Puppet MastersS


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Venezuela's Maduro replaces VP and top ministers in Cabinet shuffle

Lucas Koerner
Venezuelanalysis.com
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 19:26 UTC
Nicolas Maduro
© PresidencialVen
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the appointment of a new vice-president Wednesday in addition to changes to top-level cabinet posts as his government enters the new year.

The head of state named Aragua state Governor Tarek El Aissami to the post of executive vice-president for the year of 2017-2018. The 42-year-old former interior minister will assume the presidency in the event of a successful recall referendum against Maduro after January 10, which is the cutoff for holding new presidential elections.

Maduro highlighted that the priority of the new vice-president would be fighting violent crime and right-wing extremism, pointing to his prior credentials in public security work.

"I have asked that [El Aissami] concentrate on two areas...citizen security [and] the fight against the terrorists of the far right," he declared.
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Info

Iraqi Kurdish parties reject call to leave liberated areas


Sputnik
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 20:10 UTC
Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters rest next to their vehicles after returning from combat against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists in Bashiqa on November 9, 2016
© AFP 2016/ Odd ANDERSENIraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters rest next to their vehicles after returning from combat against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists in Bashiqa on November 9, 2016
The five most prominent of Iraq's Kurdish parties rejected former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's call to retreat from the areas they liberated from the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group.

Iraqi Kurdistan military forces, known as Peshmerga, are currently participating in the operation led by the Iraqi government forces and aiming to retake Iraq's second largest city of Mosul from the Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries, including Russia.

"We aren't going to give up on areas that have been liberated by blood," Shirin Raza Mohammed, a member of Iraq's Movement for Change party, said Thursday, as quoted by Rudaw news agency.

According to the outlet, the other four main Kurdish parties expressed the similar point of view.
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Magnify

Senator Rand Paul re-introduces legislation to audit the Federal Reserve

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 19:13 UTC
rand paul
Having been pursued, unsuccessfully, many times by his father in previous years, today Senator Rand Paul, together with Rep. Thomas Massie re-introduced legislation to "Audit the Fed", after a similar effort stalled in the last Congress.

While in the past such a proposal, which has been vocally opposed by Janet Yellen and Wall Street for obvious reasons, was quietly shut down it may face its best odds ever of becoming law in the current Congress according to the Hill. With both chambers controlled by Republicans long critical of Fed's policies, the legislation could end up being a test of Donald Trump stated resolve to putting the Fed to heel. In the past, the president elect has heaped scorn on the central bank, and demanded accountability from the "independent" Fed.

To that end, Paul specifically mentioned Trump in a statement about the bill Wednesday, making clear the measure's proponents believe they have an ally in their cause coming to the White House.

"The U.S. House has responded to the American people by passing Audit the Fed multiple times, and President-elect Trump has stated his support for an audit. Let's send him the bill this Congress," said Paul.
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Chess

Homeland Security Chairman: Trump does not believe Putin is a friend of USA

Al Weaver
Washington Examiner
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 19:05 UTC
Trump Putin
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Thursday that President-elect Trump does not believe that Russian President Vladamir Putin is a "friend" of the United States.

McCaul told reporters that even though Trump has questioned the U.S. intelligence assessment that Russia tried to sway the November election, Trump views Putin the same way that he and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell do. He also remained steadfast on his stance regarding the Russians, pressing that they did attempt to interfere with the election.


Comment: Just because you keep saying it, and saying it and saying it, doesn't make it so.


"I don't want to get into my private conversations with him. I want to keep those confidential," McCaul said. "But I will say that he acknowledged that Mr. Putin is not our friend. I think he wants a stronger relationship with Russia and Mr. Putin. I think the reset button did not work with Hillary Clinton. I think he would like to change the dynamics we have with Russia."

Comment: Instead of worrying about whether Putin is a friend to the US, these politicians should be thinking about the actions of the Obama Administration and how much that has negatively affected the country's relationship with Russia.

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Telescope

Russian military deploys radar array facility on remote Arctic island


RT
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 18:54 UTC
sopka 2 array
© lemz.ruManufacturer’s photo of Sopka-2 facility at an unidentified location
The Russian military has established a new radar facility on the remote Wrangel island in the Arctic to bolster security of the country's land and air borders in the increasingly strategic region.

"A new radar array complex Sopka-2 entered service on Wrangel Island in 2016. The main mission of the radar is acquiring, generalizing and analyzing of aerial situation in the Arctic region," RIA Novosti quoted Eastern Military District's spokesman Alexander Gordeev.

Sopka-2 has a protective cupola which allows the system to operate in all weather conditions. It can withstand winds of up to 40 meters per second, while the manufacturer guarantees full radar performance at sub-zero temperatures as low as -40 Celsius.

The complex can be used both for controlling civilian air traffic, as well as monitoring airspace for potentially hostile targets. The radar can also provide detailed meteorological data.The radar was constructed by civil and military specialists in harsh weather conditions in a very short time.
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Bad Guys

Well-known liar James Clapper calls RT reporting on US a part of "multifaceted Russian campaign" to undermine America at Senate hearing


RT
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 18:44 UTC
clapper testify senate
© Jonathan Ernst / ReutersLettre, Clapper and Rogers testify before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on foreign cyber threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. January 5, 2017
RT's reporting on US issues was part of a "multifaceted Russian campaign" to undermine America, according to the outgoing Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

"RT was very active in promoting a particular point of view, disparaging our system, our alleged hypocrisy about human rights, etc. Whatever crack, fissure they could find in our tapestry, they would exploit it," Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, at a hearing about cybersecurity challenges.


Comment: For elites like Clapper, it is frustrating to see the truth of the illegal actions of the US Empire reported by RT to the Western public. The elites have worked very hard to control the flow of information into American minds, so it really has to make them seethe to see how popular RT has become in reporting more truthfully on the actions of the US government. And plus, isn't this exactly what the U.S. does to pretty much every other country?? "Promote a particular point of view, disparage their systems, their hypocrisy, whatever crack they can find." Yes, that and worse.


In addition to hacking, Russia used fake news, social media and RT to influence the recent US elections, Clapper argued. Though the US intelligence community has not been able to gauge the actual impact of any of these actions, "the totality of that effort, not only as DNI but as a citizen, I think is a grave concern," he said.

"We could do with having a USA on steroids to fight this information war a lot more aggressively than we're doing right now," Clapper later said, referring to the body that oversaw US government propaganda between 1953 and 1999, when it was replaced by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). He qualified the statement as his personal opinion.

Comment: So basically: "Russia hacked our elections by saying mean things about us!" Grow up, Clapper.

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Eye 2

Proposed constitutional amendment limits time Congress members can hold office, except for those in office now


RT
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 08:54 UTC
Senator Ted Cruz
© Joshua Roberts / ReutersSenator Ted Cruz
A constitutional amendment limiting the amount of time Congress members can hold office has been introduced by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Ron DeSantis of Florida, both Republicans. But they'd be off limits, as would all others currently in federal legislative elected office.

Former Rep. John Dingell (D-Michigan) held his seat in the House for 60 years before leaving in January 2015. The late Senator Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) died while in his 51st year in the upper chamber. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) is the longest serving senator currently in office, having begun his first term in 1975. But the new bill proposed on Tuesday by Cruz and DeSantis could limit such long political careers.

Comment: See also: Trump's Gettysburg address: 28-point plan for first 100 days in office - "once in a lifetime" chance to fix the system

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Bad Guys

US Coalition Has Been Systematically Bombing Syrian Infrastructure Since 2012 - Russian MoD


Sputnik
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 17:42 UTC
Syria
© Reuters
The US-led international coalition has been systematically bombing the Syrian infrastructure since 2012 and has not targeted Daesh-held oil facilities, the Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday.
"Outgoing CIA head Brennan is well aware of the fact that long before the start of the Russian campaign, the international coalition has been systematically destroying Syria's economic infrastructure to weaken the legitimate government as much as possible, heedless of burdens for civilians resulting in millions of refugees," he said.
The ministry's statement comes after CIA chief John Brennan accused Moscow of using "scorched-earth" policy in Syria.
"Surprisingly, the coalition has not attacked oil facilities captured by Daesh, which allowed the terrorists to make tens of millions of dollars per month through illicit oil trade and recruit mercenaries from all over the world," Konashenkov added.

Comment: See also: Western media ignores return of peace and rebuilding in Aleppo
Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis said recently that restoring the city's industrial potential was one of the government's main priorities. Before the war, Aleppo was the largest city in the country, and a major regional industrial hub, producing textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, processed foods, and other goods. Aleppo accounted for over 50% of the country's manufacturing employment.

Last month, Aleppo Province Governor Hussein Diab told Sputnik that the damage caused by the fighting was "terrible." Nevertheless, he stressed that life in the city is "gradually returning to normal life." He explained that the government is doing everything possible to get people to return to their homes in the liberated areas, thus alleviating the strains of internally displaced persons currently living in makeshift government-administered shelters outside the city.


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Light Sabers

Plans to centralize German intelligence apparatus criticized by Bavarian PM


RT
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 18:00 UTC
german special forces
© Fabrizio Bensch / ReutersMembers of Berlin's special police force SEK (Spezialeinsatzkommando)
Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer hit back at government plans to centralize Germany's intelligence apparatus in the wake of the Berlin terrorist attack, saying his rich and independent-minded region will never give up its own security agency.

"I can only tell you: There will be no dissolution of the Bavarian agency for the protection of the constitution," Seehofer said at a conference on security policy organized by his Christian Social Union (CSU), a coalition partner of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, as cited by Deutsche Welle.

Seehofer, a critic of Chancellor Merkel's refugee policy, was responding to proposals previously outlined by Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere in an article for Frankfurter Allgemeine. Under the plan, a centralized domestic intelligence agency would be in charge of dealing with terrorist threats and protecting the constitutional order.

The plan comes after a terrorist attack in Berlin, in which a Tunisian national - known by police for months - rammed a large truck into a crowd at a Christmas market, killing 12. The attack exposed serious problems in the way German intelligence agencies deal with terrorist suspects, and also sparked a barrage of criticism towards the government's 'open-door' refugee policy.
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Stock Up

China likely to see economic growth over 6% in 2017


RT
Thu, 05 Jan 2017 17:56 UTC
chinese dragon
© Neil Hall
The world's second-biggest economy is forecast to show steady growth in 2017, say Chinese experts. However, not everything is that simple, analysts warn, as corporate debt is mounting and industrial output remains sluggish.

According to Tian Yun, director of the ChinaSociety of Macroeconomics Research Center, the Producer Price Index (PPI) grew in September for the first time in 54 months, a good indicator implying an end in the country's industrial inflation.

Investment in infrastructure could also stimulate economic growth. China invested $1.37 trillion in new projects in the first ten months in 2016, which is 19.4 percent more than in the same period last year.

"Infrastructure investment can contribute to economic growth only if the investment can be transferred into supply and consumed by customers. If not, it just contributes to excess capacity," warned Tian.
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