Puppet MastersS

Biohazard

Russia destroys last chemical weapons ahead of schedule - but US is long overdue to destroy its own

chemical weapons
© Reuters
Russia on Wednesday will destroy the last batch of its chemical weapons stockpile, fulfilling its obligation under the convention on prohibition of chemical weapons, the Kremlin announced.

The landmark disposal operation will be conducted at a plant near the village of Kizner in Udmurtia in the Urals, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

"We are fulfilling our obligation under the Chemical Weapons Convention to fully destroy our chemical weapons arsenal, and we do it ahead of schedule," he said.

Russia signed the CWC in 1993 and launched a program to dispose of its arsenal in 1996, which allowed it to join the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons (OPCW), the watchdog of the convention, a year later.

At the time Russia declared some 40,000 tons of CW agents in its possession, which it pledged to dispose of by 2020.

Comment: Unfortunately however - and despite the US's demonizing any other country for keeping stockpiles of chemical weapons - the US is hypocritically keeping hold to some of their own supply:
Unlike Russia, the US is not observing its own pledge to dispose of its chemical weapons arsenal, the President Vladimir Putin said ahead of the destruction of the last batch of Russian chemical weapons on Wednesday.

"Russia strictly complies with its international obligations, including those related to non-proliferation and reductions of weapons of mass destruction," Putin said.

"Historically Russia was one of the largest holders of chemical weapons and the US remains one. Unfortunately the US is not observing the deadline for disposing of its chemical weapons. They have pushed the date back three times, citing a lack of funding. This, frankly, sounds strange," he added.

Putin's criticism of the US came as the Russian chemical weapons disposal plant near the village of Kizner, Udmurtia, in the Urals destroyed the last remains of the Russian arsenal.

Footage of the landmark process showed an artillery shell with a note in Russian saying "Farewell to chemical arms" being emptied and decontaminated at an automated production line.

The president said Russia's example in delivering on its promise to destroy its arsenal, which was fully met on Wednesday long before the initial deadline, should encourage other nations to follow suit.

Russia began destroying its chemical weapons arsenal in 1996, shortly before ratifying its accession to the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the watchdog of the convention.

At the time Russia's stockpile of chemical weapons was declared as 40,000 tons, with the US possessing a similar amount.

When the US ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty in 1997, it agreed to destroy all of its chemical weapons by April 29, 2012. It managed to dispose of about 90 percent of its stockpile by that deadline.

At the moment there are two sites in America still storing chemical weapons. The Pueblo Chemical Depot is expected to complete the destruction by 2019, while the Blue Grass Army Depot is scheduled to start its stockpile's destruction in 2020.



Stock Up

First the critics laughed, then he was dangerous, now Jeremy Corbyn is 'favorite for PM'

Jeremy Corbyn
© Hugo Michiels / Global Look Press
Jeremy Corbyn has a spring in his step at this year's Labour Party Conference. He's gone from fighting for his political survival to preparing to walk into Downing Street. At least that's what his former critics are saying.

In six months the Labour leader has gone from being outrageous outsider to prime minister-in-waiting.

Corbyn will address party delegates in Brighton this week to launch his battle for Downing Street, as tottering Tory Theresa May fends off leadership challenges from within her own cabinet.

And while Brexit goes badly, Labour has every opportunity to seize power.

"Six months ago the opposition was in a battle for survival. Now it is preparing for government," the latest edition of the Economist crows.

Airplane

Washington's crushing 220% tariff on Canadian jets could be start of nasty trade war

Bombardier CS300 Aircraft
© Christinne Muschi / Reuters
Washington has imposed preliminary anti-subsidy duties of 220 percent on Bombardier's C-Series jets. The tariffs were imposed after American rival Boeing accused Canada of unfairly subsidizing Bombardier.

The US government sided with Boeing after the American company filed a complaint that the 110-to-130 seat Bombardier aircraft were dumped below cost in the US market.

According to Boeing, Bombardier sold 75 C-Series jets to Delta below cost, similarly to the tactic used by rival Airbus in the 1990s to grab market share in the United States.

"The US Department of Commerce today affirmed that Bombardier has taken massive illegal subsidies in violation of existing trade law," Boeing said in a statement. "Subsidies enabled Bombardier to dump its product into the US market, harming aerospace workers in the United States and throughout Boeing's global supply chain."

Bombardier called the ruling "absurd and divorced from reality" and accused Boeing of manipulating US trade laws to stifle competition.

Target

Iraqi parliament 'gives mandate' to PM Abadi to deploy troops in disputed Kurdish-held oil region of Kirkuk

Iraqi rapid response members gather on the outskirts of Shirqat, near Kirkuk
© ReutersIraqi rapid response members gather on the outskirts of Shirqat, near Kirkuk, Iraq, September 23, 2017.
Iraq's parliament has asked Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send troops to the Kurdish-held region of Kirkuk and take control of its oil fields, state TV reports.

"The government has to bring back the oilfields of Kirkuk under the control of the oil ministry," the resolution voted by parliament states, according to Reuters.

It also calls on Abadi to "issue orders for the security forces to deploy in the disputed areas, including Kirkuk."

Kirkuk security forces won't let Iraqi Army enter the province, governor told RIA Novosti.

It comes after a Kurdistan independence referendum in which the majority of Kurds voted "yes," according to Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani.

The vote has been deemed illegal and "unconstitutional" by Baghdad.

Light Sabers

Fake Nukes? US officials claim Iranian ballistic missile test was faked using old video footage

iran ballistic missiles
On Saturday, when a defiant Iran allegedly confirmed the existence a brand new ballistic missile it has unveiled just hours earlier at a military parade in Tehran, we reported that Iranian state television released video footage Friday claiming to show the launch of a new type of medium-range ballistic missile.

But it turns out this was "fake news", or rather "fake nukes", as Iran never actually fired a ballistic missile, according to Fox News government sources, and instead the video released by the Iranians was more than seven months old - dating back to a failed launch in late January, which resulted in the missile exploding shortly after liftoff, according to two U.S. officials.

After the footage was aired, Iranian media claiming a successful test launch - though it apparently showed the failed January launch. At the time, Iran was attempting to launch its new Khorramshahr medium-range ballistic missile for the first time. It flew 600 miles before exploding, in a failed test of a reentry vehicle, officials said at the time. The failed late January launch was first reported by Fox News and prompted the White House to put Iran "on notice" days later.

Tornado1

Trump gets warning: Send help or risk making the Puerto Rico crisis 'your Katrina'

Maria hurricane Puerto Rico
© Ricardo Arduengo/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesA man rides his bicycle through a damaged road in Toa Alta, west of San Juan
Donald Trump will visit Puerto Rico next Tuesday, to see some of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria on the lives of 3.5 million Americans. As the president announced the visit, however, one Democratic congresswoman who was born in Puerto Rico warned that his lack of attention to the disaster so far risked making it "your Katrina".

The White House said on Tuesday Trump had also made additional disaster assistance available, "by authorizing an increase in the level of federal funding for debris removal and emergency protective measures".

But it took the president five full days to respond to the plight of the US territory. When he finally did so on Monday night, his comments on Twitter were so devoid of empathy it threatened to spark new controversy.

Eye 2

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

US flag world burning
© New Eastern Outlook
In a room, somewhere deep inside the Pentagon generals and admirals met recently in order to prepare an assessment for the United States Senate Armed Services Committee. Present at the metering were General Mark Milley, the U.S. Army's Chief of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson, the Commandant of the Marine Corps General Robert Neller, and U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein. At such a meeting there's no doubt that Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford attended seeing he's the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The agenda for this meeting was serious as a heart attack - America's most brilliant and powerful military men gathered that day to discuss Armageddon.

The minutes of this fateful meeting are top secret. Only a handful of people will ever know what was discussed. But the end result of the strategy session was revealed on September 15, 2017 before the people of the United States. The top generals of the most powerful nation on Earth advised congress that America could in fact win an all-out war with Russia and China. It must have been a scene right out of Director Stanley Kubrick's classic Cold War film, Dr. Strangelove. I was not there, so I can only imagine the gathering of war hawks, the stoic expertise and military intellect, and the obtuse arrogance being conveyed across the congressional forum that day. The vision makes me wonder, "Who in the hell ordered such an assessment in the first place?" But I think we all know the answer.

Comment:


Dollars

Republicans hash out agreement to raise bottom tax rate, double standard deduction

Repulican leaders
© Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated PressFrom left, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senior Adviser to President Donald Trump Jared Kushner as they wait for the President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to begin their meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Top White House and GOP leaders have agreed to raise the lowest individual tax rate from 10 to 12 percent, paired with doubling the standard deduction, 5 senior Republicans tell us.

Why this matters

Trump intends to sell the proposal tomorrow as a populist "tax cut." But as recently as yesterday top Republicans on Capitol Hill were nervous as they got word that Trump wasn't entirely thrilled with the product that had been hashed out in immense secrecy for weeks (with two members of his administration, Gary Cohn and Steven Mnuchin, working with GOP leaders.)

Late last night Republicans close to the process felt more confident that Trump had come around to supporting the framework - despite his misgivings about the corporate rate not being low enough and about the political risks of raising the lowest rate (even though many more people will now pay no tax because of the increased deduction, meaning they can accurately call it a tax cut for the middle class as well as for the wealthy.)

Star of David

Israeli minister calls for deporting families of 'Palestinian terrorists' to Syria

shattered window West bank
© Menahem Kahana/Agence France-PresseMembers of the Israeli security forces walk past the shattered glass of the security post at the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Har Adar after a Palestinian opened fire on security personnel in a fatal attack before being shot dead
The call comes in the wake of a shooting in the morning that left three Israelis dead.

Israel's Minister of Housing and Construction Yoav Galant publically stated that relatives of "Palestinian terrorists" should be deported straight to Syria instead of being sent to the Gaza Strip.

According to the minister, those who "want to kill Israeli kids" should not be "allowed to stay here."

The minister's reaction came after an attack that took place on the outskirts of a Jewish settlement of Har Adar, located in the West Bank region, on early Tuesday morning, when a lone Palestinian gunman suddenly opened fire and shot three Israelis dead and injured one more before being killed by local security forces.

Fire

Amazon.com 'burns' book exposing Bill Browder

amazon browder book supressed
© Createpace
Update: The book may still be available on Amazon but through other vendors. Kindle version remains unavailable.

It is ironic that just today I posted an article about the paramount importance of free speech, which numerous government bureaucracies and large corporations in the West seek to suppress in their purported endeavor to police "hate speech." And just today one of the great media behemoths, Amazon.com suppressed my book (as I expected they might). I assure you there's not even a trace of hate or hate speech in my book.

The Killing of William Browder is a detailed deconstruction of Bill Browder's dangerous deception. It shows beyond a reasonable doubt that Bill Browder's account in his own book (Red Notice) is false. Nevertheless, on the basis of that false narrative, Browder has been able to lobby the U.S. Congress into passing the Magnitsky Act which greatly damaged the bilateral relations between Russia and the United States. Browder himself is on record stating: "I think we are entering into a hot war right now, and that the best possible outcome is a Cold War." This agenda is obviously important enough that you are not allowed to know the truth about it.

My book, published only last month (August 2017), was starting to get some traction and in its first four weeks gained very positive reviews from readers (seven 5-star reviews and one 4-star review). That's when Browder's legal counsel Jonathan M. Winer stepped in. He contacted CreateSpace and demanded that my book be delisted alleging that it contained defamatory content. CreateSpace promptly obliged, suppressing the book and instructing me that I needed to, "work with the disputing party until a resolution is reached." Once I obtained the "disputing party's" agreement, I would need to provide CreateSpace a confirmation from both parties so that they may "take action on the title as appropriate."

Comment: Krainer is not the only one to take aim at the criminal Browder:

Film exposing conspiracy of financiers and mainstream media to frame Russia for their own evils banned in West