Puppet MastersS


Arrow Down

Gates Foundation: "Digital IDs are an effective tool against poverty"

Digital IDs
© Off-Guardian
It looks like we can add another to the growing mountain of problems that digital IDs are going to solve for all of us.

We already know that digital IDs will help counter populism, and illegal immigration, and crime, and benefit fraud, and terrorism, and pandemics.

But they'll help tackle poverty now as well. That's according to a report published a few days ago by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:
Digital IDs are an effective tool against poverty. A global solution is making them available to millions.
I do love "making them available" in that sentence. As if the world is full of people desperately crying out for digital ID that the powers that be have been unable to supply, when the truth is literally the exact opposite of that.

The aim of the report is promoting something they call Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), an "adaptable, modular architecture [...] that any country could customize to meet its specific needs."

For the last few years, MOSIP has been trialed in nine different countries across Africa and Asia, with over 90 million people signing up, the report calls it a powerful example of how low- and middle-income countries can harness open-source technology to improve lives and accelerate development.

Bullseye

DNI Gabbard strips 37 security clearances over Obama-ordered intel report that launched Russiagate

tulsi gabbard press conference white house
© Associated PressDirector of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Washington.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced security clearances had been pulled from 37 current and former officials who "abused public trust by politicizing and manipulating" information — including several who were involved in a controversial, Barack Obama-ordered assessment of Russian influence in the 2016 election.

An ODNI memo announced that the more than three dozen intel professionals — including a former top aide to Obama DNI James Clapper — had either politicized or weaponized intelligence, failed to safeguard classified info or not followed tradecraft standards.

"The President has directed that, effective immediately, the security clearances of the following 37 individuals are revoked," the Aug. 18 memo stated, according to a copy obtained by The Post.

Comment: About time. Why should the conspirators and their minions still be able to trade on their access to government intel?


Oil Pipeline

Russian oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia halted after Ukrainian attack

Mađarski ministar vanjskih poslova Peter Szijjarto
Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto
Russian crude oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline were halted on Monday, officials in Hungary and Slovakia said, with Budapest blaming a Ukrainian attack on a part of the network.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, a key conduit for generating money for Kremlin's war efforts, with oil and gas sales accounting for a quarter of Russia's state total budget proceeds.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha neither confirmed nor denied the account of the latest attack, but wrote on X that Hungary "can now send complaints" to Moscow, not Kyiv.

The oil supply disruptions have happened as U.S. President Donald Trump is due to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders in Washington later on Monday to press Kyiv into accepting a peace deal with Russia.

Comment: If Ukraine is so keen to get into the EU, why is it picking a fight with Hungary?? The pipeline will be repaired post haste, and whatever 'economic damage' Ukraine was hoping to inflict on Russia will not materialize. Bonehead move, Kiev.

Full text:

Ukraine has hit the Druzhba pumping station which delivers oil to Europe.

Russia answered tonight:

A massive attack on Ukraine's gas infrastructure is underway

▪️About 30 explosions were recorded in Lubny, Poltava region - a massive strike by "Geran" drones is ongoing.

▪️There are still 25 drones in the air, the target is gas infrastructure, Ukrainian sources admit.

(oh they will cry like babies tomortow...)



Broom

Your problem now, EU: Trump rules out putting 'American boots on the ground' in Ukraine

trump zelensky peace talks meeting white house
© AFP via Getty ImagesPresident Trump meetsVolodymyr Zelensky on August 18, 2025. Heavens, he's wearing a suit! The end must be near!
President Trump ruled out sending US military forces to Ukraine as part of any US security guarantees to the war-torn nation, but suggested he would provide some form of air protection.

Trump insisted that the American public has "my assurance" when pressed in an interview on "Fox & Friends" Tuesday morning that there "won't be American boots on the ground defending that border" in Ukraine.

"Well, you have my assurance," the president replied. "I'm president and I'm just trying to stop people from being killed."

Comment: The Plan: Europe will spend $100BN it doesn't have, to buy weapons America doesn't have, to arm soldiers Ukraine now lacks


Cardboard Box

The Plan: Europe will spend $100BN it doesn't have, to buy weapons America doesn't have, to arm soldiers Ukraine now lacks

trump zelensky white house peace plan european union leaders
© GettyPresident Trump, Ukraine President Zelensky and leaders of the EU met at the White House on August 18, 2025
Part of Zelensky's motive for wearing a suit Monday to the White House has become clearer with fresh reporting in the Financial Times, which reviewed a document showing Ukraine will promise to buy $100 billion of American weapons financed by Europe in a bid to obtain robust US security guarantees.

Additionally, "Under the proposals, Kyiv and Washington would also strike a $50bn deal to produce drones with Ukrainian companies that have pioneered the technology since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022," the report continues. Ukraine pitched its plan during the Monday White House summit, which also involved seven EU leaders - and the $100BN arms deal became part of the key talking points pushed by the European allies.

This is an effort by design meant to ensure Ukraine can procure what it wants - and that its war efforts can still be funded uninterrupted - while still ultimately appeasing Trump. "We're not giving anything. We're selling weapons," Trump had said Monday in response to a reporter's question on the matter.

Comment: Anyone following Brian Berletic would have known this a year ago. Russia's manufacturing might, plus its two-plus decades of preparation for a NATO confrontation, made the Ukraine war's outcome a foregone conclusion. Country 404 could have been flattened in a week, but Russia wasn't economically strong enough to pull that off. Instead it built bilateral relationships in the East and Global South, insulated itself from sanctions, and slowly, patiently, have drained Ukraine (and by extension, the West) of their military resources. Game, set, match.


Snakes in Suits

Starmer instructed Zelensky how to behave around Trump - media

starmer zelensky
© Ben Stansall / WPA Pool / Getty Images
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer advised Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky on how to avoid another confrontation at the White House, NBC News reported on Monday.

Zelensky is in Washington for negotiations with US President Donald Trump and Kiev's key European backers. His previous visit in February was cut short after a heated exchange with Trump and US Vice President J.D. Vance in the Oval Office.

According to NBC, Starmer was a key figure among European officials who "coached" Zelensky on how to interact with Trump. The Ukrainian leader was reportedly advised to thank Trump for military aid and diplomatic support and to wear a suit jacket instead of his usual military-style attire.

Comment: Zelensky is apparently so clueless and likely coked up to understand simple understandings like how to behave in a diplomatic setting. No wonder he keeps his country under martial law so that there can be no elections. He'd be voted out of office if it ever happened.


Chess

The old world order cracked in Alaska - how both Russia and the US left Alaska stronger

putin trump alaska
© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska may go down as one of Russia's most significant diplomatic wins. It was secured through years of military sacrifice, political perseverance, and relentless effort. Yet it is also a transition - a step into a new stage of the struggle for sovereign states in a fractured world.

Breaking Washington's old doctrine

The most consequential result of Anchorage was the quiet burial of the West's old formula: isolating and "strategically defeating" Russia. For decades, any state refusing to fall in line risked ostracism. That system cracked in Alaska.

Not because of American goodwill - there is no such thing in international politics - but because of pressure. Pressure from Russia, from the so-called "global majority," and from the turmoil tearing at America itself. Trump's administration has shifted its approach, and the summit proved it.

The outcome was clear: American capabilities diminished, Russian ones enhanced. This, in turn, frees space for other nations to act more independently, even if they will not admit their debt to Moscow.

Bullseye

Hungary expresses outrage after Ukraine strikes key oil pipeline to EU, forcing halt

Transformer station
© UnknownHungarian transformer station
Crude oil flows from Russia to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline suffered a forced halt on Monday, officials from both countries confirmed, after a Ukrainian drone strike crippled a vital transformer station.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated Monday "this latest strike against our energy security is outrageous and unacceptable" - and informed his government and the public that Russian technicians are working to restore an "essential" transformer station which was targeted.

Hungary continues to rely heavily on Russian oil, even after most European nations have imposed sanctions and sought alternative sources. Hungary's Russian energy supply is primarily delivered through the Druzhba pipeline, which passes through Belarus and Ukraine before reaching Hungary and Slovakia.

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded sarcastically and mockingly, expressing that Hungary should direct any grievances to Moscow rather than Kiev.

Oil Pipeline

Moscow reacts to Ukrainian attack on key oil pipeline to EU

pipeline explosion
© Sergey Guneev/news.sky.com/KJNRussian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova • Druzhba pipeline under attack
Russia has long warned about the global spread of Kiev's malevolent acts, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova has said.

The attack on a pipeline delivering Russian oil to Hungary is proof that there are no boundaries to the malign activities of the Kiev regime, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated.

Earlier on Monday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the oil being supplied to his country had run dry after Ukraine targeted the Druzhba pipeline system. Szijjarto suggested that the "outrageous" attack was an attempt by Kiev and its supporters in Brussels to drag Budapest, which has maintained its neutrality, into the conflict.

MAGA

Trump: Ukraine must forget about Crimea and joining NATO

Donald Trump
© Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump.
The US president has set the conditions for a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow ahead of talks with Zelensky and European leaders

US President Donald Trump has outlined terms for a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow that would require Ukraine to abandon its NATO ambitions and accept Crimea as part of Russia.

The announcement came on Truth Social on Sunday, two days after Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where both reaffirmed their commitment to resolving the Ukraine conflict. Trump is meeting Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky and senior European leaders in Washington on Monday.

Trump wrote that Zelensky "can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight." A settlement, he added, would require "no getting back... Crimea" and "no going into NATO by Ukraine."