Puppet MastersS


MIB

Finian Cunningham: 'Russian hackers' and the coup against Trump

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 14:26 UTC
trump
© Molly Riley/Agence France-Presse
The reckless accusations made by the Obama administration that Russia hacked the US elections are part of a Deep State coup unfolding against President-elect Donald Trump.

Barack Obama's end-of-year press conference this week, in which he formally accused Russia of cyber-attacks on US democracy, had the hallmark of political theater befitting a seasonal pantomime. The performance was intended to give the computer hacking claims against Russia the highest stamp of credibility and foment a public mood of Russophobia.

"We reserve the right to retaliate at a place and time of our choosing," said Obama in his best tough-guy voice, in a bid to transform wild speculation about alleged Russian malfeasance into seeming rock-solid fact which now requires a resolute patriotic response.

The coup against Trump could manifest in his impeachment from the White House after his inauguration in January, or less dramatically it could result in Trump being allowed to stay in office but under full control of the Deep State - the shadowy unelected forces of the military-intelligence apparatus that really govern America.

In the latter scenario, Trump will be obliged to fully submit to the Deep State's confrontational agenda towards Russia. Either way, it will mean the political emasculation of Trump.
Read More...
Propaganda

Best of the Web: The epic fail of mainstream media: Craig Murray and the Russian hacking saga

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Sat, 17 Dec 2016 14:10 UTC
fake news mainstream media
The Western media is concealing Craig Murray's revelations about how he acted as the go-between between the US insider who provided the Clinton leaks and WikiLeaks.

For once there is no doubt as to what has been the biggest story of the last 10 days.

By rights it should have been the Syrian military's victory in Aleppo, which could prove to be the turning point in the Syrian war.

Nonetheless the Western media has chosen to lead on the CIA's allegations - now lent weight by no less a person than President Obama himself - that Russia hacked and stole the DNC's and Podesta's emails and passed them on to WikiLeaks in order to swing the US Presidential election to Donald Trump.

The Western media has pushed this story relentlessly, and it has been the subject of an almost unending series of headlines and harsh editorial comments.

One might have expected that in such a media frenzy, information from the person - Craig Murray - who says that he not only met with the informer who gave the material to WikiLeaks but actually acted as a go-between between this person and WikiLeaks, would be front line news.

Comment: Exactly.

Read More...
Dollars

Venezuela at the brink of a humanitarian crisis, pulls 100-bolivar note from circulation

Matthew Weaver
The Guardian
Mon, 12 Dec 2016 06:11 UTC
Bolivar bill
© Schneyder Mendoza/AFP/Getty Images Venezuela is withdrawing the 100 bolivar bill to thwart ‘mafias’ accused of hoarding cash in Colombia.
The Venezuelan government is to withdraw its largest banknote from circulation in its latest attempt to tackle the world's worst inflation crisis.

President Nicolás Maduro said on Sunday that the 100-bolivar note, which is currently worth only two US cents (1.6p) on the black market, will be withdrawn on Wednesday. Venezuelans will then have 10 days to exchange the notes at the central bank.

Maduro said the surprise move was needed to help stop criminal gangs profiteering on Venezuela's border with Colombia. "We must keep beating the mafias," he said.

His beleaguered government has already announced plans to introduce six larger notes and three new coins from Thursday this week.

Critics said the latest move was impractical and would not tackle the root cause of the country's financial crisis. It also risks prompting a repeat of the chaos witnessed in India when the withdrawal of highest value rupee notes prompted huge queues at banks.

Comment: See also:Venezuela closes border with Colombia to combat mafia cash smuggling

Update: Venezuela Delays 100-Bolivar Note Withdrawal Amid Reported Currency Sabotage
The ban, which caused Venezuelans to rush to exchange the notes and led to several disturbances and rioting, has now been postponed by Maduro until January 2, the BBC reported on Sunday.

The president reportedly said that new 500-bolivar notes, set to replace the 100-bolivar bill as the new highest-denomination note, failed to arrive on time as a result of sabotage.


Read More...
Dollar Gold

What's the deal with the Scythian gold and Crimea?


Fort Russ
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 13:45 UTC
Scythian gold
Watching yesterday's news, I understood that our Ukrainian neighbors really have a lot in common with Europeans. Unfortunately, this similarity does not manifest itself in the economy, culture, or the development of science. This similarity is exclusively political. One can even say that the authorities of some countries have been infected by their Kiev colleagues with the desire to constantly make little messes for Russia. There is suspicion that this behavior is a psychological defense mechanism. Well, making a serious mess is scary stuff, but the feeling of self-importance still demands little victories, hence the need to make minor mischief when the situation allows.

From the point of view of the Dutch authorities, Russia is their constant source of humiliation. They think that, like their British colleagues, Putin is to blame for the fact that the population doesn't like them and voted against them in the recent referendum. The fact that a Dutch court had to reverse the decision on Yukos' 50 billion that Khodorkovsky demanded from Russia, and the fact that it cannot be ruled out that the Dutch also wanted to get some of this money is also concerning. There's also Russia's counter-sanctions which all European politicians interpret as incredible arrogance, which is another reason to strongly dislike Russia and search for little ways to win.

Comment: Russia against the ruling: Russian Ministry says Dutch court's ruling on Scythian gold violates international law

Read More...
Chess

The facts on the ground - Japanese concessions on Kuril Islands a template for future concessions on Crimea?

Ruslan Ostashko - translated by J. Arnoldski
Fort Russ
Sat, 17 Dec 2016 13:49 UTC
Japan Abe Putin
Dear friends, do you remember the NATO base in Ulyanovsk? Internet old-timers probably remember, as do I. The reader who only recently started following the stormy political discussions on the Russian internet will probably ask: what is this nonsense? After all, there is no NATO base in Ulyanovsk. Yet the eternal cause for hysteria remains on the internet. I remembered this example while following the reactions on social networks to Putin's visit to Japan. You won't believe it, but people are already saying that the Kuril islands have been given back to the Japanese.

The most interesting part is that those who believe in this are the same people who didn't learn anything from the so-called "NATO base" at Ulyanovsk or the fakes about the "secret million cities of the Chinese" in Siberia. The special irony of this situation is the fact that foreign media, who would with pleasure tell the world about how Putin is trading away territories, are saying nothing of this. They're merely writing about how Putin continues to attract foreign investments and have quoted Putin's assistance, Ushakov, who once again stressed that the islands are Russian territory.

If we compare this position to how things stood before, then it is obvious that only Japan's position has changed, and that it is the Japanese prime minister who has made concessions for which he is now being harshly criticized by Japanese ultra-nationalists. Before, the Japanese government practically prohibited Japanese businesses from pursuing any kind of projects on the Kuril Islands. Japanese state agencies refused to discuss questions of economic cooperation on the Kurils. Why? Because they rightly believed that the activities of Japanese companies, who would have to work on the islands according to Russian law and pay Russian taxes, would mean de facto recognition of Russia's sovereignty over the islands.
Read More...
Whistle

Berlin parliament whistleblower behind German-NSA secret data leak, not Russian hackers


RT
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 13:22 UTC
German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a meeting at the lower house of parliament
© Fabrizio Bensch / ReutersGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a meeting at the lower house of parliament Bundestag on 2017 budget in Berlin, Germany, November 23, 2016.
Russian hackers are not the source behind the recent WikiLeaks release of leaked secret data on German-US intelligence cooperation and a parliamentary inquiry into it, Der Spiegel reports, citing unnamed security officials who have indicated it's an inside job.

The respective German officials are "confident" that the documents published by WikiLeaks were not obtained through a cyberattack last year on the Parliament (Bundestag), allegedly committed by Russian hackers. "Contrary to various media reports, there is absolutely no indication that the documents were stolen during a cyberattack on the Bundestag in the year 2015," Der Spiegel writes, citing its own source. Back then, the intruders seized some 16 GB of information.

Comment: More on the leaked German documents:

Read More...
Nuke

Japan govt recognizes 1st thyroid cancer case as Fukushima-related, worker won right to work-related compensation


RT
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 01:12 UTC
Fukushima nuclear power plant
© Toru Hanai / ReutersA Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) employee, wearing a protective suit and a mask, walks in front of the No. 1 reactor building at TEPCO's tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan February 10, 2016.
A man who worked at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan during the disastrous 2011 meltdown has had his thyroid cancer recognized as work-related. The case prompted the government to finally determine its position on post-disaster compensation.

The unnamed man, said to be in his 40s, worked at several nuclear power plants between 1992 and 2012 as an employee of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. He was present at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant during the March 11, 2011 meltdown. Three years after the disaster, he was diagnosed with thyroid gland cancer, which the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare confirmed on Friday as stemming from exposure to radiation.

The man's body radiation exposure was totaled at 150 millisieverts, almost 140 of which were a result of the accident. Although this is not the first time that health authorities have linked cancer to radiation exposure for workers at the Fukushima plant, it is the first time a patient with thyroid cancer has won the right to work-related compensation.

There have been two cases previously, both of them involving leukemia.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Life Preserver

Russian Emergency Ministry's mobile hospital assists over 1,100 Syrians


Sputnik
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 13:12 UTC
Russian Emergency Ministry
© RIA Novosti. Kirill Kallinikov
The Russian Emergency Ministry's mobile field hospital, placed near Syria's embattled city of Aleppo, provided medical assistance to more than 1,100 residents of the country, the ministry's press service said Saturday.

"In accordance with the order of Russian President [Vladimir Putin] to provide medical assistance to the residents, who suffered as a result of the military conflict, the work of the mobile field hospital of the Centrospas and Russia's Emergency Ministry's rescue team in Syria is continuing. During the work, more than 1,100 people, including 350 children, went to the hospital. All of them were provided with highly professional medical assistance," the statement read.
Read More...
Attention

Eastern Ukraine situation remains tense as Ukrainian military refuses to uphold Minsk agreements


Novorossia Today
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 15:48 UTC
LPR Major Marochko
Major Marochko
The situation in the zone of responsibility of the LPR People's Army remains tense.

Over the past day, the Ukrainian Junta Nazi Military two times shelled the positions of our units in the area of the locality of Kalinovo and the Prince Igor monument. The fire was opened from grenade launchers, infantry fighting vehicles and small arms, with 30 rounds made.

As a result of a bombardment with a grenade launcher, one soldier of the LPR People's Army received shrapnel wound.

The order to open fire was given by the commander of the 24th brigade, Shevchenko.
Read More...
Archaeology

Russian Ministry says Dutch court's ruling on Scythian gold violates international law


Russia Insider
Wed, 14 Dec 2016 14:14 UTC
Scythian Gold Dutch Court Ruling violtion of international says Russian Ministry a scythian gold helmet
© AP Photo/ Peter DejongA Scythian gold helmet
The ruling by a Dutch court to give Scythian gold to Ukraine violates international law and the principles of inter-museum exchanges, the items should be returned to Crimea where they had been discovered and kept for decades, the Russian Culture Ministry said Wednesday.

Comment: Just one example of many corrupt manoeuvres on the international stage by the disgruntled establishment since Russia accepted Crimea's democratic vote to reunify:

Read More...