Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Projection: Creepy Joe Biden refers to Trump supporters as 'dregs of society'


RT
Mon, 17 Sep 2018 18:48 UTC
Joe Biden
© Yuri Gripas / ReutersJoe Biden who has a penchant for fondling young girls refers to Trump supporters as 'dregs of society'. How rich!
Joe Biden called Trump voters the "dregs of society" during an impassioned speech at an LGBT charity event. Donald Trump Jr. has hit back at the former vice president saying his statement went "too far".

While speaking to the crowd at the Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington on Saturday night, Biden lamented the fact that "virulent people" and the "dregs of society" have a friend in the White House.

"Despite losing in the courts and in the court of public opinion, these forces of intolerance remain determined to undermine and roll back the progress you all have made," he argued.

Comment: Speaking of 'dregs of society'...

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Colosseum

Civil war coming to Europe, warns German politician

James Delingpole
Breitbart
Sun, 16 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
German riot police flags
© John MacDougall/AFP/GettyGerman riot police out in force.
"Civil war is coming to Europe," a German city politician told me this week. I shan't mention his name - it was an off-the-record briefing and, anyway, in Germany there are penalties for this kind of frankness.

But he was only repeating what plenty of other people say in private in Germany where I've spent the last couple of weeks, soaking up the atmosphere, people-watching, gauging the public mood in the wake of Angela Merkel's open invitation to perhaps three million immigrants - most of them fighting-age males from Muslim countries.

Three million is higher than the figure admitted by the German authorities, which tend to put it closer to 1.5 million. My source tells me the higher number is closer to the mark.

Comment: See the latest kink in Germany's migrant issues:
'Not our minister': Migrant NGO's demand Germany's Seehofer change stance on migration or resign

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Robot

Stoltenberg: NATO may invoke 'Article 5' if cyber-attacked by Russia


FRN
Mon, 17 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
Natoflag
© Brookings Institute
Article 5 of the 1949 Washington Treaty established the principle of collective defense in the case of an attack against one of the allies, which would then be considered an attack on all signatories. The text, however, did not anticipate a cyber attack at the time.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview released on Monday that the bloc could invoke Article 5 on collective defense in the event of a cyber attack by Russia.

"We will never be specific [about] when we will turn to Article 5," Stoltenberg told Axios news portal, responding to strategies for a possible cyber attack in Russia. Stoltenberg added that the alliance was boosting its cyber security and planned to develop cybernetic offensive capabilities.


Comment: Becoming the thing they fear?


In July, the Alliance had already confirmed in a statement after the summit in Brussels that, in the case of a hybrid war, the bloc would step up its Article 5 on collective defense. Meanwhile, US and British troops participated on Sunday in NATO maneuvers on the border between Poland and Lithuania.

Hybrid war refers to the use of combined civilian and 'volunteer' and mercenary combatants in an armed conflict which may include regular state-sanctioned army forces, whether war is declared or undeclared. It also refers to the use of virtual spaces, the internet, and cyber attacks. It is a feature within 4GW or Fourth Generation Warfare.

Comment: NATO's existential search for relevance continues. There seems to be a mechanical timing to the assaults on Russia, one after another, and now from many sources. We are hearing the drums...

In the meantime, in the real world, NATO (read: the US and UK, primarily) have cyber-warfare operations running 24/7, even against their 'members' (read: vassals).

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Pistol

No deals at gunpoint: China considers dropping trade talks and slapping US firms with sanctions


RT
Sun, 16 Sep 2018 19:34 UTC
Eagledrag
© IBD
Beijing reportedly eyes rejecting Washington's offer of new trade talks amid media buzz on President Donald Trump's alleged go-ahead for sweeping tariffs. China could instead stop supplying some vital materials to US firms.

China is apparently reluctant to hold any trade negotiations with the US under the current circumstances as it said it would not talk under pressure, even though it did not completely forgo the negotiations, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Chinese officials. It also said that the latest moves of the Trump administration might jeopardize the potential trade talks with Beijing, which the US officials themselves had sought.

"China never said it doesn't want to negotiate with the US," Yang Weimin, a former senior economic and foreign policy adviser to President Xi Jinping, said Sunday, as cited by the WSJ. He added, however, that Washington should first "show sincerity" in its desire to resolve the trading dispute. "China is not going to negotiate with a gun pointed to its head," the official noted.

The fate of the talks, which could potentially take place later in September, is still unclear, another official said. "There is a lot of uncertainty right now," the unnamed official told the media, adding that "if more tariffs come out, the Chinese side could very well choose not to go."

Comment: Neither side is backing down - risking the potential to destabilize the financial and manufacturing situations in both countries. See also:

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X

Russia's energy minister calls out Washington's sanctions on Iran as 'unproductive, wrong'


RT
Mon, 17 Sep 2018 09:59 UTC
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak
© TassRussian Energy Minister Alexander Novak
There will be consequences as a result of the United States' sanctions on Iran's oil industry which are due to be re-imposed in November, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said. "Our position remains that this is unproductive, this is wrong," he told CNBC when talking about the sanctions' possible impact on Iran's oil industry.

According to Novak, "It is better to continue working in the market, Iran being just another exporter that provides stable supplies to the market."

The Russian minister explained that Iran is one of the richest countries in terms of resources and has a "solid standing in terms of its energy capability both in the OPEC, and in the energy markets as a whole. So, I think there will be consequences, I am sure, but we could only comment once they are in place."

Novak added: "We do not know how companies will react, how countries that engage with Iran will react. We will have to see the actual adopted documents/sanctions."

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

Report: Merkel to fire counter-spy chief amid right-wing violence scandal


RT
Mon, 17 Sep 2018 15:00 UTC
MerkelMaassen
© handelsblatt.com/Times of OmanGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel • President Domestic Intelligence of BfV Hans-Georg Maassen
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is allegedly determined to sack Hans-Georg Maassen, chief of Germany's domestic security agency, who questioned reports about right-wing violence in Chemnitz.

During an emergency meeting of the ruling coalition last week, Merkel decided that Maassen overstepped the line by interfering with the daily policies of the cabinet, Die Welt reported on Monday. The chancellor reportedly wants to replace him.

Maassen sparked controversy earlier this month by saying in an interview with Bild that he was skeptical about media reports that far-right protesters chased people looking like foreigners during mass rallies in Chemnitz. The protests were in response to the stabbing of a local resident, which resulted in the arrest of people from Iraq and Syria.
Maasen claimed that there was no proof that a video showing white men chasing after migrants was genuine. He has since accepted that it was in fact real, but said that his skepticism of the media reports left too much room for misinterpretation.


Comment: See also:

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Dollars

'Save yourself if you can': Kremlin's message as more countries seek ways to dump the dollar


RT
Mon, 17 Sep 2018 10:38 UTC
various money
© Dado Ruvic/Reuters
Countries around the globe are trying to find ways of substituting the US dollar in trade, according to Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"All of a sudden, the country which issues the US dollar starts making steps which are shattering trust in this reserve currency. More and more countries, not only in the East but also in Europe, start mulling ways to minimize their dependence on the US dollar," Peskov told Rossiya TV channel.

"They suddenly realize: A. it is possible, B. it should be done, and C. save yourself if you can, it should be done as soon as possible."

Peskov noted that it is not easy to replace the dollar-dominated system, however, "the fact that the trend of searching for alternatives has begun" is noticeable.

Last week, Russia's second largest bank CEO Andrey Kostin warned that countries will stop using the greenback as a settlement currency because of Washington's aggressive policy. According to Kostin, the US uses the dollar as a weapon, which will inevitably make it unpopular across the globe.

The idea of switching to the use of national currencies in bilateral transactions has recently become more popular for a number of countries affected by US sanctions or trade tariffs. They include Russia, China, Iran and Turkey.

Comment: The buck stops here...and there.

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Boat

Upping the ante: NATO moves warships closer to the Syrian coast


Sputnik
Mon, 17 Sep 2018 10:33 UTC
3NatoShips
© Reuters/Antonio Parrinello
NATO is building up its naval presence in the Eastern Mediterranean as the United States, Britain and France prepare to carry out new strikes against Syria under the pretext of an unlikely Syrian government chemical weapons attack in Idlib province.

Warships from NATO's 2nd Standing Maritime Group are patrolling Eastern Mediterranean waters, moving closer and closer to the Syrian coast, media reports said, citing Western websites monitoring naval activity in the region.

The NATO flotilla cruising off the Syrian coast reportedly consists of a Dutch frigate, the De Ruyter, a Canadian frigate, the Ville de Quebec, and a Greek cruiser, the Elli.

This information was confirmed by the captain of the Dutch frigate in his microblog.

According to earlier reports, a Los Angeles-Class US submarine, the USS Newport News, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, has entered the Mediterranean Sea to join a US naval task force consisting of two nuclear submarines with cruise missiles on board and two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, the USS Carney and the USS Ross.

Comment: Short-term interests versus long-term outcomes...the US and its allies should think again.

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Attention

Mattis warns of Russian 'influence campaigns' prior to Macedonia name referendum


RFE/RL
Mon, 17 Sep 2018 10:56 UTC
Mattis/Sekerinska/ Zaev/
© Boris Grdanoski/APU.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis • Macedonian Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska • Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Macedonia on September 17 with a warning that Russia was attempting to use its money and influence to build opposition to the upcoming referendum on changing the former Yugoslav republic's name.

"No doubt that they have transferred money and they are also conducting broader influence campaigns," Mattis told reporters traveling with him to the Macedonian capital, Skopje.

He said it was unclear how effective Moscow's efforts to defeat the referendum had been.

Western leaders have visited Skopje in recent days to back a "yes" vote at the September 30 referendum on whether to change the Balkan country's name to North Macedonia.

The planned vote follows an agreement between Skopje and Athens in June to break a decades-long stalemate that has poisoned their relations since 1991 and could pave the way for Macedonia to join NATO -- a move Moscow opposes.

Comment: Why would Russia even care what an independent country wants to name itself, even if a duplication is questionable? The steamroller to war is gaining strength as other nations fall into the trap.

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Passport

'IntelLeaks': Spooks get one over Assange, 'reveal' bid for Russian visa in 2010


The Daily Mail
Mon, 17 Sep 2018 08:45 UTC
Assange
© Associated PressJulian Assange
Julian Assange had just pulled off one of the biggest scoops in journalistic history, splaying the innards of American diplomacy across the web. But technology firms were cutting ties to his website, WikiLeaks, cable news pundits were calling for his head and a Swedish sex crime case was threatening to put him behind bars. Caught in a vise, the silver-haired Australian wrote to the Russian Consulate in London.

"I, Julian Assange, hereby grant full authority to my friend, Israel Shamir, to both drop off and collect my passport, in order to get a visa," said the letter, which was obtained exclusively by The Associated Press.
Assange letter Russia
© Associated PressThis document obtained by The Associated Press shows a letter to the Russian Consulate in London dated Nov. 30, 2010. Although it isn't clear whether the missive was actually delivered to the consulate, it does show that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sought a Russian visa as authorities were closing in on him in the wake of his publication of U.S. State Department cables. The letter is part of a wider cache of internal WikiLeaks files recently obtained by the AP. Sections of the image are redacted to protect sensitive information.
The Nov. 30, 2010 missive is part of a much larger trove of WikiLeaks emails, chat logs, financial records, secretly recorded footage and other documents leaked to The Associated Press. The files provide both an intimate look at the radical transparency organization and an early hint of Assange's budding relationship with Moscow.


Comment: In other words, Western intelligence acquired and leaked this info, probably the CIA and/or MI6. What they think it might do is further dehumanize Assange in the court of public opinion for 'consorting with the enemy'. But actually all it reveals is that Assange, by doing this after the spooks were out for him, did too little too late to escape their net.

The docs could of course be fake. And AP today stinks even more than it did yesterday for collaborating with the spooks in this doxing.


Comment: FWIW, WikiLeaks are denying this Russian angle.

See also:
Wikileaks denies claims Assange sought Russian visa in 2010; says source is paid FBI informant and fraudster Sigurdur Thordarson

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