Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

Ukrainian regime on verge of creating famine in Transnistria

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Sun, 21 May 2017 20:04 UTC
Transnistria-Ukraine border
Having failed to starve Donbass, Kiev is now attempting to starve a region that is not now and never has been part of the Republic of Ukraine.

Not content with blockading Donbass, a blockade has largely been a failure due to Donbass's self sufficiency and border with Russia where aid and food frequently flow in, the Ukrainian regime has now imposed a total foodstuffs blockade against Transnistria.

Transnistria is a small effectively self-governing landlocked entity between the former Soviet Republics of Ukraine and Moldova.

Ever since 1990, Transnistria has considered itself independent of Moldova.
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Dollar Gold

Ethics? Saudi Arabia and UAE to donate $100M to Ivanka Trump's foundation


Sputnik
Mon, 22 May 2017 07:19 UTC
Ivanka and SA
© AP Photo/Evan VucciIvanka Trump at the Royal Court Palace in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pledged to contribute a total of $100 million to the foundation proposed by Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump, media reported Monday.

According to CNN broadcaster, the donations to Women Entrepreneurs Fund, which will be run by the World Bank, were agreed upon on Sunday during the US president's trip to Saudi Arabia. The concept of the foundation, announced by Ivanka Trump in April, outlines providing financial support to female entrepreneurs.

Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia was marked by signing the arms deal worth $350 billion with the Saudi leadership.

Comment: The foundation is slated to provide technical assistance and investments for projects that support the economic empowerment of women around the globe. Though Ivanka Trump does not control the money, it will perhaps raise legal and ethical questions as to how a White House adviser walks the fine line between even casual input to foreign policy and active solicitation of donations from foreign countries for the fund. Donald Trump was exceedingly critical of Kill-Bill's Clinton Foundation and the inherent criminal and ethical compromise by esteemed ME donors. Ivanka must avoid the trap of privilege and influence in order to take on this project.

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Tornado1

Turkey accuses US of aggressive actions against Erdogan's bodyguards...the thugs who injured 11 US protesters


RT
Mon, 22 May 2017 16:55 UTC
TurkbrawlDC
© Al-MonitorProtesters treated to Turkish guard crackdown.
The Turkish government has summoned the US ambassador to protest what it said were "aggressive and unprofessional actions" by police and diplomatic security service towards President Recep Erdogan's bodyguards during a street brawl in Washington, DC. US Ambassador John Bass was given a "written and verbal protest" against actions that the Turkish Foreign Ministry said were "contrary to diplomatic rules and practices," according to Reuters.

Ankara has requested "a full investigation of this diplomatic incident."

Lapses in security were caused "by the inability of US authorities to take sufficient precautions at every stage of the official program," the foreign ministry said, adding that the incidents would not overshadow what was otherwise a "very successful" visit.


Comment: Erdogan complained about his visit as well.
See: Turkey is seething at Trump's 'snub' to Erdogan


The fight broke out at a protest outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington, DC last Tuesday, after Erdogan met with President Donald Trump.

Video from the scene shows Erdogan's bodyguards hitting and kicking protesters who had gathered outside the residence, and getting into scuffles with police and Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) personnel.

Comment: Feathers ruffled? Who's plucking Turkey today! Fodder for a sitcom.
See also:

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Bomb

Hospital bombing: Thailand deemed 'undemocratic' results in US-backed opposition terrorism

Tony Caralucci
Land Destroyer Report
Mon, 22 May 2017 00:00 UTC
Bombed hospital
© Headlines Yahoo.co.jpPhramongkutlao Hospital bombed
A bomb was detonated at Phramongkutlao Hospital - a military medical facility in the heart of Thailand's capital of Bangkok - injuring at least 20. The attack was carried out on the third anniversary of a military coup that ousted the regime of Yingluck Shinawatra who openly ran the country as a proxy for her convicted criminal brother, fugitive, and former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.

The attack targeted a waiting area where retired military personnel and their families were waiting for medication.

The Usual Suspects

The bombing is not the first violent act committed by Shinawatra and his supporters. His time in power, beginning in 2001, has been dominated by coercion, intimidation, mass murder, and terrorism. Despite a 2003 "war on drugs" that left nearly 3,000 extrajudicially executed in the streets, serial human rights abuses, the muzzling of local media, and repeated use of assassination and terrorism to coerce political opponents, Shinawatra has enjoyed Western support.

Thaksin Shinawatra has - for over a decade - represented US-European interests in Thailand and currently enjoys broad political, media, and material support from the West. He still serves as the most promising vector into Thailand for US and European interests versus the current government which has decidedly leaned in favor of regional allies including China, and global allies including Russia.

Since his own ousting from power in 2006, Shinawatra has led from abroad, multiple violent attempts to seize back power and topple Thailand's independent institutions including the constitutional monarchy, the courts, and the military.

Comment: While other hotspots are sucking the air out of the news, we must be reminded that the "eye of the West" continues to rove and target the innocent in multiple and varied subversion campaigns, utilizing media and local terrorism to destabilize and prod change favoring Western imperialism. With Thailand's current shift to Russia and China, expect more action on this front in the near future.

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Cloud Lightning

Turkey is seething at Trump's 'snub' to Erdogan

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Sun, 21 May 2017 00:00 UTC
TrumpErdo
© The Economic Times
As President Trump continues his tour of Saudi Arabia and Israel, neither Trump nor the Western media seem aware of the growing anger in Turkey at the shabby treatment Turkish President Erdogan received from his hands during his visit to Washington last week.

That the meeting did not go well was obvious from the tense atmosphere and absence of any meeting of minds on the Kurdish issue visible from Trump's and Erdogan's joint news conference - a fact previously pointed out by my colleague Adam Garrie. It is absolutely clear that the Trump administration - firmly focused on defeating ISIS before all else - is going to go ahead with arming the Kurds to fight ISIS irrespective of any Turkish concerns.

That was perhaps predictable, just as it was probably also predictable that the US would fail to respond to Turkish requests for the extradition of the exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen whom Erdogan and the Turkish government (wrongly in my opinion) hold responsible for the coup attempt last year.

However what was not predictable, and what was catastrophically misjudged, was the boorish and rude treatment extended to Erdogan whilst he was in Washington. It turns out that the entire meeting between Erdogan and Trump lasted for no more than 22 minutes. Given the need for translation of what each one said to the other, it is unlikely there was enough time to go beyond basic pleasantries. The news conference which then followed also lasted for no more than 20 minutes.

Comment: The patience of Putin, the tribulation of Trump... How much did the repetitive actions of Erdogan's guards -- disrupting, antagonizing, physically harming peaceful protesters -- have to do with this cryptic visit? How much of Erdogan's playing all sides against the middle make him as more of a liability than an asset? And then the issue of the Kurds... Regardless of the reasons, there is not much excuse for short-changing a first-time visiting president.

See also: Erdogan's guards under diplomatic immunity after DC attack on protesters

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Star of David

No breaks for Trump: Israeli lawmaker outraged by accurate map of Israel


Sputnik
Mon, 22 May 2017 02:32 UTC
banner for Trump
© VOA News
On US President Donald Trump's first visit to Israel, offended lawmakers in Jerusalem have taken offense at a US map, accurately depicting the regions surrounding the embattled Middle Eastern state.

Circulated prior to Trump's ongoing visit to the Middle East, a map showing the current acknowledged boundaries of the state of Israel has some lawmakers in that country up in arms, as it does not — correctly, it turns out — include occupied areas of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that were seized during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Extreme right-wing Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked saw the US map handout and was quick to express her anger, stating, "I hope this is just ignorance and not policy," regarding the accurate borders, cited by Ynet.news. Following her announcement, Shaked quickly reiterated her wish that Trump would make good on campaign promises favorable to Israel, including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, and added that it is her desire "to ensure that no Palestinian state is established."

Although it turned out that what Shaked sought was to have the US agree with the position of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline AK party — that all seized territories, including all of the West Bank and the Golan Heights, would be considered to be Israeli territory — she is, in fact, simply wrong.

Seemingly ignorant of the current boundaries of her own country, the sitting Israeli justice minister — who once famously remarked, "Israel must slaughter all Palestinian mothers who give birth to 'little snakes'"— nonetheless asserted her belief in the effectiveness of Trump. "This president is different and not from the classic Washington milieu," she said. "He comes from the outside with an open mind and great love for Israel and the connection between his people and the Israeli right."

Comment: Faced with facts, Shaked has demonstrated at least three separate examples of wishful thinking and how this affects one's belief system.

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Toys

Sky News host's epic fail at interview 'ambush' of Jeremy Corbyn

Kerry-anne Mendoza
The Canary
Mon, 22 May 2017 19:49 UTC
corbyn interview
© Wales OnlineSky News reporter Sophie Ridge and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
On Sunday 21 May, Sky News host Sophy Ridge attempted an 'ambush' during an interview with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. It did not end well for her.

The ambush that never was

On Sunday, Corbyn succeeded in debunking an attempted smear from Sky's Sophy Ridge. The Sky host had apparently intended to ambush him with an article from the Labour Briefing magazine from the 1980s. Ridge was under the mistaken belief that Corbyn was editor of the magazine when it ran a controversial piece after the Brighton bombing which killed five people and very nearly ended the life of Margaret Thatcher. Just one problem, Corbyn was never editor. Like many Labour MPs of the day, he wrote some articles for it occasionally.
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Dollars

Trump: No more handing out foreign grant money for nothing


Sputnik
Sun, 21 May 2017 22:24 UTC
$$$$ etc.
© Obey Giant
A budget proposal to be submitted this week by the administration of US President Donald Trump will include conditions that replace American military grants to foreign countries with loans, potentially ending several billion dollars in weapons and logistics giveaways by Washington. These military grants allow countries allied with the US to acquire American-built ammunition, ground transportation, aircraft and naval vessels.

Currently Israel receives about $3 billion in US military grants annually, while Egypt gets $1.3 billion. Jordan is the recipient of some $350 million in military giveaways and Pakistan gets about $265 million. All of the countries involved in the grant program would see, under the Trump budget, grant figures either drop significantly, or be replaced altogether by a loan to be used to purchase US military hardware.

Trump's full budget proposal will be released on Tuesday, and reportedly includes up to 31-percent cuts to the budgets of the State Department and the US Agency for International Development, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Pushback on Capitol Hill against the move, however, is growing, as current and former lawmakers point out that the grant program allows allies that would not otherwise be eligible for international loans the opportunity to purchase cutting-edge US military hardware. Those countries now receiving grants would likely look to China and Russia if Washington shifted the playing field, according to reports.

Comment: Bravo Trump. Overhaul of this money gushing is sorely needed. Here is only one example of the global financial burden on the US. But what are the chances Trump does anything about this one?

The cost of Israel to US taxpayers: (Such a sweet deal.)
  • Sept. 2016: Agreement to pay Israel $38B over 10 years - an increase yearly to $3.8B.
  • Not included are US tax dollars to Israel from other means: Budgets of the State, Defense and Commerce departments and other federal agencies, and are not included in official estimates of U.S. foreign aid. The Department of Commerce budget also contains funds for Israel's use which appear nowhere in U.S. foreign aid totals. As of 2014, Israel assistance since 1949 reached $121B.
  • Additional aid per year...example 1997: $5.526M with loans forgiven.
  • Loans to Israel of $84.8B from just 1949-1998 cost the US taxpayers $134.5B in interest payments to borrow this money.
  • Preferential treatment: Exemptions from U.S. laws, oversight as U.S. aid recipient, disregard of Israeli abuses.
  • Israel's current economic profile suggests that it no longer needs U.S. financial largess. Nevertheless, a pattern has developed whereby neither Congress nor the White House dares dismantle Israel's "aid industry."
  • Cranston Amendment: The US has to provide Israel enough ESF funds to meet its debt burden to the US. (However, Israel ignores this and the US government continues to pay interest on the money it originally borrowed to lend to Israel, and also pays the interest on the money Israel borrowed from the U.S.)
  • Israel is also a beneficiary of cash flow financing - which allows Israel to pay only the current-year charges for multi-year contracts unlike contracts with other countries. This means the US is required to furnish more aid during the following years to pay for already agreed-to-contracts.
  • US is not Israel's only funder. Example: Germany for "restitution payments" to victims of Nazi atrocities. German assistance to the Israeli government, individuals and private institutions is around $31B.


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UFO

Post-election release of secret dossier on UFO sightings in Britain


RT
Mon, 22 May 2017 15:58 UTC
BritXFiles
© UnknownOrigin
A dossier of secret government files believed to contain evidence of UFO sightings and cover-ups, which has been kept secret for almost 50 years, is set to be released after June's general election.

According to German paranormal news website Grenzwissenschaft-aktuell, the documents will reveal sightings of UFOs over almost five decades, from the 1970s, and be published by the National Archives. Alien hunters hope the files will show a number of high-profile incidents have been covered up, including an alleged UFO sighting in Rendlesham Forest in 1980, dubbed 'Britain's Roswell.'

A number of servicemen reported seeing lights in the forest near RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge. The disputed sightings, which are said to have lasted for three nights in December of that year, occurred when Britain was on high alert during the Cold War. At the time, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the event posed no threat to national security, and it was therefore not investigated.

The secret papers were meant to be released in 2013, but 18 documents were withheld. The latest publication date was set for March this year, but that date passed with no information given.

A spokesperson for the National Archives told Grenzwissenschaft-aktuell: "Due to the upcoming election here in the UK and the rules relating to the government departments during the pre-election period, the files will not be released until after the election."

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Nick Pope, who worked for the MoD investigating UFO sightings until 2009, said: "There's no smoking gun in these files that will confirm the existence of aliens, but there are plenty of fascinating UFO reports and MoD policy documents, so these really are the real-life X-Files.

"The delay has been a comedy of errors though, I think it's more bureaucracy than conspiracy."

Comment: X-Files conspiracy to withhold! Must question the multiple postponements and the timing of the release until after the election. (Mulder and Scully would!)

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Info

Ethics chiefs blast White House for blocking lobbyist data request


RT
Mon, 22 May 2017 19:51 UTC
the White House
© Uwe Kazmaier / Global Look Press
The Trump administration is reportedly refusing to honor a data request to disclose the number of lobbyists it allows to work in the White House - a move critics have called "unprecedented and extremely troubling."

The New York Times reports that administration officials sent a letter to the head of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), Water M Shaub Jr Monday, challenging his legal authority to request a list of those made exempt from a ban on lobbying in federal agencies.

Speaking to the NYT, Marilyn L Glynn, a former general counsel and acting director of the ethics watchdog under George W Bush, raised her concerns."[It is] unprecedented and extremely troubling," said Glynn. "It challenges the very authority of the director of the agency and [Shaub's] ability to carry out the functions of the office."
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