Puppet MastersS


Sheriff

Vostok Oil project will boost Russia's GDP & strengthen country's position in the Arctic - Putin


RT
Tue, 11 Feb 2020 15:08 UTC
arctic russia
© Global Look Press / Vladislav KadyshevFILE PHOTO: Atomic-powered vessel "Russia" in the Arctic Ocean
Russia's massive Vostok Oil project could bolster Russia's presence in the remote Arctic region and boost the country's economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

The Russian leader discussed the multibillion-dollar project aimed at developing oil and gas fields and energy infrastructure in the remote northern regions during his meeting with Igor Sechin, CEO of the country's biggest oil company Rosneft, which is responsible for the implementation of the initiative.

"The project is huge and promising. It will increase in the country's GDP as a whole, boost freight traffic along the Northern Sea Route, and, of course, strengthen Russia's position in the Arctic," said Putin.

Comment: Meanwhile Russia is also ensuring it can keep the area well protected:

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Arrow Up

Irish reunification now on the table - former Foreign Office head

Brian Hutton
Irish Times
Tue, 11 Feb 2020 18:33 UTC
Europe UK flag
Simon Fraser says Europe has more experience negotiating trade deals than the UK.
Reunification of Ireland and the future status of Scotland are issues "definitely on the table" as a result of Brexit, the former head of the UK Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service has said.

Simon Fraser, chief policy adviser to two British foreign secretaries, William Hague and Philip Hammond, said a decision to pull out of the EU complicates the union of Britain and Northern Ireland.

"Brexit does complicate, in my view, the future status of both Scotland and Northern Ireland, if you look at it from the British aspect," he said.

"I think these questions are definitely on the table in terms of the future of our union."

Comment: See also:

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Magnify

SOTT Focus: New Leaks Shatter OPCW's Attacks on Douma Whistleblowers

Aaron Maté
The Grayzone
Tue, 11 Feb 2020 17:46 UTC
opcw un douma
Bloody cover-up
For the past year, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has been roiled by allegations that it manipulated an investigation to falsely accuse the Syrian government of a chemical weapons attack. An OPCW report released in March 2019 lent credence to claims by Islamist militants and Western governments that the Syrian military killed around 40 civilians with toxic gas in the city of Douma in April 2018. The accusation against Damascus led to US-led military strikes on Syrian government sites that same month.

But leaked internal documents published by Wikileaks show that OPCW inspectors who deployed to Douma rejected the official story, and complained that higher-level officials excluded them from the post-mission process, distorted key evidence, and ignored their findings.

After months of virtual silence, the OPCW has responded with an internal inquiry that lambasts two veteran officials who raised internal objections, attacking their credibility and qualifications. The OPCW's self-described "independent investigation" describes the pair as rogue, low-level actors who played minor roles in the Douma mission and lacked access to crucial evidence. In a briefing to member states, OPCW Director General Fernando Arias dismissed them as disgruntled ex-employees. The two "are not whistle-blowers," Arias said. "They are individuals who could not accept that their views were not backed by evidence."

Comment: And the OPCW is equally determined to snuff out that light. RT's Murad Gadziev explains how the UN chemical warfare watchdog is responding to this farce:


For more on this story, see:

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Light Sabers

'Stop your cyber intrusion & surveillance,' China tells US after indictment of Chinese military in Equifax hack


RT
Tue, 11 Feb 2020 17:32 UTC
equifax
© REUTERS / Dado Ruvic
Unlike the US itself, China does not engage in cyberattacks on foreign companies, a Chinese official has said after the US indicted four Chinese military officers over the 2017 breach of the Equifax credit reporting agency.

The US Department of Justice has formally charged four members of China's People's Liberation Army of stealing personal data of some 147.9 million Equifax customers after getting access through a software vulnerability which the company failed to patch.

The Chinese government denied any involvement in the Equifax hack, saying its civilian and military personnel "never engage in cyber theft of trade secrets," according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.

Comment: Previously: Four Chinese military hackers charged with massive 2017 Equifax breach

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Megaphone

Soleimani could have 'easily' killed American commanders ANYWHERE in Middle East...but chose stability - Rouhani


RT
Mon, 10 Feb 2020 17:30 UTC
Soleimani
© WANA/Nazanin Tabatabaee via Reuters
Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by a US drone strike in Iraq, was more than capable of targeting American commanders in the Middle East, but he wanted calm in the region, Iran's president has claimed.

The leader of the elite Quds Force had pursued "stability and calm in the region," Hassan Rouhani said on Monday in a speech broadcast live on state TV.

"If commander Soleimani wanted to kill American generals it would have been very, very easy for him, in Afghanistan, Iraq and any other place. He never did that," stated Rouhani.
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Star of David

Is Pete Buttigieg the Israel lobby's choice for US President?

Philip Giraldi
The Unz Review
Tue, 11 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
Buttigieg and Sanders
Cyberwarfare began in Iowa

Many Americans might consider it decidedly odd that the recent impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump also featured constant vilification of President Vladimir Putin, to such an extent that one might have though that the Russian leader was also in the dock awaiting sentencing. The irony is, of course, that while "Russian interference" has virtually become a cliché, its actual impact on the 2016 election outcome was less than negligible.

Russia was cited seemingly incessantly by House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, to include the always useful assertion that "if we don't fight them over there [in Ukraine] we'll have to fight them over here." Even more ridiculous, Schiff suggested that if Trump were to lose the presidential election later this year, he might well refuse to accept the result and could be supported by an invading Russian army.

Senator Charles Schumer of New York delivered one of the more astonishing pre-impeachment vote diatribes, tying Trump to foreign interests. He said "No greater subversion of our democracy than for foreign powers to determine or elections... My fellow Americans, asking for foreign interference in our elections is a high crime. Our Nation was founded on the idea of truth." Yet the same Schumer brazenly claims that he is the "protector" of Israel in the U.S. Senate, that his surname is derived from the Hebrew "shomer" which means "guardian."

Comment: See also:

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Dollar

Europe's green deal: Same hysteria, same destruction

Andrew Moran
Liberty Nation
Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Europe's Green New Deal
Europe recently released its Green Deal - and it isn't much better than the American version.

Today's brand of the left-leaning politician is all about substituting what sounds good for what actually works. Modern politics, whether in the U.S. or Europe, is about taking a chainsaw to everything that produced even a modicum of success to appease the deities espousing progressive orthodoxy. There is no better example of this than fossil fuels, energy sources that have lifted us out of destitution and darkness and given us incredible wealth the world had never witnessed. What is the left interested in doing? Confiscation, cronyism, centralization, and coercion to combat climate change. The European Union will achieve these objectives through the boondoggle-in the-making Green Deal.

What is the Green Deal?

The European counterpart is a bit more realistic than the American version, aiming for net-zero emissions within 30 years rather than in a decade. But that is probably the best thing you can say about this proposal, which was approved by the European Parliament - some policymakers had requested even greater ambitions to be inserted inside the climate change scheme. Overall, the Green Deal is bad economics that will affect the already dreary conditions of Europe and exacerbate the slowdown.

Comment: See also:

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Light Sabers

China, Russia to defy US sanctions over support to Venezuela


teleSUR
Mon, 10 Feb 2020 08:16 UTC
lavrov venezuela
© CancilleriaVERussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivers a statement during his official visit to Caracas, Venezuela.
In Beijing, the foreign ministry indicated that China is against any foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela and against the application of unilateral sanctions.

The Russian government rejected on Monday the U.S. threats to impose new sanctions against several Russian companies for their cooperation with Venezuela in the oil sector.

Last week, the United States special representative for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, warned Russia that its support for Venezuela will cost them econmically as Washington is looking to sanction them.

"We classify this practice as harmful, we believe that many countries suffer because of this practice, we consider it contrary to international law," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters Monday in regards to Washington's plans.

"The United States, especially, and several other countries, unfortunately use these trade and other restrictions very frequently against third world countries, which are illegal under international law."

Comment: See also:

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Recycle

What really happened to Ukraine's missing gold?

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 19:00 UTC
Now that the Trump impeachment farce is finally over, vindicating the president and in the process for the first time boosting the president's approval rating higher than where Obama was at this time in his first term much to the embarrassment of Nancy Pelosi, whose impeachment gambit has backfired spectacularly (just as Nancy knew it would, and is why she delayed triggering it until a critical mass of ultra left-wing demands in Congress made it impossible for her to ignore any longer)...
obama trump rating
... the Democrats' great diversion from Trump's core question - did the Bidens willfully engage in, and benefit from corruption in the Ukraine, corruption which may have been enabled and facilitated by billions in taxpayer funds originating from the Obama administration no less - is over.

However, while Trump has finally moved on beyond what in retrospect was a remarkable, if failed presidential coup attempt, orchestrated by the Ukraine lobby in the US, backed by the Atlantic Council and various other "deep-state" institutions and apparatchiks, and implemented by Congressional democrats who are now watching the chances of the Democratic party winning the 2020 presidential election melt before their eyes, some long overdue questions surrounding the Bidens' involvement in Ukraine - one of the world's most corrupt nations according to the World Economic Forum - especially around the time of the 2014 presidential coup and the months immediately following, are about to be asked, and haunt Joe Biden and his son like a very angry and vengeful ghost, only this time there will be no Trump impeachment to distract from revealing the shocking answers.
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Rocket

Best of the Web: For the SIXTH time, Pentagon increases number of injured US troops from Iranian airstrikes on Iraq base, this time to 109


Reuters
Mon, 10 Feb 2020 22:10 UTC
al-asad airbase iraq iran airstrikes
© AP
The U.S. military is preparing to report a more than 50% jump in cases of traumatic brain injury stemming from Iran's missile attack on a base in Iraq last month, U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement, said there were over 100 cases of TBI, up from the 64 previously reported last month.

The Pentagon declined to comment, but in the past had said to expect an increase in numbers in the weeks after the attack because symptoms can take time to manifest and troops can sometimes take longer to report them.


Comment: Right.


No U.S. troops were killed or faced immediate bodily injury when Iran fired missiles at the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike at the Baghdad airport on Jan. 3.


Comment: "Immediate bodily injury." You can smell the desperation to avoid admitting military weakness (in terms of defensive capabilities anyway) all the way from the Pentagon.


Comment: This is one heckuva brazen PR stunt they're pulling here. 6 weeks old and still ongoing...

See also: Pentagon AGAIN increases casualty numbers from Iranian airstrikes against US base in Iraq, this time to "50, as of today" - UPDATE: Now it's 64!

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