Puppet MastersS


Star of David

Israel steals more Palestinian land for their illegal settlement construction

Israel wall
© AFPA picture taken on September 27, 2018 shows Israel's controversial wall separating the settlement of Pisgat Zeev (foreground) and the Palestinian neighborhood of Anata in East Jerusalem al-Quds.
Israeli authorities have confiscated thousands of square meters of private Palestinian land in the southern West Bank to expand a settlement in blatant violation of international law and defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions condemning Tel Aviv regime's land expropriation and settlement expansion policies in the occupied territories.

On Sunday, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee lodged an appeal to the so-called Israeli Supreme Court, denouncing the Israeli regime's seizure of approximately 1,200 dunams (1.2 square kilometers) of Palestinian-owned land.

Hassan Bureija, head of the committee, told the Arabic-language Voice of Palestine radio station that Israeli officials have granted 1,182 dunams (1.18 square kilometers) of private Palestinian land to the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing in order to erect an outpost south of Bethlehem, situated about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south of Jerusalem al-Quds.

Magnify

Leaked documents reveal Facebook's biased, convoluted censorship practices

facebook police
Facebook's thousands of moderators have been relying on outdated, inaccurate and biased "maze of PowerPoint slides" to police global political speech, according to a trove of 1,400 internal documents obtained by the New York Times.

Moderators say they often rely on Google Translate to read posts, while facing pressure to make decisions on acceptable content within a matter of seconds, according to the report.

The guidelines - which are reportedly reviewed every other Tuesday morning by "several dozen Facebook employees who gather over breakfast," are filled with "numerous gaps, baises and outright errors," according to the Times.
Moderators were once told, for example, to remove fund-raising appeals for volcano victims in Indonesia because a co-sponsor of the drive was on Facebook's internal list of banned groups. In Myanmar, a paperwork error allowed a prominent extremist group, accused of fomenting genocide, to stay on the platform for months. In India, moderators were mistakenly told to flag for possible removal comments critical of religion. -NYT

Comment: It's not just that they have a convoluted policy, there seems to be a willful censoring of content they disagree with, whether it falls under the guidelines or not. But perhaps that is intended, since a convoluted policy provides them a neat little excuse in the form of 'plausible deniability'. See also:


Snakes in Suits

'Nostradamus' Macron mercilessly mocked on Twitter for last year's New Year "cohesion" vow

macron new year speech
© Reuters
Looking back at 2018 and the French president's vows to unite the nation, disappointed twitteratti noted the situation in the country, divided by the Benalla affair and the Yellow Vests riots, is not so rainbow-bright after all.

"In my view, 2018 will be the year of national cohesion," the centrist Macron ambitiously wrote in his New Year's Eve message a year ago. That prediction hasn't aged well, and Twitter noticed.

"We saw that [cohesion] with the Benalla affair and Yellow Vests," one user noted, adding that "words are no longer enough to conceal poor management of the country and decisions that go against the interests of [French] people."

"What clairvoyance","#nostradamus", the sarcastic comments went on.

And, if 2018 was thought to be the year of unity, many people got worried about imminent 2019. "And after the cohesion of the nation, what would you call Year 2019?"

Others said that Macron was right, and there was "cohesion" in the country - against his government, that is.

Comment: As if more evidence was needed as to how out of touch Macron really is, he prances off to St Tropez to celebrate New Year protected in his elitist bubble. Although, he must have been feeling a bit more comfortable considering over Christmas he refused to divulge his whereabouts for fears the people of France might come looking for him: Yellow Vest protesters attempt to storm Macron's Mediterranean castle

See also: Meanwhile, and for an idea of how a true statesmen behaves, this is how President Putin spent his new year:


Snakes in Suits

UK: House of Commons writes off £17,000 in unpaid food and drink bills for MPs and peers

river terrace House of commons bar
© Graham Barclay/TMGMPs and their guests enjoy a drink on the River Terrace at the House of Commons
MPs refusing the pay bar and restaurant bills at the House of Commons have cost taxpayers thousands of pounds.

A Freedom of Information request found that the parliamentary authorities have had to write off more than £17,000 worth of unpaid catering bills since 2010.

The debt was wracked up by four unnamed MPs, 21 tradespeople and one internal member of staff on food and drink.

The research also found that a peer had a £243 restaurant bill written off while an MP left a £30 catering bill outstanding.

All restaurant facilities are subsidised for MPs, who earn £77,379 a year and members of the House of Lords, who earn a £305 per day attendance allowance, plus travel expenses.

Comment: The same MPs who 'awarded' themselves £11,000 worth in payrises in just 3 years, and who are currently overseeing devastating 'austerity' measures and a devastating surge in poverty in Britain. If this were any old commoner, bailiffs would be at their door demanding payment:


Snakes in Suits

New York Black and Latino Legislators Association stealing from students to pay for lavish lifestyle

Black and Latino
I thought the slogan was 'Black Lives Matter?' Apparently not to these politicians.
A nonprofit run by state lawmakers to raise scholarship money for needy minority students spends most of the cash on its lavish annual soiree - including $6,000 on limos - and gave out no grants the last two years, The Post has learned.

The New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators organizes a "Caucus Weekend" - a series of workshops, concerts and parties - in Albany every February for minority members of the Assembly and the Senate.

The group charges sponsors up to $50,000 for a chance to party with lawmakers at events that have ­included Grammy Award-winning rappers and high-profile speakers such as Hillary Clinton and Jesse Jackson.

Comment: It doesn't matter the color of their skin, a crooked politician is a crooked politician, and these legislators seemed to have had no problem using their power and authority in the community to essentially indulge in lavish lifestyles and parties, on someone else'e dime, at the expense of underprivileged youth from the communities they are meant to serve. Candace Owens has touched on this that even though the Democratic party is keen to play the race-card, a shift is occurring. Situations like this will further that along.



TV

Netflix caves to Saudi pressure and yanks comedy show on Khashoggi murder

Mohammed bin Salman
© Reuters / Kevin LamarqueSaudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Netflix has removed an episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj from its Saudi catalog, after the Kingdom's government took offense to a segment criticizing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In the episode, still available in the US, the Muslim American comedian blasts Saudi Arabia's role in the war in Yemen and the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as MBS' self-stoked image as a 'reformer.'

"Now would be a good time to reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia," Minhaj said in the episode. "And I mean that as a Muslim, and as an American."

"There are people in Saudi Arabia fighting for true reform," he continued, "but MBS is not one of them. And to those who continue to work with him, just know that with every deal you close, you are simply helping entrench an absolute monarch under the guise of progress."

Comment: Netflix is hardly an impartial entertainment company.


Attention

The West is in disarray and getting worse

tattered flag
© Unknown
We are witnessing the withdrawal from Syria of the American military contingent, protests in France, the prospect of a British hard Brexit, the political decline of Angela Merkel in Germany, Netanyahu in crisis, and Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia suddenly becoming an international pariah. The contemporary crisis of leadership in Europe, the United States and among their main allies has thrown the West into chaos, leading it to one of its most critical junctures in recent decades. It is a situation brought on by the United States and its contradictory politics, which results in diminishing the sovereignty and decision-making power of Washington's allies.


Comment: Does it really do this? The US is not responsible for the ineptitude of European and Middle East decision-makers. This premise negates the responsibility of those leaders to make independent evaluations and decisions.


Well before the election of Donald Trump, European Union leaders Merkel, Cameron and Hollande were already faltering and evidencing signs of failure.

Hollande fell in the polls because of policies favoring the interests of the elites at the expense of the increasingly poor and indebted French population. Cameron, to stave off a Labour victory under Jeremy Corbyn, promised a vote on Brexit, a decision that would eventually end up costing him his political career. Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, the undisputed master of the German political scene, suffered for the first time in fifteen years heavy electoral defeats stemming from recent migration policies. The Chancellor, harshly criticized for these results, resigned from the position of president of the party, leaving the CDU split into two factions. The situation worsened in the UK and France over the next twelve months, with Cameron resigning following the Brexit vote and Hollande forced to give up on the the idea of ​​running for reelection given his unpopularity.

Comment: Has Trump unwittingly thrown Europe into chaos due to ineptitude or has he exposed the entrenched US coattail behavior of particular countries and their leadership suddenly left to figure things out for themselves? Whatever the case (and it could be both), the Trump upheaval is forcing change and redefinition on several fronts, including the option of autonomy.


Star of David

Pompeo: Cooperation with Israel over Syria and Iran is ongoing

PompeoNeti
© Thomas Coex/ReutersUS Secretary of State Pompeo • Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that the United States would continue to cooperate with Israel over Syria and in countering Iran in the Middle East, even as President Donald Trump plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as he met with Pompeo in the Brazilian capital that he planned to discuss how to intensify intelligence and operations cooperation in Syria and elsewhere to block Iranian "aggression."

In his first public comments on Trump's decision, Pompeo said it
"in no way changes anything that this administration is working on alongside Israel. The counter-ISIS campaign continues, our efforts to counter Iranian aggression continue and our commitment to Middle East stability and the protection of Israel continues in the same way it did before that decision was made."

Comment: Israel's 'self-defense' is an excuse for aggression and destruction. Pompeo's diplomatic purpose is to reinforce the fakery.


Arrow Down

Houthi leader dismisses UN's allegation of misuse of food relief in Yemen

Yemen food relief
© AP/Jon GambrellYemen food relief
The president of the Houthi-led Supreme Revolutionary Committee Mohammed Houthi has dismissed the World Food Program (WFP)'s allegations of diversion of humanitarian food relief practiced by the movement.

"We are very surprised of the statement of the Executive Director of the World Food Program, which includes the threat to suspend aid shipments for large numbers of people in need of food in Yemen with the justification of manipulation," Houthi said in a statement, as quoted by Al Masirah broadcaster on Tuesday.

According to the Houthi leader, the accusations seem to be the WFP's attempt to evade responsibility for fighting famine in Yemen. He also noted that the WFP had not contacted the Houthis at an official level to tackle the situation, preferring instead to issue unsubstantiated accusations.

On Monday, the WFP urged Houthi rebels in Yemen to stop the purported diversion of humanitarian food deliveries from people who live in areas under their control. According to the UN program, a local organization affiliated with the Houthi government that is responsible for the distribution of food rations was removing food from distribution centres and then selling the meals.

Comment: See also:


Stop

$75T in resources is why sanctions on Russia are impossible

Eastern Siberia
© Reuters/Ilya NaymushinEastern Siberia
The country with the largest mineral reserves in the world, Russia, is the second top exporter of rare earth minerals. Its natural resources are estimated at tens of trillions of dollars.

It has abundant supplies of oil, natural gas, timber and valuable minerals, such as copper, diamonds, lead, zinc, bauxite, nickel, tin, mercury, gold and silver. Most of those resources are located in Siberia and the Far East.

Russia's mining industry, which is the country's second largest after oil and gas, accounts for a significant share of its GDP and exports. The country is among the top three producers of mineral commodities such as platinum, gold and iron ore. It is also the world's largest producer of diamonds and palladium. The Ural Mountains have vast amounts of minerals while most deposits of coal, oil, gas and timber are located in Siberia.

Comment: See also: