Puppet MastersS


Light Saber

Trump on what real obstruction would look like: 'I could've fired EVERYONE, including Mueller!'


RT
Sun, 21 Apr 2019 02:11 UTC
Trump
© Reuters / Lucas Jackson
Donald Trump said the best proof of 'no obstruction' was the fact that he generously allowed Special Counsel Robert Mueller to conclude his futile Russiagate witch hunt, even though as president he had the power to end the probe.

"I had the right to end the whole Witch Hunt if I wanted. I could have fired everyone, including Mueller, if I wanted," Trump tweeted, after the publication of the redacted version of the two-year probe. "I chose not to. I had the RIGHT to use Executive Privilege. I didn't!"

Trump has long accused the Democrats of conducting a "witch hunt" against him. But, while the investigation exonerated the US president of any collusion with Moscow, his critics keep on insisting that Trump could still have been complicit in obstructing the investigation.

Comment: The manuverings of the deep state have been so blatant, they're going to have a difficult time diffusing the investigations and inquiries that need to at least appear to take place.The question is whether Nunes, Jordan and others who have pursued the truth in these matters, will be able to carry it through. The next year should be very interesting.

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Whistle

Nearly 100,000 Pentagon whistleblower complaints have been utterly silenced

Lee Camp
Truthdig
Wed, 17 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
pentagone
I don't know if I'd have the nerve to be a whistleblower. I'd like to think I would. We all like to think we would, just like we all like to think we could catch the game-winning touchdown, triumph on "America's Got Talent," and fold a fitted sheet quickly and without cursing.

But to blow the whistle on a huge organization with a lot of power, likely drawing that power to come crashing down on your head - that takes some serious spine-age. Now, imagine the organization you're calling out is arguably the largest, most powerful, most secretive and most violent organization on planet Earth. I'm speaking, of course, of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Yet thousands, even tens of thousands, of people have taken that step over the past five years. (More on this in a moment.)

All the while our organized human murder machine continues its work around the world. Every day. Every hour. Never a moment of rest. Never pausing to clip their toenails or scratch their ass. Bombs dropped. Buildings blown up. People killed or imprisoned. No end in sight.

By the way, that's the term I like to use instead of "military"-Organized Human Murder Machine.
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Mr. Potato

After months of promising collusion, Schiff says it doesn't matter because Trump's unpatriotic or something

Tom Pappert
Big League Politics
Sat, 20 Apr 2019 15:44 UTC
schiff
© ABC
Schiff now says President Trump's exoneration does not matter because the president is unpatriotic.

Rep. Adam Schiff has both claimed he has unseen evidence of President Donald J. Trump colluding with Russia, and hinted that the Mueller Report would be damning for the president.

After the Mueller Report's redacted release, Schiff appeared before cameras to downplay its importance. The Russia hoax believing congressman now believes that none of it matters, because President Trump is unpatriotic.

Schiff started by lamenting that special counsel Robert Mueller chose to use legal definitions instead of the "colloquial" definition of collusion, which he did not offer, and thus President Trump and his campaign committed no crimes and should not be charged.
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Quenelle - Golden

Middle East states join Iraq summit in blow to US-led 'Arab NATO' initiative


Sputnik
Sat, 20 Apr 2019 16:54 UTC
Iraq
© AP Photo / Hadi Mizban
The summit marks a shift in Iraq's foreign policy, with the country assuming the role of a mediator in the region as US President Donald Trump has revived the Obama-era concept of an anti-Iranian alliance of Gulf nations.

Iraq is hosting a one-day summit, which brings together the country's neighbours: Syria, Turkey, Jordan, and Kuwait, as well as two long-time rivals - Saudi Arabia and Iran - in a blow to the US-led "Arab NATO" initiative, Press TV reported.

"This is a positive message to all neighbouring countries and the world that Iraq is determined to regain its health and return to its Arab, regional environment and assume its rightful place in the map of the balance of power", Bashir Haddad, deputy parliamentary speaker said.

Comment: Al Masdar News reports:
Iran, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia set to meet for first time at Baghdad Summit

The Baghdad Summit is scheduled to take place on April 20th with several Middle Eastern countries set to participate in this conference organized by Iraq.

The parliamentarian heads of these seven countries will be the primary participants of the Baghdad Summit.

For Syria, this is a big meeting because it will mark the first time since the start of the Syrian Conflict that they will be participating in a non-Syria related conference with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Furthermore, the conference will see two major regional foes participating: Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have no diplomatic relations and both nations are pitted against each other in a number of proxy wars in the region, most notably Yemen.

Despite these rivalries, the Baghdad Summit conference will be an important step for Iraq to build their diplomatic and economic ties with their neighbors.
This seems to be just one of many high profile meetings in the Middle East where the West and its allies are unsurprisingly not invited: See also: And check out SOTT radio's

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Quenelle

'At least applauding keeps your hands off the trigger': Russia claps back at US praise for Malta's refusal to let planes land on route to Venezuela


RT
Sat, 20 Apr 2019 23:58 UTC
Protest venezuela
© Reuters / Joshua RobertsFILE PHOTO: Protest in Washington DC
Responding to the State Department "applauding" countries that sided with Washington's regime-change efforts in Venezuela, the Russian Foreign Ministry said clapping is at least harmless and keeps the trigger-happy US hands busy.

Applauding Malta's decision to deny passage to Russian planes headed for Caracas, newly minted State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus called on all countries "to follow Malta's example to stop the Kremlin's support for the dictator," namely Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Responding to Ortagus on Twitter, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the US should keep clapping, since that would keep it busy enough not to start any wars.

Comment: At the very least these shady moves by particular countries provide insight into who is a willing US lackey: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: US Regime Change Operation in Venezuela - This Time It's Legit?

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Light Saber

Giving truth to the lies: Fighting the smear campaign against Julian Assange

Caitlin Johnstone
Medium
Fri, 19 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
Arrest Julien Assange
Have you ever noticed how whenever someone inconveniences the dominant western power structure, the entire political/media class rapidly becomes very, very interested in letting us know how evil and disgusting that person is? It's true of the leader of every nation which refuses to allow itself to be absorbed into the blob of the US-centralized power alliance, it's true of anti-establishment political candidates, and it's true of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Corrupt and unaccountable power uses its political and media influence to smear Assange because, as far as the interests of corrupt and unaccountable power are concerned, killing his reputation is as good as killing him. If everyone can be paced into viewing him with hatred and revulsion, they'll be far less likely to take WikiLeaks publications seriously, and they'll be far more likely to consent to Assange's imprisonment, thereby establishing a precedent for the future prosecution of leak-publishing journalists around the world. Someone can be speaking 100 percent truth to you, but if you're suspicious of him you won't believe anything he's saying. If they can manufacture that suspicion with total or near-total credence, then as far as our rulers are concerned it's as good as putting a bullet in his head.

Those of us who value truth and light need to fight this smear campaign in order to keep our fellow man from signing off on a major leap in the direction of Orwellian dystopia, and a big part of that means being able to argue against those smears and disinformation wherever they appear. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any kind of centralized source of information which comprehensively debunks all the smears in a thorough and engaging way, so with the help of hundreds of tips from my readers and social media followers I'm going to attempt to make one here. What follows is my attempt at creating a tool kit people can use to fight against Assange smears wherever they encounter them, by refuting the disinformation with truth and solid argumentation.

This article is an ongoing project which will be updated regularly where it appears on Medium and caitlinjohnstone.com as new information comes in and new smears spring up in need of refutation.
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Rocket

Media claims Israeli missile can foil Russian S-300


Sputnik
Sat, 20 Apr 2019 17:14 UTC
f-16 rampage supersonic
© Israel Aerospace Industries/Israel Military Industries
Just a week ago, an independent defence analyst reported that Israeli Air Force F-16s may have used the newly-developed air defence-evading "Rampage" air-to-surface missiles during an alleged airstrike in Syria.

Israel's newest "Rampage" missiles are designed to outsmart the Russian S-300 air defence systems, deployed in Syria last October, and destroy highly protected targets like bunkers, Telepolis' journalist Florian Rötzer claims.

In a Friday article, Rötzer cited Israeli media as reporting that the country's Air Force deployed the air-to-surface supersonic rocket for the first time a week ago, having allegedly destroyed a large hangar and three buildings in Syria's Hama Province.

The journalist added that Israeli satellite intelligence company ImageSat International had released satellite images of the facilities, which it says may be "Iran-related missile manufacturing hangars" in Syria.

Rötzer continued by saying that the reported Israeli operation has been described in the media as a reaction to Syria's Russia-upgraded air defence: in October, Moscow delivered its S-300 batteries to Damascus to enhance the security of Russian service members stationed in Syria.

Comment: See also:

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Better Earth

China's top diplomat says all countries welcome to join Belt and Road project, but don't obstruct


RT
Sat, 20 Apr 2019 17:11 UTC
one belt one road logo china
Beijing has rejected "debt trap" criticisms of its massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), calling for skeptics not to impede other countries from participating in the global trade infrastructure project.

While 126 countries and 29 international organizations have signed cooperation agreements with China on the initiative, it is open to other players, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters on Friday.

"All countries have the freedom to participate, but they don't have the right to prevent other countries from taking part," Wang said. "We hope that more countries, including the United States, can actively participate in the 'Belt and Road Initiative.'"

The second Belt and Road forum in Beijing is set to run from April 25 to 27, attracting nearly 40 foreign leaders and hundreds of representatives from 150 countries. The list of high-level guests includes Russian President Vladimir Putin, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan among others.

Meanwhile, the United States, a staunch critic of the project, has shrugged off the meeting, and its State Department said it will not send a high-level delegation to this year's forum.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Pakistan blames Iran-based group for deadly attack that killed 14


RFE/RL
Sat, 20 Apr 2019 17:00 UTC
Mehmood Qureshi
© Aamir Qureshi / AFPPakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi (right) said the attackers wore military uniforms.
Pakistan has urged Iran to take action against terrorist groups believed to be behind the killing of 14 soldiers earlier this week.

"We hope that Iran will take visible action," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said during an April 20 press conference.

Qureshi said 15 gunmen wearing military uniforms ambushed a bus in southwestern Balochistan Province on April 18, killing 14 Pakistani Army personnel.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a letter to the Iranian government that the assailants came from an alliance of three Baluch terrorist organizations based in Iran.

The announcement came a day before Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to Iran.

Qureshi told reporters that the planned two-day visit, beginning on April 21, was intact and that Khan would take up the matter with Iranian authorities.

Qureshi said he spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on April 20 to share the initial findings of a Pakistani probe into the killing of security personnel with him.

Comment: See:

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Attention

Brzezinski's warning to America

Mike Whitney
The Unz Review
Sat, 13 Apr 2019 13:28 UTC
Zbigniew Brzezinski
© Jack E. Kightlinger
The liberal world order, which lasted from the end of World War 2 until today, is rapidly collapsing. The center of gravity is shifting from west to east where China and India are experiencing explosive growth and where a revitalized Russia has restored its former stature as a credible global superpower. These developments, coupled with America's imperial overreach and chronic economic stagnation, have severely hampered US ability to shape events or to successfully pursue its own strategic objectives. As Washington's grip on global affairs continues to loosen and more countries reject the western development model, the current order will progressively weaken clearing the way for a multipolar world badly in need of a new security architecture. Western elites, who are unable to accept this new dynamic, continue to issue frenzied statements expressing their fear of a future in which the United States no longer dictates global policy.

At the 2019 Munich Security Conference, Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger, underscored many of these same themes. Here's an excerpt from his presentation:
"The whole liberal world order appears to be falling apart - nothing is as it once was... Not only do war and violence play a more prominent role again: a new great power confrontation looms at the horizon. In contrast to the early 1990s, liberal democracy and the principle of open markets are no longer uncontested....

In this international environment, the risk of an inter-state war between great and middle powers has clearly increased....What we had been observing in many places around the world was a dramatic increase in brinkmanship, that is, highly risky actions on the abyss - the abyss of war....

No matter where you look, there are countless conflicts and crises...the core pieces of the international order are breaking apart, without it being clear whether anyone can pick them up - or even wants to. ("Who will pick up the pieces?", Munich Security Conference)
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