Puppet Masters

Iran's 'duty' to seize British tanker if UK fails to release captured ship - senior official at IRGC

RT
Fri, 05 Jul 2019 16:09 UTC

Tehran should seize a British tanker if the UK does not release the oil supertanker captured by Royal Marines near Gibraltar, a senior official in Tehran has said.

On Thursday, British marines and Gibraltar police seized the Panama-flagged tanker off the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The vessel is owned by a Singaporean company.

Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo claimed that the ship was transporting crude oil to Syria "in violation" of the EU sanctions placed on Damascus. According to Madrid, which considers the waters off Gibraltar to be its own, the British captured the ship at the request of the US. Officials in Washington, meanwhile, welcomed the seizure of the vessel, saying that it was carrying Iranian oil.

Later in the day, Iran summoned the British ambassador and slammed the seizure of the vessel as "a destructive step" and "a form of piracy." Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, Abbas Mousavi argued that the sanctions against Syria are illegal under international law and Iran does not recognize them.

Real threat of 'Russian disinformation' is US disinformation about it

RT
Fri, 05 Jul 2019 21:43 UTC

The narrative that Russia somehow subverted the US political system through hacking and trolling is ridiculous, journalist Aaron Mate told RT's Lee Camp. Its adoption by the US left is what poses an actual threat to America.

Mate is one of a handful of US journalists who were highly skeptical about the entire Russiagate affair. He talked to Lee Camp on Redacted Tonight about why the conspiracy theory received so much media attention in the US and what came out of it.

"One outgrowth of this theory is that Russian troll farm workers managed to sow chaos in American society with juvenile Facebook ads that nobody saw," he said. "Most of those ads were paid for after the election... And most of the ads had nothing to do with the election."

The fact that we even talk about them is just a joke. And it shows that the real threat of the Russian disinformation here is not the Russian social media disinformation itself. It's the American disinformation about Russian disinformation.

American Aggression? Never!

Tom Engelhardt
Tomdispatch.com
Fri, 05 Jul 2019 15:04 UTC

Headlined "U.S. Seeks Other Ways to Stop Iran Shy of War," the article was tucked away on page A9 of a recent New York Times. Still, it caught my attention. Here's the first paragraph:

"American intelligence and military officers are working on additional clandestine plans to counter Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf, pushed by the White House to develop new options that could help deter Tehran without escalating tensions into a full-out conventional war, according to current and former officials."

Note that "Iranian aggression." The rest of the piece, fairly typical of the tone of American media coverage of the ongoing Iran crisis, included sentences like this: "The C.I.A. has longstanding secret plans for responding to Iranian provocations." I'm sure I've read such things hundreds of times without ever really stopping to think much about them, but this time I did. And what struck me was this: rare is the moment in such mainstream news reports when Americans are the "provocative" ones (though the Iranians immediately accused the U.S. military of just that, a provocation, when it came to the U.S. drone its Revolutionary Guard recently shot down either over Iranian air space or the Strait of Hormuz). When it comes to Washington's never-ending war on terror, I think I can say with reasonable confidence that, in the past, the present, and the future, the one phrase you're not likely to find in such media coverage will be "American aggression."

Airlines no longer avoiding Iran airspace despite US ban

Press TV
Thu, 04 Jul 2019 12:33 UTC

© AFP photo
This file photo taken on August 27, 2018 shows a Boeing 737 Next Gen of KLM while flying above Toulouse, southern France.

Iran's top aviation official says that major international airlines have been returning to skies south of the country after a brief hiatus caused by an Iran-US military escalation in the region.

Siavosh Amir Mokri, who heads Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company, said on Thursday that the number of flights using Iranian-controlled skies above the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman had increased over the past several days to reach its normal level of 840 flights a day.

The official said the increased use of the airspace came despite a notam (Notice to Airmen) issued by US Federal Aviation Administration on June 21 which banned flights from using skies above the region.

Comment: Evidently world aviation authorities aren't buying US fearmongering.

See also: Pepe Escobar: The un-submersible US-Iran stalemate

Pepe Escobar: The un-submersible US-Iran stalemate

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Fri, 05 Jul 2019 10:55 UTC

© Alexei Danichev / Sputnik/ AFP
Orthodox priests and Russian sailors pay their respects at a service to remember 14 submariners who died on July 1, after a fire on a research sub from the Northern Fleet, in the Naval Cathedral in Kronshtadt.

Lost in the submarine uproar, the deadline set by Tehran for the EU-3 to support Iranian crude sales expires Sunday.

A thick veil of mystery surrounds the fire that broke out in a state of the art Russian submersible in the Barents Sea, leading to the death of 14 crew members poisoned by toxic fumes.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the submersible was conducting bathymetric measurements, as in examining and mapping deep sea conditions. The crew on board was composed of "unique naval specialists, high-class professionals, who conducted important research of the Earth's hydrosphere." Now the - so far unnamed - nuclear-powered vessel is at the Arctic port of Severomorsk, the main base of Russia's Northern Fleet.

A serious, comprehensive military investigation is in progress. According to the Kremlin, "the Supreme Commander-in-Chief has all the information, but this data cannot be made public, because this refers to the category of absolutely classified data."

Comment: See also:

'Colonies against empires': Brexit Party MEP slams EU's idea of democracy

RT
Thu, 04 Jul 2019 13:43 UTC

Ann Widdecombe, one of the Brexit Party's most prominent figures, has delivered a fiery maiden speech in the EU Parliament, comparing the EU to "oppressors" such as slave owners or colonizers, provoking both praise and ridicule.

The MEP for the South West of England let rip into EU cheerleaders during her address in the Strasbourg parliament on Thursday. Widdecombe derided the suggestion that the European parliament was a beacon for democracy, highlighting the recent appointments of high ranking EU officials.

Widdecombe insisted the selection process showed a "serious betrayal" of every member of the bloc. She then delivered a volley of analogies that compared the power relationship between the EU - as the oppressor - to the British public, the oppressed, using the slave trade as an example. Widdecombe also singled out Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator.

Comment: She has a point: the EU's democratic process is warped as is its bureaucracy, and many throughout Europe at least share her sentiment:

Also check out SOTT radio's:

Peru invites China, Russia, US to Lima Group meeting to be 'part of solution' in Venezuela

RT
Thu, 04 Jul 2019 02:02 UTC

With Caracas and the Venezuelan opposition still locked in a stalemate after the botched coup attempt in April, Guaido supporter Peru has invited Russia, China, Turkey, Cuba and the US to the next Lima Group meet-up.

Peru's foreign minister Nestor Popolizio told a Wednesday press conference that his government has sent out invitations to some 100 countries to join the August 6 meeting of the 14-member Lima Group.

Among the invitees are Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia and Turkey, the countries that have rejected the attempt by Western-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to overthrow the government and stood by elected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The US, which was the first nation to recognize Guaido and has since been aggressively promoting his cause, including encouraging the Venezuelan military to defect to Guaido's side, has also been invited to the August gathering.

Popolizio said that by seeking to gather both Guaido allies and those backing the Maduro government, Lima is "looking for a point of convergence that allows us to establish a credible dialogue" that might eventually pave the way for snap elections in the crisis-hit country. However, taking into account the sides' opposing takes on the Venezuelan issue, there is no talk about drawing up any binding document in the wake of the meeting.

Comment: Part of the solution? The whole solution should be to honor the Venezuelans' legitimately elected president, to support an economic return to solvency and to unequivocally respect Venezuela's right to self determination.

See also:

Exploring the paradox of American russophobia

Sean Guillory
The Moscow Times
Wed, 03 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC

Given that Russophobia suggests an irrational fear of Russia's "Otherness," how much of this is really about Russia?

Tackling something as conceptually vague as Russophobia requires a measure of intellectual dexterity. Its use and meaning has become totally subsumed into today's information war.

A glaring example is the recent report from the Russian Foreign Ministry. It's a sloppily compiled laundry list of slights in American reporting on Russiagate, and frankly, doesn't deserve serious engagement. But thanks to Moscow's reflexive cry of Russophobia, some critics merely reduce it to a "weapon" that is "whitewashing destructive Kremlin behavior."

Russophobia as deflection has been countered with a blanket denial of its existence.

The term, however, deserves engagement when scraped of its infowar muck. Its efficacy is in the ways it speaks to national identity, the construction of civilizational borders, how the "West" imagines Russia and how, vis-à-vis Russia, the "West" imagines itself.

Comment: The author has a much better article here:

A Genealogy of American Russophobia

Putin: Russia has 'political will' for arms reduction deal, the ball is in US' court

RT
Thu, 04 Jul 2019 04:10 UTC

Russia does not seek an arms race, only protection, Vladimir Putin said shortly after suspending the INF treaty in a mirror response to the US. Moscow is open to a new arms reduction deal, but the US must reciprocate, he added.

In an extended interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera daily on Thursday, Putin pointed to the gargantuan difference between the US and Russian defense budgets, to dismiss the notion that Moscow could want to enter an arms race.

"Compare how much Russia spends on defense - some $48 billion, and how much the US spends - over $700 billion. Where is the arms race? We will not let ourselves be dragged into such a race, but we must ensure our security," Putin said.

Reaching a comprehensive arms reduction agreement is what Moscow is striving for, but Washington doesn't seem as willing, he said. "Russia has the political will to work on this. Now it's the US' turn," Putin said.

He pointed out that Moscow never heard back from the Trump administration after offering to sign a joint declaration on the inadmissibility of nuclear war in October, the same month Trump announced his intention to unilaterally withdraw from the cold-war era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).

Comment: See also: Putin signs law suspending INF treaty with US

Professor Richard Wolff: UK is ripping off the Libyan people by spending Gaddafi's billions

RT
Thu, 04 Jul 2019 10:35 UTC

The British government wants to start spending the money earned in taxes from frozen assets of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Professor Richard Wolff insists it's the Libyan people who should get their money back.

British lawmakers proposed handing over £17 million earned in taxes from the frozen assets to the victims of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacks. This follows a parliamentary report disclosure last month that the UK Treasury took millions of pounds in tax over the past three years from £12 billion of Libyan assets linked to Gaddafi.

While lawmakers are trying to clarify if it's legal to receive money in taxes from the frozen funds of another state, Professor Richard Wolff says the money belongs to the Libyan people and must be returned.

"They deserve every bit of the wealth they created and they ought to have that wealth available to them as soon as it possibly can be turned over... because that's how we run this world. We don't give over to other countries the wealth produced in our country," the economist and co-founder of 'Democracy at Work' told RT.

Comment: See also:

It was probably vaccine hesitancy that killed the mammoths!

sbc

Parts shortages been happening for generations. For example how many spineless and brainless people ya know?

sbc

So shouldnt the Garland order now be rescinded? They just said they were coached into writing the letter in such a way that it was disengenuous...

sbc

There are some interesting 'coincidences' with this murder case in Moab: [Link] Kylen Schulte, the younger lady, worked at the Moonflower cafe...

Jean Michel

Guns dont kill people...Alec Baldwin does...

Bezel Bub

Puppet Masters

Iran's 'duty' to seize British tanker if UK fails to release captured ship - senior official at IRGC

Real threat of 'Russian disinformation' is US disinformation about it

American Aggression? Never!

Airlines no longer avoiding Iran airspace despite US ban

Pepe Escobar: The un-submersible US-Iran stalemate

'Colonies against empires': Brexit Party MEP slams EU's idea of democracy

Peru invites China, Russia, US to Lima Group meeting to be 'part of solution' in Venezuela

Exploring the paradox of American russophobia

Putin: Russia has 'political will' for arms reduction deal, the ball is in US' court

Professor Richard Wolff: UK is ripping off the Libyan people by spending Gaddafi's billions

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