Puppet MastersS


Blackbox

Say what? Saudi king vows to fight 'extremist' interpretations of Islam

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
© ReutersSaudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Saudi Arabia will monitor interpretations of the Prophet Mohammad's words to counter extremism, King Salman said in a decree issued Tuesday.

The King will establish the "King Salman Complex" in Medina where elite scholars will monitor and examine religious teachings to "eliminate fake and extremist texts and any texts that contradict the teachings of Islam and justify the committing of crimes, murders and terrorist acts." the Saudi Press Agency reports.

An assembly will be created in Medina with a council of the world's Hadith scholars, appointed by royal decree.

Comment: Further reading: Saudi Arabia turns to Russia: Diversifies foreign relations, considers buying S-400 defense system - Update


Eye 1

UK's GCHQ spies on millions, shares data with corporations & foreign governments

spy intelligence hacking defence computer cyber warfare
© REUTERS/ Ben Birchall
UK spy agency GCHQ is monitoring social media accounts, gathering thousands of megabytes of citizens' information, according to a privacy rights group.

Rights group Privacy International has unearthed documents that show UK intelligence services collect data on millions of UK citizens via popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and share harvested information with foreign governments and private businesses, without ministerial permission or official oversight.

The exposure represents the first concrete confirmation of the type of information collected and held by UK intelligence agencies, although it remains unclear what aspects of communications they hold and other types of information government agencies are collecting, beyond broad unspecific categories such as biographical details, commercial and financial activities, communications, travel data, and legally privileged communications.

Document

Russian Embassy: Canada's Magnitsky Law 'irrational act sponsored by fugitive fraudster'

Canadian flag
© AP Photo/ Jae C. Hong
Canada's version of the Magnitsky Act approved by the Senate upper chamber was an irrational measure driven by a dubious character accused of fraud, the Russian Embassy in Ottawa said in a statement.

"In defiance of common sense S-226 is hastily signed into law," the embassy said in a tweet Wednesday. "Irrational act sponsored by fugitive fraudster & tax evader and Russia-haters."

On Tuesday, Canada's Senate in a final reading passed the bill, titled "Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law)," which aims to impose restrictive measures on foreign nationals allegedly responsible for human rights violations.

Should Bill S-226 receive royal assent, it will enable Canada to "sanction, impose travel bans on and hold accountable those responsible for gross human rights violations and significant corruption."

Comment: Here's what Putin had to say about America's Magnitsky Act back in 2012:
"A person died; it has been clear for some time that Mr. Magnitsky died in prison. That is a tragedy that we regret. What, are you telling me that nobody dies in their prisons? Maybe more people die in their prisons than in ours. In European prisons? In the U.S.?Listen, it's been eight years and Guantanamo is still not closed; people are held without a trial or an investigation, like in the Middle Ages; prisoners walk around in chains and shackles! People who open secret prisons, legalize torture without investigations! And now these people are now accusing us of somehow not being good enough!



Info

Putin: Bad relations with U.S. regrettable, but it's not Russia's fault

putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he regrets that relations between Russia and the US are not cordial but emphasized that it was not Moscow's fault.

"Unfortunately, our relations have gone into a freeze," he told the Eastern Economic Forum on Saturday.

"I believe, this is not our fault," he continued.

"It is quite possible to unilaterally pull out of the anti-missile defense treaty and build up this system while using the pretext of an Iranian nuclear threat. However, once it disappears, once the Iranian nuclear threat is gone, they act as if everything has been forgotten and continue developing that system in spite of everything. On the other hand, if our counterparts see it from a different point of view, the logic of respecting mutual interests - one another's interests - then our relations could change fundamentally," Putin explained.

Comment: This was in the context of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Putin stressed at Valdai today that Russia will continue to adhere to its terms, just so long as the U.S. does.


Footprints

End of the petrodollar: China to compel Saudi Arabia to trade oil in yuan

saudi dollar china
This week, a leading economist predicted a major paradigm shift, as Carl Weinberg, chief economist and managing director at High Frequency Economics told CNBC that China will "compel" Saudi Arabia to abandon the petrodollar, and instead, begin trading oil in yuan-a move he says is likely to precipitate the rest of the oil market following suit and abandoning the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency.

Weinberg noted that China is poised to clearly dominate the global landscape in terms of oil demand since surpassing the U.S. as the "biggest oil importer on the planet," adding that Saudi Arabia will "pay attention to this because even as much as one or two years from now, Chinese demand will dwarf U.S. demand."

"I believe that yuan pricing of oil is coming and as soon as the Saudis move to accept it-as the Chinese will compel them to do-then the rest of the oil market will move along with them," Weinberg said.

Commensurate with the rise of the U.S. use of the petrodollar as a weaponized financial instrument, numerous states that oppose the dollar holding the status of world reserve currency, have worked to minimize their dependence on dollars in bilateral transactions.

Arrow Up

Russian UN ambassador slams U.S. and Israel for ignoring Palestine

nebenzya
Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya leveled sharp criticism at Israel and the US for ignoring the Palestinian problem in the course of debates on Middle East peace settlement at the UN Security Council.

As he took the floor at the meeting, he warned that in the absence of a peace process on the political horizon in the region, a dangerously explosive potential was accumulating there and it could produce an explosion at any moment, TASS reported.

Israeli ambassador Danny Danon and US ambassador Nikki Haley bypassed the Palestinian issue in their speeches and concentrated on other issues.

The Israeli diplomat tried on the role of an arbiter by reading out the charges with global support for terrorism, encroachments on human rights, instigation of anti-Semitism.

Airplane Paper

Who can disagree? Iran says Israel cannot be allowed to target Syria at will

Abdullah Ayyoub
Major General Mohammad Baqeri (L), who is the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, and Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Arab Army General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub hold a joint press conference in Syria’s capital, Damascus, October 18, 2017.
The chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces says Israel cannot be allowed to violate Syrian territory at will.

"It is not acceptable for the Zionist regime (Israel) to violate Syria via land or air whenever it pleases," Major General Mohammad Baqeri said in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Wednesday.

He was speaking alongside Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Arab Army General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub.

The Israeli military conducts strikes against Syria-based targets on a regular basis, most of the time claiming that it hits convoys destined for the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah. Hezbollah fighters have been assisting the Syrian army in its fight against Takfiri militants.

Israel has been offering medical treatment to the extremist militants wounded on the battlefields in Syria in field hospitals in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Comment: Hezbollah fights terrorists. Israel bandages them up. It should be pretty obvious who is in the right when it comes to Syria. And it sure as hell isn't the cancerous blot otherwise known as Israel. But here's how Israel's delusional leader sees it:
"Our policy is clear: those who try to harm us we will hit them. Today our planes were under attack, it is unacceptable," Netanyahu stated.

"The (Israeli) air force acted immediately and precisely, and successfully destroyed the target. Israel will continue to operate in this space, as much as needed in order to protect Israel," he concluded.
That's right. It's unacceptable for Syria to shoot at jets that violate its airspace and launch missiles at its infrastructure and personnel. In other words, it's acceptable for Israel to commit acts of war against other nations whenever it pleases. Arrest this idiot already.


Rainbow

No diagnosis necessary: Theresa May vows to 'de-medicalize' process of gender reassignment

gay pride
© Pau Barrena / AFP
Theresa May vowed to scrap medical checks for people who officially change gender. She told an audience at the Pink News awards dinner on Wednesday night that 'being trans is not an illness and it should not be treated as such.'

"We have set out plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act and streamline and de-medicalise the process for changing gender," the prime minister said.

The proposals, if passed, could do away with the requirement for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria before a person can officially change their gender.

May said she is "proud" to have sponsored the Same-Sex Marriage Act as Home Secretary.

"There is still much more to do and I am committed to seeing that work through - for instance, eradicating homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools, and reforming the Gender Recognition Act - so that we can build a better future for everyone in our society."

Looking on was Justine Greening, May's Education Secretary, who last year became the first female Cabinet minister to come out as gay while in office.

Comment: We hope the NHS has the money to fund the reversals.
What gender propagandists won't discuss: Gender reversal surgeries are rising


Blackbox

Congress wants to know if Obama DOJ used Trump dossier before surveillance shenanigans

grassley feinstein
© REUTERS/Joshua RobertsSenate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) speaks to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) as U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions (not pictured) testifies before a Senate Judiciary oversight hearing on the Justice Department on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 18, 2017.
Both the House and the Senate are investigating whether the former President Barack Obama's administration used intelligence in a salacious "Trump Dossier" as "evidence" before a secret federal surveillance court to obtain permission to spy on Donald Trump campaign aides and later his transition team.

Leaders in Congress are trying to find out if the Obama Justice Department and the FBI introduced the totally unsubstantiated material alleging unsavory connections between Trump and Russia before the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court, congressional aides told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The FBI used the dossier to secure permission to monitor the communications of Trump associate Carter Page, based on U.S. officials briefed on the Russia investigation, CNN reported in April.

The latest inquiries began Oct. 4, when the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence subpoenaed Fusion GPS, a political opposition research firm based in Washington, D.C., to appear before the committee and turn over bank documents. The committee is also seeking all Justice Department applications before the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court, also called the FISA court, to determine if any of the applicants rely on information from the dossier.

Comment: See also:


Bad Guys

Ex-Afghan president tells RT: ISIS in Afghanistan is a U.S. tool to destabilize region

karzai
© RT
The US uses the Islamic State insurgency as a tool in Afghanistan, aimed at destabilizing the whole region, the former Afghan president told RT, urging the international community to convince the US that it needs to actually fight terrorism.

No action was taken against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists despite their atrocious acts being well known "since the arrival of Daesh [an Arabic acronym for IS] on the Afghan scene," former President Hamid Karzai said. He then mentioned reports of "unmarked foreign helicopters" providing support to the terrorists.

"From the two years onwards to today, every day the local people, the local elders, government officials, media and others began to report that unmarked helicopters, unmarked foreign helicopters, would go in and support extremists in all parts of the country," the former president told RT on the sidelines of the Valdai Forum in Sochi, Russia.