Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

Best of the Web: The Kurdish project in Syria would be a 'new Israel' in the Middle East

Eva Bartlett
RT
Thu, 02 Dec 2021 17:30 UTC
YPG kurds syria soldiers
© REUTERS / Rodi SaidKurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) take part in a military parade as they celebrate victory over the Islamic state, in Qamishli, Syria March 28, 2019.
Syrians accuse the Western-backed Kurdish enclave in the country of using ethnic cleansing and child soldiers against them to form a new anti-Arab state. The parallels with Israel's creation in the 1940s are striking.

Kurdish forces in Syria have been lauded by many in the West as being fighters for freedom and an autonomous society. But, unless you've been following independent researchers and the Syrian media, you might be unaware of the crimes the US-backed group have been committing over a number of years.

On November 25, the Daily Sabah (a website not sympathetic to the Syrian government) reported on one of their most sickening practices. It revealed,
"YPG/PKK terrorists detained three more 15-year-old girls - Hediyye Abdurrahim Anter, Evin Jalal Halil and Ayana Idris Ibrahim - in Amuda in Hassakeh province on Nov. 21 to forcibly recruit them as 'child fighters.' The terror group detained two children, aged 13 and 16, in early August. And two children aged 16 and 13 were kidnapped Aug. 23."

Comment: It is shameful how the Kurdish leadership has repaid Syria for its protection and hospitality. Syria is the only country that has been a consistent friend to the Kurds, yet they have thrown in with the Empire, in a mistaken belief that they will thereby achieve autonomy.

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MIB

The US won't admit it spied on Julian Assange

Lucas Ropek
Gizmodo
Mon, 29 Nov 2021 17:15 UTC
assange surveillance photos embassy
© El PaisCamera angles spying on Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
A new report from Yahoo's Michael Isikoff alleges that the US hasn't been super helpful to Spain as it attempts to investigate whether a local security firm spied on Julian Assange at the behest of the CIA.

The notorious hacktivist's lawyers have accused Spanish security firm Undercover Global (UC Global) of being in cahoots with the CIA, alleging the spy agency used the security firm to surveil Assange while he was holed up at London's Ecuadorian embassy (Assange lived in the embassy from 2012 until 2019 after losing an extradition battle with Sweden regarding a sexual misconduct case).

UC Global was hired by the Ecuadorian government to provide security for its London embassy but the firm's employees allegedly engaged in a number of shady and likely illegal practices to keep tabs on Assange, including installing a series of secret cameras and microphones to monitor his interactions with embassy visitors.

Comment: One would think so: Is alleged CIA misbehavior grounds to set Julian Assange free?

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Bad Guys

Under cloud of 'scandal', former Austrian Chancellor Kurz announces he's leaving politics altogether


Sputnik
Fri, 03 Dec 2021 16:39 UTC

Comment: Why did he leave, really?


Sebastian kurz
© REUTERS / LEONHARD FOEGER
On 9 October, chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that he would step down amid an investigation by the anti-corruption prosecutor's office against him.

Former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced he was quitting politics.

"It's a new chapter in my life that opens today," he told reporters in Vienna, saying he wanted to devote time to his family.


Comment: Notably, Australia's health minister, who has presided over some of the most draconian lockdown restrictions on the planet, also resigned recently claiming that he wanted to finally 'be a proper dad'.


He would hand over the office of party chairman of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) as well as the parliamentary group leader, Kurz said. The decision was not easy for him, he added. But he doesn't feel sad. Developments over the past few months have also contributed to the decision.

"I look forward to the day when I can prove in court that the charges against me are untrue," Austria's ex-chancellor stressed.

Comment: The establishment clearly does not want Kurz in politics, because this latest incident calls to mind the scandal in 2019 that essentially collapsed his government, and that had all the hallmarks of a deep state job: NATO 'Deep State' and Israeli interests both served by the collapse of the Austrian government

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Arrow Down

Austerity anyone? IMF warns of "economic collapse" for very poor countries unless G20 creditors agree to accelerate "debt restructurings"

Michael Every
RaboBank
Thu, 02 Dec 2021 00:00 UTC
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva
"Economic Collapse" you say?

The IMF are warning of "economic collapse", which should get headlines. Not because the IMF have any kind of track record of being timely or right about anything, but because the Fund so rarely says anything negative for fear of being seen as precipitating the crises which the policies it imposes always end up creating anyway. Besides a total lack of surprise on first seeing the headline, my initial thought was "Yes, but where?" There are so many candidates as:

Comment: Watch the egregious austerity measures get doled out like so many toxic vaccines! The IMF is now infamous for this economic shock therapy - and it now looks like this nasty organization is about to lay it on thick. See also:

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Better Earth

'Let us alone': Gov. DeSantis moves to reestablish Florida State Guard to protect citizens against 'other state emergencies'

Kyle Becker
Becker News
Thu, 02 Dec 2021 00:00 UTC
DeSantis
Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking extra precautions to ensure the safety and security of Floridians against any unforeseen public emergencies. He is increasing funding for the Florida National Guard and seeking to reestablish the Florida State Guard.

The governor spoke at the Pensacola National Guard Armory on Thursday, where he announced his request of more than $100 million for the Florida National Guard's budget next year.

"The 20 military installations we have throughout Florida is an almost $100 billion impact supporting about 100 million jobs," DeSantis said. "I've been making some announcements of what's going to be in our budget, which we will roll out very soon. And I'm proud to say that this budget is going to have major investments to support Florida's National Guard, in fact we're recommending more than $100 million to support our national guard to ensure they have the means to carry out their missions, whether that be the federal functions that they can do overseas."

The governor also announced that he is seeking to reestablish the Florida State Guard to support the state's emergency efforts.


Comment: That's what we call real leadership: DeSantis (and some other state governors) have been - and continue to - effectively draw a red line with both words and action - against the tyrannical and totalitarian over-reach of the US Federal Government. We wish them continued success, inspiration and godspeed.

See also:

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Vader

Best of the Web: Germany announces de facto lockdown for the unvaccinated and considers compulsory jabs

Josh Salisbury
Evening Standard
Thu, 02 Dec 2021 08:28 UTC
Angela Merkel
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel announcing the measures.
Germany announced a de-facto lockdown for the unvaccinated on Thursday, which will bar them from most businesses and venues except grocery shops and pharmacies.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the measures were necessary in order to curb coronavirus infections that again topped 70,000 newly confirmed cases in a 24-hour period.
"The situation in our country is serious," Mrs Merkel told reporters in Berlin, calling the measure an "act of national solidarity".
The general vaccine mandate could come into force as early as February if approved by lawmakers.

Those who have proof of recent Covid recovery will not be affected by the measures, local media reports.


Comment: Papers, please. Is history itself repeating again?

Germany and Austria need to be careful this time around: to avoid allowing fascism and tyranny to become a disguise for a public care policy and thus, in the process, hijack the freedom and basic human rights of people.

Have we learned the lesson?

See also:

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Putin

Putin fits the needs of the US military-industrial complex for an "evil foreign enemy"

Danny Shaw
CovertAction Magazine
Fri, 26 Nov 2021 00:00 UTC
Putin
Putin is considered a threat because he restored Russian sovereignty, erased the humiliation of the Boris Yeltsin era, and championed Russia's national interests. But that is just what the U.S. elite could not tolerate.

The U.S. military-industrial complex needs enemies like human lungs need oxygen. When there are no enemies, they must be invented.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Pentagon spin doctors had to search for a new bogeyman to justify their immense $778 billion budget, and its crippling effect on the U.S. economy. If that meant creating a propaganda campaign to paint Panama President Manuel Noriega — a longtime CIA asset — as a mad-dog "threat to American democracy" in order to justify the 1989 invasion of Panama (whose dead have yet to all be counted 32 years later) — well, so be it.

Or if it meant that other CIA assets, like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, also had to be painted as dangerous threats to American democracy to justify the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, at the cost of countless Iraqi and Afghan lives, not to mention the lives of the thousands of gullible U.S. soldiers who served as cannon fodder — well, so be that, too.

But once those enemies were gone, a new one was needed. And almost as if on cue, the re-emergence of a strong, sovereign Russia in 1999 provided the ideal candidate. It also provided a perfect excuse to initiate a new Cold War, which would justify the ever-increasing expenditures for exotic weaponry that the military-industrial complex kept demanding from its bought-and-paid-for politicians in the White House and Congress.
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Pistol

Best of the Web: Prognosticator of prognosticators Jim Cramer wants nationwide vaccine mandate: 'Have the military run it'

Dominick Mastrangelo
The Hill
Tue, 30 Nov 2021 12:56 UTC

Comment: "Trump was a dictator, but it's not dictatorship when we dictate!"...


Jim Kramer
CNBC host Jim Cramer expressed outrage at Americans who have refused to get vaccinated against the coronavirus and suggested the White House consider creating a universal vaccine mandate for all people in the United States.

"So it's time to admit that we have to go to war against COVID," Cramer said on his long-running business program "Mad Money" on Monday. "Require vaccination universally. Have the military run it. If you don't want to get vaccinated, you better be ready to prove your conscientious objector status in court."

President Biden has not suggested a nationwide vaccine mandate but on Monday assured Americans that the best way to protect themselves and others from all variants of the coronavirus is to receiver a full vaccination course and a booster shot.


Comment: Needless to say, Jim Cramer is a shill and a total tool for corporate-fascist-totalitarian interests - with little to no concern for the welfare of anyone who doesn't give him a paycheck to spout such harmful drivel. No doubt we will be hearing more such mouthpieces lay the coercion and fear-mongering on in the coming months.

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MIB

Best of the Web: CIA Files Say Staffers Committed Sex Crimes Involving Children. They Weren't Prosecuted

Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier
Buzzfeed
Wed, 01 Dec 2021 21:24 UTC
cia child sex crimes
© Anthony Gerace for BuzzFeed News
Declassified CIA inspector general reports show a pattern of abuse and a repeated decision by federal prosecutors not to hold agency personnel accountable

Over the past 14 years, the Central Intelligence Agency has secretly amassed credible evidence that at least 10 of its employees and contractors committed sexual crimes involving children.

Though most of these cases were referred to US attorneys for prosecution, only one of the individuals was ever charged with a crime. Prosecutors sent the rest of the cases back to the CIA to handle internally, meaning few faced any consequences beyond the possible loss of their jobs and security clearances. That marks a striking deviation from how sex crimes involving children have been handled at other federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration. CIA insiders say the agency resists prosecution of its staff for fear the cases will reveal state secrets.

The revelations are contained in hundreds of internal agency reports obtained by BuzzFeed News through Freedom of Information Act lawsuits.
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Dominoes

Lavrov: Peace plan for Donbass is 'lost cause'

Layla Guest
RT
Thu, 02 Dec 2021 20:20 UTC
donbass shelling
© Sputnik / Maxim ZakharovBroken window panes as a result of shelling are seen in a house on the contact line in the village of Zolotoye, Luhansk Region, Eastern Ukraine
Kiev is making the prospect of a peace deal in the east of Ukraine increasingly difficult, Moscow has warned, as Washington urges the Eastern European country to implement a previously agreed deal to bring an end to the conflict.

Addressing senators during a 'government hour' session on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blasted the neighboring nation as "a lost cause."

According to him, authorities in Kiev are "becoming more and more insolent... with its aggressiveness towards the Minsk agreements, towards Russia, and in its attempts to provoke the West into supporting its militant aspirations."
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