Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

US and UK 'don't give a fig for the rule of law' - Roger Waters to RT


RT
Mon, 01 Jul 2024 07:26 UTC
Roger Waters
© RTRoger Waters
Washington and London will do anything to conceal their crimes, the Pink Floyd co-founder has claimed

Years of "vicious persecution" of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange show that Washington will go to any lengths to escape justice for its crimes, former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters has told RT in an exclusive interview, aired on Monday.

His words came as Assange struck a deal with Washington and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defense information at a US court in Saipan. He was then sentenced to five years - time he has already served in London's Belmarsh maximum security prison - and then set free and allowed to return to his native Australia.

Comment: See also: Rule of law Prison abuse is not uncommon:

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Gavel

Trump win: Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have substantial protection from prosecution

Brooke Singman and Brianna Herlihy
Fox News
Mon, 01 Jul 2024 21:30 UTC
trump rally 2024
© AP Photo/Paul SancyaPolls indicate a very close contest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump boards his plane after speaking at a campaign rally in Freeland, Mich., Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
The issue before the Supreme Court stemmed from Special Counsel Jack Smith's election interference case against former President Trump

The Supreme Court ruled Monday in Trump v. United States that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts.

In a 6-3 decision, the Court sent the matter back down to a lower court, as the justices did not apply the ruling to whether or not former President Trump is immune from prosecution regarding actions related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Comment: The first positive to come from the Supreme Court ruling is a pause in the ridiculous "hush money" case being brought by legal clown, Alvin Bragg, before corrupt NY judge Juan Merchan. The Independent reports:
The judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush money trial is postponing the former president's sentencing to September after Manhattan prosecutors said they would not oppose Trump's request to delay in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision granting him "absolute" immunity from criminal prosecution for "official" acts.

In a letter to Justice Juan Merchan on Tuesday, prosecutors with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Trump's arguments are "without merit" but they do not oppose his request to push back the sentencing date as he files his legal arguments.

Trump was initially scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.

The judge will instead render a decision on Trump's arguments on September 6, and Trump will be sentenced on September 18, "if such is still necessary," according to a notice from Merchan on Tuesday.

That new date means Trump could potentially be handed a jail sentence roughly six weeks before Election Day.

The former president's attorneys sent a letter to the judge on Monday in the hopes of delaying his sentencing and blocking his guilty verdict.


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Target

Yemen-Iraq joint operation hits vital Israeli target in Haifa with cruise missiles, also strike 4 ships in 4 different waters


Al Mayadeen
Tue, 02 Jul 2024 21:13 UTC
yemen commander
FILE: Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces Yahya Saree addressing a pro-Palestine rally in the capital Sana'a on May 3, 2024.
The YAF previously conducted four significant military operations Monday, targeting ships belonging to the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Israeli occupation, achieving direct hits.

The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced on Tuesday that YAF conducted a joint operation with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance, targeting a vital target in Haifa with cruise missiles.

Saree explained that the operation was carried out using several cruise missiles, stressing its success.

He reiterated that joint operations with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance will continue, in support of the Palestinian people until the aggression on the Gaza Strip stops and the siege is lifted.

It is noteworthy that the YAF announced Monday that they conducted four significant military operations targeting ships belonging to the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Israeli occupation, achieving direct hits.

Comment: This is a taste of just what the West-Israel are up against; and these alliances are just beginning.

Meanwhile Israel is struggling to recruit enough troops for its genocide and war on Hezbollah, and the West is scrambling for weapons supplies for its multiple war fronts, whilst both of their economies deteriorate, and fracture politically.

Unfortunately, with the West-Israel in these sorry states, its possible the establishment are liable to become even more desperate and maniacal than they already are. What with all the spike in terrorism, coup and assassination attempts, it seems that this panic may have already begun:


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Bad Guys

Why Julian Assange couldn't outrun the Espionage Act

Jordan Howell
The FIRE
Wed, 26 Jun 2024 21:12 UTC
mobile billboard free assange
Mobile billboard in London on Sept. 7, 2020, the first day of the extradition case of Julian Assange versus the United States.
Julian Assange spent seven years in self-exile in London's Ecuadorian Embassy avoiding arrest, and five more in prison, for publishing classified documents on WikiLeaks.

Julian Assange is a free man, and one of the most contentious press freedom controversies in living memory may finally be coming to a close.

The WikiLeaks founder reached a plea deal with the Department of Justice on Monday after spending five years in an English prison fighting extradition to the United States. Federal officials sought to charge Assange with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national security information under the Espionage Act of 1917.
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Eye 2

Israel says it needs 10,000 more troops, minister of military affairs wants 4,800 ultra-Orthodox recruited


PressTV
Mon, 01 Jul 2024 20:44 UTC
IDF ISrael gaza
© Amir Levy / Getty ImagesFILE: Israeli soldiers near the border with Gaza
The Israeli military says it is in urgent need of thousands of more forces, as the regime is facing increasing challenges almost nine months into its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.

Minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant said in a statement on Monday that the military "needs 10,000 more soldiers immediately."

Gallant said the military can recruit 4,800 soldiers from ultra-Orthodox men.

Last week, Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jews must be subject to the military draft, after decades of being exempted from military service.

Comment: Polling of Israel's youth has revealed them to be more extreme in their views than their forebears, however, they're evidently reluctant to sign up to the genocide that they, and much of the Israeli public, support with such fervor.

It may be that Israel will be forced to temporarily postpone initiating war against Hezbollah until it can find enough character disturbed individuals to fill its ranks. However there is also the possibility that it will instead lure, or drag in, those from other nations:

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Arrow Down

The great lockdown swindle

Alex Kriel
Daily Sceptic
Sat, 29 Jun 2024 13:28 UTC
money
Many people will remember the Covid policy response as a nightmare involving: reduced access to medical treatment, businesses closures, disrupted schooling and fear generated by Government brainwashing. After the event, it is always worth doing a 'cui bono' (who benefits) exercise to identify who benefited, especially since the hopeless mainstream media have largely failed to do this.

Counterintuitively, the über-wealthy owners of 0.1% of wealth in the United States, increased their net worth by a staggering $6.4 trillion over the 2022-2023 pandemic period. With their net worth growing from $12.1 trillion to $18.5 trillion, a pretty cool $20 million per head for approximately 300,000 people. This outcome is counterintuitive since the lockdowns temporarily wrecked the economy and had a significant negative impact on Government debt, which ballooned due to staggering budget deficits. All things being equal, you would expect stock markets to move lower under these circumstances.

In the Alice-in-Wonderland world of extreme money printing though the stock market exploded and the benefit from this explosion accrued primarily to the über-wealthy, who hold most of the financial assets. Regular folk without significant financial assets tended to get left with the rough end of the stick in the form of elevated inflation. We covered the link between money printing and financial asset values in a previous note ('Where did the money go?'), the chart below shows that money printing (red), moves in almost exactly the same way as the size of the wealth owned by the wealthiest 0.1% (blue). Both axes are in trillion (millions of millions).
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Chess

Best of the Web: Biden faces growing revolt from Democrats in Congress

Andrew Solender
Axios
Tue, 02 Jul 2024 20:38 UTC
biden
© Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP, Al Drago, Jemal Countess, and Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
President Biden is struggling to contain mounting dissent from Democratic members of Congress that has culminated in a call for him to withdraw as the party's nominee.

Why it matters: Biden's campaign has attempted to quash concerns about the president's political strength and fitness for office by casting doubters as overwrought, but that strategy now appears to be backfiring.
  • "Some of us don't want to wake up on Nov. 6 kicking ourselves because we had all of these red flags and warnings and we couldn't muster the courage to do something about it," said one House Democrat.

Comment: A second Democratic House member just declared no confidence in Biden's 2024 candidacy. Maine Rep. Jared Golden on Tuesday said that it "has been clear to me for months ... Donald Trump is going to win."

The sharks are beginning to circle around the Biden family.

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Magnify

German intelligence meets with Hezbollah for second time since 7 Oct


The Cradle
Tue, 02 Jul 2024 20:09 UTC
Hezbollah's Deputy-Secretary General, Naim Qassem
Hezbollah's Deputy-Secretary General, Naim Qassem, told the deputy chief of German intelligence that the west should put more pressure on Israel to stop the war in Gaza
The Deputy Director of Germany's foreign intelligence, Uli Diyal, met recently with Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem, Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported on 2 July.

The meeting was the second between the two since the start of this year.

According to Al-Akhbar, Diyal visited Beirut on Saturday and met with Qassem, returning to Berlin the following day without meeting with other Lebanese officials.

"The atmosphere of the meeting was positive," sources told Al-Akhbar.

Comment: Notably, amidst Israel's threats to drag the world into a Middle East conflagration, the Arab League recently removed Hezbollah from their terrorist group list, and stated they instead intend to begin talks:

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Light Sabers

West wants to drag Belarus into military conflict - Lukashenko


RT
Tue, 02 Jul 2024 12:29 UTC
Luka
© Mikhail Metzel/SputnikBelarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
The situation along the country's borders with NATO and Ukraine is "very serious," the Belarusian president has warned.

Western countries "can't wait" to drag Belarus into their "military squabbles," Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said, commenting on recent reports of Ukrainian and NATO forces massing along the borders of the country, which is a key Russian ally.

Lukashenko made the remarks during a meeting with Russia's top MP, Vyacheslav Volodin. The chair of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament is visiting Minsk for the celebration of Belarusian Independence Day on July 3.
"I think you... see what is going on around Belarus. They just can't wait to drag us into their military squabbles. [They are doing it] in order to make us stretch [our forces] along the border, to make us unable to put up resistance, and to escalate the situation to the point where the whole world will tremble."
Over the weekend, the Belarusian Defense Ministry issued several statements claiming that Ukraine and NATO countries were gathering troops along the country's frontiers. Belarus borders NATO members Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, as well as Ukraine and Russia.

Comment: Western strategy: Belarus becomes the new 'Ukraine'.

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Eye 1

Surprise, Surprise

James Howard Kunstler
jameshowardkunstler.substack.com
Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00 UTC
obummer
© New York TimesThe Obama Surprise
"Joe Biden is the walking embodiment of the exhausted American Establishment. More and more people have simply lost their faith in our Ruling Class. You could scarcely have a more potent symbol of its impotence." — Rod Dreher

Just before the weekend, a political prairie fire raced across a nation buffaloed, blind-sided, and buried deeply in bullshit, and the little critters who inhabit the landscape are still running around with their fur smoldering. What a surprise that "Joe Biden," the mentally-disabled pretend-president, fell apart in the debate spotlight for all to see, like Captain Queeg in his fateful witness chair, or William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes trial (1925), or the Wizard of Oz when little Toto drew the curtain back — a brutal revelation of stark truth about how things actually are.

Since his hiding-in-the-basement campaign in 2020 "Joe Biden's" Party of Chaos has pretended that he is fit and alert for the job and now all of sudden they pretend to be shocked to see how far gone in the head he really is. The bullshit shovelers of the mainstream news media were especially rocked, not by the truth of the situation per se, but at being unmasked as the contemptible, confabulating tools that they've become. The New York Times wheeled around on a dime from their servile lionizing of the presidential hologram they helped create to its editorial board abjectly yelling for him to drop out and get gone. They were joined instantly by a long list of other opinion-shapers, campaign donors, political celebs, and Beltway players.

Comment: The Biden campaign continues. It is the law. Biden has to be the candidate. "Surprise, surprise!"

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