Puppet MastersS


Red Flag

Democrats and mainstream media disinfo painting Trump officials talking to Russian counterparts as tantamount to treason


RT
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 22:02 UTC
trump putin connection
© Bastiaan Slabbers / Global Look Press via ZUMA Press
As the struggle in the US between team Trump and its numerous critics intensifies, Russia has been upgraded in the media eye from a vaguely hostile nation to a diabolical power that corrupts any US official by mere contact.

Depicting President Trump as a traitor and a Russian pawn is now months in the making. It rapidly evolved from the chuckled jokes about 'Siberian candidate' during the campaign to the now-infamous 'golden shower' dossier given validity by CNN after his surprise win. And Trump's emotional denial of Russia links as "fake news" only made him look guilty in the eyes of critics.

Guilt by association with Russia has cost the president's team not only reputation, but also allies. The latest target for the blame campaign is Trump's pick for attorney-general, Jeff Sessions, who stands accused of failing to disclose his meetings with Kislyak during confirmation hearings. The AG denied any wrongdoing, though he admitted that he should have chosen his word more carefully. Democrats say that this amounts to perjury, a charge that nearly cost a certain Democrat president impeachment.
Read More...
Info

Meet the Russian Ambassador at the center of the Sessions' scandal

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 16:28 UTC
Sergey Kislyak
Sergey Kislyak
Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner, Carter Page and Jeff Sessions, they all have something in common: they all met the Russian ambassador in the US, Sergey Kislyak, the object of non-stop leaks via the NYT/WaPo block, and substantial headaches for the Trump administration. Who is Sergey? The following profile of the Russian career diplomat courtesy of The Hill, should help answer some of lingering questions.

Russia's ambassador to the U.S. has found himself thrust into the spotlight this week after the revelation that he twice spoke with Attorney General Jeff Sessions during the 2016 presidential campaign—contacts Sessions didn't mention when asked about them under oath during his confirmation hearing.

Sergey Kislyak, Moscow's soft-spoken ambassador to the U.S. who assumed his post in 2008, has gained significant notoriety following his conversations with several of President Trump's associates.

Comment: Why is so much attention given now about meeting with Russian representatives? Scandalous! Chuck Schumer meets with Putin in New York City

Read More...
Snakes in Suits

Trump needs to clean war mongers out Washington's 'power ministries'

Gilbert Doctorow
Russia Insider
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 16:12 UTC
Trump
Trump is up against entrenched "power ministries"
If the recalcitrant Cold Warriors in America's "power ministries" remain untouched, they will be in a position to create provocations at any time of their choosing to override Trump's planned détente policies.

Donald Trump's speech to the joint session of Congress was a well-crafted and well-delivered exercise in communicating his case to the nation. He opened with a description of the flurry of Executive Orders in his first 30 days in office, enacting key promises made during the electoral campaign.

He then went on to describe the contours of legislation his administration will be bringing to Congress, starting with the budget and its featured scrapping of sequester for the military, which is to enjoy a 10% rise in appropriations while other government agencies are slashed. Then there was an extensive discussion of plans to repeal and replace Obamacare, as well as an extensive discussion of what will be done by tax policy and deregulation to assist American businesses and increase the availability of well-paying jobs for the general population.

Trump skillfully drew attention to the presence in the hall of the widow of one of the special services officers engaged in an anti-terror raid, of close relatives of persons who were murdered by illegal migrants, of a survivor of a rare disease. All of these vignettes demonstrated his compassion and generosity of spirit, a side of his personality that has been totally denied by his political detractors. He called upon Democrats and Republicans to put aside their differences and show similar generosity of spirit by passing his legislative program for the welfare of the nation.
Read More...
Laptop

Head of Russia's Security Council says number of cyberattacks on Russia jumped three-fold in 2016


RT
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 16:11 UTC
cyberattacks
© Thomas Jentzsch / Global Look Press
The head of Russia's Security Council has said that the overall number of cyberattacks on Russian state bodies and companies was over 52 million in 2016, more than three times the number registered in the previous year.

Speaking at a Urals regional conference of the heads of Russian security agencies in the city of Kurgan, Nikolay Patrushev emphasized that the main goals of all of these attacks was the disruption of the work of hardware, including the networks that service the Russian segment of the internet and obtaining classified information through clandestine deployment of various means of computer surveillance.

He also listed a number of factors that undermined Russia's defenses from cyberattacks, such as unsanctioned access to the internet, low qualification of ordinary users and the lack of division between data streams. He also noted that IT departments of state agencies lacked skilled professionals.
Read More...
Question

Yemeni oil reserves are being stolen as civil war rages on

Zainab Calcuttawala
Oil Price
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 16:00 UTC
oil refinery
A Yemeni economic expert from the region contends that French Total's operations in the Kharkhir region amount to stealing on behalf of Saudi Arabia and ousted president Mansour Hadi - who, as the internationally recognized leader of Yemen, likely believes his actions are within his range of powers.

As the Yemen civil war carries on, Yemen's oil reserves are becoming a specific point of tension between Yemen's ousted Sunni leaders and their Saudi backers, and the Shi'ite Houthis and their Iranian backers.

"Saudi Arabia has set up an oil base in collaboration with the French Total company in the Southern parts of Kharkhir region near the Saudi border province of Najran and is exploiting oil from the wells in the region," Mohammad Abdolrahman Sharafeddin told Fars News Agency of Iran on Tuesday. "Sixty-three percent of Yemen's crude production is being stolen by Saudi Arabia in cooperation with Mansour Hadi, the fugitive Yemeni president, and his mercenaries."
Read More...
Attention

Scandalous! Chuck Schumer meets with Putin in New York City

Jim Hoft
Gateway Pundit
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 15:58 UTC
Chuck Schumer and Vladimir Putin
Where's the outrage?

Democrat Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer continues to push the Russia conspiracy.

But it was Schumer who met with Putin in New York City - not Trump.
The picture above was taken in 2003 as Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, enjoys a Krispy Kreme doughnut and coffee with Senator Charles Schumer from New York as Putin visits the first New York gas station of the Russian company Lukoil.

The hysteria over Trump administration officials talking — or not talking — with Russia needs to end.

It's getting in the way of putting America back on track.
Read More...
Eye 1

Former MI6 spy called to testify on 'Russian Trump dossier' before US Senate inquiry


RT
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 15:47 UTC
U.S. President Donald Trump.
© Kevin Lamarque / ReutersU.S. President Donald Trump.
Christopher Steele, a former MI6 spy who compiled an explosive dossier alleging links between US President Donald Trump and Russia, has reportedly been asked to testify before a Senate inquiry.

Steele's unverified report claimed that Trump's associates had colluded in alleged Kremlin cyberattacks on Democrats, while claiming that Russian spies held compromising information on Trump.

The White House has vehemently denied the accusations, which include claims that Moscow operatives had been gathering compromising and sexually "perverted" information on Trump for years in order to blackmail him.
Read More...
Snakes in Suits

Ukraine's tax chief targeted in corruption probe


RFE/RL
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 15:38 UTC
Roman Nasirov
© ReutersRoman Nasirov
Ukraine's tax and customs service chief has been suspended from his post amid a graft investigation that marks a rare attempt to prosecute a senior official on suspicion of corruption.

The government said on March 3 that State Fiscal Service (DFS) Director Roman Nasirov has been temporarily relieved of his duties.

Meanwhile, a special prosecutor tasked with fighting corruption said he will seek Nasirov's arrest on suspicion of "abuse of office leading to serious financial losses," voicing concern that he could try to flee the country.

The moves came a day after the National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU) said it attempted to serve Nasirov, who was in a Kyiv hospital, with a document identifying him as a suspect.

Comment: Is Kiev desperately trying to save some face after the US proposes to cut funding in half and their Central Bank chair is considering resigning?

Read More...
Boat

President Trump's military budget may cut over $1 billion from the Coast Guard


RT
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 15:16 UTC
coast guard ship
© Molly Riley / Reuters
President Donald Trump has proposed dramatic increases in defense spending, but his amplified budget could also slash $1.3 billion from the US Coast Guard's quota.

On Thursday, Trump stepped on board the soon-to-be commissioned aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to promote his plan for rebuilding the military. Trump has stated that he plans to add a "historic" $54 billion, or a 10 percent budget increase, to the Department of Defense.

Comment: So Trump wants to add another 10% to the already bloated military budget? It seems it would be better to cut spending on the military-industrial complex whose projects are ripping the American tax payer off blind.

Read More...
Treasure Chest

Funds flowing into Russia: Moscow reaps rewards of low debt as US braces for debt ceiling crisis


Russia Insider
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 15:09 UTC
Moscow
Russian capital flight has reversed for the first time since 2015. Low debt and high rates of return makes Russia an obvious choice for investors

Russia's radical concept of low debt coupled with a currency that is backed by fungible resource wealth has not gone unnoticed by investors.

Since the 2008 financial crisis (sparked by bundled and extremely toxic U.S. debt — thanks again for that), Moscow has struggled with capital flight.

As part of its response to western sanctions, Russia even offered "full amnesty" for undeclared capital that was repatriated to Russia. But it looks as if a conservative, stable monetary policy, more than anything else, has encouraged capital inflows.
Read More...