Puppet MastersS


Snowflake

Democrats melt down over Justice Kennedy's retirement

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sat, 30 Jun 2018 12:28 UTC
snowflake meltdown
Progressives from sea to shining sea are having an election-level meltdown over the announced retirement of Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy - such as that of former Obama NSC spokesman, Tommy Vietor:

The vacancy means that President Trump can appoint a more conservative Justice to the bench, as opposed to Kennedy's more moderate right-of-center stance on many issues.

News of Kennedy's retirement was captured during a DNC conference call, prompting audiable reactions from the participants ranging from shock to awe.

Comment: Further reading: MSNBC & CNN demand Dems 'rise up' to keep Trump from appointing Supreme Court justice

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Bad Guys

Ramping up Russia threat proves to be manna from heaven for UK arms industry

John Wight
RT
Sat, 30 Jun 2018 12:43 UTC
In the West the painting of Russia as an expansionist power bent on destabilization continues. And the UK arms industry couldn't be happier.
Soldiers from 3 Regiment Army Air Corps
© Aaron Chown / AFPSoldiers from 3 Regiment Army Air Corps practice drills at Wattisham Airfield near Ipswich, east of England, on May 10, 2018
In a report produced by the UK House of Commons Defence Committee, arguing for an increase in UK defence spending, seeing Russia described as being "central to the discussion of resurgent state-based threats" comes as no surprise. It is indicative of the unreality currently dominating what passes for serious politics in the UK, a country whose descent into irrelevancy continues as it struggles to navigate a political and constitutional crisis unleashed by Brexit.

Rather than any kind of threat to the UK, Russia is being used as a convenient distraction on the part of a ruling establishment that, per Marx (Karl, that is, not Groucho), is no longer able to control the powers of the netherworld it has called up by its spells. In other words, the demonization of Russia reflects the inability to come to terms with a multipolar reality, preferring the unreality of hegemony instead.
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Bullseye

Walter Peretto: "No matter who is in the White House, the foreign policy goals of the elites remain the same"


Press TV
Sat, 30 Jun 2018 12:00 UTC
It does not matter if a Republican or a Democrat is in the White House, the foreign policy goals of the US elite remain the same, according to Walt Peretto, a writer and researcher based in Washington, DC.
Walt Perreto
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that President Donald Trump will warn his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin not to intervene in the upcoming midterm elections.

Pompeo made the comment during a Senate subcommittee hearing, aimed at covering several foreign policy challenges for the United States.

Comment:

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Arrow Down

9 main points to understand the 'Merkel-saving' EU deal on tackling influx of refugees & migrants


RT
Sat, 30 Jun 2018 09:16 UTC
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
© Hannibal Hanschke / ReutersGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel - The biggest idiot in the EU politics and wider
EU leaders, racking their brains on how to share the burden of migrants and refugees, finally reached a vague compromise after almost 10 hours of deliberations. Here are nine main points to help you understand what was decided.

Europe saw around one million migrants arrive to the continent during the 2015 refugee crisis. More than 377,000 reached Europe in 2016 and some 160,000 entered by sea last year. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates 80,000 people will enter by sea in 2018. Here's a breakdown of EU's latest agreement to tackle the migrant crisis.

1. 'Voluntary' migrant & refugee centers

Members of the European Union can set up "control centers" for "rapid processing" on a completely voluntary basis.

Comment: All EU leaders should be replaced and prosecuted immediately!

See also:

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Yoda

Trey Gowdy skewers clueless DHS 'expert' on firearms and constitutional rights

Thinker
Investment Watch Blog
Fri, 29 Jun 2018 21:18 UTC
Trey Gowdy
What were the Obama/Clinton administration doing for Americans? Congressman Trey Gowdy has been exposing corruption since 2011, from many organizations in Washington D.C. but everyone now knows why no one was punished.

NSA, CIA, FBI bias? The most corrupt politicians are calling for guns to be confiscated, because they are the ones with the greatest fear. Those who have robbed the people blind while in positions of power and trust, want guns out of the hands of the people. Those who have transported, sold, raped, and murdered children for a global business want guns out of the citizens hands. How far has the deep state gone to get them? Wanting to use the no-fly-list as a weapon against gun owners?

Watch as Trey Gowdy OWNS clueless DHS expert on why the No Fly List is not only a bad idea for gun control but how unconstitutional it is against the American people!!

Comment: Congressman Gowdy is one of the few shining lights in Washington. But even he has had enough, and plans to retire soon. It is America's loss.

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Bullseye

Lavrov to British Channel 4: We are in the post-West world order


RT
Fri, 29 Jun 2018 20:24 UTC
Lavrov
© Sergei Karpukhin / ReutersRussian FM Sergey Lavrov
A new multipolar order, driven by economics and history, is emerging in the world and Western attempts to stop or to slow it down are unlikely to succeed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told UK's Channel 4.

"I think that we are in the post-West world order," Lavrov told the British Channel 4 in an interview on Friday. "It is a historical epoch, if you want. Certainly, after five or so centuries of domination of the collective West, as it were, it is not very easy to adjust to new realities that there are other powerhouses economically, financially and politically," he added, pointing to China, India and Brazil.

Asked if Russia was shaping this world order, Lavrov replied it was rather the product of history and "development itself."

"You cannot really hope to contain [these] new powerful, economically and financially, countries. You cannot really ignore their role in world trade and world economy," despite attempts to slow down the process with sanctions and tariffs, the top Russian diplomat said.

Comment: The full interview is well worth watching!



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Arrow Down

Ten years imprisonment for a tweet: UAE silences human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor amid brutal post-Arab Spring crackdown

Joe Odell
Middle East Eye
Wed, 06 Jun 2018 13:17 UTC
Human Rights activist Ahmed Mansoor
Last week Abu Dhabi's Supreme Court sentenced the awarded-winning Emirati human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of using his social media account to "defame the nation" by spreading "rumours and lies about the UAE" and promoting "sectarian feelings and hatred" among its citizens.

It is a ruthless ruling for one of the region's most prominent rights campaigners, who in 2015 won the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders after his tireless struggle for basic political and civil rights in the UAE.

The court also fined Mansoor 1m Dirhams (£204,000) and ordered him to be placed on close surveillance for a further three years following the completion of his sentence.

Comment: Human Rights Watch reports that The United Arab Emirates has a history of arbitrarily detaining or forcibly disappearing individuals who criticize the authorities and has been implicated in detainee abuse at home and abroad. The UAE bans representatives of international human rights organizations from visiting.

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Yoda

Lavrov: 'Some states' used Syrian crisis to reshape Middle East and Africa by force, 'in their own interests'


Sputnik
Fri, 29 Jun 2018 20:19 UTC
SDS tank raqqa
© Rodi Said / ReutersA Syrian Democratic Forces military vehicle drives west of Raqqa province in Syria.
The Syrian government launched a full-scale offensive in the country's southwestern regions earlier this month in order to regain control over its border with Jordan and with the disputed territory of the Golan Heights.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the United Kingdom's Channel 4 News broadcaster on Friday that some states used the Syrian conflict in their own interests, getting into the war-torn country and trying to redraw the map of the region by force.

"It is a war, which started by mistakes made on the part of everyone including the Syrian government. I believe these disturbances could be handled politically at the early stage but we have now at our hands what is the result of outside forces having tried to use the situation in order to reshape the map of the Middle East and Northern Africa by trying to get into Syria without any invitation and trying to promote their own agenda there," he stated.

Comment: SouthFront reports the latest military developments in southwest Syria:



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Cowboy Hat

Ex-diplomat Jim Jatras: Trump will go to meeting with Putin with his own priorities


RT
Fri, 29 Jun 2018 20:02 UTC
putin trump
NATO & several EU countries have an irreconcilable anti-Russian stance, while others don't want pointless enmity with Moscow, so Trump won't come to meet Putin with any kind of unity behind him, former US diplomat Jim Jatras said.

Washington and Moscow have announced that the first summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will take place in Helsinki in July following the NATO summit in Brussels. The head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has welcomed the news, saying dialogue is a sign of strength.

Meanwhile, despite the latest diplomatic efforts, new allegations are emerging of collusion between a US politician and Russia. This time, National Security Advisor John Bolton is in the spotlight. Some commentators are describing him as "Kremlin-affiliated" after meeting Vladimir Putin.
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Yoda

Lavrov dismisses idea of trading Snowden for easing sanctions: 'He is master of his own destiny'


RT
Fri, 29 Jun 2018 19:17 UTC
Edward Snowden
© Marcos Brindicci / ReutersEdward Snowden speaks via video link during a conference at University of Buenos Aires Law School.
Russia has never mulled handing over NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to the US in exchange for easing sanctions, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov told UK Channel 4, when asked if it could form part of a deal with President Donald Trump.

"I have never discussed Edward Snowden with [Donald Trump's] administration," Lavrov told Channel 4's Cathy Newman. He added that President Vladimir Putin had addressed the issue years ago, however.

"When he was asked the question, he said this is for Edward Snowden to decide. We respect his rights, as an individual. That is why we were not in a position to expel him against his will, because he found himself in Russia even without a US passport, which was discontinued as he was flying from Hong Kong," Lavrov recalled.

Snowden, the man behind the biggest exposure in years of the US electronic surveillance apparatus, got stranded in Russia when Washington withdrew his passport as he was travelling via Moscow from Hong Kong. The Russian government eventually granted him political asylum. Snowden is facing prosecution in the US for leaking classified documents to a number of media outlets.

Comment: The West again betrays its OWN motivations - what it would do if the shoe was on the other foot: horse-trade 'spies'.

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