Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

The U.S. empire's human sacrifice in Yemen


Dan Sanchez
Tue, 05 Apr 2016 00:00 UTC
Starving children Yemen
Udai Faisal, a baby born in Yemen who died of starvation because of US/Saudi imperial designs.

Is America the World's Worst Girlfriend?

Stand-up comic Louis CK recently did this bit where he characterized America as "the world's worst girlfriend":
"America is like a terrible girlfriend to the rest of the world. If someone hurts America, she remembers it forever. But if she does anything bad, she's like: 'Whaaatt? I didn't do anything!' America, why do you keep bombing those people in Yemen? 'Because nine-eleven, okay. Nine-eleven. So shut up!'"
The bit is really funny and perceptive. But in actuality, the average American would respond with, "We're bombing Yemen? What's Yemen?" While the average American foreign policy official wouldn't cite 9/11, but would feign innocence. "We're not! That war belongs to Saudi Arabia. Whaaatt? I didn't do anything!"

These veils of ignorance and deception parted ever so slightly recently, when, after a whole year, the war on Yemen finally received some major coverage in the mainstream media. A March 29 Associated Press "Big Story" exposed mainstream readers to the war's horrific human toll. The article, titled "An infant's 5-month life points to hunger's spread in Yemen," frames the story by delving into one of the war's innumerable tragedies.

Comment: Art imitates life:



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Gold Bar

Why are Russia and China buying gold at a fever pace?

F. William Engdahl
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 30 Mar 2016 23:31 UTC
gold
Gold is one of the most fascinating of all rare metals. Throughout all history it has been given a special, at times sacred or spiritual value, since six thousand years ago when the Egyptian Pharoahs' tombs were filled with it to accompany the dead on their journey. In times of world financial crisis as in the 1930's, gold is preferred by central banks and ordinary citizens as a store of value when paper money loses value. We are approaching another of those times when the accumulated paper debt of the dollar system is debasing the worth of paper dollars. What's highly significant in this light is to see which central banks are buying all the gold they can get.

The dollar today is no longer backed by gold. That has been so since Nixon unilaterally abrogated the 1944 Bretton Woods Treaty and took the dollar off its statutory gold backing to float free in August, 1971. He did so at the insistence of then Under Treasury Secretary Paul Volcker and Volcker's patron, David Rockefeller at Chase Manhattan Bank. Nixon took that desperate measure, simply said, because the Federal Reserve vaults of reserve gold were disappearing as France, Germany and other trading partners of the United States demanded gold in exchange for their accumulated trade dollars, as was allowed under the Bretton Woods rules.
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Bad Guys

NATO commander admits Putin created potent military force in Russia


Sputnik
Tue, 05 Apr 2016 23:27 UTC
General Breedlove
© AP Photo/ Virginia Mayo
According to Gen. Philip Breedlove, Vladimir Putin's efforts have allowed Moscow to create a potent military force in the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts have allowed Moscow to create a potent military force in the country, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Philip Breedlove said.

"I look at the capabilities and the capacities that Mr. Putin is creating in his military force... As you know he has been investing strongly now in his military for over five years. He has created a very potent land force. You have seen his air forces in Syria recently and he has exercised that and he has also got into the long-range precision strike capabilities both from his ships and his submarines," Breedlove told the Estonian ETV television channel on Monday.

Russia is currently implementing a large-scale rearmament program, announced in 2010, to modernize 70-percent of its military hardware by 2020. The total modernization program cost is estimated to reach about 20 trillion rubles (some $291 billion at current exchange rates).
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Apple Red

U.S. admits Russia is right: the Syrian people should decide who governs them


RT
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 23:16 UTC
Assad West dishonest
© SANA / ReutersSyria's President Bashar al-Assad
Washington seems to agree with Russia that the Syrian people should decide whether President Bashar Assad remains in power. During a briefing, US State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said it is up to the Syrian people to decide the future government.

Russia has been pushing the notion for years that the only people who should decide President Assad's future are the Syrian people themselves. Now it seems as if Washington may have changed its tune, having originally been unwilling to accept any idea of Assad staying in power, regardless of the wishes of the Syrian population.

"We believe that a political process that reflects the desires and will of the Syrian people is what should ultimately decide the future leadership and the future government of Syria," Toner said during a briefing on Monday.

He also agreed that there has been an increased amount of cooperation between Washington and Moscow regarding Syria.
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USA

Amnesty International: U.S. among top executioners surpassed only by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan


RT
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 11:26 UTC
Electric chair
© Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune/Reuters
With 28 killings in 2015, the US is the only country in the Americas and among OSCE members to be on the list of top executioners published by Amnesty International, coming right after Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan.

At least 1,634 people were put to death in 25 countries in 2015, Amnesty International said. Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan account for nearly 90 percent of those.

The US, it appears, had more executions than Iraq last year - 28 in six states: Texas (13), Missouri (6), Georgia (5), Florida (2), Oklahoma (1) and Virginia (1).

Last year, at least 2,851 people were under sentence of death in America, including 746 in California, 389 in Florida, 250 in Texas, 185 in Alabama and 181 in Pennsylvania, according to the report.

"While the 2015 figure was the lowest number of executions recorded in a single year since 1991, the decrease was in part linked to legal challenges that resulted in the revision of lethal injection protocols or problems faced by states in obtaining lethal injection chemicals," the human rights watchdog explained.

Thirty-two US states still retain the death sentence. Texas carried out almost half of all executions in 2015.

The state of Virginia carried out its first execution since 2013, while two states - Arizona and Ohio - had to put executions on hold because of issues concerning lethal injections.

"The USA continued to use the death penalty in ways that contravene international law and standards, including on people with mental and intellectual disabilities," Amnesty said in its annual report on the use of capital punishment.

Amnesty cited the case of Warren Hill, who was executed by the state of Georgia despite the fact that all experts who had assessed him, including those provided by the state, agreed that he had an intellectual disability. "His execution amounted to the arbitrary deprivation of life in violation of Article 6 of the ICCPR [the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights], to which the USA is a state party," Amnesty said.
Kill chart
© amnesty.org
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Arrow Down

Western states veto Kurdish participation in Syrian peace talks


RT
Tue, 05 Apr 2016 23:34 UTC
Churkin
© www.rt.comVitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative (Ambassador) of the Russian Federation to the UN
Russia's proposal to include Kurds in Geneva Syrian talks was vetoed by the UN Security Council's Western members, UN envoy Vitaly Churkin reported, saying this contradicts UN resolutions on Syrian reconciliation and ignores calls for inclusive talks.

Churkin warned that if the Syrian Kurds do not participate in the peace process, international efforts to bring peace to Syria could be undermined. "We are concerned that the Syrian Kurds, historically woven into the social fabric of the country, still have not been invited to the Geneva talks," he said, pointing out that by not inviting the Kurds, the West is violating the spirit of inclusiveness for the Syrian talks in the UN Security Council resolutions on Syria. The diplomat also slammed the actions of the non-permanent member Ukraine, whose opposition to the Russian draft "added its destructive share" to the final decision.

The UN's blocking of the participation of the Syrian Kurds in peace talks has been made "in order to please several regional players," the Russian Foreign Ministry has said. "This stance can't but provoke deep regret, all the more because it is at odds with the decisions of the International Syria Support Group and the UN Security Council resolution 2254," a statement from the ministry read. "It is evident that this has been done to please some of the regional players, for which ambitions are more important than the real stabilization of the situation in Syria," the statement added.

Russia will "insist on Kurdish participation in the next round of the Syrian talks," and this participation is essential, the Russian side believes.

Comment: Looks like the Western cabal wouldn't know the right side of this issue if it was labeled "The Right Side of This Issue." The wisdom of those who spoke out in favor of the Kurds being a part of the talks should have carried the day.

See also:

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Document

Panama Papers response: Putin to declassify documents that bear some "very interesting names"


Fort Russ
Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:03 UTC
Putin at desk
Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ.

You brought it upon yourselves.

Yesterday's Panamanian crib notes immediately received a fitting answer. Guys who are receiving grants from Soros Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, their owners, and other interested parties were thinking that they were taking part in a hunt for the beast. Well, well. This time they were made to play ping-pong, but they didn't even notice it. So naive are they... They scattered the documents around 80 countries and 400 paid journalists to deducted names and addresses. Well, at least one of them was from the CBP (Foreign Intelligence Service) and a couple hundred from the GRU...And they've got their punishment, not them, of course, but their owners.

The Russian President said that he has decided to declassify many archival documents, and that he will sign the decree today. And it was signed. Here.

And he quietly added: "This, as far as I know, according to the information from archive agencies, concerns the period from 1930 to 1989. In these documents there are cases, excuse me, of snitches as well as the innocently repressed, with very interesting names, some documents will surprise society..."

In fact, what is happening is a test for society and the President. He passed an exam for the "leader of the nation", and society - for the "superpower". I have no doubt, personally, of the result. And also no doubt on the number of political cadavers that will appear soon in stupid Europe, which thought that she was taking part in the hunt for the beast, whilst the ambush was prepared for her.

Comment: Well this should be interesting.

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Jet1

Syrian Army about to open the fires of hell on al-Qaeda in Aleppo

Ziad Fadel
Syrian Perspective
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 17:53 UTC
Al-Shaykh Maqsood
Al-Shaykh Maqsood

Comment: In the last two days, more towns and militia groups have joined on to the Syrian truce; the total is now 58 towns and 47 armed groups. Yesterday, Russian specialists defused 158 explosives; today, 152. In the last two weeks, 26 civilians were killed and 38 wounded in the city of Aleppo and its suburbs.


This is it. This is the end. My sources in Aleppo tell me it is going to be the end of the rats in the province. I can confirm that thousands of troops are pouring into the area southwest of the city with a variety of soldiers some of them wearing the insignia of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hizbollah, Russia and even Chechnya. Putin and Khamenei have made the decision that the cease fire will not produce any results until the Turk-British-supported rodents are driven out of all Syria. This was a decision made during the last 7 days as it became clear Nusra/Alqaeda was making preparations to retake Highway 5 at Tal Al-'Ays by bringing forward large numbers of trucks, armored cars, pickups with 23mm cannons, various calibers of artillery and newly-acquired anti-aircraft missiles obtained from Saudi Arabia and manufactured in the United States and France. The joint operation is called "OPERATION FIRE FROM HELL". It will begin in less than 24 hours and my source tells me that thousands of citizens are leaving homes in areas controlled by the terrorists because they know the devastation will be complete.

Comment: International Military Review - Syria, Apr. 6



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Jet5

Russia's T-50 stealth jet able to penetrate enemy territory


Sputnik
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 17:57 UTC
T-50 fighter
© SPUTNIK/ MAKSIM BLINOVA T-50 fighter performs demonstration flight during the International Aerospace Salon (MAKS 2015) in Zhukovsky near Moscow
Russia's fifth generation T-50 fighter jet is a multi-role plane capable of resolving an array of special tactical tasks, according to Givi Dzhandzhgava, head of the Ramenskoye Instrument Design Bureau.

In an interview with the Russian network Zvezda, Givi Dzhandzhgava, head and chief designer of the Ramenskoye Instrument Design Bureau, touted the Russian fifth generation T-50 fighter jet, also known as the PAK FA, as a sophisticated plane capable of solving a whole array of special tasks.

"PAK FA is a multi-purpose aircraft, which can, in addition to winning air superiority, solve a spate of tactical tasks. Thanks to its stealth characteristics, the T-50 will be able to penetrate deep into the enemy territory and conduct pinpoint strikes," Dzhandzhgava said.

Asked about feasibility of the PAK FA being armed with cruise missiles, he said that "sometimes it is necessary to destroy a target during subsequent strikes rather than the first one, something that you will be unable to fulfill with help of a cruise missile."
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Георгиевская ленточка

Austrian military ready to cooperate with Russia


Sputnik
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 17:51 UTC
Austrian armed forces
© Flickr/ 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command
Chief of the General Staff of the Austrian Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Othmar Commenda said that Russia for Austria is much closer than other great powers.

The Austrian Armed Forces are ready to develop cooperation with Russia, despite recommendations of other world powers, the Chief of the General Staff of the Austrian Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Othmar Commenda said Wednesday.

Commenda arrived in Moscow on Tuesday with the high-level Austrian delegation led by President Heinz Fischer.

"I'm not going to follow the guidance and obey someone's orders with whom to communicate and do not communicate. It is the reason why I wanted to visit you," Commenda told the head of Russia's General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, expressing gratitude for the invitation to visit Russia.
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