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Snakes in Suits

Desperate Obama slams Trump's appearance on RT and compares Putin to Saddam Hussein


RT
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 23:14 UTC
Barack Obama
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
Barack Obama slammed Donald Trump for his appearance on RT last week, accusing the Republican nominee of trying to "curry favor" with the Russian president, whom he compared to Saddam Hussein in one of his harshest comments yet about Vladimir Putin.

Obama blasted Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump for offering a soundbite to the Larry King Politicking Show that airs on RT.

"When the interviewer asks him [Trump], 'why do you support this guy [Putin]?' He says, 'He is a strong guy. Look, he's got an 82 percent poll rating.' Well, yes, Saddam Hussein had a 90 percent poll rating. If you control the media and you've taken away everybody's civil liberties, and you jail dissidents, that's what happens," Obama claimed, addressing the crowd at Hillary Clinton campaign event in Philadelphia.

"He loves this guy," Obama added of Trump's alleged cozy relationship with Putin. "Now their nominee is out there praising a guy, saying he's a strong leader, because he invades smaller countries, jails his opponents, controls the press, and drives his economy into a recession."


Comment: Wow, Obama just described the US and 'mistakenly' says it's Russia.


Comment: This presidential campaign has truly become absolutely ludicrous. Not only is it all about paranoid projections onto Putin, in another major first, the incumbent president has to be wheeled out to ensure 'the right result'. It's not just the Democratic party going down; belief in 'democracy', the 'American Dream' and 'the West is the best' is also rapidly crumbling.

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Syringe

Duterte in the western media crosshairs, and the truth about the Philippines' drug war

Peter Lee
Asia Times
Fri, 09 Sep 2016 21:11 UTC
duterte
© REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte attends the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos September 7, 2016.
Serial misreporting on Asian affairs is the price the media pays for loyally supporting the US pivot to Asia. It's also a sign that, after a brief US government dalliance with feisty Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, the skids are probably getting greased for his removal.

As an appetizer, consider "Stairgate" i.e. the kerfuffle over the non-appearance of the fancy stairs that would have allowed President Obama to deplane in suitable imperial fashion from the front of Air Force One in Hangzhou for the G20 meeting.

As the Guardian chose to present it, President Obama was "forced to 'go out of the ass' of Air Force One" presenting the unfortunate image of the leader of the free world — and a black man — energetically expelled from the rear of the American flying machine and rolling across the tarmac like a lonely brown turd. Not your best work, Guardian.

The idea that the PRC would find it desirable to humiliate President Obama in this fashion is pretty dubious, and sure enough the Chinese put out the story through the South China Morning Post that there had been an unresolved tussle between the US and PRC security teams over the English-language capabilities of the Chinese driver charged with delivering the magic staircase to Air Force One.

Looks like they might have been telling the truth!
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Eye 1

Study reveals Google manipulates search suggestions in favor of Killary


Sputnik
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 21:11 UTC
hillary
© Youtube/SourceFed
In this exclusive report, distinguished research psychologist Robert Epstein explains the new study and reviews evidence that Google's search suggestions are biased in favor of Hillary Clinton. He estimates that biased search suggestions might be able to shift as many as 3 million votes in the upcoming presidential election in the US.

Biased search rankings can swing votes and alter opinions, and a new study shows that Google's autocomplete can too.

A scientific study I published last year showed that search rankings favoring one candidate can quickly convince undecided voters to vote for that candidate — as many as 80 percent of voters in some demographic groups. My latest research shows that a search engine could also shift votes and change opinions with another powerful tool: autocomplete.

Because of recent claims that Google has been deliberately tinkering with search suggestions to make Hillary Clinton look good, this is probably a good time both to examine those claims and to look at my new research. As you will see, there is some cause for concern here.

In June of this year, Sourcefed released a video claiming that Google's search suggestions — often called "autocomplete" suggestions — were biased in favor of Mrs. Clinton. The video quickly went viral: the full 7-minute version has now been viewed more than a million times on YouTube, and an abridged 3-minute version has been viewed more than 25 million times on Facebook.
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Sherlock

Filipino Army spokesman: Relationship with US "rock solid" despite Duterte calling for withdrawal of troops


RT
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 20:38 UTC
filipino soldiers
© Romeo Ranoco / Reuters
An Army spokesman has described defense relations with the United States as "rock solid" a day after Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said US troops should leave the south of his country.

"We assure our people and allies that Philippine-US defense relations remain rock solid," Philippine Army spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

"The recent pronouncement will affect only a token number of American servicemen who are confined mainly in Zamboanga City... They [the US troops] provide technical assistance and training to their Filipino counterparts in combating terrorism in the Philippines," the spokesman stated further.

President Duterte said he is opposed to US soldiers being stationed in Zamboanga, Southern Mindanao region, recalling how American troops took part in a pacification plan against Muslim Filipinos going back over a century. He said that this has caused a long period of resentment from the minority Muslim population against the majority Catholics in the south.
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Snakes in Suits

Trump hires Iraq war hawk James Woolsey as national security advisor after blasting Iraq War as 'disaster'

Naomi LaChance and Alex Emmons
The Intercept
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 20:30 UTC
james woolsey
© Win McNamee/Getty Images
Former CIA director James Woolsey
Donald Trump named former CIA director and extremist neoconservative James Woolsey his senior adviser on national security issues on Monday. Woolsey, who left the CIA in 1995, went on to become one of Washington's most outspoken promoters of U.S. war in Iraq and the Middle East.

As such, Woolsey's selection either clashes with Trump's noninterventionist rhetoric — or represents a pivot towards a more muscular, neoconservative approach to resolving international conflicts.

Trump has called the Iraq War "a disaster."

Woolsey, by contrast, was a key member of the Project for the New American Century — a neoconservative think tank largely founded to encourage a second war with Iraq. Woolsey signed a letter in 1998 calling on Clinton to depose Saddam Hussein and only hours after the 9/11 attacks appeared on CNN and blamed the attacks on Iraq. Woolsey has continued to insist on such a connection despite the complete lack of evidence to support his argument. He also blames Iran.

Weeks before the invasion of Iraq, Woolsey called for broader war in the Middle East, saying "World War IV" was already underway.
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Star of David

Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres put into medically-induced coma


RT
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 18:46 UTC
shimon peres
© Baz Ratner / Reuters
Shimon Peres, the former Prime Minister and President of Israel, has been put into a medically-induced coma at a hospital in eastern Tel Aviv, according to a statement from his office.

Peres's spokeswoman announced on Tuesday that the Israeli political heavyweight was rushed to the Sheba Medical Centre in Tel HaShomer after suffering a stroke, but said he was "stable and fully conscious" on Tuesday, AP reported.

Translation: "I wish former President Shimon Peres a speedy recovery. Shimon, we all love you and wish for your recovery".

Later, Reuters cited a statement from his office confirming that doctors had decided to put Peres into an induced coma.

Peres previously suffered a heart attack on January 14, 2016 and was admitted to hospital again two weeks later while suffering chest pains, but was released after two days.
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SOTT Logo S

SOTT News Snapshot: September 13 edition - What is Israel doing in Syria? Are Killary's batteries running out?


Sott.net
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 14:37 UTC
delhi
© Digital Globe/Foundation for Deep Ecology
Random revealing picture of the day: New Delhi, India, where many landfills are reaching a breaking point. The surrounding population of Delhi totals some 25 million people.
The Syrian ceasefire officially went into effect last night. The Russian General Staff reports the Syrian government has fully halted attacks on all but Daesh and Nusra areas. Early reports yesterday suggested "some reduction in violence", according to Kerry. German FM Steinmeier called it a "significant" reduction in violence. Today we have the same story: largely holding, only minor violations reported (e.g., rebels shelled army positions near the Castillo Road north of Aleppo - they even attacked Russian Marines during a live broadcast with the Russian Defense Ministry). Things are even reportedly calm in rebel-held east Aleppo -- somewhat surprising given the presence of Nusra there. And even the UK-based one-man anti-Assad psyop known as the "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights" is reporting that not a single civilian has been reported killed in the last 15 hours. SOHR focuses on civilian deaths allegedly caused by Syrian airstrikes, but as usual, he (it's just one guy) doesn't pay all that much attention to civilian deaths caused by rebels.

The Russian military reported 23 violations by rebel militants over the past day, shelling residential and army positions and causing 6 deaths in Aleppo and 10 wounded. Russia has called on the Syrian government not to respond to these provocations: "I ask everyone not to succumb to provocations, to carefully record all possible violations and send the data to the Russian Reconciliation Center," Russian General Staff official Viktor Poznikhir said.
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Chess

Lavrov advocates publishing US-Russia agreement on Syria to ensure both sides are in compliance


TASS
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 19:41 UTC
Syria
© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS
The Russian foreign minister says Moscow suggests making the agreement public to ensure there are no doubts whether the sides comply with it

Moscow is for the publication of its agreement with the United States on Syria and for seeking its approval by the UN Security Council without any amendments, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

"We hear Washington say it is not sure whether Russia will comply with the agreements in their original form, the way they were written down," Lavrov said. "This is a strange statement, especially if one bears in mind that the agreements incorporate the United States' reaffirmed obligations to separate terrorists from the moderate opposition."

The United States, he recalled, assumed that obligation early this year.

"Soon it will be twelve months since then. Nothing has been done. Moreover, there've been speculations the moderate opposition should not be separated from al-Nusra (outlawed in Russia - TASS), but legalized altogether and possibly, merged with ever more groups in order to create an effective force on the ground for resistance to the Syrian army," he said, adding that "all this will require a very frank discussion."

Comment: Washington refused to list Ahrar al-Sham among terrorist organizations, hasn't provided coordinates for Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that Washington hasn't yet provided any information that allows for pinpointing the coordinates of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists in Syria with precision.

Chief of the Russian Reconciliation Center at Hmeimeem Airbase Lt. Gen. Vladimir Savchenko said that the United States' failure to provide this information hinders the successful implementation of reconciliation in Syria, asserting that he was informed that the Syrian governmental forces are prepared to resume the truce regime and that the Syrian side are informed of the principles of the Russian-US agreements regarding Syria and gave its approval to implement them strictly.

Savchenko explained that the Coordination Center's main task is to guarantee the arrival of humanitarian aid convoys to affected areas, particularly in the eastern and western countryside of Aleppo, adding that the Center will monitor the implementation of the cessation of combat activities and work to set mechanisms for rebuilding infrastructure in Aleppo and other areas across Syria.

He also noted that 5 foreign states and 5 international organizations have voiced readiness to provide comprehensive support for Syrians in the humanitarian field.

On a relevant note, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation announced that Russian military personnel have all the resources for monitoring the situation in areas covered by the cessation of combat activities, stressing the need for implementing the cessation completely which involves not to be provoked by breaches and to monitor any breaches with precision, adding that Russian military aircrafts will continue to target terrorists in Syria and that work is underway to establish a joint center to specify targets for Russian and American air forces.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry revealed that the United States refused to list Ahrar al-Cham among terrorist organizations despite Russia's calls to this effect, voicing concern that the organization will refuse to abide by the truce.

The Ministry said in a statement that the reaction of some armed groups illicit concerns, including Ahrar al-Cham which refused to abide by the Russian-American agreement.
See also:

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Eye 1

Israel and Facebook working together to decide what the masses can see and read

Glenn Greenwald
The Intercept
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 18:28 UTC
facebook
© Joerg Koch/AP
Last week, a major censorship controversy erupted when Facebook began deleting all posts containing the iconic photograph of the Vietnamese "Napalm Girl" on the ground that it violated the company's ban on "child nudity." Facebook even deleted a post from the prime minister of Norway, who posted the photograph in protest of the censorship. As outrage spread, Facebook ultimately reversed itself — acknowledging "the history and global importance of this image in documenting a particular moment in time" — but this episode illustrated many of the dangers I've previously highlighted in having private tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google become the arbiters of what we can and cannot see.

Having just resolved that censorship effort, Facebook seems to be vigorously courting another. The Associated Press reports today from Jerusalem that "the Israeli government and Facebook have agreed to work together to determine how to tackle incitement on the social media network." These meetings are taking place "as the government pushes ahead with legislative steps meant to force social networks to rein in content that Israel says incites violence." In other words, Israel is about to legislatively force Facebook to censor content deemed by Israeli officials to be improper, and Facebook appears eager to appease those threats by working directly with the Israeli government to determine what content should be censored.

The joint Facebook-Israel censorship efforts, needless to say, will be directed at Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians who oppose Israeli occupation. The AP article makes that clear: "Israel has argued that a wave of violence with the Palestinians over the past year has been fueled by incitement, much of it spread on social media sites." As Alex Kane reported in The Intercept in June, Israel has begun actively surveilling Palestinians for the content of their Facebook posts and even arresting some for clear political speech. Israel's obsession with controlling Palestinians' use of social media is motivated by the way it has enabled political organizing by occupation opponents; as Kane wrote: "A demonstration against the Israeli occupation can be organized in a matter of hours, while the monitoring of Palestinians is made easier by the large digital footprint they leave on their laptops and mobile phones."
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Bullseye

Don't be fooled again: Presidential election is a circus to distract us from the ongoing devastation of the world by corporate elites

Chris Hedges
Truth Dig
Sun, 11 Sep 2016 17:50 UTC
hillary
© Andrew Harnik / AP
The naive hopes of Bernie Sanders' supporters—to build a grass-roots political movement, change the Democratic Party from within and push Hillary Clinton to the left—have failed. Clinton, aware that the liberal class and the left are not going to mount genuine resistance, is running as Mitt Romney in drag. The corporate elites across the political spectrum, Republican and Democrat, have gleefully united to anoint her president. All that remains of Sanders' "revolution" is a 501(c)(4) designed to raise money, including from wealthy, anonymous donors, to ensure that he will be a senator for life. Great historical events happen twice, as Karl Marx quipped, first as tragedy and then as farce.

The multibillion-dollar extravaganza of our electoral Circus Maximus is part of the smokescreen that covers the ongoing devastation of globalization, deindustrialization, trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, endless war, climate change and the intrusion into every corner of our lives by the security and surveillance state. Our democracy is dead. Clinton and Donald Trump do not have the power or the interest to revive it. They kneel before the war machine, which consumes trillions of dollars to wage futile wars and bankroll a bloated military. To defy the fortress state is political suicide. Politicians are courtiers to Wall Street. The candidates mouth the clichés of justice, improvements in income equality and democratic choice, but it is a cynical game. Once it is over, the victors will go to Washington to work with the lobbyists and financial elites to carry out the real business of ruling.

While there is a difference in the temperament of the two major presidential candidates, that difference will play out only in how our poison will be delivered. Political personalities serve global corporate centers of power. They do not control them. Barack Obama illustrates this.
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