Puppet MastersS


Rocket

Kremlin denies Obama's claim on nukes, says Moscow always ready to cut nuclear arms

The Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile launcher
© Anton Denisov / SputnikThe Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile launcher
Moscow disagrees with the recent statement by outgoing US President Barack Obama on nuclear disarmament, stressing that it has always been open to proportional cuts to the nuclear arms arsenal, the Russian president's spokesman says.

"The Russian side always favored a proportional and fair process of nuclear disarmament," Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call on Thursday, adding that "it can't be disproportional."

Comment: As the time is almost done for Obama's presidency he continually tries to nuke Donald Trump's incoming administration in every way he can get away with.


Smiley

Obama blames Vladimir Putin for everything one last time, in final Barack cry baby press briefing

Barack Obama
Barack Obama scapegoats Vladimir Putin for the decline in US-Russia relations.

Who's to blame for Ukraine...Putin.

Who's to blame for Syria...Putin.

Who's to blame for Libya...Putin.

For global warming, Hillary's election defeat, migrant crisis...Putin, Putin, Putin.

Comment: More on Obama's news confeerence: Obama's last White House news conference: US is 'strongest country... we're going to be OK'


Attention

Judith Miller blasted on Twitter for saying Manning leaks killed people

Manning
© Jose Luis Magana / Reuters
Judith Miller, who through her reporting advocated invading Iraq in 2003, has been blasted on Twitter after criticizing President Barack Obama's decision to commute Chelsea Manning's prison sentence.

"How many people have died" as a result of Manning's leaks?, Miller tweeted.

Comment: See also: New assignment: Judith Miller, NYT reporter who sold Iraq WMDs lie, now pushing the "Russian election hack" lie


Eye 1

CIA unveils new rules for collecting information on Americans

CIA building
© Larry Downing / ReutersThe lobby of the CIA Headquarters Building in Langley, Virginia, U.S.
The Central Intelligence Agency on Wednesday unveiled revised rules for collecting, analyzing and storing information on American citizens, updating the rules for the information age and publishing them in full for the first time.

The guidelines are designed "in a manner that protects the privacy and civil rights of the American people," CIA General Counsel Caroline Krass told a briefing at the agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

The new rules were released amid continued public discomfort over the government's surveillance powers, an issue that gained prominence following revelations in 2013 by former government contractor Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency (NSA) secretly collected the communications data of millions of ordinary Americans.

Jet1

Bomber-in-chief goes out with a bang: US B-2 bombers strike ISIS camps in near Sirte, Libya

U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber
© Mike Blake / Reuters
US B-2 bombers hit Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) camps outside the city of Sirte in Libya, AFP and Reuters report, citing US defense officials.

According to the unnamed sources, the bombardment struck IS targets some 45km from Sirte.

Dozens of IS terrorists have been killed in the US bombardment, AFP reports, citing officials.

The mission was coordinated with Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), two defense officials told Reuters.


Comment: The GNA is not really in control of Libya: Libyan army seizes control of the country and declares state of emergency


Beaker

Bomb squad called 600 times in two months to blow up volatile chemical in UK schools

An UK army bomb disposal team
© Darren Staples / Reuters
Military bomb disposal teams were called out to hundreds of schools in the UK in the space of two months to safely destroy a potentially-dangerous chemical stored in many chemistry classrooms.

The Department for Education (DfE) has admitted it worked with the Ministry of Defense (MoD) to carry out controlled explosions of 2,4 dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) - a volatile chemical known to pose a risk of explosion caused by shock, friction or fire.

Some schools failed to warn the public about controlled explosions in advance. The Thomas Adams School in Wem, Shropshire, detonated the substance without warning while children were trick or treating last Halloween.

At least 589 controlled explosions were carried out between October 21 and December 21, 2016, after the government advised schools to check the chemical.

Attention

First Facebook, now this: Dataminr terminates RT access to Twitter news discovery tool, gives no official reason

RT blocked on Dataminr screenshot
Dataminr, the Twitter-based news-breaking service that supports news agencies around the world, has denied RT service, with immediate effect.

The US digital start-up has yet to provide any official explanation behind the decision, but referred to a "review of how we work with government agencies" during a call in which RT was informed of the service denial.

"Per our November 30, 2016 notice to you, Dataminr is electing not to renew the Renewal Term. As such, your Agreement ended on December 31, 2016," Dataminr's Legal Team said in an email received by RT on Wednesday, after the service was terminated without further explanation.

Attention

British tanks sent through Channel Tunnel to practise for war

UK Challenger 2 tank
© Graeme Main / MOD / Wikipedia
Tanks have been sent through the Channel Tunnel in a secret midnight training operation to prepare for war in Europe.

Five vehicles in total were loaded onto trains, sent through, and then returned to the UK overnight on Wednesday.

Five different types of vehicle were sent in order to ensure that a range of armor could be transported.

A Warrior armored fighting vehicle, a recovery variant of the Warrior, a Challenger 2 main battle tank (MBT), a recovery Challenger, and a reconnaissance vehicle were loaded onto a train at the military's railhead in Wiltshire for the test journey.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) tweeted a picture of a Challenger being strapped down at around midnight on Wednesday.

Bad Guys

Europe's news media freaks out over Theresa May's Brexit speech

Theresa MAy Brexit speech
© Facuno Arrizabalaga / ReutersBritain's Prime Minister Theresa May delivers her keynote "Brexit speech" in Lancaster House in London, 17 January 2017.
The European press was not exactly pleased with UK Prime Minister Theresa May's big Brexit speech on Tuesday, with some of the continent's largest papers calling her strategy "shameful," "hostile," and "dangerous."

Leading the chorus of criticism was Spain's top newspaper El Pais, which accused the prime minister of embracing a "shameful, xenophobic nationalism," after years as a shy Europhile in David Cameron's government.

The end of free movement for EU citizens under a 'hard Brexit' was dubbed a "legally impossible, morally perverse and politically unfeasible" requirement in an editorial published Wednesday morning.

Comment: Further reading:


Bad Guys

It's official: FBI, CIA desperately probing for any connection between Russia & Trump

Putin and Trump
© ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
It's official: after months of speculation that the Feds and other US intelligence agencies are probing whether Trump has any connections to the Kremlin, financial or otherwise, this afternoon McClatchy confirmed that indeed, the FBI and five other intelligence and law enforcement agencies have collaborated for months on an investigation into whether Russia's government secretly helped President-elect Donald Trump win the election, including whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided President-elect Donald Trump.

The agencies involved in the inquiry are the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Justice Department, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and representatives of the director of national intelligence.

Comment: Further reading: Putin: 'Maidan' maybe coming to DC this week - Fake news makers 'worse than prostitutes'