Puppet Masters
From the moment they were released from Salisbury District Hospital in April the pair disappeared, becoming invisible not only to the public but to friends and family too, with the careful help of a London-based MI5 team responsible for the security service's secretive resettlement programme.
Well-placed sources have now revealed that far from living in isolation in a far flung country, as many believe, the Skripals likely remain in southern England, under the continuing treatment of the close circle of medical experts who have proven to be utterly discrete.
One security source said that they could "easily fix Yulia up with a job," providing her with her own income and reintegration into society while at the same time, ensuring she remains in a protected, contained environment in which discretion is guaranteed. Her native command of Russian could also prove useful.
May called off a vote on her deal in December after admitting that it "would be rejected by a significant margin" if MPs voted on it. She claimed that having listened to concerns from MPs, she would seek the necessary changes in order to get her Brexit plan through Parliament.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay, opening up the debate, laid out concessions being put forward by the government to address the issue of the backstop. Crucially though, he gave no legal assurances, a prerequisite for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and many Tory hardline brexiteers.
"Mrs Merkel is in Greece to inspect the desert she made and to call it... recovery," Varoufakis tweeted on Thursday. "Ironically, her Greek triumph unleashed deflationary forces that hit Germany (eg -ve interest rates) and wrecked her career. Never before has a German Chancellor wasted so much political capital."
Merkel's visit to Greece is her first since 2014, and the first since left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took office in 2015. Before arriving on Thursday, Merkel said that Greece can "continue to count on its partnership and friendship with Germany."
"There is no denying that Emmanuel Macron is an important figure, moreover, the leader of the pro-immigration forces," Orban told a press conference.
"It is nothing personal, but a matter of our countries' future. If what he wants with regards to migration materializes in Europe, that would be bad for Hungary, therefore I must fight him."
A recently unclassified version of a report from the US Department of Defense to Congress claims the Pentagon doesn't know anything about the alleged abuse of detainees in Yemen.
The denial contradicts reports from journalists, accounts of former prisoners, human rights groups, and even a UN panel, which allege the existence of a well-established system of torture, including by US-backed forces. This refers particularly to United Arab Emirates troops, which are part of the Saudi-led military campaign in impoverished Yemen.
According to the damning UN report issued last August, an unfortunate individual who ended up in a UAE-controlled prison was subjected to virtually all forms of abuse, including being "beaten, electrocuted" and even"drowned." The UAE denies the allegations and claims it has never run any secret prisons in Yemen.
This is a necessarily lengthy piece and I wouldn't blame you if you gave up half way through to go and do something more profitable with your time, such as reading a decent book, cooking a good meal, or horsing around with your children. But on the offchance that you are of a mind to stick it out to the end (or even to split it up in between slices of something more profitable), consider this my attempt to show why any person endowed with powers of reason, logic and a commitment to facts and truth should not believe the case that has been put to the general public as to what happened in Salisbury on 4th March, 2018.
1. Verdict First; Investigation Afterwards
I was bound to be interested in this case from the off, since it took place in the city where I reside, just a few hundred yards from my home. But what really sparked my interest into writing about the case for so long, was the response of the British Government. Within 48 hours of the incident, before the investigation had properly begun, and before any of the facts of the matter had been established, certain Government ministers were already pointing the finger of blame at the Russian state. Too quick. Something's up.
Then on 12th and 14th March, little more than a week after the incident, and still with almost no facts of what actually happened having been established by investigators, the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, not only formally accused the Russian Government in the House of Commons, but also announced a series of responsive measures. Much too quick. Something's definitely up.
I live right in the heart of Paris, overlooking the Prime Minister's office, Hôtel Matignon, and a short distance from the scenes of some of the violence witnessed last Saturday. Ever since the Yellow Vests started to demonstrate at the beginning of December, I have seen, just outside my own front door, the massive police presence defending the seat of government while leaving the rest of the city, and indeed the rest of the country, to the mercy of rioters.
Cars were burned only a few streets away from where the serried ranks of the CRS (special police) were scrupulously preventing pedestrians from walking to the shops, while the ministry whose gate was smashed in with a fork-lift truck on Saturday is only five minutes' walk away.
Now, after the eighth series of weekend demonstrations, the French government has announced new laws to prevent demonstrations even before they happen. 80,000 police are to be mobilised for the demonstration expected next Saturday, 12 January, even though last Saturday there were reportedly fewer than 4,000 demonstrators. That would mean 20 policemen for every demonstrator.
A bombshell domestic spy scandal has been unfolding in Britain, after hacked internal communications exposed a covert UK state military-intelligence psychological warfare operation targeting its own citizens and political figures in allied NATO countries under the cover of fighting "Russian disinformation."
The leaked documents revealed a secret network of spies, prominent journalists and think-tanks colluding under the umbrella of a group called "Integrity Initiative" to shape domestic opinion-and to smear political opponents of the right-wing Tory government, including the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn.
Until now, this Integrity Initiative domestic spy scandal has been ignored in the American media, perhaps because it has mostly involved British names. But it is clear that the influence operation has already been activated in the US. Hacked documents reveal that the Integrity Initiative is cultivating powerful allies inside the State Department, top DC think tanks, the FBI and the DHS, where it has gained access to Katharine Gorka and her husband, the fascist-linked cable news pundit Sebastian Gorka.
Comment: The Integrity Initiative's tendrils sure seem to reach deep into the shady world of Western politics:
- Inside Integrity Initiative's desperate attempt to sabotage Russian-German relations
- MI5's temple of covert propaganda: Integrity Initiative and the scandal of the UK's information war
- UK-funded 'Integrity Initiative' Exposed Infiltrating European Media Through Fake News Factories
- Labour MP to RT: The media isn't covering the Integrity Initiative scandal because they might be 'involved'
- Is Deep State Ruled From Britain? How British Intelligence-Linked Integrity Initiative Drafted US For New Cold War
- Shock Files: What Role Did Integrity Initiative Play in Sergei Skripal Affair?
- Documents Expose British Government Covert Anti-Russian Propaganda and Truth Behind Skripal Case
The Initiative's overseas clusters are networks of politicians, businesspeople, military officials, academics and journalists who "understand the threat posed to Western nations" by Russian "disinformation", and work in support of the "Anglo-Saxon worldview", and a "tougher stance" towards the Russian state.
Its German operation is no different - in fact, its target membership is among the most influential and sizeable of any cluster I've yet come across, perhaps a reflection of the vital significance of Germany to the Initiative's objectives, and the vast scale of the organization's plans for the country.
Comment: For more coverage on the Integrity Initiative:
- Inside Integrity Initiative's desperate attempt to sabotage Russian-German relations
- Is Deep State Ruled From Britain? How British Intelligence-Linked Integrity Initiative Drafted US For New Cold War
- How the Integrity Initiative spun the West's highly improbable Skripal narrative
- Shock Files: What Role Did Integrity Initiative Play in Sergei Skripal Affair?

Lawmakers have happily funded various projects over the years that cost far more than the border wall — many of which had very questionable or even negative value.
Democrats are not traditionally known for their fiscal rectitude but are particularly parsimonious over what ultimately amounts to a very small percentage of the federal budget. (In 2018, the feds spent $4.173 trillion overall, meaning the border wall would amount to just 1/10th of 1 percent of current annual federal spending.)
Indeed, these lawmakers have happily funded various projects over the years that cost far more than the border wall - and many of which had very questionable value. Below are some examples of wasteful federal spending projects that individually cost more than the proposed border wall (data courtesy of Citizens Against Government Waste):














Comment: Brexit: A Political Farce Based on a Public Lie