Puppet MastersS


Sherlock

Erdogan says former Egyptian leader Morsi was murdered

Conrad Duncan
Independent, UK
Wed, 19 Jun 2019 16:45 UTC
Erdogan
© Sputnik/Sergei GuneevTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkey's president has accused Egyptian authorities of murdering former president Mohamed Morsi, who died after collapsing in court on Monday, and vowed to see them prosecuted in an international court.

At an election rally in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Morsi "did not die, he was murdered" and called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to act on his death.

Morsi, who was suffering from diabetes, hypertension and liver disease, collapsed after speaking during a retrial hearing in Cairo over charges of collaborating with foreign powers and militant groups.

Mr Erdogan said: "Unfortunately, Mohamed Morsi was on the ground of the courtroom flailing for 20 minutes. No official there intervened. Morsi did not [die] naturally, he was killed."

The office of Egypt's attorney-general has denied claims that he was murdered and argued he "was transported immediately to the hospital", where he was later pronounced dead.

Comment: See also:

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Red Flag

Moscow: 'Age of digital terrorism' is coming, impact may be as dangerous as WMDs


RT
Wed, 19 Jun 2019 16:34 UTC
hacking
© Pixabay / Pete Linforth
Terrorist groups exploit the internet for hacking and global outreach, the impact of which could soon become no less dangerous than that of weapons of mass destruction, a senior Russian security official warned.

The rapid development of technology allows terrorists to "even more actively" use the internet for "recruitment, attracting funds, hacking and other cybercrimes," the deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, Yury Kokov, said at a security-themed event in the city of Ufa in central Russia.

The official said the internet has become the "main mechanism" for various extremists to "control their scattered forces and resources," while there are currently around 30,000 "extremist and terrorist websites" online.
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Light Sabers

Biden to wealthy donors: I don't want to demonize the rich

Jennifer Epstein
Bloomberg
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 23:04 UTC
Joe Biden
© Daniel Acker/BloombergJoe Biden
Former Vice President Joe Biden told affluent donors Tuesday that he wanted their support and -- perhaps unlike some other Democratic presidential candidates -- wouldn't be making them political targets because of their wealth.

"Remember, I got in trouble with some of the people on my team, on the Democratic side, because I said, you know, what I've found is rich people are just as patriotic as poor people. Not a joke. I mean, we may not want to demonize anybody who's made money," Biden told about 100 well-dressed donors at the Carlyle Hotel on New York's Upper East Side, where the hors d'oeuvres included lobster, chicken satay and crudites.

"Truth of the matter is, you all know, you all know in your gut what has to be done," Biden said. "We can disagree in the margins. But the truth of the matter is, it's all within our wheelhouse and nobody has to be punished. No one's standard of living would change. Nothing would fundamentally change," he said.

Comment: Biden is an elite just like the group of people he was speaking to, so it shouldn't be surprising that he would try to comfort their fears. There's also the little fact that Biden needs their campaign contributions for his presidential run.

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Dollar

Russia's foreign intel chief: 'US dollar becoming toxic - more nations searching for alternatives'


RT
Wed, 19 Jun 2019 16:05 UTC
us dollar toxic risk
© Getty Images / LdF
The use of the US dollar presents risks and more nations are looking into finding alternative tools for doing business, according to the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin.

He called US currency an anachronism of the modern world economy, accusing Washington of using sanctions as a political tool.

Talking at an international meeting of security representatives in the Russian city of Ufa, the head of Russian intelligence said: "It seems bewildering that the US continues to be the holder of the main reserve currency while behaving so aggressively and unpredictably."

Naryshkin added: "The monopoly position of the dollar in international economic relations has become anachronistic. Gradually, the dollar is becoming toxic."

Comment: Smart countries began moving away from the dollar years ago, and creating bilateral currency agreements wit their favored trading partners to avoid becoming a target for US sanctions. They are also diversifying into traditional currency supports such as gold.

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Question

Congress opposes US border crisis as 'manufactured,' but actual bogus 'emergency' in the Balkans is OK?

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Wed, 19 Jun 2019 15:52 UTC
US soldiers mexico border
© Reuters/MB/DNUS troops training near the border with Mexico
The US has just extended a "national emergency" in the Balkans, even though it is the chief culprit for the problems there. Expect no outrage from Congress, for which foreign adventures are fine - but securing US borders is not.

US President Donald Trump sent a note to Congress on Tuesday that he was extending for another year the national emergency with respect to the "Western Balkans," declared in Executive Order 13219 of June 26, 2001.

The "extremist violence" in present-day North Macedonia as well as acts obstructing the implementation of the 1995 peace accord in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the 1999 UN Security Council Resolution 1244 in Kosovo, are "hostile to United States interests and continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy" of the US, Trump's notice says.

Comment:

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Arrow Down

Israeli high court gives okay to demolish 13 Palestinian apartment buildings in southeast Jerusalem


The Palestinian Information Center
Wed, 19 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
Palestinian homes in Jerusalem
Occupied Jerusalem
The Israeli high court of justice has given the green light to demolish 13 large apartment buildings in Sur Baher town, southeast Jerusalem, an area which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

The buildings threatened with demolition consist of about 100 housing units

This court ruling sets a precedent that will enable the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) to demolish thousands of buildings in the West Bank.

The Wadi Hummus neighborhood is located on the edge of Sur Baher, in southeast Jerusalem. Unlike the rest of the village, this neighborhood lies beyond the city's municipal boundaries, in the West Bank. Most of the area it occupies is designated as part of Area A, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

But after local residents submitted a petition while the separation fence was being built, beginning in 2003, the location of the wall was moved so that it would not pass through the heart of Sur Baher. Thus Wadi Hummus ended up on the Israeli side of the barrier, although legally it is considered to be part of the West Bank and under the PA's control, according to Haaretz newspaper.

Comment: The slow-motion ethnic cleansing of Palestinians continues...

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Eye 1

Assange judge refuses to step down despite being tainted with intelligence and defence links

Tom Coburg
The Canary
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 14:35 UTC
courthouse assange hearing
© Mohamed ElmaaziOutside Julian Assange’s extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Accusations of a conflict of interest have emerged regarding the judge presiding over the pre-extradition hearings of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Indeed, there appears to be overwhelming evidence of family links to the defence industry, to a vocal critic of whistleblower Edward Snowden, and to a former head of MI6 who oversaw the 'sexed-up' dossier that led to the Iraq War.

Now it's reported that lawyers acting for Assange have asked the judge to recuse herself from the proceedings.

Comment: Pretty clear the fix is already in, in the UK . The US, should they get their hands on Assange, would try him in the Eastern District of Virginia, known for its nearly 100% conviction rate on espionage charges. Just ask whistleblower John Kiriakou.

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Info

FBI examining 2010 domestic fight involving acting defense secretary Shanahan; accounts differ on aggressor

Tom Vanden Brook and Kevin Johnson
USA Today
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 17:10 UTC
Patrick Shanahan
© Mark Wilson, Getty ImagesActing U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan arrives at the Pentagon for the first time in his official capacity, on Jan. 2, 2019 in Arlington, Va.
The FBI has been examining a violent domestic dispute from nine years ago between acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan and his then-wife as part of a background investigation ahead of his possible confirmation hearing to be President Trump's permanent defense chief.

Tuesday afternoon, Trump said he would replace Shanahan as acting secretary.

The incident, in which Shanahan and his then-wife Kimberley both claimed to the police that they had been punched by the other, did not surface when Trump nominated Shanahan to be the Pentagon's second-in-command two years ago, or when he was selected to be the interim defense chief this year.
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Bizarro Earth

Terrorist rocket fire kills 12 civilians south of Aleppo, Syria


Arab News
Wed, 19 Jun 2019 08:45 UTC
syria rocket
© AFPA Syrian fighter fires a rocket-propelled grenade during a graduation of new Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham members at a camp in the countryside of the northern Idlib province on August 14, 2018.
Rocket fire has killed 12 civilians in a regime-held village in northwestern Syria, state news agency SANA has said blaming former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham for the attack.

SANA said 15 people were also wounded late Sunday in the attack on Al-Wadihi village south of Aleppo city and said HTS, which controls parts of Aleppo's countryside as well as most of neighboring Idlib, was responsible.

It published graphic pictures purporting to show some of the victims in a hospital in the aftermath of the attack, including of bandaged men and children lying on stretchers, thick blankets covering their bodies.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the same death toll - saying five children were among those killed - and also blamed militants based in rural Aleppo for the attack.

Comment: See: Terrorists continue to stage attacks in Idlib, Syria, 'this cannot go on forever' - Lavrov

Below are just some of the US-led airstrikes on Syria and the damning number of civilians causalities they've caused over a period of less than a year:

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Smoking

Governments made more money from smoking than the companies they're suing for damages

Terence Corcoran
Financial Post
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 12:19 UTC
smoking
Obviously, the tobacco companies would be unable to pay all the claims that are being filed against them by smokers and governments.
Over the past 20 years, governments in Canada have been waging legal battle with the tobacco industry. The objective, officially, has been to extract billions of dollars from the cigarette companies in compensation for the health damage caused by their products.

Trials are pending across the country. Each province has separately taken the industry to court, collectively claiming $120 billion in compensation. On top of these provincial government health claims are private class-action suits seeking additional billions from the industry. But while corporations are being forced to pay penalties for profiting from tobacco, the biggest tobacco profiteers over the years have in fact been Canadian governments.

It is obvious that the tobacco companies would be unable to pay if all the suits in all jurisdictions and all class actions succeeded.

Comment: The anti-smoking agenda is even more egregious considering tobacco can actually have many benefits for some people, and because all the diseases attributed to its use are actually due to a number of other, unrelated factors, such as pollution and diet (the kind that's pushed by governments): Also check out SOTT radio's: The Health & Wellness Show: The Truth about Tobacco and the Benefits of Nicotine

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