Puppet MastersS


Quenelle

Erdogan and Putin pledge closer ties in Moscow, S-400 purchase a "done deal"

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 09 Apr 2019 03:45 UTC
erdogan putin
© Alexei Nikolskly/Russian presidential press service/TASS
Meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again affirmed "everything is done" regarding Turkey's moving forward with its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, despite persistent condemnations and threats from Washington.

Echoing similar statements of the past weeks in the face of US ultimatums related to blocking orders of Lockheed's F-35 stealth fighter, Erdogan said, "those who ask or suggest we backtrack don't know us," and told reporters further after meeting with Putin, "If we sign a deal on an issue, that's a done deal. This is our sovereign right, no one can ask us to back down.''

It appears the long running controversy will end in US defense planners' worst fears come true: in place of strained and worsening ties with Washington, Turkey is fast moving into Moscow's orbit. The two leaders have already met multiple times this year, which doesn't bode well for Vice President Mike Pence's ultimatum last week of "Turkey must choose."

Comment: TASS provides more detail on the increasing and diverse cooperation between Russia and Turkey - meanwhile the US continues to isolate itself after vowing to retract it's manufacturing deals with Turkey, who actually produce parts for the US F-35s:
Touching upon other industries, the president [Putin] noted the participation of Turkish companies in construction of facilities in Russia.

"Turkish companies implemented projects worth $70 bln in recent years - just think about these numbers! These are good numbers," he said.

"A large number of facilities have been built, both as part of preparation for the Sochi Olympics and for the World Cup," he added.

Putin also said that good opportunities for cooperation between the two countries are opening up in chemistry, the metallurgical industry, in production of fertilizers, road transport and the car making industry.
See also:

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Light Saber

Candace Owens in EPIC clash with Ted Lieu at congressional 'white nationalism' hearing


RT
Wed, 10 Apr 2019 00:27 UTC
candace owen
© AFP / Zach Gibson / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICACandace Owens of Turning Point USA
Sparks flew in the House of Representatives as Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California) tried to accuse conservative activist Candace Owens of being an apologist for Adolf Hitler at a hearing on hate crimes and white nationalism.

Owens, an African-American activist with Turning Point USA and a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump, was one of the witnesses invited by the Republican minority on the House Judiciary Committee.
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Chess

Surrounded by treacherous enemies, Donald Trump needs to learn lessons from the intrigues of Shakespeare

Martin Sieff
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sun, 07 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
painting of royalty
Now that President Donald Trump has finally been exonerated from the always farcical Big Lie of Collusion with Russia in the 2016 election, the US leader had better watch out: The Deep State will really go after him now that it's supposed Soft Coup plot has failed.

Trump needs to recognize he is a modern version of Shakespeare's King Henry IV, a monarch who can never afford to rest.

The forces opposed to Trump and his decent, sensible 2016 campaign vision of defusing tensions with Russia worked viciously, relentlessly and long to discredit the 45th President of the United States before he could even get going. The idea that they are now going to sit back like good losers because their entire pyramid of lies on Collusion with Russia has been exposed is ludicrous.

The two years of hysteria in fact were far from unsuccessful. They failed to topple Trump from office or separate and discredit him with his potent domestic political base. But they certainly prevented him from working openly and constructively with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the ongoing bloodbaths in Syria and Yemen that Trump inherited and to reduce global nuclear tensions.
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Eagle

Is Trump's labeling of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist organization a preparation for war?

Whitney Webb
Mint Press News
Mon, 08 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
© APMembers of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard march during an annual military parade marking the anniversary of outset of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war in Tehran, Iran.
The Trump administration designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite group of that country's military, as a foreign terrorist organization early Monday, confirming a report published last Friday in the Wall Street Journal that suggested that such a move was likely to occur in a matter of days. In a statement released Monday, the White House stated:
This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft."
While most reports on the subject have interpreted the move as aimed at pressuring European countries and others from conducting business with Iran while also making the Iran nuclear deal much more difficult to revive, the move would further allow the Trump administration to conduct more "robust" combat operations against Iran's military, all without congressional approval.

As was noted by the WSJ and other outlets, the Trump administration's upcoming move to label the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization would mark the first time that any element of a foreign state is officially labeled as a terrorist group. The Bush administration had previously blacklisted the Quds Force, the IRGC unit in charge of foreign operations, in 2007 "for its support of terrorism," and further described the group as Iran's "primary arm for executing its policy of supporting terrorist and insurgent groups." However, unlike the Trump administration, they stopped short of labelling the IRGC, or any of its elements, as foreign terrorist organizations themselves.

Comment: See also:

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NPC

Russiagate numbskull Rep. Eric Swalwell makes gun control the focus of his 2020 presidential run

Jeff Daniels
CNBC
Tue, 09 Apr 2019 07:34 UTC
Rep. Eric Swalwell
© Elise Amendola | APRep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., speaks at a political event, Feb. 25, 2019, in Manchester, N.H.
California Rep. Eric Swalwell, an Iowa native and former prosecutor, is making fighting gun violence a central theme of his newly launched presidential campaign.

The congressman, who announced his bid in the crowded Democratic on Monday, is proposing a ban on and federal buyback of all 15 million assault weapons in the U.S. The 38-year-old congressman wants to exempt law enforcement agencies and shooting clubs.

"We should take the most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the most dangerous people," Swalwell said in his campaign launch video. The video also plays up his roots in Iowa, a state that could be critical because it's the first to hold a caucus for the 2020 presidential elections.

Swalwell, who sits on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees, has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump and his policies, charging they are hurting ordinary Americans. Also, he has said Americans are struggling and feel "disconnected" and hurt by the policies of President Donald Trump.

Comment: Another brain-dead hack "progressive" who panders to typically "liberal" policies and doesn't have a fraction of the guts and brains that Tulsi Gabbard has in lambasting destructive US wars around the world.

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TV

UK government issues proposal that would 'regulate' the internet

Chris Fox
BBC
Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:00 UTC
online harms uk internet censorship
Internet sites could be fined or blocked if they fail to tackle "online harms" such as terrorist propaganda and child abuse, under government plans.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has proposed an independent watchdog that will write a "code of practice" for tech companies.

Senior managers could be held liable for breaches, with a possible levy on the industry to fund the regulator.


Comment: Any senior manager wishing to keep his job would likely be extra stringent, censoring harmless and maybe even vital content, rather than run the risk of falling foul to the regulators.


But critics say the plans threaten freedom of speech.

The Online Harms White Paper is a joint proposal from the DCMS and the Home Office. A public consultation on the plans will run for 12 weeks.

The paper suggests:

Comment: This is just one of many angles of attack the West is using to achieve internet censorship: All Your Meme Are Belong to Us: EU Plans 'European Firewall' to End Free Internet

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Smiley

EU rejects Theresa May's bid for short delay, Brexit 2020?

Daniel Boffey
The Guardian
Tue, 09 Apr 2019 22:32 UTC
Donald Tusk
© Isopix/Rex/ShutterstockDonald Tusk said granting a short extension 'would increase the risk of a rolling series of short extensions and emergency summits'
Theresa May's request for a short Brexit delay has been torn up, putting the EU on track to instead extend Britain's membership until 2020.

Despite the prime minister's desperate dash to Paris and Berlin, to convince leaders of her plan to break the Brexit impasse, the European council president, Donald Tusk, signalled EU politicians' lack of faith in her cross-party talks.

Against a backdrop of growing support among the EU27 for a lengthy Brexit delay, Tusk picked apart May's appeal for a shorter delay to 30 June in a letter to the leaders inviting them to Wednesday's summit, where they will agree the new end date.

An EU diplomat said on Tuesday, following a late-night meeting of ambassadors, that the two end dates crystallising in EU capitals were the end of December or the end of March 2020.

Comment: RT reports:
UK parliament passes law allowing MPs to question, change May's June 30 Brexit delay

The UK has passed legislation permitting members of Parliament to make, during the debate on it on Tuesday, legally binding alterations to PM Theresa May's request to the EU for a delay until June 30 of its Brexit departure date.

The law designates Tuesday's 90-minute debate period for lawmakers to question and even to legally change the substance of May's planned formal request for a Brexit extension, which she plans to deliver during Wednesday's emergency EU summit.

One thing UK lawmakers were able to agree on - by one vote - was a bill to block a "no deal" Brexit, essentially forcing May to reach some kind of compromise. Last week, she entered into talks with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in an effort to reach a deal members of both camps can hold their noses and vote for, though two ministers resigned from her cabinet in protest over the meeting.

Despite the gesture of transpartisanism, however, Labour reported that May's talks with Corbyn have thus far amounted to nothing, with the Conservative leader unable to offer any "real change or compromise" in the form of policy concessions or amendments to her three-times-failed Brexit deal. Corbyn is one of many voices from multiple parties to call on May to resign.
See also: And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Yellow Vest Protests, Brexit Farce - Revolutionary Climate in Western Europe?

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Network

India moves closer to buying nearly 500 Russian battle tanks

Rahul Bedi
Jane's 360
Tue, 09 Apr 2019 21:28 UTC
T-90MS MBT battle tank
© RosoboronexportA T-90MS MBT demonstrates its mobility. India’s CCS approved in early April the procurement of 464 of these tanks for the Indian Army.
India's Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has approved the INR134.48 billion (USD1.93 billion) procurement of 464 Russian-made T-90MS main battle tanks (MBTs) for the Indian Army (IA).

Official sources told Jane's that the move by the CCS, which convened in early April and is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is the penultimate step in the process of acquiring the MBTs and will be followed by the signing of a contract between India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Russia's arms export agency, Rosoboronexport, during the next few months.

The MoD's Defence Acquisition Council approved the procurement of the tanks in November 2016.
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USA

US, NATO share blame for Libya's re-descent into chaos

Darius Shahtahmasebi
RT
Tue, 09 Apr 2019 13:33 UTC
Misrata forces
© Reuters/Hani AmaraA Member of Misrata forces, under the protection of Tripoli's forces, prepares himself to go to the front line in Tripoli Libya April 8, 2019.
Recent developments in Libya have put the focal point of the international media back on the war-torn country. As we will see, there are many crucial omissions from the mainstream assessment of Libya's descent into further chaos.

Libya is back in the news again. At the beginning of this week, a warplane attacked Tripoli's only functioning civilian airport, Mitiga airport. The airstrike was allegedly delivered by forces loyal to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, the Libyan National Army (LNA). The timing of the attack appears to have coincided with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' visit to the city, who eventually left Libya "with a heavy heart and deeply concerned."

Between 2,800 and 3,400 people have fled the fighting around Tripoli so far, with at least 47 reportedly dead and over 180 others injured, including both civilians and pro-government (GNA) fighters.

Originally, UN-backed talks were scheduled for 14-16 April this year, but this recent fighting has called all of that into question. So much so, that US forces have been withdrawn temporarily due to "security conditions on the ground." Announcing that US troops will be withdrawing from a North African nation temporarily barely seems to attract even the most basic questions from the mainstream media, including the much-needed "why are US troops still in Libya?"


Comment: See also:

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

'King Bibi' snake-charmed Israel for a decade - have voters had enough?

Igor Ogorodnev
RT
Tue, 09 Apr 2019 06:32 UTC
Neti Billboard
© Reuters/Ammar Awad
If he wins Tuesday's election, Benjamin Netanyahu is set to become Israel's longest-serving prime minister. But as his tricks have grown hoarier and his persona more outsize than Trump himself, he risks becoming a self-caricature.

Final polls on Friday showed that his right-wing coalition was favored to reach the magic number of the 61 seats that would give them a majority in the Knesset, even if the prime minister's own Likud party was not likely to be the biggest individual faction.

Nonetheless, Netanyahu has, predictably, been in his customary scuttling underdog mode. On Monday, he called an "emergency" cabinet meeting to declare that victory in the parliamentary election was not assured. So far no bombshells, like the homemade-quality video released on election day four years ago, in which he looked his voters in the eye, and warned them that left-wing opponents were "bussing in Arabs" to vote for them and that there was still time.

The ace up his sleeve was the announcement that he was considering annexing the Jewish-settled parts of the West Bank - an idea that was long considered beyond the pale, and a sure death knell for the comatose peace process. The vague wording left it unclear if he is serious or just pandering to the Zionist parties that he will need for his majority.

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