Puppet MastersS


Propaganda

Media 'fake news' checker NewsGuard launches in UK by greenlighting tabloids, adding ex-NATO chief to board


RT
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 23:58 UTC
fake newspaper
© Pixabay / rawpixel
NewsGuard, the trust-rating outfit that continues to approve of US media that spread the Russiagate conspiracy theory, has expanded operations to the UK and added a former NATO chief to its advisory board.

Announcing its UK debut on Wednesday, NewsGuard bragged about including Anders Fogh Rasmussen to their advisory board, describing him only as "former prime minister of Denmark." While he did serve in that capacity between 2001 and 2009, his most recent public office was secretary-general of NATO (2009-2014), which NewsGuard omits from their tweet - but not from the Advisory Board page.


Comment: NewsGuard has always been a complete joke but by greenlighting tabloids and promoting the total farce that is Russiagate they've made it quite evident that "tackling misinformation" is not on the agenda. See also:

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Network

Donald Trump holds surprise meeting with Twitter CEO at White House


RT
Tue, 23 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
Trump with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey
© Twitter / Donald J. TrumpUS President Donald Trump meets with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey at the White House, April 23, 2019
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sat down for a private meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. The surprise chat reportedly focused on "the health of public conversation" on the social media platform.

The closed-door meeting was set to last half an hour and featured other Twitter officials, Motherboard reported citing sources from within the company. Trump announced the meeting post-factum on Twitter.

"Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue!" Trump wrote, posting a photo with Dorsey at the Oval Office.

Comment: See also:

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Snakes in Suits

'Race we must win': US spies desperate to beat China on 5G


RT
Tue, 23 Apr 2019 22:57 UTC
5g network
© Reuters/Dado Ruvic
The US intelligence community is pushing for American dominance of 5G technology, citing "national security" implications if China gets there first. President Donald Trump has said US "cannot allow" such a thing to happen.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) tweeted out a reminder on Tuesday that if the US doesn't step up the pace of 5G development right away, China will "own" the global 5G apparatus within just a few years.

"If we don't deal with this now, 10 years from now it's going to be too late," Bill Evanina, director of ODNI's National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said at a conference last week. "Three years from now, it's going to be too late."

Comment: Somebody needs to tell the US it's already too late. Whatever it has in terms of deals or technology are unlikely to beat what China has to offer. As we can see, it's already had to resort to fearmongering and, if that fails, then perhaps some traditional coercion will be in order:

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Question

New Zealand PM says no known connection between Sri Lanka bombings and Christchurch attack


RT
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 20:00 UTC
memorial new zealand mosque attack
© Reuters / Adnan Abidi
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has said she is unaware of any links between Sunday's church and hotel bombings in Sri Lanka and the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand after a Sri Lankan minister suggested a connection.

"We haven't received anything officially nor have we received any intelligence reports that corroborate what has been said in Sri Lanka," Ardern told a press conference, stressing that she did not want to interfere in the investigation but merely wished to communicate that her government had no information to back up reports the two massacres were connected.

Comment: Of course there isn't actual any link between the two events. But that isn't why that suggestion has been blasted worldwide by the narrative-makers. They WANT everyone to link the two in their minds in the form of the following crass equation:
Christchurch = Massacre of Muslims

Sri Lanka = Massacre of Christians

Therefore Muslims were wronged and took revenge on Christians
In reality, of course, both sets of worshipers were slaughtered by the same network of international terrorists with bottomless pockets and backdoor access into every country on Earth. THAT is the connection between Sri Lanka and Christchurch...

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Bad Guys

Leader of Sri Lankan parliament accuses senior officials: 'Withheld intel on terrorist attacks'


RT
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 19:31 UTC
sri lanka church bombing
© Agence France-Presse / Jewel SamadPolice sift for evidence at one of the church bombing sites in Sri Lanka
The head of Sri Lanka's parliament has made damning accusations against senior officials in the government, alleging that they withheld intelligence about impending attacks on churches, hotels and politicians.

A series of Easter Sunday bombings at Sri Lankan churches andhotels killed at least 359 people. Authorities have made dozens of arrests in the aftermath.

"Some top intelligence officials hid the intelligence information purposefully. Information was there, but the top brass security officials did not take appropriate actions," Lakshman Kiriella, leader of the parliament, said Wednesday.
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Oil Well

Pepe Escobar: The war on Iran; calling Washington's bluff

Pepe Escobar
Consortium News
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
Strait of Hormuz night
© Intl. Space Station/WikimediaNight view of the coast of Oman, including Strait of Hormuz
Vast swathes of the West seem not to realize that if the Strait of Hormuz is shut down a global depression will follow...

The Trump administration once again has graphically demonstrated that in the young, turbulent 21st Century, "international law" and "national sovereignty" already belong to the Realm of the Walking Dead.

As if a deluge of sanctions against a great deal of the planet was not enough, the latest "offer you can't refuse" conveyed by a gangster posing as diplomat, Consul Minimus Mike Pompeo, now essentially orders the whole planet to submit to the one and only arbiter of world trade: Washington.

First the Trump administration unilaterally smashed a multinational, UN-endorsed agreement, the JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal. Now the waivers that magnanimously allowed eight nations to import oil from Iran without incurring imperial wrath in the form of sanctions will expire on May 2 and won't be renewed. The eight nations are a mix of Eurasian powers: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece.

Apart from the trademark toxic cocktail of hubris, illegality, arrogance/ignorance and geopolitical/geo-economic infantilism inbuilt in this foreign policy decision, the notion that Washington can decide who's allowed to be an energy provider to emerging superpower China does not even qualify as laughable. Much more alarming is the fact that imposing a total embargo of Iranian oil exports is no less than an act of war.

Comment: See also:

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Russian Flag

Best of the Web: Kim Jong-un arrives in Russia for first ever state visit - Surprise meeting with Putin Thursday


RT
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 07:15 UTC
Kim russia
© REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
The leader of North Korea got his first taste of Russian hospitality after his famous armored train arrived at a border crossing. Shrouded in secrecy, Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia is his first since coming to power.

All three generations of the North Korean ruling family have used this unconventional form of transportation for state visits. Kim Jong-un on Wednesday morning rode across the border with Russia at its only crossing - a railroad bridge - and was welcomed by Russian officials at the nearest station.

Wearing his distinctive black coat and a black fedora, the North Korean leader departed the fortified train at the Hasan station for some handshaking. He was welcomed by the governor of Russia's Primorsky Region and several senior officials from Moscow who arrived early for the upcoming summit.


Comment: FINALLY!

Scenes from Kim's arrival in Russia:

North Korea watchers witnessed a peculiar scene as Kim Jong-un arrived in Vladivostok. As the train was about to stop, Kim's bodyguards poured onto the platform to wipe clean the door their boss was about to exit through. Members of Kim's entourage also brought foldable ramps to connect the train and the platform so that members of the North Korean delegation could exit without any trouble.

Wearing black business suits and snow-white gloves, the athletic Korean men were seen running next to the train and frantically wiping the railings and doors of the armored train car that Kim arrived in for his first-ever meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

The summit, which is scheduled for Thursday, will be hosted by the Far Eastern Federal University at its new campus on Russky Island, which is across the bridge from Vladivostok.






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Arrow Up

Rouhani: Iran will only negotiate with Washington if US lifts pressure and apologizes


RFE/RL
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 11:06 UTC
Rouhani
© President.ir/EPA-EFEIranian President Hassan Rohani
Iran has responded to calls from Washington to renegotiate its landmark nuclear deal with world powers, with President Hassan Rohani saying Tehran would be willing to negotiate only when the United States lifts pressure and apologizes for what he called "illegal actions."

"We have always been a man of negotiation and diplomacy, the same way that we've been a man of war and defense," Rohani said on April 24. "Negotiation is only possible if all the pressures are lifted, they apologize for their illegal actions and there is mutual respect," Rohani said.

Global oil prices on April 23 hit their highest level since November after Washington announced that it will end all waivers on imports from sanctions-hit Iran next week. That has put pressure on importers to stop buying oil from Tehran and has further tightened the global oil supply.

Comment: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE have obligations to Iran:
Saudi Arabia alongside the UAE and Qatar would not exist today had Iran supported Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's plans to occupy these states, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has claimed. "Had it not been for Iran's rational decision back then not to cooperate with Saddam, there would have been no trace of these countries today," Rouhani said on Wednesday. "They owe their existence to Iran."

According to Rouhani, Hussein "repeatedly sent requests and messages," saying that Iraq and Iran will be sharing a 800 kilometer (497 miles) border in the Persian Gulf. "This shows that Saddam was seeking to occupy Saudi Arabia, Oman, the Emirates, and Qatar in addition to Kuwait," the Iranian president said, adding that Hussein offered "cooperation" in these endeavors. Tehran had declined Saddam's proposal and was among the first to condemn his attack on Kuwait, Rouhani stated, stressing that by doing so Tehran "saved" Riyadh along with other Gulf nations.



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Arrow Down

'Get down on their knees': Trump calls for NYT to apologize after Russian intervention report


RT
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 16:45 UTC
DTrump
© Carlos Barria/ReutersUS President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump is lashing out at the New York Times for alleged "false" reports, and has called on the newspaper to "get down on their knees" and beg for his forgiveness, saying it is the "Enemy of the People!"

Trump tweeted that journalist Paul Krugman "of the Fake News New York Times" has lost all credibility because of his "false and highly inaccurate" reporting on him.

"He is obsessed with hatred," he tweeted.


Krugman invoked Trump's wrath by claiming his campaign "welcomed" supposed Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election and, citing the Mueller report, said that "once in power, Trump tried to block any inquiry into what happened."
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X

Sorry, Mueller didn't 'prove' Russian hacking in Florida or anywhere else


RT
Tue, 23 Apr 2019 20:58 UTC
Florida polling place
© Reuters/Joe SkipperWaiting for the polls to open in Miami Beach, Florida, November 8, 2016.
Mainstream media outlets desperate to maintain the narrative of 'Russian hacking' in the 2016 US presidential election have resorted to selectively quoting the Mueller Report and uncritically reporting indictments as evidence.

The 448-page report by special counsel Robert Mueller, released last week, admits it cannot substantiate claims that US President Donald Trump or his campaign colluded or coordinated with Russia during the 2016 campaign, but takes as a given that "Russian meddling" actually happened - citing nothing but its own indictments of "Russian agents" as proof.

Indictments are not evidence, however, and any proof Mueller might have offered beyond that could be hiding in the redactions intended to protect "sources and methods" and ongoing investigations. That has not stopped numerous media outlets from claiming that the report totally proved there was hacking, going beyond the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign to affect even state electoral systems in places like Florida and Illinois.

Comment: See also:

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