Puppet MastersS


Yoda

Putin: 'Either Russia is a sovereign country, or there is no Russia'


RT
Wed, 06 Jun 2018 09:22 UTC
Russian President Vladimir Putin
© Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik / ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin inspects warships during the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 30, 2017
Sanctions, however harsh they may be, will not force Russia to abandon its independent stance in the world, President Vladimir Putin said, adding that Russians will never accept trade-offs at the expense of sovereignty.

Speaking to Chinese TV, Putin said that he believes the rounds of sanctions imposed on Russia by the US, its allies and the EU have only one goal - to hamper its economic development. He went on to stress that no amount of sanctions and punitive measures will ever be enough to make Russia cave in and change its policy.

"I believe that either Russia will be sovereign, or there will be no Russia at all. And, of course, the Russian people will always opt for the first. I think the Chinese people will too. We have no other option," Putin said.

Comment: See also:

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No Entry

German MPs seek expulsion of recently-appointed US ambassador after he called for 'empowering Europe's conservatives'


RT
Wed, 06 Jun 2018 09:06 UTC
Germany's Lower House of Parliament
© Hannibal Hanschke / ReutersGermany's Lower House of Parliament
German MPs are rallying for the US ambassador to be expelled after he said that he wanted to "empower" conservatives throughout Europe. One lawmaker dubbed the diplomat a "Trump vassal" while slamming his remarks.

Richard Grenell's controversial statements sent waves across Berlin when the US ambassador told Breitbart that he is overjoyed by the "European groundswell of conservative policies" that has come about because of the "failed policies of the left." He also said he wanted to "empower" conservatives on the continent.

The German foreign ministry responded by seeking clarification from the US, while MPs were quick to speak their minds regarding Grenell's comments. Some are even calling for him to be expelled over the matter.

Comment: Ouf!

Grenell really put his foot in it. The 'Liberal-Conservative' divide in the US doesn't quite translate abroad, where nationalists (as opposed to globalists - the 'elites' he refers to) are often 'from the Left'.

See also:

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Info

The West is racing towards full-blown economic collapse and when it comes it will be devastating

Egon von Greyerz
King World News
Sun, 03 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
eye on the world
As the world edges closer to the next crisis, today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE and historic moves in currencies, told King World News there is no way out and this is why the global collapse will be devastating.

20th Birthday Celebration!

The ECB (European Central Bank) just had its 20th birthday. But there is really nothing to celebrate. The EU is in a total mess and the Euro, which was launched on January 1, 1999, is a failed currency. Every president of the ECB has had to deal with fires that had very little to do with price stability but were more a question of survival. Most of these fires were a lot more serious than the candles in the Euro cake above which Draghi is trying to blow out. During the Frenchman Trichet's watch, he had to deal with the Great Financial Crisis that started in 2006...

Comment: See also: Gold set to breakout amid coming economic downturn, says financial expert

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Pirates

Best of the Web: Nicaragua's bloody unrest has US fingerprints all over it

William Whiteman
RT
Mon, 04 Jun 2018 23:25 UTC
Protest Nicaragua
© Oswaldo Rivas / ReutersProtest against Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega's government in Managua, Nicaragua May 30, 2018
The student-led anti-government movement in Nicaragua is unlike other recent attacks on the Latin American socialist bloc; it emanates mainly from the left of the political spectrum. But that doesn't mean the US isn't behind it.

The so-called marea rosa, or 'pink tide', of allied leftist governments which held sway across Latin America in previous years is being rolled back. Brazil's Dilma Rousseff was removed from power in a right-wing coup, co-conspirators of which have now managed to imprison the current presidential frontrunner, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Ecuador's Lenin Moreno has stabbed his former leader Rafael Correa in the back by barring him from seeking re-election, while seemingly purging his cabinet of remaining Correa loyalists and beginning the process of allowing the US military back into the country. Alongside other democratic and not-so-democratic removals of leftist governments from power, NATO has nabbed itself a foothold in the region, now that Colombia has joined the obsolete yet aggressively expanding Cold War alliance, in a thinly veiled threat to neighboring Venezuela.

And now it's Nicaragua's turn under the boot. Again.
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Quenelle

Austrian president: 'No need for Europe to buy US gas at triple the price, will continue imports from Russia'


RT
Tue, 05 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
LNG Gas Tanker
© Issei Kato / Reuters
The US is force-feeding Europe its liquefied natural gas, which is three times more expensive that buying it from Russia, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said after signing a gas-supply contract with Moscow until 2040.

While US politicians are accusing Europe of being dependent on Russian gas, they forget that "American liquefied gas is two or three times more expensive than Russian gas. Under such circumstances, it makes little sense in purely economic terms to replace Russian gas with American LNG," Van der Bellen said at a press conference after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vienna on Tuesday.

Putin noted that Austria is a major transportation hub for Russian gas being exported to Europe. "Austria has become one of the key, if not to say, one of the most important units of Russian gas transportation to Western Europe and plays an important role in ensuring the energy security of the entire European continent," Putin said.


Comment: See also:

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Quenelle - Golden

Iran tells UN it will hike uranium enrichment capacity


AFP
Tue, 05 Jun 2018 23:55 UTC
Iran Nuclear program
© IRNA/AFP/File / Kazem GHANEAn International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspector in January 2014 disconnects cascades for 20 percent uranium production at the nuclear power plant of Natanz, some 300 kilometres south of Tehran
Iran has notified the International Atomic Energy Agency that it has launched a plan to increase its uranium enrichment capacity, nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said Tuesday.

"If conditions allow, maybe tomorrow night at Natanz, we can announce the opening of the centre for production of new centrifuges" for uranium enrichment, said Salehi, a vice president and head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, according to conservative news agency Fars.

"What we are doing does not violate the (2015 nuclear) agreement," he said, adding that a letter was submitted to the IAEA "yesterday regarding the start of certain activities".

Comment: See also:

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Chalkboard

Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to Putin: 'Superpower Russia is key to settlement of Syria, Ukraine conflicts'


RT
Tue, 05 Jun 2018 08:14 UTC
Austria’s Kurz to Putin
© Leonhard Foeger / ReutersSuperpower Russia key to settlement of Syria, Ukraine conflicts – Austria’s Kurz to Putin
Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (R) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
Russia is crucial in bringing peace to Syria and Ukraine, Austrian leader Sebastian Kurz told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, adding he hopes Moscow helps secure peace in Donbass, paving the way to lifting EU sanctions.

"Russia, as a superpower, has an important role in Syria and eastern Ukraine, and Russia has great responsibility," Chancellor Kurz said after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vienna on Tuesday. "We hope that Russia will contribute to people finally living to see what they wanted to see for a long time - peace."

"We have the highest hopes for progress in eastern Ukraine so that with gradual implementation of the Minsk agreements to step by step lift sanctions" against Russia, the chancellor said. "This is the scenario that we want to achieve for our continent."


Comment: When European leaders develop some backbone and stand up to the USA on issues like Ukraine and Syria, then they won't have to ask Putin and Russia (the only adults in the geopolitical room, apparently) to "please, please do something!"

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Che Guevara

Fmr Ecuador President Rafael Correa: Latin America is now experiencing an aggressive return to its neoliberal past

Deisy Francis Mexidor
Resumen
Sun, 27 May 2018 19:51 UTC
rafael correa
Rafael Correa is charismatic man who knows how to communicate. Two qualities that helped him to reach the presidency of Ecuador in 2007, a nation that up to that point had been on unstable political ground.

Before Correa at least seven presidents had alternated between scandals, popular protests and replacements - until the Palace of Carondelet had as its occupant this economist turned leader. During the 10 years of his tenure in office he promoted a Citizen Revolution which improved the conditions of the poorest Ecuadorians with a vast improvement of social programs.

Working now as journalist with Russia Today Correa has been able to reflect on what it takes to be a strong decisive leader. "It isn't about if someone dislikes me or not, I have no control over that. I never looked at my job as President as trying to please everyone it was about what was needed to move the country forward."

With that same clarity Correa warned during our interview in Caracas that, "what we have in Latin America now is an onslaught; an aggressive return of the neo liberal past. It is a terrible neo conservatism that respects absolutely nothing, neither democracy nor human rights, nor constitutional order and with an impressive double standard at the inter-Americanism at the world level."
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Magnify

Wikistrat - The mysterious DC intelligence firm connected to Israel in Mueller's sights

Ken Klippenstein
The Daily Beast
Mon, 04 Jun 2018 19:25 UTC
hands on data
© KENDALL MCMINIMY/GETTY
In the fall of 2016, Donald Trump Jr. and other key aides to the future president reportedly met in Trump Tower with Joel Zamel, the founder of a company called Wikistrat.

Wikistrat bills itself as a "crowdsourced" geopolitical analysis firm based in Washington, D.C. But interviews with current and former employees and documents reviewed by The Daily Beast tell a different story: that the vast majority of Wikistrat's clients were foreign governments; that Wikistrat is, for all intents and purposes, an Israeli firm; and that the company's work was not just limited to analysis. It also engaged in intelligence collection.

Robert Mueller's office is investigating Wikistrat and Zamel, according to The Wall Street Journal, as the special counsel's probe expands into Middle Eastern governments' attempts to influence American politics.
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Network

Italy's new Prime Minister open to lifting anti-Russian sanctions


Sputnik
Tue, 05 Jun 2018 18:13 UTC
giuseppe conti
© REUTERS / Alessandro Bianchi
Italy's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is delivering his first speech to the Italian Senate, speaking about the government's need to reduce the country's huge public debt "through growth," not austerity.

Giuseppe Conte called for EU sanctions against Russia to be reviewed, saying that the government "will promote a review of the sanctions system."

"We will support opening up to Russia... We will push for a review of the sanctions system, starting with those that risk humiliating Russian civil society," Conte stated.

The prime minister has reaffirmed Italy's convinced membership of NATO, with the United States of America as a "privileged ally."

"We want to reduce our public debt, but we want to do so with growth and not with austerity measures," he told senators during his policy speech, after which he will ask for parliament's confidence.
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