Puppet Masters

Russia vows adequate response to diplomats' expulsion from Czech Republic over baseless 'poison plot' accusations

RT
Fri, 05 Jun 2020 18:51 UTC

© Reuters / Evgenia Novozhenina
A general view shows the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters and the Kremlin towers during sunset in Moscow, Russia.

The expulsion of two Russian diplomats over the imaginary Prague poisoning plot is a very hostile move, Russia's Foreign Ministry has said, warning the scandal is set to affect relations between the two countries.

"The Czech side has acted dishonorably and unworthily, taking this unfriendly step. Without any reason, the Czech authorities caused serious damage to Russian-Czech relations," the ministry said in a statement.

"The actions of Prague will receive not only an adequate response, but will be also taken into account during formation of Russian policies towards the Czech Republic."

Twitter pulls down Trump campaign video about George Floyd's death over copyright-infringement claim

Todd Spangler
Variety
Thu, 04 Jun 2020 22:49 UTC

A video posted by Donald Trump's 2020 election campaign — decrying civil unrest in the wake of the killing of George Floyd — was removed Thursday by Twitter, citing a copyright-infringement claim.

A June 3 tweet by the @TeamTrump account with the video now displays the message: "This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner." Twitter confirmed it received a DMCA takedown request from the owner of one of the images included in the video but the company did not specify who that was.

The video, titled "Healing, Not Hatred," currently remains available on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. [UPDATE: Facebook removed the videos from both Facebook and Instagram later Friday after it also received a DMCA complaint.]

Comment: Here's the offending tweet:

Israelis Back Annexation Bill But Trump's peace plan raises concerns among Settlers

Sputnik news
Sat, 06 Jun 2020 00:32 UTC

The White House now says it is "unlikely" to support Israel's plan to extend sovereignty over parts of the West Bank in early July, stating more groundwork was needed to draw the boundaries between Israeli and Palestinian territories.

As the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, plans to vote on the so-called annexation bill in early July, a recent poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute reveals that 52 percent of Jewish Israelis support applying sovereignty to parts of the predominantly Palestinian West Bank, with only 28 percent rejecting the initiative.

David Elhayani, mayor of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, is one of those backing the idea of extending Israeli sovereignty but says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be guided by Tel Aviv's national interests, not Washington's "deal of the century" peace plan rolled out at the end of January.

Comment: Israeli annexation, Canada's confusion and hypocrisy

Tory MP pushing Orwellian contact-tracing app broke lockdown rules attending barbecue with journalists - 17,000 citizens received fines

The Guardian
Fri, 05 Jun 2020 17:08 UTC

© Ken McKay/ITV/Rex/ShutterstockSimon Murphy and Peter Walker
Bob Seely pushed the government's stay-at-home message and highlighted warnings against people visiting second homes

The Tory MP spearheading efforts to promote the Covid-19 contact-tracing app trial on the Isle of Wight appears to have broken lockdown rules at a barbecue also attended by the chairman of the Brexit party and political journalists, the Guardian has learned.

Bob Seely went to the evening gathering hosted by the Spectator magazine's deputy editor, Freddy Gray, in the village of Seaview on the island last month. Richard Tice, the Brexit party chairman, and his partner, the political journalist Isabel Oakeshott, were also there.

Seely said he was unaware others would be present when he arrived for a meeting, and that at all times social distancing was followed.

At the time, there was strict guidance against groups mixing from different households or people visiting and entering another person's home, with the health secretary stipulating that that included gardens.

'Basket of deplorables' 2.0? Biden claims up to 50 million Americans are 'not very good' people

Nicholas Wu
USA TODAY
Fri, 05 Jun 2020 21:15 UTC

Former Vice President Joe Biden told supporters during a virtual town hall on Thursday he estimated 10 to 15% of Americans were "not very good people" but said the majority were "decent" people whom the president should work towards uniting.

Biden's remarks, made during an event moderated by actor Don Cheadle, drew comparisons to comments by 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton about half of Trump's supporters being in a "basket of deplorables," or 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney's remarks about 47% of Americans being dependent on the federal government and not paying income tax.

Ryan Wilson, the CEO of the Gathering Spot in Atlanta, Georgia, had asked Biden how he was going to lead differently and what he would do for black Americans, "if it's true that you can't truly lead people if you don't love people."

Pompeo pushes allies to increase funding to fight ISIS, but US' real goal is setting up a front for countering Iran (yes, AGAIN)

Scott Ritter
RT
Thu, 04 Jun 2020 21:04 UTC

Despite President Trump's previous claims that Islamic State has been 100 percent eliminated, the US is seeking international funding for continued anti-IS military operations. The true target of this effort, however, is Iran.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on the international community to overcome the economic constraints imposed on the global economy and provide more than $700 million in order to confront the threat posed by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.

"It's true that the pandemic is putting enormous pressure on all of our budgets," Pompeo said on Thursday at a Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. "That said, our fight against ISIS continues and will for the foreseeable future. We cannot rest. We must continue to root out ISIS cells and networks and provide stabilization assistance to liberated areas in Iraq and Syria."

Moscow slams Prague for 'fabricated provocation' as false 'ricin poisoning plot' leads to Russian diplomats' expulsion

RT
Fri, 05 Jun 2020 20:24 UTC

The Czech government has expelled two Russian diplomats for allegedly tricking the country's special services with a fake poisoning plot. The Russian embassy branded the accusations as a "provocation."

The decision to expel the Russian diplomats in Prague was announced by Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek at a joint media conference on Friday.

The prime minister said the high-profile media scandal over an alleged Kremlin plot to kill the mayor of Prague and two municipal officials with ricin poison was actually a ruse. The tip-off about the planned assassination came from a Russian diplomat who wanted to settle a personal score with his rival, Babis explained.

The Russian embassy rejected the reasoning provided by the Czech government, saying the entire scandal was a "fabricated provocation." The expulsion of the diplomats was "an unfriendly step" that signals that Prague has no intention to mend the damaged ties, the embassy said on its Facebook page, expressing its disappointment in the outcome.

Swamp Creature General Mattis Denounces Trump as 'Divider', 'Threat to US Constitution'

Jeffrey Goldberg
The Atlantic
Wed, 03 Jun 2020 01:20 UTC

In an extraordinary condemnation, the former defense secretary backs protesters and says the president is trying to turn Americans against one another

James Mattis, the esteemed Marine general who resigned as secretary of defense in December 2018 to protest Donald Trump's Syria policy, has, ever since, kept studiously silent about Trump's performance as president. But he has now broken his silence, writing an extraordinary broadside in which he denounces the president for dividing the nation, and accuses him of ordering the U.S. military to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens.

"I have watched this week's unfolding events, angry and appalled," Mattis writes. "The words 'Equal Justice Under Law' are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand — one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values — our values as people and our values as a nation." He goes on, "We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution."

In his j'accuse, Mattis excoriates the president for setting Americans against one another.

Facebook selectively slaps 'state-controlled media' warning on some government-funded outlets ahead of 2020 US elections

RT
Thu, 04 Jun 2020 18:43 UTC

Facebook is labeling content posted by state-funded media outlets and plans to bar them from running ads in a conveniently loophole-packed effort to prevent "foreign influence" in the 2020 US presidential election.

Pages of Russian and Chinese media outlets have already been graced with the new warning labels, which Facebook announced on Thursday in a blog post.

The social media behemoth claimed it is taking other factors into account besides government ownership, explaining "if we determine that there are enough protections in place to ensure editorial independence, we will not apply the label."

Publishers wishing to avoid the labels must demonstrate a certain degree of legally-protected editorial autonomy from their host country/owner, Facebook explained in the post.

Ray McGovern: US and Russia, from heyday to mayday

Ray McGovern
Consortium News
Wed, 03 Jun 2020 00:00 UTC

Russian hopes dashed: Whatever hopes Russian President Vladimir Putin may have had for a more workable relationship with the Trump administration have been "trumpled," so to speak. This came through loudly and clearly in acerbic remarks by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov in an interview Friday with The National Interest.

Ryabkov lamented the sad state of Russia-U.S. relations, while pointing, not very subtly, to China as Russia's ace in the hole. He was simply acknowledging that what the Soviets used to call "the correlation of forces" has changed markedly, and strongly implied that the U.S. should draw the appropriate conclusions.

No amateur diplomat, Ryabkov used unusually sharp, almost certainly pre-authorized, words to drive home his message:

"We don't believe the U.S. in its current shape is a counterpart that is reliable, so we have no confidence, no trust whatsoever. So our own calculations and conclusions are less related to what America is doing ... we cherish our close and friendly relations with China. We do regard this as a comprehensive strategic partnership in different areas, and we intend to develop it further."

In other words: We Russians and Chinese will stand together as the U.S. tries to paint both of us as arch-villains, all the while isolating itself and painting itself into a corner.

Comment: Just as with Rome, the USA will not be rebuilt in a day - if ever. And, like Americans, Russia will have to wait.

A Fox News host (Lisa Booth) asking some of the right questions (nothing new if you're not new to the ranks of SOTTypes though). Her spiel begins...

Animanarchy

I've got a LOT of rope. Just let me know.

DeliciousTears

Brand new JP Sears video. Spiritual People Then vs Now: [Link]

Animanarchy

Well, if anyone would know a 'rigger', it's Obomber. The democratic party is filled with riggers, as the last 'election' amply demonstrated.......

Winston Smith

Government, aided by mainstream media: lie upon lie upon lie....

ReRan

Puppet Masters

Russia vows adequate response to diplomats' expulsion from Czech Republic over baseless 'poison plot' accusations

Twitter pulls down Trump campaign video about George Floyd's death over copyright-infringement claim

Israelis Back Annexation Bill But Trump's peace plan raises concerns among Settlers

Tory MP pushing Orwellian contact-tracing app broke lockdown rules attending barbecue with journalists - 17,000 citizens received fines

'Basket of deplorables' 2.0? Biden claims up to 50 million Americans are 'not very good' people

Pompeo pushes allies to increase funding to fight ISIS, but US' real goal is setting up a front for countering Iran (yes, AGAIN)

Moscow slams Prague for 'fabricated provocation' as false 'ricin poisoning plot' leads to Russian diplomats' expulsion

Swamp Creature General Mattis Denounces Trump as 'Divider', 'Threat to US Constitution'

Facebook selectively slaps 'state-controlled media' warning on some government-funded outlets ahead of 2020 US elections

Ray McGovern: US and Russia, from heyday to mayday

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