Puppet Masters

Iranian TV: Man behind recent Natanz nuclear facility incident identified

Henry Batyaev
Sputnik
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 09:39 UTC

On Sunday, the Natanz nuclear site was hit by an attack, which was slammed by Tehran as an act of "nuclear terrorism". Just days after the incident, Iran announced it had managed to reach 60 percent uranium enrichment, in line with its previously announced plans.

Tehran has learned the identity of a man who is believed to have carried out Sunday's attack at the Natanz nuclear facility, an Iranian state broadcaster reported on Saturday.

The state TV identified the suspect as Reza Karimi, who they say planted an explosive device inside the facility. The subsequent explosion partially damaged the electric grid of the plant's centrifuges, the report added.

According to broadcaster, the perpetrator fled the country prior to the blast. "Necessary and legal steps for his arrest and return to the country are underway", the network added.

The footage aired on the TV channel showed a picture of the alleged culprit and an Interpol "red notice" issued for him. The man's name, however, cannot be found in the red notice database on Interpol's official website.

Comment: Israel appears to be on top of this incident:

[Israeli] State television named the suspect as 43-year-old Reza Karimi. It showed a passport-style photograph of a man it identified as Karimi, saying he was born in the nearby city of Kashan, Iran. The supposed Interpol "red notice" listed his travel history as including Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Ethiopia, Qatar, Turkey, Uganda, Romania and another country that was illegible.

The arrest notice was not immediately accessible on Interpol's public-facing database. Interpol, based in Lyon, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
© AP
Natanz uranium enrichment facility
Israel's security cabinet was set to meet Sunday for the first time in some two and a half months to discuss recent developments. IDF chief of staff Aviv Kohavi and Mossad head Yossi Cohen will be at Sunday's meeting, and that ministers will discuss whether to carry out more attacks targeting Iran's nuclear program or seek calm. The report said Gantz favors an "active approach" on Iran, but that he also fears the chatter on the issue is causing "real damage to the security of the state" — both embarrassing the Americans and making it harder for Iran to restrain itself from retaliating.

Israel/OPT: UN experts warn of rising levels of Israeli settler violence in a climate of impunity

OHCHR
Wed, 14 Apr 2021 00:00 UTC

Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank has risen markedly in recent months, with assaults and property destruction occurring in an atmosphere of impunity, UN human rights experts* said today.

"We note that, in 2020, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented 771 incidents of settler violence causing injury to 133 Palestinians and damaging 9,646 trees and 184 vehicles mostly in the areas of Hebron, Jerusalem, Nablus and Ramallah.

"Already, during the first three months of 2021, more than 210 settler violent incidents were recorded, with one Palestinian fatality. We call upon the Israeli military and police to investigate and prosecute these violent acts with vigor and resolve."

The experts said settler violence was predominantly ideologically motivated and primarily designed to take over land but also to intimidate and terrorize Palestinians. The violence and intimidation often prevents Palestinians from accessing and cultivating their land, and creates a coercive environment pressuring Palestinians to stay away from certain areas or even move.

Google 'partially' misled consumers over collecting location data, Australian court finds

Naaman Zhou
The Guardian
Thu, 15 Apr 2021 23:26 UTC

Google has been found to have "partially" misled Australian consumers about collecting their location data, according to a federal court ruling handed down on Friday. The court found that Google continued to collect "Location History" on some Android and Pixel phones, even for customers who ticked "No" or "Do not collect" on their settings.

The action was brought by the consumer rights watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which alleged that Google breached the consumer law and misled consumers.

If a customer said no to "Location History", but left "Web & App Activity" switched on, Google continued to collect location data, the ACCC said. In a judgment published on Friday, Justice Thomas Thawley said this was "partially" misleading - that consumers would have been misled and reasonably believed this data would not be collected, and others would not have.

The chair of the ACCC, Rod Sims, said it was a "world-first" ruling on location data issues and big tech.

"It is also the first result we have had of a series of cases in relation to digital platforms, and so we are very happy to have come out with a very positive court result."

The multinational tech company was found to have breached sections 18, 29(1)(g) and 34 of the consumer law.

Comment: Permission by default should never be permission: 'You never said I couldn't shoot you!'

"Biden's" sanctions binge represents the high-water mark of the 'Putin whisperers'

Scott Ritter
RT
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 17:05 UTC

© REUTERS/Tom Brenner
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on Russia in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 15, 2021

Joe Biden has announced a new wave of sanctions against Russia and signalled the potential for more. Biden's mouth is writing checks the US can't cash, and his latest tantrum is likely the last gasp of failed anti-Russia strategy.

Back in the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union wore "big-boy pants" - they understood the realities of the world they lived in and accepted the consequences of their respective actions like adults. Espionage was a given; when you succeeded, you kept your mouth shut, and when you were caught, you took your lumps in silence. What underpinned this approach was the kind of begrudging respect that professionals of equal stature afford to one another - each side had a job to do, and they got on with it.

Both sides were engaged in active propaganda, some overt, much of it covert. This ideological combat was waged in the battlefield of the minds of intellectuals and activists, who were entrusted to decide for themselves which brand of idealism they would embrace. The CIA underwrote such notable literary journals such as The Paris Review and Encounter, while Soviet efforts to infiltrate the Black Civil Rights movement and the anti-war movement of the 1960's are well documented. And yet, throughout this war of words, Kennedy somehow met with Khrushchev, Nixon and Carter with Brezhnev, and Reagan with Gorbachev. We opposed the Soviets, but we also respected them as worthy opponents.

Comment: The bungling of successive US administrations has been a back-handed gift to Russia, due in no small part to the political savvy of Vladimir Putin.

From 2017:

FM spokeswoman Zakharova: US state-run RFERL 'knowingly violated' Russia's laws, now trying to block fines in European court

RT
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 16:33 UTC

The US state-funded outlet RFERL deliberately ignored Russia "foreign agents" law, turning its own violations into a political campaign after it was subjected to fines, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RT.

The US state-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL) lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) earlier this week, asking it to block Russia from enforcing fines on the outlet. RFERL has accumulated dozens of unpaid fines, stemming from its refusal to be properly labeled as a "foreign agent" under Russian law.

The outlet alleges that the actions of the Russian authorities are violating "freedom of speech" principles. It also claims that if the fines are enforced, the outlet may suffer "irreversible harms" and, ultimately, other "independent media" in Russia may face the same fate.

Comment:

Kissinger warns Washington to accept new global system or face a pre-WWI geopolitical situation

Paul Antonopoulos
INFOBRICS
Mon, 05 Apr 2021 00:00 UTC

With the White House continually provoking tensions against Russia and China, the doyen of American foreign policy, Henry Kissinger, dramatically warned Washington last week to either agree to a new international system or continue pushing tensions that are leading to a situation similar to the eve of World War One.

In a Chatham House webinar with former British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt last Thursday, 97-year-old Kissinger called on the U.S. to create a balance with existing global forces, adding "if you imagine that the world commits itself to an endless competition based on the dominance of whoever is superior at the moment, then a breakdown of the order is inevitable. And the consequences of a breakdown would be catastrophic."

The veteran diplomat urged the U.S. to understand that not every issue has "final solutions" and warned "if we don't get to an understanding with China on that point, then we will be in a pre-World War One-type situation in which there are perennial conflicts that get solved on an immediate basis but one of them gets out of control at some point."

Comment: One wonders why Kissinger is now presenting himself as "the voice of reason"? Does he know the US power game is over - or is he playing a new game? See also:

Foreign Ministry: Syria holds US administration responsible for its criminal policies against Syrian people

Shaza al-Ashkar and Mazen Eyon
SANA
Tue, 13 Apr 2021 00:00 UTC

Syria has held the US administration responsible for its criminal policies against the Syrian people, calling it to stop its intervention in Syria's domestic affairs and end its occupation of al-Rukban camp.

"Events and facts, which go beyond any doubt, have proven the involvement of the US and its tools in the world and region in sponsoring an unprecedented terrorist war against the Syrian Arab Republic," Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement added that it is known for all that the terrorist and economic war on Syria is nothing but destructive projects which aim to consolidate the US military occupation of the region and secure Israel's dominance on its resources.

Comment: Kudos to the Syrian government for calling out US aggression and criminal behavior for what it is. See also:

French parliament approves another controversial bill, sets age of sexual consent at 15 - Senate suggested 13 years old

France 24
Thu, 15 Apr 2021 21:02 UTC

French lawmakers gave final approval on Thursday to legislation setting the minimum age of sexual consent at 15, following a wave of allegations of sexual abuse and incest described as France's second #MeToo movement.

In a second reading of the bill, members of the lower house of parliament voted unanimously to bring France's consent laws in line with most other Western countries.

Under the legislation, sex with children under 15 is considered rape, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, unless there is a small age gap between the two partners.

Comment: Back in 2017 SOTT published the following rather prescient article: Is France Attempting to Normalize Pedophilia?

This age of consent bill had failed to make it through Parliament, until now; a time when France's government claims the country is struggling to contain a pandemic, and has, using emergency laws, put the entire country under yet another lockdown. In addition, it was only a few days ago that, amidst this 'pandemic', the government found the time and resources to push through another bill that will also radically shape society, one that permits police 'broad surveillance' of the population: French MPs finally pass draconian 'global security law' that allows 'broad surveillance of the population'

It's rather suspect and alarming that those countries enforcing some of the harshest lockdown measures are also attempting to push through other draconian legislation.

See also:

Dutch state leaks expose MH17 trial outlaws, starting with the investigating judge in hiding

John Helmer
Dances with Bears
Thu, 15 Apr 2021 09:32 UTC

The Dutch Government's trial of the Russian Government for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 reached new lows on Thursday when it was revealed in court that the US Government continues to conceal the satellite evidence alleged to show a BUK missile firing at the aircraft; that the release on Dutch television of thousands of telephone taps of one of the Russian soldiers accused of the shoot-down was the work of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and by a source among the Dutch police and prosecutors; and, finally, that an investigating judge has decided in secret to prevent any cross-examination of the Dutch government experts responsible for reports allegedly proving the prosecution's case.

That investigating judge was acknowledged in court yesterday to be playing a more decisive role than the president of the trial, District Court judge Henrik Steenhuis. Her name is being kept a state secret.

The hearings in the trial resumed on April 15 after Steenhuis adjourned on February 8. He will hold another session on April 16, then adjourn again until May 20. The formal trial is now scheduled between June 7 and July 9. According to Steenhuis "some investigation will take place after the [trial] hearings."

Source: https://www.ruptly.tv/

How Bellingcat launders national security state talking points into the press

Alan Macleod
MintPress News
Fri, 09 Apr 2021 00:00 UTC

Investigative site Bellingcat is the toast of the popular press. In the past month alone, it has been described as "an intelligence agency for the people" (ABC Australia), a "transparent" and "innovative" (New Yorker) "independent news collective," "transforming investigative journalism" (Big Think), and an unequivocal "force for good" (South China Morning Post). Indeed, outside of a few alternative news sites, it is very hard to hear a negative word against Bellingcat, such is the gushing praise for the outlet founded in 2014.

This is troubling, because the evidence compiled in this investigation suggests Bellingcat is far from independent and neutral, as it is funded by Western governments, staffed with former military and state intelligence officers, repeats official narratives against enemy states, and serves as a key part in what could be called a "spook to Bellingcat to corporate media propaganda pipeline," presenting Western government narratives as independent research.

Citizen journalism staffed with spies and soldiers

An alarming number of Bellingcat's staff and contributors come from highly suspect backgrounds. Senior Investigator Nick Waters, for example, spent three years as an officer in the British Army, including a tour in Afghanistan, where he furthered the British state's objectives in the region. Shortly after leaving the service, he was hired by Bellingcat to provide supposedly bias-free investigations into the Middle East.

Comment: Bellingcat is a useful go-to disinformation hydra of dial-up 'experts' - influencing policy and perception at the highest level.

I see a new market for fake IDs, this time claiming age of 17.

Yupo

Slappy looks old...I guess selling your soul to the devil has consequences...

Bezel Bub

Walensky was born Rochelle Paula Bersoff in Peabody, Massachusetts, to Edward Bersoff and Carol Bersoff-Bernstein. Walensky is married to Loren D....

HashAttack2

I would call her a moron but then idiots and imbeciles may feel left out

Michael L

Whoa folks! I just was wondering who this lady was and I came across this. Who is Melle Stewart? Is She Dead or Alive? Actress Melle Stewart...

Rowan Cocoan

Puppet Masters

Iranian TV: Man behind recent Natanz nuclear facility incident identified

Israel/OPT: UN experts warn of rising levels of Israeli settler violence in a climate of impunity

Google 'partially' misled consumers over collecting location data, Australian court finds

"Biden's" sanctions binge represents the high-water mark of the 'Putin whisperers'

FM spokeswoman Zakharova: US state-run RFERL 'knowingly violated' Russia's laws, now trying to block fines in European court

Kissinger warns Washington to accept new global system or face a pre-WWI geopolitical situation

Foreign Ministry: Syria holds US administration responsible for its criminal policies against Syrian people

French parliament approves another controversial bill, sets age of sexual consent at 15 - Senate suggested 13 years old

Dutch state leaks expose MH17 trial outlaws, starting with the investigating judge in hiding

How Bellingcat launders national security state talking points into the press

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