Puppet Masters

Israel puts the entire Palestinian banking system on notice - cash seizures can be made on any pretext

Sam Bahour
Mondoweiss
Fri, 29 May 2020 17:11 UTC

© Ashraf Amra/APA Images
Palestinian Authority employees wait to withdraw cash from an ATM outside a Bank of Palestine branch in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 2, 2020.

The next fault line in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict comes from an unassuming corner, the banking system. With the Trump Administration having its back, Israel legislated to commit crimes in broad daylight. The latest effort comes in the form of a military order, one of the thousands issued throughout Israel's military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Today, as far as the Israeli books are concerned, any Israeli soldier has the right to enter any Palestinian bank and confiscate funds that are claimed to be associated with particular bank accounts.

Anywhere else in the world this would be called "bank robbery" but in Palestine it is just another day under Israeli military occupation.

Israel is demanding that Palestinian banks close the accounts of unnamed Palestinians which they have blacklisted. This flagrant infringement of the Palestinian private sector, not to mention the jurisdiction of the Palestinian government, is being undertaken in broad daylight with no legal pretext, no due diligence, and no due process. Instead, Israel, as it has done for over five decades, simply issues a military order through its Ministry of Defense, which is responsible for the occupied Palestinian territory.

Comment: Israel misses no opportunity to further persecute the Palestinian people. Their presence is a daily reminder that Israel is an illegitimate state.

US senators planning to introduce new sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 as it nears completion

Reuters
Fri, 29 May 2020 11:02 UTC

© REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
The logo of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project is seen on a large diameter pipe at Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant owned by ChelPipe Group in Chelyabinsk, Russia February 26, 2020.

Two U.S. senators are expected to introduce next week sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline that Russia is trying to finish, but which Washington has opposed since the Obama era, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The sanctions, which would have to pass Congress and be signed by President Donald Trump, are expected to be introduced as soon as Monday by Senators Ted Cruz, a Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat.

The senators' offices did not respond to requests for comment. This week, however, both senators indicated they were weighing sanctions on Nord Stream 2, led by state gas company Gazprom (GAZP.MM), as Russia moves closer to completing the project.

How the UK government terrorizes its citizens with coronavirus propaganda

Dr Piers Robinson
RT
Sat, 30 May 2020 09:44 UTC

Have сensorship of scientists, alarmist messaging and conspiracy theory smears all been used to reinforce the 'official' narrative on coronavirus? Can these distortions ever be justified?

One of the problems with researching and writing about propaganda is that so many people believe it is something alien to democratic states.

What Edward Bernays, considered by many to be a key figure in the development of 20th-century propaganda techniques, said was that "the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society."

Although we usually refer to these techniques by different names today, employing such euphemisms as 'public relations' or 'strategic communication', it is a fact that techniques of manipulation are part and parcel of contemporary liberal democracies.

'Biden Center' at UPenn under fire for $70 million in undisclosed donations from China

Tom Ciccotta
Breitbart
Wed, 27 May 2020 16:06 UTC

The Biden Center at the University of Pennsylvania is under fire this week over its alleged failure to disclose millions of dollars in gifts from China. The center has allegedly failed to disclose $70 million in gifts from China since 2017.

According to a report by Campus Reform, the Biden Center at UPenn is facing heightened scrutiny this week over a series of gifts from China that were not properly disclosed to the federal government.

The National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint last week with the Department of Education over the University of Pennslyvania's Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement's failure to disclose large gifts from China.

As Minneapolis burns, Trump has every right to go after 'thugs' of any color

Robert Bridge
RT
Sat, 30 May 2020 16:14 UTC

As Minneapolis suffers its third day of massive looting, burning and rioting, a number of commentators believe the violent behavior on the streets serves as justice for the death of George Floyd. It does not.

In one swift moment, the main story in the United States is no longer the coronavirus, and certainly not social distancing, as Minnesota's largest city struggles to contain a wave of violence following the March 26 killing of George Floyd, 46, at the hands of police.

What needs to happen is that the four officers responsible for Floyd's death be punished to the fullest extent of the law. What mustn't be allowed to happen, however, is for the people of Minneapolis to be held hostage as their fair city is reduced to smoldering rubble before their eyes. Yet that is exactly what is happening. This is disgraceful behaviour, totally unacceptable. This isn't part of the protest, this is kids taking advantage of a bad situation to vandalise and potentially steal. I hope the faces in these videos are recognised, and those involved are arrested. Thugs.

Comment: "This isn't part of the protest, this is kids taking advantage of a bad situation to vandalise and potentially steal." But perhaps more than that? There is suspicion that agents provocateurs were active in the area, and some accusations that Antifa was involved.

Russian bill proposes fines for some who refuse compulsory vaccination as Covid-19 battle continues

RT
Sat, 30 May 2020 16:31 UTC

Russians exposed to infectious diseases or working in high-risk environments could face penalties for refusing mandatory vaccination, under new regulations. It comes as the country approaches nearly 400,000 Covid-19 cases.

Violations of the existing rules on epidemiological safety, such as refusing "prophylactic vaccination" or failing "to undergo medical checks," will result in fines if the amendments to the Сode of Administrative Offenses - rolled out by the Justice Ministry - are signed into law.

The proposed penalties range from up to $100 for individuals and up to $427 for entities.

Vaccination is a hot topic in Russia, where some people oppose or delay vaccination of their children. The nation's healthcare watchdog said on Saturday that most citizens will actually be exempt from the bill.

The 6 key facts Americans were never supposed to know about the Russiagate hoax

Tony Shaffer
The Daily Caller
Sat, 30 May 2020 15:40 UTC

© REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Former FBI Director James Comey is sworn in prior to testifying before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 8, 2017.

The Democrats' "Russian collusion" crusade was never about national security — and now the American people are finally learning the truth.

Contrary to the protestations of Obama administration officials and their allies in the mainstream media, the collusion narrative was designed to accomplish the following objectives: first, to discourage voters from supporting Donald Trump in 2016; second, in the event that Hillary Clinton won the election, to ruin Donald Trump personally and destroy his business professionally; and third, to serve as a so-called "insurance policy" to remove President Trump from office.

Indeed, the entire Russian collusion hoax was put in motion even before Donald Trump became the Republican Party nominee in July 2016. The thing is, no Democrat actually expected that it would become necessary to pursue the third objective. Throughout the 2016 election campaign, Clinton's closest allies were convinced that she would win the presidency in a landslide, in which case the American voters would never have found out about the tactics James Comey's FBI used to establish the "predicate" to spy on the Trump Campaign.

Did Trump just cancel a potential double-war?

The Saker
The Unz Review
Wed, 27 May 2020 00:00 UTC

At this time of writing, it is too early to declare the danger over, but at least three out of five Iranian tankers have made it safely to Venezuela (confirmation from TeleSur and PressTV). Furthermore, while we should never say "never", it appears exceedingly unlikely that the US would let three tankers pass only to then try to impede the arrival of the other two. So it ain't over until its over, but as of right now things look way better than last week.

Besides, this is mostly a symbolic issue. While these 5 tankers will make a difference, it won't be a huge one, especially considering the devastating consequences which the US sanctions, sabotage and subversion have inflicted on Venezuela.

Still, symbols are important, if only because they create a precedent. In fact, I would argue that the latest climbdown by Trump is no different than all his other climbdowns: Trump has had a very consistent record of threatening fire and brimstone before quietly deflating walking away. And since he did that many times now, we have to wonder whether this strategy is effective or not?

One could argue that this strategy could be described by saying that you put the maximum pressure on the other side in the hope that the bluff will entice the adversary to fold. This could be a semi-credible argument where it not for a very simple but crucial problem: so far the other guys have never folded. In other words, Trump's bluff has been called over and over again, and each time Trump had to quietly deflate.

Comment: One wonders how and in what ways the author thinks Trump mismanaged the virus. Though pinning blame on China for Covid-19 is counterproductive, and based on misinformation, Trump was not only the first and most public of voices to call it for what it really was - a bad cold - but has argued for prophylactic measures like hydroxychloroquine, and reversing the lockdown as soon as possible. That he was surrounded by individuals in government who misinformed him about the severity of the virus over two months ago - made for Trump's falling into lockstep with the lockdown agenda - for a time.

As for starting a new war somewhere, it seems more like Trump is trying to throw the neocon warmongers in Washington a piece of meat to quell them - as he tries to buy time and work towards draining the swamp of war as much as possible.

Is Trump's new Cold War against China necessary?

Mike Luongo
Gold, Goats 'N Guns
Mon, 25 May 2020 00:00 UTC

Donald Trump is winning the propaganda war against China today. But saying that doesn't imply he either should be fighting this war or is capable of winning the real war.

What is that real war?

Retaining U.S. dominance over the flow of international capital for the next four generations.

Because that is what is at stake.

Trump's slash and burn policies towards China have always been fraught with inconsistencies. From "trade wars are easy to win" (a lie) to the current over-reaction to COVID-19 ("the China Flu") Trump is conflating the two main wars he is fighting into one.

India, China teeter toward a border clash

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Wed, 27 May 2020 00:00 UTC

A Chinese soldier (L) next to an Indian soldier at a border crossing in a file photo.

Both sides have sent reinforcements to disputed Ladakh line, as Beijing flexes its muscles around Asia

It would be counter-productive for BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization members India and China to come to blows on account of some extremely remote - albeit strategically important - snowy mountain passes.

But when one looks at the 3,488-kilometer-long Line of Actual Control, which India defines as "unresolved," that can never be totally ruled out.

As the Hindustan Times reported:

"India has pushed in high altitude warfare troops with support elements to the eastern Ladakh theater to counter [the] Chinese People's Liberation Army's aggressive posture designed to browbeat the government to stop building border infrastructure in the Daulat Beg Oldie sector as it may threaten the Lhasa-Kashgar highway in Aksai Chin."

The highway runs from Tibet to southwestern Xinjiang Province, where the Karakoram Highway - the northern part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor - goes from Kashgar to Islamabad. Thence a road heads through Balochistan to Pakistan's strategic Gwadar port, as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Comment: A tempest in a teapot - or foreshadowing of larger conflict to come?

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Puppet Masters

Israel puts the entire Palestinian banking system on notice - cash seizures can be made on any pretext

US senators planning to introduce new sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 as it nears completion

How the UK government terrorizes its citizens with coronavirus propaganda

'Biden Center' at UPenn under fire for $70 million in undisclosed donations from China

As Minneapolis burns, Trump has every right to go after 'thugs' of any color

Russian bill proposes fines for some who refuse compulsory vaccination as Covid-19 battle continues

The 6 key facts Americans were never supposed to know about the Russiagate hoax

Did Trump just cancel a potential double-war?

Is Trump's new Cold War against China necessary?

India, China teeter toward a border clash

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