Puppet MastersS


Eye 2

The rot runs deep: How Democrats and Republicans made deals to pass Magnitsky Act

Lucy Komisar
The Komisar Scoop
Wed, 19 Aug 2020 18:35 UTC
browder
© Luke MacGregor/ Bloomberg/ Getty ImagesBill Browder, founder of Hermitage Capital Management and world-class fraudster
As the Democratic Convention is in progress, it is fitting to look at how Democrats in Congress and the White House, with Republican collaboration, were responsible for the Magnitsky Act, the law that protects tax fraudster William Browder and his henchman Mikhail Khodorkovsky by erecting a wall against their having to face justice for their financial crimes. And ramps up hostility to Russia.

Here is a half-hour interview about this I did today on this subject for Fault Lines. And a 15-minute interview for The Critical Hour. Below is an expanded version of what I said.

William Browder in the mid-1990s became manager of the Hermitage Fund, set up with $25 million from Lebanese-Brazilian banker Edmond Safra and Israeli mining investor Beny Steinmez to buy shares in Russian companies.

He says he started the fund, but that is a lie. He was brought in to manage other people's money. But after some years, when the two investors either died or confronted major financial problems, Browder gained control.
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Star of David

Reports of gunfire & explosions as IDF launches flares in response to 'security incident' at Lebanese border - videos


RT
Mon, 24 Aug 2020 23:59 UTC
Outpost
© Reuters/Baz RatnerIsraeli soldier monitors the Israel-Lebanon border near the Manara kibbutz.
The Israeli military said it responded to a "security incident" along the border with Lebanon, firing off a barrage of flares amid reports of explosions and gunfire in the area.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reported an unspecified incident near Manara, a kibbutz straddling the Israeli-Lebanese border, late on Tuesday night, saying it had closed a number of roads in the area. It later ordered residents from Manara and nearby communities to remain indoors and cease "activity in open areas," though did not provide a reason.


Videos purporting to show IDF flares illuminating the night sky have circulated on social media, "dozens" of which were fired along the border over concerns of a "possible infiltration," according to the Jerusalem Post.
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Heart - Black

Lincoln Project ad depicts 175,000 caskets as 'Trump's wall'

Justine Coleman
The Hill
Tue, 25 Aug 2020 09:32 UTC
Trump image
© Infowars
The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump GOP group, released a new ad Tuesday attacking President Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak by highlighting the pandemic's death toll and tying it to his signature border wall proposal.

The group's latest ad paints a dark portrait of Trump's border wall concept, portraying 175,000 caskets from COVID-19 fatalities lined up to form the wall structure. The group released the minutelong ad, dubbed The Wall, about an hour before the start of the second night of the Republican National Convention, which is seeking to gin up enthusiasm for Trump's reelection bid.


Comment: This political ad is a low and despicable conflation by Trump's opposition.

For more about The Lincoln Project and those who run it, see also:
The Grifter Project: Meet the RINOs attempting to split the Republican vote this November

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Star of David

Netanyahu vs Gantz: Gaza escalation as reflection of Israel's political rivalry

Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Responds
Tue, 25 Aug 2020 00:00 UTC
Gantz, Netanyahu masks
© UnknownMasked mauraders 'Gantz' and 'Netanyahu'
Only recently, the Palestinian group, Hamas, and Israel seemed close to reaching a prisoner exchange agreement, where Hamas would release several Israeli soldiers held in Gaza while Israel would set free an unspecified number of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.

Instead of the much-anticipated announcement of some kind of a deal, on August 10, Israeli bombs began falling on the besieged Strip and incendiary balloons, originating in Gaza, made their way to the Israeli side of the fence.

So, what happened?

The answer lies largely - though not entirely - in Israel, specifically in the political conflict between Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing political camp, on the one hand, and their government's coalition partners, led by Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, on the other.

The discord between Netanyahu and Gantz is concentrated on a fierce budget conflict currently underway in the Knesset, which has little to do with government spending or fiscal responsibilities.

Gantz, who is supposed to serve his term as Prime Minister, starting November 2021, believes that Netanyahu plans on passing a one-year budget to disrupt the coalition agreement and to call for new elections before the leadership swap takes place. Therefore, Gantz insists on extending the budget coverage to two years, to avoid any possible betrayal by Netanyahu's Likud party.

Comment: Israel leadership is so far down the 'psycho path' of destruction, it has no other place to go. It matters not if it is Gantz or Netanyahu.

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Red Flag

Best of the Web: 'In Fauci We Trust'? C.S. Lewis foresaw scientific authoritarianism

David Klinghoffer
Evolution News
Thu, 20 Aug 2020 07:45 UTC
Fauci
© DonkeyHotey/CCDr. Anthony Fauci Caricature
A friend sends out an email each morning, welcoming recipients to whatever day it may be since the 14-day COVID shutdown began here in Washington State. Today it's welcome to Day 150. Who would have predicted all that Americans have experienced in the past five months? Economic catastrophe, shrugged off by the permanently employed class in our government and media. Endless isolation with all its social ills. Cities committing suicide, plunged into chaos and squalor by fake news, as the government winks at violence and undercuts the police. An upcoming election whose results seem guaranteed to be disputed, leading to more chaos.

Something is very wrong in our country, as you don't need me to tell you. But what is going on? I suggest that you watch this important video by political scientist John West, our Discovery Institute colleague. He sheds a fascinating light on the outcomes when what C. S. Lewis called "scientocracy" is put in charge:

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Star of David

Hamas: Gaza will not 'remain silent' as Israel escalates siege

Ali Adam
Aljazeera
Wed, 26 Aug 2020 00:00 UTC
field fire
© ReutersBalloons loaded with flammable materials were sent from Gaza.
The threat of a new Gaza war continues to rise as Palestinians demand an end to the devastating 13-year-long blockade and Israel tightens the screws on Gaza's economy while targeting Hamas positions.

Israeli warplanes and tanks bombed Hamas military sites early on Tuesday in response to the incendiary balloons launched from Gaza towards Israel's south, according to an Israeli army statement.

It was the 16th day in a row that Israel launched attacks against Hamas's infrastructure and agricultural land in the Gaza Strip. Gaza's military factions did not respond on Wednesday, although they previously launched rockets towards Israel after attacks last week. No serious injuries were reported on either side.

The current escalation between Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and Israel was caused by the launching of incendiary balloons by Palestinians into southern Israel in the past two weeks as a way to pressure Israel to lift its crippling blockade imposed in 2007. The rigged balloons and kites often start blazes on farms in Israel.

Comment: See also: Israel has been busy elsewhere, it seems:

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Beaker

Poisoning protest leader Navalny 'would not benefit' Moscow, says Russian FM, labels Western allegations 'offensive'


RT
Tue, 25 Aug 2020 17:32 UTC
Navalny
© Vasily Maximov/AFP/Getty ImagesAlexey Navalny
Moscow does not stand to benefit from the alleged poisoning of anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said, noting the haste with which Western media and governments made the insinuation.

The ministry issued a statement on Tuesday evening, following a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, during which the subject of Navalny was raised, among other issues.

Lavrov pointed out the "suspicious haste" with which the narrative about Navalny's alleged poisoning was picked up in Washington and Brussels and instantly compared to the "poisonings" of Alexander Litvinenko and the Skripals - which were blamed on Moscow before any investigations happened. "The question inevitably arises - who benefits from it? The Russian leadership clearly does not."

The ministry added that accusations of a 'cover-up' made against the Russian doctors who first treated Navalny were untrue.
"We consider deeply offensive the accusations of 'covering up the truth', directed from some Western capitals to the doctors in Omsk, who immediately rendered highly professional aid.

"They gave the patient's complete medical history to the team of German doctors.

"We hope that the German doctors will show the same professional approach and will not allow the results of their laboratory tests to be used for politicized purposes."

Comment: See also:

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Nuke

Tehran hails new chapter of cooperation with IAEA as UN agency stresses neutral approach towards Iran


RT
Tue, 25 Aug 2020 20:47 UTC
Salehi/Grossi
© WANA/West Asia News Agency/ReutersAli-Akbar Salehi and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in Tehran, Iran August 25, 2020.
Iran has praised the outcome of a summit with the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, who traveled to Tehran amid growing geopolitical tensions over the country's nuclear program.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said during a press conference on Tuesday that the talks were "constructive" and that both sides had agreed that the IAEA "will carry out its independent and professional responsibilities." For its part, Iran pledged to fulfill its commitments to the UN nuclear watchdog, he said. "A new chapter of cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency will start."

A statement outlining the results of the talks will be released later in the day.

The meeting marks Grossi's first visit to Iran since assuming office in December. The IAEA chief said after the summit that there were no behind-the-scenes politics involved in his trip. "There are issues that need to be addressed ... this does not mean a political approach towards Iran," Grossi said, according to Iranian state media.
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Alarm Clock

Businesses abandoning Portland due to 'lawlessness endorsed by mayor'

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Tue, 25 Aug 2020 18:22 UTC
business burned portland riots blm antifa
© KATUFire destroys multiple businesses in large SW Portland
All it took was nearly three months of often-riotous protests in Portland for business owners to pull out of the city or relocate outside its central district, according to local station KOIN (via Fox Business).

In a letter to Mayor Ted Wheeler and the Portland City Council, the Downtown Development Group said that the exodus of companies wasn't related to the Black Lives Matter movement - "but does have most everything to do with the lawlessness you are endorsing downtown."

"The number is like nothing I have seen in 42 years of doing business in downtown," wrote DDG co-founder Greg Goodman.

Comment: 'They didn't protect our people': Businesses abandoning riot-torn cities

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Eye 2

Is there a Democrat plot to appoint Pelosi president? Not as far-fetched as it sounds

Joaquin Flores
Fort Russ
Wed, 26 Aug 2020 17:39 UTC
pelosi trump election
© MSNBCNancy Pelosi
A plan is underway to install Nancy Pelosi as president. It is not the only plan, but this plan will be worked towards its logical conclusion, whether or not its utility concludes prior to the election itself, now less than 90 days away.

A series of explosions rocked a number of countries, the most significant being Lebanon. In Trump's televised address in New Jersey in the first week of August, he explained that he would be laying low. Prior to that, in describing storm Isaiah, Trump gave a signal to his base, that the 'storm' was now at his back.

On July 21st Nancy Pelosi appears to have explained a large part of the game plan, to MSNBC.
"Well, that's a loaded question there about coronavirus, what we do about it. But the fact is, whether he knows it yet or not, he will be leaving. Just because he might not want to move out of the White House doesn't mean we won't have an inauguration ceremony to inaugurate a duly-elected President of the United States and the - I just - you know, I'm second in line to the Presidency. Just last week I had my regular continuation of government briefing. This might interest you because I say to them, 'This is never going to happen. God-willing it never will.' But there is a process. It has nothing to do with the certain occupant of the White House doesn't feel like moving and has to be fumigated out of there because the presidency is the presidency. It's not geography or location."

Comment: An interesting analysis. Given the way the year 2020 has proceeded, nothing can be taken off the table.

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