Puppet Masters

US senators propose bill to halt transfer of F-35 jets to Turkey unless it reneges on S-400 deal

RT
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 23:34 UTC

US senators have proposed a bipartisan bill to make good on Washington's blackmail of Turkey - by halting the transfer of 100 agreed-upon F-35 jets until Ankara tears up the deal with Moscow to buy S-400 air defense complexes.

The bill on limiting the transfer of F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey was introduced by Republican Senator James Lankford, and co-sponsored by Republican Thom Tillis and Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Van Hollen on Thursday.

The draft of the bill states that:

"no funds may be obligated or expended" to transfer the batch of the F-35 aircraft to Turkey or intellectual property and technical data related to its operation and maintenance until a written certification is provided to Congress that Turkey "does not plan or intend" to go ahead with the delivery of the cutting-edge Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles.

The lawmakers claim the purchase of the Russian-made weapons by Turkey would "endanger the integrity" of NATO and "result in a significant impact to defense cooperation" between Washington and Ankara. The military cooperation between Turkey and Russia deals a blow to the US own security, Shaheen argued.

Comment: See also:

French President Macron's inner circle collapsing: Three ministers quit in one day

Romina McGuinness
The Express
Thu, 28 Mar 2019 19:05 UTC

Macron's government has been rocked by three resignations, the French presidency said, joining a wave of departures from the Elysée Palace as the young president scrambles to repair his image, tainted by a string of political missteps and the yellow vest revolt.

A string of high profile resignations over the past eight months have challenged the French centrist's authority, already undermined by claims his leadership style is aloof and autocratic. The departures bring to 10 the number of ministers to have left Mr Macron's all-stripes cabinet since he took power in May 2017. Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux and Digital Minister Mounir Mahjoubi are reportedly leaving their posts to launch rival bids for the 2020 Paris mayorship.

The presidency also confirmed the resignation of European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau, who is to lead Mr Macron's centrist La République en Marche (LREM) party's campaign for European parliamentary elections in May.

Mr Macron's office announced the departures in an emailed statement without naming their possible successors. They are expected to be announced upon Mr Macron's return from Qatar on Friday or on Monday, the date of the next cabinet meeting.

Comment: Things are not looking good for Mr. Macron. What will the elites do if one of their European puppets is actually forced out of office

Hypocritical Pentagon warns India against 'messy' tests in space, despite doing similar one in 2008

RT
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 18:09 UTC

India risks creating dangerous debris while blasting missiles into space, the Pentagon said, despite having conducted a very similar test in the past and producing thousands of pieces of space junk orbiting the Earth.

New Delhi successfully conducted an anti-satellite missile test this week. In Washington, acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan admonished India for littering in orbit.

"My message would be: We all live in space, let's not make it a mess," he told reporters, adding that the US is still studying the effects of India's missile on the environment. The military earlier noted that it is currently tracking around 270 objects left from the destroyed satellite.

Shanahan's concerns were met with reassurances from India. G. Satheesh Reddy, who leads the nation's Defense Research and Development Organization, said that all the debris will burn up in about 45 days.

Israeli Air Force used US-made bombs in latest Aleppo attack

Southfront
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 17:54 UTC

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) used US-Made GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) in its recent attack on the Syrian city of Aleppo, a photo released by pro-government activists on March 28 reveals.

The photo shows the remains of one of the munitions which were used in the attack, that occurred in the late hours of March 27. The remains appear to be identical to the wings of the GBU-39 bomb.

The GBU-39, that was first introduced by Boeing in 2006, is a precision-guided glide bomb with a range of 110km. The bomb uses an inertial navigation system (INS) and GPS to hit static targets with high accuracy. The light weight of the bomb [only 129kg] allows most warplanes to carry a pack of four on each hard point.

In April of last year, the IAF used the GBU-39 SDB to strike targets in the outskirt of the city of Aleppo. The bomb is apparently being used to strike targets deep inside Syria due to its small diameter, which makes it harder to detect by Syrian radars.

Despite its small diameter and long range, several SDBs were successfully intercepted by the Syrian Arab Air Defense Forces (SyAADF), according to pro-government sources.

Mueller punts - lets AG Barr make obstruction call

National Review
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 17:39 UTC

What a waste.

The most telling revelation in Attorney General William Barr's letter about Special Counsel Robert Mueller's much-anticipated final report is that Mueller has punted on the main question he pursued for nearly two years of investigation: Did President Trump commit an obstruction offense?

The Barr letter gingerly states that, after making a "thorough factual investigation" into alleged instances of obstruction, Mueller "ultimately determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment." Since making a prosecutorial judgment was Mueller's job, that means he defaulted. What did we need him for?

Not only that, but Mueller determined that it would be better for the attorney general to make the prosecutorial judgment. So, for the millionth time, what the hell did we need a special counsel for? If the Justice Department, in Mueller's judgment, was perfectly well-suited to make the call, how could there possibly have been a conflict so profound that it was necessary to bring in a special counsel in the first place? A special counsel, mind you, who recruited his staff from the Justice Department, transferred the cases he brought to Justice Department components, and, now, has ultimately delegated his decision-making responsibility to the Justice Department.

Tucker Carlson: CNN is really a super PAC, colluding with the Democratic Party on the news you hear

Tucker Carlson
Fox News
Thu, 28 Mar 2019 17:48 UTC

We want to tell you a story about collusion, a real one -- an actual collusion that's currently in progress.

There are no shadowy hackers or imaginary rendezvous in Prague. In this story, there's not a single Russian spy or secret sex tape. There's nothing shadowy about the collusion we're going to tell you about. It takes place right out in the open on live television. This is a story about where your news comes from.

This past Sunday afternoon, we learned that the Trump campaign did not collude with the government of Russia. That was the conclusion of Robert Mueller's investigation, an investigation that spent two years exhaustively looking into the question. This was very good news for America -- we don't have a spy in the White House. But it was apocalyptic for the Democratic Party and their press agents in the news media.

These are the people who would stake their reputations and their fortunes on the collusion hoax -- and they were stunned. Befuddled politicians stammered on television, trying to figure out what to say about the news. Viewers of liberal media outlets didn't want to hear anything about it. Huge numbers of them just quit watching immediately. On Tuesday night, CNN's 8 p.m. show lost nearly 50 percent of its viewers.

Russian Central Bank: Ruble proves most stable currency among developing nations

RT
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 17:31 UTC

The Russian currency has proven itself to be the most stable of all developing countries during recent volatility, according to the deputy head of the Central Bank of Russia.

"There was quite a strong movement in the developing countries' markets yesterday, the ruble was in fact one of the least affected," Bank of Russia First Deputy Governor Ksenia Yudaeva said on Thursday, as quoted by TASS. "However, the Russian market demonstrates the greatest calm compared to all others," she added.

The official noted that events in Turkey may have affected investors, referring to the country's recent currency volatility. The Turkish lira experienced another fall this week and the country's main index of leading company shares, the Borsa Istanbul 100, dropped more than five percent.

'Awful': US urges transparent probe into Saudi bombing of hospital in Yemen

Sputnik
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 17:13 UTC

A US State Department spokesperson Robert Palladino called on Thursday the bombing earlier this week of a Save the Children hospital in Yemen "awful" and urged the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen to conduct an investigation, Reuters reported.

"I saw those reports, they're awful. The United States takes them seriously and we're seeking more information [...] We understand that the Saudi-led coalition has referred the results of this targeting operation to the joint incidents assessment team for their review and their investigation", Palladino told a media briefing as quoted by Reuters.

"The United States urges a transparent investigation", Palladino stressed.

Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between government forces led by President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi and the rebel Houthi movement for several years. A Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.

Venezuelan gov't bars US puppet Guaido from public office for 15 years

Jorge Rueda
Associated Press
Thu, 28 Mar 2019 16:59 UTC

The Venezuelan government on Thursday said it has barred opposition leader Juan Guaido from holding public office for 15 years, though the National Assembly leader brushed off the measure and said it would not derail his campaign to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

The announcement by state comptroller Elvis Amoroso, a close Maduro ally, cited alleged irregularities in Guaido's financial records and reflected a tightening of government pressure on an opposition movement backed by the United States and its allies.

Guaido, who was elected to the assembly in 2015, has taken 90 international trips without accounting for the origin of the estimated $94,000 in expenses, Amoroso said. He also accused the opposition leader of harming Venezuela through his interactions with foreign governments, dozens of which support Guaido's claim that he is interim president of the country.

"We're going to continue in the streets," Guaido said soon after Amoroso's statements on state television. He dismissed the comptroller's announcement as irrelevant because, in his view, Maduro's government is illegitimate.

Brexit deadline passes: Brits were promised heaven or hell, not endless limbo

RT
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 16:53 UTC

Brits were warned that March 29, 2019 would bring either a glorious new future outside of the EU, or a post-apocalyptic scene of economic collapse. No one promised everything would remain exactly the same.

Yet, here we stand, and that deep-down feeling that I think the majority of British people have had for some time has come true. They've woken up to find that they're still very much citizens of the European Union.

For Brexiteers it's nothing short of a betrayal, for Remainers it may seem like a relief, but at some point they have to accept that surely any kind of Brexit is better than the current state of limbo.

The political process is stuck like a fading vintage Jaguar stranded in 3 feet of mud. The wheels are spinning, the car is going nowhere and everyone standing nearby is left covered in s**t.

New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer neighborhoods, safer communities, and our children are going to get a good...

parzival

Bill Gates is going to be the one with the uncertain future,,, * New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer...

parzival

The more we hear about adverse affects the more we will merely shrug. It's a catch 22. Is that an asteroid trail in the photo?

sass

Welcome to the new normal. The more sensory exposure we have about such things, the less it is an issue.

sass

more misbehaving phuqqin' jewzskies starring on the sott; speaks for itself

Jibrish

Puppet Masters

US senators propose bill to halt transfer of F-35 jets to Turkey unless it reneges on S-400 deal

French President Macron's inner circle collapsing: Three ministers quit in one day

Hypocritical Pentagon warns India against 'messy' tests in space, despite doing similar one in 2008

Israeli Air Force used US-made bombs in latest Aleppo attack

Mueller punts - lets AG Barr make obstruction call

Tucker Carlson: CNN is really a super PAC, colluding with the Democratic Party on the news you hear

Russian Central Bank: Ruble proves most stable currency among developing nations

'Awful': US urges transparent probe into Saudi bombing of hospital in Yemen

Venezuelan gov't bars US puppet Guaido from public office for 15 years

Brexit deadline passes: Brits were promised heaven or hell, not endless limbo

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