Puppet MastersS


Stop

Time to throw Russia sanctions out the window - Orban


RT
Fri, 17 Jan 2025 11:47 UTC
Orban
© Marco Tacca/Getty ImagesHungarian PM Viktor Orban during a press conference at the end of the European Council Meeting
A new era will begin for the West after US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, the Hungarian prime minister has said.

Brussels must lift the sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine conflict after US President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview with Kossuth Radio on Friday. Budapest has been one of the few EU capitals to criticize the restrictions, arguing that they harm the bloc more than Moscow.

Following Trump's inauguration on Monday, "a new era will dawn on the Western world," in which Washington and Brussels should reverse their policies towards Moscow, Orban has argued. "It is time to throw sanctions out the window," he said, adding that the goal for the EU in 2025 should be to "establish a sanction-free relationship with Russia."

According to the prime minister, one of Hungary's key achievements during its rotating European Council presidency in the second half of last year was that it "managed to put the cause of peace [between Russia and Ukraine] on the table and keep it there."

Comment: Russia survived quite well during the Biden round of 'sanction hocus pocus'.

Read More...
Briefcase

Trump demands "all records to be preserved" as FBI nukes DEI office

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sat, 18 Jan 2025 16:39 UTC
fbi agents dei black lives matter blm kneel
© Jose Luis Magana/APFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents take a knee with demonstrators as they march on Pennsylvania Avenue June 4, 2020.
Fox News confirmed on Thursday that the FBI has shuttered its Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI). Shortly after the announcement, President-elect Donald Trump called for "all records" related to the woke unit of the federal agency to be preserved. The move comes amid a broader rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across corporate America and other parts of the federal government. Critics, including Trump, argue that prioritizing DEI over meritocracy in the last decade has harmed the nation, pledging that meritocracy will be made great again under his incoming administration.

"In recent weeks, the FBI took steps to close the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), effective by December 2024," the FBI informed Fox News. The federal agency — widely criticized for being weaponized by radical leftists to target political opponents — offered no explanation for the sudden closure of its DEI unit — speculation, however, as a new sheriff steps into the White House on Monday afternoon.
Read More...
Attention

Say what? Marco Rubio, America's new top diplomat, says no clear reason why U.S. bankrolled Ukraine


Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 18 Jan 2025 16:33 UTC
Trump and Rubio
© Public Domain
It doesn't bode well that the next U.S. Secretary of State begins his top-flight position in government by telling blatant lies and fatuities.

Marco Rubio (53) is a sure bet to be confirmed as America's most senior international envoy representing the new administration of President Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated in the White House on Monday.

This week, Florida Senator Rubio appeared before the Senate in confirmation hearings for his post. Rubio has been a senator since 2011 and has served on foreign relations and intelligence committees. Despite bitter personal clashes with Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign, Rubio was picked for the top diplomat post in the incoming administration. The confirmation is a done deal given his deep connections in Congress among Republicans and Democrats.

The ambitious son of Cuban immigrants is known for his hawkish views. He previously called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "thug" and described Russia as a "gangster state with nuclear weapons."

Any future trips to Moscow will be awkward to say the least, especially when the "tough guy" Floridian meets a real diplomat like Russia's Sergei Lavrov.

Strangely, though, this week, Rubio projected himself as the voice of reason and diplomacy. It was quite a U-turn.

He told the Senate committee that the top priority of the Trump administration will be to bring the war in Ukraine to an end. That view aligns with Trump's oft-expressed desire for a settlement to the three-year conflict.

There's a lot to parse in Rubio's weasel words.
Read More...
Attention

Who are the "Elite"?

Todd Hayen
Off-Guardian
Sat, 18 Jan 2025 16:22 UTC
The Elite
© Off-Guardian
People are always correcting me when I use the term "elite" to describe that group of "people" (or maybe lizards) who are calling the shots and who created the "agenda" and want the rest of us (useless eaters) either under their thumb or dead.

The people who correct me claim these people (or lizards) are not "elite" which falsely implies "better," "advanced," or "special." They don't want to give these people (or lizards) any credit they do not deserve. I get it. The clear and indisputable official definition of "elite" is: "A group or class of persons considered to be superior to others because of their intelligence, social standing, or wealth."

But who is doing the "considering" — them, or us, the "non-elite"?

However, it is an easy word to use to describe a group, just like "sheep" and "shrew" are easy to use. It's not necessarily wholly accurate, but everyone knows what I am referring to when I use these terms. I get the same sort of criticism when I use the phrase "powers that be" — many people want me to use the more awkward expression, "powers that shouldn't be" — yes, more accurate, but more awkward.

So, what about these "elite?"

Who are they and what are they up to, and why are they considered, at least by themselves, to be "better," "advanced" and "special?" What do they all have in common other than evil? Are they all evil? Are they actually lizards?
Read More...
Attention

Journalist thrown bodily out of Blinken's briefing: 'How does it feel to have your legacy be genocide?'

Eloise Goldsmith
Common Dreams
Thu, 16 Jan 2025 21:00 UTC
Sam Husseini removed blinken press conference
Political activist, writer, and accredited journalist Sam Husseini is dragged out of a press conference after repeatedly interrupting Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025
"Physically dragging out a reporter from the State Department briefing room while preaching press freedom to the rest of the world is the perfect example of the Biden administration's love affair with double standards and duplicity," said one foreign policy observer.

Two journalists were removed from Secretary of State Antony Blinken's final news conference on Thursday after interrupting Blinken's remarks to heckle him about the United States' policy toward Gaza, a day after a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel was announced. One of the reporters, independent journalist Sam Husseini, was physically carried out of the briefing room by security.

Less than two minutes into Blinken's remarks, as he was thanking the reporters in the attendance for "asking tough questions," Max Blumenthal, the editor in chief of The Grayzone — an independent news [organization] — addressed Blinken, saying loudly in reference to the cease-fire deal: "300 reporters in Gaza were on the receiving end of your bombs. Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?" On Wednesday, President Biden announced the breakthrough, saying that "this is the ceasefire agreement I introduced last spring."
Read More...
Pirates

Washington's proxies attack TurkStream while Trump takes credit for ceasefire

Mike Whitney
The Unz Review
Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00 UTC
Turkstream


Last weekend, US proxies launched a drone attack on a critical part of the TurkStream gas pipeline located in southwest Russia. The incident was largely ignored by the mainstream media, but its importance to energy starved Europeans cannot be overstated. The attack is clearly a continuation of the same hostile policy that led to the sabotage of the NordStream pipeline. (Note — The biggest act of industrial terrorism in history.) The strategic objective of these attacks is to isolate Russia by blocking all attempts at economic integration in order to divide the world into warring blocs. This process of 'decoupling' is intended to portray Russia as an emerging threat to the West thereby justifying Washington's covert operations. This is from an article at the Asia Times:
The Ukrainians sent nine drones to attack a natural gas compressor station in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia. The compressor station was part of the TurkStream pipeline. All the drones were reportedly shot down. There was some minor damage, but the compressor station is operating normally.

The pipeline runs from Russia to Turkey (with) Some gas flows onwards to the European Union....

A key report says that "In 2024, Russian gas reached Europe via three routes: transit through Ukraine (30%), via Turkey and the Turkstream pipeline (31%) and as LNG (39%)." LNG deliveries come primarily from the US and Russia.... Neither the US nor Russia can increase LNG deliveries to make up for the cessation of transport through Ukraine. Had the Ukrainian attack on TurkStream been successful, over 60% of Europe's imported natural gas supplies would have been cut off.

LNG is more expensive than pipeline gas, and there are problems with transport and transmission overland....

The destruction of most of the Nord Stream pipelines...., the Ukrainian shutdown and Ukraine's attacks on TurkStream could very well destroy Europe's ability to keep its factories running and homes and businesses heated.... The economic impact has already driven Germany into a recession and helped force the collapse of the Olaf Scholz coalition government....

Cutting off gas deliveries and attacking pipelines that feed Europe could send Europe into a death spiral, but the Masters of Kyiv either don't care or alternatively are trying to demonstrate to the Europeans that they better help bail out Ukraine or they will bite the hand that feeds them. Ukraine's TurkStream pipeline attack sends a message to Europe, Asia Times
Read More...
Bad Guys

The Gaza ceasefire: A US-Israel defeat or another trick?

Author Robert Inlakesh
The Last American Vagabond
Thu, 16 Jan 2025 18:33 UTC
north gaza israel hamas ceasefire
© Hasan N. H. Alzaanin / Anadolu via Getty ImagesDestruction in the north of Gaza City on Thursday following reports of an Israeli airstrike on Jabalia after Israel and Gaza reached a ceasefire deal.
After 466 days of war between Israel and Gaza, a ceasefire has finally been declared and is set to go into effect in the coming days. The deal, in essence, is the same exact proposal that was set forth some 8 months ago. In order to understand what may happen next, it is essential to analyze the circumstances that led to this outcome.

On Wednesday, Hamas officially accepted a ceasefire/prisoner-exchange agreement with Israel. The day prior, the Israelis had pledged to announce and then finalize the deal within as little as 24 hours given a Hamas commitment to the deal. Suddenly, on Thursday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a planned cabinet meeting to formally ratify the ceasefire, claiming that Hamas had made additional demands, without making it clear what the Palestinian group was asking for. Immediately Hamas responded by stating that it hadn't made such demands and was fully committed to the deal they just signed.

The Israeli PM's efforts to delay the implementation of the deal came after an avalanche of Israeli media coverage that pushed the narrative of an Israeli defeat, framing the ceasefire as a surrender deal. Shortly afterwards, Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, decided to threaten the resignation of his Otzma Yehudit Party from Netanyahu's coalition, threatening a collapse of the government. This all occurred as Israeli forces were already beginning a slow withdrawal from two key areas inside the Gaza Strip. Although the deal is not dead, considerable pushback from a segment of the Israeli public and members of the ruling coalition threaten its implementation, despite there already being steps taken to go ahead with it. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes across Gaza have been ramped up, inflicting hundreds of casualties, some against groups who were celebrating the announcement of the ceasefire.

Comment: Netanyahu doesn't seem to be getting the Trump he bet on:

Stay tuned . . . . . .

Read More...
Black Magic

Syria's downfall and the Axis of Resistance: Why the war will continue until the US-Israel alliance is forced out of the Middle East

Timothy Alexander Guzman
Silent Crow News
Thu, 16 Jan 2025 00:00 UTC
greater israel
The Middle East is on the verge of total war despite recent developments involving a fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas and the collapse of the Assad government in Syria last month which is now occupied by terrorists, so 2025 seems like its going to be a turbulent year with the transition from the Biden's criminal cabal to the incoming Trump regime.

Both President Joe Biden and President-Elect Donald Trump claimed credit for ending Israel's genocidal war that has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians to date. But don't get your hopes up too high because the new ceasefire deal will not last. What will most likely happen after Trump's inauguration is that Israel will somehow violate the ceasefire agreement and strike alleged Hamas targets. It is certain that Hamas would retaliate which would allow Trump to give Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu the green light to respond in any way he sees fit and then the world will witness once again another war.
Read More...
X

Three arguments tearing apart Robert Kagan's claims about Trump, Ukraine, & Putin

Andrew Korybko
korybko.substack.com
Tue, 14 Jan 2025 00:00 UTC
WHiteflag
© UnknownWhite Flag Surrender
The exact opposite of what Kagan posited is true: Russia can't militarily control Ukraine indefinitely; a Russian-American brinksmanship scenario is terrifyingly realistic; and Putin is indeed interested in compromising but only under certain conditions.

Hugely influential neoconservative thinker Robert Kagan recently published a lengthy diatribe at The Atlantic fearmongering about Russia's total and indefinite control of Ukraine, which he takes for granted if Trump doesn't redouble aid to Ukraine. It's premised on the presumptions that Russia can military control all of Ukraine indefinitely, there's no realistic Russian-American brinksmanship scenario over that country, and Putin is unwilling to compromise.

The following three arguments tear apart his claims:

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Bullseye

Joe Biden: An Assessment

James Howard Kunstler
kunstler.com
Fri, 17 Jan 2025 15:44 UTC
biden ice cream shredded money
You're aware, I'm sure, that a lot of people thought "Joe Biden" was being play-acted in the White House over his four years there by a series of look-alike actors. You saw those news items comparing "JB's" earlobes to the old gaffer who showed up at the podium on a given day. Hmmmmmm. . . . I was not persuaded by any of that. "Joe Biden" has simply been impersonating himself — play-acting the role of "president." The mystery is how he got there.

You can expect very shortly, probably only a matter of weeks, to see a raft of news stories, soon-to-be big-money books, revealing the utter sustained chaos that churned behind the pathetic, half-animate figure pretending to be "chief executive" of the US government lo these dismal four years past. You will learn who was pulling his strings day-to-day since 1/20/21, probably a gang of 25-year-old, ambitious, Cluster-B staffers too disorganized to even amount to a cabal — but sufficiently united in their mission to destroy the country by any means necessary.

Whose idea was it, anyway, back in the spring of 2020, to retrieve this broken hack from the dumpster of discarded Democratic Party primary candidates and jam him into the role of nominee for president? You'd suspect Barack Obama, of course, since the former president had set-up a war-room across town from the White House during the Trump interregnum, and had openly bragged that he'd love nothing better than to someday kick back in a warm-up suit and phone-in governing orders to a stand-in dummy occupying the oval office.
Read More...