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'Standard, absolutely legal and absolutely safe' routine spying? Two US surveillance planes peek over Russia's Kaliningrad borders

A US Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon
© Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters
A US Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon
Two US spy planes were spotted over the Baltic Sea close to Russia's borders. One of the aircraft was reportedly intercepted by a Su-27 fighter, in what is becoming a routine aerial encounter, according to the Russian military.

The US surveillance planes conducted several flights near the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on Saturday, according to Mil Radar, a military plane-spotter's Twitter account, which monitors US Air Force and Navy operations around the world.


Comment: See also:


Light Saber

Who is DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz?

Michael Horowitz

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz
Part 1: The war with the Obama Administration

Obama nominated Michael Horowitz in July of 2011 to fill a vacancy left open by the resignation of Glenn Fine in February. Mr. Horowitz was confirmed in March the following year, and sworn in on April 16th, 2012. [1]

It was a nomination Obama would come to regret. Obama's Most Dangerous 'Enemies' are Being Targeted

There is a pattern emerging in the Obama Presidency. He is at war with reality; his greatest enemies are facts. And he has been targeting for years a small group of people whose duty is to expose the truth. Their loyalty runs to the citizenry and not to Barack Obama. They are not Republicans and they are certainly not journalists. And Obama has been trying to muzzle them. One man stands in the way.

Inspectors General (IG) are government employees who are responsible for ferreting out mismanagement, fraud and corruption in the federal government. The Barack Obama presidency has provided them with a target-rich environment. They are responsible for uncovering a wide range of Obama failures. [2]

Horowitz inherited a position that was effectively neutered in 2011 by Eric Holder's interpretation of § 6 of The Inspector General Act of 1978. (Authority of Inspector General)

Newspaper

Systematic news-suppression in the U.S.

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern
Ray McGovern was a CIA analyst from 1963 to 1990, and in the 1980s chaired the National Intelligence Estimates and prepared the President's Daily Brief. But now retired, he's a critic of the very same government he had spent his career representing, and especially of its virtually fully controlled press, which he claims misrepresents systematically, as if it were owned outright by the controlling owners of the very same mega-corporations that manufacture and sell weapons to the Pentagon and to its allied militaries in Europe and the Middle East. Basically as a "military-industrial complex" scam upon the public, but really as a military-industrial-media complex, which is even more powerful than the more limited type that Eisenhower had warned against.

Here, then, is from an interview that Ray McGovern did on Talk Nation Radio, on April 24th:

Comment:


Gear

Trump defends highly criticized CIA Director nominee Gina Haspel, calls her 'too tough on terrorists'

Mike Pompeo's ceremonial swearing-in
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
CIA director nominee Gina Haspel (R) waits to greet U.S. President Donald Trump after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's ceremonial swearing-in at the State Department in Washington, U.S. May 2, 2018
US President Donald Trump took to Twitter Monday to defend his nominee for the CIA directorship, Gina Haspel. Trump argued that Haspel was "too tough on terrorists" for the Democrats.

"My highly respected nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, has come under fire because she was too tough on Terrorists," Trump tweeted. "Think of that, in these very dangerous times, we have the most qualified person, a woman, who Democrats want OUT because she is too tough on terror. Win Gina!"


Comment: Bolton, Pompeo, Haspel... Trump's recent appointee choices have all been nothing less than abhorrent lately. Is it the talent pool that is abysmal, or Trump's inability to choose and be supported by decent competent people?


Snakes in Suits

House Intelligence Committee releases unredacted Russia report - and catches James Comey in a lie on Mike Flynn

James Comey
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The House Intelligence Committee released new unredacted portions of its final report on Russia on Friday, catching James Comey square in a lie on Michael Flynn.
Newly unredacted portions of the House Intelligence Committee's final report on Russia were released on Friday and they contain a bombshell relating to what former FBI Director James Comey's told lawmakers about the bureau's investigation into Michael Flynn.

What are the details?

According to Fox News, the documents show Comey told lawmakers the FBI did not believe Flynn intentionally lied about his contacts with Russian diplomats.

"Director Comey testified to the Committee that 'the agents...discerned no physical indications of deception. They didn't see any change in posture, in tone, in inflection, in eye contact. They saw nothing that indicated to them that he knew he was lying to them,'" the report states.

Comment: James Comey's lies and true intentions are becoming ever more apparent:


Caesar

Putin Sworn in as President For Fourth Time: "My Duty is to Guarantee Russia's Peaceful And Prosperous Future"

Putin inauguration
© Sputnik / Alexei Druzhinin
A ceremony to swear Russian President Vladimir Putin in for a new presidential term has been held in the Kremlin. Sputnik looks into the main highlights of Putin's speech during the event.

When taking oath, Vladimir Putin has revealed the key tasks for the government in the next six years.

Comment: Putin Shows Off His New Russian-Made Limousine For The Presidential Inauguration Ceremony


Russian Commander-in-Chief Reviews His Regiment On Cathedral Square To Mark His Inauguration





Sherlock

DOJ inspector general's testimony postponed after new leads surface in Clinton case

Michael Horowitz

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s widely anticipated testimony has been postponed.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz's widely anticipated testimony next week before the House Oversight Committee has been postponed, as the Justice Department IG has pursued new leads in his review of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, according to a congressional letter and sources familiar with the matter.

"It is of the utmost importance that your review be as fulsome, complete and unimpeded as possible," Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the chairman of the committee, wrote in a recent letter to Horowitz obtained by Fox News.

Horowitz was scheduled to appear before the committee on May 8. But Gowdy told Horowitz he wants to reschedule his testimony "as close to the day the report is finalized as is practicable."

Comment: Further reading:


Star of David

Israeli minister vows to 'eliminate' Assad if he allows Iran to operate in Syria

Assad and Israel
Israel has repeatedly voiced concern over alleged Iranian military presence in Syria and claimed that the Islamic Republic has been building a base in the country, while Tehran has strongly refuted the accusations. However, Iran has admitted sending military advisors to Syria in order to help Damascus fight terrorists.

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz has alleged that Israel was willing to "eliminate" Syrian President Bashar Assad if the latter continued to "allow Iran to operate" from his country.

Comment: Israeli politicians are ramping up the talk of war, yet again. Accusing Iran of what the Israeli's are planning to do. See also:


Red Flag

Alternate Reality: British Media Spins Corbyn's Labour Victory in English Local Elections as Defeat

jeremy corbyn

They fear the man, not the ideology
The British media is currently demonstrating a masterclass in how to present fake news, alternate facts, and post-truth as 'reality'. On Friday, local elections in England produced a marginal increase in the number of Council seats held by the Labour Party in England, delivering Corbyn's party with its best local election tally since 1971, and its second-best ever.

If the results were translated into a General Election result, Jeremy Corbyn would have become the UK's new prime minister. But that's not what the British media is telling Her Majesty's Subjects. Instead, the message across all mainstream media - right and left - is that Corbyn's party failed dismally.

Bashing Corbyn non-stop, since he was first elected leader of the Labour Party in 2015 - as 'unelectable', as 'anti-Semitic', as 'pro-Russian', as a 'Communist Czech agent' - the media now lambasts him for not delivering a comprehensive victory - evidence, again, that he should resign!

The last time the Labour Party won local elections by such a wide margin over the Conservative Party was in 1994. Three years later in the UK General Election, it was a landslide victory for Labour. The big difference between now and then is that this time there's no 'third-way', no Tory-lite leader like Tony Blair leading the party - there's Jeremy Corbyn, the British Security Services' "number 1 national security threat."


2 + 2 = 4

Who's Buying Votes in the Lebanese Election?

Beirut, Lebanon

On this lovely morning here on the coast of the Mediterranean there is not a cloud in the sky. In less than twenty-four hours voting will begin. However, on this day before the election, a howling wind is blowing from the south making the thousands of posters, banners and building-sized placards that feature the faces of the scores of potential Lebanese parliamentarians dance and sway wildly above the throngs of tomorrows voters.
Lebanon election poster 2018
But this wind, one that just yesterday seemed to bring the promise of a new future for Lebanon, will it be an ill wind that instead dashes this attempt at populist democratic reform, one cast from nine years of progress, onto the rocks of US-backed history?

Judging from the past twelve hours on the streets of Beirut, there is suddenly strong pause for concern. Someone is buying votes!

And just about everyone knows it.