Puppet MastersS


Russian Flag

Maria Zakharova schools West in correct way to deal with Skripal assassination attempt

Seraphim Hanisch
The Duran
Fri, 16 Mar 2018 15:38 UTC
Maria Zakharova
© Russia InsightMaria Zakharova speaking about the British behavior towards the Russian Federation in relation to the assassination attempt on Sergey and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, Great Britain
However, it is unlikely her very reasoned process will fall on receptive ears as the West accuses Russia for the use of Novichok and yet refuses to listen

Maria Zakharova is a powerhouse for the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry. She is the go-to for all matters concerning sanctions against Russia, other accusations and slanderous attacks against Russia and less virulent affairs as well.

Here on video with English subtitles, she clearly, carefully and SANELY lays out the process and rationale for how to solve the matter of the alleged Novichok-utilizing assassination attempt on ex-spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
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Map

Erdogan: Syria's Afrin city center 'entirely under control', Kurds already 'fled'


RT
Sun, 18 Mar 2018 15:33 UTC
A Turkish armored vehicle deployed near central Afrin, Syria. March 16, 2018
© Xinhua / Global Look PressA Turkish armored vehicle deployed near central Afrin, Syria. March 16, 2018.
The Turkish military and allied forces have taken full control of the Syrian city of Afrin, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday. Kurdish YPG forces had previously maintained control of the area.

The pro-Turkish forces entered the city before dawn and faced no resistance from Kurdish fighters, who had already withdrawn, according to reports. Erdogan said in a televised speech this morning that all measures would be taken to protect Afrin's residents. He praised the "heroic" actions of the armies, Turkey's NTV reports.

Erdogan said that Turkey and its allies have not invaded Afrin, but rather "saved" the city from the "oppression" of terrorists. "This operation has shown the whole world that Turkey sides with the oppressed," he said, as cited by Rudaw.
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Eye 2

Haley goes enforcer at the UN: Vote to support US policies or we'll cut your aid

Colum Lynch
Foreign Policy Magazine
Thu, 15 Mar 2018 15:22 UTC
nikki haley
© Raad Adayleh/Agence France-PresseNikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., tours a U.S.-funded supermarket in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan on May 21, 2017.
In a proposed aid overhaul, Nikki Haley embraces an "America first" foreign policy.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is proposing a sweeping reassessment of U.S. foreign assistance with a view to punishing dozens of poor countries that vote against U.S. policies at the U.N., according to a confidential internal memo drafted by her staff.

The move to make foreign aid conditional on political support follows a U.S. decision to cut tens of millions of dollars in assistance to Palestinian refugees, a cut made in retaliation for Palestine's sponsorship of U.N. resolutions denouncing U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Haley now wants to apply a similar principle to decisions about aid to other needy countries.

"It is the opinion of the U.S. mission to the U.N. that all U.S. foreign assistance should be reevaluated to ensure that taxpayers dollars are spent to advance U.S. interests, not to fund foreign legacy programs that provide little or no return on investment," according to the 53-page memo, which was reviewed by Foreign Policy. The Palestinian aid cuts "should serve as a fulcrum from which we use our foreign assistance leverage and measure its impact."
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Attention

Bush is gone but not the neocons - they're back

Jefferson Morley
Alternet
Sat, 17 Mar 2018 08:27 UTC
Evil Eagle
© David FoldvariThe turning of eagles into vultures.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signals a coming confrontation with Iran.

Once upon a time there were hopes that Donald Trump as president might pursue a different kind of American foreign policy; call it non-interventionist, or isolationist, or transactional.

He certainly broke with conventional Washington discourse. When the foreign policy establishment of Washington almost unanimously urged President Obama in September 2013 to punish the Syrian government for a chemical gas attack, Trump tweeted, "Do not attack Syria" three times in two days.

Trump denounced previous administrations, Democratic and Republican, for casting America as the "policeman of the world." He criticized President George W. Bush even more harshly than many liberal critics did.

"Bush murdered thousands of r troops & wasted trillions $ in a needless & senseless war-Iraq. TRUE!" Trump tweeted during the campaign. The New Republic's Jeet Heer jested that Trump was the "candidate of the antiwar movement of 2003."

Comment: Trump is creating the swamp above, run by the swamp below. He should scrape his boots while he still can.

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Eye 2

The Skripal incident: WMD lies strike again

Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 16 Mar 2018 15:07 UTC
Theresa May charicature
As the West rallies around recent allegations by the UK against Russia regarding the alleged poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer-turned British spy - Sergei Skripal - it is crucial to point out the alarming lack of actual evidence involved.

It is also important to point out the history of the accusers predicating entire wars on allegations now confirmed to have been intentional lies.

The Skripal Incident

The alleged poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, UK on March 4 led to a lighting-fast escalation with Russia. Not even two weeks after the attack, UK Prime Minister Theresa May declared a deadline for Russia to provide an "explanation" for the incident the UK had squarely blamed on Moscow.

The Kremlin's explanation was simple - it had nothing to do with the attack. Russia also offered to aid in the investigation, requesting samples of the poison used in the alleged attack.

However, the UK failed to produce any samples of the alleged poison - a Soviet-era nerve agent known as Novichok - either to the Russians to examine or to relevant international organizations as required under the Chemical Weapons Convention.


Comment: The UK is supposedly letting a third party investigate: BoJo says UK will finally hand over 'evidence' to independent body "to give them the opportunity to confirm our analysis"


The UK also failed to explain why Russia would have carried out such an attack - or how the UK could have confirmed the use of Novichok agents without first possessing samples of the agents themselves. If the UK possessed Novichok agents to compare samples taken from the attack with, the entire rationale of accusing Russia because it is supposedly the only nation in possession of the agents is revealed as entirely false.

Comment: Well there is some disagreement: Dissent in the Western alliance: Irish Times - "Unlikely that Putin behind Skripals' poisoning"

Aslo see: Paranoia in full bloom: British government goes full retard in desperate effort to frame Russia for 'chemical weapons attack'

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Gold Bar

Central banks manipulating and suppressing gold prices - and have been doing so for decades


RT
Sun, 18 Mar 2018 07:55 UTC
gold
© Leonhard Foeger / Reuters
Gold price suppression by the world's central banks is a well-documented fact, according to Singapore's BullionStar precious metals expert Ronan Manly. He explained to RT.com why that's the case.

Central banks have a long and colorful history of manipulating the gold price. This manipulation has taken many shapes and forms over the years. It also shouldn't be surprising that central banks intervene in the gold market given that they also intervene in all other financial markets. It would be naive to think that the gold market should be any different.

In fact, gold is a special case. Gold to central bankers is like the sun to vampires. They are terrified of it, yet in some ways they are in awe of it. Terrified since gold is an inflation barometer and an indicator of the relative strength of fiat currencies. The gold price influences interest rates and bond prices. But central bankers (who know their job) are also in awe of gold since they respect and understand gold's value and power within the international monetary system and the importance of gold as a reserve asset.

Comment: See Also:

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Caesar

From Chaos to Super Power: Russia's long road toward resurgence


South Front
Sat, 17 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
Russia Putin Resurgence


Russia in the 90's

The modern day Russian Federation emerged after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Not only did this change the fate and the standard of life for millions of Soviet people but it also changed the trajectory of development for all mankind. In the first few years of the newly created Russia, the "team of democrats", with active support from Western countries began its shock economic reforms.

The declared goal of these reforms was to liberalize the Russian [centrally-planned] economy by transitioning it to a market economy. Meanwhile, many believes that the real goal was the seizure of former Soviet property by the "new power holders" and the dismantling of the Soviet industrial economy.

When USSR collapsed, a relatively small group of individuals acquired ownership of tens of trillions of dollars [through a rapid onset of privatization]. Losses suffered by the Soviet production complex as a result of its planned destruction were much higher.
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Bulb

Convenient excuse: May promises to ditch Russian gas "because Novichok"

Tsvetana Paraskova
Oilprice.com
Thu, 15 Mar 2018 13:15 UTC
U Ukrajini se plijeni imovina Gazproma
The UK-Russian relations have quickly deteriorated over the past week after the UK said that a former double agent and his daughter were poisoned in England by a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia.

The spy poisoning scandal turned into a diplomatic row and now threatens to spill into energy issues, after UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that Britain was looking "to other countries" for its gas supplies.

The UK has gas supply contracts with Russia's gas giant Gazprom, and although the British dependence on Russian gas supply is not as high as that of other European countries, the UK still relies on some Russian gas for its energy needs. The UK has also imported a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from Russia's newly started Yamal project, and re-exported another LNG cargo originating from Yamal.

For now, UK gas traders remain unconcerned that the UK could run short of nat gas supplies, even shrugging off Prime Minister May's comments that the UK would be looking for other gas suppliers.

During question time in Parliament on Wednesday, May said that "I can reassure ... that in looking at our gas supplies we are indeed looking to other countries."

May was replying to a question by Conservative lawmaker Stephen Crabb who said that "One way Russia seeks to extend its influence in Europe is by building relationships of energy dependence. Is she [Mrs May] aware that Britain has recently started to receive shipments of liquefied natural gas, and does she agree that Britain should not provide a market for Russian gas? If we need to bring in extra LNG imports, we have allies such as Qatar, Malaysia and Australia who are more than willing to sell it to us."


Comment: Yep, the sure sign of an evil nation: one with many friends. It's amazing how backward the Brits can be. Russia makes deals because it likes having good relations with other nations. That benefits Russia and Russia's business partners. Everyone wins. But that "extended influence" is actually a sign of evil, according to the likes of Crabb. And with a name like that, maybe it's no surprise.

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Oscar

It's all Putin's fault... but he still wins

Pepe Escobar
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sun, 18 Mar 2018 11:36 UTC
For all the western narrative about Russia's "autocracy," Putin is arguably as popular at home as Xi Jinping is in China
Putin
As a counterpoint to the 24/7 Russophobia oozing out of the US and the UK, Vladimir Putin is all but guaranteed to be re-elected for a fourth presidential term this Sunday.

Beyond the foregone conclusion, what's really hanging in the balance is the 70:70 equation: whether Putin can be assured of a 70% voter turnout and win roughly 70% of the vote. That would represent a firm endorsement of his domestic and foreign policy plans up to 2024.

Although Beijing does not provide official numbers, Putin is arguably as popular in Russia as Xi Jinping is in China - even with Xi being derided by the usual Western suspects as "the new Mao." Under the framework of the Russia-China strategic partnership, geopolitically this is, and will continue to be, the Putin-Xi era.
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Bad Guys

Ukraine deploys police and national guard to stop 72,000 voters in Russian presidential election


RT
Sun, 18 Mar 2018 07:04 UTC
Ukraine bars Russians from voting in presidential election
© Sergey Guneev / Sputnik
Ukraine is barring some 72,000 Russian citizens on its territory from voting in Russia's presidential election, over the issue of reunification with Crimea. Moscow has slammed the move as "direct interference" in its affairs.

Two days before the Russian presidential election kicked off, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced that police and the National Guard would prevent Russian citizens living in the country from casting ballots at diplomatic missions. Only those who hold diplomatic passports would be allowed in the buildings, Avakov warned.

"Any other persons and Russian citizens will not be allowed onto the territory of the diplomatic missions," he wrote on his Facebook page. It comes in retaliation to Moscow's decision to hold voting in Crimea, despite a request by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry not to, Avakov said.

Comment: The deep state players are pulling out all the stops to sabotage this year's Russian elections:

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