Puppet MastersS


Arrow Down

Putin's Quid: No offensive missiles in 'ABM' sites

Ray McGovern
AntiWar.com
Fri, 07 Jan 2022 00:00 UTC
Biden Putin
© epa/New Statesman/KJNUS President Joe Biden • Russian President Vladimir Putin
Take heart, most of you who fear war rather than profit from it. You would not know it amid the gloom and doom about "another Russian invasion" of Ukraine, but diplomacy - not war - is about to break out this month.

As senior U.S. and Russian negotiators begin talks early next week in Geneva, the makings of a first-step-in-the-right-direction deal are already at hand. And for this we can thank Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin for serious, attentive, one-to-one conversations in the past several weeks.

You don't need a degree in Kremlinology or tea leaves to understand how this came about and what led to the Biden-Putin talks: in one key respect the second (Dec. 7, virtual) was a carbon copy of the first (June 16 in Geneva).

Both came at Biden's initiative, after Russia moved tens of thousands of troops near the border with Ukraine ready to stave off, or respond to, Ukrainian government threats to take back the Donbass and Crimea. By April 2021, things had come to a head, culminating in President Biden's strange call to President Putin on April 13. (It is a safe guess that it was Putin who called first and left a "voicemail" saying: "Your unleashed Ukrainians and the American crazies abetting them are playing with fire; please call me - and quickly").
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Handcuffs

Biden conceals number of illegal aliens arrested, deported in 2021 after imposing 'sanctuary country' orders

John Binder
Breitbart
Thu, 06 Jan 2022 00:00 UTC
Biden/ICE Arrest
© Johannes Eisele/Getty /AFP/AP/ICE/KJNUS President Joe Biden • ICE arrest
President Joe Biden's administration is seemingly concealing the number of illegal aliens arrested and deported from the United States over the last 12 months. At the end of each year, for more than a decade, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency releases a report detailing the number of illegal aliens arrested and deported from the U.S. in the prior Fiscal Year.

In 2020, former President Trump's last full year in office, the annual year-end ICE report revealed that more than 104,000 illegal aliens, including nearly 700 MS-13 Gang members, had been arrested despite the Chinese coronavirus crisis and close to 200,000 illegal aliens were deported from the U.S., including 4,200 gang members.

As of January 6, ICE has yet to release its annual report for Fiscal Year 2021.

Former ICE official Jon Feere, with the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News' Adam Shaw that he suspects the annual report is being withheld to manipulate arrest and deportation data, making it difficult to compare to prior years.

Comment: When crime starts at the top, it trickles.

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Attention

What I got wrong about Julian Assange

Dean Yates
Consortium News
Fri, 07 Jan 2022 00:00 UTC
Assange
© UnknownJulian Assange
I wrote a piece for Australian online publisher Crikey just before Julian Assange's extradition hearings resumed in September 2020 in which I regurgitated a slur that has done enormous harm to his reputation.

Australian journalists should stop using the WikiLeaks treasure trove in their stories if they wouldn't speak up for Assange, I'd written. Journalists like to think they'd go to jail to protect a source. Well, their source was suffering in London's high-security Belmarsh prison, I said.

The problem was I also wrote that Assange dumped the Iraq and Afghan war logs on the internet without redacting names. I was wrong and lazy in repeating that slur which appeared whenever you Googled Assange's name. That must make it true, right? Two of Assange's well-known Australian supporters tried to correct me. To my shame, I brushed them off.

Their overtures nagging at the back of my mind, I recently did what I should have done at the time: read the submissions Assange's legal team made at his extradition hearings and transcripts of witness testimony. I soon realized how mistaken I was.

Why should anyone listen to me?
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Propaganda

The Toronto Star calls for massive violations of Charter rights

John Carpay
The Post Millennial
Thu, 06 Jan 2022 12:13 UTC
Toronto Star
© Toronto Star/Deadline/KJNToronto Star front page • August 26, 2020
In an editorial dated December 20, 2021 the Toronto Star argues that
"refusing to get vaccinated (other than for religious or health reasons) is a willful, selfish, anti-social act that can no longer be condoned," and asks "is it time for our political leaders to make vaccination against COVID-19 the law?"
The Star asserts the following as "irrefutable" facts:
  • The government of Canada has declared COVID vaccines safe.
  • Vaccines reduce the risk of death from COVID and lower the burden on doctors and nurses holding our health care system together.
  • If you are not vaccinated, you put yourself at risk and intentionally burden the health care system supporting your family, friends, and colleagues.
  • When our hospital critical care units become overwhelmed with COVID care, they can no longer function to treat other diseases, injuries, and accidents.
  • With hospitals overwhelmed, our government will mandate forced lockdowns, resulting in social isolation that has been shown to contribute to increased drug overdoses, suicides, and spousal abuse.
It is certainly true that "the government of Canada has declared COVID vaccines to be safe" but government declarations do not create reality. In the 1940s, governments authorized the widespread spraying of the "safe" insecticide DDT on people, in a sincere effort to "save lives" from polio, but DDT was banned in the 1970s as dangerous to public health.

Comment: The Star is merely one twinkle in a whole galaxy of MSM tools. We don't have to read it.

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Bad Guys

NATO rules out any halt to expansion, essentially rejecting Russia's deescalation proposal

Lorne Cook
Military
Fri, 07 Jan 2022 12:00 UTC
Stoltenberg NATO
© AP Photo/Olivier MatthysNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference after an extraordinary meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs via video link at NATO headquarters, in Brussels, Friday, Jan. 7, 2022.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday ruled out any halt to the continued expansion of the military organization to address Russian security concerns, rejecting a key part of President Vladimir Putin's demands for easing tensions with Ukraine.

"We will not compromise on core principles, including the right for every nation to decide its own path, including what kind of security arrangements it wants to be a part of," Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels after an extraordinary meeting of NATO foreign ministers.


Comment: Except this 'right for every nation to decide it's own path' has been repeatedly violated by the US & NATO, such as their wars of aggression against Serbia, Afghanistan, and Libya.


U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts held online talks to prepare for the first meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in more than two years. The meeting, set for Wednesday in Brussels, will give NATO ambassadors the chance to discuss Putin's security proposals with Russia's envoy face to face.

Comment: Meanwhile the usual suspects seem to be trying to get at Russia by other means: Steppe on Fire: Kazakhstan's Color Revolution

See also:

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Attention

Kazakh crisis: Order 'mainly restored,' dozens killed & Baikonur terror threat level raised - ex-security chief arrested on high treason


RT
Sat, 08 Jan 2022 19:33 UTC
Kyrgyzstan's peacekeepers
© APKyrgyzstan's peacekeepers are set to fly to Kazakhstan on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022.
Constitutional order was "mainly restored" in Kazakhstan on Friday, according to president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. However, the unrest is seemingly far from over, with almost 4,000 people detained and dozens killed.

Mass protests began on January 2, prompted by public discontent with a sharp increase in prices for liquefied petroleum gas. The tensions quickly spread, turning violent in some places, including the largest city, former capital Almaty.

Security forces back 'in control'

President Tokayev claimed on Friday morning that the country's security forces had managed to largely restore constitutional order in all the regions with local authorities now back on top of the situation. The state of emergency will now therefore be gradually lifted, the president said.

Use of lethal force authorized

The use of lethal force was also authorized by Tokayev, who announced the launch of an anti-terrorist operation and dismissed the notion of negotiating with "bandits and terrorists" as "nonsense". Law enforcement and the military are now allowed to "shoot to kill without warning."

Comment: Tokayev offered the following narrative for recent events:
Tokayev presented a timeline of the crisis, taking to Twitter with a large English-language thread late on Friday. Tokayev said he promptly addressed the initial demand of protesters, who were angered by a sharp hike in liquefied petroleum gas prices. He instructed the government "to regulate the price" on January 2 - effectively as soon as the protests took off.

"Regretfully, the protests in several regions of Kazakhstan and Almaty led to escalation of violence. Therefore, I decided to fire the government and imposed a nationwide curfew," he added.

This move also failed to stop the unrest, as "the protests led to further escalation of violence all over the country," Tokayev admitted. The president reiterated his earlier claims that the chaos was a result of "an armed act of aggression, well prepared and coordinated by perpetrators and terrorist groups trained outside the country."

Tokayev claimed that as many as 20,000 "gangsters and terrorists" were involved in the violence, with the country's largest city of Almaty enduring "at least six waves of attacks of terrorists." The rioters were "very well trained, organized and commanded by the special center," the president alleged, claiming that some of them were apparently foreigners "speaking non-Kazakh languages."

Tokayev reiterated his resolve to "neutralize" the "terrorists and gangsters" behind the unrest. Earlier in the day, he said no dialogue was possible with those who refuse to lay down arms, authorizing law enforcement to open fire on rioters without warning.

"They were beating and killing policemen and young soldiers, [setting] fire [to] administrative buildings, looting private premises and shops, secular citizens, raping young women," he claimed. "In my basic view: No talks with the terrorists, we must kill them."
For Kazakh security chief Karim Masimov, a close ally of ex-leader Nazarbayev, was arrested this week on suspicion of "high treason."
The KNB had launched a pre-trial investigation on January 6, it said in a statement, adding that its former chairman, Masimov, and others had been arrested and placed in pre-trial detention on the same day. The agency provided no further details on the case, citing the ongoing investigation.

A veteran politician, Masimov, had served as the head of the KNB from 2016 almost until his detention. He was sacked by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on January 5, amid an outbreak of violence in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, where rioters stormed and ransacked government buildings and set them on fire.
Amid rumors that Nazarbayev fled the country during the riots, his spokesman claims he is still in the capital. He has reportedly been holding "consultations" with Tokayev.

An RT was embedded with the Russian troops deployed to Kazakhstan as part of the CSTO mission:

In Almaty, RT freelance reporter Stanislav Obishchenko was detained by Kazakh military while trying to report on the ongoing protests.

For a broad analysis of the situation, including its background and geopolitics, see this Twitter thread by Clint Ehrlich.

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Russian Flag

Moscow smacks Blinken for 'Russians in your house' comments


RT
Sat, 08 Jan 2022 17:46 UTC
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken
The US secretary of state receives a sharp rebuke to his 'history lesson'

Russia's Foreign Ministry has denounced remarks by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Moscow's involvement in Kazakhstan, telling Washington it would know better about arriving somewhere uninvited and overstaying its welcome.

Asked about ongoing protests and rioting across Kazakhstan during a Friday press briefing, Blinken argued the situation there is distinct from brewing tensions over another Russian neighbor, Ukraine, but claimed that Moscow might have ulterior motives in spearheading a joint security response to quell the violence.

"I think one lesson in recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave," he said at the tail-end of the press conference, offering no elaboration.

Comment: Twitter was happy to join in:



U.S. military presence has been a sore spot for decades:



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Sherlock

'Russian submarine' hit British warship in Arctic circle, 13 months ago, claims UK MOD


RT
Sat, 08 Jan 2022 10:57 UTC
Royal Navy's HMS Northumberland
© AFP / Glyn KirkFILE PHOTO: The Royal Navy's HMS Northumberland. The moment a UK warship's underwater sonar was allegedly hit is said to have been caught on camera
A towed sonar array of the Royal Navy's HMS Northumberland was hit by a Russian submarine 13 months ago, the UK Ministry of Defence has claimed, after British media reported the incident was captured by a documentary film crew.

"In late 2020, a Russian submarine being tracked by HMS Northumberland came into contact with her towed array sonar," a Ministry of Defence spokesman alleged, in a rare comment on UK Navy operations. The collision reportedly damaged the sonar - a large tube filled with sensitive equipment that the ship was towing underwater hundreds of meters behind it.

HMS Northumberland was scouting for the "hunter-killer" submarine in the Arctic Circle, some 200 miles north of Scotland, when it disappeared from the ship's radar. The British MoD did not provide any details to prove it was indeed a Russian undersea vessel, and Russian authorities have not commented on the incident.

Comment: See also:

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House

Prince Andrew selling $24M Swiss chalet to foot legal bills, accuser reportedly refuses settlement

Michael Robison
Timcast
Fri, 07 Jan 2022 00:01 UTC
prince andrew swiss chalet
Andrew is in need of the funds to pay his team of lawyers as they battle the accusations made by Epstein victim Virginia Guiffre.

Prince Andrew is selling his luxury Swiss Chalet in Verbier, Switzerland, to cover mounting legal bills in the sexual assault case filed by Virginia Guiffre in New York City.

According to the British paper, The Mirror, Prince Andrew is selling the luxurious property because the Queen will not pay his legal fees related to the case.

Andrew bought Chalet Helora, in the Swiss resort of Verbier, with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson for an estimated $23 million in 2014. Late last year, it was discovered that he was selling the property.

Comment: See also:

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Eye 2

Rex Murphy: Justin Trudeau's blind hatred of anti-vaxxers

Rex Murphy
National Post
Wed, 05 Jan 2022 06:35 UTC
Justin Trudeau
© Patrick Doyle/ReutersPrime Minister Justin Trudeau reacts after receiving his booster injection of a coronavirus vaccine at a pharmacy in Ottawa, on Jan. 4.
It is never right for the leader of a country to launch a furious invective against an entire subset of citizens. It is certainly never right to do so with the full force and blatant contempt that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put on display during last fall's election.

That was when Trudeau launched a strident, angry, ugly fusillade against "anti-vaxxers" in a French-language TV interview that has now caught the attention of English media. In it, he painted "these people," the anti-vaxxers, as "often" being women-haters, racists and science-deniers, as well.

Wow! A nasty crew those anti-vaxxers. Out of mercy, I presume, the righteous Justin Trudeau didn't throw in the rest of the story: that most anti-vaxxers have big, unsightly lumps on the back of their heads, use kittens as door stops and (gasp) don't recycle. Should we "tolerate them?" he asked, rhetorically.

Follow the train of thought. They may be a fringe group, but that's of no account because (dire peals from the organ loft) they are "a small group that muscles in." Insidious bastards, those anti-vaxxers, and cute. Whatever else, there's a troubled vision of the power of anti-vaxxers in the prime ministerial cranium.
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