Puppet MastersS


Star of David

Israeli media predicts 'carte blanche' for Iran if US pulls forces out of Syria


Sputnik
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 16:53 UTC
Syrian supporters
© Hassan Ammar/APSyrian supporters
Donald Trump again defended his decision to pull US forces out of Syria this week, telling a journalist that Iran "can frankly do whatever they want" in the war-torn country once the US leaves.

The US president struck another blow to supporters of a permanent US presence in Syria on Wednesday, telling reporters that the country became a lost cause for the US "long ago," that "we don't want Syria," and that all Syria had to offer the US was "sand and death."

Questioning sentiment previously expressed by members of his cabinet, including National Security Adviser John Bolton, about US forces staying in Syria until Iran and its allies had also drawn down their alleged presence in the country, Trump suggested that he frankly didn't care what Tehran did. "Iran is pulling (its) people out of Syria, but they can frankly do whatever they want there," he said.

Trump's remarks made the front pages of Israeli newspapers on Thursday amid Tel Aviv's off-again on-again campaign in Syria against what it claims is an Iranian proxy war directed against Israel.

Comment: Long in coming, it is Israel's turn for a reality check, should Trump actually mean what he says.

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Footprints

Troop deployment to border: 160 miles of fence building and upgrades

Tom Bowman
NPR
Thu, 03 Jan 2019 02:30 UTC
Border fence USMEX
© Daniel Ochoa de Olza/APA Border Patrol officer inside his vehicle guards the fence near San Diego across the border from Tijuana, Mexico.
More troops are expected to be deployed to the Southern border to construct or upgrade 160 miles of fencing and provide medical care to a steady stream of migrant families arriving from Central America, according to military sources.

The deployment and fence construction along the California and Arizona borders would be paid for by the Pentagon, from the Department of Defense's discretionary funding.

The move comes as President Trump continues to demand more than $5 billion from Congress for border security and a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Congressional Democrats oppose the move, and parts of the federal government have been shut down because of the impasse.

The Department of Defense has not been affected by the shutdown.

Last month Trump tweeted that "the Military will build the remaining sections of the Wall" after he said that much of it already has been built. The president was referring to several hundred miles of existing fencing along the Southern border.

Comment: Trump, up against a congressional 'wall', may have found a temporary bypass.

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Laptop

Germany massive data hack: Merkel and hundreds of German politicians, journos, celebs affected


RT
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 11:06 UTC
Hacker
© Global Look Press/Lisa Forster
Phone numbers, addresses, as well as private messages of German politicians, journalists and celebrities have been stolen and uploaded online by unnamed hackers. The massive leak did not spare Angela Merkel either.

German politicians and prominent newsmakers have fallen victim to what appears to be a brazen hack attack on their private data. MPs and government officials had their contacts, home addresses, chat entries, and personal messages hijacked.

The leaked files were uploaded to multiple sharing platforms and forums, and links to them were distributed through a Twitter account that had 17,000 followers. According to Bild, some of the file-sharing websites have servers outside Germany which makes removal of sensitive data quite challenging.

The Twitter account in question was being run by an "online platform" based in Hamburg, the tabloid has learned. The Twitter account used to spread personal data has since been deleted, according to the Hamburg data protection agency.

Justice Minister Katarina Barley has already called it a "grave attack" on the country's democracy.

The leaks weren't limited to contact information, as photographs of their IDs, letters, and even credit card information also emerged online. Yet, the majority of them only featured private data and didn't include anything relating to politics.
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Attention

Hungary FM blasts Sweden's 'arrogant' claim Budapest endangers EU unity


RT
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 13:48 UTC
Margot Wallström, Peter Szijjarto
© AFP/Ilmars ZnotinsHungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto • Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström)
Hungary's Foreign Minister fired back at comments aired by his Swedish counterpart, Margot Wallstrom, who recently claimed that Budapest's anti-migrant stance threatens EU unity.

Peter Szijjarto blasted Wallstrom's "arrogant" assertion that Hungary is a "problematic" country which has prevented the European Union from "speaking with a single voice." Wallstrom made the disparaging remarks during an interview with Swedish national daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

In a statement that was posted on the Foreign Ministry's website, Szijjarto argued that his pro-immigration Swedish counterpart has "steered Sweden to a state of internal political uncertainty" and has no business criticizing Hungary.
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Black Magic

Reality denial: Schumer and Pelosi refused to listen in border wall briefing meeting - violated their 'talking points'

Kathryn Blackhurst
Lifezette
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 17:23 UTC
border patrol border wall
Liberal lawmakers, said Tom Homan, rejected DHS secretary's info

It is "unconscionable" that Democratic leaders reportedly didn't want to listen to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's briefing on the southern border on Wednesday amid a showdown over border wall funding.

That's according to former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting Director Thomas Homan, who shared his thoughts during an interview Wednesday night on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) attended a meeting on Wednesday at the White House with President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers during the 12th day of the partial government shutdown to negotiate.
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Chess

Turkey continues crackdown on subversive Gulen movement


South Front
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 20:40 UTC
Erdogan i Gulen
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen
Turkey's crackdown on supporters of the Gulen movement [often referred by the government as Gulenist Terror Organisation - FETO] continues with 95 arrest warrants issued on December 28th, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Konya issued 60 arrest warrants as part of an on-going probe for FETO's infiltration in the Turkish army, an unnamed police source was cited.

The suspects are accused of being "imams" of the 'terror group' and communicating with on-duty soldiers.

According to the anonymous source, police carried out simultaneous raids in 26 provinces to arrest the suspects.
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Chess

US House Democrats pass futile government funding bills during shutdown

Lindsey McPherson
Roll Call
Thu, 03 Jan 2019 20:25 UTC
Pelosi Schumer
© Tom Williams/CQ Roll CallSpeaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., pictured greeting Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., during opening day proceedings of the 116th Congress Jan. 3, said Democrats will not agree to a border wall but joked she’d give President Donald Trump $1 for it.
The new House Democratic majority passed two government funding bills Thursday to open shuttered federal agencies that President Donald Trump has said he will not sign, as Republicans predicted the partial government shutdown will be a long one.

Before the votes Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated that Democrats will not agree to a border wall but joked that she'd give Trump $1 for it.

"A dollar?" the California Democrat said when asked if there was any situation in which she'd even accept $1 for the wall. "A dollar. One dollar, yeah, one dollar."

In a more serious posture, Pelosi went on to vehemently reject the idea of funding the wall, which she says is immoral and ineffective.
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Dollar Gold

Progressive darling Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez calls for taxing the wealthy up to 70% to fund 'Green New Deal'

Colby Hall
Mediaite
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 19:16 UTC
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sat with Anderson Cooper for an upcoming 60 Minutes interview set to air this Sunday, a portion of which has been released as a promotion. In the released segment, Ocasio-Cortez reveals how exactly she suggests paying for the environmental agenda known as the "Green New Deal" - with remarkably higher tax rates for the super wealthy.


Comment: Ocasio-Cortez's 'Green New Deal': A radical mandate for government control of American society


Ocasio-Cortez suggests in the clip that in her esteem, people should be doing more to pay their "fair share." When Cooper pressed on how she could possibly pay for the deal, she pointed to the progressive tax rate system in the 1960s, explaining that if you earn 0 to $75,000 a year, you would only pay 10% or 15% in income tax.
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Light Sabers

Turkey slams Pompeo's comments equating Syrian Kurds with YPG terrorists


Daily Sabah
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 17:21 UTC
Hami Aksoy
© AA PhotoTurkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy
Ankara strongly condemned on Friday statements by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the country's approach to the PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG), underlining that Turkey embraces all Syrian people from every origin, except terrorist organizations which cannot be equated with the Kurds.

"We deny the content and the tone of [Pompeo's] remarks in regard to our county. Portraying our country, which in fact embraces all Syrian people, including the Kurds, and its fight against terrorist organizations, as if it targets a specific community in Syria, is unacceptable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a written statement.

Pompeo affirmed on Thursday that the Trump administration wants to protect the YPG against an upcoming Turkish offensive east of the Euphrates contrary to the withdrawal decision that many interpreted as a step to avoid losing its NATO ally, Turkey.

"We still have lots of things to work with on the Turks. Not only the withdrawal, but also all of the other elements that the president laid out: The importance of ensuring that the Turks don't slaughter the Kurds... All of those things are still part of the American mission set," Pompeo said on Thursday, marking the third time in less than a week that a senior U.S. official has expressed commitment to protecting the YPG terrorist organization.
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NPC

House Democrat makes another effort to impeach Trump

Jeremy Herb, Manu Raju
CNN
Thu, 03 Jan 2019 18:00 UTC
Rep. Brad Sherman
At least one House Democrat isn't going along with Nancy Pelosi's plea that it's too early to talk about impeaching President Donald Trump.

Rep. Brad Sherman, a California Democrat, plans to re-introduce articles of impeachment against Trump on the first day of the new Congress, he said Thursday. Sherman was one of three Democrats who introduced resolutions to impeach Trump in 2017, along with Reps. Al Green of Texas and Steve Cohen of Tennessee, part of an effort from a small wing of House Democrats seeking to remove the President from office.

Sherman told CNN Thursday that his goal is to force the conversation on impeachment when special counsel Robert Mueller's report comes out, saying he is simply doing the same thing he did in 2017 to push the discussion, accusing Trump of obstructing justice.
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