Puppet MastersS


Cell Phone

German Interior Minister drafts law to spy on all digital devices

guy with cell phone
© Eric Thayer / Reuters
Germany's Interior Minister wants secret backdoor access to computers, phones and even Volkswagens, according to a media report. Critics have slammed his plan as an "Orwellian nightmare."

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere plans to argue "the legal duty for third parties to allow for secret surveillance" during an interior ministry conference in Leipzig next week. The proposal would "dramatically extend" the state's powers to spy on its citizens, according to the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) report.

Eye 2

War Propaganda: The false BBC report that gave Israel the excuse to attack Syria

Dubious BBC Report Gave Israel The
© Airbus/McKenzie Intelligence ServicesThe BBC's 'probable' propaganda
Syrian state television has confirmed that Israel attacked a military base outside of Damascus overnight on Friday, which Israeli media reports involved both surface-to-surface missiles and airstrikes, while Syria says its air defense systems were engaged and intercepted two missiles. Like other recent strikes inside Syria, the Israeli jets reportedly fired from over Lebanese airspace, in order to avoid both Syrian anti-aircraft missile systems and provoking a Russian response. Though the extent of the damage or casualties is not yet known, Syrian media has confirmed material damage to the base, and other reports indicate mass power outages in some of parts of Damascus occurred immediately after the attack, which SANA says happened at 12:30am local time.


Gold Bar

Russia and China could set international gold price based on physical gold trading

Gold Bar
© Global Look Press
Since Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa are all either large producers or consumers of gold, or both, it is highly likely that the BRICS bloc they constitute could focus its cross-border gold trading network on trading physical gold.

Gold pricing benchmarks from such a system would be based on physical gold transactions, which is a departure from the way the international gold price is currently established.

Such a system would also be a threat to "gold" trading markets in London and New York. The London Over-the-Counter (OTC) and the New York COMEX futures exchange currently set the international gold price.

Comment: Read also:


USA

Democrats outraged over Senate GOP's last-minute tax bill reveal

Republican tax bill
Senate Democrats were outraged Friday night after Republicans unveiled the 479-page text of their tax overhaul shortly before the bill went to the Senate floor for a vote.


Comment: Very few of these shysters complained when the draconian Patriot Act was passed under the same conditions in 2001. Oh, but we forgot: 9/11!


Chess

Yemen: Saudis throw in the towel - Saleh is baaack - Russia wins

Saleh and Putin
The war on Yemen has finally taken a turn towards an end. Former President Saleh is back in his leading position. The Saudis accepted their defeat. The Houthis will be thrown out of the capital Sanaa and return to their northern areas. Yemen is devastated and will need to rebuild. Everyone who participated in this war has lost. The only winner is Russia.

A recap:

During the "Arab spring" (U.S.) induced Yemeni revolution President Saleh was kicked out after ruling the country for 34 years. In 2012 the former Vice-President Hadi was "elected" as the new president on a one choice ballot. With U.S. support the system prevailed.

As I noted at that time:
The U.S. missed the chance to use the movement against Saleh for some real transition in Yemen. This will come back to bite.

Pills

America and its military-industrial addiction

President Dwight Eisenhower
President Dwight Eisenhower delivering his farewell address on Jan. 17, 1961
The Military-Industrial Complex has loomed over America ever since President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of its growing influence during his prescient farewell address on Jan. 17, 1961. The Vietnam War followed shortly thereafter, and its bloody consequences cemented the image of the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) as a faceless cadre of profit-seeking warmongers who've wrested control of the foreign policy. That was certainly borne out by the war's utter senselessness ... and by tales of profiteering by well-connected contractors like Brown & Root.

Over five decades, four major wars and a dozen-odd interventions later, we often talk about the Military-Industrial Complex as if we're referring to a nefarious, flag-draped Death Star floating just beyond the reach of helpless Americans who'd generally prefer that war was not, as the great Gen. Smedley Darlington Butler aptly put it, little more than a money-making "racket."

Comment:


MIB

Lying to the FBI is illegal but not if the FBI does it

Attorney General Loretta Lynch
Loretta Lynch
While the liberal media is celebrating the announcement that former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, a bigger scandal was practically ignored.

On Thursday, Judicial Watch released 29 pages of FBI emails regarding the inexcusable June 27, 2016 meeting between former President Bill Clinton and then Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac of the Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, AZ. This meeting was not accidental, as Clinton purposely delayed the takeoff of his aircraft to arrange the supposedly impromptu encounter with the Attorney General.

According to Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, "These new FBI documents show the FBI was more concerned about a whistle-blower who told the truth about the infamous Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting than the scandalous meeting itself."

In the midst of a FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's "extremely careless" handling of top secret email communications, Lynch held a secretive meeting with her husband. This bombshell information would have never been made public if not for the investigative work of Phoenix television anchor Christopher Sign, who received a tip about the meeting from a "trusted source."

With an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the improper handling of email communications, it was highly improper for Lynch to agree to the meeting with Bill Clinton just days before FBI agents would interview his wife. Once confronted about the tarmac meeting, Lynch claimed they only discussed golf and grandchildren, which is a completely ludicrous explanation for the 30-minute meeting.

Comment: It's becoming more and more apparent that the investigation into "Russian collusion" is only turning up dirt on Hillary and the corruption within the DOJ instead of Trump. See also:


Chess

Mike Flynn told one lie, but the US government and media has told millions - in service to Israel

Clinton AIPAC
The Flynn scandal has exposed so many bigger scandals in US politics, but unfortunately, none of them are being discussed.

At long last, the non-scandal of Russiagate has fully blossomed into an actual scandal.

Israelgate is here and far from exposing that officials and family members of officials in the US government frequently and disproportionately lobby on behalf of the interests of a foreign power with illegal nuclear weapons, it merely confirms what is widely known, but frequently hushed up due to the money which drives the Israeli lobby to levels of power which are stratospheric compared with that of other foreign powers, including superpowers like Russia and China.

The scandal of US politicians bending over backwards to do the bidding of a foreign power called Israel, in an age when few US politicians are considered responsive to the needs of their own voters, is the perennial dead horse of US politics among those with open eyes and the invisible elephant in the room to those who are willfully blind.

Comment: See also:


USA

Joe Quinn to Press TV: Europe's Immigration Problem Caused by U.S.-Led Wars Against Middle Eastern States

Joe Quinn Press TV German immigration
Left-wing protesters scuffled with police in the German city of Hannover on Friday as they hit the streets, once again, to denounce the far-right Alternative for Germany party. In this Press TV report, Sott.net's Joe Quinn cuts to the chase and spells out the cause of these kinds of clashes that are increasingly occurring in European cities.

Map

China's role in the fate of Somalia

Chinese military
The current events in Somalia cause even greater concern. Against the background of the severe economic situation and the military confrontation of the many groups, having divided the country into the spheres of influence throughout the decades of the civil war, a new threat appeared, capable of aggravating the situation considerably and make Somalia one of the problematic spots on the Earth. The question now is about the terror group ISIS (banned in the Russian Federation), which recently developed its activity in Somalia with the view of seizing power in the country and transforming it into its new staging ground. Of additional concern is the location of Somalia at the shore of the Gulf of Aden - a strategically important area of the marine communication between Europe and Asia.

Nowadays, many countries participate in the provision of stability in the region, first of all by military methods. In the waters of the Gulf of Aden, the Naval Forces of many countries are present, sent there to tackle the Somalian pirates. Also, on the territory of Somalia, police operations against the pirates are held periodically, as well as military anti-terror operations.

However, it is quite evident that the problems of Somalia demand taking complex measures from the international community, the main goal of which would be improvement of the social-economic situation in the country. This is necessary to decrease the extremist sentiments and defuse the terror groups, which would lose the support of the Somalian population. Heavy-handed approach in the fight against terrorism and other types of criminality should play an auxiliary role.

One should particularly note the activity of China from the point of view of a combination of heavy-handed and economic methods of improvement of the situation in Somalia.

Comment: Somalia gets a lot of attention from other countries such as Turkey: Turkey opens its largest overseas military base in Somalia

But the US will be a major influence in thwarting China's efforts in Somalia: