Puppet Masters
Christian Wehrschutz, a veteran journalist with ORF broadcaster and the head of its Kiev office, was banned on Thursday from entering Ukraine for a year. The decision was announced by MP Olga Chervakova, who - quite ironically - is the deputy chief of the Ukrainian Parliament's committee on freedom of speech and press.
The official explained, citing sources from within the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), that the journalist poses a "threat to national security." Apart from that, Wehrschutz is accused of violating Ukrainian borders, of "discrediting" its armed forces and, naturally, of "peddling Kremlin propaganda" - as any coverage unfavorable to the Kiev authorities is routinely labeled.
Comment: Even within its own articles, CNN can't keep its lies straight. Further down this article you'll learn that the judge explicitly said, at the outset, that:
"[Manafort] is not before the court for anything having to do with colluding with the Russian government."
The crimes, though serious among white-collar offenses, did not relate directly to Manafort's work as Trump's 2016 campaign chairman. Manafort, 69, had been facing up to 25 years in prison, a sentence that could have essentially kept him in jail for the rest of his life.
Comment: It was never gonna happen. The US govt, as it is, literally cannot function without middlemen like Manaforts accepting cash for access to US leaders and potential leaders. What is interesting however, is that this particular middleman got any prison time at all...
Comment: 'The mastermind behind it all! We got him! America, you are safe and free and pure again!'
Manafort's trial is the textbook definition of scapegoat.
The reason Manafort was swimming in dirty Ukie money is because he was, for over a decade, an active go-between for US meddling in Russia's neighbor, culminating in the bloody coup of 2014. That's also likely why he's getting jail-time at all (though it could yet be annulled via presidential pardon): Manafort was meddling on behalf of the Clinton State Department...

FILE PHOTO: North Korea's Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam
After threatening to ramp up "crushing economic sanctions," National Security Advisor John Bolton urged Kim Jong-un to ditch any idea of a step-by-step denuclearization of his country.
"The North Koreans, obviously, would like to give up as little of their nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and ballistic missile programs as they could, in exchange for a very broad sanctions relief," Bolton told Fox News on Thursday, stressing that Donald Trump "wasn't buying" such an approach during the negotiations at the Hanoi summit last week.
Comment: That's not really how international diplomacy works though, is it? Do as we say or we'll punish you more? Is it any wonder North Korea is reluctant to give up the one thing that secures it from further US aggression? It's notable that, despite US belligerence, the two Korea's relationship is better than ever.
See also:
- Pepe Escobar: Kashmir, Korea, Venezuela, Iran - Hot, cold, hybrid war
- Rambouillet ruse? Why Trump could be setting up his North Korea talks to fail
- Trump promises to suspend war games with South Korea but sanctions against Pyongyang to remain in place until full denuclearization
- North Korea will denuclearize for lifting of sanctions - Trump claims he won't press for a deadline - UPDATE: No agreement reached between Trump and Kim at summit
At the press briefing on Tuesday, spokesman Robert Palladino objected to news coverage describing Juan Guaido as opposition leader or self-proclaimed president, rather than "interim president" as Washington has declared him to be.
"Millions of Americans and more than 50 countries recognize Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela," Palladino argued, so to refer to him otherwise "falls into the narrative of a dictator who has usurped the position of the presidency and led Venezuela into the humanitarian, political, and economic crisis that exists today."
Comment: While the State Department is browbeating reporters into believing their 'script of lies' Marco Rubio has taken it upon himself to label all unbelievers as Russian agents. RT reports:
Senator Marco Rubio, the most outspoken cheerleader of US regime change in Venezuela, lashed out at several major outlets for not using his preferred terminology, going so far as to accuse CNN of 'Russian collusion.'
"In order to undermine the constitutional basis for [Juan Guaido's] interim Presidency [sic], Putin's Russia repeatedly describes him as the 'self-proclaimed' president of Venezuela. And so does CNN," Rubio (R-Florida) tweeted on Wednesday, adding, "Russian collusion?"
It was the latest in a string of tweets by the senator whom President Donald Trump is, for some unknown reason, allowing to drive US foreign policy on Latin America. On Tuesday, Rubio targeted the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal for their coverage of Guaido, this time objecting to their use of the term "opposition leader."
According to the Washington Post the meeting descended into a "full-scale brawl" when representatives, primarily from the Congressional Black Caucus called to cancel the vote, and in an unexpected turn, was delayed indefinitely by early evening. One source in the room said Rep. Jan Schakowsky demanded (D-IL), "Everyone stop tweeting!" as decorum fell.
The Post spoke with several lawmakers who opposed sanctioning one of their own members, while at the same time ignoring anti-Semitic comments from GOP officials. Some raised that Democrats never produced legislation to denounce the White House - comments in likely reference to President Donald Trump's statement about "good people on both sides" in the wake of the Charlottesville march in 2017 where a white nationalist killed a protester:
Comment: Wow, just wow. In the space of just 10 days, both French and US authorities have freaked out over 'anti-anti-semitism' and seriously considered passing legislation banning criticism of Israel.
Given the concurrent 'anti-anti-semitism' crisis in the UK, it is no doubt being considered there too.
What a remarkable succession of events.
A bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives wrote to Trump on Feb. 22, applauding his decision to keep a small residual force in Syria.
"We support a small American stabilizing force in Syria," the group wrote, adding that a force "which includes a small contingent of American troops and ground forces from our European allies, is essential to ensure stability and prevent the return of ISIS."
Comment: CENTCOM has also made it loud and clear that the US will have 'boots on the ground' in Syria. Sputnik reports:
The US continues to withdraw American forces from Syria while developing plans for a residual force intended to help locals battle an evolving guerrilla campaign by the Daesh*, the commander of CENTCOM told Congress on Thursday.
"As the D-ISIS [Daesh in Arabic] campaign in Syria transitions from liberating terrain to enabling local security forces and addressing the ISIS clandestine insurgency, we will continue our deliberate withdrawal of forces and capabilities as directed by the president - but also retain a residual force on the ground to continue our mission and safeguard our interests," the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) General Joseph Votel told Congress said.
This comes after President Donald Trump has ordered a withdrawal of about 2,000 US combat troops from Syria following the recapture of territory previously controlled by the Daesh terror group.
However, Trump has also agreed to leave a residual force behind. US officials have said a continued American presence is needed to protect Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces from a threatened incursion by Turkey.
Led by retired General Cliver Alcala, who has been living in Colombia, they were going to drive back the Venezuelan national guardsmen blocking the aid on the other side. The plan was stopped by the Colombian government, which learned of it late and feared violent clashes at a highly public event it promised would be peaceful.
Almost no provisions got in that day and hopes that military commanders would abandon Maduro have so far been dashed. Even though Guaido is back in Caracas, recognized by 50 nations as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, the impromptu taking up of arms shows that the push to remove Maduro -- hailed by the U.S. as inevitable -- is growing increasingly chaotic and risky.
The UK is currently seeking changes to the withdrawal agreement to make it more palatable to Brexiteer MPs ahead of a crunch vote next week.
But speaking on Thursday morning French Europe minister Natalie Loiseau said there had been "no precise proposals" from the UK and that the EU side was still waiting.
The comments came to light in leaked audio files allegedly of a company-wide meeting at Google, part of which is now exclusively reported by Breitbart News. Another part of the transcript was released last Friday on Tucker Carlson Tonight, while further snippets revealing Google's funding of establishment conservative think-tanks were published by the left-leaning tech magazine Wired in December.
The alleged meeting took place in the wake of Google's sponsorship of CPAC in 2018, which triggered an internal rebellion from left-wing employees of the tech giant. Breitbart News exclusively reported on the revolt at the time, in which radical left-wingers inside Google accused CPAC of "ethno-nationalism" and "hate."
Google has not denied the authenticity of the leaked material.
The Council of the European Union has "unanimously decided to reject" the list of "high-risk third countries" - a paper that would require banks and financial institutions operating in Europe to "be more vigilant and to carry out extra checks in the context of transactions" involving these nations.
The document in question was drafted by the European Commission and was supposed to identify the nations that "have strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regimes," which could thus pose "significant threats" to the bloc's financial system.
Surprisingly, as many as four US territories - American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands - found themselves on the list. They were put there alongside about two dozen - mostly Asian and African - nations, including those suffering from acute political and economic turmoil as well as armed conflicts, such as Syria, Yemen or Libya.
Comment: 'Name us, and we'll punish you.'
That's the 'rules-based international democratic order' for you folks.














Comment: Their claims that the blatant censorship is because of a 'threat to national security' reeks of similar tactics used by their American overlords. Ukraine has made it quite clear honest reportage is not welcome, a number of journalists have been murdered and Werschutz said himself he feared he would also be targeted: