Puppet MastersS


Eye 1

SOTT Focus: State of Fear: How UK Govt. 'Used Covert Tactics' to Unnecessarily Terrify Public

Gordon Rayner
UK Telegraph
Sun, 04 Apr 2021 10:02 UTC
Boris Johnson, along with scientific advisers Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, have been accused of 'weaponising fear'
Boris Johnson, along with scientific advisers Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, have been accused of 'weaponising fear'
Government's 'psychological strategies' to manipulate unwitting public's behaviour may backfire and lead to long-term damage, experts claim.
Failures in the UK's pandemic response are not hard to identify, but on one front the Government's success is undeniable: persuading a fearful nation to stay locked indoors for much of the past year.

The daily diet of statistics on deaths, hospitalisations and Covid cases has been so effective that compliance with lockdown has gone far beyond what ministers expected.

But the problem with fear, as one behavioural scientist said on Friday, is that "you can't turn it on and off like a tap".

As the country prepares for the complete end of lockdown in June, there are far-reaching questions about how many people will return to the workplace, or to normality, and the consequences of that for the economy and for physical and mental health.
Boris Johnson pounds home the stay at home message at a Downing Street press conference
Boris Johnson pounds home the stay at home message at a Downing Street press conference
Whether frightening the public was a deliberate - or honest - tactic has become the subject of intense debate, and dozens of psychologists have now accused ministers of using "covert psychological strategies" to manipulate the public's behaviour.
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Attention

Crucial interview of Foreign Minister Lavrov - a must read!


The Saker
Fri, 02 Apr 2021 00:00 UTC
Nikonov/Simes/Lavrov
© Wikicommons/Government.ru/Aleksandr Scherbak/TASS/KJNVyacheslav Nikonov • Dimitri Simes • Russian FM Sergey Lavrov
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's interview given to Channel One's Bolshaya Igra (Great Game) talk show, Moscow, April 1, 2021.

Vyacheslav Nikonov: The word "war" has been heard increasingly more often lately. US and NATO politicians, even more so the Ukrainian military, have no trouble saying it. Do you have more reasons to be concerned now than ever before?

Sergey Lavrov: Yes and no. On the one hand, the confrontation has hit bottom. On the other, deep down, there's still hope that we are adults and understand the risks associated with escalating tensions further. However, our Western colleagues introduced the word "war" into the diplomatic and international usage. "The hybrid war unleashed by Russia" is a very popular description of what the West perceives as the main event in international life. I still believe that good judgment will prevail.

Vyacheslav Nikonov: Recently, the United States has ratcheted the degree of confrontation up to never-before-seen proportions. President Joe Biden said President Vladimir Putin is a "killer." We have recalled Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov.

Sergey Lavrov: He was invited for consultations.

Vyacheslav Nikonov: Hence, the question: How do we go about our relations now? How long will this pause last? When will Mr Antonov return to Washington?

Sergey Lavrov: What we heard President Biden say in his interview with ABC is outrageous and unprecedented. However, one should always see the real actions behind the rhetoric, and they began long before this interview back during the Barack Obama administration. They continued under the Trump administration, despite the fact that the 45th US President publicly spoke in favour of maintaining good relations with Russia, with which he was willing to "get along," but was not allowed to do so. I'm talking about the consistent degradation of the deterrent infrastructure in the military-political and strategic spheres.

Comment: Trajectories forecast the moral, physical and political futures of nations, be it conquest or partnership - a topic insightfully discussed by Mr. Lavrov, along with many astute and relevant perceptions - a long read, but worth it.

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X

Iran's foreign ministry dismisses possibility of 'step-by-step' lifting of sanctions by US

Tim Korso
Sputnik
Sat, 03 Apr 2021 10:56 UTC
Khatibzadeh
© IFP NewsIranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh
The statement follows remarks by the US State Department deputy spokeswoman, who noted the Joint Commission of the parties to the Iran nuclear deal will be discussing "sanctions relief steps" that Washington will have to take in order to return to compliance with the accord.

Iran will not accept a gradual lifting of US sanctions, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh stated in an interview with PressTV.
"The definitive policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the lifting of all US sanctions, whether those which Trump reimposed after withdrawing from the JCPOA or those which he initiated, as well as sanctions imposed under any other heading."
The ministry spokesperson's statements go in line with Tehran's previous demands for Washington to return to compliance with the provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal) and lift all sanctions on the country. In return, Iran promised to remove the "remedial" measures it has enacted over the past two years in response to the US withdrawal from the accord.
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Pirates

Rebranding al-Qaeda in Syria: US journalist scores interview with jihadist leader Jolani - American 'asset'

Priyanka Boghani
Frontline, PBS
Fri, 02 Apr 2021 19:05 UTC
Abu Mohammad al-Jolani
Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, leader of the Syrian Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, sits for a February 2021 interview with FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith in Idlib province, Syria.
Over most of two decades, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani's life has been a roadmap of Islamist militancy in Iraq and Syria. He joined the fight against U.S. forces in Iraq and was jailed by the Americans. He became a commander within the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq. He founded an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria and then broke with Al Qaeda and ISI, striking out with his own group to oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States has labeled him a terrorist since 2013 and offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Today, Jolani is the leader of the most dominant force in opposition-held Syrian territory. From his base in the northwestern corner of the country, he and his organization have fought against Assad's forces, Assad's Russian and Iranian allies, and Jolani's own former allies in ISIS and Al Qaeda.

In his first interview with an American journalist, Jolani told FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith that his role in fighting Assad and ISIS, and in controlling an area with millions of displaced Syrians who could potentially become refugees, reflected common interests with the United States and the West.

Jolani told Smith that his group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, posed no threat to the United States, and the government should remove him from its list of designated terrorists.

"First and foremost, this region does not represent a threat to the security of Europe and America," Jolani told Smith. "This region is not a staging ground for executing foreign jihad."
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Vader

Understanding the anti-Putin PSYOP: The Empire prepares its Ukrainian puppet for war

The Saker
The Unz Review
Wed, 31 Mar 2021 17:21 UTC
ukraine troops donbass
Ukraine forces move towards Donbass, March, 2021
Intro: cause vs pretext

It is not an exaggeration to say that in the mythology of the AngloZionist Empire Putin is something akin to Satan or, at least, that he is a kind of "Sauron" who is the epitome of evil. And, we all heard that recently, Biden, in a recorded interview, declared that Putin is "a killer". When given a chance to soften this statement Jen Psaki did no such thing. We can, therefore, conclude that this was an official, deliberately planned, characterization of the Russian leader.

This kind of language was never used by western officials during the Cold War, at least not on the top levels. So why this seething hatred for Putin?

It is not because he is ex-PGU KGB SSSR. Yuri Andropov was a former KGB Chairman, and he did a lot to strengthen the KGB, its personnel and operations. Yet nobody called him a killer. Neither is this because of Crimea or the Donbass, at least not directly, because when the USSR invaded Czechoslovakia and, before that, Hungary, western politicians did not call Khrushchev or Brezhnev "killers". It is not because of the shooting down of MH-17 (western leaders all know that these are lies created by western special services), because there have been quite a few civilian airliners shot down by various states, but that did not result in the kind of total demonization of the leaders of these states. I could go on and on, but you get the point: even if we carefully parse all the accusations against Putin, we find out that the kind of total demonization he has been the subject of is quite unique in its intensity and scope.

Comment: Moscow has continued to warn Ukraine against escalating the situation in the Donbass, calling it 'frightening':
Speaking to journalists on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a series of military clashes in the Donbass region was a cause for concern. "Unfortunately for us," he said, "the reality on the line of contact is quite frightening, and not just one, but many, provocations by the Ukrainian Armed Forces are taking place."

Kiev insists that Russia is building up troops near the shared border and blames separatists, who have previously received support from Moscow, for breaking a ceasefire. "Russia's current escalation is systemic, [the] largest in recent years," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dimitry Kuleba said in a statement issued earlier this week. Kiev officials last week said that four of its soldiers had been killed by shelling during clashes with rebels in the east of the country.

Andrey Rudenko, Russia's deputy foreign minister, denied that Moscow had anything to gain from an increase in tensions. "I am sure that all the talk about some upcoming conflict between Ukraine and Russia is an example of another fake spread primarily by the Ukrainian authorities," he said. "Russia is not interested in any conflict with Ukraine, let alone a military one."
Russian spokesman Peskov issued a further warning to the West to keep its military nose out of the area regardless of the fact that Ukraine is claiming NATO support:
Russia has warned that it would regard any deployment of Western troops in Ukraine as a serious provocation, after Kiev asked NATO to step up its local combat readiness and claimed the US would come to its aid in any future war.

On Friday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry issued a statement saying that it had received guarantees of American support after a telephone call with Washington's top military official, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austen. "The US Secretary of Defense stressed that in the event of an escalation of Russian aggression, the United States will not leave Ukraine alone," the Ministry said.

Asked about the prospects of a standoff in the region, Peskov warned that this could begin a potentially dangerous chain of events. The Kremlin official said that "undoubtedly, such a developing scenario would lead to a further increase in tensions near Russia's borders. Of course, this will require additional measures from the Russian side to ensure its security."

His comments came as US President Joe Biden expressed Washington's "unwavering support" for Kiev in the face of what he called "Russia's ongoing aggression in the Donbass and Crimea." In his Friday phone call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, he also said his administration is committed to revitalizing the "strategic partnership" between the two nations.

Zelensky responded by saying that Kiev and Washington "stand shoulder to shoulder when it comes to preservation of our democracies" and called partnership with the US "crucial for Ukrainians."

Moscow has previously described Ukraine's membership of NATO and the deployment of troops there as a red line for the country. The situation has echoes of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when Soviet weaponry was deployed on the Caribbean island off the Atlantic coast of America, sparking a crisis that led the two superpowers close to nuclear war.
The Empire is stoking a powder keg. We fervently hope Russia will be able to navigate the insanity, as matters are becoming more dangerous by the minute:





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Easter Egg 2

Justin Trudeau accused of 'anti-Christian' bias after failing to refer to 'Easter' in holiday message


RT
Sat, 03 Apr 2021 12:02 UTC
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
© Reuters / Blair GableCanada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes part in a news conference at the Ornamental Gardens in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada November 19, 2020.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has sparked controversy after referring to the Easter holidays as a "long weekend," with online commenters pointing out that the prime minister frequently mentions other religious events.

"It's the start of a long weekend, and I know that means you'd normally be getting together with your entire family for a few days of fun. But with the number of Covid-19 cases rising across the country, we're all going to have to do things differently again this year," Trudeau tweeted, before concluding that "next year's celebrations" would be "brighter."


Comment: See also:

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Syringe

BoJo ripped for saying fully vaccinated people still can't meet indoors because jabs don't give '100% protection'


RT
Fri, 02 Apr 2021 12:46 UTC
bojo borris johnson
© Twitter / @BorisJohnson
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was accused of undermining his government's vaccination program after he told Brits that those fully inoculated against Covid-19 could still not meet indoors as they were not completely protected.

In a Q&A video published on Friday, Johnson said vaccinated friends and family members could not meet one another indoors because "we're not yet at that stage".


Comment: This, from RT, is quite telling:
Covid-19 vaccination should be framed as 'racial inequality issue' to convince minorities to take jab, doctor tells Hancock

The government should promote the Covid-19 vaccine to skeptical minorities through the lens of racial 'health inequalities,' a doctor has told UK Health Minister Matt Hancock.

In a video published by the Department of Health and Social Care, Hancock asked Dr Charles Esene, chairman of Afro GP Herts & Beds, what he would say to someone who came to his clinic and said they were "worried" about being vaccinated.

"It depends on the race," replied Esene, explaining that if "the person is an ethnic minority, then of course you have a conversation about the existing health inequalities" and the impact of Covid-19 on the black community.

Esene also said the government should make minorities "understand that this is also trying to move the black community away from being the hard-to-reach, underserved community" and that "this is the beginning of the conversation about addressing the wider health inequalities in society."
When in doubt, play the race card! Keep in mind, if there were a real pandemic that was actually killing inordinate numbers of people, most people would not need to be convinced (or coerced) into taking protective measures.

Meanwhile, a top UK health adviser has admited that lockdowns won't make Covid disappear and society will have to 'manage it like the flu'. From RT:
Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, has conceded that Covid-19 lockdowns can't go on forever and won't eliminate the virus anyway - a view that might have helped before Britons endured months of draconian restrictions.

"Covid is not going to go away," Whitty said in a Royal Society of Medicine webinar on Thursday. "This is now a disease that for the rest of our careers is going to be around. So, it is clear that we are going to have to manage it, at some point, rather like we manage the flu."

...

"We need to work out some balance which actually keeps it at a low level, minimises deaths as best we can, but in a way that the population tolerates, through medical countermeasures like vaccines and in due course, drugs, which mean you can minimise mortality while not maximising the economic and social impacts on our fellow citizens," Whitty said.


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Bug

You refuse to get vaccinated, but are you ready to be an outcast?

Mike Whitney
The Unz Review
Thu, 25 Mar 2021 00:00 UTC
anti vax
"If behavioral psychologists helped to shape the government's strategy on mass vaccination, then in what other policies were they involved? Were these the "professionals" who conjured up the pandemic restrictions? Were the masks, the social distancing and the lockdowns all promoted by "experts" as a way to undermine normal human relations and inflict the maximum psychological pain on the American people? Was the intention to create a weak and submissive population that would willingly accept the dismantling of democratic institutions and the imposition of a new political order? These questions need to be answered." (From the text)

Let's assume for a minute, that the vaccination campaign is led by people who genuinely want to end the current crisis and restore the country to "normal". Let's also assume, that they believe that mass vaccination is the best way to achieve that objective by preventing the spread of the virus and, thus, reducing the death toll. Is that sufficient justification for silencing vaccine critics and conducting a nation-wide brainwashing operation aimed at controlling public opinion?

Comment: See also:

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Hammer

LETTER FROM LONDON: A Troubling Decision

Alexander Mercouris
Consortium News
Tue, 30 Mar 2021 00:00 UTC
Alexander Mercouris says the conviction of former British diplomat Craig Murray undermines the right of the media to report cases, which is vital to protect the right to a fair trial.

Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge in London. (FlyingShrimp, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)
In the last Letter from London, I discussed the background to the contempt of court case against the historian, journalist and former diplomat Craig Murray for his reporting of the criminal and civil proceedings against Scotland's former first minister, Alex Salmond, on allegations of sexual assault, for which he was acquitted on all charges at trial.

I also discussed in that letter the political situation in Scotland: the rise of sentiment favoring independence from Britain, the power struggle within the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) and the alarm that the growth of pro-independence sentiment in Scotland is causing in London.

The case against Murray has resulted in a judgment convicting him of contempt of court. He is now at serious risk of up to two years in prison with sentencing set for May 7.

Before discussing the judgment itself there is a point to be made about one aspect of the Court's conduct that is seriously worrying.

There was an eight-week gap between Murray's trial and the announcement of his conviction.

The trial lasted only one day, the evidence was limited in its extent and it was largely agreed by the prosecution and defence lawyers. It is not clear why the Court needed two months to deliver its judgment. Normally after such a trial, judgment would be delivered in a few days or a week at most. The delay seemed both cruel and unnecessary to Murray and his family.

It is useless to speculate about the reason why, but Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights requires that determination of a criminal charge should take place at a "fair and public hearing within a reasonable time." For the record, eight weeks in a case like this does not seem like a "reasonable time."

Comment: See also Craig Murray found guilty of contempt of court

In Craig Murray's own words April 2nd, 2012:
I am still frankly stunned that I was found in contempt of court. I maintain that I carefully identified nobody and, as empirically proven, the MSM did far more than I in revealing identities. I also believe that the terms of the Opinion would make it simply impossible to report anything except the prosecution case in any sexual assault trial - and that MSM journalists are entirely sanguine about this because they believe that in practice the ruling would only be used against dissidents, and never against them.

It is very difficult for me to try to explain why, in my own case, what has happened has much wider bad consequences, because it simply looks like special pleading. I am therefore very pleased that legal analyst Alexander Mercouris has written this important piece at Consortium News, and I should be grateful to you for reading it.


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Briefcase

Report says DOJ probe into Gaetz involves cash payments to women

Juliegrace Brufke and Rema Rahman
The Hill
Thu, 01 Apr 2021 20:15 UTC
matt gaetz CPAC
© Associated PressRep. Matt Gaetz speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference
The Department of Justice investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) reportedly involves cash paid to multiple women who were recruited for sex online, The New York Times reported, citing payment recipients and text messages.

The Times reported Thursday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into Gaetz also involves former Seminole County, Fla., tax collector Joel Greenberg, who allegedly met women online on websites for dates in exchange for gifts and travel. Greenberg allegedly introduced the women to Gaetz, people familiar with the matter told the Times.

Messages and interviews indicate Greenberg and Gaetz directed the women to meet them at specific times and locations and laid out the amount of money for which they would be compensated. People familiar with the matter told the Times that the illegal drug ecstasy would at times be consumed.

Comment: It has been a rollercoaster story. From The NY Post March 31,where Gaetz claimed he was the target of an extortion plot, :
The former Department of Justice official accused of trying to extort $25 million from Rep. Matt Gaetz slammed the allegations as a "blatant attempt to distract" from the federal sex-trafficking probe that's underway.

David McGee, a former federal prosecutor in Florida who is now working at the firm Beggs & Lane, denied blackmailing Gaetz, who is under investigation for his alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

"It is completely false," McGee told the Washington Post. "It's a blatant attempt to distract from the fact that he's under investigation for sex trafficking of minors."

McGee added, "I have no connection with that case at all, other than, one of a thousand people who have heard the rumors."

After news of the probe involving Gaetz broke on Tuesday, the Florida congressman accused McGee of trying to shake his family down for $25 million.

The Republican claimed the existence of the DOJ probe was leaked to the media in an effort to thwart the FBI investigation into the alleged extortion plot.

"On March 16, my father got a text message demanding a meeting wherein a person demanded $25 million in exchange for making horrible sex trafficking allegations against me go away," Gaetz said on Fox News, while identifying that person as McGee.

"Our family was so troubled by that, we went to the local FBI. The FBI and the Department of Justice were so concerned about this attempted extortion of a member of Congress that they asked my dad to wear a wire, which he did, with the former Department of Justice official."

Gaetz called on the FBI to release the tapes — and McGee welcomed that idea.

"If there is a tape, play the tape," McGee said. "There is nothing on that tape that is untoward. It is a pleasant conversation of a dad concerned about his son and the trouble his son was in."

McGee told the Washington Post that Gaetz's father had "called me and asked to talk to me" but did not elaborate on the conversation.

Gaetz, 38, a close ally of former President Trump, denied the allegations that he was involved with a minor.

"In the strongest possible terms. I deny that I have ever been with someone underage," he told The Post Tuesday. "That is false."

He said he became aware of the probe after two of his ex-girlfriends were contacted by authorities.

"They were asked why I had given them plane tickets, money, and other interactions. They were in their 20s," he said.
Apparently Gaetz couldn't keep from boasting about his various relationships. However, the question is whether any of them were with underage girls:
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) showed photos of nude women who he claimed he had sex with to other lawmakers, multiple sources told CNN.

Two sources, who claim they were shown the material directly, said that the photos were "a point of pride" for Gaetz.

The sources also told the news outlet that Gaetz, 38, showed them the photos while conducting business on the House floor, adding that the Florida lawmaker displayed the images on his phone and talked about having sex with the women.

One source claimed that they were shown a video of a naked woman with a hula hoop.

The Hill has reached out to Gaetz's office for comment.

The news from CNN comes after The New York Times first reported on Tuesday that he was being investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over an alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

Investigators are probing whether or not the lawmaker has violated federal sex trafficking laws by paying the girl to travel with him. The probe was opened during the last months of the Trump administration, under former Attorney General William Barr.


Notice the assumption that the relationship was real. A varient on the "when did you stop beating your wife" tactic


The DOJ's investigation into Gaetz, a vocal Trump ally, is part of a larger investigation involving former Florida county tax collector Joel Greenberg, who faces charges of sex trafficking a child and providing payment to people, including a female minor in exchange for sex.
Gaetz is not budging, at least for now:
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) has pushed back against calls for him to resign following his communications director stepping down amid an inquiry into allegations of a relationship with a minor and his having paid for sex.

Gaetz told The Hill on Friday that rumors he is leaving office are "false," and it is "very safe" to say he will remain in office amid a Department of Justice (DOJ) inquiry into whether the congressman violated sex trafficking laws.

...

Gaetz, one of former president Donald Trump's most vocal supporters, has denied any wrongdoing and said the inquiry is part of an attempt by a DOJ official to extort money from him, even claiming the FBI is aware of the situation. He has also said the alleged minor "does not exist."

The weight of the accusations, however, has led many critics to call for Gaetz's resignation. Gaetz's communications director, Luke Ball, reportedly stepped down on Friday amid the controversy.

Speaking to the news platform Axios following reports of the DOJ inquiry, Gaetz said he was not the target of any investigation and had a "suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward."
Notice the media outlets gleefully running with the most sordid version of the story are uniformly Deep State mouthpieces. It is important to wait for all the facts to come out before passing judgement. Gaetz may have fallen prey to the weaknesses men in power are subject to, but that is not the same as committing a felony. Nothing would make Pelosi and the Democrat machine happier than removing Gaetz, who has been a thorn in their side since the beginning of the Trump administration. And the Dems are not above fabricating evidence. The 'Dirty Dossier' proved that.

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