Puppet MastersS


Cheesecake

Dining diplomacy? Erdogan invites 'dearest friend' Putin to meet at Istanbul fish restaurant


RT
Sat, 25 Aug 2018 16:49 UTC
putin erdogan
© Tolga Bozoglu / Reuters
Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan may soon be discussing the S-400 anti-air systems deal while eating fish or lobsters, as Putin has been reminded of an arrangement to meet at a certain Istanbul restaurant.

An invitation from Erdogan, delivered to Putin by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavusoglu on Friday, said: "Your dearest friend, Mr. Erdogan, has asked to convene his greetings and best wishes, he is hoping for your visit to Istanbul in the near future. You have an arrangement to go to a fish restaurant." Cavusoglu was addressing the Russian leader at a high-profile meeting in Moscow.

The 'fish restaurant' story goes back all the way to the BRICS summit in July. Back then Putin reminded his Turkish counterpart that once Erdogan invited him to dine at a fish restaurant. When Erdogan stressed that the invitation still stands, the Russian president pointed out that the issue with meat exports to Turkey must first be sorted out.

Comment: Russia and Turkey's growing closeness has Washington on edge. The ramifications go in many directions, none of them positive for the Empire.

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Map

Guess what? Donald Trump is (mostly) right about South Africa

Joel B. Pollak
Breitbart
Fri, 24 Aug 2018 16:27 UTC
south africa land
© Wikus de Wet / AFP / Getty
President Donald Trump's comments on South Africa on Wednesday evening burst the bubble of political correctness that has long shielded that country's leaders from responsibility for self-destructive policies that have hurt black and white South Africans alike.

Critics cried "racist" when Trump tweeted that he had told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers."

The term "large scale" could be misconstrued: there are no mass graves of farmers. But the tweet was otherwise correct - and overdue.

Trump touched on two separate issues. The first is South Africa's new policy of land reform.

Under colonialism and apartheid, black people were expropriated, while white farmers developed a thriving agricultural economy.

In 1996, South Africa's new constitution provided for the restitution of lands that had been unjustly taken in the past, as well as for a more equal racial distribution of land in future. It rejected "arbitrary" expropriation, preferring a "willing buyer, willing seller" approach.

Comment: See also:

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Light Saber

Sun Tzu and the art of fighting an East-West trade war

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Thu, 23 Aug 2018 16:34 UTC
Sun Tzu statue Art of War
© iStockSun Tzu's "The Art of War" could be game-changer in the Trade War.
It will be long, it will be nasty and Trump would be foolish to underestimate Xi and the resolve of China

Imagine the Chinese leadership out of the public eye for nearly two weeks - virtually holed up, immersed in a secret debate. That is exactly what just happened at Beidaihe, the beach resort in eastern Hebei province.

While there might be James Bond-ish conspiracy theories out there for this annual ritual, there are no doubts about the key theme of discussions: The US-China trade war.

The second-largest world economy under President Xi Jinping is deep into the long march towards superpower status. The previous geopolitical and geoeconomic status quo is dead.

Xi has made it abundantly clear that for China to just become a "responsible stakeholder" in the post-Cold War US-controlled liberal international order is not enough.
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Footprints

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe given three-day furlough from Iranian jail

Saeed Kamali
The Guardian
Thu, 23 Aug 2018 14:23 UTC
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release has been initially limited to three days.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman sentenced to five years in jail in Iran for spying, has been temporarily released from prison for the first time in more than two years.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, whose plight has left a shadow hanging over Iran-UK relations, was given a three-day furlough on Thursday morning, taking her and her family by surprise.

She has since been reunited with her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella, who has been in the care of her Iranian family since she was 22 months old.

"It will be just awesome for Gabriella to have mummy home finally," Zaghari-Ratcliffe said, according to her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, who remains in the UK.

"We can play with her doll's house and she can show me her toys. The thought of brushing her hair and giving her a bath, of being able to take her to the park and feed her and sleep next to her - it just kills me. It is still so hard to believe."

The Iranian move comes ahead of critical decisions by the European Union on the extent to which it will resist US sanctions designed to curb European investment in Iran, including any purchase of Iranian oil.

Comment: Previously:

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Eye 2

Is George Soros reaching the end of his destructive road?

Tom Luongo
Gold, Goats, 'n Guns
Sat, 25 Aug 2018 15:46 UTC
creepy soros
"You either die a Hero, Or you live long enough to see yourself become the Villain. " - The Dark Knight
George Soros has made that transformation into the Villain. Not that he was ever the Hero, but he is in his mind.

He is the embodiment of the idea floated by John Barth that "Man can do no wrong."

This is something that good writers understand, villains never see themselves as villains. In their mind, they can do no wrong, that what they are doing is for the common good or a better world.

I'm binge-watching The Americans with my wife (just finished Season 3, no spoilers please) and the slow-dawning realization on all of the character's faces that what they are doing is destroying their souls has become the dominant narrative drive.

I suspect that the second half of the show's run will focus on extricating themselves from this nightmare.

This is what makes it compelling story-telling, if massively contrived as all TV storytelling needs to be.

Comment:

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Arrow Up

China pushes through with opening financial system to foreigners despite rising trade war


Bloomberg
Fri, 24 Aug 2018 15:45 UTC
china us trade war
China removed limits on foreign ownership of its banks and bad-debt managers, pushing ahead with a previously announced plan to open its financial system despite rising trade tensions with the U.S.

Overseas financial institutions will now be treated the same as local companies, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said in a statement late Thursday, following through on a pledge announced last year. Stakes were previously capped at 20 percent for a single foreign institution and 25 percent for a group.

The move is part of China's longstanding effort to increase its integration with the global financial system, but it may also help President Xi Jinping counter criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump that China has been a one-sided beneficiary of global commerce. Xi's government announced a number of financial opening initiatives in November, before the tit-for-tat trade conflict that saw the world's biggest economies raise tariffs on $50 billion of each other's exports. Most of the Chinese opening measures are expected to take effect by the end of this year.

"China is showing they are keeping their promise and that regulators are interested in opening up, rather than closing down," said Chen Long, a Beijing-based economist at research firm Gavekal Dragonomics. "Given the ongoing trade dispute, from a reputation perspective, this is helpful."

Comment: See also:

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Heart - Black

Do NOT let them make a saint of bloodthirsty warmonger John McCain

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Sat, 25 Aug 2018 15:27 UTC
soros mccain
© Associated Press/Michel EulerSoros and McCain - elderly psychopaths still at it
"Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness - and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we're being brainwashed to believe." ~ Arundhati Roy
John McCain's family has announced that the Arizona Senator has opted to end treatment for brain cancer and live out his final few days in peace, presumably under the best hospice care money can buy. And I sincerely hope that it is peaceful. My statements about my desire for John McCain to shuffle off this mortal coil sooner rather than later have been highly publicized, and I stand by all of them, but I don't wish him a painful or agitated end.

And, also, I am going to keep hammering on how very important it is that we refuse to bow to the aggressive demands from establishment loyalists that we be respectful of this warmongering psychopath and his blood-soaked legacy.

Comment: Well said, Ms. Johnstone! Whitewashing the true story of psychopaths only perpetuates their dominance.

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Light Sabers

SOTT Focus: How US-China Trade War is Spreading From Goods to Services

Dan Steinbock
Sott.net
Sat, 25 Aug 2018 14:43 UTC
china us trade war
Trump tariff wars are entering a new, far more dangerous phase. As the White House is expanding its tariff wars, collateral damage is about to spread from goods to services - much of it in the U.S.

After months of trade threats, the Trump administration announced its 25% tariff on $34 billion of Chinese imports effective in early July, while threatening levies on another $16 billion of imports. To defend its sovereign interest, China responded with 25% tariffs on $34 billion of US imports and recently imposed an additional tariff of 25% on $16 billion of US imports effective on August 23.

As Trump is escalating his tariff war, a total of $50 billion of goods on each side will be taxed as of Thursday.
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Candle

Trudy Stevenson, Zimbabwe's ambassador to Senegal dies at age 73


African News Agency
Fri, 24 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC
Trudy Stevenson
Zimbabwe's ambassador to Senegal and The Gambia, Trudy Stevenson, has been found dead in Dakar on Friday.

The 73-year-old diplomat was reportedly discovered at her residence by her chauffeur when he reported for duty.

The Zimbabwean foreign affairs and international trade ministry confirmed the death of the diplomat, but could not shed more light, saying government was yet to talk to the family.

"It is true Ms Stevenson has passed, but we are yet to get in contact with all the relatives," an official in the ministry said.

"We will announce officially once we get in touch with them."
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USA

New York Times alleges that Betsy DeVos plans to buy guns for teachers


RT
Sat, 25 Aug 2018 12:51 UTC
Betsy DeVos
© Joshua Roberts/ReutersBetsy DeVos talks to some school children
In a bid to make US schools safer, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is reportedly considering using federal funds reserved for the country's poorest schools to buy guns for teachers instead.

While it has been a long-standing federal government position to not use federal funds to arm schools or staff, DeVos's department are eyeing the Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSEA) grant, an aspect of federal education law that makes no mention of prohibiting weapons purchases with the funding, according to a New York Times report this week.

In March, a bill funding school safety programs, the Stop School Violence Act, saw Congress explicitly forbid using the funds for purchasing weapons for schools.

Comment: Also see: A quick summary of President Trump's school safety plan

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