Puppet Masters
Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) proposed erecting a border wall between California and Arizona to protect Arizona from "dangerous criminals" who, she claims, are protected by California's sanctuary cities policy. McSally made the remarks during a round-table discussion about sanctuary cities on Tuesday at the White House.

Brig.-Gen Zvika Haimovitch, the head of the IDF's Aerial Defense Division and US Air Force 3rd AF Commander Lt. Gen. Richard Clark.
With the largest joint U.S.-Israeli air defense exercise ever conducted having recently concluded, which involved over 2,500 American service personnel, and in the midst of heightened Israeli involvement in the Syrian war, we find ourselves asking...
Are US troops ready to fight and to die for America's Israel's defense? ...We think not, but there are US generals out there enthusiastically promoting the idea.

Feb 16, 2005 - Baghdad, Iraq - An American soldier with the 1st Cavalry Division is treated after being shot in the volatile area of the Haifa Street neighborhood.
In the Commons, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was slammed as he compared Theresa May's approach - labeling Russia as culpable for the Skripal poisoning before an investigation has concluded - as similar to the WMD saga that led the UK into Iraq.
Following his statement, many Labour MPs rushed to condemn their leader, openly backing May in Parliament and further distancing themselves from Corbyn following the session.
Corbyn, along with a handful of fellow MPs, consistently voted against the Iraq War - a stance he is now hailed for after British intelligence claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) were discredited.

CIA Director George Tenet (L) and FBI Director Robert Mueller listen to remarks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats to U.S. security, on Capitol Hill, February 11, 2003.
Currently serving as the head of an "independent" investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, Mueller wasn't always hailed by liberals as a brave crusader for democracy and truth. Actually, the liberal love affair with Mueller is a rather recent phenomenon.
Comment: Further reading: Questions still surround Robert Mueller's dodgy Boston past
In Boston, Mueller was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office and then became the Acting U.S. Attorney from 1986 through 1987. It was Mueller's actions during that time that raised questions about his role in one of the FBI's most controversial cases involving the FBI's use of a confidential informant that led to the convictions of four innocent men, who were sentenced to death for murders they did not commit.
Trump made the comments on Twitter on Wednesday, hitting back at media coverage of his phone call with Putin in the aftermath of the Russian election result. The US leader noted that his predecessor Barack Obama had also called Putin, after the latter won Russia's 2012 presidential race.
In a follow-up tweet, Trump said Russia "can help solve problems," including issues regarding North Korea, Syria and the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
Comment: Good on Trump for responding in just this way. If he was guilty of 'Russian collusion' or being in 'Putin's pocket,' or whatever, how likely is it that he would assert such practical ideas as these about problems the US has basically started to begin with?
As a consequence, Theresa May expels 23 Russian diplomats, who have to leave the UK within a week. Then came Boris Johnson, the Foreign Minister clown, also an abject liar. He said, no he yelled, at his fellow parliamentarians that it was "Overwhelmingly likely, that Putin personally ordered the spy attack." This accusation out of nothing against the Russian President is way more than a deep breach in diplomatic behavior, it is a shameful insult. - And no evidence is provided. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, in fact, said that Johnson's personal attack on President Putin was "unforgivable".
Comment: While the author's sentiments are perfectly understandable and justified, it is probably unrealistic for Putin and his government not to address the very serious if utterly fallacious allegations being made against him. Russia is addressing the accusations made against them as an example to the world of what reasonable behavior looks like.
And, yes, the efforts at demonizing Putin and his government are indeed horrifying; it means that the crazies mentioned are willing to say and do almost anything to dominate Russia, and all too many people have utterly fallen into the abyss of believing it to be necessary.
While one committee member lamented Russia's wilful campaign of "destroying the ties that bind" (the inglorious Western Order formerly known as the British Empire), Boris Johnson agreed with another's suggestion that Russia hosting the World Cup is tantamount to Hitler hosting the Olympics in 1936:
"I think the comparison with 1936 is certainly right. It is an emetic prospect to think of Putin glorifying in this sporting event."(An emetic is something which causes vomiting.)
This, precisely, is why the anglo-Americans have been going after Russia in the sporting arena since the Sochi Winter Olympics of 2014: just the thought of Russia being seen as another normal country, and thus 'enjoying' the cross-cultural benefits of same, literally makes them vomit.

A rally against Odessa Region's former Governor Mikheil Saakashvili's arrival in Ukraine, Lviv
"It was adopted unanimously," Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman said. Kiev explained the move by saying it was putting the "national interests of the country" first.
Earlier, Groisman told the local Channel 112 that Ukraine "will do everything to ensure that the aggressor country (meaning Russia) pays a high price for aggression in Ukraine."
Comment: The 2011 economic agreement between Ukraine and Russia can be identified as one of the initial events that led to Western forces stepping up their 'intervention' in preventing Ukraine making greater moves toward Russia rather then the EU. It was a pretty ridiculous scheme considering the deep economic and social ties between the two countries. The continuation of such moves remain detrimental to their own interests. The corrupt leadership in Ukraine is quite happy to cut off their nose to spite their face, although it is all the people of Ukraine who suffer most.
During Prime Minister's Questions, SNP leader Ian Blackford asked May if she agreed that "subverting the democratic political process is unacceptable." May replied that this was something that "everyone in the house [parliament] would accept."
Blackford then listed the Tory-CA ties for MPs, stating
"... that the parent company of CA... has been run by a chairman of Oxford Conservative Association. Its funding chairman was a former Conservative MP. A director has donated over £700,000 to the Tory party. A former Conservative Party treasurer is a shareholder. We know the links to the Conservative Party go on and on."Theresa May assured her fellow MP that there are "no current contracts" between the Tory party and CA or its parent company SCL Group - formerly known as Strategic Communication Laboratories.
Comment: The bubbles are rising within the British swamp.
"As many people know, we oppose the Nord Stream 2 project, the US government does,"State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said during a news briefing. "We believe that the Nord Stream 2 project would undermine Europe's overall energy security and stability. It would provide Russia [with] another tool to pressure European countries, especially countries such as Ukraine."The pipeline project was started in 2015 as a joint venture between Russia's Gazprom and its European partners, including France's Engie, Austria's OMV, German Uniper and Wintershall, as well as British-Dutch multinational Royal Dutch Shell. The pipeline, running from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, is set to double the existing pipeline's capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year.
Comment: War on the ground; war in the pocketbook...all options are on the table when it comes to Russia and unrelenting Western paranoia.
US unilaterally declares sales of Russian S-400 anti-missile systems illegal











Comment: The good representative is not alone in her views.