Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

"Shut up and take it": European broadcaster says possibly Russian decision not to air Olympics would "hurt sport & industry"


RT
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 21:04 UTC
European Broadcasting Union
© EBU / Facebook
A decision not to broadcast the Olympic Games if Russia's team is barred from them, mulled by several Russian broadcasters, would hurt the IOC and its sponsors and hamper "the promotion of Olympic values," according to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

"The Russian market is undoubtedly of substantial importance for the sports industry in Europe. A black-out of the Olympics 2018 would clearly have an impact on the exposure objectives of the IOC [International Olympic Committee] and the expectations of its sponsors who might count at least on a right of first negotiations for this territory," EBU spokeswoman Claire Rainford told Sputnik on Thursday.

Who would suffer the most from a possible plug on Olympics broadcasting in Russia is not quite clear, as it would be defined by the specific contracts, she added. "Whether there is a financial impact on the IOC or on the obligations by the Russian broadcasters to pay depends highly on contractual details," Rainford said.

Comment: If Rainford had any brains, she would have said this: "A decision not to allow Russia to participate in the Olympics would hurt the IOC and hamper the promotion of Olympic values." But no, Russia is expected to just sit down and passively accept political attacks in all areas of life. Then, when they threaten to respond, bash them again for not being a good sport.

See also:

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Blackbox

Sen. Graham: 'Pentagon should move military families out of S. Korea' - But what about S. Korean allies?


RT
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 20:59 UTC
Lindsey Graham
© Aaron P. Bernstein / Reuters
The Pentagon should begin moving spouses and children of active US military service members out of South Korea, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said, because the US is "getting close to military conflict" with Pyongyang.

"It's crazy to send spouses and children to South Korea, given the provocation of North Korea," Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on the CBS program "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "So, I want them [the Pentagon] to stop sending dependents and I think it's now time to start moving American dependents out of South Korea."

"We're getting close to a military conflict because North Korea is marching toward marrying up the technology of an ICBM with a nuclear weapon on top that can not only get to America, but deliver the weapon. We're running out of time," Graham said, referencing North Korea's test of a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Wednesday. Pyongyang says the test was of a Hwasong-15 ICBM, which is capable of hitting the US mainland.

Not everyone agrees that all the provocations come from Pyongyang, though. The missile test was first after a two-month lull, and came just days after the US called North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, promising more sanctions.

Comment: A war with North Korea would destroy large parts of South Korea and Japan. But they don't really matter to people like Graham, now do they? But seriously, North Korea has no plans to start a war - that would be the U.S.'s decision. North Korea is developing its nuclear arsenal as a deterrent. Their foreign policy is the original Trump: bluster. And it seems to be working.



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Snakes in Suits

Debut speech: Kushner compares Palestine peace talks to 'real estate issue'

Areeb Ullah
Middle East Eye
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 18:11 UTC
Kushner
© screen shotKushner speaks at Saban Forum in Washington.
President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner on Sunday gave a public speech for the first time in Washington, outlining how the Trump administration plans to deliver its "ultimate-deal" to facilitate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Speaking at the Saban Forum, Kushner described Israel as a natural ally to Middle Eastern countries and claimed that both Palestinians and Israelis had learned to trust Donald Trump. "Both sides really trust the president, and that's very important," he said.


Comment: Jared Kushner is far from being impartial when it comes to Israel. How can he represent an unbiased position to the Israeli/Palestinian solution?

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Snakes in Suits

Tom Fitton: We are going to find out the DOJ and FBI were ruined trying to protect Hillary Clinton

Cristina Laila
Gateway Pundit
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
KIllary
© Infowars
Victoria Toensing, the lawyer representing the FBI informant says there is "on-the-record quid pro quo" surrounding the Uranium One scandal with Bill Clinton receiving a $500,000 speaking fee from a Russian backed bank and the Clinton Foundation receiving millions of dollars from people involved on the deal.

Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State at the same time the State Department and government agencies on the Committee on Foreign Investments UNANIMOUSLY approved the partial sale of Canadian mining company Uranium One to the Russian nuclear company Rosatom, ultimately giving Russia 20% of U.S. Uranium.

Nine shareholders in Uranium One just happened to provide more than $145 million in donations to the Clinton Foundation in the run-up to State Department approval.

The Clintons took the cash from Uranium One officials before the deal was approved by Hillary Clinton's State Department. The Clintons hid the donations which is a clear violation of the Memorandum of Understanding Hillary Clinton signed with the Obama administration wherein she promised and agreed to publicly disclose all donations during her tenure as Secretary of State. (Via Breitbart)

Comment: The FBI was already ruined protecting Bill.

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Stock Up

Venezuela's own cryptocurrency to counter Trump's financial blockade


RT
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 00:01 UTC
Maduro
© alliance/dpa/Prensa Mirafloras/F. BatistaPresident Nicolas Maduro
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Sunday that the country will launch its own cryptocurrency, called the "Petro," which will be backed by the country's vast natural resource reserves.

"Venezuela is announcing the creation of its own cryptocurrency. It will be called The Petro. It will allow us to innovate towards new forms of international finance for the economic and social development of the country," Maduro said Sunday in a statement on state broadcaster VTV, as cited by El Periodico.

Appearing on the weekly television show, Sundays with Maduro, the Venezuelan president announced the new cryptocurrency, whose value will be pegged to the country's vast reserves of oil and gas as well as its mineral wealth, including gold, and whose purpose will be to "to advance the country's monetary sovereignty, to carry out financial transactions and to defeat the financial blockade against the country."

Comment: Interesting financial twist for Venezuela. Shows there are other ways to deal with the Empire by 'virtually' sidestepping the problem backed by their own resources.

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Snakes in Suits

Trump, comparing Flynn to Hillary - 'rigged system' or 'double standard'?


Fox News
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Trump
© Unknown
President Donald Trump again took up the cause of former national security adviser Mike Flynn Saturday night, complaining that Flynn's "life is destroyed" while Hillary Clinton escaped legal reckoning.

Trump tweeted: "So General Flynn lies to the FBI and his life is destroyed, while Crooked Hillary Clinton, on that now famous FBI holiday "interrogation" with no swearing in and no recording, lies many times...and nothing happens to her? Rigged system, or just a double standard?"

He then added: "Many people in our Country are asking what the "Justice" Department is going to do about the fact that totally Crooked Hillary, AFTER receiving a subpoena from the United States Congress, deleted and "acid washed" 33,000 Emails? No justice!"

Clinton was interviewed for more than three hours at FBI headquarters over the July 4 weekend in 2016. Because she was not in custody, her interview was not recorded. Former FBI Director James Comey has said that Clinton did not lie to the FBI during her interview.

Earlier Saturday, Trump argued that there was nothing improper in Flynn's conversations with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak in December 2016. Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI about those conversations.


Comment: The answer is there is no comparison and both qualifiers may apply.

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Briefcase

Erdogan accuses US of trying to 'make Turkey kneel' by prosecuting his security guard for brutality


RT
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 12:59 UTC
Erdogan4fingers
© Umit Bektas / Reuters
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Washington of attempting to bring Turkey to its knees and discredit Ankara amid several lawsuits against Turkish citizens. "They can try as hard as they like but they will not succeed," Erdogan added.

Erdogan's remarks come less than a week after Reza Zarrab, a 34-year-old Turkish-Iranian gold trader, pleaded guilty to conspiring to evade US sanctions against Iran. He is set to testify against a Turkish bank official, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, charged with arranging illegal transactions involving US banks. While US prosecutors have charged nine people in the case, only Zarrab and Atilla are known to be in US custody, according to Reuters. The other defendants include Suleyman Aslan, the former head of Halkbank, and Zafer Caglayan, the former economic minister of Turkey.
Turk guards beat civilian
© Al MonitoTurk bodyguards injure US civilian protesters

Comment: Erdogan's bodyguards are well-known for their crude and punishing behavior. In this case, the US may be justified in pursuing legal action.

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Map

Pentagon is evaluating U.S. West Coast missile defense sites, THAAD deployment

Mike Stone
Reuters
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 00:27 UTC
THAAD
© US Department of Defense, Missile Defense AgencyTHAAD interceptor test
The U.S. agency tasked with protecting the country from missile attacks is scouting the West Coast for places to deploy new anti-missile defenses, two Congressmen said on Saturday, as North Korea's missile tests raise concerns about how the United States would defend itself from an attack.

West Coast defenses would likely include Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missiles, similar to those deployed in South Korea to protect against a potential North Korean attack.

The accelerated pace of North Korea's ballistic missile testing program in 2017 and the likelihood the North Korean military could hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear payload in the next few years has raised the pressure on the United States government to build-up missile defenses.
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Clipboard

Putin: Justice Ministry to maintain registry of foreign agents in mass media


RT
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 13:23 UTC
Ministry of Justice
© Mikhail Voskresenskiy / SputnikMinistry of Justice in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an order making the Justice Ministry responsible for formulating and maintaining a record of mass media outlets that, according to recently passed law, need to register as foreign agents. The order was posted on the government website for legal documents on Monday.

Also on Monday, the head of the upper house Commission for Information Policies, Senator Aleksey Pushkov, told reporters that the commission plans to look into the proposal to deprive US mass media outlets of accreditation with the Federation Council.

"On December 13 we will hold a session of the commission and discuss, among other things, Russia's mirror reply to the pressure on RT America applied in the United States. That could include a ban on accreditation with the State Duma and the Federation Council of American mass media that the Justice Ministry recognizes as foreign agents," Pushkov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

Comment: For background on this development, see also:

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Pocket Knife

Unholy crap! Obama stabbed Trump in the back on his world stalking tour

Kat Stevens
Freedom Daily
Sat, 02 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Obama India
© APObama's speech in India, December 2017
He's still trying to destroy America! While former President Obama might have been one smooth talker, anyone who compares his words to his actions can tell he's just that; all talk. Whether you agree with what he did in office or you think he's the worst thing that ever happened to this country, it would be nice for the rest of the world to see that we had the good sense to elect a President that doesn't say one thing and then do another. But alas, that's not the case with our former Commander-in-Chief.

It seems that Barack Hussein Obama might be taking retirement hard, since he can't seem to quit trailing around behind President Trump, looking for ways to sabotage what the President is doing. Even though Obama had eight long years to do his damage, he's still working overtime to try and sink the knife of liberalism into the just recovering country.

Comment: One can hardly call Obama's post-Trump treks a diplomatic mission...more like seek and destroy with a side-order of snarky.

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