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Post UK elections: SNP is willing to form a coalition to keep Tories out of power

Nicole Morley
Metro
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 00:00 UTC
Nicola Sturgeon UK SNP
© ITVNicola Sturgeon makes an announcement following the General Election
In a scathing speech SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has announced the party will form a coalition in order to keep the Conservatives out of power.

Addressing journalists in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said Theresa May has 'lost all authority and credibility' following general election result.

She added that says 'reckless' Conservative approach to Brexit should be abandoned.

Comment: May's new friends: Tories to form coalition with 'bigoted,' 'anti-Corbyn' Democratic Unionist Party

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Quenelle

Petition to stop Tory/DUP 'coalition of chaos' reaches 540k signatures in a day


RT
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 00:00 UTC
London Big Ben
© Toby Melville / Reuters
A petition launched Friday urging British Prime Minister Theresa May not to form a 'coalition of chaos' with the Democratic Unionist Party has already gained over half a million signatures and counting.

The author of the 'Stop the DUP & TORIES forming a Minority Government!' petition, writing under the pen name Winston Churchill, called the proposed alliance "a disgusting, desperate attempt to stay in power."

Unlike previous online petitions filed through the UK government website, this petition is non-binding and will not trigger an official response from the government nor has the potential to force debate in the House of Commons.

The official petitions website is currently down until a new Petitions Committee is set up by the House of Commons.

Comment: Theresa May hoping for 'constructive relationship' with creationist homophobes who think Pope is Satan

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Eye 1

Can Killary please go quietly into the night?

T.A. Frank
Vanity Fair
Fri, 09 Jun 2017 02:30 UTC
Killery
© Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesClinton speaks with Nicholas Kristof at the Women in the World Summit on April 6th.
With Donald Trump busy spreading havoc around the world—most recently tweeting about James Comey's testimony, or feeding into the crisis over Qatar—it's reasonable to ask who can be bothered to gripe about Hillary Clinton. But I can. One makes the time. Or maybe one doesn't, but in a two-party system there's only one alternative to the party of Trump, and the role of Clinton in that party is therefore important.

Lately, it has been increasing. Hillary has been making high-profile public appearances and started talking frankly about her distaste for Trump and her dismay over the people and things that cost her the election. She has even founded a PAC called Onward Together, a 501(c)(4) that will "advance progressive values." Whether we like it or not, the Clintons are back in the game. It's up to the rest of us to figure out if we approve.

Just about everything we do lends itself to a generous or hostile interpretation. Our friends think we feed the poor because we have genuine compassion, and our enemies think we do so because we want to look good. The benign take on motives isn't always closest to the truth, but it's the better bet. (On the occasions that I've had an inside view of something in the glare of the press, those with the darkest take on it have usually been wrong.) I've been tough on Chelsea Clinton—hard not to be—but Hillary Clinton has a much higher accomplishment-to-self-regard ratio. So why not start generously?

Comment: See also:

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Attention

AIAS 2017: How the US struck a 'fool's bargain' with Saudi Arabia...vice versa?

Ziad Hafez
Mint Press News
Fri, 09 Jun 2017 00:00 UTC
TrumpSalman
© AP/Evan VucciSaudi King Salman, second right, walks with US President Donald Trump to attend the Arab Islamic American Summit, at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center,
Iran's absence at last month's Arab Islamic American Summit - a massive gathering of Arab and Muslim countries - was more than coincidence. Host Saudi Arabia and its guest, the U.S., have long conspired against Iran, with the summit's other attendees held hostage to their vision of the Middle East.

The Arab Islamic American Summit held in Riyadh on May 20 and 21 was an extraordinarily surrealistic event, to say the least. Many factors made the event highly unusual, not the least of which was its timing. The summit was held just after the anniversary of Nakba Day, which marks the loss of Palestine in May 1948. In addition, thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails entered the fourth week of their ongoing hunger strike as the summit was held.

The Summit also took place in the immediate aftermath of Iran's presidential election, where the summit's host was betting on President Hassan Rouhani's failure and the arrival of a hardliner in the person of candidate Ebrahim Raisi. Rouhani ended up winning the election, much to Saudi Arabia's dismay.

In the views of the majority of Arabs and Muslims, the summit was a direct assault on the long-held Arab and Muslim cultural and political legacy. Two major Muslim countries were glaringly absent: Turkey and Iran. Egypt's delegation, headed by President Abdel el-Sisi, expressed the need to condemn countries that have contributed to the development of extremist thought. Many observers believed he was referring to Turkey and Qatar, yet his remarks would perfectly fit Saudi Arabia. His speech threw a discordant note into the artificial spectacle of a unified Arab and Muslim front against "terror," when in fact it was a summit against Iran.

The other factor making the event so strange was the sight of the president of the United States standing and dancing with the king of a country whose nationals participated in the 9/11 terror attacks. Many in the United States believe that Saudi Arabia itself was involved in the attacks. Just last year, Congress passed a law making it possible for the relatives of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia - yet President Donald Trump concluded his visit with the largest U.S.-Saudi arms deal in history.

Comment: "One has to wonder why the Saudis offered all of that money to the U.S." If there is one thing that captures Trump's attention...it is money, and lots of it. He has made a promise to correct the trajectory of the US' problematic financial woes and decrease the deficit. A dangling half-trillion dollar deal would certainly pique his interest. Whether it was a fool's bargain or not, remains to be seen. Should the US be engaging in business with the Saudis? Morally, it is a half-trillion dollar trap that demands something of extreme value in return. The 'obligation,' in many ways, may be costlier than the price.

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Video

Video brought forth of Seth Rich questioning ballot integrity

Cassandra Fairbanks
Big League Politics
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 03:06 UTC
Seth Rich
© NewsweekSeth Rich
A video has surfaced of murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich questioning ballot integrity during the Election Data Summit in 2015.
"Seth Rich, with the DNC," he introduces himself, after clearing his throat. "I think some of you had spoken about provisional ballots and rejected ballots — I guess we have looked at, as an outside practitioner with a vested interest in training our voters, how do we get better access to data that tells us why ballots are rejected — why ballots are cast as provisional — so we can analyze that and develop better training guides?"
Rich had valid concerns. During the Democratic primaries the following year, New York voters reported two voter purges that barred 120,000 people from being able to vote. The scandal, months before Rich's death, had lead to massive outcry from supporters of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who believed that the DNC was engaging in election fraud to nominate Hillary Clinton.



Comment: The above is fascinating. Below is the panel's answering Rich's questions according to technical process and management.


Comment: Rich was too close to being able to upend the Clintons and testify to that 'end'.

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Life Preserver

Erdogan promises 'full support to Qatari brothers'


RT
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 04:49 UTC
Erdo
© Kayser Ozer/Reuters
The Turkish President has promised to continue supporting Qatar after Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with tiny but resource-rich emirate, accusing Doha of funding terrorist organizations.

"Now, there are ones who are bothered because of us being together with our Qatari brothers or sending and exporting food supplies, drugs etc - no matter if they are in hunger or thirst - should excuse us. We will continue to give all our support to Qatar," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at an iftar (fast-breaking meal) with members of his Justice and Development (AK) Party in Istanbul.

The Turkish leader has urged Saudi Arabia, as "the largest and most powerful state in the Gulf," to reduce tensions and lift sanctions. "It is wrong to add more troubles on top of everything in the term that the Muslim world is already struggling with a lot of problems," he said. "I am calling you: There won't be any winners in the brother's fight. You have to work for bringing brothers together. This is what we expect from Saudi, the Custodian of the Holy Mosques [in Mecca and Medina]," Erdogan added.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic ties and traffic links with Doha Monday, after accusing Doha of sponsoring terrorism. On Thursday, they designated 59 individuals and 12 Qatari-linked entities as terrorist organizations.


Comment: Honoring commitments...an Erdogan surprise. What is in this for Turkey (Erdogan)? Is he willing to take the backlash on Iran as well? See also:

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Clipboard

Puerto Ricans will vote between statehood and independence


RT
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 01:11 UTC
PuertoRicovote
© Ana Martinez / ReutersPeople queue to enter a polling center in La Barra sector in Caguas.
Puerto Rico is preparing to vote on becoming the 51st US state, but there are several other options that the islanders can choose from in the non-binding referendum, including maintaining the status quo to becoming a full-fledged country on its own.

Amid a historic bankruptcy declaration, Puerto Ricans will head to the polls on Sunday to reexamine the island's relationship with the United States.

The options are to maintain Puerto Rico's status as a commonwealth, become the 51st state in the Union, become a "free association" state, or declare independence and take full control of its governance for the first time in its history.


Comment: Choices abound. To what extent will Puerto Rico decide to take charge and forge ahead under its own auspices, beholding to itself, or will it opt to come under the umbrella of the US political machine? Staying where it is now is a no-man's land disaster.

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Jet4

Baltic Sea: Two US bombers intercepted by Russian fighter jet


RT
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 13:22 UTC
Russian jet
© Pinterest
A Russian fighter jet has safely intercepted a small group of US warplanes over the Baltic Sea during an annual set of military drills, the US Department of Defense said in a tweet.

According to Pentagon officials, the Russian Su-27 fighter intercepted a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker military refueling aircraft accompanied by two B-1 bombers and one B-52 during the BALTOPS (Baltic Operations) annual training exercise, which started on Saturday.

Pictures released by the US Department of Defense show the jet flying alongside the American warplanes. Officials said the maneuver was carried out safely.

This was not the only encounter between Russian and NATO air forces to have taken place recently. On June 6, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported intercepting another B-52 bomber over the Baltic Sea, where it was escorted by an Su-27 fighter away from Russian territory. NATO officials have said that Russian pilots generally conduct such maneuvers "safely and professionally."

The BALTOPS exercises will go on until 16 June and will involve 5,600 troops from air, sea and ground forces across 12 NATO countries (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the US and the UK) as well as Finland and Sweden.

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Attention

Thailand Facebook insult: Sloppy reporting from Sputnik cites US NED propagandists

Tony Cartalucci
Land Destroyer Report
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 15:37 UTC
Thailand
Sputnik recently published an article titled, "Censored Speech: Criticizing Monarchy Lands Thai Man 35-Year Jail Sentence," citing AFP and two alleged "rights watchdogs," iLaw and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The article portrays the accused as a victim of censorship and laws that undermine his human rights.

In reality, Vichai Thepwong is a supporter of Thailand's opposition which consists of ousted US-backed proxy, Thaksin Shinawatra, his Pheu Thai Party (PTP), and his armed street front, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) - better known as "red shirts" - as well as a myriad of US State Department-funded fronts including both iLaw and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.


Comment: Thai man sentenced to 35yrs in prison over Facebook posts 'insulting' royal family

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Blackbox

Have Russia and US reached an unspoken deal in southern Syria?

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 15:30 UTC
Syrian army
America has stopped attacking Syrian forces near the Jordanian border and has held back its jihadists. Many are suspecting that a deal has been reached with Russia.

The Syrian Arab Army has been making strong and swift advances through the deserts of southern Syria near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders and are all ready moving north on Deir ez-Zor, one of the last major terrorist strongholds in Syria.

According to Al-Masdar,
"Backed by Russian airstrikes, the Syrian Arab Army and their allies stormed the Islamic State's positions at the Talilah Reserve, inflicting heavy damage on the latter's positions.

Following a short battle on Friday afternoon, the Syrian Arab Army and their allies liberated the Talilah Reserve in eastern Palmyra, pushing their way to the strategic Talilah Crossroad".
This comes after Russian Colonel General Sergey Surovikin issued a stern criticism of the US which has attacked three Syrian and allied military convoys in southern Syria between May and June of 2017.

Comment:

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