Puppet MastersS


Light Sabers

Austria threatens Hungary with 'legal consequences' over refusal to take back refugees


RT
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 21:03 UTC
refugees
© Heinz-Peter Bader / ReutersMigrants arrive at the Austrian train station of Nickelsdorf
The Austrian interior minister has threatened Hungary with "legal consequences" if it refuses to take back refugees under the Dublin Accord - the treaty which rules that migrants must be sent back to their initial point of entry to the EU.

The war of words between Austria and Hungary took a new turn on Wednesday, when Vienna accused Budapest of undermining the European refugee agreement and threatened to take the issue to court.

Hungary spans an area between Southern Europe - where hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants entered the EU last year - and wealthier Central and Northern European states. It says it is unable to tackle the migrant influx alone and cannot serve as a transit country along the so-called Balkan route, declared closed earlier this year.

Austria, whose center-right government is locked in a struggle with the increasingly-popular far-right Freedom Party (FPO), has introduced an annual limit on the number of refugees and has made deportations of newcomers easier.

"In the main we have a European Dublin regime. The European Union is in charge of ... [the Dublin Accord] and states or groups of states that permanently break the law have to expect legal consequences," Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka told ORF radio on Wednesday.

Comment: The elites have orchestrated the refugee crisis and it has successfully pitted European nation-states against each other in minor squabbles. It certainly looks like the Empire's tactic of divide and conquer in Europe is working quite well.

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Star of David

ISIS attack imminent? Israeli minister threatens Brits who support BDS movement


RT
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 20:55 UTC
boycott israel
© Reuters
Israel's Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan is in London this week meeting British officials hoping to agree on a joint plan to tackle Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activism in the UK.

The Likud politician has recently been made responsible for a new task force launched to tackle the movement, which calls for the boycott of Israeli goods in protest against the illegal settlement of Palestinian land.

"Great Britain is the world center of the anti-Israel BDS campaign," Erdan claimed ahead of his visit.

BDS supporters "would have no rest" under his watch and should "pay the price" for their actions.


Comment: That's ironic, since it's the Israeli government that truly deserves to "pay the price" for its despicable actions towards Palestinians.


In February, a new law brought in by the Tory government banned public bodies from supporting BDS initiatives, arguing that the actions undermined "community cohesion" and "Britain's economic and international security."

The policy was enforced on local authorities without a parliamentary vote.
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Chess

Are Russia and Saudi Arabia really considering a freeze in oil production?

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 20:44 UTC
putin saudis
Talks between the Russians and the Saudis at the G20 summit in Hangzhou once again raised hopes throughout the oil industry of a Russian - Saudi agreement for an oil production freeze.

Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US are the three big oil producers, producing roughly similar quantities of oil in any given year. Of these three countries Saudi Arabia, since it is not a significant oil consumer, has the single biggest role in the oil market, a position further consolidated by its de facto leadership of OPEC - the international oil producers' cartel - and the oil producing Gulf States.

In 2014 as oil prices began to slide, to the surprise and disappointment of many in the oil industry, Saudi Arabia refused to cut its output to create an artificial shortage in the oil market to support prices. On the contrary the trend throughout 2015 was for Saudi oil production to rise. The Saudis instead insisted that the market would eventually rebalance itself as more expensive output was shelved because of low prices.

Contrary to the expectations - and hopes - of many in the oil industry, the Saudis have stuck to this position ever since.
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Propaganda

The New York Times and the new McCarthyism

Robert Parry
Consortium News
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 19:25 UTC
Joe McCarthy and friend, 1954
Joe McCarthy and friend, 1954.
Traditional U.S. journalism and the American people are facing a crisis as the preeminent American newspaper, The New York Times, has fully lost its professional bearings, transforming itself into a neoconservative propaganda sheet eager for a New Cold War with Russia and imposing a New McCarthyism on public debate.

The crisis is particularly acute because another top national newspaper, The Washington Post, is also deeply inside the neocon camp.

The Times' abandonment of journalistic principles has become most noticeable with its recurring tirades about Russia, as the Times offers up story after story that would have embarrassed Sen. Joe McCarthy and his 1950s Red-baiters.

Operating without any actual evidence, a recent Times article by Neil MacFarquhar sought to trace public challenges to official U.S. government narratives on world events to a massive "disinformation" campaign by Russian intelligence. Apparently, it is inconceivable to the Times that independent-minded people might simply question some of the dubious claims made by Official Washington.

Perhaps most stunningly, the Times sought to prove its point by citing the slogan of Russia's English-language television network, saying: "RT trumpets the slogan 'Question More.'"

Comment: Coming neo-McCarthyist censorship? Clinton's rabid russophobia and the war on dissidents

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Chess

Trump strikes back at Clinton's anti-Russian rhetoric


RFE/RL
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 17:25 UTC
Clinton and Trump
© NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune file photo
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has charged that his opponent, Hillary Clinton, would be unable to stand up to tough adversaries like Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Hillary likes to play tough with Russia. Putin looks at her and he laughs," Trump said as he campaigned in Virginia on September 6. Trump's shot at Clinton came one day after the Democrat accused him of encouraging Russia to interfere in the U.S. election through cyberattacks.

Clinton's vice presidential running mate, Timothy Kaine, said she already has proved she can stand "toe-to-toe" with Putin in "hard-nosed negotiations" when she was President Barack Obama's first secretary of state working on deals to reduce nuclear stockpiles and destroy Syrian chemical weapons.

Trump, by contrast, "seems to support Russian interests at the expense of American ones," Kaine said in a foreign policy speech in North Carolina. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the charges flying back and forth between the U.S. candidates over Russia are "just ridiculous."

"They have set our teeth on edge," Ryabkov told Interfax in an interview on September 6. He said that some politicians in Western Europe have openly endorsed one of the U.S. candidates, which, in contrast to Russia, was "truly interfering" in the U.S. election.
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Red Flag

Brazil under Michel Temer risks becoming 'Lebanized' by the West

Andre Vltchek
RT
Mon, 05 Sep 2016 19:18 UTC
Michel Temer
© Etienne Oliveau / ReutersBrazilian President Michel Temer
Btaaboura is a tiny village in the mountains of northern Lebanon. It is connected to the main motorway by a narrow winding road. It could be just anywhere in the Christian part of this country: white stone houses, olive groves, wine grapes, bare hills.

Like elsewhere, the wealth is hardly backed by hard work. It is mainly sustained by remittances flowing from abroad. There are grotesquely luxurious cars everywhere - Audis, BMWs. And there is Western Union office on the main street. All doors are closed; nothing moves.

But this village is actually 'unique'; different from all others in the area. At the entrance, there is a new park that shows the Brazilian and Lebanese flag fluttering side-by-side.

And across the street, a blue and white sign announces in Portuguese and Arabic: RUA MICHEL TAMER PRESIDENTE DO BRAZIL.

In front of the word PRESIDENTE, there is a patch of blue spray paint. Later, I am told that just a few months ago it read,VICE-PRESIDENTE, but when Michel Temer ousted the legitimate President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, the Mayor of Btaaboura personally covered what he considered to be 'outdated' - the word VICE (Temer took office on August 31, 2016 after Rousseff's impeachment and removal).
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Handcuffs

Woman from French intel watch list arrested over car with gas canisters near Paris landmark Notre Dame


RT
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 19:12 UTC
Notre Dame
© Charles Platiau / Reuters
At least two people, including one on the French intelligence services' watch list, were taken into custody after police found several gas canisters in an abandoned vehicle next to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, officials said, as cited by French media.

The car, a Peugeot 607, was found parked next to one of the Paris' most famous attractions on Sunday morning with at least seven gas cylinders inside. One empty canister was sitting on the passenger seat, but no detonators were found during the investigation, sources told Le Figaro.

Police had initially arrested at least six people in connection with the case, but iTele later reported that four have been released and two suspects remain in custody, of whom one is a woman on the "Fiche S" list, an indicator used by France to flag people considered to be a threat to national security. Those on that list are not arrested, but are thoroughly monitored by the authorities.

Le Figaro added that the two being detained were a 29-year-old woman and 34-year-old man, and police told AFP sources that the pair was previously known to law enforcement, and one of the suspects is believed to be the owner of the car.
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Snakes in Suits

Goldman Sachs bans employee donations to Trump's campaign, but Clinton's campaign not subject to rule


RT
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 10:55 UTC
goldman sachs hillary
© www.thegatewaypundit.com
Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs has changed its regulations prohibiting top employees from making political contributions to now include the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, reports online magazine Politico. The investment giant extended its political restrictions to the partners, according to a company email, as quoted by the magazine.

"Effective Thursday, September 1, all partners across the firm are considered 'restricted persons' as defined by the firm's Policy on Personal Political Activities in the US. As outlined below, restricted persons are prohibited from engaging in political activities and/or making campaign contributions to candidates running for state and local offices, as well as sitting state and local officials running for federal office," the bank wrote to its employees.

The step aims to prevent "inadvertently violating pay-to-play rules, particularly the look-back provision, when partners transition into roles covered by these rules," according to Goldman. The bank also warns about serious penalties for breaking the new rules. They include fines as well as a ban on the firm from doing business with government clients in a particular jurisdiction for a period of at least two years.

Comment: Clever job by GS of cherry-picking the law and compounding its investment. GS has to hope, backing Killary, there are no 'wild' fluctuations or 'unhealthy' returns on this 'well-padded' commodity, and it derives full value on the under-'lying asset.'

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Blackbox

Did Russian special forces help Syrian army retake Aleppo corridor?

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Tue, 06 Sep 2016 19:09 UTC
russian special forces
A photograph in the Arab media suggests participation of Russian special forces in recapture of key strongpoint in southwestern outskirts of Aleppo.

The possibility that the Russians may have been more heavily involved in the recent fighting in Aleppo than they have let on has been provided by a photo which has appeared in the Arab media that is claimed to show Russian special forces soldiers talking to a Syrian soldier on the grounds of the so-called 'Aleppo artillery base' shortly after its recapture by the Syrian army.

As discussed previously, the recapture of what is (wrongly) called the 'Aleppo artillery base' by the Syrian army on 4th September 2016 has led to the closure of the narrow corridor Jihadi fighters punched through the government lines encircling the Jihadi held districts of western Aleppo on 5th August 2016.

The Russian special forces soldiers in the photo appear to be fully armed and in full combat gear, as if they had recently taken part in the fighting to recapture the 'Aleppo military base'.

If Russian special forces were involved in the fighting to recapture the base, then that might explain the speed of its recapture after weeks of fighting.

Comment: Russian special forces aren't the only ones rumored to be in Aleppo. While impossible to verify, Ziad Fadel reports rumors that American special forces are trapped inside east Aleppo, which might explain why the jihadis and U.S. were and are so determined to break the siege and get their assets out of there before the Syrian army closes in on them. That would be embarrassing.
In the meantime, we are pleased to report that our sources tell us that American SF agents inside Aleppo are still there trying to find a way out without being killed. They have, reportedly, been ordered to "stay put" in secured areas and to put their elegant survival training to good use until such time as their principals figure out a way to explain to the world how American soldiers wound up embedded with Alqaeda. That will prove to be a wonderful subject for concealment by the Western Press.


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Umbrella

Russia and Uzbekistan are edging closer

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 00:00 UTC
Mirziyoyev, Putin
© Getty ImagesUzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev and
Russian President Putin
Friendly meeting in Samarkand between Russian President Putin and Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev points to a closer relationship. Russia's President Putin rounded off another trip of frenetic diplomacy with a stop-over in Uzbekistan's historic former capital Samarkand on his way back to Moscow from the G20 summit in Hangzhou. Putin's visit to Samarkand came after confirmation of the death of Uzbekistan's longstanding leader Islam Karimov.

Putin's visit obviously was not just a courtesy call, though he was careful to observe the proprieties by giving personal condolences to Karimov's family - a highly important symbolic step that will draw favourable notice in a conservative and traditional society like Uzbekistan.

Putin's main purpose will however have been to establish contacts with the new Uzbek leadership and to try to ascertain as much as he can about their policies and about the future of Uzbekistan's relations with Russia.

Comment: Both Russia and Uzbekistan see the Western writing on the wall.
See also:

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