Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

The pandemic and politics of survival: Horizons of a new kind of dictatorship

Alexander Dugan
geopolitica.ru
Sun, 05 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC
Globe city
© Screen shot/Ms Tech/Getty/KJNThe World
The breakdown of the global liberal world order and its foundations

What is happening now is a global breakdown of the world order. It does not matter at all whether the nature of the coronavirus is artificial or not, nor is it even of principal importance whether, if it is artificial, it was deliberately released by the "world government" or not. The epidemic has begun - it is a fact. Now the main thing is to trace how the "world government" has reacted to it.

To clarify, the "world government" is the totality of global political and economic elites and the intellectuals and media (mediacrats) that serve them. Such a "world government" necessarily exists, because on a global scale there are strictly-defined, fundamental norms that determine the basic parameters of politics, economics and ideology.
  • In the economy, the only recognized norm is capitalism, the market economy (which is disputed only by North Korea - not, and this is very important, by China, which presents its own version of national state capitalism under the management of the Communist Party).
  • In politics the only recognized norm is parliamentary liberal democracy, based on civil society being the subject and source of legality and legitimacy (besides North Korea, almost everyone is in agreement with this, although China interprets "civil society" in a special socialist and partly national-cultural optic and carries out mediacratic screening by means other than direct parliamentary elections; and some Islamic states - for example, Iran and the Gulf monarchies - have a number of special features.)
  • In ideology, everyone agrees with the arrangement that any individual has a number of inalienable rights (to life, freedom of conscience, freedom of movement, etc.) which all states and societies are obliged to guarantee.
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Star of David

Unlikely nemesis, a maverick lawyer sues Israel supporters over human rights

Steve France
Mondoweiss
Fri, 20 Mar 2020 00:00 UTC
Martin McMahon
© Screenshot/YoutubeMartin McMahon, from an appearance hosted by the Washington Report for Middle East Affairs, March 2019.
Maybe it figures that the people who successfully sold otherwise-intelligent Americans on the notion that their army (the Israeli Defense Force) was "the most moral army in history" could in the end be brought down by a maverick lawyer such as Martin McMahon. McMahon is an iconoclastic character you might meet in the pages of Tom Wolfe's catastrophic comedy, The Bonfire of the Vanities. Although very old to play the role, he is the boy who piped up to say — albeit in Martin's case in legalese acceptable to federal judges — "but the Emperor has no clothes!"

Specifically, he just sued Benjamin Netanyahu, Miriam Adelson, AIPAC (and assorted AIPAC operatives), David Friedman, Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt, Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, Andrew Cuomo, Newt Gingrich, Mitch McConnell and a few other adherents of Zionism in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging they are "war criminals" or aiders and abettors of war criminals.

Before you note that it's easy to file a piece of paper in court, you need to know a couple more things:

Comment: The legal system under Israeli influence will be 'hard-pressed to rule in favor' where justice has 'been forbidden' for decades. So...hopefully McMahon will 'press harder' and justice, for once, will not look the other way.

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Attention

Best of the Web: Beware the creeps who enjoy a new pandemic power

Kurt Schlichter
Townhall
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 12:01 UTC
Pence/Fauci
© Official White House photoUS VP Mike Pence • Dr. Anthony Fauci
The problem with people referring to this bizarre pandemic life limbo as "the new normal" is that there are people out there, both in and out of positions of responsibility, who are digging this opportunity to boss us around. And it is troubling to see that there are a number of prominent folks who are in no hurry to curtail their ability to boss us around. We need to note carefully who these people are and ensure that they never get a chance to control anything again.

You are starting to see more of that as this drags out. You have got Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom and others thinking this is a great time to get our socialism on. You also have functionaries - all of whom are still getting paychecks - who are way too eager to start issuing orders instead of relying on citizens to behave rationally. We don't need to be ordered around, but they can't resist the ordering. The moron mayor of LA is offering rewards to freedom narcs, and government hacks making stores refuse to sell "non-essential" items - what the hell they are thinking telling us what is and is not "essential" anyway? They are thinking, "Hey, this power stuff is fun!" Which is why you should never give power to someone who enjoys it.

Comment: Power has made its choices. It's time for the people to make theirs.

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Arrow Down

Rejected! Taliban claims US is violating Doha peace deal


RFE/RL
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 12:45 UTC
Taliban
© ReutersMembers of the Taliban delegation in Doha, Qatar
The U.S. military has rejected a claim by the Afghan Taliban that the United States is violating the terms of a peace deal signed by the two sides in late February. U.S. Forces-Afghanistan "upheld and continues to uphold the military terms of the U.S.-[Taliban] agreement; any assertion otherwise is baseless," spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett tweeted on April 5.

Leggett also wrote that the militant group "must reduce violence" and warned that the U.S. military will continue to defend Afghanistan's security forces if attacked, in line with the terms of the agreement.
In a statement issued earlier in the day, the Taliban accused U.S. and Afghan forces of conducting raids and air strikes against the group in noncombat zones and of launching operations on civilian areas.

Comment: Meanwhile the chaos and killing continue, but reports wildly differ:
An airstrike in the central Afghan province of Uruzgan left at least eight civilians killed and two others critically injured in the early hours of Sunday, a source in the regional government said, adding that it was unclear if the attack was carried out by the government forces or the US-led international troops. They said the injured civilians had been taken to the Mirwais hospital in the southern city of Kandahar.

At the same time, the Uruzgan governor's spokesman, Zargai Abadi, denied there were civilian casualties in the attack. Speaking to local media, he said that the airstrike had been carried out by the Afghan government forces, adding that six militants were killed in the ambush.

The Taliban, in turn, have attributed the airstrike to the US-led international forces and condemned the attack, describing it as a breach of the recently negotiated peace deal. They also claimed a different number of casualties.

"Continuing the intrusive offensive of US occupants, last night, in the Garam Ab area of the ​​Khas Uruzgan district of the Uruzgan province [a residential house] was attacked, resulting in five women and two children killed and eight others injured," the radical group said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Ministry of Defense has reported a separate incident that took place earlier on Sunday between the Taliban and the Afghan forces at the army checkpoints in the Arghandab district of the southern Zabul province. "As a result of the mutual assault and airstrikes by the Afghan forces, 21 Taliban militants were killed and eight motorcycles destroyed," the ministry said.

According to the Taliban, however, the attack was carried out by the army during a funeral and resulted in the death of two civilians.


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Flashlight

Durham investigation puts spotlight on John Brennan

Jerry Dunleavy
Washington Examiner
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 01:56 UTC
John Brennan
© The Moscow TimesFormer CIA Director John Brennan
U.S. Attorney John Durham's review of the Russia investigation is putting increased scrutiny on former CIA Director John Brennan, searching for any undue influence he may have had during 2017's intelligence community assessment of Russian interference.

Durham, selected by Attorney General William Barr last year to lead this inquiry, drove to Washington, D.C., in March to ensure the investigation stayed on track during the coronavirus outbreak. The top Connecticut federal prosecutor is looking into highly sensitive issues, including whether Brennan took politicized actions to pressure the rest of the intelligence community to match his conclusions about Russian President Vladimir Putin's motivations, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal.

Officials said Durham has been interviewing CIA officials this year, zeroing in on those at the National Intelligence Council, a center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence which oversaw the collaboration between the CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency in putting together the 2017 assessment, and looking at how the work product was finalized.
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Target

Zarif: 'Iran has FRIENDS, not proxies' in response to Trump's 'sneak attack' warning


RT
Thu, 02 Apr 2020 09:38 UTC
Zarif
© AFP/Atta KenareIranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back at the US after President Trump accused Iran of planning a "sneak attack" on US troops and assets in Iraq.

Zarif took to Twitter to warn his followers not to "be [misled] by usual warmongers, AGAIN," then tagging US president Donald Trump. "Iran has FRIENDS. No one can have MILLIONS of 'proxies'," he continued.
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Oil Well

RDIF CEO Dmitriev: Moscow, Riyadh 'very, very close' to an agreement


RT
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 08:35 UTC
oil field
© blackgolddiggers.com
Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and other countries need to bring stability to the markets as the world faces "probably the greatest recession ever," said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). He told CNBC that Moscow and Riyadh are very close to striking a deal on oil production cuts.
"I think the whole market understands that this deal is important and it will bring lots of stability, so much important stability to the market, and we are very close."
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-member partners were expected to discuss reductions in oil output via video conference on Monday, but they delayed their emergency meeting until Thursday. "Well actually look, a very positive message, I think they're very, very close," Dmitriev said when asked about the possibility of such a meeting at the end of this week.

He also pointed to comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who last week proposed a combined production cut of 10 million barrels per day. "[Putin] talked about how important this oil deal is, so Russia is committed," Dmitriev said.

Indicating no willingness to participate in a joint effort to stabilize the market by cutting US oil production, President Donald Trump issued another threat on Sunday night to impose "very substantial tariffs" on oil imports if the crude price stays the way it is.

Comment: At a global level, it is hard to separate politics from business. Sometimes business is just business.

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Eye 2

Assange denied release amid coronavirus crisis because he is under 'custodial sentence', but common criminals are okay


Consortium News
Sat, 04 Apr 2020 17:57 UTC
assange belmarsh prison
© Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty ImagesJulian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van.
The British Ministry of Justice has told the Australian Associated Press that Julian Assange is not eligible for early release from prison in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis.

Imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange is not eligible for an early Covid-19 release from prison with other inmates because he is not serving a criminal sentence, the Australian Associated Press has reported.

British Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said Saturday that some low-risk inmates, weeks from release, will be let go with monitoring devices to help avoid a further outbreak of Covid-19 in the nations' prisons.

Comment:



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Pirates

US pushes on with new occupation in Syria - Military convoy enters Hasaka countryside

Gh. A. Hassoun
Fort Russ News
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 00:00 UTC
US tanks
The US occupation forces continued their violations of international laws and entered a new convoy of 35 trucks laden with military and logistic materials to its illegal bases and occupation points in the Syrian al-Jazira region coming from northern Iraq.

Civil sources said that 35 trucks entered the Syrian territories coming from Iraq through the illegal al-Walid crossing in al-Ya'rubia countryside, to the far northeastern of Hasaka, loaded with logistic and military materials, the majority of which went to the illegal base in Khrab al-Jeer airport in al-Malikiyah area.

The sources pointed out that the US occupation forces are reinforcing their illegal presence in the military airport of Khrab al-Jeer and other areas occupied by them through sending convoys to these areas periodically, loaded with logistic materials and military equipment.

Comment: Even if Trump really wants to get the heck out of Syria, and elsewhere in the Middle East, it seems he's powerless to prevent further encroachments and subterfuge from occurring at the hands of the US military and aligned intelligence agencies. The drive for plunder, and inflicting chaos and destruction in the region appears to be far too strong.

See also:

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Passport

Governments propose 'Immunity Certificates': COVID 'survivors' to get 'special passports' enabling return to 'normalcy'

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 06:30 UTC
papers, please
The rollout of immunity certificates across the world will likely be government-issued to first responders and citizens who have developed resistance to COVID-19.

People who have contracted the virus and have recovered, normally develop antibodies to fight the virus, could be their golden ticket to escape regions that have strict social distancing measures and or lockdowns.

Just imagine, immunity certificates granted by governments to people who have recovered or have developed resistance to the virus could be considered special passports that will allow them to freely travel across states, countries, and or the world — while everyone else remains hunkered down in their homes or doomsday bunkers.

Some of the first talks of this has originated in the UK. The government could roll out immunity passports to Britons who have already contracted and recovered from the virus so they can reenter the economy, reported The New York Times.

"(An immunity certificate) is an important thing that we will be doing and are looking at but it's too early in the science of the immunity that comes from having had the disease," health minister Matt Hancock said at a Downing Street press conference.

Comment: These "immunity passports" are just a first foray towards getting the World acclimated to being 'chipped' and ID'd, for all sorts of things:

While we're focused on Coronavirus 'pandemic', the real danger is 'Agenda ID2020'

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