Puppet Masters

Duterte slams 'bossy' Washington for breach of arms deal, says 'US has no honor!'

RT
Sat, 01 Jun 2019 09:49 UTC

The US administration is not true to their promises, President Rodrigo Duterte stressed, still angry about Washington bailing out on a small arms shipment to its former territory under the pretext of human rights violations.

"The US is something else, too bossy. Their lieutenants talk like generals. That's why I don't listen to them. They do not have a word of honor," Duterte said in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday, recalling how Washington halted the planned sale of 26,000 assault rifles for the Philippines' national police in 2016.

The US State Department's refusal to sell assault rifles to Manila, under the pretext of concerns about the country's human rights record amid its ongoing war on drugs, has forced Duterte to seek new suppliers - namely, China and Russia. After receiving the arms shipments from both countries, Manila expressed interest in further diversifying its supplies and is considering the purchase of patrol boats, armored vehicles and even submarines.

Malaysian PM slams US foreign policy, proposes pan-Asian gold-backed currency

RT
Sat, 01 Jun 2019 09:49 UTC

Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad has floated the idea of creating a gold-backed common trading currency for all of East Asia, slamming regional currency exchange as "manipulative" and criticizing the US's heavy-handed foreign policy.

"In the Far East, if you want to come together, we should start with a common trading currency, not to be used locally but for the purpose of settling of trade," Mahathir said at the Nikkei Future of Asia conference in Japan, suggesting the currency be "based on gold because gold is much more stable" and warning that promoting any one country's currency over others would result in conflict. Exchange rates would be based on the country's economic performance and not subject to the volatility of forex markets.

"Currency trading is not something that is healthy because it is not about the performance of countries but about manipulation," Mahathir added. The gold-backed currency would not be used within any one country, but would help protect regional trading from predatory speculators - and from the vicissitudes of the dollar, which he said unfairly held the rest of the world hostage.

Comment: Also see: Malaysia demands actual evidence proving Russia shot down MH17

Peter Strzok is the serial FBI leaker, congressman suspects

Ivan Penchoukov
The Epoch Times
Fri, 31 May 2019 20:44 UTC

Peter Strzok

A Republican lawmaker suspects that former FBI official Peter Strzok is the serial leaker referred to in an investigative summary released on May 29 by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General.

Rep. Doug Collins (R-Georgia) substantiated his suspicion in a letter (pdf) to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, whose office released a summary showing that someone with the same title as Strzok-Deputy Assistant Director (DAD)-leaked sealed court information in violation of federal law, maintained contacts with dozens of reporters, and accepted a gift from a reporter in violation of FBI policy and federal statutes.

"While the DAD is not named in the Summary, there are several indications the DAD in question is former FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok," Collins wrote.

He points out that Horowitz's report on the Clinton-email investigation, dubbed the Midyear investigation by the FBI, shows that Strzok forwarded an email from his FBI account to his personal account about a proposed search warrant the Clinton-email investigators were seeking on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, the husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. That email included information that was filed under seal with a federal court in the Southern District of New York, according to the report.

Germany in secret talks with US on military support in Syria

Sputnik
Thu, 30 May 2019 19:41 UTC

Ahead of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Berlin, the German outlet Spiegel reported that Washington has been urging Berlin to support a buffer zone in northern Syria. The zone is meant to shield the Kurds, whose militia has been supported by the US, from both Turkey and the government forces of Bashar Assad.

The German government has signalled during months-long secret talks with the US that it would be prepared to take part in securing a safe zone in northern Syria, Spiegel reports. According to the outlet, Berlin has suggested that the mission of the German Armed Forces, Bundeswehr, in Jordan could be extended for this purpose.

The mandate for a German deployment called "Camp Sonic" to remain at a Jordanian Air Force base in order to counter Daesh expires in October. It includes specially equipped "Tornado" jets that are assisting the US-led anti-Daesh coalition with reconnaissance and aerial refuelling over Syria. However, as the German outlet points out, it is still unclear what assistance the German Air Force can provide for the safe zone.

Comment: See also:

Far from quiet on the US vs Russia-China front

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Fri, 31 May 2019 19:46 UTC

States in central Asia fear the impact of a new Cold War on integration plans.

Kazakhs fear impacts of new 'cold war', but Putin is adamant Eurasian integration will go ahead

Let's start in mid-May, when Nur-Sultan, formerly Astana, hosted the third Russia-Kazakhstan Expert Forum, jointly organized by premier think tank Valdai Club and the Kazakhstan Council on International Relations.

The ongoing, laborious and crucial interconnection of the New Silk Roads, or Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasia Economic Union was at the center of the debates. Kazakhstan is a pivotal member of both the BRI and EAEU.

As Valdai Club top analyst Yaroslav Lissovolik told me, there was much discussion "on the state of play in emerging markets in light of the developments associated with the US-China trade stand-off." What emerged was the necessity of embracing "open regionalism" as a factor to neutralize "the negative protectionist trends in the global economy."

Comment: See also:

South Korean newspaper's 'anonymous source' claims North executed official following failed US summit

Sputnik
Fri, 31 May 2019 03:54 UTC

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his government are said to have carried out a purge against at least five Foreign Ministry officials, including the country's envoy to the US, following the second official meeting between leaders of the US and Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim Hyok-chol, North Korea's special envoy to the US who acted as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's counterpart in discussions prior to the failed Hanoi summit between the two nations, has been dead for months, reported South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo Friday.

"Kim Hyok-chol was investigated and executed at Mirim Airport with four foreign ministry officials in March", an anonymous North Korean source revealed, according to TheChosun Ilbo.

Comment: There is no reason to believe that these claims of execution and reeducation of officials are true - although this kind of propaganda may have gained some traction in times gone by. If Kim Jong-Un had any issue with his officials he would simply fire them, if they'd broken the law he'd jail them. It's notable that this particular news outlets from the South would be so willing to publish unsubstantiated and even provably false claims. As for the summit, it failed because some in the US intended for it to fail: How Trump sabotaged the North Korea summit to appease the hawks and lied about Kim's terms

See also:

Russiagate is #1 Threat to US National Security - Stephen Cohen

RT
Fri, 31 May 2019 20:29 UTC

The greatest threat to US national security

The system-wide US Russophobia that reached its nadir with Russiagate has created a "catastrophe" for both domestic politics and foreign relations that threatens the future of the American system, professor Stephen Cohen tells RT.

War with Russia could easily break out if the US insists on pursuing the policy of "demonization" that birthed Russiagate instead of returning to detente and cooperation, New York University professor emeritus of Russian history Stephen Cohen argues on Chris Hedges' On Contact. While NATO deliberately antagonized post-Soviet Russia by expanding up to its borders, the US deployed missile defense systems along those borders after scrapping an arms treaty, leaving President Vladimir Putin devoid of "illusions" about the goodwill of the West - but armed with "nuclear missiles that can evade and elude any missile defense system."

"Now is the time for a serious, new arms control agreement. What do we get? Russiagate instead."

Comment: Ex-CIA Chief John Brennan STILL has his security clearance - Even though President Trump revoked it last summer

City of Beverly Hills votes to ban ALL tobacco sales, but exempts cigar clubs

Sonja Sharp
Los Angeles TImes
Mon, 20 May 2019 13:05 UTC

© Damian Dovarganes/AP
Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger holds a cigar as he waves to Long Beach residents after visiting the city.

Beverly Hills has long been anything but a smoker's paradise. The city was the first in California to ban smoking inside restaurants and most public places, back in 1987, and added outdoor venues to the list in 2007.

Now it is poised to enact what officials say is the most stringent tobacco ban in the country, eliminating the sale of virtually all recreational nicotine products - with one very Beverly Hills exception.

Cigarettes are out. Vapes are dead. But for an elite group of aficionados, hundreds of whom swamped committee meetings and wrote the city in protest, cigars will be spared - as long as they're smoked inside one of three dedicated lounges.

Entreaties have poured in to City Hall from top executives at real estate offices, security firms, talent agencies - and from former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Nearly all of them are acolytes of the Grand Havana Room on North Canon Drive, a club so exclusive its members need a special key to get in.

"The Grand Havana Room, which I have been a member of since its inception, provides a treasured home away from home, " wrote Schwarzenegger. "It is unthinkable that the city might adopt a policy that would intentionally or unintentionally cause the closure of this character-defining institution."

Comment: How does one define their character at a cigar club? Smoking cigars and rubbing elbows with powerful people? Translation: Arnie loves his tobacco and wants to continue to enjoy the benefits of tobacco with his wealthy friends, without criticism from prying eyes.

Comment: See also: Smoke, Lies and the Nanny State

Mueller used 'qualifying, sneaky' language to insinuate Russia was behind DNC 'hack'

Sputnik
Fri, 31 May 2019 08:57 UTC

In his Wednesday remarks on his report, US special counsel Robert Mueller's used careful language on the Democratic National Committee hack. His qualifying language has been overlooked by mainstream media sources stating, with certainty, that Russia was behind the hack, Aaron Maté, a journalist for The Nation, told Sputnik.

"In general, this sort of qualified, sneaky language applies to pretty much the entirety of the entire Mueller's team work from the beginning," Maté, who is also the former host and producer at Democracy Now and The Real News, told Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear.

"If you look at the indictments that they've [the Mueller team] handed down during this Trump-Russia saga, they gave the appearance to many people, especially in cable news and politicians who wanted to build a case for this fictitious Trump-Russia conspiracy, [that Russia was behind the hack]. They use language that gave the impression there might be something there - it's sneaky," Maté told hosts John Kiriakou and Brian Becker.

"If you look at what they're actually saying, they were never charging anybody with a Trump-Russia conspiracy, and they were never accusing anyone of lying to cover up one. But the language they used gave an appearance of otherwise. That extends also to how they talk about even their core charge that Russia engaged - in Mueller's words - in a systematic interference effort."

Comment: The DNC was not 'hacked' and Mueller knows it but is still attempting to preserve the fiction:

Maduro says sabotage is preventing ships with gasoline, food from reaching Venezuela

Maritime Herald
Fri, 31 May 2019 16:14 UTC

The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, on Monday denounced ten boats with gasoline heading to the South American country were objects of sabotage, as part of the "persecution" resulting from the sanctions imposed by the US, against the Caribbean nation.

"The boat that brought gasoline last week, ten ships sabotaged us so that it did not reach the Venezuelan coasts," Maduro said at a meeting with the political leadership of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in Caracas .

Despite the incident, the South American president said that the problem with the ships "is in the process of being resolved".

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Puppet Masters

Duterte slams 'bossy' Washington for breach of arms deal, says 'US has no honor!'

Malaysian PM slams US foreign policy, proposes pan-Asian gold-backed currency

Peter Strzok is the serial FBI leaker, congressman suspects

Germany in secret talks with US on military support in Syria

Far from quiet on the US vs Russia-China front

South Korean newspaper's 'anonymous source' claims North executed official following failed US summit

Russiagate is #1 Threat to US National Security - Stephen Cohen

City of Beverly Hills votes to ban ALL tobacco sales, but exempts cigar clubs

Mueller used 'qualifying, sneaky' language to insinuate Russia was behind DNC 'hack'

Maduro says sabotage is preventing ships with gasoline, food from reaching Venezuela

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