Puppet MastersS


Bullseye

Ralph Nader - What's happening to Canada? An open letter to Stephen Harper

Image

In his letter to Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Nader warns against following the U.S. example when it comes to counter-terrorism measures. (Photo: Canada PM Office/flickr/cc)
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister:

Many Americans love Canada and the specific benefits that have come to our country from our northern neighbor's many achievements (see Canada Firsts by Nader, Conacher and Milleron). Unfortunately, your latest proposed legislation—the new anti-terrorism act—is being described by leading Canadian civil liberties scholars as hazardous to Canadian democracy.

Eye 2

British media's demonization of Russia is freaky to behold

Vladimir Putin
© RIA Novosti Alexey NikolskyRussian President Vladimir Putin.
The demonization of Vladimir Putin and Russia by the British political establishment and media has never been as intense as in the wake of the recent Ukraine peace talks in Minsk.

Rather than preparing British public opinion for peace and a negotiated settlement to a conflict which thus far has cost the lives of over 5,000 people and seen over a million displaced, the opposite has been evident: British public opinion is being prepared for a continuation and intensification of the conflict.

The characterization of the Russian leader has been so off the scale it is hard to imagine anyone being naïve enough to take it seriously.

When he's not being compared to Hitler, an especially offensive caricature for historical reasons, he is being accused of harboring ambitions of forging a 'Russian Empire'.

That such accusations stem from a nation whose government has played a key part in reducing Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya to a state of chaos in recent years, a consequence of the UK's attachment to Washington's brutal and disastrous assault on the Arab and Muslim world, only makes them all the more hypocritical if not downright noxious.

But then this should come as no surprise, as we've been here before, haven't we? Remember when Venezuela's Hugo Chavez was being similarly demonized and held up as a dictator? His crime when he came to power and remained there on the back of numerous democratic elections was his refusal to allow Venezuela's wealth to continue to be shipped out of the country, as it had been for decades, by a small group of Western-supported oligarchs.

Comment: Exactly, Britain doesn't need large resources to control minds: its ideological domination and ruthlessness in playing one group of people off another suffice to shape global discourse.


Arrow Down

Hong Kong's chief executive publicly tells citizens to "act more like sheep"

CY Leung
© Jerome Favre/BloombergCY Leung delivers his policy address in the chamber of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong last month.
Hong Kong's unpopular chief executive has infuriated pro-democracy campaigners by using a Chinese New Year message to urge the former colony's citizens to act more "like sheep".

"In the coming year, I hope that all people in Hong Kong will take inspiration from the sheep's character and pull together in an accommodating manner to work for Hong Kong's future."

In case his message had been missed, Mr Leung noted that the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac had 12 individual "character types". "Sheep are widely seen to be mild and gentle animals living peacefully in groups," he said.

- From the Telegraph article: Hong Kong leader tells people to act like 'sheep'
This is simply a spectacular admission from a clueless authoritarian. No wonder things are so volatile in Hong Kong with this clown in charge. Rather than quieting the mood, CY Leung's comments are more likely to infuriate the island's youth and strength their resolve. Not smart.

Snakes in Suits

Ukraine gas prices skyrocket 280% as part of IMF aid terms

Image
© Reuters / Regis Duvignau

Comment: With friends like the IMF, who needs enemies?


Ukraine has agreed to increase the cost of gas to consumer by 280 percent, and 66 percent for heating, as part of the IMF terms for getting extra financial aid, says Valery Gontareva the head of the National Bank of Ukraine.

"From now on, in accordance with our joint program with the IMF, the tariffs will see rather a sharp increase of 280 percent for gas and about 66 percent for heat," said Gontareva Wednesday during the 11th Dragon Capital investment conference in Kiev. She added that as a result inflation will be 25-26 percent by the end of 2015.

The tariff rises are part of the amendments to the 2015 budget the government has had to introduce in order to receive an $8.5 billion loan from the IMF by the end of the year.

The changes will also see Ukraine's budget deficit growing to 4.1 percent of GDP and forecasts a 5.5 percent decline in the Ukrainian economy.

Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk had warned of future price rises for gas and heating, and stressed the IMF saved Ukraine from default, and now it's time to make moves which should eventually result in Ukraine's complete independence from Russian gas.

Eye 2

Poland complicity in CIA torture program confirmed by European court

Image
© Reuters / Kacper PempelMilitary area in the forest near Stare Kiejkuty village, close to Szczytno in northeastern Poland
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected Poland's appeal to overturn a criminal investigation into officials working at a secret prison used in the CIA torture program. The Polish government now has to conclude its investigation and pay damages.

The original July 2014 ruling by the court included a demand that Poland swiftly conclude a criminal investigation into the jail in question - code-named Quartz - and pay compensation totaling $262,660 to two men who were held and tortured at the site. Both men are still imprisoned in the United States in the Guantanamo Bay prison complex in Cuba.

"Poland is required to finally conduct a thorough and effective investigation, make public information concerning its role and hold those responsible to account," Helen Duffy, the lawyer for one of the men, Abu Zubaydah, said of Tuesday's decision. Alleged Al-Qaeda associate Zubaydah was said to have been waterboarded 83 times during his detention by the CIA.
Polish appeal in CIA jail case fails: <br>Warsaw - The European Court of Human Rights refused on Tuesday... http://t.co/2PwFgsg9IT

— Poland News Links (@dlpolandnews) February 17, 2015
Lawyers for the detainees said the investigation was being deliberately stalled to avoid a politically embarrassing trial, possibly for the senior Polish officials involved, but prosecutors denied that and said the case was complex and needed time.

Comment: This isn't much of a surprise. It really seems like Poland has gone Nazi under the rule of ex-Commies.


Bad Guys

Canada adds Russian oil producer Rosneft to sanctions list

Image
© Reuters / Chris Wattie

Comment: Like the rest of the Western "powers", Canada is just shooting itself in the foot. It makes one wonder if somebody isn't blackmailing somebody else.


Canada has added Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft, and the CEO of Rostec, to a sanctions blacklist along with 37 Ukrainians and 17 Russian and Ukrainian organizations. They are all covered by economic sanctions and travel bans.

It's a coordinated move with the European Union and the United States, who have already imposed a number of sanctions on Russia, according to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"In coordination with our EU and US partners, Canada is once again intensifying its response to the situation by announcingfurther sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian individuals and entities," Harper said in a statement on his official website on Tuesday.

Canada has been trying for months to resist the pressure on taking any further restrictive measures against Russia, despite the fact it had already sanctioned 80 Russian and Ukrainian officials last year. Last May, the country decided not to impose sanctions against Rosneft and Rostec because it didn't want politics to hurt Canada's biggest business projects.

Russia's oil giant Rosneft owns about 30 percent of an ExxonMobil oil field in the Canadian province of Alberta. Rosneft purchased a stake in the Cardium basin deposit in 2012; the deal became Russia's first Canadian presence and was expected to benefit Canada's economy by accelerating resource development.

Russian state-owned industrial and defense firm Rostec, and Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier signed a $3.4 billion deal two years ago. The companies had decided to establish joint venture to produce Q400 aircraft, which Canada recognized as a "landmark opportunity for the Q400 NextGen aircraft program." The venture intended to build 24 aircraft a year, with some 250 constructed by 2030. The deal was postponed last year due to the anti-Russian sanctions imposed then by the Canadian government.

UFO

Former White House chief of staff regrets not being able to disclose UFO secrets

Image
© Jayne Clark, USA TODAYAlien statues posed outside a flying saucer are the centerpiece exhibit at the International UFO Museum in Roswell.
Longtime White House insider excited UFO buffs with a tweet last week expressing his regrets as he left an advisor post with the Obama administration.

"Finally, my biggest failure of 2014: Once again not securing the #disclosure of the UFO files. #thetruthisstilloutthere," said John Podesta, who stepped down from his senior advisor post Friday.
1. Finally, my biggest failure of 2014: Once again not securing the #disclosure of the UFO files. #thetruthisstilloutthere cc: @NYTimesDowd

— John Podesta (@Podesta44) February 13, 2015
Podesta has encouraged government officials to release information about unexplained UFO cases, including an appeal during a 2002 news conference at the National Press Club.

Nearly 130,000 pages of declassified Air Force files on UFO investigations and sightings were dumped online last month by hobbyist John Greenwald, who compiled every available document from Project Blue Book and other government studies conducted between 1947 and 1969.


Che Guevara

Brawl in Turkey parliament puts focus on Erdogan 'security' power grab

Image
© YouTube screenshot
Chairs flew and lawmakers traded punches. A brawl in Parliament over a new security bill has forced the spotlight on mounting suspicions that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's real goal is to hand himself more tools to crush dissent.

Five lawmakers were injured early Wednesday in the fight that broke out as opposition leaders tried to delay a debate on the legislation.

The government says the measures to give police heightened powers to break up demonstrations are aimed at preventing violence such as the deadly clashes that broke out last year between Kurds, supporters of an Islamist group and police. Critics say that the new measures are part of a steady march toward blocking mass demonstrations that threaten Erdogan's iron grip over Turkish politics.

Comment: Don't know whether to cheer them or not but this security bill does seem over the top and a desperation move by Erdogan. He seems worried about something.


Black Cat 2

Sott Exclusive: CNN says ISIS lures Western women with pictures of Nutella and kittens

Image
On Wednesday morning, CNN revealed shocking information about the depth of dastardliness to which ISIS is now stooping in its effort to subvert the glorious freedoms and democracy of Western peoples: they're after our women, using the most devilish and devious ploy ever imagined by the mind of man or jihadi.

CNN's Carol Costello spelled out, in glorious technicolor, that Western women are being manipulated by ISIS onlineTM into thinking that life with the world's most high profile head-choppers (after Saudi Arabia) would be pretty cool and fun because there would be kittens, nutella and "emojis" (whatever they are).


Newspaper

Minnesota newspaper apologizes for calling selfie-loving narcissist Obama a 'self-absorbed assclown'

Image
© Screenshot from youtube video by TVblipAssclown
A local newspaper in Minnesota has retracted part of a story in which its reporter criticized President Barack Obama for using a selfie stick during a BuzzFeed video piece, calling the Commander in Chief an "assclown".

The original comments were made by St. Paul Pioneer Press sports producer Kevin Cusick, who ran one of his "Loop Ten" articles - a column that pokes fun at the top newsmakers and "fakers" of the day. When President Obama granted a recent interview to BuzzFeed, he posed with the increasingly popular selfie sticks as part of a video urging young people to sign up for health care coverage.

Making fun of people for using the widely-mocked selfie stick may be par for the course these days, but Cusick found himself in trouble over his choice of words.

"A fool-proof way to make yourself look like a self-absorbed assclown," read the caption under the photo, showing Obama holding the stick as he posed for a picture.

After the caption began spreading on social media, though, Cusick ended up taking back what he wrote.

"After further review, it's a poor choice of word," he told local KMSP. "I must have been in an especially foul mood last night. I've toned it down a bit."

Now, the caption reads: "A fool-proof way to make yourself look like a self-absorbed celebrity."

Unfortunately for enemies of the selfie stick, Obama's appearance with one seems to have led to a surge in interest for the devices. Google said searches for the stick increased threefold since the president used one, and some retailers are even reporting higher sales, the Washington Post reported.

Comment: Men who take more selfies have higher than average narcissistic, psychopathic traits - study