Tag: BBC

Maddow’s latest crystal ball reading: Putin ‘ordered’ Trump to withdraw from Afghanistan

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Rachel Maddow (R) and a US soldier in Afghanistan © AFP / Theo Wargo; Reuters / Shamil Zhumatov

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow – a pioneer of Putin-ate-my-homework journalism – has predictably mused that Donald Trump is considering pulling troops out of Afghanistan on the orders of Russia’s president. The evidence speaks for itself.

In a segment on her critically-acclaimed show, “Watch Me Scream ‘Russia’ Until I Dislocate My Jaw”, Maddow made an adroit observation of seismic proportions: Reports that Donald Trump is mulling a partial withdrawal from Afghanistan emerged only hours after Vladimir Putin said that the US keeps promising to leave the country but never does! In layman’s terms: Putin ordered Trump to pull troops out of Afghanistan, during a live broadcast? It seems Maddow believes that she decrypted their top-secret communications channel.

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Apparently she cannot fathom that there may be any non-Putin related motives for leaving Afghanistan after 17 years. But in August, the MSNBC host accused Trump of “flip-flopping” after announcing that more US troops would be deployed to Afghanistan.

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So Rachel Maddow opposes sending more troops to Afghanistan – but anyone who wants to withdraw US forces from the country is a Putin stooge. A daunting pickle, indeed.

As Vox pointed out at the time, Trump “spent years railing against the war in Afghanistan and calling for a US withdrawal from the country.” Before moving into the White House, he made it clear to lawmakers that his administration would not send US troops to fight abroad unless “absolutely necessary.”

ALSO ON RT.COMPutin: ‘US right to leave Syria, but no signs of pullout – remember Afghanistan’

Maddow’s other celebrated Russiagate hits include having a stroke – live on television – after discovering that Russia shares a border with North Korea. She also famously revealed that Rex Tillerson was hand-picked by Putin to serve as Secretary of State – you know, the guy who allegedly called Trump a “f*cking moron”.

Imagine Maddow’s on-air meltdown if Trump really does withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

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Psyop which saw Democrats pose as Russians ahead of Alabama poll swept under carpet (VIDEO)

Psyop which saw Democrats pose as Russians ahead of Alabama poll swept under carpet (VIDEO)

A $100,000 Democrat psyop to fake Russian interference in an Alabama election was brushed aside by the US media as nonconsequential. But the alleged Russian operation of similar cost is treated as a Pearl Harbor-like attack.

The controversial social media operation, launched to undermine Republican candidate for Senate Roy Moore, was exposed by the New York Times this week.

The newspaper said it was an experiment which had little if any consequence on the outcome of the 2017 vote, which Democrat Doug Jones won by a less than 2-percent margin.

ALSO ON RT.COMTwitterstorm as bombshell Russiagate report suggests SEX TOYS penetrate US democracy

 

RT’s Murad Gazdiev wonders why a false flag operation involving Russia is not a bigger scandal for the US media. After all, they eagerly reported Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, which is claimed to have a similar budget, as a major crime or even an act of war on par with Pearl Harbor.

Watch the video and take a guess.

 

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Neocons and Media Unite to Attack Trump’s Syria Decision

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President Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria has been met with some push back among neoconservatives and the media. Although the move seems consistent with the presidents previous statements about the conflict, that didn’t stop some from expressing shock over the decision. Undoubtedly, the two loudest voices among Republicans were Senators Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio.

Graham called the move an “Obama-like” mistake. Rubio, apparently trying to establish himself as the leading figure of the neoconservative movement, went as far as calling the president’s decision a “retreat.” Graham and Rubio have both expressed past support for using the US military to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The response from many in the media hasn’t been too different from that of the neocons. CNN’s Erin Burnett strongly condemned President Trump’s decision. She said the president was giving Vladimir Putin an early Christmas present by withdrawing US soldiers from Syria. However, she failed to articulate why she believes the lives of US soldiers are less valuable than the alleged disruption between the US and Russia.

Burnett wasn’t the only CNN personality to attack the president for his decision. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria also bashed the withdraw of US troops from Syria. He claimed President Trump was making an even bigger mistake than former president George W Bush’s “mission accomplished” fiasco during the Iraq War. It’s worth noting that Zakaria is one of many prominent members of the media who supported the decision to invade Iraq.

Anchors from other networks also condemned the president’s choice to withdraw troops from Syria. Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade called Trump’s decision “stunning and irresponsible.” He also suggested the president was “cutting and running.” MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough expressed similar sentiments on his show this morning.

The reaction of the neoconservatives and like minded members of the media shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. The two groups have united numerous times in the past, salivating at the idea of a ground war to overthrow Assad in Syria. Thankfully, peace has prevailed.

United States military forces have been in Syria for over four years. The first known instance of American troops fighting on the ground in Syria occurred in July of 2014, as part of a hostage rescue operation. The Global War on Terror has already cost US tax payers nearly 6 trillion dollars. To provide that number some context, the combined value of the entire US housing market is worth about 30 trillion dollars.

Elsewhere, President Trump’s decision has been met with praise. Senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul both applauded the president’s withdraw of troops from Syria. Senator Paul saidthe president’s decision is another example of Trump keeping his campaign promises. Paul further defended the move, saying the president’s decision in Syria illustrates why he won the 2016 election.

This article contains the personal opinions of the author. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Mess of Media. This disclaimer appears on all articles that feature the personal opinions of the author, as Mess of Media is an unbiased and nonpartisan source of information.

 

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Rep. Steve Scalise Confirms House GOP Will Now Add $5 Billion in Funding For Border Security

by Cristina Laila December 20, 2018

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House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) confirmed Thursday that the House will add $5 billion in funding for border security plus additional money for disaster relief to the current interim bill after President Trump refused to sign the bill that came from the Senate last night.

Ryan Nobles: Steve Scalise confirms House GOP will add $5b in funding for border security + money for disaster relief to current CR. When he was told there is likely not enough votes for that to pass he said: “that’s a negative attitude.”

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Congressman Scalise says GOP leaders are talking to a lot of members to whip the votes.

PERGRAM: Scalise on government funding & if they have the votes for the new plan: “We’re talking to a lot of members now.”

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Earlier Thursday, Rep. Mark Meadows, VP Mike Pence, Rep. Mo Brooks, Rep. Paul Ryan were all seen entering the White House for a meeting.

Paul Ryan emerged from the meeting and said President Trump will not sign the interim spending bill that came from the Senate last night.

President Trump now put a tremendous amount of pressure on the House to provide border wall funding in the bill or it’s lights out in less than 48 hours.

If the House approves of the bill with the new changes to include border wall funding, it goes back to the Senate to get approved.

The State Department has already been directed to prepare for a shutdown, reports FOX News.

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Russiagate eats itself: Democrat ‘tech experts’ try their hands at election meddling, report reveals

Russiagate eats itself: Democrat 'tech experts' try their hands at election meddling, report reveals

Doug Jones & Roy Moore © Reuters / Reuters Photographer

A group of Democrats working in secret replicated the deceptive social media tactics they claim Russians used to steal the 2016 election in order to win the 2017 Alabama Senate race, according to an explosive NYT report.

The primarily social-media-based campaign to bolster the candidacy of Democrat Doug Jones and smear Republican Roy Moore implemented many of the divisive techniques outlined in the reports released earlier this week on Russian social media influence operations, according to an internal report on the effort acquired by the New York Times. Such resemblance is not surprising, given that one of the Alabama effort’s ringleaders was Jonathon Morgan, whose company New Knowledge produced one of those reports.

ALSO ON RT.COMRacist ‘Russians’ targeted African-Americans in 2016 election ploy, reports claimThe campaign was clearly meant to remain classified – the Times’ attempts to interview participants were as often as not met with claims of “I don’t remember” or pleading the Fifth. Others downplay the effect of their actions, or claim they were just meddling in the name of research. But, as much as they claim their actions had no consequences, they succeeded in electing the first Democrat to represent Alabama in the Senate for over 25 years.

In order to paint Roy Moore as the Kremlin candidate, the manipulators linked his campaign to thousands of Russian Twitter accounts that all started following him at once – drawing the attention and suspicion of the media, which obediently published rumors that his support numbers were artificially bolstered by Russian bots.

Morgan claims the botnet “false flag” – a term that actually appears in the report – “does not ring a bell,” dismissing the project as “a small experiment” in tactics that were not meant to sway the election. He pleads the Fifth on the report’s claims that the Alabama project intended to “enrage and energize Democrats” and “depress turnout” among Republicans, weaponizing accusations that Moore had tried to seduce teen girls while in his 30s. Morgan also claims to forget the names of the Twitter and Facebook accounts he set up to manipulate Moore voters.

Backed into a corner, Morgan finally opted to lie to the Times, claiming that while the project did create a generic Facebook page to lure conservative Alabamans, and was in contact with write-in candidate (and Moore rival) Mac Watson, its influence efforts stopped there. The report tells a different story: the Facebook page “boosted” Watson’s campaign, getting him interviews with major media outlets, and swelling the ranks of his Twitter followers. Watson confirms he received media assistance from a Facebook page with no human face to it – the only page that replied to his contact.

Read more

© REUTERS / Rebecca Cook‘Beyond understanding’: Kremlin blasts fresh US reports on alleged Russian election meddling

“The research project was intended to help us understand how these kind of campaigns operated,” Morgan told the Times. “We thought it was useful to work in the context of a real election but design it to have almost no impact.”

It’s a truism that so-called “coastal elites” have only disdain for Middle America, but the way Morgan describes the Alabama special election as an inconsequential throwaway contest fit only for a science experiment is eye-opening.

Morgan, it’s worth noting, was one of the developers of the infamous “Hamilton68” dashboard, beloved by Western media for its ability to link any troublesome narrative to “Russian bots.” Morgan’s co-developer, Clint Watts, has since distanced himself from the bot crusade, admitting he’s “not convinced on this bot thing.”

Everyone the Times spoke with was careful to shunt blame elsewhere. Renee diResta, who works with Morgan at New Knowledge and was the lead author of the group’s Russian report, said: “I know there were people who believed the Democrats needed to fight fire with fire,” emphasizing that she was not one of these people.

Moore campaign operatives remain frustrated at their narrow margin of loss – just 21,924 votes, less than the number of write-in ballots that were cast. They complained to Facebook about possible interference but were brushed off. Presented with incontrovertible evidence of wrongdoing by their opponents, Moore campaign manager Rich Hobson acknowledged that “any and all of these things could make a difference.”

“We still kick ourselves that Judge Moore didn’t win,” he said.

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(FAKE NEWS) – CNN’s 2014 ‘Journalist of the Year’ Made Up at Least 14 Stories

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In a truly fitting turn of events, news broke Thursday that Claas Relotius, a German journalist named CNN’s 2014 “Journalist of the Year” made up at least 14 stories contributed to German publication Der Spiegal. 

“The reporter contributed around 60 articles to Der Spiegel, one of the leading German magazines for investigative reporting,” according to Fox News. “He previously worked for other publications in Europe and won awards such as CNN Journalist of the Year in 2014.”

CNN, which has been branded a fake news by President Donald J. Trump and millions of ordinary Americans – and curiously wonders why on a daily basis – awarded a bona fide fake news writer an award for the quality of his journalism. Sometimes the jokes write themselves.

“The fabricated articles include a phone interview with the parents of free agent NFL player Colin Kaepernick and a story about an American woman who claims to have volunteered to witness the executions of death row inmates,” according to the report.

Trending: Freedom Caucus Seizes House Floor To Fight For The Wall

Relotius’ web of lies began to unravel in November when a reporter with whom he worked on a story about an Arizona border militia realized that Relotius had fabricated interviews.

According to the report, residents of Fergus Falls, Minn. were enraged to find that Relotius wrote an entirely fabricated story about their town after spending nearly three weeks investigating there. The story, which fabricated people, quotes, and nearly everything about the town cast President Donald J. Trump in a negative light. It was titled “Where They Pray for Trump on Sundays.”

The report said that Relotius admitted that he is unwell.

“I am sick and I need to get help,” he reportedly told Der Spiegel.

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(GLOBALISTS) -George Soros crowned ‘person of the year’ by Financial Times, but not everyone is cheering

George Soros crowned ‘person of the year’ by Financial Times, but not everyone is cheering

Georges Soros (L) ; Anti-Orban demonstrators in Hungary © Reuters / Charles Platiau / Laszlo Balogh

Being “under siege” from Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has earned George Soros the FT’s ‘person of the year’ title. Eyebrows were raised over the not-at-all biased description of the billionaire as a champion of democracy.

For thirty years, liberal businessman and philanthropist Soros has used his vast wealth to crusade against“authoritarianism, racism and intolerance,” the FT profile reads.

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Armed with his expansive grant-giving network, Open Societies Foundations (OSF), the Hungarian-American spread his influence to some 100 countries across the globe. The NGO currently has annual expenditures of over $940 million, with 26 national and regional foundations and offices.

There’s hardly a question over whether the Soros-funded apparatus is doing the right thing. The first paragraph of the story says it just “helped thwart an allegedly corrupt nuclear power plant contract with Russia” – a feat to be admired in the liberal world.

“We haven’t stopped having a beneficial influence,” Soros is then quoted as saying.

ALSO ON RT.COMGeorge Soros’ Open Society foundation ends operations in Hungary

But there’s a worrying trend for the Democrat mega-donor, passionate advocate for open borders and outspoken critic of Brexit. More and more detractors see his work as an existential threat to conservative values and even state sovereignty.

The “standard bearer of liberal democracy and open society” has found his ideals “under siege” as he “has attracted the wrath of authoritarian regimes and, increasingly, the national populists who continue to gain ground,” writes FT.

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At one point Soros sounds a bit more critical of himself than the paper, as he acknowledges he’s a divisive figure, something he still believes indicates his effectiveness as an activist.

“I’m blamed for everything, including being the anti-Christ,” Soros says. “I wish I didn’t have so many enemies, but I take it as an indication that I must be doing something right.”

Soros wasn’t joking. Hungarian lawmaker Andras Aradszki of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) once declared that it is a Christian’s duty to oppose Soros’ calls for Europe to take in asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East – what Aradszki called “Satan’s Soros plan.” The lawmaker added that “Soros and his comrades want to destroy the independence and values of nation states.”

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In May, the OSF ended its operations in Hungary, citing an “increasingly repressive political and legal environment.” A month later, Hungary’s parliament passed the ‘Stop Soros’ law which threatens jail time for anyone helping illegal immigrants claim asylum.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban accused Soros of attempting to use mass migration to undermine Europe’s stability.

“Soros has antagonized not only us but also England, President Trump and Israel too,” Orban said in February.“Everywhere he wants to get migration accepted. It won’t work. We are not alone and we will fight together… and we will succeed.”

ALSO ON RT.COMHungary approves ‘Stop Soros’ law criminalizing aid to illegal migrants

In the UK, the billionaire has been sharply criticized for his donations of over £800,000 ($1,062,000) to pro-EU campaigns. The pledges included £400,000 to Best for Britain, a campaign group that has been at the forefront of anti-Brexit activism.

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The businessman’s activities have received similar hostility in the United States, where some have accused him of providing assistance to the so-called “migrant caravan” which made its way from Central America to the US’ southern border. “The venom, long concealed among extreme right networks, has leaked into the mainstream,” laments the FT.

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Soros, along with other notable critics of Donald Trump, such as former President Barack Obama, the Clintons and CNN, was recently targeted by an alleged pipe bomb mailed to his home in New York.

A prominent backer of the Democratic Party, Soros has called Trump a “danger to the world,” and once (wrongly) bet that stocks would collapse if Donald won presidency. The bet reportedly cost him $1 billion – quite affordable for the investor who is currently worth $8.3 billion after his 2017 transfer of $18 billion to the OSF.

ALSO ON RT.COM‘Lock him up!’ Smiling Trump joins chant against Soros (VIDEO)

For a man who made billions short-selling the UK pound sterling and has been accused of several more currency crises in Asia, FT’s Soros comes across as a wise old benefactor “looking beyond his formidable legacy” in his “twilight years.”

READ MORE: Soros sold off Facebook stocks before they tanked, documents show

But for all the accolades, the paper may have forgotten that the businessman has long had his sights set on a title more ambitious than merely the ‘person’ of the year. In a 1993 interview with the UK Independent, Soros actually confessed that he suffers from a god complex.

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“It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out,” he said.

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FACEBOOK ADMITS GIVING OUT ACCESS TO YOUR PRIVATE MESSAGES

Facebook Admits Giving Out Access to Your Private Messages

Another privacy scandal erupts

Infowars.com – DECEMBER 19, 2018

Facebook says it gave other companies, such as Spotify and Netflix, access to millions of people’s private messages.

The social media giant admitted to the practice in response to a report that Facebook shares private data to partner companies as part of its third-party integration, which allowed users to use their Facebook credentials to login to other web sites and apps.

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg (R), and Joel Kaplan (L), Vice President, Global Public Policy at Facebook, leave the Elysee Palace after a meeting with the French President on May 23, 2018 in Paris, France. On the eve of VivaTech, French President Emmanuel Macron brought together some of the world’s leading technology names for the Tech for Good event. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/IP3/Getty Images)

Facebook wrote in a blog post:

Did partners get access to messages? Yes. But people had to explicitly sign in to Facebook first to use a partner’s messaging feature. Take Spotify for example. After signing in to your Facebook account in Spotify’s desktop app, you could then send and receive messages without ever leaving the app. Our API provided partners with access to the person’s messages in order to power this type of feature.

This practice, however, triggered a firestorm over the definition of consent, especially after Facebook’s former privacy chief Alex Stamos said that integration wasn’t to blame:

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Interestingly, according to Business Insider:

According to internal Facebook documents seen by the Times, Spotify could see the messages of more than 70 million Facebook users a month. The Times reported that Spotify, Netflix, and the Royal Bank of Canada could read, write, and even delete people’s messages.

Importantly, both Spotify and Netflix told the Times they were unaware they had this kind of broad access. Facebook told the New York Times it found no evidence of abuse.

Zero Hedge also reported:

Amazon was granted access to users’ names and contact information through their friends, while Yahoo! was able to view streams of friends’ posts as recently as this summer despite Facebook promising that it had stopped this type of sharing years earlier.

What’s more? China’s Huawei and Russian search giant Yandex – accused last year by Ukraine of funneling user data to the Kremlin – had access to Facebook’s unique user IDs.

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Facebook was able to circumvent a 2011 consent agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which barred the company from sharing user data without explicit permission, because Facebook considered the partners extensions of itself – “service providers that allowed users to interact with their Facebook friends.” This allowed the company to grant such unprecedented access to everyone’s information. The partners were reportedly prohibited from using the personal information from purposes outside the scope of their agreement, however there has been little to no oversight.

Yesterday, Infowars reported that the NAACP was joining a long list of ideologically-diverse groups that were boycotting or otherwise moving away from Facebook.

“Over the last year, NAACP has expressed concerns about the numerous data breaches and privacy mishaps in which Facebook has been implicated,” wrote NAACP President Derrick Johnson. “And since the onset of the Silicon Valley boom, we have been openly critical about the lack of employee diversity among the top technology firms in the country.”

“Now, the time has come for our collective actions to emulate the severity of mistrust we have in Facebook.”

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More countries will not sign UN Migration Pact – Hungarian FM

IRENA IRIS SZEWCZYK

By LAURA CAT 19 December 2018

At a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday, foreign minister Péter Szijjártó tells Parliament that there are at least 13 countries set to vote against the UN Migration compact on 19 December.

The countries who will vote against the plan include the Visegrád Four group of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, as well, Bulgaria, Latvia, Austria, the United States, Israel, Australia, Dominica and Brazil, Péter told at the hearing.

Minister Szijjártó also has asserted that Hungary will also reject the “sister document”, which has been hailed as even worse than the Migration pact, The Global Compact on Refugees.

This is is said to allow migrants to enter Europe “through a backdoor” and as the minister said, “Hungarian communities across the border will not be sacrificed for geopolitical interests or under international pressure”.

Referring to the “unbelievable pressure” western allies have deployed on Hungary in the effort to have Hungary relinquish its position vetoing Ukraine’s NATO integration, the foreign minister insists that Hungary would stand firm until “Ukraine drops its anti-Hungarian policies”.

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