Puppet MastersS


Mr. Potato

Pathetic! Top U.S. Republican Senator Graham Jumps on the Bandwagon: "Putin hacked my election!"

AFP
Yahoo News
Wed, 14 Dec 2016 20:34 UTC
Lindsey Graham
A senior Republican senator said Wednesday that his campaign accounts were hacked by Russians, taking issue with President-elect Donald Trump's rejection of Moscow's alleged interference in the US elections.

Senator Lindsey Graham said he was informed three months before the November 8 presidential election that his accounts were broken into.

"Our campaign vendor was hacked. We were told by the FBI in August that we were hacked in June," he told CNN television.

Trump has rejected the conclusion by the CIA and FBI that Russians stole data out of campaign computers and were behind the leak of documents and communications from the Democratic National Committee and the emails of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign chief, John Podesta.

Those leaks damaged Clinton's ultimately losing campaign effort and the CIA concluded that, with the leaks, Russia had intended to bolster Trump.

Comment: Three words: drain the swamp. It's people like Graham that have made the U.S. both the laughing stock and the most reviled nation on earth. And it's Trump's threat to drain the swamp that is behind the information war prepping the populace for a coup to make sure he can never even try to follow through. The road to January 20th is going to be a rocky one...

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Document

Russian Hacking? Not likely: DNC docs were leaked, not hacked, intelligence veterans say


RT
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 18:31 UTC
worker at NSA
© Jason Reed / ReutersA worker at the National Security Agency (NSA) sits at her computer terminal in the Threat Operations Center.
Anonymous allegations that Russian government hackers interfered with the US elections are "evidence-free," several retired intelligence professionals argued in an open letter. Any hack would have been noticed by the NSA, which has stayed silent, they say.

Last Friday, the New York Times and the Washington Post cited anonymous sources claiming the CIA believed Russia was behind hackers who exposed emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton's campaign chair John Podesta, with the intent of aiding the campaign of Donald Trump. Several Democratic senators have called for a special investigation into the allegations, while Trump dismissed it as a "conspiracy theory."

"Reading our short memo could save the Senate from endemic partisanship, expense and unnecessary delay," wrote the former CIA and NSA spies, part of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), adding that "harder evidence of a technical nature points to an inside leak, not hacking - by Russians or anyone else."

A hack, the group explained, is when someone remotely enters a computer system and extracts data. Any such attempt, however, would have been detected by the NSA.
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Network

Putin the Peacemaker meets Abe - Russia and Japan immediately agree to joint activities on Kuril Islands and military cooperation


RT
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 20:32 UTC
Putin- Abe
Russia's president is visiting Japan to discuss signing a peace treaty and expanding economic cooperation. However, a decades-old territorial dispute and Japan's support for the Obama administration's anti-Russian sanctions may stand in the way.

Vladimir Putin has arrived in Japan on Thursday to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The two are to hold a series of talks at a mountainside inn at a hot springs resort called Nagato in Abe's home constituency in southwest Japan. The Russian delegation and their Japanese hosts will move to the capital, Tokyo, on Friday.

Abe welcomed Putin, noting that he had last visited Japan over a decade ago.

"I am glad to have this opportunity to welcome you in my home city, Nagato. I wish you the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful nature of Japan, the good Japanese cuisine, and a dip into hot springs this evening," the Japanese PM said, as cited by RIA Novosti. "A dip in a hot spring removes all fatigue. So, after the meeting, you will be able to rest in the spring," he said.

Putin thanked his host, but joked that he thought it was preferable not to overwork.

Comment: Looks like they had a fruitful meeting. It was announced that they had agreed on joint activities on the previously disputed Kuril Islands related to fisheries, tourism, culture and medicine. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe told reporters:
The leaders "thoroughly and frankly discussed the issues of free access to their homeland by former residents of the islands, joint economic activities between the two countries with a special economic zone on the islands, as well as the issue of a peace treaty."
More from the above article:
Putin and Abe also agreed to restore military cooperation between the two countries as well as ties in the spheres "frozen" in recent years, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday.

It was agreed to resume "2+2" ministerial talks, which would involve meetings between foreign ministers and defense ministers of both nations, he explained.

According to Lavrov, the Japanese side has become more aware of Russia's worries over US global missile defense system and its increased presence in the Asia-Pacific region, which Moscow views as "inadequate to the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs."

"We have an impression that our Japanese colleagues now understand better Russia's concerns in this matter," Lavrov said, adding that Russia and Japan had confirmed mutual interest in cooperation on security issues, despite what he called "special relations" between Tokyo and Washington.

"Naturally, they [Putin and Abe] exchanged views on the Syrian settlement and situation in Ukraine..... Here our positions almost coincide," he added.


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Bad Guys

US Sec. Def. Carter's world tour: Masters of the universe thank their vassals

Manlio Dinucci (translated by Anoosha Boralessa)
Voltaire Network
Wed, 14 Dec 2016 20:23 UTC
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter
© Yuri Gripas / ReutersU.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter
Thank you everyone. That is what the US Defense Secretary has just told his allies. You have enabled us to succeed in propagating war across almost the entire Middle-East and Ukraine. We are still the masters of the world provided that the President-Elect, Trump, readily accepts pursuing our legacy.

Today, Ash Carter, the head of the Pentagon will arrive in Italy. On behalf of the outgoing Obama administration, he is making a "tour of the world to thank US troops stationed in Asia, the Middle East and Europe and to meet important partners and allies".

The tour kicked off on 3 December in California where Carter delivered the closing remarks to the "Reagan Forum", that bestowed upon him the prize for "Peace through Force".


Comment: War is peace.


Then Carter went to Japan, where he inspected US troops and met the Defense Minister, Inada. Japan, which contributes 1.6 billion dollars per year to the stay of 50,000 US soldiers on its territory, is particularly important as an advanced base of US missile systems lined up against China for "defensive aims" and, the Pentagon specifies, is an ally capable of defending other countries that may be attacked".

Comment: And if they have their way, they'll continue. The attempt to stage an anti-Trump coup is in motion, because he threatens to dismantle this global, regime-change empire: 'Elite' coup is being orchestrated against president-elect Trump

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Chart Bar

Putin's popularity is skyrocketing among Republicans


Huffington Post
Wed, 14 Dec 2016 00:00 UTC
The guy is accused of manipulating U.S. politics and enabling the killing in Aleppo, and his favorability rating goes up. Seriously?
Putin
© REUTERS/IVAN SEKRETAREV/POOL
Russian President Vladimir Putin's net favorable rating among Republicans has climbed by an astonishing 56 percentage points since July 2014, according to a new YouGov/Economist poll.

Thirty-seven percent of Republicans polled hold a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Putin, while 47 percent hold a very or somewhat unfavorable opinion of him.

Though still negative overall, that -10 percentage point net approval rating represents a drastic increase from 2014, when Putin's net favorable rating stood at -66 points among Republicans, according to YouGov Elections Editor Will Jordan.
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Newspaper

There is more than one truth to tell in the terrible story of Aleppo

Robert Fisk
Independent
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 19:43 UTC
Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo
© GettySyrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.
Our political masters are in league with the Syrian rebels, and for the same reason as the rebels kidnap their victims - money.

Western politicians, "experts" and journalists are going to have to reboot their stories over the next few days now that Bashar al-Assad's army has retaken control of eastern Aleppo. We're going to find out if the 250,000 civilians "trapped" in the city were indeed that numerous. We're going to hear far more about why they were not able to leave when the Syrian government and Russian air force staged their ferocious bombardment of the eastern part of the city.

And we're going to learn a lot more about the "rebels" whom we in the West - the US, Britain and our head-chopping mates in the Gulf - have been supporting.
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Quenelle - Golden

Poll shows military, church & media top Russians' trust rating


RT
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 20:35 UTC
City residents and visitors to Moscow celebrate New Year's Eve on Vasilyevsky Spusk, Moscow
© Eugene Odinokov / SputnikCity residents and visitors to Moscow celebrate New Year's Eve on Vasilyevsky Spusk, Moscow
A recent survey by state-run pollster VTSIOM shows that the military forces, church and mass media top Russian citizens' trust rating, while the courts, law enforcement bodies and political opposition occupy the lowest positions in the table.

"Our citizens continue to demonstrate their strongest support and approval for the military forces (87 percent), the Russian Orthodox Church (71.9 percent) and mass media (65.4 percent)," reads VTSIOM's press release about the results of the December poll.

"The lowest results still belong to the court system (37.2 percent), political opposition (37 percent) and law enforcement bodies (31.4 percent)," researchers said.

They added that the Russian political opposition ranked lowest in the popular approval rating, with just under 35 percent of respondents expressing positive feelings towards opposition politicians.

Comment: See also: Poll finds 82% of Russians approve of Putin's job as Russian president

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Attention

Best of the Web: 'Elite' coup is being orchestrated against president-elect Trump

Bernhard
Moon of Alabama
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 19:33 UTC
Donald Trump
  • There is an "elite" coup attempt underway against the U.S. President-elect Trump.
  • The coup is orchestrated by the camp of Hillary Clinton in association with the CIA and neoconservative powers in Congress.
  • The plan is to use the CIA's "Russia made Trump the winner" nonsense to swing the electoral college against him. The case would then be bumped up to Congress. Major neocon and warmonger parts of the Republicans could then move the presidency to Clinton or, if that fails, put Trump's vice president-elect Mike Pence onto the throne. The regular bipartisan war business, which a Trump presidency threatens to interrupt, could continue.
  • Should the coup succeed violent insurrections in the United States are likely to ensue with unpredictable consequences.
The above theses are thus far only a general outline. No general plan has been published. The scheme though is pretty obvious by now.
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Sherlock

Best of the Web: The Russian bear behind the keyboard: Russian hack claims are absurd

Craig Murray
CraigMurray.org.uk
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 19:24 UTC
Hillary Clinton graphic
I am about twenty four hours behind on debunking the "evidence" of Russian hacking of the DNC because I have only just stopped laughing. I was sent last night the "crowdstrike" report, paid for by the Democratic National Committee, which is supposed to convince us. The New York Times today made this "evidence" its front page story.

It appears from this document that, despite himself being a former extremely competent KGB chief, Vladimir Putin has put Inspector Clouseau in charge of Russian security and left him to get on with it. The Russian Bear has been the symbol of the country since the 16th century. So we have to believe that the Russian security services set up top secret hacking groups identifying themselves as "Cozy Bear" and "Fancy Bear". Whereas no doubt the NSA fronts its hacking operations by a group brilliantly disguised as "The Flaming Bald Eagles", GCHQ doubtless hides behind "Three Lions on a Keyboard" and the French use "Marianne Snoops".

Comment: Mainstream media don't care where the information comes from, as long as it fits with the propaganda.

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Telephone

Erdogan calls Putin, pleads for Jihadis to be allowed to leave Aleppo

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 14 Dec 2016 00:00 UTC
Putin Erdogan
© Unknown
Turkish President Erdogan called Russian President Vladimir Putin late in the evening on Wednesday 14th December 2016 in what looks like a desperate last minute plea by the Turkish leader to try to get the withdrawal of Jihadis from eastern Aleppo restarted.

That the two leaders discussed the situation in Aleppo is clear from the Kremlin's report of their conversation
"The heads of state continued their ongoing exchange of views on Syria. In particular, they discussed the developments in Aleppo, and emphasised the need to build up joint efforts to improve the humanitarian situation and foster the start of a real political process in Syria.'
Shortly after this conversation took place reports drawing on Jihadi sources began to circulate in the Western media that the plan for the Jihadis to withdraw from eastern Aleppo is back on track, and that the withdrawal will happen shortly.

Comment: See also:
Militants leaving Aleppo in buses and ambulances are accompanied by Russian servicemen

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