Puppet MastersS


Attention

Britain has lost control of its borders - home secretary


RT
Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:58 UTC
Mahmood
© Ian Forsyth/Getty ImagesUK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood
British authorities are losing control over the country's borders amid soaring illegal immigration, according to UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

The cabinet official is expected to deliver the warning at a summit with Balkan interior ministers in London on Wednesday, which will be focused on curbing migrant flows to the UK.

According to the excerpts of her planned speech, which has already been published by several UK outlets, Mahmood will point out:
"The public rightly expect that their government will be able to determine who enters their country and who must leave. Today, in this country, that is not the case. The failure to bring order to our borders is eroding trust not just in us as political leaders... but in the credibility of the state itself."
Still, Mahmood stresses that the only way to rectify the issue is international cooperation, not "turn[ing] inwards," with one way being the creation of "return hubs" for migrants.

On Tuesday, she announced that the government would raise the English-language requirement for migrants from a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) to A-level proficiency.


Comment: Good one. They will be leaving in droves, warning their friends...

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Dollars

Wishful thinking: West must bankroll Ukraine 'for at least three years' - Polish FM


RT
Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:33 UTC
Radoslaw Sikorski
© Leon Neal / Getty ImagesPolish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, the Houses of Parliament in London, England, October 14, 2025.
Western nations should prepare to continue bankrolling Ukraine's war effort against Russia for at least three more years, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said during a visit to London.

Sikorski, a longtime advocate of hardline policies toward Moscow, made the remarks on Tuesday while discussing the so-called "drone wall" - a proposed European network of air defense and surveillance systems to counter alleged Russian threats. Speaking to reporters, he claimed that sustained Western aid could put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The Ukrainians are planning this war for three years, which is prudent," Sikorski said. "And we must convince Putin that we are ready to stay the course for at least those three years."

Comment: Sikorski is just reading from the EU script without a thinking brain. How they will come up with the money to support Ukraine for three more years is apparently of no concern while they watch their economies tank.

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Tank

Keeping up appearances: NATO keeps massive forward military presence on Russia's doorstep - defense minister


RT
Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:20 UTC
NATO troops
© Getty Images / Anadolu
NATO is keeping a large-scale military presence near Russia's borders, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov has said, pointing to what he called the bloc's increased training and reconnaissance activities.

Belousov made his remarks at a joint session of the Russian and Belarusian defense ministries on Wednesday. Cooperation between Moscow and Minsk remains a key factor in maintaining regional stability in light of the "openly hostile actions" of the West, he stated.

"The Alliance maintains a massive forward military presence on its eastern flank," Belousov said. "The total strength of NATO troops involved in the exercises held on its eastern flank amounted to roughly 60,000."
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HAL9000

Best of the Web: The Behavioral Architect

Eko
Eko Loves You
Tue, 14 Oct 2025 23:32 UTC
graphic silhouette figure red blocks lonely
How Nikita Bier spent a decade perfecting psychological control on teenagers — and now deploys it on everyone at X

"Rethink Democracy."

That was the tagline for Politify back in 2011. A Berkeley student project that went viral during the election. Four million users in one month. National media coverage. A feel-good story about using technology to help voters understand how policies would affect them.

Nikita Bier was 22 years old when he discovered something profound: Americans vote against their financial self-interest more than any other nation in the Western world.

Most people would see that as a problem to solve. A gap to bridge with better information and education.

Bier saw it as an opportunity to exploit.

Because what he actually learned from Politify wasn't just that voters are irrational. What he learned was that "rhetoric supersedes logic when systems are complex enough that ordinary citizens don't have hours to understand them."
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Star of David

Flashback Best of the Web: Following the money: Where does Israel's Qatargate scandal stand?

Bar Peleg
Haaretz
Thu, 15 May 2025 22:51 UTC
players israel qatar scandal
© Boaz Arad, Gideon Markovich, Moti Milrod, Facebook profile/Illustration: Aharon ErlichTop to bottom: Gil Birger, Jay Footlik, Eli Feldstein, Israel 'Srulik' Einhorn, Yonatan Urich
A former Mossad official, a businessman-turned-conduit, an Israeli-owned British firm, and a World Cup marketing campaign: all the routes through which Qatar tried to influence Israel's top office

Almost six months have passed since Haaretz exposed the connection between Qatar and close associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Dubbed the "train at the gate" case by the police - a wordplay on the Hebrew word for locomotive, katar - the affair only seems to keep expanding.

New angles and suspects have been emerging in the scandal, which reveals troubling ties between the Persian Gulf emirate and Israel's most powerful office. Here are the main points of the affair: the facts that have been permitted for publication, the suspects being investigated, the players involved and their connection to Netanyahu.

Some background:

Comment: The Israeli government appears shot-though with corruption. As they say, the fish rots from the head.

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Gavel

Ex-Trump national security adviser John Bolton indicted on charges of mishandling classified information

Caitlin Doornbos
NY Post
Thu, 16 Oct 2025 22:24 UTC
john bolton
© Getty ImagesJohn Bolton
A federal grand jury indicted former Trump national security adviser John Bolton Thursday on 18 counts of illegally hoarding or sending sensitive information — leaving the longtime pillar of the Republican foreign policy establishment facing decades in prison.

The indictment in Greenbelt, Md., federal court alleges that Bolton sent sensitive national security documents through a personal AOL email account and knowingly transmitted materials to outside contacts while serving in the first Trump administration.

The indictment alleges that Bolton, 76, used email and various messaging apps to send documents classified as high as "top secret" that revealed intelligence about future attacks, foreign adversaries and international relations.

At least some of the communications on his AOL account were exposed when a bad actor believed to have been linked to Iran hacked Bolton's email, according to the indictment.
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Smoking

EU 'is considering banning filter cigarettes and e-cigarettes'

Adam Pogrund
Daily Mail
Thu, 16 Oct 2025 22:19 UTC
giorgia meloni
The bill is unlikley to gain support in Italy, with prime minister Giorgia Meloni claiming she would probably kill someone if she had to give up cigarettes
The EU is considering banning filter cigarettes and e-cigarettes in a push to reduce tobacco use. A ban on the sale of cigarettes in shops, petrol stations and kiosks is also being weighed up.

A bill, drafted by the Council of the European Union, will be discussed at a World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting in November.

The draft resolution cites a report by a WHO study group 'on the regulation of tobacco products' which 'explicitly recommends banning filters to reduce the palatability and attractiveness of cigarettes,' Bild reports.

'A ban on the manufacture, import, distribution, and sale of filter cigarettes would make an important contribution to reducing tobacco consumption,' the bill adds.
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Folder

What are the Boris Files and what do they reveal about former PM's conduct?

Paul Lewis, Pippa Crerar
The Guardian
Mon, 08 Sep 2025 14:12 UTC
Boris J and files
© Guardian Design/Getty ImagesBoris Johnson • The leak will fuel calls for greater transparency
Leaked material from Johnson's private office raises serious questions relating to his time in No 10 and since he resigned.

The Boris Files are a trove of leaked data from the office of Boris Johnson, the former prime minister's private office. The data shines a spotlight on Johnson's commercial interests since he left Downing Street in September 2022.

It reveals how the former Conservative leader is using the relationships he forged in the UK's highest elected office to facilitate his personal enrichment. He appears to be doing so via his private office, which is subsidised by the public.

It raises a number of serious questions for the ex-PM. Has he broken "revolving door" rules that restrict post-ministerial jobs? Did he breach the ministerial code? Has he been misusing public funds for private gain?

The leak also contains documents from Johnson's time in office, raising questions about secret, undeclared meetings and potential breaches of Covid lockdown rules during the pandemic.

The Guardian is the only UK media organisation known to have viewed the Boris Files, and the first to have published stories based on the leak. Where did the trove come from? What does it contain? And how has the Guardian decided what should be made public?

Comment: The public not only has a right to know, it has a right to be reimbursed and request charges be filed if indeed compromised.

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Jet2

Russia's Su-35 deal gives Iran wings - but not backing

Gabriel Honrada
Asia Times
Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:00 UTC
Su-35
© X ScreengrabReports indicate Russia will supply Iran with its Su-35 fighter
Reported $6.5 billion Su-35 fighter deal reveals Russia's effort to arm a battered ally while avoiding Middle East entanglement.

In the wake of US and Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear program, Russia may be poised to supply Tehran with high-end fighter jets that could tilt the Middle East's airpower balance.

This month, multiple media outlets reported that leaked internal documents from Russia's state defense conglomerate Rostec and its subsidiary Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies (KRET) revealed a massive US$6.5 billion arms deal for Iran to acquire 48 Su-35 multirole fighter jets from Russia — potentially Moscow's largest export since its invasion of Ukraine.

The leaks, allegedly obtained by Ukrainian hackers, included over 300 Rostec files showing customer code "364" linked to Iran and specifying delivery between 2026 and 2028. Each jet is to be equipped with Khibiny-M electronic-warfare pods and Irbis-E radar, with assembly possibly occurring at Iran's Shahid Babayi Air Base near Isfahan under local supervision.

Comment: 'Strategic restraint' has its 'limitations' for good reasons.

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Attention

Britain plotting to drag EU into Ukraine-style degradation - FSB chief


RT
Thu, 16 Oct 2025 08:22 UTC
Bortnikov
© Aleksey Nikolskiy/SputnikFSB Director Aleksandr Bortnikov • Moscow, Russia • September 25, 2024
London is steering Brussels toward militarism and dictatorship under an anti-Russian agenda, Aleksandr Bortnikov claims.

The UK is deliberately pushing the EU toward militarism and internal decay, similar to what occurred in Ukraine, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Aleksandr Bortnikov has warned.

Speaking at an intergovernmental meeting of security chiefs in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Thursday, Bortnikov said Western elites are reacting to their declining global dominance through special operations designed to destabilize rivals and "establish total control over allies and dependent states."

He accused British intelligence of playing a leading role in this campaign, claiming London has been guiding Brussels' anti-Russian stance and obstructing diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
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