Puppet Masters

Export ban? As China makes rare earths more rare, US will suffer a larger cost for its trade war

RT
Thu, 08 Aug 2019 09:37 UTC

China's rare earths association has warned that the trade conflict with the US will harm American businesses and consumers, as it confirmed its readiness to weaponize the prized elements.

Rare earth elements are critical for the high-tech industry in the manufacture of everything from mobile phones to modern fighter jets.

The Association of China Rare Earth Industry (ACREI), comprising almost 300 miners, processors and manufacturers, held a special meeting earlier this week, just several days after US president Donald Trump threatened to hit Beijing with a new batch of tariffs.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the association called Washington's tariffs policy "trade bullying" aimed at suppressing China's development. "We express our firm opposition" to it, it said, adding that Chinese rare earth companies should actively expand both foreign and domestic markets.

While the ACREI acknowledged that are no winners in a trade war, it warned that American citizens and businesses will fall victim to the conflict between the world's two biggest economies. "The cost of tariffs imposed by the United States should be borne by the US market and consumers," the statement read.

Comment: See also:

Recent developments in Kashmir 'worrying' - Iran general in phone call to Pakistani commander

Kamal Iranidoost
MEHR News
Sat, 10 Aug 2019 18:22 UTC

Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri Iran

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri made a phone call with the Commander of Pakistani Army General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Saturday to discuss bilateral relation and regional issues, especially the recent developments in Kashmir.

During the phone conversation, General Bagheri offered his congratulations on the advent of Eid al-Adha and expressed the concern of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Muslim countries over the recent developments in Kashmir.

The Iran's military chief said that "military approaches in this region will further complicate the situation,"

Comment:

Snubbed by US, Turkish military looks at proposal to buy Russian Su-35 jets

Sputnik
Sun, 11 Aug 2019 16:29 UTC

The US has suspended shipments of the fifth-generation jet to Turkey and stopped training its pilots since it failed to convince Ankara to drop a contract on Russian S-400 air defence systems in favour of American Patriot systems.

Turkish authorities, responsible for procuring armaments, are reviewing the possibility of buying Russian Su-35 fighter jets as proposed by Rosoboronexport, the daily newspaper Yeni Safak reported. According to the newspaper, the authorities have requested the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB), Turkish Air Force Command and other relevant institutions to give their evaluation about this idea.

The daily newspaper added that if the plan to buy Russian jets receives positive feedback, the formal negotiations with Russia on the matter will receive the green light to start. Turkish officials haven't commented on the report yet.

Comment: Well, when the first car lot won't sell you the car you want, you head down the road. That's the free market. Funny how the US gets all annoyed when free market principles don't run in their favor.

Propaganda alert: UN climate change report wants humans to 'eat less meat' to 'save the earth'

Quirin Schiermeier
Nature
Thu, 08 Aug 2019 15:39 UTC

© Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty
Cattle farming, shown here in northern Brazil, is emission-intensive and often accompanies large-scale deforestation.

Efforts to curb greenhouse gas-emissions and the impacts of global warming will fall significantly short without drastic changes in global land use, agriculture and human diets, leading researchers warn in a high-level report commissioned by the United Nations.

The special report on climate and land by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) describes plant-based diets as a major opportunity for mitigating and adapting to climate change ― and includes a policy recommendation to reduce meat consumption.

On 8 August, the IPCC released a summary of the report, which is designed to inform upcoming climate negotiations amidst the worsening global climate crisis. More than 100 experts compiled the report in recent months, around half of whom hail from developing countries.

Comment: Given the IPCC's lamentable track record, why would anyone listen to their recommendations. Besides:

City in turmoil: After 10 weeks, Hong Kong protests show no sign of abating

RT
Sun, 11 Aug 2019 14:21 UTC

Some 10 weeks after protests first began over a since-suspended extradition bill, Hong Kong continues to be a city in turmoil. Running battles between police and protesters are again dominating the news.

In the latest installment, thousands of protesters have clashed with police at various points in the center of the city. The situation escalated with petrol bombs being thrown at the police, as well as bricks, and officers used tear gas in an effort to quash the unrest.

Comment: As the CIA / NED backed protestors have virtually unlimited funds, they won't be letting up anytime soon. However, as Pepe Escobar opines, China may have deemed a forceful response to the situation in Hong Kong as 'not worth the effort':

Much to the distress of neocons and humanitarian imperialists, there won't be a bloody mainland China crackdown on protesters in Hong Kong - a Tiananmen 2.0. Why? Because it's not worth it.

Beijing has clearly identified the color revolution provocation inbuilt in the protests - with the NED excelling as CIA soft, facilitating the sprawl of fifth columnists even in the civil service.

There are other components, of course. The fact that Hong Kongers are right to be angry about what is a de facto Tycoon Club oligarchy controlling every nook and cranny of the economy. The local backlash against "the invasion of the mainlanders". And the relentless cultural war of Cantonese vs. Beijing, north vs. south, province vs. political center.

What these protests have accelerated is Beijing's conviction that Hong Kong is not worth its trust as a key node in China's massive integration/development project. Beijing invested no less than $18.8 billion to build the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, as part of the Greater Bay Area, to integrate Hong Kong with the mainland, not to snub it.

Now a bunch of useful idiots at least has graphically proven they don't deserve any sort of preferential treatment anymore.

Libya chaos: UN staff killed, dozens of civilians injured in car bombing in Benghazi

RT
Sun, 11 Aug 2019 07:55 UTC

UN staff killed car bombing in Benghazi Aug 2019

© Reuters / Ayman al-Werfalli
Libya has plunged into chaos and has struggled to establish a stable government ever since the 2011 NATO-backed armed uprising led to the murder of the country’s long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi

Three United Nations employees have been killed and dozens of civilians, including children, injured after a car bomb exploded in front of a shopping mall in the Libyan city of Benghazi, just as the UN convoy was passing by.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the deadly explosion, which also killed two security guards working with the UN. Dozens of civilians suffered injuries, with local authorities saying that many of the wounded were children.

The attack took place amid a ceasefire between the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and the Government of National Accord (GNA), brokered by the UN ahead of Eid al-Adha religious holiday.

Comment: See also:

Jeffrey Epstein is gone, but many more questions remain to be answered

Philip Giraldi
American Herald Tribune
Sun, 11 Aug 2019 13:18 UTC

The Jeffrey Epstein saga goes on even though convicted pedophile Epstein himself has been found hanged in his jail cell in Manhattan. One has to wonder how he managed to kill himself, if that is indeed the case, as he was reportedly on suicide watch at the prison and it is to be presumed that he had been stripped of any clothing or accoutrements that would have been usable to that end. So, he is dead but did he do it himself or was he helped? There are many prominent individuals and powerful government agencies that will be very pleased that he is gone as most of his secrets will have gone to the grave with him.

There was certainly a warning that something might happen. Two weeks ago, he was reportedly found unconscious in his jail cell with marks around his neck. It was suggested that he might have tried to kill himself or, alternatively, had been beaten up by another inmate. There was also considerable speculation that some aggrieved part of the Deep State was trying to kill him to silence him.

The subsequent press reports revealed that Epstein had been taken to a hospital, but there has been no follow-up about his condition or status apart from a brief note that he had been returned to the same jail under suicide watch. In any event, the story had pretty much died, which is precisely what a lot of the high rollers and politicians who became involved with Epstein would have liked to see happen. Nevertheless, investigations of the "Affair Epstein" reportedly were continuing at the federal level as well as in New York State and Florida.

Comment: See also:

Talks ahead? Trump's "beautiful" letter from Kim excusing missile tests, says drills with South are 'expensive and provocative'

RT
Sat, 10 Aug 2019 19:42 UTC

President Donald Trump has said that North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un wants to meet again for negotiations, after Kim reportedly apologized for missile tests and complained about US military exercises.

Spilling the beans on the contents of the "beautiful" letter he received from Kim on Friday, Trump said that he "would like to meet and start negotiations as soon as the joint U.S./South Korea joint exercise are over," referring to an annual military drill set to kick off next week on the Korean peninsula.

"It was a long letter," Trump continued, "much of it complaining about the ridiculous and expensive exercises. It was also a small apology for testing the short range missiles, and that this testing would stop when the exercises end. I look forward to seeing Kim Jong Un in the not too distant future!"

Cold war 2.0 and Russia's new ultra-heavy drone

Tim Kirby
Strategic Culture
Sat, 10 Aug 2019 12:00 UTC

The Cold War perception of space travel as being very human-oriented with man conquering Mars to build the Capitalist or Communist cities of tomorrow has been completely replaced by the reality that drones are much better suited for space exploration than humans. When it comes to military aviation the situation is similar. The strongest and weakest point of any pilot is his brain, which cannot stand the massive gravitational forces that ultra-modern fighter jets are capable of creating. So it is no surprise that at some point the US, Russia and China will unveil a drone big enough and capable enough to replace any current generation bombers and fighters removing the limitations of the human body's weakness to big gravity from military aviation. And, as of a few days ago the Russians did just that.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation just released video to the public of a test of their new massive pilotless aircraft called "The Hunter". This demonstration was conducted while the craft was receiving signals from a human pilot on land, but the Ministry claims they will soon be able to show off its fully-automated capabilities.

Comment: Country's are lining up to buy Russia's military tech that's produced at a modest cost and is leagues ahead technologically, which also provides a stark comparison to the US with it's blackhole budget and faulty f-35's:

Facebook 'News': A bold step toward total control of reality?

Helen Buyniski
RT
Sat, 10 Aug 2019 08:54 UTC

Facebook's plan to hook ad-cash-deprived mainstream outlets on licensing payouts seems to be an attempt to hijack narrative control en route to total domination of the infosphere - the ultimate safe space, Zuckerberg-style.

More than two thirds of American adults get their news from social media at the same time that more than half expect that news to be "largely inaccurate." Perhaps sensing a business opportunity, Facebook has moved in to manage that news consumption, reportedly offering mainstream outlets millions of dollars per year to license their content in order to present it to users authoritatively, as "Facebook News" - having long since ceased trusting users to share news among themselves.

But trusting Facebook to deliver the news is like trusting a cheetah to babysit your gazelles - all that's left at the end is likely to be a pile of bones. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned legacy media last year that if they did not work with his plan to "revitalize journalism," they would be left dying "like in a hospice."

Dangling a few million in front of news outlets after depriving them of the advertising cash on which they once subsisted is merely the final step in the process of consolidation and control that began when Facebook removed actual news from its newsfeed in an effort to manage the narrative in the run-up to the 2016 election. A move ostensibly designed to "favor friends and family over publishers," it instead plunged mainstream and especially alternative media into financial oblivion, setting them scrambling to recoup lost traffic as their place in subscribers' feeds was taken by cat videos and family snapshots.

Comment: See also:

.. .. Is the Brits' Prince Pedo ok? [Link]

Jibrish

.. .. jUS Con gress shid show [Link] Let's go pfhizer [Link]

Jibrish

Billionaires certainly have no right to remove our supposed democracy and bring through 'resets' through the back door. Neither do our politicians...

Kevin Smith

Unfortunately this can't be done in Australia, as AHPRA will pull anyone's liscence to practice if they "say anything bad" about vaccines. This is...

Ruth

I believe this is intentional. To create a feeling of dispair, depression, and approaching end times. Provoke the sheeple to make the next step in...

codis

Puppet Masters

Export ban? As China makes rare earths more rare, US will suffer a larger cost for its trade war

Recent developments in Kashmir 'worrying' - Iran general in phone call to Pakistani commander

Snubbed by US, Turkish military looks at proposal to buy Russian Su-35 jets

Propaganda alert: UN climate change report wants humans to 'eat less meat' to 'save the earth'

City in turmoil: After 10 weeks, Hong Kong protests show no sign of abating

Libya chaos: UN staff killed, dozens of civilians injured in car bombing in Benghazi

Jeffrey Epstein is gone, but many more questions remain to be answered

Talks ahead? Trump's "beautiful" letter from Kim excusing missile tests, says drills with South are 'expensive and provocative'

Cold war 2.0 and Russia's new ultra-heavy drone

Facebook 'News': A bold step toward total control of reality?

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