Puppet MastersS


Light Saber

Status quo seekers uneasy with Rand Paul advising Trump

Jack Hunter
The American Conservative
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 18:45 UTC
Rand Paul
© GOPUSASenator Rand Paul
While the Blob freaks out, reports suggest Rand Paul is helping the president keep his campaign promises on war.

"Welcome to the world of President Rand Paul," blared the headline at The Washington Post. In the piece that followed, columnist Josh Rogin took President Donald Trump to task for reportedly listening to the Kentucky senator too much.

"Several U.S. officials and people who have spoken directly to Trump since his Syria decision tell me they believe that Paul's frequent phone conversations with Trump, wholly outside the policy process, are having an outsize influence on the president's recent foreign policy decisions," Rogin writes. "Officials told me that, throughout the national security bureaucracy, everyone is aware that Paul's voice is one to which the president is paying increasing attention."

Comment: Senator Rand appears to be one of the few clear-eyed politician among the current crop of Congress critters. His record has been consistently on the side of ending US interventions, prohibiting surveillance of US citizens, and generally behaving like a decent member of the world community. Trump would do well to listen to him. And he has a sense of humor!

Rand Paul roasts Washington's warmongers in epic 'Festivus Twitterstorm'

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Attention

N. Korea threatens to abandon talks with US if sanctions relief is not forthcoming

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 01 Jan 2019 16:30 UTC
Kim Jong-un
© Today.comNorth Korea Leader Kim Jong-un
Following what was a landmark 2018 for isolated North Korea - a year when leader Kim Jong Un held three historic meetings with his South Korean counterpart and a captivating summit with "imperialist" President Donald Trump - Kim used a New Year's Eve address to try and browbeat the US into offering some sanctions relief.

In a veiled threat to break off talks, Kim threatened to take a "new path" on nuclear talks if the US doesn't acquiesce to the Hermit Kingdom's demands.

While Kim affirmed his willingness to meet with Trump (the leaders have agreed to a second summit, but the details have not been set), he didn't offer any concessions to help advance negotiations, which have stalled over the US's insistence that the North finish the process of denuclearlization before economic sanctions are lifted. Meanwhile, the North has demanded that the US gradually lift sanctions as the North hits certain benchmarks.
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Stop

Both USA and Israel officially quit UNESCO


The Palestine Chronicle
Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00 UTC
UNESCO
© MEMO
The United States and Israel have officially quit the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day, the culmination of a process triggered more than a year ago.

The withdrawal is mainly procedural yet serves a new blow to UNESCO, co-founded by the US after World War II to foster peace.

The Trump administration filed its notice to withdraw in October 2017 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed suit, accusing the UN agency of anti-Israel bias.

The Paris-based organization has previously criticized Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem and granted full membership to Palestine in 2011.

The US has demanded "fundamental reform" in the agency.

UNESCO is best known for its work to preserve heritage, including maintaining a list of World Heritage sites, and programmes to promote education in developing countries.
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Mr. Potato

Pelosi's daughter praises mother's leadership - 'She'll cut your head off and you won't even know you're bleeding'

Trent Baker
Breitbart
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 18:11 UTC
Alexandra Pelosi
© HBO
Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is likely to be elected the next Speaker of the House, praised her mother's experience and leadership.

"She'll cut your head off, and you won't even know you're bleeding. That's all you need to know about her," the younger Pelosi told CNN "New Day" host John Berman Wednesday. "No one ever won betting against Nancy Pelosi.

She added, "You have to give her credit. No matter what you think of her, you have to give her credit because, think about it, think about all those presidents she's endured, right? The Bush, the Bush, the Clinton. She's been through it all. So, she's been around. This is not her first rodeo, as your friend George Bush would say. She knows what she's doing. And that should let you sleep at night, knowing that somebody in this town knows what she's doing."

"
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Snakes in Suits

Trump lashes out at retired Gen. McChrystal who called him immoral

Isabel Dobrin
Politico
Tue, 01 Jan 2019 11:58 UTC
GenStanleyMcCrystal
© Steven Senne/APGeneral Stanley McCrystal
President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at a retired army general who had been critical of him and his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.

In a New Year's Day post to Twitter, Trump said retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal is "known for [a] big, dumb mouth" and that he "got fired like a dog by Obama." The president identified McChrystal as a "general," apparently deriding the former military official by placing his title in quotes, and called him a "Hillary lover."

Trump's critisicim of McChrystal came after the retired general told Martha Raddatz on ABC's This Week that the president is immoral and does not tell the truth.

"If we want to be governed by someone we wouldn't do a business deal with because their - their background is so shady, if we're willing to do that, then that's in conflict with who I think we are. And so I think it's necessary at those times to take a stand," the retired general said.

McChrystal also said the president's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria would lead to instability in the region. "If you pull American influence out, you're likely to have greater instability, and of course it'll be much more difficult for the United States to try to push events in any direction," he told ABC News.

Comment: More from RT:
"There is an argument that says we just pull up our stuff, go home, let the region run itself. That has not done well for the last 50 or 60 years," continued the four-star general, who spoke as part of a long sit-down interview with ABC's This Week.

Commenting on the latter decision, Trump tweeted that defeating Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) was "my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency" and this task has effectively been accomplished after all strongholds controlled by the jihadist militia have been captured.

"I don't believe ISIS is defeated," disagreed McChrystal. "I think ISIS is as much an idea as it is a number of ISIS fighters. There's a lot of intelligence that says there are actually more ISIS fighters around the world now than there were a couple of years ago."

While Trump's move was lauded internationally as an acknowledgement of the limits of US interventionism, and was praised by former US ambassador to Syria Robert S. Ford, the blowback from the establishment has been fierce, and has cut across party lines.

McChrystal urged his successor to "look in the mirror and ask them if they can get comfortable enough with President Trump's approach to governance, how he conducts himself with his values and with his worldview to be truly loyal to him as a commander in chief going forward."


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Briefcase

'Real Justice Department' vet has become Mueller's top courtroom adversary

Rowan Scarborough
The Washington Times
Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00 UTC
Eric A. Dubelier
© Law.comEric A. Dubelier, lawyer
A former federal prosecutor has emerged as special counsel Robert Mueller's most persistent courtroom critic.

It's not Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney and now President Trump's ubiquitous defender, or any of cable TV's prosecutors-turned-pundits.

He is Eric A. Dubelier, a litigator for the Reed Smith law firm who knows international law and the D.C. playing field. He served eight years prosecuting cases as a Justice Department assistant U.S. attorney in Washington. He refers to his former employer as "the real Justice Department," implying that Mr. Mueller's team is something less.

His biting remarks have come in months of court filings and oral arguments. Mr. Dubelier has depicted Mr. Mueller as a rogue prosecutor willfully ignoring Justice Department guidelines.

He has accused Mr. Mueller of creating a "make-believe crime" against his Russian client, Concord Management and Consulting, which is accused of funding a troll farm that interfered in the 2016 election.

So far, the federal judge presiding over the case has sided with Mr. Mueller.
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Satellite

NASA preps for Roscosmos chief's visit despite criticism in Washington


TASS
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 05:22 UTC
Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin
© Sergey Savostyanov/TASSRoscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin
A number of US officials and legislators earlier criticized Dmitry Rogozin's planned visit to the US. Preparations for the visit by head of the Russia's Roscosmos Space Corporation Dmitry Rogozin to the US continue in spite of criticism from officials in Washington, NASA spokeswoman Megan Powers has said.

"Planning for a potential visit by the Director-General [of Roscomos Dmitry Rogozin] is still underway," Politico quotes her as saying:
"The U.S./Russian relationship in space dates back to the 1970s," she stressed. "NASA has historically invited the head of the Russian space agency to visit the United States. Following this precedent, and Administrator Bridenstine's October visit to Russia to participate in crew launch activities to the International Space Station, NASA invited the Director-General of Roscosmos to visit NASA facilities in the United States and discuss our ongoing space-related cooperation."
A number of US officials and legislators earlier criticized Rogozin's planned visit to the US.

"It absolutely sends the wrong message to lift sanctions, even temporarily, for the purpose of inviting him to speak to students at one of our nation's premier universities," said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
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Dollars

Ditching the dollar: Top 5 countries and their reasons behind the move


RT
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 05:18 UTC
Blackeye dollar
© Getty Images
The past year was full of events that inevitably split the global geopolitical space into two camps: those who still support using US currency as a universal financial tool, and those who are turning their back on the greenback.

Global tensions caused by economic sanctions and trade conflicts triggered by Washington have forced targeted countries to take a fresh look at alternative payment systems currently dominated by the US dollar.

RT has taken a deeper look into the recent phenomena of de-dollarization, summing up which countries have taken steps towards eliminating their reliance on the greenback, and the reasons behind their decision.

China

The ongoing trade conflict between the United States and China, as well as sanctions against Beijing's biggest trading partners have forced China to take steps towards relieving the dollar dependence of the world's second-largest economy.

In Beijing's signature soft-power style, the government hasn't made any loud announcements on the issue. However, the People's Bank of China has been regularly reducing the country's share of US Treasuries. Still the number-one foreign holder of the US sovereign debt, China has cut its share to the lowest level since May 2017.
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Mail

Trump receives letter from Kim Jong-un, expects meeting with him soon to discuss denuclearization


RT
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 17:38 UTC
Trump Kim
© Reuters / Jonathan Ernst
US President Donald Trump has said that his administration will be setting up another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the "not too distant future."

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said he had received a "great" letter from Kim and expected to meet with him soon.

Trump defended his policy on North Korea and said that there would have been a "big fat war in Asia" if he had not sat down with Kim during their historic summit in Singapore last June.

Comment: Expect the war party to go yet crazier should Trump make a comprehensive and 'great deal' with North Korea. Imagine Trump pulling troops out of South Korea like he's planning to with Syria!

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Footprints

Russian Foreign Ministry: US officials allowed to visit American arrested for espionage in Moscow


RT
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 19:02 UTC
Paul Whelan
© Paul Whelan family archivePaul Whelan
Paul Whelan, the US security specialist held in Russia since Friday over an "act of espionage," has received a diplomatic delegation from his homeland. Consular access had been demanded by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The visit was separately confirmed to the Russian news agency RIA, and to CNN by foreign ministry officials in Moscow.

Earlier, Pompeo said the US needed to have a better understanding of what Whelan has purportedly done, as no details have been made public, and may press for his instant release.
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