Puppet MastersS


Briefcase

Exiled whistleblower Snowden's anti-extradition lawsuit dismissed by Norwegian court


RT
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 17:42 UTC
snowden norwegian extradition lawsuit
© Andrew Kelly / ReutersAmerican whistleblower Edward Snowden
An Oslo court has dismissed an extradition suit filed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's lawyers against the Norwegian government.

Snowden's lawsuit was filed in April to ensure that he could travel to Norway to accept the Ossietzky Award, presented annually in recognition of the defense of free speech, without fear of extradition to the US.

The US authorities have already indicated their intention to make an extradition request should the former NSA analyst, who exposed the extensive US mass surveillance programme, PRISM, come to Norway, so he can face espionage charges.

Oslo district court confirmed Monday that it was dismissing the suit. Snowden was also ordered to pay 7,000 Norwegian crowns ($823.64) to the government to cover legal expenses as part of the verdict, according to Reuters.

Comment: Allowing Snowden to receive an award for freedom of speech would be a huge PR setback for the Obama administration. It would call into question the conviction of Chelsea Manning, and the persecution of others who have attempted to expose the Empires' crimes.

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Blackbox

What now? Britain after the Brexit vote lacks any sort of leadership

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Sun, 26 Jun 2016 16:40 UTC
brexit vote
© Reuters
A British political class that has lost its legitimacy, is drifting with no plan of what to do.

There is something of a whiff of 1789 in the mood in Britain today.

The people have voted, the pro-EU liberal centre where Britain's political class is located has discovered to its horror that the people have rejected it (decisively so in England outside London), but there is no clear sense of where things are going.

I get the strong sense that several of the leaders of the Leave campaign did not expect to win and were using the campaign more to gain leverage within the Conservative party than because they believed in the cause. Now that to their amazement they have won they don't know what to do with their victory.

The result is that though Prime Minister Cameron has announced he is going, he will be there until October in part because there is no-one strong enough or determined enough to take over from him. This despite the fact that at an existential moment in the country's history the situation cries out for strong and decisive leadership, which cannot be provided by a discredited Prime Minister who has been rejected by the people.
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Handcuffs

Doing Russia a favor? Turkey reopens investigation into Turkish terrorist who led group responsible for killing Russian pilot


RT
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 16:41 UTC
celik
© FacebookKomutan Alparslan ÇELİK
An investigation has been reopened into the main suspect in the death of the Russian pilot shot down by Turkey over Syria in November. The probe's new focus is the death of a member of the rescue team that tried to save the crew of the downed jet.

The information comes from the Chief Prosecutor's Office in Izmir, Turkey, as cited by Hurriyet Daily news.

The first court hearing took place Monday, and a travel ban was imposed on the suspect, Alparslan Celik, till the end of the trial.

In May, prosecutors dropped the charges against Celik, who boasted last November of shooting down the pilot of a Russian Su-24 along with his fellow Turkmen fighters. Celik later retracted his words.

Comment: Like Celik's lawyer is quoted saying above, this is puzzling, but only somewhat. Celik was one of Turkey's proxy terrorists in Syria. If he didn't personally kill Peshkov, he was still responsible to some degree. But since Russian-Turkish relations were sour, he was cleared of any charges. Now that Turkey is asking for a re-set in relations with Russia (to go along with their re-set of relations with Israel), Celik is expendable in order to make that happen. Since he has already been cleared of charges regarding the pilot, they are now focusing on the other Russian service member who died in the rescue operation.

Take note, mercenaries: like Celik, your paymasters have no qualms about turning on you and using you for their own ends after you've served your purpose.

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Attention

A little piece of hell freezes over: Erdogan apologizes to Putin for murdering Russian pilot, calls Russia 'friend, strategic partner'

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 15:35 UTC
erdogan
© AFP 2016/ ADEM ALTAN
Erdogan said that Turkey "shares the pain of downed Su-24 pilot's death with his family" and sees it as Turkey's pain.

Turkey's President Erdogan "is sorry" for shooting down a Russian SU-25 and killing its pilot. Just in time for the tourist season.

President Erdogan said he is willing to deal with the crisis in relations between Russia and Turkey. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Erdogan said that Turkey...
"shares the pain of downed Su-24 pilot's death with his family" and "sees it as Turkey's pain"
It's no secret that Turkey's economy has been beaten and battered by Russia's sanction, especially in the tourism sector where Turkish hotels (once the primary destination for Russian summer travellers) remain completely abandoned and empty.

Comment: Erdogan emphasized, "We never had the desire and intention to shoot down the aircraft of the Russian Federation." This, of course, totally contradicts what Turkey has been saying ever since the shoot-down. The Kremlin has published a note on the letter, which adds:
Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his deep regret over the incident and underlines the willingness to do everything possible to restore the traditionally friendly relations between Turkey and Russia, as well as jointly respond to crisis events in the region to fight terrorism.
RT adds:
Ankara has treated the family of the dead Russian pilot as if it were a Turkish family and is "ready for any initiatives to relieve the pain and severity of the damage done," the letter said.
...
From the start, the Kremlin made it clear that restoration of normal relations with Turkey would be impossible without Ankara apologizing and paying compensation to the pilot's family.

The news of Erdogan's apology had a positive effect on Turkey's currency. The Turkish lira rallied to 2.9330 from 2.9430 against the US dollar, Reuters reported.
Coincidentally, this comes just as Turkey has re-established relations with Israel.

But of course, if we are to cut to the chase, the real reason for this little event is plain for all to see:

Gazprom ready to restart Turkish Stream dialogue after Erdogan apology


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Chess

Ukrainians cooling to idea of joining the EU: 'They don't need us'


Fort Russ
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 16:02 UTC
Ukraine EU citizens
Many Ukrainians are already talking about the fact that the EU does not need Ukraine. The number of people dissatisfied with the European Union is increasing every day.

Today the political elite continue to actively discuss the question of what will happen to Ukraine and how it will be affected by the outcome of the will of the British people.

Many are sounding that the EU will never take Ukraine in its composition, so as to solve their internal problems, in order not to disintegrate completely. And Ukrainians should not think about the visa-free regime in the near future. As it turns out, the sounds are not groundless.

Comment: Ordinary Ukrainians may be slowly awakening to the fact that their corrupt leaders have sold them out in service to the Empire. The welfare of Ukraine was never a concern. The goal has always been to damage Russia in any way possible. In this case creating an economic basket-case accompanied by a civil war, right on Russia's doorstep.

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Snakes in Suits

Great Lakes water wars have begun - U.S. officials approve drawing 30 million liters per day

Joe Battaglia
Prevent Disease
Sat, 25 Jun 2016 16:04 UTC
water wars
A group of eight U.S. officials have voted to allow a Wisconsin-based region to begin drawing 30 million liters of water a day from lake Michigan for drinking water. A Canadian Mayor has spoken out on the recently-approved plan calling the recent decision "the end of the Great Lakes as we know them."

Last year, the city of Waukesha in Wisconsin had asked the Great Lake states for permission to divert water from Lake Michigan because its own aquifer is running low and the water is contaminated with high levels of naturally occurring cancer-causing radium.
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Network

The Empire prepping for war: Next "Russian government cyber attack" may be a Gulf of Tonkin fake


Moon of Alabama
Thu, 16 Jun 2016 15:27 UTC
hackers
© Kacper Pempel / Reuters
Yesterday the Washington Post published a piece that smelled of bullshit from the first line to the last:

Russian government hackers penetrated DNC, stole opposition research on Trump.
Russian government hackers penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee and gained access to the entire database of opposition research on GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to committee officials and security experts who responded to the breach.
...
The intrusion into the DNC was one of several targeting American political organizations. The networks of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were also targeted by Russian spies, as were the computers of some Republican political action committees, U.S. officials said. But details on those cases were not available.
...
Some of the hackers had access to the DNC network for about a year, but all were expelled over the past weekend in a major computer cleanup campaign, the committee officials and experts said.
Why the f*** would Russia want to steal oppo research about Trump when it can read such in Politico and the Washington Post every day? Why start A YEAR AGO to hack something for Trump data? Who would have thought A YEAR AGO that Trump would be relevant? This was obvious nonsense. But some snakeoil salesmen convinced the Washington Post know-nothing reporter and the DNC that it all must be true:
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Blackbox

The Jordan weapons-smuggling story makes no sense - Is U.S. sending Jordan a message?


Moon of Alabama
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 15:20 UTC
jordan
© Muhammad Hamed/ReutersA deadly car bomb killed 6 Jordanian soldiers near the border with Syria. The vehicle had been provided to Syrian rebels. ISIS claimed responsibility.
U.S. officials called up the New York Times. They requested to send two reporters to take down dictation. The reporters dutifully stenographed what they were told and copied it into some publishable format.

The main purpose of the story seems to be to blame the Jordan intelligence service that CIA supplied weapons for "Syrian rebels" are ending up in weapon markets and with the Islamic State.

But the officials are also giving a limited hangout, confirming some already known facts to obfuscate and hide others. The reporters never bother to explain that to their readers. They leave all major assertions unchallenged even while those contradict reports already in the public record. "Why confuse the reader with facts?" they might have thought.

Comment: More background: Jordan intel regularly 'stole' U.S. arms intended for Syrian 'rebels'

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Binoculars

Snowden on Russia's anti-terror bill: 'Mass surveillance doesn't work'


RT
Sat, 25 Jun 2016 21:07 UTC
1010eyes
© www.torn-republic.com
Whistleblower Edward Snowden has criticized Russia's new anti-terrorist legislation draft that's related to communications security. He stressed that the bill endangers liberty "without improving security."

The former CIA employee, now residing in Russia as a temporary asylum holder, spoke against the legislation, which is part of a package of anti-terrorism bills prepared by a group of lawmakers headed by Chair of the State Duma Committee for Security Irina Yarovaya. Having called it a "Big Brother law," Snowden tweeted that it's "an unworkable, unjustifiable violation of rights that should never be signed."

Snowden, wanted by the US for his disclosures on numerous global surveillance programs, reacted to the measures that had been approved by the Russian lower house earlier this week. The draft also obliges all communications companies, including internet providers, to retain information about data traffic on their servers for three years. Messengers and social networks must keep it for at least one year, the bill says. Actual records and messages must also be kept for six months.

The document that was first drafted as a response to the bombing of a Russian passenger plane in Egypt last year, and the terrorist attacks in Paris, also requires social media and communications companies to assist state security agencies in reading encrypted data by handing over encryption keys. Non-compliance could result in fines.

Comment: As in the US, this is a downhill slide that will pick up momentum. Enough becomes never enough.

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Gift

Jordan intel regularly 'stole' U.S. arms intended for Syrian 'rebels'


Sputnik
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 14:47 UTC
jordan
© REUTERS/ Muhammad HamedJordanian security vehicles near the GID base.
A journalist investigation has revealed that Jordanian intelligence officers kept stealing US-provided arms intended for Syrian rebels and sold them on the black market for their own profit.

A joint investigation by the New York Times and Al Jazeera revealed a messy scheme of arms theft that Jordanian intelligence service (the General Intelligence Directorate, or GID) officers used to smuggle weapons provided by the US and Saudi Arabia for Syrian rebels trained on Jordanian soil.

The CIA reportedly conducted Syrian rebel training programs for decades. One, the less effective, was intended to train Syrian fighters to fight against Daesh. This program was shut down after it reportedly managed to train only a handful of fighters. The second one, though, trained fighters to fight against Syrian government of Bashar Al-Assad. This one, reportedly, was way more effective.

Comment: Where else did these weapons go? ISIS? This whole narrative looks more like damage control. A rogue group 'stealing' weapons is a very convenient way of deflecting blame. If part of the scheme is ever revealed, it can be written off as a bunch of bad apples, when in reality the black market is being used to funnel weapons to bona fide terror groups.

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