Puppet MastersS


Cell Phone

Civil rights group files FCC complaint: Baltimore police use of Stingray technology illegal and discriminatory


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 15:18 UTC
Baltimore Police
© Reuters
The Baltimore Police Department's use of cell site simulators, also known as "Stingrays," not only violates FCC laws, but is racially discriminatory as well, according to a complaint filed by a law professor, civil rights groups and a technology think tank.

The groups argue that the Baltimore PD's use of Stingrays violates citizens' free speech rights, describing the use of Stingrays as "an electronic form of the intrusive police practices described in the Justice Departments report on the BPD's pattern of civil rights violations."

In the new 38-page complaint, visiting law professor Laura Moy of Georgetown University writes: "BPD has no license whatsoever to operate its CS simulator equipment on frequency bands that are exclusively licensed to cellular phone carriers in Baltimore."
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Jet5

Lavrov: Russian use of Iran airbase is totally legal - West should stop complaining that Russia is fighting terrorism


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 14:51 UTC
A Tupolev Tu-22 M
© Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation / A Tupolev Tu-22 M3 strategic bomber of the Russian Aerospace Force
Moscow did not violate UN resolutions by deploying Tu-22M3 strategic bombers to an Iranian airbase, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, urging the West not to try and find fault but instead focus on anti-terrorism efforts.

"There is no reason to suspect Russia of violating UN Security Council resolution 2231 [on the sale and transfer of arms to Iran]," Lavrov told a news conference on Wednesday.

He said that "under the resolution, the UN Security Council sanctions deliveries, sales and transfers of specific types of arms to Iran, including combat aircraft," while the Russian deployment involves no such moves.


Comment: Iran has clarified matters, pointing out that Russia is only using the base for refueling. There are no Russian troops stationed at the base, according to Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee. Moreover, the Iranian constitution bans any foreign nations from having a military base in Iran.


"These military aircraft are used by air forces after Iran's authorization for taking part in the anti-terrorist operation in Syria after a legitimate request from its government," he said.

Comment: More petty meddling from the US... Gosh, you'd think they actually don't want anyone to defeat Daesh and al-Qaeda!

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Eye 1

London now has special 'thought police' unit to track down online trolls

Claire Bernish
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 16 Aug 2016 14:33 UTC
Thought police now patrol social media platforms and online forums to quash putatively 'abusive' vitriol with the help of feckless civilians urged to end freedom of speech under the guise of rooting out hate.

Expected to run for two years at a cost of $2.2 million (£1.7 million) — of which the Home Office will contribute $581,000 (£450,000) — the London Mayor's Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) believes severely curtailing free speech is necessary due to "the increasing role that online hate played in targeting individuals and communities."

Online abusers, the Mayor's Office said, operate behind a "veil of anonymity," making conventional policing of hate difficult due to lack of skills and equipment — so authorities have allotted the budget for the creation of a police-civilian alliance to report spewers of venom to police.

"By establishing this unit," explained a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police cited by the Business Standard of the Online Hate Crime Hub, "we are sending a strong message to those who use online forums to spread hate that their actions will not be tolerated. The Metropolitan Police Service continues to have a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of hate crime.

"The Met encourages all victims of hate crime to report any incident to police and will make every effort to hold offenders to account and bring them to justice."
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Green Light

Sanctions on Russia are losing their bite

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 06:59 UTC
Putin
Russian external debt dynamics show that sanctions are losing their bite, as Russian companies roll over their debts and increase their borrowings in Western financial markets.

Ukraine's former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is currently touring European capitals calling on the EU to maintain its sanctions against Russia. This is in the face of what even Yatsenyuk admits is growing opposition to sanctions in Europe and growing EU "Ukraine fatigue".

What is being little said is that the actual effectiveness of the sanctions has already eroded significantly.

Comment: See also: Lavrov and New Zealand's FM agree to restart full-scale cooperation

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Boat

OCCRP report claims European ships continue to dock in Russia's Crimea despite sanctions


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 14:25 UTC
A seaport, Sevastopol
© Mikhail Kuhtarev / Sputnik
In the two years that Crimea has been under Western sanctions, numerous foreign vessels have entered the Russian peninsula's ports. Some of the ships bear the flags of EU members, are registered in the bloc and belong to its beneficiaries, a recent report finds.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) says that European ships use various methods to circumvent sanctions that prohibit vessels from entering the republic's Black Sea ports.

According to an OCCRP report, a ship named 'General', under the flag of the Republic of Palau, left Nemrut Bay near Turkish Izmir in early December, claiming the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Kherson as its destination.
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Snakes in Suits

'Foot in mouth' US VP Biden causes uproar with remark on Japan's constitution


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 13:50 UTC
Vice-President Joe Biden
© Charles Mostoller / Reuters
US Vice-President Joe Biden made a remark slamming Donald Trump, but ended up in deep water with Japan instead, saying that the US "wrote Japan's constitution." His comment was slammed as "arrogant", "wrong", and "insensitive" in Japan and beyond.

Others pointed to the fact that Biden's words could trigger reform in Japan.

Some said that Biden didn't check his facts properly, as he "essentially refuted the historical fact that Article 9 was proposed by then Japan PM Shidehara and approved by Gen. McArthur [sic]."
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Eye 1

OSCE turning a 'blind eye' to Kiev's massive bombardment of Donbass

Christelle Néant; Translated by Tom Winter
Fort Russ
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 12:37 UTC
donetsk airport
Donetsk Airport.
NPR: "Fixing up the school is part of an ongoing battle for the hearts and minds of a people whose ethnic ties are with Russia but whose military and leaders identify with the West"

Ukraine loses the hearts and minds with every cannon, mortar, and artillery burst.

After another night saw hundreds of Ukrainian army bombings against the People's Republic of Donetsk, we go to Dokuchaevsk, south of Donetsk, to see the damage from the recent shelling of the city.

As we seek our way to the first house, we encounter two OSCE vehicles. Naively we first think they are going to the same place and we decided to follow them. But unfortunately we discover they are actually going to Dokouchaevsk hospital, so we continue on by ourselves.

We arrive first Shorsa street where a house was hit two days ago. The house belongs to an old lady living alone, who shows us the damage. Fortunately for her, the home was hit by small arms, possibly a BMP (the lady suspects 30 mm calibre). But it was enough to break through the roof of her house, the ceiling, and put a hole in a wall. We ask the lady if the OSCE observers came to see the damage, and the answer was no.

Comment: Further reading: Child rape and Kiev's war against Eastern Ukraine

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Radar

Why rumors that the Russian Air Force will use Turkey's Incirlik air base are wrong

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 12:09 UTC
American Incirlik air force base in Turkey
American Incirlik air force base in Turkey
Despite rumours, use of Turkey's Incirlik air base by Russia for combat operations in Syria is unlikely.

Following confirmation that Russian bombers are flying to Syria from Hamadan air base in Iran, reports have again begun to circulate of Russian bombers also using Incirlik air base in Turkey.

Rumours of such a deployment have circulated for several weeks, having been first floated in the days immediately before the Turkish coup attempt.

Russian use of Incirlik would be strongly opposed by the US. There is simply no precedent for the Russian Aerospace Forces to use a NATO air base also used by the US to conduct combat missions. The US would obviously not welcome such a precedent. Is such a thing however even of the cards?

Comment: Further reading: Iran's Hamedan airbase safeguards Russia's Syrian missions against 'satellite surveillance'

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Chess

What could come from Erdogan's possible visit to Tehran?

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 12:15 UTC
tehran
© Flickr/ peyman abkhezr
Iranian media claims the Turkish President is planning to visit Tehran to talk up the prospect of an Iranian-Russian-Turkish realignment.

Hot on the heels of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Russia, reports are circulating in Iran that he may be about to visit Tehran.

If Erdogan and his ministers are somewhat reticent about the precise nature of the help Russia gave them during the recent coup attempt, they have been much more open about the support they got from Iran. Turkish Foreign Minister Davlut Cavusoglu had this to say during Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's visit to Ankara on 12th August 2016
"During the coup night, I did not sleep until morning nor did my friend Javad Zarif. He was the foreign minister I talked to most, calling me five times during the night."

Comment: Further reading: Washington's strategic defeat: Erdogan trumps Gulenist coup

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Airplane

US flies all three types of bombers in 'strategic power projection' stunt over Guam


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 12:26 UTC
A US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress, B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit launch from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam
© U.S. Air forceA US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress, B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit launch from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for an integrated bomber operation Aug.17, 2016.
In an unprecedented show of military power, the US Air Force has for the first time flown all three of the country's strategic bombers B-52, B-1B, and B-2 in one formation in the vicinity of disputed waters that China has repeatedly vowed to defend.

Three of the US Air Force Global Strike Command's "strategic power projection bombers" simultaneously took off on an integrated bomber operation over Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The B-52 Stratofortress, B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit, conducted a joint drill over the disputed east Asian region.

"Though all the aircraft have deployed independently to the US Pacific Command's (USPACOM) area of responsibility in the past, this was the first time all three bombers flew a formation pass over Andersen Air Force Base, dispersed and then simultaneously conducted operations in the South China Sea and Northeast Asia," US Pacific Command said in a statement.
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