Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Davos elite fret about inequality over vintage wine and canapés

Peter S. Goodman
The New York Times
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 00:06 UTC
Swiss special police forces take position next to a sign reading Davos
© AFP/ Fabrice Coffrini
You have perhaps noticed that in many countries, history-altering numbers of people have grown enraged at the economic elite and their tendency to hog the spoils of globalization. This wave of anger has delivered Donald J. Trump to the White House, sent Britain toward the exit of the European Union, and threatened the future of global trade.

The people gathered here this week in the Swiss Alps for the annual World Economic Forum have noticed this, too. They are the elite — heads of state, billionaire hedge fund managers, technology executives.

They are eager to talk about how to set things right, soothing the populist fury by making globalization a more lucrative proposition for the masses. Myriad panel discussions are focused on finding the best way to "reform capitalism," make globalization work and revive the middle class.


Comment: The elites need to keep the masses happy in their 'prison'. That way they can keep draining more resources.

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Snakes in Suits

Obama's last White House news conference: US is 'strongest country... we're going to be OK'


RT
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 23:47 UTC
Barack Obama
Just two days before vacating 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, President Barack Obama reiterated his clichés about US protecting small countries, blamed bad relations with Russia on Vladimir Putin, and called situation in Israel a threat to US national security.

The first question was about his decision to commute much of whistleblower Chelsea Manning's sentence.
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Attention

Not helpful: Trump's UN pick Nikki Haley shows support for Israel and hard line on Russia


RT
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 23:39 UTC
Nikki Haley
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, nominated to be the new US ambassador to the UN, told the Senate she would "always stand by Israel" and took a hard line on Russia, clashing with positions taken by President-elect Donald Trump.

Haley's opening remarks at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee revolved around the recently adopted UN Security Council Resolution 2334 condemning Israeli settlements, which she blamed on the Obama administration's decision to forego the US veto.

"I will never abstain when the United Nations takes any action that comes in direct conflict with the interests and values of the United States," Haley told the lawmakers.

Comment: Samantha Powers was bad enough, now it looks like more of the same. Good grief.

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Attention

Russian military again charges US with relocating ISIS from Iraq to Syria

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 23:25 UTC
ISIS fighters convoy
Russian military makes public complaint that ISIS attack on Deir Ezzor and ISIS threats against Palmyra are the result of the intentional relocation by the US of ISIS fighters from Mosul to Syria.

With Palmyra still under ISIS control, and with ISIS threatening to capture Deir Ezzor, the Russian military has once against blamed the military crisis in eastern Syria on the US.

The Russian military first did so in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Palmyra in December when it complained - rightly - that the reason ISIS was able to send troops to Palmyra from Mosul and Raqqa was because ISIS is under no real pressure there.

Comment: Rudskoi's full briefing, worth watching in full:
For more on the Deir Ezzor conflict: How the U.S. prepped the ground for ISIS' takeover of Deir Ezzor

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Info

Syria rushes troops and top commander to Deir Ezzor under siege by ISIS

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 22:49 UTC
Syrian troops
As situation in eastern desert city of Deir Ezzor under attack from ISIS remains tense, Syria rushes reinforcements and a top commander to the town, with latest reports suggesting that further ISIS attacks have been repelled.

As the military crisis in Deir Ezzor continues, the Syrian army has rushed reinforcements to the besieged desert city by helicopter, and has sent one of its toughest and most capable commanders there.

This is General Mohammad Khaddour, who previously commanded the garrison at Deir Ezzor until he was reassigned elsewhere from there a year ago.

The very latest reports from the town suggest that the Syrian military has successfully held off further attacks by ISIS, but that with the town's vital airport still cut off from the rest of the garrison the situation remains tense.
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2 + 2 = 4

Mississippi Attorney General sues Google for gathering personal data on students

Joe Mullin
ARS Technica
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 13:30 UTC
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood
© Alex Wong/Getty ImagesMississippi Attorney General Jim Hood (R) at a news conference in 2015.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is sparring with Google once more.

Last year, Hood and Google wound down a court dispute over Hood's investigation into how Google handles certain kinds of online content, from illegal drug ads to pirated movies. E-mails from the 2014 Sony hack showed that Hood's investigation was spurred on, in part, by lobbyists from the Motion Picture Association of America.

Now Hood has a new bone to pick with the search giant. Yesterday, Hood filed a lawsuit (PDF) against Google in Lowndes County Chancery Court, saying that the company is gathering personal data on students who use Google's G Suite for Education, (previously called Google Apps for Education).

In a statement, Hood said that "due to the multitude of unclear statements provided by Google," his investigators don't know exactly what information is being collected.

"Through this lawsuit, we want to know the extent of Google's data mining and marketing of student information to third parties," Hood said. "I don't think there could be any motivation other than greed for a company to deliberately keep secret how it collects and uses student information."
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Wall Street

Foreign central banks liquidate record $405 billion in US Treasuries as China sells most since 2011

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 22:31 UTC
US treasury purchases chart
The wholesale liquidation of US Treasuries continued in November, when according to the just released TIC data, foreign central banks sold another $936 million in US paper in November 2016, which due to an offset of $892 million in buying one year ago, means that for the 12 month period ended November, foreign central banks have now sold a new all time high of $405 million in the past 12 months, up from a record $403 million in LTM sales as of one month ago.

Where did the selling come from?

While Japan sold about $23 billion in November, its fourth month of consecutive selling, it was China which drove the selloff, dumping a whopping $66.4 billion in US Treasuries in its 6th consecutive monthly sale of US paper, and the biggest monthly selloff since December 2011. The monthly sale also brings China's total Treasury holdings to the lowest level since early 2010.
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Wall Street

JPMorgan chief Dimon says Euro zone may not survive if concerns are ignored

Hugh Son and Sonali Basak
Bloomberg
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 22:14 UTC
Jamie Dimon
© Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
The euro region could break up if political leaders don't get to grips with the discontent that's spurring support for populist leaders across the continent, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said.

Dimon said he had hoped European Union leaders would examine what caused the U.K. to vote to leave and then make changes. That hasn't happened, and if nationalist politicians including France's Marine Le Pen rise to power in elections across the region "the euro zone may not survive," Dimon, 60, said in a Bloomberg Television interview with John Micklethwait.

"What went wrong is going wrong for everybody, not just going wrong for Britain, but in some ways it looks like they're kind of doubling down," Dimon said in the interview Wednesday at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Unless leaders address underlying concerns, "you're going to have the same political things about immigration, the laws of the country, how much power goes to Brussels."


Comment: Davos elite seeks fixes to defend the system from populists


Comment: Looks like the only thing Dimon is really worried about is bank regulation. As long as it doesn't restrict him from doing anything the big banks want to make money.

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USA

Majority of Americans believe Trump would have won anyway, hacked or not

Cheyenne Roundtree
Daily Mail
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 02:28 UTC
Trump vs Hillary
© AP / Washington Post / Ghetty ImagesA majority of Americans think the outcome of the U.S. presidential elections would have remained the same, despite Russia's alleged hacking. Donald Trump (left) won the election over Hillary Clinton (right) in November 2016
Most Americans think Donald Trump would have still won the election regardless of information leaks that came out of Russia's alleged hacking, a poll reported.

In the study, 58 per cent thought the outcome of the U.S. presidential elections would have remained the same, despite the hacking of files from the Democratic National Convention.

Americans thought 'regardless of the information released as a result of Russian hacking' Trump would still have won the election, according to a poll conducted by CNN and ORC.

A minority of 40 per cent of people said the information leak was damaging enough to change voter's minds.

Wikileaks published thousands of emails and documents pertaining to Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC, in June 2016.

Comment: So far there has been no hard evidence provided by the CIA that Russia was involved in the leaks. Most likely it was leaked by a Clinton insider.

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Book 2

'Obama's decision on Manning very tepid attempt to address issue' - Assange's lawyer to RT


RT
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 21:31 UTC
Chelsea Manning and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
© Reuters
Julian Assange's lawyers are "assessing" the situation, following Chelsea Manning's commutation announcement and Assange's comments that he's willing to make a deal with the US should the whistleblower be granted clemency.

"Mr. Assange stands by everything what he has said," Melinda Taylor, Assange's lawyer told RT from the Hague, but added Obama's decision to commute much of the sentence "certainly falls far short of what Miss Manning deserves."

"Her sentence was commuted, but she wasn't pardoned. She should also never been convicted in the first place," Taylor said.

When asked if Assange is likely to get on a plane to America shortly after Manning is freed in May, his lawyer said her colleagues are now "assessing" the situation.
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