Puppet MastersS


Ambulance

Taiwan's military chief dies in helicopter crash, along with 7 others

taiwan helicopter crash
© APEmergency teams work at the crash site of a military helicopter in the mountains of Yilan, Taiwan on Jan. 2, 2020. The defense ministry has confirmed Taiwan's top military officer Gen. Shen Yi-ming and others were killed in the crash.
Taiwan's top military official was among eight people killed on Thursday after the helicopter carrying them made a forced landing in a mountainous area near the capital Taipei, the defense ministry said.

The main portion of the helicopter lay in a northern forest wreathed in mist, with its blades shattered into pieces, as dozens of rescuers combed the wreck for survivors, pictures released by emergency authorities showed.

The chief of general staff, Air Force General Shen Yi-ming, died in the incident, while five of the 13 people aboard survived, the military said in a statement.

"Eight of our colleagues were killed," a military spokesman told a news conference broadcast live on television.

The defense ministry said it had dispatched a rescue team following the Black Hawk helicopter's forced landing in New Taipei City, after aviation authorities lost contact with the craft at 8:22 a.m.

The helicopter had left Taipei on a mission to visit soldiers in the northeast county of Yilan ahead of Lunar New Year at month-end.

The incident comes a week before democratic Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Jan. 11.

Briefcase

China suspends trading link between Shanghai & London exchanges over UK response to Hong Kong unrest

Decision linked to rising political tensions over the UK's response to anti-government protests in Hong Kong, Reuters reports
Shanghai
© Reuters/Aly SongShanghai, a free trade zone
China has suspended a trading connection between stock exchanges in Shanghai and London, raising questions about the future of the much-hyped initiative less than a year after its launch.

The temporary halt to the Shanghai-London Stock Connect comes amid rising political tensions linked to the UK's response to anti-government protests in Hong Kong, according to a Reuters report.

A spokeswoman for the London Stock Exchange declined to comment. The Shanghai Stock Exchange did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stock Connect was designed to link China's domestic capital markets with the international investment community via a tie-up between the SSE and the LSE.

The initiative launched to much acclaim last June, when Huatai Securities raised $1.5bn by selling instruments known as global depository receipts and listing them in London. Stock Connect was hailed as a sign of China's willingness to open its financial market to international investors; Huatai remains the only issuer to have made use of the link.

Comment:


Fire

Trump ends decade with a bang, nixing nearly 100 enviro regulations during his first three years in office

Trump
© REUTERS/Leah Millis
President Donald Trump nixed nearly 100 environmental regulations during his first three years in office, effectively rolling back much of his Democratic predecessor's environmental legacy.

The president rolled back more than 90 environmental rules and regulations, The New York Times reported in December. The NYT relied on an analysis from Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School and other sources to keep tabs on Trump's numbers during his time in office.

The NYT's list includes regulations that are officially reversed and rollbacks still in progress.

Comment: See also:


Light Saber

Russia takes over another U.S. base in Syria, Third in a row in less than a Month

Russian military police have managed to take over another base that was recently abandoned by the United States in northern Syria, TASS news agency reported on Thursday, December 26. U.S. troops held the former school building as a base north of Raqqa, the former de facto capital of the Islamic State terrorist group, until recently.
Russian military police in syria
Russian TV Zvezda showed soldiers hoisting the Russian national tricolor on the building rooftop and armored vehicles assembling nearby.
"The unit will be deployed by day's end and we'll start patrols today," TASS quoted Russian military police officer Arman Mambetov as saying.

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Bizarro Earth

Turkey threatens to take Libya by force and install Turkish governor

Turkey army
© AFP 2019 / OZAN KOSE
Erdogan reveals his plans to invade Tripoli with his military and take all of Libya by force. After invading and controlling Libya with his military and Muslim Brotherhood mercenaries he plans to install a Turkish Military Governor to rule Libya. Thus begins his attempt to re-establish the Ottoman Empire one of the most evil, brutal regimes ever to exist.

Turkish Defense Minister: " The process of preparing to send our forces to Libya has begun and we will form a military authority to manage Tripoli led by a Turkish military governor" https://www.addresslibya.co/en/archives/52814

The entire North Africa region is on alert, along with the Arab League which has condemned the Turkish leaders act of aggression and terrorism against the sovereign nation of Libya.

Comment: Sputnik reports that Turkey will halt it's offensive if the democratically elected government halts its take back of Tripoli from the NATO-backed regime:
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said that Ankara would not send its troops to Libya if the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, stopped its attack on Tripoli.

"We hope that there is no need for such an invitation, it will have a deterrent role and the parties [LNA, GNA] will understand this message correctly", Oktay said in an interview with the Anadolu news agency.

The vice president added that if Haftar continued the offensive, Turkey, having an invitation from the GNA, would send its troops.

"The mandate will be valid for a year, and when the need arises, troops will be sent in the right quantity", Oktay said.

The Turkish parliament, which reportedly received a request from Tripoli's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) for military assistance to repel an offensive by the LNA, will make a decision on 2 January whether to send the Turkish military to Libya. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on 31 December that preparations had already begun.

In late November, Turkey and the GNA signed agreements on military cooperation and a new maritime border. Both sides have ratified the deal, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on 26 December that Ankara was ready to provide military assistance in the fight against the LNA.

Libya has been facing an acute armed conflict since its long-time leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was overthrown and killed in 2011. The eastern part of the country is now governed by the Tobruk authorities and the allied LNA, while the GNA operates in the country's west. The situation has escalated over the past several weeks as Haftar ordered his troops to advance on the GNA-controlled capital of Tripoli.
See also: Libya's elected government demands UN's usurper regime gone


Apple Green

The environmental crisis 'key' is beneath our feet

Vineyard
© JuiceBeauty/KJN
The Green New Deal resolution that was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives in February hit a wall in the Senate, where it was called unrealistic and unaffordable. In a Washington Post article titled "The Green New Deal Sets Us Up for Failure. We Need a Better Approach," former Colorado governor and Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper framed the problem like this:
The resolution sets unachievable goals. We do not yet have the technology needed to reach "net-zero greenhouse gas emissions" in 10 years. That's why many wind and solar companies don't support it. There is no clean substitute for jet fuel. Electric vehicles are growing quickly, yet are still in their infancy. Manufacturing industries such as steel and chemicals, which account for almost as much carbon emissions as transportation, are even harder to decarbonize.

Amid this technological innovation, we need to ensure that energy is not only clean but also affordable. Millions of Americans struggle with "energy poverty." Too often, low-income Americans must choose between paying for medicine and having their heat shut off. ...

If climate change policy becomes synonymous in the U.S. psyche with higher utility bills, rising taxes and lost jobs, we will have missed our shot.
The problem may be that a transition to 100% renewables is the wrong target.

Comment: The first take-away from this article is the greed of investors to convince a dumbed-down public that it needs something it doesn't to survive. Funding for money-making industries, and those who seek to profit on the gullibility of the average citizen, is a blatant con job. It trades the balance of nature for the balance of checkbooks. It feeds the greed, not the people!

The second premise: a return of agriculture to sustainable levels and practices that complement human survival with natural processes may be the best chance we have to sustain humanity and the environment.


Star of David

Israeli PM Netanyahu says he wants Parliamentary immunity from prosecution in multiple corruption cases

netanyahu
© Reuters/Nir EliasIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves after addressing members of his right-wing party bloc at a conference in Tel Aviv, Israel November 17, 2019.
Israel's High Court of Justice on 31 December rejected a petition submitted by 67 plaintiffs to deprive current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the right to form a new government, claiming that such issues should not be brought to the court prior to an election, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that he will seek parliamentary immunity from prosecution in the three corruption cases he faces, a move that could postpone criminal proceedings against him for months.

"In order to continue to lead Israel to great achievements, I intend to approach the speaker of the Knesset in accordance with chapter 4C of the law, in order to fulfil my right, my duty and my mission to continue to serve you for the future of Israel", he said.

Comment:


X

Joe Biden's man, Michael Carpenter, shows why US policy towards Russia has completely failed

Biden
© Reuters/Mike BlakeFormer VP and presidential candidate Joe Biden
It's entirely possible that Joe Biden could be the next US President. If so, buckle your seatbelts because the advice he's getting on Russia is, almost certainly, dangerously wrong.

Regular readers will know of my deep scorn for "Russia Watchers" - Westerners who, as a rule, purport to have an understanding of the country beyond their actual competence. Sadly, they are an unavoidable hazard on this beat, much as snow is to Siberia, or blazing summer sun to Krasnodar.

For the most part they are more of an amusement than a menace, self-important but not remotely influential - such as Molly McKew, Mark Galeotti and Malcolm Nance. Safely ensconced on the punditry circuit, or Think Tank racket, where they can, thankfully, do little real harm.

However, problems start when they gain the ear of policymakers. Probably the best example being Michael McFaul, who even managed to land the US ambassador's gig in Moscow, under Barack Obama. Once landed in the Russian capital, he then proceeded to scorch all around him: like a toddler let loose with a box of matches at a fireworks shop.

Comment: The trend in US politics is to make stuff up. Disinformation can take you wherever you want to go!

See also:
Idiot ex-Pentagon official blocks journalists on Twitter for pointing out Ukrainian MP's neo-Nazi ties


Star of David

Bibi gets another pass: Court dismisses arguments for blocking Netanyahu's reelection campaign over charges

israel supreme court justices
© Ohad ZwigenbergIsrael's Supreme Court President Esther Hayut (R) and Justice Hanan Melcer entering the courtroom, Jerusalem, December 31, 2019.
High Court justices dismissed on Tuesday arguments made in a petition seeking to block Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming another government after a March election due to pending indictments against him, saying it was irrelevant to discuss such an option ahead of the actual vote.

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut said there were no legal impediments barring Netanyahu from seeking reelection. Justice Uzi Vogelman said it would be unprecedented to rule on such an issue before the nation's president issues a mandate to form a government.

The petition asked the court to rule that Netanyahu could not be asked to form the next government, given that he faces indictments for bribery and fraud and breach of trust in three corruption cases.

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Bad Guys

'How's the climate accord doing?': Trump twitter-snarks at Macron amid massive pension protests & labor strike

national strike france yellow vests
© Reuters / Gonzalo FuentesRiot police clash with protesters at a demonstration in Paris against a pension reform plan, part of a national strike across France.
US President Donald Trump has taken a swipe at his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, highlighting a series of heated protests unfolding across France over a hot-button pension reform, and poking fun at the Paris climate deal.

From his perch on Twitter, President Trump shared a brief video clip showing a line of parked cars set ablaze in Paris on the cusp of the New Year on Tuesday, adding only a simple caption:
How is the Paris Accord doing? Don't ask!

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