Puppet MastersS


Attention

Trump's 'impeachment' ad: 'Dems lost the election, now they want to steal this one'...


RT
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 21:19 UTC
Campaign ad
© Twitter/Donald J. TrumpPresident Trump's campaign ad accuses Democrats of wanting to "steal" 2020 election.
US President Donald Trump is blasting Democrats and "their media lapdogs" in a new campaign ad, claiming they seek to impeach him for wanting to investigate corruption in Ukraine involving former Vice President Joe Biden.

The 30-second ad that Trump tweeted out Friday afternoon opens with Biden boasting about getting a Ukrainian prosecutor fired after he threatened to withhold $1 billion from Kiev. The footage is from the former vice-president's January 2018 appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations.


Democrats now seek to impeach Trump for asking Ukraine to investigate corruption, while "their media lapdogs fall in line," says the video as it shows the faces of CNN and MSNBC anchors.

"They lost the election, now they want to steal this one," the narrator intones over the footage of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California). "Don't let them."
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Bad Guys

Venezuelan VP: The 'best evil experiment against multilateralism' via the US


RT
Sat, 28 Sep 2019 01:43 UTC
VP Delcy Rodriguez
© Reuters/Eduardo MunozVenezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez at the 74th session of UNGA, September 27, 2019. (Pictured: Pretender Juan Guaido and drug cartel operative)
The US has slapped over 350 unilateral sanctions on Venezuela, including weaponizing the dollar and turning the country into a testing ground for its ongoing assault on the world order, Venezuela's VP Delcy Rodriguez told the UN.

Taking the floor at the UN General Assembly on Friday, Rodriguez tore into Washington's policy of regime change against the government in Caracas, which she said is now being conducted by the means of "economic terrorism." Rather than resorting to blunt military force, to gut the Venezuela economy:
"The US uses the dominance of the dollar as the international reserve currency in order to bring our people to their knees.

"The Treasury Department is the economic Pentagon mentoring international relations and punishing millions of innocent people to enforce doctrines of regime change and to steal the resources of nations."
A total of more than 350 "unilateral coercive measures" that include "illicit appropriation" of Venezuela's assets outside the country have been adopted against Venezuela from 2015 to the present day, Rodriguez noted.
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Briefcase

Flynn to Schiff: Pound sand and read Watkins v. United States


Conservative HQ
Wed, 25 Sep 2019 00:00 UTC
Flynn/Powell
© azerbaycan24.com/Fox NewsGeneral Michael Flynn • Attorney Sidney Powell
Well, more correctly it was General Flynn's lead attorney, former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell, who told Rep. Adam Schiff that the much-abused General was refusing Schiff's "theatrical" demand for an appearance before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which she also characterized as lacking propriety, conformance to prior practice and ethics.

In her letter Ms. Powell cited the case of Watkins v. United States a 1957 case decided by the Supreme Court.

The facts of Watkins were simple: In 1954, John Watkins, a labor organizer, was called upon to testify in hearings conducted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Watkins agreed to describe his alleged connections with the Communist Party and to identify current members of the Party. Watkins refused to give information concerning individuals who had left the Communist Party. Watkins argued that such questions were beyond the authority of the Committee.*

The case reached the Supreme Court after Watkins was convicted of a violation of 2 U.S.C. § 192, which made it a misdemeanor for any person summoned as a witness by either House of Congress or any committee thereof to refuse to answer any question "pertinent to the question under inquiry."
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Dollars

Erdogan: Turkey may buy US Patriot anti-aircraft system and Russian S-400s


Sputnik
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 15:16 UTC
Patriot missile defense
© AP/Michael SohnPatriot missile defense systems
Turkey can purchase Patriot missile defence systems from the United States, along with Russian S-400 systems, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. Erdogan told Turkish journalists, as quoted by the Milliyet newspaper:
"I have made them an offer. I told [US President Donald] Trump: 'we can buy Patriot from you together with [...] [Russian] S-400.' They responded: 'If you are serious, let's work on it. If you can move it through the [US] congress, we will work as well. And if we receive such an offer, then we will also have an alternative defence system.'
The statement comes a week after the Turkish president stated ahead of his visit to the US that the idea of Ankara buying American Patriot missiles is "not off the table."

Erdogan said that the conditions of a potential Patriot deal should "at least match up to [those of the] S-400s" for it to be concluded between the two states. He also noted that Turkey is interested in American Patriots regardless of how many S-400s it orders from Russia.
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Snakes in Suits

House Dems demand White House release details on Ukraine's aid delay


RFE/RL
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 19:53 UTC
John Yarmuth
© J. Scott Applewhite/AP PhotoHouse Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth
The Democratic chairs of two House committees have called on the White House to release documents relating to its decision to withhold funds for Ukraine that is now at the center of an impeachment hearing.

The chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee Nita Lowey and the chairman of the House Budget Committee John Yarmuth made the call in a letter addressed to the White House and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on September 27.

In the letter, Lowey and Yarmuth said they were concerned President Donald Trump abused his authority by temporarily blocking the nearly $400 million Congress had authorized for Ukraine to defend itself. Trump this month released the funding after the weeks long holdup was made public.

The lawmakers are seeking to establish a timeline for when Trump and the OMB withheld the funding and why they did so.

When asked why he blocked the funding by reporters, Trump highlighted corruption in Ukraine and the need for Europe to contribute more.

Comment: See also: What did the press get wrong about the Ukraine call? Everything!



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Pistol

'Gunning' for the NRA, Senate Dems claim it was a 'foreign asset' of Russia in 2016 election


RT
Sat, 28 Sep 2019 00:08 UTC
Guns and man/rifle
© Reuters/Lucas JacksonA man inspects a Browning shotgun during the NRA annual meeting.
Injecting new life into the 'Russiagate' conspiracy theory, Senate Democrats produced a report claiming that the largest US gun rights organization acted like a 'foreign asset' for the Kremlin and should lose tax-exempt status.

The 77-page document, published Friday by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), insinuates that the National Rifle Association (NRA) abused its tax-exempt status by working with the gun rights activist Maria Butina - branded a "Russian agent" - and a Russian official "widely understood to be Alexander Torshin," in what is said to be a "years-long" effort to infiltrate American politics.

"Butina and Torshin utilized a network of Russian oligarchs and high-ranking Kremlin officials to bring the NRA to Moscow with promises of lucrative business opportunities with Russian entities," says the report, compiled by the Democrat staff of the Senate Finance Committee, where Wyden is the ranking member.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Up

Pentagon: US deploys 200 troops, 4 radars, 1 Patriot battery to Saudi Arabia


RT
Thu, 26 Sep 2019 18:43 UTC
US Patriot missile system
© Reuters/Osman OrsalA US Patriot missile system in Turkey
The US is sending a Patriot missile battery, four Sentinel radars and roughly a company's worth of support personnel to Saudi Arabia, pumping more troops into a region already on edge due to the US pressure campaign against Iran.

In addition to the 200 troops and the air defense systems, two more batteries of Patriot missiles and another battery of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles were placed on standby, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said on Thursday.

The deployment was first announced last Friday by US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, along with a promise to release the details as they became available. General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the time that he could only describe it as "not thousands."

Esper and Dunford said the US was talking with European allies to see if they would send any additional troops to Saudi Arabia, which would influence the size of the US deployment. No details on any such European presence were offered.
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USA

Joshua Wong, the West's poster-boy protester, to run for local office


RT
Sat, 28 Sep 2019 10:52 UTC
Joshua Wong
© Joshua Wong at a protest outside police headquarters in Hong Kong, June 2019. Anthony Wallace/AFPJoshua Wong at a protest in Hong Kong, June 2019.
Joshua Wong, the young figurehead of the anti-Beijing protests in Hong Kong, is planning to contest the upcoming local election. He is just back from touring Berlin and Washington, where he sought help to keep pressure on China.

The 22-year-old activist announced his plans on Saturday to run in the local election, set for November. His statement coincided with the anniversary of the 2014 mass protests in Hong Kong, China's self-governing territory, in which Wong had also participated. Wong told reporters:
"Five years ago, we claimed that we will be back and now we are back with even stronger determination. The battle ahead is the battle for our home and our homeland."
Wong had earlier been released on bail; he's charged with organizing an illegal rally outside a police station and is due to appear before a judge on November 8, two weeks before the vote. The anti-Beijing opposition group Demosisto, which Wong co-founded, had been barred from the elections but its ban was later overturned in court. The activist threatened the authorities with more protests if he is prevented from running. "If they disqualify me, it will just generate more and more momentum ... they will pay the price."

Comment: See also:

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Heart

Iraqi prime minister to open Al Qaim border crossing with Syria


Sputnik
Sat, 28 Sep 2019 18:29 UTC
iraq soldier flag
© Associated Press/Bram JanssenA member of the Iraqi federal police wears an Iraqi flag around his shoulders before going to battle against the Islamic State group
Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi authorized the major Al Qaim crossing at the Syrian border to be opened on Monday, a representative of the Iraqi border crossing authority said Saturday.

"Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi agreed to open Al Qaim checkpoint at the Syrian border on Monday, 30 September", Alaeddin Qaisi said, quoted by the Alsumaria broadcaster.

Al Qaim, also referred to as Al Bukamal (Al Bukamal-Qa'im) Al-Qa'im, located in the western province of Anbar, was one of the last liberated areas during the Iraqi military operation against the Daesh terrorist group in 2017.

Comment: Liberated jointly by the Syrian and Iraqi forces in 2017 re-opening the Al Bukamal-Qa'im corridor is another step to normalizing life in both countries after the nightmare of ISIS.

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Star of David

Netanyahu, Gantz will both have shots at forming new Israeli government - failure means ANOTHER election


Sputnik
Sat, 28 Sep 2019 17:31 UTC
Netanyahu Gantz
© Kobi Gideon / GPO / FilePrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz.
The Prime Minister was given 28 days with a possible 14-day extension to form a government, but Israeli media suggest he won't wait that long. There are still options to overcome the political deadlock, but party leaders have expressed little interest in pursuing them.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will most likely announce as soon as next week that he is unable to form a government, which will bring Israel closer to a third national election. Both Channel 12 and Channel 13 have reported that, despite having 28 days to try to muster a Knesset majority (and 14 more days if an extension is needed), Netanyahu will return his mandate to President Reuven Rivlin as soon as the festival of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) is over, according to The Times of Israel.

Comment: Netanyahu has been a festering sore of scandal and corruption in Israeli politics for years: On the other hand, Gantz is no prize, but the Palestinian Joint List coalition has held their nose and thrown in with Blue and White:

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