Puppet Masters
The report, which clocks in at 966 pages, also offered a scathing assessment of the FBI's handling of the Steele dossier, which was a key document in the Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy theory.
"The FBI gave the Steele Dossier unjustified credence, based on an incomplete understanding of Steele's past reporting record," the report says.
"The Committee found that, within the FBI, the dossier was given a veneer of credibility by lax procedures and layered misunderstandings."
The report, crafted by both Republicans and Democrats, describes a series of roadblocks and hurdles that the Senate committee faced in investigating information from Steele, a former MI6 officer hired to investigate Donald Trump on behalf of the DNC and Clinton campaign.
Comment: Again we note that it's the anglophone countries - the 'Five Eyes' plus Ireland, though Spain and France are up there with them - proving the most fascist and authoritarian of the bunch...
Australians are likely to face mandatory coronavirus vaccinations if Prime Minister Scott Morrison gets his wish.
The nation is a step closer to gaining access to a vaccine, with the Federal Government securing an international deal to produce a vaccine frontrunner locally if trials succeed.
If that happens, Mr Morrison said Australia would have a target of 95 per cent vaccination, which would account for people with health conditions that prevented them being vaccinated.
"I would expect it to be as mandatory as you could possibly make it," he told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
"There are always exemptions for any vaccine on medical grounds, but that should be the only basis.
"We are talking about a pandemic that has destroyed the global economy and taken the lives of hundreds of thousands all around the world, and over 430 Australians here."
Comment: What an idiot. The global economy need not have been wrecked. And even if governments and media hadn't reacted like hysterical children and the economy was STILL wrecked, that wouldn't entail the necessity of mass vaccination. Recent numbers and studies suggest only 20% of the population need get the virus in order to reach herd immunity, and the vast majority of those people either experience no symptoms or recover. Remember, the virus has a 99.9% survival rate. What is Morrison smoking? Probably the same insanity all the other world leaders are smoking.

Historical white-red-white flags of Belarus are seen as people attend an opposition demonstration to protest against presidential election results, in Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus August 18, 2020.
Meanwhile, Lukashenko has taken steps to actively suppress the ongoing protests that have been calling for his resignation since 24 May, at the start of Lukashenko's election campaign.
The decision came following a special video conference gathering all of the EU's state leaders. According to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the EU delegitimised Lukashenko because it finds that the presidential elections of 14 August were unfair.
Comment: And yet they recognize and do business with countries whose leaders are not even elected. The EU just smells weakness and is circling for the kill. They have no actual values.
"The European Union stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus. And we don't accept impunity," Michel said. "This is about the right of the people to freely elect their leadership."
Comment: No, it's not. It's strictly opportunistic weaponizing of humanitarianism, same as it was in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, etc. The EU doesn't care about Belarusians any more than they cared about Libyans.
"We stand with you in your desire for justice and a peaceful, democratic future."
The Commission's council announced that top figures in the Belarus regime that were involved in violence against protestors and election fraud will be sanctioned in the near future. Currently, Belarus as a whole is already under a series of EU sanctions, including the export of goods that can be used for oppression.

Bill Clinton is seen enjoying a neck massage from a Jeffrey Epstein victim in never-before-seen photographs obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com
The troubling pictures are an ill-timed reminder of Clinton's links to Epstein as the former President, 72, prepares to endorse Joe Biden tonight at the Democratic Convention.
Clinton traveled numerous times on the dead pedophile's private jet, the Lolita Express, socialized with his alleged Madame, Ghislaine Maxwell, and faced a slew of sexual misconduct accusations himself during his years in public life.
Comment: Interesting to note that the majority of valuable new material being brought to light regarding Jeffery Epstein's unsavory activities and companions comes from sources like the Daily Mail and the NY Post, both of which are scorned by the "respectable" press. One wonders why the Post or the NY Times aren't falling over themselves to break new ground in such an important story?
"Today, we are a country divided, and we have a president doing everything in his power to make it that way and keep us that way," Powell, a Republican who served under President George W. Bush, said in a pretaped speech. "What a difference it will make to have a president who unites us, who restores our strength and our soul."
Powell, who endorsed Barack Obama's presidential bids in 2008 and 2012 and voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, has been a fierce critic of Trump - recently criticizing Trump for his handling of the protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. The former secretary of state under President George W. Bush also already said in June that he would be voting for Biden in this year's general election.
Comment: Good luck with that! You can't perfume the swamp - which is what the Democratic party has become - and seems mighty proud of it!

US President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Wittman Airport, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
"And we moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem," Trump said at a rally held at an airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, apparently referring to his decision to move the embassy from Tel Aviv. "That's for the evangelicals."
Jerusalem has been Israel's capital since its founding in 1948, although much of the international community does not recognize it as under the initial UN Partition Plan, Jerusalem was to be an international city.
"You know, it's amazing with that — the evangelicals are more excited by that than Jewish people," he said to cheers from the crowd. "That's right, it's incredible."
Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017, when he announced plans to move the embassy there. In May 2018, his administration opened the new facility — a move that was met with intense controversy, both in Washington and in the Middle East.
"At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos. Just one thing never changes — his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there."Clinton was impeached during his presidency for lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice about the affair that he had with Lewinsky inside the White House.
The Washington Post highlighted one of the encounters that Lewinsky had when she was summoned to the Oval Office by Clinton:
Comment: You know things aren't going well at the Democratic National Convention when the Democrats late-night host and liberal apologist Stephen Colbert mocks Bill Clinton for his 2020 DNC speech that 'lectured' President Donald Trump on his Oval Office behavior.
See also:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern imposed New Zealand's first lockdown in March.
The High Court of New Zealand ruled on Wednesday that the country's stay-at-home orders, under threat of punishment, were in breach of civil liberties after lawyer Andrew Borrowdale launched a suit against the government in July.
A panel of three judges waved off a number of associated complaints but conceded that authorities should have written the order into law before using the threat of police detention to keep people inside.
Comment: Interesting how physically isolated, western-aligned nations like New Zealand and Australia seem to be running the most draconian lockdown policies. It's almost like an experiment on a captive population. But our dear leaders would never do that would they?
- New Zealand's fanatical PM shuts down Auckland for THREE DAYS because of FOUR 'cases'!
- New Zealand government bans books as 'non-essential'
- New Zealand police can now enter homes to look for 'people gathering'
- Dissension in the ranks: Academics break ranks to criticise New Zealand Prime Minister's lockdown strategy as too severe
- PM puts Melbourne into Australia's toughest virus lockdown to date
- Australian sentenced to month in jail for violating quarantine to see girlfriend
Morneau, who has held the post for five years, announced his resignation Monday evening in a press conference from Ottawa. He will give up both his cabinet role and his seat as member of Parliament for Toronto Centre.
He announced he will make a bid to become secretary general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Comment: "A slide back into..."
Help, we're sliding! We can't stop ourselves imprisoning everyone over a benign virus. Send money, muzzles, and vaccines...
Vulnerable people and those over 70 will feel the brunt of the new rules but families and those involved in sports will also be reassessing their plans today.
Comment: I.e., they're not SAYING it's 'full lockdown', but the subliminal message you're very much meant to receive is: THIS IS FULL LOCKDOWN.
"We are acting to try and stop a national lockdown," Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said last night. He also admitted there was "robust debate" at Cabinet about whether or not the measures went too far.
Comment: It's a national lockdown. They're just covering their a**es with weasel-words in the event of major public backlash.
Family gatherings are now limited to just six people and all outdoor gatherings to 15 people.
The GAA [major Irish sports association - Sott.net ed.] has called on the Government and health chiefs to "present the empirical evidence" that informed the decision to move all sporting events behind closed doors.
Comment: They won't because there is none. This is being done to protect their 'gains' thus far this year from terrorizing and hystericizing the population.
Comment: Those 'martyrs to the cause' the Irish PM is emotionally manipulating people with for the most part died BECAUSE OF THE LOCKDOWN.
If this 'second lockdown' takes in Ireland, expect it to be rolled out across the West in due course.











Comment: The EU's Commissioner for Internal Markets, Thierry Breton, said that sanctions will "no doubt" be reinforced, but that Russia will be taken into account - acknowledging that Belarus isn't European, but intimately tied to Russia. Foreign policy chief Borrell says Lukashenko "lacks democratic legitimacy". (The EU is comprised of unelected bureaucrats.) The sanctions will reportedly target all those "responsible for violence, repression & falsification of election results", a "substantial number" of penalties, according to Michel.
Russian FM Lavrov's response is on point: See also: