Puppet MastersS


Handcuffs

Let's make a deal: Erdogan proposes release of US pastor in exchange for coup suspect Gulen


RT
Thu, 28 Sep 2017 13:28 UTC
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© Murad Sezer / Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested that Ankara could free a detained US pastor if Washington extradites Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey accuses of being behind last year's failed coup attempt.

"'Give us the pastor back,' they say. You have one pastor as well. Give him (Gulen) to us," Erdogan said during a speech to police officers at the presidential palace in Ankara.

"Then we will try him and give him to you.

"The (pastor) we have is on trial. Yours is not - he is living in Pennsylvania. You can give him easily. You can give him right away."

The US pastor referred to by Erdogan is Andrew Brunson, who was detained in Turkey on terrorism charges last October.
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Arrow Up

Interpol approves Palestinian membership


RT
Wed, 27 Sep 2017 13:17 UTC
Palestinian flag
© Ammar Awad / Reuters
Interpol has agreed to Palestine being a member. The move was backed by the majority of its members at their general assembly in Beijing despite strong objections from Israel.

According to Interpol's website, Palestinian inclusion was "approved by a more than two-thirds majority vote."

Seventy-five nations voted in favor of Palestine joining in organization, with 24 voting against and 34 abstaining in the Chinese capital, Haaretz reported.
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Info

Syria, Iraq and S-400: Putin to meet Erdogan in Turkey


RT
Thu, 28 Sep 2017 13:20 UTC
Vladimir Putin (R) and Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© Aleksey Nikolskyi / Sputnik
Russian President Vladimir Putin is heading to Turkey to meet his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan as relations between the two states continue to thaw. The situation in Syria and de-escalation zones are expected to be the main issues on the table.

The leaders held a phone conversation on Monday in which they discussed Syria, including de-escalation zones - an initiative proposed by Russia and also brokered by Iran and Turkey - and political settlement of the crisis, according to the statement from the Kremlin.

The parties agreed to further discuss the Syria issue during Putin's visit to Turkey on Thursday. The leaders will meet in the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Erdogan's office said in a statement.

Bilateral relations between Turkey and Russia will also be on the table during the meeting, the statement added.
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Propaganda

Russian Defense Ministry denies reports of 150 civilian deaths in Idlib airstrikes


Sputnik
Thu, 28 Sep 2017 13:09 UTC
Russian Defense Ministry
© Sputnik
The Russian Defense Ministry has denied reports of deaths of 150 civilians in Syria's Idlib as result of Russian airstrikes.

Russia denies reports suggesting that 150 civilians died in Syria's Idlib as a result of Russian airstrikes, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Thursday.
"Syria's Civil Defense which UK news agency Reuters cites, reporting of alleged civilian deaths, is the same thing as the White Helmets. The attempt of the British to pass these war scammers off as a new brand of objective information sources is a manipulation for amateurs," he said.
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Star of David

UN takes first concrete step to hold Israeli government accountable for Palestinian human rights violations

Palestinian BDS National Committee
Mondoweiss
Wed, 27 Sep 2017 03:08 UTC
bulldozer Israel palestine
© Zach Evenor/WikimediaCaterpillar D9L: Caterpillar designs special bulldozers used by the Israeli government for house demolitions in Palestine
Today's media reports revealed that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights began sending letters two weeks ago to 150 companies in Israel and around the globe, warning them that they could be added to a database of complicit companies doing business in illegal Israeli settlements based in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The letters reminded these companies that their operations in and with illegal Israeli settlements are in violation of "international law and in opposition of UN resolutions." They also requested that these companies respond with clarifications about such operations.

According to senior Israeli officials, some of the companies have already responded to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by saying they won't renew their contracts or sign new ones in Israel. "This could turn into a snowball," worried an Israeli official.

Comment:

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Arrow Down

Empires imprison themselves in traps of perpetual war - they're incapable of finding an exit strategy

Wendy McElroy
The Future of Freedom Foundation
Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00 UTC
exit strategy
The Roman Empire never doubted that it was the defender of civilization. Its good intentions were peace, law and order. The Spanish Empire added salvation. The British Empire added the noble myth of the white man's burden. We have added freedom and democracy.

- Garet Garrett, Rise of Empire
The first step in creating Empire is to morally justify the invasion and occupation of another nation even if it poses no credible or substantial threat. But if that's the entering strategy, what is the exit one?

One approach to answering is to explore how Empire has arisen through history and whether the process can be reversed. Another is to conclude that no exit is possible; an Empire inevitably self-destructs under the increasing weight of what it is - a nation exercising ultimate authority over an array of satellite states. Empires are vulnerable to overreach, rebellion, war, domestic turmoil, financial exhaustion, and competition for dominance.

Comment: The insanity of the Generals: They think they can 'win' Armageddon

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Control Panel

Hillary, Comey and Lynch investigation to be renewed: Republicans now calling for second special counsel

Cristina Laila
The Gateway Pundit
Tue, 26 Sep 2017 00:00 UTC
investigate Hillary
In July, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee requested a second special counsel separate from Robert Mueller to probe aspects of the 2016 election and actions by the Obama administration including Hillary Clinton.

In light of reports that Comey ended the FBI investigation into Hillary's emails before interviewing seventeen key witnesses including Hillary herself, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee renewed called for a second special counsel Tuesday.

Comment: Let's hope that this actually leads to some prison time for Hillary. But don't hold your breath - she and Bill would just as soon have a few political enemies killed before she'd allow herself to go to prison.

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Airplane

Quebec Premier outraged after US imposes 220% tariff on Canadian aircraft maker


RT
Wed, 27 Sep 2017 19:17 UTC
Bombardier
© Christinne Muschi / Reuters
The Premier of Canada's Quebec province Philippe Couillard has blasted Boeing, accusing the company of unfairly trying to destroy Bombardier.

The United States has imposed a 220 percent tariff on the Canadian aircraft maker after Boeing complained it was selling jets below cost on the US market.

Couillard has asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who's already put a planned purchase of military equipment from Boeing on hold, to take a "hard line" against the American company.
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Dollars

Trump proclaims 'historic tax relief' at Indiana rally


RT
Wed, 27 Sep 2017 20:39 UTC
Trump
© Joshua Roberts / Reuters
President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are releasing their proposed tax reform plan, which is said to revise the corporate tax rate, provide benefits for married couples, and reduce the number of tax brackets.

"We are here to announce historic tax relief for the American people," Trump said at the rally in Indianapolis, Indiana, adding that the "outdated, complex and extremely burdensome tax code" is standing in the way of America's economic recovery.

"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity," Trump said. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Trump said he would not negotiate on the Republicans' proposal to lower the corporate tax rate to 20 percent.

"I wanted to start at 15 (percent) so that we got 20 (percent) - 15 was so low we didn't take in the revenue. But I wanted 15 so we got 20, 20's my number so I'm not negotiating that number. I am not going to negotiate," he added.

The standard deduction will be $12,000, or $24,000 for married taxpayers who file jointly, eliminating the so-called "marriage tax." The plan leaves in place deductions for mortgage interest and charitable deductions.
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Георгиевская ленточка

General Asapov died because as a Russian officer he led from the front - The Saker comments

Alexander Mercouris
The Saker Blog
Wed, 27 Sep 2017 18:48 UTC
Lieutenant General Valery Asapov
© TASSLieutenant General Valery Asapov
The death of Lieutenant General Valery Asapov and two Russian colonels who were with him in Syria highlights the fundamentally different military command philosophies of the US and Russian militaries.

Unlike Western armies the Russian army still requires senior officers like General Asapov to lead their men into battle

Putting aside the question of whether or not General Asapov was deliberately targeted, the key point about his death is that he was a high ranking general (commander at the time of his death of Russia's 5th Red Banner Army) who was killed whilst carrying out personal reconnaissance on the front line in Deir Ezzor in Syria, where he exposed himself to shelling.

Though his death was big news in Russia, it has been received there calmly, with none of the displays of dismay or panic, or the feverish post-mortems, or the angry cries for vengeance, which would assuredly have happened if a US officer of similar rank had been killed in the same way.
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