquated neo-colonial worldview and the hopes of a people wishing to redefine their identity through national unity and cohesion.

At its heart, Lebanon's crisis is a great institutional shakedown of a system which, by the very nature of its structure, can no longer sustain the aspiration of its people - who do not wish to be boxed in on account of their faith, origins or even the expectations foreign powers may still hold in regards to their assumed political alliances.

X

Rouhani: Iran will never seek nuclear weapons - with or without a deal

Rouhani
© AP/Office of the Iranian PresidencyIran President Hassan Rouhani
Earlier this month, President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran wants to stabilise the situation in the region and strengthen the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has stated that Tehran would never look to obtain an atomic weapon, with or without the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to his website President.Ir.
"We have never sought nuclear weapons [...]. With or without the nuclear deal we will never seek nuclear weapon [...]. The European powers will be responsible for the consequences of violating the pact."
The statement comes a week after Rouhani rejected a proposal for a new "Trump deal" to resolve a nuclear spat as a "strange" offer, blaming the US President for his failure to deliver on promises.

Comment: Sputnik, 22/1/2020: Zarif clarifies warning on exit from non-proliferation treaty
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi clarified Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's recent statement on the possibility of Tehran's exit from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the NPT.

"What Zarif stated in the Parliament was a part of provisions of a letter penned by the [Iranian] President Rouhani to the heads of 4+1 Group in May 2019 on announcing Iran's reducing of its commitments."

Rouhani warned that Iran will leave the NPT if the European Union (EU) takes Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council (UNSC)".

The Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, said that the fact that Iran has abandoned its limitations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) does not present any threat of nuclear weapons proliferation since the Islamic Republic has maintained contact with the IAEA.