Puppet MastersS


Chess

Turkey seeks to expand defense relations with non-NATO countries


Sputnik
Fri, 12 Aug 2016 14:52 UTC
Turkey nato
© Burhan Ozbilici/Associated Press (file)Turkish soldier handles a national flag at the monument of Sukru Pasa, a national hero who defended Edirne region during the Balkan War in 1913, in Edirne, western Turkey.
Ankara could seek ways of cooperation in the defense sector outside NATO, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu signaled his country's readiness to develop defense cooperation outside NATO, the German news network N-TV reported.Cavusoglu noted, in particular, that the air defense systems installed by NATO do not cover the entire territory of Turkey.

"We want to make our own [missile] defense system... and we have relevant technology for the purpose. Other countries outside NATO also have advanced technology and know-how," Cavusoglu said.

At the same time, the top Turkish diplomat made it clear that Ankara is not going to withdraw from the alliance.

He was echoed by Turkish Ambassador to Russia Umit Yardim, who said that recent reports that Turkey and NATO are reassessing their relations and that "Turkey could be leaving NATO" hold no water.

He added, however, that NATO has no right to dictate what foreign policy decisions Turkey should take and what countries it should build relations with.

Yardim underscored that Turkey is "independent in creating its foreign policy."

Comment: Turkey has put itself in a difficult position vis a vis its East-West relations. One hopes that Erdogan will take whatever advice Putin has to offer in navigating it.

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Star of David

'Sounds incredible, right?' Netanyahu proclaims 'I care more about Palestinians than their leaders do'


RT
Fri, 12 Aug 2016 14:44 UTC
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
© Dan Balilty / Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has posted a video statement, in which he claims he "cares more about Palestinians than their own leaders do." At the same time, he accused Palestine's Hamas of stealing aid money "to build a war machine."

"I'm going to say something now that some of you will not believe. But I'm going to say it anyway because it's true," is the opening line to Netanyahu's speech that was published Thursday on his official social media accounts.

Expressing his support towards the "innocent and impoverished Palestinians," the Israeli leader said:

"That sounds incredible, right?"


Comment: It sure does. These are just words.


Comment: It comes as no surprise that Netanyahu would jump all over the accusations of UN humanitarian aid money being stolen.

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Question

Six dead Syrian pediatricians "sign" letter to Obama

b
Moon of Alabama
Fri, 12 Aug 2016 14:36 UTC
We are used to quite a lot of warmongering propaganda against Syria. The "last hospital in Aleppo gets destroyed" - week after week after week, reports by Physicians For Human Rights on Syria turn out to be scams, videos and pictures of "children rescued" by the U.S./UK payed media group "White Helmets" are staged.

But the yesterday released and very well propagandized Open Letter of Aleppo Doctors takes the crown of warmongering anti-Syrian fakes:
We are 15 of the last doctors serving the remaining 300,000 citizens of eastern Aleppo. Regime troops have sought to surround and blockade the entire east of the city.
...
Look who signed that open letter:
dead Aleppo doctorss
Stenographing the letter's propaganda the Guardian cleverly notes:
It has not been possible to verify the names of all the doctors listed in the letter.
May be because these names are those of famous Jihadis? But if only the fake names were the problem ...
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Snakes in Suits

The remarkable Teflon Clintons: Escaping federal charges five times


RT
Fri, 12 Aug 2016 03:21 UTC
clintons
© Aaron P. Bernstein / Reuters Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton waves to the crowd with her husband, former president Bill Clinton
Reports the DoJ rejected the FBI's request to investigate the Clinton Foundation have created a stir this week. While it is not the first time investigators have gotten close to the Clintons, the couple seem immune to cases and charges.

A new batch of Hillary Clinton's emails has shed more light on the State Department's close ties with Bill Clinton's foundation in the times when it was supervised by the former First Lady. Nearly 300 pages of back-and-forth emails exposed senior officials at the foundation seeking favor and special connection on behalf of wealthy donors.

It has just recently appeared that the FBI has long been interested in the Foundation and even requested the Department of Justice (DoJ) to probe the former president's non-profit earlier this year, but was denied.

According to CNN, the DoJ said it did not have enough evidence to bring up a corruption probe.

Comment: The Clintons' ability to evade responsibility in the many deaths and scandals that have followed in their wake is a testament to their power and ruthlessness:

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Stock Up

Russian economy on the rise


The Duran
Thu, 11 Aug 2016 14:24 UTC
ruble, russian economy
According to Rostat "Statistics of Russia," the country's latest macro indicators are in and there is good reason to believe the economy has left the recession behind.

GDP grew 0.01% year-on-year; the government has not been able positive growth for some time. July's numbers will tell us if this is the start of a trend. Industrial output is up 1.7%, with retail and construction still under-preforming.

Business confidence remains buoyant. This is one of the most important macro indicators - it provides an insight how businesses view the immediate future. The Purchasing Managers' Indexes (PMI) services indicator is at the highest point since 2013 and there are signs new businesses are about to be started.
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Wall Street

Big banks and big insurers send scary signals

Pam Martens and Russ Martens
Wall Street On Parade
Thu, 11 Aug 2016 13:53 UTC
Big Banks graphic
There's something big and scary going on behind the scenes but, as usual, the public isn't reading about it on the front pages of the newspapers.

Yesterday, the broad stock market, as measured by the Standard and Poor's 500 Index, declined a modest 0.29 percent while big Wall Street banks like Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase fell by triple that amount. Bank of America, which bought the big retail brokerage firm, Merrill Lynch, in the midst of the 2008 crash, fell by 8.6 times the rate of the decline in the S&P to give up 2.50 percent.

Equally noteworthy, two major insurers, MetLife and Prudential Financial, saw percentage market losses far in excess of the S&P. MetLife declined by 2.74 percent while Prudential Financial lost 1.68 percent. Prudential Financial has been named a Systemically Important Financial Institution (SIFI) by the Financial Stability Oversight Council. MetLife had received the same designation but won a court battle to rescind the designation. The U.S. government is appealing.

Comment: Another sign that all is not really well with the global economy.

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Info

Putin grants Kremlin chief of staff's wish to be removed from duties


RT
Fri, 12 Aug 2016 13:47 UTC
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Sergei Ivanov
© Aleksey Nikolskyi / Sputnik
President Vladimir Putin has removed from office the presidential chief of staff, Sergey Ivanov, the Kremlin press service reports. Ivanov occupied a number of top positions in the government, including the post of defense minister in the early 2000s.

Ivanov has been appointed the president's ecology and transport special representative.

President Putin simultaneously appointed a new chief of staff, naming Anton Vaino to the post. Vaino had been Ivanov's deputy since May 2012, several months after Ivanov had been appointed presidential chief of staff.

The president said that Ivanov himself had requested a transfer to another role, and had proposed Vaino as a candidate for his position.

"I do remember that we've agreed upon your request not to keep you in this post for more than four years," Putin told Ivanov during a meeting on Friday, aired live on Russia 24. "I'm receptive to your wish to transfer to another area of activity," the president said.
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Info

Russia welcomes Turkey's readiness to discuss joint action against IS


ITAR-TASS
Fri, 12 Aug 2016 12:19 UTC
Mevlut Cavusoglu
© REUTERS/ Umit Bektas
Moscow welcomes the statement by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu who said Turkey was ready to discuss joint action with Russia against Islamic State (a terrorist group banned in Russia), Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Tass on Thursday.

"Of course, we welcome it," the diplomat said commenting on Cavusoglu's statement earlier on Thursday. "We have always proposed consolidating our efforts in fight against Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra (also banned in Russia) not only to Americans, but to all others, in the region and outside it," Bogdanov added.

"Of course, Turkey is a very important partner, and if they tend to fell this way, we can only welcome what Cavusoglu says," he said. "I think this is the result of contacts we had with our Turkish partners at the summit level and at other levels," the diplomat said.

"I think this is a very important statement," said Bogdanov, who is also Russian president's special envoy for the Middle East and Africa.

Comment: Hopefully this means Turkey can stop the flow of militants and arms supplying the terrorists in and out of Turkey.

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Quenelle - Golden

Putin: Ukraine's failed terror attack against Crimea part of a 'very dangerous game' that Russia 'will not let pass'

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Thu, 11 Aug 2016 12:18 UTC
putin
© Aleksey Nikolskyi / Sputnik
Unlike the majority of western leaders, Vladimir Putin means what he says, and says what he means.

Ukraine has been caught red handed trying to organize a terrorist attack in Crimea, which is a terrorist attack against Russia.

While western mainstream media is in damage control mode trying to call Russia's proof of Ukraine's attack as nothing more than fantasy. The fact is that the Russian Federation would never level such claims unless it's evidence was rock solid. And it is rock solid, with the ringleader Yevgeny Panov, a resident of Ukraine's Zaporozhye, captured and undergoing interrogation at this very moment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the attack and called out Ukraine's "President" Poroshenko for what he really is, a US puppet, as well as warning the US and EU that Russia "will not let such things pass".

Unlike the majority of western leaders, Vladimir Putin means what he says, and says what he means (Video below).

Comment: Whether or not these attacks were purposefully timed with US elections in mind, the author is certainly right about this: the Western media & Poroshenko will spin these attacks into yet another fantasy that 'Russia is attacking Ukraine'. The State Department has already stated that Russia is largely responsible for 'escalating tensions' due to their 'rhetoric' following Ukraine's reckless and dangerous attack.

Further reading:

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Quenelle

Outclassed again: Why Russia refuses to slip into Kiev's trap

Eduard Popov; Translated by J. Arnoldski
Fort Russ
Fri, 12 Aug 2016 11:31 UTC
Putin
A few hours ago, a meeting of the UN Security Council, urgently convened in connection to Ukraine's saboteur attacks on the territory of Russian Crimea, came to a close. The session was convened on Ukraine's initiative, which is something of a strange incident. Usually, the injured side is the one to initiate such a meeting. In this case, the offended party is Russia, two of whose officers were killed at the hands of Ukrainian terrorists. Either Ukrainian diplomats turned out to be more agile than the Russians, or the convening of the UN Security Council session was merely a debriefing session. In my opinion, the second version appears to be more relevant. It is of even greater importance that the session was a closed one, which gives rise to even more anxiety.

As Russia's permanent UN representative, Vitaly Churkin, stated, the meeting was useful for Russia insofar as it offered the opportunity to convey to other countries comprehensive information on the incident in Crimea. At the same time, the diplomat did not limit himself to merely informing his foreign colleagues about the Crimean incident, but also brought forth the Russian point of view on events in Donbass. Churkin advised the Ukrainian government to cease the conflict in Donbass and "stop shelling civilians."

Currently known information on the UN Security Council meeting is quite limited. Nevertheless, some conclusions can be drawn and some previously made predications can be reinforced.

Comment: Further reading:

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