Puppet MastersS


Light Saber

Trump responds to fake photos of him on Epstein's plane: AI is 'very dangerous'

trump
© Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesDonald Trump
Former President Donald Trump issued a warning about artificial intelligence, saying that it is "very dangerous" for the United States.

Trump made the comment on the AI-generated photos of him on Jeffrey Epstein's plane that were shared on X, the platform once known as Twitter. The former president also reiterated that he did not visit Epstein's "'stupid' island."

"This is what the Democrats do to their Republican Opponent, who is leading them, by a lot, in the Polls," Trump wrote on Truth Social, his alternative social media platform. "This is A.I., and it is very dangerous for our Country! Also, I was never on Epstein's Plane, or at his 'stupid' Island. Strong Laws ought to be developed against A.I. It will be a big and very dangerous problem in the future!"

Comment: Trump is right. The so-called 'deep fakes' generated by AI are taking propaganda to a frighteningly new level.


Bad Guys

Best of the Web: Haifa missile strike by Iraqi resistance exposes how fragile Israeli regime is

north israel iraq missile strike haifa
© PressTVThe Iraqi resistance struck Haifa with a long-range cruise missile, named al-Arqab, from Iraqi territory.
In yet another significant act of solidarity with the people of Gaza, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq on Sunday struck "a vital target in occupied Haifa" with an advanced long-range cruise missile, grabbing headlines and taking the embattled regime in Tel Aviv by another surprise.

In a statement, the Iraqi resistance emphasized that the operation was carried out because of "our ongoing support for people in Gaza," who have been reeling under the Israeli aggression since Oct. 7.

The statement added that the operation was "in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against Palestinian civilians, including children, women, and the elderly."

The Iraqi resistance, which has in recent months launched a string of attacks on US military bases in Iraq and Syria, said it will continue to hit enemy strongholds, warning that "more is yet to come".

Bullseye

Best of the Web: Screams without proof: questions for NYT about shoddy 'Hamas mass rape' report

new york times building grayzone logo
© The Grayzone
After dismantling a New York Times front page feature alleging "a broader pattern of gender-based violence on Oct. 7" by Hamas, The Grayzone is demanding answers of the paper for its journalistic malpractice.

The following was submitted to New York Times editors and lead author, Jeffrey Gettleman.

The Grayzone has identified serious issues with the credibility of key sources quoted in the New York Times' December 28 story, "Screams Without Words: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on October 7." Authored by Jeffrey Gettleman, Anat Schwartz, and Adam Sella, the article purports to prove "a broader pattern of gender-based violence on Oct. 7" than even Israeli authorities have been willing to allege . However, the Times report is marred by sensationalism, wild leaps of logic, and an absence of concrete evidence to support its sweeping conclusion.

The Times has come under fire from family members of Gal Abdush, the so-called "girl in the black dress" who features as Exhibit A in Gettleman and company's attempt to demonstrate a pattern of rape by Hamas on October 7. Not only have Abdush's sister and brother-in-law each denied that she was raped, the former has accused the Times of manipulating her family into participating by misleading them about their editorial angle. Though the family's comments have sparked a major uproar on social media, the Times has yet to address the serious breach of journalistic integrity that its staff is accused of committing.

Binoculars

Ukraine and Palestine: A double threat to US hegemony

US hegemony
The outcome of US-led conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia will have a profound impact on the developing world order. Washington has already lost the former, and its major adversaries are vested in making sure it loses the latter too.

Geopolitical analysts broadly agree that the war in Ukraine and the West Asian crisis will dictate the trajectory of world politics in 2024. But a reductionist thesis appears alongside that views the Israel-Palestine conflict narrowly in terms of what it entails for the resilience of the US proxy war in Ukraine - the assumption being that the locus of world politics lies in Eurasia.

The reality is more complex. Each of these two conflicts has a raison d'être and dynamics of its own, while at the same time also being intertwined.

Washington's neck-deep involvement in the current phase of the West Asian crisis can turn into a quagmire, since it is also tangled up with domestic politics in a way that the Ukraine war never has been. But then, the outcome of the Ukraine war is already a foregone conclusion, and the US and its allies have realized that Russia cannot be defeated militarily; the endgame narrows down to an agreement to end the conflict on Russia's terms.


Comment: Or not! Its possible that the US may instigate further conflict with Russia using other European proxy-dupes, not to mention covert attacks, and even outright confrontation using NATO forces.


Attention

Criminality in the White House: The rise of the Political Psychopath

Political Psychopath
© A Government of Wolves
"When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal." — Richard Nixon
Many years ago, a newspaper headline asked the question: "What's the difference between a politician and a psychopath?"

The answer, then and now, remains the same: None.

There is no difference between psychopaths and politicians.

Nor is there much of a difference between the havoc wreaked on innocent lives by uncaring, unfeeling, selfish, irresponsible, parasitic criminals and elected officials who lie to their constituents, trade political favors for campaign contributions, turn a blind eye to the wishes of the electorate, cheat taxpayers out of hard-earned dollars, favor the corporate elite, entrench the military industrial complex, and spare little thought for the impact their thoughtless actions and hastily passed legislation might have on defenseless citizens.

Psychopaths and politicians both have a tendency to be selfish, callous, remorseless users of others, irresponsible, pathological liars, glib, con artists, lacking in remorse and shallow.

Charismatic politicians, like criminal psychopaths, exhibit a failure to accept responsibility for their actions, have a high sense of self-worth, are chronically unstable, have socially deviant lifestyles, need constant stimulation, have parasitic lifestyles and possess unrealistic goals.

It doesn't matter whether you're talking about Democrats or Republicans.

Political psychopaths are all largely cut from the same pathological cloth, brimming with seemingly easy charm and boasting calculating minds. Such leaders eventually create pathocracies: totalitarian societies bent on power, control, and destruction of both freedom in general and those who exercise their freedoms.

Once psychopaths gain power, the result is usually some form of totalitarian government or a pathocracy. "At that point, the government operates against the interests of its own people except for favoring certain groups," author James G. Long notes. "We are currently witnessing deliberate polarizations of American citizens, illegal actions, and massive and needless acquisition of debt. This is typical of psychopathic systems, and very similar things happened in the Soviet Union as it overextended and collapsed."

In other words, electing a psychopath to public office is tantamount to national hara-kiri, the ritualized act of self-annihilation, self-destruction and suicide. It signals the demise of democratic government and lays the groundwork for a totalitarian regime that is legalistic, militaristic, inflexible, intolerant and inhuman.

Star of David

Israel is not promising to 'scale back' its war

explosion
© Getty ImagesIsraeli airstrike on Palestinian city of Khan Yunis January 8, 2024
As the US secretary of state shuttles to stop the war from expanding, the Israeli defense minister vows "months" more war on Gaza and suggests taking the fight to Iran.

Readers of The New York Times were treated on Monday morning to a breaking-news alert heralding what seemed like a welcome development: "Israel says it has begun to scale back war." That description, which led the Times website, is about as close to the opposite of the way Israel's war is heading as could appear in the leading US newspaper.

The Israeli Defense Forces spokesman, Radm. Daniel Hagari, gave the Times the interview that it used for its headline. But Hagari's quotes never actually promise the "less intense phase" in the Times paraphrase. Hagari instead describes the focus of the pitiless Israeli campaign shifting southward — while his superiors in the Israeli government indicate that it could expand regionally.

Arrow Up

Ukrainians will benefit from Zelensky's fall - exiled opposition leader

medvedchuk
© File PhotoViktor Medvedchuk • Kiev, Ukraine
The president has no more allies and is a traitor to the nation, Viktor Medvedchuk has said...

President Vladimir Zelensky is doomed to be ousted this year, having antagonized all of his domestic and foreign allies, exiled Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk has said. Zelensky's demise, however, will be good for the Ukrainian people, he added.

Medvedchuk was the leader of the Opposition Platform - For Life party, which Zelensky's government banned for allegedly being "pro-Russian." He was arrested and forced out of Ukraine in a prisoner exchange with Moscow. The politician has since been promoting a project, which would make his home nation a neutral state, prioritizing national interests, as opposed to being a Russian enemy.

In a column published on Wednesday, Medvedchuk blasted the incumbent Ukrainian president, branding him an "unfunny parody of a dictator," whose weakness sends a signal to all "political predators to eat him."
"Zelensky has antagonized everyone he could: big businessmen, whom he blacklisted as traitors and oligarchs, professional Nazis, who see his cowardice, the military, who sees his incompetence, and last but not least the people, who see his indifference and cruelty."

No Entry

China sanctions 5 US defense firms in strong 'message' ahead of Taiwan election

Bae systems
© unknown
In a major move by Beijing which appears timed to send a strong message just ahead of Taiwan's presidential and parliamentary elections on January 13, China has unveiled sanctions against five American defense firms.

The targeted companies are involved in recent and ongoing US arms deals and sales to the self-ruled island of Taiwan. They've been named in Chinese state media as BAE Systems Land and Armament, Alliant Techsystems Operation, AeroVironment, ViaSat and Data Link Solutions.

A Sunday statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said:
"The sanctions are in response to these gravely wrong actions taken by the US. Recent arms sales seriously harm China's sovereignty and security interests, undermine the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."
China has of late ramped up its anti-independence messaging, with Chinese President Xi Jinping in his annual New Year's Eve address stressing that Taiwan would "surely be reunified" with the mainland.

The US State Department just last month approved the latest US-Taiwan deal, a $300 million sale of military equipment for Taiwan's defense information technology sector.

Ambulance

Pentagon reveals cancer sent Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to the hospital

Lloyd Austin
© ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty ImagesLloyd Austin
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was rushed to the hospital after experiencing nausea and hip pain doctors identified as a urinary tract infection, the Pentagon revealed Tuesday.

A Dec. 22 surgery to address prostate cancer during which the secretary underwent general anesthesia resolved uneventfully and the secretary returned home the next day, Dr. John Maddox Dr. Gregory Chesnut of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said in the statement provided by the Pentagon. However, Austin was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 1 due to pain resulting from a urinary tract infection.

Austin was placed in the Intensive Care Unit on Jan. 2 for monitoring and care, the statement said, while the hospital resolved the infection.

Comment: So Austin's mystery illness has been revealed. But if his prognosis is "excellent," why all the secrecy?

See also:


Russian Flag

'Plan B' for Ukraine: Calls for concessions to Russia are growing in both Kiev and the West, but are they realistic?

Snow Z
© Anatolil Stepanov/AFP
An increasing number of voices are acknowledging that the conflict won't end on Vladimir Zelensky's terms...

We are hearing more and more suggestions that Kiev should get ready for a compromise peace. In particular, there are mountings calls to cede territory to Russia.

Two things have changed in both the West and Ukraine: First, there are now growing demands for a "plan B," as the former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko calls it, and, more importantly, the taboo on talking about this need is gone.

Given Ukraine's difficult and dangerous - not to mention that things could quickly get much worse - military, financial, and political situation, these calls are no surprise. The real question is not why this is happening, but what it may mean for the future: Do these calls signal a real readiness to make peace? And if so on what terms? And is it a realistic prospect?