Puppet MastersS


Magic Wand

Saudi Arabia dreams up a videogame-type propaganda video in which it conquers Iran and Iranians cheer

Rachel Blevins
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 09:39 UTC
saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman propaganda video
© The Free Thought Project


A propaganda video promoted by Saudi Arabian media shows a simulation of Saudi Arabia attacking, invading and then conquering Iran.

In an ominous move that could signal the start of World War 3 if it is carried out, Saudi Arabian media is promoting a video that shows a simulation of Saudi Arabia invading and conquering Iran.

The video was published by Al-Riyadh, a pro-Saudi government newspaper, with the headline "Saudi Deterrence-Film embodies the prestige of the armed forces." According to the website's automatic translation from Arabic to English, the purpose of the video was to "mimic the reality, the prestige of the Saudi Armed Forces, and its deterrents against foreign ambitions, especially Iranian threats."

Comment: For a laugh, here is the video in full:



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Cult

Wasserman-Schultz IT aides ran shady "CIA" car dealership, borrowed $100K from Hezbollah fugitive

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 09:25 UTC
Imran Awan Debbie Wasserman Shultz
Luke Rosiak of the Daily Caller is out with a follow-up to a report on the Awan Pakistani IT family who had access to highly sensitive Congressional networks, both on-site and from Pakistan, where they are suspected of a variety of crimes -including brokering classified information to hostile foreign governments. Of note, they had access to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence - whose members have top secret clearance and are looking into Russian election interference.

Comment: See the full Daily Caller report here: Car dealership run by discredited House IT aides appears to have been a money laundering operation

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Gold Coins

China's 'golden alternative' will kneecap the dollar

Nick Giambruno
International Man
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 23:15 UTC
dollar juan gold
Nick Giambruno's Note: I recently spoke with my friend and colleague Chris Lowe about China's new alternative financial system-and how it could mortally wound the US dollar. It was such an important discussion that I had to pass it along.

Chris is the editor of Bonner & Partners' Inner Circle. His publication shares insights from Bill Bonner's personal global network of analysts and investment experts.
Using force to compel people to accept money without real value can only work in the short run. It ultimately leads to economic dislocation, both domestic and international, and always ends with a price to be paid.

- Former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul
He who holds the gold makes the rules.

- Old saying
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Network

Russia may host mediation on new Middle East talks as US identified as biased intermediary


Sputnik
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 23:09 UTC
Palestinian flag
© AP Photo/ Bernat Armangue
Russia may host the first new meeting on the issue of the Middle East, Palestinian presidential adviser Nabil Shaath said Tuesday.

"No, we don't want Russia [to conduct the talks] alone. Because we don't want to fall into the same problem. We want an international forum with Russia as a party to that forum. To make the first meeting in Moscow is something that was decided in Madrid in 1991 and in Annapolis 2005," he told reporters.

He added that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas may visit Russia soon.

"He has been in Moscow several times and he will come back. I think there is a bond between him and Moscow and he will come back but he sent me ahead of him because he had to go to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which he has visited already and he is now on his way to Paris. We have to divide the work between us," he told reporters.
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Eagle

SOTT Focus: Trump's National Security Plan and the End of One World Empire

Niall Bradley
Sott.net
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 17:54 UTC
trump russia china
On Monday Trump gave a stump speech to announce his administration's National Security Plan. You can read all 55 pages of it on the White House website (it's yuge, the longest ever). The Plan is framed in terms of 'protecting the Homeland', substantially reads like boilerplate neocon/neolib State Dept exceptionalism, but contains a few novelties that again speak to apparent efforts on Trump's part to 'turn the ship of state around'.

The document was notable for the insertion of elements of realpolitik over idealism, and also for recognizing Russia and China as rivals, characterizing them as follows:
"China and Russia challenge American power, influence and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity. They are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence.

Through modernized forms of subversive tactics, Russia interferes in the domestic political affairs of countries around the world. Russia uses information operations as part of its offensive cyber efforts to influence public opinion across the globe. Its influence campaigns blend covert intelligence operations and false online personas with state-funded media, third-party intermediaries, and paid social media users or 'trolls.'"
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Newspaper

Liberal madness! Canada will withdraw summer jobs funding if employers don't support abortion and transgender rights

Lianne Laurence
Life Site
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 22:17 UTC
Justin Trudeau
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau will ban any employer from receiving summer job grants for students if the employer doesn't first sign an "attestation" that they agree with abortion and transgender "rights."

The new criteria were sent to all MPs and will be made public when the Canada Summer Jobs Program officially opens December 19, 2017.

In order to receive federal Canada job grants, employers must attest that:
  • both the job and the organization's core mandate respect individual human rights in Canada, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other rights. These include reproductive rights and the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, national or ethnic origin, colour, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.

Comment: Anti-Christian or not, this is a slippery slope towards total governmental control. How long until this spreads to countries all over the globe?

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Russian Flag

Russian victory in Syria met with exceptional US denial


Strategic Culture Foundation
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 21:24 UTC
Putin servicemen
It's hard to overstate the historic significance this week of Syria's victory against foreign-backed mercenaries.

We can dismiss Western official narratives that the nearly seven-year war was some kind of "pro-democracy uprising". The conflict was nothing of the sort.

It was a classic American-led covert war for regime change, of the kind that dozens of countries around the world have been subjected to over the decades.

In Syria, the criminal enterprise involved the clandestine support from Western governments and their regional partners to a whole host of mercenary groups. These groups were largely dominated by extremist self-styled jihadists who descended on Syria from all over the world; armed, paid and directed by a US coalition of governments, to carry out the most horrific violence against civilians.
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Nuke

Iranian TV broadcasts confession of Iranian-Swedish academic whose spying for Israel led to assassination of Iranian scientists


RFE/RL
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 21:29 UTC
Ahmadreza Djalali
© Vida MehranniaIranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who has been sentenced death, is shown during a court appearance.
Iranian state TV has aired what it calls a confession by an Iranian-Swedish academic who has been sentenced to death on espionage charges.

In the December 17 broadcast, Ahmadreza Djalali, a researcher at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute, admits to supplying information to a foreign intelligence service about Iranian nuclear scientists who were later assassinated.

Djalali, 46, was arrested in April 2016 and later convicted of espionage. He previously has denied the charges.

In the 17-minute broadcast, Djalali said a man he identified as "Thomas" had approached him with a job offer while he was doing research in an unnamed European country.

He said the man later recruited him to that country's foreign intelligence service, adding that the man had promised he would receive citizenship in the country.

On December 12, Amnesty International, the London-based rights watchdog, said the verdict stated that Djalali had worked with the Israeli government.
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Fire

The US plan for the Middle East amounts to 'slash and burn' to minimize Iranian influence

Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook
Mon, 18 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Iranianarches
© Getty Images
The US is attempting to sell to the public the next phase of its continued occupation and military operations across the Middle East. Predicated on claims of "rebuilding" Iraq and "fighting terrorists" in Syria, it is in actuality a plan to perpetuate for as long as possible the upheaval currently consuming the region in hopes of overextending and exhausting Iran - and by extension - Russia.

Iranian Roadblock to Western Hegemony

The United States in its pursuit of global hegemony has placed particular focus on encircling, containing, undermining, and if possible, overthrowing the socioeconomic and political order of Iran as a means to secure for itself primacy over the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Comment: There is no excuse for this scenario projection except lessons not learned. When hope, hype and ignorance lead us to think the worst is over, more than not it has yet to come.

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Dominoes

Trump-Russia inquiry and why attacks on Mueller are mounting, analysis pro and con

Anthony Zurcher
BBC
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Mueller
© The AtlanticWhy it could matter. Why it might not.
In recent weeks, conservative commentators and politicians have begun arguing, with growing intensity, that Robert Mueller's investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia is the result of an intentional effort by biased investigators to undermine the Trump presidency.

There are a number of components to the case they are presenting, from doubts about the impartiality of Mr Mueller and his team to questions about the integrity of the FBI and the Obama-era Justice Department.

All of it could be setting the ground for new investigations into the FBI or Democrat Hillary Clinton's actions while secretary of state - something Mr Trump himself has suggested - or perhaps even for the president to order the end of Mr Mueller's probe.

Such an action would provoke a major political crisis and could have unpredictable consequences. For Mr Trump's defenders, it may be enough simply to mire Mr Mueller's investigation in a partisan morass. Here are some are some of the ways they're trying to do that.

Comment: See also:

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