Puppet MastersS


Caesar

What's really going on with Vladmir Putin and the FBI

Paul Kindlon
Russia Insider
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 08:47 UTC
Putin Ski
The caption reads: 'Onwards Russia!'
Looking at the hysteria and demonization concerning Russian President Putin you may as a rational human being wonder..."Why is this all being done? Does he really deserve this?"

Witness the outcry over the meeting he had with Trump recently in Helsinki. The powers that be were hoping for a confrontation not a civilized discussion. As a result, President Trump caught a lot of flack for being too friendly once again "proving" there is genuine cause for the Mueller probe. But besides Donald Trump the real target of the FBI Mueller investigation is Vladimir Putin and what he represents: Peaceful Co-existence.

So what is really going on here?

It is obvious that Putin poses a threat to the most powerful - the King makers behind the Imperial throne if you will. These string-pullers have been dividing the lower classes through Division for hundreds of years. And it's always the same game: Divide and Conquer. In order to maintain power and prevent revolt they have always set group against group among the lower classes. Instead of rising up against "Them", the manipulated masses kill each other.


Comment: Peaceful co-existence is a thorn in the side of the Deep State's desire for endless (yet extremely profitable) wars. In addition, such a meeting also represents something else; that the days of a uni-polar world are over.


Comment: See also: The eulogy of a never ending Russiagate scandal

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Oil Well

US senators do not want military bases in Europe to depend on Russian energy

Tsvetana Paraskova
Oilprice.com
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 17:00 UTC
Ramstein air base
US lawmakers are calling upon the Department of Defense to cut reliance on Russian energy at military bases in Europe, and to introduce sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 project.

Defense Logistics Agency data show that close to 40 percent of oil used at military sites in Germany comes from Russia. In southwestern Germany, for example, the Ramstein Air Base serves as the headquarters for US Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) installation.

US bases need backup power supply to ensure reliable electricity and other energy supplies should a power outage occur, or should the energy supply be compromised, Constance Douris, Vice President of the Lexington Institute, writes.

The backup supply could come from microgrids capable of operating off the main grid, bulk energy storage, and even electric vehicles (EVs) whose batteries can be used to power homes, Douris argues.
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Gold Seal

SOTT Focus: McCarthyism 2.0: Real skill of US 'disinformation experts' is spreading disinformation

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 21:00 UTC
An obscure blogger's hit-job on an American writer and his associates amounts to small beans. In the bigger picture, however, it exposes a cancer spreading through present American discourse on Russia and the wider world...
Russians meddling meme
Once again it was Molly McKew. "Putin is waging an information assault on Americans - yet many supposedly anti-Putin experts want you to believe there's nothing you can do to stop it," she tweeted. "Why? Stellar wknd (sic) longread by @JamesFourM (Jay McKenzie) on understanding how the Kremlin takes down its critics."


And with that, a group of American thinkers and writers with no obvious sympathies towards Russia, had their reputations attacked. Some days later, Medium, which hosted the smear, took the piece down - but the damage had been done.

Comment: As the complete sh*tshow that it is.

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Cow Skull

'PR stunts': Iran not impressed with Trump's rhetoric or prediction of 'talks soon'


Sputnik
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 19:51 UTC
Trump on plane
© CC0/The White House
Trump's peaceful overture to Iran marks a significant shift in tone after months of trading barbs with Tehran in wake of his walking away from the landmark nuclear deal and the threat to re-impose full sanctions on the Islamic Republic from August 6.

Iran has brushed away aside President Trump's claims that bilateral talks are imminent, saying that "threats, sanctions and PR stunts won't work."

Tehran has responded coolly to Trump's offer, dismissing it as worthless and "a humiliation" after he acted to re-impose sanctions on Tehran following his withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.

"Threats, sanctions & PR stunts won't work. Try respect: for Iranians & for (international) commitments," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter.

He added that Iran had held two years of talks with the US and that had produced "a unique nuclear deal" with the EU, Russia and China.

"The US can only blame itself for pulling out & leaving the table," Zarif added.

Comment: Though tough talk followed by negotiations is certainly preferable to war (which the Washington war party is seeking), Trump may not find Iran as easy to maneuver in his "art of the deal" as he would like:

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Light Sabers

Turkey vows retaliation against US sanctions over jailed pastor allegedly involved in 2016 coup


RT
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 17:43 UTC
US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at a NATO summit in Brussels.
© Kevin Lamarque/File Photo / ReutersUS President Donald Trump and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at a NATO summit in Brussels.
The officials targeted under the so-called Global Magnitsky Act are Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül and Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.

The US Treasury is imposing sanctions against two cabinet-level Turkish officials over the continued detention of a US pastor by the Turkish authorities, the White House spokesperson said.

Pastor Andrew Brunson, a US citizen and a Turkish resident for over two decades, has been arrested as part of Ankara's probe into the 2016 failed military coup. He is facing up to 35 years in prison if found guilty of supporting the coup.

Comment: As if Turkey needed any more reasons to turn away from the belligerent US: Turkey moving away from US and towards BRICS

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Blue Planet

Xi Jinping's trip to Africa increases continent's growing ties to China and Beijing's loans

Laura Zhou
South China Morning Post
Sun, 29 Jul 2018 04:32 UTC
Xi Jiping, Cyril Ramaphosa
© BizAfricaDailyChinese President Xi Jiping • South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa
China is doubling its commitments to Africa as it builds support from the developing world amid an escalating trade war with the US.

The moves came during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent tour of four African nations, capped last week by the BRICS meeting of emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which hosted the summit.

But some observers say that as Beijing is ambitiously pushing ahead Xi's flagship investment and infrastructure project, the "Belt and Road Initiative", China still faces the challenge of debt problems on the world's second largest continent.

Comment: The Chinese initiative in Africa will broaden its own economic base as it supports and guides the lift for African nations. How this plan is executed will make the difference in risk assessment and potential for success on both sides of the deal.

See also:

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Attention

US may slap China with higher tariffs; Beijing vows retaliation


RT
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 13:05 UTC
Trump
© Joshua Roberts/ReutersUS President Donald Trump
Seeking to adjust the US trade imbalance with China, Washington could more than double the pending tariffs on Chinese imports. Beijing has warned of an immediate mirror response.

The White House is considering increasing planned tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10 to 25 percent, according to unnamed sources familiar with the issue, as quoted by Bloomberg. The step reportedly comes as negotiations between officials from the US and China failed to ease current trade tensions.

In response, Chinese authorities have warned the US against "blackmailing and pressuring," and vowed to hit back if its hawkish partner takes further steps to hinder mutual trade.

"If the US takes measures to further escalate the situation, we will surely take countermeasures to uphold our legitimate rights and interests," Geng Shuang, spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told journalists. The official called for talks that will be based on "equality and respect as well as established rules and credibility" to resolve the disputes over trade.

Comment: Don't for a minute think this is about consumer prices or deals for the public.
See also:

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Pirates

US-led coalition in final stage of operation to clear Euphrates from Daesh


Sputnik
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 20:46 UTC
US in Syria
© AP/APTVUS armored vehicles in Darbasiyah, Syria
The US-led coalition in Syria does not expect to encounter Russian or Syrian forces during the final stage of Operation Round Up to liberate the remaining territory east of the Euphrates River from Daesh, Operation Inherent Resolve's Deputy Commander for Strategy and Support Felix Gedney said in a press briefing.

"No, we don't expect to encounter Russian or Syrian forces," Gedney told reporters on Tuesday. "We have confidence that the deconfliction mechanisms we have in place will work."

Gedney said planning for the final stage of Operation Round Up is ongoing and has as its goal clearing the last remaining Daesh-held pockets in the city of Hajin in the Abu Kamal district.

Completing Operation Round Up can only mean liberating the territory east of the Euphrates River after which the coalition must support stabilization efforts to ensure a lasting defeat of Daesh in the region, Gedney said.

Comment: Once accomplished will the Yankees go home or find another excuse to remain in unauthorized territory? Trump, in reiterating his desire to bring the forces home, will surely encounter resistance and untoward 'persuasion'.

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Green Light

Analyst Lawrence Freeman: 'West only wants a quick buck from Africa, while China invests for win-win cooperation'


RT
Tue, 24 Jul 2018 13:40 UTC
Xi Jinping Macky Sall (Senegal)
© ReutersChinese President Xi Jinping • Senegal President Macky Sall
The US needs to get over the geopolitical thinking and stop demonizing China in order to transform the African continent and eliminate poverty and hunger, African affairs analyst and journalist Lawrence Freeman told RT.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a trip to Africa in a bid to establish deeper trade ties. On Monday, he arrived in South Africa for a state visit, which will be followed later this week by his participation in the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg. Earlier, the Chinese leader visited Rwanda and Senegal, which is the first West-African country to be involved in China's "Belt and Road" infrastructure project.

Beijing has been expanding its presence in Africa in recent years, investing $39 billion in the continent in 2017. Political analysts told RT that countries in Africa are turning to China because of US government policies. Earlier this year, US ties with several African countries were placed under strain following some infamous remarks by Donald Trump.

RT: What do you think Xi Jinping will be hoping to get from his tour of Africa?

Lawrence Freeman: I think this is an indication by President Xi of how important they view their collaboration with Africa. He is going to be visiting four countries and they are going to end up at the BRICS Summit in South Africa. This is a continuation for the last several years of the 'Belt and Road' policy in Africa. And it has been a real boost for African development policies, especially in the areas of infrastructure, energy, roads and rail. And this indicates that they are going to continue along that policy for sure.

Comment: A need, a source and a mutual benefit. China, with wisdom and vision, has responded. Meanwhile, Africa is better off without the US, whose attitude, attention and results are completely self-serving and too high a price to pay.

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Arrow Down

Iran's IRGC commander torpedoes Trump's meeting offer


RT
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 19:26 UTC
Ali Jafari IslamicRevGuardsCorp
© PressTVMajor General Mohammad Ali Jafari, Chief of the IRGC
The head of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has said that Iranian officials would never meet with Donald Trump, "or any other US president."
"Mr Trump! Iran is not North Korea to accept your offer for a meeting," said IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari as quoted by the state Fars News agency. "Even US presidents after you will not see that day."
Jafari's statement comes just one day after Trump expressed a willingness to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani "anytime they want," with no preconditions. Meeting his Iranian adversaries, Trump said, would be "good for the country, good for them, good for us and good for the world."

Officials from both sides, however, have stressed the need for certain conditions to be met before a meeting could take place. Hours after Trump extended the offer to Tehran, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contradicted Trump and placed a raft of conditions on any future meeting.
"If the Iranians demonstrate a commitment to make fundamental changes in how they treat their own people, reduce their malign behavior, can agree that it's worthwhile to enter into a nuclear agreement that actually prevents proliferation, then the president said he's prepared to sit down and have the conversation with them," Pompeo told CNBC.

Comment: Whatever Trump may have had in mind for a new agreement with Iran, Pompeo has added fuel to the fire with his incendiary response.

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