Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

As winter arrives on the battlefield, what will happen next in the Russia- Ukraine (NATO) conflict?

Sergey Poletaev and Dmitry Stefanovich
RT
Sat, 03 Dec 2022 19:21 UTC
bombing missiles donetsk ukraine
© Sputnik / Ilya PitalevServicemen of the People's Militia of the Donetsk People's Republic are pictured in the village of Novotroitskoe in the Volnovakhsky District that has come under the control of the Donetsk People's Republic.
Moscow has pulled out of a key southern city but launched a major air offensive striking targets deep inside Ukraine

The battle for Kherson that we discussed in our last article ended in Ukraine's favor - but with a small twist: there was no actual battle. For three weeks, Russia evacuated not only residents who wished to leave the city - and the right bank of the Dnieper River - but even monuments that the adversary entering the city might find objectionable.

By November 10, the last of the military personnel had left the right bank of the Dnieper, and after they crossed they blew up the bridges (included the long-suffering Antonovsky Bridge) spanning the river, as well as the overpass across the Kakhovka reservoir dam.

Comment: A short analysis of a previous barrage in October:



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Jet4

Ukraine aid and stealth bombers: Pentagon lays out consequences if Congress can't pass a budget deal

Lara Seligman
Politico
Sat, 03 Dec 2022 06:46 UTC
ship at sea
© Petty Officer 3rd Class Scott Pittman/US NavyNavy would be prevented from awarding a new contract for Arleigh Burke-class destroyers
Defense Department officials have compiled a list of dire consequences if the military is forced to operate under a one-year stopgap funding bill for the first time in history — from aid to Ukraine to procurement of the new B-21 stealth bomber.

The warnings, along with a recent letter from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Congress, reflect increasing alarm in the top ranks of the Pentagon as congressional leaders face the prospect of missing critical deadlines to fund the government through next year.

A yearlong continuing resolution, or CR, would slash funding for DoD by $29 billion, or 3.7 percent, compared to President Joe Biden's request for fiscal 2023, according to conversations with senior DoD officials and internal documents exclusively obtained by POLITICO.

Operating under a short-term spending bill is nothing new to the Pentagon, which has seen CRs 13 out of the last 14 years. Every year, DoD leaders warn that the stopgap measure — which limits funding to the previous year's levels and bars the department from starting most new programs — erodes military readiness and puts key programs at risk. It's a common tactic to pressure lawmakers to come to an agreement before any significant damage is done, and it's typically successful.

But this year is different, officials said: A longer, one-year CR would be a major crisis for DoD.

Comment: They print money, don't they?

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Arrow Up

After meeting with BlackRock's CEO, is Zelensky selling Ukraine to the highest bidder?

Olivia Murray
American Thinker
Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00 UTC
Zelensky skype
© Office of the President of UkraineUkraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in conference with BlackRock's Larry Fink (Upper left)
In early September, I came across a New York Times article detailing a meeting between Ukraine's Zelensky and BlackRock's Laurence Fink, which caught my attention in the worst of ways. Brief refresher: Fink's investment firm is "among several high-powered firms pushing working families out of the [U.S.] housing market and into rentals," and according to BlackRock's own website:
Most recently, we began investing in new construction, purpose-built for-rent housing developments... Our focus is on building single-family rental housing...furthermore, BlackRock invests in multifamily properties, apartment complexes, and other residential real estate. As of March 31, 2022, BlackRock has invested $120 billion into the U.S. residential real estate rental market.
The Times article touted the meeting as a discussion on "how to attract investment in the country's war-ravaged economy." According to a statement released by Zelensky's office, Fink provided "pro bono advice" on "setting up a reconstruction fund in support of the recovery of the Ukrainian economy" and this "fund" would accept money from both "public and private investors".

Well isn't Mr. Fink just a humanitarian! (How much of this money will actually go to the people, rather than the elites? I'd be willing to wager — zilch.)

But now, all the pieces are coming together....
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Attention

Minister 'misled parliament' on foreign office role in secret Assange operation

Matt Kennard, John McEvoy
Declassified UK
Fri, 02 Dec 2022 00:00 UTC
Rutley
© Mike Kemp/In Pictures/Getty ImagesForeign Minister David Rutley in Westminster, London • September 5, 2022
New information suggests the UK government may be covering up the extent of its involvement in the arrest and incarceration of the WikiLeaks founder. A British MP has accused a Foreign Office minister of "misleading parliament" over his department's involvement in the secret operation to arrest Julian Assange.

Kenny MacAskill MP, a former Scottish justice secretary, asked the Foreign Office "whether any people working on Operation Pelican were based within [its] Department's premises." Pelican was the secret Metropolitan Police-led operation to seize Assange from his asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, which was mounted in April 2019.

Junior foreign minister David Rutley told parliament last week in answer:
"No Foreign and Commonwealth Office [FDCO] officials were directly assigned to work on Operation Pelican."
However, in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request in July last year, the Foreign Office had already admitted:
"Three FCDO officials did some work on Operation Pelican, the most senior of which was Head of Latin America Department."
Declassified on Tuesday revealed the UK government had assigned 15 staff to Pelican, but this number did not include any Foreign Office personnel.

Comment: While the US is locked on target, other sources are coming forward to end this debacle in favor of Assange:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is battling extradition from Britain to the United States where he is wanted on criminal charges, has submitted an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Mr Assange, 51, is wanted by US authorities on 18 counts. Britain has given the go-ahead for his extradition, but he has launched an appeal at London's High Court, with the first hearing expected early next year.

His legal team has also launched a case against Britain at the ECHR, which could potentially order the extradition to be blocked. "We confirm that an application has been received," a statement from the court said.

Mr Assange's brother Gabriel Shipton said earlier this week he believed US authorities would want to avoid the case going before the ECHR, as the European media and public were more sympathetic to his cause than those in Britain or the United States.
"I would imagine the US wants to avoid that ... trying to extradite a publisher from Europe for publishing US war revelations when the US is asking Europe to make all sort of sacrifices for the war in Ukraine."
The case has gained prominence this week with major media outlets that had originally worked with Mr Assange over the leaked material writing an open letter to say his prosecution should end.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had raised the issue with US officials, saying the matter should be brought to a close.


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Fire

NATO's handling of Ukraine crisis may end in disaster - MEP


RT
Fri, 02 Dec 2022 18:12 UTC
Sirte Libya
© AFP/Manu BraboThe ravage of fighting in Sirte, Libya • October 22, 2011
Irish MEP Clare Daly accused NATO of bringing "terror, death, lawlessness [and] rape" to Libya, and claimed that the US-led bloc's strategy in Ukraine will yield similar results. Daly made her declaration after voting against a resolution calling for greater EU involvement in Libya.

Daly, along with fellow Irish leftist Mick Wallace, voted last week against a resolution that called on the EU to play "a more active role" in rebuilding war-torn Libya, including by setting up police and military units under the command of the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).

While the EU as a whole supports the GNA, the rival Libyan National Army (LNA) has the backing of France and has reportedly hired private military contractors from Russia to bolster its forces. Amid this ongoing power struggle, Daly sees NATO's 2011 bombing campaign as the root of Libya's problems. In a video posted to her Twitter page on Wednesday, she declared:
"I voted against this report. Its timing is pretty appropriate coming, as it does, a few short weeks after the 11th anniversary of the day Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed during the NATO assault on Libya: sodomized with a bayonet and shot in the head. The NATO intervention in Libya, carried out in the name of protecting freedom, democracy and human rights, is one we'd do well to remember as NATO plays out its proxy war in Ukraine in the name of, you've guessed it, freedom, democracy and human rights."

Comment: The atrocities in Libya are available for anyone to see. NATO has proven itself a destroyer of nations.

See also:

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Hammer

Trump Jr. hammers Zelensky


RT
Sat, 03 Dec 2022 17:34 UTC
DT Jr.
© AP/Rebecca BlackwellDonald Trump Jr. speaks at a Trump rally in Miami, Florida • November 6, 2022
Donald Trump Jr. has called out Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky for his recent crackdown on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. A vocal critic of the Biden administration's Ukraine policy, Trump Jr. jokingly suggested that the government "send him another $100 billion with no accountability."

Zelensky announced on Thursday that Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council had instructed the Ukrainian government to ban Moscow-affiliated religious organizations. This ban will mainly target the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the country's largest religious organization, which is linked to the Moscow Patriarchate.
Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, raided at least eight religious sites on Friday. Zelensky said that a number of religious officials would be personally sanctioned, while the government would consider seizing the property of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Kiev, after the SBU arrested a number of priests there and charged them with "glorifying Russia."

Comment: See also:

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Mail

GOP's Stefanik says Postal Service stole $20K in donor checks from mail

Carl Campanile
New York Post
Fri, 02 Dec 2022 12:51 UTC
stefanik tampered package
© Elise Stefanik for CongressRep. Elise Stefanik accuses the Postal Service of ripping open her mail and stealing $20,000 worth of campaign checks.
Upstate New York Rep. Elise Stefanik says US Postal Service workers tore open her campaign mail and stole $20,000 in campaign checks — while also leaving donors exposed to potential identity theft or fraud.

Stefanik, the powerful House Republican Conference chairwoman, made the stunning claim in a Thursday letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

The congresswoman's office also provided The Post with photographic evidence — obtained from the Postal Service — of mail from donors being ransacked, including a torn check from one contributor.

Comment: It's rather telling that the mail theft appears to be targeted. After her "blowout win" against Liz Cheney, it's likely she's made some enemies.

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Folder

DOJ probed Tara Reade's Twitter after she issued allegations about Joe Biden's sexual harassment, docs show

Diana Glebova
Daily Caller
Fri, 02 Dec 2022 15:55 UTC
tara reade
The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a subpoena probing Twitter for information on Tara Reade's accounts in 2020 months after she issued allegations about being sexually assaulted by President Joe Biden in 1993, documents obtained by the Daily Caller show.

The DOJ asked Twitter to testify before a grand jury on Dec. 16 of 2020 and provide "all subscriber information" from Reade's accounts, according to emails and subpoena documents obtained by the Caller.

The subpoena shows that Twitter was asked to provide information on two of Reade's Twitter accounts, including @ReadeAlexandra and @TaraMcCabe.

Comment: See also:

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Pirates

US Senators with unlimited sick days vote down paid leave for railway workers, strike action looms

Zoe Strozewski
Newsweek
Thu, 01 Dec 2022 15:59 UTC
Charles Schumer
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesSenate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) walks into a closed-door policy luncheon with Senate Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on December 01, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Senate voted against a measure on Thursday that would have provided rail workers with seven paid days of sick leave as Congress intervenes in an effort to prevent a potential nationwide rail strike.
The Senate voted against a measure on Thursday that would have provided rail workers with seven paid days of sick leave as Congress, members of which notably do not have paid sick day limits, intervenes in an effort to prevent a potential nationwide rail strike.

Though a slight majority of senators, 52, did vote in favor of the measure, it failed to reach the 60-vote threshold it would have needed in order to pass. Forty-three senators voted against it.

The House did manage to pass the sick leave measure on Wednesday in a 221-207 vote. All Democrats voted in the affirmative and were joined by three Republicans: Representatives Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and John Katko of New York.
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Better Earth

NATO expands but original anti-Russia mission is static 73 years on


Strategic Culture Foundation
Fri, 02 Dec 2022 00:00 UTC
NATO thumbs
© Evelyn Hockstein/AFP/Getty Images
The organization is the heir to the throne that was vacated after Nazi Germany's defeat.

The foreign ministers of the NATO military alliance met this week for a summit in the Romanian capital Bucharest for what was a celebration of the bloc's expansion. The anti-Russia rhetoric and hostility were also effervescent. "Russia does not have a veto," crowed the delegates who swore to "not back down" in supplying even more deadly weaponry to Ukraine in order to strike Russia's heartlands.

It's astounding how such ghoulish warmongering can be projected as upholding international law, democracy and human rights.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed in 1949 and arguably marked the initiation of the Cold War when the world was demarcated into a U.S.-led camp and the Soviet Union. Remarkably, only four years prior, those nations were declared allies in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Thus, within a metaphorical blink of an eye, the Soviet Union would be designated as the "new enemy". And that was even while the Soviet people were still grieving up to 30 million killed during the war against the Nazi Third Reich. The bloodlust is shocking but revealing.
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