Puppet MastersS


Newspaper

After being detained in Turkey, Wall Street Journal reporter Dion Nissenbaum returns to U.S.

Felicia Schwartz & Gordon Fairclough
Wall Street Journal
Sun, 31 Dec 2017 20:45 UTC
Dion Nissenbaum
A Wall Street Journal staff reporter detained by Turkish authorities earlier this week has returned safely to the U.S.

Dion Nissenbaum, 49 years old, was held for 2½ days this past week and wasn't permitted contact with his family or attorneys before his release. He and his family arrived in San Francisco on Saturday evening.

Police took Mr. Nissenbaum from his Istanbul apartment on Tuesday evening. He was released from a detention center on Friday morning.

A person familiar with the matter said he was held for allegedly violating a government ban on publication of images from an Islamic State video.

"While we are relieved that Dion was released unharmed after nearly three days, we remain outraged at his peremptory detention, without any contact with his family, legal counsel or colleagues," said Gerard Baker, editor in chief of the Journal.
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Info

Best of the Web: Maria Zakharova: Obama Admin Threatened Russia Would "Feel Pain" for Intervening in Syria - Proved That Evil Is Claimed Right of Mightiest Nation

Translated by Inessa Sinchougova
Russia 1
Thu, 29 Dec 2016 21:28 UTC
Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
In a recent interview with Russia 1 TV channel, Russian government spokeswoman Maria Zakharova exposes the direct, murderous threats that were leveled at the Russian government and military by Western politicians, in particular officials from the US State Department, including John Kerry.


(Those outside of the U.S. may be able to view the video on YouTube.)

Zakharova cites statements made at private discussions between Russian Foreign Minister Segey Lavrov and John Kerry, and at other high-level meetings, where Russia was directly threatened with "pain" and a "media campaign" to twist the truth of what Russia was doing in Syria:

Comment: See also: Zakharova telling it like it is: Entire world 'disgusted by Obama administration's foreign policy'

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Stormtrooper

Increasingly Demented McCain: Place troops in Estonia permanently, deter Russia


Business Insider
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 03:51 UTC
Johnnie McCain
© Business Insider"I sWARe we should hunker down in the Baltics full-time and beWARe of Russian aggression."
Sen. John McCain has pledged U.S. support to the security of Russia's three Baltic neighbors amid worries that the United States may not be fully committed to the defense of NATO allies following statements by President-elect Donald Trump.

McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said during a visit to Estonia on Tuesday that Washington should consider at least basing troops permanently in that country. He says the U.S. remains committed to NATO, but that having soldiers assigned to Estonia full-time instead of during rotations would strengthen military ties between the two nations.

McCain, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is touring Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this week with fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The lawmakers also plan to visit Ukraine, Georgia and Montenegro.

Comment: McCain is obsessed with war, always was, always will be. His non-objectivity makes him a loose cannon.

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Target

Trump's team to target federal regulations

Tim Devaney
The Hill
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 11:46 UTC
tied up
© Keith Bendis
President-elect Donald Trump is stocking his administration with businessmen and regulatory reformers who are intent on cutting through what they see as red tape from Washington. Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor, will oversee the Trump administration's regulatory reform efforts. He will be joined by several other Wall Street investors and corporate executives who have first-hand experience dealing with government rules. Here are six figures in the Trump administration poised to have an outsized role in scaling back regulations.

Comment: Carl Icahn, Wilbur Ross, Steven Mnuchin, Tom Price, Scott Pruitt, Andrew Puzder are the six choices...all of which are well versed in business practices, but are they equally invested in the common worker?

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Chess

After Putin's countermove, Obama's Russian hacking fabrication unravels

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 00:00 UTC
chess game
© YouTube"My move. Game over."
After Putin's skillful countermove Obama's transparently partisan misuse of the Russian hacking scandal to embarrass Donald Trump begins to backfire. Over the last few weeks I have repeatedly made the point that Barack Obama's recent moves, especially his criticisms of Israel and his hyping up of the hacking scandal against Russia, are first and foremost intended to box in and undermine his successor Donald Trump.

What is interesting is how what was essentially a lone view when I first expressed it ten days ago is now rapidly becoming the consensus. Obama's moves and Putin's counter-moves of the last three days has brought all this into stark relief by making Obama's motives altogether too transparent. A flood of articles appeared in the British and US media yesterday, some written in an obviously gloating tone, lauding the "difficult dilemma" in which Obama had supposedly placed Trump by imposing more sanctions on Russia.

Supposedly Trump now faced a choice: either he rescinded the sanctions, in which case he risked being branded (including by some leaders of his own party) as a stooge of the Kremlin, or he failed to do so, in which case he supposedly risked antagonising Putin and the Russians.

Either way the legitimacy of his election would be called into question, with the claim he owed his election to Russian election manipulation being given extra force.

Comment: In regards to Putin, Obama is out of his league, "game over." In regards to Trump, perhaps the same.

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X

Ex-NSA tech director: No real proof in Russian hack report, lacks crucial details


RT
Sun, 31 Dec 2017 15:30 UTC
William Edward Binney
© RT.comFormer NSA tech director nixes FBI report.
The FBI report supposedly bursting with evidence that Russian hackers breached US servers contains no real proof, computer experts say - among them former NSA technical director and whistleblower William Edward Binney. The report was meant to provide the American public with much-delayed proof that Russia had hacked the DNC to influence the US election. While it failed to do this, it did serve as the Obama administration's justification for expelling 35 Russian diplomats and their families from the United States.


Comment: And one chef. See: White House expels chef from Russian Embassy


"I think that's the whole point," Binney told RT. "I've seen absolutely nothing that shows any involvement of the Russian government in passing data to WikiLeaks." He recalled Julian Assange's recent admission that the leaks had not come from Russia, as well as Craig Murray, the former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, who said that he had personally met the insider who had leaked the incriminating data to the whistleblowing website.

The ex-NSA director did not find the report produced this week by the FBI and DHS convincing. "It is simply an outline of how a phishing attack occurs, that's all it was to me. It didn't prove anything to me. It didn't give the IP addresses, the Mac numbers or any other details about them," he explained, adding "it also didn't show how they hacked in, and how they ex-filtrated the data, how much data they took," or how it was consequently passed on to the Russian government.They didn't show any of that trace routing. And that's what they should have shown to prove it," he stressed.

Comment: Control Issues! Obama is flailing to get in his last licks before he is 'evicted' from the White House in less than a month's time. Blaming Russia and expelling Russian diplomats and families is a childish way of throwing a 'hail Mary' tantrum to compensate for an outcome he didn't orchestrate.

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Snakes in Suits

Obama's troubled exit: Temper tantrums and diplomatic storms

Catherine Shakdam
RT
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 20:55 UTC
Barack Obama
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
While 2016 was a tumultuous year indeed, December proved to be especially trying in light of a spectacular presidential temper tantrum courtesy of outgoing US President Barack Obama. And you'll never guess who got stuck in the middle. Israel.

I can hear the wolves at the gate already. Quick disclaimer: The following analysis will not tackle the Palestinian peace process or Israel's aggressive occupation of Palestinian land. However important those subject matters maybe, we ought to realize that the latest UN resolution - which made a loud political and diplomatic bang - was really meant as a poisoned apple.

I would like to think that by now we are well-equipped to smell a political set-up. If anything, Syria has taught the world how insanely conniving and manipulative the United States can be when it comes to pushing its narrative forward - to hell with the consequences.

Comment: For more thoughts on Obama's crazy foreign policy:

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Propaganda

More mainstream histrionics on Putin's courteous behavior toward American diplomats


Independent, UK
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 20:26 UTC
Putin Trump
Is the new Cold War postponed? The expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and the closure of two intelligence-gathering operations in Maryland and New York by President Obama followed allegations that Russia had hacked into emails of prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, during the election campaign. The conventional response to this, familiar during the days of the Cold War, would have been a tit-for-tat expulsion by Russia of a similar number of US diplomats posted there. This was indeed the request of the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. His ministry asked for President Putin's approval to expel 31 diplomats from the US embassy in Moscow and a further four from the consulate in St Petersburg. But President Putin turned it down.

"The new unfriendly measures by the US administration are regarded as provocative, designed to further undermine relations," Mr Putin said. But he added: "We will not create problems for American diplomats. We will not expel anyone."

This is the clearest signal yet that Russia is seeking a reset of its relations with the United States, a sign that it is seeking a rapprochement with the new, inexperienced - but evidently friendly to Russia - President Trump. There are rational reasons why it should want to do so. Western sanctions have undoubtedly damaged the Russian economy, which barely grew in 2014, shrank sharply in 2015 and almost certainly fell further this year. The fall in oil and gas prices will have played a large part in this contraction, but the measures agreed by the G7 countries in 2014, following the annexation of the Crimea and the incursions into eastern Ukraine, have made recovery much more difficult. These existing sanctions were extended earlier this month by both the EU and Japan, and have now been reinforced by further measures by the US.


Comment: Not quite:

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Magnify

Fake News: Washington Post forced to correct false claim Russia hacked US power grid


RT
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 19:52 UTC
washington post building
© Stelios Varias / Reuters
The Washington Post has corrected an article in which it said that Russian hackers had infiltrated the US power grid at a Vermont utility. The newspaper now says authorities have no such "indications" as people on social media claim the outlet promotes "fake news."

On Friday, Burlington Electric, a Vermont-based power company, raised an alarm after finding malware code on a company laptop. Referring to undisclosed officials, the Washington Post then ran a damning headline, saying that "Russian operation hacked a Vermont utility" which posed a risk "to US electrical grid security."

Yet it turns out that the laptop that was penetrated wasn't even attached to the power network, according to a statement from Burlington Electric. "We detected suspicious internet traffic in a single Burlington Electric Department computer not connected to our organization's grid systems," the message reads.

No evidence of a Russian trace has been released either. Eventually, the Washington Post issued a correction to its article. "An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Russian hackers had penetrated the US electric grid. Authorities say there is no indication of that so far," the statement said. The headline, blatantly accusing "Russian hackers" of breaching the US power grid, remains, though.


Comment: Since the headline is what the vast majority of readers will see, and not the correction, it's clear the Washington Post is blatantly spreading false anti-Russian propaganda to its readers, without any concern whether their claims are true or not.

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Question

Where's Eric? Suspected Clinton Foundation traitor now thought to be a missing person by internet speculators

Baran Hines
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 19:37 UTC
Eric Braverman
© Stream.org | Rachel AlexanderEric Braverman
Twitter users have started the hashtag #WheresEric in reference to Eric Braverman, the former CEO of the Clinton Foundation, because some think he has been a possible missing person since before the November 2016 U.S. election. Braverman's last public activity, accessible via the internet, was an October 12 retweet.

A common understanding of the events surrounding Braverman's possible disappearance centers around his abrupt resignation from the Clinton Foundation in January 2015, which many thought was caused by his discovery of internal corruption at the non-profit organization. Braverman was CEO in July 2013 during the immediate aftermath of Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State which ended February 2013.

A popular Youtube channel run by a man named George Webb has been tracking Braverman's story and features daily video updates. Webb thinks Braverman has been missing since October 24, which was two days after it became public knowledge that he was suspected of being a traitor to the Clinton Foundation.

Comment: For more on Eric Braverman see: Meet the man who can expose the real Clinton scandal

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