Puppet MastersS


V

Brexit aftershocks pave way for renewed MP support of Scottish independence referendum


PressTV
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 13:10 UTC
Scottish Parliament
© AFPScotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (center right) speaks in the chamber on the first day of the 'Scotland's Choice' debate on a motion to seek the authority to hold an independence referendum at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on March 21, 2017.
The Scottish parliament is expected to support Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on her bid to hold a new independence referendum.

The vote is planned on Wednesday following a two-day debate which was being held despite opposition from London.

"For the UK Government to stand in the way of Scotland even having a choice would be, in my view, wrong, unfair and utterly unsustainable," Sturgeon said on Tuesday.

She added that any attempt to block an independence referendum shows British Prime Minister Theresa May fears the verdict of the Scottish people.

"They are now terrified of the verdict of the Scottish people," she told her supporters in the city of Aberdeen.
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Arrow Up

Cooler heads prevail over Trump's anti-Iran rhetoric? Adviser says US will honor nuclear deal


PressTV
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:58 UTC
Trump white House
© AFPUS President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with members of Congress in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 17, 2017.
US President Donald Trump's nuclear advisor says Washington will honor the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major world powers, including the United States.

Christopher Ford, the White House National Security Council's senior director for weapons of mass destruction and counter-proliferation, made the remarks during a conference in Washington, DC on Tuesday.

Ford told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that the Trump administration will stick to the Iran nuclear pact unless otherwise is decided.
"Until otherwise decided, the United States will adhere to the Iran nuclear deal and ensure that Iran also does," he said.

Comment: Trump's anti-Iran rhetoric has been one of his more idiotic positions; hopefully there have been enough sensible discussions to stabilize the Iran agreement and back away from increasing unnecessary tensions.

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Chess

White House: Trump to attend NATO summit in Brussels


PressTV
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:49 UTC
Sean Spicer
© Kevin Lamarque / ReutersWhite House spokesman Sean Spicer
The White House has announced US President Donald Trump's travel plans to Europe for a NATO summit in May, a day after it was revealed that his secretary of state will skip the April 5-6 NATO meeting in Brussels.

Trump will participate in the NATO summit on May 25, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The president "looks forward to meeting with his NATO counterparts to reaffirm our strong commitment to NATO, and to discuss issues critical to the alliance, especially allied responsibility-sharing and NATO's role in the fight against terrorism," Spicer said.

He further said that NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg will travel to the White House on April 12 to meet with Trump.
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Chess

EU's response to Brexit leaked: UK could be sued & kicked out of single market


RT
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:44 UTC
EU London UK flags
© Yves Herman / Reuters
A leading Dutch newspaper has published an account of what is believed to be the European Union's strategy for Brexit negotiations with Britain.

The long piece published in Volkskrant lists Brussels' bargaining positions, which will reportedly be publicly announced after British prime minister Theresa May presses the "Brexitknop" - the Brexit button.

The article follows an announcement that European leaders will be meeting on April 29 to coordinate their response to Brexit.

Comment: The timing of this leak is interesting, as Theresa May has confirmed that Brexit will begin on March 29th and expects negotiations with the EU to begin 'promptly'.
The PM's official spokesman said: "We said it would be by the end of March and thought it would be helpful to say when it will happen.

"We want negotiations to start promptly. We expect it will be a two-year process and we are confident that is what we will achieve. So Britain will exit the EU on 29 March 2019."


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Propaganda

Paul Craig Roberts: Mainstream media in total collapse

Paul Craig Roberts
Institute for Political Economy
Mon, 20 Mar 2017 12:24 UTC
Fake news
© imago stock&people / www.globallookpress.com
Few any longer believe the "mainstream media," that is, the presstitutes. This has put them into a panic as the presstitutes lose their value to the ruling elite if the presstitutes cannot control the explanations in order to justify the self-serving agendas of the ruling elite.

To fight back against the alternative media that does tell the truth, a secret group, PropOrNot, as well hidden as an offshore money-laundering operation, published a list of 200 websites accused of being "Russian agents/dupes."

PropOrNot's effort to discredit truth-tellers was hurt by the site's anonymity.

Consequently, the next list appeared on the website of the Harvard University library, where it is attributed to a Melissa Zimdars of whom no one has ever previously heard. The websites on the list are also on the PropOrNot list, but those of us on Zimbars' list are no longer "Russian agents/dupes," merely purveyors of "fake news."
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Chess

The Geopolitics of Rex Tillerson's 'Successful Visit' to China

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:03 UTC
Beijing China People's Liberation Army soldiers troops
© Thomas Peter / Reuters
As Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the US, Moscow prefers to be left out of the US's sights.

Following US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's successful visit to China, it has been confirmed that Xi Jinping, China's President and paramount leader, will be travel to Washington in early April to meet with US President Donald Trump.

It is fair to say that before and immediately after the election most people expected a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to precede a meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. In fact much of the talk in the first days of the administration was of the Trump administration trying to wean Russia away from its alliance with China and its burgeoning alliance with Iran, with China and Iran replacing Russia as the US's primary enemies de jour.
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Eye 1

MSM claims FBI wiretapped Trump Tower years ago in search of 'Russian mobster'


RT
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:03 UTC
Trump Tower
© Luiz Rampelotto / EuropaNewswire / www.globallookpress.com
The FBI did spy on Donald Trump's flagship high-rise in New York while looking for Russians, but the operation took place four years ago and not during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to a report by ABC News.

Federal agents spied on what they described as an "international money laundering, sports gambling and extortion ring" that operated out of unit 63A in Trump Tower between 2011 and 2013, ABC News reported Tuesday. The surveillance resulted in more than 30 indictments in April 2013.

The apartment used by the suspects was just three floors below Trump's own penthouse residence, but the FBI investigation did not implicate or involve the real-estate tycoon who would go on to become the 45th US president, according to ABC.

Comment: Further reading: Trump wiretap is the real election scandal - Russian hack is the cover-up
In summary: the Obama administration sought, and eventually obtained, authorization to eavesdrop on the Trump campaign; continued monitoring the Trump team even when no evidence of wrongdoing was found; then relaxed the NSA rules to allow evidence to be shared widely within the government, virtually ensuring that the information, including the conversations of private citizens, would be leaked to the media.


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Bad Guys

Will Russiagate Backfire on the New McCarthy Left?

Pat Buchanan
Unz Review
Tue, 21 Mar 2017 12:10 UTC
FBI Director James Comey
© Cliff Owen / APFBI Director James Comey’s agency is investigating a broad campaign of Russian influence in the U.S. election. That investigation includes a look at the role that conservative news sites played while ignoring the felonies involved in leaking intel transcripts to the NYT and the WaPo
The big losers of the Russian hacking scandal may yet be those who invested all their capital in a script that turned out to based on a fairy tale.

In Monday's Intelligence Committee hearings, James Comey did confirm that his FBI has found nothing to support President Trump's tweet that President Obama ordered him wiretapped. Not unexpected, but undeniably an embarrassment for the tweeter-in-chief.

Yet longer-term damage may have been done to the left. For Monday's hearing showed that its rendering of the campaign of 2016 may be a product of fiction and a fevered imagination.

After eight months investigating the hacking and leaking of the emails of Clinton campaign chief John Podesta and the DNC, there is apparently no evidence yet of Trump collusion with Russia.
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Propaganda

Allegations claiming French presidential candidate paid to arrange Putin meetings blasted as 'fake news' and 'orchestrated sleaze'


Reuters
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 11:52 UTC
Francois Fillon
© Reuters/ Philippe WojazerFrancois Fillon, former French Prime Minister, member of the Republicans political party and 2017 presidential election candidate of the French centre-right delivers a speech at a campaign rally in Caen, France March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
A French media report alleging that presidential candidate Francois Fillon was paid to arrange introductions to Russian President Vladimir Putin is "fake news," Russia's Kremlin said on Wednesday.

"It is what in English we call 'fake news,'" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, when asked to comment on the report.

Fillon camp decries 'soap opera' of sleaze reports

Francois Fillon's campaign chief on Wednesday denounced what he called a daily "soap opera" of media leaks designed to hurt the conservative French candidate's prospects of becoming president.
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MIB

Russian embassy blasts UK for giving refuge to Russian terrorists, murderers, and financial criminals


RT
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 11:26 UTC
Akhmed Zakayev
© Stephen HirdAkhmed Zakayev
Over 50 criminals wanted in Russia on various charges are currently being sheltered by the British government, Russia's London embassy says.

A press report compiled by the Russian embassy in London blasted the UK government for practicing double standards when it comes to prosecuting high-profile Russian criminals that are now residing in Britain.

The embassy accuses the UK of hypocrisy, saying it harbors a significant number of criminals wanted by Russian prosecutors, whilst at the same time condemning Moscow's attitude to the rule of law.

A 2015 corporate report by the British Foreign Office titled 'Russia - Country of Concern' claimed that "the rule of law in Russia remained inconsistent and arbitrarily applied."
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