Puppet MastersS


Eye 1

American provocateur: North Korea goes ballistic over missiles thanks to war games and 'total destruction' rhetoric

Robert Bridge
RT
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 08:16 UTC
Trump King jong-un
© ReutersAmerican provocateur: Why North Korea is going ballistic over missiles
With each passing year, North Koreans marks the change of seasons unlike any other people in the world, watching the US and South Korea open massive military games. With Trump, the saber rattling has increased exponentially.

There are few things more unnerving than watching two state leaders, with a nuclear arsenal at their disposal, lobbing verbal grenades at each other, as if the survival of entire planet was not part of the equation.

Yet, that is exactly what US President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un have been doing for about a year now.


Comment: North Korea: A threat or a victim of US propaganda?


By now, the routine has become all-too familiar: In cyclical fashion, the United States and South Korea open military games, or a US armada suddenly appears on the horizon, while Pyongyang puts on a display of strength to prove its mettle. This leads to a series of volatile outbursts from Trump as the tension barometer ratchets up to a new level.
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Jet3

Pakistani air force ordered to shoot down intruding US drones deemed responsible for a high number of civilian deaths


PressTV
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 07:45 UTC
US drone
File photo of a US drone
Amid frayed Washington-Islamabad ties, Pakistan has ordered its air force to shoot down any drones violating the country's airspace, including those of the US military, which are deemed responsible for a high number of civilian deaths in the Asian state.

"We will not allow anyone to violate our airspace. I have ordered PAF (Pakistan air force) to shoot down drones, including those of the US, if they enter our airspace, violating the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman said in an address in Islamabad, the Times of India reported.

Comment: See also:

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Cult

Palestinian officials rightly worried that Saudi Arabia is advancing Israel's interests


PressTV
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 10:07 UTC
Mahmoud Abbas Prince Mohammad Bin Salman
This file photo shows Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.


Palestinian officials have expressed worry that Saudi Arabia is forgoing important Palestinian rights as it acts behind the scenes to advance a United States "grand bargain" over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that heavily favors Israeli interests.

Four Palestinian officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity on Friday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had communicated a proposal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that would give away the right of return for Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of a future Palestinian state in return for conditions unfavorable to Palestinians, Reuters reported on Friday.

That proposal has reportedly been shaped by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and "senior adviser," who has developed a close relationship with Mohammed bin Salman.

The Palestinian officials expressed concern that the proposal is too much in line with Israeli interests and to the disadvantage of Palestinians, whose land Israel has occupied.

Comment: The Palestinian officials have genuine reasons for concern. David Hearst writes:
Trump, however, does not act alone. Whatever domestic constituency he thinks he is appealing to [with his decision on Jerusalem], and the evangelical Christians appear high on the list, Trump could not and would not have made his announcement unless he had regional backers.

The support of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and religious nationalists from Jewish Home are a given, but they are wearily familiar. The exotic and temptingly alien support comes from a new generation of Gulf Arab superbrats - young, irreverent, dune-bashing, selfie-taking, in your face, and appearing in a coup near you.

Under Trump they have formed an axis of Arab autocrats, whose geopolitical ambition is as large as their wallets. They really do think they have the power to impose their will not just on the shards of a Palestinian state, but on the region as a whole.

Under construction, at least in their minds, is a network of modern police states, each wearing a lip gloss of Western liberalism. All see Likud as their natural partners, and Jared Kushner as their discreet interlocutor.

Thought, reflection, cooperation, consultation, consensus do not appear in their lexicon. Democracy is to be postponed, free speech is there to be managed. And Arabs? They are there to be bought.

This was why Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince and the kingdom's de facto ruler, thought he could browbeat Mahmoud Abbas, the ailing Palestinian president, into acquiescence. He told Abbas either to accept the terms - no Jerusalem, no right of return - or make way for someone who will, according to multiple sources quoted by the New York Times.

Several of the officials said bin Salman had offered to sweeten the deal with direct payment to Abbas, which he refused.


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Handcuffs

Theatre of the Absurd: Stateless Saakashvili goes on hunger strike in Ukrainian jail


Sputnik
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 08:31 UTC
Mikheil Saakashvili
© REUTERS/ Serhii Nuzhnenko

Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's ex-president and former Ukrainian regional governor, has been arrested in Kiev. The embattled politician was initially detained Tuesday but his supporters blocked the police minivan he was in and set him free. On Friday, Ukrainian Police finally took the former friend of Ukraine's incumbent president into custody.

MikheilSaakashvili has gone on a hunger strike after he was taken into Ukrainian custody, his lawyer said after meeting him at a detention center on Saturday.

"He has declared the start of a hunger strike," Ruslan Chernolutskiy told the crowd outside the detention facility where the politician is being held.

Comment: See also:

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Mr. Potato

Disgusted by fellow colleagues, Brazilian clown leaves Congress


The Guardian
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 10:41 UTC
Tiririca, Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva
© Fabio Pozzebom/APTiririca, real name Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva, pictured in 2013 while campaigning for re-election.
Tiririca lambasts fellow congressmen and women for widespread graft and laziness in speech ending seven-year political career

A clown who has twice been elected to Brazil's Congress under the slogan "It can't get any worse" has said he is too embarrassed by his fellow politicians to run again.

Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva, known as Tiririca, this week has said he is ashamed of his colleagues - more than half of whom are reportedly under investigation for corruption - and will not run again in 2018.

As a member of the Chamber of Deputies, Tiririca had continued working in a circus on weekends and he said he was returning to clowning full-time.

Comment: When a clown is too embarrassed to be associated with you, you know you've got a big problem. For more on the corruption in the Brazilian government, see:

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Rocket

Pakistani Air Force commander Sohail Aman orders to shoot down US drones


RT
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 10:24 UTC
US drone
US drone
Pakistan's Air Force (PAF) commander has reportedly ordered to take down drones violating the country's sovereignty, including that of the US.

Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman also recalled a historic breach of trust incident over a batch of US-made F-16's which Pakistan paid for, but never received. The jabs against America, a key ally, came Thursday in a speech Aman delivered at a ceremony of aviation students gathered in Islamabad. The top military official praised Pakistan's air prowess, saying their forces are prepared to defend sovereignty of the country.

"We committed a mistake in Osama bin Laden's case but now the country's sovereignty will be protected at all costs," he told an audience at the AirTech 17 expo at the Air University. Aman was referring to the CIA-led US commando raid in May 2011, which involved a cross-border flight of Black Hawk helicopters from Jalalabad, Afghanistan to Abbottabad, Pakistan. The Pakistanis were not informed about the planned assassination beforehand, which sparked outrage in the country.

"We will not allow anyone to violate our airspace," Aman said as cited by The Times of India, adding, that he has ordered the PAF "to shoot down drones, including those of the US, if they enter our airspace, violating the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Comment: See also:

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Jet3

25 injured, including 6 children in Israeli strike on Gaza after rocket attacks


RT
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 09:15 UTC
An interception by the Iron Dome anti-missile system is seen as rockets are launched from Gaza towards Israel
© Amir Cohen / ReutersAn interception by the Iron Dome anti-missile system is seen as rockets are launched from Gaza towards Israel
At least 25 Palestinians, including six children, have been wounded after the Israeli Air Force bombed alleged Hamas targets inside Gaza. The IDF says the airstrikes were in retaliation for 3 rocket attacks launched from the enclave into Israeli territory.

"In response to the projectiles fired at Israel from Gaza earlier today, IAF aircraft targeted a Hamas training compound & an ammunition warehouse in the Gaza Strip," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Twitter. "The IDF holds Hamas solely responsible for all hostile acts against Israel emanating from the Gaza Strip."

At least 25 people were wounded in the Israeli strikes, including six children, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, according to Reuters. Later, Wafa news reported, that one of the injured succumbed to their wounds and died in the hospital.


Israel launched the strikes against Gaza after two rockets were fired towards southern Israel Friday. The air assault came after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called for a new Palestinian intifada following the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.



The first rocket was destroyed by the Iron Dome missile defense system, while the second activated the warning sirens in the Sha'ar Hanegev, Sdot Negev, Hof Ashkelon and Eshkol regional councils, as well as the city of Sderot. The second projectile failed to reach its intended target. Warning that more rockets could soon follow, the IDF advised Israelis to remain close to "protected spaces" and bomb shelters.

Comment: See also:

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Snakes in Suits

The XXIII Olympic political games: The war against Russia on the South Korean front (Interview)

John Helmer
Dances with Bears
Thu, 07 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Olympic Doping
Carl von Clausewitz, the 19th century German soldier and military strategist, famously remarked that war is the continuation of policy (politics) by other means.

By war, von Clausewitz meant the old-fashioned idea of running people through or making them run away, so they give up their territory, treasure, and women. By war these days there are fresh ways of running people through and grabbing treasure and women. There's cyber warfare, which strikes at the enemy's minds, not their bodies; sanctions, which are the modern form of siege warfare, starving the enemy of cash for food; and sports warfare, which means killing the most popular entertainment in the world. Olympic Games and World Cup football have replaced rape and rapine of olden times, at least in countries which regard themselves as civilized.

Comment: For a further in-depth discussion read this recent SOTT Focus article by Joe Quinn The US-Inspired Olympic Ban on Russia: Another Pyrrhic Victory for the Ailing Empire of Chaos

Under the title 'The man who sold his soul' Grigory Rodchenkov figures most prominently, as do a few others;
As the head of the WADA-approved Moscow anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov was responsible for tampering with the samples of Russian athletes and developing a three-drug cocktail of banned substances that he mixed with liquor and sold for personal profit to Russian athletes that competed in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. According to an investigator with Moscow City court, he prescribed many of these drugs as 'vitamins' to unwitting athletes. For years prior to this, Rodchenkov and his sister Marina also ran a sideline selling PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) to anyone else who was willing to pay. In 2011, the two Rodchenkovs were arrested and found guilty of drug dealing. Marina spent 18 months in prison while Grigory escaped jail time by claiming insanity and spending time in the Kashchenko psychiatric hospital.
Also read:

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Bad Guys

Why US politicians keep Clinton probe under the rug, bolster Trump-Russia case

Ekaterina Blinova
Sputnik
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 22:23 UTC
trump_clinton
© REUTERS/ Jonathan Ernst
Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's guilty plea has triggered a heated debate on the prospects of the Trump-Russia investigation. Speaking to Sputnik, Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel opined that potential disclosures are not a cause for US President Donald Trump's concern, adding that the Clintons' case deserves far more scrutiny.

Although more than a year has passed since the US 2016 presidential election, no solid evidence confirming the alleged "collusion" between Donald Trump and Russia has emerged, Wall Street analyst and investigative journalist Charles Ortel told Sputnik.

"So far, I have seen little hard evidence supporting the strident claims by Deep State actors and mainstream media proving claims of 'collusion' - this is surprising given that so much time has now passed since 8 November 2016," Ortel pointed out.
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Bullseye

Putin is quietly working to put out the Middle East fire that was just started by Trump

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 13:32 UTC
Putin Egypt
While brokering a peace deal in the Israel-Palestine conflict is one of the most difficult tasks in the world - Putin already has one advantage over Trump. Putin listens.

Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held one of his increasingly frequent phone calls with his Turkey counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Russia said the following of the phone call in an official statement,
"Both sides expressed serious concern about the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and plans to move the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv. Such steps can thwart all prospects for the Middle East peace process.

Further escalation of tensions in the region, it was noted, would be unacceptable. The efforts of the international community should be aimed at facilitating the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli talks in search of a compromise solution to all issues, including the status of Jerusalem.

Russia and Turkey reaffirmed their commitment to achieving a just and viable solution to the Middle East crisis based, above all, on the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, as well as the realization of the Palestinian people's right to their own state.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan informed President Putin about the calling of an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation devoted to this situation on December 13.

Topical aspects of bilateral cooperation were addressed, with special attention given to carrying out strategic energy projects.

The presidents agreed to continue personal contacts".

Comment: One could well argue that there really is nothing to mediate in the Middle East. Israel behaves like an intractable foe - not only to Palestinians and to Iran - but to any nation or people that threatens to get in the way of its plans for a 'greater Israel'. There is no amount of diplomacy, or agreement, or compromise, or law - that can, or will, assuage Israel's ambition. At the end of the day, Israel's goals - and the ways in which it goes about pursuing those goals - will be its fatal undoing.

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