Puppet MastersS


Propaganda

Trump Tower in Moscow? More misleading Russia-gate propaganda

Robert Parry
Consortium News
Tue, 29 Aug 2017 16:45 UTC
Donald J. Trump with Felix H. Sater, right, and Tevfik Arif at the official unveiling of Trump SoHo in September 2007
© Mark Von Holden/WireImageDonald J. Trump with Felix H. Sater, right, and Tevfik Arif at the official unveiling of Trump SoHo in September 2007.
There is an inherent danger of news organizations getting infected by "confirmation bias" when they want something to be true so badly that even if the evidence goes in the opposite direction they twist the revelation to fit their narrative. Such is how The Washington Post, The New York Times and their followers in the mainstream media are reacting to newly released emails that actually show Donald Trump's team having little or no influence in Moscow.

On Tuesday, for instance, the Times published a front-page article designed to advance the Russia-gate narrative, stating: "A business associate of President Trump promised in 2015 to engineer a real estate deal with the aid of the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin, that he said would help Mr. Trump win the presidency."

Wow, that sounds pretty devastating! The Times is finally tying together the loose and scattered threads of the Russia-influencing-the-U.S.-election story. Here you have a supposed business deal in which Putin was to help Trump both make money and get elected. That is surely how a casual reader or a Russia-gate true believer would read it - and was meant to read it. But the lead is misleading.
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Snowflake

Hillary Clinton's release of latest book-length whine has Dems worried, irritated


Fox News
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 16:36 UTC
hillary clinton
© Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Democrats are on edge over Hillary Clinton's forthcoming book that is likely to dredge up the controversies surrounding her 2016 defeat to President Trump, just as the out-of-power party is trying to "move on" and chart a course back to the majority.

The former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady who added Democratic presidential nominee to her resume last year apparently isn't done with public life. She plans to release her book, "What Happened," next month and reportedly will focus the memoir in part on the role that Moscow's meddling and former FBI Director Comey's public statements about her email investigation played in her defeat.

But Bloomberg reports that Democrats are privately concerned that Clinton's book will help Trump, by fueling his case that Democrats are going after him because they're bitter.

The feeling in the party was captured by Sen. Al Franken's comment in June that she and the party have to "move on" from her shock loss.

Other prominent Democrats also have needled Clinton for her post-defeat comments.

In an interview last month, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., suggested it's time to look forward.

"When you lose to somebody who has a 40 percent popularity, you don't blame other things -- Comey, Russia -- you blame yourself," Schumer told the Washington Post. "So what did we do wrong? People didn't know what we stood for, just that we were against Trump. And still believe that."
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Black Cat

Sen. Diane Feinstein: 'If Trump doesn't lead the country in the direction we want, things can be done'

John Wildermuth
SF Gate
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 16:27 UTC
Diane feinstein Trump
© Jeff Chiu/Associated PressUnited States Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., left, gestures toward the crowd before speaking with Ellen Tauscher at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017.
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein shocks an audience in San Francisco saying Trump could be a good president.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein may be San Francisco's favorite politician, but she quickly learned Tuesday evening that even a wildly popular ex-mayor can get into trouble if she tries to say something nice about President Trump.

Feinstein received a standing ovation from the 850 people at the sold-out Herbst Theater when she walked onto the stage for an hour-long "conversation" with former East Bay Rep. Ellen Tauscher. But near the end of the political lovefest, the senator shocked the crowd when she declined to say that Trump should be impeached, and warned the audience that they should expect to deal with the developer-turned politician for all four years of his term.

"The question is whether he can learn and change," Feinstein told the crowd at the Commonwealth Club event. "If so, I believe he can be a good president."
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Snakes in Suits

Tokyo and Washington want international embargo of oil to North Korea


RT
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 16:34 UTC
People cross a street in central Pyongyang, North Korea
© Damir Sagolj / ReutersPeople cross a street in central Pyongyang, North Korea.
Japan and the United States will push for an international embargo on oil exports to North Korea following Pyongyang's launch of a ballistic missile over Japan, the Japanese media report.

Along with South Korea, the countries have agreed it is time to put more pressure on North Korea, according to Nikkei.

On Tuesday, Japan's UN Ambassador Koro Bessho urged for additional sanctions against Pyongyang.

When asked by reporters about the possibility of an oil embargo, Bessho suggested that was an option.

China has opposed the embargo, saying it can worsen the lives of ordinary North Korean citizens.
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Dollar

Oil prices keep falling despite Texas refineries being knocked out by storm


RT
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 16:31 UTC
Texas oil refinery
© Joe Raedle / Getty Images / AFP
As Hurricane Harvey slammed Texas, much of the state's oil production was forced to shut down. But global oil prices have continued to fall.

Hurricane Katrina caused significant damage to US refinery and production capacity in the Gulf of Mexico, and forced oil prices to briefly spike to above $70 per barrel in September 2005.

Contrary to analysts' bullish forecasts before Harvey arrived, the price for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped nearly three percent on Monday and settled at $46.57 - the worst daily performance since July 7.

WTI continued to slide on Wednesday, down 34 cents to $46.10 per barrel. Brent crude traded 54 cents lower at $51.46 a barrel.

At the same time, US gasoline prices spiked to their highest level since the middle of 2015 after the storm knocked out nearly a quarter of US refineries. On Tuesday, US gasoline futures jumped four percent.

According to industry experts, the largest impact from the hurricane is currently on refined product supply, which is set to rise further.

"Crude oil prices are lower because of how much refining capacity (demand for crude oil) is offline due to the storm. Gasoline prices, on the other hand, are higher due to the refinery shut ins," Jenna Delaney, a Senior Oil Analyst with PIRA Energy Group, a unit of S&P Global Platts, told RT.
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Info

Italian government makes offer they cannot refuse, sends migrants to Mafia villas


Sputnik
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 16:23 UTC
Still from Godfather film
© AP
Facing a growing migrant crisis as hundreds of thousands arrive on their shores, the Italian government is now looking at every conceivable way of housing them including mob homes.

They are renowned for making offers that few can refuse. On this occasion, however, the proposal will not come directly from Mafia bosses themselves - but will involve many of their luxurious villas.

The latest proposal by Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti to house migrants in mob villas is guaranteed to leave many crime clan chiefs spluttering into their expresso coffees as it involves actual properties confiscated from them.
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Stop

Federal judge dismisses Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit against NY Times

Chuck Ross
The Daily Caller
Tue, 29 Aug 2017 16:17 UTC
sarah palin
A federal judge has dismissed Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for publishing an editorial linking her to the shooting of former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords.

In an opinion filed in the U.S. District Court of Southern New York on Tuesday, Judge Jed Rakoff said that while The Times did not defame Palin because the newspaper "very rapidly corrected" the inaccurate parts of the editorial, which was published in response to a left-wing activist shooting Republican members of Congress during a baseball practice for the annual Congressional baseball game.

In the original version of the piece, The Times asserted that Jared Loughner was motivated to shoot up a Giffords political event in Tucson because of a political ad published by a political action committee supporting Palin.
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TV

Rupert Murdoch's Sky to stop broadcasting Fox News in UK

Breitbart London
Breitbart
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 15:12 UTC
Fox News
© Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The UK's Guardian states Rupert Murdoch's Sky television is to stop broadcasting Fox News in the UK.

It reports:
Rupert Murdoch is to stop broadcasting the rightwing US channel Fox News in the UK after 15 years.

His US media group 21st Century Fox announced it would withdraw Fox News from Sky in the UK on Tuesday saying that it no longer sees the service as commercially viable.

The decision comes as Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, is set to return her verdict on whether to ask the competition regulator to launch an investigation into the Murdochs' adherence to broadcasting standards in the UK as part of a probe into Fox's £11.7bn takeover bid of Sky.

Sources say the decision to stop broadcasting Fox News, which goes off air from Tuesday at 4pm, is not connected to the takeover bid, arguing that the channel attracts very few viewers in the UK, about 2,000 a day.

"[Fox] has decided to cease providing a feed of Fox News Channel in the UK," said a spokeswoman for the company. "Fox News is focused on the US market and designed for a US audience and, accordingly, it averages only a few thousand viewers across the day in the UK. We have concluded that it is not in our commercial interest to continue providing Fox News in the UK."
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Snakes in Suits

No way May! Brussels to 'block' direct Brexit negotiations with Macron and Merkel


RT
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 15:13 UTC
David Davis
© Francois Lenoir / ReutersBritain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis.
Downing Street's reported plans to bypass EU negotiators and open one-on-one Brexit negotiations with world leaders will be shut down by Brussels, it has been warned.

The British government is reportedly frustrated that the EU will not discuss the terms of the future EU-UK relationship until issues such as the 'divorce bill' and the rights of EU citizens are settled.

As a result, Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesperson has refused to rule out seeing her go on a round of 'shuttle diplomacy' to European capitals in an attempt to get around Brussels.

May planned to directly approach world leaders, such as France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel, where she hopes to receive a warmer reception on trade. She also believes Britain can broker a deal over payments by taking such an approach with the bloc's leaders.

Comment: School children would probably make better progress on Brexit negotiations than these politicians.

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Arrow Up

Florida republican announces amendment to stop farcical Mueller investigations

Paris Swade
Liberty Writers
Mon, 28 Aug 2017 15:02 UTC
Robert Mueller
© NBC News
Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has now announced an amendment to stop Special Counsel Mueller's investigation after just 180 days if the law passes.

A Republican lawmaker has now announced an amendment that would prevent special Counsel Robert Mueller from Probing "matters occurring before June 2015." This is the same month that Trump announced his presidential bid.

Comment:

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