Puppet MastersS


Russian Flag

Mainstream "Newsweek" wakes up to reality: "$113B in modern arms hardly dented Russian lines"

Richard Abelson
The Gateway Pundit
Thu, 21 Sep 2023 11:30 UTC
tank wrecks
© UnknownUS Bradleys and German Leopard tanks destroyed July 2023
Writing in Newsweek magazine, Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, Senior Fellow at Defense Priorities think tank, acknowledged what Gateway Pundit has been reporting for months:
"Ukraine's 'summer offensive' is producing little to no meaningful progress toward the objective of evicting Russia from Ukraine's territory, even as American politicians, generals, and pundits continue advocating for open-ended support to Kyiv in their war against Russia."
Davis' sobering assessment carries the headline "We Can No Longer Hide the Truth About the Russia-Ukraine War".

It was not clear why anyone would want to 'Hide the Truth' about the US taxpayer-funded border dispute in distant Eastern Europe. Davis writes:
"Despite great hopes for a rapid success, Ukraine's months-in-the-making offensive has sputtered from the outset. That shouldn't have surprised anyone in the White House."

Comment: Davis provides a comprehensive reality check for Ukraine and its cadre of 'armchair generals'.

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Dollar

McCarthy will strip $300M in Ukraine funding from Pentagon spending bill, hold separate vote after rebellion from Marjorie Taylor Greene

Morgan Phillips
The Daily Mail
Fri, 22 Sep 2023 16:38 UTC
McC and Greene
© Getty ImagesSpeaker of the House Kevin McCarthy • Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga)
Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would strip all funding to train Ukrainian troops in their fight against Russia from the Pentagon funding bill just one day after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky. The GOP leader made the move in an effort to court votes after suffering two rare failures on a vote to advance the defense bill this week.

The $300 million for training Ukraine's troops will now be voted on separately.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., typically a McCarthy ally, posted on X after the second rule vote:
"I just voted NO to the rule for the Defense bill because they refused to take the war money for Ukraine out and put it in a separate bill"
The separate vote on Ukraine aid would likely pass and even attract Democratic votes, unlike the defense spending bill itself, which was loaded up with conservative policy riders. But this way anti-Ukraine aid lawmakers like Greene could vote for the defense bill and against the aid for training.

McCarthy and other top House leaders had a meeting with Zelensky at the Capitol on Thursday as the GOP leader refuses to commit to a supplemental funding package to aid Ukraine directly.

Comment: Congress digs itself into a financial hole and then votes to make it deeper.

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Briefcase

Biden FTC faces lawsuit for suppressing Elon Musk records

Gabe Kaminsky
Washington Examiner
Thu, 21 Sep 2023 10:05 UTC
MuskLogo
© Getty Images/Scott Mitchell/KJNElon Musk • FTC logo
The Biden administration is being sued by a conservative legal group over its failure to turn over records in connection to its investigation into Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, according to a complaint.

America First Legal, which is led by ex-Trump administration officials, sent a Freedom of Information Act request in March to the Federal Trade Commission to obtain a trove of documents on the Twitter inquiry, which was reopened in late 2022 and pertains to its privacy and data security practices. But because the top regulator denied the organization's records case appeal in mid-September, America First Legal filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the FTC for purportedly withholding information in violation of federal law.

Gene Hamilton, vice president and general counsel for America First Legal, told the Washington Examiner:
"Our woke, weaponized federal government will stop at nothing to harass and attempt to intimidate its perceived opponents. The American people have had enough. What they have done in the dark will be brought to the light."
The lawsuit is the latest escalation of attempts by conservatives to take aim at the FTC over its investigation, which Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee's Weaponization of the Federal Government Select Subcommittee in a March report dubbed a "harassment campaign" and "agency overreach." The GOP-led panel released FTC letter excerpts to Twitter showing the regulator asked it to "identify all journalists" granted access to company records, referring to the "Twitter Files," documents released by Musk on Twitter's contact with the U.S. government under ex-CEO Jack Dorsey.
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X

Kiev's counteroffensive unlikely to achieve its goals - US officials to NYT


RT
Sat, 23 Sep 2023 14:35 UTC
Ukies
© Anatolii/AFPUkrainian servicemen
Ukrainian forces will need to pause in a few weeks to restock and recover after summer fighting, the paper reports, citing sources...

Officials in Washington have suggested that Ukraine's military forces won't be able to cut Russia's land bridge to Crimea as part of their counteroffensive or achieve other key goals, the New York Times has reported.

"Some American officials have said that the Ukrainian counteroffensive appears likely to fall short of its strategic goals."

Kiev's forces are struggling to achieve the aim of reaching the Sea of Azov in Russia's Zaporozhye Region, because the minefields set up by Moscow's forces, they say, have proven to be "a potent defense," the Times added. According to US officials, conducting offensive operations would also soon become even more difficult for Ukraine "as the ground becomes soft and muddy" in the region.

The NYT also said that some in Washington have warned that "within a few weeks, the Ukrainian army will need time to rebuild their stockpile of equipment and to rest forces exhausted by the summer fighting."

Comment: There are few wars worth the sacrifice - be it cost, manpower or prestige. Zelensky is bleeding Ukraine dry.
Ukraine is set to continue its counteroffensive against Russian forces through the autumn and into the winter, President Vladimir Zelensky declared on Thursday. He was speaking to US news outlets following meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

The push against Russian defensive lines, which began in early June, will continue regardless of the weather, Zelensky insisted, claiming that Russian troops have been craving a "pause" in the fighting.

"We will do everything not to stop during difficult days in autumn with poor weather, and in winter."

The Ukrainian leader also vowed to "de-occupy two more cities," although he refused to identify potential targets and did not provide a timeframe.

"I will not tell you what cities, sorry. And so we have the plan. A very, very comprehensive plan."

Kiev launched its long-heralded counteroffensive against Russian forces in early June. The most intense fighting has taken place in the formerly-Ukrainian Zaporozhye Region, which was incorporated into Russia last autumn after a referendum.

The counteroffensive has failed to yield any tangible results, and Ukrainian forces are reportedly struggling even to break through the forward defense line erected by Russia.


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Footprints

France withdrawing ambassador, troops from Niger after coup: Macron


Daily Mail
Sun, 24 Sep 2023 16:39 UTC
Macron
© UnknownMacron's announcement appeared to end two months of French defiance over the coup in Niger.
President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced that France would withdraw its ambassador from Niger, followed by the French military contingent in the coming months, a move welcomed by Niger's military leaders as a "step towards sovereignty".

Macron's announcement comes two months after a coup in the west African country that ousted the pro-Paris president.

"France has decided to withdraw its ambassador. In the next hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France," Macron told French television in an interview, without giving details over how this would be organised. Macron added that military cooperation was "over" and French troops would withdraw in "the months and weeks to come" with a full pullout "by the end of the year".

Niger's military rulers responded swiftly in a statement read out on national television.

"This Sunday, we celebrate a new step towards the sovereignty of Niger," said the statement from the military rulers, who seized power by overthrowing President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26.

"This is a historic moment, which speaks to the determination and will of the Nigerien people," the Niger statement added.


Comment: See also:

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SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: NewsReal: Are Top Western Generals Being Killed in Ukraine?


Sott.net
Mon, 25 Sep 2023 14:28 UTC
ukraine zelensky trudeau georgelin newsreal
© Sott.net
There have been rumors of senior NATO commanders (i.e., colonels and majors) being either captured or killed in action in Ukraine ever since the siege of Mariupol liberated that city from the notorious neo-Nazi 'Azov Battalion' in May 2022. At the time, Russian-language media cited Russian soldiers on the front-line claiming that they had encountered in the bowels of the 'Azovstal' industrial zone a number of high-level, active-duty, military personnel from the US, Canada, France, the UK and elsewhere in NATO.

With no formal Russian government claim or evidence to support those earlier reports, they have thus far been consigned to Reddit and Telegram discussions. Recently however, the Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, in an explosive post on 'X', strongly suggested that THE top general in the French military (at least, until he formally retired in 2010), Jean-Louis Georgelin, along with US Army Major-General Anthony Potts, were among the names of senior Western military figures recently killed 'in the line of duty' while unofficially in Ukraine.

Officially, the former "died while hiking alone" last month, while the latter "died while flying solo" last summer. In this NewsReal, Joe and Niall look into Polyanskiy's bombshell claims. In an information war, nothing is as it seems...


Running Time: 01:35:55

Download: MP3 — 65.9 MB

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Bad Guys

Education Secretary Cardona dismissive of parents 'acting like they know what's right for their kids'

Sarah Weaver
The Daily Caller
Fri, 22 Sep 2023 21:02 UTC
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona
© Joshua Roberts/Getty ImagesEducation Secretary Miguel Cardona
U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona appeared to dismiss some parents who protest at school boards during an Associated Press interview released Friday.

"We can disagree, we can have healthy conversation around what's best for kids. I respect differences of opinion, I don't have too much respect for people that are misbehaving in public and then acting as if they know what's right for kids," Cardona said during the interview.

Attorney General Merrick Garland called on the FBI to "use its authority" against parents who "threaten" school officials in board meetings in October 2021. The National School Board Association asked the Biden administration in 2021 to use anti-terrorism laws to restrict parents who voice concerns at school board meetings.

Comment: What else would one expect from an ideological foot soldier?

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Handcuffs

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez and wife indicted on federal bribery charges

Melissa Quinn
CBS News
Fri, 22 Sep 2023 20:11 UTC
damian williams bob mendez bribery charges
© ALEXI ROSENFELD / Getty ImagesDamian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during a press conference after announcing that Sen. Robert Menendez has been indicted on corruption charges charges on Sept. 22, 2023, in New York City.
Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and his wife have been indicted by a federal grand jury, according to court filings unsealed Friday, with prosecutors alleging the couple accepted lavish bribes in exchange for official acts.

The bribery offenses against Menendez stem from a yearslong public-corruption investigation by the Justice Department. The indictment unsealed Friday charges Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with three counts in connection to their relationship with three New Jersey businessmen.

Menendez, 69, and his wife face one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. The three New Jersey associates, identified as Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, are also named as co-defendants and face two counts. Menendez and his co-defendants are expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday morning.

Comment: Menendez is as slimy as they come, but par for the course in the DC swamp.




Tim Pool finds the involvement of SDNY as suspect:


The White House take (hide):


Some of these reports date back eight years:

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Oil Well

Biden handed major legal defeat in attempt to restrict oil, gas drilling in Gulf of Mexico

Thomas Catenacci
Fox News
Fri, 22 Sep 2023 09:30 UTC
Bidenrig
© Getty ImagesRejected: Biden admin aimed to remove 6M acres of oil leases
Federal judge blasts Biden officials for appearing to weaponize wildlife protection laws to block drilling...

A federal court struck down the Biden administration's last-minute restrictions on an upcoming offshore oil and gas lease sale in a ruling late Thursday evening.

Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana granted a preliminary injunction request from plaintiffs — the State of Louisiana, industry association American Petroleum Institute (API) and oil companies Chevron and Shell — to block the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM) restrictions on Lease Sale 261. The lease sale spanning millions of acres across the Gulf of Mexico is slated for next week.

Cain ruled the federal government must proceed with the lease sale by Sept. 30 under its original conditions. As a result of a July settlement with environmental groups, BOEM removed about six million acres from the sale and imposed various restrictions on oil and gas vessels associated with the leases auctioned to protect the Rice's whale species found in parts of the Gulf of Mexico.
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Green Light

Crime, drugs and terrorism: What Biden's open-border agenda means for the US

Robert Bridge
RT
Sat, 23 Sep 2023 16:31 UTC
border guys
© David Swanson/AFPUS Border Patrol Agents process migrants at the Mexican Border
San Diego, California • September 22, 2023
The defenders of open US borders like to sell the happy, optimistic narrative that asylum seekers are primarily innocent people looking to build a better life in the United States. The raw data, however, points to a much more complicated story.

It's the rarest occurrence of all when politicians admit that they were wrong, but that's what is (almost) happening in Democrat-ruled cities, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, which are being forced to absorb a continuous influx of migrants, together with a large slab of humble pie.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams told a hushed audience in Manhattan as he called for federal assistance just days before the anniversary of 9/11:
"Let me tell you something New Yorkers, never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to — I don't see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City. We are past our breaking point. New Yorkers' compassion may be limitless, but our resources are not."
Back on the campaign trail in 2021, Adams' campaign posted on what was then Twitter:
"We should protect our immigrants. Period. Yes, New York City will remain a sanctuary city under an Adams administration."
Much of the Democratic Party's headache stems from the creation of so-called 'sanctuary cities,' defined as a municipality that limits or rejects cooperation with the federal government in enforcing immigration law. In other words, the sort of neighborhood Antifa would fully endorse.
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