Puppet Masters

Gabbard's pro-INF bill given 'no chance' due to longterm strategy by the MIC lobby

Sputnik
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 22:01 UTC

In a last-ditch effort to keep the US from exiting the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), Democratic Party presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard introduced a draft bill to Congress which would prevent the authorization of government funds for the testing, procurement or deployment of any missile prohibited under the treaty.

Congress released the full text of Gabbard's bill, dubbed the INF Treaty Compliance Act of 2019, this week, with the proposed legislation originally introduced by the Hawaii congresswoman in mid-February for deliberation by the House Armed Services Committee.

Gabbard had earlier described Trump's decision to pull out of the 1987 treaty as a "reckless" move which could exacerbate "a new Cold War" with Russia. The bill has now been cosponsored by six Democratic lawmakers, including Ilhan Omar, James McGovern, Mark Pocan, Barbara Lee, Raul M. Grijalva, Eleanor Holmes Norton and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Comment: See also:

Cohen met with Schiff staff over 10 hours before House Oversight Committee hearing

Gregg Re, Catherine Herridge
Fox News
Sat, 09 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC

President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen told House investigators this week that staff for Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., traveled to New York at least four times to meet with him for over 10 hours immediately before last month's high-profile public testimony, according to two sources familiar with the matter -- as Republicans question whether the meetings amounted to coaching a witness.

The sources said the sessions covered a slew of topics addressed during the public hearing before the oversight committee -- including the National Enquirer's "Catch and Kill" policy, American Media CEO David Pecker and the alleged undervaluing of President Trump's assets.

But, Republicans have raised concerns with the sessions, with Ohio Rep. Mike Turner sending a letter to Cohen's team on Wednesday demanding answers.

Turner specifically asked for confirmation of Cohen's contacts, if any, "with Democratic Members or Democratic staff of SSCI [Senate Select Committee on Intelligence], COR [House Committee on Oversight and Reform], or HPSCI [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] prior to his appearances before House and Senate committees last week" -- as well as the lengths of such contacts, their locations and who exactly was involved.

"These questions are important for the public to understand whether or not they were watching witness testimony, a public hearing, or well-rehearsed theater," he wrote.

Comment: See also:

Pentagon warning: 'Grave consequences' should Turkey buy Russian missile system

Aaron Mehta
Defense News
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC

Turkey faces "grave consequences" if it continues plans to buy the Russian S-400 air defense system, including being blocked from buying the F-35 fighter jet and Patriot air defense systems, the Pentagon's top spokesman said Friday.

Asked about comments made earlier this week by America's top general in Europe, acting press secretary Charlie Summers said: "If Turkey takes the S-400, there would be grave consequence in terms of our military relationship, and the Patriots and the F-35s."

"They will not get the F-35s if they take the S-400," he added, later indicating the potential Patriot sale would also be blocked.

The comments came a few days after U.S. European Command head Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said it would be his best military advice to bar Turkey from getting the F-35, should the country continue on the path of procuring the S-400.

The comments come as part of this week's back-and-forth between Ankara and Washington on the issue.

Poland: US spy drone base now fully operational, yet NATO bemoans 'Russian' military build-up

RT
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 12:04 UTC

The US has upped its ability to spy over vast swathes of eastern Europe after a squadron of MQ-9 Reaper drones commenced "full" operations from an air base in Poland. This, as NATO cries foul over the so-called 'Russian threat'.

Based out of Miroslawiec Air Base, the US Air Force (USAF) silently began using the facility for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions last May.

However, it was not until March 4 that the 52nd Fighter Wing Expeditionary Operations Group (EOG), which operate drones, reached its "full operational capability" at the base, according to a USAF statement.

Facilities at the base, which include a secure processing center, communications infrastructure, and a large aircraft maintenance hangar, will allow the unit and contractors to control all aspects of the Reaper's missions, from take-off to recovery of the aircraft. The USAF statement didn't divulge the number of Reaper drones that would be stationed at the base.

Comment: See also:

Viva Russiagate: MSNBC prediction Moscow will 'shank' Paul Manafort in prison doesn't make the cut

RT
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 16:26 UTC

Paul Manafort's 4-year prison sentence will allow Moscow to more easily murder him, MSNBC's favorite Russia expert has declared - never mind that the presiding judge said the case had nothing to do with "Russian collusion."

The former Trump campaign manager received 47 months in prison for tax and bank fraud - a punishment far less severe than the 24 years recommended by prosecutors. During sentencing, US District Judge T.S. Ellis said that locking Manafort up for two decades would be "excessive," noting that "he is not before the court for anything having to do with colluding with the Russian government."

This can only mean one thing, according to MSNBC's Malcolm Nance, a former Navy cryptologist who served in the Middle East but then transitioned to styling himself as a knowledgeable Russia expert: "Manafort may be headed to white collar jail but that just means Russia can more easily get a shank in him," Nance tweeted, using highly sophisticated cryptologist lingo for 'assassination'.

Democrats are now officially split on Israel thanks to the bravery of Ilhan Omar and BDS

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC

© Kerem Yucel/AFP/Getty Images
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) arrives for her victory party on election night in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 6, 2018.

In the last election cycle, it was demoralizing to watch Hillary Clinton promise Benjamin Netanyahu she'd take the Israel relationship to the "next level" if she became president and her party platform committee shoot down one resolution after another about Jerusalem and the occupation and settlements, sponsored by Bernie Sanders' forces.

Those days are now over. Thanks in large part to the bravery of Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minneapolis and the organizing of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, progressive Democrats who hate the occupation and even imagine equal rights for Palestinians at last have a place inside the Democratic Party, and the party leadership feels the need to reckon with that force. This week it had to alter a resolution initially aimed at smacking down Omar for her remarks critical of Israel and the lobby so as to broaden its concerns.

Palestine Legal calls it a victory:

Thanks to thousands of activists mobilizing in support of Rep. Ilhan Omar, House Democrats were forced to rewrite a resolution meant to condemn her for statements she made challenging the Israel Lobby, falsely represented as antisemitic.

Comment:

Trump does cheap identity politics, brands Dems as 'anti-Israel, 'anti-Jewish'

RT
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 19:20 UTC

President Donald Trump has slammed the Democratic Party's supposed anti-Israel stance amid a row over Rep. Ilhan Omar's alleged anti-Semitic comments and a condemnation bill passed in response.

"The Democrats have become an anti-Israel party, they have become an anti-Jewish party," Trump told reporters as he left the White House for Alabama on Friday.

Comment: Identity politics: it's only bad when someone else is doing it. When it comes to Israel, Trump is as braindead as the Left when it comes to all other identity groups. Omar is right on this one.

See also:

US looking to get more cash from the countries it occupies - like Germany and Japan

Lolita C. Baldor
AP
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 19:12 UTC

The Trump administration is eyeing a plan to seek more money from allied European and other nations where American troops are based.

Several U.S. officials said Friday that the White House has asked the Defense Department to gather data on the costs of keeping troops in other countries and how much those nations contribute to the expenses. The officials weren't authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

President Donald Trump has waged a lengthy, public campaign to get NATO allies to meet the goal of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense. And in the last two years, a number of allies have increased their spending.

The officials said this latest effort is along those lines. They said the collection of data could be used in subsequent meetings and discussions to pressure allies to help offset the costs of having U.S. troops within their borders.

The plan was first reported by Bloomberg.

Comment: This is a great idea. It will only make the public of those nations more angry and disillusioned with the American presence in their countries, which will make their leaders even more unpopular than they already are. It's not as if the Americans are there solely at the request of the nations in question - as pointed out in the article, the U.S. considers their presence there to serve American national interests. If they don't want to pay for that privilege, what real incentive to the countries in question have to pay for it? Not much.

Political posturing: Presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren threatens to break up tech giant monopolies

Jonathan Shieber
Techcrunch
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC

The influential Massachusetts senator and presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has been a longtime critic of the consolidation of economic power by Amazon, Google and Facebook. Now she's making their break-up a key component of her presidential platform.

Warren has just released her plan for breaking up big tech, in what seems like a watershed moment for a Democratic nominee. Since Al Gore famously (infamously?) "invented the internet," Democratic candidates have turned away from serious regulation of technology companies, preferring instead to receive their campaign contributions.

Eric Schmidt and Google donors were hugely important to the Obama campaign, and big tech companies were among his biggest supporters.

Now, Warren has said (on Medium no less) that the massive market power that Google, Facebook and Amazon wield is a threat and will be treated accordingly.

"Twenty-five years ago, Facebook, Google, and Amazon didn't exist," writes Warren. "Now they are among the most valuable and well-known companies in the world. It's a great story - but also one that highlights why the government must break up monopolies and promote competitive markets."

Comment: Warren's call for regulation of tech giants is designed to garner support for her presidential campaign - in reality the cozy relationship between the industry and the US government along with their alliance with the Democratic party will go a long way toward shielding them from any assaults on their 'imperium'.

Would Trump roll back US nuclear strategy to the 1950s?

Geoff Wilson and Will Saetren
War is Boring
Sat, 18 Feb 2017 18:10 UTC

First ground footage of destruction at Tyndall Air Force Base

Everyone loses when nuclear weapons - of any kind - get involved

As Donald Trump's first three weeks in office come to a close, critics are pointing out that his iconic slogan, "Make America Great Again" is starting to look more and more like an attempt to bring American society back to the 1950s. What most people haven't realized yet is that his vision of turning back the clock also applies to America's nuclear arsenal.

Just this past week, CQ Roll Call reported that a blue-ribbon Pentagon panel urged the Trump administration to make the U.S. arsenal more capable of fighting a "'limited' atomic war."

According to the report, "The Defense Science Board ... urges the president to consider altering existing and planned U.S. armaments to achieve a greater number of lower-yield weapons that could provide a 'tailored nuclear option for limited use.'"

Comment:

.. .. 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

Gabbard's pro-INF bill given 'no chance' due to longterm strategy by the MIC lobby

Cohen met with Schiff staff over 10 hours before House Oversight Committee hearing

Pentagon warning: 'Grave consequences' should Turkey buy Russian missile system

Poland: US spy drone base now fully operational, yet NATO bemoans 'Russian' military build-up

Viva Russiagate: MSNBC prediction Moscow will 'shank' Paul Manafort in prison doesn't make the cut

Democrats are now officially split on Israel thanks to the bravery of Ilhan Omar and BDS

Trump does cheap identity politics, brands Dems as 'anti-Israel, 'anti-Jewish'

US looking to get more cash from the countries it occupies - like Germany and Japan

Political posturing: Presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren threatens to break up tech giant monopolies

Would Trump roll back US nuclear strategy to the 1950s?

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