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Bad Guys

Trump must not let Manbij bombing derail Syria withdrawal


RT
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 16:30 UTC
US Soldier, Manbij, Syria
© Reuters / Zoe Garbarino / US Army
US Soldier, Manbij, Syria, November 1, 2018
US President Donald Trump appears to be approaching a watershed moment as to whether anything will be left of his 2016 "America First" campaign pledge.

On the front burner domestically is the federal government's partial shutdown and whether Trump will get money for his wall on the Mexican border, one way or the other. It's a showdown he cannot afford to lose. As sometime ally, sometime adversary Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) put it, if Trump backs down "that's probably the end of his presidency."

No less vital to maintaining his authority, and more fraught with catastrophic dangers if things go wrong, is whether he will stay the course on his decision last month to withdraw US forces from Syria. Trump is adamant that that's been his preference all along.

No less clear is the fact that at every turn he's been stymied by so-called "experts," "the adults in the room." As noted approvingly by Bob Woodward every time Trump has tried to assert his will on Syria and national security matters, his own appointees send him to "the Tank" and pelt him with all the reasons he's wrong and why the US needs to continue with policies he disagrees with. In the end, he backs down.

Comment: Trump's battle to withdraw US troops from Syria only highlights how paralyzed the position of Presidency is against the war machine, and it's telling that while this is going on, Israel continues to create havoc in the region: Israel launches new barrage of airstrikes against 'Iranian' targets in Syria, warns against retaliation - UPDATES

See also: And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: World in Chaos: Anti-Russia Hysteria, Israel Murders Palestinians, US Leaving Syria?

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Toys

PM May tries to tweak defeated Brexit plan, refuses to rule out no-deal

Kylie MacLellan
Reuters
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 09:04 UTC
Theresa May
© Henry Nicholls / Reuters
British Prime Minister Theresa May sought to break the parliamentary deadlock over Brexit on Monday by proposing to seek further concessions from the European Union on a plan to prevent customs checks on the Irish border.

With little time left until the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on March 29, there is no agreement in London on how and even whether it should leave the world's biggest trading bloc, and a growing chance of a dramatic 'no-deal' exit with no provisions to soften the economic shock.

After her Brexit divorce deal with Brussels was rejected by 432-202 lawmakers last Tuesday, the biggest defeat in modern British history, May has been searching for a way to get a deal through.

She told parliament she could not take a "no-deal" Brexit off the table as there was no approved alternative, and the EU would be unlikely to postpone Britain's exit date - determined by the "Article 50" withdrawal notice - without an exit plan.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Broom

"Russia is poor": Comment by Chubais 'father of Russian capitalism' slammed by FM Zakharova


RT
Tue, 22 Jan 2019 09:28 UTC
Anatoly Chubais (L); Maria Zakharova
© SputnikAnatoly Chubais (L); Maria Zakharova
Maria Zakharova attacked controversial veteran economist, Anatoly Chubais, over his claim that Russia is poor. She said the man, who oversaw the country's switch to capitalism, should know how it happened.

Russia is "one of the most energy-wasting countries in the world" and electricity prices must be increased to stop this, Chubais, a key member of President Boris Yeltisn's team in the early 1990s and the current head of Rusnano state owned-company, said at an economic forum last week.

However, he specified that "Russia is a poor country. A significant part of the population lives poorly or very poorly, so raising prices right off the bat would be wrong."

It was a strong statement from the man regarded as the father of modern capitalism in Russia as he came up with a swift, but painful switch to market economy after the fall of the USSR. The problems currently encountered by the country are seen by many as the consequences of the mistakes made by Chubais back then.

Comment: The West would be lucky to have someone like Zakharova, and its because of people like her that Russia is doing so well:

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Stormtrooper

The danger within: Border patrol is quietly turning America into a Constitution-free zone

John W. Whitehead
The Rutheford Institute
Tue, 22 Jan 2019 10:56 UTC
US border wall california
© Associated PressDefense Secretary Mattis said on Sunday that military equipment is already moving to the southern US border. Pictured above are mounted border patrol agents at a newly constructed section of border wall in California.
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." - William Pitt
How far would you really go to secure the nation's borders against illegal aliens?

Would you give the government limitless amounts of money to fight yet another endless war? Surround the entire country with concrete walls and barbed wire? Empower border police to do whatever it takes to crack down on illegal immigrants, even if it means violating their human rights? Hold your nose and tolerate all manner of abuses in name of national security?

Would you allow government agents to trample on the rights of anyone who gets in their way, including legal citizens? Relinquish some of your freedoms in exchange for the elusive promise of non-porous borders? Submit to a national ID card that allows the government to target individuals and groups as it chooses in order to identify those who do not "belong"? Turn a blind eye to private prisons and detainment camps that profit off the forced labor of its detainees?
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Top Secret

Satellite images reveal China building secret bunkers near Indian border

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 22 Jan 2019 15:45 UTC
Shiquanhe City
Shiquanhe City
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has constructed a new, underground facility (UGF) about 31 miles from the India-China border, and 37 miles from the Indian Army's forward posts at Demchok in Ladakh.

According to The Print, satellite imagery identified a deeply buried hardened target (DBHT) under construction outside the town of Ngari, also known as Shiquanhe in Mandarin.

Construction started in December 2016, about six months before the 2017 China-India border standoff near the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction in the east.

The Print, specified that special personnel are being used instead of locals, to maintain secrecy and security of the project.

The UGF appears to have four large tunnel entrances and three small ones; all have hardened entrances with reinforced concrete. Judging by the images, the openings would soon be covered with other material to withstand a direct military strike.

Comment: It's likely these bunkers will be multi-purpose because there are a variety of problems our planet is facing from Earth Changes to the relentless drums of war, and China has demonstrated through its projects that it is preparing for most eventualities, in the long and short term:

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Attention

Washington's anti-Trump frenzy is a grave threat to superpower diplomacy

Stephen F. Cohen
The Nation
Wed, 16 Jan 2019 10:27 UTC
Trump Putin G20 Gemany
© Reuters / Carlos BarriaPresident Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017.
Baseless Russiagate allegations continue to risk war with Russia.

The New Year has brought a torrent of ever-more-frenzied allegations that President Donald Trump has long had a conspiratorial relationship-why mince words and call it "collusion"?-with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Why the frenzy now? Perhaps because Russiagate promoters in high places are concerned that special counsel Robert Mueller will not produce the hoped-for "bombshell" to end Trump's presidency. Certainly, New York Times columnist David Leonhardt seems worried, demanding, "The president must go," his drop line exhorting, "What are we waiting for?" (In some countries, articles like his, and there are very many, would be read as calling for a coup.) Perhaps to incite Democrats who have now taken control of House investigative committees. Perhaps simply because Russiagate has become a political-media cult that no facts, or any lack of evidence, can dissuade or diminish.
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Stop

If Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was alive today he'd be censored and his Facebook page deleted

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 00:00 UTC
Martin Luther King jr
© UnknownDr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s pro-peace and antiwar stance would have made him an enemy to today's establishment and he would have been censored.

50 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., his struggle for peace lives on.

When most people think of the great man, born Michael King on January 15, 1929, they see an advocate for peace, who is celebrated by the US government - honored every year in January, on the third Monday.

However, what the government tells us and what this great man did are two separate stories and had Dr. King been alive today, he would have been an enemy to the establishment who would have made every move they could to silence him.

Dr. King's position as the leader of the Civil Rights Movement began after his election as spokesman for the Montgomery Improvement Association in December of 1955. What also started in that December of 1955 was the FBI's investigation into him.

Comment: In perpetual struggle is how we live; some find wisdom and become its voice.
See also:

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Laptop

France's data protection watchdog hits Google with €50 million fine


The Local - France
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 17:10 UTC
Google fined by French watchdog
© The Local
Here's what France's data protection watchdog CNIL had to say about why it hit Google with an unprecedented and eye-watering €50 million fine.

France's data watchdog (CNIL) announced Monday a fine of 50 million euros ($57 million) for US web search giant Google, using the EU's strict General Data Protection Regulation for the first time.

Below is the full text from CNIL explaining why it took action against the internet giant.
On 25 and 28 May 2018, the National Data Protection Commission (CNIL) received group complaints from the associations None Of Your Business ("NOYB") and La Quadrature du Net("LQDN"). LQDN was mandated by 10 000 people to refer the matter to the CNIL. In the two complaints, the associations reproach Google for not having a valid legal basis to process the personal data of the users of its services, particularly for ads personalization purposes.
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Jet1

Iranian air force commander's warning: 'Iran ready to eliminate Israel from Earth'


RT
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 11:11 UTC
Israeli airstrikes
© Times of IsraelIsraeli airstrikes near Damascus, Syria, January 21, 2019.
The head of Iran's air force has warned that Tehran is ready to "confront" and "eliminate" Israel. His fighting words come after Israel launched air raids on alleged Iranian targets inside Syria, killing 4 Syrian soldiers.

Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh, the commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF), issued the provocative statement to the Young Journalist Club news agency, according Iranian media.

"The young people in the air force are fully ready and impatient to confront the Zionist regime and eliminate it from the Earth," he said. "Our future generations are learning required know-how for the promised day to destroy Israel," he added.

He stressed that Iran's high level of military preparedness has deterred the country's enemies from attacking the Islamic Republic.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his nation's decision to strike targets inside Syria on Monday, describing the air raid as retribution against those who wish to destroy Israel.

Comment: Israel is brazenly acting on dangerous delusions and just might get the war it wants with Iran.

Iran meanwhile, needs to work on its messaging: such statements only fuel Israel's lies about 'attacking Syria because Iran'.

See also: Israel launches new barrage of airstrikes against 'Iranian' targets in Syria, warns against retaliation

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Sherlock

Who murdered the 'Godfather of the Taliban'? Examining Pakistan's role in Afghanistan

Nauman Sadiq
Sott.net
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 21:56 UTC
On the evening of November 2,
Maulana Sami-ul-Haq
Maulana Sami-ul-Haq
Maulana Sami-ul-Haq was found dead in his Rawalpindi residence. The assassination was as gruesome as the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul a month earlier on October 2. He was stabbed multiple times in chest, stomach and forehead.

Sami-ul-Haq was widely known as the "Godfather of the Taliban" because he was a renowned religious cleric who used to administer a sprawling religious seminary, Darul Uloom Haqqania, in Akora Khattak in northwestern Pakistan.

During the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s, the seminary was used for training and arming the Afghan so-called "Mujahideen" (freedom fighters), though it is now used exclusively for imparting religious education. Many of the well-known Taliban militant commanders received their education in the seminary.

In order to understand the motive of the assassination, we need to keep the backdrop in mind. On October 31, Pakistan's Supreme Court acquitted a Christian woman, Aasiya Bibi, who was accused of blasphemy and had been languishing in prison since 2010. Pakistan's religious political parties were holding street protests against her acquittal for several days before Sami-ul-Haq's murder and had paralyzed the whole country.
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