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Epic burn: Russian Defense Ministry says British Defense Secretary has lost his grasp on reason, needs a medical exam


TASS
Sat, 27 Jan 2018 19:14 UTC
russia
© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS
The Russian Defense Ministry has ridiculed British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson's allegations that Russia was 'plotting attacks' on Britain's key infrastructure as an attempt to gain publicity and score political points.

"British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson in his fiery crusade for military budget money appears to have lost his grasp on reason. His fears about Russia getting pictures of power plants and studying the routes of British pipelines are worthy of a comic plot or a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday.

He took a swipe at Williamson's remark by noting that all information concerning the location of British power plants or pipelines was "as secret as the location of Westminster Abbey or the Big Ben."

"What is really stunning is this: if Williamson in this way hopes to draw attention to his own personality, he is not the first one in the defense secretary's seat who is trying to score political points by spooking the British people with horror stories," Konashenkov said. "But if it is Britain's General Staff that reports such nonsense to him, then he should start thinking not about ways of increasing the defense budget but checking British military planners for professional aptitude, with a special emphasis on medical exams," Konashenkov explained.

Comment: Williamson needs your help. Please, find this man an asylum that will cure him of his paranoia. It's not doing him - or his country - any good.

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Info

Did Fusion GPS' Glenn Simpson lie to Congress?

Lee Smith
Tablet
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 18:54 UTC
Glenn Simpson Fusion GPS
© AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Glenn Simpson, Fusion GPS co-founder. Some suspect he did work for Mueller.
Earlier this week Sen. Dianne Feinstein released a partially redacted transcript of Glenn Simpson's Aug. 22, 2017 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Perhaps it's a coincidence that just last week Simpson himself, co-founder of the Washington, D.C.-based strategic communications firm Fusion GPS that assembled and distributed the now notorious anti-Trump dossier, wrote a New York Times op-ed calling for Republican members of the committee to release his testimony.

Feinstein said at first that she was pressured to release the document. Now she says she wasn't, and her statement was misunderstood. The mix-up adds further confusion as to who thought it advisable to subject the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative to more light. It discloses no further information to verify the research of Fusion GPS contractor Christopher Steele, the former British spy whose byline was used to promote the dossier as an "intelligence" product, rather than as opposition research for hire. Rather, the transcript raises some serious questions about the former MI6 officer who Feinstein's committee colleagues Senators Charles Grassley and Lindsey Graham referred to the Justice Department for a criminal probe last week.

The release of the Simpson transcript is the latest salvo in a campaign of bare-knuckled political warfare that began when reports of Donald Trump's sub rosa ties to Vladimir Putin first surfaced before the 2016 election. At that time, most of the press refrained from publishing articles sourced to a dossier that former FBI director James Comey called "salacious and unverified" and which the reliably liberal New York Times refused to touch. Those opinions changed abruptly after Trump won, as the result of what looks increasingly like a coordinated campaign involving outgoing Obama administration officials who leaked carefully chosen bits of classified information to a credulous press corps that had become used to printing handouts from the good guys and was especially eager to #Resist Trump.

Comment: A plausible reconstruction of how some of the more outlandish claims in the dossier might have gotten there. A game of Chinese whispers later taken as reality and used illegally to spy on Americans. Not a flattering picture.

More on Simpson:

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No Entry

Polish parliament votes to criminalize Ukrainian 'Bandera ideology'


RT
Sat, 27 Jan 2018 13:57 UTC
Ukrainian nationalists
© Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters
Polish MPs vote to criminalize Ukrainian nationalist ideology
Ukrainian nationalists march to mark the 108th birth anniversary of Stepan Bandera in Kiev, Ukraine, January 1, 2017.
The Polish parliament has backed legislative amendments to introduce prison terms and fines for people who support the so-called "Bandera ideology" and those who deny crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists against the Poles.

"The crimes include the actions committed by Ukrainian nationalists in 1925-1950, involving the use of force, terror or other forms of violation of human rights against ... the people, in particular, the people of Poland," the legislation read.

The amendments criminalize the denial of the massacre of Poles and Jews in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, and also outlaw support for the actions and ideology of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and its military arm, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which were responsible for the killings. The legislation allows prison sentences of up to three years or a fine.

The initiative was supported by 279 out of 414 deputies present at the Sejm on Friday, with 130 MPs abstaining and just four voting 'no.' The parliament was to decide on the amendments to the Institute of National Remembrance law last year, but the vote was postponed in order to avoid tensions with Ukraine.

Comment: To get some better idea of where the 'Bandera ideology' came from - and what it is now - see:

CIA documents reveal fascist Ukrainian icon Stepan Bandera was a German spy - and a CIA accomplice

And:

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Gear

Syrian 'opposition' organization says it will skip Sochi peace congress


TASS
Sat, 27 Jan 2018 19:44 UTC
Syrian flag
© AP Photo/Diaa Hadid
The Syrian Negotiations Committee will not participate in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, the organization's leader Nasr al-Hariri said after intra-Syrian talks in Vienna.

"In a free and transparent voting we have come to the decision the Committee will not participate in the Sochi conference," he said on Saturday. "We hope, the congress in Sochi will be very useful if it favors implementation of the UN SC's resolution 2254, we shall hail it."

The vote took place late on Friday. According to sources familiar with the situation, 26 out of 36 members voted against participation, which is sufficient to take the decision.

Comment: The decision of the Syrian Negotiations Committee to boycott the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi would not affect the forum, a source at the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS on Saturday.
"No, of course, it would not affect. We have invited everyone, who want; those who do not want would not participate," the source said, adding "the Congress would be without them, unfortunately, that's it."
Some members of the Syrian Negotiations Committee will participate in the Sochi Syrian National Dialogue Congress, head of the Moscow platform Qadri Jamil told TASS on Saturday.
"The Moscow platform's opinion is it would be reasonable and useful to go to Sochi," he said. "We shall go to Sochi."
Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev regrets the Syrian opposition's negotiations committee's decision to reject invitation to the Syrian National Dialogue Congress due in Sochi on January 29-30.
"I deeply regret it," Kosachev told TASS on Saturday. "The Congress provides a real chance to advance in bringing various forces closer together in order to implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254," he added.
See also: In advance of upcoming Sochi peace talks, US sez 'Russia responsible for all chemical attacks in Syria'

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Info

Russiagate memo reportedly names high-level US officials

Stephen Lendman
Stephenlendman.org
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 18:45 UTC
McCabe Comey Rosenstein

Andrew McCabe, James Comey, Rod Rosenstein
A week-ago four-page memo described as explosive and shocking was released to House members - reportedly showing extensive FISA abuses.

A previous article explained it contains information about the Justice Department, the FBI and fake Trump dossier - prepared for Hillary Clinton and the DNC by former UK MI6 intelligence operative Christopher Steele. It makes spurious accusations without evidence, alleging misconduct and collusion between Trump, his campaign team and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign - including phony accusations of Russian US election interference.

It reveals alleged abusive tactics by high-level US officials. According to the Daily Beast, it names "FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, along with former FBI Director James Comey."

Many GOP lawmakers are calling for the memo's release, spearheaded by House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes.

Comment: See also:

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Map

Sudan willing to offer Russia a military base on Red Sea shore


South Front
Thu, 30 Nov 2017 18:42 UTC
russian military
Sudan is willing to house a Russian military base on the Red Sea shore, as it should help fight contraband and slavery, according to Sudan's chairman of Defense and Security committee Al-Hadi Adam Hamid.

He noted that setting up a base in the country would be reasonable, calling the decision "marvelous".

The chairman also complained about a lot of vessels illegally crossing the naval borders of Sudan: "Vessels enter our territorial waters, fish illegally, and fisherman also cross borders illegally."

Hamid added that Sudan has to fight slavery and contraband on the Red Sea. He stressed the importance of military cooperation with Moscow in this regard, and said that establishing a base "won't be out of the ordinary."

"The times demand it," he added.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir visited Russia for the first time on November 23, where he had discussed a possibility of establishing a Russian base in Sudan with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu. No official agreement had been signed. Kremlin did not provide comment.

Comment: A sign of the shifting perceptions of who's really on top of the geopolitical dominance/competence hierarchy. See also: Chinese military attache to Moscow: Russia, China should stand together to protect world against American aggression

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Clipboard

Heritage Foundation: "Trump has embraced two-thirds of our agenda"

Jeremy W. Peters
New York Times
Mon, 22 Jan 2018 18:35 UTC
US President Donald Trump
© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
US President Donald Trump
The Trump administration has pursued policies that have hewed remarkably close to the recommendations of a leading conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, which found in a new review that nearly two-thirds of its ideas had been carried out or embraced by the White House over the past year.

Not one to dwell on the details of governing, President Trump has shown a considerable degree of deference to groups within the conservative movement like Heritage, leading to a rightward shift in social, environmental, immigration and foreign policy.

The results, Heritage found in its review, exceeded even the first year of Ronald Reagan's presidency, whose tenure has long been the conservative gold standard.

"There is so much noise in this town that I think it obscures the real work that's being done," said Kay Coles James, the new president of the Heritage Foundation, which shook up its leadership last year after disagreements that stemmed in part from the perception that it was not acting effectively enough to shape the debate in Washington.

"This administration is doing quite well in terms of advancing a conservative agenda - clearly, quite well," Ms. James added.

Comment: What do you know! Trump's actually a conservative. And an effective one at that. He might even say he's a stable, genius conservative.

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Star of David

Israeli ambassador claims Iran has 82,000-strong army 'hidden" in Syria


RT
Sat, 27 Jan 2018 17:13 UTC
Iranian soldiers
© Associated Press/ Ebrahim Noroozi
On Tuesday, Israel's envoy to the UN Danny Danon said that Iran controls a force of 82,000 fighters in Syria: 60,000 Syrian troops; 10,000 Shiite militiamen from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan; 9,000 members of the Lebanese Iran-aligned militia Hezbollah; and 3,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards.


Comment: So what? They are there with Assad's permission.


Danon said Iran had spent $35 billion on training and equipping this force. He went on to claim that the Islamic Republic was building missile bases in Syria, with the ultimate goal of turning Israel's war-torn neighbor "into the largest military base in the world."

He claimed that Israeli intelligence had garnered this secret information and was now sharing it with the world. "We are releasing this classified information because it is vital for the world to understand that if we turn a blind eye in Syria, the Iranian threat will only grow," said Danon.

"The Shi'ite crescent is on our doorstep. Iran is ready to strike at a moment's notice," he said, referring to the crescent-shaped region of the Middle East that has a Shia-majority population. As a Shia state, Tehran often styles itself as protector of the global Shia community.


Comment: Perhaps if Israel gave back the stolen Golan Heights and stopped making bombing runs in Syria, they'd have less to worry about?
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Airplane

Air Force One refrigerator replacements to cost taxpayers $24mn, Boeing awarded contract


RT
Sat, 27 Jan 2018 12:58 UTC
US President Donald Trump
© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
US President Donald Trump
Experts say Boeing's nearly $24 million contract to install two new refrigerators on Air Force One is not price gouging, but due to the specific requirements of the presidential plane. The jet is designed to store 3,000 meals.

Air Force One has a total of five chillers that can store about 3,000 meals to feed up to 100 passengers and crew for weeks without resupplying, according to Defense One. The chillers on the jumbo jet date back to 1990, when the current model of the presidential planes were first deployed.

Boeing was awarded a $23,657,671 contract to design, test, and install two VC-25A G12/G13 chillers for the customized 747 jumbo jet in December.

"The Air Force requires that the current air chillers in the G12 and G13 galleys be modified with new cold food stowage to improve reliability and maintainability," a contract notice from the Pentagon states.

Comment: See also: Boeing CEO says deal for new presidential aircraft close after his meeting with Trump

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Gear

'Manifestation of heinous intention': North Korea condemns US' recent sanctions against Pyongyang


RT
Sat, 27 Jan 2018 18:52 UTC
North Korean flag
© Jason Lee / Reuters

North Korea has condemned the new round of sanctions announced by the US against Pyongyang, saying that the measures are merely a manifestation of Washington's "heinous intention" to aggravate the situation on the peninsula.

The sanctions imposed by Washington are "a manifestation of heinous intention to throw a wet blanket over the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation and to aggravate the situation," the KCNA news agency said, citing an unnamed Pyongyang official.

The US should abandon its "anachronistic" policy towards the North, the official added.

Comment: See also: Washington issues additional sanctions against North Korea, targets trade representatives in China and Russia

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