Puppet MastersS


Footprints

Putin accuses EU of being a doormat for US


RT
Thu, 15 Dec 2022 15:33 UTC
flag feet
© Getty Images/SOPA Images
The current economic troubles in the EU, and the unfriendly attitude displayed by the US towards Europe, are a direct consequence of the weakness shown by the union's leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. He made the remarks during a meeting of Russia's council for strategic development and national projects.
"Today, the EU's main partner, the US, is pursuing policies leading directly to the de-industrialization of Europe. They even try to complain about that to their American overlord. Sometimes even with resentment they ask 'Why are you doing this to us?' I want to ask: 'What did you expect?' What else happens to those who allow feet to be wiped on them?"
Earlier this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sounded the alarm over US economic policies, urging the EU to "take action" if it wanted to be able to compete with the US government-subsidized green industry.

Von der Leyen blasted the tax breaks for consumers who buy American products, introduced under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed by President Joe Biden in August. She warned that such initiatives could "lead to unfair competition, could close markets, and thus fragment critical supply chains."
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Dominoes

The Harry Dunn case shows the US-UK 'special relationship' isn't so special

Timur Fomenko
RT
Thu, 15 Dec 2022 16:52 UTC
fan chair
© BBC
Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US intelligence officer and former spy herself, was handed an eight-month suspended sentence in absentia last week on the conviction of "causing death by dangerous driving." She had fled the UK following a car crash which caused the death of teenager Harry Dunn in 2019.

Despite calls from Britain that Sacoolas should be prosecuted, as well as an extensive campaign by Harry's parents to do so, the US government refused to extradite her to face justice, citing diplomatic immunity.

This saga shows that the 'special relationship', which describes the extraordinarily close transatlantic ties between London and Washington, isn't really so special after all. Rather, they constitute a one-way street where one party is made to do the other's bidding without any real reciprocity. What keeps Britain and its people on board with the situation is a nostalgic vision of their country as a decisive force in the world.

Comment: UK may be playing 'second fiddle', but the tune remains the same.

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Folder

US unseals thousands of classified JFK assassination documents

Anders Hagstrom, Adam Sabes
Fox News
Thu, 15 Dec 2022 16:13 UTC
JFK Kennedy
© Getty ImagesPresident John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), the 35th president of the United States, relaxes in his trademark rocking chair in the Oval Office.
The documents cover a CIA surveillance operation against Lee Harvey Oswald before JFK's assassination.

The National Archives unsealed thousands of formerly classified documents relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

President Biden ordered the release of 12,879 documents relating to the attack, including many from the CIA's personality file on Lee Harvey Oswald that it maintained both before and after JFK's killing.

Comment: Tucker weighs in on the documents still unreleased:


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Cross

Vatican apologizes to Russia after Pope claims Buryats and Chechens disposed to battlefield cruelty


RT
Thu, 15 Dec 2022 22:23 UTC
Pope Francis
© Grzegorz Galazka / Mondadori Portfolio via Getty ImagesPope Francis presides over a Holy Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
The Vatican has issued a formal apology to Russia for derogatory remarks made by Pope Francis last month about some ethnic groups in the country, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

The ministry received the message on Thursday from Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. It expressed the Holy See's respect for "all peoples of Russia, their dignity, faith and culture, just like all other nations and peoples of the world," Zakharova told a press briefing.

"The capacity to recognize one's mistakes is becoming more rare in international relations today. This situation shows that, behind the Vatican's calls for dialogue, there is a knack for having such a dialogue and hearing the other side," the Russian diplomat noted. She added that Moscow considered the incident to be over.

Pope Francis made a negative generalized assessment of the character of Buryats and Chechens, two of the many ethnic groups living in Russia, in an interview published in late November. He described them as "of Russia but... not of the Russian tradition" and claimed that such people were "the cruelest" of the Russian troops in Ukraine.
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Chess

2 days before coup in Peru the US ambassador, who's also a veteran CIA agent, met with the country's defense minister

Ben Norton
Multipolarista
Thu, 15 Dec 2022 19:26 UTC
peru coup
Ex CIA agent and US ambassador to Peru, Lisa Kenna, meets with its defense minister two days before a coup against its elected left-wing President Castillo
The US ambassador in Peru, a veteran CIA agent named Lisa Kenna, met with the country's defense minister just two days before democratically elected left-wing President Pedro Castillo was overthrown in a coup d'etat and imprisoned without trial.

Peru's defense minister ordered the military to turn against Castillo.

The coup set off mass protests all across Peru. The unelected regime has unleashed brutal violence, and police have killed numerous demonstrators.

Comment: It certainly has been a busy year for the firestarters in the US, however these 'wins' also contrast with other events that reveal how the US is fast losing the choke hold that it once had across much of the planet:

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Newspaper

Erdogan rival convicted of 'insulting' election authority, threatened with 2 year prison sentence

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Thu, 15 Dec 2022 21:52 UTC
Ekrem Imamoglu
© ReutersThe mayor of Istanbul,Ekrem Imamoglu, says the verdict is an attack on popular will.
A Turkish court has convicted Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of insulting a public official, sentencing him on Wednesday to two years and seven months in prison. Imamoglu has also been barred from holding public office, which critics say is an attempt to derail his challenge to Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in next year's election.

Imamoglu's crime, according to the court, was that he called the officials who canceled the March 2019 mayoral election "fools," after his victory ended the 25-year ruling streak by Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP). He went on to win the repeat election in June and cancel millions of liras in public funding to pro-government foundations.

Comment:



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Ice Cube

The European Parliament's 'Qatar scandal' is just the tip of a corruption iceberg

Rachel Marsden
RT
Thu, 15 Dec 2022 17:56 UTC
Ursula
© AP/Jean-Francois BadiasGermany's Ursula von der Leyen • European Parliament
Strasbourg, France • July 3, 2019
In a corruption scandal that strikes at the heart of European Union governance, a vice-president of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, of Greece, has been stripped of her responsibilities by the EU Parliament, had her assets frozen, and has been charged after police alleged to have found "bags of cash" at her residence.

There also was a raid on the home of a Belgian MEP, Marc Tarabella, the vice-chair of the EU's delegation for relations with the Arab peninsula. Belgian authorities paid another no-knock visit to the home of an assistant to yet another MEP. Earlier this week, authorities searched the EU Parliament offices like it was a common crime scene, reportedly seizing data. So far, €1.5 million has been seized from private homes, with the Belgian federal prosecutor's office accusing the four people arrested and charged with "participation in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption." It turns out that the officials alleged to have been involved are accused of also lobbying for visa-free EU-Qatar travel and whitewashing Qatar's labor rights record.
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Clipboard

US struggling to track Ukraine aid - Politico


RT
Wed, 14 Dec 2022 18:37 UTC
guy looks at rockets
© Metin Aktas Getty Images
The administration of US President Joe Biden is turning to the blockchain and other tech-based solutions amid mounting calls for oversight of over $50 billion in aid pledged to Ukraine this year, according to a State Department cable seen by Politico on Wednesday.

Reportedly signed by the US Ambassador to Kiev, Bridget Brink, on September 6, the nine-page "sensitive but unclassified" document laments that
"kinetic activity and active combat between Ukrainian and Russian forces creates an environment in which standard verification measures are sometimes impracticable or impossible."
The State Department declined to comment on the document's contents, merely stating that it "takes very seriously our responsibility to ensure appropriate oversight of all US assistance."

Washington's options for imposing order on uncontrollable spending in Ukraine reportedly include:
"a commercial smartphone app that uploads all photo and video media onto a blockchain at the point of capture, delegating equipment inspections to the Ukrainian military in the absence of Western contractors willing to work in 'high-risk' areas, and requiring photographic proof that aid has been received, especially in 'hard to reach areas'."
The use of management consultants to "review [and] identify gaps" in oversight was also recommended.
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X

We are about to witness a major move toward a cashless society

Michael Snyder
End of the American Dream
Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00 UTC
head/euro
© PixabayCashless Society
The war on cash has just gone to an entirely new level. When I heard that the European Union was planning to completely ban all cash transactions above 10,000 euros, I had a hard time believing it. There are so many wild rumors flying around on the Internet these days, and so I wasn't going to write about this unless I could confirm it. Unfortunately, this particular rumor is quite real. Under the pretext of fighting "money laundering and terrorist financing", the European Union will be entirely outlawing all cash payments greater than 10,000 euros. The following comes from the official website of the Council of the European Union...
By limiting large cash payments, the EU will make it harder for criminals to launder dirty money. An EU-wide maximum limit of €10.000 is set for cash payments. Member states will have the flexibility to impose a lower maximum limit if they wish.
So this means that in some countries the upper limit could potentially be a lot lower than 10,000 euros. But instead of framing it as a major move toward a cashless society, the EU is trying to claim that this is all about fighting terrorists.
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Eye 2

UK military publicly admits covert operations in Ukraine for first time

Will Porter
The Libertarian Institute
Wed, 14 Dec 2022 12:00 UTC
Royal Marines
© UK Defense Ministry / Nick TryonFILE PHOTO: Royal Marines with the elite 45 Commando unit are seen during exercises in Norway's High North Region.
The British Royal Marines have carried out high-risk special operations on the ground in Ukraine, according to the former head of the elite unit, who said UK commandos have been deployed to the country on more than one occasion this year.

Writing in the Royal Navy's official magazine, the Globe and Laurel, Lieutenant General Robert Magowan said some 350 Marines were sent to Ukraine for two missions since January, starting with an operation to help relocate UK diplomatic staff to Poland just ahead of Russia's invasion.

The second occurred in April, soon after Moscow's withdrawal from the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital, according to Magowan, who was once the commandant general of the Royal Marines and now serves as a senior official under the Chief of the Defense Staff.

Comment: This follows the admission from the US that they've been directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine - obviously this isn't surprising, however it is notable that they would finally admit it, because the implication is now that the West is now in a direct confrontation with Russia: US & EU special forces and the CIA ARE on the ground in Ukraine after all - Coordinating Ukraine's weapons, training, and 'attack app'

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