Puppet MastersS


Propaganda

Publish fake news about Russia? In the West it's a good career move... with no downside

journalists scrum reporters
© Reuters/Jason Reed
Fighting "Russian disinformation" in the West has become a lucrative business. But, in reality, you're far more likely to encounter deceitful agitprop directed at Russia.

CP Scott remains a towering figure in the annals of British journalism. Editor of the then Manchester Guardian for an astonishing 57 years, he celebrated his paper's centenary by laying down a set of legendary principles.

"Comment is free, but facts are sacred," Scott intoned in the missive. Sadly, almost a hundred years later, facts are free and the right to spread disinformation is becoming sacred, as far as his successors are concerned. Particularly when it comes to coverage of Russia.

Stock Up

Russia's economy expands despite sanctions - World Bank

Moscow
© Sputnik / Anton Denisov
Moscow
The growth rate of the Russian economy increased last year, while inflation remained low, the World Bank said in its 2019 World Economic Outlook.

"Although economic sanctions tightened, Russia experienced relatively low and stable inflation and increased oil production. As a result of robust domestic activity, the Russian economy expanded at a 1.6 percent pace in the year just ended," said the report.

Beaker

'There were only technical issues': Kremlin says Russia & WADA reach agreement on lab data

Dmitry Peskov
© Sputnik / Natalia Seliverstova
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the Russian sports authorities and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have reached agreement on accessing data from a Moscow laboratory.

The Russian official refuted suggestions that the Russian side had violated its obligations to the anti-doping watchdog by blocking access to the lab where doping samples and data have been stored since 2011.

WADA officials arrived in Moscow on Wednesday in an attempt to finally extract data from the lab, which was named as a condition in reinstating the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in September after a three-year suspension.

"Basically, the Moscow laboratory data was ready for extraction during WADA's previous visit," Peskov said, TASS reported. "But some technical issues emerged regarding devices that should be used. I would say there were logistics issues, but not major discrepancies."

Attention

'They made a mess & are fighting fires': UK academic says Integrity Initiative fatally hurt by leaks

United Kingdom flag
© REUTERS/Phil Noble
Despite being ignored by Western media, leaks from Integrity Initiative have paralyzed the operations of this UK-funded covert influence network, and could lead to its dismantling, says a leading British academic.

"This has made a mess of [Integrity Initiative's] operations, they are spending most of their time now trying to fire-fight on the coverage this is getting. And they are not doing essentially what they are being paid to do, which is to counter the Russians," David Miller, Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bristol School for Policy Studies, told RT.

"The British government is getting bad value for money, if it was ever getting better value."

As part of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media, which studies Western attempts to control media coverage of key international events, Miller has played a crucial role in studying the four tranches of data anonymously uploaded and sourced from the previously little-known group, which has been backed by the UK Foreign Office, NATO and Facebook, to the tune of over £1 million per year.

Eye 1

US makes lame attempt to smear China's Huawei for its business links to Iran and Syria

huawei
© Jason Lee / Reuters
The U.S. case against the chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies, who was arrested in Canada last month, centers on the company's suspected ties to two obscure companies. One is a telecom equipment seller that operated in Tehran; the other is that firm's owner, a holding company registered in Mauritius.

U.S. authorities allege CFO Meng Wanzhou deceived international banks into clearing transactions with Iran by claiming the two companies were independent of Huawei, when in fact Huawei controlled them. Huawei has maintained the two are independent: equipment seller Skycom Tech Co Ltd and shell company Canicula Holdings Ltd.

But corporate filings and other documents found by Reuters in Iran and Syria show that Huawei, the world's largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment, is more closely linked to both firms than previously known.


Comment: Even if they were 'more closely linked' there's nothing to say that this was illegal by international standards.


Comment: The fact that these accusations are coincident with the US' trip to resolve the trade spat with China is telling. As noted in Finian Cunningham's article Why China's over the moon:
Not only are Trump's allegations of Chinese unfair trade and theft of technology spectacularly disproven by the historic moon landing this week, the denouement also reveals what the American trade war agenda is really about. Washington is using trade tariffs and sanctions, as well as slanderous smearing, as weapons in order to illegitimately thwart China as a global rival. Unable to do it by fair means, the Americans are resorting to dirty tricks.
See also: And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: 'Containing' Russia-China and Global Economic Collapse


Brick Wall

Next round in the fight for the wall: Trump addresses the nation, Democrats get airtime

Trumpcartoon
© Branco LegalInsurection.comBorder Line
With President Donald Trump set to deliver a national televised address on the government shutdown and plans to build a border wall, Democrats want to "immediately" be given a chance to counter the president's speech.

The government has been partially shut down for 18 days, and although negotiations have been ongoing, President Trump has thus far failed to reach a compromise with House and Senate Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, both sides deadlocked over Trump's requested $5 billion for a border wall between the US and Mexico.

After teasing that he might use emergency powers to build the wall, and suggesting that Pelosi and Schumer might be open to a less unsightly slatted steel barrier instead of a concrete wall, the president demonstrated his flair for a made-for-TV cliffhanger on Monday, announcing plans to address the nation "on the Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border" on Tuesday night.


Comment: The President's speech to the nation and the Democrats' response:



Recent 'Memery':












Jet5

Most Americans do not believe the official 9/11 story, 'conspiracy theorists' now a majority

MadebyMossad
© CERTAIN the TRUTH
TruePublica, a British website that has avoided the 9/11 issue, has had its fill of ignorant journalists at the BBC, Huffington Post and other propagandists for the military/security complex. The constant, shrill demeaning of experts and distinguished people who have raised questions about the official story has convinced TruePublica that skeptics who need so much shouting down must have a point.

The media has NEVER EXAMINED the evidence or explained the analysis provided by scientists, architects, engineers, pilots, and the first responders who experienced the explosions of the World Trade Center twin towers. The media has never asked for the release of the multiple videos that recorded whatever struck the Pentagon. The media has never investigated whether cell phones worked in 2001 from the altitudes at which the official story claims calls were made.

Instead two-bit punk presstitutes, such as the BBC's Chris Bell and the Huffington Post's Jess Brammer and Chris York, label experts with knowledge and integrity "conspiracy theorists." These presstitutes knowingly use a cover-up term that the CIA put into use via its media assets to discredit the expert skeptics of the Warren Commission Report on the assassination of President Kennedy.

The fact that the carefully presented evidence is NEVER ENGAGED EXCEPT WITH NAME-CALLING is a strong indication that the evidence is true and cannot be refuted.

Comment: See also:


Snakes in Suits

Oops! Manafort's lawyers accidentally reveal he lied to Mueller

Paul Manafort
© Reuters / James Lawler Duggan
In an embarrassing twist to the ongoing Paul Manafort legal saga, Manafort's attorneys have inadvertently revealed some of the lies that Paul Manafort allegedly told Special Counsel Robert Mueller, according to a reporter from the Guardian.

Because they failed to redact their filings, Manafort's attorneys revealed that their client "lied about sharing polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik", a former purportedly Kremlin-connected aide to Manafort who has been accused of participating in Manafort's efforts to conceal his income from his consulting work for former Ukrainian strongman Viktor Yanukovich.

Toys

US downgrades EU's diplomatic status - but doesn't tell them

Mike Pompeo
© CreditPool photo by Francisco SecoSecretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a provocative speech in Brussels on Dec. 4 in which he questioned the value of multinational organizations like the United Nations and the European Union.
The Trump administration downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union's delegation to the United States last year without making a formal announcement or informing the bloc about the change, a European official said on Tuesday.

After protest from Brussels and discussion between the European Union and the Trump administration, the reclassification of the delegation and the consequent demotion of the ambassador, David O'Sullivan, is understood to have been reversed, at least temporarily, the official said.

Mr. Trump has been critical of multilateral institutions, and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, delivered a provocative speech in Brussels on Dec. 4 in which he questioned the value of multinational organizations and institutions like the United Nations and the European Union. Mr. Pompeo then asked whether the European Union was "ensuring that the interests of countries and their citizens are placed before those of bureaucrats here in Brussels."

Comment: Like many nations around the world, the EU has much more bargaining power when it works together than alone, and that's what's really bothering the US: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Trump Ditches Europe, Europe Bluffs, Russia and China Carry on With Eurasian Integration


Chess

May defeated again as MPs back measure to block a 'no deal' Brexit

theresa may
© Getty imagesTheresa May
In another stunning defeat for Theresa May and her senior cabinet, MPs on Tuesday backed a measure intended to thwart the possibility of a 'no deal' Brexit by attaching an amendment to a crucial Finance Bill that will effectively force the UK government to shut down if Article 50 isn't suspended or Parliament doesn't explicitly vote to approve a 'no deal' exit.

The so-called "Cooper amendment" to the finance bill was tabled by Labour's Yvette Cooper and had become the focus of Brexit related drama since Parliament returned from its Christmas break this week. The vote passed 303-296 with the help of 20 Tory rebels.

Cable has been weakening all day (though it didn't react much to the vote).