Puppet MastersS


Megaphone

UK lawmaker blasts shutting out Sputnik and RT as 'dangerous precedent' for press freedom


Sputnik
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 21:27 UTC
Sputnik logo
© Sputnik
Following a report by the UK's Foreign Affairs Select Committee that prompted to restrict Sputnik and RT media outlets, British lawmaker Edward Leigh claimed that shutting out those outlets that present different points of view from those of the government, sets a "dangerous precedent" for press freedom.

Introduction of restrictions on the work of Sputnik news agency and the RT broadcaster, media providing perspective on political developments that may differ from the position of British authorities, would set a dangerous precedent, Leigh, a Chairman of a cross-party working group on relations with Russia in the UK Parliament told Sputnik Thursday commenting on the UK parliamentary report calling to counter Russian media.

Foreign Affairs Select Committee's report "The United Kingdom's relations with Russia" earlier in the day urged UK regulator Ofcom to take action against "outright falsehoods in Russian state-sponsored broadcasting" adding that key questions as to Sputnik and RT's "impartiality, integrity and actual news stories remain unanswered." However, no examples of the so-called fake news allegedly produced by Russian media have been provided.
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Dominoes

EU lawmakers vote to deny US citizens visa-free travel


Sputnik
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 21:10 UTC
border control
© AP Photo/ Dave Caulkin
On Thursday European Union lawmakers voted to deny US citizens visa-free travel, as Washington continues to do the same to nationals from certain EU member states.

In response to the US denying visa-free travel to citizens of Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, the European Parliament is leaning on its executive body, the European Commission, to enact a year-long suspension of visa-free travel for US citizens.

The parliament claimed that it was "legally obliged" to address the issue as they were first notified in April 2014 that the US would not reciprocate the visa waiver right, along with Brunei, Japan, Canada and Australia.

The European Parliament released a statement saying that "if a country does not lift its visa requirements within 24 months of being notified of non-reciprocity, the EU Commission must adopt a delegated act... suspending the visa waiver for its nationals for 12 months."
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Newspaper

The New Yorker's cover story reveals uncomfortable truths about U.S. and Russia

Glenn Greenwald
The Intercept
Tue, 28 Feb 2017 18:50 UTC
Russian soldiers
© Ivan Sekretarev/AP
The New Yorker is aggressively touting its 13,000-word cover story on Russia and Trump that was bylined by three writers, including the magazine's editor-in-chief, David Remnick. Beginning with its cover image menacingly featuring Putin, Trump and the magazine's title in Cyrillic letters, along with its lead cartoon dystopically depicting a UFO-like Red Square hovering over and phallically invading the White House, a large bulk of the article is devoted to what has now become standard - and very profitable - fare among East Coast news magazines: feeding Democrats the often-xenophobic, hysterical Russia-phobia for which they have a seemingly insatiable craving. Democratic media outlets have thus predictably cheered this opus for exposing "Russian President Vladimir Putin's influence on the presidential election."
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Bad Guys

Le Pen's legal immunity revoked by EU Parliament

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 19:33 UTC
Marine le pen
© Reuters
Marine Le Pen loses EU parliament immunity over tweets she made in 2015.

No surprise here.

The EU will do anything to protect its open borders policy from any bad press, and concurrently work to influence the French elections so as to prevent National Front party leader Marine Le Pen from having any chance of winning.

Comment: That's one way to increase French resentment of the EU - meddle in their elections.

Further reading:

The Deep State Rises to the Surface in French Elections
Many personalities are jumping the marooned Socialist ship and going over to Macron, whose strong political resemblance to Hillary Clinton suggests that his is the way to create a French Democratic Party on the U.S. model. Hillary may have lost but she remains the NATOland favorite. And indeed, U.S. media coverage confirms this notion. A glance at the ecstatic puff piece by Robert Zaretsky inForeign Policy magazine hailing "the English-speaking, German-loving, French politician Europe has been waiting for" leaves no doubt that Macron is the darling of the trans-Atlantic globalizing elite.

At this moment, Macron is second only to Marine LePen in the polls, which also show him defeating her by a landslide in the final round. However, his carefully manufactured appeal is vulnerable to greater public information about his close ties to the economic elite.
French election intensifies: Rise of Le Pen, fade away of Macron
Opinion polls show Marine Le Pen increasing her lead in the French Presidential election, as the attraction of Emmanuel Macron - the centrist establishment candidate - begins to fade. Latest opinion polls in France suggest that Marine Le Pen is increasing her first round lead, and is starting to close the gap between herself and whatever challenger she will face in the second round of the French election. This is happening at the same time as the centrist challenger - Emmanuel Macron - is showing the first signs of losing support.


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Eye 1

The case against Jeff Sessions: Another absurd & devious witch hunt

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 19:33 UTC
trump and sessions
The case against Jeff Sessions over his meetings as a United States Senator with Russian ambassador Kislyak has no foundation and is a sign of the hollowness of The New York Times story of 14th February 2017 alleging multiple contacts between Russia and the Trump administration.

On 14th February 2017, in the aftermath of the resignation of General Flynn, The New York Times published a sensational story claiming on the basis of anonymous sources that there had been 'multiple contacts' between persons associated with Donald Trump and his campaign and individuals who the US intelligence community says are Russian intelligence agents.

We have now been provided - in the person of Attorney General Jeff Sessions - with the name of one of these persons, which enables us to see how absurd - and sinister - this story is.

Comment: NBC News has published a list of all those calling on Sessions to step down for doing his job as a US Senator - every single person on that list needs to have their head examined. Trump has since reaffirmed his confidence in Sessions, but will he be able to keep Sessions from becoming the next domino to fall in this absurd witch hunt?

For important information, see: Pelosi loses it: Calls for Sessions to resign over alleged Russia ties

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Dollars

Banks paid more than Israel's GDP in fines since financial crisis


RT
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 19:31 UTC
World Trade Center tower
© Mike Segar / ReutersOne World Trade Center tower in New York City.
The world's biggest lenders have been fined $321 billion since the global financial crisis in 2008, according to Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The penalties cover misconduct from money laundering to market manipulation and terrorist financing.

In 2016, banks paid $42 billion, a 68 percent surge since 2015, BCG said.

The sum paid by banks since 2008 is more than a Gross Domestic Product of countries like Israel, South Africa, the Philippines and the majority of the EU members.
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Bomb

Brussels bomb disposal unit intercepts car with gas canisters, arrests one person


RT
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 19:54 UTC
Brussels policeman
© Francois Lenoir / Reuters
Brussels bomb disposal units are examining a car carrying gas canisters, according to local reports, while one person has been taken in for questioning by Belgian police.

Police sealed off the area of Saint-Gilles and evacuated some residents on Thursday while experts examine the scene, a police spokeswoman told Belgian media, as cited by Reuters.



The car was intercepted by police at Porte de Hal after it ran through several red lights.

The vehicle contained two gas cylinders and the driver was on a list of people suspected of having links to radical organizations, the Mayor of Saint-Gilles Charles Piqué is quoted on Nieuwsblad. Broadcaster RTL said three canisters had been recovered.

Comment: See also: Brussels, Belgium placed under martial law as soldiers patrol streets and city shuts down

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Telephone

New Parliament report: UK's shortsighted lack of dialogue with Russia not a viable option


RT
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 00:18 UTC
clocks cartoon
© Russianmind.euTime to communicate?
Britain's refusal to engage with the Russian government is not a viable long-term foreign policy option, parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee has warned, urging the Foreign Office to "clarify" its position and to conduct meaningful dialogue with Moscow.

In a report titled, The United Kingdom's relations with Russia, the committee says Britain must clarify what it wants from relations with Russia and conduct regular political dialogue with the Kremlin, however uncomfortable such conversations might be.

"Refusal to engage with the Russian government is... not a viable long-term foreign policy option for the UK, because Russia is a European nuclear-armed United Nations Security Council member state," the report says. "Such conversations might well prove uncomfortable, but they would at least allow the clarification of specific points of agreement and points of difference on issues such as counter-terrorism and provide a basis for progress towards improving relations."

The committee, chaired by Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, aimed to investigate the Foreign Office's policies towards Russia and the UK-Russia relationship. Committee members interviewed academics, journalists, and critics to reach their findings, and traveled to Russia to speak to politicians, civil servants, business leaders and members of the media. They also visited Crimea to meet government representatives.

Comment: It is sometimes hard to tell if the UK really wants to be a world leader or if they are more content being complacent. By not opening dialog with Russia, it is much easier to stay in one's comfort bubble, rely on preconceived notions that do not require adjustment and always make one 'right.'

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Light Saber

Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney: If Trump goes after high-level pedophiles, it will take down both parties

Matt Agorist
Free Thought Project
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC
Cynthia McKinney
Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
If there is one thing that's consistent about Donald Trump, it's that he is horribly inconsistent. Whether it be flip-flopping on states' rights for cannabis laws or praising NATO after promising to leave it, where Trump stands on the issues is a crap shoot. That being said, however, there is one issue on which Trump has remained steadfast, it is bipartisan, and everyone should agree on it — it's time to stop human trafficking. And a former Democrat congresswoman from Georgia agrees.

It is important to note that human trafficking is not the same as working in the sex industry. Those who work in the sex trade, voluntarily, are not victims of human trafficking. However, they often find themselves victims of the government and the black market created by that government who pushes their line of work into dark alleys and shady places.

As corporate media writes off talk of 'pizzagate' as if it's some tinfoil conspiracy theory that couldn't possibly happen, recent busts of pedophilia rings are shattering their claims. In fact, after a massive bust in California, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell says the arrests represent a "very sad commentary on the condition we're dealing with."

"Pretending this issue doesn't exist only makes us more complicit in it," newly elected San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott said last month.
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Moon

Dirty business: Britain won't back UN statement condemning Bahrain's human rights abuses (might threaten arms deals)


RT
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 13:30 UTC
human rights abusing regime of Bahrain
© Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters
The UK has been accused of buttressing the human rights abusing regime of Bahrain by not endorsing the critical view of the Gulf theocracy taken by the UN.

In response to a planned, Swiss-led statement by the UN warning that the island kingdom is on the brink of a human rights crisis, with political prisoners being tortured with cigarettes, electric shocks and red-hot brands, the UK Mission to the UN has chosen instead to focus on the country's "progress."

"The UK considers the proposed Swiss statement does not recognize some of the genuine progress Bahrain has made. Instead, we will be issuing a UK National Statement that includes Bahrain," said a British official quoted by the Middle East Eye.


Comment: Progress? How? From what 'higher' level of depravity and brutality could Bahrain have "progressed"??


It is feared the UK's refusal to condemn Bahrain's actions at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) will give the regime a free hand to continue its alleged abuses.

Britain has strong trade and military ties with the Gulf kingdom.

Comment: See also:

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