Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Snakes in suits: Airbnb rents illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land; ReMax sells them

Ben Norton
Salon
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 17:00 UTC
West Bank, Palestine
© Reuters/Mohamad Torokman
U.S.-based corporations like Airbnb and RE/MAX make money from illegal Israeli settlements in occupied territory

Housing rental giant Airbnb profits off of illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, Al Jazeera revealed in a new report.

The website lists segregated settlements in the occupied West Bank as if they were in Israel. In reality, these settlements were built in direct violation of international law, and are not legally considered part of the country.

Airbnb, which is headquarted in California, is popular in Israel, and growing. Settlers host lavish rooms for hundreds of U.S. dollars per night. Yet the website never informs potential customers that these are illegal properties, nor does it mention that, were clients to rent a room, they would have to travel through Israeli military checkpoints.

The U.S.-based company has previously been criticized for pushing up the cost of rent, "greasing the wheels of gentrification" and "hastening the breakup of working-class neighborhoods." New media reports show that Airbnb may also be facilitating Israel's illegal colonization of Palestinian land.

There are more than 350,000 Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. At least 300,000 more are in East Jerusalem, which is considered part of the occupied West Bank by the international community. This number has constantly increased in the past decades.

The Fourth Geneva Convention, establishing the international rules of law after World War II, explicitly prohibits the transfer of the population of an occupying power into the territories it occupies. Husam Zomlot, Palestine's ambassador at large, blasted the company for its profiteering. "It's not only controversial, it's illegal and criminal," he told Al Jazeera. "This website is promoting stolen property and land. There will come a time when companies like this, who profit from the occupation, will be taken to court."

Comment: Taking Israel to court (or The Hague) for their crimes is a great idea on paper. Hopefully, action will follow. One would hope that Palestine has suffered enough under Israel's brutal occupation and that it was time they were accountable. One would also hope that it's time for doing, not strong, yet meaningless words by people with important titles.

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Eye 1

The sorry state of the US (in deed)

Bill Holter
JS MineSet
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 21:00 UTC
Putin
What a tangled web the global geopolitical situation has become. Geopolitics and finance have always been interrelated but recently much more so. As many readers know, I have speculated we would be hit over the head with a "truth bomb" from the East and most likely from Mr. Putin himself. Just this week Britain has alleged Mr. Putin personally ordered a "hit" on an ex KGB agent for calling him a pedophile http://nypost.com/2016/01/21/murdered-ex-spy-accused-putin-of-pedophilia/. Another story came out that Turkey shot down a NATO helicopter which made no press coverage at all in the West. Also, Victoria Nuland recently travelled to Russia and was refused an audience by Mr. Putin. This, after John Kerry had a meeting where he went into it saying "Assad must go" and came out saying Mr. Assad can stay ... Why all of this now? I would simply say this reeks of desperation and also a VERY dangerous strategy to attack Mr. Putin personally. I say "dangerous" because it raises the likelihood of a response from him. Can you imagine the outrage were Russia to accuse president Obama or the Prime Minister Cameron of Britain for ordering the murder of someone who called them a pedophile?

Comment: Thank you Bill, for another succinct summary of our collective state and where we are likely going.

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Quenelle - Golden

Flashback Best of the Web: Litvinenko's father: 'The British duped me - Putin did NOT kill my son'


RT
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:51 UTC
litvinenko
Valter Litvinenko (right) now realizes he was completely duped by the British government and the Russian mafia
The father of late Russian security officer Aleksandr Litvinenko says he pursued a smear campaign against the Russian government out of grief, but changed his mind after Aleksandr's widow revealed his son had been working for British intelligence.

After his son died in London from radioactive polonium poisoning in November 2006, Walter Litvinenko was among those who accused Russia of assassinating Aleksandr.

But he changed his attitude after his son's widow Marina revealed that he had been working for British intelligence.

"If I knew back then that my son worked for the MI6, I would not speculate about his death. It would be none of my business. Although I am not 100 per cent sure he did work for them," he said in an interview with RT.


Comment: Litvinenko did work for the Brits, and the reason they let that information come out was because they wanted to bolster their case for Putin being behind his murder.

But to understand the real British spy mentality, and not the James Bond one, you have to understand that that actually makes it more likely that Litvinenko was killed by the Brits in order to make it look like Putin did it.

Remember folks, this case goes back to 2006. Even then, at least some among the Western oligarchs knew that Putin was a serious threat to their plans, and that the only way they could get to him was via asymmetric warfare...

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Quenelle

Flashback Best of the Web: Maxim Litvinenko: 'Western intelligence killed my brother to turn public opinion against Putin'

Robert Verkaik and Hannah Roberts
Daily Mail UK
Sat, 26 Jul 2014 21:32 UTC
Litvinenko
© EPAMaxim Litvinenko, left, with his brother Alexander
The widow of murdered Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has described as 'lies' extraordinary new claims by his brother that the assassination was the work not of Russian agents but British intelligence.

Alexander Litvinenko died of radiation poisoning in 2006 three weeks after ingesting polonium in a London hotel. His death triggered an international murder investigation implicating Russian president Vladimir Putin and naming two former KGB officers.

The murder is to be the subject of a public inquiry, announced by Theresa May earlier this week.

But in an intervention which has outraged the Litvinenko family, the spy's younger brother, Maxim, claims British agents were responsible.

His allegations are a dramatic U-turn from his original reaction, when he blamed Putin's Russia.

Comment: British intelligence, and/or the 'masters of the universe' who work through British intelligence, created this lie about Putin ordering a hit on Litvinenko in order to demonize him. And boy, have they gotten some serious mileage out of it.

See also: Litvinenko's father: 'The British duped me - Putin did NOT kill my son'

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Stock Up

China's economic growth reached 6.9% for 2015


The BRICS Post
Tue, 19 Jan 2016 19:41 UTC
china economy yen
China's economy grew 6.9 per cent year on year in 2015, the slowest annual expansion in a quarter of a century, but it is still in line with the official target, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday. Growth in the fourth quarter came in at 6.8 per cent year on year, the lowest quarterly rate since the global financial crisis, the data showed.

The Chinese government targeted an annual economic growth of around 7 per cent for 2015. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 67.67 trillion yuan (about $10.3 trillion) in 2015, with the service sector accounting for 50.5 per cent, the first time the ratio exceeded 50 per cent, according to the NBS. China's economy still "ran within a reasonable range" in 2015, with its structure further optimized, upgrading accelerated, new growth drivers strengthened and people's lives improved, NBS chief Wang Baoan told a press conference in Beijing.

However, the country faces a daunting task in deepening reforms on all fronts and needs to step up supply-side structural reforms, he said. Major economic indicators softened in 2015, with industrial output growth slowing to 6.1 per cent year on year from 8.3 per cent in 2014, NBS figures showed.

Comment: While Chinese economic growth for 2015 was the slowest it's been in 25 years, it's worth noting that it remains in a better position than Western countries under the thumb of the Unites States, which is expected to see average growth of somewhere around 2.5% for last year.

China has been working on releasing itself from the influence of the collapsing US economy, and that takes time and resources to implement. China understands that it is not just a matter of becoming untangled from the US, but that there needs to be an alternative global economic community that will be able to withstand a US collapse. Of course this is all lost on Western commentators because they are lost in the delusions of their own wishful thinking.

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Radar

Turkey in panic mode over the alleged presence of Russian engineers on Syrian border


Sputnik
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 19:56 UTC
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© REUTERS/ Christian Hartmann
Amid rising tensions between Ankara and Moscow, Turkish President Erdogan has expressed concern over the alleged presence of Russian engineers near the country's Syrian border.

The Turkish government has expressed alarm over Russia's air campaign in Syria since it began last September. Along its Syrian border zone, Turkey has dug defense trenches and increased security forces, despite the fact that Moscow has repeatedly stated its goal is to combat terrorist groups in Syria.

On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed new levels of panic, sounding the alarm over the alleged presence of Russian inspectors at an airport near the Turkish border.

"We have said this from the beginning: we won't tolerate such formations (in northern Syria) along the area stretching from the Iraqi border up to the Mediterranean," he told reporters. "We maintain our sensitivities on these issues."

Comment: Erdogan is going to run crying to the US: 'Look how Russia is bullying us"!

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Heart

China pledges millions in aid and billions in loans to Middle East in support of peace


The BRICS Post
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 18:57 UTC
President Xi
© XinhuaChinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 21, 2016
The Chinese government has decided to pledge 50 million yuan ($7.53 million) to help improve the lives of besieged Palestinians and 230 million yuan ($35 million) for the violence-hit countries Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen as humanitarian assistance, Chinese President Xi announced in Egypt. The aid to Palestine will support a solar power station project in its territories. Xi also reiterated the BRICS position on Palestinian statehood.
"China firmly supports the Middle East peace process and supports the establishment of a State of Palestine enjoying full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital," Xi told the Arab League's delegates at their headquarters in Cairo.
Along with the rest of the West Bank, Israeli forces occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 war. Xi also stressed that the Palestinian issue should not "fall into oblivion" as it is of fundamental importance to peace in the Middle East.
"Maintaining the legitimate interests of the Palestinian people is the responsibility of the Arab League as well as the international community," Xi said.

Comment: China is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to forming new partnerships and a multipolar global reality. It's no wonder they are demonized by the United States for this type of effort would undo all the divisive work the US has been seeking to achieve for decades.

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Yoda

The coming collapse of the Islamic State?

Alexander Mercouris
Sputnik
Tue, 19 Jan 2016 16:26 UTC
Islamic State
It will take a little time but the Islamic State is approaching its end. The Islamic State(also known as Daesh) is the bastard child of the US's drive to achieve regime change in Syria. To that end the US and its allies instigated an armed insurrection against the Syrian government.

Though protests — many of them violent — began in 2011, it was in 2012 — after the Geneva Peace Conference — which the US wrecked by insisting President Assad stand down — that the major fighting began, with a rebel offensive against Syria's two biggest cities: Aleppo and Damascus. The offensive failed. The Syrian government survived, retaining control of Damascus and half of Aleppo. Defending these cities and the populated coastal core of Syria however forced the Syrian army to withdraw from large areas of Syrian territory, most of them desert.

In 2013 the military balance shifted back to the Syrian government. The US response was to try to use a chemical attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta as a pretext to bomb Syria. When that failed because of strong opposition from Russia and US public opinion it stepped up support for the insurgency.

Comment: The United States of ISIS is being defeated on many fronts, however, their continued survival does depend on the resources and machinations of US power structures. At the moment those resources appear to be nearly limitless, but they are also based on the world's continued exploitation and submission. It may only be a matter of time until this system collapses in on itself, and until that time comes we can expect more of the same in different forms. For example, the battle for Afghanistan and Libya is being revived to former levels as these rats seek new backdrops to 'survive'. This disease spreads as many in the world are turning against Muslims - the foremost victims of this Western-created terror.

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Arrow Down

Fascism 2.0: Denmark plans to put refugees in 'special camps' outside cities


RT
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 16:13 UTC
Refugees in Denmark
© Marko Djurica / Reuters
Danish MPs have forced the government into looking at ways of resettling refugees in camps outside cities. The move comes as lawmakers finalize a bill aimed at confiscating refugees' cash and belongings with a combined value of over $1,450. The resolution, passed in the Danish parliament on Thursday, binds the government to come up with a plan to build state-backed villages outside of cities by March, according to Reuters. At the moment, the majority of refugee families live in cities, but a number of tent camps have already been erected for single male migrants.

Migrants already living in such camps have voiced concerns that the new proposal - aimed at relieving the pressure on cities and towns that are running out of accommodation capacity - may in the end create ghettos. "We come from a land of death and destruction. During our trip to Europe, we buried our friends in the Sahara sand and watched them drown in the Mediterranean. We just want peace, a good life and to be a part of the Danes," Abrahim Tekle, 28, from Eritrea, told Ekstra Bladet daily. "Isolating us in refugee villages, with no proper contact with Danes, poor opportunities to learn Danish and get a job, will have major consequences," his friend Fitwi also told the newspaper.

Comment: The refugee situation continues to resemble the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. Look at what Washington has created by fighting a multi-dimensional global war on several fronts, using Jihadists and continuing to violate the principles of modern international law and the United Nations Charter:
Europe continues to face its biggest migrant crisis since 1945, with the numbers of asylum seekers expected to increase this year. More than 1 million refugees entered Europe in 2015, most of them from Syria, where a civil war has taken the lives of 250,000 people and displaced 12 million since 2011, according to UN figures.
See also:

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Attention

France and Germany in panic over 'end of Europe' with only months to resolve the crises


Sputnik
Fri, 22 Jan 2016 15:32 UTC
Hollande and Merkel
© AFP 2016/ Tobias Schwartz
When the French Prime Minister starts talking of the "end of Europe" and Germany announces indefinite border controls amid the growing refugee crisis - it is time to get concerned. The crisis is not new, so why the sudden panic?

The answer lies in the fact that next year - 2017 - the French will go to the polls to elect its president and Germany votes-in a new Bundestag. With the European refugee crisis showing no signs of abating, both French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel know they have only a few months to get the situation under control or they will be the losers.

Comment: So Merkel and Hollande better wake up and start cooperating with Russia to help resolve the Daesh problem and improve their economic outlook. Following the US dictates will only lead to an EU breakup.

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