Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

WH defends its handling of Porter scandal, intel chief hits out at 'broken' vetting system


RT
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 12:03 UTC
Dan Coats
© Aaron BernsteinDirector of National Intelligence Dan Coats
The White House has defended its handling of the background check for Rob Porter, a former top aide to President Donald Trump accused of domestic abuse.

Porter, who worked as a top White House aide despite domestic abuse allegations from two former wives, resigned last week after stories emerged of his behavior. President Trump has questioned the legitimacy of the allegations against Porter, who has denied the claims.

Addressing the controversy at the daily press briefing Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters that its personnel security office had not finished making a recommendation on Porter's security clearance even though the FBI had finished its investigation. As Trump's staff secretary, Porter would have had access to highly secretive information.
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Vader

Intel chiefs pay lip service to Russian threat & fears of China in Senate testimony


RT
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 12:03 UTC
Christopher Wray Mike Pompeo Dan Coats
© Aaron P. Bernstein / ReutersFBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and Director of National Intelligence DNI Dan Coats testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, February 13, 2018
Testifying before the US Senate on worldwide threats, six intelligence chiefs often banged the drum of 'Russian interference.' The tune was old and rang hollow, however, as mere assertions were offered in place of evidence.

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dan Coats was joined by CIA chief Mike Pompeo, FBI Director Christopher Wray, NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers, and the heads of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), to apprise the Senate Intelligence Committee on worldwide threats.

Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) set the tone for Tuesday's hearing, asking the witnesses to declare publicly they stand by the January 2017 assessment produced by the former DNI, which blamed Russia for "interfering" in US elections in an unspecified manner. Everyone dutifully answered yes.

Comment: Further reading:

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Stock Down

City of London think tank predicts "imminent" US stock market crash of up to 50%

Nafeez Ahmed
Medium
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 12:00 UTC
NASDAQ
A new analysis published on the website of a London-based think-tank, funded by the world's biggest banking and financial services institutions, warns that the US stock market is on the brink of an imminent crash that could trigger another global recession.

The document by a senior US economist and former Houblon-Norman Fellow at the Bank of England is published on the website of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), which runs around 100 roundtable events a year involving financial services insiders from the UK and beyond.

The document forecasts that in 2018, US stock prices are likely to plummet by as much as "forty to fifty percent" - compared to the less than five percent plunge in early February. The document was published weeks before the recent stock market volatility.

Comment: One wonders what economic models the financial oligarchs have in mind. Because while Western nations continue with their failing economic and political model, other countries, like Russia and China, have been buying up gold, restructuring their economies, forging ahead with massive infrastructure projects and mutually beneficial deals, working towards a world that does not rely on the corrupt US

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Jet4

Syrian Foreign Minstry warns Israel of "more surprises" should attacks continue


Thomson Reuters Foundation
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 10:50 UTC
An Israeli Air Force F-16 fighter jet
© Baz Ratner / ReutersAn Israeli Air Force F-16 fighter jet
The Syrian government said on Tuesday that Israel would face "more surprises" in future attacks on Syria's territory, after Syrian air defences shot down an Israeli F-16 jet.

Syrian anti-aircraft fire downed the F-16 as it returned from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria early on Saturday. Both Iran and Russia are supporting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's near seven-year civil war.

"Have full confidence the aggressor will be greatly surprised because it thought this war - this war of attrition Syria has been exposed to for years - had made it incapable of confronting attacks," assistant foreign minister Ayman Sussan said.

Comment: It is interesting that articles from Western media covering the shooting down of the Israeli F-16 rarely mention that Israel has been bombing Syria for years now in support of the terrorist proxy armies seeking 'regime change'. On the other hand, they don't hesitate to repeat the Israeli narrative that Iran and Hezbollah pose a threat to their country.

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Chess

'What kind of NATO alliance is this?' - Erdogan threatens US with 'Ottoman slap,' says all NATO countries created equal


RT
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 08:48 UTC
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© Umit Bektas / ReutersTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Washington could soon receive the "Ottoman slap," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned, while also stating that all members of NATO are equal with the US.

While speaking to the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party in Ankara on Tuesday, Erdogan referenced a recent remark by Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk, the top US commander in the US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), who said that Turkey would face a sharp response if it struck Manbij, Syria.

"Those who say they will give a sharp response if hit, have clearly never got the Ottoman slap in their lives," Erdogan said, referring to a half-legendary Turkish martial move that involves a potent open-palm hit, resulting in a one-hit knockout or even skull fractures and death.

Comment: Erdogan says 'US wants us to surrender to terrorists' - Turkey slams Pentagon's request to support Kurdish-dominated SDF

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Yoda

Palestine FM: Russia could host Palestine-Israel talks as US can no longer be the sole broker


RT
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 08:20 UTC
Palestinian demonstrators
© Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / ReutersPalestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli troops in southern Gaza Strip February 9, 2018
Russia could provide platform for a potential meeting between Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Palestinian foreign minister said, voicing Palestine's readiness to sit down for direct talks with Israel.

"Absolutely, [we are ready for direct talks] through a third party, of course," Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Tuesday, as quoted by RIA. "We don't think a 15-minute meeting in Jerusalem would help us," the minister went on, noting that "coming to Sochi or Moscow would be a good decision, if [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is willing to."

"The flight is no longer than three hours, and [Netanyahu] would enjoy hospitality of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the Russian people," al-Maliki said, calling on the Israeli side to consider the option, according to RIA.

Comment: See also: Putin and Trump had phone discussion regarding Israel-Palestine conflict ahead of Abbas meeting

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Star of David

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi's trial adjourned - former EU official says 'silence must be broken on Israeli injustice'


RT
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 22:07 UTC
ahed tammi
© Ammar Awad / ReutersAhed Tamimi enters a military courtroom escorted by Israeli security personnel on February 13, 2018.
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, 16, has gone on trial before an Israeli military court. Israel has faced criticism for prosecuting the teen who has become a powerful symbol of the Palestinian resistance.

Only family members were allowed to remain in the courtroom at Ofer military base, and diplomats were also asked to leave. After the prosecution read out the indictment, Tamimi's trial was adjourned until March 11.

Ahead of Ahed Tamimi's trial, RT America visited her home village of Nabi Saleh to speak to her family. It also spoke to Luisa Morgantini, the former vice president of the European Parliament (EP).

Morgantini said the "injustice of the Israeli occupation is so great that one cannot remain silent."

Comment:

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Stock Down

US debt to reach $30 trillion by 2028, thanks in no small part to the military industrial complex


RT
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 16:18 UTC
F-22 Raptor fighter
© Toby Melville / ReutersA U.S. F-22 Raptor fighter.
The mounting US debt is likely to grow by another $10 trillion in the next decade, according to estimates contained in the recent budget proposal.

According to the White House Office of Management and Budget, the national debt will hit $29.9 trillion by 2028. The deficit will be equal to 101 percent of America's GDP, the Watchdog Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget forecasts. The country's current debt stands at a record $20.6 trillion - its highest level since shortly after World War II.

If current laws stand, widening budget deficits will increase that debt sharply over the next 30 years, with the deficit reaching 150 percent of GDP in 2047, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted last year.
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Eye 1

16 years after Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was assassinated by a radical leftist, Dutch establishment is gunning for Thierry Baudet

Gerard Koning
Novini
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 20:27 UTC

Comment: Pim Fortuyn was a populist politician in the Netherlands who warned almost two decades ago about the encroaching totalitarianism of political correctness, so-called 'anti-racism' and the destructive effects of mass immigration. A very popular politician, Fortuyn was assassinated by a radical leftist nutjob in 2002.

Geert Wilders has thus far avoided the same fate by having round-the-clock security. And now Thierry Baudet, a young politician of the new right, is being dragged through the mud by the same Dutch media that would turn the wolves loose on him in the hope that he meets Fortuyn's fate.

The following article is from Dutch magazine Novini. Translated by Sott.net, we're sharing it to give you an idea of the dangerous climate in the Netherlands for anyone brave enough to stand up to the ultra-liberals.


Thierry Baudet
© ANPPolitical leader Thierry Baudet of the Dutch main opposition party, Forum voor Democratie
"Mister Baudet, we have only just begun," cried Dutch D66 leader Alexander Pechtold at the end of an election debate in Amsterdam last week. Pechtold had already lashed out at Thierry Baudet several times, who had to hold his ground in a barrage of malicious and mendacious accusations by, among others, Lodewijk ("Be a man"), Asscher and Jesse ("moral elevated self"), and Klaver. The same Asscher who sat in Mark Rutte's lap for four years without keeping a straight face, he was that servile. Jesse Klaver, who did not manage to fulfill the role of the Messiah and who left the formation talks on his bench-bike in a cowardly manner.

A cleverly made video compilation was published on YouTube on 10 February, in which images of demonising politicians against Fortuyn are interspersed with images of demonising politicians against Baudet. The recording is frightening and nauseating. [Below is a transcript of what was said]


Comment: See also:

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Snakes in Suits

US Defense Secretary Mattis shrugs off thaw between the Koreas and Olympics effect


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 20:55 UTC
Mattis/Song Young-moo
© Jung Yeon-je via APS. Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo • US Secretary of Defense James Mattis
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis has brushed off speculation that North Korea is using the 2018 Winter Olympics to "drive a wedge" between the US and South Korea, its traditional ally in the Asia-Pacific.

High-level talks between Pyongyang and Seoul, the first in decades, took place on the sidelines of the PyeongChang Olympics. DPRK leader Kim Jong-un's sister and closest advisor Kim Yo-Jong met South Korean President Moon Jae-in to extend an invitation for further talks.
"It is too early to say if ... using the Olympics in a way to reduce tension [is] going to have any traction once the Olympics are over, we can't say right now," Mattis said, as quoted by Reuters while en route to Rome.

"In the midst of all this, [Kim] ran a military parade that highlighted his ballistic missiles. That's a very strange time if, in fact, he is trying to feel warming to the country that he has attacked repeatedly as an American puppet, [so], it's too early to tell," he continued.
This echoes US Vice President Mike Pence's sentiments that, despite the recent rapprochement, there will be no official change in US policy toward North Korea until the country abandons its nuclear weapons program.

Comment: The US is trying to keep the chill in the air and the heat on North Korea.

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