Puppet MastersS


Target

In the shadow of Dawn Sturgess

Craig Murray
craigmurray.org.uk
Mon, 09 Jul 2018 00:00 UTC
Dawn Sturgess
© Daily MailDawn Sturgess
The terrible death of Dawn Sturgess casts a new shadow over the Salisbury Affair. Dawn appears to have been a popular and well grounded woman with close friend and family ties, whose life had taken a downward turn before being cruelly ended.

The illogical, inconsistent and shifting government narrative over events in Salisbury and Amesbury had appeared so ludicrous as to be tragi-comic. Any sense of amusement is now abruptly dispelled. But less us take a serious and sober look at the government case.

Sajid Javid stated today:
We know back in March that it was the Russians. We know it was a barbaric, inhuman act by the Russian state. Again, for this particular incident, we need to learn more and let the police do their work.
Actually, we know no such thing and, contrary to Javid's deliberate insinuation, the police have adduced no evidence that it was the Russian state.
Read More...
Attention

Boris Johnson's resignation bodes Britain will become 'colony' status to EU


RT
Mon, 09 Jul 2018 17:47 UTC
Boris Johnson
© Toby Melville/ReutersFormer Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
Britain is headed for the status of "colony" to the European Union, Boris Johnson has warned, just hours after news broke of his resignation as foreign secretary.

"We are truly headed for the status of a colony - and many will struggle to see the economic or political advantage of that particular arrangement," Johnson said in a resignation statement.

Earlier on Monday, Johnson became the third government official to walk away from the government over Prime Minister Theresa May's soft Brexit plan which has angered many Conservatives.

Johnson also stated in the letter that, by "surrendering control over our rulebook," the UK will make it "much more difficult to do free trade deals." What is most disturbing, he said, is that the unacceptable plan laid out by May is the country's "opening bid."

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Propaganda

'Prump/Tutin': Diving in, New York Magazine goes off deep end of conspiracy pool


RT
Mon, 09 Jul 2018 20:58 UTC
Matryoshka dolls Trumputin
© Lehtikuva Lehtikuva/ReutersRussian Matryoshka dolls for sale in Helsinki, Finland.
As President Donald Trump gears up to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin next week, New York Magazine has published the craziest 'Russiagate' conspiracy theory yet: that Trump has been a Russian agent since 1987.

The magazine's article, titled 'Prump Tutin', is the lead story in this week's print issue, and opens by broadly discussing unproven allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016.

"A case like this presents an easy temptation for conspiracy theorists, but we can responsibly speculate as to what lies at the end of this scandal without falling prey to their fallacies," writes author Jonathan Chait, before strapping on his tinfoil hat and presenting almost 80 paragraphs of the wildest conspiracy theories, alleging that Trump has been a Russian agent since 1987.
Read More...
Chart Pie

A fifth of Tory election donations came from 'dark money' trust

Dan Vevers
STV News
Thu, 05 Jul 2018 00:00 UTC
Conservative party rosette
© Unknown
It gave £29,000 in gifts to the Scottish Conservatives in the run-up to 2017's snap election.

A fifth of all declared donations to the Scottish Conservatives in the run-up to 2017's snap general election came from a trust accused of funneling "dark money" into the party, STV News can reveal.

In the first two quarters of 2017, nearly £29,000 of donations recorded by Scottish branches of the Tory party came from a group called the Scottish Unionist Association Trust (SUAT). Electoral Commission data shows the trust accounted for 20% of all Scottish-registered donations to the Conservatives in the months leading up to last year's June 8 vote.

SUAT has been at the centre of a row over party funding, with the SNP raising questions about transparency of donations. The party's Westminster leader Ian Blackford raised the matter with Theresa May at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, and another SNP MP has written to Ruth Davidson about the trust. Listed as an unincorporated association (UA), SUAT has donated around £319,000 to the Scottish Tories since 2001, an investigation by The Ferret revealed last week.
Read More...
Briefcase

Switzerland files WTO complaint regarding unjustified US steel and aluminum tariffs


RT
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 14:54 UTC
Steel product
© Ap Photo/Ahn Young-joon
An official action has been launched by Switzerland against US metal tariffs at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The country became the eighth WTO member to challenge the levies.

According to the Swiss Economy Ministry on Monday, the country has "submitted a request for consultations with the US as part of WTO dispute settlement proceedings." The ministry said it had formally asked Washington for "consultations" over tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.

In 2017, Switzerland exported steel and aluminum products to the United States to the tune of around 80 million Swiss francs ($80.7 million, €68.7 million), the ministry's statistics showed.
"From Switzerland's point of view, the additional duties, which according to the US have been introduced to protect national security, are unjustified," the ministry said.

"The US has not responded to Switzerland's request for an exemption from the tariffs to date," the statement said, adding that the request for WTO consultations had been launched "in order to protect Switzerland's interests."

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Dominoes

Will Boris' bombshell resignation sink Theresa May this month?

Neil Clark
RT
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 17:33 UTC
trump boris and may
© Matt Dunham / ReutersBoris Johnson (L), Donald Trump (R) near Theresa May (C)
Boris Johnson's resignation as foreign secretary, coming hours after Brexit Secretary David Davis stepped down, has plunged Britain into a full-scale political crisis on the week Trump is due to visit. Can PM Theresa May survive?

According to the old saying (usually attributed to Lenin, but without citation), "There are decades when weeks happen and there are weeks when decades happen."

This looks like one of those weeks. And it's still only Tuesday.

For a start, and let's get our priorities right, England is appearing in its first World Cup semi-final for 28 years on Wednesday. If the Three Lions beat Croatia, which they are the favorites to do, then next Sunday England will line up in their first World Cup final since 1966, possibly - and you've got to love the irony given the Brexit squabbles - against Belgium.

However, due to the very silly politically-motivated boycott of Russia by the UK government (remember, no evidence has yet been produced that the Russian government was behind the Salisbury poisonings), no top officials or dignitaries will be in Moscow to see it.
Read More...
Bad Guys

Theresa May's collapsing government lashes out at Russia like cornered rats

George Galloway
RT
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 17:21 UTC
Theresa May
© Rebecca Naden/ AFP
"One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing," Oscar Wilde said on the Dickens story. The disintegration of this incompetent administration makes me laugh - clearly my heart isn't hard enough.

And this even as I agree with Mrs. May's departing cabinet heavyweights: Boris Johnson the foreign secretary, David Davis the Brexit secretary, Steve Baker the Brexit minister - whilst despising them on every other matter. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

It is true that Mrs. May has supported the Brexit decision by 17.4 million people, the largest vote for anything or anyone in British history, as the rope supports the hanging man. And she hopes to see it dangle to death.

It is true that her elaborately constructed 'Chequers Agreement' (Chequers is the Country House of British prime ministers) would have left Britain a Vassal State of the European Union, a rule taker forever, from a sclerotic neo-liberal protectionist bankers ramp which has impoverished half of Europe and enraged maybe most of the other half.
Read More...
Yoda

Vladimir Putin and his basic disagreement with The West

Eric Zuesse
The Saker Blog
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 16:19 UTC
Putin
© Presidential Press Service/Wikimedia/CCPresident Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin's basic view has been expressed so many times, in so many different contexts, and it's always the same: that the only people who have a sovereign right to any land, are the people who live on that land - nobody who lives outside that land does. In other words, his basic view is a repudiation - a total rejection - of the very concept of empire: it's a rejection of the right of foreigners to control any country, anywhere, anytime. Residence is determinative. According to Putin, the only justification that a country can ever have for invading another country is if and when that invasion is in direct and immediate response to that other country's having invaded their land - purely defensive. Other than this, no invasion of any land by foreigners is acceptable.

The U.S. and its allies endorse empires - endorse conquest. This view was first extensively promoted during 1877-1902 by the founder of the Rhodes Trust, Cecil Rhodes, a self-avowed racist who passionately advocated that all "races" be subordinated to "the first race": the British. However, he was willing that, if necessary, this empire would fly the U.S. flag instead of the English flag.
Read More...
Cowboy Hat

Trump thinks meeting with Putin will be easier than summit with EU leaders


RT
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 16:25 UTC
trump
© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters 389
US President Donald Trump's first dedicated bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart will probably be easier than his UK visit and NATO summit, he said before leaving for his European tour.

Trump outlined his plans for the upcoming days to journalists before boarding a helicopter.

"I have NATO, I have the UK, which is in somewhat turmoil, and I have Putin. Frankly, Putin may be the easiest of them all, who would think?" he said. Trump added that he considered Russia as America's competitor but that getting along with one, be it Russia or China, is "a good thing".

Trump's program for the European tour includes a two-day NATO summit in Brussels, a long-awaited visit to Britain and a stop in Helsinki, where his meeting with Putin is to take place.
Read More...
Chess

Trump's economic war on Iran and China doesn't bode well for the future of the United States

Dan Glazebrook
RT
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 13:55 UTC
US President Donald Trump
© Jonathan Ernst / ReutersUS President Donald Trump
Trump is using everything he's got to wage economic war on Iran. His problem is that 'everything he's got' is not nearly enough, as the virtual monopoly power once wielded by the US has long since evaporated.

Last week, a senior state department official announced the US' intention to cut Iranian oil exports "to zero" by November 4 this year, by threatening to impose sanctions on any company still trading beyond that date.

Hitherto, experts had predicted US sanctions would see a reduction of around 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the year - barely one-fifth of the country's current export of 2.4 million bpd. Even the sanctions that preceded the 2015 nuclear deal - which, unlike today's unilateral effort, were supported by a broad alliance of world powers, including Russia and China - only succeeded in removing half of Iran's oil from the market.
Read More...