Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

Tanzania governor launches 17-member anti-gay squad to 'hunt down LGBT community'


RT
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 12:54 UTC
Gay pride flag
© Wikimedia Commons
Tanzania's gay community is living in fear after the governor of Dar es Salaam called on citizens to report gay people, and announced an anti-gay squad that will hunt them down by tracking social media.

Paul Makonda announced the 17-member squad at a press conference this week, promising it would "get their hands on them."

"These homosexuals boast on social networks," Makonda said, AFP reports. "Give me their names."

By Tuesday, Makonda claimed to have received over 5,763 reports from the public, and more than 100 names.
Read More...
Broom

Senior Saudi prince, uncle to MBS, flies home to tackle his ouster: 'MBS has become toxic'

David Hearst
Middle East Eye
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 17:53 UTC
Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz
© Agence France-PressePrince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz at a press conference in Mecca in 2012.
Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz returns to Riyadh with UK and US security guarantees and a brief to cut the crown prince down to size

Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz, the younger brother of King Salman, has returned to Saudi Arabia after a prolonged absence in London, to mount a challenge to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman or find someone who can.

The septuagenarian prince, an open critic of bin Salman (MBS), has travelled with security guarantees given by US and UK officials.

"He and others in the family have realised that MBS has become toxic," a Saudi source close to Prince Ahmad told Middle East Eye.

Comment:

Read More...
Info

Taliban appoints Afghan peace negotiators: Ex-Guantanamo prisoners


RFE/RL
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 18:08 UTC
bergdahl taliban exchange
© ReutersThe 2014 prisoner exchange of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban prisoners at a U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
The Taliban says it has appointed five militants who spent more than a decade in the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay to be members of its political office in Qatar, where they will take part in any future Afghanistan peace talks.

The five former Taliban commanders -- Mohammad Fazl, Mohammed Nabi, Khairullah Khairkhwa, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Noorullah Noori -- were settled in Qatar following their release from the U.S. detention center in Cuba in 2014, but until now had not been directly involved in political activities, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on October 31.

The men were released as part of a prisoner exchange in return for former Taliban captive, U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.

The Taliban announcement came amid gathering momentum for talks to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan.
Read More...
Bad Guys

Theresa May madder than 'Mad Dog' Mattis - refuses to support US calls for Saudi Arabia-Yemen ceasefire


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 16:56 UTC
May and MbS
© REUTERS/Simon Dawson
PM Theresa May has refused to back calls from key US figures for a ceasefire in Yemen - where UK ally Saudi Arabia carrying out an air campaign partly with UK bombs - instead backing a 'de-escalation' of the conflict.

During PMQs on Wednesday, May was encouraged to back a United Nations resolution that demanded an immediate ceasefire in the war-ravaged country, after the US increased pressure on the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi rebels.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis said all parties must come to the negotiating table within 30 days, while Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State went further, telling them to immediately end the airstrikes.


Comment: Why should Theresa May be motivated to save the lives of innocent Yemenis when her husband stands to lose money with peace?

Theresa May's husband's company owns shares in firm that made the Yemen school-bus bomb

Read More...
Better Earth

Syria to open checkpoints with Iraq on common border


Sputnik
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 18:00 UTC
syria iraq border
© AP Photo / Bassem Tellawi
Syria is ready to open checkpoints on the border with Iraq, as it sees no security threats, and waits for the neighboring state to solve logistics issues, Syrian Transport Minister Ali Hammoud told Sputnik in an interview.

The checkpoints on the Syrian-Iraqi border have been closed since 2014 due to the territory being seized by the Daesh terrorists. Damascus and Baghdad have discussed the issue of opening the border earlier in October.

"During the last visit of Iraqi Foreign Minister [Ibrahim Jaafari] to Syria, one of the main topics discussed was opening the border. The Iraqi side promised that it would be done soon. We are ready as soon as logistics issues are solved on the Iraqi side," the minister said.


Comment: The US has been using the threat of ISIS as a pretext for keeping the borders with Iraq closed, thus depriving Syria of a large source of revenue. While the border crossing in the east is now clear, the U.S. is still occupying the other crossing in al-Tanf. And that's pretty much the only reason they're holding it: to spite the Syrian government and prevent Syria from reinvigorating its economy by trade with its neighbor.

See also: US pretends to support independence of Syria and Iraq - just can't admit defeat

Read More...
Dollars

Trump 'wouldn't be surprised' if Soros & Democratic groups were funding migrant caravans


RT
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 11:51 UTC
central american migrant caravan
© Global Look Press / Miguel Juarez Lugo

Comment: Well, yeah, who can honestly say that they would be surprised?


President Trump has seemed to double down on a theory, popular among his supporters, that George Soros or other Democratic groups are financing the migrant caravans surging toward the US's southern border.

"I wouldn't be surprised. I don't know who, but I wouldn't be surprised. A lot of people say yes," he told a Daily Mail journalist who asked him what he thought of the idea that Soros was funding the caravans.

With the 2018 elections less than a week away, Trump is desperate to rally his supporters and retain Republican control of Congress. After announcing earlier this week that he would send 5,000 troops to the Mexican border to stop the migrant caravans, he upped the number to 15,000 in a press conference on Wednesday, emphasizing that "nobody's coming in."

Comment: As Soros and Dems derive substantial benefits from the influx of migrants, it's a valid supposition:

Read More...
Evil Rays

New Russian electronic warfare system can paralyze NATO comms

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ News
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 17:09 UTC
Samarkand russian ew
The brand-new Samarkand electronic warfare complex can completely paralyze NATO's communication systems, said Yuri Knutov, director of the Russian Anti-aircraft Defense Museum.

In a commentary for TV Zvezda, the military said that thanks to these complexes, the Russian military will be able to "contain the aggression of the [Atlantic] Alliance," with lower costs.

"These electronic warfare weapons were tested in Syria, they showed their high efficiency against both drones and cruise missiles and consequently against AWACS Aircraft of Alert and Control, of American production," he added.

In Knutov's view, the US has been "preparing for a real war with Russia since the 2000s."

"At the time, it was a theory, but now they start practicing," he said, referring to the numerous exercises carried out by NATO, including in the vicinity of Russian borders.
Read More...
Attention

Whoopsie daisy! USAID might have 'mistakenly' funded terrorists to the tune of $700 million


RT
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 17:26 UTC
Al-Nusra
© AFP / Fadi al-HalabiAl-Nusra Front fighter, Syria
A recent USAID audit report found that some of its humanitarian programs for war-torn Syria and Iraq might have assisted terrorist groups. The assistance in question amounts to nearly $700 million.

The agency in charge of foreign aid provided by Washington has done a poor job to mitigate risks for its projects to end up in wrong hands, Official USAID Office of Inspector General (OIG) found. The paper, highlighting the risk of terrorists benefiting from US foreign assistance among other vulnerabilities, was published on September 25.

To provide help, USAID gives awards to public international organizations (PIOs) which then deal with the troubled areas. However, the way the organizations use the funds might have some flaws and does not fully comply with the 2008 State Department's guidance. The latter is aimed to secure the money from assistance programs doesn't land in the wrong hands helping terrorist groups, according to the report.

Comment: Good news for terrorists sympathizers everywhere! Now there's no need to traverse the dangerous and seedy underbelly of making financial transfers to your favorite terrorist organization. Just donate to USAID today with quick, easy, and secure payments, and rest assured your money will be funneled 'accidentally' to your fiendish head-chopping friends!

Read More...
Eye 1

DARPA seeks FAA approval for military drones over US cities by 2030

Nicolas West
Activist Post
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 16:50 UTC
DARPA drone surveillance
Just a little over 10 years after drone surveillance inside U.S. borders was declared a conspiracy theory, it is now an indisputable fact of life. So, too, are military grade drones along the "border," which in reality constitutes a 100-mile-wide swath that encircles the continental United States and 2/3 of its population.

According to a new report from Defense One, this level of access is still seen as a restriction by the DARPA-directed military apparatus. As new forms of autonomous aircraft take to the skies such as the latest Blackhawk helicopter drones that could be ready by 2019, DARPA and aircraft developers want permission to fly over large cities as needed. Utilizing a new artificial intelligence system that is literally called MATRIX, developers see an opportunity for more flexibility in potential use. Of course, surveillance isn't mentioned among those uses:
After that, similar to Predator drone maker General Atomics, they have their eyes on FAA certification to fly large, unmanned aircraft within the continental United States, to help ferry people and supplies from the mainland to offshore oil rigs, among other potential jobs. Today, large drones likes Predators are forbidden to fly over the U.S. except in a handful of largely unpopulated areas along the U.S.Mexico border.

The FAA is now figuring out how to change guidelines to allow unmanned planes and helicopters to fly over big cities. "We are working with the FAA on that. Our stated goal is 2030. It very much depends on rule making. We are certainly hoping for sooner, for the mid-2020s, to field it," he said.
Read More...
Laptop

Facebook's vaunted transparency tool spectacularly fails to catch fake ads by 'US Senators & ISIS'


RT
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 16:41 UTC
Mark Zuckerberg
© Reuters / Charles PlatiauMark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook Inc. at the Viva Tech start-up and technology gathering on May 24, 2018 in Paris, France.
Facebook's new political transparency disclosure tool failed to catch 100% of the fake ads submitted by journalists - even recycled "Russian troll" posts from 2016. Fake candidates, Cambridge Analytica and even ISIS were accepted.

A week after revealing it had fooled Facebook into giving it approval to run ads in the name of Vice President Mike Pence, DNC chairman Tom Perez, and even the Islamic State terrorist group, Vice attempted the ruse a second time - and found it was just as easy to pose as all 100 US senators using the same approach.
Read More...