Puppet MastersS


Russian Flag

For Russia change comes SWIFT and sure

Tom Luongo
tomluongo.me
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 17:51 UTC
Russia central bank facade
Russia Central Bank
During the ruble crisis of 2014/15 Russia announced in the wake of U.S. and European sanctions over reunifying with Crimea that it would begin building a domestic electronic financial transfer system, an alternative to SWIFT.

That system, System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), is not only now functioning in Russia, according to a report from RT it now handles the financial transfer data for more than half of Russia's institutions.

Comment: The US attempts an own goal: US threatens SWIFT with sanctions if it fails to cut off Iran's financial services

Read More...
SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: NewsReal: Is War on ('Islamic') Terror Morphing Into War on 'White Nationalism'?


Sott.net
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 17:00 UTC
white nationalism
The evils of 'white nationalism' has been a hot topic in the mainstream media lately, especially following the phony mail-bomb campaign targeting Democratic figures and the mass shooting of Jews at a Pittsburgh synagogue, sparking countless 'soul-searching' psychological profiles of 'the typical Trump supporter' ahead of the US Midterm elections.

If we reflect on older events, like the Battle of Charlottesville last year, or the massacre at a black church in Charleston in 2015, and even elsewhere in 'NATOstan' - the massacre of children of Norwegian elites by Anders Breivik in 2011, for example - it's clear that this theme of 'white extremists' holding severe grudges against 'all racial and ideological enemies' has been percolating to the surface for some time.

Is it mere coincidence then that - just as nationalist feeling is growing in countries the world over, and producing electoral results that 'shock' the status quo - extremist caricatures of nationalism begin proliferating, occasionally commit atrocities, and thus blacken nationalism and mandate government crackdowns on all dissent that 'smells like nationalism'?

This week on NewsReal With Joe & Niall, your hosts wonder if the 'War on Terror' has become what it apparently always wanted to be: a war on political dissidents...


Running Time: 01:12:20

Download: MP3

Read More...
Biohazard

"Curiouser and Curiouser!" cried Alice as she stared at Skripal's door handle

Rob Slane
The Blogmire
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 16:50 UTC
alice wonderland
Regular readers will have noticed that most of my pieces on the Salisbury poisoning have been dedicated to showing the implausibility of the official narrative, rather than attempting to come up with my own theory of what took place. I am merely debunking a conspiracy theory, not attempting my own.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that there are simply too many unknowns for me to have any confidence in any theory I could advance. The second is that despite the lack of facts available to make an all-encompassing theory, what is evident is that the official story did not happen. If it had happened, it would stack up and make sense. But it doesn't and it can't. Reality simply won't allow it. And so - for what it's worth - I have preferred to devote time on the case to exposing the flaws in the official myth, possibly in the hope that someone with more clout than the likes of me will pick it up and take it further.

In my last piece, I set out why the door handle theory is implausible. But I want to now take this a bit further. As I pointed out in that piece, because it was known that Mr Bailey visited Mr Skripal's house by 9th March at the latest (this was when that information was made public), and because The Maltings as the place of his poisoning had been ruled out, the source of Mr Bailey's poisoning can only have been at the house - according to investigators that is. And so the house should have been locked down, with forensic experts busy taking swabs from top to bottom, and inside out, from the moment it was known he had been there. Which would of course have included the door and door handle.

Comment: Se also:

Read More...
Card - VISA

Soros partnering with Mastercard to hand out money to economic migrants

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 16:47 UTC
Soros Migrants
© magneettimedia.comGeorge Soros and Migrants
Billionaire investor George Soros has repeatedly denied rumors that he is helping to finance the migrant caravans making their way up from Honduras and Guatemala through Mexico with the ultimate aim of reaching the US.

But that's about to change, as the "Open Society" founder - who famously financed much of the opposition to Trump SCOTUS pick Brett Kavanaugh - is now partnering with Mastercard to hand out money (in the form of 'investment capital') to migrants, refugees and "others struggling within their communities worldwide," according to Reuters. Through their partnership, Soros is effectively providing open financial support for migrants and refugees seeking to enter the US and Europe.

Comment: Soros and MasterCard join forces to profit from illegal immigrant misery

Read More...
Blackbox

Did Israel blackmail Nigeria into slaughtering Shiite protesters?

Andrew Korybko
Eurasia Future
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 16:39 UTC
nigeria shia
The international Shiite community is awash with sorrow after the Nigerian military slaughtered over 40 of their protesting co-confessionals over the weekend, but while some might think that the reason for the government's militant sectarianism is because of Saudi Arabia, the real answer might lay with "Israel" blackmailing the country to aggressively "contain" what some regard as an Iranian "proxy organization" under pane of an exacerbated separatist crisis in "Biafra" if it refused.

The Nigerian military slaughtered at least 42 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) last weekend who gathered in the capital of Abuja to protest the December 2015 arrest of their leader Ibrahim Zakzaky, who was jailed on suspicions of organizing an assassination plot against the country's Chief of Army Staff. This isn't the first time that the state carried out the large-scale killing of Shiites since at least 300 of them were murdered during the mission that led to Zakzaky's arrest almost three years ago. Some observers regard the IMN as an Iranian proxy because of Zakzaky's Shiite faith and the influence that his earlier time in Iran after the 1979 Revolution is said to have had on the group's formation, while its supporters claim that it's a peaceful grassroots organization that acts independently of any foreign power. It should be mentioned that the IMN isn't an exclusively Shiite organization and welcomes Muslims of all sects, but its opponents nevertheless still suspect of it secretly conspiring to carry out a Shiite-led Islamic Revolution in the country.
Read More...
Bad Guys

Trump's 'Game of Thrones' Iran threat sets off internet wildfire


RT
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 16:30 UTC
trump game of thrones
© Donald Trump/Twitter
US President Donald Trump's decision to use a Game of Thrones-themed picture to threaten Iran with sanctions has set off social media like a band of wildlings attacking a freefolk village.

On Friday Trump tweeted an image of himself purposefully striding forward along with the words "Sanctions are coming. November 5" written in the iconic Game of Thrones style across his chest.

Unsurprisingly the internet jumped on the cinematic warning like a army of wights ripping apart human flesh. The speed and creativity of many of the photoshop efforts was something to behold.
Read More...
Cardboard Box

Desperate: US Dept of Defense claims Taliban's victory over ISIS as its own

Bill Roggio
Long War Journal
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 16:30 UTC
US Marines and Afghan Commandos
© AFP / Wakil Koshar
In the Department of Defense's latest quarterly report on Afghanistan, the US military claimed the Taliban's victory against the Islamic State Khorasan Province in Jawzjan over the summer as its own. The US military's claim highlights just how desperate it is to report success in Afghanistan, and how infrequent those successes are in reality.

At the end of July 2018, the Taliban massed its forces and targeted a large cadre of Islamic State fighters that were based in Darzab district in Jawzjan. The Taliban operation was decisive; the Islamic State was routed. More than 150 of the 600 Islamic State operatives based in the district were killed and an estimated 100 more were wounded. Another 134 were captured by the Taliban. [See FDD's Long War Journal report, Taliban says Islamic State has been 'completely defeated' in Jawzjan.]

Following the drubbing by the Taliban, more than 250 Islamic State fighters and a handful of leaders, including the group's military commander for the north, surrendered to the Afghan government to prevent being captured by the Taliban.

At the time, both the US military and Afghan government spun the surrender as a successful operation. General John Nicholson, then the commander of US Forces - Afghanistan and Resolute Support, touted the Taliban's dominance over the Islamic State Khorasan Province as evidence that the security situation Afghanistan is improving.

Comment: The new US commander in Afghanistan has at least made a good start: New US commander in Afghanistan finally admits Taliban cannot be defeated after 17 years of useless war. With any luck, Trump will fulfil the spirit of his statements critical of the war - repeated in his campaign and recently - and get American troops out of Afghanistan. It has cost too much, killed too many, all with no strategic vision or substantive success.

Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Ukraine's neo-Nazi's hosted by US gov's 'America House', Russian rep condemns surge in extremism


PressTV
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 18:37 UTC
Ukraine nazi
The undated photo shows government-endorsed extremist fighters posing with neo-Nazi and NATO flags in an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine.
Russian deputy envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Dmitry Balakin has complained to the organization against neo-Nazi presence in a United States government-funded cultural center in Ukraine's capital city of Kiev.

Speaking to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Friday, Balakin condemned ongoing neglect of surging state-sponsored nationalist extremism in Ukraine.

"It got to a point where a member of the C14 neo-Nazi group was allowed to speak at the America House in Kiev, against the background of the American flag, where he boasted about results of 'cleaning' a Kiev railway station from Gypsies jointly with the city police," said the Russian diplomat.

The image of the controversial event has circulated on social media, showing a known neo-Nazi speaker at the center.

Comment: Judging by the increasing chaos and the extremists rising through the ranks of power, the dire situation in Ukraine boasts all the characteristics of Western intervention: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: 'Revolution' in Ukraine: A history of manufactured chaos

Read More...
Radar

Keen Sword: US and Japan stage largest naval war drill in Pacific amid tensions with China


RT
Sun, 04 Nov 2018 15:38 UTC
USS Ronald Reagan during Keen Sword military drills, November 3, 2018
© Reuters / Tim KellyUSS Ronald Reagan during Keen Sword military drills, November 3, 2018.
Washington and Tokyo have amassed a record number of sailors, marines and airmen for the biggest joint naval drill that the two allied nations have ever held close to Chinese shores as tensions keep rising in the region.

Around 47,000 troops from the Japan Self-Defense Force have been joined by more than 10,000 US servicemen for the Keen Sword 19 military exercise - the biggest drill of its kind since the biennial joint maneuvers were launched in 1986. The US forces participating in the drill include the bulk of the Seventh Fleet, as well as the Submarine Group 7 - both of which are based in Japan's Yokosuka. Tokyo has deployed roughly a fifth of its military. Two Canadian warships are also taking part in the exercise.
Read More...
Jet5

Iran reveals mass production of homemade fighter jet just as US sanctions come into effect


RT
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 22:02 UTC
iran jet figther
© AFP / Iranian Defense Ministry
Iran's defense minister has launched the production of a domestically-designed fourth-generation fighter jet, just as Tehran is bracing for sweeping US sanctions, expected to come into effect early next week.

"Soon the required number of these planes will be produced and put at the service of the Air Force," Defense Minister Brigadier-General Amir Hatami said, at the ceremony marking the start of the production. He went on to hail the accomplishments of Iranian engineers, made in the face of "the enemies' psychological warfare, propagandist blackmail, and economic sanctions." Iran will also "spare no effort" as it seeks to further develop "peaceful defense technologies" to protect its sovereignty, Hatami added.

The fourth-generation jet, called Kowsar, boasts "advanced avionics", a multipurpose radar and a fire control system linked to a digital military data network as well as an independent radio navigation system, Iran's Press TV reported.

Comment: Interesting timing. And regarding the US sanctions on Iran, see: Paper Tiger Sanctions on Iran Will Speed The End of Pax Americana

See also: And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Atlantic Trade War? How Trump Breaking Iran Deal Could Dismantle US Empire

Read More...