Puppet MastersS


Attention

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

Matthew Ehret
The Canadian Patriot
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
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

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Wolf

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

Robyn Dixon, David L. Stern, Natalie Gryvnyak
MSN
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 21:49 UTC
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 — a reputation it is trying to change — 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:



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Windsock

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


RT
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:38 UTC
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

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Stock Down

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

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 09:39 UTC
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:

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Snakes in Suits

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

Dareh Gregorian
NBC News
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 01:51 UTC
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





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Attention

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

Catherine Shakdam
RT
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 18:36 UTC
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.
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X

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

Oleg Burunov
Sputnik
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 14:31 UTC
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.


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Star of David

Gantz: Annex Jordan Valley after elections; Netanyahu: Why not now?

Yumna Patel
Mondoweiss
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Gantz
© Reuters Ammar AwadLeader of Blue and White Party Benny Gantz
Benny Gantz, the leader of the "centrist" Blue & White party and main challenger to the premiership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed on Tuesday to annex the Jordan Valley if he wins the Israeli elections on March 2.

"We see this strip of land as an inseparable part of the State of Israel," Gantz said on a tour of the region, highlighting the Jordan Valley's strategic location as "Israel's eastern defensive barrier in any future conflict."

Gantz added that while Netanyahu seeks to unilaterally annex the Jordan Valley, which accounts for one-third of the occupied West Bank, he would do so "in coordination with the international community."

With the exception of the current US administration, the consensus among the international community is that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal.

Gantz went on to say he was "looking forward" to the release of U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan, saying "I hope that President Trump will hurry and release his plan."

Comment: Sputnik, 21/1/2020: Change of mind or tactic? Gantz 'hopes Trump releases peace plan soon'
Previously, Benny Gantz had opposed the publication of Trump's peace plan during the campaign, describing it as 'outright intervention' in the Israeli election.

Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to annex the Jordan Valley after he is re-elected and a new cabinet is formed. He claimed he would have achieved this goal already if not for the attorney general's ruling that his transition government does not currently have the authority to do so.

Israelis will go to the polls on 2 March.
See also:

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No Entry

Trump may expand travel bans in upcoming days

Nahal Toosi, Anita Kumar
Politico
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 04:20 UTC
TrumpPassport
© KY3US President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump may expand his controversial travel ban with an announcement expected as early as Monday, the three-year anniversary of the original order, which targeted several majority-Muslim nations.

The list of countries is not yet final and could be changed, but nations under consideration for new restrictions include Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania, according to two people familiar with the matter.

A draft being considered by the Trump administration would place immigration restrictions on the additional seven countries, but not necessarily completely ban all citizens of those nations from entering the United States. The restrictions could apply only to certain government officials, for instance, or certain types of visas.

Nonetheless, any new restrictions are likely to strain ties with the affected countries, some of which assist the U.S. on issues like fighting terrorism, and some of which Washington has been trying to court for strategic reasons.

Comment: See also:
Supreme Court allows full enforcement of Trump travel ban

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Nuke

Woops! Atomic error! IAF F-35 accidentally revealed its location over secret Israeli nuclear facility


Sputnik
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 22:00 UTC
Israeli F-35
© AP/Ariel SchalitIsraeli F-35
An Israeli F-35 stealth aircraft revealed to the world both its own location and that of Israel's primary nuclear facility on Monday when it turned on a publicly viewable transponder signal.

Deep in the Negev desert of southern Israel lies the Shimon Peres Nuclear Research Center, also called the Dimona reactor, the center of Israel's nuclear research and weapons programs. While its location isn't exactly top secret, it's impossible for civilians to get close to it; the Israel Defense Forces have even been known to shoot down their own planes when they don't have permission to fly over Dimona.

However, while one Israeli Air Force F-35I "Adir" stealth fighter flying over Dimona on Monday wasn't at risk of being shot down, it did drop its ghostly act for about 20 minutes when it turned on a publicly viewable transponder signal, causing it to appear on civilian radars.
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