Puppet MastersS


Colosseum

Europe's next chancellor? Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer replaces Merkel as leader of German CDU party

Kate Connolly
The Guardian
Fri, 07 Dec 2018 12:03 UTC
Kramp-Karrenbauer Merkel
© REUTERS/Fabian BimmerAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeds Angela Merkel as head of the CDU.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a staunchly Catholic conservative career politician, has been elected as the successor to Angela Merkel as leader of Germany's Christian Democrats.

Kramp-Karrenbauer won by just 25 votes following a nail-biting second round run-off against her main opponent, the multi-millionaire businessman, Friedrich Merz.

Wiping away tears, Kramp-Karrenbauer said she would accept the post, and thanked the party for its support and trust in her, insisting she would give new impetus to the party as it seeks to claw back the millions of voters it has lost to rightwing populists and the Greens in recent years.

"We should harness the boost this competition has given us, and use it to propel the party's success," she said.

Comment: For more glimpses of AKK, see also:

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USA

Oleg Tsarev: The US will decide who will be Ukraine's next president

Translation: Ollie Richardson, Angelina Siard
Stalker Zone
Thu, 06 Dec 2018 14:24 UTC
Yulia Tymoshenko/Kurt Volker
© www.tymoshenko.uaYulia Tymoshenko • Kurt Volker
The leader of the "Fatherland" party Tymoshenko, within the framework of her visit to the US, met the special representative of US State department concerning Ukraine Kurt Volker. The politician Oleg Tsarev explained why Tymoshenko went to the US precisely now:
"On the one hand, everything for Tymoshenko is good: she has an excellent approval rating, she is supported by oligarchs, she is in 'contact' with Avakov and even with Lutsenko - practically the entire environment of Poroshenko communicates with Tymoshenko just in case. There is a budget for her electoral campaign, there are necessary structures, there is Kolomoisky's support, and closer towards the elections other oligarchs with high probability will also provide her with media resources. The only problem for Tymoshenko is the United States.

"According to my colleagues, at this present moment Tymoshenko has a certain agreement with Merkel and Macron, but she has no agreement with the leadership of the US. She held some meetings with Trump, but thus the US still doesn't want to place a stake on her, as they consider her to be too independent.

"It is for the same reason that America still hasn't made a decision on who to support at presidential elections in Ukraine. Therefore now, having solved all internal problems in Ukraine, Tymoshenko went to the US. Despite having the No. 1 approval rating in Ukraine, she understands that the opinion of the US will be defining. The US will determine who the president will be, and not the residents of Ukraine.

Comment: It seems the race to the bottom may be up for grabs. If it comes down to corruption and deceit, Poroshenko may have the slimy edge. For an eye-opener as to how corrupt the election was in 2014, including what happened to Oleg Tsarev, the author of this article, see: Serious doubts cast on Ukraine election results

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Star of David

UN complaint: Lebanon accuses Israel of telephone network hacking


Sputnik
Fri, 07 Dec 2018 17:21 UTC
UN peacekeeper
© AP Photo/Mohammed ZaatariSerbian UN peacekeeper monitors Israeli-Lebanese border in Kfar Kila Lebanon.
Lebanese Ambassador to the United Nations Amal Mudallali sent a letter to the UN Security Council accusing Israel of hacking into the country's telephone network in order to warn residents of southern Lebanon of the threat caused by Hezbollah's efforts to dig tunnels on border with Israel.

"Lebanon condemns in the strongest possible terms the political and diplomatic campaign being waged by Israel against Lebanon, which it fears is a prelude to the launch of further attacks", Mudallali's letter read, as quoted by The Times of Israel.

Earlier this week, Israel allegedly hacked into the Lebanese national communications network and warned residents of the village of Kfar Kila of bombings on Lebanese territories to destroy the tunnels, stressing that their lives were in danger.
"That campaign is being accompanied by a number of extremely serious acts, of which the most recent is that Israel has breached the Lebanese communications grid by hacking into the telephone network and sending recorded messages to peaceable civilian inhabitants of the southern part of the village of Kafr Killa warning them of imminent explosions to take place on Lebanese territory that might put their lives at risk", the letter said.
According to Mudallali, such Israeli actions constitute a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty.

Comment: See also:

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Footprints

Ecuador's President says Assange can leave the embassy if he wants


Reuters
Thu, 06 Dec 2018 12:13 UTC
Assange
© InterceptJulian Assange
Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno said on Thursday that there was a "path" for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to leave the South American country's London embassy, where he has lived for six years under asylum, if he so chooses.

Assange has claimed that Ecuador is seeking to end his asylum and hand him over to the United States, where prosecutors are preparing to pursue a criminal case against him. Wikileaks has released thousands of classified U.S. military documents, among other disclosures.

"There is a path for Mr. Assange to take the decision to exit into near freedom," Moreno said in a local radio interview.

He noted that Assange still faces jail time in the United Kingdom for violating bail terms when he sought asylum to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where authorities wanted to question him as part of a sexual assault investigation. The investigation was later dropped, but Great Britain says he will be arrested if leaves the embassy.

Moreno said the sentence for skipping bail would be "not long." The UK has told Ecuador that his jail time would not exceed six months and that he would not face extradition if he left the embassy. Assange insists British authorities will hand him over to the United States.

"I do not like the presence of Mr. Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy, but we have been respectful of his human rights and with that respect in mind we think that six years is too long for someone to remain nearly incarcerated in an embassy," Moreno said.

Comment: Are we hearing a different tone from Ecuador and a quasi promise from UK? Will the US join in 'the lure'? Assange has always been able to leave the Embassy...and unjust consequences always await.

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Jet3

US cries foul, blocks 'dishonest' Israel-Croatia arms deal

Barak Ravid
Axios
Thu, 06 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
PM Plenkovic/Neti
© Amos Ben-Gershom/GPOCroatian PM Plenkovic • Israeli PM Netanyahu
The Trump administration is blocking a $500 million arms deal between Israel and Croatia, for the sale of 12 U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets refurbished and upgraded by Israel, Israeli officials tell me.

Why it matters: The U.S. was also fighting for the Croatia tender, and U.S. officials claimed Israel was being dishonest and trying to profit off the back of the U.S., according to the Israeli officials. This is a very rare standoff after two years of incredibly close relations between Israel and the Trump administration, especially when it comes to military and defense cooperation.

The latest: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the issue with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during their meeting in Brussels on Monday, according to Israeli officials who said Pompeo told Netanyahu he was not against the deal but Secretary of Defense James Mattis was blocking it.

Comment: The US has showered billions on Israel for military and defense spending, not to mention Israel has its own money-making military equipment production lines for sales to other countries. Forget the agreement, Israel saw a way to unload older equipment and make a buck.

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Arrow Down

Haley goes out on a whimper after US-sponsored anti-Hamas draft fails at UNGA


RT
Thu, 06 Dec 2018 22:22 UTC
NikkiHaley
© Reuters/Brendan McDermidFormer US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley
The US-propelled draft resolution targeting Palestinian Hamas has failed to pass a two-thirds majority threshold at the UN General Assembly vote in what is seen is a major upset for the outgoing US envoy to the UN Nikki Hailey.

The resolution garnered 87 votes in favor and 57 against, thus falling short of securing a required two-thirds majority for the motion to pass. Thirty-six member-states abstained from the vote.

The resolution should have condemned Hamas, which has been in control of the Gaza Strip from 2007 to 2014 and again since 2016. The document was in the works for several days, as Haley was seeking to reconcile the text with the EU and major Arab nations, the US allies.

The final draft denounces Hamas "for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk," demands it and other militant groups, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad "cease all provocative actions and violent activity," including "airborne incendiary devices."


Comment: Well, that was rich, considering that is exactly what Israel does and more.


Comment: There will be some happy to see her go...many, actually.

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Info

'Respond to accusations or resign': New ethic rules for United Russia party members


RT
Fri, 07 Dec 2018 18:32 UTC
United Russia
© Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich
The United Russia party has adopted a new set of ethic rules for its members. Now, they are obliged to publicly respond to accusations of wrongdoings and immediately resign from the party if the allegations stand true.

The new ethic rules were unveiled amid a convention of the party on Friday. While "most of the party's members already stick to rules of ethics" State Duma's deputy Andrey Krasov said, the set of rules targets certain individuals who "might tarnish the image of the whole United Russia party with their actions and statement."

From now on, the party's members are obliged to treat citizens with respect, support them and try to assist them in solving their problems. They should also refrain from "actions and statements that may lead to the infringement of human rights and freedoms, stand responsible for their remarks," as well as try and be "modest" in public.

Members of the United Russian, accused of wrongdoings should publicly - and legally - respond to the allegations to clear their names, and resign immediately if the allegations actually hold water.
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Bad Guys

Not so cunning plan: Poland wants to set up a US military base right next to Russia's Kaliningrad

Mikhail Khodarenok
RT
Fri, 07 Dec 2018 17:39 UTC
US soldiers
© Global Look Press / Sebastian Willnow
Poland and the US are reportedly in talks over setting up an American military base on the border with Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea. How serious, and most importantly, how realistic are Warsaw's plans?

Polish diplomatic sources told Russian paper Izvestiya that a US military base could soon appear very close to Kaliningrad. Even though the final decision is yet to be made, the most likely site for the base has reportedly been picked.

It's the town of Orzysz, mere 140km (87 miles) away from Kaliningrad. Among its advantages as a location for a permanent military base is Orzysz's proximity to the Russian border. Besides that, it has all the necessary infrastructure, including a training facility.

Another argument in favor, which advocates of the idea put forward, is that Orzysz is in the part of Poland that's key in terms of conducting both defensive and offensive military operations. Polish experts believe that troops deployed here in advance would boost the defensive capacity not only of the northeastern part of the country, but also of the Baltic states. The latter point is questionable, however, as the authors of this idea don't go into any detail about how it might be implemented when it comes to Lithuania and Latvia, let alone Estonia.
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Sherlock

Eric Drouet, Yellow Vest leader who called for march on Élysée under investigation


RT
Fri, 07 Dec 2018 17:10 UTC
Eric Drouet yellow vest
© Facebook / La france enervée“Saturday will be the final outcome. Saturday it's the Elysee. We would all like to go to the Elysee. We are all united to the end and we move on the direction of Elysee.”
Eric Drouet, one of the Yellow Vests leaders who called on demonstrators to march towards the official residence of Emmanuel Macron, is now under investigation for organizing "unlawful protests," French media report.

The 33-year-old truck driver, who turned into a voice of the powerful movement, made headlines on Thursday.

"Saturday will be the final outcome. Saturday it's the Elysee. We would all like to go to the Elysee. We are all united to the end and we move on the direction of Elysee," he said.

His words were not left unnoticed by French prosecutors who opened a probe against the activist, RTL and BFMTV report. He is being investigated over charges of "provocation to commit a crime or misdemeanor" and "organization of an unlawful event."

Comment: Paris militarized in anticipation of impending coup attempt as govt. warns radicals infiltrating Yellow Vest movement

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Sheeple

Paul Craig Roberts: The Disintegration of Western Society

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts
Institute for Political Economy
Tue, 04 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
western society disintegration
Radical feminists are now being banned by Twitter not because they hate men, which is perfectly OK as far as Twitter is concerned, but because they object to "transwomen."

What is a "transwoman?" As far as I can understand, a "transwoman" is a male with a penis who declares himself to be a women and demands his right to use women's toilette facilities anong with the women who are using them.

The feminist, Meghan Murphy, twittered a statement and a question:

"Men are not women."

"How are transwomen not men? What is the difference between men and transwomen?"

Twitter described this as "hateful conduct" and banned Meghan Murphy.


Comment: FYI, saying 'men aren't women' now qualifies as 'hateful speech' on Twitter


There you have it. Yesterday it was feminists who were exercising their special society-bestowed privileges to censor. Today it is the feminists who are being censored. As this insanity of "Western Civilization" continues, tomorrow it will be the transwomen who are censored and banned.

What precisely is afoot?
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