Puppet Masters

The only person to lead both FBI and CIA says Trump presents a 'dire threat' to the country

Caitlin Yilek
Washington Examiner
Mon, 16 Dec 2019 01:12 UTC

The former director of the FBI and the CIA assailed President Trump and Attorney General William Barr's attacks on the bureau, calling it "dangerous and unwarranted."

Last week, Trump suggested he lacked confidence in his own FBI director, Christopher Wray, and Barr said he disagreed with the finding of a report by the Justice Department watchdog, who concluded the FBI lawfully opened its Russia investigation.

"The aspersions cast upon them by the president and my longtime friend, Attorney General William P. Barr, are troubling in the extreme," William Webster, 95, who was director of the FBI from 1978 to 1987 and the CIA from 1987 to 1991, wrote in a scathing opinion article for the New York Times.

"Calling FBI professionals 'scum,' as the president did, is a slur against people who risk their lives to keep us safe. Mr. Barr's charges of bias within the FBI, made without providing any evidence and in direct dispute of the findings of the nonpartisan inspector general, risk inflicting enduring damage on this critically important institution."

Webster called the attacks a "dire threat" [to] the country.

Comment: Not surprising this story was offered by the NYT at a crucial juncture in the impeachment scandal.

Good news for Rick Gates: Only 45 days jail time for his 'extraordinary' Mueller cooperation

Axios
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC

Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates was sentenced to 45 days in jail — to be served on weekends — on Tuesday in a Washington, D.C. federal court.

Why it matters: His sentencing wraps up one of the final outstanding portions of former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, which Gates cooperated with extensively.

Gates also received three years of probation and 300 hours of community service. He'll also have to pay a $20,000 fine.
Lawyers for the federal government also said during the hearing that Gates had agreed to cooperate with any ongoing investigations that go beyond his sentencing, per Politico's Darren Samuelsohn.

Bernie pens withering op-ed: Rips GOP & Dems for supporting 'massive, unpaid for' military spending hike

RT
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 20:38 UTC

Democratic 2020 hopeful Bernie Sanders took no prisoners in a scathing op-ed aimed at America's extravagant military spending, arguing a new budget proposal only proves the "hypocrisy" of Congress and its "corporate enablers."

Insisting on a government that represents all American citizens and not merely a wealthy "elite," the independent Vermont senator took to the pages of the Washington Post on Monday with an assault on the latest National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a comprehensive military spending bill set for a vote in the Senate later this week.

"Instead of massive spending on a bloated military budget, tax breaks for billionaires and huge subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, we need to invest in the working families of this country and protect the most vulnerable," Sanders wrote.

Comment:

Hot mic moment exposes insane sleaziness of British political/media class

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Mon, 16 Dec 2019 06:25 UTC

There's a wildly under-appreciated clip of news footage from Thursday's general election in the UK that, now that everyone's had some time to emotionally process the emotional fallout from that depressing night, needs more attention.

Labour MP and chronic left-puncher Jess Phillips appeared on Channel 4 to talk about how devastated she was about the news of exit polls showing her party's crushing defeat, except the cameras switched on before she was prepared and caught her in the middle of a joyful chuckle. It took several seconds and the overt reminders from the show's hosts to put on a "straight face" and act emotional before she could conceal her cheery mood as Corbyn's Labour leadership was trampled underfoot by odious empire lackey Boris Johnson.

"Good evening Jess," said the program's host Krishnan Guru-Murthy. "How are you feeling as these results unfold?"

Watching the stumbling improvisation that came next feels like walking into a room full of awkward silence when your supposed friends had just been saying mean things about you, or seeing your spouse conspicuously jump away from an attractive coworker when you drop by the office.

Phillips, still unaware that the cameras were now rolling, did not interrupt the delighted guffaw she'd been enjoying.

Want to know where the US defense budget is going? Read here, courtesy of the German press

Florian Rötzer
Fort Russ News
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 18:49 UTC

This round-up by Florian Rötzer for TELEPOLIS is better and more comprehensive than anything in the US press, so here we go — translator

Congress requires enmity with Russia, keeping Gitmo

The compromise reached between the Senate and the House of Representatives includes making tactical nuclear weapons, committing to NATO and increasing the European Deterrence Initiative to almost 7.5 billion.

The struggle over the Pentagon's budget has been a long one. The Republicans were able to remove some important brakes on the merger that were in the Democrat-dominated House version. Now the Budget Act (NDAA 2020) will go to the House of Representatives and the Senate again before being presented to Trump. Behind the impeachment turmoil, little attention was paid to the course set in this legislation. In any case, Trump was thrilled and, after the compromise, said he would sign the budget law immediately:

Iran slams US sanctions on medicine as crime against humanity and act of terrorism

Sputnik
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 13:59 UTC

Previously, the country's deputy health minister warned that the US had threatened pharmaceutical companies in order to prevent them from selling medicine and medical equipment to Iran. According to the official, this has created major obstacles for importing crucial drugs, including for patients with special needs.

Chief Justice of Iran Ebrahim Raisi has stated that after failing to pressure the Islamic Republic by orchestrating riots and other means, the US has resorted to "terrorism" by hindering the country's access to medicine.

"Such measures are not supported by any human or legal right and is a clear sign of economic terrorism and crime against humanity", Ebrahim Raeisi said.

Comment: See also:

Russia, China suggest new UN Security Council resolution easing North Korea sanctions

RT
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 18:14 UTC

International sanctions that prohibit sale and transfer of certain machines, materials and vehicles and livelihood items to North Korea should be relaxed, China and Russia say in a new draft UN resolution.

Beijing and Moscow have proposed lifting a portion of sanctions imposed on North Korea in a draft Security Council resolution that was obtained by RT.

The resolution calls on the UNSC to phase out certain measures towards Pyongyang in recognition of North Korea staying away from nuclear testing and its commitment to the complete de-nuclearization.

Pakistani special court sentences former president Pervez Musharraf to death in high treason case

RT
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 18:11 UTC

Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf has been sentenced to death in a high treason case. The retired general was tried in absentia after leaving the country several years ago to undergo medical treatment.

The special court in Islamabad backed capital punishment in a split 2-1 vote. Musharraf, who held the power in Pakistan for a decade, was accused of subverting the Pakistani constitution to keep power.

The court announced its verdict on Tuesday after a weeks-long delay as the Pakistani government and Musharraf's defense team made a last-ditch attempt to prolong the case, which was launched in 2013. The decision is subject to appeal.

Earlier Musharraf complained from a hospital bed in Dubai, where he's been living in recent years, that his trial was unfair. The video has been broadcast by Pakistani media. He urged the court to take a statement from him at the hospital and confirm the state of his health.

Iran and China keep banking initiatives secret to evade US sanctions - Envoy

Press TV
Mon, 16 Dec 2019 17:18 UTC

China’s envoy to Iran Chang Hua

China's ambassador to Iran Chang Hua says the two countries have agreed on new banking mechanisms that could facilitate bilateral trade although he insists that the initiatives would remain confidential to avoid the American sanctions imposed on Iran.

Hua told semi-official ILNA news agency on Monday that officials from Iran and China have been holding "regular meetings" to coordinate efforts that could facilitate banking and trade relations in the face of the US sanctions on Tehran.

He said the two sides have reached "some agreements" which they could not reveal any details about because of the sanctions.

Comment: Who can blame them?

The US should be careful, because it's not just China and Iran that are looking for workarounds to US unilateralism:

'European values'? Czech think tank funded by NATO govt's calls for EU BLANKET BAN on Russian outlets like RT

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 17:30 UTC

A pro-NATO Czech think tank has another piece of unsolicited advice for Western governments. Now they should refuse to give access or interviews to Russian media, who are "not real journalists", according to the "wise censor".

At first blush, the 'Kremlin Watch Strategy' paper published last week by the Prague-based 'European Values Center for Security Policy' sounds like another self-serving attempt to cash in on the anti-Russian hysteria that has gripped many a Western capital for the past several years.

There are some two dozen mentions of "funding," mostly in the context of urging the European Union to spend more money on "independent" NGOs - such as themselves, obviously - to battle "hostile Russian interference" the authors see under every bed. There is even a proposal for every EU government to conduct its own version of the Mueller probe - which famously found zero evidence of "collusion" between US President Donald Trump and Russia, and its evidence of Russian "meddling" amounted to unsubstantiated assertions from indictments, as its lawyers had to admit in court.

New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer neighborhoods, safer communities, and our children are going to get a good...

parzival

Bill Gates is going to be the one with the uncertain future,,, * New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer...

parzival

The more we hear about adverse affects the more we will merely shrug. It's a catch 22. Is that an asteroid trail in the photo?

sass

Welcome to the new normal. The more sensory exposure we have about such things, the less it is an issue.

sass

more misbehaving phuqqin' jewzskies starring on the sott; speaks for itself

Jibrish

Puppet Masters

The only person to lead both FBI and CIA says Trump presents a 'dire threat' to the country

Good news for Rick Gates: Only 45 days jail time for his 'extraordinary' Mueller cooperation

Bernie pens withering op-ed: Rips GOP & Dems for supporting 'massive, unpaid for' military spending hike

Hot mic moment exposes insane sleaziness of British political/media class

Want to know where the US defense budget is going? Read here, courtesy of the German press

Iran slams US sanctions on medicine as crime against humanity and act of terrorism

Russia, China suggest new UN Security Council resolution easing North Korea sanctions

Pakistani special court sentences former president Pervez Musharraf to death in high treason case

Iran and China keep banking initiatives secret to evade US sanctions - Envoy

'European values'? Czech think tank funded by NATO govt's calls for EU BLANKET BAN on Russian outlets like RT

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