Puppet MastersS


Smiley

Netanyahu's former chief of staff Ari Harow 'in negotiations to become state witness'

Peter Beaumont
The Guardian
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 20:51 UTC
Benjamin Netanyahu
© Amir Cohen/Pool/EPAThree investigations into Benjamin Netanyahu and his circle have gripped the Israeli public. He denies any wrongdoing
Ari Harow reportedly in talks with police to give evidence in investigation into the Israeli prime minister and his inner circle

Benjamin Netanyahu's former chief of staff is reportedly in negotiations to become a state witness - which would make him the second prominent figure to do so - in a series of police investigations into the Israeli prime minister and his inner circle.

According to widespread reports in the Hebrew media, Ari Harow, for years one of Netanyahu's closest political associates, is in talks with police to give evidence, allegedly in exchange for a lesser sentence over accusations of wrongdoing in the sale of his consulting company.

Last week Mickey Ganor, a businessman and key player in an allegedly corrupt deal to buy submarines from Germany, struck a deal with authorities to become a state witness.

Comment: See also:

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Sheeple

Leakers: Top FBI officials could testify against Trump, "obstruction" case stronger than WH says

Murray Waas
Vox
Thu, 03 Aug 2017 18:15 UTC
mueller
© Brooks Kraft / Getty Images
Shortly after the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller in May, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told several of the highest-ranking managers of the bureau they should consider themselves possible witnesses in any investigation into whether President Donald Trump engaged in obstruction of justice, according to two senior federal law enforcement officials.

McCabe has told colleagues that he too is a potential witness in the probe of whether Trump broke the law in trying to thwart the FBI's investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

Two senior federal law enforcement officials have told me that the new revelations illustrate why they believe the potential case against Trump is stronger than outsiders have thought.


Comment: Note that all this information comes from leakers. Is any of it true? Impossible to know.


"What you are going to have is the potential for a powerful obstruction case," a senior law enforcement official said. "You are going to have the [former] FBI director testify, and then the acting director, the chief of staff to the FBI director, the FBI's general counsel, and then others, one right after another. This has never been the word of Trump against what [James Comey] has had to say. This is more like the Federal Bureau of Investigation versus Donald Trump."


Comment: BS. It's the word of Trump against the word of Comey, plus all the Comey underlings who take Comey's word against Trump. Which is the same as Trump's word against Comey's.


Comment: Senators Tillis (R) and Coons (D) are proposing new legislation to prevent Trump from firing Mueller, ignoring the fact that Trump has the constitutional right to do so. Lindsey Graham is proposing a similar bill. They say:
"It is critical that special counsels have the independence and resources they need to lead investigations," Tillis said in a statement. "A back-end judicial review process to prevent unmerited removals of special counsels not only helps to ensure their investigatory independence, but also reaffirms our nation's system of check and balances."
...

"Ensuring that the special counsel cannot be removed improperly is critical to the integrity of his investigation," Coons said.
Mark Levin's commentary on this is worth listening to:


Amazing. This all started as a counterintelligence investigation (based on nothing), and has spiralled out of control. It's basically this: "We have to nail him with something, anything. Just keep looking until we find something." That's not the way justice should work.

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Dollars

US Senate committee proposes bill to cut $300 million in aid to Palestine


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 18:25 UTC
israel bulldozer
© Abed Omar Qusini / Reuters
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has passed a bill that could cut roughly $300 million in financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority, some of which it says, is allegedly being distributed among the families of slain Palestinian attackers and prisoners tried and convicted by Israel of murder and terrorism.

The Taylor Force Act was adopted by the bipartisan chamber in a 17 to 4 vote. The proposed legislation, if approved by the full Senate, aims to suspend American aid distributed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) among those believed to have suffered from alleged Israeli brutality.

The annual financial assistance which amounts to some $300 million, traditionally gets distributed proportionally on the amount of time a Palestinian spends in Israeli jails. Family members also get paid a large sum, if their relatives are injured or killed in confrontations with Israeli authorities.

The legislation is named after an American who was killed last year by a Palestinian attacker whose family is allegedly receiving payments from the PA. Advocates of the bill say they aim to limit such a "rewarding" practice for those who engage in terrorist activities.
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Eye 2

Terrorism expert believes Britain needs a counter-radicalization program for its politicians


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 16:54 UTC
Tony Blair and George Bush
© Joshua Roberts / Reuters
A counter-extremism scheme similar to the government's Prevent program should be introduced to monitor politicians to make sure they don't become radicalized, a former diplomat has suggested.

Charlie Bird, who spent time attached to the military in Iraq during the 2003 invasion, wrote on the Cable website that a counter-extremism program to monitor politicians might be worth considering.

Such a program was controversially introduced to monitor school and university students who might be at risk of radicalization.

Former Foreign Office diplomat Bird, who lectures on terrorism at St. Andrew's University in Scotland, said he was in no way comparing leaders like Tony Blair with the jihadists of Al-Qaeda or Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), but said there might be "certain parallels in process."

Comment: Let's cut to the chase: Have a psychopathy test before people enter politics.

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Bad Guys

US claims it's killed 'only' six hundred civilians since 2014 in Iraq, Syria


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 16:23 UTC
Raqqa Syria US airstrikes
© Morukc Umnaber / Global Look PressA general view of destroyed houses on the front line in the Al Dariya neighborhood in western Raqqa, Syria, 24 July 2017.
The US-led Coalition has released a new assessment of civilian casualties from its airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, claiming 624 people were "unintentionally killed" since the start of the campaign against Islamic State in 2014.

"To date, based on information available, CJTF-OIR (Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve) assesses that it is more likely than not, at least 624 civilians have been unintentionally killed by the Coalition since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve," the Coalition said in a statement on Friday.

There are 23 more people dead compared to data released by CJTF-OIR last month, which acknowledged 603 civilian casualties.
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Map

Diplomatic approach? China accuses India of massing troops and supplies amid border dispute


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 16:43 UTC
Indian army tank
© B Mathur / Reuters
India is creating infrastructure and deploying a large number of troops on its side of the border at the disputed area in the Himalayas, China's foreign ministry has said, adding, that New Delhi's actions indicate it's not interested in a peaceful resolution of the standoff.

The impasse between the neighbors and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) partners began on June 18, when Indian troops were sent to the strategic Doklam valley, which separates India from Bhutan. New Delhi said the move was necessary to curb Chinese road construction on the Himalayan plateau, which, according to the India, violates the status quo.

Beijing, which views Doklam - or as it calls it 'Donglang' - a part of Chinese territory, has accused India of breaching an internationally recognized border.

"Over one month has passed since the outbreak of the incident. The Indian border troops still illegally stay in the Chinese territory. Moreover, the Indian side is building roads, hoarding supplies and deploying a large number of armed forces on the Indian side of the boundary," Geng Shuang, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said.

"This is by no means for peace," Geng emphasized as cited by China's Xinhua news agency.
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Treasure Chest

Benefits of government 'service': British MPs enjoy thousands of pounds' worth of freebies


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 11:36 UTC
John Bercow MP free perks
© Tony O'Brien / ReutersSpeaker of the House Commons John Bercow and his wife Sally Bercow in the royal box before the start of play
Since the last election, British MPs have enjoyed thousands of pounds' worth of freebies, according to the latest updates to the parliamentary register of interests.

While the 2009 MPs' expenses scandal still looms large in the public mind, far less attention is paid to the freebies and discounts regularly enjoyed by elected representatives.

Revelations in 2009 about MPs using public funds to pay mortgages on second homes, clean their moats, buy substantial amounts of biscuits and maintain their duck houses rocked British politics and shamed many MPs.

It seems, however, that despite the best efforts of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) - the watchdog founded after the 2009 scandal to make sure MPs kept their fingers out of the proverbial till - Britain's highly-paid democratic representatives are finding other ways to cash in on their positions.

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Vader

The era of "wars on the cheap" are over for the Empire

The Saker
The Unz Review
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 16:17 UTC
US soldiers
With the Neocon coup against Trump now completed (at least in its main objective, that is the neutralization of Trump, the subsidiary objective, impeaching Trump and removing him from office remains something for the future) the world has to deal, yet again, with a very dangerous situation: the AngloZionist Empire is on a rapid decline, but the Neocons are back in power and they will do anything and everything in their power to stop and reverse this trend. It is also painfully obvious from their rhetoric, as well as from their past actions, that the only "solution" out the Neocons see is to trigger some kind of war. So the pressing question now becomes this: "where will the Empire strike next?". Will it be the DPRK or Syria? Iran or Venezuela? In the Ukraine, maybe? Or do the Neocons seek war with Russia or China?

Now, of course, if we assume that the Neocons are completely crazy, then everything is possible, from a US invasion of Lesotho to a simultaneous thermonuclear attack on Russia and China. I am in no way dismissing the insanity (and depravity) of the Neocons, but I also see no point in analyzing that which is clearly irrational, if only because all modern theories of deterrence always imply a "rational actor" and not a crazy lunatic on a suicidal amok run. For our purposes, therefore, we will assume that there is a semblance of rational thinking left in Washington DC and that even if the Neocons decide to launch some clearly crazy operation, somebody in the top levels of power will find the courage prevent this, just like Admiral Fallon did it with his "not on my watch!" which possibly prevented a US attack on Iran in 2007). So, assuming a modicum of rationality is still involved, where would the Empire strike next?
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Info

Kremlin agrees with Trump that Russia-US ties at 'an all-time and very dangerous low'


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 16:33 UTC
US and Russian flags
© Mladen Antonov / AFP
The Kremlin agrees with Donald Trump's assessment of the poor state of relations between the US and Russia, its spokesman said. Earlier, Trump accused the US Congress of dragging the relationship with Russia to "an all-time and very dangerous low."

"We fully agree with this opinion," Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday. "The danger may come from the lack of cooperation and interaction on issues crucial for our peoples and nations."

Trump has said US lawmakers forced him into signing a bill which issues new economic sanctions against Russia.

The new act strips the authority of the US presidential office to lift sanctions imposed on Russia by executive orders signed by former President Barack Obama, requiring Trump to seek congressional approval for such an act. It also targets companies in third countries with penalties for cooperating with Russia on energy projects.

Comment: For more on the new sanctions:

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Bad Guys

Mueller shifts focus of investigation from 'Russia collusion' to Trump 'financial crimes'

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 16:23 UTC
Mainstream media assassinating Trump
© Russia Insider
The Deep State coup against Donald Trump picks up speed.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has shifted the focus of his investigation from the now fully debunked "Russian collusion" lie, to now focus in on possible Trump "financial crimes"...crimes completely unrelated to Russia and the 2016 election.

Wall Street Journal has reported the special counsel Robert Mueller will impanel a Grand Jury to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 president election...

Comment: Further reading:

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