Puppet MastersS


Airplane

Trump announces plan to modernize and privatize air traffic control


RT
Mon, 05 Jun 2017 18:18 UTC
An air traffic control tower at the central terminal of LaGuardia Airport
© Shannon Stapleton / Reuters An air traffic control tower is seen at the central terminal of LaGuardia Airport in the Queens borough of New York.
President Donald Trump plans to modernize US air traffic control systems, while transferring operations from a federal oversight body to a self-financing nonprofit organization. The proposal is part of the administration's ambitious infrastructure agenda.

Current air traffic control (ATC) still runs on radar and ground-based radio technology, Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. The system was first designed at a time when the number of air passengers was 100,000 a year, while that number is now approaching 1 billion.

"Our air traffic control is stuck, painfully, in the past," Trump said, decrying the "ancient, broken, antiquated, horrible system that doesn't work."
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Info

Led by Saudi Arabia, the GCC states will collapse into oblivion


Moon of Alabama
Mon, 05 Jun 2017 18:15 UTC
Saudi King Salman (L) chatting with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani
© AFPSaudi King Salman (L) chatting with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
Emboldened by U.S. backing, Saudi Arabia launched a campaign to finally subjugate Qatar into client state status. The plan has now reached a high point. A few hours ago Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia severed all ties with Qatar.

All sea and airspace have been closed for Qatari traffic and the land-routes severed. All Qataris will have to leave those countries within 14 days. Qatari diplomats were given just 48 hours.

The immediate consequences are huge. Some 37 million passengers cross through Doha each year. But Qatar Airways now has to fly through Iranian, Iraqi and Turkish airspace to reach Europe. (If the situation persists the UAE owned Emirates Airways will likely order a huge bunch of new planes.) Half of the food in Qatar comes via Saudi Arabia through Qatar's only land border. 600-800 trucks per day can no longer pass. The 19 flights per day between Doha and Dubai are called off. Oil prices rose some 1.6% and the Qatari stock exchange tanked.

The reasons for the immediate spat are manifold. It has only little to do with Iran.

Comment: See also: Arab countries sever diplomatic relations with Qatar for ties to terrorism, Iran, meddling

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Black Cat

Flashback German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel: 'Saudi Arabia funding Islamic extremism in the West'

Emma Henderson
The Independent, UK
Mon, 07 Dec 2015 20:13 UTC
Sigmar Gabriel
© Getty ImagesGerman vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel
'We have to make clear to the Saudis that the time of looking away is over,' the politician says

Germany's vice-chancellor has publicly accused Saudi Arabia of financing terrorists in the West.

Sigmar Gabriel claimed the country was funding mosques linked to extremism, which he said were becoming a threat to public security.

In an interview with German newspaper, Bild am Sonntag, Mr Gabriel said: "We have to make clear to the Saudis that the time of looking away is over.

"Wahhabi mosques all over the world are financed by Saudi Arabia.

Comment: See also:
They know it, you know it, everybody knows it. And yet, US president Trump dances at their feet while the UK government censors all mention of Saudi connections to its recent terror attacks.

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Info

Corbyn joins then backtracks on growing chorus for May to resign over security failures and police cuts


RT
Mon, 05 Jun 2017 17:41 UTC
London attack
© Danile Sorabji / AFP
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called on Prime Minister Theresa May to resign over police cuts which he says left the public vulnerable to terrorist attacks like those seen in Manchester and London.

His comments follow an earlier call by Steve Hilton, the former chief strategy advisor to David Cameron, for May to step down.

Posting on Twitter on Monday morning, Hilton appeared adamant that May should go.

Comment: Also see: Blowback or extremism? Uneasy British debate on causes of terrorist attacks

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Snakes in Suits

Trump, Brennan and the Intelligence community's iron wall of secrecy

Mike Whitney
Counterpunch
Fri, 02 Jun 2017 16:56 UTC
cartoon of Brennan
© DonkeyHotey | CC BY 2.0
Is Russiagate an investigation of foreign meddling into US elections or retaliation for Washington's stunning defeat in Syria?

The opening of the Russiagate investigation closely coincides with the Battle of Aleppo, which was the turning point in the 6 year-long Syrian War. In July 2016 - the same month the FBI reportedly began its Russia hacking investigation — Russian-led forces launched their long-awaited Aleppo military offensive. Syrian, Iranian and Hezbollah fighters surrounded the city cutting off critical supplylines to the Sunni militants who remained inside a rapidly shrinking cauldron. In a bitterly-contested, winner-take-all slugfest, loyalist troops flushed the terrorists out of their hideouts and spiderholes, corralled them into smaller, isolated pockets, and forced them to either surrender or retreat. After months of aerial bombardment and door-to-door urban warfare, the opposition collapsed, the Syrian Army regained control of the city, and the broken jihadist militias fled eastward towards Raqqa, Deir Ezzor and beyond.
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TV

Putin effortlessly outclassed Megyn Kelly on her NBC premiere 'Sunday Night'

Lorraine Ali
Los Angeles Times
Sun, 04 Jun 2017 16:26 UTC
Putin and Megyn Kelly
© NBC News
Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly was many things for many people. For the former Fox personality, it was her major coming-out party on NBC. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, it was a game.

And for viewers, it was a chance to see if months and months of heavy buildup surrounding the network's new star anchor would pay off.

The hour-long news show promised to be "a tough conversation" between Kelly and the Russian leader. But for Putin, it was child's play as he displayed an elusive and ultimately dismissive demeanor toward Kelly.

The interview, which was teased for weeks on NBC as a must-see exclusive, lasted less than 10 minutes. But that was just about enough time to confirm that she's still not a great interviewer, and he's still one of the most deceptive interview subjects around.

Short of asking "How many people have you killed with your bare hands, Mr. Putin?," Kelly did everything she could to get something out of him other than smirks, huffs and "nyets."


Comment: What interview did Ms. Ali watch? Putin gave detailed, logical answers to all of Kelly's silly questions. Did she not do any real research? Perhaps he was a bit shorter than usual, but it's possible that even Putin's legendary patience with what passes for US journalism can eventually be exhausted. See for yourself:

On the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum: NBC News anchor Megyn Kelly interviews Vladimir Putin


Comment:

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USA

City council in Texas furious they cannot just take man's land who is rich enough to fight them


American GG
Mon, 05 Jun 2017 16:50 UTC
Monty Bennett
© dmagazine.comMonty Bennett stands in an old culvert segment that lies on his Lazy W ranch.
You're going to need to sit down for this one.

Last week the Dallas City Council met to discuss their current agenda. Item #11 involved an eminent domain case where the city of Dallas was attempting to take the land from a property owner. The council has been asked to settle a case out of court with the land owner.

Ms. Sandy Greyson, District 12 (nonpartisan), is furious that the city cannot simply take this man's land. She tells Mayor Michael S. Rawlings it isn't fair to the city that this man has enough money to defend his property in court. She even admits that "ordinary people" who "cannot afford to fight the city of Dallas" end up losing their property, which makes it easier for the city.

She's dead serious, and continues to say "he's fought us for years and has cost Dallas tax payers millions of dollars."

It gets worse, "I'm not blaming anyone that we're settling this case," she says "but it's just infuriating that if you're rich enough you can hold the city hostage for years and get what you want. There's something really wrong with that."
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Info

Washington ceremony: Montenegro officially joins NATO despite internal opposition


RT
Mon, 05 Jun 2017 16:47 UTC
Montenegro army
© Wikipedia
Montenegro has officially become the latest member of NATO despite internal opposition, after a ceremony in Washington, DC.

On Monday, a delegation led by Markovic went to the US State Department ceremony hosted by Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon, officially inaugurating the small Balkan country into the bloc. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was also in attendance.
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Arrow Down

Former Cameron aide Steven Hilton calls for Theresa May's resignation

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Mon, 05 Jun 2017 16:04 UTC
Steve Hilton
© Neale Haynes/Times Newspapers Ltd.Steve Hilton, David Cameron’s former strategy chief, attacked the PM in a series of tweets saying: “Her spin doctors attack MI5, but she was in charge of them for years”
David Cameron's former right hand man is no fan of Theresa May.

Steve Hilton was something of David Cameron's right hand man for many years. He's no socialist and no conservative, just as Cameron was neither. He represents a neo-liberal strata of neo-conservatism (if there is even a real difference anymore) that Theresa May's Conservative party is said to represent, but one which looks increasingly like a rudderless Titanic.

Hilton has now blamed May directly for a dereliction of duty which caused the recent ISIS terrorist attack in London. May who had been Home Secretary since 2010 before becoming Prime Minister in 2016, was accused by Hilton of trying to shift blame and hide her own guilt for the incident in the following tweets:

Comment: In a sensible world, one would expect Theresa May is headed for a thrashing at the ballot box, as her campaign's implosion is clear to everyone. It will be interesting to see how the election actually plays out. Can this one be rigged as the Scottish Referendum was, without provoking a massive backlash? Psychopaths are often brought down by their own wishful thinking.

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Attention

Blowback or extremism? Uneasy British debate on causes of terrorist attacks


RT
Mon, 05 Jun 2017 14:56 UTC
Theresa May (L), Jeremy Corbyn
© Reuters
In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks, Theresa May called for a crackdown on extremist ideology, Jeremy Corbyn called on Arab countries to stop promoting it, while John Pilger told RT he believes the attacks are the "product" of UK foreign policy.

Speaking on how to fight terrorism in the aftermath of the London Bridge attack on Sunday, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that stamping out radical Islamist ideology is the number one priority, adding that "we cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are."

Terrorism, she said, "will only be defeated when we turn people's mind away from this violence and make them understand that our values - pluralistic, British values - are superior" to that harbored by jihadists.


Comment: Ah yes, those wonderful "British values" that helped spawn the jihadists in the first place: Theresa May says 'enough is enough' so remove her from office


In addition to eradicating terrorist propaganda, military action "to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria" will be needed, as well as showing less tolerance to the manifestations of extremism at home, she said.
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