Puppet MastersS


Eye 1

Twitter suspends more conservative and pro-Trump accounts prompting new accusations of censorship


RT
Wed, 08 May 2019 15:39 UTC
maga
© Reuters / REUTERS/Nick Oxford
Twitter has suddenly suspended a slew of pro-Trump accounts including the 'Magaphobia' account, which was set up by conservative commentator Jack Posobiec to "track violence against Trump supporters."

The @Magaphobia account had defined the word as "an irrational, unfounded fear of Donald Trump or his supporters" or bigotry towards those who voted for him.

The platform also suspended the @AOCPress account created by conservatives to parody freshman Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, despite the fact that it had apparently followed Twitter rules and labeled itself as satire. The man who ran the parody account, Jewish conservative Mike Morrison, who tweets personally at @OfficeofMike, also had his account "permanently suspended," according to activist Courtney Holland.
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Chess

Pence lifts US sanctions from Venezuela's defector general, hopes to inspire more turncoats


RT
Wed, 08 May 2019 15:09 UTC
pence
© REUTERS/ Tom Brenner / Miraflores Palace
The US has lifted sanctions from a former Venezuelan spy chief, who recently defected from President Nicolas Maduro's side. US Vice President Mike Pence hopes this incentive will prompt others to defect as well.

Pence announced the decision to remove all sanctions from General Manuel Ricardo Cristopher Figuera, the former director general of Venezuela's National Intelligence Service, at a conference in Washington on Tuesday.

Figuera broke ranks with Maduro in the wake of the failed coup attempt, which was orchestrated by a small group of soldiers last week. In a letter that had circulated on social media, the high-ranking general said he switched sides in order to "rebuild the country," citing rampant corruption as one of the most glaring faults of the Maduro presidency.
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Eye 2

Rachel Maddow promotes Bolton's "humanity" as she advocates for more war

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sun, 05 May 2019 15:10 UTC
rachel maddow
This is where three years of failed Russiagate conspiracy theorizing and fixation leads you - into the arms of fanatical endless war proponent John Bolton: "John Bolton God bless you, good luck.." one can now hear on "resistance" network MSNBC prime time.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow is now championing neocon national security adviser John Bolton's "humanity" given he apparently went loose cannon this past week, vowing to confront Russia over Venezuela even as his boss President Trump downplayed Moscow's role in the crisis after a Friday phone call with Putin.

"This is what John Bolton, human being, thought his job was this week," Maddow said on her show Friday night. Both Pompeo and Bolton had clearly gone a bit rogue with their overly bellicose Venezuela comments, while Trump appeared to be more restrained - and for Maddow this was of course cause for championing the neocon interventionist line: "Hey, John Bolton, hey, Mike Pompeo, are you guys enjoying your jobs right now?" she questioned.

Comment: Bolton and his ilk are anything but humanistic. Of course, that Maddow should promote their "human side" by siding with them and their war efforts should come as no surprise. See also:

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Jet5

Mossad sez Iran threatening to attack US military targets 'somewhere in Middle East', so Pentagon sends over more aircraft carriers and bombers


Sputnik
Tue, 07 May 2019 07:28 UTC
netanyahu trump
© Global Look Press / ZUMAPRESS.com / Dominika Zarzycka
Washington's decision to increase its military presence in the Middle East has been triggered by the fact that US intelligence has acquired data indicating that Iran is planning attacks on US forces and allies in the region, The Wall Street Journal confirmed on Tuesday, citing unnamed US officials.

According to The Wall Street Journal, US intelligence has found out that Iran has plans to target US forces in Iraq and possibly in Syria, while it is also going to stage attacks in Bab-el-Mandeb strait near Yemen through its proxies and in the Persian Gulf with its own armed drones. Iran reportedly may seek to attack US forces in Kuwait as well.

The Iranian threat may be coming both from land and water, US officials told The Wall Street Journal, adding that they are surprised with the specificity of the Iranian plans to target US forces.

However, it remains unclear if these plans are unavoidable, or Iranian moves depend on the further development of the US-Iranian relations.


Comment: Iran would not benefit from any of these speculated attacks and so it makes more sense that these tips-offs primarily serve to give the US reason to continue antagonizing Iran. Ultimately, increased military presence in the region only benefits the US, Israel and their lackeys.


Comment: RT provides more detail on this vague 'tip-off' (in reality, a bald-faced lie):
A US aircraft carrier group and bomber task force were deployed to the Middle East after a tip-off on a "credible threat" from Iran, which came, conveniently vague and timely, from Israeli spy agency Mossad, it has been reported.

At an April 15 meeting in Washington, Israeli National Security Council chief Meir Ben-Shabbat passed along a warning to US National Security Advisor John Bolton, senior Israeli officials told Axios. The information Bolton received was left vague: the attack could hit a US target in the Persian Gulf, or maybe Saudi Arabia, or maybe the UAE.

"It is still unclear to us what the Iranians are trying to do and how they are planning to do it," one of the senior officials said, but added it was "clear" that an unspecified event would take place sometime in the future, which would have unstated consequences.

The Axios report was corroborated by a separate report from Israel's channel 13 journalist Barak Ravid, who claimed that Israel had handed over information to the US about an alleged Iranian plot to target US interests in the Gulf.

However elusive the bait, Washington eagerly dashed to bite, deploying the USS 'Abraham Lincoln' carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East, in a maneuver that just happens to play right into Israel's hands. [...]

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan did not specify from where he received the valuable intelligence, tweeting only that the deployment of the strike group "represents a prudent repositioning of assets in response to indications of a credible threat by Iranian regime forces."

The Mossad doesn't have the most trustworthy record when it comes to intelligence on Iran. It was likely the Mossad who, in 2004, passed fabricated documents to Iranian opposition group the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) which falsely portrayed Iran's civilian nuclear energy program.
Sputnik reports that the US is mobilising its military based on suspicions, presumably stoked, or concocted, by Israel:
The United States suspects Iran of moving its short-range ballistic missiles by sea to the Persian Gulf, local media have reported, citing unnamed US officials with knowledge of the situation.

It is not clear if Iran is going to launch the ballistic missiles from boats or it is going to take the missiles to land and carry out launches from there, CNN specified late on Tuesday.

The sources told CNN that the Pentagon was mulling the possibility to send additional weapons to the Persian Gulf, including anti-missile defence systems, such as the Patriot.

The Pentagon believes that Iran may endanger the United States and its allies in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar, the sources added.

Washington's actions came amid growing tensions between the two countries that started when the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran and put extreme pressure on the trade of Iranian oil in a bid to strike a blow against the country's economy.
More from Sputnik on US nuclear capable B-52 bombers being sent to the region:
[...] the Trump administration sees "clear indications" of threats from Iran to US forces in the region.

'Clear indications' which are surprisingly absent of any facts or details.

The US military said Tuesday that B-52 bombers will join additional forces being sent to the US Central Command region, according to Reuters. [...]

Four B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers are expected to be deployed to the Middle East in response to what US Acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan dubbed "indications of a credible threat by Iranian regime forces." [...]

Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC)'s spokesman Keivan Khosravi, following the deployment announcement, argued that the US move was a mere attempt at "psychological warfare."
The international community made it clear that it would not endorse US sanctions on Iran, and so, in collaboration with Israel, the US is fabricating non-reality-based fear of Iran to justify waging its economic warfare and, apparently, as part of some lame attempt to intimidate Iran. It's also notable that at this time Israel has chosen to launch a round of slaughter in Gaza.

See also: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Israeli-French Deception Downs Russian Spy Plane Off Syria, US Escalates 'Regime Change' Against Iran

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Snakes in Suits

Different when we do it: Why re-voting is 'dictatorship' in Turkey but 'unity' in EU


RT
Tue, 07 May 2019 10:31 UTC
vote Eu turkey
© Reuters / Clodagh Kilcoyne(L) Turks vote at polling station in Istanbul Reuters / Osman Orsal, (R) UK workers counting ballots in Brexit referendum
The decision to rerun a local mayoral election in Istanbul has sparked scathing criticism in Brussels - ironically, from none other than the EU's Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt.

Tweeting about the move, which was branded a "coup" by a Turkish opposition newspaper, Verhofstadt said it highlighted that Turkey was "drifting towards a dictatorship" and offered "full support to the Turkish people protesting for their democratic rights." Along with the verbal slap on the wrist, he said that under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's leadership, talks on Turkey joining the EU are "impossible."

The irony in Verhofstadt's outrage, is that the EU itself has a long history of either totally ignoring referendum votes - or just making people vote again until the 'correct' result is achieved. But that, of course, does not make the EU a dictatorship. It's still a "bastion of hope, freedom, prosperity & stability" (as per another recent Verhofstadt tweet). Twitter users wasted no time in pointing out the "irony" and "hypocrisy."

"How dare [Erdogan] use EU tactics," one irritated Verhofstadt follower responded, with another saying that the UK itself was currently "battling for its democracy" - a reference to EU officials (including Verhofstadt) who have frequently voiced their personal opposition to Brexit and the 'Remain' factions in Britain who have been calling for a re-run of the 2016 referendum.

Comment: And it's that kind of EU 'democracy' that has many member states looking to renegotiate their membership or to exit the EU entirely:

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Colosseum

Best of the Web: Failed coup in Venezuela: Behold the empire's breathtaking weakness

The Saker
The Unz Review
Tue, 30 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
Venzuelan protests
The Empire has suffered painful defeats in Afghanistan and Iraq, but one has to admit that these are "tough" countries to crack. The Empire also appears to have lost control of Libya, but that is another complex country which is very hard to control. We also saw all the pathetic huffing and puffing with the DPRK. But, let's be honest, the US never stood a chance to bully the DPRK into submission, nevermind invading or regime-changing it. Syria was much weaker, but here Russia, Iran and Hezbollah did a world class job of repelling all the AngloZionist attacks, political and military. Besides, I for one will never blame Trump for not listening to Bolton and not triggering WWIII over Syria (yet?)

But Venezuela?!

No Hezbollah or Iran backing Maduro there. And Venezuela is way too far away from Russia to allow her to do what she did in Syria. In fact, Venezuela is in the proverbial "backyard" of the US and is surrounded by hostile puppet regimes. And yet, tonight, it appears that the US puppet Guaidó has failed in his coup attempt.
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Stock Down

Turkey's currency crash continues amid backlash against Erdogan's 'treacherous' Istanbul mayoral election re-run

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 07 May 2019 08:23 UTC
lira crash markets
The Turkish lira continued its collapse this morning as investors interpreted Turkey's decision to redo Istanbul's municipal vote as yet another manifestation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's influence over independent institutions.

As Bloomberg notes, the decision drew instant condemnation from the opposition and some European officials.
The European Union called for Turkey's election body to explain its reasons for the re-run "without delay".

"Ensuring a free, fair and transparent election process is essential to any democracy and is at the heart of the European Union's relations with Turkey," the EU's diplomatic chief, Federica Mogherini, said in a statement.

Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the decision was "not transparent, and incomprehensible to us".

The French government also said the Turkish authorities needed to show "respect for democratic principles, pluralism, fairness [and] transparency" in the new poll.

Comment: It's no secret that the US and its Western lackeys would be happy to have Erdogan gone but whether that's partly influencing the current unrest remains to be seen. After all, it's fairly common place for the EU to force a re-vote on its citizens, or to ignore them entirely, if they give the 'wrong answer'. As noted in Different when we do it: Why re-voting is 'dictatorship' in Turkey but 'unity' in EU:
France voted 'no' to accepting a proposed 'EU Constitution' by 54.9 percent in 2005, but the outcome was ignored. The same thing happened in the Netherlands, which rejected it by 61.5 percent. The 'EU Constitution' was later repackaged into the Lisbon Treaty and presented to the French parliament where it was adopted, without being put to the people this time (much easier!).

[...]

Greece voted overwhelmingly to reject severe austerity measures desired by the EU in 2015 in exchange for a multi-billion euro bailout. Not long after, under pressure from Brussels, the country's government agreed to implement even harsher methods - totally ignoring the will of the Greek people.[...]

Then there's Catalonia, where pro-independence leaders were thrown in jail for their role in holding an independence referendum in 2017.


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Magnify

The JCPOA one year after US withdrawal: The US and Iran flex their muscles


Elijah J Magnier
Tue, 07 May 2019 12:00 UTC
Iran nuclear
One year after the US unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (known also as JCPOA- Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action), the US is flexing its muscles by announcing an already previously scheduled departure of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group as a measure to frighten Iran and force it to the negotiation table. Iran responded by showing a video that included several US Navy in the Persian Gulf as potential targets to its forces. Both messages clearly aim to avoid a war. This is why Iran is expected to refer back to resolutions 26, 36 and 37 to send a warning to the UN to rectify the violation of the deal by the US or else Tehran will be in its legal position to "cease performing its commitments in whole or in part". This is what President Hassan Rouhani is expected to announce tomorrow Wednesday the 8thof May, according to Iranian official sources, who expect Iran to stay in the deal for now.

"Iran doesn't want to trigger a hostile reaction from the United Nations and its European allies, so that they do not join the US in imposing sanctions as they did in 2011. This is why Iran will remain as a signature member of the JCPOA. Today, those who praised and signed the nuclear deal are standing, if only verbally, against the US unilateral withdrawal from the deal and its imposition of one-sided sanctions", said the official source to me.

Comment: Sputnik reports that Iran has warned it will withdraw from some of the "voluntary" commitments it made in good faith within 60 days should no progress be made - and who can blame them?
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has previously warned about a possible cutback on "voluntary" commitments, stressing, however, that Tehran has no intention of completely withdrawing from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iranian state TV announced on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic would be suspending several commitments within the nuclear deal, adding that the authorities had delivered letters from President Hassan Rouhani explaining the move to ambassadors from the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany.

President Rouhani has stated that after a 60-day period the country will scale back on more commitments and start increasing uranium enrichment levels.

He also stressed that the collapse of the deal would be dangerous for the country and the whole world.

Commenting on the statement, French Defence Minister Florence Parly said nothing would be worse than Iran withdrawing from the deal, also warning that the re-launching of sanctions would be on the table if Tehran fails to comply with the agreement.

The Iranian nuclear deal has topped the international agenda since US President Donald Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the agreement in May 2018, and re-instated sanctions against Tehran due to its nuclear programme.

Addressing the issue, other signatories to the deal - Russia, China, France, Germany, and the UK - confirmed they would not pull back from the accord, urging Tehran not to leave the accord.
See also:

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Star of David

Destroyers vs Creators: Meet the women's clothes boutique owner in Gaza whose store was obliterated by Israeli jets last week

Norman Finkelstein
normanfinkelstein.com
Wed, 08 May 2019 10:11 UTC
Gaza bombing
© EPA
The latest round of hostilities between Israel and Gaza that erupted earlier this week took its toll on the lives, homes and dreams of individuals in Gaza and southern Israel. Media reports tend to focus on the stories of those killed or injured. This is the story of one Palestinian resident of Gaza who was "fortunate" enough not to suffer direct physical harm, but is one of countless people paying a different kind of price. Mahmoud Said Al Nakhaleh, 29-years-old from Gaza City, lost his life's work in the blink of an eye when Israel bombed the six-story building that housed his women's clothing boutique in central Gaza City.

Four years ago, Al Nakhaleh opened his boutique, Samra, on the city's main street, and it became a successful retail business. On Saturday night, just ahead of the start of Ramadan and the holiday that marks its end, Eid Al-Fitr, when people tend to shop for new clothes, Al Nakhaleh lost his property, his investment, and his livelihood in one fell swoop.

"We were working in the store, getting ready for the holiday. I never once thought anything like this could happen," Al Nakhaleh told Gisha's field coordinator, Mohammad Azaiza. "No one contacted us to tell us to leave the store. We ran away when we heard the warning missile hit the building. We didn't take anything with us. Within minutes the building turned into rubble. Years of work disappeared in a minute."
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Snakes in Suits

Here's one way AG Barr could change the federal culture of corruption

Sharyl Attkisson
The Hill
Wed, 08 May 2019 10:11 UTC
AG Barr
© Greg Nash
I'm in my 30th year of covering national news and I've learned a hard truth about the federal government under numerous administrations. It's a culture where truth-telling is frowned upon; coverup is rewarded and encouraged.

That helps answer a question many have recently asked about the FBI and our intelligence community: Why haven't more whistleblowers come forward?

Several months ago, an FBI source told me that numerous whistleblowers had gone to members of Congress with information about the FBI and the Trump-Russia scandal, only to have congressional leaders turn their names over to the Department of Justice. True or not, this was the word on the street, and it had a chilling impact on other would-be whistleblowers.
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