Puppet MastersS

Snakes in Suits

Belarusian 'Guaido' Tikhanovskaya's links to NATO's Atlantic Council adjunct should raise eyebrows

Kit Klarenberg
RT
Sat, 17 Oct 2020 16:46 UTC
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya Belarus nato flag
© Sputnik / Viktor Tolocko; WikipediaSvetlana Tikhanovskaya
'Accidental politician' Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has captured the West's imagination, her lack of political experience presenting an ideal blank canvas for news-narrative weaving - and all too easily manipulated by malign forces.

From the moment she announced her candidacy for the Belarusian presidency after her husband Sergey was spuriously jailed for electioneering activities that would be considered normal in the rest of Europe, Tikhanovskaya has been a darling of the Western media. With her improbable ascension from stay-at-home mother to leading opposition figure, then proto-revolutionary leader-in-exile, documented on an almost daily basis.

Along the way, Tikhanovskaya has been keen to stress the upheaval in Belarus is neither pro-Western nor pro-Russian in character, but pro-democracy, a key message reiterated uncritically over and again by mainstream journalists. However, not a single one has deigned to mention, much less question, the fact that one of her key confidantes, Franak Viacorka, is a 'non-resident fellow' at Atlantic Council, a think tank that aggressively propagandizes in support of NATO, and wider American financial, political, military and ideological interests in Europe and beyond.
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Arrow Down

Biden town hall questioners included former Obama speech writer and wife of Pennsylvania Democrat: Report

Anthony Leonardi
Washington Examiner
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 15:14 UTC
biden townhall
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden took questions from audience members at an ABC News town hall event โ€” including some, it turns out, from friendly sources.

One of those questioners was Nathan Osburn, a former speechwriter in the Obama administration who worked in the Commerce Department's Office of Public Affairs and the Small Business Administration, which was first reported by Fox News. Osburn was identified as a "former Obama administration speech writer" when speaking to the Philadelphia Inquirer about his support for failed presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg during the Democratic primary.

Osburn helped create the Philly for Pete group, which represented Buttigieg in a Philadelphia Pride parade and hosted his husband Chasten in the spring of 2019.

Comment: Many were surprised at how well Biden performed at the town hall (as in, he was actually able to answer questions without having a brain meltdown). Now we know why - prearranged questions from plants in the audience.

See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Sarkozy under formal investigation for 'criminal association' after accepting campaign funding from Libya's Gaddafi


France24
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 12:53 UTC
Sarkozy
France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy
French prosecutors placed former president Nicolas Sarkozy under formal investigation for "criminal association" on Friday related to allegations that he accepted campaign funding from former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Prosecutors are investigating allegations that former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi secretly gave Sarkozy โ‚ฌ50 million for his inaugural presidential campaign in 2007. The allegations were first made by one of the late dictator's sons, Saif al-Islam, in 2011.

The new accusations of membership in a criminal conspiracy add to charges leveled in 2018 of "passive corruption", "benefitting from embezzled public funds" and "illegal campaign financing".
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Light Saber

Manchester mayor rejects UK govts 'experimental lockdown that own advisors don't think will work'

Amy Walker
The Guardian
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 09:58 UTC
lockdown advertisement notice
© Christopher Thomond/The GuardianAn Orwellian public information notice in Manchester on Thursday.
Dominic Raab has accused the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, of trying to "hold the government over a barrel" by resisting a tier 3 lockdown, as a member of the government's scientific advisory panel said the "general feeling" among experts was that regional restrictions would not work.

The foreign secretary said action was needed in the areas most affected by Covid-19 to avoid a national lockdown, and he urged Burnham to relent.

"We can't have a situation where Andy Burnham is effectively saying unless you give us what we want, we're not going to do the right thing in terms of following the new rules, which will protect the very people of Manchester he's elected to represent," Raab said in an interview with BBC Breakfast.

Government talks with leaders in Lancashire continued on Friday morning about moving the region into the highest measures of lockdown.

Comment: A similar situation played out in Madrid, where the local government rejected the destructive and provably ineffective lockdown measures, it even won its case in course, but then central government simply smacked Madrid into 'state of emergency', thus wrenching any control the local leaders had.

Local leaders throughout Europe have rejected the lockdown measures and yet, for some inexplicable reason, central governments, claiming to be acting independently meanwhile imposing exactly the same restrictions as each other, within days of each other, disregard their pleas and railroad over any ideas of democracy, and logic.

Here's what another local leader from the north of England had to say about the local lockdown:


See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Light Sabers

Climate change, national security among topics for final Trump-Biden debate

Brett Samuels
The Hill
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 07:57 UTC
trump biden
The second and final presidential debate between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will focus on topics including the coronavirus pandemic, race in America and climate change, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Friday.

NBC News correspondent Kristen Welker will moderate the debate in Nashville, Tenn. The selected six topics for the event are: fighting COVID-19, American families, race in America, climate change, national security and leadership.

The two candidates will meet on stage next Thursday for just the second time, but it will mark the last debate before Election Day. The two were slated to have a town hall-style debate this week, but the event was canceled after Trump balked at having it take place virtually following his COVID-19 diagnosis.

Instead, Biden and Trump held competing town halls at the same time on Thursday night broadcast by ABC and NBC, respectively.

The upcoming debate will include some overlap with the first one between Trump and Biden. That debate, moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News, also covered the pandemic and the issues of race and recent violence in American cities.

Climate change was briefly discussed at the vice presidential debate last week, and it came up for a short exchange during the first Trump-Biden debate.

Comment: What happened to debating issues Americans really care about?



It's no surprise then, that a recent poll revealed "just 15% of Americans confident in US democracy":
The poll also revealed a perceived sorry state of US democracy, with only 15 percent of the respondents saying it still worked "extremely or very well." Another 36 percent said it still is keeping afloat while a total of 49 percent admitted it either does not look particularly good to them or is no good at all. Supporters of President Donald Trump appeared to be much more confident in US democracy than those of his Democratic opponent in the November 3 election, Joe Biden.

The partisan divide was also clearly showing in predictions of the future, with 76 percent of Trump supporters believing a Biden election victory would only worsen the existing divisions and 91 percent of Biden backers saying the same of a Trump win. Neither candidate is seen by the majority of respondents as capable of uniting the nation or strengthening its democratic principles.

A significant number of respondents were also concerned about potential violations at the upcoming elections. More than a half of Biden's supporters are more or less confident that the vote count would be accurate. This figure, however, falls down to just 28 percent when it comes to Trump's backers.

The pro-Biden respondents also appear to be more concerned over potential voter suppression, while those supporting Trump cite voter fraud and an ability of supposedly non-eligible people to vote as the major problem. A Pew Research poll held back in early 2020 showed that almost 60 percent of Americans were dissatisfied with the way US democracy was working at that time.


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Syringe

Trump says he will NOT force Americans to take coronavirus vaccine as polls show widespread skepticism about jab


RT
Thu, 15 Oct 2020 23:49 UTC
trump vaccine
© Reuters / Jonathan Ernst; Reuters / Thomas Peter
US President Donald Trump said he would not issue a mandate for a coronavirus vaccine when a jab becomes available, allowing individuals to choose for themselves amid concerns that immunizations are being rushed through trials.

Asked who would be first to receive a vaccine in an interview on Fox Business on Thursday, Trump said "essential workers" and "older people" would take priority, but made a brief detour to assure that he would not make vaccination compulsory.

"I don't believe I'd ever do a mandated vaccine," the president told Fox's Stuart Varney. "I just don't think I would do that, where you have to have it, because there are some people who feel very strong about that whole situation."


Recent polling shows that around 50 percent of Americans surveyed would decline to take one of the coronavirus vaccines under development, many citing concerns that the approval process is being rushed. Though Trump has repeatedly stated a jab would be available by election day, a recent shift in federal guidelines - as well as delays in at least two ongoing trials over safety concerns - could push FDA approval into December, with a mass roll-out coming in the following weeks and months.

Comment: See also:

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Bizarro Earth

Video shows missile trail that may be Turkey's test of S-400, prompting warning from US


Reuters
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 13:48 UTC
S-400
© REUTERS/Vitaly NevarFILE PHOTO: A new S-400 "Triumph" surface-to-air missile system is shown after its stationing at a military base outside the town of Gvardeysk near Kaliningrad, Russia, March 11, 2019.
A missile was fired into the sky on Friday on Turkey's Black Sea coast where the military was expected to test its Russian-made S-400 defence systems, according to local video obtained by Reuters, drawing a strong warning from the U.S. State Department.

The video, taken in the coastal city of Sinop, showed a narrow column of smoke headed high into the blue sky. In recent days Turkey had issued notices restricting air space and waters off the coastal area to allow firing tests.

Tests of the S-400s, if verified, could stoke tensions between Turkey and the United States, which sharply opposed Ankara's purchase of the weapons from Moscow on grounds they compromise shared NATO defence systems.

Comment: See also: Turkish survey ship begins operations in east Mediterranean - German Foreign Minister Maas is "extremely surprised"

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Eye 1

Ice Age Farmer Report: Censorship, isolation camps, food supply attacks & end of animal agriculture


Ice Age Farmer
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 20:02 UTC
ice age
The Ice Age Farmer discord server was deleted for "spreading misinformation," as big tech censorship ramps up. Canada is building isolation camps as speculation about a COVID21 fueled lockdown grows. China bans farming of most wild animals, as Walmart forces its suppliers to "decarbonize" -- both of which aim to end animal agriculture. Christian breaks it down.


Sources
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Calendar

Putin proposes extension of new START treaty for one year without conditions


RFE/RL
Fri, 16 Oct 2020 12:36 UTC
Putin
© Mikhail Metzel/TASSRussian President Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed extending a bilateral nuclear disarmament treaty with the United States for one year without preconditions to keep it from expiring early next year and allow talks to revive it to continue.

Putin also instructed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting with permanent members of Russia's Security Council on October 16 to work out Russia's position on the accord, the New START arms control treaty, and inform the United States of developments.

"In this regard, I propose...extending the current treaty without any conditions for at least a year so that meaningful negotiations can be conducted on all the parameters of the problems..." Putin said, adding it would be "extremely sad" if the treaty expired.

Putin's proposal comes just two days after Lavrov said that Moscow doesn't see any prospects for extending the treaty with the United States, stressing however that Moscow plans to carry on with negotiations on the subject.

Comment: What will it take to get A Deal?
Washington has refused President Vladimir Putin's offer. "President Putin's response today to extend New START... is a non-starter," the US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said in response to Moscow's offer, adding that Washington hopes Russia "will reevaluate its position before a costly arms race ensues."
Incidentally, a potential arms race was what Putin was warning against as he extended his offer to the US. A failure to prolong the key arms reduction agreement, officially known as Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, would leave the world "without any instruments to curb an arms race," the Russian president told the nation's security council earlier on Friday.
See also:

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Binoculars

How did people have conversations back before tech oligarchs were there to police them?

Caitlin Johnstone
medium.com
Sat, 10 Oct 2020 00:00 UTC
Social media icons
© Unknown
Twitter has announced the rollout of even more censorship policies in the lead-up to the November US presidential election. Twitter informs us:
"Starting next week, when people attempt to Retweet a Tweet with a misleading information label, they will see a prompt directing them to credible information about the topic before they can amplify it,"
With "credible information" of course meaning information from the same mass media outlets who've lied to us about every American war throughout their entire existence.

"We're taking more steps to encourage thoughtful amplification by preventing Tweets that have been 'followed by' and 'liked by' accounts you don't follow from showing up in your timeline," adds Twitter, as though the social media echo chamber that is turning us all into idiots wasn't bad enough.
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