Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

U.S. broadcasting chief compares RT to ISIS and Boko Haram


RT
Mon, 26 Jan 2015 23:55 UTC
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Following comments from the US overseas broadcasting chief listing RT as a challenge alongside the Islamic State and Boko Haram, critics said the outlet was singled out for "daring to advocate a point of view," as well as for "competing for viewership."


Comment: How dare RT have a point of view! They should be repeating the U.S. government's talking ad nauseam without any critical thought. Don't they know that that is how things are done in the great U.S.A.?


On Wednesday, the new chief of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Andrew Lack, told the New York Times that RT posed a significant challenge - putting the broadcaster in a list alongside the Islamic State and Boko Haram terror groups.

The comments have since been denounced on social networks and across the media spectrum. Speaking to RT, legal analyst and media commentator Lionel said the channel was being outrageously singled out and equated to the Islamic State for "daring to advocate a point of view."

"In the history of incoherent statements, this might be the granddaddy of them all. In reading this, he alleges that Russia Today pushes... 'a point of view,'" he told RT's Ameera David.

Georgetown University journalism professor Chris Chambers added that Lack's words were "supremely silly and careless," especially considering his media background. Lack previously worked for NBC, Bloomberg, and Sony Music.

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USA

Freedom, where are you? Not in America or Europe today

Paul Craig Roberts
paulcraigroberts.org
Sun, 25 Jan 2015 23:30 UTC
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When the former Goldman Sachs executive who runs the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that he was going to print 720 billion euros annually with which to purchase bad debts from the politically connected big banks, the euro sank and the stock market and Swiss franc shot up. As in the US, quantitative easing (QE) serves to enrich the already rich. It has no other purpose.

The well-heeled financial institutions that bought up the troubled sovereign debt of Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain at low prices will now sell the bonds to the ECB for high prices. And despite depression level unemployment in most of Europe and austerity imposed on citizens, the stock market rose in anticipation that much of the 60 billion new euros that will be created each month will find its way into equity prices. Liquidity fuels the stock market.

Where else can the money to go? Some will go into Swiss francs and some into gold while gold is still available, but for the most part the ECB is running the printing press in order to boost the wealth of the stock-owning One Percent. The Federal Reserve and the ECB have taken the West back to the days when a handful of aristocrats owned everything.

The stock markets are bubbles blown by central bank money creation. On the basis of traditional reasoning there is no sound reason to be in equities, and sound investors have avoided them.

But there is no return anywhere else, and as the central banks are run by the rich for the rich, sound reasoning has proved to be a mistake for the past six years. This shows that corruption can prevail for an indeterminable period over fundamentals.
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Airplane

Symbolic? Greek F-16 crashes into NATO base in Spain - 10 dead


BBC News
Mon, 26 Jan 2015 22:31 UTC
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The crash scene at Albacete air base today
Ten people have died in a fighter jet crash at an air base in central Spain, the defence ministry says. The Greek F-16 jet "lost power" during take-off, crashing into other planes and exploding at Los Llanos airbase in Albacete, the ministry said.

One of the pilots performed a wrong manoeuvre during take-off, according to local media. Both pilots were killed. One French person was among those killed and five others were injured, France's defence ministry confirmed. In a statement (in French), the ministry said French jets were stationed at the base.

Late on Monday evening, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said eight French personnel and two Greeks had been killed. Contacted by BBC News, the French air force said it could neither confirm nor deny the information given by Mr Rajoy for the time being. Reports suggest that many of the injured are Italians while details of the other fatalities have not been given. Personnel from the US, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and the UK are said to be stationed at the base.

Comment: Coming immediately after the victory of the anti-austerity anti-NATO Syriza party in Greek elections yesterday, this accident appears somewhat symbolic.

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Rocket

Ukrainian troops left Mariupol checkpoint before strike on civilian area


Fort Russ
Sun, 25 Jan 2015 21:56 UTC
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In the morning of January 24 the Eastern outskirts of Mariupol were attacked near the UAF checkpoint, writes Internet news resource Donetsk Republic News. But junta fighters were not injured, because according to local residents, they left the fortification a few hours before the strike.

"In a huge number of homes there is broken glass, the situation is very serious. There is no water and electricity, it was disabled half an hour or an hour before the fire, I have not noticed the time. They have been preparing for this situation, knew about it," - said a resident of Mariupol. He stressed that the situation is similar to a false flag.
Lifenews interviews Mariupol resident
"They wanted to create a huge reaction to set the population against our militia. We thought at first that it was a mistake, but then I realized that it was intentional. Past our windows was driving a new rotation of these banderites... They immediately turned around and pulled back", - says a local resident, reports Lifenews.

Comment: Local residents are reporting that the Grad volley was fired from the north and/or west, NOT the east/northeast, as the OSCE concluded after a hasty 'investigation'. Other sources are saying there were actually 3 strikes, from different directions. If that's the case, the NAF could not be responsible.

Here's South Front's latest update on the situation:



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Cow Skull

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

Aeneas Georg
Sott.net
Sun, 25 Jan 2015 14:34 UTC
One sometimes wonders if one has woken up in a psychedelic 'Alice in Wonderland'-type world, where a mad queen shouts "Off with the head!" at anyone daring to criticise her.

Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland
You are excused if you are feeling a little schophrenic over our Western leaders' utterings of late. It is a sign of a good mental health in the bizarro world that we currently inhabit.
Just two weeks after the Paris shooting, where 40 Western heads of states gathered to 'march for freedom of speech' and formed a 'coalition of the willing' to fight the 'Islamic State', the ruler of Saudi Arabia (the REAL Islamic State!), King Abdullah Al Saud, died at the age of 90. Considering that he effectively has ruled this Arabian country for 20 years since his half-brother had a stroke, and given the things I will outline shortly, one would think that the Western media would be overjoyed at his passing, and see it as another opportunity to 'democratize the Middle East'. I mean, they seem to really enjoy watching Arabian leaders being lynched, e.g. Colonel Gaddafi's death at the hands of Western-sponsored goons was greeted by Hillary Clinton with the upbeat words: "We came, we saw, he died!"

But no, Western media lamented the death of this "great leader and reformist". The British queen was "saddened" by his death, the flag at Whitehall in Britain was lowered to half-mast, and as I write leaders from across the Empire of Chaos - including Obama, Cameron, Hollande, the prince of Wales, and the crown prince of Denmark - are flocking to Saudi Arabia to pay their last respects. John Kerry tweeted that Abdullah was "a man of wisdom and vision". Joan Smith in an excellent opinion piece in the Independent wrote in response to the drivel coming from head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde:
So what the hell was the IMF boss, Christine Lagarde, thinking about when she described Abdullah as a "strong advocate of women"? She did add "in a very discreet way".
Yes, you can say that again!

CNN wrote in their piece on his death:
Most Saudis will remember him fondly.
One can rightfully ask, on what basis did they make such a statement?
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Quenelle

Syriza win sets Greece on collision course with Europe

Ian Traynor and Helena Smith
The Guardian, UK
Mon, 26 Jan 2015 20:17 UTC
Syriza
© Rex/Rex Syriza supporters in Thessaloniki celebrate as exit poll results show Syriza as a clear winner in the Greek election on Sunday.
European politics has been plunged into a volatile new era following a historic victory in Greece's general election by far-left radicals committed to ending years of austerity.

More than five years into the euro crisis that started in Greece in October 2009 and raised questions about the single currency's survival, Greek voters roundly rejected the savage spending cuts and tax rises imposed by Europe which reduced the country to penury.

The euro briefly slumped to an 11-year low in Asian trading on Monday morning, while the Greek stock market slumped 5% in volatile early trading.

Comment: See also:

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Heart

Russia considering extending stay for Ukrainians of conscription age


ITAR-TASS
Mon, 26 Jan 2015 01:40 UTC
ukraine
© ITAR-TASS/Dmitry Rogulin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow might extend the period of sojourn in Russian territory for Ukrainians of conscription age who can be drafted into the Ukrainian army.

"Many people, by the way, do not want to be mobilized. They are trying to move into Russia and lie low for some time. And they are absolutely right because they are simply being sent under bullets like cannon fodder," Putin said at a meeting with the students of the "Gornyi" University of Mineral Resources.

At the same time, the president said Ukrainian nationals can not stay in Russia longer than for a period established by the law.

Comment: It looks like the Russians care more for Ukrainian soldiers than Kiev. Donetsk treats wounded Ukrainian soldiers, feeds them, doesn't torture them, and sends them home to their mothers. Kiev lies to them, sends them to die in suicide missions, lies about their deaths, leaves their bodies to rot, conscripts young men, poorly trains them, and sends them to die on their first engagement. Now Russia is considering allowing them to stay in Russia to avoid such a fate. See how the prime minister of Donetsk treats his POWs, and the warnings he gives one mother. He's right.



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Stock Down

IBM prepares for company's largest corporate layoff of a quarter of its employees


Sputnik
Mon, 26 Jan 2015 20:18 UTC
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© Flickr/ -heinecke-
In an enormous corporate bloodletting, IBM is preparing to lay off about a quarter of its employees, following a report revealing a continued decline in revenue.

Over 110,000 employees from around the world, or roughly 26 percent of its total roster, will be laid off by the end of February, in an IBM company reorganization code-named "Project Chrome," Forbes magazine reported Monday.

According to the magazine, IBM's US offices will be hit the hardest, but other locations in its global operations will also be affected by the cuts.

Comment: See, Obama says the economy is doing great!

IBM has rejected the layoff claim:
"IBM does not comment on rumors, even ridiculous or baseless ones," a spokesman said.

"If anyone had checked information readily available from our public earnings statements, or had simply asked us, they would know that IBM has already announced the company has just taken a $600 million charge for workforce rebalancing. This equates to several thousand people, a small fraction of what's been reported."


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Light Sabers

'It's Russia's fault!' EU threatens more sanctions after shelling of civilian targets in Mariupol

Andrew Rettma
euobserver
Sun, 25 Jan 2015 19:13 UTC
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© Andreas KontokanisLenin in Mariupol.

The EU has threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia following its new offensive in south-east Ukraine.


Comment: Hmm...Military-clad English-speakers caught on camera in Mariupol shelling aftermath.


EU foreign relations chief Federica Mogherini on Saturday (24 January) said "further escalation ... would inevitably lead to a further grave deterioration of relations".

Her communique spoke of "offensives by Russia-backed separatists", adding, "I call therefore openly upon Russia to use its considerable influence over separatist leaders and to stop any form of military, political, or financial support".


Comment: US/NATA/EU openly supports the Ukraine coup and military as if it was okay but accuses Russia of doing the same without any evidence.


The same day EU Council president Donald Tusk tweeted: "Once again, appeasement encourages the aggressor to greater acts of violence. Time to step up our policy based on cold facts, not illusions".


Comment: Tusk is right that he should be basing decisions on "cold facts" but he is not. He is basing decisions on "Illusions".


Foreign ministers are to discuss the situation at an emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

Comment: Again, no mention of who broke the cease fire in the first place: SOTT Exclusive: Kiev breaks ceasefire, launches major offensive in E. Ukraine - Donetsk retakes airport

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Airplane

Need more fear! 3 more planes evacuated in Seattle and Dallas after 'low-credibility bomb threats'


RT
Mon, 26 Jan 2015 18:45 UTC
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© Reuters/Lucas Jackson

There seems to be no stopping of fake bomb threats directed at US airlines: two passenger jets landing in Seattle, Washington were evacuated and searched for explosives, while another flight was diverted to Dallas, Texas for similar safety procedures.

A JetBlue flight from Long Beach, California, and a regional SkyWest jet from Phoenix were both isolated and searched for explosives by security teams with dogs at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Sunday. Passengers of JetBlue flight 1006 reportedly had to exit the plane, which had been sent to a far end of the airfield, using portable stairs, while their luggage was examined by detection dogs. The evacuation lasted for about 45 minutes.

Comment: This fear mongering is starting to get out of control.

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