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Pumpkin 2

The circus continues: CNN throws Lanny Davis under the bus, "stands by" its Cohen story

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 21:07 UTC
davis Clinton Cohen
Lanny Davis, Hillary Clinton, Michael Cohen
The clowns just keep piling out of the little car as CNN has published what can best be described as a hit-piece on Michael Cohen attorney Lanny Davis, who "repeatedly changed his account of what Cohen knew about President Donald Trump's involvement" in a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian associate of opposition research firm Fusion GPS, and several others in attendance.

Cohen is President Trump's former longtime attorney and self-described "fixer" who retained Davis - a lifelong friend of Hillary Clinton - to represent him in his ongoing legal matters related to the 2016 presidential election, including hush money payments made to two women who claim to have had affairs with Trump over a decade ago.
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Popcorn

EU-US showdown over Iran sanctions a 'trainwreck in the making'


Sputnik
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 19:16 UTC
notes money juan euro
© AP Photo / Emrah Gurel
Several developments in European politics, such as Germany's move to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and comments by French President Emmanuel Macron that Europe needs to look to its own security, signal a shift away from US domination of European geopolitics. Could this be the beginning of a new geopolitical order?

"Europe can no longer entrust its security to the United States alone," Macron told an assembly of French ambassadors Monday, Politico reported. "It's up to us to guarantee our security."

"The history of these peoples is made with Europe. We must accept that there will be a large Europe - larger even than the European Union," he said, indicating the need to engage with Turkey and Russia on multiple issues.

He also maintained his country's position on staying in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, which the US left in May. US President Donald Trump has indicated that economic sanctions will return against Iran and countries that do business with it, with the first round beginning earlier this month, while the other signatories to the agreement - France, UK, Germany, Russia and China - have all said they are staying inside the agreement, as the three years since it was struck have yielded substantial trade growth between the nations.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Jet5

Pentagon hiding 'life-threatening' F-35 design flaws to meet deadline - watchdog


RT
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 21:06 UTC
US F-35
© Pascal Rossignol / ReutersFILE PHOTO.
The US F-35 program is apparently still suffering from hundreds of major technical flaws and the military is trying to conceal their severity to avoid schedule delays and cost overruns, a watchdog said.

Officials overseeing the development of the F-35 fighter jets have apparently deliberately downplayed some critical deficiencies that can endanger lives of both pilots and troops on the ground, said the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), an independent watchdog. It obtained the Pentagon agency's documents which show that there's no justification or plans to fix the flaws still plaguing the $1.5 trillion program.
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Bizarro Earth

Trump comments to Bloomberg that US may leave WTO if they don't 'shape up'


RT
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 20:56 UTC
World Trade Organization
© European Press Agency/Laurent Gillieron
US President Donald Trump would consider pulling out of the World Trade Organization if "they don't shape up," he told Bloomberg in an interview.

"If they don't shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO," Trump said on Thursday at the White House, before departing for a rally in Indiana.

Last month, the US president told reporters that the WTO has treated the US "very badly" for many years, and that the Geneva-based body will need to "change their ways."

Comment: After imposing sanctions, US has nerve to file WTO lawsuit against Russia over import taxes on American goods

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No Entry

Flashback Former German Chancellor Kohl wanted half of Turks expelled from Germany

Claus Hecking
Der Spiegel
Thu, 01 Aug 2013 20:13 UTC
kohl thatcher
All smiles: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and newly-elected Chancellor Helmut Kohl
Unsealed confidential British documents reveal that in 1982 German Chancellor Helmut Kohl tried to carry out a radical plan. He wanted to reduce the number of Turks living in Germany by 50 percent within four years.

"SECRET," the top of the densely typewritten document reads. Underneath, an official had added a handwritten note: "NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION."

It was a controversial plan that the newly elected German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, confided to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during her visit to Bonn, then the West German capital. "Chancellor Kohl said (...) over the next four years, it would be necessary to reduce the number of Turks in Germany by 50 percent -- but he could not say this publicly yet," state the secret minutes of the meeting dated Oct. 28, 1982.

Comment: Just as it is for Turkey, for that matter.

Kohl has since shuffled off this mortal coil, but the same things are probably uttered behind closed doors in Berlin today while, publicly, the German government agrees to accept many more migrants - social chaos be damned - in order to appease whatever this 'sensibility' is and whence it comes from.

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Star of David

The truths that won't be heard: How Israel spies on US citizens

Alain Gresh
Orient XXI
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC
AntiAIPAC march
© Gill Getz/IfNotNowAnti-AIPAC march in Washington, DC
The Lobby - USA: A never-shown Al Jazeera documentary on the pro-Israel lobby in the US reveals possibly illegal Israeli spying on US citizens, and the lobby's fear of a changing political mood.

An investigative documentary by Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera scheduled for broadcast earlier this year was expected to cause a sensation. Its four 50-minute episodes centred on the young and personable James Anthony Kleinfeld, British, Jewish, an Oxford graduate who speaks six languages including Dutch and Yiddish and is well informed about Middle East conflicts - seemingly a natural fit for a western foreign ministry or a major thinktank.

The documentary showed Kleinfeld being enthusiastically recruited for his skills by The Israel Project (TIP), which defends Israel's image in the media, and associating with senior members of organisations that support Israel unconditionally, especially the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), the powerful US lobbying group. For five months, he mixed with them at cocktail parties, congresses and conventions, and on training courses. He won their trust and they opened up to him, abandoning doublespeak and official lines.

How, he asked, did they go about influencing the US Congress? "Congressmen don't do anything unless you pressure them, and the only way to do that is with money."1

How did they counter Palestinian rights activists on university campuses? "With the anti-Israel people, what's most effective, what we found at least in the last year, is you do the opposition research, put up some anonymous website, and then put up targeted Facebook ads."

Comment: An alarming portrait of Israel's political, social and information domination from an international perspective down to the individual citizen.

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X

Trump claims 'no reason' for costly S. Korean war games, blames China for N. Korean stalemate


RT
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 22:01 UTC
S. K Marine Corp troops
© Kim Hong-Ji/ReutersS. Korean Marine Corp troops, Foal Eagle annual joint military training with U.S.
US President Donald Trump has blamed Beijing for the lack of progress on North Korea's denuclearization, saying China has put North Korea "under tremendous pressure" in response to a trade war Trump had started in the first place.

The White House statement, posted by Trump in a string of tweets, says that the US President "feels strongly" that Pyongyang has been a subject of "tremendous pressure from China because of our major trade disputes with the Chinese Government."

Trump went on to allege that Beijing continues to provide various types of assistance to the North, including supplying fuel, fertilizer and "various other commodities" thus effectively undermining the US policy of "maximum pressure."

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Windsock

George Papadopoulos may decide to withdraw his guilty plea, wife says

Matthew Mosk
ABC News
Mon, 20 Aug 2018 05:01 UTC
Papadopoulos/Wife
© ABC NewsGeorge and Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos
George Papadopoulos, the embattled former foreign policy advisor to Donald Trump's campaign, is strongly considering backing away from the agreement he struck with special counsel Robert Mueller that led him to plead guilty to lying to the FBI, his wife told ABC News.

"He will make his final decision tomorrow," said Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos, who has been vocal online and in television appearances speaking out on his behalf since prosecutors revealed they want her husband to serve jail time. "He needs a serious conversation with his attorney."

Papadopoulos tweeted his own musing about his next move Monday afternoon, saying, "Been a hell of a year. Decisions."

The decision will be fraught for Papadopoulos, who pledged to assist prosecutors with the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign in exchange for lenience on charges that, according to his wife, may have included allegations of improper work for the Israeli government.

If he backs away now, she said, he could face a raft of new charges.

Comment: Update from ABC News:
George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign, has decided to stick with his plea agreement with special counsel Robert Mueller, his wife told ABC News on Wednesday.

"George will take responsibility for some inaccuracies during the interview with the FBI," Mangiante Papadopoulos said in a statement to ABC News on Wednesday, adding that she hopes the judge determining his fate will not send the former Trump campaign adviser to jail.

Mangiante Papadopoulos had in recent weeks spoken out about her belief that her husband was in some way set up by the government. They were reconsidering their plea, she said, because they contemplated fighting the charges based on that belief.


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Snakes in Suits

Lavrov: Russia and Turkey have 'full political understanding' over Idlib


Hurriet Daily News
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 17:18 UTC
Lavrov
© Novinite.com
Russia has "full political understanding" with Turkey over the issues surrounding Syria's Idlib, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Moscow, on Aug. 29, called on the West not to stand in the way of an "anti-terror operation" in Idlib, as speculation grows Damascus is planning a Russian-backed offensive on the rebel-held province. "I hope our Western partners will not give in to (rebel) provocations and will not obstruct an anti-terror operation" in Idlib, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir in Moscow.

Lavrov also said that there is "full political understanding" between Russia and Turkey, who support opposing sides of the Syrian civil war but are currently in intense negotiations to ensure Idlib does not become a breaking point in their alliance. "It is necessary to disassociate the so-called moderate opposition from terrorists and at the same time prepare an operation against them while minimizing risks for the civilian population," Lavrov said. "This abscess needs to be liquidated."

Comment: False and convenient justifications, in order to trigger retribution by force, leaves no doubt as to the sources of provocation and the transparency of the actions. Russia has come out ahead of this 'scheduled' event. Will it change anything?

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Jet4

SOTT Focus: Idlib: Syria's Final Battle With Terrorists (if West Stays Out of it)


RT
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 03:14 UTC
Syrian troops
© Mikhail Alaeddin/SputnikAdvancing Syrian troops hoist the national flag.
Syrian forces are gearing up to take the last terrorist stronghold, the US is boosting its military presence, and Russia is warning of a false-flag chemical attack. RT looks at the aligning of forces ahead of the battle for Idlib.

American warships, cruise missile delivery systems, strategic bombers and other hardware has arrived to the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf earlier this week. Washington is denying that any buildup is taking place, but Moscow says the assets are being gathered for a massive strike against the Syrian government.

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