Puppet MastersS


Jet1

Pentagon to dump another $500 million into black hole known as F-35 fighter jet


RT
Thu, 03 Nov 2016 14:59 UTC
F-35
© US AIR FORCE / ReutersF-35A Lightning II stealth fighter, built by Lockheed Martin
The US military will have to come up with another $500 million to finish development on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagon planners have been told. Despite promises, the fifth-generation jet built by Lockheed Martin is not yet combat-ready.

With a projected lifetime cost of $1.5 trillion, the F-35 is the most expensive weapons program in US history, and has been dubbed"the plane that ate the Pentagon." Earlier this year, the Defense Department announced it would try to shave $4 billion off the program's final price through a variety of cost-cutting measures.

The F-35 program office made the request at a closed-door meeting of the Defense Acquisition Board, according to Bloomberg Technology. Development work on the jet has already eaten up 15 years and over $55 billion. Originally scheduled to end in 2012, the development phase was extended through 2016 and given another $476 million in funding during a 2010 reorganization.

"We don't plan on going back and asking for any more money or any more time to get this program done," Air Force Lieutenant-General Christopher Bogdan, director of the F-35 program, said at a conference in 2014.
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Info

Russia determined to invade Europe by slashing defense spending 30 percent

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Thu, 03 Nov 2016 14:53 UTC
Russian tank on parade
© Anton Denisov / Sputnik
Reports in Russian media suggest that the Kremlin is about to reduce military spending by a whopping 30 percent. Won't somebody please think of NATO, and all the "Senior Fellows" who rely on it, at this difficult time?

Did you ever hear the story about a country so determined to take over Europe that the establishment media warned about it almost daily for years, sustaining countless careers?

Led by the "new Hitler" (quoting Prince Charles) who was engaged in a "sinister resurrection of Stalin" (Anne Applebaum), it was "tempted to destroy NATO, via the Baltics" (Edward Lucas). This country was so terrifying that the head of Mi5 announced it was a "growing threat to the UK" when he was looking for more money. Not to be outdone, the US Defense Secretary begged for a $587 billion budget to help "take (a) strong and balanced approach to deter [redacted] aggression."
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Question

The ascent of populism over globalism confronted and demonized by elite think-tank magazine Foreign Affairs


The Daily Bell
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 14:47 UTC
Trump - Fascism dress rehearsal
© Julio Cortez/AP Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at an event hosted by the Republican Hindu Coalition in Edison, N.J., on Saturday.
The Globalization of Rage Why Today's Extremism Looks Familiar ... Militant secessions from a civilization premised on gradual progress under liberal democratic trustees—the kind of civilization that D'Annunzio and his peers denounced as feeble and corrupt—are once again brewing within the West and far beyond it: and as before, they are fueled by a broad, deep, and volatile desire for destruction. - Foreign Affairs
This is the single most important article we've read in Foreign Affairs in years. It grows out of the "populism versus globalism" meme we've been tracking regularly.

We believed from the beginning that this meme would prove extremely important. The idea was that populism would be contrasted unfavorably to globalism and that this would be developed via directed history.

We tend to think Brexit is an example of this. It still doesn't make sense that Brexit passed when British electoral facilities are controlled by globalist elites. In other words, Brexit's passage may have been purposeful.

The idea, for instance, would be to ensure that Brexit has a broad array of negative consequences for the British. Paint Brexit as "populist" and then paint its negative consequences as occurring because the wise precepts of globalism were not adhered to.

This is how elite propaganda works. Create a dialogue and then enforce it with the economic, legislative and military consequences - all of which are controlled by the dialogue-makers.
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Propaganda

Propaganda alert: Microsoft warns software vulnerability is being exploited by Russian hackers


RFE/RL
Wed, 02 Nov 2016 14:31 UTC
fancy bear
A U.S. intelligence expert says the hacking group known as Fancy Bear primarily works for the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency
Microsoft has warned of a vulnerability in its popular Windows software that is being exploited by a Russian hacking group suspected of attacking U.S. political institutions this year.

The software maker said in an advisory on its website on November 1 that there have been a small number of attacks using "spear phishing" e-mails from a hacking group called Strontium, also known as Fancy Bear or APT 28.

Microsoft's disclosure of the new attacks linked to Russia came after Washington accused Moscow of launching an unprecedented hacking campaign this year aimed at disrupting and discrediting the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

The U.S. government last month formally blamed the Russian government for the election-season hacks of Democratic Party e-mails and their subsequent disclosure on WikiLeaks and other websites. Russia has denied those accusations.
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Snakes in Suits

Ex-Senate adviser believes Abedin played role in promoting radical Islam to Clinton


Sputnik
Thu, 03 Nov 2016 14:31 UTC
Hillary Clinton with Huma Abedin
© AFP 2016/ MANDEL NGAN
Hillary Clinton's close confidante and former chief of staff Huma Abedin, who has long being accused by independent media of having connections with the Islamist organization Muslim Brotherhood, contributed to the disastrous US policies on the Middle East that fanned the spread of radical Islam, former US diplomat and adviser to Senate Republican leaders Jim Jatras told Sputnik.

"It is safe to say that all of Hillary Clinton's disastrous policies in support of the 'Arab Spring' that just happened to open the floodgates of radical Islam, including the Muslim Brotherhood, were arrived at with Abedin's close collaboration," Jatras said on Wednesday.

Abedin is widely expected to serve as Clinton's chief of staff in the White House if the Democratic presidential nominee wins the election next Tuesday.
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Yoda

Putin calls Russian presence in Antarctic region 'vitally important'


Sputnik
Thu, 03 Nov 2016 14:25 UTC
soviet antarctic
© Sputnik/ V. Chistiakov
Work of Russian specialists in the Antarctic region is very important and research of the southernmost continent has prospects, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

Speaking with the representatives of Russian business community, who are currently participating in an Antarctic expedition, Putin said:

"As I know, there are people among you, who are ready to participate in research of the continent, I know that you have the ideas to support our scientists... and all the specialists, who are involved in this prospective research... Russia's presence in the Antarctic region is vitally important."

The Russian leader said the research activities in the region around the South Pole helps in exploration of the Earth, adding that more than 80 percent of the planet's fresh water was in the Antarctic region.

The Antarctica was discovered by the expedition led by Russian explorers Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev in 1820. Since then, Russian scientists have been involved in exploration of the southern continent. According to the international Antarctic Treaty, only scientific activities are allowed to be held at the continent.
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Snakes in Suits

Killary's speech to Deutsche Bank reveals groundwork for anti-Putin campaign


Sputnik
Thu, 03 Nov 2016 14:17 UTC
Hillary Clinton
© REUTERS/ Brian Snyder
Two years before Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton alleged the Russian government was trying to interfere in US elections, she claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally manipulating his own country's elections, Clinton's paid speech to Deutsche Bank in 2014 revealed.

Clinton's speech, released by WikiLeaks on Wednesday, demonstrates her pattern of criticizing the Russian president while simultaneously questioning the ability of Russians to participate in their own elections. "In December [2011] there were elections in Russia. They were highly irregular. Putin was determined to get people 'elected' that he chose," Clinton told the bank's audience. She further said that Putin accused her of "personally dialing every middle class household in Moscow saying, go protest against Putin," a comment that Clinton partisans have echoed by claiming that the Russian president is directing US opposition to her 2016 presidential candidacy.


Comment: First of all, Russians overwhelmingly support Putin. The same cannot be said for Americans' support of Hillary Clinton. In fact, Americans think more positively about Putin than both presidential candidates: Poll finds Americans hold more favorable views of Putin than either presidential candidate! So in the end, her constant attacks on Putin and Russia just come across as the paranoid ravings of a highly unpopular, childish, and desperate individual.


Comment: Clinton obviously tailors her speeches to the audience in question. She even flip-flops on statements about Putin: Killary's 'private position' flip-flops - has praised Putin as 'interesting' and a protector of "wildlife".

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TV

Viggo Mortensen shows how the democratic primary was rigged by the corporate media

Write Brain Studio
Vimeo
Thu, 03 Nov 2016 14:16 UTC
clinton bernie
In this latest documentary, Viggo Mortensen narrates the story how of the corporate oligarchy was able to suppress democratic fervor and install Hillary Clinton as the nominee for presidency. Below is episode one in what appears to be a series.
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Che Guevara

Assad: US collaborating with terrorists in Syria, waging proxy war against Iran and Russia


RT
Thu, 03 Nov 2016 12:52 UTC
assad
© HO / SANA / AFPA handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on November 3, 2016 shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) giving an interview to Serbian newspaper Politika in Damascus
Despite claiming humanitarian motives, US actions in Syria are meant to undermine the power of Russia and Iran, with Washington trying to achieve this goal by directly supporting terrorists, Syrian President Bashar Assad has said.

The US' secret collaboration with terrorists is the reason why all attempts at a ceasefire and political transition in Syria have so far failed, the Syrian leader told Serbian newspaper Politika. The interview was also published by the Syria's SANA news agency.

"Supporting the terrorists is a war of attrition against Syria, against Iran, against Russia, that's how they look at it. That's why not only this ceasefire - every attempt regarding ceasefire or political moving or political initiative, every failure of these things, the United States was to blame," the Syrian president said.

Assad was referring to the deal negotiated by the US and Russia in September, which it was hoped would pave the way for a lasting truce in Syria. In practice, the agreement was derailed by armed groups, which had rejected it from the very beginning. The US pledged to convince the so-called moderate opposition to stick to the bargain and separate from terrorists, who would then be legitimate targets for a joint Russian-American air campaign. Washington didn't deliver on this promise, however.

Comment: In the same interview, Assad also accused the US of engaging in a "premeditated attack" on the Syrian Army in Deir ez-Zor to support Daesh:
"It was premeditated attack by the American forces, because ISIS [Daesh] was shrinking because of the Syrian and Russian and Iranian cooperation against ISIS [Daesh], and because al-Nusra which is al-Qaeda-affiliated group had been defeated in many areas in Syria, so the Americans wanted to undermine the position of the Syrian Army; they attacked our army in Deir ez-Zor."


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Attention

Wikileaks releases batch 27 of Podesta emails


RT
Thu, 03 Nov 2016 13:51 UTC
hillary
© Brian Snyder / Reuters
More emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chair John Podesta have been released by WikiLeaks.

The latest batch consists of over one thousand emails, bringing the number released so far to over 44,000. WikiLeaks said it will publish a total of 50,000 emails in the run up to next week's presidential election.

Yesterday WikiLeaks released the 26th batch of emails, shedding light on a relationship between Google and President Barack Obama dating back to September 2008 in which the internet giant helped the president's transition team set up 'secure data rooms'.

Frustration with Benjamin Netanyahu

In the latest release frustration is expressed about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A mail from Clinton aide Neera Tanden to Podesta asks why the White House isn't asking for "proof of his support for 2-state solutions. Like a settlement freeze?"

"Given nature of gov't- he may not be able to do but it proves the point then," Tanden says in the mail from March 2015.

Comment: To keep up to date on all the Podesta email revelations, check out the excellent resource Most Damaging Wikileaks.

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