Puppet MastersS


Oil Well

PetroChina suspends imports of Venezuelan oil, a huge blow to Maduro

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sat, 17 Aug 2019 12:45 UTC
Venezuelan oil crisis
© Freedoms Phoenix
Even if China continues to thwart US sanctions on Iran, in the case of Venezuela Trump appears to be gaining the upper hand.

Bloomberg reported Friday that China National Petroleum Corp. (parent company of oil giant PetroChina Ltd) — the country's biggest energy company — is for the first time in over a decade backing away from Venezuelan crude, canceling shipments in August:
China National Petroleum Corp. has canceled plans to load about 5 million barrels worth of Venezuelan oil onto ships this month in the aftermath of the latest executive order by President Donald Trump, according to people with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified discussing proprietary information.
Beijing is seeking to reduce its exposure to the risk of Washington's sanctions, even as it grapples with the US on other fronts.

This could prove a final massive economic blow to President Nicolas Maduro's future prospects amid food and electricity shortages and hyperinflation, given China has been state-owned PDVSA's top offload destination since the US brought unprecedented sanctions against it starting January 28th. The Trump administrated expanded the sanctions further on Aug. 5, aimed at severing Maduro's final major cash lifeline.
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Broom

Mission: Impossible? Ukraine's New President Ventures To Reform Powerful State Spy Agency

Christopher Miller
RFE/RL
Sat, 17 Aug 2019 17:44 UTC
Ivan Bakanov
The acting chief of Ukraine's SBU security service, Ivan Bakanov, who previously headed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's entertainment studio, Kvartal 95, and his presidential campaign.
When Ukraine's domestic security service revealed last year that it had faked the death of a dissident Russian journalist to expose a team of hit men allegedly hired by Moscow to destabilize the country by assassinating high-profile figures in Kyiv, it expected to take victory lap.

Instead, the stunt sparked wide spread criticism and turned into a public-relations nightmare --- one of many in the past 28 years that have tarnished the reputation of the Security Service of Ukraine.

A year later, fresh off huge election victories that brought him and his fledgling Servant of the People party to power, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy -- a former comedian who has vowed to end endemic corruption and implement sweeping reforms - may have a chance to do what none of his predecessors was able to do: revamp the agency and restore its credibility.

How successful the 41-year-old Zelenskiy and his young team of reformers are in cleaning up the agency -- arguably the country's most powerful institution -- will be a litmus test of his administration's resolve to bring Ukraine more into line with Western democracies.

On the other hand, failure to reform the security service, critics say, could hobble wider efforts to curb corruption and economic crime, as the agency's activities have much to do with Ukraine's efforts to bolster the rule of law, and its checkered reputation deters foreign investors from bringing business to a country where the security service has enabled economic crime.
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Eye 1

Trump admin requests permanent reauthorization of NSA mass spying program exposed by Snowden

Jake Johnson
Common Dreams
Fri, 16 Aug 2019 17:15 UTC
snowden
© Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images
Civil liberties groups and privacy advocates raised alarm Thursday after the Trump administration called on Congress to reauthorize an NSA mass surveillance program that was exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The New York Times, which obtained the Trump administration's request to Congress, reported that "the administration urged lawmakers to make permanent the legal authority for the National Security Agency to gain access to logs of Americans' domestic communications, the USA Freedom Act."

"The law, enacted after the intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden revealed the existence of the program in 2013, is set to expire in December, but the Trump administration wants it made permanent," according to the Times.
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Bullseye

Steele dossier 'pumped myths' into the US justice system - former Trump adviser Carter Page


RT
Sat, 17 Aug 2019 16:55 UTC
carter page
© REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
The former MI6 agent credited with launching Russiagate concocted dangerous lies and myths that made a mockery of the US justice system and misled the American people, former Donald Trump campaign adviser Carter Page has told RT.

Page, a primary suspect in the now-debunked theory that Donald Trump's presidential campaign colluded with the Kremlin, said that former MI6 agent Christoper Steele had "pumped myths into the criminal justice system," sparking a two-year investigation based on falsehoods.

"[The Steele dossier] was just a complete myth. Complete lies that were misleading the American public," Page told Afshin Rattansi on RT's Going Underground.
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Megaphone

US policy destroyed Honduras and its destruction created opening for Trump - Max Blumenthal


RT
Sat, 17 Aug 2019 16:50 UTC
border wall
© Reuters / Jose Luis Gonzalez
The 2009 US-backed coup in Honduras caused the migration crisis US President Donald Trump has weaponized, creating a situation where "everybody's making money except the Honduran people," writer Max Blumenthal tells RT America.

Honduran President Orlando Hernandez is "hated by every sector of society," Blumenthal told RT America's Rick Sanchez, explaining that the leader - who stands accused by a US court of using $1.5 million in narco-trafficking profits to fund his election, even as Washington allows him to travel freely and funds his regime's brutal crackdown on protesters - has allowed foreign corporations to pillage Honduras while plunging his own people into poverty.
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Magnify

'How is that non-news?' Lee Camp reveals why MSM chooses to ignore Honduras and Brazil unrest


RT
Sat, 17 Aug 2019 16:46 UTC
honduras protests
© REUTERS/Jorge Cabrera; Ricardo Moraes 8
Americans are bombarded with non-stop news on Hong Kong and Moscow rallies, but how come mass protests in Honduras and Brazil aren't high on the agenda? Lee Camp looks at why the US corporate media are keeping mum on the subject.

Honduras, a Latin American nation of nine million people, has been hit by massive unrest, with people venting anger at pro-US President Orlando Hernandez. The wave of violent demonstrations saw the US diplomatic mission attacked by protesters - but the American mainstream media didn't say a word about it, Camp pointed out, speaking on Redacted Tonight.

"Protesters are literally burning the US embassy because we installed a f******d [Hernandez] rule over them, how is that non-news?" he wondered.
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Bullseye

Tulsi Gabbard lists political correctness among threats to American values


RT
Sat, 17 Aug 2019 16:39 UTC
tulsi
© Reuters / Scott Morgan
Widespread efforts to silence speech deemed to be offensive threaten US constitutional rights, Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard says. Her latest campaign ad takes aim at the hot-button issue of political correctness.

In a new campaign video posted on Twitter, Gabbard lists political correctness alongside things like overly powerful IT corporations and government overreach. All three infringe on Americans' personal rights, she says.

The battle between "PC culture" and free-speech advocates has become particularly fierce in recent months, with "woke" activists rallying against anything that could potentially cause offense.
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Cowboy Hat

Failed state made in the USA: Ex-president of Honduras and coup victim Zelaya tells all


RT
Sat, 17 Aug 2019 13:56 UTC
Zelaya at a protest against the US-backed Hernandez government
© Reuters / Jorge CabreraZelaya at a protest against the US-backed Hernandez government.
President Jose Manuel Zelaya of Honduras was deposed from power in a military coup after joining a progressive alliance of Latin American leaders and he has "absolutely no doubts" the US was behind his ouster, he tells RT America.

"The US warned me: If you sign the Bolivarian Alternative to the Americas (ALBA), you're going to have problems with the US. I signed it, and six months later, I had problems," Zelaya told RT America's Rick Sanchez.

"They kicked me out."

Comment: Also see:

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Chess

China prepares its 'Nuclear Option' in the trade war

Simon Watkins
Oilprice.com
Tue, 13 Aug 2019 13:35 UTC
China and Iran meeting
As the trade war with the U.S. continues to escalate, China has re-engaged with Iran on three key projects and is weighing the use of what both Washington and Beijing term the 'nuclear option', a senior oil and gas industry source who works closely with Iran's Petroleum Ministry told OilPrice.com last week.

For the first of these projects - Phase 11 of the supergiant South Pars non-associated gas field (SP11) - last week saw a statement from the chief executive officer of the Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) that talks had resumed with Chinese developers to advance the project. Originally the subject of an extensive contract signed by France's Total before it pulled out due to re-imposed U.S. sanctions on Iran, talks had been well-advanced with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to take up the slack on development. As per the original contract, CNPC had been assigned Total's 50.1 percent stake in the field when the French firm withdrew, giving it a total of 80.1 percent in the site, with Iran's own Petropars Company holding the remainder. At the same time, Iran was desperate to increase the pace of development of the fields in its oil-rich West Karoun area, including North Azadegan, South Azadegan, North Yaran, South Yaran, and Yadavaran, in order to optimize oil flows ahead of further clampdowns on exports by the U.S.
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Light Sabers

Brexit: 8 reasons the EU will suffer far more than the UK

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
Money Maven
Wed, 31 Jul 2019 12:00 UTC
brexit
The EU would be wise to make a deal with the UK. It will get clobbered in the event of no deal.

Conventional wisdom says the UK will get hit harder than the EU in the event of a no deal Brexit. Conventional wisdom is wrong.

Here are eight reasons the EU will suffer more in both the short and long term.

Reason 1: Corporate Taxes

The UK can and likely will slash corporate tax rates. A lower corporate tax rate will mitigate much of the profit damage suffered by UK corporations in the event of no deal.

Comment: If Brexit is ever actually allowed to happen...

See also: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Yellow Vest Protests, Brexit Farce - Revolutionary Climate in Western Europe?

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