Puppet MastersS


Megaphone

Pro-Russian separatists demand that the leaders of the Kiev uprising must quit their government offices.

pro-Russian soldier
© Olya Engalycheva | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesA pro-Russian soldier stands guard outside an administrative building in Slavyansk, Ukraine, on April 16, 2014.
A day after an international deal in Geneva to defuse the East-West crisis in Ukraine, pro-Russian separatists vowed not to end their occupation of public buildings and Washington threatened further sanctions on Moscow if the stalemate continued.

Leaders of gunmen who have taken over city halls and other sites in and around Donetsk this month in pursuit of demands for a Crimea-style referendum on union with Russia, rejected the agreement struck in Geneva by Ukraine, Russia, the United States and European Union and demanded on Friday that the leaders of the Kiev uprising must first quit their own government offices.

Moscow renewed its insistence that it has no control over the "little green men" who, as before Russia annexed Crimea last month, appeared in combat gear and with automatic weapons to seize public buildings - a denial that Western allies of those who overthrew the pro-Russian president in Kiev do not accept.

The White House renewed President Barack Obama's demands that the Kremlin use what Washington believes is its influence over the separatists to get them to vacate the premises. It warned of heavier economic sanctions than those already imposed over Crimea if Moscow failed to uphold the Geneva deal - or if it moved to send troops massed on the border into Ukraine.

Megaphone

Ukraine rebels call for Russian troops after deadly clash

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© MAX VETROV / AFP

Pro-Moscow separatists controlling the east Ukrainian town of Slavyansk called for Russian peacekeepers to deploy and announced a curfew after a gun battle nearby killed up to five people.

Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the rebel leader in the town, said he had appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin "to study the possibility of sending peacekeepers to defend the population against the fascists" -- the term Moscow and the separatists use to describe Ukraine's new government and its supporters.

He also announced a curfew for the town of 130,000 people, during which it would be forbidden to be out in the streets. "The curfew comes into effect today -- from midnight (2100 GMT) to 6:00 am (0300 GMT)," he said. A car with a megaphone drove around Slavyansk's streets repeating the order.

The steps came hours after a deadly gun battle at a road block in the village of Bilbasivka, 18 kilometres (11 miles) west of Slavyansk.

Russian state television reported on Sunday that five people were killed when gunmen attacked the checkpoint; three of the dead were with the pro-Russian separatists who control Slaviansk and the other two were among the attackers.

Russia's foreign ministry said on Sunday it was "outraged" by the attack, which it blamed on the Right Sector, a Kiev-based ultra-nationalist group that was at the vanguard of street protests that forced the February ousting of pro-Kremlin Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.

Black Magic

21st anniversary of Waco: Who shot first?

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© Susan Weems /APFlames engulf the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, on April 20, 1993. A 51-day standoff at the compound ended in a fire and the deaths of about 80 sect members, including two dozen children.
Today is the anniversary of the 1993 incineration of the Branch Davidean church at Waco Texas. The siege began when the BATF decided to raid the church, which supported itself financially with a gun repair and reselling business, to garner some favorable publicity in the wake of several BATF disasters involving raids at the wrong address and the killing of innocent Americans. But Waco turned into another disaster as the BATF invited the media along on the operation.

One of the media was a friend of David Koresh and called him to let him know the raid was on the way. When the BATf arrived, Koresh opened the front door intending to invite the BATF to inspect the dismantled weapons in their workshop (all the functioning weapons were out at a gun show that day). But as soon as Koresh opened the door he was shot in the groin by a BATF sniper and the situation deteriorated from there with BATF accidentally shooting each other (and claiming it was the Branch Davideans).

Chart Bar

Poll: Most Americans believe Obama lies a lot

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© Unknown
How much do Americans trust President Obama? Not much, according to a Fox News poll.

Sixty-one percent of respondents in the poll released Thursday said Obama lies at least some of the time on important issues. An additional 20 percent said he lies every now and then.

Only 15 percent believe the president is completely truthful.

Predictably, Republicans were more likely to believe Obama is a liar, with 85 percent saying he lies some or most of the time. Thirty-one percent of Democrats said the president is always truthful.

What's interesting is that independents were slightly more likely to believe Obama lies at least some of the time - 63 percent, compared with 61 percent for the total sample.

No Entry

Russia cancels U.S. treaty-approved spy flights

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© APAn US F16 fighter jet takes off from a Romanian air base.
The Russian government this week canceled a planned U.S. surveillance flight over Russian territory in a bid to limit spying on massed troops facing off against Ukraine and Eastern Europe, according to U.S. officials.

The overflight mission was scheduled for April 14 to April 16 under the 1992 Open Skies Treaty, but Russia's government notified the State Department 72 hours before the scheduled flight that it would not be permitted.

The cancelation is unusual because the sole reason for putting off such treaty-approve surveillance is flight safety, such as bad weather.

Until this week, the United States and other European allies who are a party to the 34-nation treaty were conducting weekly overflights above Russia during the past month.

Monkey Wrench

Obama: Direct military aid to Kiev in the form of weapons, air power or ground troops is off the table

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© U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Benjamin WisemanTwo A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft pilots fly in formation during a training exercise March 16, 2010, at Moody Air Force, Ga. Members of the 74th Fighter Squadron performed surge operations to push its support function to the limit and simulate pilots’ wartime flying rates.
Combat teams, aircraft, tanks pulled from Europe

The Obama administration has removed all operational combat tanks from Europe and key strike aircraft, limiting the options for a show of force to bolster eastern NATO allies as Russia contemplates invading Ukraine.

Most analysts, and President Obama, say direct military aid to Kiev in the form of weapons, air power or ground troops is off the table.

That makes it a top priority to show Russian President Vladimir Putin that Washington stands militarily behind NATO members such as the Baltic states, Poland and other countries once under Soviet domination.

Comment: How inept, psychopathic U.S. politicians blew a chance for peace with Russia


Bomb

Another U.S. drone strike obliterates civilians in Yemen

At least fifteen people, including those not specifically targeted, are killed or wounded in bombing
drone strike
© unknown
A Yemen military official on Saturday says that at least fifteen people were either killed or wounded when a missile from a U.S. drone struck vehicles traveling on a road in the central province of al-Bayda.

Among the dead, according reports, are what the official claimed were targeted al-Qaeda militants traveling in two vehicles and also non-targeted passers-by traveling on the same road when the powerful U.S. bomb hit.

According to Reuters, "tribal sources said a drone had been circling al-Bayda for days and on Saturday struck two cars the suspected militants were in. Three civilians who happened to be in a nearby car were also killed, they said."

A security source told Reuters that the missile "targeted cars that suspected al Qaeda militants were in and killed 13 of them."

The Associated Press, however, reports that a "Yemeni official" said nine of the victims in the attack were militants while at least six were "innocent civilians."

Propaganda

Blatant propaganda! Jews urged to flee Ukraine by Holocaust survivor

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© Mark KehoeSam Pivnik, who was sent to a death camp aged just 14, has urged Jews in Ukraine to flee.
ALL Jewish people should leave Ukraine at once, a Holocaust survivor warned last night, after "grotesque" anti-Semitic leaflets were handed out in the country.

The pamphlets and posters, distributed in the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk, demanded that the Jewish population register, pay a new tax or leave.

They are a terrifying echo of the anti-Jewish atrocities carried out by Ukrainians under Nazi occupation during the Second World War.

The leaflets, apparently signed by pro-Russian group the People's Republic of Donetsk, have enraged the world.


Comment: Which is exactly their purpose.


US Secretary of State John Kerry said last week: "After all of the miles travelled and all of the journey of history, this is not just intolerable, it is grotesque."

Sam Pivnik, 86, was only 14 when his family were rounded up in Bedzin, western Poland, and sent to the death camp at Auschwitz.

After his parents, brothers and a sister were chosen "with the flick of a glove" for extermination by "Angel of Death" Dr Josef Mengele, the teenager, tattooed with a prisoner number, was left to survive alone. Mr Pivnik, who now lives in Golders Green, north London, said he was not surprised by the literature's anti-Semitism.


Comment: Confirmation bias: a propagandist's best friend!


Comment: If Gordon Duff's latest commentary is to be believed, the leaflets originated with ADL-connected groups in the U.S. If that's the case, Pivnik's response plays right into Israel's hand: "There is a long-established tradition within the Zionist community of staging false flag "anti-Semitic" incidents in order to promote immigration to Israel or mobilize financial support."


Pirates

Feds left trail of wreckage after Nevada ranch standoff

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© TPNN
The federal agency that backed down over the weekend in a tense standoff with a Nevada rancher is being accused of leaving a trail of wreckage behind.

Fox News toured the damage -- allegedly caused by the Bureau of Land Management -- which included holes in water tanks and destroyed water lines and fences. According to family friends, the bureau's hired "cowboys" also killed two prize bulls.

"They had total control of this land for one week, and look at the destruction they did in one week," said Corey Houston, friend of rancher Cliven Bundy and his family. "So why would you trust somebody like that? And how does that show that they're a better steward?"

War Whore

Insanity! Poland ASKS for Pentagon to send 10,000 U.S. troops its way!

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© AFP PhotoUS soldiers stand in front of a Patriot missile battery at an army base in the northern Polish town of Morag
The Pentagon may deploy more ground troops in Poland, although the number may be much smaller than what the eastern European NATO member wants to see. Washington is seeking to reassure allies amid fears of a Russian aggression.

Warsaw and Washington may announce the deployment of additional American troops in Poland next week, Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said following a meeting with his US counterpart, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon on Thursday.

He added that Poland would play a leading role in the NATO build-up of troops in Eastern Europe, "under US patronage," the Washington Post reported. He added that the US needs to "re-pivot" back to Europe from Asia to counter "Russian aggression" in Ukraine.

Siemoniak earlier called on the Pentagon to deploy as many as 10,000 American troops in his country. Poland already hosts some 100 to 150 US military servicing a battery of surface-to-air Patriot missiles, which was deployed in 2010 to give Warsaw more confidence for hosting elements of the NATO anti-ballistic missile shield in Europe.

The Polish minister's calls were mirrored by NATO's top military commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, who said in an interview this month that one of the options the alliance has on the table is to move a 4,500-member combat brigade from Fort Hood, Texas, to Europe.