Puppet Masters

Fusion of church and state: Kiev's split from Russian Orthodoxy will boost 'nationalism' and 'chaos' in Ukraine

RT
Fri, 16 Nov 2018 14:51 UTC

The Ukrainian Church's drive to gain independent status (autocephaly) is a political move, pushed by President Petro Poroshenko who seeks to fix his crumbling popularity before the next election, historian Alexander Dvorkin says.

"I'm not sure that Ukraine is really determined to get autocephaly. Mr. Poroshenko definitely wanted that very much, because his popularity is very low, the polls show very low figures, and he's very anxious to get re-elected," Professor of Church History at St. Tikhon's Orthodox University Alexander Dvorkin told RT.

"So, he needs to do something, at least something to raise his popularity. And he believes that [the] announcement of autocephaly of [the] Ukrainian Church will be the thing that will do it."

Comment: He might not get it. The decision is apparently contingent on a vote of all the relevant churches in Ukraine, the majority of whom are against the decision, it seems. Also, they weren't even the ones who asked for it. This was Poroshenko's initiative.

Another benefactor of the autocephaly drive is the "so-called Patriarch Filaret, who was excommunicated by [the] Russian Orthodox Church for political reasons and for very grave moral transgressions."

'Patriarch Filaret' leads the so-called 'Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchate', which is not recognized by other Orthodox churches, yet is openly courted by the Ukrainian authorities. The only canonical Orthodox church in the country is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is a constituent part of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Comment: The chaos is already starting:

Unknown assailants firebombed a historic 18th century Orthodox church in Kyiv and attacked a priest early on November 15, a church spokesman said.

The attack comes amid rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia over Ukraine's move to create a national independent church and sever centuries-old ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Molotov cocktails did not explode and no damage was done to St. Andrew's church, which sits on a steep slope on one of Kyiv's best-known tourist spots.

The church spokesman, Archbishop Yevstraty, said the attackers, whom police said numbered four, used pepper spray against a priest.

No more moderates: Al Nusra terrorists unite all Idlib militants under one big jihadist command

RT
Fri, 16 Nov 2018 14:39 UTC

The notorious Al Nusra terrorist group has announced it has united all the rebel factions in Idlib under a single command, eroding whatever thin line ever existed between the so-called 'moderate' militants and hardcore jihadists.

The Idlib province has been relatively calm following the September agreement between Russia and Turkey to set up a buffer zone in the province in the hope that it would lead to a long-lasting ceasefire. The deal, which was backed by Germany and France, and supported by the United States, in theory, should have allowed the so-called 'moderate' rebels to take control of the province while separating from radical Islamists. However, exactly the opposite appears to have happened.

"All the factions in the arena formed a joint operations room... Yes, all factions without exemption." There has been "no joint operations room like this before," Abu Khaled, a representative of Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al Nusra, which is now known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, told the controversial American journalist Abdul Kareem.

Comment: In other words, Syria and Russia now have the justification they need to destroy all militants in Idlib. Al-Nusra is not party to any truces or agreements, according to international law.

Police drones: UK coppers to use flying robots to track offenders back to their homes

RT
Fri, 16 Nov 2018 14:34 UTC

A UK police force is being trained to operate drones, enabling them to take images of anti-social offenders with the potential to follow them to their homes. The move is part of a trial in the use of the remote-control devices.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is establishing a drone unit with officers trained as pilots for the unmanned aerial vehicles. They aim to identify criminals by taking images of alleged offenders, all the way to their homes if necessary - in a bid to make communities safer, the Manchester Evening News reports.

Moscow says situation in US-controlled Rukban refugee camp in Syria like that of WWII concentration camps

Sputnik
Fri, 16 Nov 2018 14:29 UTC

The United States is responsible for the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Rukban refugee camp in Syria, as it has illegally occupied this territory, Yury Tarasov, the representative of the Russian Defense Ministry in taskforces on ceasefire and humanitarian issues in Geneva, said on Friday.

"The whole responsibility for the outrageous situation in Rukban rests with the United States, as it occupies the territory illegally and it uses the humanitarian problems of the refugee camp to legitimize its military presence in the south of Syria. We believe that the elimination of a 55-kilometer [34 mile] zone around At-Tanf [where a US military base is located] will result in the closure of the Rukban camp," Tarasov said at a conference of the Russian and Syrian centers for refugees return.

He specified that Russian representatives in the taskforces on ceasefire and humanitarian issues were ready to cooperate with international organizations on settling the Rukban camp humanitarian crisis and on evacuating all the refugees willing to leave it.

"As of today, one of the most urgent problems is the situation in the Rukban refugee camp, which is in an extremely difficult humanitarian situation. I want to note that the total number of temporarily displaced people in it is about 50,000 people, of which about 6,000 are militants of the Maghawir Al-Thawra group controlled by the United States," Tarasov said.

Comment: See also:

Get it 'right'? Israeli consulate spars with US journalist over NYT propaganda headline

RT
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 14:16 UTC

An American journalist who pointed out the extensive edits the New York Times made to its article about the Israeli bombing of Gaza found himself in a heated Twitter argument with the Israeli consulate.

A Twitter account "Editing The Gray Lady," which tracks edits to the Times, revealed on Monday how the US paper of record changed its headlines and copy to describe the events in Gaza.

"Incredible propaganda," Ben Norton, a New York-based writer for The Real News, commented on the edits, adding that the Times "bent over backward and rewrote its article to erase how Israel initiated the violence in Gaza, obscuring the fact that Gaza's self-defense was 'retaliatory' and instead pushing the covert Israeli operation until the end."

Comment: When identity-politics nationalism is your god, lying becomes a necessity and morality a hindrance. Norton is correct: Israel started it. Hamas's rocket launches were retaliatory. But in Israeli propagandists' eyes (Ben Shapiro among them), Israel can do no wrong. It only ever acts in self-defense, even when it doesn't. That includes when it murders children, journalists, medics, aid workers...

Boycotting World Economic Forum in Davos no great loss for Russia - Putin

RT
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 13:17 UTC

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the refusal by Russian businesses to participate in next year's World Economic Forum in Davos is not going to have any negative impact on the country's reputation.

"Reputation of any country that is a part of the global economy basically depends on its economic power, structure of its economy, as well as on the results it demonstrates from the point of view of GDP, technologies, macro-economic parameters," said Putin, speaking at the Russia-ASEAN Summit in Singapore.

Putin stressed that Russian businessmen are free to decide whether or not to attend the January WEF. The comment came amid recent reports that three Russian businessmen - Viktor Vekselberg, the owner of Renova group, aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska, and the head of VTB Bank Andery Kostin had been barred from the event over sanctions imposed by Washington.

Comment: The corruption of governments in the West can only hinder business for so long before money goes where the money is; the numbers speak for themselves:

For more, check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Trump Ditches Europe, Europe Bluffs, Russia and China Carry on With Eurasian Integration

"Living a lie": UK's multi-billion pound contract to double fleet of US' faulty F-35s by 2022

RT
Fri, 16 Nov 2018 10:58 UTC

The UK has signed a multi-billion pound contract which will double its F-35 fleet, the country's defense secretary has announced. The deal will see Britain own 35 stealth jets by the end of 2022.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson confirmed that the UK has ordered 17 new F-35B aircraft which will be delivered between 2020 and 2022. Overall, Britain has committed to buying 138 aircraft over the life of the program.

"I am delighted to confirm that we are doubling the size of our F-35 force into a formidable fleet of 35 stealth fighters. This is another massive order in the biggest defense program in history," Williamson said.

He went on to tout the move as being "good news" for the British economy, as British companies are building approximately 15 percent by value of all F-35s planned for production, which amounts to 255 in total. The F-35 is made by the US company Lockheed Martin, but the UK's BAE Systems is a contractor on the project.

Comment: Williamson has a very twisted idea of what's good for the British economy: UK set to open major permanent base in Oman - And UK defense sec thinks it'll be good for Brexit

Comment: Ballooning budgets, demented inefficiency and suicidal errors in judgement are to be expected in truly ponerized organizations like US and UK defence:

For more, check out SOTT radio's:
Behind the Headlines: Perfidious Albion: If Russia is a Rogue State, What is the UK?

Fox guarding the hen-house: Israeli defense contractor to 'monitor Europe's coasts'

Peter Koenig
Global Research
Fri, 16 Nov 2018 11:03 UTC

The Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems Ltd has won a contract worth up to $68 million to monitor much of Europe's coastline.

Elbit Systems, an Israeli tech firm which specialises in defence, security and commercial systems, said today that the framework contract consists of the provision of maritime unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in order to help monitor extensive coastlines and vast areas of sea to identify any potential hazards and suspicious activities.

The contract is for a two-year period with the option of renewal for an additional two years.

European Court of Human Rights rules Alexey Navalny was 'political prisoner'

RT
Fri, 16 Nov 2018 11:03 UTC

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has deemed several detentions of Russian opposition activist Alexey Navalny as "politically motivated "and ordered Moscow to pay him damages.

The court announced its ruling on Thursday, ending the case which has been dragging on for years. The Grand Chamber ruled that several arrests, detentions and administrative convictions, that the Kremlin critic Navalny endured back in 2012-2014 were politically motivated.

The Chamber upheld an earlier ruling of the ECHR, announced in February 2017, which awarded the activist €50,000 ($56,500) for "moral damage," €1,000 ($1,100) for material damage, and some €12,600 ($14,200) to cover court expenses. Back then, both the Russian government and Navalny himself asked the court to refer the case to the Chamber. While Moscow challenged the ruling as a whole, Navalny was unhappy that the court did not find a political motive in his detention.

Comment: CBC News reports on Russia's official response to this kangaroo court:

Russia's representative to the ECHR, Deputy Justice Minister Mikhail Galperin, argued during a hearing earlier this year that Navalny's arrests were all justified and that his unauthorized rallies put public security at risk. He suggested Navalny staged his arrests to get media attention. [...]

Russia's Justice Ministry questioned what it portrayed as the flawed and inconsistent logic of the ruling, but said it would pay the court-ordered damages and costs, the Interfax news agency reported. [...]

Navalny's legal team said Moscow could not appeal what is a final and binding ruling that is likely to strain already poor relations between Russia and the Strasbourg-based court.

Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Russian parliament's international affairs committee, said the ruling raised questions about the court's objectivity.

"The ECHR is increasingly becoming a tool to pressure our country," Slutsky wrote on social media.

"Irritating": Pentagon fails first ever audit, "accuracy" problems in $2.7 trillion organization

RT
Fri, 16 Nov 2018 02:01 UTC

The US Department of Defense spent over $360 million to confirm there are problems in the $2.7 trillion organization, but the Pentagon leadership considers the mere fact that this "first-ever" audit happened was a great success.

"We never thought we were going to pass an audit, right? Everyone was betting against us that we wouldn't even do the audit," Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters on Thursday, announcing the end of the eleven-month process.

The actual results of the audit, along with the report by the Pentagon's inspector general, will reportedly be made public on Friday. The process began in December 2017 and involved around 1,200 auditors at the cost of some $367 million, according to what the DOD's Chief Financial Officer David Norquist told Congress in January.

Shanahan tried to put a brave face on the news, saying that the very fact an audit was done at all was "substantial," since the Pentagon is a "$2.7 trillion organization." A 1990 law required an audit of all government departments, but the DOD managed to avoid one until 2017, when the Trump administration appointed Norquist to oversee the process.

Comment: It's true that it's quite a feat that an audit was even done at all, so credit should go to the Trump administration for trying:

Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Babylon, Ancient Rome and the American Empire

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Puppet Masters

Fusion of church and state: Kiev's split from Russian Orthodoxy will boost 'nationalism' and 'chaos' in Ukraine

No more moderates: Al Nusra terrorists unite all Idlib militants under one big jihadist command

Police drones: UK coppers to use flying robots to track offenders back to their homes

Moscow says situation in US-controlled Rukban refugee camp in Syria like that of WWII concentration camps

Get it 'right'? Israeli consulate spars with US journalist over NYT propaganda headline

Boycotting World Economic Forum in Davos no great loss for Russia - Putin

"Living a lie": UK's multi-billion pound contract to double fleet of US' faulty F-35s by 2022

Fox guarding the hen-house: Israeli defense contractor to 'monitor Europe's coasts'

European Court of Human Rights rules Alexey Navalny was 'political prisoner'

"Irritating": Pentagon fails first ever audit, "accuracy" problems in $2.7 trillion organization

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