Puppet Masters

Publisher of controversial 'Putin's People' agrees to edit book, admits 'no evidence' for claims against Russian banking tycoons

RT
Thu, 29 Jul 2021 17:43 UTC

putin book russian bankers london justice court

© Wikipedia; Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Royal Courts of Justice, London (inset) 'Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West' by Catherine Belton

HarperCollins, the American publishing house behind a widely contested account of Russian President Vladimir Putin's time in office, has agreed to edit future copies in the face of legal action from two top Moscow businessmen.

On Wednesday, a court in London heard that the Rupert Murdoch-owned giant would redact future copies of Putin's People, by former Financial Times Moscow correspondent Catherine Belton. The book had alleged links between Soviet security services and two Russian claimants, Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven. The pair are the founders of Alfa Bank, one of Russia's largest financial institutions.

Comment: Russian billionaires vs British writer: London court battle begins over Putin book

Caitlin: For every whistleblower they make an example of, they prevent a thousand more

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com
Tue, 27 Jul 2021 00:00 UTC

Whistleblower Daniel Hale has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking secret government information about America's psychopathic civilian-slaughtering drone assassination program.

The sentence was much harsher than Hale's defense requested but not nearly as harsh as US prosecutors pushed for, arguing that longer prison sentences are necessary for deterring whistleblowing in the US intelligence cartel.

The Dissenter's Kevin Gosztola reports:

Despite the fact that Hale pled guilty on March 31 to one of the five Espionage Act offenses he faced, prosecutors remained spiteful and unwilling to support anything less than a "significant sentence" to "deter" government employees or contractors from "using positions in the intelligence community for self-aggrandizement."

In other words, if you tell the public the truth about your government's crimes, you will be made an example of so nobody else tries to do that. And then for that brave and selfless act, you'll be smeared as doing it for "self-aggrandizement".

Ted Cruz calls mask mandate reversal "a virtue signal of submissiveness"

Steve Watson
Summit News
Thu, 29 Jul 2021 11:51 UTC

Charges Democrats of engaging in "Kabooki theater"

Texas Senator Ted Cruz responded to the CDC's announcement this week that all Americans should wear face masks again, even fully vaccinated people, by labelling it the ultimate "virtue signal".

Speaking at a Senate hearing, Cruz said that while he believes in vaccines and has been urging people to get vaccinated, "I also believe in individual liberty, I believe in freedom, it's your damn choice whether you get vaccinated."

Comment: See also:

The Dutch invasion plan of Donbass before the downing of MH17 on July 17, 2014

John Helmer
Dance with Bears
Tue, 20 Jul 2021 00:00 UTC

Two Dutch nationals, David Petraeus and Sandra Roelofs (lead image, centre), were involved in the US planning of an invasion of the Donbass region, eastern Ukraine, in the days running up to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 on July 17, 2014, when 193 Dutch and 38 Australians were among the 298 passengers and crew killed.

Petraeus, a US Army general and director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2011-November 9, 2012), is a Dutch citizen by law because his father, Sixtus Petraeus from Friesland, was a junior officer in the Dutch merchant marine at the outbreak of World War II. David Petraeus was awarded a Dutch knighthood in 2010 and is celebrated by the Dutch as "the most visible Dutch American personality on the national and international scene".

Roelofs, Dutch by birth in Zeeland, became the wife of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili (left) in 1993, and she has remained his collaborator in open political as well as clandestine operations in Georgia, Ukraine, and the US since then.

Comment: When it comes to Saakashvili, where does one really begin and end:

Ukraine returns citizenship to eccentric fugitive former Georgian president Saakashvili

And then there is Poroshenko:

Ex-president Poroshenko ducks questioning by Ukraine's State Bureau Of Investigations

Behind the mask of these two characters (with others in the mix), stands the sad fate of all those aboard MH17. This is a tragedy of cold blooded murder, all hidden behind western political and media narratives, with a kangaroo court exhibiting a peculiar form of justice that just does not let up:

This would not be rounded off without mentioning Bellingcat:

Of course, there is much more on this shadowy stumbling group called Bellingcat, from MH17 to Syrian slander, all with allegations of deep-state intelligence ties and funding.

Russian defense minister: US is pulling out of Afghanistan, but still trying to 'watch what's going on over the fence'

RT
Wed, 28 Jul 2021 13:44 UTC

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has told RT that, despite US President Joe Biden's plans for a full troop withdrawal within the next few months, Afghanistan still faces American efforts to interfere in its internal affairs.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, the military chief said US intentions to monitor the advance of insurgents from afar indicated that Washington still has plans for the Central Asian nation long after all its troops leave the country later this summer. "Why are you coming out if you're still trying to watch what's going on from over the fence?" he asked.

Shoigu went on to say that American officials are engaged in "pesky" negotiations with nations across the region to set up and maintain logistics centers and hubs for military equipment to be moved through. These could also serve to help extract Afghans who cooperated with US forces, and now fear retribution as Islamist forces gain ground. The Taliban, a prohibited terrorist organization in Russia, now claim to have occupied the majority of the country, and forces loyal to the government in Kabul have sought refuge from fighting in nearby Tajikistan.

Comment: See also: US steps up airstrikes this week to support Afghan forces

Nancy Pelosi's on her last legs

Miranda Devine
New York Post
Sun, 25 Jul 2021 10:17 UTC

Nancy Pelosi used to point her angry finger at Donald Trump, but she leaves him in the dust when it comes to busting norms, dividing Congress and causing mayhem. If anyone is to blame for the hyper-partisanship in Washington these days, it's the spiteful House speaker.

She behaves more like a Mafia don waging a gang war than a dignified, fair and honest presiding officer, which is what the speaker's role requires.

Pelosi abuses her power in ways that once were unthinkable. Her speakership has been the antithesis of Lincoln's entreaty to "the better angels of our nature." Everyone in Congress — and, by extension, the nation — has been sullied by the spite and vitriol she has injected into the political sphere. There is no grace or Christian charity, just the barren wasteland of the zero-sum game, power for power's sake.

It's made all the worse by her increasingly frantic claims to be a "devout Catholic."

The fact that all this venom is packaged in the shape of a small, elderly, expensively shod woman has bestowed upon her an element of deference her actions do not deserve. But last week there were a couple of signs that she's finally worn out her welcome.

Big Tech companies to target right-wing militias & 'attacker manifestos' through same database used to identify terrorists

RT
Mon, 26 Jul 2021 21:35 UTC

A joint 'counterterrorism' organization formed by Big Tech companies like Facebook and Microsoft will begin more aggressively targeting right-wing militia groups and manifestos on their platforms.

The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) has primarily focused on videos and images released by terrorist groups identified by the United Nations, including the Taliban.

The group will be expanding the scope of material they target in the coming months, according to a report from Reuters. New material flagged will include "attacker manifestos" often linked to white supremacism, as well as right-wing and neo-Nazi militia groups allegedly posing a threat. Right-wing groups that have grown in popularity in the last few years, like the Proud Boys and Three Percenters, have already been identified in the system.

Included in this Big Tech group are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others. The sharing of information between companies allows them to see what content is being banned and, in turn, they can ban similar content on their platform.

Comment: The public voice is now at the mercy of an elite non-government power structure to point, accuse and censor. What are its connections to private data? Access? Provider?

US steps up airstrikes this week to support Afghan forces

Robert Burns
Air Force Times
Tue, 27 Jul 2021 04:53 UTC

The U.S. military this week has launched additional airstrikes in support of Afghan government forces in their fight against the Taliban, using both conventional warplanes and armed drones, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The strikes, following several conducted last week, indicate stepped up U.S. support after weeks of battlefield gains by the Taliban as U.S. troops complete their withdrawal. The aircraft are being flown from bases outside of Afghanistan because the U.S. military has pulled all of its combat planes out of the country.

"A number of strikes have occurred over the last several days from both manned and unmanned strike platforms," Maj. Robert Lodewick, a Pentagon spokesman, said. He did not provide further details. Other officials had said last week's airstrikes targeted Taliban positions in combat as well as military equipment that had been captured by the Taliban.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, who is overseeing the U.S. military withdrawal and making decisions on air support for Afghan troops, said on Sunday that airstrikes had been increasing. "We're prepared to continue this heightened level of support in the coming weeks if the Taliban continue their attacks," McKenzie said.

He also said the U.S. was providing "contract logistics support both here in Kabul and over-the-horizon in the region, funding for them, intelligence sharing, and advising and assisting through security consultations at the strategic level."

Off his meds? Zelensky says Ukraine is rightful heir to historic Kievan Rus & 'distant relatives' like Russia should not claim it

Jonny Tickle
RT
Wed, 28 Jul 2021 17:50 UTC

In a rebuke to an essay written by Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed his view that "distant relatives," like Moscow, should not try to claim the history of the Kievan Rus.

Zelensky was speaking on the 1,033rd anniversary of the Baptism of Kievan Rus, when Vladimir the Great converted to Christianity. This society was a loose federation of peoples in modern-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, all united under a monarchy - the Rurik dynasty.

Comment: Putin is correct. Ukraine in its current form, as a nation state, was not created due to centuries of homogenous cultural development.

The history of Ukraine as an artificial state

Rep. Jim Banks: Pelosi booted me from January 6 Probe to hide her responsibility for security breakdown

Pam Key
Breitbart
Sun, 25 Jul 2021 17:06 UTC

jim banks nancy pelosi capitol hill riot investigation

Vodka Nan had Rep. Banks deep-sixed from the Jan 6 "investigation" for calling out her security failures as head of the Capitol Police

Representative Jim Banks (R-ID), one of the two GOP lawmakers blocked by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from serving on the January 6 Select Committee, said on this week's broadcast of Fox News Sunday that the Speaker was trying to avoid questions about her responsible for the "breakdown of security" that allowed for the storming the Capitol.

"It's more clear than ever that Nancy Pelosi is not interested in investigation. She's only interested in a narrative. She claims the reason that she booted me from the committee was because of antics on the part of Jim Jordan and I. In hindsight, what I realize what she means by that now is that we were prepared to ask questions that no one else has asked and demand answers as to why the Capital was vulnerable to an attack on January 6th? Why was there a systemic breakdown of security at the Capitol on January 6th? If you're going to investigate January 6th, why not ask those questions? That's all that this comes down to. She has already predetermined a narrative about Donald Trump, about Republicans. She doesn't want to talk about what happened at the Capitol that day to make sure something like that never happens again."

Comment: It's not looking good for Vodka Nan. Will the 'I hold the gavel' martinet be able to pull this off, or will her underlings finally have enough?

LOL fake White house...as some one posted ....A fake President, in a Fake White House, getting a fake injection for a fake pandemic by a fake...

dean

CDC also wants to take your guns, apparently the CDC is involved in Gun confiscation too now...But hey you can't become an Australia with an armed...

dean

Well, I didn't read the article, I read some comments though. And it occurred to me, "Holy shit, there's likely going to be yet more large...

sir_isO

And this is why you should just get a lockbox and bury it in your yard ;) Seriously. But also what the FBI is doing is totally despicable and they...

slbeaudry

LOL, this pope is so freakin ridiculous...The Vatican may as well just make Lord Rothschild pope and be done with it...

dean

Puppet Masters

Publisher of controversial 'Putin's People' agrees to edit book, admits 'no evidence' for claims against Russian banking tycoons

Caitlin: For every whistleblower they make an example of, they prevent a thousand more

Ted Cruz calls mask mandate reversal "a virtue signal of submissiveness"

The Dutch invasion plan of Donbass before the downing of MH17 on July 17, 2014

Russian defense minister: US is pulling out of Afghanistan, but still trying to 'watch what's going on over the fence'

Nancy Pelosi's on her last legs

Big Tech companies to target right-wing militias & 'attacker manifestos' through same database used to identify terrorists

US steps up airstrikes this week to support Afghan forces

Off his meds? Zelensky says Ukraine is rightful heir to historic Kievan Rus & 'distant relatives' like Russia should not claim it

Rep. Jim Banks: Pelosi booted me from January 6 Probe to hide her responsibility for security breakdown

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