Mariupol Attack- Motive, Method and Madness- Demand Justice for Kiev's War Crimes - Washington's Blog

The UN is calling the attack on Mariupol a War Crime. Now that the evidence is pointing to Kiev will the UN show enough conscience to pursue it?

Motive, method, and opportunity are the key facts needed to establish guilt in any criminal trial. In a shooting murder when you add in ballistics that locates the weapon to the shooter, its called a slam dunk, case closed. When known criminals with heavy weapons are willing to brag publicly on prime-time news that they are about to murder someone, and after the fact go on record about how much joy this event brought them- its time to call SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics group).

The attack in Mariupol came after Ukraine failed twice in one week to get a UN and Western government declaration that DNR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and LNR (Lugansk People’s Republic) are terrorist entities. Is the third time the charm? Ukraine thinks so.

Before delving into the evidence, look at who doesn’t benefit. Benefit is a key factor in determining motive.

The militia near Mariupol is comprised of local city residents. Like soldiers in Donetsk and Lugansk, the city is their home town. Its where there family and friends live. Its where they grew up, went to school, and work. Their own children go to school there. Is there a benefit to firing rockets at your own neighbors and family?

Opportunity

The base problem with using Grad rockets to provoke outrage is that locating the source of the attack isn’t rocket science. Unguided rockets have a straight flight path. The rocket is a contact explosive which means it explodes when it lands. The crater points in the direction of the origin usually with a part of the nose cone left from the rocket itself inside inside the crater.

The OSCE gave their direction of origin north-north-east based on the sampling of rocket impacts they inspected.

Evidence also shows rockets striking from the north-west. The impacts were captured on cameras facing due west which showed the direction as the strike occurred on video as north-north-west.

Complete story at - Mariupol Attack- Motive, Method and Madness- Demand Justice for Kiev's War Crimes - Washington's Blog

Ukraine's "peace" President Poroshenko will pay men drafted to fight an extra $60 a day to go kill East Ukraine citizens - Red Pill Times

Talka notes: So, those who are drafted will get an extra $60 a day to fight Poroshenko's genocidal war. A couple of things. He promised something similar many months ago. Whatever happened to that promise? And if this happens, the extra pay soldiers collect in 1 week will be more than the monthly salary of doctors, nurses, teachers, and the police. Sound about right in the new Ukrainia.

Condemnations from America against Poroshenko’s military draft, and now pay raise…nothing.

EU puppets speaking out about Ukraine’s continued escalation of the war…no chance.

Why not use the money recently granted to Kiev from the EU and US to pay drafted citizens an extra $60 a day to go cleanse the East Ukraine of Russian speaking people. No matter what, no western leader will dare speak out against the criminal activities taking place in Donbass.

Next time European leaders gather around a table in Brussels to chew the fat and brag about how good and angelic they are, let there be no doubt that it’s the money from Brussels, and the money from each and every European citizen, myself included, that goes towards fuelling this war.

Today I just paid a portion of this $60 salary bump, per draftee, that will go towards a war that makes absolutely zero sense.

The European Union is infested with war criminals, who use European taxes to fund a war that benefits neo-cons in Washington.

Vicky Nuland was right about one thing…F**K the EU!

Complete story at - Ukraine's "peace" President Poroshenko will pay men drafted to fight an extra $60 a day to go kill East Ukraine citizens - Red Pill Times

Reuters Objectively See’s Russia’s Options as Losing or… Losing Badly | First Rebuttal

“I’ve long thought that he has pursued a pre-World War Two course which could only end badly – a course in which his power is maximized by crushing internal opponents, expanding empire and using the military to frighten neighboring countries into submission.”, writes John Lloyd of Reuters. I read this excerpt from his recent article and thought finally someone in mainstream media is honestly discussing the foreign policy of America, just to eventually find out he is actually talking about Putin. However, Lloyd does go on to imply American foreign policy can be described much the same way.

Unfortunately the rest of the article is basically ‘informing’ the reader that Putin has two options; 1. he can lose or 2. he can lose badly. John Lloyd’s coverage must be a bit disappointing to all those readers that purchased Lloyd’s 2004 book “What the Media are Doing to our Politics”. It is clear that John Lloyd is nothing more than yet another mainstream media muppet of the neocon storyline. The more they say it apparently the more true they believe it becomes. In any case, I suppose I could overlook the obvious hypocrisy if it were well thought out. However, Lloyd seems to miss the one most likely option, the China factor.

“Russia has the capability and the wisdom to overcome the existing hardship in the economic situation,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi told journalists, China Daily reported Monday. “If the Russian side needs it, we will provide necessary assistance within our capacity.” In a recent piece I published, I discuss the clear motivation of the Western Alliance to crush Russia is an attempt to contain the obvious new world dominating force, China. You see China has just surpassed the US as the world’s top economy. Its military is by far the largest military in the world though probably not the most sophisticated, yet. But there is no rational mind that argues China will not be the world’s single superpower in a mere 20 years if not sooner. The Western Alliance (which is the collective of Western leaders that have long controlled global policies), however, is not so rational. The central banking cartel along with the Western Alliance are not going down without a fight.

The problem is that by way of pure demographics the Western Alliance concedes a majority of the world’s assets will be owned by the East within the next few years and with majority of wealth typically comes control. James Wolfensohn, ex president of the World Bank, lays out the global power shift very clearly in his address at Stanford University. But so how does the Western Alliance hold onto global control whilst no longer holding the majority of the world’s assets? Well that is the challenge James presents to students in his address. In reality the Western Alliance is not calmly passing the challenge onto these future leaders but is very much initiating the battle to end all battles. You see it is natural for the Alpha dog to eventually pass on the crown. It happens in all top-of-the-food-chain species, lions, wolves, bears, etc. The dominating male will eventually be challenged by a more impressive up and comer. And while that alpha dog can hold onto his top rank for a few years past his prime by putting on a show of strength eventually it comes down to his last fight.

I see that as where America and the Western Alliance stands today. You see we’ve been barking very loud and putting on an impressive show of strength by taking on very weak challengers since the beginning of the new millennium, however, the real challenger is China. And we’ve all known that for some time. As Wolfensohn discusses it is becoming a now or never reality for the Western Alliance. Either they find a way to contain the impressive beast or they give up their Alpha status. And so here they are in the fight for global control. In that earlier piece I wrote I describe how the Western Alliance is targeting energy, as it is China’s achilles heel. China’s energy source for the future is Russia. Given its economic, military and energy prowess, a Sino-Soviet Alliance will trump the Western Alliance. The objective then is to destroy the Soviet variable before the Sino-Soviet Alliance is fortified. Control China’s energy and you can contain China.

Clearly Russia’s future has very little to do with the Western world and so they have no motive to start wars with the West. There is nothing to gain by doing so. However, they have every motive to defend themselves against Western aggression. And so if you see Russian aggression with the West it can only be defensive in nature. Nations (other than North Korea) do not act in a way that is to the detriment of its political class. Because warring with the West presents no possible upside but significant downside for Russia and her leaders, they will actually be willing to do everything in their power to prevent such a scenario.

Complete story at - Reuters Objectively See’s Russia’s Options as Losing or… Losing Badly | First Rebuttal

‘Group-Thinking’ the World into a New War | Consortiumnews

This approach has been part of the neocon playbook at least since the 1980s when many of today’s leading neocons – such as Elliott Abrams and Robert Kagan – were entering government and cut their teeth as propagandists for the Reagan administration. Back then, the game was to put, say, Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega into the demon suit, with accusations about him wearing “designer glasses.” Later, it was Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and then, of course, Saddam Hussein.

Instead of Americans coming to grips with the painful history of Central America, where the U.S. government has caused much of the violence and dysfunction, or in Iraq, where Western nations don’t have clean hands either, the story was made personal – about the demonized leader – and anyone who provided a fuller context was denounced as an “Ortega apologist” or a “Noriega apologist” or a “Saddam apologist.”

So, American skeptics were silenced and the U.S. government got to do what it wanted without serious debate. In Iraq, for instance, the American people would have benefited from a thorough airing of the complexities of Iraqi society – such as the sectarian divide between Sunni and Shiite – and the potential risks of invading under the dubious rationale of WMD.

But there was no thorough debate about anything: not about international law that held “aggressive war” to be “the supreme international crime”; not about the difficulty of putting a shattered Iraq back together after an invasion; not even about the doubts within the U.S. intelligence community about whether Iraq possessed usable WMD and whether Hussein had any ties to al-Qaeda.

All the American people heard was that Saddam Hussein was “a bad guy” and it was America’s right and duty to get rid of “bad guys” who supposedly had dangerous WMDs that they might share with other “bad guys.” To say that this simplistic argument was an insult to a modern democracy would be an understatement, but the propaganda worked because almost no one in the mainstream press or in academia or in politics dared speak out.

Those who could have made a difference feared for their careers – and they were “right” to have those fears, at least in the sense that it was much safer, career-wise, to run with the herd than to stand in the way. Even after the Iraq War had turned into an unmitigated disaster with horrific repercussions reaching to the present, the U.S. political/media establishment undertook no serious effort to impose accountability.

Complete story at - ‘Group-Thinking’ the World into a New War | Consortiumnews

Two worlds in Ukraine - New Cold War: Ukraine and Beyond

By Sergei Kirichuk, published on Liva.com, Jan. 28, 2015

“The sooner this regime in Ukraine falls, the more lives will be saved”

A Facebook user wrote on his page about how, while meeting a cousin at the train station, he saw two categories of passengers on the platform: young men in camouflage, headed East, obviously, to participate in the so-called Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO), and other young men, dressed in beautiful winter jackets, carrying skis and snowboards, traveling to the West to enjoy skiing on the slopes of the Carpathians.

The first go to the front, die heroically and, perhaps, have a few words reported on TV, then are forgotten forever. The second will race on the steep slopes of the Bukovel ski resort, drink mulled wine and visit the cozy restaurants and bars which have always been beyond the means of the first. Perhaps some of them are ardent nationalists, perhaps they gave money to the ATO, and in the future may even lay flowers at monument to the “heroes”. But spending time in the Carpathians is still much more pleasant than to die or fall wounded in the Donbass.

The stark contrasts don’t end there, however. Recently, Ukrainian media reported that from now on, to travel abroad, men of military age will have to submit a certificate from the military that they are not subject to conscription. However, travel abroad is not difficult for everyone. In the center of Berlin — the secret capital of the European Union — is Kurfürstendamm Street, consisting of luxury shops, equivalent to the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

Here, among the dealers on the street, Russian speech is common, there are a lot of migrants from the former Soviet Union everywhere as well as tourists from Ukraine and Russia. Disputes about political issues do not arise here, where Ukrainians and Russians both make expensive purchases. Despite significant discounts, the prices bite. Prada boots, for example, cost nearly 1,000 euros. But tourists from Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Moscow and St. Petersburg are not too concerned about these prices.

Beautiful, well-groomed young mothers, dressed as if on the covers of fashion magazines, talk to their children in different languages. They want their children to be trained from childhood to study in European schools and universities. Many Ukrainian officials, businessmen and top managers have long since moved their families from Kiev to Berlin, away from the instability and bad news.

Complete story at - Two worlds in Ukraine - New Cold War: Ukraine and Beyond

Russian government approves bill banning genetically modified crops | Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI).

MOSCOW, January 30 (RAPSI) – Russia’s government has approved a bill proposed by the Ministry of Science and Education prohibiting the cultivation of genetically modified crops and organisms, RIA Novosti reported on Friday.

Supplementary materials say that the bill “would prohibit the cultivation of genetically modified plants and animals in Russia with the exception of expert evaluation and research.”

The bill’s authors propose amending the laws on state regulation of genetic engineering, seed growing and environmental protection and the Code of Administrative Offences “to improve state regulation of genetic engineering in order to minimize the risk to human beings and the environment.”

The bill would also introduce “measures to monitor the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the environment and the influence of GMOs and products produced with the use of or containing GMOs on humans and the environment, and to oblige the importers of GMOs and products containing them to register these products.”

The government would have the authority to prohibit the import of said organisms and products following monitoring. Violators of the regulations for using GMOs would be subject to administrative penalties.

Complete story at - Russian government approves bill banning genetically modified crops | Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI).

Lies And Deception In Ukraine’s Energy Sector | Zero Hedge

The Ukrainian government has repeatedly claimed it is doing its best to improve the oil and gas investment climate, but official statements are the opposite of the reality, as Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is leading the great deception.

According to Prime Minister Yatseniuk, Ukraine has taken a number of important steps to reform the energy sector, and has even achieved success in the formidable fight against rampant corruption, as well as signed open and transparent contracts for purchase of the natural gas from EU member states. Now he claims Ukraine is looking forward to Western companies' investment in Ukraine's gas transportation system.

"I would like to point out where we have succeeded: we have succeeded in overcoming corruption in the energy sector. Billions of dollars, which previously used to flow into the pockets of Ukrainian oligarchs, are now being brought out of the shadows. At present, Ukraine purchases gas under transparent and open contracts with European companies," Yatseniuk recently told a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

Even the President has made misguided and naïve statements this past week in Davos, declaring that “…Ukraine will build new ways for receiving Norwegian gas and gas from Europe, and Ukraine will also produce shale gas."

The stark reality is that these official statements are in no way reflected by government action, and the gas market players in Ukraine recognize the deception as does the energy industry as a whole.

The real story is that while gas has been received from Norway in reverse flows, Ukraine’s current energy strategy, taxation and fiscal regime has forced Ukraine’s current producers of oil and gas to stop drilling new wells and curtail production.

The development of Ukraine’s potential shale gas is even further afield with Chevron announcing its departure from Ukraine and only Cub Energy remaining in the country as an operator with both technical and local expertise in developing the shale. Even if shale can be developed in Ukraine it will be extremely challenging given the highly service-oriented logistical train, which does not presently exist in Ukraine.

In the course of the last year the Ukraine’s private gas producers were doing their best to overcome, if not merely survive, the consequences of the government’s move to significantly increase fiscal and administrative pressure on the industry without any consultations with the latter. The government failed to deliver on its promises, and the only thing it managed to achieve was an undermining of any trust the industry may have had in it.

Ukraine’s current regulatory and fiscal systems governing the energy sector are overly complicated and non-transparent, even without the major political and military conflict with Russia and annexation of the Crimea. The implications have been significant. Since last year, all major oil and gas projects in Ukraine have significantly slowed down at best, and been suspended entirely at worst.

Issue by issue, the lies continue to mount.

Complete story at - Lies And Deception In Ukraine’s Energy Sector | Zero Hedge

Ukraine Mobilization Faces Widespread Draft Evasion - Russia Insider

This article originally appeared in Business New Europe

Ukraine's latest round of mobilisation of army reserves faces massive draft-dodging, as the conflict in East Ukraine with Russian-backed rebels becomes increasingly bloody and protracted.

Given escalating fighting in East Ukraine, the Ukrainian defence ministry on January 20 lauched its fourth wave of mobilisation of the country's reservists since its "anti-terrorist campaign" started in April 2014. The army reserves comprise men who have undergone one year of mandatory national military service.

On January 26, the defence ministry said a total of just under 62,000 reservists had already received their draft papers in the new wave, half of the overall target number. Draft-dodging in Ukraine can be punished by up to three years in jail.

But writing on Facebook on January 27, presidential advisor Yury Biryukov said that draft-dodging had become endemic, even in West Ukraine – the traditional heartland of Ukrainian patriotism. According to Biryukov, 57% of those called up in the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk, named after a national poet, had simply ignored their draft papers.

Biryukov said that an estimated 37% of those called up had crossed the border into Romania. “Unofficial sources tell us that hotels and motels on the other side of the border with Romania are packed with draft-dodgers,” he wrote.

Complete story at - Ukraine Mobilization Faces Widespread Draft Evasion - Russia Insider

Russian Sanctions Might Be Obama’s Greatest Blunder | Johnson's Russia List

(oilprice.com – Robert Berke – January 25, 2015) One of the greatest foreign policy blunders of the Obama Administration was the push by the U.S. for economic sanctions against Russia. That led to Russia fleeing into the arms of China for refuge. In response, Russia, Europe’s largest and most populated country, is now intent on moving its vast storehouse of resources eastward, strengthening America’s largest emerging rival.

Over the last two years, the two countries have completed a $700 billion agreement for Russia to deliver energy to China, amounting to about 17% of Chinese annual supply, for a period covering twenty years, with China financing much of the initial costs of pipeline construction.

What Russia has done, in that one move, is to help repair a major hole in China’s military armor, making it invulnerable to a U.S. cut-off of sea bourn energy supplies, which until now was one of the greatest fears of Chinese military strategists.

From the Chinese perspective, this is a gift that fulfills its wildest dreams. It’s also a gift that could severely undermine the West’s plans to deliver expensive Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to China and Asia, while already facing competition from Qatar and Australia LNG, will now also run up against Russian pipeline gas through China.

That can’t be wise policy for the U.S.

Consider the fact that prior to adoption of the sanction regime, Russia and China were not even military allies. Their histories are fraught with mutual distrust, competition, and border conflicts. Although Russia has often supplied China with military equipment, it has always held back on high-tech weapons because of mistrust. Why supply advanced weapons to a country that might one day become your adversary?

Now, things have changed drastically, with both countries developing an alliance clearly balanced against the West. Recently, Russia offered China its most advanced ballistic missile system, that China had long sought in order to offset US sea and airpower superiority. With that, China will become far more capable of countering America’s pivot to Asia.

Just this week (1.20.15), China agreed to finance a high-speed rail link between Beijing and Moscow, with an estimated cost of $242 billion.

Complete story at - Russian Sanctions Might Be Obama’s Greatest Blunder | Johnson's Russia List

Lawmaker Urges Kiev to Wage TV-War Against RT / Sputnik International

Talka notes: I do believe these idiots have some kind of contest going on. Who can say the most stupid and illogical nonsense. I mean, seriously? They think policy makers in the west are getting their news from RT? Hasn't he ever heard of the BBC?

According to Ukrainian lawmaker Borislav Bereza, the country is seriously damaged by the lack of a strategic information policy as most European lawmakers get information about Ukraine from Russia Today.

MOSCOW, January 29 (Sputnik) — Ukrainian parliamentarian Borislav Bereza believes that his European counterparts receive information from "pro-Kremlin" media and insists on the creation of a Ukrainian information channel in the West, according to his post on his Facebook page.

According to the lawmaker, Ukraine is seriously damaged by the lack of a strategic information policy as most European lawmakers get information about Ukraine from Russia Today. Bereza proposed to establish an alternative to the channel in the form of "a weekly distribution of photo and video evidence to all PACE delegations via Internet".

"Europe has a little knowledge about us [Ukraine]. Information is provided mostly by pro-Kremlin channel. <…> We need to create our own channel in the West," he wrote.

He also said such a project required a lot of money and is "an issue of international support".

In addition, Ukrainian Minister of Information Policy Yuri Stets said he would seek to ban Russia Today's broadcasting rights in the European Union.

Complete story at - Lawmaker Urges Kiev to Wage TV-War Against RT / Sputnik International

Azov Battalion Nazi dance. These are people that American and European taxpayers give money to [Video] - Red Pill Times

Half-naked men of the neo-nazi military branch, the Azov Battalion of Ukraine, are seen jumping around the room, looking less like serious fighters and more like drugged up skinheads at a punk-rock concert.

Half way through the video, several men start throwing a series of white power, Nazi salutes that were used as a greeting in Nazi Germany.

Merkel and Obama must be so proud.

American and European taxpayers…congratulations, you will be taking care of these guys for the next 20 years.

Complete story at - Azov Battalion Nazi dance. These are people that American and European taxpayers give money to [Video] - Red Pill Times

Talka note:  seems the original video was taken down, but luckily others had already downloaded it and it has now been reposted.

Russian Banks Cancel US Contracts Over Demands to Reveal Taxpayers' Data / Sputnik International

Russian banks have canceled contracts with their US clients because of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the law that requires foreign banks to share information on US citizen's banking activities. If a bank does not comply, it may be subject to a fine.

NOVOSIBIRSK, January 28 (Sputnik) — Russian banks have been forced to cancel contracts with their US clients due to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), law that requires foreign banks to provide information on US citizens' banking activities, a senior Russian official said Wednesday.

The FATCA, which became law in 2010, requires foreign banks to report information on some US clients. If a bank does not comply, it may be subject to a fine. Moscow and Washington were negotiating a FATCA deal acceptable for both sides until March 2014, when the United States suspended the talks over the Ukraine crisis.

"We could not put our national security under risk in this case, this is why a rule was adopted, under which every credit services organization may cancel the contracts with its clients, the US residents, and avoid FATCA regulations this way," Deputy Director of Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service Pavel Livadny told journalists.

Complete story at - Russian Banks Cancel US Contracts Over Demands to Reveal Taxpayers' Data / Sputnik International

Famous Moron Thomas Friedman Says "Czar Putin" Might Invade Baltics in Order To Raise Oil Prices - Russia Insider

Policy wonks and other nerds might recall that Russia just announced a $35 billion "anti-crisis" spending plan to support an economy battered by Western sanctions and falling oil prices. But how will the Russians pay for this robust financial package?

Nobody really knows except for Thomas Friedman, who is considered by all responsible historians to be the greatest disseminator of knowledge since Gutenberg and his revolutionary torrent-sharing machine, "the printing press."

Although he is known as an accomplished author and pie-eating champion, Thomas Friedman is also celebrated as a highly-authoritative gossip columnist for The New York Times. And it is his most recent gossip scoops which sparked your correspondent's curiosity and admiration.

"Czar Putin"—we are now quoting directly from Friedman—"is now almost entirely dependent on oil and gas exports, so he’s really hurting with the oil price collapse."

However, this conundrum is easily remedied, or so we are led to believe:

If Putin decides to fully invade Ukraine, or worse, one of the Baltic states, and test whether NATO will really fight to defend either, the price of oil will go up.

100% brilliant. All Putin needs to do is invade "one of the Baltic states"—any Baltic state, it doesn't really matter which one—and then abracadabra!, back to $100 oil and caviar for breakfast. The beauty of this plan is in its remarkable simplicity.

Complete story at - Famous Moron Thomas Friedman Says "Czar Putin" Might Invade Baltics in Order To Raise Oil Prices - Russia Insider

Wake Up, Soldier of Ukraine! | Futurist Trendcast

Artist: rock band "Alexander Matrosov"

Lyrics – English translation by Lada Ray

1

Remember, the soldier of Ukraine,
you swore to protect your people?
Why do you turn Donbass into ruins,
why do you keep shooting at children?

Refrain:

You kill,
You are killed.
What for?
You don’t understand,
but bullets keep flying.
This war is bad for everyone.

EXCEPT…

Those who get filthy rich on war.
They will create any deception,
for them your life means nothing.
In the quiet of their offices,
in stylish designer suits,
they enjoy the whisper of dollars,
while you die in the war…

2

Wake up, the soldier of Ukraine,
stop shooting at your brothers as if they were training targets,
and shell them from Grads,
and send mines instead of presents into every home.

Refrain

3

STOP!
This isn’t a secret any more!

STOP!
Your enemies are in Kiev offices!
The more deaths the bigger their banking account!

STOP!
There is no other reason.

STOP!
They will seduce and scapegoat you.
They are only strong while war rages.
Wake up, the soldier of Ukraine,
Wake up, the soldier of Ukraine,
Wake up, the soldier of Ukraine.
The world is awaiting your decision!

Complete story at - Wake Up, the Soldier of Ukraine! | Futurist Trendcast

Ooooh, the irony is rich with this one. Do as I say, not as I do.

Talka notes: Questioning what you hear apparently only applies to Russians, according to the Ukraine point of view.

Russia News - Ukrainian Students Call On Russian Counterparts To End 'Information War'

"Check what you hear, doubt what you see."

This is the advice handed out by Ukrainian students to their counterparts in Russia via a video clip aimed at tackling what is described as rampant Kremlin propaganda.

Students from several Kyiv universities have released an emotional video urging students in Moscow not to believe what Russian state-controlled media are saying about Ukraine and Ukrainians.

Russian television has accused Ukrainian soldiers of crucifying children and described pro-European protesters in Kyiv as rabid neo-Nazis.
"A war is going on in our country. Your soldiers and our soldiers are dying in our country, civilians are dying," the clip says. "We call on you to lift the information curtain!"

"We stand on opposite sides of the barricades, and between us lie kilometers of misunderstanding," it continues. "Between us lie tales about Nazis and Ukrainian nationalists."

Kyiv student Yevheniy Melnik, the video's initiator, says Ukrainians are tired of bent on victimizing Russian-speakers in Ukraine.

Complete story at - Russia News - Ukrainian Students Call On Russian Counterparts To End 'Information War'

English Speaking Mercenary in Mariupol ID’d as Brit Leon Swampy From London, England | The Daily Lede blog

Talka notes: While this ID is certainly a possibility, it doesn't seem all that conclusive to me. There's no note of exactly how or why this person has been identified as the English speaking person in the Mariupol video posted earlier. He has also disappeared from all social media. That may or may not mean a thing too.

An English speaking mercenary seen in a video following the assault on Mariupol early Saturday has been identified through social media as British-born Leon Swampy.

Swampy can be seen toward the end of the following video guiding a video journalist through a schoolyard which had been struck by Grad rocket fire early Saturday in Mariupol.

Swampy was identified through his profile on the popular Ukrainian social media site vKontakte which lists 3 ‘noteworthy’ pages, one of which belonging to the Azov Battalion: “Azov” Special Purpose Regiment.

Complete story at - English Speaking Mercenary in Mariupol ID’d as Brit Leon Swampy From London, England | The Daily Lede blog

The video, again...

Ukraine: Who’s Going to be Terrorists This Time Around? | New Eastern Outlook

In fact, I do not know how to refer to it. On the one hand, I see my countryman fellow Tomasz Maciejczuk: Open Dialogue foundation volunteer that runs along the east of Ukraine distributing warm clothes for Ukrainian army – because it happens that they walk in erasers in the freezing weather. After a few seconds, I switch on the profile of Graham Phillips British, journalist reporting from Donetsk. And what I see: the body of disrupted children lying on the snow, the elderly, women, people who on their way to the store had been bombed by the Ukrainian artillery. Then I switch over to Maciejczuk facebook page and see how happy he is with the fact that he can help Ukrainians in their fight against ‘terrorists’ in eastern Ukraine, and how bravely he is echoed by others of my compatriots. Who support him because of ‘patriotic’ reasons. They support him with good word and urge for further work against Bolshevism, communists and imperial Putin.

Everything is going well: there are money for warm boots and jackets for Ukrainians; is going to continue ‘divine’ mission to help fight against ‘terrorists’.

Again, look at the profile of Graham, this time a video: a burning house of a pensioner. Grandfather shows how the bullet just killed his wife. I see that there is very cold because he has a red face from the cold or from vodka. Perhaps he had to kill despair over the loss of loved ones. He stands in the house. Although the ‘house’ is the wrong word now – rather hole after a bomb in the house. I wonder what will happen next to him and I do not know. I think I do not even want to think about it.

I switch over to Mr Maciejczuk, he is smiling and he makes pictures with the Ukrainian soldiers on the front who thank him for the equipment.

I switch over to Graham … no longer switch. Enough.

This is the war in real time. I discovered it during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Live streaming of pacification – after all it was all about ‘terrorists ‘there too. Sit in a chair, if you have a projector, switch on the big picture on the wall, turn on the volume and taste war. Only thing missing is the smell and touch to satisfy all your senses. The picture and sound is almost the same. The only thing missing is creaking snow under your feet, the smell of burning and fear. Well, after all, instead you can drink wine and watch how ‘good people’ kill ‘bad people’. You can do it, until someone will decide that you are ‘terrorist’ and will point GRAD at your house.

If not Patrick Lancaster, Graham Philips and several other journalists, probably no one would find out that the narrative of Mr Maciejczuk and other defenders of ‘democracy’ and the fight against ‘terrorism’ is not entirely in line with reality. Without these journalists, it would not be a problem to burn down New Russia. Although, from what I know, SBU is increasingly interested in the ‘freedom of speech’ in Donbas. Here is an excerpt of the text that in this context, journalist Patrick Lancaster posted on his Facebook:

Just spoke to a colleague and friend. He told me he was arrested by the Ukraine army and turned over to the Ukraine secret service, SBU. They told him that Patrick Lancaster and Graham Phillips are wanted criminals and that he needed to supply them with information about us when he refused they beat and interrogated him for a for over 10 hours then put him out in the cold weather with little clothing. We are Journalists and are being targeted for putting out the facts that we see. I will not let this hold me back I will strive to bring all the facts I can to the public. Maybe by doing this I can save at least one civilian life.

Complete story at - Ukraine: Who’s Going to be Terrorists This Time Around? | New Eastern Outlook

TASS: World - Ukraine’s ‘ministry of truth’ to create Internet army

"We need no bots or trolls to bring information to those who communicate in the Internet," Yury Stets from Ukraine’s Ministry of Information Policy said

KIEV, January 28. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Ministry of Information Policy has announced plans to create a coordination center of bloggers that could spread "truthful information" on the situation in the country’s east and refute false reports.

"We need no bots or trolls to bring information to those who communicate in the Internet," Yury Stets of the newly created ministry said in an interview with the TV news channel "24."

"Those who use social networks see this and understand this. For this aim, we need to unite respected people in social networks and they will tell the truth to everyone who reads them," Stets said.

The minister gave no details on the number of bloggers needed to make the project efficient. "The more, the better. They will become the Internet army of Ukraine," he stressed.

Stets earlier said that Russian journalists and media representatives should not stay in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Information Policy, dubbed the "ministry of truth" after George Orwell's novel "1984," was established by the Ukrainian government in early December. The ministry has been tasked with forging Ukraine’s image and taking measures to "prevent external influence on the domestic information space."

Stets earlier said that the ministry was only established for a period of combat operations in the country. Its key goals are to create the strategy of information policy and the concept of the country’s information security.

Complete story at - TASS: World - Ukraine’s ‘ministry of truth’ to create Internet army

Ukraine's Government Is Losing Its War. Here Is Why: Washington's Blog

On January 27th, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense headlined “Militants Continue to Suffer Losses,” and reported that four helicopters, and other weapons of the “militants,” were destroyed in battle, but no evidence was given to support the assertion.

Just two days prior, the (also pro-Government) Kiev Post had, in fact, bannered “Ukraine Hides Devastating Losses as Russia-Backed Fighters Surge Forward,” and reported “Ukraine’s worst-kept secret — that the Ukrainian army is drastically understating its casualties.” After detailing, there, what seems to be outrageous unconcern by the Government, for the welfare of troops it’s sending into battle (even by jamming battlefield-injured soldiers into regular civilian hospitals, which aren’t equipped to handle their injuries), this report ends with a doctor saying, “It’s bad everywhere. Yes, the soldiers are still standing at their positions ready to fight. But we don’t see any help coming for them.”

The Ukrainian news agency RIAN headlined on January 26th, “Mobilization in Dnipropetrovsk Almost Drowned,” and reported, “In Dnipropetrovsk region [which is run by the U.S. White House’s friend, the Ukrainian-Swiss-Israeli billionaire Ihor Kolomoysky, whose longstanding personal mercenary army has, alone, more than 5,000 fighters], thousands of men are hiding from the draft. Enforcement officers recognize that accomplishing their task will be very difficult.” More than 2,000 people there who were drafted “did not show up, they evaporated.”

Consequently, the Government is dragooning-in, or “ambushing” (as the article says), virtually anyone who seeks help from the Government, “mobilizing the unemployed” and other “desperate” people. “Military enlistment offices complain” that some draftees are too sick to be able to fight at all.

Also on January 26th, the Fort Russ blog bannered, “Azov Commander Freaks Out, Calls the War ‘Lost’. Blames Everybody,” and reported that, “Ukrainian politicians and generals ‘already lost the war,’ and ‘the West did not help.’ That’s the core of the statement by Azov punitive [meaning: to ‘punish’ the residents in the anti-Government region, for their not supporting the Government] battalion commander’s, and currently also Rada [Parliament] Deputy’s, Andrey Biletsky, in his ‘Address to the Nation.’” According to Biletsky, after the fictitious “thousands of supposedly killed enemies and burned out tanks, the wake-up can be very painful,” because of disappointment felt from the Government’s lies.

Complete story at - Ukraine's Government Is Losing Its War. Here Is Why: Washington's Blog

Poroshenko adviser leaks disastrous data about the fourth wave of mobilization - Fort Russ

Got the first report on the implementation of the plan of the fourth wave of mobilization. Across the country, in each region.

AND I DON'T GET IT!

I don't understand the phrases, do not understand the facts.

... The heads of 14 rural councils of Ivano-Frankivsk oblast refused to accept the summons for notifications

... 57% of notified conscripts in Ivano-Frankivsk region did not arrive for medical commission.

... 37% of notified conscripts of Ivano-Frankivsk region have left the territory of Ukraine

... Heads of rural councils of Ternopil region openly sabotage events of notification, in case of appearance in the area of representatives of RVC - warn the residents of their own and surrounding villages.

... the head of the village council of Konyukhi, Kozovsky district reported that local people rented 2 buses and left for the territory of the Russian Federation.

... in the township of Colchino, Mukachevo district of Transcarpathian region, out of 105 people the summons were presented to only three: 9 persons do not reside at the address of registration, and 93 people during January left for "seasonal agricultural work".

... over the last 30 days the state border in the Chernivtsi region was crossed by 17% of the total number of conscripts of the region. From unofficial sources it is known that hostels and motels in the border region of neighboring Romania are completely filled with Ukrainian men evading conscription.

... 19% of notified conscripts of Volyn oblast refused military service on religious grounds, although in previous years the percentage of rejects for this reason did not exceed 0.7 percent.

Patriots, b$tch. The warriors of light, b%tch. Cowardly dogs!"

Complete story at - Poroshenko adviser leaks disastrous data about the fourth wave of mobilization - Fort Russ

The Vineyard of the Saker: Europe’s addiction to Russian gas: How long before withdrawal symptoms set in?

by Leonid Krutakov for Odnako

(translated by: Robin)

In mid-January, EU Energy Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič held talks with Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Moscow. After the talks, Mr. Šefčovič expressed surprise at three circumstances.

First, Gazprom has no intention of building the South Stream pipeline. Second, in the future natural gas will be delivered to Europe via Turkey. And, third, Russia is not prepared to discuss the terms of its gas deliveries to Ukraine.

To quote Mr. Šefčovič, all three circumstances, were “very surprising,” even though Russia’s decision to cancel South Stream and instead build Turkish Stream was announced in December of last year in Ankara at a joint press conference held by the Presidents of Russia and Turkey.

It’s easy to wax ironic about Mr. Šefčovič’s ignorance of South Stream in Turkey. And most commentators did just that. But his attempt to discuss new conditions for gas supplies to Ukraine with his Russian partners deserves much more attention. And confirmation of that was not long in coming.

Last week, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev convened a meeting with Messrs. Miller and Novak. He asked them for the details of their talks with Mr. Šefčovič, Ukraine’s gas debt and the repayment period. The meeting was broadcast live almost in its entirety.

Mr. Miller reiterated to Mr. Medvedev that Europe had only a few years to build its own transmission infrastructure to the Greece-Turkey border, where it will have to connect to the Russo-Turkish pipeline system. If Europe fails to do so, the gas will go to other markets.

And Mr. Novak pointed out that, when last year’s agreement on a $100 discount for gas sold to Ukraine expires on April 1, there will be no new discussions or agreements. The contract is valid and no one has cancelled it.

Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: Europe’s addiction to Russian gas: How long before withdrawal symptoms set in?

Merkel Could Have Brokered Peace in Ukraine. Instead She Fanned the Flames - Russia Insider

For at least six months, I have been trying to fathom Angela Merkel’s policy on Russia. Finally, the Eureka moment has arrived.

Let us recall for a moment that in the spring of 2014, following the coup d’etat in Kiev that brought to power the radical nationalists of the Maidan movement, and soon after the Russian response became clear and the fate of Crimea hung in the balance, the consensus of political commentators was that Angela Merkel would be the honest broker reconciling Russia and the United States. As an Ossie and Russian speaker, she was said to have a special relationship with Vladimir Putin and could find solutions to patch things up like no one else.

However, with the passage of time, Frau Merkel emerged as the leading force on the Continent working against Putin and Russia. She was the one who declared early on that Putin was living in another reality, hinting at his being delusional. And her most recent statements keep up the unrelenting personal attacks on the Russian president: a week ago she explained to the press that Putin would not be invited to the G-7 on her watch, because the Russian ‘does not share our values.’

Verbal attacks aside, Merkel has also insisted on tough sanctions against Russia.

By December 2014, dissent in the German ranks found coverage in the press. We read the Open Letter of Germany’s great and good who denounced Merkel’s Ost Politik. We read the harsh critique of the sanctions by Matthias Platzeck, head of the business lobby German-Russian Forum, and former party chief of the SPD (Social Democrats), Merkel’s coalition partners.

Complete story at - Merkel Could Have Brokered Peace in Ukraine. Instead She Fanned the Flames - Russia Insider

Russia In The Cross Hairs -- Paul Craig Roberts - PaulCraigRoberts.org

Washington’s attack on Russia has moved beyond the boundary of the absurd into the realm of insanity.

The New Chief of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors, Andrew Lack, has declared the Russian news service, RT, which broadcasts in multiple languages, to be a terrorist organization equivalent to Boko Haram and the Islamic State, and Standard and Poor’s just downgraded Russia’s credit rating to junk status.

Today RT International interviewed me about these insane developments.

In prior days when America was still a sane country, Lack’s charge would have led to him being laughed out of office. He would have had to resign and disappear from public life. Today in the make-believe world that Western propaganda has created, Lack’s statement is taken seriously. Yet another terrorist threat has been identified–RT. (Although both Boko Haram and the Islamic State employ terror, strictly speaking they are political organizations seeking to rule, not terror organizations, but this distinction would be over Lack’s head. Yes, I know. There is a good joke that could be made here about what Lack lacks. Appropriately named and all that.)

Nevertheless, whatever Lack might lack, I doubt he believes his nonsensical statement that RT is a terrorist organization. So what is his game?

The answer is that the Western presstitute media by becoming Ministries of Propaganda for Washington, have created large markets for RT, Press TV, and Al Jazeera. As more and more of the peoples of the world turn to these more honest news sources, Washington’s ability to fabricate self-serving explanations has declined.

Complete story at - Russia In The Cross Hairs -- Paul Craig Roberts - PaulCraigRoberts.org

"No Balalaika, Sputnik, Babushka"--Ukraine's High-Tech Giant Goes Under - Fort Russ

By Sergey Kirichuk

Translated from Russian by J.Hawk

They are saying that Yuzhmash will be forced into bankruptcy, and its territory will be converted into shopping mall, an entertainment center, and housing for the elite.

Dnepropetrovsk experienced a protest by workers of the legendary Yuzhmash, the largest rocket enterprise in Ukraine. The workers, who have not gotten their salaries for several months, came out in the streets without coordinating the demonstration with the “official” labor union. They say this is the first spontaneous rebellion by its workers during its entire history, since the plant had never had such problems before due to its special rocket/space profile. And the plant has a long history, its construction began already in 1944. It was initially intended to manufacture cars, but the still-rebuilding USSR was drawn into the arms race, and in 1951 it was realigned to manufacture ICBMs.

At the beginning of the 21st millennium I had an opportunity to distribute leaflets of the All-Ukrainian Labor Union at the entryway of this unique enterprise. In order to preserve secrecy, the leaflets were distributed by workers from other factories so that the management would not be able to determine who the Yuzhmash activists were. The workers took the leaflets without exceptional enthusiasm, but with demonstrative friendliness and respect. This was a generation of highly qualified workers and engineers, who understood their time was passing. They were not needed, the labor market valued merchandizers and sales managers. But it was these people, the engineers, the highly skilled workers, the scientists, who comprised the electoral nucleus of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

Leonid Kuchma worked as the general director of Yuzhmash between 1986 and 1992, so the inhabitants of the East and Center of the country placed many hopes in him. They hoped in vain that “their own” technocrat will hear them better than the “repainted” ideologue Kravchuk. Kuchma, alas, abandoned his voters but the enterprise survived in spite of the collapse of the economy, and managed to start the production of Zenit and Cyclone rockets, as the modified Soviet-era ICBMs were called. The plant also manufactured tractors, trolleybuses, and streetcars.

Complete story at - "No Balalaika, Sputnik, Babushka"--Ukraine's High-Tech Giant Goes Under - Fort Russ

Greece At The Crossroads: The Oligarchs Blew It | Zero Hedge

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,

Once one oligarchy falls, it will threaten to topple a long line of oligarch dominoes.

A great many narratives invoking Greece are being tossed around, but only one really encapsulates the unvarnished truth: the Oligarchs blew it. The oligarchs in both Greece and the European Union/ECB had the opportunity a few years ago to trade some of their outsized wealth and political power for stability and sustainable expansion.

Instead, they chose to not just cling to every shred of their outsized wealth and power but to actively increase it. Their greed and hubris has now put their entire system of parasitic wealth extraction at risk of collapse. Their political stranglehold on power has been weakened, and there's no going back: they blew it, and now it's too late. The debt-serfs have finally had enough.

If you enter Greece in the custom search box on this site, six pages of blog entries come up. I have addressed the situation in Greece many times; this summarizes my conclusion:

Greece, Please Do The Right Thing: Default Now (June 1, 2011)

Thankfully, many in Greece have reached the same conclusion, for the same reasons:

Greece's New FinMin Warns "We Are Going To Destroy The Greek Oligarchy System"

The basic problem is that Greece Is a Kleptocracy (June 28, 2011). Greece has shown the world how oligarchies can expand their wealth and power even as their populace slides deeper into poverty. A recent article, Misrule of the Few: How the Oligarchs Ruined Greece, lays out the key dynamics.

Writer Pavlos Eleftheriadis pulls no punches:

"Greece has failed to address (rising wealth/income inequality) because the country’s elites have a vested interest in keeping things as they are. Since the early 1990s, a handful of wealthy families -- an oligarchy in all but name -- has dominated Greek politics. These elites have preserved their positions through control of the media and through old-fashioned favoritism, sharing the spoils of power with the country’s politicians. Greek legislators, in turn, have held on to power by rewarding a small number of professional associations and public-sector unions that support the status quo. Even as European lenders have put the country’s finances under a microscope, this arrangement has held."

The vested interests have obscured the cold reality of rising inequality by focusing obsessively on "growth" as the fix-all to inequality.

Complete story at - Greece At The Crossroads: The Oligarchs Blew It | Zero Hedge

‘Empire of Chaos’ in the House — RT Op-Edge

No one in Western corporate media will tell you why US President Barack Obama is hitting Riyadh with a high-powered delegation to “pay his respects” to the new House of Saud potentate, King Salman.

Talk about a who’s who – including CIA head John Brennan; General Lloyd Austin, head of US Centcom; Secretary of State John Kerry; leading House Democrat Nancy Pelosi; and even senile Senator John “Bomb Iran” McCain.

It must have been heart wrenching for most in this crowd to skip a visit to the Taj Mahal in India so they would be part of the last-minute, “unscheduled” stop in Riyadh.

This is how the astonishing mediocrity that doubles as US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, spun it; “Principally, I think this is to mark this transition in leadership and to pay respects to the family and to the people of Saudi Arabia, but I’m sure that while we’re there they’ll touch on some of the leading issues where we cooperate very closely with Saudi Arabia.”

The White House and the Pentagon did not bother to “pay their respects” in person to the people of France after the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The House of Saud – “our” top bastards in the Persian Gulf – is of course much more valuable.

And yet, Air Force One, we got a problem. High-level US financial sources assure this correspondent the trip is all about Obama shoring up the new King’s support for their financial/economic war on Russia as the House of Saud is starting to have second thoughts. The Saudi role in this war has been to come up with the oil price shock – which is hurting not only Russia but also Iran and Venezuela, among others. Besides, the US puppet theoretically in charge in Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, has just visited Saudi Arabia.

Russia is not Iran – with all due respect to Iran. If the House of Saud really believes they are talking to the head of a superpower rather than a ventriloquist’s puppet – which is Obama’s role – they are effectively doomed. Nothing Obama says means a thing. The real ‘Masters of the Universe’ who run the ‘Empire of Chaos’ want the House of Saud to do most of their dirty work against Russia; and in a later stage they will take care of the “towel heads” - as the saying goes in Washington - over their development of nuclear missiles with Pakistan. And especially because the Saudi-launched oil price war is bound to destroy the US oil industry - against US national interests.

Complete story at - ‘Empire of Chaos’ in the House — RT Op-Edge

Distortions, lies and omissions: The New York Times won’t tell you the real story behind Ukraine, Russian economic collapse » American University in Moscow

A note arrived a few days ago from one of my best informants in Europe. He had just met across a hotel dining table with a senior German executive, and the topic quickly turned to the crisis in Ukraine and the sanctions regime Washington has imposed on Russia.

I can do no better than give you the pertinent passage in the note:

"… I spoke … breakfast time in Europe… with the head of one of the largest companies in Germany. This declaration was one of the first items he mentioned. I took notes—because it is one of my clients—and here is what he said: ‘It is urgent for Europe to bring Obama and the people making the decisions behind him back to reality. If not, this will spiral first into a financial collapse, which will slam into all of Europe, and then who knows where it goes after that? Everywhere, far-right nationalist forces are building. Look at the last U.S. Congressional elections, and think what is coming. Will America ever have had a more nationalist Congress? Le Pen would be right at home in this crowd. The course we are on now is folly. Can’t they see that?’”

I wish I could say the German exec’s question is a good one, but the grim answer is too obvious. They can see nothing in Washington. We witness the single most reckless, destructive foreign policy this administration has yet devised, comparable in magnitude to Bush II’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry wanted Middle East peace to stand as their legacy on the foreign side. Now they propose restored relations with Cuba as the bronze monument. Forget about it. The devastation of ties with a global power, the dissolution of Ukraine and very possibly the ruination of Europe’s barely beating economic recovery will be what we live with after this administration makes its exit.

I am awestruck as news of recent events unfolds. Ukraine is more than an economic, political and military mess: It is a major humanitarian tragedy now. As the German CEO wants to know, how can we possibly arm neo-Nazis in Ukraine while right-wing extremists and anti-immigration atavists rise all over Europe?

Complete story at - Distortions, lies and omissions: The New York Times won’t tell you the real story behind Ukraine, Russian economic collapse » American University in Moscow

TASS: Economy - IMF loans are no help to Ukraine — Ukrainian lawmaker

KIEV, January 26. /TASS/. The IMF’s monetary policy is unacceptable for Ukraine and makes it a mere supplier of raw materials to Europe, the leader of the Opposition Bloc and deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, Vadim Rabinovich said to the Ukrainian magazine Korrespondent on Monday.

“The IMF’s monetary policy is austerity aimed at destroying our own nation. It suits us if we want to leave behind 5-7 million people,” Rabinovich said.

He added that “not a single country has been rescued by the IMF loans yet.” “Only private entrepreneurs can do that. We need to quit hold of the economy, lift taxes on small and medium enterprises (SME) for two years, lift inspections for two years, stop borrowing internationally, and stimulate only those sectors that have the future, like IT or agriculture,” he said.

“Now [they] try to make Ukraine a mere supplier of raw materials to Europe,” Rabinovich said, adding that in order to find a way out of the complicated economic situation “we need to lay down a clear plan how to proceed.” “And instead of admitting guilt - we’re not accustomed to it in Ukraine - they’re trying to bring the matter to a close with the help of war,” he said.

Complete story at - TASS: Economy - IMF loans are no help to Ukraine — Ukrainian lawmaker

War weary: Ukrainians voice resistance to new mobilization -- Society's Child -- Sott.net

Ukrainians are starting to realize that the war in the East is pointless. Their real enemies are in Kiev

Kiev authorities have announced that the next wave of mass mobilization will begin on January 28. But Ukrainians seem less than enthusiastic. From TASS:

Experts said it would not be easy for the authorities to carry out mobilization, as the Ukrainian population realizes that Kiev's military operation in the east has no sense.

A Ukrainian analyst and the founder of the Research and Branding Group company, Yevgeny Kopatko, said more and more statements were heard in the Ukrainian society about readiness to sit in prison, but not to go to fight. In the situation, the decision on mobilization will be another test for the Ukrainian authorities, he said.

Mobilization will be carried out in Ukraine in three stages and will last from January to August. During the year, the Ukrainian armed forces plan to mobilize 200,000 citizens and also draft 40,000 young people for military service.

This local news report from Kiev seems to indicate that many citizens will resist mobilization:



Complete story at - War weary: Ukrainians voice resistance to new mobilization -- Society's Child -- Sott.net

The 4th Media » Syriza Wins Greek Election: The End of the IMF-ruled ‘VICIOUS Cycle of AUSTERITY’

Here’s summary of a momentous election result for the future of Greece and Europe:

1. The anti-austerity far left party Syriza has won the Greek election by a decisive margin, but just short of an outright majority. With more than three-quarters of the results in Syriza is projected to win 149 seats in the 300 seat parliament.

2. Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said his party’s victory marked an end to the “viscious cycle of austerity”. Referring to the neoliberal conditions set by the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, he said: “ The verdict of the Greek people renders the troika a thing of the past for our common European framework.”

3. Outgoing prime minister Antonis Samaras conceded defeated by acknowledging some mistakes. But he added: “We restored Greece’s international credibility”.

4. To Potami, the centre-left party could be the kingmakers in the new parliament, with a project 16 seats. Its leader Stavros Theodorakis has not ruled out a deal with Syriza. “It’s too early for such details,” he said.

5. The far-right Golden Dawn party is projected to come third in election, despite having more than half of its MPs in jail. Speaking from prison its leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos said the result was a “great victory” for the neo-fascist party.

6. Syriza victory has been greeted with alarm in Germany. The ruling CDU party insisting that Greece should stick to the austerity programme. But Belgium’s finance minister said there is room for negotiation with Syriza.

7. Leftwingers across Europe have hailed Syriza win. Spain’s anti-austerity party Podemos said Greece finally had a government rather than a German envoy. Britain’s Green Party said Syriza’s victory was an inspiration.

By Matthew Weaver, ICH

Complete story at - The 4th Media » Syriza Wins Greek Election: The End of the IMF-ruled ‘VICIOUS Cycle of AUSTERITY’

Mariupol spotter ‘confession’ another fake by Kiev – Russian Defense Ministry — RT News

An internet video reportedly showing the confession of a man saying he was a spotter in the deadly shelling of Mariupol is just another low-quality fake created by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The ministry also hinted that closer examination of the footage actually points to the fact that Ukraine forces were responsible for the bombardment.

The video was published on the internet on Sunday, one day after shelling in the eastern Ukrainian port city killed at least 30 people and left another 100 injured.

“The SBU needed 24 hours to force this story out of a man, which – as we see in the clip – is read by the detainee from a piece of paper located left to the screen,” the statement by the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Complete story at - Mariupol spotter ‘confession’ another fake by Kiev – Russian Defense Ministry — RT News

The 4th Media » Merkel as Soft Cop in False Flag Offensive on Russia

At the World Economic Forum last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel let the cat out of the bag with her sly offer, or rather bribe, to Russia. The German leader told delegates in Davos that European Union sanctions on Russia would be lifted in exchange for a «peace deal» in Ukraine. She promised a «free trade pact from Lisbon to Vladivostok».

That’s a bit rich coming from the bankrupt EU, but nevertheless let’s accept the assumption that Frau Merkel is offering something very juicy. Why would she do that, and right at this time when civilians are being massacred in eastern Ukraine?

In other words, Merkel is saying if Moscow capitulates to Western objectives of ceding Ukraine to its full political, economic and military control, then Russia will be «paid off» with respite from Western sanctions and can look forward to a tantalising free trade «happy ending» with the EU. How generous of Frau Merkel!

The Russian-speaking population of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas regions will then be abandoned to their fate of accepting the legitimacy of the Western-installed Kiev regime.

The New York Times spelled out the reasoning further in an article at the weekend headlined: ‘War Is Exploding Anew in Ukraine; Rebels Vow More’. The Times reported with dripping innuendo blaming Russia for the violence and quoting its usual NATO and Kiev regime «sources». But take note of this little giveaway nugget in the NYT: «The renewed fighting has… put to rest the notion that Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, would be so staggered by the twin blows of Western sanctions and a collapse in oil prices that he would forsake the separatists in order to foster better relations with the West».

So, the Western calculus revealed by Merkel and the New York Times is that Putin has not been «staggered by the twin blows of sanctions and a collapse in oil prices to forsake the separatists in order to foster better relations with the West».

In this context, Angela Merkel is shamelessly dangling a «free trade bribe» in Russia’s face. Behave yourself, she is saying: just be a good boy, roll over to our geopolitical objectives and we will call off the economic war in the form of sanctions and the crash in oil prices, the latter courtesy of the Western puppets in Saudi Arabia pumping oil into an over-supplied world market.

Talka notes: Even if Putin were to lose his mind and agree to this, the west would never live up to their end of the bargain.  They never do.

Complete story at - The 4th Media » Merkel as Soft Cop in False Flag Offensive on Russia

TASS: Russia - Russia may extend sojourn for Ukrainians of conscription age — Putin

ST. PETERSBURG, January 26 /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow might extend the period of sojourn in Russian territory for Ukrainians of conscription age who can be drafted into the Ukrainian army.

“Many people, by the way, do not want to be mobilized. They are trying to move into Russia and lie low for some time. And they are absolutely right because they are simply being sent under bullets like cannon fodder,” Putin said at a meeting with the students of the “Gornyi” University of Mineral Resources.

At the same time, the president said Ukrainian nationals can not stay in Russia longer than for a period established by the law.

“Under a new law, Ukrainian citizens cannot stay in Russia for more than 30 days. After that they have to return to Ukraine where they are being caught and sent under the bullets again. That is why I think that we are going to change something in that law,” Putin said adding the sojourn of some categories of people, especially those of conscription age, could be extended within legal framework.

Complete story at - TASS: Russia - Russia may extend sojourn for Ukrainians of conscription age — Putin

The 4th Media » War and Dollar: To Protect US Dollar, The FRB, US Bankers Prepare for a Major War

Although many funerals have been held for the US dollar, still it lives on. On the eve of the collapse of the Bretton Woods currency system, the dollar made up almost 80% of global foreign-exchange reserves (in 1970 it totaled 77.2%, and in 1972 – 78.6%).

Then, after the transition to the system negotiated at the 1976 Jamaica Conference, that percentage gradually declined, reaching its lowest level – 59.0% – in 1995.

In the wake of financial globalization, the dollar’s positions strengthened again (reaching 70-71% between 1999 and 2001), but then a new decline was seen in the dollar component of global foreign-exchange reserves – dropping below 61% in 2014. Nevertheless, it is still higher than in 1995.

According to the Bank for International Settlements, in April 2010, 84.9% of global foreign-exchange market transactions were carried out in dollars, a figure that had increased to 87% by April 2013.

For comparison, the percentage of those transactions conducted in euros during that same period fell from 39.1 to 33.4%. The discrepancy between the positions of the dollar in world finance vs. the US positions in the global economy cannot be overlooked.

The US share of world GDP is currently about 20%. China has already surpassed America in terms of GDP (based on the purchasing power parity of the currency), but in the global currency market, only 2.2% of transactions were carried out in yuan in April 2013.

There is no accurate data regarding how much of the world’s foreign-exchange reserves are held in yuan, but experts estimate that it is not much higher than 1%.

These disparities are quite reminiscent of the global economic panorama of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In those days the world’s economic leaders were being reshuffled.

The United States was in first place due to the volume of its industrial and agricultural output. Germany was moving into second place in some categories. And Great Britain, which for most of the nineteenth century had been considered «the world’s factory», had begun to slide into third place.

Complete story at - The 4th Media » War and Dollar: To Protect US Dollar, The FRB, US Bankers Prepare for a Major War

The Greanville Post • Vol. VIII | Et Tu, Frontline?

Hatchet job on Putin only demonstrates the conformist spirit permeating US journalism

Frontline sees itself as an implacable observer of political and social reality, an uncompromising witness to contemporary history. The truth is often a lot less flattering.

As a legendary liberal franchise, Frontline has frequently produced interesting and even controversial reports on a variety of topics, including the NRA’s intransigence to gun control, the abortion wars, JFK’s assassination, the modern KKK, “Bush’s War” (somewhat critical of the Iraq War’s genesis as something of a botched, incompetent affair, but not scandalized by its sheer immorality, arrogance, systemic roots or broader purposes), and a host of other issues, but when it comes to foreign policy questions in which the American empire is again competing with some invidiously designated foe (these days the villains are again Russia and China), it behaves, conceits aside, like the rest of the conformist pack, as little more than a stenographer to power.

The proof that this is the case can be found in Frontline’s recent hatchet job on Vladimir Putin (Putin’s Way, Jan. 14, 2015).

The show’s tagline promptly gives its true intention away:

“An investigation of Vladimir Putin. Included: the claims of criminality and corruption that have accented his reign (sic) as Russia’s ruler.”

Just reflect for a moment why the producers picked such poisoned words to define their subject: What do these words have in common, singly and jointly? They all connote bad things. Obviously in any random description of an important leader, when such threatening terms crop up the prudent reader will be well advised to run for cover.

The Frontline crew doesn’t dare say it openly, in a full sentence, as that would supposedly tarnish them, perish the thought, as “non-objective” journalists. So they simply let our brains do the logical collating of the hinted meanings. The upshot is that Putin, so described by invidious associative terms does not come out very cuddly.

Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. VIII | Et Tu, Frontline?

National Bank of Ukraine's plan: More inflation

Ukraine plans to inflate its way out of economic troubles. Like nothing can go wrong there...

Ukraine plans to inflate its way out of economic troubles. As National Bank Governor Valeriya Gontareva said on Jan. 16, the monetary base will increase by 27 percent this year.

This means turning on the money printing press.

As inflation almost reached 25 percent last year, more cash in the system brings another risk that the hryvnia, Ukraine's heavily devalued currency, will keep losing its value. The National Bank expects this year's inflation to exceed 17 percent.

Ukraine has a pitiful track record of tackling inflation. Hyperinflation destroyed the kupon, a currency that country had in 1992-1996, prior to introducing the hryvnia.

Lack of understanding of the macroeconomic issues by the members of parliament that they showed during Gontareva's Jan. 16 visit to the Verkhovna Rada has become the subject to jokes of financial analysts. Executing the money printing policy in a country whose parliament tends to be populist when it comes to serious financial discussion is questionable.

"Yes, emission (printing the money) should take place," said First Deputy Finance Minister Igor Umansky in an interview with LB website. "But money should come to the economy not through banks, but through the state budget."

Complete story at - National Bank of Ukraine's plan: More inflation

The US and Ukraine: Dumb and Dumber | Foreign Policy Journal

Remember Arseniy Yatsenuk? The Ukrainian whom US State Department officials adopted as one of their own in early 2014 and guided into the position of Prime Minister so he could lead the Ukrainian Forces of Good against Russia in the new Cold War?

In an interview on German television on January 7, 2015 Yatsenuk allowed the following words to cross his lips: “We all remember well the Soviet invasion of Ukraine and Germany. We will not allow that, and nobody has the right to rewrite the results of World War Two”.

The Ukrainian Forces of Good, it should be kept in mind, also include several neo-Nazis in high government positions and many more partaking in the fight against Ukrainian pro-Russians in the south-east of the country. Last June, Yatsenuk referred to these pro-Russians as “sub-humans”, directly equivalent to the Nazi term “untermenschen”.

So the next time you shake your head at some stupid remark made by a member of the US government, try to find some consolation in the thought that high American officials are not necessarily the dumbest, except, of course, in their choice of who is worthy of being one of the empire’s partners.

Complete story at - The US and Ukraine: Dumb and Dumber | Foreign Policy Journal

Kyiv Post disables online comments section (That's Kiev to you)

The CIA's English language asset in Kiev is shutting down their comment section. They can't handle the truth, it seems...

Dear Kyiv Post readers,

The Kyiv Post is disabling its online comments section due to an increase in trolls, comments advocating violence and personal attacks. Other news organizations worldwide have taken similar steps for the same reasons. The Kyiv Post regrets having to take this action. The newspaper believes in a robust public debate, but the discussion must be constructive and intelligent. For the time being, the Kyiv Post will allow comments on its moderated Facebook group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kyivpost/

The newspaper will consider hosting online comments again when circumstances allow.

Thank you from the Kyiv Post.

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