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Quenelle

Scotland's first minister Sturgeon vows there will be another independence referendum

Nicola Sturgeon Scotland scottish referendum
Party leader Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland, Britain March 18, 2017.
Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has told the Scottish National Party (SNP) Conference that "there will be an independence referendum." Her assertion was met with widespread applause at the Aberdeen event.

When Scotland held a referendum on independence back in September 2014, the 'No' side won with just over 55 percent of votes.


Sturgeon called for a second independence referendum during her closing address at her party's spring conference at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC) on Saturday.

Chess

'All options are on the table' as Trump accuses North Korea of 'behaving very badly' saying China is not helping

U.S. President Donald Trump
© Jonathan Ernst / ReutersU.S. President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump has accused North Korea of "behaving very badly" and "playing" the US for years, shortly after Secretary of State Red Tillerson hinted military options were on the table during his visit to South Korea.

"China has done little to help!" Trump also said in a tweet from his personal account. Tillerson is due to visit Beijing on Saturday and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.


After meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on Friday, Tillerson told reporters that the US "policy of strategic patience has ended."

"We are exploring a new range of diplomatic, security and economic measures. All options are on the table," he said during a joint news conference in Seoul.

While the US does not want military conflict, if North Korea elevates the threat of its weapons program to a level Washington believes requires action, "that option's on the table," TIllerson added.


US, Japan and South Korea are currently holding naval exercises off the coast of the peninsula. Washington is also deploying armed drones and the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea, in an effort to defend from North Korea's ballistic missiles.

Comment: US military action against North Korea is an "option on the table," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has stated, adding that Washington's "strategic patience" with the isolated country has ended.
However, he went on to say that "if they (North Korea) elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level that we believe requires action, then, that option's on the table."

He added that a "comprehensive set of capabilities" is being developed to deal with the country.

Tillerson's comments were made after visiting the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas.

It comes just three days after the North's state news agency KCNA warned the US of "merciless" attacks if America's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier 'USS Carl Vinson', which arrived in South Korea to take part in annual drills, infringed on its sovereignty during the exercises.

"If they infringe on the DPRK's (Democratic People's Republic of Korea's) sovereignty and dignity even a bit, its army will launch merciless ultra-precision strikes from ground, air, sea and underwater," the news outlet said.

While the exercises were taking place, a second set of trilateral drills were ongoing between the US, South Korea, and Japan, aimed at improving the capability to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles.
Update (Mar. 18): The United States is against a conflict with North Korea, however, it is not ruling out new broader UN sanctions against the country because of its missile and nuclear programs, US State Secretary Rex Tillerson said Saturday.
"The first steps are the UN sanctions. There are broader sanctions that we can consider. I think that there are additional actions that the UN, that we can consider. There are broader participation by other countries in putting pressure on North Korea," Tillerson told the Independent Journal Review news website, answering the question about possible ways to deter North Korea.

Washington does not want a conflict with North Korea, the US state secretary noted, adding that the main aim is to deliver this message to Pyongyang.

"In terms of the urgency right now is to ensure that the regime of Pyongyang has heard the message. That's why we've tried to be very clear and succinct with the message, which is, first, we do not intend to be a threat to you. We do not want to have a conflict with you. We want you to change your direction. And we want others in the region to help us help them [North Korea] make a different decision," Tillerson stressed.

The US state secretary emphasized that the United States would like to see the Korean peninsula without any nuclear weapons, but added it might become necessary to consider Japan becoming a nuclear power if the situation unfolded unfavorably.



Chess

Trump travel ban appeal to move to 4th Circuit Court

trump travel ban protest
© Eric Thayer / Reuters
The battle over President Donald Trump's "Muslim ban" continues in the courts, as the Department of Justice filed a notice it would its appeal the block placed on enforcement of the executive order by a federal judge in Maryland.

The executive order, a revised version of a previous travel ban struck down in federal courts, prohibits US entry from six predominantly Muslim countries.

Refugee advocacy groups sued in federal court in Maryland, and US District Court Judge Theodore Chuang placed a restraining order on enforcement of the travel ban on Thursday.

Sheeple

Democrats whine that DHS chief was 'dismissive' of their immigration questions

ICE Police agent
© John Moore / AFP
After repeated requests, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly finally met with House Democrats over concerns about the Trump administration's immigration enforcement. From the lawmakers' perspective, however, it did not go well.

House Democrats, especially members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, had been requesting the meeting to discuss the Department of Homeland Security's immigration agencies for weeks. They also sought documentation from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) about the Trump administration's strict enforcement of immigration laws.

Prior to the meeting, neither DHS nor its ICE agency responded to lawmakers' written questions, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-New Mexico) told reporters afterward.

They have "not even [sent] a form letter saying: 'We've received your inquiry,'" she said.

Comment: Why aren't these people clamoring for answers from the CIA on the Vault 7 leaks, or the financial backing of terrorists in the middle east, or the overthrowing of democratically elected governments, or doing something else useful to reign in the rogue state that is the US?


Eye 1

Behind confrontation with Iran lies the US 'greater destabilizing' agenda

Syrian islamists
As was expected even during Donald Trump's election campaign, US-Iran relations are touching the lowest ebb—again. While the nuke-deal is still very much intact, the new confrontation, however, is part of the new US game-plan for Syria, where the Islamic Republic has become, in the eyes of the US CENTCOM commander, Joseph Votel, the biggest threat to US interests. It is true that Iran has spent billions to fund the war in Syria, a war if not fought well in Syria will soon reach the Islamic Republic's own borders, or even inside its cities. Hence, the imperative of defeating an enemy i.e., ISIS, that has been raised to eliminate the 'un-believers.' While it is strange to see the US confronting Iran, a country that has successfully resisted and played a pivotal role in rolling back ISIS, it is Iran's very success against ISIS that has led the US to demand for its exclusion from Syria.

It is by excluding Iran from Syria that the US can achieve its two immediate objectives: a) it can re-galvanize its Arab allies in the conflict and buttress its proxy militias, b) by re-activating jihadist groups in Syria it hopes to reverse the gains the Russian and Syrian forces have achieved. As it stands, this is the only way the US can use to achieve its original plan of encircling and destabilizing the entire region stretching from West Asia to Central and Southeast Asia.

Stock Up

Moscow and New Delhi aim for $30bn annual trade turnover by 2025

Narendra Modi (R) and Vladimir Putin
© Ahmad Masood / Reuters
Longtime partners Russia and India will boost long-term investment in the hi-tech, civil aviation, and defense sectors with the goal of increasing bilateral trade to an ambitious $30 billion annually by 2025, Russia's trade and industry minister told RT.

"We are constantly searching for new ways to strengthen our trade ties to reach the target of $30 billion in annual turnover by 2025, the figure that was agreed on by our leaders earlier," Russian Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov told RT during his visit to India.

Education, science, and a mutual transfer of technologies are key to building trust between Moscow and New Delhi, in addition to improving their political relationship, he added.

"There are areas where we've been working with each other for decades, including arms trade, the energy sector, and the chemical and metallurgical industries," Manturov said, mentioning a Rosneft deal to purchase a 49-percent stake in Essar Oil, one of the largest energy corporations in India.

War Whore

As Trump embraces the war economy, is America a lost cause for democracy and peace?

donald trump speaks to us navy on uss gerald r ford
© Mark Wilson / Getty ImagesU.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the U.S. Navy on board the USS Gerald R. Ford CVN 78, Virginia.
Whatever happened to America First? Building roads and infrastructure and looking after the "forgotten American workers"? In his first national budget outlined this week, President Trump is going 'full-metal-jacket' with militarism.

Donald Trump campaigned on a ticket deploring reckless US overseas wars. He vowed to make "America great again" by focusing his supposed business talents on building the US economy at home.

But, disturbingly, this president seems more militarist than any predecessor.

Info

Donetsk leader Zakharchenko tells Crimeans his republic will soon come home to Russia

Alexander Zakharchenko
This is the clearest indication yet of where Zakharchenko sees his republic in the near future

Donetsk People's Republic leader, Alexander Zakharchenko has recently been in Crimea, celebrating the three year anniversary of Sevastopol and Crimea's reunification with the rest of the Russian Federation.

It was here that Zakharchenko gave his clearest indication yet of where he sees his Republic in the near future. Many have questioned whether the future of the Donbass republics would be as sovereign states engaged in fraternal relations with Russia or whether in time they too would re-unite with their historic motherland.

Because of Donbass being on the current border of the Russia Federation, having a Russian speaking and ethnically Russian population, industries geared towards the Russian market and a desire of the population to be Russian not only in fact but in terms of national identity, anything less than Donetsk and Lugansk becoming a fully fledged part of the Russian Federation, would be illogical and counterproductive.

Laptop

Missing: Stolen Secret Service laptop, pins, radio

trump tow officers
© AOL.com
A Secret Service computer containing sensitive security information about Trump Tower was stolen from an agent's vehicle in New York on Thursday, along with a set of security perimeter pins, a personal laptop, and other items, federal and New York City law enforcement sources told POLITICO.

The Secret Service laptop, which contained information about the layout and evacuation routes in Trump Tower, was still missing as of Friday afternoon, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation.

Two of the sources said that some items stolen from the vehicle — including a set of lapel pins that allow agents entry into security perimeters around dignitaries protected by the Secret Service — had been recovered in the vicinity soon after the break-in. One person who is in contact with the Secret Service said that an agency-issued radio used for secure closed-circuit communications also was among the stolen items, but the person did not know whether it had been recovered.

The Secret Service declined to comment on the pins or the radio. But, in a statement, the agency said that it is investigating the laptop theft with help from the New York City Police Department. The statement stressed that agency-issued laptops "contain multiple layers of security including full disk encryption" that prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing their contents.

A law enforcement official who has worked with the Secret Service said that, in order to access agency computers, users need an authorized electronic identity card and at least two different passwords.

Comment: Not-so Secret Service? What kind of lousy protocol and security is this? The fact that there are built-in inhibitors to data access (no guarantee!) does not ameliorate or excuse lax safety measures...especially when it affects the POTUS! Perhaps we should not be worried about the evil 'out there' as much as the evil among us. One would surmise the CIA/NSA/FBI/Secret Service could locate any of their equipment at any time, no matter where it is. Single laptop, lots of sensitive information threats and scares...let's stay tuned and see where this goes. Read on:

UPDATE 3/17/2017, RT:
Included on the stolen laptop were data on the Hillary Clinton criminal email investigation and other national security information.

The laptop was stolen from the Secret Service agent's motorbike in the driveway of a Brooklyn home on Thursday morning, according to a source who spoke to the New York Post.

Several coins and a black bag with the Secret Service insignia on it were later recovered, but the laptop and the sensitive documents remain missing.

"The Secret Service is very heavily involved and, citing national security, there's very little we have on our side," a police source told the New York Daily News. "It's a very big deal."

Video surveillance shows the thief arriving at the agent's home in a car, walking right up to her motorcycle, and taking the items. He was seen fleeing the scene.

The person who took the laptop also swiped the agent's access keycard, sources said.

While nothing about the White House or foreign leaders is stored on the laptop, the information on there could compromise national security, the agent told investigators.

NYPD officers were assisting in the investigation but had little information about what's on the laptop, sources said.

UPDATE 3/20, TMZ also reports that the thief was caught on surveillance video and seemed to know exactly what he was looking for:
The thief who swiped a Secret Service agent's laptop targeted the agent in question and knew exactly what he was after ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

Our sources say the thief -- whom they say is a man -- was caught on surveillance video pulling up to the agent's driveway in an Uber at around 3 AM Thursday.

The video shows the man make a beeline for the agent's car, removing a backpack with the computer inside and then walking off. As we reported, the hard drive contained Trump Tower floor plans and evacuation protocols, but the agency insists there was no classified info inside.

The thief also made off with a passport and several Secret Service lapel pins.



Chess

Key Dem officials attempting to prep their base for back-pedal on evidence of Trump/Russia collusion

Michael Morell
© Win McNamee/Getty ImagesFormer Deputy CIA Director Michael Morell arrives for testimony before the House Select Intelligence Committee April 2, 2014 in Washington, DC.
From MSNBC politics shows to town hall meetings across the country, the overarching issue for the Democratic Party's base since Trump's victory has been Russia, often suffocating attention for other issues. This fixation has persisted even though it has no chance to sink the Trump presidency unless it is proven that high levels of the Trump campaign actively colluded with the Kremlin to manipulate the outcome of the U.S. election — a claim for which absolutely no evidence has thus far been presented.

The principal problem for Democrats is that so many media figures and online charlatans are personally benefiting from feeding the base increasingly unhinged, fact-free conspiracies — just as right-wing media polemicists did after both Bill Clinton and Obama were elected — that there are now millions of partisan soldiers absolutely convinced of a Trump/Russia conspiracy for which, at least as of now, there is no evidence. And they are all waiting for the day, which they regard as inevitable and imminent, when this theory will be proven and Trump will be removed.
rachel maddow
Key Democratic officials are clearly worried about the expectations that have been purposely stoked and are now trying to tamp them down. Many of them have tried to signal that the beliefs the base has been led to adopt have no basis in reason or evidence.