Puppet Masters

US Judge rules Saudi royals must answer 9/11 lawsuit questions

Zerohedge
Sun, 13 Sep 2020 16:40 UTC

Bandar (left) has been close to multiple US administrations

A US Judge has ruled that two members of the Saudi royal family will have to answer questions about the September 11, 2001 attacks, in what attorneys for the victims call a 'turning point in a long-running lawsuit,' according to AP.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in a written ruling unsealed late Thursday ordered Saudi Arabia to make the royals — and other Saudi witnesses, including current and former government official — available for depositions.

It was unclear how and when the witnesses will be deposed, but the decision means "we can start uncovering what they know," plaintiff's attorney Jim Kreindler said Friday. -AP

One of the two ordered to give depositions is Prince Bandar bin Sultan - a former Saudi intelligence chief who was the kingdom's US ambassador from 1983 to 2005, according to court papers. His involvement in world events ranges from Reagan's Nicaraguan Contra program (including direct involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal), to making the case for the Iraq War as a trusted friend of Bush and Cheney, to directing US-Saudi covert operations overseeing the arming of jihadists in Syria.

Comment: For more on arch criminal Bandar, don't miss:

Pelosi's choice: Steal the election or be destroyed

Mike Luongo
Guns, Gold 'N Goats
Mon, 14 Sep 2020 00:00 UTC

I've learned a few things about politics by watching my goats over the years. Herd queens have to be beaten to step aside. They won't give up status willingly.

I saw this first hand when a vicious challenge ended with a broken horn, humiliation and blood. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a tough old goat who is clearly making her last stand, facing the toughest fight of her political career.

Congress is at a crossroads over a stimulus package before the election. Pelosi has run out of good choices to force the Republicans into another bad deal, which is her trademark move.

Internal squabbling and strategic missteps has her charting a most dangerous path.

The House returns to session today facing an impasse over another stimulus bill which see both sides entrenched in their positions.

Just under two months until the election, however, the big question is, "Who has the leverage?"

Comment: As we've been saying for some time now, the political warfare on display in Washington is unprecedented - so much so that Pelosi and company are practically, and openly, agitating for a full-on coup against Trump:

See also:

COVID-911: From Homeland Security to Biosecurity

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Sat, 12 Sep 2020 20:43 UTC

9/11, as we were told repeatedly in the days, weeks, and months after the attack, was the day that changed everything. And now a new event has come along to once again throw the world into chaos. But whereas the post-9/11 era introduced America to the concept of homeland security, the COVID-19 era is introducing the world to an altogether more abstract concept: biosecurity. This is the story of the COVID-911 security state.

For those with limited bandwidth, CLICK HERE to download a smaller, lower file size version of this episode.

For those interested in audio quality, CLICK HERE for the highest-quality version of this episode (WARNING: very large download).

Watch on Archive / BitChute / LBRY / Minds / YouTube or Download the mp4

Trump and the Gordian Knot, year three

Patrick Armstrong
Strategic Culture
Sat, 12 Sep 2020 12:00 UTC

In January 2018 I advanced the hypothesis that U.S. President Trump understood that the only way to "Make American Great Again" was to disentangle it from the imperial mission that had it stuck in perpetual wars. I suggested that the cutting of this "Gordian Knot of entanglements" was difficult, even impossible, to accomplish from his end and that he understood that the cutting could only come from the other side. I followed up with another look the next March. I now look at my hypothesis as Trump's first term comes to an end.

While we are no closer to knowing whether this is indeed Trump's strategy or an unintended consequence of his behaviour, it is clear that the "Gordian knot of U.S. imperial entanglements" is under great strain.

German-American relations provide an observation point. There are four demands the Trump Administration makes of its allies - Huawei, Iran, Nord Stream 2 and defence spending - and all four converge on Germany. Germany is one of the most important American allies; it is probably the second-most important NATO member; it is the economic engine of the European Union. Should it truly defy Washington on these issues, there would be fundamental damage to the U.S. imperium. (And, if George Friedman is correct in stating that preventing a Germany-Russia coalition is the "primordial interest" of the USA, the damage could be greater still.) And yet that is what we are looking at: on several issues Berlin is defying Washington.

Comment: See also:

Bojo may 'opt out' of the EU's Human Rights Act amid Brexit row

Peter Stubley
Independent
Sun, 13 Sep 2020 19:10 UTC

Boris Johnson 'plans to opt out of human rights laws' amid Brexit row

Boris Johnson is planning to opt out of parts of the Human Rights Act, according to reports.

The prime minister is said be considering ways to prevent the legislation being used to stop deportations of asylum seekers and prosecutions of British soldiers.

A review of human rights laws has been carried out across Whitehall and its findings will be announced "in the coming weeks", the Daily Telegraph reported.

Comment: It's possible that these games are attempts at maneuvering and for distracting from more pressing matters, but, even so, opting out of the EU's Human Rights Act needn't be a bad thing, many countries with decent human rights records aren't signed up; the real question lies with whether citizens really can trust the increasingly ponerized establishment in power in the UK to uphold those rights without any oversight:

Israeli reading of the preparations for US presidential elections

Dr. Adnan Abu Amer
MEMO
Sun, 13 Sep 2020 05:30 UTC

The Israelis are waiting with undeniable concern as preparations for the US presidential elections begin, and as they witness the disturbing political positions towards Israel, most notably with regard to the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, on the matter of relations with Iran, or regarding the Palestinian issue, or even when it comes to the current President Donald Trump, and the possibility of a change in his positions during his second term, since he will no longer need the support of the Zionist lobby.

Today, Israel is preparing for the possibility that Biden will be named president of the US. As far as foreign policy is concerned, Israeli policy forums consider Biden to be a long-time supporter of Israel. But, if he wins the elections, tensions may rise between him and the Israeli government over two main issues: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iranian nuclear file. Therefore, from an Israeli point of view, it is probably advisable for Tel Aviv to start communicating with Biden and his advisers as soon as possible, to establish a secret channel for political discussions in order to serve as a basis to build trust between the two parties.

At the same time, and as an effort to rebuild their bipartisan support, Israeli political leaders are demanding that no action should be undertaken during the election campaign, since political polarisation is increasing. This will be interpreted in Washington as unilateral support for one of the candidates.

The coming coup?

Michael Anton
The American Mind
Fri, 04 Sep 2020 00:00 UTC

Democrats are laying the groundwork for revolution right in front of our eyes.

As if 2020 were not insane enough already, we now have Democrats and their ruling class masters openly talking about staging a coup. You might have missed it, what with the riots, lockdowns and other daily mayhem we're forced to endure in this, the most wretched year of my lifetime. But it's happening.

It started with the military brass quietly indicating that the troops should not follow a presidential order. They were bolstered by many former generals — including President Trump's own first Secretary of Defense — who stated openly what the brass would only hint at. Then, as nationwide riots really got rolling in early June, the sitting Secretary of Defense himself all but publicly told the president not to invoke the Insurrection Act. His implicit message was:

"Mr. President, don't tell us to do that, because we won't, and you know what happens after that."

Comment: See also:

Five quick things: The most shamefully dishonest campaign in political history - lying is all Biden & Co do!

Scott McKay
The American Spectator
Fri, 11 Sep 2020 12:00 UTC

Did you happen to see, by any chance, the interview Bret Baier did on Fox News with a soy-eater named T.J. Ducklo, who serves as the national press spokesman for the Joe Biden campaign?

If you didn't, you really missed out, because it was pretty destructive. And with that, we'll launch into our Five Quick Things, which all fall under the category of evidence that the Biden campaign is the most shameless pack of liars ever unleashed on the American people.

This is by no means whatsoever an exhaustive list. It's simply the first five things that came to mind. We could easily come up with 25 more.

Comment: Here's the controversial, abrasive Ducklo interview:

Twitter picked up on certain discrepancies as well:

Senate chair to Horowitz: Open a probe into wiped Mueller phones for destroyed data, record retention, transparency

Daniel Payne
Just the News
Sat, 12 Sep 2020 03:48 UTC

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson on Friday asked Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz to open an investigation into the dozen-plus phones belonging to associates of the Robert Mueller special counsel that had been wiped of data prior to being surrendered to investigators.

Government documents released this week listed multiple phones belonging to members of Mueller's Russia collusion probe as having been cleared of all data before they were handed over to Horowitz's office. Many of the phones, according to the documents, were purged of data after the users entered incorrect passwords too many times.

In his letter, Johnson — the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs — said the missing data "raise[s] concerns about record retention and transparency."

The senator asked Horowitz's office to "open an investigation into this matter to determine what, why, and how information was wiped, whether any wrongdoing occurred, and who these devices belonged to."

Comment: Others are requesting similar information on the blatant erasure of recorded messages and call logs:

Johnson's request followed a letter from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to the FBI and Justice Department inquiring about the wiped phones and demanding that they produce all records Mueller's team did turn over, as well as unredacted copies of the FOIA documents.

Horowitz has mounted similar probes into the handling of internal messages by FBI agents involved in the Russia probe and mounted a major effort to retrieve messages deleted from some FBI phones. Horowitz d etailed his findings and retrieval methods in a 2018 report.

Andrew Weissmann, who was the top prosecutor on Mueller's team, is listed twice on separate dates. One record states: "AAW accidentally wiped cell phone -- data lost": a second states: "entered password too many times and wiped his phone."

Trump talked about Weissmann during his Saturday evening rally in Nevada, saying there "has to be repercussions" for the deletions.

And Trump had more to say!

"ALERT: So now we find out that the entire Mueller 'hit squad' illegally wiped their phones clean just prior to the investigation of them," Trump tweeted.

He heaped scorn on the "really dumb" excuses that members of Mueller's team rolled out to explain why more than two dozen cell phones they used during the two-year investigation of Trump-Russia collusion allegations were rendered useless before the Justice Department's inspector general could check them.

"Just like Crooked Hillary [Clinton] smashing her phones with a hammer, & DELETING HER EMAILS!" Trump scoffed.

Julian Assange is not on trial for his personality, but here's how the US gov made you focus on it

Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker
Independent
Thu, 10 Sep 2020 00:00 UTC

On Monday Julian Assange was driven to the Old Bailey to continue his fight against extradition to the United States, where the Trump administration has launched the most dangerous attack on press freedom in at least a generation by indicting him for publishing US government documents. Amid coverage of the proceedings, Assange's critics have inevitably commented on his appearance, rumours of his behaviour while isolated in the Ecuadorian embassy, and other salacious details.

These predictable distractions are emblematic of the sorry state of our political and cultural discourse. If Assange is extradited to face charges for practising journalism and exposing government misconduct, the consequences for press freedom and the public's right to know will be catastrophic. Still, rather than seriously addressing the important principles at stake in Assange's unprecedented indictment and the 175 years in prison he faces, many would rather focus on inconsequential personality profiles.

Assange is not on trial for skateboarding in the Ecuadorian embassy, for tweeting, for calling Hillary Clinton a war hawk, or for having an unkempt beard as he was dragged into detention by British police. Assange faces extradition to the United States because he published incontrovertible proof of war crimes and abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan, embarrassing the most powerful nation on Earth. Assange published hard evidence of "the ways in which the first world exploits the third", according to whistleblower Chelsea Manning, the source of that evidence. Assange is on trial for his journalism, for his principles, not his personality.

All these different kingdoms were simulataneous, and at different places on the Nile. The real treasures are still buried under sand.

Patrick Donnelly

Sun Awakens, Numerous Flares, Nova Science | S0 News Oct.26.2021 [Link]

parzival

She's better off dead. The ones that die quickly are the lucky ones. Cancers, chronic pain and exhaustion? No thanks.

DeliciousTears

Here's what lithium ion batteries also do. [Link] R.C.

Rowan Cocoan

She always looks like she's having a painful bowel movement, and is trying very hard to do it silently.

Eventide

Puppet Masters

US Judge rules Saudi royals must answer 9/11 lawsuit questions

Pelosi's choice: Steal the election or be destroyed

COVID-911: From Homeland Security to Biosecurity

Trump and the Gordian Knot, year three

Bojo may 'opt out' of the EU's Human Rights Act amid Brexit row

Israeli reading of the preparations for US presidential elections

The coming coup?

Five quick things: The most shamefully dishonest campaign in political history - lying is all Biden & Co do!

Senate chair to Horowitz: Open a probe into wiped Mueller phones for destroyed data, record retention, transparency

Julian Assange is not on trial for his personality, but here's how the US gov made you focus on it

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