Puppet MastersS


Fire

UK MP David Lammy calls for urgent action on Grenfell fire from Theresa May to prevent cover-up

Maya Oppenheim
The Independent
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 21:17 UTC
Grenfell Tower Fire David Lammy
© Sky News/The Independent
'When the truth comes out about this tragedy we may find that there is blood on the hands of a number of organisations,' says Labour MP

David Lammy has warned a cover-up could plague the Grenfell Tower disaster and issued an impassioned plea for Theresa May to immediately seize all pertinent documents.

The Labour MP for Tottenham claimed contractors who dealt with the 24-storey west London building had erased details of their work on the now fire-ravaged tower from their websites.

Mr Lammy, whose "dear friend" Khadija Saye was killed in the fire last week, questioned what concrete actions the Metropolitan Police were taking to address the deadly blaze which is now thought to have claimed 79 lives. He called for urgent action to avoid potential plots to prevent the public discovering the truth about the harrowing catastrophe.
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Newspaper

Palestinian journalist: Mondoweiss is necessary - so Israel can't silence me or others

Ahmad Kabariti
Mondoweiss
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 21:29 UTC
Ahmad Kabariti
© Mohamed Asad, 2017Palestinian journalist, Ahmad Kabariti
NOVEMBER 2004. I was 23, waiting at Rafah to get my passport back from Israeli officials so I could enter Egypt and fly from Cairo to Abu Dhabi for my new job. I heard my name in a Hebrew accent, coming from a dark-tinted window. The voice directed me to a back office to meet an IDF intelligence officer.

I felt nervous and scared. What could an intelligence officer want from a new journalism graduate who had not started his career yet? I planned to settle permanently in Abu Dhabi. How could he have any questions for me?

Part of me thought he would arrest me and put me in jail. I didn't know why Israel arrested Palestinians. Would this officer put an end to my dream career? Many questions came to mind and all were frightening.
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Dollar

House subcommittee largely rubber stamps Trump's $12 billion 2018 special ops budget


RT
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 21:27 UTC
Computer laptop
© Global Look Press
Cyber warfare weapons and drone aircrafts are among the technology the House subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities has signed off on in President Donald Trump's $12.3 billion budget for special operations.

The sub panel has endorsed the bill's request for $12.3 billion, which will go to wartime funding and US Special Operations Command. On Tuesday, it released its portion of the draft bill, according to Defense News.

The funds are put aside specifically to buy Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drone aircraft as well as General Atomics MQ-1. Smaller tactical remotely-piloted systems are also of interest. An aid at the House Armed Services committee said, "it really is across the board," outlining where the money will go, according to Defense News.
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Snakes in Suits

Saudi hijinks and US policy stinks

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 21:08 UTC
Trump and King Salman
© REUTERS/ Jonathan Ernst
The whimsical Saudi rulers are playing musical chairs again, with the king's favorite son jumping the succession queue in what some observers have called a "soft coup" to become heir to the oil kingdom throne.

The medieval-like House of Saud has always been a lynchpin in US foreign policy for the Middle East. More so under President Donald Trump who has struck up a chummy relationship with the young Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This relationship is like the blind leading the blind. No wonder US policy is fast becoming a disaster for the restive region.

America's deepening and reckless military involvement in Syria is a result of Trump cozying up with the Saudi despots. That, in turn, is leading to the US brazenly flying air force cover for Saudi-sponsored terrorists in Syria at the risk of going to war with Russia and Iran. Russia has warned that any more US shoot-downs of Syrian jets will not be tolerated.
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Vader

US acts of war in Syria: Claiming "self-defense" is no defense

Finian Cunningham
Strategic Culture Foundation
Tue, 20 Jun 2017 20:55 UTC
US missiles Syria coast
The shooting down of a Syrian fighter jet by US forces this week comes on the back of several aggressive actions by American military on the ground. Taken together the US actions mark an alarming escalation of intervention in the Syrian war - to the point where the Americans can be said to be now openly at war against Syria.

The American military actions also come despite repeated warnings from Russia against such unilateral deployment of force. Following the shoot-down of the Syrian SU-22 fighter bomber this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced the American violence as an act of «flagrant aggression» against a sovereign state. Some Russian lawmakers such as Duma foreign affairs chief Alexei Pushkov went further and condemned it as an act of war by the Americans.

Of course, Washington's logic is riddled with absurdity. To claim that its forces are acting in self-defense overlooks the glaring reality that the US-led military coalition has no legal mandate whatsoever to be in Syria in the first place. Its forces are in breach of international law by operating on Syrian territory without the consent of the government in Damascus and without a mandate from the UN Security Council.
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Quenelle

Queen's Speech in Parliament targeted by 'Day of Rage' protesters to 'bring down the government'


RT
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 20:34 UTC
UK parliament protest
© DAY of RAGE: March on parliament on day of Queen's Speech / Facebook
Protesters are marching on Downing Street to "bring down the government" over its response to the Grenfell Tower fire, amid appeals to ensure their grievances are not overshadowed by violence.

Three protests, including a "day of rage" demonstration, are being held to coincide with the Queen's Speech, the formal unveiling of the government's legislative agenda.

One protest organized by the Movement for Justice By Any Means Necessary (MJF), is demanding local housing for the displaced residents of Grenfell Tower and for all residents who do not have immigration papers to be given a permanent right to remain in the UK.

Organizer Karen Doyle told RT what happened at Grenfell Tower amounts to "mass murder" and the government must be held accountable.

Comment:

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Dollars

Report says Pentagon wasted $93 million on 'forest' camouflage uniforms for Afghan troops


RT
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 19:47 UTC
Afghan soldier wrong camouflage
© Omar Sobhani / ReutersAn Afghan National Army soldier
The Pentagon spent $93.81 million over the past decade to provide Afghan troops with uniforms of a "forest" camouflage pattern which is largely unsuitable for Afghanistan's landscape, according to a report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

"Forests cover only 2.1% of Afghanistan's total land area," the report notes. The 17-page document further estimates that the Pentagon wasted up to $28 million simply because it chose to buy the pattern from a private firm.

"CSTC-A's decision to procure ANA uniforms using a proprietary camouflage pattern was not based on its appropriateness for the Afghan environment and appears to have cost up to $28 million more than buying similar uniforms using a non-proprietary camouflage pattern," the report says.

Comment: From Political Ponerology:
In a pathocracy, all leadership positions, (down to village headman and community cooperative managers, not to mention the directors of police units, and special services police personnel, and activists in the pathocratic party) must be filled by individuals with corresponding psychological deviations, which are inherited as a rule. [...] After such a system has lasted several years, one hundred percent of all the cases of essential psychopathy are involved in pathocratic activity; they are considered the most loyal, even though some of them were formerly involved on the other side in some way.
[...]
If the many managerial positions are assumed by individuals deprived of sufficient abilities to feel and understand the majority of other people, and who also exhibit deficiencies in technical imagination and practical skills - (faculties indispensable for governing economic and political matters) - this then results in an exceptionally serious crisis in all areas, both within the country in question and with regard to international relations.


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Chess

'Ready for dialogue': North Korea names conditions for stopping nuclear tests

Inessa Sinchougova (translator)
Fort Russ
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 19:59 UTC
Donald Trump Kim Jong-un
© ReutersSeparated at birth?
Originally at Izvestia

North Korea is ready for dialogue with the United States and does not rule out the introduction of a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests, said North Korea's ambassador to India, Ke Chung Yong.

Diplomat TV channel WION has named the conditions for starting negotiations with Washington.

Ke Yong Chun said that Pyongyang may freeze nuclear and missile tests if the United States will stop large-scale military exercises in the area. The diplomat believes that the Korean issue should be solved peacefully.
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Chess

Germany pulls forces out of Incirlik as Turkey marches on Kurds in Syria

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 19:58 UTC
merkel Erdogan refugees
In further sign of growing estrangement between the West and Turkey, Germany pulls its forces out of Incirlik as Turkey sends troops to Syria to fight the Kurds.

Today has brought a cluster of news emphasising the growing estrangement between Turkey and the West.

Turkish President Erdogan has condemned Albanian expansionism in the Balkans despite the implicit encouragement this has been getting from the West, which has been quietly encouraging Albania's 'Greater Albania' project in order to weaken the influence in the Balkans of Serbia and above all of Russia.
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Chess

Will the Arctic become the next 'South China Sea'?

Inessa Sinchougova (translator)
Fort Russ
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 19:58 UTC
Russian soldiers army
Originally at Rusvesna

The US is thinking about how to equip their icebreakers in the Arctic in order to protect their natural resources potential, and encroachment by Russia and China, writes the Asia Times. However, according to experts, this can affect long-term cooperation of these countries, as US interests in the region are much less than that of Russia.

In late May, the commandant of the US Coast Guard Admiral warned US lawmakers that America may need to equip icebreakers with anti-aircraft missiles to "protect state resources" in the Arctic.

Today in the Arctic, there are two icebreakers at the disposal of the US Coast Guard - "they are functioning, but do not always work." One of them is 40 years old and almost "begs to be scrapped." The US needs new icebreakers. However, according to some analysts, if the US were to suddenly start putting missiles on them, it could undermine cooperation with Russia and China, especially in the field of search and rescue, and environmental research.
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