Puppet MastersS


Attention

Venezuela's Maduro hikes minimum wage 60% amid rising protests


AJC / AP
Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:47 UTC
University students hold a candlelight vigil for their late classmate Juan Pablo Pernalete in Caracas, Venezuela
© AP Photo/Fernando LlanoUniversity students hold a candlelight vigil for their late classmate Juan Pablo Pernalete in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, April 29, 2017. Students commemorated Pernalete who was killed this week by security forces during an anti-government protest.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro hiked wages and handed out hundreds of free homes Sunday amid his efforts to counter a strengthening protest movement seeking his removal.

On his regular television show, "Sundays with Maduro," the president ordered a 60 percent increase in the country's minimum wage starting Monday. It was the third pay increase the socialist leader has ordered this year and the 15th since he became president in 2013.

It is small solace to workers who seen the buying power of their earnings eroded by a sinking currency and the world's highest inflation — forecast to accelerate to 2,000 percent next year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
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Attention

US State Dept issues Travel Alert amid terrorism threats 'throughout Europe'


RT
Mon, 01 May 2017 21:33 UTC
Westminster Bridge
© Peter Nicholls / Reuters Floral tributes are seen on Westminster Bridge following attack in Westminster, in London, Britain March 24, 2017.
The US State Department is warning Americans that traveling to Europe risks being caught in a terrorist attack. The 'Travel Alert' is set to remain in place for the next four months.

An official statement referred to recent attacks by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al Qaeda, as well as their affiliates, against France, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Further terrorist attacks may be carried out, even as "local governments continue counter-terrorism operations," the State Department said.

"US citizens should always be alert to the possibility that terrorist sympathizers or self-radicalized extremists may conduct attacks with little or no warning," the statement added.
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Binoculars

Despite other setbacks, one Trump strategy is working: Fear

David Nakamura
The Washington Post
Sun, 30 Apr 2017 06:53 UTC
Border patrol agent
© Dr. Rich Swier
In many ways, President Trump's attempts to implement his hard-line immigration policies have not gone very well in his first three months. His travel ban aimed at some Muslim-majority countries has been blocked by the courts, his U.S.-Mexico border wall has gone nowhere in Congress, and he has retreated, at least for now, on his vow to target illegal immigrants brought here as children.

But one strategy that seems to be working well is fear. The number of migrants, legal and illegal, crossing into the United States has dropped markedly since Trump took office, while recent declines in the number of deportations have been reversed.

Many experts on both sides of the immigration debate attribute at least part of this shift to the use of sharp, unwelcoming rhetoric by Trump and his aides, as well as the administration's showy use of enforcement raids and public spotlighting of crimes committed by immigrants. The tactics were aimed at sending a political message to those in the country illegally or those thinking about trying to come.

"The world is getting the message," Trump said last week during a speech at the National Rifle Association leadership forum in Atlanta. "They know our border is no longer open to illegal immigration, and if they try to break in you'll be caught and you'll be returned to your home. You're not staying any longer. If you keep coming back illegally after deportation, you'll be arrested and prosecuted and put behind bars. Otherwise it will never end."


Comment: Stimulus and reaction, a working combination proven, so far, by the numbers.

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Rocket

'Very last option': 'Bomb Iran' McCain surprisingly skeptical about preemptive strike on North Korea


RT
Sun, 30 Apr 2017 18:44 UTC
McCain
© John Sommers II/reutersSenator John McCain, US' resident War Hawk
Washington's war hawk, John McCain, who applauded Trump for bombing an airbase in Syria earlier in April, said the US should rely on China's diplomacy instead of own military might in solving the North Korean crisis. When asked on CNN's State of the Union if Donald Trump is considering a preemptive strike against North Korea over its ongoing nuclear tests, McCain replied: "I don't think so."

The Republican Senator, who dined with the president on Monday, said the key to solving the crisis in the Korean Peninsula is China.

"The Chinese can put the brakes on this [Pyongyang's nuclear program]. I do not believe that [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un is going to do that by himself. I don't think he's irrational, but I don't think he's concerned about the welfare of his people to say, the least," he said. "We got to tell the Chinese that there's a whole lot at stake, unless they bring that to a halt. Because if they (North Korea) get the weapon and they have the missile - we can't afford to have that threat to the continental United States," McCain added.

As for a preemptive strike against Pyongyang, he stressed that "we have to consider that option as the very last option. One of the reasons is because there's artillery on the [demilitarized zone between North and South] that can strike Seoul, a city of 26 million people, and the carnage would be horrendous," the senator explained.

Comment: Better to have "McCain ideas" out in the open for the public to pick apart than festering in the background, twisting policy.

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Rocket

N. Korea vows it will bolster its nuclear arsenal 'max speed'


RT
Mon, 01 May 2017 13:41 UTC
NKorea rockets
© New Eastern OutlookIncrease deterrent by increasing the threat...
North Korea has promised to bolster its nuclear arsenal "at the maximum pace," while blaming America for bringing the region to a brink of a nuclear war with "aggressive" joint US-S. Korea drills. On Monday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry branded the US "the chieftain of aggression and war, and harasser of peace who is escalating tension."

While the confrontation "between the DPRK and the US has lasted for more than half a century... the US aggression hysteria has never reached such a height and the situation on the Korean peninsula has never inched close to the brink of nuclear war as in the period of the recent drills," a spokesman for the country's Foreign Ministry said, as quoted by official North Korean news agency KCNA.

"Now that the US is kicking up the overall racket for sanctions and pressure against the DPRK, pursuant to its new DPRK policy called 'maximum pressure and engagement,' the DPRK will speed up at the maximum pace the measure for bolstering its nuclear deterrence," the statement reads.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry praised its country's "powerful nuclear force," which said is the only thing preventing the US from committing "the same brigandish aggression act in Korea as what it committed against other countries." Meanwhile, the North's two most recent missile tests ended in failure, according to the US and South Korean militaries, which track such activities.

The new comments come as the US is mulling the possibility of renegotiating the cost of stationing its THAAD anti-missile systems in South Korea, for which Washington is currently footing the bill.

Comment: There is an adjustment incumbent for countries to become comfortable with the new US Business Government. Brash and alarming rhetoric, grandiose claims, overstated demands are now part of the negotiation. Freaking out at every turn just gives Trump the manipulative edge in most cases (as he knows how this goes). The turn-around is that Trump is not primarily in the business arena, he is now in a political one that is tangled and complicated. There has to be a learning curve on the US side as well. Wheel and deal meets diplomacy and compromise. Which of these is on the radar? Likely neither.

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Eye 1

Saudi Arabia is the biggest sponsor of terrorism, not Iran

Kurt Nimmo
Newsbud
Mon, 01 May 2017 15:02 UTC
trump, saudi arabia
In March, during a meeting between President Trump and Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a senior advisor to the prince said the United States and Saudi Arabia have reached a "historical turning point" in relations. The Saudis are encouraged by Trump's hardline on Iran.

"The meeting today restored issues to their right path and form a big change in relations between both countries in political, military, security and economic issues," the senior advisor said in a statement.

The Saudis were further encouraged on April 19 when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the Trump administration was in the process of reviewing the lifting of sanctions against Iran. Tillerson denounced the country as a sponsor of terrorism.
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Boat

Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano agrees '100 percent' that migrant NGOs working with smugglers


RT
Mon, 01 May 2017 20:29 UTC
Migrants being rescued by Italian Red Cross
© Yara Nardi / ReutersMigrants being rescued by Italian Red Cross
Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said he "agreed 100 percent" with claims made last week accusing migrant rescue charities of colluding with people smugglers in Libya.

The debate was sparked recently by Sicilian prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro, who told the Italian media that he had "evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs and people traffickers in Libya," but didn't know if it could be used in court.

Zuccaro accused "certain" NGOs of taking calls from Libya, saying he had "ascertained facts" proving that rescue boats turned off their transponders and turned on lamps to show migrant boats where they were.

"I am 100 percent in agreement with prosecutor Zuccaro, as he asked a real question," Alfano told reporters in Taormina, Sicily, on Saturday, il Fatto Quotidiano reported. "Those who become indignant at the drop of a hat are hypocrites."

Comment: See also: NGOs accused of colluding with human traffickers in Libya by Italian prosecutor

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Video

Oliver Stone on his new documentary subject: Putin is a straight talker - UPDATE

Garry Maddox
The Sydney Morning Herald
Sat, 29 Apr 2017 18:46 UTC
Oliver Stone
For a filmmaker who has attracted controversy throughout his career, the maverick behind Platoon, Wall Street, Born On The Fourth Of July, Natural Born Killers and Snowden, Oliver Stone is sounding remarkably reasonable.

Asked for his view of the Trump administration, the director of three movies about American presidents - JFK, Nixon and W. - responds diplomatically.

"I'd rather talk a little bit about film first," Stone says from Los Angeles ahead of his speaking trip to Australia next month. "Then we can segue to that.

"The headlines always peg me as a statesman or a politician or worse and I just like to remind people that I'm a dramatist, too. I tell stories."

Stone's towering, often bombastic career in American cinema includes 20 movies and a series of late career documentaries on political subjects. Along with success and failure on an operatic scale, he has won three Oscars with another eight nominations.

But despite fielding arguably more flak than any leading director in Hollywood, the 70-year-old continues to tackle controversial subjects.

While not officially announced, Stone confirms he is making a new film about Russian President Vladimir Putin that will be out soon. It will be a hot ticket given claims about Russian influence on the US presidential election and within the Trump administration.

Comment: (UPDATE) The trailer may not reveal much, but it's certainly enticing:


Culled from over a dozen interviews, the interview series, which airs June 12-15, will be a whopping 4 hours. It'll probably be worth it for this scene alone:
In one sequence, Stone introduces screens Stanley Kubrick's Cold War satire "Dr. Strangelove" for Putin, who had never seen the movie.
Showtime adds that "Putin has never before spoken at such length or in such detail to a Western interviewer, leaving no topic off limits." The topics? Russian "election hacking", NATO, Syria, Ukraine, past U.S. and Russian presidents, Snowden, and the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Grab your popcorn.

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Rocket

Syria missile strike was 'tough decision, because you can kill wrong people too' - Trump


RT
Mon, 01 May 2017 15:47 UTC
Planes burned as a result of the US missile attack on an air base in Syria
© Mikhail Voskresenskiy / SputnikThe bodies of planes burned as a result of the US missile attack on an air base in Syria.
US President Donald Trump has owned up that his executive order to carry out a missile strike on Syria's Shayrat Airbase last month was actually a "tough decision" to make because "you're killing people, and you can kill the wrong people, too."

During much of the interview with CBS's 'Face the Nation' host John Dickerson, Trump spoke about the changes he has made to the Oval Office during the 100 first days of his presidency.

"I feel very warm toward the Oval Office...This is a special place. The White House is special. The Oval Office, very special..."

"But most importantly, you know, the decisions. Like, when I make the decision to go with Syria, the 59 Tomahawk missiles. Unbelievable technology. We have unbelievable talent. But those are tough decisions. Those aren't, like, decisions that I'm going to buy a building—"

"Tough why?" Dickerson interrupted.

"Because it's human lives," Trump replied. "You're killing people. And you can kill the wrong people, too," he added.

"You know, those things go off and they end up in a town or they end up in a city. And you have another tragedy on your hands. So, these decisions are unbelievable - you know, in terms of the importance because it's human - it's...it's...it's killing. I hate it. But things have to be done," Trump said.

Comment: See also: War has taken childhood from Syrian children

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Info

Trump heeds China's warnings, backs down on North Korea

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Mon, 01 May 2017 18:05 UTC
Kim Jong Un, Trump
© ReutersA deck of wildcards...should be interesting.
Interview with CBS Face the Nation suggests President Trump has heeded warnings from China and is backing away from threats of military action against North Korea.

President Trump's interview yesterday with CBS Face the Nation showed him retreating both on his threats against North Korea, and on the over optimistic claims he has made about his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On the possibility of military action against North Korea President Trump's language was subdued.
JOHN DICKERSON: Mr. President, you and the administration said to North Korea, "Don't test a missile." They have tested a missile. Is the pressure not working?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I didn't say, "Don't test a missile." He's going to have to do what he has to do. But he understands we're not going to be very happy. And I will tell you, a man that I've gotten to like and respect, the president of China, President Xi, I believe, has been putting pressure on him also. But so far, perhaps nothing's happened and perhaps it has. This was a small missile. This was not a big missile. This was not a nuclear test, which he was expected to do three days ago. We'll see what happens.

JOHN DICKERSON: You say, "Not happy." What does that mean?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I would not be happy. If he does a nuclear test, I will not be happy. And I can tell you also, I don't believe that the president of China, who is a very respected man, will be happy either.

JOHN DICKERSON: Not happy mean military action?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, we'll see.....

.....I think you know me very well, where you've asked me many times over the last couple of years about military. I said, "We shouldn't be announcing we're going into Mosul." I said, "We shouldn't be announcing all our moves." It is a chess game. I just don't want people to know what my thinking is. So eventually, he will have a better delivery system. And if that happens, we can't allow it to happen.
Despite the attempt to preserve the appearance that the option of military action is still on the table, this is very different language from the language of a short time ago, when President Trump was talking about the US being prepared to take action unilaterally, and when he boasted about the mighty "armada" the US was sending to North Korea.
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