Puppet MastersS


Yoda

'The only adult in the room' - Putin showed class as outgoing Obama ratchets up US-Russia tensions


RT
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 16:47 UTC
putin
© Aleksey Nikolskyi / SputnikRussian President Vladimir Putin
The problem is the consensus is going in the direction that says: 'We have to punish Russia.' And this is coming from Congress, media, and the White House, and particularly being pushed by the Hillary Clinton camp, says Philip Giraldi, former CIA officer.

The outgoing Obama administration announced on Thursday new anti-Russia sanctions that include the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the US on the unproven claim that Russia somehow hacked into computers from the Democratic National Convention.

The move comes "in response to the Russian government's aggressive harassment of US officials and cyber operations aimed at the US election," Obama said in a statement on Thursday.

Moscow called the decision yet another manifestation of the unpredictable and aggressive foreign policy charted by the Obama administration.

Will the damage ruin Donald Trump's hopes for restoring relations with Russia? RT spoke with Philip Giraldi, former CIA officer, for his views on the issue.
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Light Sabers

Putin's Bear to Obama's Turkey

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 15:44 UTC
Obama and Putin
© Sputnik/ Michael Klimentyev
True to national emblem, Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown bear-like stoicism. As for the presumed American eagle, US President Barack Obama appears more like a trussed-up turkey.

Not for the first time, the contrast in character between Putin and Obama was illustrated in the latest diplomatic spat over alleged Russian hacking. The temptation to hit back in kind to Washington's sanctions must have been great for Moscow. But in the end, the Russian leader probably showed that the best response was to simply ignore Obama's clumsy stupidity.

With typical histrionics and contrived fanfare, the White House announced that it was expelling 35 Russian diplomats, whom it accused of being "spies" and of alleged hacking during the US presidential election in November. Initially, Moscow appeared ready to reciprocate with an equivalent banning of American officials.

Comment: Exit Obama in a Cloud of Disillusion, Delusion and Deceit

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Alarm Clock

Best of the Web: Exit Obama in a Cloud of Disillusion, Delusion and Deceit

Craig Murray
craigmurray.org.uk
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 13:38 UTC
Obama pathetic
I had promised myself and my family that on this holiday I would do nothing but relax. However events have overtaken my good intentions. I find myself in the unusual position of having twice been in a position to know directly that governments were lying in globe-shaking events, firstly Iraqi WMD and now the "Russian hacks".
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Newspaper

News that shaped 2016: Trump, Brexit, Turkish coup & more


RT
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 00:00 UTC
2016 events
© Rueters
The outgoing year has been full of occasions that literally shocked the world: 2016 repeatedly made us all gaze in shock and awe at events that one could hardly imagine before. RT looks back at the biggest stories of the last 12 months.
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Mr. Potato

Guardian histrionics: Luke Harding accuses Putin of threatening U.S. diplomats' kids in paranoid ramblings

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 22:27 UTC
luke harding
"I'm Luke Harding, and I'm a tool."
Luke Harding claims the invitation from the President of Russia to the children of US diplomats to attend New Year and Christmas parties in the Kremlin is a threat to US diplomats, subtly reminding them that the FSB has "precise information" about their children.

Reading Western media reaction to Putin's decision yesterday not to retaliate in kind to Obama's latest sanctions has been instructive, with the tone extending from the admiring, to the factual, and to the furious.

One comment however stood out as by far the most unpleasant, and it came (unsurprisingly to those who follow him) from Luke Harding in the Guardian
The statement wished Obama, Trump and the American people a happy new year. It further invited "all the children of American diplomats" to visit the Kremlin's festive Christmas tree. Instead of playing the Grinch, Putin had taken on the role of Ded Moroz, Russia's answer to Father Christmas. One Russian MP on Vesti TV said Obama was Bad Santa. It was also a subtle reminder, for those who were able to decode it, that the FSB - the KGB's successor - has precise information about the children of US embassy personnel. Russia's foreign ministry on Friday tartly denied reports that Moscow was to close the Anglo-American school, attended by diplomatic kids, and the offspring of bankers and oil workers. (italics added)
The claim that the Russians planned to close the Anglo-American school was indeed furiously denied by the Russians after it circulated for a short time in the media.

Comment: From Lobaczewski's Political Ponerology:
In the European languages, "Austrian talk" has become the common descriptive term for paralogistic discourse. Many people using this term nowadays are unaware of its origin. Within the context of maximum hysterical intensity in Europe at the time, the authentic article represented a typical product of conversive thinking: subconscious selection and substitution of data leading to chronic avoidance of the crux of the matter. In the same manner, the reflex assumption that every speaker is lying is an indication of the hysterical anti-culture of mendacity, within which telling the truth becomes "immoral".
Harding needs help.

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Laptop

FakeNews: Russia hacks Vermont infrastructure! - Old Ukrainian malware found instead

Bernhard
Moon of Alabama
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 21:51 UTC
HAcker
All recent claims of "Russian hacking" are either outright false or are based on "evidence" that only shows run-of-the-mill attacks by some anonymous basement hacker.

The year 2016 saw the person elected U.S. president whom Jeff Bezos' propaganda rag, the Washington Post, hated most. To celebrate the end of this very bad year its writers and editors decided to put more egg on their faces.

It first published the piece promoted on the left and some three hours later the fundamentally "corrected" one on the right.
wapo hack
The claim in the first piece, based on anonymous "officials", was that Russia hacked into the U.S. electricity grid through a utility company in Vermont. But then the utility companies in question, Burlington Electric, issued a statement that a recent scan of its IT systems had found only one laptop with some malware and that the laptop in questions was not connected to its networks at all. There was nothing found on any net-connected system. It had reported the find to the federal U.S. government. (Some very shortsighted "officials" immediately abused the confidential company information to mis-inform the Washington Post.) The utility company found the malware by scanning for a malware signature published in a lame recent assessment by Homeland Security and the FBI.

Comment: See more: Hard to believe: 'Russian hackers' penetrate US power grid with 'outdated Ukrainian malware'

What a bunch of hacks (no pun intended)!

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Health

Obama, congressional Democrats hell-bent on keeping Obamacare for 22M Americans


RT
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 23:51 UTC
obamacare
© Singapore Buzz Blog 7
Millions of Americans ‒ more than 22 million of them ‒ are wondering what will become of Obamacare in the new year. President-elect Donald Trump has been anything but clear about his plans, but President Barack Obama and Democrats may have an idea.

The outgoing president will confer with Democratic lawmakers about how to proceed with his signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also dubbed "Obamacare"), on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the day after the 115th Congress is sworn in. The meeting is expected to last "at least one hour," according to guidance provided by the White House and released to multiple news outlets.

Obama will use the time to "share his perspective about the dangers posed by Congressional Republicans' stated strategy to repeal the [Affordable Care Act] before proposing any replacement, creating chaos in the health system in the short run — and holding hostage Americans' health care — while Republicans develop their plan," the guidance said.

Trump and Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly pledged to repeal large parts of Obamacare early next year, citing rising health insurance premiums, among other things. It was a promise that may have helped Trump win the election, as voters expressed their dismay that Obamacare premiums were expected to jump 25 percent in 2017. The White House announced the increases about two weeks before Election Day.



Comment: Insurance companies could be back in charge, changes to policies, more products with subpar coverage. Public options always come secondary to Big Biz and Big Government. And, the population is getting more unhealthy every day.

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Lemon

White House expels chef from Russian Embassy


Sputnik
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 01:25 UTC
Obummer
© News From Antiwar.comThe 'Hate' is on.
Not only has the White House banned Russian diplomats from a Maryland "spy compound" which is actually a vacation retreat, the Obama administration has expelled a chef from the Russian Embassy in San Francisco, forcing diplomats and their families to cook for themselves.

The consul general of the embassy, Sergey Petrov, confirmed to the Associated Press that the chef is among four diplomats who have been kicked out of the San Francisco embassy. The move means that this New Year's Eve, "we'll have to cook ourselves," Petrov said.

The 31 other Russian diplomats that are being kicked out of the country are from the Washington DC embassy. Seven family members will also be leaving with the diplomats, three of whom are children. They "have to leave within hours, and it's just not human, frankly," Petrov added. "They are bitter because they have to leave before their term expired," he said.

As Sputnik reported yesterday, the US also shut down a vacation retreat center in Maryland "where families grilled burgers, hot dogs, and maybe even nuclear-Russian shish kebobs."

While Russian President Vladimir Putin is being praised by US President-elect Donald Trump for his refusal to retaliate against the outgoing administration, it is clear that, for the next few weeks, the White House does not want Russian diplomats or their families to enjoy their time in the nation.

Comment: This can be summed up in one small word: 'petty.'

See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Merkel: Attacks by refugees 'bitter & repulsive,' Islamic terrorism 'most serious test' for Germany


RT
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 21:15 UTC
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
© Markus Schreiber / ReutersGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted there is "no doubt" the recent spate of terrorist attacks that hit the country was the most challenging test it had to undergo this year. Refugee attackers "mocked" the readiness to help those in need, she added in her New Year's address.

"The most serious test is undoubtedly Islamic terrorism, which has been targeting Germans for many years. In 2016, it attacked us in the middle of our country," Merkel said, referring to Islamic State (IS, ISIS/ISIL)-linked attacks in Wurzburg and Ansbach in July and to the recent attack on a Christmas market by Tunisian asylum seeker Anis Amri in Berlin.

The attack on a wine bar in the Bavarian city of Ansbach, which left 15 people wounded, was perpetrated by a Syrian refugee, who, like Amri, pledged allegiance to ISIS. In Wurzburg, a knife-wielding asylum seeker from Pakistan went on a rampage on a train, wounding five on July 18, in an attack also claimed by Islamic State.

The fact that these atrocities were committed by the people who were supposed to be seeking Germany's protection is a huge blow not only to the nation's ideals but also for asylum seekers and refugees who genuinely want to live in peace, Merkel said.

"It is particularly bitter and repulsive when terrorist attacks are committed by people who are supposed to seek shelter in our country. Who, exactly for this reason, have experienced our country's willingness to help and now mock this [willingness] with their deeds," Merkel said.
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Bomb

Russian deminers in Syria clear 2,650 acres, neutralize 16,000 explosives in one month


Sputnik
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 20:04 UTC
Russian de-miner
© REUTERS/ Russian Ministry of Defence
Russian field engineers have performed mine-clearing operations in an area around 2,650 acres, neutralizing ore than 16,000 explosives in less than a month, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

The ministry's International Mine Action Center unit departed to Syria for its mine removal campaign on December 2.

"Overall since December 5, 2016, Russian deminers cleared land with the total area of 1,072 hectares [2,648 acres], more than 400 kilometers of roads [248 miles] and around 2,200 buildings," the ministry said in a social media post.

It added that more than 16,000 explosive objects have been neutralized in that period.
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