Puppet Masters

The US is fooling itself if it believes the EU backs its aggression against China as serious transatlantic rifts over Beijing remain

Tom Fowdy
RT
Thu, 15 Jul 2021 13:48 UTC

Angela Merkel's final visit to Washington as German leader today is supposed to be about forging closer ties - but it will serve only to underline the very different approaches being taken by Europe and the US towards Beijing.

There's a saying that a week is a long time in politics. What this means is that politics is, at heart, unpredictable. One thing can happen, and it appears easy to draw quick and definitive conclusions from it, but then, suddenly, another event occurs that suggests the opposite. You think someone or something is done for, then they spring back.

To put it simply, politics isn't a straightforward journey, it can go one way, then another, and seldom are things cast in stone. Never has that been so applicable in describing the unusual trilateral to and fro between the United States, the European Union (or more plainly, Germany), and China.

On the last day of 2020, the EU and China reached an agreement in principle on the comprehensive investment agreement (CAI) - a deal that is loathed by the US. Commentators, including me, pointed towards a growing transatlantic rift between Washington and Europe that was solely Trump's own doing and hailed it as a strategic masterstroke by Beijing.

Lebanon spins further into crisis as Hariri abandons bid to form government

Maha Dahan, Laila Bassam
Reuters
Thu, 15 Jul 2021 01:55 UTC

Lebanese politician Saad al-Hariri abandoned his months-long effort to form a new government on Thursday, dimming the chances of a cabinet being agreed any time soon that could start rescuing the country from financial meltdown.

Hariri announced his decision after meeting President Michel Aoun, saying it was clear they could not agree, underscoring the political squabbling that has blocked the formation of a cabinet even as Lebanon sinks deeper into crisis.

Hariri, a former prime minister and Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician, was designated in October to assemble a government following the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab's cabinet in the wake of the Beirut port explosion.

Resignation of Ukraine's interior minister weakens country's central power, expert claims

TASS
Thu, 15 Jul 2021 09:13 UTC

Arsen Avakov, whose resignation from the post of the Interior Minister was approved by Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada on Thursday, has a significant influence on the country's security, defense and law enforcement system, and has links to big business. In this way, his stepping down weakens the country's government, Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics Ruslan Bortnik told a TASS correspondent:

"Avakov's resignation with his business connections, with his influence on the security system - the entire police force was built by Avakov - potentially, undoubtedly, weakens the power structure. Despite the fact that it seems that the concentration of the security system in the president's hands will grow, this is a weakening of the power, and this is the laying of a foundation for more serious street and political risks in the future."

Additionally, the expert thinks that the former interior minister later himself may act against the current authorities:

"The crisis between Avakov and Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky is only aggravated by this resignation. At the government's moment of weakness, at the moment of a new political crisis we'll see Avakov's game against the president's office."

According to the expert, the return of the former minister to big politics is only a question of time.

Ex-military were conned into assassination of Haitian leader, Colombia's president says, though some were willing participants

RT
Thu, 15 Jul 2021 16:27 UTC

© Getty Images/NurPhoto/Reuters/Nathalia Angarita.jpg
Murdered president of Haiti Jovenel Moïse • Colombian President Iván Duque

Colombian President Iván Duque has revealed that a small pocket of his country's ex-military arrested over the assassination of Haiti's Jovenel Moïse knew about the plot in advance, while others in the group were blindsided.

Moïse was killed in his home on July 7 by gunmen - allegedly a squad of foreign mercenaries, including Colombians and Haitian-Americans. The president's wife was seriously injured in the shooting.

New information released by the Colombian police on Thursday said two former soldiers had prior insider knowledge of the mission to assassinate the Haitian president. Police chief General Jorge Luis Vargas said:

"We know that Colombian citizens Germán Rivera and Duberney Capador participated in the planning and organization of what was initially an alleged arrest operation of the president of Haiti and for this, they contacted more people in our country."

Comment: Looking into the background of those involved in the massacre of President Moïse there are apparent connections:

© EPA
Colombian officials have said 13 of the 15 nationals suspected in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse served in the country’s military.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Ken Hoffman told the Washington Post :
"A review of our training databases indicates that a small number of the Colombian individuals detained as part of this investigation had participated in past US military training and education programs, while serving as active members of the Colombian Military Forces."
It is common for Colombian forces and other security personnel in Latin America to undergo US training. Hoffman did not say how many of the men received training or what kind, adding that the Pentagon's review is ongoing.

The country's military has had a close relationship with the US Green Berets, who help train their elite counterparts in guerrilla warfare, the outlet reported. Foreign military training provided by the US is meant to promote "respect for human rights, compliance with the rule of law, and militaries subordinate to democratically elected civilian leadership."

Meanwhile, Colombian President Ivan Duque said:
"There was a big group that were taken on a supposed protection mission, but within that group, there's a smaller group, which were those who apparently had detailed knowledge of what was to be a criminal operation."

Malfunction at the podium? Psaki announces vaccines 'can still kill you' in eyebrow-raising slip-up

RT
Thu, 15 Jul 2021 19:52 UTC

A bizarre video of the White House Press Secretary advising on "communicating clearly" about vaccines, after she'd told Americans they "can still kill you," has half the internet shocked, while the other half hasn't quite noticed.

The clip shows Jen Psaki apparently responding to a question about vaccines during a Wednesday press briefing, stressing the importance of staying on message and praising actress and singer Olivia Rodrigo, who came to the White House to raise awareness on the subject.

But Psaki's message soon takes an odd turn, as she suddenly declares that the vaccines the Biden administration is desperate to convince more Americans to take "can still kill you" - even if you're "under 27." She made the comment after noting there are areas in the country with lower vaccination rates among people under that age - seemingly meaning to say Covid-19 can still kill even young people.

Ex-Kamala Harris staffers describe toxic offices dating back years: report

Samuel Chamberlain
NY Post
Wed, 14 Jul 2021 19:36 UTC

Reports of an unhappy working environment in Vice President Kamala Harris' office are ringing a bell with former staffers, who have described similar experiences dating back more than a decade, according to a new report.

According to Business Insider, Harris alumni have been buzzing about a Politico report last month that described the Veep's office as "chaotic" with a "tense and at times dour" atmosphere. One source quoted by Politico described it as a place where "people feel treated like s — ."

"So many people recognized themselves in it, or recognized treatment they had seen or treatment they had heard about and dismissed," one former staffer told Business Insider, adding that they had sent a link to the story to their therapist with a note that read: "Rarely in life are we publicly vindicated."

Business Insider's story cited interviews with 12 former Harris staffers about the work environment during her stints as San Francisco's district attorney (an office she held from 2004 to 2011), California's attorney general (2011 to 2017), and a US senator (2017 to 2021).

'Russiagate' redux: The Guardian's spooky anonymous 'sources' claim Putin put Trump in power, but there's still no hard evidence

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Wed, 14 Jul 2021 21:02 UTC

Ever since former US President Donald Trump's shock 2016 election victory rocked the American political establishment, commentators and talking heads have been looking for someone to blame. The easy answer has always been Russia.

On Thursday, London's Guardian newspaper delivered the latest installment in this long-standing 'Russiagate' tradition. Rolling out a series of supposed revelations, intended to shock readers with the scale of the alleged deception behind Trump's win, journalist Luke Harding, who has previous experience in publishing fake stories on this theme, alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin "personally authorized a secret spy agency operation to support a 'mentally unstable' Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election."

The rationale for the move was apparently that a Trump White House would be more sympathetic to Russian interests, and would sow chaos in the country. Intelligence and security agencies were supposedly told they should use "all possible force" to put the then-Republican front-runner into office. If the plan existed, it backfired catastrophically, given that relations between Moscow and Washington deteriorated to almost unprecedented lows during the years that followed, with sanctions and political rows becoming a regular occurrence.

Russia warns off Britain from Crimean waters - sailors at risk from 'might' of Russian forces

RT
Thu, 15 Jul 2021 18:54 UTC

Russia will continue to defend the country's territorial waters and may combat any violators with the "harshest methods," a high-ranking official revealed on Wednesday, warning foreign navies against crossing the country's border.

Speaking to the newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Mikhail Popov addressed last month's incident with the British warship HMS 'Defender', when it purposely violated Russia's territorial waters, crossing three kilometers over the sea border.

In Popov's opinion, the move was a "pre-planned provocation that was rightfully thwarted."

Comment:

Social engineering: EU withholds Hungary's Covid aid over banning LGBT topics in schools; Orban warns woke propaganda 'will ruin EU'

RT
Thu, 15 Jul 2021 16:30 UTC

© Marton Monus/Reuters
A protest in Budapest, Hungary, against a law that bans LGBT content in schools and children’s TV shows, held on June 2021

EU money intended to help member states recover from the Covid pandemic should not make Hungary a hostage by being withheld over Budapest's controversial LGBT law that was slammed by Brussels, a top official in Hungary has said.

The issue of EU funds should not be tied to the new Hungarian law that banned LGBT themes from school curriculums and children's TV shows, Hungary's Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, Gergely Gulyas, told reporters on Thursday.

"Such a connection will ruin the European Union. The Child Protection Act has nothing to do with the [EU] recovery fund," Gulyas said, adding that Hungary will continue to hold talks with Brussels.

Comment: Brussels's arrogance is on display as it demands legislatures override the will of their citizens. Orban is correct. Such high-handedness will contribute to the EU's eventual demise.

President Trump: News from Georgia "beyond incredible - we will lose our country if this is allowed to stand"

Jim Hoft
Gateway Pundit
Wed, 14 Jul 2021 11:06 UTC

On Tuesday, Garland Favorito, the founder of the election integrity group VoterGA, provided proof that election fraud occurred in the November 2020 election.

Favorito made the announcement at a press conference on Tuesday morning and on the Bannon War Room.

The voter integrity group found that the Fulton County Georgia recount included a 60% error reporting rate.

Comment:

Quote of the Day

State power has its own limits defined by the fact that it is authority that reaches people from outside. State power cannot oversee and dictate the creative states of the soul and mind, the inner states of love, freedom and goodwill. The state cannot demand from its citizens faith, prayer, love, goodness and conviction. It cannot regulate scientific, religious and artistic creation. It should not intervene in moral, family and daily private life, and only when extremely necessary should it impinge on people's economic initiative and creativity.

- Ivan Ilyin

Exactly the same Faustian Bargain is being offered by Comrade Ardern here in NZ. Trouble is, there is no further plan, no "what happens next", and...

Martin Harris

winters and summers come and go and the downfall of earth is constantly wrongly predicted. summer is here; [Link] +1

rakarb

He's bloody moron and West's stooge. He was kissing frau Merkel's ass only a few weeks ago.

sinip

No way. Have you noticed that conspiring is practically, the most common social activity in existence? So how could that be?

sir_isO

RT = CNN So this piece is likely agitprop. "The beatings will continue until morale improves." Please, just follow the $cience.

DeliciousTears

Puppet Masters

The US is fooling itself if it believes the EU backs its aggression against China as serious transatlantic rifts over Beijing remain

Lebanon spins further into crisis as Hariri abandons bid to form government

Resignation of Ukraine's interior minister weakens country's central power, expert claims

Ex-military were conned into assassination of Haitian leader, Colombia's president says, though some were willing participants

Malfunction at the podium? Psaki announces vaccines 'can still kill you' in eyebrow-raising slip-up

Ex-Kamala Harris staffers describe toxic offices dating back years: report

'Russiagate' redux: The Guardian's spooky anonymous 'sources' claim Putin put Trump in power, but there's still no hard evidence

Russia warns off Britain from Crimean waters - sailors at risk from 'might' of Russian forces

Social engineering: EU withholds Hungary's Covid aid over banning LGBT topics in schools; Orban warns woke propaganda 'will ruin EU'

President Trump: News from Georgia "beyond incredible - we will lose our country if this is allowed to stand"

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