Puppet MastersS


Gold Coins

Russia considering making cryptocurrency mining illegal

cryptocurrency
© Stephen Lam / Reuters
As the Russian government is working on laws to regulate virtual currencies, the country's finance ministry has proposed making their mining illegal. However, buying them will not be punishable.

"The penalties will be different, mostly administrative, but if someone created the cryptocurrency for the purpose of settlements, then there will be a criminal punishment," said Deputy Finance Minister Aleksey Moiseev.

Criminal penalties can also be applied to the creation of a financial pyramid or the issuance of a cryptocurrency to avoid tax, he said. The minister stressed buying bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies would be legal.

Moiseev added that work on the bill could drag on, as it includes many new words and concepts now absent in Russian legislation.

Dollars

Western sanctions fail! Russian tycoons bringing their money back home

beach
© Global Look Press
Rich Russians are nervous that their money will be frozen because of new US sanctions, and are preparing a plan to repatriate their wealth, according to reports by Reuters and Vedomosti.

There are several reasons for Russian tycoons to do this, according to Reuters. Next year, Washington can impose more sanctions against key Russian business groups and/or impose sovereign sanctions.

Russian business daily Vedomosti confirms the report. "Doing business abroad is no longer secure," an anonymous Russian government official told the daily.

The Kremlin has been warning domestic businesses that keeping money in Russia is much safer, given that European authorities have been cracking down on safe havens, the official said.

Comment: Just another case of the Western sanctions against Russia backfiring. At this point it practically seems like the Deep State meant to help the Russian economy by imposing sanctions against them.


Clock

Not leaving: Pentagon to stay in Syria for "as long as we need"

us soldier mosul
© Marius Bosch / Reuters
US forces will stay in Syria indefinitely, a Pentagon spokesman has said. There is no legal justification for the US presence in the county which has endured a deadly six-year conflict and partial occupation by Islamic State.

"We are going to maintain our commitment on the ground as long as we need to, to support our partners and prevent the return of terrorist groups," Eric Pahon said Tuesday.


The Pentagon admitted last week that it has 1,720 troops in Syria, more than three times as many as it had previously acknowledged.

Comment: Can we say "changing the goal posts"?! If the U.S. wants to militarily occupy a country, it need only give a reason - flimsy as it is. And when that reason becomes obsolete, why, simply come up with another reason. This behavior is the reason the world hates the U.S. And who can blame them? They are the kid in the schoolyard who changes the rules for his own benefit, then beats up any kid who calls him out for being an arrogant jerk.

The U.S.'s first fraudulent reason for being in Syria was to "fight ISIS" (in reality, it only ever wanted Assad's defeat). Now that Russia, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah have defeated ISIS, you'd think that would mean it's time for the U.S. to leave. Think again. Now they must "prevent the return" of ISIS. And do you know how long that can last? In a hundred years, the justification will still hold. "No ISIS resurgence yet? Well, we'd better stay just to make sure. You can never be too sure, you know. They may come back any moment!" Pass the sick bag.


No Entry

The Logan Act is terrible - directed against free speech, not applicable to Flynn or Trump administration

robert mueller
This federal law is about punishing the speech of political enemies, not protecting sensitive international negotiations.

Two University of Chicago law professors say a terrible, politically motivated federal law on the books for most of American history is a threat to Mike Flynn and President Donald Trump's administration.

Eric Posner and Daniel Hemel today at The New York Times raise the specter of the Logan Act, one of the dumber federal laws written during an era where America was not as quick as it is today to protect the rights of citizens to speak freely.

The Logan Act makes it a federal crime for a private American citizen to engage in any communication or correspondence with a foreign government that intervenes in a dispute with the United States and that government in order to "defeat" any measures by the U.S.

Comment:


Dollars

EU blacklists 17 countries as tax havens, forgets to put US at top of list

Burj Khalifa
© Jamal Saidi / ReutersA general view shows Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The European Union (EU) finance ministers have adopted a blacklist of 17 countries for refusing to cooperate with its crackdown on tax evasion.

The countries listed are American Samoa, Bahrain, Barbados, Grenada, Guam, South Korea, Macau, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Namibia, Palau, Panama, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.

The President of Panama Juan Carlos Varela said the country was "not in any way a tax haven."

EU tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici said the blacklist represented "substantial progress," adding, "Its very existence is an important step forward. But because it is the first EU list, it remains an insufficient response to the scale of tax evasion worldwide."

Forty-seven other nations were included in a public "gray" list of countries which are currently not compliant with EU standards but have committed to change their tax rules. The lists followed the recent leaking of the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers.

Yoda

Putin: Russia's Olympics ban based on unfounded accusations

russia olympics
© Anton Denisov / Sputnik
Most accusations, which led to Russia's Olympics ban, were unfounded and based on the testimony of a man of "questionable" mental state, the Russian president said. He did, however, acknowledge that the country was partially to blame for the IOC decision.

"Most of the accusations are based on evidence which has not been proven and is largely unfounded," Vladimir Putin said.

The accusations "are based on testimony of a man whose moral and ethical values and mental state raise many questions; there's simply nothing else," he added, referring to fugitive former Russian anti-doping official Grigory Rodchenkov.

Comment: Previously:


Vader

Spreading 'democracy': America's role in Honduras' latest crisis

Honduras election protests 2017
© Orlando Sierra/AFP/GettySupporters of Honduran presidential candidate for the Opposition Alliance against the Dictatorship party Salvador Nasralla, are affected by tear gas during a protest outside the Electoral Supreme Court (TSE), to demand the announcement of the election final results in Tegucigalpa, on November 30, 2017.
The recent crisis in Honduras has found its way to the public sphere in the United States, but it has not gotten nearly as much attention as a situation of this magnitude deserves. Honduras was just in the midst of a presidential election between conservative incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández and left-leaning Salvador Nasralla. Initial results showed Nasralla leading the vote by what many considered to be an irreversible margin. However, the next day it was announced that Hernández had taken the lead as the Supreme Electoral Tribunal stopped publicizing tallies, closed the electoral process to the public eye and postponed any official recounts. The people of Honduras rallied in massive protests on the streets of the country as allegations of mass fraud began to surface. Hernández, who has been re-instated as president, has deployed several elite police forces that have violently confronted peaceful protesters on several occasions, prompting a humanitarian crisis on top of the political turmoil. Activists and observers alike have recently called out the United States, which has a history of involvement in Honduras, for their support of Hernández over the past several years. Additionally, they point to the United States' role in training these military forces, calling into question their potential involvement in the recent situation.


The current crisis in Honduras has served to highlight the devastating consequences of U.S interventionism in Latin America, which has threatened and continue to threaten the very institutions of democracy in countries that still struggle for the right to self-determination in a supposedly post-colonial world.

Top Secret

PepsiCo accused of commercial espionage in Russia

pepsi in Russia
© Alexey Kudenko / Sputnik
Russia's agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor intends to apply to national law enforcement agencies over possible commercial espionage by PepsiCo, spokesperson Yulia Melano told reporters.

The regulator suggests the American soft drink company attempted to get access to some of its confidential information. PepsiCo has dozens of enterprises in Russia, and has denied the accusations, calling them absurd.

"PepsiCo refutes the accusations made today by Rosselkhoznadzor. We strictly comply with rules and regulations in Russia and all the countries in which we operate," the company said in a written response to RT.

Rosselkhoznadzor has launched an internal check to see if PepsiCo had access to the confidential documents.

Cow

Nancy Pelosi says Republican tax cuts are literally "the end of the world"

nancy pelosi
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called the Republican tax cuts to the working class "Armegeddon" on Monday. She said it's the "end of the world". The hyperbolic Democrat condemned the cost of cutting taxes on much of the middle class which the GOP believes will be offset by the increase in economic growth.

This is the woman who approved of Barack Obama's ten trillion in debt - stimulus, welfare, Obamacare, and on and on. If she knows how to improve the economy, why didn't she do it over the past eight years?

When given the opportunity to take back her hyperbolic characterization of the bill, Pelosi said, "No this is the end of the world. The debate on health care is life or death. This is Armegeddon. This is a really big deal. Because you know why? It's really hard to come back from this."

Her gears are slipping again. Some nuts are loose.

Comment: Pelosi should be in a padded room, not Congress.


Caesar

Good news! Putin announces 2018 presidential run - Russian favorite set to rule until 2024

Putin
© Ramil Sitdikov / Sputnik
Vladimir Putin has confirmed that he will seek another term in office in next year's presidential election. "Yes, I will run as a candidate for the Russian presidency," Putin said while meeting with workers at the country's historic manufacturer, GAZ (Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod), in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod on Wednesday. The upcoming election will be the fourth in Putin's political career. He held the office of president for two terms from 2000 to 2008, and served as prime minister from 2008 to 2012. Putin then won a third term as president in 2012.

Vladimir Putin had, until now, refused to give a direct answer regarding his plans for the 2018 race. Earlier, Russian media reported that he may run as an independent candidate. The Russian president enjoys a high approval rating, with over 82 percent of Russians supporting him according to a poll conducted by state-run VTSIOM in late September.

Comment: Putin's approval rating was at 83% in August 2017. Just before he made the announcement, Putin was asked if he would run at a Q&A session for the Russian Volunteer Forum in Moscow on Wednesday afternoon. The event had an audience of 20,000 - mostly youths - from across the country. Here was his response:


It's easy to see why Putin has so much public support. But it's also somewhat strange. Putin is often derided in the West for his "strongman PR image". That's true to a degree, for sure - the guy's a judo master after all. But far more than that, he embodies responsibility, professionalism, self-control, clear thinking. That's the model he sets for youths like those attending the conference above. And in that sense he's kind of like Dr. Jordan B. Peterson. He fills the void for youths who have lacked a real role model in their lives. Not only will it get him re-elected, it actually makes his supporters better people, because he embodies the values that then become the model for his citizens.

See also: