Puppet MastersS


Stock Down

UN Special Rapporteur reports anti-Russian sanctions cost Europe $100bn


RT
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 20:56 UTC
EU flag
© John Thys / AFP / AFP
Over the last three years, the European Union has been losing at least $3.2 billion every month due to the anti-Russian penalties, according to a report by a UN Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy.

"The most credible approximation is of $3.2 billion a month," says the report on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures, as quoted by Sputnik.

Jazairy stressed that Russia had sustained a direct loss of nearly $15 billion a year or a total of $55 billion so far.

"The resulting overall income loss of $155 billion is shared by source and target countries," he added.
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Radar

A surprise to no one: N. Korea vows to redouble military strength over 'evil, US-fabricated' sanctions


RT
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 20:49 UTC
Missiles are driven past the stand with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a military parade, Pyongyang
© Sue-Lin Wong / ReutersMissiles are driven past the stand with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a military parade, Pyongyang.
North Korea has vowed to increase its military strength following a new round of "evil" UN sanctions over its recent nuclear test. The resolution, "fabricated by the US," proves that the road Pyongyang has chosen is "absolutely right", the North said.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a new resolution on Monday, banning North Korea's textile exports and capping its oil imports following Pyongyang's nuclear test.

In response, Pyongyang promised to accelerate its weapons program.

"The DPRK will redouble the efforts to increase its strength to safeguard the country's sovereignty and right to existence and to preserve peace and security of the region by establishing a practical equilibrium with the US," a statement from North Korean Foreign Ministry said, as cited by KCNA news agency.
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Eye 1

Of course they would: US Senate votes against amendment to stop 'endless' war in Iraq and Afghanistan


RT
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 20:38 UTC
An American flag is placed in a dirt-filled barrier, at Combat Outpost Nolen, north of Kandahar
© Bob Strong / Reuters
The US Senate has voted 61-36 to kill the amendment, proposed by Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) which would repeal the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Senate can't repeal the AUMF without replacing it with a new authorization, said Senator John McCain (R-Arizona).

"It would mean that we would immediately need to start winding down" US forces abroad, said Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee), who also opposed Paul's amendment.

Paul had vowed to delay the passage of the $700-billion dollar National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) if he didn't get a vote on repealing the AUMF.

"We have been there for 16 years. It is time for [the wars] to end. It is time for Congress to vote on whether or not they should end," Paul said on Monday.
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Binoculars

DHS orders removal of all Kaspersky Lab products - 'because Russian spies'


RT
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 20:11 UTC
Kaspersky Lab logo
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ordered all government agencies to "develop plans to remove" all "information security products, solutions, and services" produced by Kaspersky Lab, the Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider.

The DHS issued a Binding Operational Directive (BOD) that calls "on departments and agencies to identify any use or presence of Kaspersky products on their information systems" and "to develop detailed plans to remove and discontinue present and future use of the products," giving them 90 days to comply with the order.

The DHS further explained that its decision is based on assessments of the "information security risks presented by the use of Kaspersky products on federal information systems." It added that these products could be "exploited by malicious cyber actors to compromise those information systems."

US authorities also believe that "certain Kaspersky officials" could have ties with Russian intelligence and other government agencies, providing an opportunity for US security to be "compromised."

Comment: Even Best Buy is getting in on the action. It has pulled Kaspersky software from their shelves:
Despite there being no concrete evidence to indicate that the security software is a threat, the retail chain is ending its long relationship with Kaspersky, a Best Buy spokesperson confirmed to The Register on Friday. As to the reasoning, the store chain just said that it doesn't comment on contracts with specific vendors.

"Kaspersky Lab and Best Buy have suspended their relationship at this time; however, the relationship may be re-evaluated in the future," the Russian biz told The Register today.
...
[Shaheen:] "Under Russian laws and according to Kaspersky Lab's certification by the FSB, the company is required to assist the spy agency in its operations, and the FSB can assign agency officers to work at the company. Russian law requires telecommunications service providers such as Kaspersky Lab to install communications interception equipment that allows the FSB to monitor all of a company's data transmissions."

What she didn't add is that under the terms of the Patriot Act and other legislation pushed through as part of The War Against Terror (TWAT), American software companies are under similar obligations if the government comes knocking at their doors.

Indeed, the CIA's investment arm In-Q-Tel even funds security startups. FireEye, Interset, ArcSight and Silver Tail Systems all got funding from the intelligence agency.

But why let the facts get in the way of a good bit of publicity? Bashing Kaspersky is very much the game de jour at the moment. The FBI has been giving classified briefings to politicians warning them about the software and conducting nocturnal visits to Kaspersky staffers' homes. Those of us without security clearance are being told to trust them and steer clear of the nasty Russian code, m'kay.
Can't have Kaspersky potentially doing what the CIA via Microsoft already does!

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Bad Guys

Rohingya caught in the crossfire of Big Oil, failed democracy and false prophets

Ramzy Baroud
Middle East Monitor
Tue, 12 Sep 2017 17:59 UTC
Rohingya refugees
© Mustafa Oztartan/Anadolu AgencyTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's wife Emine Erdogan (R) greets people as she visits the Kutupalong Refugee Camp holding Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on 7 September 2017
To a certain extent, Aung San Suu Kyi is a false prophet. Glorified by the west for many years, she was made a 'democracy icon' because she opposed the same forces in her country, Burma, at the time that the US-led western coalition isolated Rangoon for its alliance with China.

Aung San Suu Kyi played her role as expected, winning the approval of the Right and the admiration of the Left. And for that, she won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991; she joined the elevated group of 'The Elders' and was promoted by many in the media and various governments as a heroic figure, to be emulated.

Hillary Clinton once described her as "this extraordinary woman." The 'Lady' of Burma's journey from being a political pariah in her own country, where she was placed under house arrest for 15 years, finally ended in triumph when she became the leader of Burma following a multi-party election in 2015. Since then, she has toured many countries, dined with queens and presidents, given memorable speeches, received awards, while knowingly rebranding the very brutal military that she had opposed throughout the years. (Even today, the Burmese military has a near-veto power over all aspects of government.)

But the great 'humanitarian' seems to have run out of integrity as her government, military and police began conducting a widespread ethnic cleansing operation that targeted the 'most oppressed people on earth', the Rohingya. These defenseless people have been subjected to a brutal and systematic genocide, conducted through a joint effort by the Burmese military, police and majority Buddhist nationalists.

Comment: Where have we seen this exploitation of internal national divisions before?

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Light Sabers

SOTT Focus: Western-backed Boko Haram and 'Patriotic' Militants Efforts to Counter China-Nigeria Relations

Bahar Azizi
Sott.net
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 21:50 UTC
map nigerian military borno boko haram
© Stratfor 2015Western-backed Boko Haram militants have nestled themselves conveniently near oil-rich Lake Chad. (Click to enlarge.)
On Tuesday July 25th, Nigeria's northeastern province of Borno was attacked by Boko Haram terrorists. The ambush attack against a convoy of specialists from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) left more than 50 people dead and 83 others injured.

Interestingly, this attack occurred shortly after Nigeria announced it is reviving its search for oil - aided by China - in the northeast. Two days after the attack, the Nigerian Federal Government said it would halt oil exploration in the lake Chad basin.

This area, and other northern parts, have been a target of terrorists since 2009. The country has however dealt with attacks on oil (pipelines and exploration teams) before Boko Haram 'officially' started carrying out attacks in 2009 after its founding in 2002.

Nigeria has been an important source of oil and petroleum for China for decades, and both countries have cooperated on oil exploration since at least 2006. Oil exploration has however been difficult with the presence of Boko Haram, and militant groups in the oil-rich region in the south.

When 'Giant of Africa' Nigeria handed licenses to China's National Petroleum Corporation in 2006 to explore four blocks - two areas in Niger Delta (southern Nigeria) and two in the Borno Lake Chad basin - attacks by militant groups increased. Six years later, in 2012, oil reserves in the Lake Chad Basin were discovered, but was followed by a strong resurgence of attacks by Boko Haram making it difficult for geologists and others to access the area.
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Wolf

'The New Center' still worships a powerful federal government

Scott Shackford
Reason
Tue, 12 Sep 2017 17:35 UTC
Bill Galston Bill Kristol
© The Daily BeastBill Galston Bill Kristol ae joint authors of a report called Ideas to Re-Center America.
This is not the antidote to Trump. This is not an "alternative" to anything.

Bill Kristol of the conservative Weekly Standard and William Galston of the more liberal Brookings Institution have teamed up to explore what "the center" of politics looks like in an era of President Donald Trump. They've just released the results in a report called Ideas to Re-Center America.

The concept should be familiar by now - some guys on both sides think that what will fix our polarized America is a path right down the "middle" of American politics. Kristol told The Washington Post that the process of writing the report made him discover "there was more being missed by Republican politicians and think tanks than [he] realized."

So what does this new middle look like? Well, apparently Joe Average is really, really angry about Chinese theft of intellectual property.

Wait, what?
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Gear

Turkey pivoting from NATO as signs missile deal with Russia

Carlotta Gall and Andrew Higgins
The New York Times
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 19:23 UTC
The S-400 missile system during a military parade in Moscow in 2015
© Sputnik Photo Agency, via ReutersThe S-400 missile system on display during a military parade in Moscow in 2015. Western officials are uneasy over Russia’s influence in Turkey, a NATO member
In the clearest sign of his pivot toward Russia and away from NATO and the West, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday that Turkey had signed a deal to purchase a Russian surface-to-air missile system.

The deal cements a recent rapprochement with Russia, despite differences over the war in Syria, and comes as Turkey's ties with the United States and European Union have become strained.

It is certain to stir unease in Washington and Brussels, where officials are trying to keep Turkey - a longtime NATO member, and an increasingly unlikely candidate for European Union membership - from entering Russia's sphere of influence.

The deal comes as relations between Russia and the West are at a particularly low point. Tensions escalated in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and then began fomenting armed revolt in eastern Ukraine. They have grown still worse as evidence has mounted that Moscow was behind the hacking of the 2016 election in the United States and also tried to interfere in other nations' elections.

Although a prospective missile purchase from Russia was made public several months ago, Mr. Erdogan's announcement was the first confirmation that Turkey had transferred money to pay for the missile system, known as the S-400.

Comment: See also: Turkey fed-up with NATO, turns to Russia for purchasing air defense systems

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Quenelle

Kamala Harris roasted on Twitter for ignoring the Constitution after shaming DOJ for siding with Christian cake baker

Chris Enloe
The Blaze
Sat, 09 Sep 2017 17:21 UTC
Kamala Harris
© Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) was raked over the coals on social media over the weekend after she seemingly advocated against the First Amendment's protection of religious freedom.

What she said

Writing on Twitter, the progressive Democrat said that shame should be placed on the Department of Justice for "siding with discrimination" in a recent decision about a baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.


Harris' tweet included a Washington News story about the Justice Department's decision.
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Chess

Syria, Turkey and the exploited Kurds - A Devil's Triangle that only Russia can navigate

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 18:48 UTC
Syrian Democratic Forces
Syrian Democratic Forces
As ISIS crumbles in Syria, all eyes should be on America's inconsistent but growing relations with Syrian Kurds.

Throughout the conflict in Syria, the Syrian Arab Army and its Russian/Iranian and Hezbollah allies have tended to operate in different regions vis-a-vis the Kurdish led US proxy army known as the SDF.

Over the last year however, this has increasingly changed. As Syrian forces along with their allies continue to liberate Deir ez-Zor city which has been under ISIS occupation for the last three years, reports have surfaced indicating that a faction of the SDF is only a few short kilometres away from Syrian forces as the SDF approaches the city from the north.

With the SDF and the Syrian Arab Army now effectively competing for territory which will be inevitably re-gained from ISIS by either force, the previous unspoken agreement that the SDF would more or less have free reign east of the Euphrates, might no longer apply. In many respects this is now a question of 'when' rather than 'if.

As Deir ez-Zor lies just west of the Euphrates and with Syria intent on exercising its right to liberate "ever inch of Syria", the question now is, what will the major foreign powers do to either prevent or encourage conflict between Kurdish militants and the Syrian Arab Army?
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