Puppet MastersS


Heart - Black

Leaked docs reveal staff at Australia's Manus Island Detention Center planned to coerce refugees into relocating or returning home

manus island detention center
© Flickr/ Greens MPs
Leaked documents showed that security staff and managers at Australia-run detention center on the Manus Island had a plan to coerce refugee seekers into either accepting relocation to Papua New Guinea or abandoning their protection claims and returning home, The Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday.

According to the documents obtained by the newspaper, the plan, drafted in 2016, outlined attempts to push those officially recognized as refugees to first accept resettlement to the East Lorengau transit center and then to Papua New Guinea, while forcing people without refugee status to return to their home countries.

Propaganda

The Washington Post is America's premier fake news institution

Washington Post
© washingtonpost.comFake News outlet Washington Post strikes again
The most widely circulated publication in Washington DC, a weapon of mass distribution, has sparked a political firestorm with an unsubstantiated report leveled against - any guesses? - President Donald Trump and his supposed bromance with Putin's Russia.

Dear reader, if that opening summary gives you a sense of déjà vu, you're not alone. We've been down this dark road before; it's not a bad dream. It's just The Washington Post's latest addition to the steaming compost pile, featuring lies, fabrication and fake news aimed at protecting the Swamp monsters at all cost.
"President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said Trump's disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State,"
the Bezos-owned Post reported, blatantly bereft of a single verifiable source.

Info

House Armed Service Committee rep defends Trump's meeting with Russian officials

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.)
© Greg NashRep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.).
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) is defending President Trump's recent interactions with Russia, arguing that Trump "is acting as any president would."

The GOP lawmaker's defense follows reports the commander in chief revealed highly classified intelligence to Russian officials during a White House meeting last week.

Hunter, a member of the House Armed Service Committee, argued in a USA Today op-ed published late Tuesday that "American presidents are fully within their prerogative to establish working relationships with world leaders, and President Trump most certainly deserves the same opportunity."

"Now a recent meeting in the Oval Office with a Russian diplomat is inciting new fears, even though it in no way shifted the U.S.-Russia relationship — just as Presidents Bush or Obama were unable to influence Russia through their own diplomatic endeavors," Hunter wrote.

Question

Who is lying about the murder of DNC staffer, Seth Rich?

seth rich and assange

A controversial investigator has reported that former DNC staffer Seth Rich was in contact with WikiLeaks before his murder in July 2016.


On Tuesday, Fox5 in Washington D.C. released a new report claiming that Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was in contact with WikiLeaks prior to his murder in July 2016. The report claims a private investigator hired by Rich's family has found tangible evidence of a connection to Rich and WikiLeaks. According to D.C. police, Rich was shot twice in the back as part of a botched robbery in D.C.'s Bloomingdale neighborhood. Curiously, Rich's wallet, money, and an expensive watch were not taken during this robbery attempt. Only 12 days after Rich's death, WikiLeaks began releasing thousands of hacked emails from the DNC. The apparent hacker behind the leaks is a character known as Guccifer 2.0 who claimed to have accessed the emails via a vulnerability in DNC servers.

However, after the damaging emails became public, the deadstream media and Democratic power players denounced the leaks, calling them "fake news," and accusing the Russian government of being involved in the hacks. Meanwhile, opponents of Hillary and supporters of WikiLeaks began speculating on the possibility of Rich's death being connected to the DNC leaks. Now there is more fuel to that fire as Fox5 D.C. released an interview with private investigator Rod Wheeler, claiming that evidence "on Rich's laptop that confirms he was communicating with WikiLeaks prior to his death."

Comment: The Seth Rich story so far


Attention

DoJ appoints former FBI Director Robert Mueller to supervise Russiagate probe

Robert Mueller
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
DoJ brings in respected former FBI Director to steady the ship after the Comey sacking and to bring order to the Russiagate investigation.

Rod Rosenstein, the newly appointed Deputy Attorney General whose memorandum on former FBI Director Comey's failings precipitated President Trump's decision to dismiss former FBI Director Comey, has appointed Comey's predecessor, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, to supervise the FBI's Russiagate investigation.

Rosenstein said he made the decision to appoint special counsel to "oversee the previously-confirmed FBI investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters," so that "the American people [would] have full confidence in the outcome."

"Special Counsel Mueller has agreed to resign from his private law firm in order to avoid any conflicts of interest with firm clients or attorneys," Rosenstein added.

Light Sabers

Trump: Russia probe is witch hunt - no one ever investigated illegal acts during Clinton campaign or Obama presidency

white house west wing
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
US President Donald Trump says he is the victim of the "single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history," in an apparent reference to the investigation regarding the president's alleged ties with Russia.

He went on to speak about "illegal acts" that took place during Hillary Clinton's campaign and throughout the Obama administration, noting that there was "never a special councel (sic) appointed."

It comes just one day after the US Justice Department named former FBI chief Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the US election and possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Moscow.

Trump's tweets follow similar words from the president on Wednesday, in which he said that no politician "has been treated worse or more unfairly."

Heart - Black

Bad heart? Roger Ailes, former Fox News CEO, dies at age 77

Roger Ailes
© Fred Prouser / ReutersRoger Ailes
Roger Ailes, the former Fox News CEO has died aged 77, his family announced Thursday.

Ailes, arguably the most powerful man in media, founded Fox News almost from scratch in 1996 and headed it for 20 years until he was forced to resign in 2016 following a deluge of sexual harassment allegations spanning decades.

The cause of death is as yet unknown.

"I am profoundly sad and heartbroken to report that my husband, Roger Ailes, passed away this morning," Ailes' wife Elizabeth released a statement to American political commentator, Matt Drudge.

Comment: Ailes did indeed affect the lives of millions through his work in American politics and news. But not for the better. He'll not be missed.


Nuke

India building 10 heavy water reactors in big nuclear power push

India's Kudankulam nuclear power project
© Pallava Bagla / Getty ImagesIndia's Kudankulam nuclear power project in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
In the biggest expansion of the country's nuclear power industry, the Indian government has announced plans to construct ten heavy water reactors. India currently operates 22 nuclear plants, with a capacity of 6,780 megawatts.

The new reactors will have more capacity and will be in addition to those expected to get online by 2022.

"A total of 7,000 megawatts will be added. It will help produce clean energy," said India's Power Minister Piyush Goyal.

The planned nuclear units will generate business worth $11 billion and create more than 33,000 jobs, according to the authorities.

Sherlock

Flashback Exposing the connections between fired FBI Director Comey and the Clinton Foundation

comey clinton
© AP Photos
A review of FBI Director James Comey's professional history and relationships shows that the Obama cabinet leader — now under fire for his handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton — is deeply entrenched in the big-money cronyism culture of Washington, D.C. His personal and professional relationships — all undisclosed as he announced the Bureau would not prosecute Clinton — reinforce bipartisan concerns that he may have politicized the criminal probe.

These concerns focus on millions of dollars that Comey accepted from a Clinton Foundation defense contractor, Comey's former membership on a Clinton Foundation corporate partner's board, and his surprising financial relationship with his brother Peter Comey, who works at the law firm that does the Clinton Foundation's taxes.

Snakes in Suits

Germany cries to US to press NATO partner Turkey over Incirlik airbase row

Donald Trump (L) talks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© Joshua Roberts / Reuters
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has turned to Washington for help in resolving its row with Ankara. Earlier this week, German lawmakers were denied permission to visit 260 troops serving at Turkey's Incirlik airbase in the campaign against Islamic State.

"We have again asked the Americans for support in our talks with Turkey," Gabriel said in Washington on Wednesday, following a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"It is unthinkable for a NATO partner to put pressure on each other regarding German parliamentarians visiting German armed force," he added, as cited by German newspaper Zeit.

"I believe that the Americans will also use the opportunities they have to talk to the Turkish side to say that we must have a different relationship with each other than the current one," the German FM said.


Comment: Trump and Erdogan already have a bunch to talk about: Erdogan has laundry list of grievances going into first meeting with Trump