Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

'We will not accept occupation without cost, East Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state' - Abbas urges Israel to rethink apartheid policies


RT
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 18:49 UTC
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
© Eduardo Munoz / ReutersPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Israel must "rethink" its aggressive "apartheid system" and honor the status of East Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state, President Mahmoud Abbas said on New Year's Eve.

"We will not accept the status quo. We will not accept the apartheid system. We will not accept occupation without cost, and you [Israel] must rethink your aggressive policies and actions against our people, our land and our holy places before it is too late," the Palestinian Authority President said in Ramallah, marking the 53rd anniversary of Fatah.

Abbas vowed to continue all possible political and diplomatic efforts to create an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital based on the 1967 borders. Jerusalem is "the eternal capital of the Palestinian people," he said, as cited by Israel's Channel 10 network. "We are staying here and won't leave until Palestine is liberated. East Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state."
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Clipboard

Iranian President vows to address economic problems in light of nation-wide protests - while still noting the outside influence of unrest


Sputnik
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 19:19 UTC
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
© Reuters/Lucas Jackson
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pledged on Monday to intensify efforts in order to resolve existing economic problems amid multiple demonstrations across the country, local media reported.

Addressing the heads of the Iranian parliament's commissions in Tehran, Rouhani promised that his government would double its efforts to address economic issues, unemployment, inflation as well as air pollution in the country, the Fars news agency reported.

Ongoing anti-government protests in Iran are the result of existing internal problems in the republic as well as the influence of other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Rouhani added.

Comment: Rouhani's statements reflect a nuanced and objective approach to the unrest that Iran is now seeing. On the one hand, there is a strong component of outside "color revolution" sentiment being fomented - but on the other, there are national issues and problems (like any country has) - that are legitimate and require solutions. That the Iranian President can see both dynamics at play, and address them as such, says something positive about his character and level of leadership.

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Hearts

Putin greets all Russia for New Year celebrations with an emphasis on love, forgiveness and gratitude

Seraphim Hanisch
The Duran
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 02:50 UTC
New Year celebrations Russia Moscow
New Year's Day in Russia is a unique experience. While each nation may have its own special traditions, for this American, the Russian way is simply astounding.

From the Communist times, the relevance of Nativity (Christmas) celebrations has never been what it became in the West. The suppression of Christianity in Soviet Russia was probably a hidden blessing for the Church now, which stands rather purified of commercialist tendencies. The season of gift-giving falls seven days earlier on January first, and it is greeted by a national break from work, which this year covers ten full days, (December 30-January 8, inclusive). It is greeted by great entertainment, and festivities and fireworks inundate the night skies, which roar through not only the wee hours of January 1, but all night and all night for several nights afterward, too.

Comment:



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Magic Hat

New York Times "Trumpwashes" 70 years of US crimes by blaming Trump for US foreign policy

Adam Johnson
Global Research
Sat, 30 Dec 2017 16:44 UTC
Trump walking in shadows
© Brendan Smialowski/AFP


Trumpwashing-defined as whitewashing, obscuring or rewriting the broader US record by presenting Donald Trump as an aberration (FAIR.org, 6/3/16)-was on full display Thursday in a nominally straight news report from the New York Times' Mark Landler (12/28/17) on how Trump has reshaped US foreign policy. Buried in the otherwise banal analysis was this gem of US imperial agitprop:
Above all, Mr. Trump has transformed the world's view of the United States from a reliable anchor of the liberal, rules-based international order into something more inward-looking and unpredictable. That is a seminal change from the role the country has played for 70 years, under presidents from both parties, and it has lasting implications for how other countries chart their futures.
There's lots of ideology to unpack here, but let's start with the empirically false assertion that the "world" viewed the United States as a "reliable anchor of the liberal, rules-based international order." Poll (Guardian, 6/15/06) after poll (Pew, 3/14/07) after poll (PRI, 1/3/14) throughout the years has shown that much of the world views the United States as threat to peace, often taking the top spot as the single greatest threat. What evidence Landler has for the world viewing the US as a sort of good-natured global babysitter is unclear, as he cites nothing to support this hugely important claim (since if Trump's cynical disregard for "human rights" is nothing new, then there's no real story here). It's just thrown out with the assumption the Times readership is sufficiently nationalistic and/or amnesiac to either not notice or not care. It's designed to flatter, not to elucidate.
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Eye 2

Israeli official reports increased compliance from social media on censorship

Shahar Ilan
Global Research
Fri, 29 Dec 2017 00:01 UTC
Facebook censorship 2.0


Social media services like Facebook and Twitter are increasingly likely to remove content from their networks upon request by Israeli Ministry of Justice officials, according to testimony by a government official at a parliamentary committee meeting on Monday.

The head of cyber unit at Israel's State Attorney's Office, Haim Wismonsky, reported to government ministers that 85% of government requests to remove content deemed harmful or dangerous were accepted in 2017, compared to 70% last year.

In 2016, the government requested the removal of 2250 posts or social media pages. This year's total will not be available for another month, but "the amount of content multiplied several-fold," said Mr. Wismonsky. "There was an enormous spike."

Comment: In their constant fight to control the narrative, Israel's attempt to use social media to censor dissent is no surprise.

See also:

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Gold Bar

Russia and China's gold reserves nearly neck and neck

Ronan Manly
Bullion Star
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 12:00 UTC
Bank of Russia Gold Reserves: 2006 – September 2017
Bank of Russia Gold Reserves: 2006 – September 2017
Note: This article has now been updated to reflect the fact that during September 2017, the Bank of Russia added a further 1.1 million ounces of gold (34 tonnes) to its gold reserves. This information was released by the Bank of Russia on Friday 20 October.

Official gold reserve updates from the Russian and Chinese central banks are probably one of the more closely watched metrics in the gold world. After the US, Germany, Italy and France, the sovereign gold holdings of China and Russia are the world's 5th and 6th largest. And with the gold reserves 'official figures' of the US, Germany, Italy and France being essentially static, the only numbers worth watching are those of China and Russia.


Comment: Gold expert: Even if US has all the gold it says it has, most of it is probably low purity (which is why no one is allowed to see it)


The Russian Federation's central bank, the Bank of Russia, releases data on its official gold holdings in the Bank's monthly "International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity" report which is published towards the end of the third week of each month, and which confirms gold reserve changes as of the previous month-end.
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Recycle

US Empire is running the same regime change script with Iran that it ran with Libya and Syria

Caitlin Johnstone
Medium
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 16:12 UTC
Trump twitt Iran tweet
© Twitter
Two weeks ago a memo was leaked from inside the Trump administration showing how Secretary of State and DC neophyte Rex Tillerson was coached on how the US empire uses human rights as a pretense on which to attack and undermine noncompliant governments. Politico reports:
The May 17 memo reads like a crash course for a businessman-turned-diplomat, and its conclusion offers a starkly realist vision: that the U.S. should use human rights as a club against its adversaries, like Iran, China and North Korea, while giving a pass to repressive allies like the Philippines, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
"Allies should be treated differently - and better - than adversaries. Otherwise, we end up with more adversaries, and fewer allies," argued the memo, written by Tillerson's influential policy aide, Brian Hook.
With what would be perfect comedic timing if it weren't so frightening, Iran erupted in protests which have been ongoing for the last four days, and the western empire is suddenly expressing deep, bipartisan concern about the human rights of those protesters.

Comment: Indeed, this new push for regime change is so transparent that it is a wonder that anyone in the world would take it seriously:

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Snow Globe

What sort of Russophobia will we see in 2018?

Neil Clark
Sputnik
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 15:39 UTC
Russian hacker bear figurine toy
© CC BY 2.0 / Marcin Wichary / Russian hacker bear


Don't think the crazy Russophobia of 2017 can be surpassed? I'm not so sure. Let's take a look at our special Sputnik crystal ball to see what 2018 has in store....

January

One centimetre of snow hits Britain and causes widespread travel chaos. Ben Bradshaw MP calls for a 'judge-led' special inquiry to investigate Russian government involvement. 'We don't know how they did it and we've got no evidence that they did do it, but we are absolutely sure they did' he says.

The Times newspaper backs Bradshaw's initiative and also publishes 31 articles calling for media regulators to take 'tough action' against RT and Sputnik for promulgating 'fake news'.

February

Twitter resists neocon pressure for all users to provide documentary evidence that they are not a 'Russian troll' before they are allowed to post Tweets. 'It is utterly outrageous and totally unethical that people should be able tweet under false names in pursuance of geopolitical objectives' declares the Tweeter 'NATODefender'.

The banning of the Russian team at the Winter Olympics is not enough for Senator John McCain. He calls for Russia to be banned from all international events, including the World Tiddlywinks Championships and the World Cup of Pipe Smoking.

Comment: It's fiction, but based on actual fact:

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Dollars

Epic Backfire! Bill Clinton begs for money on Twitter; gets more than he asked for


Truthfeed News
Sun, 31 Dec 2017 00:01 UTC
Clintons
Bill Clinton is back...and he's begging for money for the crooked Clinton foundation.


Comment: It never ceases to amaze the gall of some people. After the name Clinton Foundation has been dragged through the mud (where it belongs), Billy Boy has no issues taking to Twitter to beg for more cash. It's good that, by some of the responses, at least some people are paying attention. See also:

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Propaganda

Main Stream Media uses Russiagate to punch Left

Caitlin Johnstone
Medium
Wed, 27 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
DailyBeast Russophobia
© Unknown
The Daily Beast, whose corporate owner has Chelsea Clinton on its board of directors, recently published a report titled "Kremlin Troll Wrote for Far-Left U.S. Sites", which it then promoted with great success on Twitter using incendiary taglines like "Those Hillary-hating hot takes you read on leftie sites during the election? Some of 'em were written in Moscow."

The short, low-energy Daily Beast blurb went viral by reporting on another arm-flailing Russiagate "bombshell" by the Washington Post, whose sole owner is a CIA contractor and dangerous oligarch. WaPo's article revolves around a pseudonymous writer with alleged ties to the Kremlin who succeeded in getting published by numerous alternative media outlets, most notably in CounterPunch.

Comment: The US Establishment continues to demonize anybody who won't toe their line as Russian troll, Putin puppet etc. Nothing seems to have changed despite the failed Mueller investigation over the dodgy Russian Dossier. This is like "Anti-semite" style propaganda to force the journalists to follow the MSM line and justify enormous budgets to their Military Industrial Complex to supposedly counter non-existent Russian aggression.

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