Puppet MastersS


Attention

First Amendment protects civilians' right to boycott Israel

Brian Hauss
Common Dreams
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 00:00 UTC
BDS sanction
© Rebel News'Rights' over Wrongs
Earlier this week, the ACLU sent a letter to members of Congress opposing the Israel Anti-Boycott Act.
The bill would amend existing law to prohibit people in the United States from supporting boycotts targeting Israel - making it a felony to choose not to engage in commerce with companies doing business in Israel and its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Violations would be punishable by a minimum civil penalty of $250,000 and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison.
The bill is aimed at advocates of boycotts targeting Israel, most notably the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement - a global campaign that seeks to apply economic and political pressure on Israel to comply with international law. Specifically, the bill sponsors intend the act as a response to the U.N. Human Rights Council's 2016 resolution calling on companies to respect human rights, including in occupied Palestinian territories.

No matter what you think about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one thing is clear:
The First Amendment protects the right to engage in political boycotts.

Comment: This is insanity inflicted by Israel to validate itself and control the message. How are SO MANY duped by this manipulation to the point of forfeiting personal rights guaranteed by constitutional laws...and be willingly heavily punished for non-compliance? This legislation NEGATES the First Amendment. Evil slithers amongst us. Are we blindly accepting it?

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Arrow Down

Is Trump's CIA phase-out plan for Syria merely 'devious media news management'?


RT
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 14:28 UTC
moderaterebels
© CBS NewsMembers of the New Syrian Army, anti-government rebel group, backed by the US.
Don't jump to conclusions on President Trump's decision to phase out covert CIA operations in Syria, warns Peter Ford, former UK ambassador to Syria and Bahrain. He added that whatever the case, it seems to be a move in the right direction.

Reports emerged that US President Donald Trump decided to halt a covert CIA train-and-assist program for 'moderate' rebels in Syria. Although US officials have so far declined to comment publicly, the story's been gaining a lot of media attention. Many publications are framing the reported move as a victory for Vladimir Putin. They say it means he has got what he wants in Syria and that Trump has capitulated to try and improve relations with Russia.

The CIA program started in 2013 under the Obama administration. It has been providing training for selected commanders from the Free Syrian Army at bases in Jordan as well as supplying weapons and equipment.

RT: The media has called the phasing out of the CIA program a "victory" for President Putin. This sounds like a slur against Trump. But could it signify a period of closer ties in Syria?

Peter Ford: We have to be cautious here. None of the details have been confirmed. We don't know many of the details. It is possible that what is happening here is simply a partial gradual scaling down of US assistance to the favored opposition groups. What we may be seeing is some rather devious media news management by the Trump team. They are allowing an impression to be created that this is a major decision when in reality it will turn out in a few days or in a few weeks' time that the scale of it is quite small. I wouldn't jump to conclusions. In any case, however, it is certainly a step in the right direction in terms of bringing peace to the Syrian people and less tension to US relations with Russia.

Comment: MSM will not report this action as a 'military impracticality' decision by Trump, nor as a logical evaluation in the scheme for ongoing action in Syria. It will, instead, focus innuendo on placating Russia and similar implications unrelated to the program's practical assessment and appropriate conclusion. We must remember that the MSM's indoctrination and perpetual self-programming is one-directional and runs deep.

See also: Syria: US Spec. Ops Chief confirms end to CIA support for anti-Assad forces

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Question

US Special Ops Command chief: 'We're a bad day away from the Russians asking, 'Why are you still in Syria?'


RT
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 00:25 UTC
Chessbear
© Greg GroeschFinal Move
A US special operations commander has admitted that an extended US stay in Syria runs contrary to international law and that Russia would be entirely justified in questioning its presence there.

At the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, Special Operations Command chief Army General, Raymond Thomas was asked whether American forces will remain in Syria, after Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) is defeated, possibly, to support the Kurdish forces in the north of the country.

Thomas acknowledged that American forces are fighting in a sovereign Syria, where they will likely "have no ability to stay" if that presence is questioned "in terms of international law," Thomas said, replying to the Washington Post journalist's question.

"Here's the conundrum," Thomas continued. "We are operating in the sovereign country of Syria. The Russians, their stalwarts, their back-stoppers, have already uninvited the Turks from Syria. We're a bad day away from the Russians saying, 'Why are you still in Syria, US?'


Comment: The segment picks up at 52:22, worth the listen.



Comment: One day away? More likely it is several years past.

Lavrov brings up the question of ten US bases in Syria. See also:

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Laptop

Bracing for "Cyber 9/11"

James Corbett
Stemmit
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 17:07 UTC
Cyber Crime
© Gequihe Blogspot
As Al-CIA-da become the "good guys" (again), and I-CIA-SIS starts to crumble, and the latest boogeymen fail to strike a chord of panic in a boogeyman-weary public (remember the fearsome Khorasan Group, anyone?), it is safe to say that the old Global War on Terror (GWoT) paradigm is falling by the wayside. Lucky for the multi-trillion-dollar global terror-industrial complex, then, that the spiffy new _cyber_terror paradigm is waiting in the wings to take its place!

But just as the fading GWoT paradigm requires a steady stream of (perceived) threats in order to justify the bloated budgets of the US intelligence and security apparatus, so, too, does this new cyberterror paradigm require a constant flow of (perceived) online threats to justify the bloated budgets of the US cybersecurity forces. And just as in the GWoT, every "failure" of cyber-intelligence and every "inadvertent" proliferation of cyber-weaponry gives the newly-created US Cyber Command an excuse to expand its role and take even bolder action in its quest to "fight the net."

The GWoT and all of its attendant ills have been built on the back of that "catalyzing event"- our "new Pearl Harbor," 9/11. So, naturally, the new cybersecurity establishment is waiting breathlessly for the "cyber 9/11" that will justify the complete crackdown and government takeover of the internet.

Unsurprisingly, the "cyber 9/11" meme stretches back almost to 9/11 itself. Back in 2003, even as the Pentagon was feverishly drafting its plans to "fight the net" as if it were "an enemy weapons system," Mike McConnell, the ex-director of the National Security Agency (NSA), was fearmongering over the possibility of a cyber attack "equivalent to the attack on the World Trade Center" if a new institution were not created to oversee cybersecurity. Since then, report after report has continued to use the horror of 9/11 as a way of fueling public hysteria over cyberterrorism.
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Hourglass

Russia's Ambassador Kislyak ends US assignment


RT
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 23:22 UTC
Kislyak
© Detroit Economic ClubAmbassador Sergey Kislyak
Sergey Kislyak's tenure as Russia's ambassador to the US has ended, the Russian embassy in Washington has announced. Denis Gonchar, Russia's Deputy Chief of Mission, will head the embassy until Kislyak's successor arrives.

The outgoing diplomat is expected to be replaced by Anatoly Antonov, presently Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister.

This year marks Kislyak's 40th term of diplomatic service. He assumed the post of Russia's ambassador to the US office in 2008. Prior to his Washington posting, Kislyak held the position of Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of the USSR to the UN, was ambassador to Belgium, Russia's Permanent Representative to NATO, as well as holding several positions within the Foreign Ministry.

During his term as US ambassador, Kislyak became embroiled in various mainstream media reports claiming that he played a major role in the alleged Russian "meddling" affair to secure Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 elections. One unsourced CNN report even went as far to allege that Kislyak was a member of Russian intelligence; acting as "a top spy and recruiter of spies." Moscow has repeatedly dismissed these claims as groundless.

As the growing anti-Russian hysteria swept during the presidential campaign and beyond, Kislyak said the US was waging a "huge propaganda campaign against Russia," while firmly denying any Russian interference.

The anti-Russia campaign marked "the worst point in our relations after the end of the Cold War. You've re-entered a policy of containing Russia," he said during a speech at Stanford University in November 2016. "You've tried to contain Russia through economic pressure and through sanctions."

Warmer relations are still possible, according to Kislyak, as in the modern era, there are no "irreconcilable ideological differences" between Washington and Moscow.

Comment: Thank you, Mr. Kislyak, for your dedication and service.

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Star of David

Israeli police and Palestinians clash in Jerusalem


RT
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 18:31 UTC
Lion's gate
© The Times of IsraelPalestinians run from tear gas thrown by Israeli police officers, Lion's Gate.
Israeli police have used force to disperse Palestinian worshippers near the Lion's Gate in Jerusalem. RT Arabic correspondent Dalia Nammari was caught up in the violence.

In a video shot by RT Arabic, crowds of worshippers can be seen trying to flee, as clouds of smoke fill the air and Israeli police move in. Nammari says she received a blow to her back from an Israeli soldier.

Saturday's protest started as hundreds of Palestinians held their evening prayers outside the al-Aqsa Mosque, refusing to be subjected to the new Israeli security measures there. The fighting began when a police car trying to enter the site was blocked by a crowd of chanting Palestinian worshippers, according to Nammari.

"What we saw is one of the protesters throw a plastic bottle of water at the police car," she said. "After that, we saw lots of police standing there with their guns and equipment. They started throwing stun grenades to disperse the crowd, and that's when people began shouting more and throwing more bottles of water and the Israeli police attacked violently".


The decision to install metal detectors came after two border police officers were killed in an attack at the site last Friday. The Israelis claim the extra security measures are necessary to help prevent terrorism, but the protesters accuse the government of using the terror threat as a pretext to assert Tel Aviv's authority over the mosque, the third most sacred site in Islam.

Comment: This civil conflict is escalating with bad decisions and raw reactions and it is spreading to other hot spots ripe with anger and protest. People may be willing to compromise on many things, but religion is not one of them. Israel knows this and purposefully, repeatedly, pushes this button.

See also: Jerusalem holy site dispute: Abbas announces Palestinian Authority now freezing contacts with Israel

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Dollar Gold

Read it and weep: QE, the largest transfer of wealth in history

Dan Glazebrook
RT
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 13:30 UTC
wealth
© Getty Images
It appears that the massive, almost decade-long transfer of wealth to the rich known as 'quantitative easing' is coming to an end.

Of the world's four major central banks - the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan - two have already ended their policy of buying up financial assets (the Fed and the BoE), and the ECB plans to stop doing so in December. Indeed, the Fed is expected to start selling off the $3.5 trillion of assets it purchased during three rounds of QE within the next two months.

Given that - judged by its official aims - QE has been a total failure, this makes perfect sense. By 'injecting' money into the economy, QE was supposed to get banks lending again, boosting investment and driving up economic growth. But overall bank lending in fact fell following the introduction of QE in the UK, whilst lending to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) - responsible for 60 percent of employment - plummeted.

As Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, has noted: "Central banks have flooded the global economy with cheap money since the financial crisis, yet global growth is still in the doldrums, particularly in Europe and Japan, which have both seen colossal stimulus packages thrown at the problem."

Even Forbes admits that QE has "largely failed in reviving economic growth".
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Dollars

CIA not only armed Syrian 'moderate rebels', it paid their monthly salaries

Rachel Blevins
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 15:37 UTC
isis salaries
The United States not only paid to arm and train "moderate Syrian rebels" as part of a CIA program that did much more to aid ISIS than it did to fight it, but it also reportedly paid the rebels monthly salaries.

The Washington Post cited its infamous anonymous U.S. officials in a report on Wednesday, which claimed that President Trump "has decided to end the CIA's covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia."

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Snakes in Suits

Propaganda sick bag alert: US lawmakers reportedly agree on sanctions for Russia, Iran and North Korea


RFE/RL
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 15:00 UTC
Chuck Schumer
© epaMinority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
U.S. lawmakers say they have reached a bipartisan agreement on a bill that would bring new sanctions against Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Steny Hoyer (Democrat-Maryland), the second-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, said on July 22 that lawmakers from both parties had resolved several issues that were holding up the bill, a similar version of which was passed by the Senate last month.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat-New York) said the new sanctions bill is "strong" and he expected it to be passed soon.

"I expect the House and Senate will act on this legislation promptly, on a broad bipartisan basis and send the bill to the president's desk," Schumer said in a statement.

The bill is expected to be voted on as early as July 25 in the House of Representatives.

Comment: For some insight on why Washington is pursuing this bill: Writing's on the wall: Pentagon study admits U.S. empire collapsing, recommends massive effort to maintain global access to resources

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War Whore

Pentagon says Syria has not used chemical weapons since US strike in April, neglects to mention Syria didn't use them then either


Sputnik
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 14:54 UTC
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford.
© REUTERS/ Yuri GripaChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford
Syrian government forces have not used chemical weapons since April, when the United States carried out a missile attack on a Syrian military airbase near the city of Homs, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford said on Sunday.

"I like to think that [Syrian President Bashar] Assad has received the message loud and clear that the use of chemical weapons in unacceptable and that there will be consequences for the use of chemical weapons against his own people. Time will tell. He hasn't used them since that day," Dunford said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
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