Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

'Milley had a point'

Alexander Ward, Lara Seligman, Matt Berg and Eric Bazail-Eimil
Politico
Sat, 19 Aug 2023 18:55 UTC
Mark Milley
© REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File PhotoU.S. Joint Chiefs Chair Army General Mark Milley speaks during a news briefing after participating a virtual Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., November 16, 2022.
The conversation about Ukraine's counteroffensive has shifted from one of excitement to disappointment, as Kyiv's slow gains lead some U.S. officials and insiders alike to whisper: Should we have listened to Gen. Mark Milley?

In November, the Joint Chiefs chair said Ukraine's strong military position and upcoming winter season combined to make a good time to consider peace talks. Plus, operations to expel Russian forces out of the whole of Ukraine - — which Volodymyr Zelenskyy demands — had a slim chance of success. Administration officials immediately scrambled to assure their counterparts in Kyiv that Milley was riffing and not reflecting a secret sentiment in the White House.

But listen to Milley lately, and you can hear the implicit "I told you so."

Comment: Cope, all the way down.

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Light Saber

Russian election chief Pamfilova: West no longer has majority rule


RT
Sat, 19 Aug 2023 18:44 UTC
Ella Pamfilova
© RIAPThe chairman of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova
Russia does not need the kind of "democracy" practiced in the West, Ella Pamfilova has said

The collective West seems to have abandoned democracy for minority rule and Russia wants nothing to do with it, Ella Pamfilova, head of the Russian Central Election Commission, said on Friday.

"In my understanding, democracy is simply a mechanism of electing a government," Pamfilova said, "But in the Western understanding ...What is happening now in the West? That is not rule by the majority, but by the minority. We don't need that kind of democracy."

Pamfilova was speaking at the 'Territory of Meaning' forum, and was asked to address a statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, whom the New York Times quoted as saying that Russia did not have a democracy, but a "costly bureaucracy."

Comment:

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Bullseye

The flaw at the heart of Trump's Georgia indictment

Andrew C. McCarthy
The Messenger
Thu, 17 Aug 2023 18:19 UTC
fani willis da georgia trump charges
© Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesGeorgia's Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis: drunk on power?
What's become of the presumption of innocence?

The question is an urgent one due to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis's election interference case against Donald Trump and 18 others, which she has dubiously framed as a racketeering conspiracy.

Why has DA Willis invoked Georgia's version of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which is typically applied to mobsters engaged in the familiar rackets of murder, extortion, trafficking in narcotics and stolen goods, gambling, prostitution and so on? Because there's a giant hole in her case: the lack of a clear crime to which Trump and his co-defendants can plausibly be said to have agreed.
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Chess

How the EU is cracking down on democracy in Moldova

Graham Dockery
RT
Wed, 16 Aug 2023 18:41 UTC
moldova
© AFP / Daniel MihailescuIlan Shor meets with supporters during a campaign event in Comrat, Moldova, February 15, 2019
By sanctioning a leading Moldovan opposition figure, the EU is working hand-in-hand with the country's unpopular government to stifle dissent. When Western interests are on the line, 'European values' becomes a flexible term.

The EU imposed sanctions on Ilan Shor earlier the summer, accusing the Shor Party leader without evidence of working with the Kremlin to "destabilize the Republic of Moldova" by organizing protests against President Maia Sandu's government. Shor and his deputy, Marina Tauber, filed applications to the European Union General Court last week to have the sanctions dropped, arguing that they were politically motivated.

"Unlike the sanctions created in respect of Russia, Belarus, Syria, Iran, and similar situations, the measures do not aim to put pressure on a foreign government, but rather to the contrary, aim to support that government against opposition forces," Shor's lawyers said in a press release.
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Music

'I feel suffocated': Taliban intensifies clampdown on music in Afghanistan

Shapoor Saber
RFE/RL
Thu, 17 Aug 2023 00:01 UTC
taliban morality police music burning
Members of the Taliban morality police stand beside a bonfire of musical instruments and equipment they confiscated and burned in the Western Afghan city of Herat on July 29.
Soon after seizing power in Afghanistan, the Taliban outlawed music and publicly beat and humiliated musicians.

Now the militant group is intensifying its clampdown on Afghans playing and listening to music, which it considers un-Islamic.

In the western city of Herat, members of the Taliban's notorious morality police last month created a huge bonfire of confiscated musical instruments.

Comment: What an absolutely backward culture. A life with no music is hardly worth living.

See also:

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Bad Guys

Philippines will 'strengthen military ties with US amid concerns of its rivalry' with China


Voice of Europe
Wed, 16 Aug 2023 12:00 UTC
F-16 fighter jets
© Ezra Acayan/Getty ImagesFILE PHOTO: US Air Force F-16 fighter jets fly in formation during joint exercises in the Philippines.
The Philippines are aiming to bolster their ability to counter threats, emphasizing the need to strengthen ties with allies while pursuing an independent foreign policy, as reported by Reuters.

In a 48-page document outlining national security policy recently approved by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the "heightened strategic competition between the United States and China" and the "intensification of rivalry among major powers" are underscored as factors contributing to a "more contentious geopolitical landscape."
"The Philippines also express serious concern over the situation across the Taiwan Strait that may become a flashpoint in the region. The Philippines are worried about its economic stability, potential refugee inflows, and the well-being of its population abroad," the document, published by the country's National Security Council, states.

Comment: What with the Philippines not enforcing sanctions on Russia, as well as considering their former leader Duterte, it seems as though there are factions within the country with differing outlooks on where to hedge their bets, however, for now at least, it seems the US-vassal contingent holds greatest sway: See also: 'Most dangerous moment in world politics': US, China heading for conflict, and it's not clear whether it's avoidable - Orban

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Magnify

Argentina's populist & Trump-fan Javier Milei leads race for presidency


Al Jazeera
Mon, 14 Aug 2023 12:00 UTC
javier milei
© Natacha Pisarenko/AP PhotoMilei has pledged to 'blow up' the political status quo, shutter the central bank, dollarise the economy and massively shrink the state. An admirer of Trump, the 52-year-old leader rocks Argentina's political establishment after winning most votes in Sunday's primary election.
Argentina's presidential election race has an unpredictable X factor: Javier Milei, a fiery far-right populist who has emerged as the biggest winner in Sunday's primary election.

The 52-year-old politician has exploited people's disenchantment with the traditional political establishment, which has failed to address the perennial economic crisis in the Latin American nation.

With tousled hair, often sporting leather jackets and singing rock songs at his boisterous political rallies, Milei - an admirer of former US President Donald Trump - wants to purge politics of what he calls "thieves".

Comment: The following is a snippet of an interview with Milei:



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War Whore

Foreign mercenaries reveal shocking casualty rates in Ukraine - media


RT
Fri, 18 Aug 2023 07:47 UTC
Military medics evacuate a wounded Ukrainian serviceman near the front line in Donetsk Region
© AFP / Anatoly StepanovMilitary medics evacuate a wounded Ukrainian serviceman near the front line in Donetsk Region, Russia, June 5, 2023
In some units, more than eight out of ten men have been wounded or killed, ABC News has reported

Some Ukrainian units have suffered casualty rates of 85% during their ongoing counteroffensive against Russian forces, Western mercenaries told ABC News on Thursday. The report aligns with casualty figures released by Russia, which claims that its forces have incapacitated 43,000 Ukrainian troops in two months.

An US army veteran fighting with Ukrainian special forces near Donetsk told ABC that his unit of "dozens" of men took "85% casualties" during an assault on a village near the city two weeks ago. Of those hit, 40% were injured so badly that they were left "combat ineffective" afterwards, he added.

His comrade, another American, said that the unit met "very organized resistance" from Russian troops.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

Trump lawyer Habba: Charges in Georgia state court 'by design'

Brian Freeman
Newsmax
Fri, 18 Aug 2023 19:39 UTC
Alina Habba
© Newsmax TVTrump attorney Alina Habba
As a deliberate ploy, the state of Georgia is bringing charges against former President Donald Trump that should be in federal court,

Alina Habba, Trump lawyer and general counsel for the Save America PAC, told Newsmax on Wednesday.

"Anything having to do with ... election issues at this level with a president should 100% be in federal court," Habba told Newsmax's Wake Up America, adding that this was all done "by design."

Habba said Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis "did it on purpose so that if he [Trump] is president, he can't pardon himself if he's convicted. ... We will probably be asking for a removal to another venue and to move it to federal court."
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Bullseye

Washington wants to create biological crises when needed - Moscow


RT
Fri, 18 Aug 2023 20:30 UTC
biohazard
© Arun SANKAR / AFP
The US wants to harness the power of dangerous biological agents and manage artificial epidemics by conducting illegal research in biolabs across the globe, the Russian embassy in Washington has said.

In a statement on Thursday, the embassy recalled that Moscow has repeatedly sounded the alarm about what it called "gross violations by the United States of its obligations" under the Biological Weapons Convention which bans this type of armament, and has been signed by virtually all countries in the world, including Russia and the US.

However, "Washington ignores the claims, justifying itself by some humanitarian component of its programs," the embassy said, claiming that such excuses have nothing to do with reality.
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