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Sputnik's partner in US registers as foreign agent as crackdown continues


RT
Sat, 18 Nov 2017 14:13 UTC
Sputnik news room
© Maksim Blinov / Sputnik
Days after RT America was forced to register as a foreign agent, Sputnik Radio's partner in the US, Reston Translator, has been registered as such by the US Justice Department. In their rush to report on this, some US mainstream media overshot the facts.

Announcing that Reston Translator, one of Sputnik's numerous partner companies, was registered as a foreign agent as of November 15, Sputnik stressed that unlike RT's American division, the outlet itself was not requested by the US authorities to file for registration.

Some mainstream US media outlets like The Hill and The Daily Beast, in their rush to report the news of another "Russian propaganda" branch being called to account, that they neglected to double-check the name of the company in question. As a result, the Daily Beast ran the headline, "Russian-Owned Sputnik Registers as Foreign Agent After Taking Over D.C Bluegrass Station." In the rush to break the news, it didn't wait for Sputnik's confirmation or reach out to get it.
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Chess

Russia should grant RT America journalists special diplomatic status

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Sat, 18 Nov 2017 14:13 UTC
Russia Today
© Sputnik/ Nina Zotina
If the US can bestow an insulting title on its own citizens, Russia could bestow an honorific title upon those being unfairly targeted by Washington's war on free speech.

RT America as an organisation and RT America's employees as individuals have been forced by the US government to register as "foreign agents" under the controversial Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938.

Russia has already taken steps to retaliate by working to classify Radio Free Europe and Voice of America operations in Russia under similar new regulations passed by the State Duma.
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Display

Pentagon security fail left massive trove of data exposed on Amazon server


RT
Sat, 18 Nov 2017 13:38 UTC
cybersecurity computer server
© Erik Isakson / Getty Images
A cybersecurity expert with a track record in exposing data breaches has revealed that the US Defense Department left a massive data collection on an Amazon cloud server, which could have been accessed by anyone with a free account.

The report from Chris Vickery and Dan O'Sullivan of the security firm UpGuard reveals that the Defense Department's Central Command (CENTCOM) and US Pacific Command (PACOM) were collecting billions of social media posts and storing them on Amazon's cloud platform.

UpGuard say at least 1.8 billion posts, which were apparently collected as part of intelligence gathering operations, were contained in the exposed data "buckets." This included content from Facebook, Twitter and news sites. It came from countries around the world, including America, and it was collected over an eight-year period.
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Quenelle

Lebanese FM: 'Israel shouldn't start a war with us, as we will surely win'


RT
Sat, 18 Nov 2017 13:38 UTC
lebanon
Lebanon has capabilities to counter "any threat," but only wants peace and stability in the region, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has told RT in an interview. He warned that any potential aggressor state would suffer consequences, which could reach as far as Europe.

The Middle Eastern country has always chosen to "maintain constructive and sound policies" with its neighbors and other states in the Arab world, but this hasn't prevented "hostile actions" against Lebanon, Bassil told RT in an exclusive interview Friday. Citing the current crisis triggered by the "unexpected" resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri announced from Saudi Arabia, the official said it is a "good example [showing that] virtually anyone can start a war against us."

"We are ready to act in case of such developments, but we are trying to do everything we can to prevent this from happening and to maintain a good relationship with Saudi Arabia," Bassil said, adding Beirut would "stick to" its peaceful and diplomatic approach "unless forced to defend ourselves." While Lebanon is against any interference in its internal affairs, it also "does not approve of any attacks by its citizens against Saudi Arabia," he said.

Comment: Further reading: Is the US-Israel evil axis setting it sights on Lebanon for the next Middle East war?

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Yoda

RT Chief Margarita Simonyan reflects on why and how RT found its voice among the crowded news universe

Margarita Simonyan
Russia Insider
Wed, 15 Nov 2017 13:42 UTC
RT Margarita Simonyan 800 px
© RT
The world owes Simonyan and her team at RT a debt of gratitude for the enormous contribution they make to the alt-media landscape.

Many of us have a wide reach, but are seriously underfunded, so the heavy lifting RT does is simply invaluable. Here at RI, our small team relentlessly scans what the alt-media is writing about Russia, and I see every day how much the they use and amplify what RT and Sputnik produce, because they have the budgets. It is colossal and invaluable.

And RT is lucky to have Simonyan at the helm. One of the things she gets right is using humor to fight back against deep state budgets which dwarf hers. She is poised, smart, and witty, and often wins the day skillfully deploying these qualities. To get a sense of this, watch the revealing video at the end of this article.

This is a short excerpt from Simonyan's contribution to Phil Butler's excellent new book 'Putin's Praetorians', which profiles alt-media personalities, large and small, who played a key role in the online revolt against the media's obsessive hostility against Russia. The book was an immediate success, topping Amazon best-seller lists, where it is getting glowing reviews. We carried reviews of it here (the Saker) and here (Jim Dean).

Charles Bausman, Editor, Russia Insider

Comment:

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Piggy Bank

Trump paying legal bills from own pocket

Jeremy Diamond
CNN
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 22:00 UTC
Donald Trump
© Joshua Roberts / Reuters
President Donald Trump has begun paying his personal legal bills stemming from the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign out of his own pocket, relieving the Republican Party of future payments, the White House's special counsel on the matter announced Friday.

Trump, who claims a multibillion-dollar net worth, is also working with the Office of Government Ethics and tax law experts to fund the legal payments of White House staffers who have become embroiled in the Justice Department's special counsel investigation.

"(The) President is paying his own legal fees, as was always his preference. He does not want to deplete any funds that may be available to assist current and former staffers," Ty Cobb, the White House's special counsel on the Russia matter, said in a statement.

Comment: See also: James Bovard: Trump's liberal critics are increasingly unhinged, authoritarian

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Ice Cube

Ironic: Nancy Pelosi suffers brain freeze while questioning Trump's fitness to be president

Kyle Olson
The American Mirror
Thu, 16 Nov 2017 00:01 UTC
Nancy Pelosi
© Yuri Gripas / Reuters

Nancy Pelosi suffered an ill-timed brain freeze on Thursday, just as she was questioning Donald Trump's "fitness" to serve as president.

The House Minority Leader was criticizing the Republican tax plan during a press conference when the topic turned to articles of impeachment that were filed by several House Democrats this week.

Comment: What's more, this isn't the first time Pelosi has had "brain freezes" while speaking publicly, (kind of reminiscent of Hillary's on-again-off-again health issues during the campaign, no?). A rather inopportune time for Pelosi to be questioning anyone's "fitness to serve" as anything.

See also:

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Bad Guys

NATO: The biggest threat to world peace

Eric Zuesse
The Duran
Thu, 16 Nov 2017 20:32 UTC
The biggest threat to world peace is NATO US flag
On November 8th, Britain's Daily Mail bannered "NATO tells Europe to prepare for 'rapid deployment':" and sub-headed "Defence chiefs say roads, bridges and rail links must be improved in case tanks and heavy vehicles need to be quickly mobilised" (to invade Russia, but the newspaper's slant was instead that this must be done purely defensively: "In October, NATO accused Russia of misleading them, saying that Moscow had deliberately violated international rules of military drills").

The article continued:

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called for the infrastructure update across Europe as NATO is set to overhaul its command structure for the first time since the Cold War

During a press conference in Brussels, Stoltenberg said NATO needs a command structure to ensure 'we have the right forces, in the right place, with the right equipment at the right time.'

He then added: 'This is not only about commands. We also need to ensure that roads and bridges are strong enough to take our largest vehicles, and that rail networks are equipped for the rapid deployment of tanks and heavy equipment.


Comment: NATO wants Europe's civilian infrastructure ready for war

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Dollars

White House petition calls for abolishment of the unconstitutional Federal Reserve

J.M.
We the People
Thu, 16 Nov 2017 00:01 UTC
Federal Reserve building with burning cash graphic
This petition is to demand that Congress abolish the unconstitutional Federal Reserve! Congress unconstitutionally gave the monopoly of our monetary system to a private banking cartel under the 1913 Federal Reserve Act that has enslaved we the people with a debt based economy and national debt that can never be repaid.

Currency (paper money that is legal tender for paying debts) derives its value from goods & services and is more stable and cannot be manipulated when backed by real money (gold and/or silver)!

Comment: To sign the petition, go here.

See also:

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Bad Guys

Controlling the message: How the Deep State operates

Philip M. Giraldi
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 18 Nov 2017 12:32 UTC
The White House
It is not possible to overstate the power of certain constituencies and corporate lobbies in the United States. These pressure groups, joined by powerful government agencies, many of which have secret agendas that focus on national security, constitute what is increasingly being recognized as "Deep State America." Deep State is the widespread belief that there exists in many countries an entrenched and largely hidden infrastructure that really controls the national narrative and runs things. It explains why, for example, a country like the United States is perpetually at war even though the wars have been disastrous failures ever since Korea and have not made the nation more secure.

To be sure, certain constituencies have benefitted from global instability and conflict, to include defense industries, big government in general, and the national security state. They all work together and hand-in-hand with the corporate media to sustain the narrative that the United States is perpetually under threat, even though it is not.

Comment:

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