Puppet MastersS


Stock Down

US stock market rally all about 'belief in American exceptionalism' - Morgan Stanley

USFLAG
© Salon
The historic rise of US equities is about investors' belief in Uncle Sam, according to an analyst from investment bank Morgan Stanley.

"This year has been a story of how well America has done," analyst Ruchir Sharma told CNBC. He described the recent rise in the US economy as "American exceptionalism."

"We may or may not believe in [American exceptionalism], but the financial markets have never believed in it to such an extent," he said.

The analyst was referring to the 3.5-percent growth in the US economy for the first nine months of 2018, which is reflected in the "very richly valued" US financial markets.

Eye 1

Creating a suspect society out of thin air: The frightening side of the technological police state

suspect society
"If, as it seems, we are in the process of becoming a totalitarian society in which the state apparatus is all-powerful, the ethics most important for the survival of the true, free, human individual would be: cheat, lie, evade, fake it, be elsewhere, forge documents, build improved electronic gadgets in your garage that'll outwit the gadgets used by the authorities."- Philip K. Dick
It's a given that Big Brother is always watching us.

Unfortunately, thanks to the government's ongoing efforts to build massive databases using emerging surveillance, DNA and biometrics technologies, Big Brother (and his corporate partners in crime) is getting even creepier and more invasive, intrusive and stalker-like.

Indeed, every dystopian sci-fi film (and horror film, for that matter) we've ever seen is suddenly converging into this present moment in a dangerous trifecta between science and technology, Big Business, and a government that wants to be all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful-but not without help from the citizenry.

Post-It Note

Bald faced lies: Poroshenko anticipating loss in future election, preemptively accuses Russia of plans to rig it

Petro Poroshenko
© Mikhail PalinchakUkrainian President Petro Poroshenko delivers his speech during a ceremony of transfering two decommissioned patrol boats to Ukraine in Baltimore
Several politicians and experts told RT that the Ukrainian president's fears of Russian meddling in future elections were completely unfounded and simply imitated the demagogic tactics used previously by Western nations.

In a conversation with RT State Duma MP from the Crimean city of Sevastopol, Dmitry Belik, said he doubted the existence of the unnamed sources from which Petro Poroshenko reportedly obtained the information about the alleged Russian plans to use disinformation and hacking to influence the upcoming elections in Ukraine.

"I wonder where the Ukrainian president got this information. Perhaps, from some 'informed sources' across the Atlantic?"

Belik added that the state of Ukrainian social networks was so poor that there was simply nothing to hack in this country and all Russian conventional mass media had been long banned and blocked in Ukraine.

Stock Up

IMF upgrades outlook on Russia as economy recovers despite Western sanctions

red star russia
© Alexey Druzginin/Anton Denisov/Russian Presidential Press Office / Sputnik
The Russian economy will grow faster than previously expected as the macroeconomic outlook improves, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts.

The IMF expects that Russia's growth will reach 1.8 percent in 2019, according to the World Economic Outlook report released on Tuesday. This is still lower than the global economic growth of 3.7 percent. A previous report, published in July, projected Russia's GDP growth at 1.7 percent in 2018 and 1.5 percent in 2019.

"Russia's inflation, expected to average 2.8 percent in 2018, is below the target of 4 percent, driven by moderately tight monetary policy. However, it is projected to rise to 5.1 percent in 2019," the report said. Russia's economic growth is supported by a recovery in domestic demand and higher fuel prices, the IMF said.

Comment: Despite what could be considered financial terrorism emanating from the West, Russia has made it through relatively unscathed, and probably even stronger:


Chess

SOTT Focus: Does Possible Murder of Saudi Journalist in Turkey Indicate Looming US-Saudi Split?

Jamal Khashoggi
Protesters in Turkey demand answers to the disappearance, and possible murder, of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
The macabre case of a missing Saudi journalist is prompting speculation within the US political establishment about a historic parting of ways between Washington and Saudi Arabia.

It's not clear yet what actually happened Jamal Khashoggi, a 59-year-old prominent commentator who worked for the Washington Post, among other major news outlets. He has been missing for almost a week after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2.

Turkish police have launched a murder inquiry, on the suspicion that he was killed inside the consulate building. If confirmed, the case is a shocking violation of international law and norms of human decency.

Saudi authorities deny any wrongdoing. They say Khashoggi left the building on the same day he arrived. And Riyadh has invited Turkish authorities and media to inspect the premises.

Comment: Yes, the US media shills are suddenly aware of how brutal the Saudi regime can be, which means they have been signalled to 'commence emoting', which strongly suggests they've been 'activated' for something bigger...

For now though, this could just be what it appears to be; the Saudi regime being brutal to dissenters.


Chess

Russian oligarch flees London assassins for safety in Russia

Sergei Kapchuk
© Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr./BloombergSergei Kapchuk, aka Sergi Windsor, in Moscow.
Britain was great to Sergei Kapchuk. After fleeing Russia to avoid prosecution for alleged fraud in 2005, then escaping from Abu Dhabi on the back of a camel to avoid extradition in 2010, he landed at Gatwick airport with his twin brother's passport. He won political asylum within four months.

For the next eight years, the former regional lawmaker and factory owner from Yekaterinburg led a charmed life in London as Sergi Windsor, dating socialites such as Miss Russia 2008 and partying with other self-imposed exiles whose income streams were always a bit of a mystery.

Then things got really weird.


Comment: Emphasis on 'self-imposed'. Contrary to official myth, the vast majority of 'Russian oligarchs' in London went there by choice, although there are certainly grounds for the Russian state to want them in court to answer for their part in the 'plundering 90s'.


Comment: We're certainly likely to see more Russians murdered in or near London in the coming years: British intelligence operatives are completely off the leash:

Assassinations, False-flags, And a Cuppa Tea: British Intelligence Agencies And 'The Third Direction'


Chess

Pakistan test-launches nuclear-capable missile right after India purchases S-400 system from Russia

missile
© Pakistan Armed Forces
Pakistan has successfully test-launched its nuclear-capable missile system just after its archenemy India refused peace talks with Islamabad and bought billions-worth of weapons from Russia.

The missile system, which can fire both nuclear and conventional projectiles to a distance of 1,300km, was tested on Monday by the Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC). The test of the Ghauri Ballistic Missile was praised by Pakistani President Arif Alvi, and Prime Minister Imran Khan.

"The launch consolidates Pakistan's nuclear capability, which is aimed at peace and stability through a credible deterrence regime," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement read.

Question

Can President-elect Lopez Obrador pull Mexico out of the grip of the US imperial grasp?

mexican boy
© Andre Vltchek
After decades of stagnation, corruption and deadly dependency on the United States, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is considered by many ordinary people, as well as by intellectuals, to be the last chance for Mexico.

Two important news developments are circulating all over North America: US President Donald Trump will not attend the inauguration of the Mexican left-wing President elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). And yes, despite all tensions and disagreements, the new deal to replace NAFTA has been reached. It is called the USMCA - the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Paradoxically, if Obrador is to fulfill at least half of his electoral promises, it would inevitably lead to a clash between Mexico and both the United States and Canada. The US absorbs around 80 percent of Mexican exports. Various Mexican intellectuals believe that their country was, until now, nothing more than a colony of their 'big brother' in the north. Canadian mining companies are brutally exploiting Mexico's natural resources, and united with local politicians and paramilitaries, are tormenting almost defenseless native people.

After decades of inertia and decay, Mexico is ready for dramatic, essential change which, many argue, will this time not arrive under red banners and through revolutionary songs, but with the carefully calculated, precise moves of a chess player.

Only a genius can break, without terrible casualties, the deadly embrace of the United States. And many believe that President-elect Obrador is precisely such leader.

Quenelle - Golden

Best of the Web: Pro-Russia 'Harmony' party wins Latvia elections - Coalition govt with New Right parties likely - EU chiefs furious, blame Putin!

latvia elections
Harmony, which draws most of its support from the country's sizeable ethnic Russian minority, won 20 percent of the vote to become the largest party for the second time.

The result has set alarm bells ringing throughout the European Union and NATO which see the Baltic nation as a key ally in their increasingly tense relations with Vladimir Putin.


Comment: Funny how democracy terrifies 'democrats' when it doesn't go their way!


Suspicion of the left-leaning party's links with the Kremlin has kept it sidelined from power in the past but it is now expected to enter talks to form a coalition government with two other populist parties - the KPV LV and the New Conservatives which took 27 percent between them.

Harmony will hold its 24 seats in the 100-seat parliament, with the New Conservatives on 16 and KPV LV on 15.

Comment: In short, the Latvian people are done with being Deep State pawns in the war against Putin. And another one bites the dust; yet ANOTHER eastern EU country has 'gone rogue'.

Suck it up, Tusk.

donald tusk
EU Council President Donald Tusk



USA

SOTT Focus: The Big Lie of Russiagate And The International Powers Responsible For It

White House
© CCby2.0/Jeff Turner/The Mall-Washington DC
As the hoax unravels, the real story of "foreign collusion" comes out...

The conspiracy to overthrow a sitting US President extends far beyond our own "Deep State." As I've been saying in this space for quite some time, it's been an international team effort from the beginning. Setting aside the British origins of the obscene "dossier" compiled by "ex"-MI6 agent Christopher Steele, we now have further confirmation of foreign involvement in President Trump's decision to delay (perhaps indefinitely) the declassification of key Russia-gate documents. While US intelligence officials were expected to oppose the move,
"Trump was also swayed by foreign allies, including Britain, in deciding to reverse course, these people said. It wasn't immediately clear what other governments may have raised concerns to the White House."
But of course the Washington Post knows perfectly well which other governments would have reason to raise "concerns" to the White House. It's clear from the public record that the following "allies" have rendered the "Resistance" essential assistance at one time or another:

Comment: When 'friends' become the enemy, do our enemies become our friends? There may be some logic to Trump's pivots and actions, indicating a deeper basis of knowledge/instinct than currently apparent. This analysis connects some pretty big dots.