Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

French presidential favorite says 'I'm no Hillary Clinton'

Alain Juppe
© REUTERS/Regis Duvignau
The man opinion pollsters tip to become France's next president said on Friday it would be an error to compare him to Hillary Clinton, who was widely expected to become U.S. president but lost to Donald Trump.

"I am not Hillary Clinton," poll frontrunner Alain Juppe said. "And France is not America."

The 71-year-old former prime minister was speaking on public radio ahead of a primary election ballot his conservative Les Republicains party and its allies hold on Sunday. That contest, involving a second, run-off vote on Nov. 27, will pick a candidate for the presidential race.

He is up against other heavyweights including ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy and another former prime minister, Francois Fillon, respectively second- and third-placed in polls of the likely outcome of that primary.

Wine n Glass

Israel first, or not? Steve Bannon's Breitbart is formally pro-Israel, but attracts 'anti-Semites'

steve bannon
Meet Steve Bannon, Trump's 'gamemaker'
Since Steven Bannon is going to be one of the president's most senior aides, he and the website he runs, Breitbart News, deserve an unusual amount of scrutiny. But Breitbart, the site Bannon calls "the platform for the alt-right," read ardently by white supremacists and anti-Semites, has launched a campaign to shut down critics who say that its longtime director is himself an anti-Jewish racist.

The Breitbart counter-offensive has come in a string of articles published this week in which Jewish writers and editors argue that Bannon cannot possibly be an anti-Semite, as his ex-wife told a court, since the site he ran until August strongly supports Israel and its far-right, nationalist government.


Comment: What matters to Israel is never far from the question of what matters to the USA!

Is Bannon 'with Israel', or not?

Is Trump 'with Israel', or not?

Much drama to look forward to over the next few years!


Windsock

No big surprise, Erdogan 'disillusioned' with Obama's policies

Erdoandobam
© Newsweek
The Obama administration has failed to take the threats Turkey is facing seriously, including the war in Syria and resulting inflow of refugees, the country's president complained, saying he has become "disillusioned' with US policy in the region. "We have addressed these issues; discussed them with President Obama and Vice President Biden. They failed to rise to the occasion and handle these issues seriously. This is quite upsetting for us," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told CBS program 60 Minutes.

"Let me be very frank in my remarks. I've been known for my candor. I wouldn't speak the truth if I said I was not disillusioned, because I am disillusioned," he added. The interview is to be aired later this week.

Turkey's relations with the US have soured over several issues, including Washington's support of Kurdish militias in Iraq and Syria and refusal to extradite self-exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan accuses of masterminding July's failed military coup in Turkey. For its part, Washington has criticized Turkey's crackdown on alleged members of the Gulen movement that has followed the coup.

Erdogan's concerns may be addressed by the incoming Trump administration, however, as some of the priorities voiced in the Republican president-elect's campaign, such as stemming the uncontrolled influx of refugees and ramping up the fight against terrorists in Syria, are in line with the Turkish leader's.

Michael Flynn, who is slated to lead the Pentagon under President Trump, has also argued that the US should not provide safe haven to Gulen, whom Flynn has called a radical Islamist pretending to be a moderate.

Comment: Time's running out on Obama's influence and policies. He's a goner. The one surety is circumstances are going to change which might effect a Gulen extradition. What is less sure is any upcoming changes in Erdogan and his tantrum tyranny.


Mr. Potato

Saying goodbye to Obama's clowns

Obama's clowns
The blood soaked policies of the Obama administration is no laughing matter. Nevertheless, some of his most trusted political aids are.

On their surrealistic 1974 concept album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, the musical band Genesis performed a song called The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging. I can think of no better title for the key figures of the Obama administration who will soon be parading their way out of a job.

But in the spirit of Donald Trump putting America back to work again, I think I may find a derelict building somewhere in Manhattan and open up a comedy club. I've already got the acts all lined up.

Brick Wall

Merkel declares Europe-US free trade deal is dead

Merkobama
© CNN.com"Psssst...I have to tell you...TTIP is, you know, sort of dead!
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has acknowledged the EU's new free trade agreement with the US is no longer possible with the election of Donald Trump, who opposes the deal.

"The EU and the US are the two largest trading regions and I have always been very committed to the conclusion of a trade agreement with the USA. We have done well, the negotiations cannot be finished now, but we will stick to what we have achieved. I'm sure we'll come back to it someday," the chancellor said following the meeting with US President Barack Obama during his valedictory European tour.

The US president-elect has criticized international trade agreements, campaigning on a promise to scrap them once he is elected. International trade deals take jobs away from American workers and hurt the country's competitiveness, according to Trump.

The European Union and the United States started talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) three years ago. The deal would create the world's biggest free trade market of 850 million consumers.

Germans stop TTIP
© teleSUREU halts talks with USA
TTIP met with mass protests in Europe, with opponents arguing the deal would ruin the bloc's standards in key areas as healthcare, labor market, welfare and environment.

A similar free trade deal with Canada, known as CETA, has also met opposition. Over 160,000 people across Germany protested the deal in September.

Both agreements promise to improve trade by lowering tariffs and bureaucratic hurdles and provide a wider base of consumers for goods. But opponents of TTIP and CETA say that only big businesses will benefit at the cost of health and environmental standards. The deals would allow corporations to sue elected governments for policies that affect their revenues.

Comment: TTIP is dead, may it rest in pieces.

See also:


Briefcase

Trump University lawsuits have settled for $25M

Schneiderman
© Brendan McDermid / ReutersNew York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman
President-elect Donald Trump has reached a settlement agreement with the state of New York in the Trump University lawsuit, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has announced. Plaintiffs will receive restitution from the $25 million payout. The settlement is a "major victory" for the more than 6,000 victims of Trump's "fraudulent university," Schneiderman said in a statement.

As part of the settlement that ends three outstanding lawsuits against Trump, every victim will receive restitution, and the president-elect will pay the state of New York up to $1 million in penalties "for violating state education laws," Schneiderman said. It wasn't clear whether Trump admitted any wrongdoing.

The settlement reportedly covers all three lawsuits against Trump University: two class-action suits in California and the case brought by Schneiderman, a source told Reuters. There was some overlap between the New York and California cases.

During the campaign, Trump frequently vowed not to settle the case.

Comment: 500 dismissals, 451 victories, 38 loses. Not too bad for all that.


Snakes in Suits

Hawkish John McCain stands in the way of Trump's rapprochement with Russia

John McCain
Senator McCain's senior position and his well-known hawkish views make him a powerful enemy of Trump's rapprochement with Russia.

As Donald Trump considers his cabinet options and moves to restore relations with Russia, one powerful obstacle he will face is Senator John McCain, the Chair of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, and one of the most hawkish figures in the US political establishment.

McCain's extreme hostility towards Russia and its President Vladimir Putin, is well known and has continuously found expression, for example in his outspoken support for the Maidan movement in Ukraine. The origins of this hostility, which appear to be visceral, are not so clear.

Info

Why has the operation to free ISIS-held Mosul stalled

Iraqi troops in Mosul
As predicted, ISIS has not abandoned Mosul and is resisting fiercely whilst the US-led Iraqi coalition offensive stalls.

On 21st October 2016, I wrote an article for The Duran in which I expressed my doubts that the recapture of Mosul from ISIS would take place as quickly as many expected.

At that time there was a widespread view that a deal had been struck in secret between the US and ISIS whereby ISIS would quickly withdraw from Mosul - allowing the US and its Iraqis allies to capture the city before the US Presidential election - and would redeploy to Syria, where it would attack the Syrian army as part of the US's plan for regime change in Syria.

Info

'Technical glitch' closure: Amnesty International to return to Moscow office

Moscow traffic jam
© Artem Zhitenev / Reuters
The Russian branch of Amnesty International will soon return to its Moscow office after renewing the rent on the premises with City Hall. Staff had been prevented from entering the office for around two weeks because of a "technical glitch."

"Due to the help from [the head of the Russian Presidential Council for Human Rights] Mikhail Fedotov, we have managed to start a constructive dialogue with the property directorate of Moscow City Hall. I will sign a new contract today and I hope we will soon return to our office, where we have not been for 16 days," the head of the international human rights group's Russian branch, Sergey Nikitin, told TASS on Friday.

He added that the dispute with the Moscow authorities that had resulted in the branch's office being sealed off in early November had been caused by a technical malfunction, but did not elaborate.

On November 2 this year, Nikitin told reporters that someone had broken into Amnesty International's central Moscow office and had then locked and sealed its doors, preventing staff from accessing their workplace and collecting personal belongings. He emphasized that Amnesty had paid the rent on time and in full, and said he couldn't understand the reasons behind the developments.

Comment: See also: UPDATE: Moscow authorities lock down Amnesty International office


Magnify

Flashback Breitbart News: Founded for and by Israel?

breitbart israel
Breitbart founders with Netanyahu
A lot of people don't realize this but Breitbart News Network really got its start in Jerusalem. It was the summer of 2007, and Andrew had been invited to tour Israel as part of a media junket. I agreed to tag along as his lawyer and best friend. What neither of us knew at the time was that the trip would change our lives and give us the inspiration for Breitbart News Network.

One night in Jerusalem, when we were getting ready for dinner, Andrew turned to me and asked if I would de-partner from the 800-person law firm where I was practicing and become business partners with him. He said he needed my help to create a media company. He needed my help to "change the world."

Perhaps it was because we were in such an historic place, or because I was energized by the courage of the Jewish people in the Holy Land, or maybe it was the alcohol at cocktail hour, but I said "yes."

Comment: Andrew Breitbart's Wikipedia page:
Breitbart was born in Los Angeles, California, on February 1, 1969.He was the adopted son of Gerald and Arlene Breitbart, a restaurant owner and banker respectively, and grew up in the affluent suburb of Brentwood, Los Angeles. He was raised Jewish; his adoptive mother had converted to Judaism when marrying his adoptive father. He attended Hebrew school and had a bar mitzvah. He said that his birth certificate indicated his biological father was a folk singer.

Andrew would remain proudly Jewish, although not always religiously observant. He would sing Hebrew songs at work, while also teasing his Orthodox Jewish colleagues for keeping a kosher diet. Breitbart later said of his profession: "I'm glad I've become a journalist because I'd like to fight on behalf of the Israeli people... And the Israeli people, I adore and I love."