Puppet MastersS


Bizarro Earth

'We have a problem': Top Navy SEAL tells commanders following high-profile scandals

Russ Read
Washinton Examiner
Thu, 01 Aug 2019 06:08 UTC
Collin P. Green
© U.S. Army/Staff Sgt. Osvaldo Equite/RELEASEDU.S. Navy Rear Adm. Collin P. Green gives remarks Dec. 1, 2017, during a promotion ceremony at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida, where he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral (upper half).
The head of the Navy's SEAL Teams sent a letter to his commanders telling them "We have a problem" in bold type following reports of disciplinary problems across the elite force.

Rear Adm. Collin Green's letter, dated July 25, gave his subordinates until Aug. 7 to detail any problems and offer recommendations on how they will improve discipline and ethics across their teams, according to CNN.

"I don't know yet if we have a culture problem, I do know that we have a good order and discipline problem that must be addressed immediately," Green wrote.

Comment: When the majority running the country and its institutions are ponerized, it should be no surprise its foot soldiers are too: Political Ponerology: A Science on The Nature of Evil adjusted for Political Purposes

See also:

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Hammer

Judge's ruling throws huge spanner into US extradition proceedings against Assange

Tom Coburg
The Canary
Wed, 31 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
Assange
A US judge has ruled that WikiLeaks was fully entitled to publish the Democratic National Congress (DNC) emails, which means no law was broken. The ruling is highly significant as it could impact upon the US extradition proceedings against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, as well as the ongoing imprisonment of whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

The ruling

On 30 July, federal judge John G. Koeltl ruled on a case brought against WikiLeaks and other parties in regard to the alleged hacking of DNC emails and concluded that:
If WikiLeaks could be held liable for publishing documents concerning the DNC's political financial and voter-engagement strategies simply because the DNC labels them 'secret' and trade secrets, then so could any newspaper or other media outlet.
In other words, if WikiLeaks is subject to prosecution, then every media outlet in the world would be. The judge argued that:
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Eye 1

'Disturbing': Pentagon launches mass surveillance balloons across US


Sputnik
Fri, 02 Aug 2019 22:32 UTC
US Federal Communications Commission
© Flickr/ CreativeTime
The US military is testing high-altitude, solar-powered balloons to "provide a persistent surveillance system to locate and deter narcotic trafficking and homeland security threats," according to documents filed with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).


Comment: And the FBI just added those who question the official narrative as potential domestic terrorists.


So far, 25 balloons, equipped with sophisticated radars that can be used to track vehicles or boats in a 25-mile field, have been launched from South Dakota and will pass through parts of US states Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri before being grounded in Illinois. The balloons are traveling at altitudes as high as 65,000 feet and are equipped with a video capture system called Gorgon Stare, which was developed by the US military and described by the US Air Force as a "wide-area surveillance sensor system."

The balloons are being flown by the US Southern Command, one of the 10 Unified Combatant Commands in the US Department of Defense, and will be able to communicate with each other through networking technologies. While some of the flights were approved by the FCC last year, the most recent FCC filing made by aerospace and defense company Sierra Nevada Corporation appears to approve a set of flights taking place between mid-July and September.

Comment: See also:

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Question

Don't worry, be happy: Everybody will benefit from Brexit long-term - British American Business Association


RT
Fri, 02 Aug 2019 20:29 UTC
brexit british flag piggy banks
© Reuters / Andrew WinningSmiling Union Jack piggy banks are lined up for sale in the window of a souvenir store on Oxford Street in central London
The Bank of England has cut its forecast for UK growth over the next two years, warning that a no-deal Brexit would hit the economy and trigger a further drop in the value of the pound.

If Brexit goes smoothly, the bank expects it will have to increase interest rates to balance out a potential price rise in goods and services in order to keep inflation at 2 percent.

RT's Boom Bust welcomes Hilary Fordwich of the British American Business Association to find out what benefits there may be from a bumpy Brexit.

Comment: Economic predictions for the outcome of Brexit (hard or soft) are all over the map, though it seems to be the big institutions screaming 'disaster' the loudest.

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Chess

The US-UK 'special relationship' is collapsing... and that's fine

Matthew Ehret
The Strategic Culture Foundation
Thu, 01 Aug 2019 19:33 UTC
US UK flags
© Oliver Brandt / Global Look Press
British Ambassador Kim Darroch's return to London from his failed mission in America is being hailed by many naïve commentators as yet another proof that President Trump is a crazed ego-maniac who cannot take criticism from a seasoned professional diplomat.

During the weeks since the "Darroch memo" scandal erupted, mainstream media has totally mis-diagnosed the nature of the breakdown in US-British relations, and has brushed over the most relevant evidence that has been brought to light by Darroch's cables. This spinning of the narrative has made it falsely appear that the Ambassador merely criticized the President as "clumsy, diplomatically inept, unpredictable and dysfunctional" and was thus unjustly attacked by the President causing the poor diplomat to resign saying "the current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like." Former British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt went so far as to say that Darroch was "the best of Britain" and encouraged all diplomats to continue to "speak truth to power." International press on both sides of the ocean followed suit portraying Darroch as a hero among men.

Hog wash.

The reality is that Darroch's messages to the British Foreign Office go much deeper and reveal something very ugly that challenges the deepest assumptions about recent history and modern geopolitics.

Comment:

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Attention

Gorbachev says US decision to quit INF will result in 'chaos'


RT
Fri, 02 Aug 2019 19:59 UTC
Gorbachev
© REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin 905Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has lamented the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which he once signed with US counterpart Ronald Reagan, saying it would undermine international security.

The first and only president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, said that by pulling out of the 1987 treaty, the US is dealing a potentially crushing blow not only to European security, but to the entire international security system.

"The termination of the treaty will hardly be beneficial for the international community, this move undermines security not only in Europe, but in the whole world," Gorbachev, 88, told Interfax on Friday.
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Snakes in Suits

#BackDoorBoris! This phoney PM can run, but not for long!

Tommy Sheridan
Sputnik
Tue, 30 Jul 2019 20:20 UTC
Boris/Nicola
© Reuters/Russell CheyneBritain's PM Boris Johnson • Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon • Bute House, Edinburgh
Yesterday I was proud of both my country and my First Minister. The fake Prime Minister of the UK, elected by less than one 1% of the 46 million registered voters, sought to charm a part of the British union which has rejected his party and his politics consistently over the last 64 years with a secretive and swift visit to Scotland.

His arrival in Edinburgh city centre outside Bute House, the official residence of the First Minister, was met with a cacophony of boos and derogatory chants from the several hundred Scots who had gathered at very short notice to express their disapproval for a democratically illegitimate PM who has consistently disrespected Scotland and displayed the pompous, racist and condescending characteristics we have grown to expect from the privileged self-obsessed minority who travel through the Eton and Oxbridge corridors that reek of entitlement and advantage.

Our First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, conveyed the feelings of the nation with body language that screamed contempt for the visiting buffoon who had somehow manoeuvred himself into a position of authority far beyond his intellect, capability or moral values.
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Light Sabers

A glimpse behind the scenes: Tulsi's takedown of Kamala Harris

Michael Tracey
Spectator
Thu, 01 Aug 2019 08:55 UTC
T. Gabbard
© GettyImagesCongresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Gabbard dismantled Kamala Harris because no one else had bothered trying!

It's no great mystery why Tulsi Gabbard chose to focus her ire on Kamala Harris last night in Detroit. For months, Harris has gotten away with empty identity-related sloganeering and shallow performative stunts, like the one she pulled on Joe Biden in the previous round of debates - which of course was received rapturously by much of the media, leading to bogus claims of a Harris 'surge.' Meanwhile, left unexamined was the phony central conceit of Harris's campaign: that she is a 'progressive prosecutor' and therefore supremely well-qualified to make the case against Trump. This mantra has long been ripe for a proper dissection, given its utter ridiculousness. Unfortunately for Biden, though, his cognitive faculties aren't exactly in the greatest shape and challenging Harris effectively seems well outside his scope of competence at this point. So into the void stepped Tulsi.

It had been simmering for some time. In one of the first synopses of the Democratic candidates from January of this year, The New York Times chose to highlight the 'history-making potential' of Harris on account of her unique identity status, yet Tulsi - despite also being a woman, in addition to a racial and religious minority - did not receive the 'history-making' moniker.

Comment: See also:

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Cloud Grey

Pentagon puts hold on $10B contract after Trump's swipe at Amazon puts deal 'under a dark cloud'

Jacqueline Feldscher
Politico
Thu, 01 Aug 2019 04:07 UTC
Esper
© politicoUS Defense Secretary Mark Esper
The Pentagon is slamming the brakes on its mega-competition to award a $10 billion cloud computing contract after President Donald Trump suggested the Defense Department might have rigged the contest in favor of Amazon, a frequent target of his criticism.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who assumed his post July 23, is now reviewing accusations of unfairness in the fiercely fought competition, the Pentagon announced Thursday, marking the president's latest incursion into the arcane world of Defense Department contracting. Oracle has reportedly waged an aggressive lobbying campaign to push back on the competition, now pitting Amazon against Microsoft, including talking with members of Congress and preparing a graphic that made its way to the president's desk.

Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement Thursday:
"Secretary Esper is committed to ensuring our warfighters have the best capabilities, including Artificial Intelligence, to remain the most lethal force in the world, while safeguarding taxpayer dollars. Keeping his promise to Members of Congress and the American public, Secretary Esper is looking at the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) program. No decision will be made on the program until he has completed his examination."
The latest scrape once again pits Trump against Amazon, whose founder and CEO Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post and has become a growing powerbroker in the D.C. region.

Comment: See also:

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Dollar

Soros enters the 2020 'funding influence' game: $5.1M check to Democrats


RT
Thu, 01 Aug 2019 21:33 UTC
George Soros
© Getty ImagesGeorge Soros
Billionaire financier George Soros has created a super PAC and written a $5.1 million check for Democrats ahead of next year's election. However, the liberal mega-donor has not revealed which candidate will get his blessing.

Soros spent more than $20 million during the 2016 election, donating more than $9 million to Political Action Committees (PACs) supporting Hillary Clinton, and the rest on committees working to install Democrats in Congress and to boost minority turnout at the polls.

According to records filed with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, the 88-year-old billionaire kicked his 2020 efforts off with a deposit of $5.1 million into his own Democracy PAC, more than doubling the $2.1 million he had donated at this point in the 2016 cycle.

Though no doubt spurred on by a desire to unseat President Donald Trump, Soros has not revealed who among the two dozen Democratic hopefuls his PAC will bestow its wealth on. Speaking to the Washington Post last year, the Hungarian-born investor said he would stay out of the party's primaries, as playing favorites would "divide the Democratic Party."
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