Puppet MastersS


Attention

The Totalitarian Moment: Woke Dems are establishing 'social justice' despotism

Philip Giraldi
The Unz Review
Tue, 21 Dec 2021 00:00 UTC
Stryker Boot
© ALG Research/WWNorton/KJNPollster Bryan Stryker • NYT journalist Max Boot
The Democrats have held the presidency and a majority of both houses of Congress for only eleven months, but they have already put their stamp on the transformation of the United States from top to bottom. In reaction to those cascading accusations of "domestic terrorism," many Americans are beginning to believe that the country is literally coming apart, with little in the way of a binding national spirit or sense of purpose. And the heavy hand that is being wielded to impose a revolution in areas like education and health mandates raises concerns that much worse is to come over the next three years.

That the country is in deep trouble is a view that I have come to share and each morning has become a chore to get up out of bed and scan through the news service headlines that had accumulated since the night before. I sometimes notice that there is more space given to reviews of television shows, the doings of "celebrities," and sporting events than to the more serious issues that confront the American people. One might suspect that most readers don't really care about the state of the nation, but I rather think that what we are seeing is a deliberate and all-encompassing media driven propaganda campaign designed to deliver bread and circuses while also reducing the choices that people are able to make in many of the aspects of their daily lives.
Read More...
Chess

Manufacturing contempt for Assange: How the media made Wikileaks founder into a scapegoat

Lowkey Lowkey
MintPress News
Thu, 16 Dec 2021 04:59 UTC
Watchdog/Assange
© Unknown
The High Court in London has upheld the U.S. government's appeal to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a key step towards his rendition to the United States. The Australian publisher faces up to 175 years in prison once he sets foot on American soil.

Whether he ever makes it to the United States is still in question. His legal team has indicated they will challenge the ruling, which will inevitably draw out court proceedings and prolong his stay inside Belmarsh Prison. Also of note is the 50-year-old's health. This weekend, it was revealed that he had suffered a stroke in October as a result of the stress of the trial.

Two individuals who have been closely monitoring the Assange trial are Pablo Navarette and John McEvoy. Pablo is a British-Chilean filmmaker and the founder of Alborada magazine, an outlet concentrating on Latin American politics. John is an investigative journalist whose work documents the impact of the British national security state on public life. In November, the pair published an article entitled '"A Lot of Mistakes": The Guardian and Julian Assange,' which can be read on MintPress News. Today, they discussed the role that The Guardian, and the mainstream press more generally, have played in persecuting him.

Read More...
Gingerbread

No new Covid restrictions before Christmas, Boris Johnson confirms

Peter Walker
The Guardian
Tue, 21 Dec 2021 19:05 UTC
Johnson
© screenshotBoris Johnson: No new restrictions before Christmas
Christmas will go ahead without any curbs on socialising, Boris Johnson has confirmed, prompting warnings this could lead to tougher measures later despite tentative signs that cases have begun to plateau.

The prime minister said he understood that families across England needed certainty to press ahead with Christmas plans but warned curbs could still be imposed after 25 December because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

From today, the Covid self-isolation period in England will be cut from 10 days to seven for vaccinated and unvaccinated people in a move that could also help save Christmas for tens of thousands of people if they get the all-clear from lateral flow tests on days six and seven, the government announced. However, those who are not fully vaccinated will still have to isolate for the full 10 days if they are a close contact of someone who has tested positive.

The Christmas decision, which follows deep splits within the cabinet, was in contrast to moves by the Scottish and Welsh governments on Tuesday. Scotland cancelled Hogmanay street parties for tens of thousands of people, Wales announced £60 fines for employees who refuse to work from home, and both countries said sporting events would be held behind closed doors. Nicola Sturgeon had previously urged indoor mixing to be limited to three households either side of Christmas Day.

Labour said that while the news about Christmas in England would be a relief to many, Johnson now appeared to be "too weak" to push any new restrictions through his cabinet if they were needed.
Read More...
Target

Pentagon's new extremism rules extend to 'likes' reports


RT
Mon, 20 Dec 2021 21:11 UTC
Boots lineup
© US Air Force/Senior Airman Brittany Y. Auld Flickr/Dvidshub
The US military has updated its "extremism" policy, allowing commanders to punish service members for "actively participating" in banned activities - from supporting terrorism to liking a post deemed extremist on social media.

The new rules were rolled out on Monday, Department of Defense officials told AP, though the official document has not been made publicly available yet. It is the first update to the extremism policy since 2012.

The update focuses "exclusively on actions" as opposed to "any particular ideology or any political organization," one DOD official told reporters at a background briefing:
That means the prohibition on "participation" in groups that advocate any kind of "supremacist, extremist, or criminal gang doctrine, ideology, or causes" remains in effect, as well as groups that "advocate the use of force, violence, or criminal activity; or otherwise engage in efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights."
What's new is the definition of six broad categories of "extremist activities" and 14 definitions of what constitutes "active participation" in them. Under the new rules, a commander can penalize a service member if they actively participated in behavior that fits the definition of extremism.

Comment: Suppression 'doubles down' to match oppression's 'rising tyranny'.

Read More...
Bad Guys

US proxy war against Russia in Ukraine: The Afghanistan-Syria redux option

Finian Cunningham
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 18 Dec 2021 00:00 UTC
zelensky
© Public domain
The escalation of violence by the Kiev regime with U.S. and NATO support means that there is a directive from Washington for widening the war.

The United States is planning to redouble its weapons supply to Ukraine. What is shaping up is an intensified proxy war against Russia in which the Russophobic Kiev regime acts as Washington's catspaw. The objective is to debilitate Russia in the same way the U.S. sapped the Soviet Union with a quagmire war in Afghanistan during the 1980s.

U.S. media reports cite Pentagon and Ukrainian officials saying that the Biden administration is considering a massive increase in armaments to the Kiev regime. This is on top of the $2.5 billion in military support that Washington has already given over the past eight years. The Biden administration has overseen $450 million in weaponry to Ukraine this year alone with a further $300 million budgeted for the coming 12 months. A separate proposal going through the Senate is seeking to boost military support for next year by another $450 million.

What gives added significance to this weapons pipeline is where they are being sourced. U.S. media reports say the arms are from inventories the Pentagon had allocated for the American-backed army in Afghanistan before it collapsed with the sudden Taliban victory in August. The weapons include Black Hawk helicopters and anti-armor munitions.
Read More...
Light Saber

Navy SEALs stand up to Biden - File lawsuit over decision to implement vax mandate

Jonathan Davis
Conservative Brief
Tue, 21 Dec 2021 17:47 UTC
ted cruz navy seals vaccine mandate religious exemption
© AP Photo / Patrick SemanskyA group of 47 Republicans, led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, have penned an amicus brief backing a federal lawsuit brought by 26 Navy SEALS and 9 special operations crewmembers requesting a religious exemption to the Biden administration's vaccine mandate.
GOP lawmakers join legal challenge claiming unconstitutional action against religious liberty

Several Republican lawmakers have filed a "friend of the court" brief in support of a group of U.S. Navy SEALs who have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the service branch and the military in general.

"My colleagues and I filed an amicus brief in U.S. Navy Seals v. Biden in support of 26 service members with religious objections to Biden's vaccine mandate. Religious freedom is fundamental to every American's liberty," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, noted on Twitter, with a link to a statement posted to his Senate website.

Comment: Cruz further posted

The more conspiracy-minded might wonder if the military is looking to weed out those who can think for themselves. Not congenial to the new woke ethos.

Read More...
Stormtrooper

Biden's Praetorian Guard: Why is the FBI investigating one missing diary in a sea of smash and grabs?

Jonathan Turley
The Hill
Wed, 22 Dec 2021 17:19 UTC
ashley biden diary
Ashley Biden
With smash and grabs raging across the country, prosecutors have struggled to assure the public that they are cracking down on the crime wave and using every possible means to deter the organized thefts. One group notably missing in this effort has been the federal prosecutors.

While Attorney General Merrick Garland was criticized for launching a federal task force on threats against school boards (based on a handful of local cases), he has been largely silent on any federal effort to deal with this actual crime wave. That is despite the fact that these attacks are organized on social media and experts think it's likely the stolen items are being sold on the internet. That is all interstate conduct and would allow for federal enforcement.

There is, however, one allegedly stolen item that did bring a full-scale FBI investigation: the missing diary of Ashley Biden, daughter of President Joe Biden.

Comment:

Read More...
Arrow Up

Russia could tighten laws after prison torture scandal, includes increased sentencing


RT
Tue, 21 Dec 2021 15:49 UTC
russia prison
© RIA / Anton DenisovFILE PHOTO.
Lawmakers in Russia's parliament have proposed a bill that would send penitentiary officials convicted of torture to jail, following revelations of horrific abuse being inflicted on inmates in the Saratov region.

Andrey Klishas and Pavel Krasheninnikov, members of the governing United Russia party, submitted a draft of the legislation to the Duma, the lower house of parliament, on Monday. "The facts that have come to light about the cruel torture used on inmates in the Federal Penitentiary Service have raised widespread public concern, and cannot go without attention from lawmakers," Krasheninnikov commented.

The draft includes a detailed definition of torture in accordance with the UN's 1984 "Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment." This definition includes abuse committed with the stated goal of intimidating subjects so as to more easily control them.

Comment: Not to detract from Russia's obvious failings, but it is curious that these scandals have exposed a prison in Russia, and one in Iran, however there's been no high profile leaks exposing prison conditions in the West:

Read More...
Pirates

Japan to pay $9 BILLION to host US troops under new 5 year deal


Kyodo News
Tue, 21 Dec 2021 23:02 UTC
japan us military
© KyodoThe Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Marine Corps conduct joint exercise at Ojojihara maneuver area in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Dec. 8, 2021.
Japan's government said Tuesday it will increase its financial support for U.S. forces stationed in the country to 1.05 trillion yen ($9.2 billion) under a new five-year agreement starting in fiscal 2022, up 75 billion yen from the previous deal.

Raising the sum from the total of 980.1 billion yen for the five years through fiscal 2020 that ended in March, Japan's latest agreement with the United States means that Tokyo's so-called host nation support will average out at 211 billion yen per year.

The increase will be used to beef up cooperation under their long-standing security alliance amid China's growing military clout.


Comment: There's no reason to believe China would launch any aggressive military action against Japan, instead this seems to be the latest move by the US to lean on its vassal states in its failing attempts to contain China.


Comment: See also: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Why You Should Question Media Reports About China 'Causing Covid' And 'Invading Taiwan'



Read More...
Camcorder

'I was very close to going the other way': Candace Owens asks Trump why he didn't pardon Assange, Snowden

Amanda Prestigiacomo
The Daily Wire
Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:01 UTC
candace owens donald trump
© The Daily Wire
Former President Donald Trump told Candace Owens in an exclusive interview for The Daily Wire's "Candace" that he was "very close to going the other way" on issuing a pardon for either Julian Assange or Edward Snowden.

Owens asked the former president about pardons for Assange or Snowden, amongst a host of other questions, during an in-depth conversation, airing December 21 on Daily Wire, exclusively for Daily Wire members.

"You could have had a chance to pardon these individuals," Owens said of Assange and Snowden. "Why decide not to in that moment?"

Comment: Kind of a cop-out answer on Trump's part. If Candace was worth her salt as an journalist, she would go after him for that. It seems unlikely that she did, however, because if she had, that would be the clip we'd be seeing as a promo for the interview. We await more news...

See also:

Read More...