Puppet MastersS


Bell

Trump drafts Executive Order to counteract Silicon Valley's censorship (but can he actually challenge them?)

Margaret Harding McGill, Daniel Lippman
Politico
Wed, 07 Aug 2019 03:07 UTC
purge social media
The White House is circulating drafts of a proposed executive order that would address allegations of anti-conservative bias by social media companies, according to a White House official and two other people familiar with the matter — a month after President Donald Trump pledged to explore "all regulatory and legislative solutions" on the issue.

None of the three would describe the contents of the order, which one person cautioned has already taken many different forms and remains in flux. But its existence, and the deliberations surrounding it, are evidence that the administration is taking a serious look at wielding the federal government's power against Silicon Valley. The White House official said:
"If the internet is going to be presented as this egalitarian platform and most of Twitter is liberal cesspools of venom, then at least the president wants some fairness in the system. But look, we also think that social media plays a vital role. They have a vital role and an increasing responsibility to the culture that has helped make them so profitable and so prominent."
Two other people knowledgeable about the discussions also confirmed the existence of the draft order.


Comment: And TWITTER is??

It's the only sliver of hope the US has; massive state intervention in the public interest. The US is in dire need of state-owned broadcasters and online platforms.

Not that they'll ever enact such, thanks to generations of fearmongering about 'socialism'. It's a bluff! Call them on it! BE the 'dictator' they dread!

See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Double deception by Mueller, first in court and then Congress?

Paul Sperry
Real Clear Investigations
Wed, 07 Aug 2019 00:00 UTC
Mueller testifies
© REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNSTFormer SC Robert Mueller testifying before House Judiciary Committee hearing July 24, 2019
Republican lawmakers allege Special Counsel Robert Mueller may have perjured himself before Congress in his sworn testimony last month with an untruthful answer about why he held an earlier press briefing.

Recently released court documents suggest Mueller may have made his surprise appearance before the press in Washington on May 29 as damage control after a federal judge privately threatened to hold his team in criminal contempt of court over what she called misleading language in his final report about Russian government interference in the 2016 election. Under oath, Mueller denied the judge's action had anything to do with his holding the press conference.

In the hastily arranged 9-minute press conference, Mueller announced that he was ending his investigation -- which was not news -- and concluded it without taking any questions. He made a point, however, to stress that the Russians he had indicted were "private" entities and "presumed innocent."

What Mueller didn't tell the country was that the day before, his case against two Russian internet "trolling" firms had taken a sudden turn for the worse. It was a key part of his narrative that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win.
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Footprints

Trump: Deputy Intel Director Sue Gordon will resign with Coats

Jennifer Jacobs
Bloomberg
Thu, 08 Aug 2019 05:38 UTC
Sue Gordon
© twitterDeputy Director of National Intelligence, Sue Gordon
The deputy director of national intelligence, Sue Gordon, will resign this month along with her boss, President Donald Trump said.

Trump said in a tweet that Gordon will leave her job Aug. 15, the same day as the nation's top intelligence official, Dan Coats. Gordon would have been next in line to serve as acting director in the position until the Senate confirmed Trump's choice for a permanent replacement.

Several Trump allies outside the White House had urged the president to remove Gordon, a career intelligence officer, describing her as too close to former CIA Director John Brennan. Brennan has publicly criticized Trump's leadership, and the president in turn has called him "the worst CIA director in our country's history."

Comment: See also:

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Stop

Cavusoglu: Create US-Turkish safe zone to eliminate Kurds. Syria calls it 'flagrant aggression' and interference


Sputnik
Thu, 08 Aug 2019 14:53 UTC
Cavusoglu
© RavaTurkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu
Earlier, the Syrian Foreign Ministry "categorically and blatantly" rejected efforts by Washington and Ankara to create a "safe zone" in northern Syria, saying US and Turkish interference rides roughshod over the Syrian Arab Republic's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

US President Donald Trump has promised to withdraw US troops from areas of Kurdish-controlled northern Syria where a Turkish operation will be taking place, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has announced, speaking at a press briefing on Thursday:
"In a telephone call with our president, the US president informed us that the US would be vacating the area. We will discuss the question of coordination after the withdrawal takes place. The agreement with the US on the creation of a safe zone is a very important first step."
The foreign minister added that Turkey would not allow the US to delay the implementation of a safe zone under any circumstances, and has shown Washington that it is prepared to back its words by deeds. "Either we do it together, or we will be able to do it ourselves," he said, referring to the Turkish-US security agreement negotiated last year.

Comment: More from Sputnik: Damascus calls it a 'blatant attack' on Syria's sovereignty
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, welcomed the agreement, saying that "it was important that a step be taken east of the Euphrates [River] and this is being taken together with the Americans". "With the creation of the operations centre, the process will begin", he pointed out, in an apparent reference to the creation of a safe zone in northern Syria.

Earlier, Erdogan said that he had notified Russia and the US about his plans to launch an operation in Syria in the east of the Euphrates River. He, however, did not reveal any other details about the upcoming operations, including the date of its start.

The territory in the east of the Euphrates is currently controlled by the self-defence forces, which mainly include Kurdish-led militants.


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Stop

Hands Off! China warns US to desist from involvement with 'violent elements' in Hong Kong


RT
Thu, 08 Aug 2019 11:02 UTC
HongKongprotesters
© REUTERS/Tyrone SiuProtesters hurl objects at the police during a demonstration in support of the city-wide strike and to call for democratic reforms at Tin Shui Wai in Hong Kong, China, August 5, 2019.
The Hong Kong office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned Washington not to lend direct or indirect support for any form of unrest challenging Beijing's sovereignty over the autonomous territory.

China also demanded that the United States explain media reports alleging that US officials are in contact with individuals who have been organizing and leading the recent string of demonstrations. The statement said that Washington should refrain from sending signals to "violent elements" in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has been rocked by unrest after demonstrations erupted in opposition to a now-suspended extradition law that would have allowed suspects to face trial in China's mainland. The protests, which have sometimes turned violent, have since grown into a wider movement against Beijing's control over the territory.

China has repeatedly cautioned the West against involving itself in the current unrest. Last month, Beijing warned the United States and the United Kingdom to "be careful and not interfere in Hong Kong's domestic affairs in any way."

Comment: See also:

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Handcuffs

How banksters should be dealt with: Malaysia files charges against 17 Goldman Sachs bosses in 1MDB scandal

Kalyeena Makortoff
The Guardian
Fri, 09 Aug 2019 09:01 UTC
Goldman Sachs
© Richard Drew/APInvestment bank's most senior bosses in London among top bankers facing criminal charges
The most senior Goldman Sachs banker in London is among 17 former and current bosses at the investment bank facing criminal charges in Malaysia in connection with the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

Richard Gnodde, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs' international operations, has been charged by Malaysian authorities for heading up one of the bank's major subsidiaries between 2012 and 2013. During that period, Goldman helped raise $6.5bn (£5.4bn) for the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, $4.5bn of which was allegedly looted by fund officials and the former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.

Criminal charges have also been filed against Gnodde's former co-CEO Michael Sherwood, as well as three former board members of the London-headquartered subsidiary: Brian Griffiths, Robin Vince and Claes Dahlback. Twelve current and former bosses of Goldman's Hong Kong and Singapore offices were also charged.

Comment: And the criminality of the banking cartels continues unabated:

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Propaganda

UK police on Skripal Saga: 'We haven't got a case yet. We have to go with evidence', not conspiracy theories about Russia

Vikram Dodd
The Guardian
Wed, 07 Aug 2019 16:40 UTC
Sergei and Yulia Skripal
© REUTERS/Dylan Martinez(L) Sergei Skripal Global Look Press; (R) Yulia Skripal speaks to Reuters in London, Britain, May 23, 2018.
Russian president is assessed as 'likely' to have approved of nerve agent attack on Skripals

The UK has issued a European arrest warrant for two men charged over the Salisbury novichok poisonings. Photograph: Kirsty O'Connor/PA

Scotland Yard has examined the role of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in the novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury, it has been revealed.

Putin is assessed by UK intelligence agencies as having been "likely" to have approved of the attack in March 2018 on Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer, and his daughter, both of whom were left seriously ill but survived.

Comment: RT comments:
Right from the start of the whole affair, the UK government and mainstream media proclaimed that it was the work of Russian military intelligence agency, the GRU. As the plot thickened, London claimed the two Russians, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, were sent to use a military-grade nerve agent called 'Novichok' on the Skripals.

Later, the UK issued a European arrest warrant (EAW) and an Interpol "red notice" for both men, but implementing them would be no easy task, Basu explained: "In order to get an EAW, you have to have a case capable of being charged in this country. We haven't got a case capable of being charged."

Although the lingering investigation produced no tangible results so far, it didn't stop the UK government from slapping Moscow with sweeping sanctions and downgrading political ties. Other Western nations, most notably the US, followed suit, embarking on a war of words, ordering diplomatic expulsions and economic restrictions.

However, it didn't help bring the world closer to solving the Salisbury puzzle. "It shows their need to find a culprit for this tragedy, but it also shows their weakness in trying to pinpoint who was actually responsible," commented Klisman Murati, political analyst and director of the London-based Pangaea Wire consultancy.
"They're stuck between a rock and a hard place in trying to explain themselves with only inferences and expert opinion guiding their finger towards Putin and the Russian government."
Calling the poisoning "an undercover operation," he told RT that it will be "very hard to connect the dots to really prove who did this in the first place."
Remember that, despite zero evidence that 'Russia did it', that was what the UK govt has been telling the whole world was the case since March 2018.

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Attention

Best of the Web: Grayzone interviews Maduro: 'John Bolton tried to assassinate me'

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton
The Grayzone
Tue, 06 Aug 2019 17:23 UTC
maduro i bolton
The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal sits down with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas. We discuss the plots to kill him, US sanctions on food distribution, corruption allegations, and the corporate media's industrial grade demonization campaign against him and his elected government.

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Map

Russian FM: US Embassy meddled in Moscow anti-govt unrest by mapping protest locations online


RT
Fri, 09 Aug 2019 17:16 UTC
moscow protests
© REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovPeople take part at a rally calling for opposition candidates to be registered for Moscow city elections
The American diplomatic mission in Russia is meddling in domestic affairs, Moscow claims. The US had posted the locations and routes of recent massive opposition rallies in the capital, which saw scuffles with police and arrests.

The US Embassy had published a map of downtown Moscow that flagged sites where anti-government rallies were about to happen on August 3. The map went public a day before the protests, which led the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to believe that the US mission had known beforehand where the unrest would take place.

On Friday, the ministry summoned Tim Richardson, the head of the US Embassy's political section, to voice its unease over the alleged US role in the demonstrations. Posting the chart on their website and Twitter account, the Embassy had tacitly encouraged residents to take to the streets, the foreign ministry statement reads.

This "was an attempt to interfere in the domestic affairs of our country," it insisted.


Aside from the US embassy's map, the publication in question listed the most frequently-visited parts of Moscow, warning US citizens to stay alert, be aware of their surroundings and carry a proper US passport with the Russian visa. "Given the possible size of the protest and the large police presence, US citizens should avoid the protest route," it advised.

Comment: Patrick Armstrong sums up the protests so far:
Whatever might have been the reason for the original protests, they've now gone full provocation. How to make a photogenic riot: 1) ask for a demo permit 2) refuse it 3) move to the main drag 4) invite cameras. (Is there any country that allows protests anywhere, anytime? Not USA, not Canada, not UK and certainly not France.) This impresses Western pundits - Putin's frightened! but not Muscovites, who support the authorities. Why? Because they've seen the movie before: the regime changers are running out of ideas.
It wasn't just the U.S. embassy:

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Dollar

Trump not yet ready to make trade deal with China


RT
Fri, 09 Aug 2019 16:54 UTC
Trump
US President Donald Trump
US president Donald Trump said that, while talks are progressing with Beijing, no deal has been reached for now, as the two countries attempt to resolve an ongoing trade dispute.

The president told reporters on Friday that he would like to see more movement in the trade talks, but that Washington was not ready to finalize an agreement.

"China wants to do something on trade, but I'm not ready to do anything yet," President Trump said, adding that the American taxpayer is "not paying for" the tariffs currently imposed on trade with the country.

President Trump also noted that for now, "the US is not going to do business with Huawei," the Chinese telecommunications firm, but said that could change in the event a deal is reached.

Comment: See also:

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