Puppet MastersS


Attention

Best of the Web: Turning America into a battlefield: A blueprint for locking down the nation

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.—President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
MIC
© voices@voicesweb.org
A standing army—something that propelled the early colonists into revolution—strips the American people of any vestige of freedom. How can there be any semblance of freedom when there are tanks in the streets, military encampments in cities, Blackhawk helicopters and armed drones patrolling overhead?

It was for this reason that those who established America vested control of the military in a civilian government, with a civilian commander-in-chief. They did not want a military government, ruled by force. Rather, they opted for a republic bound by the rule of law: the U.S. Constitution.

Unfortunately, with the Constitution under constant attack, the military's power, influence and authority have grown dramatically. Even the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which makes it a crime for the government to use the military to carry out arrests, searches, seizure of evidence and other activities normally handled by a civilian police force, has been weakened by both Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who ushered in exemptions allowing troops to deploy domestically and arrest civilians in the wake of alleged terrorist acts.

Now we find ourselves struggling to retain some semblance of freedom in the face of police and law enforcement agencies that look and act like the military and have just as little regard for the Fourth Amendment, laws such as the NDAA that allow the military to arrest and indefinitely detain American citizens, and military drills that acclimate the American people to the sight of armored tanks in the streets, military encampments in cities, and combat aircraft patrolling overhead.

Making matters worse, we find out that the military plans to use southwestern states as staging grounds for guerilla warfare drills in which highly-trained military troops equipped with all manner of weapons turn American towns and cities in quasi-battlefields. Why? As they tell us, it's so that special operations forces can get "realistic military training" in "hostile" territory.

They've even got a name for the exercise: Jade Helm 15.

Whether or not Americans have anything to fear from Jade Helm 15, a covert, multi-agency, multi-state, eight-week military training exercise set to take place this summer from July 15 through Sept. 15, remains to be seen.

Insisting that there's nothing to be alarmed about, the Washington Post took great pains to point out that these military exercises on American soil are nothing new. For instance, there was Operation Bold Alligator, in which in which thousands of Marines and sailors carried out amphibious exercises against "insurgent" forces in Georgia and Florida. Operation Robin Sage had Green Beret soldiers engaging in guerrilla warfare in North Carolina. And Operation Derna Bridge sends Marine special forces into parts of South Carolina and the National Forest.

Yet if Americans are uneasy about this summer's planned Jade Helm 15 military exercises, they have every right to be.

Bizarro Earth

Best of the Web: The Ukraine I knew is dead and gone

ukraine gone
What will appear in its place?
There may be some kind of Ukraine, but it will be far, far different from the Ukraine we knew and which has sadly ended

Hard as it is to say, sad as it is for those of us who liked Ukraine, as I liked Ukraine - over 2 years living there pre-war, it was a country I was very fond of - but post-Euromaidan, Ukraine is dead. Here's why -

1. If there's no law, it's not a country, it's a failed state

The recent wave of killings of anyone perceived to be 'anti-regime' in Ukraine, accompanied by not only resounding failure to investigate, but actually official endorsement of those responsible - the fact that the police in Ukraine defer to terrorist group Pravy Sektor. Just the start of a long list. There's no law whatsoever in post-Euromaidan Ukraine.

2. If there's no democracy, it's not a country

Dmitry Yarosh Pravy Sektor
Dmitry Yarosh, leader of neo-Nazi terrorist group Pravy Sektor
It's a banana state. On February 22nd, 2014, Euromaidan kicked out not only a democratically-elected president, but a democratically-elected government. It waited three months before holding elections for a new president, 8 months before parliamentary. By that time, all too late, the extremist element had already taken a stake way beyond electoral control - neo-Nazi party Svoboda, despite scoring less than 5% in the parliamentary elections, still vocally sit in Ukraine's parliament, regularly send fighters to the front. Leader of neo-Nazi terrorist group Pravy Sektor Dmitry Yarosh (pictured), who polled less than 1% in the presidential election, on Interpol's wanted list, is now an official aide to to the Ukrainian military.

Comment: This is the fate of all countries designated as pawns in the Empire of Chaos' drive for domination. The same sad story can be told of Iraq, Syria, Guatemala, and so many others on back through the history of the U.S.


Георгиевская ленточка

Putin vows to support state and independent media

Image
At the Truth and Justice Second Media Forum of Independent Local and Regional Media on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged his support for both government-owned and private media. Russia's president also went a step further to challenge all media to reach toward high credibility standards. His message is timely, given the western mainstream media's apparent lack of credibility recently.

The president made the statement before the forum organized by the Russian Popular Front, the political support organization made up of those who support his policies but choose not to join any particular political party. In response to a complaint of an independent journalist working for a private company, Mr. Putin addressed the disparity in state-owned versus independent media subsidies. The reporter told Putin:
"We are surviving on our own during the crisis and we have found ourselves in completely non-market conditions."
Image
© KremlinVladimir Putin listens to journalist’s input
State supported media receive such benefits as low office or facilities rents, along with subsidized transportation and other perks. In answer to the complaint, Putin quickly retorted:

Star of David

So much for media impartiality: Netanyahu wants full control of Israeli media

Image
© AP Photo/ Gali Tibbon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working on a clause to be included in coalition agreements, currently being negotiated by his Likud party and other factions, which would empower him to decide on which media laws the coalition will pass, Haaretz reported Wednesday.

Netanyahu is currently faced with the challenge of meeting the extended deadline to finalize the talks on the final coalition deal and form a new government after his Likud party won the general election on March 17.

"Netanyahu wants to terrorize the media and keep it on a short leash. This could cause serious damage to Israeli democracy," a source familiar with the clause told Haaretz. "The clause is rather ambiguous, which means the coalition partners might end up signing it," the source added.

Bulb

German lawmaker: No threat justifies doubling NATO Response Force

Image
© REUTERS/ Ints Kalnins
The doubling of NATO's Response Force from 13,000 to 30,000 is a step that lacks justification by any immediate threat, a German lawmaker from Die Linke party told Sputnik.

"I'm very concerned about the announcement by NATO to more than double its Response Force from 13,000 to 30,000. This seems to further escalate the tensions with Russia," Andrej Hunko said, adding that according to the information he has "there is no immediate threat that would justify this step."

Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance will increase its Response Force personnel who are "facing a dramatically changed security environment in Europe."

Hunko stressed that on the contrary, according to the information available within NATO, the picture of security risks is quite different. He indicated that the true reality is often hidden, as the French Chief of the Military Security Service Christophe Gomart pointed out when he appeared before the French parliament.

Russia and the West are currently experiencing tension in their relations. The United States and the European Union accuse Russia of "annexing" Crimea and escalating the violence in southeastern Ukraine, although Moscow has denied any involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.

Comment: The irony is that there is no threat at all. Russia is not invading sovereign countries like the U.S. is. All it's doing is standing up to Western efforts to destabilize Russia.


Bad Guys

German Government lied when it denied knowledge of BND and NSA collusion in economic espionage

sattelites germany
© AP / Matthias Schrader
The German Government has been accused of lying to its parliament, the Bundestag, when it denied any knowledge of collusion between its intelligence agency and the US National Security Agency in economic espionage.

It emerged last week that Germany's intelligence service the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) had violated the country's Constitution by helping the US National Security Agency (NSA) spy on European politicians and companies.

However, in an official government statement to the Bundestag on April 14, the Interior Ministry said:
"We have no knowledge of alleged economic espionage by the NSA or other US agencies in other countries."
In view of the emergence of collusion between the BND and the NSA, Linke Party (Left Party) MP Jan Korte told Der Spiegel "the parliamentary answer from April 14th is very clearly a lie" and that he would not believe "one more word" from the government relating to spying.

Comment: William Binney, who spent 36 years in the NSA and is now highly critical of the agency's spying programs, was interviewed last November regarding the NSA surveillance program. During the interview he commented about speaking as a witness by the NSA commission of the German parliament, the Bundestag:
LS: A few months ago it was revealed that the NSA could have had access via the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) to data at the DE-CIX internet hub in Frankfurt. If this was the case - the DE-CIX Management GmbH Frankfurt denies that this took place - the BND would have violated German law. [See the press release by the DE-CIX Management GmbH Frankfurt (in German)] Can you tell us, please, how such arrangements between NSA and BND come about that are including breaches of law?

WB: The agencies like NSA and BND would set up a separate international agreement between the two agencies that would have to be passed and approved by at least some portion of the government. That is, your government would need to agree to it and so would ours, and that starts with the agencies agreeing on what to cooperate on and how to cooperate and what the ground rules are for that cooperation. That's then passed to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, or very restricted numbers of people in administration would also be able to see that kind of agreement, and the same would be true I assume on the BND side and the German government.



Eye 2

UAF fails to disarm neo-Nazi battalion, Right Sector organizes protest in response

Representatives of the far-right Ukrainian nationalist political movement Right Sector are due to picket the administrative building of President Poroshenko in central Kiev later on Wednesday.

Image
© AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky
The far-right Ukrainian nationalist political movement Right Sector will be picketing near the building of President Petro Poroshenko's administration in central Kiev later in the day, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

"Right Sector informs that according to reliable information, the authorities are preparing a large-scale provocation against volunteer units. So to prevent such operations, we are gathering near the building of the presidential administration at 12:00 local time," according to a Right Sector message.

Comment: Poroshenko's weak, and those neo-Nazi lunatics he awarded medals of bravery to smell blood. They'll use every opportunity to gain more power. Also see:

  • Washington's chaos: Kiev has lost control of the neo-Nazi battalions
  • SOTT Exclusive: US troops and mercs bringing glory to Ukraine, protecting Poroshenko from his own troops
  • Documentary: Fascism in Ukraine - Slaughter of ethnic Russian 'scum'



Attention

Preparing for martial law? Texas jittery over US military drills

Texas governor Greg Abbott
© Rreuters / Larry DowningTexas governor Greg Abbott
Texas Governor Greg Abbott told state troopers to monitor a US military training exercise, codenamed Jade Helm 15, after locals showed concern that the looming maneuvers actually look more like an "exercise in the imposition of martial law."

The large-scale operation involves elite teams from four branches of the military, including the SEALs and Green Berets, and is set to kick off in seven states from July 15 to September 15. Up to 1,200 special operations personnel will be involved. The troops will be participating in what has been called Realistic Military Training in towns in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and Utah. For the purposes of the training, Texas, Utah and part of southern California have been labeled as "hostile" territory, a description that a number of residents found troublesome.

Comment: This Jade Helm exercise sure is getting a lot of attention. People's fear and anxiety is palpable.


Bad Guys

Ukraine's forces violate ceasefire 41 times in a single day

Ukraine soldier
© RusVesna.su
41 violations of the ceasefire have been committed by Ukraine Security forces over the past day, according to the Ministry of defense of the Donetsk People's Republic.

Comment: Ukrainian armed forces have been burning, crucifying, and firebombing civilians in the conflict, murdering 'dissidents' at home, and there are rumors that there will be another Maidan, because some neo-Nazis still feel too 'restrained' in their ethnic cleansing. As though Poroshenko wasn't bad enough:
European leaders (especially Merkel of Germany, Hollande of France, and Putin of Russia) urged [Poroshenko] not to resume his bombing campaign against the southeast, but the US (specifically President Obama) supports the bombings, and that's enough for Poroshenko; so, he did it. As the US State Department said, "he has a right to defend his country." Reuters reports that Poroshenko gave as his reason for the resumption, "to rid Ukraine of 'parasites'." Adolf Hitler had given the same reason for ethnically cleansing his country.
It's no wonder that the ceasefire has been violated. Of course the Western media would have you believe that it's the evil 'Russian-backed terrorists separatists' who are to blame. It's unbelievable that Washington has been able to install an openly neo-Nazi regime, capable of the most heinous crimes against humanity, in broad daylight - all while blaming Russia and convincing Europeans to think of the US as a liberator.

Also see:
  • US-backed Azov battalion crucifies and burns man alive in Ukraine
  • The Ukraine I knew is dead and gone
  • Personal details of journalist, ex-MP found posted on Ukrainian enemies of state databse 48 hours before their murders



Cell Phone

U.S. lawmakers introduce bill to end mass collection of civilian phone data

Bob Goodlatte
© REUTERS/YURI GRIPASHouse Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) speaks at a news conference on the anticipated House passage of the USA Freedom Act on Capitol Hill in Washington May 22, 2014.
U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday to end spy agencies' bulk collection of Americans' telephone data, setting up a potential showdown over the program, which expires on June 1.

Republican U.S. Representatives Bob Goodlatte and Jim Sensenbrenner and Democrats John Conyers and Jerry Nadler introduced the "USA Freedom Act" in the House of Representatives, seeking to tighten control of a program publicly exposed two years ago by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Similar legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Democrat Patrick Leahy and Republican Mike Lee.

Comment: With all the attention being drawn to military exercises performed in public places, somehow it doesn't seem like the 'USA Freedom Act' is going to do much to stave off the ever-encroaching police state.