Puppet MastersS


Putin

Putin says George Floyd protests reveal deep-seated internal crises in US


RT
Sun, 14 Jun 2020 17:02 UTC
white house protesters
© Reuters / Jonathan Ernst
Large-scale protests in the US are a result of deep-seated problems in society, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, noting that tensions have been developing since the Democrats' failure to accept defeat to Donald Trump.

"What has happened is a manifestation of some deep-seated internal crises in that country," Putin said about the massive and often violent protests against police brutality, which engulfed the US after African American man, George Floyd, died during his arrest in Minneapolis in late May.

Things have been like that in America "for a long time," since Donald Trump became president in 2016, the Russian leader said in an interview with Rossiya 1 channel that's yet to be released in full.
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Dominoes

Trump finalizes rule defining gender as a person's biological sex


CNBC
Fri, 12 Jun 2020 16:40 UTC
trump
© AP Photo/Alex Brandon
The Trump administration Friday finalized a regulation that overturns Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care.

The policy shift, long-sought by the president's religious and socially conservative supporters, defines gender as a person's biological sex. The Obama regulation defined gender as a person's internal sense of being male, female, neither or a combination.

LGBTQ groups say explicit protections are needed for people seeking sex-reassignment treatment, and even for transgender people who need medical care for common conditions such as diabetes or heart problems.

Behind the dispute over legal rights is a medically recognized condition called "gender dysphoria" — discomfort or distress caused by a discrepancy between the gender that a person identifies as and the gender at birth. Consequences can include severe depression. Treatment can range from sex-reassignment surgery and hormones to people changing their outward appearance by adopting a different hairstyle or clothing.
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Snakes in Suits

War criminal Tony Blair calls for coronavirus digital IDs to prove 'disease status'

Paul Smeaton
Life Site News
Thu, 11 Jun 2020 15:28 UTC
Toni Blair
Unless you're able to record some of this data in a way that people can use it's going to be difficult to go back to anything like a near normal in things like transport,' said Tony Blair.

Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for the creation of digital IDs to track "disease status" as part of the plans for restarting international travel after the global coronavirus crisis.

Blair, who now leads the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said in a recorded message digital IDs were a "natural evolution of the way that we're going to use technology in any event to transact daily life, and this covid crisis gives an additional reason for doing that."

"I could be wrong about this, but when I can look at for example how you restart some businesses, how you restart international travel...I think people's disease status, for example have they been tested? What is the result of that test? Have they had the disease? Do they have the disease? I think unless you're able to record some of this data in a way that people can use it's going to be difficult to go back to anything like a near normal in things like transport," Blair said.


Comment: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has the unmitigated gall to recommend any policy on any matter that affects the well being of people; he is a war criminal whose acts prove that he is quite willing to see great loss of life in order to dominate whole nations and profit from aggression, destruction and death.

That he should come out to support the policies surrounding digital IDs should speak volumes about the policies themselves.

See who else is on board for this kind of evil:

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Putin

'We'll PLEASANTLY SURPRISE them': Russia will be able to counter hypersonic weapons once other states develop them, Putin pledges


RT
Sun, 14 Jun 2020 16:10 UTC
ballistic missile
© MOD
Moscow knows other nations are hastily designing their own hypersonic weapons - but by the time they are acquired, the Russian military will have learned how to shield the country from them, President Vladimir Putin has said.

The likes of the US and China have their own projects to build missiles capable of travelling several times faster than the speed of sound.

Putin believes the world's leading defence powers will eventually succeed in developing the ultra-fast weaponry. However, the President explained to Russia-1 TV, on Sunday, that Russia won't be caught off-guard once that happens. At present, the country seems to be leading the field in this area.

"I think that we can pleasantly surprise our partners with the fact that when they get these weapons, we will have the means of combating them, with a high degree of probability," Putin forecast.
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Eagle

NATO's call on 'like-minded nations' to stand up to rise of China is just a desperate bid for global relevance

Scott Ritter
RT
Wed, 10 Jun 2020 12:13 UTC
Nato HQ
© Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Dursun Aydemir
As the influence of the US and Europe wanes in the face of a new geopolitical reality, their Cold War progeny, NATO, seeks to redefine itself as a global player. The problem is NATO is not capable of even stepping onto the field.

During a video presentation this week sponsored by the Atlantic Council and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told an attentive audience that while the alliance "does not see China as the new enemy," it must be prepared to respond to that country's growing military and economic strength. He highlighted China's increased cooperation with Russia as a "security consequence for NATO's allies."


Comment: Going 'anti-China' is proving to be the new hot business among intelligence agencies, neocons, neoliberals, and other assorted war-hawkish actors and agencies in the West:

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Chess

US announces joint plan with Iraq to continue withdrawing troops


Almasdarnews.com
Fri, 12 Jun 2020 23:43 UTC
US military Iraq
The United States confirmed on Friday that it will discuss with the Iraqi government the status of its remaining military forces, stressing that it does not seek military bases or a permanent military presence in Iraq.

According to a joint statement of the first session of the strategic dialogue, Washington and Baghdad announced the continuation of the talks on the status of the remaining American forces in Iraq, where the two countries' focus is towards developing a normal security relationship based on common interests.

The governments of the two countries said in the statement that "in light of the significant progress made towards eliminating the threat from ISIS, the United States will continue in the coming months to reduce its forces in Iraq."
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Bizarro Earth

America to end 'era of endless wars & stop being policeman', Trump gives same old election promises he can't fulfill


RT
Sat, 13 Jun 2020 20:02 UTC
soldiers
© Reuters / Ammar AwadFILE PHOTO: US soldiers area pictured in Iraq, on December 27, 2016.
US President Donald Trump has declared that America will shift its focus from waging "endless wars" and being the "policeman of the world," rehashing his 2016 campaign promises that were not fulfilled.

The US is entering a "crucial moment" of its history, the president said as he addressed the US West Point Military Academy graduates in his commencement speech. "We are ending an era of endless wars."

"It is not the duty of the US troops to solve ancient conflicts in faraway lands that many people have not even heard of," he said, adding that Washington is "not a policeman of the world" anymore. That is something Trump has been promising ever since he was campaigning for president back in 2016. But has his almost four years of presidency made the US foreign policy any more peaceful?

Comment: Even though Trump has been trying, in some areas, at least, part of the reality of the US presidency means that one is up against deep state factions that operate globally and that exert significant influence over policy decisions:

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Better Earth

UK supports international court after Trump approves sanctions


National Post
Sat, 13 Jun 2020 21:34 UTC
ICC logo
© AP/Mike CorderInternational Criminal Court
Britain said on Saturday the International Criminal Court should be able to work independently, without fear of sanction, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump approved economic and travel sanctions against some of its employees.

"The UK strongly supports the International Criminal Court in tackling impunity for the worst international crimes," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.


Comment: They're guilty too, but at least it's the right sentiment.


"We will continue to support positive reform of the court, so that it operates as effectively as possibly. ICC officials should be able to carry out their work independently and impartially, and without fear of sanction."

The U.S. sanctions approved by Trump target ICC employees involved in an investigation into whether American forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan.

Comment: Meanwhile, this should say everything that needs to be said about the issue:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said thanked President Donald Trump and his administration for sanctioning the International Criminal Court. "I would like to thank the president for his leadership in sanctioning the corrupt and biased international court obsessed with a witch hunt against Israel and the United States."
From one war criminal to another.

Meanwhile, this is the ICC's response to Trumps threats:
The International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "the Court") expresses profound regret at the announcement of further threats and coercive actions, including financial measures, against the Court and its officials, made earlier today by the Government of the United States.

The ICC stands firmly by its staff and officials and remains unwavering in its commitment to discharging, independently and impartially, the mandate bestowed upon it by the Rome Statute and the States that are party to it.

These are the latest in a series of unprecedented attacks on the ICC, an independent international judicial institution, as well as on the Rome Statute system of international criminal justice, which reflects the commitment and cooperation of the ICC's 123 States Parties, representing all regions of the world.

These attacks constitute an escalation and an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court's judicial proceedings. They are announced with the declared aim of influencing the actions of ICC officials in the context of the Court's independent and objective investigations and impartial judicial proceedings.

An attack on the ICC also represents an attack against the interests of victims of atrocity crimes, for many of whom the Court represents the last hope for justice.

As it continues to meet its mandated responsibilities, the Court relies on the staunch support and cooperation of its States Parties. The Court wishes to recall, in this context, yesterday's joint statement from the ten ICC States Parties members of the UN Security Council, reconfirming their "unwavering support for the Court as an independent and impartial judicial institution," as well as the press statement issued earlier today by the President of the Assembly of States Parties.


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Key

EU proposes members reopen external borders from July 1


France 24
Sat, 06 Jun 2020 17:18 UTC
airfrance maschine mombasa, boeing 777
© DPA
The European Union said Wednesday it hoped to reopen its external borders to foreigners in July, as leaders look to loosen the economic stranglehold of virus lockdowns that are triggering a steep global downturn.

Europe has suffered devastating human losses from the pandemic, accounting for just under half of the 411,000 lives claimed by Covid-19's deadly tear across the world.

Now the continent is trying to contain the fallout of a historic recession spurred by restrictions on movement and business that have saved lives but have choked global commerce.

Comment: There's not one shred of evidence that these draconian restrictions have saved any lives. They have however destroyed many lives and killed countless others with illnesses who have been unable to access the healthcare they need.

See:

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Star of David

It sure looks like Trump and Adelson have cut a deal on Israeli annexation of Palestinian land

Philip Weiss and James North
MondoWeiss
Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:00 UTC
Adelson and Trump
Miriam and Sheldon Adelson present Trump with a menorah, Dec. 7, 2019. Israeli American Council national summit.
Sheldon Adelson, the Israel-loving, Iran-war-craving casino baron, talks to Donald Trump all the time, and for good reason, he and wife Miriam are the biggest Republican donors, poised to give as much as $200 million this year. Now that the White House appears to be lying down for the Israeli government as it moves to annex portions of the West Bank despite a growing chorus of international condemnation, the focus should be on Adelson. He has always been a strong supporter of Israeli expansion, a man who says, "There's no such thing as a Palestinian."

So far, the Adelsons have gotten everything they've wanted from our transactional president: tearing up the Iran deal, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, defunding Palestinians, recognizing the Golan annexation, treating settlement expansion as legitimate, even a presidential medal of freedom for Miriam, etc. Right up to yesterday — a Trump attack on the ICC in the name of Israel. As Trump once said when a Republican rival was getting Adelson's money, Adelson wanted a "perfect little puppet."

Comment: See also:

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