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Chess

President Park Geun-Hye impeached, US ready for new South Korean leader


Sputnik
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 00:37 UTC
resignation Pres Park
© Reuters/Kim Do-hoon/Yonhap
The United States looks forward to working with South Korea's new leadership following the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, Department of State spokesman Mark Toner said at a briefing Friday.

The South Korean parliament voted earlier in the day to impeach Park over a political scandal in which she is accused of letting a friend act as a shadow adviser, effectively influencing presidential policies. Following the vote, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn assumed leadership of the government until the Constitutional Court decides whether to uphold Park's impeachment - a process that could take as long as six months.

"Obviously, we've been following it closely," Toner told reporters of developments in Seoul. "First and foremost, the United States continues to be a steadfast ally, friend and partner to the Republic of Korea. We certainly look forward to working with Prime Minister Hwang in his new capacity as acting president."

The spokesman added: "We expect and we believe that policy consistency and continuity across a range of fronts. We are going continue to meet all our alliance commitments especially with respect to defending against the threats we've seen emanating from North Korea."

According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, National Defense Minister Han Min-koo ordered an increase in combat readiness of the country's armed forces in response to the impeachment. The scandal surrounding Park erupted in late October when media reported that the president had allowed Choi Soon-sil, a friend and adviser who held no official post, to edit her speeches, thereby giving her influence over policies. In addition, Choi was suspected of using her connection to power to extort money from South Korean companies for personal use.

Comment: The US seems happy to work with someone else and may be looking for a stronger supporting partner to maintain US-determined status quo in the region. However, the pickings seem to be slim. Following the maxim: 'nothing happens in politics by accident,' was there a possible hidden hand in the scandal? Whether or not, South Korea is now in a period of national uncertainty, always a plus for a manipulator. Perhaps the US is looking for Russia and N. Korea to seize this opportunity that then 'demands rectifying.'

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Footprints

Japan passes TPP, Trump promises to pull US out


RT
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 10:37 UTC
Trump and Abe
© HO/AFPThe recent Trump and Abe meeting in New York.
The upper house of the Japanese parliament has ratified the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement despite questions of US participation under the Donald Trump presidency. The free trade deal aimed at linking a dozen Pacific Rim countries was backed by the lower house in early November. Now Japan's cabinet is expected to approve revisions related to the pact before ratifying it.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been sharply criticized for pushing TPP-related bills through the lower house a day after Donald Trump won the US presidency. The US President-elect has repeatedly pledged to pull his country out of TPP, and other trade pacts such as NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), which he thinks are damaging the US economy.

TTP was signed in February by the US, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile, and Peru after more than five years' negotiation. The countries account for more than 40 percent of the global economy and nearly a third of all world trade. TPP aims to promote economic growth, trade benefits, investment and job creation through the collaboration of the members.

For TTP to come into force at least six original signatories have to fully ratify the pact. Also, they must represent 85 percent of the total GDP of the 12 original signatories.

The US alone accounts for nearly 62 percent of the TPP member countries' gross domestic product, while Japan represents about 17 percent. That means that the deal cannot come into force without US ratification. Abe hoped to change Trump's mind on TPP during their meeting in November. However, the US President-elect reaffirmed his position after unveiling his first 100-day plan in office.

Comment: If heavyweight US doesn't follow through with TPP, the whole deal is down the tubes. Without Trump's insight, the mindless minions would prevail.

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Attention

Several Nusra commanders fleeing with civilians arrested by Syrian government forces in Aleppo


FARS News Agency
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 17:29 UTC
Syrian Army Soldiers in Aleppo
Syrian Army soldiers and Hezbollah fighters arrested several fugitive senior commanders of Fatah al-Sham Front (previously known as the al-Nusra Front) as they were escaping Aleppo battlefields, a field source disclosed.

"The government forces identified and arrested four commanders of Fatah al-Sham, who tried to leave the Eastern districts of Aleppo city towards safe districts along with civilians," the sources said.

The Syrian state new agency reported that thousands of civilians, who had been captured as hostages by the terrorist groups in the districts of al-Sukri, al-Ferdows and Salahuddin in the Eastern part of Aleppo city, managed to arrive in army-controlled districts of al-Qazizeh, Bab al-Nairab and Bab al-Hadid (Iron Gate) via humanitarian corridors establish by the army and Russian forces.

The civilians further were transferred to Jibrin district by the help of Damascus forces.

Comment: Read also: What victory looks like: Streets of Old Aleppo covered in hair as 'moderate rebels' shave their beards and run

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Cult

Obama's mad rush to 'Trump-proof' the White House

Anita Kumar
McClatchey DC
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 10:20 UTC
Barack Obama
© Chris O'Meara APPresident Barack Obama gestures during a U.S. counterterrorism strategy speech at MacDill Air Force Base Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, in Tampa, Fla
WASHINGTON - Since Election Day, President Barack Obama has appointed 56 people to boards, commissions and offices in the hopes that they remain in those posts for years to come.

He has reduced the prison sentences of 79 federal inmates. He has handed out the nation's highest civilian honor to 21 people who he said personally made an impact on his life.

And he has churned out rules, regulations and policies several times a week.

Obama is trying to put the people and policies in place that he wants to outlast his presidency in the final weeks before Donald Trump takes over. And his supporters want more, way more.

Every president tries to push through last-minute policies before their time in office comes to a close. But this year has a more frantic feel as special interest groups push Obama to do more, not just because the president-elect is of a different party but because few people know what he will do.
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Attention

Washington Post and State Dept. 'fake news' lists threaten freedom of speech in US


Sputnik
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 17:15 UTC
face with mouth taped shut
© Flickr/ Jennifer Moo
The lists of alleged "fake news" sites being disseminated by the Washington Post and other corporate media outlets as well as bureaucrats at the US Department of State are a direct threat to continued freedom of speech in the United States, US analysts told Sputnik.

According to Beau Grosscup, California State University Professor Emeritus of Political Science, the lists of fake new promoted by The Washington Post and State Department "are direct threats to free speech and critical thinking and independent journalism."

On Thursday, defeated US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton warned about the dangers of fake news. In a call for censorship, Clinton insisted that leaders in both the private and public sectors needed to aggressively expand their efforts to crack down on alleged fake news sites — necessarily involving independent and alternative media — in order to protect democracy in the United States.


Comment: Clinton to Congress: Take action against 'epidemic of fake news' that told the truth about me

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Eye 1

Negligence trial in France casts shadow over IMF's Lagarde: Another leadership crisis?

Chine Labbé
Reuters
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 01:59 UTC
Lagarde
© REUTERS/James Lawler DugganIMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde who spoke to reporters October 6, 2016 at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group in Washington, U.S.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde goes on trial on Monday for her role in a 400 million euro ($425 million) state payout to businessman Bernard Tapie in 2008 when she was France's finance minister.

The case has cast a rare shadow over Lagarde, who is widely respected in policy circles for helping the International Monetary Fund turn the page after her predecessor Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned in 2011 over sexual assault charges.

Lagarde, 60, is accused of negligence for signing off on a highly unusual out-of-court settlement between the state and Tapie, a colorful French businessman with connections to then- president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Lagarde, who was France's finance minister from 2007 to 2011 before becoming IMF Managing Director, could face up to a year in jail and a fine of 15,000 euros if convicted.

A guilty verdict risks plunging the IMF into a new leadership crisis.

"She's very determined to defend herself," her lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, told Reuters.

The IMF's board "continues to express its confidence in the managing director's ability to effectively carry out her duties," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told a news briefing in Washington on Thursday.

Comment: See also: Court rules that the IMF's Christine Lagarde will face trial for illegal state payout

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Info

One man in Hillary's campaign warned she could lose but everybody ignored him

Blake Neff
The Daily Caller
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 17:03 UTC
Hillary Clinton with Jake Sullivan
© APHillary Clinton with Jake Sullivan
A major figure in Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign warned she was in danger of losing the election days before the vote, but was ignored by the rest of her staff, a new write-up in Politico says.

Glenn Thrush has published a massive piece, "10 Crucial Decisions That Reshaped America," detailing the key decision points in the 2016 campaign that led to President-elect Donald Trump's surprising ultimate victory. But buried near the end of the article is a compelling anecdote about the hubris in the Clinton camp that brought about her final defeat.
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Briefcase

Ex-Trump adviser Carter Page: Ukraine, Crimea coverage is the most egregious example of 'fake news'


RT
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 16:55 UTC
Carter Page
© Washington Free BeaconCarter Page in Moscow
Carter Page, a businessman who advised Donald Trump on foreign policy matters during his presidential campaign, has arrived in Moscow to discuss strengthening business ties and normalizing relations between Russia and the United States.

Page, who arrived in Moscow on Thursday, said he would be in the city until December 13 to meet with "business leaders and thought leaders." In an interview with RIA Novosti, Page said he believes it is extremely important to address the narratives that led to the sanctions stemming from the Ukraine crisis, and normalize relations between Russia and the West.

"The recent history of Ukraine in general and Crimea in particular over the past several years may be among the most egregious examples of 'fake news' in recent memory," he told RIA Novosti.

"The level of misinformation which has guided related decisions by outside actors and their impact on this country is tragic. I am confident that there will be new possibilities to resolve these misperceptions and the wrong direction it has created for Ukraine."
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TV

British Govt-Funded Media Outlet Offered Journalist $17,000 a Month to Produce and Disseminate Propaganda for Syrian Rebels

Rania Khalek
AlterNet
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 16:07 UTC
Revolutionary Forces of Syria, RFS, white helmets
Emails reveal that a popular source for mainstream Western media is a U.K.-backed propaganda outlet.

The Revolutionary Forces of Syria (RFS) media office, a major Syrian opposition media outfit and frequent source of information for Western media, is funded by the British government and is managed by Westerners operating out of Turkey, according to emails provided to AlterNet by a Middle East reporter RFS tried to recruit.


Comment: Sound familiar?


The outlet stirred controversy this November when it released a video at the height of the Mannequin Challenge, a pop culture craze in which people compete for how long they can freeze in place on video. The RFS video depicted a staged rescue by the White Helmets, the Western-funded rescue group that operates exclusively in rebel-held territory. RFS quickly removed the video and issued an apology out of apparent concern that the staged rescue could raise questions about the authenticity of other videos by the White Helmets.

Over the summer, the Middle East reporter, who asked not to be named, was contacted by an American acquaintance and former colleague about working for RFS.

"I'm currently in Istanbul, working on a media project for the HMG [the British government]," wrote the acquaintance in an email time-stamped June 23. "We're working on media surrounding the Syrian conflict, as one of their three partners." The email included links to RFS Media's English website and SMO Media, an Arabic website that covers the Southern Front, a Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) group.

"[W]e're looking for a managing editor/production manager to head up our team here in Istanbul, and I thought you'd be a great fit. I was wondering if you had any interest, or knew of anyone looking to move out to Istanbul for an opportunity," the acquaintance added.

In a followup phone conversation, the acquaintance explained to the reporter what the job would entail.

"I would have been talking to opposition people on the ground and writing news pieces based on statements from media activists who are affiliated with the armed groups in places like Aleppo," the reporter later explained.

The salary offered for this task was an eye-popping $17,000 a month.

The reporter ultimately decided not to pursue the RFS position because he felt it would be journalistically unethical.
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Snakes in Suits

Of course they can't: No 'complete confidence' US weapons supplies to Syria won't end up with ISIS


RT
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 16:43 UTC
US soldiers in northern Syria
© Khalil Ashawi / Reuters U.S soldiers ride a military vehicle in al-Kherbeh village, northern Aleppo province, Syria October 24, 2016.
The US can't guarantee that the arms it provides to Syrian rebels will not "change hands" and fall into the possession of Islamic State, the State Department said, a day after President Obama eased weapons flows to Syria.

"Of course, I will never be able to say on any given battlefield - and we talked about this before - that equipment and assistance can't change hands," the department's spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Friday.

It would be "difficult" for anyone to say that "with complete confidence," Toner added, even though the US' support for rebels is done "under careful monitoring."

Comment: A possible result of this waiver: Former Pentagon analyst: 'US arming Syrian militants could escalate into direct conflict with Russia'

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