Puppet MastersS


Dollars

Greece moves towards cashless society with "soft" cash ban, purchases over 500 euros must be done with plastic money

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 03 Jan 2017 14:53 UTC
cash
The spread of global cash bans continues with Greece unveiling their so-called 'soft' approach by which taxpayers will only be granted tax-allowances or deductions when payments are made via credit or debit cards. As KeepTalkingGreece reports, the new guidelines refer to employees, pensioners, farmers, and also the unemployed.

Accepted expenditure will be:
  • purchases for food and supermarket products, electronic and electric devices, household equipment, footwear, clothing, fuel, furniture, cigarettes, drinks
  • Restaurants, cafeterias, bars and hotels
  • Services like by hairdressers and beauty parlors, gyms and dance schools, car repair, plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters, lawyers and accountants.
  • For doctors and pharmacy the same practice will be valid as in last year. The tax office will accept the expenditure only if payments are made per credit card or bank transfer.
  • Expenditure for utility bills, landlines and mobile phones, heating, rent, loan repayments that in fact swallow the largest amount of monthly expenditure for private households will not be accepted. Also not accepted is expenditure for toll and transport tickets.

Comment: There appears to be a global move towards getting rid of physical cash. The elites look to be interested in eliminating all forms of currency other than what can be counted in a computer. That does not bode well if the world's electric grids ever fail us. See also:

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Gear

'We invented the tank!' British pride sank German tank arms deal


RT
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 15:13 UTC
British tank
© Fabian Bimmer / Reuters
Britain's fragile ego is said to have thwarted a deal to buy German tanks for fear of bad press, despite the fact that purchasing Leopard 2 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) would have guaranteed ten years of extra service life.

Among proposals by firms to fulfill a £700 million ($858 million) MBT contract, German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann offered between 100 and 400 second-hand Leopard 2 tanks to the UK military in 2016.

"They made that offer to us and we should have taken it but there was an arrogance: we invented the tank, we have to have a British tank," one defense insider told the Times on Wednesday.

"There was a worry about negative press headlines."
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Camcorder

US House reportedly bans taking video inside chambers


Sputnik
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 15:08 UTC
US House of Representatives
© REUTERS/ Gary Cameron
Republican lawmakers in the US House of Representatives passed a new measure to punish lawmakers for taking photos and recording video using personal electronic devices, US media reported.

The House approved a package for the 115th US Congress, that includes the rule, Tuesday by 234 to 193 vote, The Hill said on Tuesday.

In December 2016, the Republicans proposed the measure that would impose fines on lawmakers in the amount of up to $2,500 for livestreaming video and audio, because such actions disturb order and decorum of the House of Representatives.
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Stormtrooper

Ridiculous Hypocrisy: US stations Special Forces in Lithuania to "deter Russian aggression"


RT
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 14:37 UTC
us special forces
© Ints Kalnins / Reuters
Vilnius has confirmed that an American Special Forces contingent is stationed in Lithuania to bolster the training of the Baltic state's own commandos and to serve as a deterrence against potential "Russian aggression."

"The United States was the first to offer additional safety assurance measures to the Baltic countries following the deterioration of the security situation in the region after the annexation of the Crimea," Defense Ministry spokeswoman Asta Galdikaite said Tuesday after an earlier New York Times report which broke the news.

In its Sunday's article, the NYT claimed that dozens of US Special Operations Forces are already training troops in the Baltic states which, as the newspaper puts it, are "confronting a looming threat from Russia." The US contingent is also engaged in enhancing the "Americans' ability to detect Moscow's shadowy efforts to destabilize the former Soviet republics."

While the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said it could not share the details about the US Special Operations Forces in the country, including their numbers and activities, Galdikaite confirmed the presence of US troops on Lithuanian soil.

"US Special Operations Forces presence in Lithuania is one of the deterrents" against Russia, and is another sign of the "long-term close cooperation with the US forces," Galdikaite said.


Comment: What exactly is the "looming threat" from Russia that requires the US to send in special forces to Russia's border? What has Russia done to the Baltic states? They have done nothing, there is no evidence of aggression from Russia. This shows the kind of backward thinking engaged by the US military. They put their troops on Russia's borders, a total sign of aggression by the US, to deter Russia. But the action of the US is aggression. How does a military think that using aggression will force another military to back down? Would the US back down if Russia put troops in Canada to "deter American aggression?" No, they wouldn't. They would blast Russia for heightening tensions. That's exactly what the US is doing here. This is no deterrence but an inflammatory act by a country who has no more real moves left to counter Russia, so all they can do is try to provoke it. Knowing Russia and Putin's history, it's very unlikely to do that.

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Caesar

Trump and Putin masterfully outmaneuver Obama's latest 'bear trap'

M K Bhadrakumar
Indian Punchline
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 14:04 UTC
Trump Putin
While announcing a series of major sanctions against Russia on Thursday, US President Barack Obama cited two reasons for doing so - first, "aggressive harassment" of American diplomats by Russian security; and, second, "cyber operations aimed at the US election." The formulation was kept vague.

The US and Russia maintain an intense and at times intrusive surveillance regime on each other's diplomats. The action-reaction syndrome is so finely honed that it is predictable. If either side chooses to make a fuss about it, the intention can only be propagandistic. Therefore, the measures announced on Thursday by the US state department - expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and shutting down 2 Russian compounds (dacha) - stand out as a political decision.

Perhaps, it is an excessive decision, which from an operational angle also aims at crippling the Russian embassy's functioning. It stands to reason that by such an excessive decision, Obama guarantees that Russia has no choice but to retaliate. The tantalizing question here is whether that was also Obama's intention. In the Russian-American diplomatic tango, there is always the risk of 'loss of face' and the relationship today has been highly personalized at the presidential level.

Comment: Further reading: Trump mocks intelligence community for failing to prove 'Russian hacking'

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Bad Guys

Russian MoD reports US coalition spared ISIS oil production facilities in Syria


RT
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 13:50 UTC
ISIS militants
© Medyan Dairieh / ZUMAPRESS.com / Global Look Press
The US-led international coalition did not bomb oil production facilities captured by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants in Syria, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov has stated.

"Miraculously, only oil fields, captured by ISIS allowing the militants to earn tens of millions of dollars every month on illegal oil sales and recruit mercenaries from all over the world, did not come under the US bombardment," Konashenkov said.

CIA Director John Brennan stated earlier that Russia is using a "scorched-earth policy" in Syria.

"What the Russians have done in Syria in terms of some of the scorched-earth policy that they have pursued that have led to devastation and thousands upon thousands of innocent deaths, that's not something that the United States would ever do in any of these military conflicts," Brennan told PBS on Tuesday.
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Star of David

US Senators suggest to move US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem


Sputnik
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 10:27 UTC
Jerusalem
© WikipediaJerusalem
New legislation introduced in the US Senate would move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Senator Ted Cruz said in a press release on Tuesday.

"[I]t is finally time to cut through the double-speak and broken promises and do what Congress said we should do in 1995: formally move our embassy to the capital of our great ally Israel," Cruz stated. "I am pleased to co-sponsor this legislation with Senator [Dean] Heller and Senator [Marco] Rubio, and I look forward to working with the Trump administration to make this happen."

The press release quoted Rubio as saying Congress and President-elect Donald Trump need to eliminate the loophole that has allowed US presidents in the past to delay the embassy's move.

The proposed bill would withhold some funds from the State Department until the embassy is relocated.

Comment: See also: US Embassy relocation to Jerusalem backed by Trump and Israeli officials

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Bad Guys

HRW official says 'Israeli shoot-to-kill policy belongs to western movie laws'


RT
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 09:45 UTC
Israeli soldiers
© Mohamad Torokman / Reuters
Human Rights Watch has urged top Israeli officials to publicly denounce the excessive use of lethal force against Palestinians. A HRW representative told RT that Israel is not governed by Biblical or western movie laws to employ such extreme policies.

HRW has condemned Israel's "shoot-to-kill policy" and has accused some senior Israeli officials of openly supporting and encouraging the practice.

A new HRW report suggested that some senior Israeli officials openly encourage the Israeli Defense Force and police to deliberately kill Palestinians who they suspected of attacking Israelis, even if the threat of attack has passed.

The report takes in statements made by top officials since October 2015, including Israel's defense minister Avigdor Lieberman, who not only failed to condemn cases of excessive lethal force, but even encouraged it.

Comment: See also: The mask is off: Human Rights Watch says Israeli officials back shoot-to-kill policy of Palestinian suspects

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Attention

Netanyahu warns Paris conference may result in another 'anti-Israel' UNSC resolution


RT
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 09:21 UTC
UNSC meeting
© Andrew Kelly / Reuters
Israel's prime minister has warned that the international community might use the upcoming Paris Conference to try to sneak another anti-Israeli resolution through the UN Security Council before US President-elect Trump takes office on January 20.

Benjamin Netanyahu promised to block any attempt to push through another Israeli-Palestinian resolution, after the last one adopted in late December caused a major diplomatic row between Tel Aviv and Washington.

"The Paris Conference is irrelevant," Netanyahu said. "But there are signs that they are trying to turn decisions made there into another Security Council resolution, and that is no longer irrelevant."
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Jet4

Russian air strikes on ISIS assist Turkish army near Syria's Al-Bab

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 02:08 UTC
russian air force syria
Reports circulate in the Middle East media originating in Turkey that the Russian air force has been in action, helping the Turkish army defeat ISIS near the strategically important Syrian town of Al-Bab. Whilst the Russians have not confirmed these reports, they have conspicuously failed to deny them, suggesting that they are probably true.

Whilst Turkish officials are busy spreading stories about Russian proposals to carve up Syria and ditch President Assad that have no basis, the Turkish media has been full of stories of Russian warplanes bombing ISIS to help the Turkish army near Al-Bab.

Al-Bab was where ISIS inflicted a stinging defeat on the Turkish army ten days ago. Turkish President Erdogan sought to make up for the lack of air support for Turkish troops near Al-Bab - apparently caused by Russian and Syrian warnings to Turkey not to send its air force over the town - by asking the US led anti-ISIS coalition to provide such air support instead. Shortly after making this request, President Erdogan furiously denounced the US for supporting ISIS.

These oddly discordant statements have provoked some bemusement, though they are actually very characteristic of President Erdogan. In this case they are a clear sign that the US refused his request for air support almost immediately after it was made.

Are the Russians now filling the gap by providing the Turkish military near Al-Bab with air support, which the US has refused?
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