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Thanks for the weapons! Ukraine 'honors' John McCain - names Kiev street after him


RT
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 15:36 UTC
McCain Poroshenko Ukraine
© AFP / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / Mikhail Palinchak
Sen. John McCain meets an armed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in 2016
The Ukrainian capital of Kiev is to get its own 'John McCain Street,' in honor of the late US Senator whose regime-change cheerleading helped sweep President Petro Poroshenko to power in 2014.

It's not an April Fools' joke: Kiev is really getting a 'John McCain Street.' Although President Poroshenko has mused renaming the Ukrainian capital's Ivan Kudrya Street in honor of the Republican Senator before, he once again announced his plan after meeting with McCain's widow, Cindy, over the weekend.

Calling McCain "a great friend and advocate of Ukraine," he noted the "historic importance of Senator McCain's heritage in establishing and building a new independent Ukraine."

Comment: War whore McCain's honor is a slap in the face of ordinary Ukrainians suffering under the effects of the US neocon-led coup.

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Propaganda

Can the EU survive its own censorship?

Tom Luongo
Gold, Goats 'n Guns
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 00:01 UTC
article 13 meme
The EU's new, comprehensive new Copyright Directive passed the European Parliament ensuring the way we use the Internet will change in the future.

And not for the better.

The controversial parts are Articles 11 and 13, the "link tax" and the "upload filter" requirements. For a good run down of how terrible these new rules are look anywhere on the internet but this article at Gizmodo (who I hope doesn't charge me a link tax for doing so!) will do.

Comment: Very good point! What is abundantly clear is that these EU bureaucrats really have no clue what they're doing and are simply lashing out in an attempt to regain control of a beast that fled the pen ages ago. Their flailing, as the above article illustrates, makes evident they really haven't thought this thing through.

See also:

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TV

People will never, ever rebel as long as they're successfully propagandized

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 00:01 UTC
kid watching TV
Our predicament is simple to describe.

Since the dawn of civilization, powerful individuals have controlled the stories people tell themselves about who they are, who's in charge, how a good citizen behaves, what groups should be loved, what groups should be hated, and what's really going on in the world. When you study what we call history, you're mostly just reading the ancient proto-propaganda of whatever kingdom happened to win the last war during that period of time. When you study what we call religion, you're mostly reading stories that were advanced by ancient governments explaining why the people should be meek, forgiving taxpayers instead of rising up and killing their wealthy exploiters.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Brazil postpones embassy move from Jerusalem, will open trade mission instead

Tovah Lazaroff
Jerusalem Post
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 09:45 UTC
Brazilian Presdient Jair Bolsonaro Benjamin Netanyahu
© KOBI GIDON / GPO
Brazilian Presdient Jair Bolsonaro and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Brazil delayed plans to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem, but announced instead that as a first step in that direction, it would open a trade mission, issuing a statement on the matter while the country's president Jair Bolsonaro was on a four-day trip to Israel.

"I welcome your decision to open a trade, technology and innovation office, an official office of the Government of Brazil, in Jerusalem," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said when he met with Bolsonaro at his home, where the two issued joint statements.

"I hope that this is a first step toward the opening in time of the Brazilian Embassy in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said. "I would like to welcome you my friend and say to you and to the entire wonderful delegation that you brought - Welcome to Jerusalem the capital of Israel!"

Comment: The Jerusalem Post reports more about the pressure Bolsonaro's under:
Bolsonaro, who is making his first visit to Israel as president, is under pressure from the Evangelical community to make good on his embassy pledge.

His country's powerful agriculture sector is opposed to moving the embassy from Tel Aviv and angering Arab nations that buy billions of dollars worth of Brazilian halal meat each year. [...]

The Brazilian president will visit Yad Vashem and the IDF's Home Front Command so he can grant an award to its rescue delegation, which assisted the Brazilians earlier this year after the collapse of a major dam there.

Along with Netanyahu, Bolsonaro will also attend the "Israel-Brazil Innovation Summit," which will bring together leading Brazilian and Israeli businesspeople.

Brazil is Israel's largest Latin American trading partner and the trip is expected to expand those ties.


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NPC

Crazed Democrats begin subpoena process for Mueller report & Trump aides

Billy House
Bloomberg
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 09:45 UTC
Robert Mueller
© Alex Wong/Getty Images
Robert Mueller
House Democrats are taking the first steps toward issuing subpoenas for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's entire report, as well as for documents from five former associates of President Donald Trump, setting up potential legal showdowns.

The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold votes on Wednesday to authorize the subpoenas, the panel said Monday in a news release. Three days earlier, Attorney General William Barr said he would provide Congress with a redacted version of Mueller's report on his investigation into Trump and Russian election meddling by mid-April.

"Congress requires the full and complete Special Counsel report, without redactions, as well as access to the underlying evidence," Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in an emailed statement Monday. "Attorney General Barr has thus far indicated he will not meet the April 2 deadline set by myself and five other Committee chairs, and refused to work with us to provide the full report, without redactions, to Congress. The Attorney General should reconsider so that we can work together to ensure the maximum transparency of this important report to both Congress and the American people."
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Toys

US suspends Turkey's F-35 sale over Russia's S-400 missile deal - Losing Turkish-produced parts in the process


RFE/RL
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 20:26 UTC
S-400
© TASS
Turkey has said it is committed to a deal to buy S-400 missile-defense systems from Russia.
The United States says it is halting deliveries to Turkey related to the F-35 fighter-jet program in response to Ankara's decision to move ahead with the purchase of Russian air-defense system.

"Pending an unequivocal Turkish decision to forgo delivery of the S-400, deliveries and activities associated with the stand-up of Turkey's F-35 operational capability have been suspended while our dialogue on this important matter continues with Turkey," a Pentagon spokesperson said on April 1.

Washington has been warning Ankara for months that buying the S-400 system would jeopardize its planned purchase of the advanced fighter aircraft.

Comment: Sputnik reports Turkey was actually manufacturing parts for US F-35s and so their futile attempts to coerce Turkey into exclusive deals that would isolate Russia have backfired; an increasingly common occurrence:
Pentagon Working on Secondary Supply Sources for Turkish-Made F-35 Parts

The US Defence Department is searching for new sources to replace Turkish-made F-35 aircraft parts after Washington suspended activities associated with Turkey's F-35 operational capability, Pentagon spokesperson Charles Summers said in a statement.

"The United States has been clear that Turkey's acquisition of the S-400 is unacceptable," Summers said on Monday. "Therefore, the DoD has initiated steps necessary to ensure prudent program planning and resiliency of the F-35 supply chain. Secondary sources of supply for Turkish-produced parts are now in development."

The Pentagon said on Monday that the United States suspended deliveries and activities associated with Turkey's F-35 operational capability due to Ankara's decision to purchase the Russian missile defence systems.

"We very much regret the current situation facing our F-35 partnership with Turkey, and the DoD is taking prudent steps to protect the shared investments made in our critical technology," Summers said on Monday. "Our important dialogue on this matter will continue, however, until they forgo delivery of the S-400, the United States has suspended deliveries and activities associated with the stand-up of Turkey's F-35 operational capability. Should Turkey procure the S-400, their continued participation in the F-35 program is at risk."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided not to abandon plans to buy the Russian system despite US claims that the S-400s may compromise the security of their F-35s. Commenting on the planned purchase, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara purchases Russia's S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems for its own needs and there will be no reselling. According to the Turkish official, Ankara will receive the military equipment from Moscow in July.
See also:

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Star of David

Ethnic cleansing: How Israel is working to remove Palestinians from Jerusalem


The National
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 09:45 UTC
Israeli flag Mount of Olives Jerusalem
© AFP
An Israeli flag flutters at Mount of Olives with the Old City of Jerusalem and its Dome of the Rock mosque in the centre, March 27, 2019.
The 350,000 Palestinian inhabitants of occupied East Jerusalem are caught between a rock and hard place, as Israel works ever harder to remove them from the holy city in which they were born, analysts and residents warn.

That process, they say, has only accelerated in the wake of US President Donald Trump's decision a year ago to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, effectively endorsing the city as Israel's exclusive capital.

"Israel wants Palestinians in Jerusalem to understand that they are trapped, that they are being strangled, in the hope they will conclude that life is better outside the city," said Amneh Badran, a politics professor at Jerusalem's Al Quds university.
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MIB

Facebook plans to hire editors to curate 'high quality' news for its users from 'trusted outlets'

Danielle Ryan
RT
Mon, 01 Apr 2019 09:11 UTC
facebook cube
© Reuters / Dado Ruvic
Mark Zuckerberg is considering hiring human "editors" to hand-pick "high-quality news" to show Facebook users in an effort to combat fake news - and no, it's not an April Fool's joke.

In his ongoing quest to satisfy the political censorship demands of Western governments, Zuckerberg told German publishing house Axel Springer that he is considering the introduction of a dedicated news section for the social media platform, which would potentially use humans to curate the news from "broadly trusted" outlets. Zuckerberg said Facebook might also start paying news publishers to include their articles in this dedicated news section in an effort to reward "high-quality, trustworthy content."

With social media censorship already at worryingly high levels, who will decide which outlets are "broadly trusted" and which are untrustworthy? What qualifies one outlet as more "trusted" than another? Will Zuckerberg make the criteria public?

Fresh from the anti-climactic Russiagate saga and long-awaited Mueller report, will Facebook penalize all the outlets that incessantly pushed the Trump/Russia "collusion" narrative and hyped fake "bombshells" for more than two years sans evidence, or will the likes of MSNBC and Rachel Maddow automatically earn "trusted" status? The answer to that question is blindingly obvious.

Comment: A 'dedicated news' section might not be such a bad thing, you'll know exactly where all the top-notch 'high-quality' propaganda is and can keep away. But otherwise, Facebook and all the other major social media platforms are essentially extensions of big government. We can expect to see increasing control and censorship down the road. See also:

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Bullseye

AG Barr to release Mueller Report - DOJ must now investigate attempted 'coup' against Trump

Sara Carter
saracarter.com
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC
Attorney General William Barr

Attorney General William Barr
As Attorney General William Barr is preparing to release Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election by mid-April, those hammered by Mueller's inquiry and those who have investigated how it transpired demand a full investigation into the FBI's probe on President Trump's campaign.

It's been called nothing less than an alleged "coup." The investigation and all its machinations was either to ensure the election of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton or remove a duly elected president.

The mountains of evidence uncovered over the past two years all point in this direction but so many questions are still left unanswered.

Despite to years of grueling investigations, it is only the beginning. Moreover, the American people deserve full transparency into what actually occurred, who was behind the operation against Trump and how high up the chain of command did this go?

Comment: The plotters' house of cards appears to be well on its way to collapse:

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Black Cat

Accusations keep piling up against #CreepyJoe - now a former Congressional aide from Connecticut

Neil Vigdor
The Hartford Courant
Mon, 01 Apr 2019 21:51 UTC
biden himes fundraiser Connecticut 2009

Then-Vice President Joe Biden poses for photos with major Democratic contributors during a 2009 Greenwich fundraiser for Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., who is also pictured.
Connecticut woman says then-Vice President Joe Biden touched her inappropriately at a Greenwich fundraiser in 2009

A Connecticut woman says Joe Biden touched her inappropriately and rubbed noses with her during a 2009 political fundraiser in Greenwich when he was vice president, drawing further scrutiny to the Democrat and his history of unwanted contact with women as he ponders a presidential run

"It wasn't sexual, but he did grab me by the head," Amy Lappos told The Courant Monday. "He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth.

Lappos posted about the alleged incident on the Facebook page of Connecticut Women in Politics Sunday in response to a similar account by former Nevada legislator Lucy Flores, which comes as Biden is considering a 2020 run for president. Flores accused Biden of kissing her on the back of her head in 2014, when she was a candidate for lieutenant governor.
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