Puppet MastersS


Attention

Israeli bulldozer and tank invade Gaza to take bodies of two Palestinians killed by IDF

Yossi Gurvitz
Mondoweiss
Sun, 23 Feb 2020 22:43 UTC
Palestinian protesters
© Mariam Dagga/APA ImagesPalestinian protesters gather east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 23, 2020. Israeli troops opened gunfire at Palestinian civilians and injured two of them, as they were trying to pull out the body of a Palestinian youth who was killed in an Israeli artillery attack.
Early this morning (Sunday, Israel time) the Israeli military killed two Palestinians near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel. According to the IDF, the two Palestinians were attempting to lay IEDs against the military. Soon afterwards, the IDF invaded Gaza with an armored bulldozer and a tank to snatch away the two bodies.

A video (not enough TRIGGER warnings in the world) soon emerged, showing the doomed struggle between Palestinians and the armored vehicles, as the Palestinians were trying to maintain the dignity of the dead.


You can hear automatic weapons firing in the background.

The body snatching is apparently the result of a new policy by temporary Defense Minister Bennet, who recently announced his intention to "collect" the bodies of Palestinian so-called terrorists, as a way to force Hamas to return the bodies of two Israeli soldiers it holds since Operation Protective Edge.

Comment: We can't say it any better than Gurvitz. The IDF is apparently the most "moral" army in the world, indeed.

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Arrow Up

Philippines says no to US and yes to the New Silk Road

Matthew Ehret
Strategic Culture
Sun, 23 Feb 2020 12:00 UTC
duterte
© Strategic Culture/pexels.com
The Philippines President Duterte's recent announcement that the 1998 U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) would be cancelled has renewed hope that not only would this former U.S. colony finally attain freedom from imperial manipulation, but also that a new emerging age of infrastructure development can usher in an end of poverty and war in the Pacific.

On Feb. 7, the Philippine president notified the USA that a 180 day period has begun in which time American military personal will have to evacuate the territory with Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin stating "the deputy chief of mission of the embassy of the united states has received the notice of termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement. As a diplomatic courtesy there will be no further factual announcements following this self explanatory development."

Why America's neocons have been caught blindsided by this announcement remains a mystery as Duterte has threatened to cancel this treaty since his first weeks in office and even told RT on January 24 that "America is not the Philippines and the Philippines is not America. It ain't that way anymore and I refuse to dovetail under American foreign policy".

Comment: See also: The Philippines want the US out, and they're not alone

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Book

Via Jefferson Morley's The Deep State Blog: On JFK, Tulsi Gabbard keeps respectable company

Jefferson Morley
aarclibrary.org
Fri, 21 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
Gabbard
© UnknownTulsi Gabbard speaking in Fairfax, Virginia, February 17, 2020.
On February 17 in Fairfax Virginia, Donald Jeffries, an author and talk radio host, asked Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard about a book she had been seen carrying, JFK and the Unspeakable. Published in 2009, the book is a Catholic philosopher's meditation, driven by ethics and facts, about the assassination of a liberal president John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, one of the great historical crimes of American politics,

Gabbard replied she had not finished the book, adding "but from what I have read, it uncovers a lot things that speak to what happened [on November 22] in a way that I haven't seen anywhere else."

It was a cautious statement but custodians of the conventional wisdom pounced, nonetheless. Before Jeffries posted the video on Facebook, Olivia Nuzzi, Washington correspondent for New York Magazine tweeted about Gabbard's comment. University of Virginia historian and pundit Larry Sabato responded dismissively.

This lazy tweet is not only unfair to Gabbard, it scants JFK and the Unspeakable, among the best books on JFK's assassination published in the last twenty years. Author James Douglass not only recounts the latest research about the national security power struggles that wracked Kennedy's administration up to the day of his death. Douglass also grapples with why we, as a society, have such a difficult time talking about the meaning of JFK's murder. To confront JFK's death, he concludes, is to confront an act of evil that we find unspeakable.

Comment: Further proof Gabbard is the only intelligent candidate in the race - a prime reason why she is so ostracized from the 'managed' political process. Not only does she have the DNC against her, Israel's secrets would be in jeopardy and the US house of cards come tumbling down.

Listen to: SOTT Podcast: The Assassination of JFK

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X

US National Security Chief: No evidence of Russia meddling to help Trump


RFE/RL
Sun, 23 Feb 2020 01:22 UTC
O'Brien
© AP/Aijz RahlUS National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien
U.S. President Donald Trump's national-security adviser says he has seen no intelligence indicating that Russia is attempting to help the president's reelection campaign.

The comments by Robert O'Brien on February 22 came days after multiple media outlets reported that U.S. intelligence officials briefed lawmakers that Moscow was taking covert steps to boost the campaigns of Trump and of Democratic front-runner Senator Bernie Sanders.

Trump angrily condemned the press reports about his campaign as "another misinformation" effort by Democrats in Congress.

Sanders reacted to reports of Moscow aiding his campaign by blasting President Vladimir Putin as a "thug" and telling him to "stay out" of U.S. elections.

O'Brien's remarks were released in a transcript of an interview to be broadcast on February 23 with ABC TV's This Week with George Stephanopoulos program.

"The national-security adviser gets pretty good access to our intelligence," O'Brien said. "I haven't seen any intelligence that Russia is doing anything to attempt to get President Trump reelected."

AP quoted an intelligence source familiar with the briefing as saying that lawmakers were not told that Russia was working to aid Trump's campaign but that some of them concluded that from what they were told.

Comment: Sanders' statement is obviously colored by the Democratic mesmerization regarding Russia and Putin. He is either playing the only political game the Democratic fantasy allows, or he is in lockstep with this mania. Neither speak to a leadership in the best interests of the USA.

See also:

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Take 2

Deepfakes? Bloomberg releases altered video of his lackluster debate performance


RT
Thu, 20 Feb 2020 22:29 UTC
bloomberg
© Reuters/Mike BlakeDemocratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg
Billionaire Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg has released a doctored video showing his rivals struck dumb by his brilliance after a widely-panned debate performance. So much for social media's war on fake videos...

The clip shows a smug Bloomberg challenging the other candidates to match his business acumen. "I'm the only one here I think that's ever started a business. Is that fair?" he asks in the clip, posted to Twitter on Thursday. As the camera cuts from one dumbstruck face to another for 20 uncomfortable seconds, the sound of crickets underscores his rivals' utter failure to muster any challenge to his truth.

The only problem? The video has been deceptively edited, and not merely to add the cricket-chirp soundtrack. Those who hadn't watched the debate might come away from watching the clip unaware that in real life, Bloomberg's challenge was followed by a little over a second of silence before the candidate himself let out a self-satisfied "OK" and launched into a defense of his job training programs as mayor.

Comment: See also:

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Stop

Ayatollah Khamenei: Foreign media pulled out all stops to keep Iranians from voting in nationwide election


RT
Sun, 23 Feb 2020 08:26 UTC
Khamenei
© Official Khamenei website/ReutersIran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casts his vote at a polling station.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took aim at foreign media outlets, claiming they did their utmost to "discourage" Iranians from voting this Friday in the parliamentary election.

"This negative propaganda began a few months ago and grew closer to the elections," the supreme leader proclaimed on Sunday. "In the last two days, citing [the danger of] coronavirus, their media did not miss the slightest opportunity to discourage people from voting," he said.

Iran has just confirmed an eighth death from the new coronavirus (Covid-19) this Sunday, with authorities shutting down schools and universities in several provinces to contain the spread.

Thousands of candidates have been competing for 290 seats in the parliament, known as the Guardian Council, or 'Majlis' in Persian. According to preliminary results, Friday's vote will bring more conservatives - affiliated with the powerful Revolutionary Guards - into the national legislature.
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Nuke

Pentagon reveals deal with Britain to replace Trident - before parliament was even told about the plan

Jamie Doward
The Guardian
Sat, 22 Feb 2020 21:37 UTC
british nuclear submarine
© EPAThe Royal Navy Vanguard class nuclear submarine HMS Vengeance, which carries Trident missiles.
Britain has committed itself to buying a new generation of nuclear warheads to replace Trident, which will be based on US technology. The decision was revealed by Pentagon officials who disclosed it before an official announcement has been made by the government.

The revelation has dismayed MPs and experts who question why they have learned of the move - which will cost the UK billions of pounds - only after the decision has apparently been made. It has also raised questions about the UK's commitment to staunching nuclear proliferation and the country's reliance on the US for a central plank of its defence strategy.

Earlier this month, Pentagon officials confirmed that its proposed W93 sea-launched warhead, the nuclear tip of the next generation of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, would share technology with the UK's next nuclear weapon, implying that a decision had been taken between the two countries to work on the programme.

In public, the UK has not confirmed whether it intends to commission a new nuclear warhead. The Ministry of Defence's annual update to parliament, published just before Christmas, says only: "Work also continues to develop the evidence to support a government decision when replacing the warhead."

But last week Admiral Charles Richard, commander of the US strategic command, told the Senate defence committee that there was a requirement for a new warhead, which would be called the W93 or Mk7. Richard said: "This effort will also support a parallel replacement warhead programme in the United Kingdom, whose nuclear deterrent plays an absolutely vital role in Nato's overall defence posture."
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Chess

Trump blames 'Shifty' Adam Schiff for 'Russiagate' Sanders leaks: '2016 all over again for Bernie'


RT
Sun, 23 Feb 2020 18:46 UTC
Schiff Trump
© Reuters / US Senate TV and Yuri GripasAdam Schiff and Donald Trump
President Donald Trump has blamed House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for leaking a report on a supposed Russian effort to support Bernie Sanders's campaign. "It sounds like it's '16 all over again," Trump said.

As Sanders surged in the polls, the Washington Post ran an article on Friday describing a covert Russian effort to help the Vermont senator win the Democratic nomination. The article did not specify "what form that Russian assistance has taken," and provided no evidence, only assertions from anonymous intelligence officials.

Sanders's campaign was briefed on the supposed Russian plot, but President Trump stated on Sunday that his administration received no such warning, despite the article's claim that he had.

Comment: Bernie trounces other Dem hopefuls in Nevada — now in the driver's seat to win nomination

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Arrow Up

Bernie trounces other Dem hopefuls in Nevada — now in the driver's seat to win nomination

Nate Silver
FiveThirtyEight
Sat, 22 Feb 2020 21:28 UTC
sanders nevada caucus
© Drew Angerer / Getty ImagesSen. Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane Sanders at Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas, after winning the Nevada caucuses.
Bernie Sanders has won the Nevada caucuses, and it looks like he's going to win them by a big, perhaps even landslide margin.

We don't know exactly how big. As I'm writing this just before 7 p.m. Las Vegas time, only a relatively small percentage of precincts have officially reported results. Nor do we know who's going to wind up in second place, although it will probably be either Joe Biden or Pete Buttigieg.

Unless the final margin unexpectedly tightens, though, I don't think the details are going to matter that much. This was a big, impressive win for Sanders, and it should be even clearer now that Sanders is easily the most likely Democrat to win the nomination.

Comment: While the Nevada caucus was not the trainwreck that Iowa's was, there was still some seemly shady but very Vegas-style procedures to reckon with:
Videos are coming in from Nevada caucus sites as votes are counted to decide who will win the third big battle for delegates in the race to win the Democrat Party's presidential nomination, and it's made people aware of a special piece of equipment being used by precinct captains — a deck of cards.


The strategy has been used since 2008 by the Democratic Party, but that hasn't given many more faith in the system.


Various Nevada sites have been forced to pull the card trick.

"Nevada democracy at work," Daily Telegraph editor Ben Riley-Smith tweeted in reaction to a tie break in Reno, Nevada.


A representative for Bernie's group pulled a two, while one for Pete Buttigieg's campaign pulled a three in the video, giving Buttigieg an extra delegate. Oddly, just before the cards were drawn, it was announced that aces were low. Typically, they are high cards.

"Your democracy at work," NBC News' Sahil Kapur sarcastically added.

"Hooray for the free world!" one caucus observer wrote at another site where Sanders' and Biden's campaign had to draw over a tie. In this video, it can be heard that aces are high, meaning the rules exactly across the board when it comes to this foolproof system.


Trump congratulated Bernie on the victory, along with a swipe at the DNC's obvious efforts to thwart Sander's ascent to the the nomination
Evoking painful memories, US President Donald Trump has expressed hope that his potential Democratic contender won't be robbed of the nomination this time, as Bernie Sanders heads for a decisive victory in Nevada caucus.


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Vader

Dangerous games: US NUKES Russia in 'mini exercise' attended by Pentagon chief


RT
Sun, 23 Feb 2020 21:54 UTC
nuclear bomb
© AFP
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper played himself in a drill at the US Strategic Command HQ in Nebraska, which featured a bizarre scenario of America nuking Russia in response to its own nuclear strike against a 'NATO ally'.

US military exercises simulating various crises are not that uncommon, yet, out of all plausible scenarios, this particular drill apparently simulated a highly unrealistic one. The classified exercise conducted at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha on Thursday focused on an imaginary nuclear conflict between the US and Russia in Europe.

According to the drill scenario, Moscow somehow decided to use a low-yield nuclear weapon against a site "on the NATO territory" somewhere in Europe, a senior Pentagon official confirmed to journalists on condition of anonymity. The fact that Europe is Russia's biggest trading partner and Moscow would never wish to have a full-blown conflict on its doorstep requiring the use of nuclear weapons apparently never bothered the US military.
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