Puppet MastersS


Star of David

Israel pushing to legalize West Bank settlements as Trump arrives in Tel Aviv

Donald Trump arrives in Israel
© Amir Cohen / Reuters
The Israeli government is pressing for the legalization of Jewish settlements and outposts in the West Bank, as US President Donald Trump arrives in Tel Aviv. Talks with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on curbing settlement activity are reportedly possible.

Israel's security cabinet created a committee on Sunday night tasked with legalizing West Bank outposts and illegal settlements, the Jerusalem Post reports. The new body will include members of the prime minister's office, the Defense Ministry and civil administration.

Last December, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, passed the Settlement Regulation Law, which declared legitimate some 4,000 settler homes located on privately-owned Palestinian land in the West Bank. That step prompted the High Court of Justice to adjudicate whether the controversial law should be upheld.

Info

Homs sweet Homs: Why the liberation of one of Syria's biggest cities matters

militants withdraw from Homs, Syria
© Sputnik/ Mikhail Alayeddin
Sunday saw the complete withdrawal of militants from the western Syrian city of Homs, which was the first city where the so-called opposition confronted President Assad and his government. Russian political analyst Alexander Guryev, director of the Institute of Strategic Planning, commented on the political importance of the liberation of the city.

The last convoy of militants left the western Syrian city of Homs toward Jarablus on Sunday, completing their withdrawal from al-Waer district of the city.

"The final convoy has departed from al-Waer district, while civilians not wishing to leave their homes remained in the district. After the sappers enter the district it will be decided, whether the mass media representatives will be allowed to visit the last liberated district," a Syrian police officer told Sputnik.

Black Magic

The Orb: Wahhabis and Zionists urge Trump to regime-change Syria to fight Iran

There is something deeply wrong with what you do when even Satan feels the need to distance himself from you:

The picture is cropped but the original is even worse - the Wahhabi orb rules them all:
Trump touching orb
This swearing of an oath to the Wahhabi death star was part of the opening of the potemkinesk "Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology" in Riyadh.

Info

Hope vs. austerity: Conservative lead over Labour shrinking fast after manifesto launches

theresa may
© Toby Melville / Reuters
The Conservative lead over Labour has fallen into single digits, polls show, prompting cabinet ministers to warn that victory is not assured with less than three weeks to go before the general election on June 8.

Some early polls had the Tories at almost double the vote share of the Labour Party, indicating that the most likely outcome would be a landslide victory that would increase the Conservatives' current working majority of 17 in the House of Commons.

A series of recent polls show the Tories' lead over Labour is shrinking, however. A Survation poll for ITV on Monday gave the Tories a nine-point lead, putting the Conservatives on 43 percent, ahead of Labour on 34 percent. The lead, according to Survation, has now halved from 18 percent in just a week.

Comment:


Stock Up

Oil markets rebalancing? Prices hit month-high on growing optimism before OPEC meeting to extend production cuts

oil drilling
© Jim West / Global Look Press
A barrel of North Sea Brent crude rose above $54 for the first time in a month on Monday on growing optimism before the next Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting.

Members of the cartel along with Russia and other producers are due to gather on May 25 in Vienna to extend the production cut pact reached in November. The parties hope to prolong the deal for nine months instead of the previously agreed six.

According to the current agreement, OPEC, Russia and other producers have cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months starting from January 1.

Comment: US oil drillers likely to undermine Russia-OPEC plan to boost crude prices


Attention

Hundreds of Tokyo's youth protest planned revision of Japan's pacifist constitution

Student protest change Japan constitution
© Ruptly
Hundreds of people, mostly students, took to the streets of Tokyo to protest Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo's intention to amend Japan's pacifist constitution, local media reported.

Earlier in May, Abe announced plans to revise Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which forbids the state from engaging in wars as a means of settling international conflicts. It came into effect in 1947 after World War II.

On Sunday, demonstrators gathered in Shinjuku Central Park, which is surrounded by the Japanese capital's tallest buildings, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings.


Comment: The End Of Japan's Pacifist Policy


Question

Iran voted Rouhani again, now what? The $350-billion question for Trump

Hassan Rouhani
© Atta Kenare / AFP
For a country labelled a theocracy, Iran certainly knows how to throw a presidential election. One more cynical than I may even go so far as to posit that Iran has mastered the art of democracy, right down to the posters and caps.

Yes, I said it, and at the risk of sounding smug, I will continue to say it: the Islamic Republic of Iran is democratic. I realize what a disappointment it must be for neocons everywhere, but the great enemy of the West is in fact a fierce defender of pluralism and political self-determination.

And while I will grant you that the Islamic Republic has borne many great crosses since its inception - no one in Tehran has ever claimed that perfection was anyone's birthright - much can be said for a nation that has existed amid struggle and war, for it imagined itself free from the tyranny of imperialism.

Chess

Same goals, same enemies: Saudi Arabia and Israel are allies in all but name

israel arabia saudita

Israel and Saudi Arabia both seek to destroy Syria and in doing so, destroy the last bastion of secular, tolerant and modern Arab government that remains totally un-compromised in its foreign and economic policies.


Those who claim that Israel is opposed to Donald Trump's now openly warm relations with Saudi Arabia are missing the actual point. On the surface, many assume that Israel and Saudi Arabia have poor relations. Neither country has diplomatic relations with one another, one is a self-styled Jewish state while the other is a Wahhabi Sunni monarchy.

But they both have the same regional goals, they both have the same enemies and both are intellectual anachronisms in a 20th century that has seen the fall of multiple monarchies, the end of traditional European colonialism and the fall of segregated regimes in Africa (Apartheid South Africa and UDI Rhodesia for example).

Israel and Saudi Arabia have always been enemies of secular, Arab nationalist states and federations. Whether an Arab state is Nasserist, Ba'athist, socialist, Marxist-Leninist or in the case of Gaddafi's Libya a practitioner of the post-Nassierist Third Political Theory: Israel and Saudi Arabia have sought to and in large part have succeeded, with western help, to destroy such states.

Comment: Best of friends, despite what you might think:


Fire

Highest levels of the DNC in 'complete panic' over Kim Dotcom's Seth Rich announcement

kim dotcom and seth rich
Kim DotCom and the late DNC operative Seth Rich
Saturday, an anonymous person who works in Washington DC, alleged on 4Chan's /pol/ subgroup that high-ranking current and former Democratic Party officials are terrified of the Seth Rich murder investigation.

This comes after internet entrepreneur and hacker, Kim DotCom, admitted on Saturday that he was part of an operation along with Seth Rich to get stolen DNC emails to Wikileaks.


Comment: The Seth Rich story so far


Snakes in Suits

Trump talks tough on extremism but it's guns, oil, and money that matter

Donald Trump
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Donald Trump portrays himself as a rebel, but in the marquee speech of his Saudi Arabian visit yesterday he displayed once again that he will not betray the fundamental doctrines of the US establishment.

The United States must have oil, sell weapons and pursue non-nuclear conflict to keep the All-American money-making show on the road. Once these bases are covered, and business isn't affected the US president can get away with almost anything.

That is until you're impeached for indiscretions at home. Trump's troubles over his sacking of FBI chief James Comey will take time to play out.