Saturday, August 30, 2014
Tyler Durden: Russia Asks If America Is Still Fit To "Participate In Solving International Problems" — Novorossiya News Agency
Yesterday it was China slamming America's superpower status (and thus dollar reserve currency status) when in Sina News it stated the following:
Their various reconnaissance aircraft have been wandering around foreign airspace for decades and watching the military secrets of other countries like a disgusting thief spying over his neighbor’s fence. However, when the neighbor comes back with a big stick, the thief will turn tail and run away, blaming the neighbor.
When you show people weakness, they will bully you. When you show people strength, they will respect you.
We [the newspaper] believe the Chinese Air Force and Naval aviation should maintain a high level of vigilence and morale in southeast coastal region to prevent the further US action.
America has lost face and does not want to show the world they are sick. They have been lording over other countries for so long, and they will never let it go after they eat this loss.
Complete story at - Tyler Durden: Russia Asks If America Is Still Fit To "Participate In Solving International Problems" — Novorossiya News Agency
Their various reconnaissance aircraft have been wandering around foreign airspace for decades and watching the military secrets of other countries like a disgusting thief spying over his neighbor’s fence. However, when the neighbor comes back with a big stick, the thief will turn tail and run away, blaming the neighbor.
When you show people weakness, they will bully you. When you show people strength, they will respect you.
We [the newspaper] believe the Chinese Air Force and Naval aviation should maintain a high level of vigilence and morale in southeast coastal region to prevent the further US action.
America has lost face and does not want to show the world they are sick. They have been lording over other countries for so long, and they will never let it go after they eat this loss.
Complete story at - Tyler Durden: Russia Asks If America Is Still Fit To "Participate In Solving International Problems" — Novorossiya News Agency
Ukrainians seethe over slow-paced reforms - Features - Al Jazeera English
Kiev, Ukraine - Ruslan Boldyzhar stands outside Ukraine's parliament, among a crowd of protesters and flags, demanding that those inside be scrutinised for links to corruption from the old regime.
Boldyzhar expressed frustratation with the slow pace of change and does not believe the politicians who were in the limelight during the country's bloody uprising from November to February are committed to real reforms.
"They [said] a lot to all of us, that 'We will support you, we agree with you,'" he said. "But during this time they didn't do anything … [to assure] us that they're working for Ukraine but not for themselves."
Boldyzhar arrived in the capital Kiev last Thursday morning from the southern city of Odessa, where he was involved in demonstrations during the revolt that ousted then-president Viktor Yanukovich. The protests, initially over Yanukovich's rejection of closer ties to the European Union in favour of Russia, grew into a movement against what demonstrators saw as corruption and abuse of power.
Corruption is notoriously widespread in Ukraine, Transparency International rated Ukraine 144 out of 175 countries on a corruptions index, just behind Nigeria and Iran.
The crowd of protesters, luxury cars, and black SUVs filled the side street and parking lot of the parliament last week. More demonstrators could be found on nearby Institutskaya Street, which saw some of the worst violence during the deadly protests, and where memorials still stand for those killed during the uprising.
In one building on the street, activists gathered to discuss reforms by the government to try to ensure the changes demanded during the protests would become reality.
Complete story at - Ukrainians seethe over slow-paced reforms - Features - Al Jazeera English
Boldyzhar expressed frustratation with the slow pace of change and does not believe the politicians who were in the limelight during the country's bloody uprising from November to February are committed to real reforms.
"They [said] a lot to all of us, that 'We will support you, we agree with you,'" he said. "But during this time they didn't do anything … [to assure] us that they're working for Ukraine but not for themselves."
Boldyzhar arrived in the capital Kiev last Thursday morning from the southern city of Odessa, where he was involved in demonstrations during the revolt that ousted then-president Viktor Yanukovich. The protests, initially over Yanukovich's rejection of closer ties to the European Union in favour of Russia, grew into a movement against what demonstrators saw as corruption and abuse of power.
Corruption is notoriously widespread in Ukraine, Transparency International rated Ukraine 144 out of 175 countries on a corruptions index, just behind Nigeria and Iran.
The crowd of protesters, luxury cars, and black SUVs filled the side street and parking lot of the parliament last week. More demonstrators could be found on nearby Institutskaya Street, which saw some of the worst violence during the deadly protests, and where memorials still stand for those killed during the uprising.
In one building on the street, activists gathered to discuss reforms by the government to try to ensure the changes demanded during the protests would become reality.
Complete story at - Ukrainians seethe over slow-paced reforms - Features - Al Jazeera English
The Double Identity of an "Anti-Semitic" Commenter | Common Dreams
Like many other news websites, Common Dreams has been plagued by inflammatory anti-Semitic comments following its stories. But on Common Dreams these posts have been so frequent and intense they have driven away donors from a nonprofit dependent on reader generosity.
A Common Dreams investigation has discovered that more than a thousand of these damaging comments over the past two years were written with a deceptive purpose by a Jewish Harvard graduate in his thirties who was irritated by the website's discussion of issues involving Israel.
His intricate campaign, which he has admitted to Common Dreams, included posting comments by a screen name, "JewishProgressive," whose purpose was to draw attention to and denounce the anti-Semitic comments that he had written under many other screen names.
The deception was many-layered. At one point he had one of his characters charge that the anti-Semitic comments and the criticism of the anti-Semitic comments must be written by "internet trolls who have been known to impersonate anti-Semites in order to then double-back and accuse others of supporting anti-Semitism"--exactly what he was doing. (Trolls are posters who foment discord.)
The impersonation, this character wrote, must be part of an "elaborate Hasbara setup," referring to an Israeli international public-relations campaign. When Common Dreams finally confronted the man behind the deceptive posting, he denied that he himself was involved with Hasbara.
His posting on Common Dreams illustrates the susceptibility of website comment threads to massive manipulation. As another illustration, he even audaciously tricked the white-supremacist Vanguard News Network, posing as "DeShawn S. Williams," a "Pro-White/Black, anti-jew."
Complete story at - The Double Identity of an "Anti-Semitic" Commenter | Common Dreams
A Common Dreams investigation has discovered that more than a thousand of these damaging comments over the past two years were written with a deceptive purpose by a Jewish Harvard graduate in his thirties who was irritated by the website's discussion of issues involving Israel.
His intricate campaign, which he has admitted to Common Dreams, included posting comments by a screen name, "JewishProgressive," whose purpose was to draw attention to and denounce the anti-Semitic comments that he had written under many other screen names.
The deception was many-layered. At one point he had one of his characters charge that the anti-Semitic comments and the criticism of the anti-Semitic comments must be written by "internet trolls who have been known to impersonate anti-Semites in order to then double-back and accuse others of supporting anti-Semitism"--exactly what he was doing. (Trolls are posters who foment discord.)
The impersonation, this character wrote, must be part of an "elaborate Hasbara setup," referring to an Israeli international public-relations campaign. When Common Dreams finally confronted the man behind the deceptive posting, he denied that he himself was involved with Hasbara.
His posting on Common Dreams illustrates the susceptibility of website comment threads to massive manipulation. As another illustration, he even audaciously tricked the white-supremacist Vanguard News Network, posing as "DeShawn S. Williams," a "Pro-White/Black, anti-jew."
Complete story at - The Double Identity of an "Anti-Semitic" Commenter | Common Dreams
Sanctions rebound to hit Europeans
By Brian Cloughley
The Financial Times commented on August 10 that in reaction to the chaos in Ukraine, "Western policy has become a mere knee-jerk escalation of sanctions", and for once the FT has got it right about foreign affairs. The US and its disciples in Europe and Australia have imposed sanctions on Russia for its alleged interference in Ukraine, which has got nothing whatever to do with the US or anyone else. And Russia, understandably, is answering back.
In spite of there being no proof whatever produced by the West's intercept spooks and other sleuths there is no doubt that Russia has been involved in Ukraine, finding out about and even trying to influence its policies - just as the US is spying on and trying to influence domestic policies in almost every country on this blighted globe and has recently given Ukraine its special attention.
The difference between the activities of the US and Russia is that Ukraine is right next door to Russia, and many of its eastern-located citizens are of Russian origin and speak Russian and think Russian and feel that their cultural roots are Russian and want to belong to Russia, just as their entire country did until 23 years ago.
On the other hand, Washington considers it has the God-given right to listen to everyone's private deliberations and tell every nation in the world how to run its affairs and if necessary to enforce this by military intervention. The fact that such military fiddling proved utterly catastrophic in Vietnam, Cuba, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Libya is neither here nor there. The next frontier is Ukraine.
And poor decrepit leaderless old Britain, socially confused and morally collapsing, tries to combat what it sees as world chaos by following the example of its erratic mentor in applying sanctions on Russia, a country whose amity it would be well-advised to seek.
Complete story at - Asia Times Online :: Sanctions rebound to hit Europeans
The Financial Times commented on August 10 that in reaction to the chaos in Ukraine, "Western policy has become a mere knee-jerk escalation of sanctions", and for once the FT has got it right about foreign affairs. The US and its disciples in Europe and Australia have imposed sanctions on Russia for its alleged interference in Ukraine, which has got nothing whatever to do with the US or anyone else. And Russia, understandably, is answering back.
In spite of there being no proof whatever produced by the West's intercept spooks and other sleuths there is no doubt that Russia has been involved in Ukraine, finding out about and even trying to influence its policies - just as the US is spying on and trying to influence domestic policies in almost every country on this blighted globe and has recently given Ukraine its special attention.
The difference between the activities of the US and Russia is that Ukraine is right next door to Russia, and many of its eastern-located citizens are of Russian origin and speak Russian and think Russian and feel that their cultural roots are Russian and want to belong to Russia, just as their entire country did until 23 years ago.
On the other hand, Washington considers it has the God-given right to listen to everyone's private deliberations and tell every nation in the world how to run its affairs and if necessary to enforce this by military intervention. The fact that such military fiddling proved utterly catastrophic in Vietnam, Cuba, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Libya is neither here nor there. The next frontier is Ukraine.
And poor decrepit leaderless old Britain, socially confused and morally collapsing, tries to combat what it sees as world chaos by following the example of its erratic mentor in applying sanctions on Russia, a country whose amity it would be well-advised to seek.
Complete story at - Asia Times Online :: Sanctions rebound to hit Europeans
Friday, August 29, 2014
BFP Exclusive- “The EU and IMF Rape of Ukraine Agriculture”
Ukraine’s rogue regime lifts the ban on sale of farm land and to open its rich agriculture to Monsanto, DuPont & the GMO agribusiness cartel.
The Washington-orchestrated destruction of everything of possible value in Ukraine continues with a vengeance. On top of the deliberate ethnic cleansing of Russian-speaking citizens of the Donbass in eastern Ukraine by the psychopaths in Kiev, now the brutal dictates of the US-led International Monetary Fund (IMF) is forcing one of the world’s most precious agriculture regions into the hands of Monsanto and western agribusiness.
It is useful to recall that the ostensible trigger for the months’-long Maidan Square opposition protests against the Yanukovich government that began in November 2013 was the decision by Yanukovich to reject an EU Association Agreement. That EU agreement was tied to a $17 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Instead of the EU and IMF deal, Yanukovich choose a Russian aid package worth $15 billion plus a 33% discount on Russian natural gas and Ukrainian membership in the emerging Eurasian Economic Union with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.
The stakes for Ukraine were far more that an apparent couple of billion dollars difference, however. Here the details of the IMF loan “conditionalities” are vital to understand why Yanukovich rightly said no. When allegedly NATO-trained snipers opened fire on Maidan Square peaceful protesters as well as state police, killing many, the ensuing panic led to the flight of Yanukovich and installation of the exact government the US State Department Assistant Secretary for Eastern Europe, Victoria “Fuck the EU” Nuland told her Kiev US Ambassador she wanted. The key Prime Minister post, as she demanded, went to a former finance minister friendly to the US and the IMF, Arseny Yatsenyuk, whom she affectionately referred to as “Yats.”
Within a week after Yatsenyuk took over, the IMF sent a rush mission to Kiev to confirm if the new government was ready to go with the IMF conditions of the $17 billion loan. The answer was a resounding Yes! IMF European Department Director Reza Moghadam declared at the end of this visit that he was “positively impressed with the authorities’ determination, sense of responsibility and commitment to an agenda of economic reform and transparency.”
Complete story at - BFP Exclusive- “The EU and IMF Rape of Ukraine Agriculture”
The Washington-orchestrated destruction of everything of possible value in Ukraine continues with a vengeance. On top of the deliberate ethnic cleansing of Russian-speaking citizens of the Donbass in eastern Ukraine by the psychopaths in Kiev, now the brutal dictates of the US-led International Monetary Fund (IMF) is forcing one of the world’s most precious agriculture regions into the hands of Monsanto and western agribusiness.
It is useful to recall that the ostensible trigger for the months’-long Maidan Square opposition protests against the Yanukovich government that began in November 2013 was the decision by Yanukovich to reject an EU Association Agreement. That EU agreement was tied to a $17 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Instead of the EU and IMF deal, Yanukovich choose a Russian aid package worth $15 billion plus a 33% discount on Russian natural gas and Ukrainian membership in the emerging Eurasian Economic Union with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.
The stakes for Ukraine were far more that an apparent couple of billion dollars difference, however. Here the details of the IMF loan “conditionalities” are vital to understand why Yanukovich rightly said no. When allegedly NATO-trained snipers opened fire on Maidan Square peaceful protesters as well as state police, killing many, the ensuing panic led to the flight of Yanukovich and installation of the exact government the US State Department Assistant Secretary for Eastern Europe, Victoria “Fuck the EU” Nuland told her Kiev US Ambassador she wanted. The key Prime Minister post, as she demanded, went to a former finance minister friendly to the US and the IMF, Arseny Yatsenyuk, whom she affectionately referred to as “Yats.”
Within a week after Yatsenyuk took over, the IMF sent a rush mission to Kiev to confirm if the new government was ready to go with the IMF conditions of the $17 billion loan. The answer was a resounding Yes! IMF European Department Director Reza Moghadam declared at the end of this visit that he was “positively impressed with the authorities’ determination, sense of responsibility and commitment to an agenda of economic reform and transparency.”
Complete story at - BFP Exclusive- “The EU and IMF Rape of Ukraine Agriculture”
BBC News - Ukraine crisis: Luhansk firm moves factory to Russia
A Ukrainian firm has moved the contents of its engineering factory from the war-hit city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine to central Russia.
An official told Russian TV they left because of the violence, and because their customers were mostly in Russia.
Rebel-held Luhansk has been under siege for 25 days and is struggling with power and water supplies.
There was no indication of how the contents of the Luhansk machine-building plant had been moved.
But the company said it had initially considered relocating to a neighbouring region of southern Russia.
"We drove around Rostov region, visited six enterprises but there are so many refugees," the firm's technical consultant Nikolai Druziev told Russian TV.
"Then we decided to go to central Russia, further inland, especially as we had contacts there."
Complete story at - BBC News - Ukraine crisis: Luhansk firm moves factory to Russia
An official told Russian TV they left because of the violence, and because their customers were mostly in Russia.
Rebel-held Luhansk has been under siege for 25 days and is struggling with power and water supplies.
There was no indication of how the contents of the Luhansk machine-building plant had been moved.
But the company said it had initially considered relocating to a neighbouring region of southern Russia.
"We drove around Rostov region, visited six enterprises but there are so many refugees," the firm's technical consultant Nikolai Druziev told Russian TV.
"Then we decided to go to central Russia, further inland, especially as we had contacts there."
Complete story at - BBC News - Ukraine crisis: Luhansk firm moves factory to Russia
Energy ballet-2: Syria, Ukraine & 'Pipelineistan' — RT Op-Edge
As much as Iran, Russia, the US and the EU are involved in a sophisticated nuclear/energy ballet, Syria and Ukraine are also two key power play vectors bound to determine much of what happens next in the New Great Game in Eurasia.
And both Syria and Ukraine also happen to be energy wars.
The Obama administration’s Syria master plan was ‘Assad must go’; regime change would yield a US-supported Muslim Brotherhood entity, and a key plank of Pipelineistan - the $10 billion Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline - would be forever ditched.
The Emir of Qatar himself had taken the road to Damascus in 2009 to negotiate a Qatar-Syria-Turkey gas pipeline. Bashar al-Assad though, said no; his excuse was his unwillingness to jeopardize Syria’s energy deals with Russia.
And yet, in 2001, an agreement went ahead for a rival Iran-Iraq-Syria project. So the writing was on the wall – or on the (steel) pipes arriving one day in the Eastern Mediterranean. The gas for prospective European customers would in fact come from Iran’s South Pars field, contiguous to Qatar’s North Dome; together, they form the largest gas field on the planet.
Not only for Qatar and Turkey, but especially for His Masters Voice, this was unacceptable; the official US ‘isolate Iran’ policy would be in tatters. Worse: the possibility was open for the EU to soon become the privileged customer of both Russia and Iran for no less than 45 percent of its gas supply. Full energy/trade integration of Eurasia – in this key case involving most of the EU, Russia and Iran - is absolute anathema for the Empire of Chaos.
Complete story at - Energy ballet-2: Syria, Ukraine & 'Pipelineistan' — RT Op-Edge
And both Syria and Ukraine also happen to be energy wars.
The Obama administration’s Syria master plan was ‘Assad must go’; regime change would yield a US-supported Muslim Brotherhood entity, and a key plank of Pipelineistan - the $10 billion Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline - would be forever ditched.
The Emir of Qatar himself had taken the road to Damascus in 2009 to negotiate a Qatar-Syria-Turkey gas pipeline. Bashar al-Assad though, said no; his excuse was his unwillingness to jeopardize Syria’s energy deals with Russia.
And yet, in 2001, an agreement went ahead for a rival Iran-Iraq-Syria project. So the writing was on the wall – or on the (steel) pipes arriving one day in the Eastern Mediterranean. The gas for prospective European customers would in fact come from Iran’s South Pars field, contiguous to Qatar’s North Dome; together, they form the largest gas field on the planet.
Not only for Qatar and Turkey, but especially for His Masters Voice, this was unacceptable; the official US ‘isolate Iran’ policy would be in tatters. Worse: the possibility was open for the EU to soon become the privileged customer of both Russia and Iran for no less than 45 percent of its gas supply. Full energy/trade integration of Eurasia – in this key case involving most of the EU, Russia and Iran - is absolute anathema for the Empire of Chaos.
Complete story at - Energy ballet-2: Syria, Ukraine & 'Pipelineistan' — RT Op-Edge
Energy ballet: Iran, Russia and 'Pipelineistan' — RT Op-Edge
A fascinating nuclear/energy ballet involving Iran, Russia, the US and the EU is bound to determine much of what happens next in the new great game in Eurasia.
Let’s start with what’s going on with the Iranian nuclear dossier.
Iranian Foreign Ministry legal adviser Jamshid Momtaz has been forced to clarify that the interim nuclear deal signed by Iran and the P-5+1 nations on November 2013 is not an international treaty – yet.
As we stand, the gap between the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany on one side, and Iran on the other side, remains very wide. Essentially, the gap that really matters is between Washington and Tehran. And that, unfortunately, translates as a few more months for the vast sabotage brigade – from US neo-cons and assorted warmongers to Israel and the House of Saud – to force the deal to collapse.
One of Washington’s sabotage mantras is “breakout capability”; a dodgy concept which boils down to total centrifuge capacity/capability to produce enough enriched uranium for a single nuclear bomb. This implies an arbitrary limit on Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium.
The other sabotage mantra forces Iran to shut down the whole of its uranium enrichment program, and on top of it negotiate on its missiles. That’s preposterous; missiles are part of conventional armed forces. Washington in this instance is changing the subject to missiles that might carry the nuclear warheads that Iran does not have. So they should also be banned.
Moscow and Beijing see “breakout capability” for what it is; a manufactured issue. While Washington says it wants a deal, Moscow and Beijing do want a deal – stressing it can be respected via strict monitoring.
Complete story at - Energy ballet: Iran, Russia and 'Pipelineistan' — RT Op-Edge
Let’s start with what’s going on with the Iranian nuclear dossier.
Iranian Foreign Ministry legal adviser Jamshid Momtaz has been forced to clarify that the interim nuclear deal signed by Iran and the P-5+1 nations on November 2013 is not an international treaty – yet.
As we stand, the gap between the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany on one side, and Iran on the other side, remains very wide. Essentially, the gap that really matters is between Washington and Tehran. And that, unfortunately, translates as a few more months for the vast sabotage brigade – from US neo-cons and assorted warmongers to Israel and the House of Saud – to force the deal to collapse.
One of Washington’s sabotage mantras is “breakout capability”; a dodgy concept which boils down to total centrifuge capacity/capability to produce enough enriched uranium for a single nuclear bomb. This implies an arbitrary limit on Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium.
The other sabotage mantra forces Iran to shut down the whole of its uranium enrichment program, and on top of it negotiate on its missiles. That’s preposterous; missiles are part of conventional armed forces. Washington in this instance is changing the subject to missiles that might carry the nuclear warheads that Iran does not have. So they should also be banned.
Moscow and Beijing see “breakout capability” for what it is; a manufactured issue. While Washington says it wants a deal, Moscow and Beijing do want a deal – stressing it can be respected via strict monitoring.
Complete story at - Energy ballet: Iran, Russia and 'Pipelineistan' — RT Op-Edge
Promoting Confrontation with Russia
Washington's rage for war may end up targeting Russia next. Major media propaganda and disinformation seem inexorably heading in this direction.
Madness explains what's happening. Truth is systematically buried. It's turned on its head. Big Lies, distortions and deception substitute.
Western readers and viewers get a daily diet of outrageous managed news misinformation. America's so-called MSM are worst of all.
From The New York Times to Fox News, a systematic drumbeat of anti-Russian propaganda drowns out real news, information and analysis.
Winston Churchill once said "(a) lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
Today it circulates instantly. Joseph Goebbels once said "(i)f you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
He called truth "the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
Corporate media giants, so-called US public broadcasting and radio, Britain's BBC, Qatar's Al Jazeera, and similar operations regurgitate, hype, and proliferate state-sponsored lies, misinformation, distortions and deception.
The bigger the lie, the more often it's featured and repeated ad nauseam. Russia-bashing is outrageous. It substitutes for real news, information and analysis.
Complete story at - Promoting Confrontation with Russia
Madness explains what's happening. Truth is systematically buried. It's turned on its head. Big Lies, distortions and deception substitute.
Western readers and viewers get a daily diet of outrageous managed news misinformation. America's so-called MSM are worst of all.
From The New York Times to Fox News, a systematic drumbeat of anti-Russian propaganda drowns out real news, information and analysis.
Winston Churchill once said "(a) lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
Today it circulates instantly. Joseph Goebbels once said "(i)f you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
He called truth "the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
Corporate media giants, so-called US public broadcasting and radio, Britain's BBC, Qatar's Al Jazeera, and similar operations regurgitate, hype, and proliferate state-sponsored lies, misinformation, distortions and deception.
The bigger the lie, the more often it's featured and repeated ad nauseam. Russia-bashing is outrageous. It substitutes for real news, information and analysis.
Complete story at - Promoting Confrontation with Russia
John McCain, Conductor of the "Arab Spring" and the Caliph , by Thierry Meyssan
Everyone has noticed the contradiction of those who recently characterized the Islamic Emirate as "freedom fighters" in Syria and who are indignant today faced with its abuses in Iraq. But if that speech is incoherent in itself, it makes perfect sense in the strategic plan: the same individuals were to be presented as allies yesterday and must be as enemies today, even if they are still on orders from Washington. Thierry Meyssan reveals below US policy through the particular case of Senator John McCain, conductor of the "Arab Spring" and longtime partner of Caliph Ibrahim.
by Thierry Meyssan
John McCain is known as the leader of the Republicans and unhappy 2008 US presidential candidate. This is, we will see, only the real part of his biography, which serves as a cover to conduct covert actions on behalf of his government.
When I was in Libya during the "Western"attack, I was able to view a report of the foreign intelligence services. It stated that, on February 4, 2011 in Cairo, NATO organized a meeting to launch the "Arab Spring" in Libya and Syria. According to this document, the meeting was chaired by John McCain. The report detailed the list of Libyan participants, whose delegation was led by the No. 2 man of the government of the day, Mahmoud Jibril, who abruptly switched sides at the entrance of the meeting to become the opposition leader in exile. I remember that, among the French delegates present, the report quoted Bernard-Henry Lévy, although officially he had never exercised functions within the French government. Many other personalities attended the symposium, including a large delegation of Syrians living abroad.
Emerging from the meeting, the mysterious Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook account called for demonstrations outside the People’s Council (National Assembly) in Damascus on February 11. Although this Facebook account at the time claimed to have more than 40,000 followers, only a dozen people responded to its call before the flashes of photographers and hundreds of police. The demonstration dispersed peacefully and clashes only began more than a month later in Deraa. [1]
On February 16, 2011, a demonstration underway in Benghazi, in memory of members of the Islamic Fighting Group in Libya [2] massacred in 1996 in the Abu Selim prison, degenerated into shooting. The next day, a second event, this time in memory of those who died by attacking the Danish consulate during the Muhammad cartoons affair, also degenerated into shooting. At the same time, members of the Islamic Fighting Group in Libya ,coming from Egypt and coordinated by unidentified, hooded individuals, simultaneously attacked four military bases in four different cities. After three days of fighting and atrocities, the rebels launched the uprising of Cyrenaica against Tripolitania [3]; a terrorist attack that the western press falsely presented as a "democratic revolution" against "the regime" of Muammar el-Qaddafi.
On February 22nd, John McCain was in Lebanon. He met members of the Future Movement (the party of Saad Hariri) whom he charged to oversee the transfer of arms to Syria around the MP Okab Sakr [4]. Then, leaving Beirut, he inspected the Syrian border and the selected villages including Ersal, which were used as a basis to back mercenaries in the war to come.
The meetings chaired by John McCain were clearly the trigger point for a long-prepared Washington plan; the plan that would have the UK and France attack Libya and Syria simultaneously, following the doctrine of "leadership from behind" and the annex of the Treaty of Lancaster House of November 2010. [5]
Complete story at - John McCain, Conductor of the "Arab Spring" and the Caliph , by Thierry Meyssan
by Thierry Meyssan
John McCain is known as the leader of the Republicans and unhappy 2008 US presidential candidate. This is, we will see, only the real part of his biography, which serves as a cover to conduct covert actions on behalf of his government.
When I was in Libya during the "Western"attack, I was able to view a report of the foreign intelligence services. It stated that, on February 4, 2011 in Cairo, NATO organized a meeting to launch the "Arab Spring" in Libya and Syria. According to this document, the meeting was chaired by John McCain. The report detailed the list of Libyan participants, whose delegation was led by the No. 2 man of the government of the day, Mahmoud Jibril, who abruptly switched sides at the entrance of the meeting to become the opposition leader in exile. I remember that, among the French delegates present, the report quoted Bernard-Henry Lévy, although officially he had never exercised functions within the French government. Many other personalities attended the symposium, including a large delegation of Syrians living abroad.
Emerging from the meeting, the mysterious Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook account called for demonstrations outside the People’s Council (National Assembly) in Damascus on February 11. Although this Facebook account at the time claimed to have more than 40,000 followers, only a dozen people responded to its call before the flashes of photographers and hundreds of police. The demonstration dispersed peacefully and clashes only began more than a month later in Deraa. [1]
On February 16, 2011, a demonstration underway in Benghazi, in memory of members of the Islamic Fighting Group in Libya [2] massacred in 1996 in the Abu Selim prison, degenerated into shooting. The next day, a second event, this time in memory of those who died by attacking the Danish consulate during the Muhammad cartoons affair, also degenerated into shooting. At the same time, members of the Islamic Fighting Group in Libya ,coming from Egypt and coordinated by unidentified, hooded individuals, simultaneously attacked four military bases in four different cities. After three days of fighting and atrocities, the rebels launched the uprising of Cyrenaica against Tripolitania [3]; a terrorist attack that the western press falsely presented as a "democratic revolution" against "the regime" of Muammar el-Qaddafi.
On February 22nd, John McCain was in Lebanon. He met members of the Future Movement (the party of Saad Hariri) whom he charged to oversee the transfer of arms to Syria around the MP Okab Sakr [4]. Then, leaving Beirut, he inspected the Syrian border and the selected villages including Ersal, which were used as a basis to back mercenaries in the war to come.
The meetings chaired by John McCain were clearly the trigger point for a long-prepared Washington plan; the plan that would have the UK and France attack Libya and Syria simultaneously, following the doctrine of "leadership from behind" and the annex of the Treaty of Lancaster House of November 2010. [5]
Complete story at - John McCain, Conductor of the "Arab Spring" and the Caliph , by Thierry Meyssan
Summary of current events as of 27.08.2014 — Novorossiya News Agency
An air raid of three Nazi planes Su-25 at the western outskirts of Lugansk took place on August 26 by the end of the day. Residential buildings and a school were demolished. The number of casualties among civilians is being specified.
In the course of fighting at night two Ukrainian APCs, one tank, an ammunition storehouse and about 25 troopers had been exterminated.
According to intelligence, a fire attack was carried out at the positions of Ukrainian artillery in the area of Krsnogorovka, from which the castigators had been shelling the western outskirts of Donetsk. Four MRLS “Grad” with crews, two tanks and two APCs were exterminated.
As a result of skillful actions of the People’s Militia a column of Ukrainian machines was destroyed not far from the village of Valuyskoye of the Lugansk People’s Republic. Up to 5 vehicles and up to 10 castigators were exterminated.
Extermination of the encircled enemy’s units is going on in the area of Amvrosiyevka. Artillery batteries, mortar-gun units and gun posts of the enemy had been subjected to fire attack.
As a result of bloody clashes the People’s Militia of Donbass captured 125 nationalists in locality Starobeshevo.
Altogether during the night from August 26 to August 27 5 tanks, 7 APCs, 4 MRLS “Grad”, 2 ammunition storehouses, 5 cars and up to 50 castigators were exterminated.
Complete story at - Summary of current events as of 27.08.2014 — Novorossiya News Agency
In the course of fighting at night two Ukrainian APCs, one tank, an ammunition storehouse and about 25 troopers had been exterminated.
According to intelligence, a fire attack was carried out at the positions of Ukrainian artillery in the area of Krsnogorovka, from which the castigators had been shelling the western outskirts of Donetsk. Four MRLS “Grad” with crews, two tanks and two APCs were exterminated.
As a result of skillful actions of the People’s Militia a column of Ukrainian machines was destroyed not far from the village of Valuyskoye of the Lugansk People’s Republic. Up to 5 vehicles and up to 10 castigators were exterminated.
Extermination of the encircled enemy’s units is going on in the area of Amvrosiyevka. Artillery batteries, mortar-gun units and gun posts of the enemy had been subjected to fire attack.
As a result of bloody clashes the People’s Militia of Donbass captured 125 nationalists in locality Starobeshevo.
Altogether during the night from August 26 to August 27 5 tanks, 7 APCs, 4 MRLS “Grad”, 2 ammunition storehouses, 5 cars and up to 50 castigators were exterminated.
Complete story at - Summary of current events as of 27.08.2014 — Novorossiya News Agency
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Monsanto and Ukraine » CounterPunch:
by JOYCE NELSON
Finally, a little-known aspect of the crisis in Ukraine is receiving some international attention. On July 28, the California-based Oakland Institute released a report revealing that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under terms of their $17 billion loan to Ukraine, would open that country to genetically-modified (GM) crops and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture. The report is entitled “Walking on the West Side: the World Bank and the IMF in the Ukraine Conflict.” [1]
In late 2013, the then president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, rejected a European Union association agreement tied to the $17 billion IMF loan, whose terms are only now being revealed. Instead, Yanukovych chose a Russian aid package worth $15 billion plus a discount on Russian natural gas. His decision was a major factor in the ensuing deadly protests that led to his ouster from office in February 2014 and the ongoing crisis.
According to the Oakland Institute, “Whereas Ukraine does not allow the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture, Article 404 of the EU agreement, which relates to agriculture, includes a clause that has generally gone unnoticed: it indicates, among other things, that both parties will cooperate to extend the use of biotechnologies. There is no doubt that this provision meets the expectations of the agribusiness industry. As observed by Michael Cox, research director at the investment bank Piper Jaffray, ‘Ukraine and, to a wider extent, Eastern Europe, are among the most promising growth markets for farm-equipment giant Deere, as well as seed producers Monsanto and DuPont’.” [2]
Ukrainian law bars farmers from growing GM crops. Long considered “the bread basket of Europe,” Ukraine’s rich black soil is ideal for growing grains, and in 2012 Ukrainian farmers harvested more than 20 million tonnes of corn.
Complete story at - Monsanto and Ukraine » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
Finally, a little-known aspect of the crisis in Ukraine is receiving some international attention. On July 28, the California-based Oakland Institute released a report revealing that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under terms of their $17 billion loan to Ukraine, would open that country to genetically-modified (GM) crops and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture. The report is entitled “Walking on the West Side: the World Bank and the IMF in the Ukraine Conflict.” [1]
In late 2013, the then president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, rejected a European Union association agreement tied to the $17 billion IMF loan, whose terms are only now being revealed. Instead, Yanukovych chose a Russian aid package worth $15 billion plus a discount on Russian natural gas. His decision was a major factor in the ensuing deadly protests that led to his ouster from office in February 2014 and the ongoing crisis.
According to the Oakland Institute, “Whereas Ukraine does not allow the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture, Article 404 of the EU agreement, which relates to agriculture, includes a clause that has generally gone unnoticed: it indicates, among other things, that both parties will cooperate to extend the use of biotechnologies. There is no doubt that this provision meets the expectations of the agribusiness industry. As observed by Michael Cox, research director at the investment bank Piper Jaffray, ‘Ukraine and, to a wider extent, Eastern Europe, are among the most promising growth markets for farm-equipment giant Deere, as well as seed producers Monsanto and DuPont’.” [2]
Ukrainian law bars farmers from growing GM crops. Long considered “the bread basket of Europe,” Ukraine’s rich black soil is ideal for growing grains, and in 2012 Ukrainian farmers harvested more than 20 million tonnes of corn.
Complete story at - Monsanto and Ukraine » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
The Vineyard of the Saker: The bizarre non-story of the captured Russian soldiers
Did the Ukrainians really catch 10 Russian paratroopers?
Maybe.
For one thing, this time around the Ukies have provided names, a unit number (331st Regiment, 98th Guard Airborne Division) and even a video of their interrogation. So this might be real.
If it is, I hope that it will at least shut up the choir of naysayers who constantly accuse Russia of doing nothing, of betraying Novorussia, of selling out the Donbass and all that kind of nonsense. The fact is that Russia as constantly been assisting the Novorussians covertly and while bloggers such as Colonel Cassad and myself can claim that (read his excellent commantary here in Russian and here in English), Russia cannot do the same because of the legal consequences of such an admission. But anybody who knows what is going on has known all along that Russia was helping.
So this is war and, as they say, shit happens. Still, there are a lot of weird things in this story.
First, we have to completely ignore anything the poor captured guys might have sad. We all know how the Ukies treat their prisoners so what they said is irrelevant. Likewise, if the Ukies say that they captured these guys in location X, that does not mean that this is what really happened. Having said that, there are still a of of unanswered questions:
Could these soldiers have been "lost" as Russia claims? Hardly. Everybody knows that the region where they were caught is not only crossed by an international border, but also that there is a real shooting war on the other side. Russian paratroopers don't just get "lost" in a warzone, not at the age of GLONASS/GPS. For all I know, they could have been kidnapped on the Russian side of the border (like the Israelis whom Hezbollah captured in 2006) and dragged across the border to make it look like they had crossed it.
But if they were sent in, what would have been their mission? This is a total mystery to me. Paratroopers are not just sent into enemy territory just like that, they would have to be in support of some kind of operation involving much bigger forces.
Then, by all accounts, these guys surrendered without firing a single shot. If there is one thing Russian paratroopers are famous for is not surrendering, not even if that means dying. Yet these guys did not see it fit to fight. Weird, again.
The Ukies said that the paratroopers were caught with their documents. That is laughable. The Russians would never send in a recon team with their military IDs. By the way, the Ukies *also* said that before they were sent across the border, the officers took all their documents. Total contradiction. Go figure.
Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: The bizarre non-story of the captured Russian soldiers
Maybe.
For one thing, this time around the Ukies have provided names, a unit number (331st Regiment, 98th Guard Airborne Division) and even a video of their interrogation. So this might be real.
If it is, I hope that it will at least shut up the choir of naysayers who constantly accuse Russia of doing nothing, of betraying Novorussia, of selling out the Donbass and all that kind of nonsense. The fact is that Russia as constantly been assisting the Novorussians covertly and while bloggers such as Colonel Cassad and myself can claim that (read his excellent commantary here in Russian and here in English), Russia cannot do the same because of the legal consequences of such an admission. But anybody who knows what is going on has known all along that Russia was helping.
So this is war and, as they say, shit happens. Still, there are a lot of weird things in this story.
First, we have to completely ignore anything the poor captured guys might have sad. We all know how the Ukies treat their prisoners so what they said is irrelevant. Likewise, if the Ukies say that they captured these guys in location X, that does not mean that this is what really happened. Having said that, there are still a of of unanswered questions:
Could these soldiers have been "lost" as Russia claims? Hardly. Everybody knows that the region where they were caught is not only crossed by an international border, but also that there is a real shooting war on the other side. Russian paratroopers don't just get "lost" in a warzone, not at the age of GLONASS/GPS. For all I know, they could have been kidnapped on the Russian side of the border (like the Israelis whom Hezbollah captured in 2006) and dragged across the border to make it look like they had crossed it.
But if they were sent in, what would have been their mission? This is a total mystery to me. Paratroopers are not just sent into enemy territory just like that, they would have to be in support of some kind of operation involving much bigger forces.
Then, by all accounts, these guys surrendered without firing a single shot. If there is one thing Russian paratroopers are famous for is not surrendering, not even if that means dying. Yet these guys did not see it fit to fight. Weird, again.
The Ukies said that the paratroopers were caught with their documents. That is laughable. The Russians would never send in a recon team with their military IDs. By the way, the Ukies *also* said that before they were sent across the border, the officers took all their documents. Total contradiction. Go figure.
Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: The bizarre non-story of the captured Russian soldiers
Did Ukraine Attack Its Own Tanks? White House "Can't Confirm Russian Convoy Was Destroyed By Kiev" | Zero Hedge
While today's trading session was marked by news which at first blush correlated with what may be the 2014 equivalent of the Archduke Ferdinand shooting, in retrospect the newsflow made painfully little sense. Let's recap:
If true, it also implies that either Ukraine had fabricated the entire story, and certainly the part about the destruction of the convoy and by extension that Russians had ever entered into East Ukraine. Furthermore, that would also suggest that the reports of the British reporters were also a fabrication.
Unless, of course, there is evidence, in which case the credibility of the both the Guardian and Telegraph reporters can be preserved, Ukraine can not be accused of fabricating a story to suit what some may say its own warmongering ambitions, and the onus is on Russia to explain why it lied about there being no invasion.
Complete story at - Did Ukraine Attack Its Own Tanks? White House "Can't Confirm Russian Convoy Was Destroyed By Kiev" | Zero Hedge
1. Yesterday afternoon, two UK reporters working for the Guardian and Telegraph, supposedly located by the border in east Ukraine, reported that they were "eyewitnesses" as a convoy of military trucks crossed the Russian border into the breakaway Donetsk republic, aka Ukraine. While there have been photos of the military trucks that have accompanied the Russian humantiarian convoy on Russian territory, there has so far been no proof, aside from said eyewitness reports, confirming Russian military vehicles entered or were in Ukraine.This is where the breakdown of logic occurs, because for Russia to make such a formal statement it clearly implies that Russia believes there is no evidence of destruction of a Russian convoy in Ukraine territory, something which obviously would exist if indeed as Ukraine's president had claimed, the "majority of the machines had been eliminated."
2. This morning Ukraine military’s spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, shocked the world when newswires reported that Ukraine forces had attacked an armed convoy from Russia, and "destroyed" a part of it. This was subsequently reiterated by the president of Ukraine himself who said that "the given information was trustworthy and confirmed because the majority of that machines had been eliminated by the Ukrainian artillery at night", and by the secretary-general of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who said that the alliance had detected an “incursion” of vehicles from Russia last night, adding that “what we have seen last night is the continuation of what we have seen for some time." Alas, as in the case above, just more verbal reports, with zero actual evidence.
3. Shortly thereafter, Russia responded when the Russian defense ministry said that there was no Russian military column that crossed into Eastern Ukraine, and that the above reports are based on "some fantasies."
If true, it also implies that either Ukraine had fabricated the entire story, and certainly the part about the destruction of the convoy and by extension that Russians had ever entered into East Ukraine. Furthermore, that would also suggest that the reports of the British reporters were also a fabrication.
Unless, of course, there is evidence, in which case the credibility of the both the Guardian and Telegraph reporters can be preserved, Ukraine can not be accused of fabricating a story to suit what some may say its own warmongering ambitions, and the onus is on Russia to explain why it lied about there being no invasion.
Complete story at - Did Ukraine Attack Its Own Tanks? White House "Can't Confirm Russian Convoy Was Destroyed By Kiev" | Zero Hedge
Europe: A Union of Common Censorship — RT Op-Edge
For once Brussels has unified Europe, albeit by marrying Kafka with Orwell in a modern day Ministry of Truth.
Freedom is fundamental to prosperity. Those who cherish freedom most are often those who have not always enjoyed it. Thus the souls whose lives were blighted by Communist totalitarianism often rejoice at the simplest pleasures, even 25 years after the evils of the system were unraveled across Europe. Their joy in being able to travel has been hugely enhanced by that core Western value - freedom. Unfortunately, just as the European Union appears to have forgotten how to create prosperity, so, too, it seems to have gone somewhat patchy on the notion of freedom.
The latest developments on censorship expand upon the core carping of the politically correct - a group whose senses of humor, irony and objectivity were obviously removed when doctors meant to go for their tonsils during childhood. Pardon my ignorance, but what was so bad with the simple maxim “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will not affect me?” Back in the day it was fair to say “it’s a free country” and get on with life...but no more.
The latest political insanity comes from meddlesome Brussels bigots and their judicial cousins at the European Court of Justice, or the liberal loonies of Luxembourg as they deserve to be named. The phrase Orwellian is often overused but here it is justified after the ECJ upheld the utterly daft “right to be forgotten.” It was driven by the desire of a Spaniard to have his name expunged from the records. This man, Mario Costeja from Gailicia, claims to have been against totalitarian regimes from a childhood spent under the Franco era dictatorship. He was deeply affronted because apparently he sold his house before the taxman endeavored to repossess it. Readers will doubtless ponder the deep irony that Mr Mario Costeja has now become a footnote in history for having a squabble with the Spanish tax office, precisely because he had the record eradicated from the internet… However the search “Mario Costeja right to be forgotten” returned a mere 12,800 results on a well-known search engine last evening, which suggests Mr Costeja has rather opened a can of worms for himself. At the same time, it is intriguing to ponder just what on earth the EU, which has been discussing this daft oxymoron of the “right to be forgotten” for some time, was thinking.
Complete story at - Europe: A Union of Common Censorship — RT Op-Edge
Freedom is fundamental to prosperity. Those who cherish freedom most are often those who have not always enjoyed it. Thus the souls whose lives were blighted by Communist totalitarianism often rejoice at the simplest pleasures, even 25 years after the evils of the system were unraveled across Europe. Their joy in being able to travel has been hugely enhanced by that core Western value - freedom. Unfortunately, just as the European Union appears to have forgotten how to create prosperity, so, too, it seems to have gone somewhat patchy on the notion of freedom.
The latest developments on censorship expand upon the core carping of the politically correct - a group whose senses of humor, irony and objectivity were obviously removed when doctors meant to go for their tonsils during childhood. Pardon my ignorance, but what was so bad with the simple maxim “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will not affect me?” Back in the day it was fair to say “it’s a free country” and get on with life...but no more.
The latest political insanity comes from meddlesome Brussels bigots and their judicial cousins at the European Court of Justice, or the liberal loonies of Luxembourg as they deserve to be named. The phrase Orwellian is often overused but here it is justified after the ECJ upheld the utterly daft “right to be forgotten.” It was driven by the desire of a Spaniard to have his name expunged from the records. This man, Mario Costeja from Gailicia, claims to have been against totalitarian regimes from a childhood spent under the Franco era dictatorship. He was deeply affronted because apparently he sold his house before the taxman endeavored to repossess it. Readers will doubtless ponder the deep irony that Mr Mario Costeja has now become a footnote in history for having a squabble with the Spanish tax office, precisely because he had the record eradicated from the internet… However the search “Mario Costeja right to be forgotten” returned a mere 12,800 results on a well-known search engine last evening, which suggests Mr Costeja has rather opened a can of worms for himself. At the same time, it is intriguing to ponder just what on earth the EU, which has been discussing this daft oxymoron of the “right to be forgotten” for some time, was thinking.
Complete story at - Europe: A Union of Common Censorship — RT Op-Edge
Luxoft reducing share of programmers in Ukraine and Russia
Software developer Luxoft, which has Russian roots, in its presentation for April-June 2014 reported the intention to reduce the share of programmers in Ukraine and Russia.
According to the report, Ukraine now accounts for 47% of the company's developer staff, Russia - 28%, whereas three months earlier – the figures were 49% and 29% respectively, and at the beginning of this year - 48% and 32%.
At the same time, the absolute number of the company's programmers continues to grow rapidly. At the end of last year their number exceeded 7,200 in 20 offices, three months later – it was more than 7,500 in 21 offices, and at the end of the first half of 2014 - about 7,800 in 22 offices.
Taking the above-mentioned figures into account, in January-March the company's staff in Ukrainian offices, operating in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa, grew by about 200 people, but in April-June it fell by about ten people.
Complete story at - Luxoft reducing share of programmers in Ukraine and Russia
According to the report, Ukraine now accounts for 47% of the company's developer staff, Russia - 28%, whereas three months earlier – the figures were 49% and 29% respectively, and at the beginning of this year - 48% and 32%.
At the same time, the absolute number of the company's programmers continues to grow rapidly. At the end of last year their number exceeded 7,200 in 20 offices, three months later – it was more than 7,500 in 21 offices, and at the end of the first half of 2014 - about 7,800 in 22 offices.
Taking the above-mentioned figures into account, in January-March the company's staff in Ukrainian offices, operating in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa, grew by about 200 people, but in April-June it fell by about ten people.
Complete story at - Luxoft reducing share of programmers in Ukraine and Russia
The Seven Pillars of the Matrix
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Contemporary baptized, corporatized and sanitized man rarely has the occasion to question his identity, and when he does a typical response might be, “I am product manager for a large retail chain, married to Betty, father of Johnny, a Democrat, Steelers fan and a Lutheran.”
His answers imply not only his beliefs but the many responsibilities, rules and restrictions he is subjected to. Few if any of these were ever negotiated- they were imposed on him yet he still considers himself free.
But is free the right adjective for him, or would modern domesticated simian be more apt? He has been told what to do, believe, think and feel since he can remember. A very clever rancher has bred billions of these creatures around the globe and created the most profitable livestock imaginable. They work for him, fight for him, die for him, believe his wildest tales, laugh at his jokes and rarely get out of line. When domesticated man does break one of the rules there are armies, jailers, psychiatrists and bureaucrats prepared to kill, incarcerate, drug or hound the transgressor into submission.
One of the most fascinating aspects of domesticated man’s predicament is that he never looks at the cattle, sheep and pigs who wind up on his plate and make the very simple deduction that he is just a talking version of them, corralled and shepherded through his entire life. How is this accomplished? Only animals that live in hierarchical groups can be dominated by man. The trick is to fool the animal into believing that the leader of the pack or herd is the person who is domesticating them. Once this is accomplished the animal is under full control of its homo sapien master. The domesticated man is no different, originally organized in groups with a clear hierarchy and maximum size of 150- it was easy to replace the leader of these smaller groups with one overarching figure such as God, King, President, CEO etc.
The methodology for creating this exceptionally loyal and obedient modern breed, homo domesticus, can be described as having seven pillars from which an immense matrix captures the talking simians and their conscious minds and hooks them into a complex mesh from which few ever escape. The system is so advanced that those who do untangle themselves and cut their way out of the net are immediately branded as mentally ill, anti-social, or simply losers who can’t accept the ‘complexity of modern life’, i.e. conspiracy nuts.
Plato described this brilliantly in his Allegory of the Cave, where people only see man made shadows of objects, institutions, Gods and ideas:
“--Behold! human beings living in an underground cave...here they have been from their childhood...necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance...the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets... and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall...”
Complete story at - The Seven Pillars of the Matrix
Contemporary baptized, corporatized and sanitized man rarely has the occasion to question his identity, and when he does a typical response might be, “I am product manager for a large retail chain, married to Betty, father of Johnny, a Democrat, Steelers fan and a Lutheran.”
His answers imply not only his beliefs but the many responsibilities, rules and restrictions he is subjected to. Few if any of these were ever negotiated- they were imposed on him yet he still considers himself free.
But is free the right adjective for him, or would modern domesticated simian be more apt? He has been told what to do, believe, think and feel since he can remember. A very clever rancher has bred billions of these creatures around the globe and created the most profitable livestock imaginable. They work for him, fight for him, die for him, believe his wildest tales, laugh at his jokes and rarely get out of line. When domesticated man does break one of the rules there are armies, jailers, psychiatrists and bureaucrats prepared to kill, incarcerate, drug or hound the transgressor into submission.
One of the most fascinating aspects of domesticated man’s predicament is that he never looks at the cattle, sheep and pigs who wind up on his plate and make the very simple deduction that he is just a talking version of them, corralled and shepherded through his entire life. How is this accomplished? Only animals that live in hierarchical groups can be dominated by man. The trick is to fool the animal into believing that the leader of the pack or herd is the person who is domesticating them. Once this is accomplished the animal is under full control of its homo sapien master. The domesticated man is no different, originally organized in groups with a clear hierarchy and maximum size of 150- it was easy to replace the leader of these smaller groups with one overarching figure such as God, King, President, CEO etc.
The methodology for creating this exceptionally loyal and obedient modern breed, homo domesticus, can be described as having seven pillars from which an immense matrix captures the talking simians and their conscious minds and hooks them into a complex mesh from which few ever escape. The system is so advanced that those who do untangle themselves and cut their way out of the net are immediately branded as mentally ill, anti-social, or simply losers who can’t accept the ‘complexity of modern life’, i.e. conspiracy nuts.
Plato described this brilliantly in his Allegory of the Cave, where people only see man made shadows of objects, institutions, Gods and ideas:
“--Behold! human beings living in an underground cave...here they have been from their childhood...necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance...the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets... and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall...”
Complete story at - The Seven Pillars of the Matrix
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Russia steps up economic collaboration with Iran | Russia Direct
by Olga Malikova
In September, Russia and Iran plan to sign a set of bilateral agreements on trade and economic cooperation. The two countries are also expected to discuss the recently signed memorandum of mutual understanding, which provides for the delivery to Iran of Russian equipment and consumer goods in exchange for Iranian oil. Despite the threat of fresh U.S. sanctions against Iran if the deal with Russia goes ahead, Tehran is looking to strengthen cooperation with Moscow.
The bilateral memorandum signed on August 5 provides for the expansion of trade and economic cooperation in the fields of energy and energy-related infrastructure, particularly the oil and gas sector, as well as “the supply of machinery, equipment, consumer goods, and agricultural products.” In exchange, Iran will ship 500,000 barrels of oil per day in the other direction. Specific contracts and agreements could be signed during the meeting of the intergovernmental commission slated for September 9-10 in Tehran.
Moscow believes that the agreement could have a significant impact on the economic development of both countries. Russia, in particular, is attracted by the prospect of greater access to Iran’s highly promising hydrocarbon reserves.
Moreover, by the Kremlin’s logic, Russian companies will have more opportunities to increase exports of their high-tech equipment abroad.
In recent years, many experts have noted a rising imbalance in oil exports from Russia and the country’s proven reserves. Russia is second only to Saudi Arabia as a supplier of oil to the world market, but its proven reserves are not so vast.
Russia’ proven reserves are a mere 93 billion barrels, to be precise, or 5.5 percent of the world's proven oil reserves. Many fields in Russia have peaked, and new deposits are located in complex geological and climatic conditions.
Complete story at - Russia steps up economic collaboration with Iran | Russia Direct
In September, Russia and Iran plan to sign a set of bilateral agreements on trade and economic cooperation. The two countries are also expected to discuss the recently signed memorandum of mutual understanding, which provides for the delivery to Iran of Russian equipment and consumer goods in exchange for Iranian oil. Despite the threat of fresh U.S. sanctions against Iran if the deal with Russia goes ahead, Tehran is looking to strengthen cooperation with Moscow.
The bilateral memorandum signed on August 5 provides for the expansion of trade and economic cooperation in the fields of energy and energy-related infrastructure, particularly the oil and gas sector, as well as “the supply of machinery, equipment, consumer goods, and agricultural products.” In exchange, Iran will ship 500,000 barrels of oil per day in the other direction. Specific contracts and agreements could be signed during the meeting of the intergovernmental commission slated for September 9-10 in Tehran.
Moscow believes that the agreement could have a significant impact on the economic development of both countries. Russia, in particular, is attracted by the prospect of greater access to Iran’s highly promising hydrocarbon reserves.
Moreover, by the Kremlin’s logic, Russian companies will have more opportunities to increase exports of their high-tech equipment abroad.
In recent years, many experts have noted a rising imbalance in oil exports from Russia and the country’s proven reserves. Russia is second only to Saudi Arabia as a supplier of oil to the world market, but its proven reserves are not so vast.
Russia’ proven reserves are a mere 93 billion barrels, to be precise, or 5.5 percent of the world's proven oil reserves. Many fields in Russia have peaked, and new deposits are located in complex geological and climatic conditions.
Complete story at - Russia steps up economic collaboration with Iran | Russia Direct
The Powerful "Group Think" on Ukraine | The Smirking Chimp
When even smart people like economist Paul Krugman buy into the false narrative about the Ukraine crisis, it’s hard to decide whether to despair over the impossibility of America ever understanding the world’s problems or to marvel at the power of the U.S. political/media propaganda machine to manufacture its own reality.
On Monday, Krugman’s New York Times column accepts the storyline that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin instigated the Ukraine crisis and extrapolates from that “fact” the conclusion that perhaps the nefarious Putin did so to engineer a cheap land grab or to distract Russians from their economic problems.
“Delusions of easy winnings still happen,” Krugman wrote. “It’s only a guess, but it seems likely that Vladimir Putin thought that he could overthrow Ukraine’s government, or at least seize a large chunk of its territory, on the cheap — a bit of deniable aid to the rebels, and it would fall into his lap. …
“Recently Justin Fox of the Harvard Business Review suggested that the roots of the Ukraine crisis may lie in the faltering performance of the Russian economy. As he noted, Mr. Putin’s hold on power partly reflects a long run of rapid economic growth. But Russian growth has been sputtering — and you could argue that the Putin regime needed a distraction.”
Or you could look at the actual facts of how the Ukraine crisis began and realize that it was the West, not Russia, that instigated this crisis. Putin’s response has been reactive to what he perceives as threats posed by the violent overthrow of elected President Viktor Yanukovych and the imposition of a new Western-oriented regime hostile to Moscow and Ukraine’s ethnic Russians.
Complete story at - The Powerful "Group Think" on Ukraine | The Smirking Chimp
On Monday, Krugman’s New York Times column accepts the storyline that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin instigated the Ukraine crisis and extrapolates from that “fact” the conclusion that perhaps the nefarious Putin did so to engineer a cheap land grab or to distract Russians from their economic problems.
“Delusions of easy winnings still happen,” Krugman wrote. “It’s only a guess, but it seems likely that Vladimir Putin thought that he could overthrow Ukraine’s government, or at least seize a large chunk of its territory, on the cheap — a bit of deniable aid to the rebels, and it would fall into his lap. …
“Recently Justin Fox of the Harvard Business Review suggested that the roots of the Ukraine crisis may lie in the faltering performance of the Russian economy. As he noted, Mr. Putin’s hold on power partly reflects a long run of rapid economic growth. But Russian growth has been sputtering — and you could argue that the Putin regime needed a distraction.”
Or you could look at the actual facts of how the Ukraine crisis began and realize that it was the West, not Russia, that instigated this crisis. Putin’s response has been reactive to what he perceives as threats posed by the violent overthrow of elected President Viktor Yanukovych and the imposition of a new Western-oriented regime hostile to Moscow and Ukraine’s ethnic Russians.
Complete story at - The Powerful "Group Think" on Ukraine | The Smirking Chimp
EU Advisors Advocate use of Military Against Strikes and Protests | Global Research
Experts at a European Union (EU) think-tank are demanding that the EU prepare to put down strikes and protests with military force. Due to the deepening social inequality in a globalised economy and growing military conflicts within the EU’s borders, such outbursts will inevitably increase.
In the study by the European Union Institute for Security Studies, the authors bluntly state that in the face of these developments, the army will have to be used increasingly for policing duties to protect the rich from the anger of the poor.
The book appeared a year after the near-collapse of the global financial system in 2008, entitled “Perspectives for European Defence 2020.” It makes clear that academics and politicians are very aware of the revolutionary implications of the crisis. They are working through scenarios that would allow the opposition of the vast majority of the population to social attacks to be suppressed.
“Within the framework of the joint foreign and security policy, the responsibilities of the police and armed forces are increasingly being merged, and the capacities to tackle social protest built up,” radio station Deutschlandfunk reported on the study last month. Officially this was concerned with interventions in countries outside the EU.
“But under article 222 of the Lisbon treaty, a legal basis has been created for the deployment of military and paramilitary units within EU states in crisis.”
The book was authored by a team of academics and experts in the area of European security, defence and foreign policy. The foreword was written by EU foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton. In it she set out the long-term parameters of the EU’s security policy. Her introduction, and the fact that the institute is an EU institution, give the study an official stamp of approval.
Complete story at - EU Advisors Advocate use of Military Against Strikes and Protests | Global Research
In the study by the European Union Institute for Security Studies, the authors bluntly state that in the face of these developments, the army will have to be used increasingly for policing duties to protect the rich from the anger of the poor.
The book appeared a year after the near-collapse of the global financial system in 2008, entitled “Perspectives for European Defence 2020.” It makes clear that academics and politicians are very aware of the revolutionary implications of the crisis. They are working through scenarios that would allow the opposition of the vast majority of the population to social attacks to be suppressed.
“Within the framework of the joint foreign and security policy, the responsibilities of the police and armed forces are increasingly being merged, and the capacities to tackle social protest built up,” radio station Deutschlandfunk reported on the study last month. Officially this was concerned with interventions in countries outside the EU.
“But under article 222 of the Lisbon treaty, a legal basis has been created for the deployment of military and paramilitary units within EU states in crisis.”
The book was authored by a team of academics and experts in the area of European security, defence and foreign policy. The foreword was written by EU foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton. In it she set out the long-term parameters of the EU’s security policy. Her introduction, and the fact that the institute is an EU institution, give the study an official stamp of approval.
Complete story at - EU Advisors Advocate use of Military Against Strikes and Protests | Global Research
Russia: Waging Peace in Ukraine
Throughout months of conflict in Southeastern Ukraine, Russia has gone all-out to resolve things diplomatically.
Yet Putin bashing never quits. He's viciously demonized. Truth is buried. Facts are conveniently twisted.
He's wrongfully accused of supplying weapons and fighters to aid Southeastern Ukrainian anti-government forces' liberating struggle. His spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, categorically denies Russia's involvement. "We have said repeatedly that no equipment is being supplied there," he said. No Russian troops are involved.
Moscow wants conflict ended. It wants diplomatic efforts to do it. On Sunday, Russian, German, French and Ukrainian foreign ministers met at a villa outside Berlin.
Doing so was called a prelude to ceasefire talks while fierce fighting rages.
The Atlantic Council is a right-wing/hawkish Washington-based think tank. Adrian Karatnycky is a senior fellow.
"The Ukrainians have been making so many gains that their incentive is to keep at this as much as possible," he said.
"A ceasefire is not viable for Ukraine." It would let anti-government forces regroup and rearm.
At the same time, oligarch president Poroshenko is pressured to crush opposition elements as soon as possible and solidify hardline rule.
According to Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin, "(t)he most important thing is to stop the flow of weapons and mercenaries from Russia."
Big Lies about Moscow aiding Southeastern Ukrainian freedom fighters repeat ad nauseam. Corroborating evidence is absent.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed a dire situation saying "(t)he news from today shows us that things can get even worse."
"If we don't pay very close attention and concern ourselves with the process, we can slide further and further into a direct confrontation between Ukrainian and Russian forces."
"We urgently need new political impetus. Otherwise we run the risk of treading water, or of going backward and re-entering an intensified spiral of escalation."
Sunday talks lasted about five hours. No breakthrough was achieved. None was expected.
Washington wants conflict continued. So does Kiev. They want freedom fighters crushed. They want unconditional surrender.
Complete story at - Russia: Waging Peace in Ukraine
Yet Putin bashing never quits. He's viciously demonized. Truth is buried. Facts are conveniently twisted.
He's wrongfully accused of supplying weapons and fighters to aid Southeastern Ukrainian anti-government forces' liberating struggle. His spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, categorically denies Russia's involvement. "We have said repeatedly that no equipment is being supplied there," he said. No Russian troops are involved.
Moscow wants conflict ended. It wants diplomatic efforts to do it. On Sunday, Russian, German, French and Ukrainian foreign ministers met at a villa outside Berlin.
Doing so was called a prelude to ceasefire talks while fierce fighting rages.
The Atlantic Council is a right-wing/hawkish Washington-based think tank. Adrian Karatnycky is a senior fellow.
"The Ukrainians have been making so many gains that their incentive is to keep at this as much as possible," he said.
"A ceasefire is not viable for Ukraine." It would let anti-government forces regroup and rearm.
At the same time, oligarch president Poroshenko is pressured to crush opposition elements as soon as possible and solidify hardline rule.
According to Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin, "(t)he most important thing is to stop the flow of weapons and mercenaries from Russia."
Big Lies about Moscow aiding Southeastern Ukrainian freedom fighters repeat ad nauseam. Corroborating evidence is absent.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed a dire situation saying "(t)he news from today shows us that things can get even worse."
"If we don't pay very close attention and concern ourselves with the process, we can slide further and further into a direct confrontation between Ukrainian and Russian forces."
"We urgently need new political impetus. Otherwise we run the risk of treading water, or of going backward and re-entering an intensified spiral of escalation."
Sunday talks lasted about five hours. No breakthrough was achieved. None was expected.
Washington wants conflict continued. So does Kiev. They want freedom fighters crushed. They want unconditional surrender.
Complete story at - Russia: Waging Peace in Ukraine
M of A - The Mysterious Destroyed "Russian Armored Vehicles"
Yesterday the Guardian's Shaun Walker claimed to have seen Russian military vehicle crossing the Russian border into Ukraine. I wrote elsewhere that I am skeptical of that claim:
I'd be very careful in believing the stuff Shaun Walker writes. He was with the [aid-]convoy yesterday and the convoy is halted some 20-30 kilometer away from the border. How could he have observed the (not really well defined) border from there?
Said differently: The Guardian and Shaun Walker have certainly not be neutral in their reporting and publishing about the Ukraine conflict. There is no reason for the Russian army to invade Ukraine especially not in near an aid-convoy which is covered by dozens of "western" journalists.
But this afternoon the Ukrainian government claimed that its troops overnight had destroyed a some Russian vehicles:
Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko, told David Cameron in a phone call on Friday that a column of Russian armoured vehicles had been destroyed.
Now everyone in the media is jumping from the Shaun Walker report to the destroyed "Russian armored vehicle" to claim that it was a Russian military convoy that was attacked and destroyed within Ukraine.
Complete story at - M of A - The Mysterious Destroyed "Russian Armored Vehicles"
I'd be very careful in believing the stuff Shaun Walker writes. He was with the [aid-]convoy yesterday and the convoy is halted some 20-30 kilometer away from the border. How could he have observed the (not really well defined) border from there?
Said differently: The Guardian and Shaun Walker have certainly not be neutral in their reporting and publishing about the Ukraine conflict. There is no reason for the Russian army to invade Ukraine especially not in near an aid-convoy which is covered by dozens of "western" journalists.
But this afternoon the Ukrainian government claimed that its troops overnight had destroyed a some Russian vehicles:
Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko, told David Cameron in a phone call on Friday that a column of Russian armoured vehicles had been destroyed.
Now everyone in the media is jumping from the Shaun Walker report to the destroyed "Russian armored vehicle" to claim that it was a Russian military convoy that was attacked and destroyed within Ukraine.
Complete story at - M of A - The Mysterious Destroyed "Russian Armored Vehicles"
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
The European Union Isn't Going To Bail Out Ukraine
The European Union has had a pretty rough run over the past seven years. Economically, things are simply catastrophic. The Eurozone is not only experiencing an output slump that is even worse than the great depression, it is also teetering dangerously close to outright deflation. Unemployment remains persistently high everywhere except Germany: it is still above 25% in both Greece and Spain, and above 10% in Portugal, Italy, and France. The forecasts are hardly encouraging, with expectations of little or no growth in 2014 and an exceedingly modest rebound predicted for 2015. The situation is so desperate and hopeless that respected economists like Tyler Cowen have started to compare the performance of the more sclerotic European economies with the de-industrialization of 19th century India.
Politically, things aren’t a whole lot better. The most recent elections to the European Parliament in late May saw Euroskeptics and radicals of various stripes storm to unprecedented victories. Even The Economist, which has been relentless in its promotion of the EU, sounded the alarm, admitting that the previous “bastion of European federalism” was set to become a “beachhead for all sorts of anti-Europeans.” There’s also the small matter that Viktor Orban, Hungary’s president, has all but declared war on “liberal democracy.” This is just a little bit awkward because Hungary is a member of an organization explicitly founded on liberal democratic concepts. The EU is now in the unprecedented position of needing to confront an avowedly “illiberal” regime within its own ranks.
As I hope the above makes clear, the EU is barely holding itself together. Even in a relatively optimistic scenario, it will have experienced a “lost decade” of economic growth, and tens of millions of Europeans will have had their professional lives deeply and negatively impacted by the European elite’s inability to effectively respond to the crisis. Political radicalism has already been strengthened to a frightening degree, and its anyone’s guess where the process will lead. In such a situation the EU is pretty obviously not in a position to bail anyone else out. Economically the EU doesn’t have the money and, politically, there is no will for further “expansion.”
Complete story at - The European Union Isn't Going To Bail Out Ukraine
Politically, things aren’t a whole lot better. The most recent elections to the European Parliament in late May saw Euroskeptics and radicals of various stripes storm to unprecedented victories. Even The Economist, which has been relentless in its promotion of the EU, sounded the alarm, admitting that the previous “bastion of European federalism” was set to become a “beachhead for all sorts of anti-Europeans.” There’s also the small matter that Viktor Orban, Hungary’s president, has all but declared war on “liberal democracy.” This is just a little bit awkward because Hungary is a member of an organization explicitly founded on liberal democratic concepts. The EU is now in the unprecedented position of needing to confront an avowedly “illiberal” regime within its own ranks.
As I hope the above makes clear, the EU is barely holding itself together. Even in a relatively optimistic scenario, it will have experienced a “lost decade” of economic growth, and tens of millions of Europeans will have had their professional lives deeply and negatively impacted by the European elite’s inability to effectively respond to the crisis. Political radicalism has already been strengthened to a frightening degree, and its anyone’s guess where the process will lead. In such a situation the EU is pretty obviously not in a position to bail anyone else out. Economically the EU doesn’t have the money and, politically, there is no will for further “expansion.”
Complete story at - The European Union Isn't Going To Bail Out Ukraine
Kiev Says Ukraine Needs 5 Bln Cubic Meters of Russian Gas for Winter | Business | RIA Novosti
MOSCOW, August 22 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine needs to purchase additional five billion cubic meters of gas from Russia for the forthcoming winter season, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Friday.
“Can Ukraine now survive without Russian gas? No, it can’t. How much Russian gas do we need to buy? About 5 billion cubic meters,” he said in an interview with Ukrainian TV channels.
He said that three-party gas talks, involving Ukraine, Russia and the European Union, are scheduled to take place next month.
“I hope there will be some final stage to these talks,” he said.
He added that Kiev had reserved $3.1 billion for gas purchases in the National Bank of Ukraine.
Complete story at - Kiev Says Ukraine Needs 5 Bln Cubic Meters of Russian Gas for Winter | Business | RIA Novosti
“Can Ukraine now survive without Russian gas? No, it can’t. How much Russian gas do we need to buy? About 5 billion cubic meters,” he said in an interview with Ukrainian TV channels.
He said that three-party gas talks, involving Ukraine, Russia and the European Union, are scheduled to take place next month.
“I hope there will be some final stage to these talks,” he said.
He added that Kiev had reserved $3.1 billion for gas purchases in the National Bank of Ukraine.
Complete story at - Kiev Says Ukraine Needs 5 Bln Cubic Meters of Russian Gas for Winter | Business | RIA Novosti
At Least 22 Defense Industry Stakeholders Used as ‘Pundits’ by US Media to Sell Syria War
Remember this next time the corporate media are trying to sell the next war…
Before the White House’s Syrian War flop, networks like CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg TV wheeled out at least 22 different men who they claimed were “pundits” and “commentators”, but in actuality were merely bomb and missile salesmen – who held director, board and shareholding positions with military giants like Raytheon, DC Capital Partners and BAE Systems.
Yes, you heard that right.
Watchdog organisation, the Public Accountability Initiative, a non-profit research group, details this and many more disclosures in its recent and damning report on US media coverage to hype a war in Syria.
Should CNN, MSNBC, FOX lose their broadcasting licenses in the US for this gross breach of ethics, particularly when it’s used to sell something as violent and abhorrent as war? We say YES. Will that happen in the US? Well, no, because the media in the US is far from bias and is tightly linked in ownership and sponsorship to the war industry. Start with General Electric and work your way around the table from there.
Add to this, another long line of “experts” deployed by Rupert Murdoch’s perennially pro-war media shop FOX, and now the Wall Street Journal. Most notably here is John Kerry and John McCain’s belle de jour – pro-war spokesmodel, Elizabeth O’Bagy, who aside from being a key operative in helping to pad Washington and Israel’s militarised policy regarding Syria by constructing the “moderate rebel” myth, was dumped by Kimberly Kagan and William Kristol’s neoconservative and pro-Israeli think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) after it was discovered O’Bagy had claimed a nonexistent PhD from Georgetown University. In addition to this media darling and ‘Syria expert’ O’Bagy is policy director for a suspected CIA operation front and money-raising machine called the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF).
Below is a rather educational map, showing the relationships and the pay lines of the ISW crowd, which, in addition to the disgraced O’Bagy, it features war ‘expert’ and director at Raytheon, Stephen Hadley:
Complete story at - At Least 22 Defense Industry Stakeholders Used as ‘Pundits’ by US Media to Sell Syria War
Before the White House’s Syrian War flop, networks like CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg TV wheeled out at least 22 different men who they claimed were “pundits” and “commentators”, but in actuality were merely bomb and missile salesmen – who held director, board and shareholding positions with military giants like Raytheon, DC Capital Partners and BAE Systems.
Yes, you heard that right.
Watchdog organisation, the Public Accountability Initiative, a non-profit research group, details this and many more disclosures in its recent and damning report on US media coverage to hype a war in Syria.
Should CNN, MSNBC, FOX lose their broadcasting licenses in the US for this gross breach of ethics, particularly when it’s used to sell something as violent and abhorrent as war? We say YES. Will that happen in the US? Well, no, because the media in the US is far from bias and is tightly linked in ownership and sponsorship to the war industry. Start with General Electric and work your way around the table from there.
Add to this, another long line of “experts” deployed by Rupert Murdoch’s perennially pro-war media shop FOX, and now the Wall Street Journal. Most notably here is John Kerry and John McCain’s belle de jour – pro-war spokesmodel, Elizabeth O’Bagy, who aside from being a key operative in helping to pad Washington and Israel’s militarised policy regarding Syria by constructing the “moderate rebel” myth, was dumped by Kimberly Kagan and William Kristol’s neoconservative and pro-Israeli think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) after it was discovered O’Bagy had claimed a nonexistent PhD from Georgetown University. In addition to this media darling and ‘Syria expert’ O’Bagy is policy director for a suspected CIA operation front and money-raising machine called the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF).
Below is a rather educational map, showing the relationships and the pay lines of the ISW crowd, which, in addition to the disgraced O’Bagy, it features war ‘expert’ and director at Raytheon, Stephen Hadley:
Complete story at - At Least 22 Defense Industry Stakeholders Used as ‘Pundits’ by US Media to Sell Syria War
Guest Post: Joblessness, Hopelessness, And Government Dependency | Zero Hedge
Submitted by James H. Kustler of Kunstler.com,
Of all the awful tensions roiling and coiling in American society, it’s only a little bit surprising that the racial module is blowing off now rather than, say, the stock market. Perhaps it’s a seasonal thing: race riots in the summer; stock market crashes in the fall, revolutions in the spring.
Michael Brown, the 18-year-old shooting victim of a cop-stop in Ferguson, Missouri, was not the best candidate for martyrdom. But it was only after the violent protests to his killing got underway that his convenience store robbery videotape went public - despite attempts by the US Department of Justice to suppress it - and by then it was too late to stop the juggernaut of grievance. Meanwhile, the white condescension machine (The New York Times, The Huffington Post, et. al.) revved into top gear to validate the fears and resentments of the rioters.
The casual observer from Mars might have trouble finding the reality in this welter of bad feeling. A toxicology report should have accompanied the second autopsy report, and shed a little light, but apparently no one has asked for it yet — notably the leading news media. 18-year-old young men are not known for having great judgment or impulse control even when not high.
White America is tortured by black America’s failure to thrive, and all that guilt and anxiety has only gotten worse as a substantial quota of white America loses its own footing in the middle class and plunges into the rough country of joblessness, hopelessness, and government dependency. The usual remedies of even more dependency aren’t working so well for anybody. It’s politically easier for the moment, though. And both the government and the news media are frantically busy manufacturing excuses for everybody’s bad conduct.
Complete story at - Guest Post: Joblessness, Hopelessness, And Government Dependency | Zero Hedge
Of all the awful tensions roiling and coiling in American society, it’s only a little bit surprising that the racial module is blowing off now rather than, say, the stock market. Perhaps it’s a seasonal thing: race riots in the summer; stock market crashes in the fall, revolutions in the spring.
Michael Brown, the 18-year-old shooting victim of a cop-stop in Ferguson, Missouri, was not the best candidate for martyrdom. But it was only after the violent protests to his killing got underway that his convenience store robbery videotape went public - despite attempts by the US Department of Justice to suppress it - and by then it was too late to stop the juggernaut of grievance. Meanwhile, the white condescension machine (The New York Times, The Huffington Post, et. al.) revved into top gear to validate the fears and resentments of the rioters.
The casual observer from Mars might have trouble finding the reality in this welter of bad feeling. A toxicology report should have accompanied the second autopsy report, and shed a little light, but apparently no one has asked for it yet — notably the leading news media. 18-year-old young men are not known for having great judgment or impulse control even when not high.
White America is tortured by black America’s failure to thrive, and all that guilt and anxiety has only gotten worse as a substantial quota of white America loses its own footing in the middle class and plunges into the rough country of joblessness, hopelessness, and government dependency. The usual remedies of even more dependency aren’t working so well for anybody. It’s politically easier for the moment, though. And both the government and the news media are frantically busy manufacturing excuses for everybody’s bad conduct.
Complete story at - Guest Post: Joblessness, Hopelessness, And Government Dependency | Zero Hedge
Russian Tanks in Ukraine? Consider the Source | New Eastern Outlook
Denying civilians admittedly needed aid constitutes, in the West’s own terms, a crime against humanity. While in Syria attempts by the West to openly arm and equip known terrorist organizations within Syrian territory included a mandate from the UN that allowed supplies to flow without the approval of the Syrian government. Those “aided,” are now clearly the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) running rampant on both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border.
In Ukraine, precisely the opposite is happening. The regime in Kiev is openly raising armies of Nazi militants to go east and mass murder Ukrainians. Referring to Russian-speaking Ukrainians as “subhumans,” the NATO-backed regime is clearly attempting region-wide genocide. Humanitarian aid from Russia, opened for inspection and coordinated with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has been blatantly denied entry into eastern Ukraine after baseless accusations have been made by both Kiev and their NATO backers that it constituted a “Trojan horse.”
To further poison attempts to relieve desperate civilian populations surrounded by literal Nazis in eastern Ukraine, British propaganda outlets from the BBC, to the Guardian and Telegraph are claiming columns of Russian armor have been seen moving into Ukraine. Of course, their articles only provide photographic evidence of the armor inside of Russia, but none proving it crossed the border.
When considering the constant deluge of anti-Russian propaganda in support of literal, flag-waving Nazis and fascists occupying Kiev and mass murdering populations in eastern Ukraine, one must consider the source.
Complete story at - Russian Tanks in Ukraine? Consider the Source | New Eastern Outlook
In Ukraine, precisely the opposite is happening. The regime in Kiev is openly raising armies of Nazi militants to go east and mass murder Ukrainians. Referring to Russian-speaking Ukrainians as “subhumans,” the NATO-backed regime is clearly attempting region-wide genocide. Humanitarian aid from Russia, opened for inspection and coordinated with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has been blatantly denied entry into eastern Ukraine after baseless accusations have been made by both Kiev and their NATO backers that it constituted a “Trojan horse.”
To further poison attempts to relieve desperate civilian populations surrounded by literal Nazis in eastern Ukraine, British propaganda outlets from the BBC, to the Guardian and Telegraph are claiming columns of Russian armor have been seen moving into Ukraine. Of course, their articles only provide photographic evidence of the armor inside of Russia, but none proving it crossed the border.
When considering the constant deluge of anti-Russian propaganda in support of literal, flag-waving Nazis and fascists occupying Kiev and mass murdering populations in eastern Ukraine, one must consider the source.
Complete story at - Russian Tanks in Ukraine? Consider the Source | New Eastern Outlook
Asia Times Online :: Vanishing point …
By Pepe Escobar
First, passenger airliner MH370 vanished from Planet Earth. Then MH370 vanished from the news cycle. First, MH17 was shot down by "Putin's missile" - as Planet Earth was told. Then MH17 vanished from the news cycle.
Where's Baudrillard when we need him? Had he been alive, the dervish of simulacra would have already deconstructed these two Malaysian planes as mirror images; from absolute vanishing to maximum exposure, then vanished again. They might as well have been abducted - and shot - by aliens. Now you seem them, now you don't.
Black boxes, data recorders - everything MH17 is now floating in a black void. The British are taking forever to analyze the data - and if they have already done so, they are not talking. It's as if they were singing, I see a black box / and I want it painted black … void.
The Pentagon, with 20-20 vision over Ukraine, knows what happened. Russian intelligence not only knows what happened but offered a tantalizing glimpse of it in an official presentation, dismissed by the "West". The best technical analyses point not to "Putin's missile" - a BUK - but to a combination of R-60 air-to-air missile and the auto-cannon of an Su-25.
A reader led me to this fair assessment by former USAF and Boeing engineer Raymond Blohm: "With proper vectoring, a Su-25 need not be quite as fast as a Boeing 777 in cruise. It just has to get to a missile-firing position. Since the 777 was not maneuvering, it would be simple to pre-calculate when to get in a certain spot in the sky below the 777. From there, it's the missile that has the speed and altitude capability to hit the 777. (The R-60 is a very capable missile.) After the missile takes out an engine, both the 777's max speed and its max altitude are well within the Su-25 fighter's speed & altitude capabilities. Then, the Su-25 can show off its cannon power."
Complete story at - Asia Times Online :: Vanishing point …
First, passenger airliner MH370 vanished from Planet Earth. Then MH370 vanished from the news cycle. First, MH17 was shot down by "Putin's missile" - as Planet Earth was told. Then MH17 vanished from the news cycle.
Where's Baudrillard when we need him? Had he been alive, the dervish of simulacra would have already deconstructed these two Malaysian planes as mirror images; from absolute vanishing to maximum exposure, then vanished again. They might as well have been abducted - and shot - by aliens. Now you seem them, now you don't.
Black boxes, data recorders - everything MH17 is now floating in a black void. The British are taking forever to analyze the data - and if they have already done so, they are not talking. It's as if they were singing, I see a black box / and I want it painted black … void.
The Pentagon, with 20-20 vision over Ukraine, knows what happened. Russian intelligence not only knows what happened but offered a tantalizing glimpse of it in an official presentation, dismissed by the "West". The best technical analyses point not to "Putin's missile" - a BUK - but to a combination of R-60 air-to-air missile and the auto-cannon of an Su-25.
A reader led me to this fair assessment by former USAF and Boeing engineer Raymond Blohm: "With proper vectoring, a Su-25 need not be quite as fast as a Boeing 777 in cruise. It just has to get to a missile-firing position. Since the 777 was not maneuvering, it would be simple to pre-calculate when to get in a certain spot in the sky below the 777. From there, it's the missile that has the speed and altitude capability to hit the 777. (The R-60 is a very capable missile.) After the missile takes out an engine, both the 777's max speed and its max altitude are well within the Su-25 fighter's speed & altitude capabilities. Then, the Su-25 can show off its cannon power."
Complete story at - Asia Times Online :: Vanishing point …
Monday, August 25, 2014
Discontent with life expands among Kyivans, over half of them feel impact of crisis in economy - poll
Kyiv, August 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The satisfaction with life in August among Kyiv residents considerably fell compared to May 2014, according to the results of a poll conducted by Research and Branding Group.
According to the poll conducted in August, the results of which were presented at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on August 15, 42% of respondents are satisfied with their lives in general (68% in May) and 46% of them are not satisfied (26%).
Asked what feelings they have, 36% of respondents named hope, 56% - alarm, 16% - optimism, 18% - confusion, 13% fear and 13% pessimism.
The respondents said that among the consequences of the past six months they are fearing an armed conflict most of all (70%), a rise in the prices and inflation (51%), a loss of job (33%), panic and chaos (22%), stoppage of production (12%), growth of crime (11%), the instability of the foreign exchange rate (13%) and a drop in their standard of living (14%).
Taking into account the events of the last six months, a large number of Kyivans believe that today the country is only just entering a large-scale crisis (39%) and is on the peak of a large crisis (38%). 1% of respondents said that there is no large-scale crisis, and 5% said Ukraine is gradually overcoming a large-scale crisis.
Complete story at - Discontent with life expands among Kyivans, over half of them feel impact of crisis in economy - poll
According to the poll conducted in August, the results of which were presented at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on August 15, 42% of respondents are satisfied with their lives in general (68% in May) and 46% of them are not satisfied (26%).
Asked what feelings they have, 36% of respondents named hope, 56% - alarm, 16% - optimism, 18% - confusion, 13% fear and 13% pessimism.
The respondents said that among the consequences of the past six months they are fearing an armed conflict most of all (70%), a rise in the prices and inflation (51%), a loss of job (33%), panic and chaos (22%), stoppage of production (12%), growth of crime (11%), the instability of the foreign exchange rate (13%) and a drop in their standard of living (14%).
Taking into account the events of the last six months, a large number of Kyivans believe that today the country is only just entering a large-scale crisis (39%) and is on the peak of a large crisis (38%). 1% of respondents said that there is no large-scale crisis, and 5% said Ukraine is gradually overcoming a large-scale crisis.
Complete story at - Discontent with life expands among Kyivans, over half of them feel impact of crisis in economy - poll
Ukraine's Revolutionaries Surrender to Corruption - Bloomberg View
To international audiences, Ukraine is now no more than the scene of a Russian-inspired armed conflict. The fighting, however, is confined to areas that are home to 6.5 million of Ukraine's total population of 45 million. Although the outcome there is important to all Ukrainians, there is a bigger issue: Will the country emerge from the wreckage as a better, cleaner one? Some of the heroes of the Maidan revolution, which toppled the corrupt government of President Viktor Yanukovych in February, are beginning to doubt that.
Tetyana Chornovil is one of those heroes, a firebrand investigative journalist and anti-corruption activist whose beating in December, apparently at the hands of pro-Yanukovych thugs, sparked mass outrage. After the regime fell, she was put in charge of the new government's anti-corruption policy. Now, she's quitting, as she announced in a lengthy column on pravda.com.ua, saying her presence in the government was "useless." "There is no political will in Ukraine for an uncompromising, wide-scale war on corruption," she wrote, complaining that all her initiatives had drowned in a "bureaucratic swamp" and that Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was not interested in attacking the business interests of Ukrainian oligarchs to avoid vilification by oligarch-controlled media.
Ukraine Standoff
Chornovil's bitterness and sense of futility was amplified by the death of her husband, Nikolai Berezovoy, killed in action near Donetsk. Hers is not an isolated case, though: less than two weeks ago, Andriy Parubiy, head of the Defense and National Security Council, also tendered his resignation.
During the winter protests, Parubiy was an important figure, heading the self-defense force that fought off Yanukovych's riot police on the barricades. He declined to comment on his resignation, saying it would be "unacceptable" while his country is at war. The version making the rounds in Kiev, however, is that Parubiy wanted President Petro Poroshenko to be even tougher than he has been in fighting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, as well as in countering Russian propaganda.
Complete story at - Ukraine's Revolutionaries Surrender to Corruption - Bloomberg View
Tetyana Chornovil is one of those heroes, a firebrand investigative journalist and anti-corruption activist whose beating in December, apparently at the hands of pro-Yanukovych thugs, sparked mass outrage. After the regime fell, she was put in charge of the new government's anti-corruption policy. Now, she's quitting, as she announced in a lengthy column on pravda.com.ua, saying her presence in the government was "useless." "There is no political will in Ukraine for an uncompromising, wide-scale war on corruption," she wrote, complaining that all her initiatives had drowned in a "bureaucratic swamp" and that Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was not interested in attacking the business interests of Ukrainian oligarchs to avoid vilification by oligarch-controlled media.
Ukraine Standoff
Chornovil's bitterness and sense of futility was amplified by the death of her husband, Nikolai Berezovoy, killed in action near Donetsk. Hers is not an isolated case, though: less than two weeks ago, Andriy Parubiy, head of the Defense and National Security Council, also tendered his resignation.
During the winter protests, Parubiy was an important figure, heading the self-defense force that fought off Yanukovych's riot police on the barricades. He declined to comment on his resignation, saying it would be "unacceptable" while his country is at war. The version making the rounds in Kiev, however, is that Parubiy wanted President Petro Poroshenko to be even tougher than he has been in fighting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, as well as in countering Russian propaganda.
Complete story at - Ukraine's Revolutionaries Surrender to Corruption - Bloomberg View
M of A - Ukraine: Europe Stagnates, Russia Growns
Russia seems to somewhat de-russify the conflict in Ukraine:
15:39 GMT: - Igor Strelkov, the field commander and defense minister of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, has resigned, according to a statement published on the local militia’s website. He will be replaced by Vladimir Kononov as military commander, the website said.
08:36 GMT: - Head of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic Valery Bolotov has resigned his position, citing an injury that prevents him to work to the full extend. He said the republic's Defense Minister Igor Plotnitsky is likely to replace him and that he will remain among the officials of the unrecognized entity in another capacity.
Last week the Donetsk People's Republic, the other of the two self-proclaimed entities in eastern Ukraine, had its head Aleksandr Boroday replaced.
At least Strelkov and Boroday are Russian citizens. Bolotov was born in Russia. Their replacements seem to be from Ukraine.
This step was probably taken to distance Russia from the insurgency.
Meanwhile 12 Red Sektor nazis from an Einsatzgruppe on its way to the battlefield were killed yesterday in an ambush by the insurgents. The city center of insurgency held Donetsk was under artillery fire today and several civilians died. Over thousand have died in the last two weeks alone and the situation in the insurgency held cities is bad with water and electricity distributions destroyed by Ukrainian government bombardments.
Complete story at - M of A - Ukraine: Europe Stagnates, Russia Growns
15:39 GMT: - Igor Strelkov, the field commander and defense minister of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, has resigned, according to a statement published on the local militia’s website. He will be replaced by Vladimir Kononov as military commander, the website said.
08:36 GMT: - Head of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic Valery Bolotov has resigned his position, citing an injury that prevents him to work to the full extend. He said the republic's Defense Minister Igor Plotnitsky is likely to replace him and that he will remain among the officials of the unrecognized entity in another capacity.
Last week the Donetsk People's Republic, the other of the two self-proclaimed entities in eastern Ukraine, had its head Aleksandr Boroday replaced.
At least Strelkov and Boroday are Russian citizens. Bolotov was born in Russia. Their replacements seem to be from Ukraine.
This step was probably taken to distance Russia from the insurgency.
Meanwhile 12 Red Sektor nazis from an Einsatzgruppe on its way to the battlefield were killed yesterday in an ambush by the insurgents. The city center of insurgency held Donetsk was under artillery fire today and several civilians died. Over thousand have died in the last two weeks alone and the situation in the insurgency held cities is bad with water and electricity distributions destroyed by Ukrainian government bombardments.
Complete story at - M of A - Ukraine: Europe Stagnates, Russia Growns
MSM War on Gaza
Journalists daring to criticize Israel responsibility face likely dismissal and banishment from MSM employment.
Once again, Israel waged cold, calculated premeditated aggression against near defenseless Palestinians.
An Israeli Goliath mercilessly attacked a Palestinian David. It did so for unjustifiable reasons. Mass slaughter, destruction and human misery followed.
Non-combatant men, women and children suffered most. They were deliberately targeted. They comprised over 80% of deaths and injuries.
Israeli casualties hardly compare to around 2,000 mostly civilian Palestinian deaths, up to 10,000 injured, large parts of Gaza in ruins, hundreds of thousands forcibly displaced, and families losing all their possessions.
Operation Protective Edge is the most devastating Israeli aggression on Palestinians since its 1947-48 war.
A shaky ceasefire could end any time. Heavy Israeli shelling and bombing could resume. Palestinian casualties could continue mounting.
The fate of about 1.7 million Gazans hangs in the balance. They're trapped in the world's largest open-air prison. They're unable to find refuge anywhere.
Every square inch of Gaza is fair game. Israel inflicts collective punishment mercilessly. Civilian men, women and children are considered legitimate targets.
So are schools, hospitals, mosques, residential neighborhoods and vital infrastructure unrelated to military necessity. Terror bombing and shelling reflect longstanding Israeli policy.
Precision weapons can mass slaughter with technological ease. Banned terror weapons are used against defenseless civilians in densely populated residential areas.
They include 4cm-long metal darts called flechettes. They're anti-personnel weapons able to penetrate bone deep enough to inflict horrific injuries.
One artillery shell can deliver up to 8,000 of them. On impact, rupturing releases them at high speed in a funnel-shaped pattern over an area of about 300 meters.
White phosphorous is devastating to human flesh. It's a flammable chemical. Israel uses it as an incendiary weapon and smoke screen.
When exposed to air, it spontaneously ignites. It burns to the bone. It keeps burning until consumed or deprived of oxygen.
Complete story at - MSM War on Gaza
Once again, Israel waged cold, calculated premeditated aggression against near defenseless Palestinians.
An Israeli Goliath mercilessly attacked a Palestinian David. It did so for unjustifiable reasons. Mass slaughter, destruction and human misery followed.
Non-combatant men, women and children suffered most. They were deliberately targeted. They comprised over 80% of deaths and injuries.
Israeli casualties hardly compare to around 2,000 mostly civilian Palestinian deaths, up to 10,000 injured, large parts of Gaza in ruins, hundreds of thousands forcibly displaced, and families losing all their possessions.
Operation Protective Edge is the most devastating Israeli aggression on Palestinians since its 1947-48 war.
A shaky ceasefire could end any time. Heavy Israeli shelling and bombing could resume. Palestinian casualties could continue mounting.
The fate of about 1.7 million Gazans hangs in the balance. They're trapped in the world's largest open-air prison. They're unable to find refuge anywhere.
Every square inch of Gaza is fair game. Israel inflicts collective punishment mercilessly. Civilian men, women and children are considered legitimate targets.
So are schools, hospitals, mosques, residential neighborhoods and vital infrastructure unrelated to military necessity. Terror bombing and shelling reflect longstanding Israeli policy.
Precision weapons can mass slaughter with technological ease. Banned terror weapons are used against defenseless civilians in densely populated residential areas.
They include 4cm-long metal darts called flechettes. They're anti-personnel weapons able to penetrate bone deep enough to inflict horrific injuries.
One artillery shell can deliver up to 8,000 of them. On impact, rupturing releases them at high speed in a funnel-shaped pattern over an area of about 300 meters.
White phosphorous is devastating to human flesh. It's a flammable chemical. Israel uses it as an incendiary weapon and smoke screen.
When exposed to air, it spontaneously ignites. It burns to the bone. It keeps burning until consumed or deprived of oxygen.
Complete story at - MSM War on Gaza
New Tax Threatens To Destroy Gas Production In Ukraine | Zero Hedge
Submitted by James Stafford via OilPrice.com,
Independent gas producers in Ukraine are joining forces to pressure the government in Kiev to re-think its new gas tax before everyone makes a run for the border in search of new assets in a more stable environment.
Private producers have compiled a draft letter to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, criticizing the government’s doubling of taxes for gas producers, which was justified through the use of “wrong and misleading” data about private companies.
They also warn that their time in Ukraine will be over if the tax is extended beyond the end of this year - and there will be no further foreign investment in the country’s beleaguered gas sector.
In an open letter to Yatsenyuk--an advance copy of which was obtained by Oilprice.com on August 10--independent gas producers in Ukraine pointed out that the cost of gas production by private companies in Ukraine exceeds the capital costs of public companies, which enjoy the advantage of development well researched and more easily profitable areas. “Therefore, any estimates by the Ministry of Finance as to the cost of gas on the basis of the financial performance of public companies cannot be used to determine the profitability of private company projects, which may be 10 times higher,” the letter said.
What the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance seems to view as the extraordinary windfall of profits enjoyed by private companies is unrealistic at best, said the letter, which was signed by private producers Cub Energy, Geo Alliance, Burisma, Kub Gas, and Regal Petroleum.
Complete story at - New Tax Threatens To Destroy Gas Production In Ukraine | Zero Hedge
Independent gas producers in Ukraine are joining forces to pressure the government in Kiev to re-think its new gas tax before everyone makes a run for the border in search of new assets in a more stable environment.
Private producers have compiled a draft letter to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, criticizing the government’s doubling of taxes for gas producers, which was justified through the use of “wrong and misleading” data about private companies.
They also warn that their time in Ukraine will be over if the tax is extended beyond the end of this year - and there will be no further foreign investment in the country’s beleaguered gas sector.
In an open letter to Yatsenyuk--an advance copy of which was obtained by Oilprice.com on August 10--independent gas producers in Ukraine pointed out that the cost of gas production by private companies in Ukraine exceeds the capital costs of public companies, which enjoy the advantage of development well researched and more easily profitable areas. “Therefore, any estimates by the Ministry of Finance as to the cost of gas on the basis of the financial performance of public companies cannot be used to determine the profitability of private company projects, which may be 10 times higher,” the letter said.
What the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance seems to view as the extraordinary windfall of profits enjoyed by private companies is unrealistic at best, said the letter, which was signed by private producers Cub Energy, Geo Alliance, Burisma, Kub Gas, and Regal Petroleum.
Complete story at - New Tax Threatens To Destroy Gas Production In Ukraine | Zero Hedge
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Karel van Wolferen : The Ukraine, Corrupted Journalism, and the Atlanticist Faith in the “Failed States” — Novorossiya News Agency
The European Union is not (anymore) guided by politicians with a grasp of history, a sober assessment of global reality, or simple common sense connected with the long term interests of what they are guiding. If any more evidence was needed, it has certainly been supplied by the sanctions they have agreed on last week aimed at punishing Russia.
One way to fathom their foolishness is to start with the media, since whatever understanding or concern these politicians may have personally they must be seen to be doing the right thing, which is taken care of by TV and newspapers.
In much of the European Union the general understanding of global reality since the horrible fate of the people on board the Malaysian Airliner comes from mainstream newspapers and TV which have copied the approach of Anglo-American mainstream media, and have presented ‘news’ in which insinuation and vilification substitute for proper reporting.
Respected publications, like the Financial Times or the once respected NRC Handelsblad of the Netherlands for which I worked sixteen years as East Asia Correspondent, not only joined in with this corrupted journalism but helped guide it to mad conclusions. The punditry and editorials that have grown out of this have gone further than anything among earlier examples of sustained media hysteria stoked for political purposes that I can remember. The most flagrant example I have come across, an anti-Putin leader in the (July 26) Economist Magazine, had the tone of Shakespeare’s Henry V exhorting his troops before the battle of Agincourt as he invaded France.
One should keep in mind that there are no European-wide newspapers or publications to sustain a European public sphere, in the sense of a means for politically interested Europeans to ponder and debate with each other big international developments. Because those interested in world affairs usually read the international edition of the New York Times or the Financial Times, questions and answers on geopolitical matters are routinely shaped or strongly influenced by what editors in New York and London have determined as being important.
Thinking that may deviate significantly as can now be found in Der Spiegel, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Zeit and Handelsblatt, does not travel across German borders. Hence we do not see anything like a European opinion evolving on global affairs, even when these have a direct impact on the interests of the European Union itself.
Complete story at - Karel van Wolferen : The Ukraine, Corrupted Journalism, and the Atlanticist Faith in the “Failed States” — Novorossiya News Agency
One way to fathom their foolishness is to start with the media, since whatever understanding or concern these politicians may have personally they must be seen to be doing the right thing, which is taken care of by TV and newspapers.
In much of the European Union the general understanding of global reality since the horrible fate of the people on board the Malaysian Airliner comes from mainstream newspapers and TV which have copied the approach of Anglo-American mainstream media, and have presented ‘news’ in which insinuation and vilification substitute for proper reporting.
Respected publications, like the Financial Times or the once respected NRC Handelsblad of the Netherlands for which I worked sixteen years as East Asia Correspondent, not only joined in with this corrupted journalism but helped guide it to mad conclusions. The punditry and editorials that have grown out of this have gone further than anything among earlier examples of sustained media hysteria stoked for political purposes that I can remember. The most flagrant example I have come across, an anti-Putin leader in the (July 26) Economist Magazine, had the tone of Shakespeare’s Henry V exhorting his troops before the battle of Agincourt as he invaded France.
One should keep in mind that there are no European-wide newspapers or publications to sustain a European public sphere, in the sense of a means for politically interested Europeans to ponder and debate with each other big international developments. Because those interested in world affairs usually read the international edition of the New York Times or the Financial Times, questions and answers on geopolitical matters are routinely shaped or strongly influenced by what editors in New York and London have determined as being important.
Thinking that may deviate significantly as can now be found in Der Spiegel, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Zeit and Handelsblatt, does not travel across German borders. Hence we do not see anything like a European opinion evolving on global affairs, even when these have a direct impact on the interests of the European Union itself.
Complete story at - Karel van Wolferen : The Ukraine, Corrupted Journalism, and the Atlanticist Faith in the “Failed States” — Novorossiya News Agency
The New Cold War and the Necessity of Patriotic Heresy | The Nation
I prepared the text below for remarks to the annual US-Russia Forum in Washington, DC, on June 16. Though held in the Hart Senate Office Building, and well attended, the event was privately organized, without any official auspices. In order to fit the time allocated to speakers, I had to abridge my text. I have restored the deletions here and spelled out a number of my impromptu comments. In addition, I refer to a few subsequent developments to illustrate some of my themes. I have not, however, significantly revised words written to be spoken into the prose I prefer for published articles. —SFC
We meet today during the worst and potentially most dangerous American-Russian confrontation in many decades, probably since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. The Ukrainian civil war, precipitated by the unlawful change of government in Kiev in February, is already growing into a proxy US-Russian war. The seemingly unthinkable is becoming imaginable: an actual war between NATO, led by the United States, and post-Soviet Russia.
Certainly, we are already in a new cold war, which escalating sanctions will only deepen and institutionalize, one potentially more dangerous than its US-Soviet predecessor the world barely survived. This is so for several reasons:
—The epicenter of the new cold war is not in Berlin but on Russia's borders, in Ukraine, a region absolutely essential in Moscow's view to its national security and even to its civilization. This means that the kinds of miscalculations, mishaps and provocations the world witnessed decades ago will be even more fraught with danger. (The mysterious shoot down of a Malaysian jetliner over eastern Ukraine in July was an ominous example.)
—An even graver risk is that the new cold war may tempt the use of nuclear weapons in a way the US-Soviet one did not. I have in mind the argument made by some Moscow military strategists that if directly threatened by NATO's superior conventional forces, Russia may resort to its much larger arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons. (The ongoing US-NATO encirclement of Russia with bases, as well as land and sea-based missile defense, only increases this possibility.)
Complete story at - The New Cold War and the Necessity of Patriotic Heresy | The Nation
We meet today during the worst and potentially most dangerous American-Russian confrontation in many decades, probably since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. The Ukrainian civil war, precipitated by the unlawful change of government in Kiev in February, is already growing into a proxy US-Russian war. The seemingly unthinkable is becoming imaginable: an actual war between NATO, led by the United States, and post-Soviet Russia.
Certainly, we are already in a new cold war, which escalating sanctions will only deepen and institutionalize, one potentially more dangerous than its US-Soviet predecessor the world barely survived. This is so for several reasons:
—The epicenter of the new cold war is not in Berlin but on Russia's borders, in Ukraine, a region absolutely essential in Moscow's view to its national security and even to its civilization. This means that the kinds of miscalculations, mishaps and provocations the world witnessed decades ago will be even more fraught with danger. (The mysterious shoot down of a Malaysian jetliner over eastern Ukraine in July was an ominous example.)
—An even graver risk is that the new cold war may tempt the use of nuclear weapons in a way the US-Soviet one did not. I have in mind the argument made by some Moscow military strategists that if directly threatened by NATO's superior conventional forces, Russia may resort to its much larger arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons. (The ongoing US-NATO encirclement of Russia with bases, as well as land and sea-based missile defense, only increases this possibility.)
Complete story at - The New Cold War and the Necessity of Patriotic Heresy | The Nation
Bulgaria Halts South Stream Pipeline Again As NATO F-15s, Troops Arrive | Zero Hedge
As we detailed previously, Bulgaria had been an enthusiastic supporter of the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline project, whose construction has stoked tensions between the West and Moscow as it enabled gas supply to bypass troubled Ukraine (thus squeezing the desparate economy back into Russia's hands). In early June, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski ordered an initial halt (after Europe offered the nation's suddenly collapsing banking system a lifeline). This time, Energy Minister Vasil Shtonov has ordered Bulgaria’s Energy Holding to halt any actions in regards of the project as it does not meet the requirements of the European Commission. Of course, we assume this decision (to halt a 2nd time) is entirely independent of NATO's deployment of 12 F-15s and 180 troops to Bulgaria's Graf Ignatievo Air Base.
As RT reports, all operations on Russia’s Gazprom-led project South Stream have been suspended, as they do not meet the requirements of the European Commission, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Economy and Energy said on its website.
As RT reports, all operations on Russia’s Gazprom-led project South Stream have been suspended, as they do not meet the requirements of the European Commission, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Economy and Energy said on its website.
“Minister of Economy and Energy Vasil Shtonov has ordered Bulgaria’s Energy Holding to halt any actions in regards of the project,” the ministry said. This specifically means entering into new contracts.Complete story at - Bulgaria Halts South Stream Pipeline Again As NATO F-15s, Troops Arrive | Zero Hedge
There has been mounting pressure from the EU to put the project on hold, and now the European Commission will be consulted each step of the way to make sure it complies with EU law.
European 'anti-monopoly' laws prohibits the same company to both own and operate the pipeline. However, Gazprom and Bulgaria had previously struck a bilateral agreement regarding that aspect of the project.
...
Bulgaria is the first country traversed by the pipeline on land, after a section that runs beneath the Black Sea from Russia.
FERGUSON, MISSOURI / This is What Martial Law Looks Like
Spurred on by 9/11 and the War on Terror, America has become a feared military force of terror but the prime target has always been the American public which is becoming increasingly aware of their Government sponsored militarized police who see and relate to them as Middle East terrorists until proven innocent such as in Ferguson, Missouri. The military-style occupation of Ferguson, Missouri has ripped aside the thin veneer of democracy to expose a budding police state. This is what martial law looks like: Allen L Roland, Ph.D
As I watch, with alarm, the rapidly growing American militarized Police State as well as George W Bush and Dick Cheney’s recent book tours ~ where they rationalize their illegal wars and economic rape of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as justify torture as a means to this criminal end ~ I am immediately reminded of Milton Mayer’s classic THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE FREE (The Germans 1933 – 1945).
Mayer’s book describes the slow but sure seduction of the German people as their civil liberties, freedoms and moral values were gradually stripped away by Hitler’s fascist government while waving the flag of national security and patriotism.
Pg. 166 / 167 THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE FREE
But Then It Was Too Late ~ "What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it … this separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.”
Apathy increases with each measured step, as it most certainly has in America, and Mayer knowingly describes the consequences for Germany in the early 1930’s~
Complete story at - FERGUSON, MISSOURI / This is What Martial Law Looks Like
As I watch, with alarm, the rapidly growing American militarized Police State as well as George W Bush and Dick Cheney’s recent book tours ~ where they rationalize their illegal wars and economic rape of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as justify torture as a means to this criminal end ~ I am immediately reminded of Milton Mayer’s classic THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE FREE (The Germans 1933 – 1945).
Mayer’s book describes the slow but sure seduction of the German people as their civil liberties, freedoms and moral values were gradually stripped away by Hitler’s fascist government while waving the flag of national security and patriotism.
Pg. 166 / 167 THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE FREE
But Then It Was Too Late ~ "What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it … this separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.”
Apathy increases with each measured step, as it most certainly has in America, and Mayer knowingly describes the consequences for Germany in the early 1930’s~
Complete story at - FERGUSON, MISSOURI / This is What Martial Law Looks Like
Friday, August 22, 2014
The American Aggression Enabling Act and the US’ Eurasian Thrust (II) | Oriental Review
--- PART TWO OF TWO ---
Part II: Destabilization by Design
The second thrust of the US’ aggression in Eurasia is the purposeful destabilization of Russia’s interests in the Near Abroad. Specifically, the AAEA’s provisions would lead to an endangered security situation for Belarus, mayhem in Moldova, and an aggravation of the Nagorno-Karabakh situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia. All of these work against Russian interests and place Moscow on the strategic defensive.
Bunkering in Belarus:
One of the US’ designs is to bunker Belarus in and surround it with offensive NATO military capabilities. American aggression against Belarus is old news, going back most sensationally to the mid-2000s when Condoleeza Rice declared the country to be the “last dictatorship in Europe”, thereby putting its head on the chopping block for regime change. Although unsuccessful in overthrowing the government via a Color Revolution, Washington still pumps millions of dollars into the country to support “democracy” (likely in the same vein and with the same intended result as it did in Ukraine with its $5 billion investment). If the AAEA’s goal of placing permanent NATO bases in Poland and the Baltics comes to fruition, as well as the goal of Shadow NATO integration of Ukraine, Belarus could very well find itself almost surrounded by hostile forces pressuring it to accede to their demands. Making the situation even more high-risk, Belarus and Russia have a mutual security agreement via the CSTO, meaning that any act of force against Belarus will be treated as an act against Russia itself. This remarkably raises the stakes of NATO’s power play and increases the chance of direct conflict with Russia.
Moldovan Meltdown:
Flying largely under the radar of most analysts, Moldova is prime for a full-scale meltdown as it is rushed into Western institutions. First and foremost, the country already signed the EU Association Agreement in late June and, for the first time in its history, will be sending a representative to the upcoming NATO summit in September. Although nominal neutrality is a hallmark of the country’s constitution, this does not mean that it cannot enter Shadow NATO via major non-NATO ally designation or potentially enact a ‘referendum’ to change this statute.
Complete story at - The American Aggression Enabling Act and the US’ Eurasian Thrust (II) | Oriental Review
Part II: Destabilization by Design
The second thrust of the US’ aggression in Eurasia is the purposeful destabilization of Russia’s interests in the Near Abroad. Specifically, the AAEA’s provisions would lead to an endangered security situation for Belarus, mayhem in Moldova, and an aggravation of the Nagorno-Karabakh situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia. All of these work against Russian interests and place Moscow on the strategic defensive.
Bunkering in Belarus:
One of the US’ designs is to bunker Belarus in and surround it with offensive NATO military capabilities. American aggression against Belarus is old news, going back most sensationally to the mid-2000s when Condoleeza Rice declared the country to be the “last dictatorship in Europe”, thereby putting its head on the chopping block for regime change. Although unsuccessful in overthrowing the government via a Color Revolution, Washington still pumps millions of dollars into the country to support “democracy” (likely in the same vein and with the same intended result as it did in Ukraine with its $5 billion investment). If the AAEA’s goal of placing permanent NATO bases in Poland and the Baltics comes to fruition, as well as the goal of Shadow NATO integration of Ukraine, Belarus could very well find itself almost surrounded by hostile forces pressuring it to accede to their demands. Making the situation even more high-risk, Belarus and Russia have a mutual security agreement via the CSTO, meaning that any act of force against Belarus will be treated as an act against Russia itself. This remarkably raises the stakes of NATO’s power play and increases the chance of direct conflict with Russia.
Moldovan Meltdown:
Flying largely under the radar of most analysts, Moldova is prime for a full-scale meltdown as it is rushed into Western institutions. First and foremost, the country already signed the EU Association Agreement in late June and, for the first time in its history, will be sending a representative to the upcoming NATO summit in September. Although nominal neutrality is a hallmark of the country’s constitution, this does not mean that it cannot enter Shadow NATO via major non-NATO ally designation or potentially enact a ‘referendum’ to change this statute.
Complete story at - The American Aggression Enabling Act and the US’ Eurasian Thrust (II) | Oriental Review
The American Aggression Enabling Act and the US’ Eurasian Thrust (I) | Oriental Review
By Andrew KORYBKO (USA)
--- PART ONE OF TWO ---
Congressional Hawks have been peddling the idea of a “Russian Aggression Prevention Act” since the beginning of May, but it has only been during the recent media-inspired hysteria that it began to gain traction. If passed into law, it would amount to a sweeping NATO offensive across all of Russia’s former soviet western periphery and would be the first official act of the ‘New Cold War’. Much has been written about the overall thematic consequences for US-Russian relations by Paul Craig Roberts and Patrick Buchanan illustrated how the US plans to use the legislation to subvert the Russian government from within via its support for ‘NGOs’ (and the prioritized ‘refugee’ status for journalists, ‘dissidents’, and various activists that is included in the document). What has not been explored, however, are some of the finer, yet no less important, aspects of the Act’s implementation. Whether it be NATO expansion into the Balkans or the destabilization of the Caucasus, bill S. 2277 more accurately could be described as the American Aggression Enabling Act (AAEA), as it represents a surge of US offensive military capability against Russian interests in its western flank.
Part I: The NATO Tumor Grows
The AAEA represents the cancerous growth of NATO throughout all of its targeted territories. Some of its most important details are that the EU and NATO are working hand-in-hand, NATO aims to swallow the Balkans, and the Missile Defense Shield (MDS) is to proceed at full speed ahead, with all of the resultant consequences thereof.
Good Cop, Bad Cop:
Although not explicitly stated in the AAEA itself, if one steps back and examines the overall context of the document, it is obvious that the EU and NATO have been working in lockstep to advance each other’s goals. In fact, an overall pattern can be ascertained:
(1) The EU makes some form of outreach to the targeted state(s) (e.g. The Eastern Partnership)
(2) Economic links between the EU and the target are nominally institutionalized (e.g. an EU Association Agreement)
(3) Shadow NATO (via major non-NATO ally status) moves in to defend the economic integration process
The EU presents the friendly, ‘humanitarian’ face to disarm the targeted state’s population while Shadow NATO inconspicuously attempts to absorb the country. This is the tried-and-tested technique of ‘good cop, bad cop’.
Complete story at - The American Aggression Enabling Act and the US’ Eurasian Thrust (I) | Oriental Review
--- PART ONE OF TWO ---
Congressional Hawks have been peddling the idea of a “Russian Aggression Prevention Act” since the beginning of May, but it has only been during the recent media-inspired hysteria that it began to gain traction. If passed into law, it would amount to a sweeping NATO offensive across all of Russia’s former soviet western periphery and would be the first official act of the ‘New Cold War’. Much has been written about the overall thematic consequences for US-Russian relations by Paul Craig Roberts and Patrick Buchanan illustrated how the US plans to use the legislation to subvert the Russian government from within via its support for ‘NGOs’ (and the prioritized ‘refugee’ status for journalists, ‘dissidents’, and various activists that is included in the document). What has not been explored, however, are some of the finer, yet no less important, aspects of the Act’s implementation. Whether it be NATO expansion into the Balkans or the destabilization of the Caucasus, bill S. 2277 more accurately could be described as the American Aggression Enabling Act (AAEA), as it represents a surge of US offensive military capability against Russian interests in its western flank.
Part I: The NATO Tumor Grows
The AAEA represents the cancerous growth of NATO throughout all of its targeted territories. Some of its most important details are that the EU and NATO are working hand-in-hand, NATO aims to swallow the Balkans, and the Missile Defense Shield (MDS) is to proceed at full speed ahead, with all of the resultant consequences thereof.
Good Cop, Bad Cop:
Although not explicitly stated in the AAEA itself, if one steps back and examines the overall context of the document, it is obvious that the EU and NATO have been working in lockstep to advance each other’s goals. In fact, an overall pattern can be ascertained:
(1) The EU makes some form of outreach to the targeted state(s) (e.g. The Eastern Partnership)
(2) Economic links between the EU and the target are nominally institutionalized (e.g. an EU Association Agreement)
(3) Shadow NATO (via major non-NATO ally status) moves in to defend the economic integration process
The EU presents the friendly, ‘humanitarian’ face to disarm the targeted state’s population while Shadow NATO inconspicuously attempts to absorb the country. This is the tried-and-tested technique of ‘good cop, bad cop’.
Complete story at - The American Aggression Enabling Act and the US’ Eurasian Thrust (I) | Oriental Review
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