Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Who cares about the population, it's politics: EU blacklists 3 Russian nationals and 3 companies over Siemens turbines to Crimea


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 15:07 UTC
Electricity transmission lines
© Sergey Malgavko / Sputnik
The European Commission has decided to broaden sanctions against Moscow on Friday. More Russian individuals and firms accused of delivering Siemens gas turbines to the Crimea have been blacklisted.

The updated blacklist includes Russian Deputy Energy Minister Andrey Cherezov, the head of the department of operational control and management in Russia's electric power industry Evgeniy Grabchak and state firm Technopromexport CEO Sergey Topor-Gilka.

"Establishing an independent power supply for Crimea and Sevastopol supports their separation from Ukraine, and undermines the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Gas turbines are a substantial element in the development of new power plants," the EU said in a statement.


Comment: The EU proudly proclaims that it doesn't matter what the people want and what the people need. Western defined boundaries must be enforced come hell or high water.


Western companies are not allowed to do business in the Crimea. The region is under EU and US sanctions since voting to rejoin Russia in a referendum three years ago.
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Star of David

Israeli court hands ownership of Greek Orthodox church property in Jerusalem to illegal settlers


Middle East Monitor
Wed, 02 Aug 2017 15:06 UTC
Church of the Holy Sepulchre jerusalem
© Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu AgencyPeople gather outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which was opened to worship after the restoration in Jerusalem on 22 March, 2017.
An Israeli military court ruled that settler groups have the right to seize two hotels and a large building in the Old City of Jerusalem which belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.

The Church said the Israeli Central Court yesterday accepted lawsuits filed by settler groups against it regarding the Petra and Imperial hotels and the house of Mu'amadiyah in the Jaffa Gate area of the Old City.

Jaffa Gate is the closest to the Christian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the church owns several properties.

In a statement published yesterday, the Patriarchate condemned the court's decision adding that the court based its decision on "a deal concluded illegally with the person responsible for the church's financial department during the time of dismissed Patriarch Irenaios in 2004".
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Snakes in Suits

German FM warns Turkey's death penalty calls spell end of current EU relations


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 14:46 UTC
EU and Turkey flags
© Fatih Saribas / Reuters
Claims of the possible reinstatement of capital punishment in Turkey signal an end to the existing relations between Ankara and Europe, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said.

"The core problem is that Turkey is distant from democracy," Gabriel said in an interview with Stern magazine, adding that "innocent people are imprisoned there."

The minister noted the crackdown on the media and shakeup in the police and judicial system in Turkey, which followed the failed coup attempt last summer.

In April, the Turkish people supported the switch from a parliamentary to presidential system in a controversial referendum, vastly expanding the powers of leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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Info

Trump rally: Investigators should look into Hillary's emails, not 'fake' Russia story and Governor turns Republican


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 14:11 UTC
Trump rally
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
President Donald Trump left a West Virginia crowd chanting, "Lock her up!" at his latest campaign-style rally, after he called on prosecutors to look into Hillary Clinton's deleted emails.

On Thursday, Trump traveled to Huntington, West Virginia to host a "Make America Great Again" rally. The president said Democrats were "cheating" American voters by obsessing over the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and told his supporters that they are "on the side of the special interest."

"The reason why Democrats only talk about the totally made up Russian story is because they have no message, no agenda and no vision," Trump said.
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Chess

Is Madame Merkel's being "up in arms" about Washington's new sanctions just a ruse?

Peter Koenig
Global Research
Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:00 UTC
Merkel
Everybody with a clear mind is up in arms about the US Congress' latest sanctions against Russia - and as usual - sanctions for naught- zilch, zero - since Russia hasn't done any of the things Washington and the servile west accuses her of, like interference in US elections (US secret services have repeatedly said there is no evidence whatsoever), interference in Ukraine (Washington / NATO / EU have instigated and paid for the bloody Maidan coup in February 2014); annexing Crimea (an overwhelming (97%) vote by the people of Crimea for reincorporation into the Russian Federation - their given right, according to the UN Charter). Even if Russia wanted to, she couldn't correct any of her 'mistakes'. They are all invented.

None of the accusations have any substance. But the western presstitute keeps hammering them into the dimwitted brains of the populace. We can only repeat with Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Propaganda Minister: "Let me control the media, and I will turn any Nation into a herd of Pigs". Well, the western Anglo-Zionist propaganda machine has successfully turned western civilizations (sic) into a herd of pigs.

Comment: While its possible that Merkel is putting on a show to get re-elected, she certainly would be supported by many in Germany if her sanctions push back was sincere: Germany seeks EU countermeasures against US 'illegal' Russia sanctions

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Bizarro Earth

Top US military official says US plans 'global' drills to counter Russia and other 'complex threats'


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 14:01 UTC
US army tank
© David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters
The US military is shifting towards a "more global" exercise program in preparation to deter what they term a "more assertive Russia" as well as countering other complex threats, a senior officer commanding the US forces in Europe has said.

"What we're eventually going toward is a globally integrated exercise program so that we (are)... all working off the same sheet of music in one combined global exercise," Air Force Brigadier General John Healy, who directs the drills of US forces in Europe told Reuters.

Healy said troops need to be prepared for increasingly complex threats across all domains of war - land, sea, air, space and cyber sphere. The general went on to say the training must include rehearsing possible conflicts and take into account the global nature of the military threats facing the US.

The goal of the Pentagon is to hold exercises that would involve troops from all nine US unified combatant commands instead of being limited to a specific region or a military branch, he said. Such drills could be staged as early as 2020, he added.
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Info

Russia plans to restore Gaddafi-era economic links with Libya


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 12:08 UTC
Member of Libyan forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar
© ReutersMember of Libyan forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar holds a weapon as he sits on a car in front of the gate at Zueitina oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi.
Russia plans to resume contracts with Libya agreed by former leader Muammar Gaddafi. The infrastructure projects have been frozen since Gaddafi's assassination and the breakout of civil war.

"We plan to resign the contracts signed during Muammar Gaddafi's rule. This includes the previous agreements in the transport sector, construction of railways, energy, electrification and a number of others," said Lev Dengov, the head of the Russian contact team on Libya in an interview with Kommersant daily.

After six years of conflict, Libya is split between two rival governments. The western part of the country is controlled by Fayez al-Sarraj's Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli. The eastern regional government is under the control of General Khalifa Haftar, located in Tobruk.

While the UN backs the Tripoli government, General Haftar is supported by the Libyan National Army and a number of countries including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

Comment: Russia Planning Talks on Libyan Settlement
Russia is thinking of holding intra-Libyan talks, which could eventually take place in Moscow or Grozny, the capital city of Russia's republic of Chechnya, Lev Dengov, the head of the Russian contact group on intra-Libyan settlement, said on Thursday.

"There are such plans. We are now actively negotiating with the Libyans. Several delegations from Libya have already visited Moscow and said they were ready to return to Moscow or Grozny," Dengov, who also serves as an aide to the Chechnya head, told the Kommersant newspaper, adding that he could not yet tell when exactly the talks would take place.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow supported the intra-Libyan dialogue and was ready to contribute to advancing political process in the country.


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Eye 1

Big brother's secret database: The FBI knows plenty about you but you aren't allowed to find out


Nextgov
Thu, 03 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
biometric data
A new rule will prevent millions of people from finding out if their fingerprints, iris scans and other biometric information is stored in a massive federal database.

The FBI's Next Generation Identification system stores the biometric records of people who have undergone background checks for jobs, volunteer positions and military service, as well as of those who have criminal records. Effective Aug. 31, that database will be exempt from certain parts of the Privacy Act, a law that allows people whose records are held by the federal government to request more information about which records those are.

The exemption means the FBI doesn't have to acknowledge if it is storing the biometric records of an individual in that database; the bureau has argued that notifying people that they were in the database could compromise investigations.

Comment: How much does the FBI really know about you? Too much

FBI secretly ramps up biometrics; civil and criminal fingerprints combined into one database

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Attention

Russia is giving up on the US political elite

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 03 Aug 2017 21:10 UTC
Medvedev and Putin
Following passage of sanctions law angry statements from senior officials in Russia suggest Moscow has finally lost patience with the US and the Trump administration.

Though the new sanctions law which has just been passed by the US Congress will have little actual impact on the Russian economy, no one should be in any doubt about Russian anger on this issue.

That anger has expressed itself in a number of ways.

Firstly there are the stiff comments from President Putin himself made on the eve of the passage of the new sanctions law:
We have not seen the final version yet and we do not have a final opinion on this matter. But we see that for a long period of time, there have been ongoing attempts to provoke us - many Russian diplomats were expelled with no explanation of the reason and diplomatic property was seized, which is beyond comprehension as it violates fundamental norms of international law regarding diplomatic relations. The sanctions are absolutely illegal from the perspective of international law and they violate the principles of international trade and World Trade Organization rules. As you know, we are being very restrained and patient, but at some point we will have to respond. We cannot tolerate this loutish behavior towards our country forever. But how we respond will depend on the final version of the bill that is being debated in the US Senate.
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Video

Best of the Web: Film exposing conspiracy of financiers and mainstream media to frame Russia for their own evils banned in West

Robert Parry
Consortium News
Wed, 02 Aug 2017 20:27 UTC
Andrei Nekrasov magnitsky documentary
Film director Andrei Nekrasov, who produced “The Magnitsky Act: Behind the Scenes.”
As Congress still swoons over the anti-Kremlin Magnitsky narrative, Western political and media leaders refuse to let their people view a documentary that debunks the fable.

Why is the U.S. mainstream media so frightened of a documentary that debunks the beloved story of how "lawyer" Sergei Magnitsky uncovered massive Russian government corruption and died as a result? If the documentary is as flawed as its critics claim, why won't they let it be shown to the American public, then lay out its supposed errors, and use it as a case study of how such fakery works?

Instead we - in the land of the free, home of the brave - are protected from seeing this documentary produced by filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov who was known as a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin but who in this instance found the West's widely accepted Magnitsky storyline to be a fraud.

Instead, last week, Senate Judiciary Committee members sat in rapt attention as hedge-fund operator William Browder wowed them with a reprise of his Magnitsky tale and suggested that people who have challenged the narrative and those who dared air the documentary one time at Washington's Newseum last year should be prosecuted for violating the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).
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