Puppet MastersS


Star of David

Israeli scaremongering: Hamas preparing for 'impending' war with Israel in Gaza


Sputnik
Mon, 05 Feb 2018 15:46 UTC
hamas soldiers
© Reuters / Ibraheem Abu MustafaHamas militants hold weapons as they celebrate the release of Palestinian prisoner Mohammed al-Bashiti, who served 12 years in an Israeli jail after he was convicted of being a member of Hamas' armed wing, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip July 25, 2016
The Gaza strip is preparing for an imminent military confrontation with Israel within the next few days, London-based Arabic-language Al Hayat reported Sunday.

The report suggests that the Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist organization Hamas, among other Palestinian factions, assesses the chances of war with Israel "at 95 percent," claiming it could break out within days or even hours.

Referring to unnamed sources, who met Hamas political chief Yahya Sinwar, the report says that Palestinians believed Israel would use a training exercise planned near the enclave to launch an attack on it. Hamas, for its part, has reinforced security measures across the Strip, evacuating sites and headquarters.

Israeli media outlet Haaretz has also published the report, however, stated that it "exaggerated" the imminent threat of a war, describing it as part of Hamas's attempt to "ratchet up international discussion" over the humanitarian plight in Gaza and non-implementation of the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

Comment: Israel created Hamas as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority of Yasser Arafat. They seem to have retained their value as a bogeyman that Israel can call upon when needed.

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Attention

German FM: US decision in favor of nuclear weapons proves new global arms race has begun


RT
Mon, 05 Feb 2018 06:41 UTC
German FM Sigmar Gabriel
© Amir Cohen / ReutersGerman Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel
World safety requires more disarmament initiatives, not more nukes, says German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, accusing the new US Nuclear Posture Review of endangering Europe.

"The decision by the US government in favor of new tactical nuclear weapons shows that the spiral of a new nuclear arms race is already under way," Gabriel said in a statement, noting that "like the Cold War times, we in Europe are in particular danger."

The newly-released US Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) refers to Russia's nuclear modernization as one of the reasons to renovate and upgrade the US nuclear arsenals making them more mobile by developing new, low-yield nuclear weapons.

Comment: Washington's reckless and irresponsible behavior pushes humanity toward Armageddon

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Eye 1

Flashback Former Mueller deputy: Trump's agitating US govt, 'they're going to kill this guy'

Joe Concha
The Hill
Fri, 11 Aug 2017 11:49 UTC
Trump Mueller
© salon.com
CNN counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd warned that President Trump is agitating the government, saying during a Thursday afternoon interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper that the U.S. government "is going to kill this guy."

Mudd, who served as deputy director to former FBI Director Robert Mueller, said Trump's defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin has compelled federal employees "at Langley, Foggy Bottom, CIA and State" to try to take Trump down.

"Let me give you one bottom line as a former government official. Government is going to kill this guy," Mudd, a staunch critic of Trump, said on "The Lead."

Comment: Phil Mudd is the same fool who recently threatened that the Deep State would 'take Trump down'. He said, "You've been around for 13 months. We've been around since 1908. I know how this game is going to be played. We're going to win." When will CNN start reporting actual news and stop threatening to kill the President?

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Bad Guys

Too late: White House told military options on North Korea 'flawed'

Natalie Reneay Ainara Tiefenthaler
The New York Times
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 12:16 UTC
Trump kim jon un
Many in the Trump administration argue a missile strike against North Korea could prevent nuclear war, but opponents of the strategy say it's a dangerous gamble.

The White House has grown frustrated in recent weeks by what it considers the Pentagon's reluctance to provide President Trump with options for a military strike against North Korea, according to officials, the latest sign of a deepening split in the administration over how to confront the nuclear-armed regime of Kim Jong-un.

The national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, believes that for Mr. Trump's warnings to North Korea to be credible, the United States must have well-developed military plans, according to those officials.

Comment: It seems the US lost its chance, and now not only are the North apparently capable of a nuclear strike on the US, but they're also busy making motions towards better relations with their kin in the South:

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People 2

Trump agenda pushes paid family leave, job training and 'right to try' bill for terminally ill patients

S.A. Miller
The Washington Times
Mon, 05 Feb 2018 13:41 UTC
Trump
© CNN
President Trump didn't roll out big new initiatives in his State of the Union address but called for help clearing the decks of several popular and bipartisan goals that have been stuck in Congress for years.

Beyond immigration and infrastructure plans that dominate the 2018 agenda, Mr. Trump sought to break the Capitol Hill logjam on paid family leave, job training and a "right to try" bill to give terminally ill patients access to experimental drugs and treatments.

He also vowed action to lower the sky-high prescription drug prices Americans pay compared to what people in other countries pay for the same drugs. The efforts will include the administration, Congress and state governments, said White House officials.

However, the White House faces the same obstacles that blocked many of these ideas in the past, including legislative gridlock that has intensified under Mr. Trump.
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Bad Guys

The world is burning while the Western Left quarrells

Andre Vltchek
New Eastern Outlook
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 12:43 UTC
Solidarity Workers Left
It really is a shame, and it is tiring, but it is actually nothing new: there is now total disarray amongst those countless 'progressive' and 'semi-left' Western intellectuals, publications, movements and political parties.

Cowardice, bloated egos, lack of discipline and intellectual pettiness are often to blame, but that is not all.

It is now absolutely clear that the Western left lost patently and shamelessly. It has almost no power, it has no courage to fight or to take risks, and it counts on no real political following in Europe, North America, Australia or New Zealand. 'The masses', those proverbial 'oppressed masses', have lately been electing and voting in various semi-fascist populists, unapologetic right-wing demagogues, and mainstream pro-business brutes.

Entire Marxist 'theoretical certainties' have been collapsing in front of our eyes. Or at least they have been in the West.

To a great extent, what is now happening is absolutely natural. The European left betrayed as early as in the 1980's, by becoming too soft, too undisciplined, too cautious and too self-centered. It put pragmatism above the ideals. It rapidly adopted the lexicon of the liberal ideological establishment, complete with Western perceptions of human rights, democratic principles and political correctness. It ceased to be revolutionary; it essentially stopped all revolutionary activities, and it abandoned the core element of any true left-wing identity - internationalism.

Comment: Andre Vltchek suggests that the main issue with the left in the West is that it has given up its truly revolutionary (Marxist) roots. While it is true that the Western left has become a caricature of itself, the problem has much more to do with embracing postmodernist 'neo-Marxist' thinking, such as identity politics, rather than leaving behind revolutionary aspirations. After all, the world already saw what happened to Russia during and after its communist revolution - and who in their sane mind would like to see that happen again? Furthermore, who says that Social Justice Warriors would not be ready to spill blood and start a revolution in the name of their 'egalitarian' ideologies?

Vltchek is right about one thing: The illness of the Western left is most obviously manifested in its acquiescence of Western imperialism and the demonization of the Eastern rising powers and their allies, as well as other 'rebellious' nations in the 'periphery'.

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Question

Memo raises question: Did FBI violate Woods Procedures?

Sharyl Attkisson
The Hill
Sun, 04 Feb 2018 13:05 UTC
James Comey
© Getty Images
For all the debate over the House Republican memo pointing to alleged misconduct by some current and former FBI and Justice Department officials, one crucial point hasn't gotten the attention it deserves.

And it relates in an unexpected way to special counsel Robert Mueller.

The point is: There are strict rules requiring that each and every fact presented in an FBI request to electronically spy on a U.S. citizen be extreme-vetted for accuracy - and presented to the court only if verified.

There's no dispute that at least some, if not a great deal, of information in the anti-Trump "Steele dossier" was unverified or false. Former FBI director James Comey testified as much himself before a Senate committee in June 2017. Comey repeatedly referred to "salacious" and "unverified" material in the dossier, which turned out to be paid political opposition research against Donald Trump funded first by Republicans, then by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
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Quenelle

Erekat says US is pushing for a Palestinian 'coup' and that Nikki Haley 'needs to shut up'

Khaled Abu Toameh
The Times of Israel
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 22:26 UTC
PLO Saeb Erekat
© AFP/Abbas MomaniPLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat in his Ramallah office, November 23, 2015.
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat on Saturday accused the Trump administration of trying to depose the Palestinian leadership in a "coup" and told the "impudent" US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley she should "shut up" with her criticism of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Erekat, who has led the Palestinian peace negotiations and is secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, singled out Haley, who slammed Abbas for a recent speech that was full of anti-Semitic tropes.

Erekat said that Haley's "impudence" has gone as far as calling for removing Abbas from power.

"She called for overthrowing the democratically elected Palestinian president," Erekat complained in an interview with the Palestinian Al-Watan Voice news website.

"This is the president who led the peace process and promoted the principle of the two-state solution," Erekat said, referring to Abbas. "Now this [US] ambassador is accusing him of lacking courage, and is calling for replacing him."
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Better Earth

Clinton operatives Cody 'Mr. Fixer' Shearer and Sidney Blumenthal emerge on list of Russia collusion figures

Rowan Scarborough
The Washington Times
Wed, 31 Jan 2018 00:01 UTC
Sidney Blumenthal
© Associated Press/FileSidney Blumenthal, a longtime confidant to Bill and Hillary Clinton, is linked to a shadowy figure named Cody Shearer in reports on the Trump-Russia collusion scandal.
A shadowy figure tied to the Clintons has suddenly emerged in the Trump-Russia collusion saga.

His name is Cody Shearer, dubbed "Mr. Fixer" for Bill and Hillary Clinton and a workmate of fierce Clinton defender Sidney Blumenthal.

Last week, his name surfaced in a letter to the Democratic National Committee from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican. The letter listed nearly 40 names and entities. The two senators asked the DNC to disclose any communications with them from March 2016 to January 2017.

Comment: It's unsurprising that there may be a second dossier coming from the Clinton camp tying Trump to Russian collusion. It would be more surprising if it turns out there's only two! But the fact that opposition "research" is being handed off to the FBI, who are using it to "investigate" Trump (more like smear him) is treasonous. See also:

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Better Earth

Russia urges US to resume dialogue on missile defense and Ukraine


Sputnik
Mon, 05 Feb 2018 07:28 UTC
Us defense system Russia
© Sputnik/ Alexander Vilf
Russia and the United States should resume their dialogue on missile defense in light of the growing relevance of the subject, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

"I would like to emphasize the growing relevance of the missile defense topic. Let me remind you that an indestructible connection between strategic offensive arms and missile defense is noted in the preamble of the current Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty. There has been no substantial dialogue with the Americans on this matter for a long time. Now is the moment when it should be resumed," Ryabkov said in an interview with the newspaper Izvestia.

The Russian diplomat stressed that in order to overcome the impasse in Russian-US relations, it was necessary to cooperate in a number of areas, including economic and regional crises.

Comment: See: Also See:

The Truth Perspective: Bill Browder, the Magnitsky Act, and anti-Russia Sanctions: Interview with Alex Krainer

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