Puppet MastersS


Attention

Pompeo: 'The central threat of our times' is...the Chinese Communist Party!


RT
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 15:31 UTC
Pompeo
© Reuters/Kevin LamarqueUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in London
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has labeled the Chinese Communist Party "the central threat of our times," two weeks after President Donald Trump signed the "biggest deal there is" with Beijing.

Speaking at a conference with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in London on Thursday, Pompeo stated that "while we still have to be enormously vigilant about terror... challenges all across the world... the Chinese Communist Party presents the central threat of our times." The State Secretary then outlined the multiple avenues the US is taking to counter China's growing influence - right after he admitted that there's "huge opportunity" for business there.
"...Whether it's at the World Trade Organization, or whether it's in how we handle infrastructure and technology, or it's how we ensure we have the military capabilities...we have to collectively, the West, ensure that the next century is governed by these Western democratic principles."
Pompeo's declaration is a starker one than President Trump's hot and cold statements on Beijing. While the president has overseen a two-year trade war with China, and has accused the country of currency manipulation, stealing intellectual property, and interfering in elections, he has also hailed a recently-signed trade deal with Beijing, and described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a man who "truly loves his country."

Comment: For every ignorant, destructive and mind-numbing statement Pompeo delivers, there is someone, somewhere, who somehow believes it. ...but only one. Who's counting. And those lofty Western democratic principles...how are those working out?

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Dollars

Keiser Report: China's digital yuan to displace US dollar hegemony; bitcoin to join the race


RT
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 12:13 UTC
buckdrowns
© Getty Images/ansonsaw
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin recently rejected suggestions that the Trump administration is weaponizing the dollar through its trade-restricting policies with other countries.

Max Keiser is joined by American investor and the CIO of Morgan Creek Capital Mark Yusko to discuss media reports that weaponizing the greenback could kill its status as the world reserve currency. They also examine alternatives to the US dollar.

"We've been on this path for decades; we've always weaponised the dollar and the United States," says Yusko.

Weaponizing currency can only be done by the world reserve currency which, historically, has been possessed by the country with the most powerful navy, Yusko explains. Those were, in different times, Portugal, Spain, France, the UK, and the United States, he says.
"China has figured out that the next war will be fought by chips, not ships, it will be a cyberwar. And we are already seeing elements of that... So, I think what's going to happen is that they are going to win the race to the digital national currency, the digital renminbi that will displace the US dollar hegemony and world reserve currency dominance."
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Eye 2

Coward: Hillary Clinton refused to be served Tulsi Gabbard's defamation lawsuit, lawyer finally accepts for her after media coverage

Dom Calicchio and Rob DiRienzo |
Fox News
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 18:26 UTC
tulsi gabbard hillary clinton
© Getty Images
A lawyer for Hillary Clinton has finally accepted legal documents in connection with a $50 million defamation lawsuit filed by 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii congresswoman's lawyer told Fox News on Thursday night.

"We look forward to finally moving forward on the merits" of the case, said Brian Dunne, lead attorney representing Gabbard, who is suing over Clinton indirectly referring to her as a "Russian asset" during an October interview.

The development comes after Clinton or her representatives declined to accept the papers in three previous attempts to serve them, Dunne said.

"Today, after the media picked up this story, Ms. Clinton's lawyer changed course and agreed to accept service," Dunne told Fox News in a statement. "We would have preferred that Ms. Clinton just accept federal judicial process in the first instance, without having to be called out by the press, but in any event, Tulsi Gabbard's lawsuit against her will now be moving forward."
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Attention

India and Russia may cooperate in building nuclear plants in Africa and Middle East

Shishir Upadhyaya
RT
Fri, 31 Jan 2020 15:23 UTC
Kudankulam nuclear power plant
© REUTERS/Adnan AbidiKudankulam nuclear power project plant
Following the success of a joint Indo-Russia nuclear power project in Bangladesh, the two countries could join hands to build more nuclear plants abroad. It's a sign of deepening ties, but will the US let it pass?

The Indian ambassador to Russia, Venkatesh Varma, recently announced that India could collaborate with Russia to launch new projects in Africa and the Middle East. He stated, "Russia already has agreements in this field with a number of African countries," adding, "Ethiopia is one of them, and there are some countries in the Middle East."

Russia - a leading player in the international commercial nuclear energy market, offering turnkey projects to over 33 countries globally - has been a key partner for India's own nuclear energy programme. In fact, the nuclear plant at Kudankulam in South India was built with Russian assistance. Furthermore, since 2018, Indian companies have been working in collaboration with Russia's state atomic energy agency, Rosatom in building two nuclear power plants at Rooppur in Bangladesh. The project is expected to be completed by 2023 at a cost of $13 billion.

Comment: India has noted the benefits of having Russia as a reliable partner, as have other nations. The US may complain and threaten, but that will only prove that negotiations with Russia are far more satisfactory!

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Info

Trump acquittal near with senate likely to deny witnesses today

Mike Dorning, Laura Litvan, Billy House and Steven T. Dennis
Bloomberg
Fri, 31 Jan 2020 10:00 UTC
Trump
© Reuters/Leah MillsUS President Donald Trump
The most consequential day in Donald Trump's impeachment trial begins in the Senate on Friday, with Republican leaders likely to muster enough votes to block witnesses and rapidly move to acquit the president.

The decision late Thursday by Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, a Republican who had been considered a potential supporter of testimony, to vote against new evidence largely dashed Democrats hopes of prevailing.

His announcement is a victory for Trump's legal team and, especially, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had been steering the trial to a quick conclusion after two weeks of debate and questioning.

Comment: See also:

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People

If Brexit actually goes ahead Bojo's Britain has a lot of work to do

Jonathan Arnott
RT
Fri, 31 Jan 2020 20:00 UTC
bojo
© REUTERS/Toby Melville
If the UK 'plays it safe' by copying EU rules after Brexit, we will lose almost everything gained by leaving the European Union and the general public won't forgive the Prime Minister.


Comment: It would appear that something similar is already in the works:
The Guardian understands that earlier in the day, the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, had been urged by France during an internal meeting of EU27 diplomats to demand that the UK sign up to dynamic alignment across the board on state aid, environmental, social and labour standards.



Over the next eleven months, the shape of Britain's future relationship with the European Union will become evident. With such a large majority, the government has broad latitude to decide its own approach to negotiations.

Consider this article to be a warning to Boris Johnson. Do not let the British people down. Do not give in to the EU, in the hope of gaining closer access to its markets. Do not allow the UK to be so tied in to future EU rules that we can't possibly negotiate a decent trade deal with other countries around the world. Do not tie the UK in to EU immigration laws. Do not permit the European Court of Justice any role in policing British laws post-Brexit.

Comment: If current trends are anything to go by, the future for the UK does not look very bright: Dissatisfaction with democracy "at record high" - world's largest study

See also: The story of the UK general election is not Brexit, it's the coming break-up of Britain

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Sherlock

Pentagon identifies 2 airmen killed in Afghan crash, denies hostile action, residents doubt Taliban involvement


RFE/RL
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 12:00 UTC
airmen us taliban
© RFE/RLScreenshot
The Pentagon has identified the two U.S. Air Force officers killed in the crash of their Bombardier E-11A electronic-surveillance plane in Afghanistan and restated that there was no indication the plane was downed by hostile fire.

The U.S. military on January 29 said the victims were Lieutenant Colonel Paul Voss, 46, of Guam and Captain Ryan Phaneuf, 30, of New Hampshire.

The cause of the crash in Afghanistan's Ghazni Province remains under investigation.

"I'm pretty confident there was no enemy action involved. Aircraft mishaps happen," General Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Up

Ex-Trump aide Carter Page files suit against DNC over dossier: 'This is only the first salvo'

Brooke Singman
Fox News
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 10:48 UTC
Carter Page
© Associated PressCarter Page
Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court against the Democratic National Committee, law firm Perkins Coie and its partners tied to the funding of the unverified dossier that served as the basis for highly controversial surveillance warrants against him.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois' Eastern Division Thursday morning, and was described by his attorneys as the "first of multiple actions in the wake of historic" Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuse.

"This is a first step to ensure that the full extent of the FISA abuse that has occurred during the last few years is exposed and remedied," attorney John Pierce said Thursday. "Defendants and those they worked with inside the federal government did not and will not succeed in making America a surveillance state."

He added: "This is only the first salvo. We will follow the evidence wherever it leads, no matter how high. ... The rule of law will prevail."

The DNC fired back Thursday night. "Carter Page's baseless claims are recycled from his previous lawsuit, which was dismissed last year," spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

Page first filed a defamation suit on his own against the parties in October 2018 in federal court in Oklahoma, but that suit was dismissed in January 2019 after the judge ruled the court lacked jurisdiction over the case because neither Page nor the DNC had strong enough ties to the state.


Comment: In other words, Watson's dismissal of the lawsuit as "baseless" because its claims are "recycled" is nonsense. It was dismissed because of jurisdictional issues, not because of the nature of any of Page's claims.

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Light Sabers

Hillary Clinton vs Mark Zuckerberg

Binoy Kampmark
Oriental Review
Fri, 31 Jan 2020 07:45 UTC
mark zuckerberg
It is another one of those contests and disagreements where the contestants should all lose, or at the very least, be subjected to a torturous stalemate. Hillary Clinton remains the nasty sprinkle on the Democratic Party in the United States, ever hopeful that some door might open to enable her to come sliding in, taking the reins to what she regards as her possession: the White House.

Not winning in 2016 against Donald Trump, a person considered less electable than most cartoon characters, requires more than sessions of therapy and good dozes of mind numbing medication. Clinton's therapy has been one of self-denial and accusation of others, strained through a device that gives her miraculous exoneration for her own failings. That device lies in the realm of information, because this individual, renowned for her own sharp slant on it (remember those fictional sniper bullets she apparently dodged during a visit to Bosnia in 1996?), feels she has been terribly hard done by. The US may have attempted to thrown off aristocracy in becoming a republic, but it has done a good job of finding sawdust substitutes.

The dish served up to interviewers and journalists regarding Clinton's defeat is always the same: I would have won had I not encountered the roadblocks of that impossible James B. Comey and "Russian WikiLeaks". She remains obsessed by rites of self-purification that ignore the inner workings of the parasitic machine she and her husband created, marked by an inability to understand the blue collar revolt that fell into Trump's lap.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

New police policy disclosure: Sergei Skripal's home isn't his castle, it's the British Government's

John Helmer
Dances with Bears
Tue, 28 Jan 2020 21:04 UTC
boris johnson sergei skripal cartoon
The Wiltshire Police and Police Commissioner Angus Macpherson have revealed new lawlessness in their investigation of the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on March 4, 2018.

Police Commissioner Macpherson has overseen the county-wide investigations of the Skripal case and the subsequent case of Dawn Sturgess and Charles Rowley from the beginning. Follow what he has said and done here.

Early this month Macpherson was asked to clarify contradictory accounts he, the local police, the London police, and MI6 through Mark Urban, a BBC reporter, have given in public about what has become of Skripal's home. At 47 Christie Miller Road, Salisbury, the house was attacked with chemical warfare agent Novichok at the front-door handle, according to the British Government allegations. The culprits were alleged to be two Russian assassins, agents of the military intelligence agency in Moscow, GRU.

Comment:

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