Puppet MastersS


Stormtrooper

Russia says no proof to U.S. spy charges, just more of "anti-Russian campaign"

Image
Igor Sporyshev and Viktor Podobnyy were a case study in bumbling incompetence, according to the FBI and US prosecutors
Russia has accused the United States of having no evidence against three Russian citizens charged with spying, and says the Americans are using the charges for political purposes.

U.S. prosecutors said the defendants were directed by Russia to gather sensitive economic intelligence on potential U.S. sanctions against Russian banks and U.S. efforts to develop alternative energy resources.

One of the defendants, identified as Yevgeny Buryakov, arrested Monday in New York, is officially employed by the Manhattan branch of Vnesheconombank, a Russian state bank that was hit by U.S. sanctions last year.

The other two defendants held diplomatic positions and are believed to have returned to Russia.

"No proof to back up the charges has been presented," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Tuesday, accusing the U.S. of deciding "to launch another round in its anti-Russian campaign."

"We insist on a stop to the string of provocations against Russian representatives unleashed by U.S. secret services, and on immediate consular access to Buryakov, on the strict observance of the Russian citizen's rights and on his release," Lukashevich was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS

Comment: See also:


Syringe

Just in time! Litvinenko public inquiry begins

litvinenko
The public inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko is under way, eight years after the former KGB officer was poisoned with deadly Polonium-210 in London.

The chairman of the inquiry, Sir Robert Owen, is expected to suggest where responsibility for the act lies.

Litvinenko's widow, Marina, claims he was murdered by Russian intelligence operatives. Owen has already said there is a "prima facie" case against Russia.

Russian authorities have not allowed two suspects to be extradited to the UK and will not give evidence at the hearing. The inquiry will also not discuss the clandestine work of Litvinenko, who was on an MI6 payroll when he died.

Comment: Perfect timing to reinforce the anti-Russian mindset being constantly shoved down the West's throat in the last year. But there's more to the Litvinenko assassination than meets the eye. See:


Light Saber

The growing ties between Palestinian rights activists and U.S. racial injustice movements

Image
© Christopher Hazou/IMEUDelegates on the Dream Defenders delegation pose in front of Israel's West Bank wall, near Qalandia checkpoint.
After Black teen Trayvon Martin's 2012 death at the hands of George Zimmerman in Florida, a newly formed group called the Dream Defenders sprung into action. They marched for miles. They occupied the state capitol in Tallahassee. They pushed for legislative measures that would address racial inequality.

Today, the Dream Defenders remain focused on racism in America, and have helped lead the burgeoning #BlackLivesMatter demonstrations that have swept the nation after the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two unarmed Black men killed by the police in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City.

But the Dream Defenders have also broadened their focus in recent months by joining U.S. Palestinian rights groups in calling for an end to Israeli human rights abuses. On December 20th, they deepened their commitment to Palestinian rights by unanimously endorsing the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) call. The endorsement came during the Dream Defenders' conference in Florida.

And at the start of 2015, members of Dream Defenders, along with other groups focused on racial injustice like the Black Youth Project, went on a delegation to Palestine organized by the Institute for Middle East Understanding. The trip was meant to expose Black activists to the Israeli occupation. After returning, the participants have drawn parallels between the Black and Latino experience in the U.S. and the Palestinian experience.

The BDS endorsement by the Black and Brown-led Dream Defenders and the trip to Palestine is a sign of the growing ties between the racial justice movement and Palestinian rights activists. The groups are building on a rich history of collaboration between Black, Latino and Palestinian activists.

The growing ties between the #BlackLivesMatter movement and Palestine also comes at a time when pro-Israel groups, anxious about a changing America, are courting communities of color to bolster America's pro-Israel stance.

"It was really great to participate in a space where people immediately understood why Palestine is such an important issue and started making connections to their own histories of experiencing racism or colonialism in the Caribbean or Latin America or Africa," said Kristian Davis Bailey, who was part of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) contingent at the Dream Defenders conference.

Vader

Washington's Terror Inc. has its marks all over Libya

Image
"Human rights" or "democracy" have nothing to do with current wars of conquest except that these words are used as cover to hide institutionalized mass murder and theft. In fact, human rights and democracy are usually the first casualties of any invasion.

The "West", however, understands the value of these words to sell wars which invariably destroy "non-compliant" secular governments in favour of divisive fundamentalist regimes.

Human lives are superfluous to the overriding imperial agendas. In fact, imperial strategists prefer that target countries become internally divided, even when division exacts a huge toll in innocent lives.

It's all very illegal, but the West is not overly concerned with international sanctions. The West isn't particularly perturbed by the consequent rise of fundamentalism either, because it uses fundamentalist proxies such as al Qaeda and ISIS - or neo-Nazis - to globally implement their agendas of destruction.

The pre-planned invasion of Libya is a case in point. Prior to the invasion - ironically billed as a "humanitarian Intervention" - Libya's government, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, boasted significant achievements, including the following:
*The highest standard of living in Africa

*Human Development Index (HDI), a measure of health, education, and income, ranked above the regional average

* Free public health care, and free public education

* 89% adult literacy rate (with girls outnumbering boys by 10% in secondary and tertiary education)

* Subsidized, affordable food

* Homelessness all but wiped out

Handcuffs

3 Russians charged with spying by FBI

Image
© Reuters/Chip East
Federal prosecutors in the United States have announced charges against three Russian men who allegedly operated an international spy ring based out of New York City.

US attorneys said Monday that Evgeny Buryakov, Igor Sporyshev, and Victor Podobnyy have been charged "in connection with Buryakov's service as a covert intelligence agent on behalf of the Russian Federation." Buryakov unlawfully acted as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, the federal complaint alleges, and his co-defendants are charged with conspiracy thereof.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation says that their investigation into the three co-defendants began shortly after ten alleged Russian spies, including Anna Chapman, were arrested in 2010 following a multi-year investigation. "Within a few months" of the Russians' subsequent guilty pleas, according to this week's statement, the FBI began investigating Buryakov, Sporyshev and Podobnyy.

According to the FBI, Buryakov maintained a cover job in the US as an employee in the Manhattan office of a Russian bank, but actually worked to gather intelligence for Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, SVR. A public LinkedIn profile for a man with the same name as Buryakov suggests he may have been working as a deputy representative in the US for Russia's Vnesheconombank.
Just in: FBI arrests Russian spy in the Bronx who was part of ring attempting to collect economic intelligence & recruit #NYC residents

- FBI New York (@NewYorkFBI) January 26, 2015
Sporyshev and Podobnyy posed as a Russian trade rep and a United Nations attaché, respectively, but allegedly worked as intermediaries between Buryakov and the SVR, according to the Department of Justice.

Comment: If anyone thinks that the U.S. isn't doing the exact same things in other countries, especially Russia, and probably more, they are deluding themselves. If the U.S. wanted to stop spying, they should stop meddling so much in other countries. Also, these claims are likely to be politically motivated, since the U.S. is continually attempting to demonize Russia through propaganda. The question here is, is there any evidence that these 3 men were actually spying. The FBI can make all the claims they want to demonize Russia, but where is the proof? See also:


Dollar

Elder rape: Pat Robertson suggests 67-year old woman get reverse mortage to help pay 700 Club dues

Image
© Raw Story/screen grab
TV preacher Pat Robertson on Tuesday advised a senior citizen who was a paying member of his 700 Club teleministry that a reverse mortgage was a "good deal" if she was having trouble making ends meet.

"I have been a 700 Club partner for many years," a woman named Maria explained in an email. "I am 67 years old and still working because retirement money does not cover our basic expenses."

"I was thinking about a reverse mortgage but have my doubts," Maria wrote. "What do you think?"

Robertson pointed out that a reverse mortgage prevented the bank from taking "your house away from you as long as you are alive and living."

"You don't have to pay it off, but somebody has to pay it off, namely the United States taxpayer," Robertson continued. "So, it's not a good deal for the taxpayers, but for most people it's a pretty good deal."

The televangelist recommended that Maria speak to a financial adviser, but added that "it could be a good deal for you."

Becoming a 700 Club partner starts at $240 a year for a basic membership. A Chairman's Circle membership runs $10,000 a year.

Comment: An alleged Christian leader openly feeding on the elderly. Disgusting.


Sam Harris: Is Christian morality psychopathic?


Camcorder

Russia: Kiev's Mariupol 'spotter' confession is a fake

Mariupol
© Reuters/Nikolai RyabchenkoA car burns following a shelling in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, January 24, 2015.
An internet video reportedly showing the confession of a man saying he was a spotter in the deadly shelling of Mariupol is just another low-quality fake created by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The ministry also hinted that closer examination of the footage actually points to the fact that Ukraine forces were responsible for the bombardment.

The video was published on the internet on Sunday, one day after shelling in the eastern Ukrainian port city killed at least 30 people and left another 100 injured.

"The SBU needed 24 hours to force this story out of a man, which - as we see in the clip - is read by the detainee from a piece of paper located left to the screen," the statement by the Russian Defense Ministry said.


Comment: The NAF has a strict policy of not using artillery within a half-kilometer of residential areas. These are their civilians, after all. With conflicting eyewitness reports, video of English-speaking mercenaries in the city, and the quickness with which Kiev managed to get a full confession from the alleged 'spotter', this is looking more and more like a deliberate false flag. Mariupol is a strategic city: losing it would have grave consequences for the government in Kiev.

Remember, the UAF are the ones with no compunction about killing civilians. Mariupol may have made the news, but this kind of shelling of residential areas has been standard operating procedure for months. Where is the media and public outcry for Gorlovka, Donetsk, and Pervomaisk?


Megaphone

Washington's propaganda against Russia moves from the absurd to insanity

Image
Washington's attack on Russia has moved beyond the boundary of the absurd into the realm of insanity.

The New Chief of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors, Andrew Lack, has declared the Russian news service, RT, which broadcasts in multiple languages, to be a terrorist organization equivalent to Boko Haram and the Islamic State, and Standard and Poor's just downgraded Russia's credit rating to junk status.

Today RT International interviewed me about these insane developments.

In prior days when America was still a sane country, Lack's charge would have led to him being laughed out of office. He would have had to resign and disappear from public life. Today in the make-believe world that Western propaganda has created, Lack's statement is taken seriously. Yet another terrorist threat has been identified - RT. (Although both Boko Haram and the Islamic State employ terror, strictly speaking they are political organizations seeking to rule, not terror organizations, but this distinction would be over Lack's head. Yes, I know. There is a good joke that could be made here about what Lack lacks. Appropriately named and all that.)

Nevertheless, whatever Lack might lack, I doubt he believes his nonsensical statement that RT is a terrorist organization. So what is his game?

The answer is that the Western presstitute media by becoming Ministries of Propaganda for Washington, have created large markets for RT, Press TV, and Al Jazeera. As more and more of the peoples of the world turn to these more honest news sources, Washington's ability to fabricate self-serving explanations has declined.

RT in particular has a large Western audience. The contrast between RT's truthful reporting and the lies spewed by US media is undermining Washington's control of the explanation. This is no longer acceptable.

Lark has sent a message to RT. The message is: pull in your horns; stop reporting differently from our line; stop contesting the facts as Washington states them and the presstitutes report them; get on board or else.

Che Guevara

Putin condemns Ukraine forces as "NATO Foreign Legion" fighting for the West

ukraine nato
© UnknownUkrainian and NATO flags
A few days ago I wrote a piece for RI tentatively suggesting on the basis of certain comments Putin made at the meeting of Russia's Security Council on 23rd January 2015 that Russia's policy towards Ukraine has hardened and that Russia is no longer trying to restrain the rebels whilst it looks for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Putin provided dramatic confirmation of this in certain comments he made to the students of the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg on 26th January 2015. These were those words as quoted on his website:
Regrettably, the government in Kiev has refused to take the road of a peaceful settlement and does not want to resolve the problem through political means. First they used the law enforcement agencies, then the security services, and then the army. Later, when they ran up against resistance, they suspended military operations, but sadly, they only used the temporary peace to regroup and then start their operations again. They are pursuing these operations again now. Thousands of people have already been killed. This is certainly a real tragedy.

We often speak of the 'Ukrainian army', but who is doing the fighting there in reality? Yes, in part it is official armed forces units, but a substantial part of those doing the fighting come from the so-called volunteer nationalist battalions. Essentially, this is not an army but is a foreign legion, in this particular case, a NATO foreign legion, which is not pursuing Ukraine's national interests of course. They have completely different goals, related to achieving their geopolitical aim of containing Russia, and this is absolutely not in the Ukrainian people's national interests.
Once again Putin pointedly did not call the political leadership in Kiev "the Ukrainian government". Instead he called it "the government in Kiev", once again calling into question its right to speak for the whole of Ukraine.

Comment: See also:


Attention

Best of the Web: 'Empire of Chaos' in the House of Saud

Obama n Salman
© Reuters/Jim BourgU.S. President Barack Obama meets with Saudi Arabia's King Salman (R) at Erga Palace in Riyadh, January 27, 2015.
No one in Western corporate media will tell you why US President Barack Obama is hitting Riyadh with a high-powered delegation to "pay his respects" to the new House of Saud potentate, King Salman.

Talk about a who's who - including CIA head John Brennan; General Lloyd Austin, head of US Centcom; Secretary of State John Kerry; leading House Democrat Nancy Pelosi; and even senile Senator John "Bomb Iran" McCain.

It must have been heart wrenching for most in this crowd to skip a visit to the Taj Mahal in India so they would be part of the last-minute, "unscheduled" stop in Riyadh.

This is how the astonishing mediocrity that doubles as US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, spun it; "Principally, I think this is to mark this transition in leadership and to pay respects to the family and to the people of Saudi Arabia, but I'm sure that while we're there they'll touch on some of the leading issues where we cooperate very closely with Saudi Arabia."

The White House and the Pentagon did not bother to "pay their respects" in person to the people of France after the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The House of Saud - "our" top bastards in the Persian Gulf - is of course much more valuable.

Comment: See also: SOTT Exclusive: Schizophrenia alert! West wails over death of cruel tyrant and state-sponsor of terrorism