Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

EU threatens Cyprus with Article 7, censure, for allegedly violating Bill Browder's human rights

Tom Luongo
Gold Goats 'n Guns
Sat, 15 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
Bill Brwder
It's been quite a week for Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty. First Hungary and now Cyprus. And all because of some guy named Bill Browder?

Despite numerous warnings and obstacles, Cyprus continues to assist Russia in investigating the finances of Bill Browder. This has resulted in letters of warning to Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades as well as lawsuits by Browder citing the investigation violates his human rights.

Like everything else in this world, just ask Browder.

Last fall Browder and 17 MEP's launched a two-pronged assault on Cyprus to end their assisting Russia's investigation into Browder. Browder with the lawsuit. The MEP's with a letter of warning.

The lawsuit has failed, however. The Nicosia District Court handed down a ruling recently which allowed for Browder to sue for damages to his reputation but not putting an injunction on the investigation.
More than a month ago the Nicosia District Court said that the cooperation with Russia in its politically motivated probe would violate the human rights of Bill Browder and his associate Ivan Cherkasov and the two would have good prospects in claiming damages from the government. Still, the court rejected Browder's application for an order preventing Cypriot authorities from cooperating with Russia in its proceedings against him on the grounds that any damage would not be irreparable.
And this is where this gets interesting.

Comment: ...which is part of the reason why Sott.net has been paying such close attention to the Browder story. The lies that he's been able to get away with - and the lengths to which he's gone just to protect his illegally obtained fortune deserve a special place in the attentions of people who naturally take issue with psychopaths in positions of power (including non-elected ones like Browder). He's clearly VERY close to the top of the pyramid...

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Pumpkin

Will we see 'swamp critter' heads roll when Trump's declassified order of specific FISA documents is fulfilled?

Catherine Frompovich
Activist Post
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
Hillary Clinton


Judicial Watch Director of Investigations and Research Chris Farrell appeared on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" on the Fox Business Network to discuss the Department of Justice's response to President Trump's FISA declassification request.

Listen to what Dobbs and Farrell think may happen regarding President Trump's order to declassify specific documents.

The Deep State players now are in a Catch 22 position: How can, or do they, protect themselves / each other, plus not disclose an apparent treasonous [a violation of the allegiance owed by somebody to his or her own country] or possible seditious [actions or words intended to provoke or incite rebellion against government authority, or actual rebellion against government authority] agenda?

Recall the famous Hillary Clinton quote after her massive meltdown from being interviewed by Matt Lauer.

"If that f - - - ing bastard [Trump] wins, we all hang from nooses!"
7:57 minutes


Comment: See also:

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Control Panel

The Federal Reserve is the committee to destroy the financial world

Virginia Fidler
The Gold Telegraph
Sun, 16 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
The Federal Reserve
The general belief among average citizens is that the purpose of central banks is to help the economy by fighting inflation and mitigating financial crisis. It's a fairy tale that politicians like to encourage. If there were any truth to it, however, where was the Federal Reserve during the crisis of 2007? Rather than helping, it was widening the crisis with its easy money policies.

While central banks are not a government entity, their primary purpose is to create money for the benefit of the government. By mindlessly printing fiat currency, central banks create a shaky illusion of financial stability. In reality, each central bank is a monopoly that controls the production of distribution of currency and interest rates. Most importantly, it also controls gold reserves. While paper currency allegedly has the backing of the government, it is the central bank that controls the value of the currency at any specific time.

The first central bank, the Central Bank of England, was created in the 17th century as a scheme to enable the king to pay off his debts. As each country established its own central bank, it has been used by its government as a personal bank account.

Comment: Few institutions in the world are as powerful - and potentially as destructive - as the US Federal Reserve:

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Eye 1

'Terrifying' new documents show secret government regulations for spying on US journalists

Jessica Corbett
Common Dreams
Mon, 17 Sep 2018 22:10 UTC
digital surveillance
© ACLUPress freedom advocates have obtained and released federal government documents detailing an invasive process officials can use to spy on journalists.
Journalists and free press advocates are responding with alarm to newly released documents revealing the U.S. government's secret rules for using Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court orders to spy on reporters, calling the revelations "important" and "terrifying."

The documents-obtained and released by the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University through an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed last November-confirm long held suspicions that federal officials can target journalists with FISA orders.


Comment: See also: Declassified guidelines show FISA can spy on journalists and their sources - like RT and Sputnik

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Black Cat

"Ashamed and afraid": EU delegation chairman slams Israel for barring them entry to Gaza


Middle East Monitor
Wed, 19 Sep 2018 18:00 UTC
Neoklis Sylikiotis
Delegation chairman Neoklis Sylikiotis condemns move as 'arbitrary, unacceptable.'
Israel on Tuesday denied a European Parliament (EP) delegation access to the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to an official EP statement.

"The Israeli authorities have once again refused the EP's Delegation for Relations with Palestine permission to enter the Gaza Strip," the statement read.

The delegation, it added, had requested permission to enter the strip as part of a three-day planned mission to the Palestinian territories.

Stating that the purpose of the visit was "to monitor the humanitarian situation caused by a decade of blockade", the statement asserted that Israel had barred successive EP delegations from entering Gaza since 2011.

Comment: It shouldn't be so surprising, Israel has an awful lot to hide: Also check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: Identity Politics on Steroids: How Zionism Outdoes Them All

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Stock Down

Ten years after the crash, we've learned nothing

Matt Taibbi
Rolling Stone
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 02:08 UTC
Traders
© Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesTraders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, September 16, 2008.
Ten years ago, on Saturday, September 13th, 2008, the world was about to end.

The New York Federal Reserve was a zoo. Imagine NASA headquarters on the day a giant asteroid careens into the atmosphere. That was the New York Fed: all hands on deck, peak human panic.

The crowd included future Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, then-Treasury Secretary (and former Goldman Sachs CEO) Hank Paulson, the representatives of multiple regulatory offices, and the CEOs of virtually every major bank in New York, each toting armies of bean counters and bankers.

The asteroid metaphor fit. In the twin collapses of top-five investment bank Lehman Brothers and insurance giant AIG, Wall Street saw a civilization-imperiling ball of debt hurtling its way.

Comment: America could do a lot worse than Trump.

See also:

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Star of David

Syrian army forces find Israeli-made medicine in militant field hospital in Quneitra


PressTV
Wed, 19 Sep 2018 19:10 UTC
Israel medicines Syria terrorists
© Syrian Arab ArmyThis picture, provided by Syria's official news agency SANA, shows a field hospital belonging to foreign-backed Takfiri militants, which Syrian government forces discovered in Bariqa village, southwestern Syria, on September 19, 2018.
Syrian government forces have uncovered a considerable amount of Israeli-made medicine and medical supplies in a field hospital belonging to foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in the country's strategic southwestern province of Quneitra.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Syria's official news agency, SANA, that army soldiers made the discovery in the village of Bariqa on Wednesday as they were combing the area for hidden ordinance and improvised explosive devices, which Takfiri militants had planted there.

The report added that the hospital had modern CT scan, X-ray medical imaging machines, laboratory equipment and a pharmacy containing various types of antibiotics, vaccines and painkillers.

Comment: Israel has a long history of supporting Syrian militants to keep the region in chaos. In their twisted view, paying muscle to attack their neighbors keeps Israel safe.

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Newspaper

India prepares $2.2 billion Russian frigate purchase


RT
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 20:02 UTC
frigate
© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation / Twitter / Global Look PressThe third serial frigate of Russia's Project 11356.
India has cleared the way for its biggest deal yet with Russia, with Delhi reportedly set to sign a deal to purchase $2.2 billion worth of Russian ships. It comes despite US sanctions aimed at deterring business with Moscow.

After revitalizing defense ties with the US earlier this month, India has now turned to Russia to acquire four new warships for its Navy, sources quoted by the Economic Times said.

The deal is expected to be signed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Delhi on October 5.

The deal will see India acquiring advanced Talwar-class frigates, also known as Project 11356 frigates.

Comment: India isn't the only country taking advantage of Russia's superior technology:

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Star of David

Explained: Manafort's mysterious Israeli connection and everything we know so far

Noa Landau
Haaretz
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 05:30 UTC
Manafort
© AFPPaul Manafort
How did Israel get involved in the plea deal Paul Manafort signed with special counsel Robert Mueller? And how is Russian President Vladimir Putin related to this affair? Your guide to the controversial case...

Paul Manafort is an international political consultant and lobbyist who managed the election campaign of U.S. President Donald Trump in 2016. At the end of last week he signed a plea bargain in which he is expected to serve as a key witness in the affair of the suspicions of Russian involvement in that election in Trump's favor.

So how is all that now connected to Israel?

In the indictment in which he confessed as part of the plea bargain with U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, there is also mention of Manafort's lobbying activity for former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych, who was the pro-Russian candidate in the country's 2012 election. According to the document, Manafort worked at the time to smear the image of Yanukovych's rival Yulia Tymoshenko, in order to undermine the support for her by the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama.
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Attention

Jonathan Cook: Why we're blind to the system destroying us

Jonathan Cook
JonathanCook.net
Sat, 15 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
Jonathan Cook Blogheader
© Jonathan Cook Blog
I rarely use this blog to tell readers what they should believe. Rather I try to indicate why it might be wise to distrust, at least without very good evidence, what those in power tell us we should believe.

We have well-known sayings about power: "Knowledge is power", and "Power tends to corrupt, while absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely." These aphorisms resonate because they say something true about how we experience the world. People who have power - even very limited power they hold on licence from someone else - tend to abuse it, sometimes subtly and unconsciously, and sometimes overtly and wilfully.

If we are reasonably self-aware, we can sense the tendency in ourselves to exploit to our advantage whatever power we enjoy, whether it is in our dealings with a spouse, our children, a friend, an employee, or just by the general use of our status to get ahead.

This isn't usually done maliciously or even consciously. By definition, the hardest thing to recognise are our own psychological, emotional and mental blind spots - and the biggest, at least for those born with class, gender or race privileges, is realising that these too are forms of power.

Nonetheless, these are all minor forms of power compared to the power wielded collectively by the structures that dominate our societies: the financial sector, the corporations, the media, the political class, and the security services.

Comment: Unless we identify, refute and combat the over-arching system, its structure, its operation, its agenda, we are pawns in the play - an expendable resource to psychopathic power and preservation. Jonathan Cook brilliantly nails it.

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