Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

New Cold War inspired US draft bill on alleged Russian subversion


Sputnik
Fri, 26 May 2017 20:39 UTC
Margarita Simonyan
© SputnikMargarita Simonyan
The new draft bill introduced into the US Congress, demanding a comprehensive official report on Russia's alleged measures to undermine the United States, including the assessment of the RT broadcaster, is reminiscent of the Ronald Reagan administration's tactics, Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT and Sputnik news agency, said Friday.

On Monday, Salud Carbajal, a member of the US House of Representatives, introduced the Reporting on Influence and Subversion by the Kremlin Act (RISK Act), requesting a report from the Department of State on Moscow's alleged subversive measures aimed against the United States, which, according to Carbajal, would be the first such report to Congress since 1986. The proposal singled out the need to assess RT, labeled as "propaganda outlet" in the bill text.

"Yet another congressman introduced another delightful bill that belongs to Cold War era... Progressive political trends circa 1986. They are suggesting a bill, seemingly from [Ronald] Reagan era, aimed against us. At least, not [Joseph] McCarthy," Simonyan wrote on her Twitter.
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Red Flag

FBI illegally shared spy data with private parties, compromised Americans

John Solomon, Sara Carter
Circa
Thu, 25 May 2017 00:00 UTC
Declassified docs
© Circa
The FBI has illegally shared raw intelligence about Americans with unauthorized third parties and violated other constitutional privacy protections, according to newly declassified government documents that undercut the bureau's public assurances about how carefully it handles warrantless spy data to avoid abuses or leaks.

In his final congressional testimony before he was fired by President Trump this month, then-FBI Director James Comey unequivocally told lawmakers his agency used sensitive espionage data gathered about Americans without a warrant only when it was "lawfully collected, carefully overseen and checked."

Once-top secret U.S. intelligence community memos reviewed by Circa tell a different story, citing instances of "disregard" for rules, inadequate training and "deficient" oversight and even one case of deliberately sharing spy data with a forbidden party.

For instance, a ruling declassified this month by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) chronicles nearly 10 pages listing hundreds of violations of the FBI's privacy-protecting minimization rules that occurred on Comey's watch.

Comment: There may never be enough assurances to assuage these concerns. The public has been compromised down to the individual and without the ability to expose illegal operations and real consequences, rules just don't matter.

See also: FISA court: NSA violated search restrictions and spied on Americans

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Jet1

Egypt conducts 6 strikes on 'terrorist camps' in Libya in response to attack on Coptic Christians


RT
Fri, 26 May 2017 20:30 UTC
An Egyptian fighter jet
© Global Look Press
Egyptian fighter jets have struck militant camps following the deadly attack on Egypt's Coptic Christians, President Abdel Fattah Sisi has announced. The strikes were carried out in eastern Libya, state television said.

Egypt's president also vowed to continue striking bases used to train militants and who carry out terrorist attacks in his country, regardless of the camps' location.

He also reiterated that the countries financing, training and arming terrorists should not get away unpunished.

"We will not hesitate to protect our people from the evil," he said in a televised speech on Friday.


Comment: Masked gunmen ambush convoy of Egyptian Coptic Christians killing dozens including children

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Rocket

China: Tightening security at North Korean border


RT
Fri, 26 May 2017 15:44 UTC
NK Outpost border
© Aly Song/ReutersNorth Korean soldier on guard at the Yalu River, Sinuju, North Korea
China told the US that it has tightened security at its border with North Korea, according to a top US diplomat. The official said the US has seen a "shift in emphasis" from China, amid Washington's calls to put pressure on Pyongyang.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton said that China told the US that it has "stepped up border inspections, beefed up some of the policing function on the border, stepped up customs inspections," AP reported. Beijing has also reportedly implemented "a number of other things on companies" that have dealings with North Korea," Thornton said, while declining to elaborate.

The diplomat said the move reflects Beijing's increasing awareness of the need to pressure North Korea into halting its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. She also noted that the US has seen a "shift in emphasis" in China's approach to Pyongyang.

Thornton said Beijing now understands "that they don't have, I think, as much time to try to bring the North Koreans to the table, get their calculus changed and get them to the negotiating table as they may have previously thought." She went on to say that Beijing has also realized that Pyongyang's actions are "undermining China's own security in pretty major ways. They do recognize that it's going to be pretty hard to have a dialogue while the North Koreans are shooting off missiles," she said.

Comment: Guarded progress...one step at a time.

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Airplane

Pelosi complains Trump not visiting countries in alphabetical order

Kyle Olson
The American Mirror
Fri, 26 May 2017 00:00 UTC
Pelosi
© The Hill/KJN
Has Nancy Pelosi completely lost her mind? Or does she just have to complain about everything President Trump does? During a press briefing on Thursday, the House Minority Leader criticized the president's choice of visiting Saudi Arabia first during his inaugural foreign trip.

"I thought it was unusual for the President of the United States to go to Saudi Arabia first. Saudi Arabia!" Pelosi said. "It wasn't even alphabetical. I mean, Saudi Arabia."

The Democrat leader contrasted Trump's visit with George W. Bush first visiting Mexico, and Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama visiting Canada first. "Our friends and neighbors," she said. "What was the decision-making process to go to Saudi Arabia first? That is a question that I have," she said.

If Trump were to begin visiting foreign countries by alphabetical order, he would first visit Afghanistan, followed by Albania, Algeria, Andorra and Angola.

Is Nancy Pelosi really advocating for a Sesame Street strategy to boost foreign relations?


Comment: Pelosi is planting doubts...no doubt about it. This was a comment she didn't have to make and she went around the barn to be able to say it.

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No Entry

Trump threatens to ban sales of cars in US from 'very bad' German trade


RT
Fri, 26 May 2017 09:13 UTC
BMW logo
© Michael Dalder / Reuters
US President Donald Trump has threatened to stop German car sales in America during a meeting with European officials in Brussels on Thursday, Germany's Der Spiegel reported.

"The Germans are bad, very bad," said Trump, as quoted by Spiegel. "Look at the millions of cars they sell in the US, and we'll stop that," he added, according to the newspaper, citing participants in the meeting.

According to a report from German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the EU officials were horrified at the extent of the Americans' lack of awareness of European trade policy. Apparently, it was unclear to the guests EU countries concluded trade agreements only jointly, the newspaper said.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker denied Trump was hostile to Germany in the Brussels talks. "He did not say the Germans were behaving badly," Juncker said, adding that the reports in the German media were exaggerated.

Later, Donald Trump's top economic adviser acknowledged that the president said Germany is "very bad" when it comes to flooding the U.S. with cars, but insisted it wasn't an attack on one of America's most-important allies.
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Quenelle

Assange defies Ecuadorian warnings not to 'interfere' in South American politics, vows to publish any evidence of corruption


RT
Fri, 26 May 2017 19:07 UTC
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
© Peter Nicholls / Reuters WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
Responding to comments from newly elected Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno warning Julian Assange not to 'interfere' in South American politics, WikiLeaks' founder said Ecuador can be "confident" that any evidence of corruption will still be published.

Speaking at a ceremony at the Cochasqui archeological site in the Northern Andes on Thursday, President Moreno "respectfully" called on Assange "not to interfere in Ecuadorian politics, nor in the politics of its allies."

"His status does not allow him to talk about the politics of any country, let alone ours," he said, according to CapitalNews.

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Pirates

Philippines: Crisis 'transmogrified into invasion by foreign terrorists'


RT
Fri, 26 May 2017 03:53 UTC
Philippines tank
© Romeo Ranoco / ReutersTroops and armored personnel carrier in Marawi City, Philippines
The Maute group confronting the Philippine army in Marawi City is no longer considered a local terrorist organization as it has been reinforced by jihadists of Malaysian, Indonesian and "other nationalities," the country's authorities have announced. "Before it was just a local terrorist group. But now they have subscribed to the ideology of ISIS. They want to make Mindanao as part of the caliphate," Solicitor General Jose Calida told a news conference, according to Reuters.

He added that Indonesians and Malaysians are among the Islamist radicals who are fighting the army. Meanwhile, an army spokesman said six foreigners were killed in Mindanao on Thursday, including militants of Malaysian, Indonesian and "other nationalities."

"What's happening in Mindanao is no longer a rebellion of Filipino citizens" but "has transmogrified into an invasion by foreign terrorists who heeded the clarion call of the ISIS to go to the Philippines if they find difficulty in going to Iraq or Syria," Calida added, as cited by InterAksyon news. The terrorist group is aiming to create an Islamic State "province" in Mindanao and will target anyone to achieve their objective, Calida warned.

"People they consider as infidels, whether Christians or Muslims, are also targets of opportunity," he said. "What is worrisome is that ISIS has radicalized a number of Filipino Muslim youth."


Comment: See also:

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Attention

John Pilger: The White Helmets are a complete propaganda construct in Syria

Vanessa Beeley
21st Century Wire
Fri, 26 May 2017 00:00 UTC
white helmets
Just prior to the 2016 announcement of the Nobel Prize I wrote to eminent author and filmmaker, John Pilger, about the NATO and Gulf State propaganda construct, the White Helmets, demonstrated to be nothing more than Nusra Front civil defence in Syria. In yesterday's interview with RT's Going Underground, John Pilger outed the White Helmets as nothing more than a "complete propaganda construct in Syria". WATCH ~


Comment: White Helmets: The Mask of Terror (VIDEO)

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Info

How the British Deep State turned Manchester into an al-Qaeda hotbed

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Thu, 25 May 2017 18:27 UTC
Hillary in libya
Anti-Gaddafi Libyans living in Manchester had been trained, armed and aided by Britain to wage jihad against the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

More and more information is emerging on how the savage terrorist atrocity recently committed in Manchester was a classic case of terrorist blow-back, a phenomenon describing how when western governments fund, arm and aid terrorists, they often come back to commit horrific crimes against the citizens of the countries which funded and aided them.


Comment: Manchester bombing: How British intelligence has coddled terrorists


It has been confirmed that the father of the Manchester ISIS bomber was a member of the al-Qaeda affiliated Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group was initially comprised of battle hardened fighters who travelled to Afghanistan in the 1980s to fight the Soviet Union and the secular government in Kabul.

According to former MI5 agent and whistle blower David Shayler, the UK had been funding, arming and training the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group as early as the 1990s and even helped the group organise an attempted assassination of Libyan revolutionary leader Muammar Gaddafi in 1996.
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