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© Adem Altan / AFP
The US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey
The US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey
Starting March 5, the Embassy will provide "only emergency services," the Monday announcement said. Routine actives, including visa interviews will not be held during the period of restrictions. The notice also advised US citizens in Turkey should avoid large crowds, keep a low profile and otherwise be cautious.
Also on Monday, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported the arrest of 12 people in Ankara as part of an investigation into suspected jihadists. The 12 were among 20 people in the case, for whom arrest warrants were issued by the state prosecutor's office, the report said. It was not immediately clear whether the arrests were connected to the closure of the embassy. The Anadolu report was published hours after the US announcement.
© AFP
Washington's claims came after the Syrian Army repelled an attack of the US-backed groups, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
It is the US and not Russia that is violating the UN resolution on the ceasefire in Syria, the ministry added. It accused Washington of doing nothing to constrain the militants it supports in Eastern Ghouta while they regularly shell Damascus, killing civilians.
Comment: It is not hard to see that the accusations against Russia and Syria in regards to Eastern Ghouta are mere propaganda. That is what the West has done since the start of this war, that is what it did in Aleppo. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last one.
- Russian MoD: E Ghouta militants promise to free civilians in exchange for aid
- Washington accuses Moscow of 'killing civilians' in E. Ghouta, Syria in '20 daily' bombing runs
- Welcome to another Western edition of anti-Assad political theater in Ghouta
© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
US President Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump
Comment: Art of the Deal? See also:
"That piss-tape kompromat surely dropping any day now," added journalist Mark Ames, a sarcastic reference to the fact that backing off on calls to arm Ukraine was an explicitly named part of the allegations in the notorious Steele dossier as one of the benefits Russia was supposed to have received from its "collusion" with the Trump campaign.
"If US media attitudes re: Russia weren't so hopelessly blinkered, this could be identified as the dangerous escalation that it is - rather than ignored or spun because it doesn't comport with the narrative that so many are now wedded to," said The Young Turks' Michael Tracey.
© Katie Miranda
Jared Kushner
Jared Kushner
The New York Times editorial board says Kushner "flames out." It says his only legacy ought to be anti-nepotism laws that would forbid the ascension of someone so unschooled in the ways of Washington.
At this point, the right question to ask is why Mr. Kushner still has any diplomatic role at all.The Washington Post predicts "the fall of the House of Kushner" (a good Poe pun):
Once the prince of Trump's Washington, Kushner is now stripped of his access to the nation's deepest secrets, isolated and badly weakened inside the administration, under scrutiny for his mixing of business and government work and facing the possibility of grave legal peril in the Russia probe.
Kushner's tensions with chief of staff John F. Kelly have spilled into public view, while other dormant rivalries have resurfaced. Some colleagues privately mock Kushner as a shadow of his former self; one official likened the work of his Office of American Innovation to headlines in "The Onion," the satirical news website. Others said fear of the Russia probe has made some officials wary of interacting with Kushner on sensitive matters. And his reputation as an interlocutor for foreign governments has been undermined by the lowering of his security clearance level, which generated embarrassing headlines worldwide.
Comment: It is interesting that all these media outlets which are loving to see the fall of Kushner - simply because he is close to Trump - do not seem to have any problem with Kushner's biggest problem: He is a Zionist, and therefore he puts Israel before America and everyone else.
- Jared Kushner loses access to top-secret intelligence
- Jared Kushner's connection to an Israeli business goes without scrutiny, different if he was Palestinian
- Kushner receives $30M from Israeli firm while shaping ME/Israeli policy
- Jared Kushner: "Peace envoy" and funder of illegal Israeli squatters in Palestine
- What Russia scandal? Kushner directed Flynn to call "every member" of UN Security Council about Israeli settlements
© thefreethoughtproject.com
One state is fighting back against the unconstitutional powers granted by the NDAA with a bill that would make it illegal for the government to indefinitely detain citizens without due process.
A state is considering a bill that would counter one law that is rarely mentioned by the mainstream media - which just happens to be the one that gives the president the power to enforce indefinite detention of American citizens - the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
While most states ignore the overreaching power granted by the NDAA, the state of Idaho is fighting back against it. The Idaho House of Representatives passed House Bill 473, the Restoring Constitutional Governance Act, in a landslide vote of 63-4 this week. The bill specifically targets the most egregious constitutional violations that are allowed by the NDAA:
"The purpose of the Restoring Constitutional Governance Act is to restore the constitutional protections usurped by certain provisions in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA"). Sections 1021 and 1022 of the 2012 NDAA, Public Law 50 U.S.C. 1541, authorize the violation of no fewer than 14 provisions of the Constitution including over half of the Bill of Rights. The sovereign government of the Great State of Idaho has a duty to protect the rights of citizens and other persons within Idaho's jurisdiction against such violations and from Federal overreach."
Comment: See also:
- Zakharova: Passage of 2017 NDAA by Obama 'directly threatens' security of Russian military in Syria
- Congress passes $602bn NDAA defense bill in defiance of Obama's veto threat
- How NDAA allows U.S. government to use propaganda against Americans
- What the media won't share about the new NDAA
- Funding the Evil Empire: Senate passes NDAA bill, authorizing lethal arms to Kiev and Syria proxy armies
© Pascal Rossignol
Marine Le Pen
Marine Le Pen
Three images, one showing the decapitated body of US journalist James Foley, were posted to the National Front leader's social media account. The pictures were captioned: "Daesh is THIS!"
Le Pen later removed the image of Foley following protests from Foley's family, but left another showing a tank running over a man in an orange jumpsuit and another of a man being burned alive in a cage. The far-right politician posted the images in response to some French media equating aspects of her political party and the terrorist group.
Comment: Marine Le Pen has long been known for her blunt assessment of political reality and though it took them a little time, they've now found an excuse to intimidate her. Whether it will be successful will depend on whether French citizens will allow let them to get away with it:
- Le Pen's legal immunity revoked by EU Parliament
- France gives kiss of death to free speech
- France under Macron: RT reporter barred from media event for the second time this week
- Le Pen demands removal of EU flag for TV interview: 'I want to lead France, not Europe'
- EU lawmakers vote to strip Le Pen of immunity for tweeting pictures of Daesh violence
- Just in time for elections: Judges summon Le Pen for alleged misuse of EU funds
- French banks closed Le Pen's and National Front's accounts
- Rightwing Le Pen: U.S. trying to start war in Europe
- Marine Le Pen declares 'Euro is not a currency, it's a political weapon'
- Le Pen compares migrant surge to barbarian invasion of Rome
- Le Pen exposes 'Russiagate' hoax in one easy courageous move
- Twenty truths about Marine Le Pen
© AP Photo/Ben Margot
In this March 15, 2014, file photo, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gestures while speaking before the California Republican Party 2014 Spring Convention in Burlingame, Calif.
In this March 15, 2014, file photo, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gestures while speaking before the California Republican Party 2014 Spring Convention in Burlingame, Calif.
"Sanctions saying this person can't travel, this person can't visit. You have to remember, the reach of the United States is very broad, and so when you're listed by the U.S. it really has an effect on what you can and cannot do," Ms. Rice said on Fox News.
She did caution against wide-ranging economic sanctions, saying that the younger generation of Russians need to be separated from President Vladimir Putin and his "inner circle."
Comment: It's disturbing how easily these career imperialists manage to downplay the fact that they've been out-witted and out-gunned, and continue to go on the offensive. That's what makes them so dangerous - their megalomania coupled with a severe case of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
As Putin said, it's time to put aside the war-mongering rhetoric and realize that Russia is not to be messed with:
"To those who for the last 15 years have been trying to fan an arms race, achieve unilateral advantage against Russia, impose sanctions, which are illegal from the standpoint of international law and are aimed at holding back the development of our country, including in the military area, I have this to say: All the things you were trying to prevent through your policies have already happened. You have failed to hold Russia back," Putin said.
"You now have to acknowledge this reality, confirm that everything I said is no bluff - which it isn't - think for some time, send into retirement the people stuck in the past and incapable of looking into the future, [and] stop rocking the boat that we all ride in and which is called planet Earth," he said.
Try not to laugh, watching the Canadian prime minister talk trade...
Comment: Interesting observations - except that the Javelin deal was already in the making a while back, so it is hard to characterize it as a reaction to Putin's speech. Rather, the deal was part of what motivated Putin to take a tougher stance. See:
Why is The Trump Administration Selling Weapons to Ukraine?
Regarding Putin's landmark speech, don't miss: