Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

US criminality gone mad: Why is US killing entire families in Syria evacuation program?


FARS
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 18:40 UTC
Vehicles
© FNAAccording to US Central Command (Centcom), US warplanes have attacked a major east-west highway in Syria, to prevent a Red Crescent-led evacuation program which is taking ISIL fighters and civilians out of the Syria-Lebanon border area to Deir Ezzur under a ceasefire deal with Syrian government and Hezbollah
After ISIL lost all of its territory in the border region, they negotiated an evacuation deal with the allied forces involved. The US, however, insists that it is not a party to the deal, and feels justified attacking the highway to stop the convoy as a result. The buses are said to contain militants, their families and civilians. The US insists on all of them being killed instead of delivered to Deir Ezzur.

The convoy is now effectively stuck smack in the middle of Syria, with no easy way to move on to their intended destination. Centcom Spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon insists the convoy is still being monitored, and that the US would not rule out attacking the buses in the future if they believe it's appropriate to do so. Dillon goes on to slam Russia, who appears wholly uninvolved with this whole evacuation process. He says the fact that Russia doesn't actively prevent the convoy from leaving proves they aren't serious about fighting ISIL. Actually. It's the other way around:

- The War Party in Washington is not happy with the way things have turned out in its regime-change program in Syria. Its terror proxy forces were supposed to depose the government but now just want to get out of the conflict zones while they can - saving themselves and their unfortunate families.

- One way or another, peace will prevail. After that the world will find out how the US and company aided and abetted various terrorist groups in the war-ravaged country - when they talk to the cameras. ISIL and other terror proxy forces have either been killed or surrendered territories. Their remaining fighters, along with families and civilians are now being evacuated into the Deir Ezzur province.
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Snakes in Suits

Thailand's ousted PM flees abroad: The rest of the story

Joseph Thomas
New Eastern Outlook
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 16:04 UTC
Yingluck Shinawatra
Some people want all the power and no responsibility.
Shortly before ousted Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was to face a court ruling for her failed populist rice subsidy scheme, she reportedly fled the country, joining her likewise fugitive brother Thaksin Shinawatra in hiding abroad. Thaksin Shinawatra was himself ousted from power in 2006 for similar charges of corruption and abuse of power.

While the US and European media attempt to frame the Shinawatras as victims of powerful, democracy-adverse institutions in Thailand, sensible analysis must consider the fact that Thailand does not exist in a geopolitical or socioeconomic vacuum.

Much larger forces are at play beyond Thailand's borders, and the role the Shinawatras play on behalf of some of these forces helps reveal the truth behind their ousting from power, their fleeing abroad and all of the support they continue to enjoy across the US and European media.
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Eye 2

US actions against Russian diplomatic and consular property are illegal, violates Vienna Conventions on Diplomacy

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 16:13 UTC
Russian consulate smoke San Francisco
© Eric Risberg / Associated PressBlack smoke rises from the roof of the Consulate-General of Russia Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in San Francisco.
US actions against consular and diplomatic property in the United States violate the letter and spirit of the Vienna Conventions. The Vienna Conventions are clearly codified, internationally recognised laws which the UN has sanctioned to prevent the unwarranted molestation of diplomatic and consular property and the individuals working therein.

The United States has once again seized diplomatic and consular properties belonging to the Russia Federation and is in the process of conducting raid-style searches of the properties which are set to formally begin on the 4th of September.

These actions which first took place in the final full month of Barack Obama's Presidency and are now taking place at additional Russian diplomatic and consular facilities in the United States under Donald Trump's Presidency, violate clearly codified international laws which are contained in documents known as the Vienna Conventions.

The following are the provisions of the Vienna Conventions that are presently being violated by the United States.
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Bizarro Earth

Democratic old guard being sucked into Menendez bribery scandal

Jim Stinson
Polizette
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 15:57 UTC
Reid Menendez corruption
© Glyn Lowe/FlickrSenator Harry Reid and Senator Robert Menendez
Federal prosecutors ensnare Harry Reid in corruption probe of New Jersey senator

Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader, tried to pressure the White House under President Barack Obama in an overbilling case that is now the centerpiece of the charges against Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).

The latest in the case against Menendez, whose trial starts Wednesday, was made public in filings in federal courts.

Menendez stands accused of inappropriately using his office to help campaign donor Salomon Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist who plied Menendez with campaign cash but also expensive trips to the Caribbean and Paris.

The involvement of Reid, however, was a surprise to some.
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Gold Coins

Look out dollar: China readies yuan-priced crude oil benchmark backed by gold

Tsvetana Paraskova
Oilprice
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 15:48 UTC
Beijing
The world's top oil importer, China, is preparing to launch a crude oil futures contract denominated in Chinese yuan and convertible into gold, potentially creating the most important Asian oil benchmark and allowing oil exporters to bypass U.S.-dollar denominated benchmarks by trading in yuan, Nikkei Asian Review reports.

The crude oil futures will be the first commodity contract in China open to foreign investment funds, trading houses, and oil firms. The circumvention of U.S. dollar trade could allow oil exporters such as Russia and Iran, for example, to bypass U.S. sanctions by trading in yuan, according to Nikkei Asian Review. To make the yuan-denominated contract more attractive, China plans the yuan to be fully convertible in gold on the Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges.

Last month, the Shanghai Futures Exchange and its subsidiary Shanghai International Energy Exchange, INE, successfully completed four tests in production environment for the crude oil futures, and the exchange continues with preparatory works for the listing of crude oil futures, aiming for the launch by the end of this year.

"The rules of the global oil game may begin to change enormously," Luke Gromen, founder of U.S.-based macroeconomic research company FFTT, told Nikkei Asia Review.
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Star of David

Netanyahu is panicking and with good reason

Alastair Crooke
Consortium News
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 15:32 UTC
Benjamin Netanyahu
© Carlo Allegri / Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is pushing the panic button over the collapse of the Saudi-Israeli jihadist proxies in Syria and now threatening to launch a major air war, as ex-British diplomat.

A very senior Israeli intelligence delegation, a week ago, visited Washington. Then, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke into President Putin's summer holiday to meet him in Sochi, where, according to a senior Israeli government official (as cited in the Jerusalem Post), Netanyahu threatened to bomb the Presidential Palace in Damascus, and to disrupt and nullify the Astana cease-fire process, should Iran continue to "extend its reach in Syria."

Russia's Pravda wrote, "according to eyewitnesses of the open part of the talks, the Israeli prime minister was too emotional and at times even close to panic. He described a picture of the apocalypse to the Russian president that the world may see, if no efforts are taken to contain Iran, which, as Netanyahu believes, is determined to destroy Israel."

So, what is going on here? Whether or not Pravda's quote is fully accurate (though the description was confirmed by senior Israeli commentators), what is absolutely clear (from Israeli sources) is that both in Washington and at Sochi, the Israeli officials were heard out, but got nothing. Israel stands alone. Indeed, it is reported that Netanyahu was seeking "guarantees" about the future Iranian role in Syria, rather than "asking for the moon" of an Iranian exit. But how could Washington or Moscow realistically give Israel such guarantees?

Belatedly, Israel has understood that it backed the wrong side in Syria - and it has lost. It is not really in a position to demand anything. It will not get an American enforced buffer zone beyond the Golan armistice line, nor will the Iraqi-Syrian border be closed, or somehow "supervised" on Israel's behalf.
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Георгиевская ленточка

Lavrov nails it: US prefers 'individual breakdance' instead of paired diplomatic tango


RT
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 15:17 UTC
Lavrov
© Maxim Blinov / SputnikRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
The US prefers "individual breakdance," but "it takes two to tango," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, speaking of US-Russian relations. The minister stressed that Moscow is open to cooperation and does not seek confrontation.

Diplomatic ties between Moscow and Washington received yet another "dancing" expression, as Lavrov spoke at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations on Friday, as Russia celebrates Knowledge Day - the beginning of the school year.

"As you know, it takes two to tango, but it seems to me that our [US] partners keep performing individual breakdance," the minister said.

Lavrov reiterated Russian President Vladimir Putin's stance on relations with America, saying that Russia "does not seek any quarrel," but has been always "friendly to the American people, and is open to constructive cooperation where it meets Russian interests." He added that Moscow wants to normalize the bilateral political atmosphere.

"Generally, we will continue to promote a positive agenda, mutually respectful approaches, we will seek and find compromises," Lavrov told the students.

According to Lavrov, Moscow will not leave the decision to close the Russian Consulate unaddressed.
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Propaganda

No 'Russian hacking' in Durham election: NY Times report belies its headline


Moon Of Alabama
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 15:13 UTC
The last piece pointed out that the NYT headline "U.N. Peacekeepers in Lebanon Get Stronger Inspection Powers for Hezbollah Arms" was 100% fake news. The UNIFIL U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon were not getting any stronger inspection powers. The relevant UN Security Resolution, which renewed UNIFIL's mandate, had made no such changes. No further inspection powers were authorized.

Today we find another similarly lying headline in the New York Times.

New York Times headline
The piece is about minor technical election trouble in a district irrelevant to the presidential election outcome. Contradicting the headline it notes in paragraph five:
There are plenty of other reasons for such breakdowns - local officials blamed human error and software malfunctions - and no clear-cut evidence of digital sabotage has emerged, much less a Russian role in it.
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Snakes in Suits

FBI and DHS says domestic terror group Antifa has roots in the Obama administration

Jacob Wohl
Medium
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 14:58 UTC
Barack Obama
Since early 2016, federal authorities including DHS and FBI have been providing intelligence to local police departments about what they saw as a looming domestic terror threat, Antifa. According to confidential documents provided to Politico, Antifa was formally classified as a terror organization in April 2016.

The law enforcement reports show that authorities believed that "anarchist extremists" who were well-funded, well-resourced and educated on tactics, perhaps from overseas anarchist groups, were at the root of a new domestic threat.

As the Trump campaign began to sweep across the nation, the Antifa anarchists groups instigated violence at Trump rallies, and other right-wing events. California was the primary base for the early organizers of the terror group. Instances of violence began cropping up in areas from Orange County to the San Francisco Bay Area.

The question for many is, given the various reports by federal authorities, why was the Obama administration and DOJ not taking action against Antifa?

Comment: For more stories on Antifa:

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Question

'Lost years' and 'stagnation'? Doubts linger as longtime leader Merkel on way to securing new term


RT
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 14:41 UTC
Angela Merkel
© Reinhard Krause / Reuters
Angela Merkel could become the joint longest-serving modern German chancellor, according to the latest polls - that's despite standing accused of "putting problems on the back burner" and lingering doubts that her new term may bring "stagnation" for Germany.

With less than a month to go until the next German federal parliamentary elections, Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party is leading the polls by a wide margin ahead of the Social Democrats, according to the latest surveys conducted by German public broadcasters. This means Merkel has a fair chance of securing a fourth term as German chancellor, after she was reelected CDU leader at the party's 2016 congress and announced her bid for the chancellorship in November of this year.

What's behind Merkel's political longevity?

Merkel has been head of the CDU since 2000 and has held the post of chancellor for nearly 12 years, since September 2005, with her party winning three elections in a row.

Comment: For more on the German elections: Germany once again caught between America and Russia

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