Puppet MastersS


Bug

WaPo's invisible Kremlin troll army of one

Diana Johnstone
The Ron Paul Institute
Sun, 31 Dec 2017 13:15 UTC
kremlin trolls
There is no holiday truce in the propaganda war. On this Christmas day, The Washington Post offered its readers a scare story entitled "Kremlin trolls burned across the Internet as Washington debated options."

The article is long - nearly 4000 words. The only part that is sure to be read in these busy times of short attention spans is the headline, whose two themes are rich in subliminal messages.

First, a slash and burn operation by an army of Kremlin trolls is laying waste to the Internet. Second, official Washington in its benevolent innocence is having trouble facing up to this nefarious threat.

Let's take these two themes one at a time.

Comment: Now that the 'russian collusion' story is played out, deep state mouthpiece WaPo has a new angle just in time for the new year: Russian disinformation! Except that they've already been down that road. Not that one would expect anything less from them.

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X

North Korea's deafening silence around the Moon-Putin Plan

Joseph Essertier
CounterPunch
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
Kim stonewall
© Thierry Ehrmann"In the heart of appeasement there's the fear of rejection, and in acts of fear there are mirrors of oppression." -Chris Jami
As the world hurtles ever closer to war in Asia, there is an Alice-in-Wonderland media narrative that has North Korea as the aggressor that must be controlled and punished at all costs. And in the face of that narrative, the deafening silence of intellectuals is starting to bear a remarkable resemblance to appeasement.

In 1938 one of the most heinous war criminals of the 20th century was planning to occupy Czechoslovakia, a country where about three million people of German origin lived. War seemed imminent as Hitler continued to make inflammatory speeches. The British prime minister Neville Chamberlain offered to go to Hitler's retreat and discuss the situation personally. Chamberlain's placatory efforts produced the Munich Agreement that he, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Édouard Daladier signed, handing over a large chunk of Czechoslovakia to Germany. People in Czechoslovakia felt betrayed, but Chamberlain was praised. He told the British public he had achieved "peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time." In later years the lesson drawn from the Munich Agreement was that expansionist totalitarian states must not be appeased.

Today it would seem the very same farce is being re-enacted in a contemporary version of appeasement that Chamberlain would have envied. History demands that we ask all the academics, intellectuals, media and the like who claim to represent the left-to-liberal spectrum, why they are so unconcernedly complicit with the United Nations in appeasing the blood-thirsty Trump administration. Some parrot the Alice-in-Wonderland narrative concerning North Korea; many others remain silent.

The Moon-Putin Plan: One Possible Path To Peace

One could be forgiven for not having heard of it since it disrupts the standard "North-Korea-Problem" narrative, but there is a realistic solution to the crisis that liberal and progressive appeasers are keeping silent about. This is the Moon-Putin Plan unveiled in September in Vladivostok.

Comment: The Moon-Putin Plan sounds like the deal of all deals - peace, prosperity, cooperation...that 'Putin' thing. And yet, the 'end of the world threat' continues and tensions escalate with people to suffer.

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Star of David

Israeli 'eyes and ears' on the ground in Iran claims Mossad chief


RT
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 15:20 UTC
Mossad
© Spirit of Metal
Israel's national intelligence agency has people spying on the ground in Iran, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen said during a closed session at the Finance Ministry, according to local media. "The Iranians are spreading across the Middle East with a vast array of forces, and there is little holding them back," said Cohen, according to Arutz Sheva.

Iran is on track "to realize its dream of creating what almost amounts to a land and air bridge allowing them to dump troops across the Middle East. We have eyes and ears, even in Iran," Cohen said. He went on to warn that Iran is making significant advances in the region.

Cohen's comment comes just days after Iran's public prosecutor, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, accused Israel and Mossad of fomenting the unrest which has swept across the Islamic Republic. It also comes two months after an alleged Mossad spy was sentenced to death in Iran, after being found guilty of involvement in a string of assassinations of Iran's nuclear scientists, according to prosecutors.

Israel and Iran have long been arch rivals, with Tel Aviv accusing Tehran of developing nuclear weapons and of plotting to destroy the Jewish state. In December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Iran with Nazi Germany, citing their shared goal of exterminating all Jews.

Iranian officials have issued threats against Israel numerous times, with army chief Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi stating in September that Israel could cease to exist within the next 25 years. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, expressed a similar sentiment in December 2016. Iran accuses Israel of oppressing Muslims, of backing anti-Iranian groups, and of conducting covert operations on Iranian territory.

Comment: Not surprising that the Mossad is in Iran, and has been for many years, as well as covert connections in all countries within Israel's crosshairs be they friends or foes. What is surprising is the admission by Cohen, unless secrecy is no longer a priority.

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Snakes in Suits

Pyongyang and Seoul engage in 'serious and sincere' high-level peace talks


RT
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 02:46 UTC
Unification mini
N. Korea Committee Chairman Ri Son Gwon • S. Korea Unification Minister Cho Myoung-Gyon
Optimism is high as the much anticipated intra-Korean talks, the first in two years, kicked off Tuesday, with the head of the N. Korean delegation hoping the "serious and sincere" negotiations will deliver "valuable" results.

"Today, North and South Korea will engage in talks in a serious and sincere stance," Ri Son Gwon, the chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, said. Ri, who leads the 5-member North Korean negotiation team, shook hands with his South Korean counterpart, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon at the start of the talks, saying he hopes for "precious" results.

During the course of their discussions, Seoul proposed reviving military talks with Pyongyang, which would include engagement on the critical issue of denuclearization, Yonhap reports. South Korea also suggested convening a reunification meeting next month for families separated by the Korean War.

"North Korea said that they are determined to make today's talks fruitful, and make it a groundbreaking opportunity," South Korean Deputy Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung said.


Comment: See also: N. Korea calls S. Korea on cross-border hotline, first contact in two years

More from RT:
North Korea had severed all communication hotlines with its southern neighbor in early 2016, during a spike in tensions that followed a rocket launch by NK. All emergency hotlines connecting the rival states were cut, following the South's decision to stop operations at their joint industrial complex in Kaesong.

Earlier in January, the North restored the border hotline at Panmunjom in a move towards normalizing contact between the sides.


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Propaganda

Egypt denies intel agent told TV hosts to promote Trump's Jerusalem move


RT
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 12:05 UTC
egyptnewspaper vendor
© The Times of IsraelEgyptian newspaper vendor
Egypt has denied reports one of its intelligence agents told TV hosts to convince viewers that Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was a good idea - despite the release of tapes of the conversations.

The New York Times reported Saturday it had obtained recordings of phone calls made by a man claiming to be Captain Ashraf al-Kholi to presenters Mofid Fawzy, Saeed Hassaseen and Azmi Megahed, along with Egyptian actress Yousra.

In these calls, al-Kholi told them to convince their audiences that Palestinians should be happy with the West Bank city of Ramallah as its capital rather than East Jerusalem, however Egypt denies the man even exists. "How is Jerusalem different from Ramallah, really?" he reportedly said in all four of the calls.

The intelligence officer also said it was not in Egypt's interest to have "strife with Israel."

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was among Arab leaders to condemn Trump's Jerusalem move, and it drafted a UN Security Council resolution to reverse the decision. However, relations between Egypt and Israel have recently warmed, in light of their shared views on Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and Hamas.

"It is inappropriate for The New York Times, a reputable newspaper, to publish such allegations," Egypt's State Information Service said in a statement. "Egypt's positions on international issues are not derived from alleged leaks from an anonymous source. Rather, Egypt's positions are conveyed by the President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and in official statements as well."
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X

Boris Johnson backs the two-state solution, May's UK team likewise fails to back Trump


RT
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 15:22 UTC
Johnson Abbas
© Jordan TimesBritish Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson • Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Britain's 'special relationship' with the US has taken a further battering after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson refused to back President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

World leaders were outraged last month when the 45th president announced his intention to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, calling the holy city the "capital" of Israel. The announcement sparked protests across the occupied Palestinian territories, leading to hundreds of demonstrators being arrested and at least 14 killed, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The occupied territories, and the increasing number of illegal Israeli settlements, have been at the center of decades of conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.

Trump cemented his support for Israel, when he recognized Jerusalem as its capital, reportedly against the advice of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The UK refused to follow the move, and now Johnson, on behalf of Prime Minister Theresa May's administration, has reinforced the opposition to Trump's decision.


Comment: The Brits got the whole thing rolling...
November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour


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Dollars

US tries more sanctions: Russia can survive without using the SWIFT banking payment system but can the EU?

Kakaouskia
The Saker
Thu, 04 Jan 2018 12:00 UTC
russia sanctions cartoon
© Paresh Cartoons
For some time now, US and its vassal states and Russia are engaged in an economic war. The first salvo was when VISA and MasterCard - which are US based banking institutions - were forced to stop accepting transactions performed by cardholders of certain Russian banks. The latest indication, as Saker has mentioned in the near past is that the US government is thinking to block Russian access to the SWIFT system.
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TV

German national TV attacks Poland's ruling government over opposition to EU migration diktats


Voice of Eurpoe
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
German documentary poland
© Mirek Nowaczyk / Shutterstock.com
The German-French channel Arte, broadcasted a documentary two weeks ago, that supports both the Polish opposition and the "vision" of the European Union. Arte is a company owned by Germany's national state-sponsored broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

The documentary, called Polen vor der Zerreiß (Poland before the ordeal), attacks Poland's ruling government by stating that democracy in the country is disappearing.

The main subject in the documentary is MEP and member of the current opposition party Civic Platform Róża Thun. She openly supports further European integration and is also a member of the Spinelli group: a left-wing group in the European Parliament with Eurocrat Guy Verhofstadt (as its leader?).

Comment: Previously:

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Attention

"Wrong!" Trump admin has been "neo-conned" regarding Iran protests

James Carden
The Nation
Thu, 04 Jan 2018 19:11 UTC
Iran
On December 28, anti-government protests broke out in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city, and in subsequent days spread nationwide, escalating confrontations, some of them violent, between protesters and regime forces that have resulted, so far, in hundreds of arrests and over 20 deaths.

The impetus behind the protests is said to be economic discontent brought about by years of sanctions, government mismanagement, corruption, and the recently announced rise in the prices of fuel, eggs, and poultry, though, as longtime Middle East correspondent Patrick Cockburn argues, it could be that clerical hard-liners and conservatives "initiated or tolerated the protests as a way of undermining President Hassan Rouhani, seen as a political moderate, who was re-elected by a landslide last year."

Trump, as is his habit, took to Twitter and issued a characteristically juvenile taunt: "All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their 'pockets.' The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!"

The State Department also issued a statement condemning Iran's leaders for turning the country "into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos."

Comment: See SOTT's discussion of the Iranian protests, and the hilariously out-of-touch Western response, here: The neocons (and Trump) don't care about the Iranian people. You can take that to the bank. They'd rather seem them starve and die even if the alternative was a secular but sovereign government. Human rights isn't the issue. Never was, never will be. It's all geopolitics. And Israel and Saudi Arabia are the only countries that have a real stake in keeping Iran down.

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Propaganda

Bannon watchdog group created a 'Trump dossier' in early stages of Republican primaries

Sara Murray, Evan Perez and Jeremy Diamond
CNN
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 18:53 UTC
Billionaire Robert Mercer
© Oliver Contreras /The Washington PostBillionaire Robert Mercer
Before Donald Trump and Steve Bannon were enemies, they were allies. And not long before that, Bannon was part of an effort to sink Trump's presidential hopes -- even if Trump didn't know it.

A conservative watchdog group led by Bannon tried to discredit Trump in the early stages of the 2016 Republican presidential primary by shopping a document alleging that Trump had ties to mobsters, according to conservative sources and a copy of the document reviewed by CNN. The anti-Trump opposition research was the work of author Peter Schweizer for the Government Accountability Institute, which he cofounded with Bannon in 2012.

It described years of alleged business connections between Trump companies and organized crime figures, allegations that have circulated among Trump detractors for years.The New York Times reported on the document on Friday. The GAI is backed by the Mercer family, one of the largest benefactors for Trump's campaign.

Comment: More drama with no substance. Political activists and opportunists seek whatever kind of vulnerabilities they can in their pursuit of power, even if it's based on fiction and rumor. A year ago Steve Bannon was the devil to the liberal media. Now he's their hero: Welcome to #Resistance? Steve Bannon, liberals' new hero

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