Puppet MastersS


Biohazard

Nobody wants on Team McConnell 2018: GOP candidates distance themselves from the Senate leader

Kevin Robillard
Politico
Sat, 25 Nov 2017 07:09 UTC
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
© M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICOSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s approval ratings have tanked over the past year.
Nobody wants to be on Team McConnell.

Heading into the 2018 elections, only one Republican Senate candidate nationwide has pledged unequivocally to back Mitch McConnell as majority leader. Most Republicans facing competitive primaries are hemming and hawing, admiring McConnell's political savvy and fundraising apparatus - but also looking warily at his sinking approval ratings both with Republicans and the broader electorate.

Even in some of the red and purple states represented by Democratic senators where McConnell is hoping to pad his majority - places like Missouri, Michigan and Wisconsin - the leading candidates are dodging questions about McConnell's leadership or threatening to oppose him if the GOP Congress doesn't deliver on the party's legislative priorities in the coming months.

Comment: See also:

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Eye 2

UK secretly training Saudi troops for war on Yemen, 'against Geneva conventions'


Press TV
Sun, 26 Nov 2017 04:53 UTC
Saudi troops preparing to fight in Yemen UK training
© Daily MailSaudi troops preparing to fight in Yemen – shown in the light blue map in the middle of the board – look on as a British Army trainer taking part in Operation Crossways gives instructions on conducting an ‘irregular warfare’ mission.
The British Army is secretly training Saudi Arabian soldiers to fight in Yemen, where more than 12,000 people have been killed since the onset of the Saudi war in March 2015, according to a report.


Comment: See:

The training, codenamed Operation Crossways, was disclosed after the UK Army mistakenly released photos and a mission summary on 2 Scots' Facebook page earlier this month, The Mail on Sunday reported.
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People

Flashback Norway PM Erna Solberg: Migrants need to work more and live by Norwegian standards (video)

Isabelle Kumar
Euronews
Tue, 21 Nov 2017 11:59 UTC
norway noruega
© AFP 2017/ NTB Scanpix / Cornelius Poppe


For a relatively small country, Norway is certainly at the cross roads of many global hot topics and the prime minister has to navigate issues such as growing tensions with Russia, Britain's decision to leave the European Union and the refugee crisis. Isabelle Kumar spoke to Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, at the Council of Europe for the World Forum for Democracy, in Strasbourg, France.

Biography: Erna Solberg
  • Solberg became Prime Minister in October 2013
  • She has been leader of the Conservative Party since 2004
  • Was dubbed 'iron Erna' in early 2000's for her stance on immigration
  • She enjoys computer games and currently plays Pokemon Go

Comment: For someone who wastes her mind on Pokemon Go, she does have a point about migrants having the responsibility to adapt to the local culture, society and its laws.

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Camera

Members Of Trump family and administration spend Thanksgiving serving the Armed Forces

Benny Johnson
The Daily Caller
Sat, 25 Nov 2017 13:57 UTC
Trump Thanksgiving
© NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Thanksgiving is a time to meet with family and friends to celebrate what you are thankful for throughout the year. Various members of the Trump family and administration took time out of their Thanksgiving holiday to thank and serve a specific demographic of people: The American Armed Forces.

Multiple members of the Trump cabinet and family found ways to visit or serves active duty military members during the Thanksiving holiday. Here is a brief roundup of the specific ways they did it:

Comment: Never miss a good photo op! By keeping a good relationship with the military, could Trump be protecting his interests?

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Briefcase

Special counsel Robert Mueller stands on reputation that's somewhat flawed

David Willman
LA Times
Fri, 24 Nov 2017 11:00 UTC
Robert Mueller Capitol Hill
© Andrew Harnik / Associated PressSpecial counsel Robert S. Mueller III on Capitol Hill.
When he was named special counsel in May, Robert S. Mueller III was hailed as the ideal lawman - deeply experienced, strait-laced and nonpartisan - to investigate whether President Trump's campaign had helped with Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The accolades squared with Mueller's valor as a Marine rifle platoon commander in Vietnam and his integrity as a federal prosecutor, senior Justice Department official and FBI director from 2001 to 2013 - the longest tenure since J. Edgar Hoover's. He was praised by former courtroom allies and opponents, and by Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

But at 73, Mueller has a record that shows a man of fallible judgment who can be slow to alter his chosen course. At times, he has intimidated or provoked resentment among subordinates. And his tenacious yet linear approach to evaluating evidence led him to fumble the biggest U.S. terrorism investigation since 9/11.


Comment: That's not the only thing he's fumbled: Lapdog of the Deep State: A few shocking facts about Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller


Now, as he leads a sprawling investigation aimed at the White House, Mueller's prosecutorial discretion looms over the Trump presidency.

On what terms would Mueller offer immunity from prosecution to investigative targets? How broadly will he interpret his mandate to look into not only the 2016 campaign but also matters that "may arise directly from the investigation"?

Will he target Trump's sprawling family business and financial empire and the years before the developer ran for the White House?

::

Comment: More on Mueller:

Fmr CIA analyst Ray McGovern: Mueller is a fraud who covered up torture, 9/11 and illegal surveillance
Is Mueller investigation's real goal to destroy evidence of Hillary-Obama criminal activity?
How interesting: Mueller's hedge fund investments are linked to Russia and George Soros
Was Robert Mueller's appointment illegal? Yes, says professor of constitutional law

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Bandaid

Obamacare enrollment assistance group got $200,000 in federal funds and enrolled only one person

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Fri, 24 Nov 2017 11:33 UTC
Obama laughing
Earlier this summer, congressional democrats lost their collective minds when the Trump administration announced plans to cut Obamacare's marketing budget from $100 million down to $10 million (see: Democrats Furious After Trump Announces 90% Cut To Obamacare Marketing Funds). Here was Chuck Schumer's response:


Comment: It sounds like Obamacare provided a lot of opportunities for corruption.

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Arrow Up

Officials say ISIS beheaded 15 of its own fighters after infighting in Afghanistan

Tom Embury-Dennis
Independent
Fri, 24 Nov 2017 11:09 UTC
Isis flag held up by demonstrators in Kashmir
Isis has beheaded 15 of its own fighters due to infighting in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, officials say.

Attaullah Khogyani, the provincial governor's spokesperson, said the executions occurred in the Surkh Ab bazaar of Achin district.

Nangarhar, which is on the border with Pakistan, has become a stronghold for Isis, which in June captured territory around Tora Bora, the former refuge of Osama bin Laden.

Comment: Nice to see ISIS turning on its own and making good use of its clear talent for head-chopping.

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Cut

John Kelly clipped Jared Kushner's wings in the White House

Gabriel Sherman
Vanity Fair
Sun, 26 Nov 2017 10:45 UTC
John Kelly Jared Kushner
© Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty ImagesKushner and Kelly walk along the South Lawn on August 3, 2017.


The West Wing princeling's portfolio had been shrunk largely to the Middle East-but then his Saudi Arabia trip caused problems for the chief of staff.

When Donald Trump appointed John Kelly as chief of staff in July, the four-star Marine general arrived with a mandate to bring order to a freewheeling West Wing. Gone are the days of staffers waltzing into the Oval Office to lobby the president on policy or supply him with gossip. Trump still tweets, of course, but for the most part Kelly's cleanup has been successful, according to interviews with a half dozen Trump advisers, current and former West Wing officials, and Republicans close to the administration. The aide who has ceded the most influence in the Kelly era, these people said, is Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. "Kelly has clipped his wings," one high-level Republican in frequent contact with the White House told me.

Comment: Further signs that Jared Kushner may be slowly stepping out (or rather is being pushed out) of the picture: As for Kushner's possible role in the Middle East, read:

Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Salman pose the biggest threat to the Middle East

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Info

Sen. Chuck Grassley putting an end to Democrat stonewalling on judicial picks

Tony Perkins
The Daily Signal
Wed, 22 Nov 2017 00:01 UTC
Sen. Chuck Grassley
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Don't say we didn't warn you, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Democrats at a rocky Senate Judiciary meeting last week.

When Democrats blew up the 225-year-old judicial confirmation rules in 2013, Grassley said they'd regret it. Now, four years later, the left is finding out just how right he was.

Sure, clearing the way for a simple majority to rubber-stamp the president's judges seemed like a good idea at the time. But now that the shoe is on the other foot, liberals suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of the same process they manipulated.

Comment: More on Senator Chuck Grassley:

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Heart - Black

Pat Buchanan on the US-Saudi starvation blockade of Yemen: Worst humanitarian crisis on Earth

Patrick J. Buchanan
Patrick J. Buchanan Official Website
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 10:13 UTC
Yemen
An atrocious war against Yemen
Our aim is to "starve the whole population - men, women, and children, old and young, wounded and sound - into submission," said First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill.

He was speaking of Germany at the outset of the Great War of 1914-1918. Americans denounced as inhumane this starvation blockade that would eventually take the lives of a million German civilians.

Yet when we went to war in 1917, a U.S. admiral told British Prime Minister Lloyd George, "You will find that it will take us only two months to become as great criminals as you are."

After the Armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, however, the starvation blockade was not lifted until Germany capitulated to all Allied demands in the Treaty of Versailles.

As late as March 1919, four months after the Germans laid down their arms, Churchill arose in Parliament to exult, "We are enforcing the blockade with rigor, and Germany is very near starvation."

Comment: The Saudis are spending $200 million per day to starve the Yemenis. 50,000 children have died this year alone, with 130 dying per day from extreme hunger or disease. Over 18 million people - two thirds of the population - are dependant on aid, but how are they going to get if the Saudis are imposing a blockade?
The UN's humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, has been very clear. "I have told the [UN Security] Council that unless those measures are lifted... there will be a famine in Yemen. It will not be like the famine that we saw in South Sudan earlier in the year, where tens of thousands of people were affected. It will not be like the famine which cost 250,000 people their lives in Somalia in 2011. It will be the largest famine the world has seen in many decades, with millions of victims." And this famine will have been consciously and deliberately executed by those responsible for this war - the Saudis, with the British and Americans behind them.
So far, it appears that Saudi Arabia is only allowing vaccines to go into the country. Are people expected to eat and drink vaccines?? Will they recover from the illnesses they already have with vaccines? This is mere cruelty.

See as well:

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