Puppet Masters

Pentagon documents reveal how the DOD bullies movie and TV producers into forcing them to accept their 'assistance'

Tom Secker
RT
Thu, 05 Aug 2021 20:49 UTC

For the first time, the US military's central office for dealing with Hollywood has released internal reports on its operations, revealing how the Department of Defense strong-armed the industry to achieve its propaganda goals.

The reports were obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request and offer a rare glimpse inside the DOD's main entertainment liaison offices at the Pentagon, which oversees the individual branch offices in Los Angeles run by the Army, Navy, Air Force and others. The reports cover approximately two years of activities and illustrate just how aggressive the DOD can be when dealing with film and TV producers, as well as their involvement with some of the biggest-name filmmakers in Hollywood.

The sheer range of products mentioned in the documents as having gained assistance from the US military is staggering, from Navy-assisted episodes of Cake Boss and the Great Food Truck Race to the Disney sci-fi fantasy A Wrinkle in Time. Numerous other films are listed, including blockbusters like Captain Marvel, Top Gun: Maverick and Transformers: The Last Knight.

French Constitutional Court rules health pass, mandatory vaccination of health workers constitutional amid nationwide protests

RT
Thu, 05 Aug 2021 20:45 UTC

France's Constitutional Court has ruled that the new law that makes the coronavirus 'health pass' mandatory for the general public, and vaccination compulsory for healthcare professionals, to be in line with the constitution.

France's top court ruled on Thursday that the new legislation, which tightens the coronavirus restrictions, is largely compliant with the nation's fundamental law. In particular, the court upheld the provisions that require people to hold a valid 'health pass' to access restaurants and bars, and for healthcare workers to be vaccinated against the virus by mid-September.

At the same time, the court considered it to be unconstitutional to fire a healthcare worker on a short-term contract who refuses mandatory Covid vaccination. It also rejected a provision allowing mandatory quarantine with checks for anyone who tests positive for the virus.

Leaked Whitehall files reveal how London secretly controls both pro- and anti-government NGOs overseas

Kit Klarenberg
RT
Thu, 05 Aug 2021 13:11 UTC

© Getty Images/Steve Taylor
Anti-Sisi protesters holding placards and Egyptian flags demonstrate outside InterContinental Hotel in London.

The shadowy work done by the British Council in Egypt to manipulate what non-governmental organisations get up to there shows the depths the British state will go to shape and control events in its favour.

Understatement is a staple of traditional English culture, the most visceral example surely being the fate of a 650-strong British Army battalion surrounded by 30,000 Chinese troops during the Korean War. Their commander described the situation to his US counterpart as "a bit sticky" - misinterpreted as reassurance things were difficult yet manageable. No reinforcements were sent, and only 39 members of the battalion survived the ensuing bloodbath.

This propensity is also evident in the official names of covert Whitehall operations - often, the most humdrum titles conceal supremely sinister activities. Such is the case with something innocuously entitled, 'Support to Egyptian civil society' - were it not for the leak of internal Whitehall files related to the scheme, its ominous dimensions would be entirely secret from the public.

Biden, with support of automakers, to sign order to have 40-50% of US auto sales electric by 2030

Joseph Weber
Just the News
Thu, 05 Aug 2021 08:14 UTC

President Biden is set Thursday to sign an executive order to put the U.S. on a path to have electric vehicles account for 40% to 50% of the country's auto sales by 2030, according to news reports.

The initiative is expected to be supported by such major automobile makers as General Motors, Ford Motor, Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, according to CNBC, based on information from administration officials.

The goals set forth in the order are not mandatory but encourage the U.S. auto industry and government to promote legislation and the adoption of electrified vehicles - also moving the country away from vehicles powered by fossil fuel.

Comment: He's mandating the electric cars will be CME-proof - right?

Privatized authoritarianism

Robert Schmad
Washington Examiner
Wed, 04 Aug 2021 04:34 UTC

Censorship, media bias, and the inability to speak one's mind openly for fear of professional retribution are all considered givens in the life of an American conservative. Yet, none of these things are imposed by the state. Rather, corporate oligarchs have taken up the mantle of commissar, arbitrating what constitutes an acceptable opinion.

Tucker Carlson's recent visit to Hungary, a nation that has established itself as a bulwark of national populism and Christian traditionalism on the European continent, has sparked debate in conservative circles regarding the degree of authoritarianism present in Hungary and whether the United States is any better.

Critics characterize Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government as one of state-sanctioned repression, intent on snuffing out ideological diversity in the press and otherwise silencing political opposition. David Frum, a staff writer at the Atlantic and a former Bush administration official, even claimed that people in Hungary "[turn] their heads to check who [is] listening before they [lean] forward to whisper what they [have] to say" for fear of losing their jobs should they say something to offend the dominant ideology of the regime.

On the other hand, Americans experience all this to some degree without the coercive power of the state needing to be involved. To Frum's point on Hungarians being afraid to speak freely in public (an observation that some people living in Hungary dispute), a sizable majority of Americans also self-censor when talking to others. Given that an offhand comment can cost you your job in the U.S., we shouldn't be so quick to place ourselves above Hungary.

'Bad faith' US prosecutors misled Canada in Huawei case, court hears in final arguments

Leyland Cecco
The Guardian
Wed, 04 Aug 2021 15:50 UTC

© Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier
Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves a court hearing
Vancouver, BC Canada • August 4, 2021

Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou say American prosecutors acted in "bad faith" and abused the Canadian justice system when they pursued the Huawei chief financial officer, in final arguments of the telecoms executive's closely watched extradition proceedings.

In a Vancouver courtroom on Wednesday, Meng's legal team argued that American prosecutors misled the Canadian justice system in their legal summary of the allegations against Meng. Her team says this abuse of process obliges the judge overseeing the case to toss out the extradition request against Meng and set her free.

The long-shot argument is part of a strategy to free the telecoms executive, whose detention has been at the centre of an ongoing feud between the United States and China - with Canada caught in the middle.

American prosecutors allege that Meng misled bankers at HSBC about Huawei's relationship with SkyCom, putting HSBC at risk of violating American sanctions against Iran. Both she and Huawei have denied the charges. She was detained by Canadian officials at Vancouver's main airport December 2018.

Meng's lawyers have previously claimed her rights were breached by comments made by then president Donald Trump, collusion between the two countries to share protected information, and a lack of international jurisdiction.

To be successful in their latest strategy, Meng's lawyers must convince a British Columbia judge that American prosecutors misled the Canadian justice system to the extent that it "shocks the conscience" of the country - a legal test stemming from a famous 1987 extradition case.

Comment: See also:

NIH director backtracks on call for parents to mask up around kids AT HOME after backlash

RT
Wed, 04 Aug 2021 18:37 UTC

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins has hastily walked back a call for parents of unvaccinated kids to wear masks even at home after massive backlash on social media demanding evidence for the practice.

After Collins' Tuesday morning appearance on CNN's New Day was widely shredded on social media, the NIH director took to Twitter to issue a clarification.

He wasn't claiming parents needed to wear masks around their offspring at home, he insisted - but "vaccinated parents who live in communities with high Covid transmission rates" should wear masks in "public indoor settings" in order to "minimize risks to their unvaccinated kids."

Comment: The revised guidance is still ludicrous because even children with multiple comorbidities are at no risk from the coronavirus.

Comment: See also:

'Authorities are viewing their own people as an enemy' says UN special rapporteur on torture

Paul Joseph Watson
Summit News
Thu, 05 Aug 2021 20:19 UTC

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer responded to police brutality dished out to anti-lockdown protesters in Germany last weekend by warning, "Authorities are increasingly viewing their own people as an enemy."

As we highlighted earlier in the week, Melzer, a professor of international law, made a request for eyewitnesses after footage emerged of numerous examples of people being manhandled and beaten by police in Berlin merely for expressing their right to assemble.

One clip showed a female anti-lockdown protester in Berlin being grabbed by the throat and brutally thrown to the ground by riot police, while another showed a young boy being struck in the face as he tried to come to the aid of his mother.

The response to Melzer's request was overwhelming, with over a hundred reports of violence flooding in, leaving him with the task of "calling for clarification as well as punishment and reparation for rule violations," reports Berliner Zeitung.

The professor says there is clearly enough evidence "for an official intervention on my part with the federal government."

India deploys warships in South China Sea as part of 'Act East' policy

Sanjeev Miglani
Reuters
Wed, 04 Aug 2021 10:05 UTC

© REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo
Chinese navy personnel moor the Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata at Qingdao Port for the 70th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), in Qingdao, China, April 21, 2019.

India is sending a naval task force to the South China Sea this month to expand security ties with friendly countries, officials said on Wednesday, signalling its intent to play a bigger role in regional efforts to counter China.

The Indian military has been traditionally wary of antagonising China but the mood has hardened following clashes between troops on the disputed land border last year. The government has since drawn closer to the United States in efforts to push back against China.

Four ships including a guided missile destroyer and a missile frigate will be deployed for a two-month period to southeast Asia, the South China Sea and the western Pacific, the navy said in a statement.

Comment: See also:

Scientific journal paper suggests making it a 'federal hate crime' to criticize Fauci

Natalie Winters
The National Pulse
Tue, 03 Aug 2021 10:26 UTC

A scientific journal article authored by Professor Peter Hotez, a frequent guest on corporate media networks, called to "extend federal hate-crime protections" for scientists facing criticism from alleged "far-right extremists," including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci.

Dr. Hotez, who himself has been funded by Anthony Fauci's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1993, offered the robust defense of scientists including Fauci and EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak in a recent paper: "Mounting Antiscience Aggression In The United States."

"There is a troubling new expansion of antiscience aggression in the United States. It's arising from far-right extremism," the paper, published in the peer-reviewed Public Library of Science (PLOS) Biology journal, begins.

Comment: EcoHealth Alliance and its President Peter Daszak are trying to mask the real origin of the virus. Google funded Peter Daszak to force the theory that the Covid-19 was a bat virus, and censored the "lab leak" theory.

One of the policy advisors to the EcoHealth Alliance is David Franz. Franz is a former commander of Fort Detrick, which is the principal U.S. government biowarfare/biodefense facility. There is much evidence that this man-made virus, and Fort Detrick may have had something to do with it.

See also:

Quote of the Day

State power has its own limits defined by the fact that it is authority that reaches people from outside. State power cannot oversee and dictate the creative states of the soul and mind, the inner states of love, freedom and goodwill. The state cannot demand from its citizens faith, prayer, love, goodness and conviction. It cannot regulate scientific, religious and artistic creation. It should not intervene in moral, family and daily private life, and only when extremely necessary should it impinge on people's economic initiative and creativity.

- Ivan Ilyin

Exactly the same Faustian Bargain is being offered by Comrade Ardern here in NZ. Trouble is, there is no further plan, no "what happens next", and...

Martin Harris

winters and summers come and go and the downfall of earth is constantly wrongly predicted. summer is here; [Link] +1

rakarb

He's bloody moron and West's stooge. He was kissing frau Merkel's ass only a few weeks ago.

sinip

No way. Have you noticed that conspiring is practically, the most common social activity in existence? So how could that be?

sir_isO

RT = CNN So this piece is likely agitprop. "The beatings will continue until morale improves." Please, just follow the $cience.

DeliciousTears

Puppet Masters

Pentagon documents reveal how the DOD bullies movie and TV producers into forcing them to accept their 'assistance'

French Constitutional Court rules health pass, mandatory vaccination of health workers constitutional amid nationwide protests

Leaked Whitehall files reveal how London secretly controls both pro- and anti-government NGOs overseas

Biden, with support of automakers, to sign order to have 40-50% of US auto sales electric by 2030

Privatized authoritarianism

'Bad faith' US prosecutors misled Canada in Huawei case, court hears in final arguments

NIH director backtracks on call for parents to mask up around kids AT HOME after backlash

'Authorities are viewing their own people as an enemy' says UN special rapporteur on torture

India deploys warships in South China Sea as part of 'Act East' policy

Scientific journal paper suggests making it a 'federal hate crime' to criticize Fauci

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