Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Big Banking spent over $2 billion trying to influence 2016 US elections


RT
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 20:01 UTC
wall street
© Andrew Kelly / Reuters
Wall Street spent a record $2 billion in contributions to political campaigns during the last US election cycle. The staggering sums made the financial sector by far the biggest business contributors, however the real figure could be much higher.

A new report from Americans for Financial Reform has found that the total amount of money spent on campaign contributions for presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives candidates reached $1.1 billion, with another $898 million spent on lobbying.

The huge sums made the financial sector by far the largest source of campaign contributions. The total is more than $400 million more than was spent during the 2012 election cycle. The daily spend topped $2.7 million and more than $3.7 million was spent per member of congress.
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Sheeple

The Left has vacated the Land of Reason and entered the Land of the Paranoid

Brendan O'Neill
The Spectator
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 19:51 UTC
putin spectator
The chattering classes have officially lost it. On both sides of the Atlantic. Of course they'd been teetering on the cliff edge of sanity for a while, following the bruising of their beloved EU by 17m angry Brits and Hillary's loss to that orange muppet they thought no one except rednecks would vote for. But now they've gone over. They're falling fast. They're speeding away from the world of logic into a cesspit of conspiracy and fear. It's tragic. Or hilarious. One or the other.

Exhibit A: this week's New Yorker. It's mad. It captures wonderfully how the liberal-left has come to be polluted by the paranoid style of McCarthyist thinking since Trump's victory. It's a New Yorker for a future, dystopian America that's been captured by the Evil Empire. The mag's masthead is in Cyrillic and its famous dandy mascot — Eustace Tilley — has morphed into Putin. It's now 'Eustace Vladimirovich Tilley'. Inside the mag it's even more feverish. A 13,000-word report, 'Trump, Putin and the New Cold War', is accompanied by a drawing of a deep-red, UFO-style Kremlin hovering over the White House and firing lasers into it. It's CGI Hollywood meets House Un-American Activities in an orgy of liberal dread over Ruskies ruining the nation.
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Red Flag

Reds under every bed: US generals, senators talk Russia at ISIS hearing


RT
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 19:40 UTC
U.S. Army General Joseph Votel
© Yuri Gripas / Reuters U.S. Army General Joseph Votel
Heads of the combat commands in the Middle East and Africa briefed the Senate about US operations against Islamic State terrorists, but the hearing kept coming around to claims of malign influence and even imperial ambitions by Russia and Iran.

"We are not currently coordinating or cooperating with the Russians; we are simply de-conflicting our air operations," General Joseph Votel, head of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, contradicting reports that Russia and the US-led coalition were coordinating their operations in Syria against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Russia's 2015 intervention in Syria has "negatively impacted the regional balance of power," while "Iran has expanded cooperation with Russia in Syria in ways that threaten US interests in the region," Votel said.
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Footprints

Nigel Farage could not remember what he was doing in Ecuadorian Embassy, where Julian Assange is holed up


RT
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 20:39 UTC
Former United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage
© Andrew Yates / ReutersFormer United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage was seen leaving the Ecuadorian Embassy on Thursday, sparking rumors he was visiting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Farage told a journalist he could not remember what he was doing there.

The former UKIP leader left the Knightsbridge building around midday, where Assange has been holed up for the last five years.

Farage reportedly spent around 40 minutes in the building and was accompanied by Christian Mitchell, the head of operations at radio station LBC, where Farage hosts a regular show.


Approached by BuzzFeed News as he left to get into a car waiting around the corner, Farage said he could not remember what he had been doing in the building.

Asked specifically if he had visited Assange, Farage said: "I never discuss where I go or who I see."



His visit comes just two days after Assange's WikiLeaks published thousands of documents it claims reveal secrets about the CIA hacking into computers, cellphones, and even smart TVs.


Comment: "Year Zero": Wikileaks reveals how CIA uses malware to weaponize consumer products


Assange has been hiding out since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations.

British police keep the building under close surveillance. He has broadcast over the web and given speeches from the balcony during his time in the embassy.

It is possible Assange was interviewing Farage for a broadcast he is planning, according to the Daily Mail, or that Farage, who presents a show on LBC and is a Fox News contributor, may have been interviewing him.

There are no known links between Farage and Assange. Assange was, however, seen by some as pro-Donald Trump during the 2016 US election, and Farage has emerged as a close ally of Trump.

Assange has hosted a number of famous and controversial figures during his time inside the embassy.

Singer Lady Gaga, actress Pamela Anderson, and former footballer Eric Cantona have visited.

The Ecuadorian Embassy refused to comment.
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Binoculars

Turkish prosecutors: Assassin of Russian ambassador was also tracking US ambassador


Sputnik
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 19:39 UTC
John Basse together with Col. Ali Yazıcı
Ambassador John Bass together with Col. Ali Yazıcı
Turkish prosecutors are investigating the possibility that assassin Mevlut Altintas was also planning an attack on the US ambassador to Turkey, after he searched for information about John Bass prior to the murder.

Mevlut Altintas, the Turkish policeman who assassinated Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov in Ankara in December, had also researched the whereabouts of the US ambassador to Turkey, the Turkish newspaper Milliyet reported on Thursday.

Investigators examining Altintas' computer have found that just before the murder, he searched for information about US ambassador John Bass. He also collected information about the activities of Russian and American cultural centers in Ankara.

The findings have led investigators to wonder if Altintas was also planning an attack on the US ambassador.

Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by Altintas, who was on leave from the police force at the time of the attack, at the opening of an art exhibition in December.
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Attention

Chinese premier warns world entering period of political and economic upheaval

Rudy Panko
Russia Insider
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 19:35 UTC
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin
Speaking in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Li Keqiang, Premier of the China's State Council, opened the annual national people's congress with the following remarks:
"There are many uncertainties about the direction of the major economies' policies and their spillover effects, and the factors that could cause instability and uncertainty are visibly increasing."

"In the face of profound changes in the international political and economic landscape, China will always stand on the side of peace and stability, will forever be committed to equity and justice, and will always work for world peace, contribute to global development, and uphold the international order," Li said.
The Premier added that China should prepare for "more complicated and graver situations" as a result of developments "both in and outside China".

The media is claiming that this is a not-so-subtle warning to Donald Trump and his idea of "America First". That's part of it. But there's a lot more here to unpack.
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Snakes in Suits

Nervous Netanyahu arrives in Moscow for sore loser summit with Putin, as Russia, Syria and Iran finish off ISIS

Paul Kaiser
Russia Insider
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 18:52 UTC
President Bashar al-Assad and President Vladimir Putin
Secular leaders that oppose American hegemony? We can't have that.

Netanyahu on verge of nervous breakdown as Russia, Syria and Iran finish off ISIS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Moscow today, where he will "express Israel's vehement opposition to allowing Iranian troops, or satellite groups" to remain in Syria.


Comment: Netanyahu to meet with Putin, rebuke Iran's influence in Syria


Because if there's one thing that the Israelis cannot tolerate, it's foreign troops on Syrian land. They could never fathom something so depraved.

But that is neither here nor there. According to the BBC, "Mr. Netanyahu and the Russian president have much to discuss."

For instance:
Russia's direct intervention in the Syrian war has consolidated President Bashar al-Assad's position and ensured that regime change will not happen any time soon. It has also transformed the tactical environment in which the Israeli Air Force operates.

Russian combat patrols and sophisticated radars and air defences potentially limit Israel's freedom of action in the airspace over Syria.

Comment: See also:

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Info

MH17: Russia reveals scale of Ukraine's BUK missile deployments

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 17:18 UTC
BUK misssile system
In court testimony about MH17 tragedy Russian official reveals Ukraine deployed 17 BUK missile launchers to eastern Ukraine.

The Russian authorities have for the first time revealed in court testimony the full extent of Ukraine's deployment of BUK missile systems to eastern Ukraine when MH17 was shot down.

The Russians have previously produced satellite photos of some of these launchers, the authenticity of which has sometimes been challenged (for example by the Bellingcat site in Britain) but which is now generally acknowledged. These satellite photos have however never received wide publicity in the West. On one occasion I found when I mentioned their existence to a British MP that he knew nothing of them.
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Heart

Putin approves Duma bill to criminalize using the Internet to induce suicide


Sputnik
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 17:16 UTC
internet
© PIxabay
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday approved the State Duma's [lower house of Russia's parliament] initiative to criminalize the inducement to suicide on the Internet.

The issue of using the Internet to induce young people to suicide has drawn attention after a number of suicides of Russian teenagers were tied to certain public groups in social media.

"I support the State Duma's initiative to augment the legislation with the rule that expands the list of the actions leading to criminal liability for inducement to suicide. This would allow to bring to justice the owners, creators and administrators of such websites, to put an end to their destructive and, I repeat, criminal activities," Putin said while speaking to Interior Ministry officials.

Earlier in the day, Russian lawmaker Irina Yarovaya announced that the bill on criminalizing the inducement of children to commit suicide would be introduced to the State Duma on Thursday. According to the draft, the penalty for a group of people for inducing minors and pregnant women to commit suicide is deprivation of liberty for up to eight years. Persuasion, proposal, bribery, deception used to induce to suicide will be punishable with deprivation of liberty for up to six years.
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Attention

Turkish forces attack Syrian Army units west of Manbij, 8 killed

Leith Fadel
Al-Masdar News
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 17:03 UTC
Syrian map
Minutes ago, the Turkish Army and their Free Syrian Army (FSA) allies reportedly shelled the Syrian Arab Army's border guards in west Menbeij, allegedly killing 8 soldiers (unconfirmed) and wounding tens of military personnel.

According to a military source in Aleppo, the Turkish forces attacked the border guard units at the villages of Jubb Al-Himr, Bouhej, Al-Boghaz, and Korkoyok.

The aforementioned villages were recently handed over to the Syrian Arab Army by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as part of a peace agreement in northeast Aleppo.
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