Investors have taken Russia out of the penalty box.
The ruble has gained 17.5% in 2015 against the U.S. dollar, after losing nearly half of its value in 2014, according to financial-data provider CQG. It has soared 46% from an intraday record low set in December.
Russia’s stock index denominated in the ruble has soared 20% this year through Monday, after losing 7.15% for the whole of 2014, according to FactSet.
The nation’s sovereign bonds denominated in the local currency have returned 16.86% this year through Monday, after losing 16.61% during 2014, according to data from Barclays PLC.
While the Russian economy remains mired in recession, other fear factors have subsided this year. Prices of crude oil, one of the country’s key exports, have bounced off a six-year low. A cease-fire has eased geopolitical tensions in Ukraine.
For investors seeking higher-yielding investments, Russia has become a prime destination. The central bank’s key interest rate is 14%, compared with rates at or near zero in the U.S., eurozone and Japan.
“Russia is the high-yield story,’’ said Geoffrey Pazzanese, senior portfolio manager at Federated Investors, which has $362.9 billion in assets under management. “The ruble was oversold, and there has been a big change in terms of conditions from last year.”
Complete story at - Russian Assets Regain Appeal for Investors - WSJ
Thursday, April 30, 2015
US to Create ‘New Image’ for Ukraine – German Internet Portal / Sputnik International
The US often acts according to principles of the corporate law and seeks to achieve its goals not only by economic, political and military means, but also using marketing technologies, German Internet portal reported.
The United States is engaged in "rebranding" of Ukraine, which purpose is to create a new image of the country, German portal Propagandaschau wrote.
The process will resemble the creation of popular brands as the US has long become a kind of “corporation,” living in accordance with strict principles of the market economy.
Human rights are only a ‘brand’ for the US in the global system. According to the US, marketing and public relations are no less important for a state than for Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Ford companies, the author wrote.
The foreign policy of the United States is focused on the export of totalitarian market ideology, which is necessary for the country to expand its markets and increase profits. The US throws itself into new markets and fills them with its own ideology, laws and commodities. To capture new potential markets the country uses not only methods of pressure, but also competent marketing, PR and outright propaganda, the article said.
The author analyzed a lecture, made by a US citizen Vivian Walker and released on YouTube, which "astonished Ukrainians" with a rebranding project for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The designers have created a new type “Bandera Pro”, which the Foreign Ministry is expected to use. They also have created a new logo — a graphic picture of a ship with the slogan "The will of the people – it is the wind in our sails."
Complete story at - US to Create ‘New Image’ for Ukraine – German Internet Portal / Sputnik International
The United States is engaged in "rebranding" of Ukraine, which purpose is to create a new image of the country, German portal Propagandaschau wrote.
The process will resemble the creation of popular brands as the US has long become a kind of “corporation,” living in accordance with strict principles of the market economy.
Human rights are only a ‘brand’ for the US in the global system. According to the US, marketing and public relations are no less important for a state than for Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Ford companies, the author wrote.
The foreign policy of the United States is focused on the export of totalitarian market ideology, which is necessary for the country to expand its markets and increase profits. The US throws itself into new markets and fills them with its own ideology, laws and commodities. To capture new potential markets the country uses not only methods of pressure, but also competent marketing, PR and outright propaganda, the article said.
The author analyzed a lecture, made by a US citizen Vivian Walker and released on YouTube, which "astonished Ukrainians" with a rebranding project for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The designers have created a new type “Bandera Pro”, which the Foreign Ministry is expected to use. They also have created a new logo — a graphic picture of a ship with the slogan "The will of the people – it is the wind in our sails."
Complete story at - US to Create ‘New Image’ for Ukraine – German Internet Portal / Sputnik International
The Public Sector Is a Milk Cow for Private Enterprise | Dissident Voice
by Paul Craig Roberts / April 29th, 2015
Social Security and Medicare are under attack from Wall Street, conservatives, and free market economists. The claims are that these programs are unaffordable and that the programs can be run more efficiently and at less cost if privatized.
The programs are disparaged as “entitlements.” The word has come to imply that entitled people are getting something at great cost to everyone else. Indeed, entitlements have become conflated with welfare.
In fact, Social Security and Medicare are financed by an earmarked payroll tax paid by employees. (Economists regard the part of the payroll tax that is paid by employers as part of the employee’s wage.)
According to the Social Security and Medicare trustees, Social Security as presently configured can pay full promised benefits for the next two decades and with current payroll tax and demographic trends can pay 75% of benefits thereafter. Medicare can pay full benefits for 12 more years and 90% of promised benefits thereafter.
It makes sense to look ahead–something that democracies seldom do–but there is no current crisis.
The Carter administration did look ahead and put in place a series of future increases in the payroll tax sufficient to keep the programs in the black for several decades into the future. Shortly thereafter in 1981 there was a claim that there was a short-term financing problem. The National Commission on Social Security Reform was created. Alan Greenspan was appointed chairman, and the commission is known as the Greenspan Commission.
What the commission did was to accelerate in time the payroll tax increases that were already in place. In my opinion, this was done in order to reduce projected federal budget deficits that concerned Wall Street and Republicans. The consequence of the accelerated payroll tax increases is that over the next decades the programs accrued large surpluses in the trillions of dollars that the federal government spent on other programs, substituting for the surplus payroll revenues non-marketable Treasury IOUs to Social Security and Medicare. Far from entitlements worsening the federal deficit, entitlement surpluses have reduced it.
The real Social Security crisis is that the government does not have the money to redeem its IOUs.
Complete story at - The Public Sector Is a Milk Cow for Private Enterprise | Dissident Voice
Social Security and Medicare are under attack from Wall Street, conservatives, and free market economists. The claims are that these programs are unaffordable and that the programs can be run more efficiently and at less cost if privatized.
The programs are disparaged as “entitlements.” The word has come to imply that entitled people are getting something at great cost to everyone else. Indeed, entitlements have become conflated with welfare.
In fact, Social Security and Medicare are financed by an earmarked payroll tax paid by employees. (Economists regard the part of the payroll tax that is paid by employers as part of the employee’s wage.)
According to the Social Security and Medicare trustees, Social Security as presently configured can pay full promised benefits for the next two decades and with current payroll tax and demographic trends can pay 75% of benefits thereafter. Medicare can pay full benefits for 12 more years and 90% of promised benefits thereafter.
It makes sense to look ahead–something that democracies seldom do–but there is no current crisis.
The Carter administration did look ahead and put in place a series of future increases in the payroll tax sufficient to keep the programs in the black for several decades into the future. Shortly thereafter in 1981 there was a claim that there was a short-term financing problem. The National Commission on Social Security Reform was created. Alan Greenspan was appointed chairman, and the commission is known as the Greenspan Commission.
What the commission did was to accelerate in time the payroll tax increases that were already in place. In my opinion, this was done in order to reduce projected federal budget deficits that concerned Wall Street and Republicans. The consequence of the accelerated payroll tax increases is that over the next decades the programs accrued large surpluses in the trillions of dollars that the federal government spent on other programs, substituting for the surplus payroll revenues non-marketable Treasury IOUs to Social Security and Medicare. Far from entitlements worsening the federal deficit, entitlement surpluses have reduced it.
The real Social Security crisis is that the government does not have the money to redeem its IOUs.
Complete story at - The Public Sector Is a Milk Cow for Private Enterprise | Dissident Voice
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
John Helmer: Ukraine Readies Itself for War When No One Wants to Pay for It | naked capitalism
What if the Ukrainian government resumes the war noone wants to pay for – not the US, the European Union, Poland, Canada, least of all Kiev?
Public statements by Ukrainian and international officials identify two payment deadlines for war, and for peace. The first falls on May 31, Natalie Jaresko, the US minister of Ukrainian Finance, has told the London Times, when $15.3 billion in sovereign bond debt must be written off “through lower interest rates, longer payment terms, and in some cases, a cut in the sum owed.” The second deadline falls a month later, at the end of June, when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must decide whether the government in Kiev has met the conditions required for payment of $1.5 billion, the second instalment of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) which commenced just six weeks ago. A default on May 31 will make inevitable a delay in IMF loan disbursement in June. The combination will halt the European Union promise to start a new €1.8 billion in Macro Financial Assistance (MFA).
Russian sources believe that unless Kiev starts a new military offensive in the Donbass within days, when cross-border Russian action can be blamed, creditor governments pressured into paying and bondholders into conceding losses, there won’t be enough cash later on to pay for troops, machines and ammunition.
“We have done everything possible to get to peace”, Jaresko told the Times on March 29. “Russia seems to have a much grander plan here. They are trying to ensure we are a failed state.”
A month later, her threat has proved unconvincing to bond-holders, a majority of them American. At Monday’s (April 27) summit meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (lead image, left), Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, the EU was also unmoved. In a lengthy communique, the EU insisted on “decentralisation” of government in the east; “inclusive constitutional reform”; and “de-escalation and a political solution based on respect for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, in particular in the framework of the Normandy format [and] the Minsk Agreements.” These are all provisos against the resumption of large-scale fighting in the Donbass.
In response to Ukrainian requests for up-front and accelerated funding from Brussels, Tusk and Juncker said no; that’s to say, not yet. In a paper distributed before the summit began, the EU announced “€1.8 billion in medium-term loans between now and early 2016. Disbursement will be conditional on implementation of specific economic policy and financial conditions outlined on the Memoranda of Understanding.”
By the time the communique was released yesterday, the desperation of the Ukrainians and the reluctance of the Europeans were revealed in the word “swiftly”, inserted twice into the final communique, to make the unlikelihood of new money seem more adverbial, less subjunctive. Here they are in Point 8.
Complete story at - John Helmer: Ukraine Readies Itself for War When No One Wants to Pay for It | naked capitalism
Public statements by Ukrainian and international officials identify two payment deadlines for war, and for peace. The first falls on May 31, Natalie Jaresko, the US minister of Ukrainian Finance, has told the London Times, when $15.3 billion in sovereign bond debt must be written off “through lower interest rates, longer payment terms, and in some cases, a cut in the sum owed.” The second deadline falls a month later, at the end of June, when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must decide whether the government in Kiev has met the conditions required for payment of $1.5 billion, the second instalment of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) which commenced just six weeks ago. A default on May 31 will make inevitable a delay in IMF loan disbursement in June. The combination will halt the European Union promise to start a new €1.8 billion in Macro Financial Assistance (MFA).
Russian sources believe that unless Kiev starts a new military offensive in the Donbass within days, when cross-border Russian action can be blamed, creditor governments pressured into paying and bondholders into conceding losses, there won’t be enough cash later on to pay for troops, machines and ammunition.
“We have done everything possible to get to peace”, Jaresko told the Times on March 29. “Russia seems to have a much grander plan here. They are trying to ensure we are a failed state.”
A month later, her threat has proved unconvincing to bond-holders, a majority of them American. At Monday’s (April 27) summit meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (lead image, left), Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, the EU was also unmoved. In a lengthy communique, the EU insisted on “decentralisation” of government in the east; “inclusive constitutional reform”; and “de-escalation and a political solution based on respect for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, in particular in the framework of the Normandy format [and] the Minsk Agreements.” These are all provisos against the resumption of large-scale fighting in the Donbass.
In response to Ukrainian requests for up-front and accelerated funding from Brussels, Tusk and Juncker said no; that’s to say, not yet. In a paper distributed before the summit began, the EU announced “€1.8 billion in medium-term loans between now and early 2016. Disbursement will be conditional on implementation of specific economic policy and financial conditions outlined on the Memoranda of Understanding.”
By the time the communique was released yesterday, the desperation of the Ukrainians and the reluctance of the Europeans were revealed in the word “swiftly”, inserted twice into the final communique, to make the unlikelihood of new money seem more adverbial, less subjunctive. Here they are in Point 8.
Complete story at - John Helmer: Ukraine Readies Itself for War When No One Wants to Pay for It | naked capitalism
ClubOrlov: Notes from a Funeral
A week old, but still worth reading...
Today I received the following report from Club Orlov's special Kiev correspondent, Yu Shan:
Yesterday I was at a funeral. The crowd was well over 500, much more than I originally thought would be possible. It was a deeply emotional event. The man to whom everyone bid farewell was Oles' Buzina, a writer, historian, free thinker, wacky conversationalist, warm friend, a man who identified deeply with both the complex yet incomplete Ukrainian culture and with the multifaceted entity of eastern Slavic Orthodox Russian civilization, a man who would not take sides easily, and would adhere to his lone stand even when death threats started to arrive at his doorstep on a weekly basis.
The event was all over the Russian language news. But there was precisely zero coverage of it in the English-language news. He was murdered at 1:25, Thursday, April 16. There were two masked men waiting for him in front of his house. Five shots were fired, and that was that. It was the third such hit in a span of four days.
At the funeral there were a few reporters from Russia who came specifically for this event. They were polite and talkative. But I noticed something which to me seemed off: yesterday was a profoundly emotional time for all the Kiev residents who made the decision to attend the funeral, and many people were crying openly in the cold wind, for several hours, and not just old women. However, some of the questions asked by the Russian reporters, and some of the things they said, had a mild undertone of Schadenfreude: “Oh, look at you poor Ukrainians, what have you all brought upon yourselves? Now do you see how wrong you were? Do you see where you end up without Russia?”
But of those present—every decrepit old man or woman, every young, unfashionably dressed girl or threadbare-looking young man—all were the kind of Ukrainians who throughout this year of madness have kept in their hearts an earnest, warm feeling towards Russia! They have clung to the idea of seeing themselves as a part of a great singular civilization, as citizens of the once-proud Soviet Union. They don't need Russian condescension!
After this one year, it has become plain that there can be no Ukraine without support from Russia. But it is also true that there can never be a genuine resurrection of Russian Civilization without a resurrection of the Ukraine. It is not a matter of territory; the ties are psychological, emotional and historical. How many among the contemporary Russian public actually appreciate this point? A regular Russian guy sympathizes with Donbass, supports Putin, and despises the USA. But does he consider the Ukrainians to be good-for-nothing losers—possibly including his own brothers who happen to live there?
Complete story at - ClubOrlov: Notes from a Funeral
Today I received the following report from Club Orlov's special Kiev correspondent, Yu Shan:
Yesterday I was at a funeral. The crowd was well over 500, much more than I originally thought would be possible. It was a deeply emotional event. The man to whom everyone bid farewell was Oles' Buzina, a writer, historian, free thinker, wacky conversationalist, warm friend, a man who identified deeply with both the complex yet incomplete Ukrainian culture and with the multifaceted entity of eastern Slavic Orthodox Russian civilization, a man who would not take sides easily, and would adhere to his lone stand even when death threats started to arrive at his doorstep on a weekly basis.
The event was all over the Russian language news. But there was precisely zero coverage of it in the English-language news. He was murdered at 1:25, Thursday, April 16. There were two masked men waiting for him in front of his house. Five shots were fired, and that was that. It was the third such hit in a span of four days.
At the funeral there were a few reporters from Russia who came specifically for this event. They were polite and talkative. But I noticed something which to me seemed off: yesterday was a profoundly emotional time for all the Kiev residents who made the decision to attend the funeral, and many people were crying openly in the cold wind, for several hours, and not just old women. However, some of the questions asked by the Russian reporters, and some of the things they said, had a mild undertone of Schadenfreude: “Oh, look at you poor Ukrainians, what have you all brought upon yourselves? Now do you see how wrong you were? Do you see where you end up without Russia?”
But of those present—every decrepit old man or woman, every young, unfashionably dressed girl or threadbare-looking young man—all were the kind of Ukrainians who throughout this year of madness have kept in their hearts an earnest, warm feeling towards Russia! They have clung to the idea of seeing themselves as a part of a great singular civilization, as citizens of the once-proud Soviet Union. They don't need Russian condescension!
After this one year, it has become plain that there can be no Ukraine without support from Russia. But it is also true that there can never be a genuine resurrection of Russian Civilization without a resurrection of the Ukraine. It is not a matter of territory; the ties are psychological, emotional and historical. How many among the contemporary Russian public actually appreciate this point? A regular Russian guy sympathizes with Donbass, supports Putin, and despises the USA. But does he consider the Ukrainians to be good-for-nothing losers—possibly including his own brothers who happen to live there?
Complete story at - ClubOrlov: Notes from a Funeral
Land Destroyer: Burying The Greatest Victory in Spite
Posted using the PostText ME Service…
Land Destroyer: Burying The Greatest Victory in Spite
April 29, 2015 (Ulson Gunnar - NEO) - In efforts to demonize Russia, the history of the Western World is being distastefully rewritten. The monumental sacrifices of the Russian people during World War II are not only being marginalized, but flipped upon their heads. Today, reading through the Western media, one will find a multitude of comparisons between Russia and Nazi Germany, with Russian President Vladimir Putin compared with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Beyond distasteful, this propaganda is dangerous to the point where it borders on exonerating the Nazis, even celebrating their acts of aggression and bolstering those monkeying their ideology today, particularly in Ukraine, Poland and other NATO-oriented Eastern European nations where fascism has been resurrected to once again battle the Russian people.
The most recent example of this can be seen in an ABC News article "Polish Border Guards Refuse Entry for 10 Russian Bikers," where Russian bikers planned to trace the route of Russian soldiers as they pushed back the Nazi tide in World War 2. Their goal was to visit the grave sites of fallen Russian soldiers (which includes many Polish soldiers who fought alongside them) and honor the sacrifices of tens of millions who resisted and eventually ended fascism in Europe.
Complete story at - Land Destroyer: Burying The Greatest Victory in Spite
Land Destroyer: Burying The Greatest Victory in Spite
April 29, 2015 (Ulson Gunnar - NEO) - In efforts to demonize Russia, the history of the Western World is being distastefully rewritten. The monumental sacrifices of the Russian people during World War II are not only being marginalized, but flipped upon their heads. Today, reading through the Western media, one will find a multitude of comparisons between Russia and Nazi Germany, with Russian President Vladimir Putin compared with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Beyond distasteful, this propaganda is dangerous to the point where it borders on exonerating the Nazis, even celebrating their acts of aggression and bolstering those monkeying their ideology today, particularly in Ukraine, Poland and other NATO-oriented Eastern European nations where fascism has been resurrected to once again battle the Russian people.
The most recent example of this can be seen in an ABC News article "Polish Border Guards Refuse Entry for 10 Russian Bikers," where Russian bikers planned to trace the route of Russian soldiers as they pushed back the Nazi tide in World War 2. Their goal was to visit the grave sites of fallen Russian soldiers (which includes many Polish soldiers who fought alongside them) and honor the sacrifices of tens of millions who resisted and eventually ended fascism in Europe.
Complete story at - Land Destroyer: Burying The Greatest Victory in Spite
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Ukraine Men Who Refuse to Be Cannon Fodder for War in the East - HunterNews
A look at some of Ukraine men who have decided they won’t respond to draft notices and their reasons for doing so
We were fighting for autonomy, for the right to live and work in our own region. When the army came, they just bombarded us for two months in a row,” Andrey said. “And now I’m supposed to go and fight for them? I don’t think so.”
As the country’s eastern conflict drags into a second year, Ukraine’s military leaders are trying to learn from past mistakes. They are trying to be better trained and prepared, because no one knows when the warm weather might push this frozen conflict with pro-Russian separatists into all-out war again. And they are calling up the able-bodied men of Ukraine in droves to turn the military that had only 6,000 battle-ready troops before the start of this conflict into a standing force a quarter-million strong.
But not everyone is heeding the call to arms.
“I decided a long time ago that I wouldn’t respond to the order,” said Igor, a 25-year-old worker with a nongovernmental organization within Kiev, who received a draft summons in February. “I am not at all interested in participating in such a conflict. They should have been acting much more effectively to have fewer victims — I don’t want to end up on the victim list myself.”
The prospective soldiers in this article spoke on the condition that their last names be withheld because of the risk of penalties if they were to be identified as draft dodgers.
Igor is, by most measures, a shoo-in for the service. He’s a reserve officer, a radio specialist, and he participated in the 2013-2014 protests on Kiev’s Independence Square. But between one-third and one-half of the more than 6,000 deaths in the Ukrainian conflict were in the military, and Igor cites systemic problems — such as draft commanders who ask for bribes, and commanders, including the president, who maintain Russian business ties while asking soldiers to die for Ukraine — as reasons why he and many others cannot bring themselves to serve.
“We do have some problems in the mobilization,” acknowledged military spokesman Vladislav Seleznev, when asked about cases like Igor’s. “That’s why we are trying to strike a balance: From one side, the government provides benefits to those defending the country; from the other, there are very harsh criminal penalties for draft dodgers.”
Rank-and-file soldiers can make upwards of $200 a month, with commanders eligible for far more. But those who shirk the call to duty — or go AWOL, as about 13,000 have — risk fines and years of jail time. In one recent case, a journalist speaking out publicly against the draft was charged with treason.
Complete story at - Ukraine Men Who Refuse to Be Cannon Fodder for War in the East - HunterNews
We were fighting for autonomy, for the right to live and work in our own region. When the army came, they just bombarded us for two months in a row,” Andrey said. “And now I’m supposed to go and fight for them? I don’t think so.”
As the country’s eastern conflict drags into a second year, Ukraine’s military leaders are trying to learn from past mistakes. They are trying to be better trained and prepared, because no one knows when the warm weather might push this frozen conflict with pro-Russian separatists into all-out war again. And they are calling up the able-bodied men of Ukraine in droves to turn the military that had only 6,000 battle-ready troops before the start of this conflict into a standing force a quarter-million strong.
But not everyone is heeding the call to arms.
“I decided a long time ago that I wouldn’t respond to the order,” said Igor, a 25-year-old worker with a nongovernmental organization within Kiev, who received a draft summons in February. “I am not at all interested in participating in such a conflict. They should have been acting much more effectively to have fewer victims — I don’t want to end up on the victim list myself.”
The prospective soldiers in this article spoke on the condition that their last names be withheld because of the risk of penalties if they were to be identified as draft dodgers.
Igor is, by most measures, a shoo-in for the service. He’s a reserve officer, a radio specialist, and he participated in the 2013-2014 protests on Kiev’s Independence Square. But between one-third and one-half of the more than 6,000 deaths in the Ukrainian conflict were in the military, and Igor cites systemic problems — such as draft commanders who ask for bribes, and commanders, including the president, who maintain Russian business ties while asking soldiers to die for Ukraine — as reasons why he and many others cannot bring themselves to serve.
“We do have some problems in the mobilization,” acknowledged military spokesman Vladislav Seleznev, when asked about cases like Igor’s. “That’s why we are trying to strike a balance: From one side, the government provides benefits to those defending the country; from the other, there are very harsh criminal penalties for draft dodgers.”
Rank-and-file soldiers can make upwards of $200 a month, with commanders eligible for far more. But those who shirk the call to duty — or go AWOL, as about 13,000 have — risk fines and years of jail time. In one recent case, a journalist speaking out publicly against the draft was charged with treason.
Complete story at - Ukraine Men Who Refuse to Be Cannon Fodder for War in the East - HunterNews
Burn, Kill, Bury: Czech Diplomat Condones Slaughter of 48 in Odessa / Sputnik International
To avoid civil unrest, a government must kill its own citizens and burn them near a road, said Vaclav Bartuska, the Czech Republic’s energy envoy.
Vaclav Bartuska, the Czech Republic's energy envoy, justified the monstrous slaughter of innocent people that took place in the Ukrainian city of Odessa on May 2, 2014.
Last May, clashes broke out in Odessa between independence supporters on one side and pro-Kiev extremists on the other. As a result, at least 48 people were killed by the right-wing radicals.
According to Bartuska, Prague carefully studied the model used in eastern Ukraine to rally up independence movements.
The Czech envoy commented about the tragedy in Odessa:
Vaclav Bartuska, the Czech Republic's energy envoy, justified the monstrous slaughter of innocent people that took place in the Ukrainian city of Odessa on May 2, 2014.
Last May, clashes broke out in Odessa between independence supporters on one side and pro-Kiev extremists on the other. As a result, at least 48 people were killed by the right-wing radicals.
According to Bartuska, Prague carefully studied the model used in eastern Ukraine to rally up independence movements.
The Czech envoy commented about the tragedy in Odessa:
"Groups of civilians — including men, women and children — seize government buildings. Within two days they get arms and after that women and children disappear, leaving only the armed men. If they [independence supporters] are quickly resisted, as it was done in Odessa where they were simply burned to death, or Dnepropetrovsk, where they were simply killed and buried by the side of the road, everything will be calm. If this is not done, then there will be war. That's all."Complete story at - Burn, Kill, Bury: Czech Diplomat Condones Slaughter of 48 in Odessa / Sputnik International
India targets Ford Foundation as national security risk
India has placed the Ford Foundation, the U.S. philanthropy group, on a national security watchlist following complaints about its links to an activist seeking the conviction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for human rights abuses.
The news was greeted with alarm by Indian and foreign non-government organisations and western donors, but hailed by many nationalist Indians on Twitter as an overdue crackdown on foreign meddlers.
A letter on Thursday from the home affairs ministry to the Reserve Bank of India, published by Indian news media, asks the central bank to place the Ford Foundation on a watchlist to ensure that the funds it distributes are used "for bona fide welfare activities without compromising on concerns for national interest and security".
The Ford Foundation — which has worked in India since 1952 on programs ranging from the "green revolution" in agriculture to urban planning and good governance — was previously under the purview of the finance ministry, but can now disburse funds only after clearance from the home affairs ministry.
Complete story at - India targets Ford Foundation as national security risk
The news was greeted with alarm by Indian and foreign non-government organisations and western donors, but hailed by many nationalist Indians on Twitter as an overdue crackdown on foreign meddlers.
A letter on Thursday from the home affairs ministry to the Reserve Bank of India, published by Indian news media, asks the central bank to place the Ford Foundation on a watchlist to ensure that the funds it distributes are used "for bona fide welfare activities without compromising on concerns for national interest and security".
The Ford Foundation — which has worked in India since 1952 on programs ranging from the "green revolution" in agriculture to urban planning and good governance — was previously under the purview of the finance ministry, but can now disburse funds only after clearance from the home affairs ministry.
Complete story at - India targets Ford Foundation as national security risk
Chinese Honor Guard Arrives in Moscow for First Time Ever / Sputnik International
The Chinese army's Honor Guard has arrived in Moscow for the first time ever in what the country's ambassador calls a new stage in inter-military ties.
The Chinese army's Honor Guard arrived in Moscow on Saturday to participate in the May 9 Victory Day parade.
This is the first time that China is sending its Honor Guard to take part in a parade on Red Square. The 110 Guards of Honor are based in Beijing's Capital Garrison and report directly to the Chinese General Staff.
Complete story at - Chinese Honor Guard Arrives in Moscow for First Time Ever / Sputnik International
The Chinese army's Honor Guard arrived in Moscow on Saturday to participate in the May 9 Victory Day parade.
This is the first time that China is sending its Honor Guard to take part in a parade on Red Square. The 110 Guards of Honor are based in Beijing's Capital Garrison and report directly to the Chinese General Staff.
"This is an important event for inter-army exchange between Russia and China this year, and will assist in making the two countries' inter-military cooperation enter a new stage of development," China's Ambassador to Russia Li Hui previously told Xinhua.
Complete story at - Chinese Honor Guard Arrives in Moscow for First Time Ever / Sputnik International
The Rutherford Institute :: Turning America into a Battlefield: A Blueprint for Locking Down the Nation
By John W. Whitehead
April 27, 2015
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.—President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
A standing army—something that propelled the early colonists into revolution—strips the American people of any vestige of freedom. How can there be any semblance of freedom when there are tanks in the streets, military encampments in cities, Blackhawk helicopters and armed drones patrolling overhead?
It was for this reason that those who established America vested control of the military in a civilian government, with a civilian commander-in-chief. They did not want a military government, ruled by force. Rather, they opted for a republic bound by the rule of law: the U.S. Constitution.
Unfortunately, with the Constitution under constant attack, the military’s power, influence and authority have grown dramatically. Even the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which makes it a crime for the government to use the military to carry out arrests, searches, seizure of evidence and other activities normally handled by a civilian police force, has been weakened by both Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who ushered in exemptions allowing troops to deploy domestically and arrest civilians in the wake of alleged terrorist acts.
Now we find ourselves struggling to retain some semblance of freedom in the face of police and law enforcement agencies that look and act like the military and have just as little regard for the Fourth Amendment, laws such as the NDAA that allow the military to arrest and indefinitely detain American citizens, and military drills that acclimate the American people to the sight of armored tanks in the streets, military encampments in cities, and combat aircraft patrolling overhead.
Complete story at - The Rutherford Institute :: Turning America into a Battlefield: A Blueprint for Locking Down the Nation
April 27, 2015
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.—President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
A standing army—something that propelled the early colonists into revolution—strips the American people of any vestige of freedom. How can there be any semblance of freedom when there are tanks in the streets, military encampments in cities, Blackhawk helicopters and armed drones patrolling overhead?
It was for this reason that those who established America vested control of the military in a civilian government, with a civilian commander-in-chief. They did not want a military government, ruled by force. Rather, they opted for a republic bound by the rule of law: the U.S. Constitution.
Unfortunately, with the Constitution under constant attack, the military’s power, influence and authority have grown dramatically. Even the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which makes it a crime for the government to use the military to carry out arrests, searches, seizure of evidence and other activities normally handled by a civilian police force, has been weakened by both Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who ushered in exemptions allowing troops to deploy domestically and arrest civilians in the wake of alleged terrorist acts.
Now we find ourselves struggling to retain some semblance of freedom in the face of police and law enforcement agencies that look and act like the military and have just as little regard for the Fourth Amendment, laws such as the NDAA that allow the military to arrest and indefinitely detain American citizens, and military drills that acclimate the American people to the sight of armored tanks in the streets, military encampments in cities, and combat aircraft patrolling overhead.
Complete story at - The Rutherford Institute :: Turning America into a Battlefield: A Blueprint for Locking Down the Nation
Monday, April 27, 2015
The invisible victims of Russia’s economic crisis aren’t even in Russia - Quartz
New data show that central Asian governments have been right to fear Russia’s economic crisis was heading their way: remittances from migrant laborers are falling sharply, more than in any other region worldwide.
Migrant remittances are the largest single source of foreign currency in Tajikistan and an important factor in declining poverty rates throughout central Asia in recent years. So the contracting Russian economy and stricken ruble—brought on by a sudden fall in oil prices and Western sanctions—have a direct impact on millions of the region’s laborers and their families back home.
“Overall, reduced remittances are likely to worsen standards of living in remittance-receiving countries, and the increasing number of returned migrants could put upward pressures on unemployment rates,” the World Bank said in a regular briefing on Apr. 13.
Tajikistan—which sends approximately one-half of its working age males to labor in Russia—is the most remittance-dependent country in the world. Remittances account for the equivalent of 49% of GDP, according to the World Bank. In dollar terms, they fell 8% last year, largely in the fourth quarter, and are expected to decline another 23% in 2015.
Kyrgyzstan is the world’s second most remittance-dependent country, with remittances totaling the equivalent of 32% of GDP. Last year they fell 1%, but are expected to drop another 23% this year.
Complete story at - The invisible victims of Russia’s economic crisis aren’t even in Russia - Quartz
A migrant family, on the outskirts of Moscow.(Reuters/Denis Sinyakov)
Migrant remittances are the largest single source of foreign currency in Tajikistan and an important factor in declining poverty rates throughout central Asia in recent years. So the contracting Russian economy and stricken ruble—brought on by a sudden fall in oil prices and Western sanctions—have a direct impact on millions of the region’s laborers and their families back home.
“Overall, reduced remittances are likely to worsen standards of living in remittance-receiving countries, and the increasing number of returned migrants could put upward pressures on unemployment rates,” the World Bank said in a regular briefing on Apr. 13.
Tajikistan—which sends approximately one-half of its working age males to labor in Russia—is the most remittance-dependent country in the world. Remittances account for the equivalent of 49% of GDP, according to the World Bank. In dollar terms, they fell 8% last year, largely in the fourth quarter, and are expected to decline another 23% in 2015.
Kyrgyzstan is the world’s second most remittance-dependent country, with remittances totaling the equivalent of 32% of GDP. Last year they fell 1%, but are expected to drop another 23% this year.
Complete story at - The invisible victims of Russia’s economic crisis aren’t even in Russia - Quartz
A migrant family, on the outskirts of Moscow.(Reuters/Denis Sinyakov)
France will pay €1.1 bn to Russia for cancelled Mistral ships - report — RT News
France plans to pay back costs for the Mistral helicopter carriers ordered by Russia if they are not delivered, returning €800 million and paying compensation for other expenses totaling €300 million, French media reports citing government sources.
Paris is expected to fund the compensation from €2 billion that Poland will pay to buy French helicopters, according to Le Journal du Dimanche.
The decision on compensating Russian costs for the Mistral ships hasn’t yet been legally formalized; however France and Russia will take another month to set the exact terms of the annulment of the contract for the Mistral war ships.
In addition, Russia will give France the right to resell the two helicopter carriers, the newspaper says adding that some NATO countries have already shown interest in buying them.
Earlier this week French President Francois Hollande agreed that the funds should be returned to Russia if it doesn’t receive the ships. However, he added that currently it’s impossible to deliver them to Russia because of the situation in Ukraine.
The contract for the delivery of the Mistral helicopter carriers was signed between the French company DCNS/STX and Russia’s arms distributor Rosoboronexport in 2011.
France was expected to handover the first ship in November 2014, but the delivery has been postponed indefinitely partly due to pressure on France by the US and the EU, which imposed a series of sanctions against Moscow over its accession of Crimea and alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.
Complete story at - France will pay €1.1 bn to Russia for cancelled Mistral ships - report — RT News
Paris is expected to fund the compensation from €2 billion that Poland will pay to buy French helicopters, according to Le Journal du Dimanche.
The decision on compensating Russian costs for the Mistral ships hasn’t yet been legally formalized; however France and Russia will take another month to set the exact terms of the annulment of the contract for the Mistral war ships.
In addition, Russia will give France the right to resell the two helicopter carriers, the newspaper says adding that some NATO countries have already shown interest in buying them.
Earlier this week French President Francois Hollande agreed that the funds should be returned to Russia if it doesn’t receive the ships. However, he added that currently it’s impossible to deliver them to Russia because of the situation in Ukraine.
The contract for the delivery of the Mistral helicopter carriers was signed between the French company DCNS/STX and Russia’s arms distributor Rosoboronexport in 2011.
France was expected to handover the first ship in November 2014, but the delivery has been postponed indefinitely partly due to pressure on France by the US and the EU, which imposed a series of sanctions against Moscow over its accession of Crimea and alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.
Complete story at - France will pay €1.1 bn to Russia for cancelled Mistral ships - report — RT News
The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Ukraine Partnering with NATO…to the Surprise of No One
Despite more than a year of claiming otherwise, the US-backed government of Ukraine is now openly acknowledging their close association with NATO. Although the rhetoric is carefully guarded so as not to admit that Ukraine has become a de facto NATO member, the inescapable fact is that it is in all but name.
Remember back in 2013 and 2014 when those who railed against the US-NATO manufactured conflict in Ukraine – decrying Washington’s and Brussels’ belligerent policies as clear and unmistakable provocations – were called ‘conspiracy theorists’ for daring to suggest that behind the flowery language of ‘democracy’ and ‘liberal European values’ lay an insidious effort to bring Ukraine into NATO’s orbit? Remember how such voices (this author included) were described as ‘paranoid’ and ‘Putin propagandists’ while the United States’ handpicked successors to deposed President Yanukovich in Kiev were described as ‘patriots’ and ‘protectors of sovereignty’? Well, as it turns out, the conspiracy theories were incontrovertible facts, and the so-called ‘patriots’ were (and are) inveterate liars.
Ukraine: Reality vs Fiction
As Ukraine continues its slide into total and irreversible economic collapse, and Donetsk and Lugansk endure a second year of war, a little publicized announcement was made in Kiev by Prime Minister Yatsenyuk. On April 8, Interfax-Ukraine reported that Ukraine would be signing an agreement for close military cooperation with NATO. As Yatsenyuk himself explained, “The government is signing an agreement on cooperation in the field of support with NATO. It is an agreement on support between the Ukrainian Cabinet and NATO, which envisages the implementation of four trust projects with NATO, including military and technical cooperation, communications, new communications and information technologies.” Naturally, the language employed in this statement is critical to understanding the true meaning of the agreement.
First of all is the completely laughable notion of “cooperation” and “support” with NATO. A global military force employing some of the most advanced weapons systems and battlefield tactics is not exactly in search of a partner as dilapidated, disheveled, corruption-ridden, and generally ineffective as the Ukrainian military. The phrasing is merely a rhetorical flourish designed to save face in front of the already deeply discouraged and humiliated people of Ukraine, while simultaneously obscuring the fact that its military will now be merely an annex of NATO. In other words, far from a “partnership,” Ukraine is entering into an agreement of submission and subservience.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Ukraine Partnering with NATO…to the Surprise of No One
Remember back in 2013 and 2014 when those who railed against the US-NATO manufactured conflict in Ukraine – decrying Washington’s and Brussels’ belligerent policies as clear and unmistakable provocations – were called ‘conspiracy theorists’ for daring to suggest that behind the flowery language of ‘democracy’ and ‘liberal European values’ lay an insidious effort to bring Ukraine into NATO’s orbit? Remember how such voices (this author included) were described as ‘paranoid’ and ‘Putin propagandists’ while the United States’ handpicked successors to deposed President Yanukovich in Kiev were described as ‘patriots’ and ‘protectors of sovereignty’? Well, as it turns out, the conspiracy theories were incontrovertible facts, and the so-called ‘patriots’ were (and are) inveterate liars.
Ukraine: Reality vs Fiction
As Ukraine continues its slide into total and irreversible economic collapse, and Donetsk and Lugansk endure a second year of war, a little publicized announcement was made in Kiev by Prime Minister Yatsenyuk. On April 8, Interfax-Ukraine reported that Ukraine would be signing an agreement for close military cooperation with NATO. As Yatsenyuk himself explained, “The government is signing an agreement on cooperation in the field of support with NATO. It is an agreement on support between the Ukrainian Cabinet and NATO, which envisages the implementation of four trust projects with NATO, including military and technical cooperation, communications, new communications and information technologies.” Naturally, the language employed in this statement is critical to understanding the true meaning of the agreement.
First of all is the completely laughable notion of “cooperation” and “support” with NATO. A global military force employing some of the most advanced weapons systems and battlefield tactics is not exactly in search of a partner as dilapidated, disheveled, corruption-ridden, and generally ineffective as the Ukrainian military. The phrasing is merely a rhetorical flourish designed to save face in front of the already deeply discouraged and humiliated people of Ukraine, while simultaneously obscuring the fact that its military will now be merely an annex of NATO. In other words, far from a “partnership,” Ukraine is entering into an agreement of submission and subservience.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Ukraine Partnering with NATO…to the Surprise of No One
The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Igor Strelkov: Resumption of War in Ukraine Inevitable
According to Igor Strelkov, there is no doubt that Ukraine intends to go to war with Russia.
A correspondent of the Eurasian News Fairway interviewed Igor Ivanovich Strelkov (Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin—military leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR], a former commander of the insurgents in the city of Slavyansk and organizer of the forces of the People’s Militia in Donetsk) in the course of his visit to one of the cities of the Russian Federation. The visit was arranged for the purpose of raising much needed funds for the population of the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics [LPR] as well as activating the operations of the local chapter of the “Novorossiya” public movement.
The coup in Kiev was paid for with US funds, was directed by the United States,
and the incumbent Ukrainian government is simply a marionette…
Eurasian News Fairway [ENF]: Igor Ivanovich, I will open with the most “terrifying” question. In your interview with the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies you say that war awaits Russia. What scenarios of its inception and development, methods of conducting it and possible consequences do you see?
Igor Strelkov [IS]: Ukraine will make attempts to strike against Novorossiya with a view to eliminating it entirely, and because Russia cannot allow the destruction of Novorossiya—cannot allow the genocide of the Russian people, the Russian population living there—then Moscow could somehow be drawn into a war. It is difficult to tell what the scale of this involvement could be. But the fact that Ukraine clearly intends to make war against Russia is entirely beyond doubt. Even if Novorossiya is surrendered, Ukraine will sooner or later unleash a war for Crimea because it does not recognize its transition into Russia, is not going to recognize it and almost openly declares that it will fight for the peninsula, by military means if necessary.
ENF: Speaking of war, do you mean a war “at the instigation of”?
IS: Naturally. The coup in Kiev was paid for with US funds, was directed by the United States, and the incumbent Ukrainian government is simply a marionette created for a confrontation with Russia, including by military means. It is for this reason that Ukraine makes no concessions—none whatsoever. Even the most minor. They do not observe even the Minsk accords that are, in principle, theoretically advantageous [to them], but instead use them only as a temporary respite for accumulating forces and a means to further wage war.
[The Minsk accords] are not in the least favourable to the People’s Republics
and the Militia because they signify the elimination of both of them.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Igor Strelkov: Resumption of War in Ukraine Inevitable
A correspondent of the Eurasian News Fairway interviewed Igor Ivanovich Strelkov (Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin—military leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR], a former commander of the insurgents in the city of Slavyansk and organizer of the forces of the People’s Militia in Donetsk) in the course of his visit to one of the cities of the Russian Federation. The visit was arranged for the purpose of raising much needed funds for the population of the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics [LPR] as well as activating the operations of the local chapter of the “Novorossiya” public movement.
The coup in Kiev was paid for with US funds, was directed by the United States,
and the incumbent Ukrainian government is simply a marionette…
Eurasian News Fairway [ENF]: Igor Ivanovich, I will open with the most “terrifying” question. In your interview with the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies you say that war awaits Russia. What scenarios of its inception and development, methods of conducting it and possible consequences do you see?
Igor Strelkov [IS]: Ukraine will make attempts to strike against Novorossiya with a view to eliminating it entirely, and because Russia cannot allow the destruction of Novorossiya—cannot allow the genocide of the Russian people, the Russian population living there—then Moscow could somehow be drawn into a war. It is difficult to tell what the scale of this involvement could be. But the fact that Ukraine clearly intends to make war against Russia is entirely beyond doubt. Even if Novorossiya is surrendered, Ukraine will sooner or later unleash a war for Crimea because it does not recognize its transition into Russia, is not going to recognize it and almost openly declares that it will fight for the peninsula, by military means if necessary.
ENF: Speaking of war, do you mean a war “at the instigation of”?
IS: Naturally. The coup in Kiev was paid for with US funds, was directed by the United States, and the incumbent Ukrainian government is simply a marionette created for a confrontation with Russia, including by military means. It is for this reason that Ukraine makes no concessions—none whatsoever. Even the most minor. They do not observe even the Minsk accords that are, in principle, theoretically advantageous [to them], but instead use them only as a temporary respite for accumulating forces and a means to further wage war.
[The Minsk accords] are not in the least favourable to the People’s Republics
and the Militia because they signify the elimination of both of them.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Igor Strelkov: Resumption of War in Ukraine Inevitable
Ukrainian analysis by the Saker: no hope for peace left | The Vineyard of the Saker
Analysis:
There is very little doubt left in anybody’s mind that the junta will resume a full-scale attack on Novorussia. Likewise, it appears that any hopes for a weakening of the US and/or European support for the Nazi junta are now dead. If the long string of murders of political opponents including a well-known and iconic figure like Oles Buzina shocked *nobody* (least of all the millions of European “Charlies”!) then probably nothing will. Furthermore, there are no signs of another “Maidan” which could topple the junta. Yes, there are protests here and there, but nothing which could seriously threaten the regime. To the contrary, all the signs are indicating that the US is holding the Ukraine in a very firm grip and that the predictable US plan is to restart a full scale war between the Nazi-occupied Ukraine and Novorussia with the option to involve Russia (which has been the plan all along).
The regime is clearly “going for broke” and not even pretending to solve any of the innumerable problems of Nazi-occupied Ukraine. Both Poroshenko and the Ukie Rada, apparently, are spending all their time and efforts into further provoking Russia, by seriously discussing a law to nationalize all Russian assets in the Ukraine, re-writing history books, adopting resolutions saying that Russia has invaded the Ukraine, etc. Nazi death squads, now trained by the USA, are now supposedly crucifying and burning “separatists” alive, while the US Gauleiter in Kiev tweets photos of Russian air defense system taking in Moscow in 2013, as proof of a Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
In the meantime, the US is doing exactly what it always does: it sends in US forces to train local death squads while building a “coalition of the willing” (US+UK+Canada+Poland), to do with no form of mandate or permission, that which it could not get approved legally (by the UN or even by NATO!). It appears that the debate inside the US “deep state” about the risks of the current strategy is over and that the Neocons have prevailed.
In practical terms this means that we are back to “square 1″: the question is now “can Novorussia withstand the Nazi onslaught alone with only the help of the “Voentorg” and “Northern Wind” or will Russia be forced to intervene?”
Honestly? I don’t know. And neither does anybody else.
By all accounts, the junta forces have become better but so have the Novorussians. Zakharchenko has announced that the recent voluntary mobilization was successful at 110% of the expected, which sounds very good, in particular with only volunteers, but it does not really tell us if Novorussia will have the 100’000 men under arms, by June, as was promised by the same Zakharchenko. Also, there appears to be a lack of equipment for such a large force, but then again, judging by what happened earlier this winter, we can expect the Russian Voentorg to fully open it’s spigot, as soon as the Russian intelligence services conclude that an Nazi attack is inevitable.
Complete story at - Ukrainian analysis by the Saker: no hope for peace left | The Vineyard of the Saker
There is very little doubt left in anybody’s mind that the junta will resume a full-scale attack on Novorussia. Likewise, it appears that any hopes for a weakening of the US and/or European support for the Nazi junta are now dead. If the long string of murders of political opponents including a well-known and iconic figure like Oles Buzina shocked *nobody* (least of all the millions of European “Charlies”!) then probably nothing will. Furthermore, there are no signs of another “Maidan” which could topple the junta. Yes, there are protests here and there, but nothing which could seriously threaten the regime. To the contrary, all the signs are indicating that the US is holding the Ukraine in a very firm grip and that the predictable US plan is to restart a full scale war between the Nazi-occupied Ukraine and Novorussia with the option to involve Russia (which has been the plan all along).
The regime is clearly “going for broke” and not even pretending to solve any of the innumerable problems of Nazi-occupied Ukraine. Both Poroshenko and the Ukie Rada, apparently, are spending all their time and efforts into further provoking Russia, by seriously discussing a law to nationalize all Russian assets in the Ukraine, re-writing history books, adopting resolutions saying that Russia has invaded the Ukraine, etc. Nazi death squads, now trained by the USA, are now supposedly crucifying and burning “separatists” alive, while the US Gauleiter in Kiev tweets photos of Russian air defense system taking in Moscow in 2013, as proof of a Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
In the meantime, the US is doing exactly what it always does: it sends in US forces to train local death squads while building a “coalition of the willing” (US+UK+Canada+Poland), to do with no form of mandate or permission, that which it could not get approved legally (by the UN or even by NATO!). It appears that the debate inside the US “deep state” about the risks of the current strategy is over and that the Neocons have prevailed.
In practical terms this means that we are back to “square 1″: the question is now “can Novorussia withstand the Nazi onslaught alone with only the help of the “Voentorg” and “Northern Wind” or will Russia be forced to intervene?”
Honestly? I don’t know. And neither does anybody else.
By all accounts, the junta forces have become better but so have the Novorussians. Zakharchenko has announced that the recent voluntary mobilization was successful at 110% of the expected, which sounds very good, in particular with only volunteers, but it does not really tell us if Novorussia will have the 100’000 men under arms, by June, as was promised by the same Zakharchenko. Also, there appears to be a lack of equipment for such a large force, but then again, judging by what happened earlier this winter, we can expect the Russian Voentorg to fully open it’s spigot, as soon as the Russian intelligence services conclude that an Nazi attack is inevitable.
Complete story at - Ukrainian analysis by the Saker: no hope for peace left | The Vineyard of the Saker
The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Igor Strelkov: Resumption of War in Ukraine Inevitable
According to Igor Strelkov, there is no doubt that Ukraine intends to go to war with Russia.
A correspondent of the Eurasian News Fairway interviewed Igor Ivanovich Strelkov (Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin—military leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR], a former commander of the insurgents in the city of Slavyansk and organizer of the forces of the People’s Militia in Donetsk) in the course of his visit to one of the cities of the Russian Federation. The visit was arranged for the purpose of raising much needed funds for the population of the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics [LPR] as well as activating the operations of the local chapter of the “Novorossiya” public movement.
The coup in Kiev was paid for with US funds, was directed by the United States,
and the incumbent Ukrainian government is simply a marionette…
Eurasian News Fairway [ENF]: Igor Ivanovich, I will open with the most “terrifying” question. In your interview with the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies you say that war awaits Russia. What scenarios of its inception and development, methods of conducting it and possible consequences do you see?
Igor Strelkov [IS]: Ukraine will make attempts to strike against Novorossiya with a view to eliminating it entirely, and because Russia cannot allow the destruction of Novorossiya—cannot allow the genocide of the Russian people, the Russian population living there—then Moscow could somehow be drawn into a war. It is difficult to tell what the scale of this involvement could be. But the fact that Ukraine clearly intends to make war against Russia is entirely beyond doubt. Even if Novorossiya is surrendered, Ukraine will sooner or later unleash a war for Crimea because it does not recognize its transition into Russia, is not going to recognize it and almost openly declares that it will fight for the peninsula, by military means if necessary.
ENF: Speaking of war, do you mean a war “at the instigation of”?
IS: Naturally. The coup in Kiev was paid for with US funds, was directed by the United States, and the incumbent Ukrainian government is simply a marionette created for a confrontation with Russia, including by military means. It is for this reason that Ukraine makes no concessions—none whatsoever. Even the most minor. They do not observe even the Minsk accords that are, in principle, theoretically advantageous [to them], but instead use them only as a temporary respite for accumulating forces and a means to further wage war.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Igor Strelkov: Resumption of War in Ukraine Inevitable
A correspondent of the Eurasian News Fairway interviewed Igor Ivanovich Strelkov (Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin—military leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR], a former commander of the insurgents in the city of Slavyansk and organizer of the forces of the People’s Militia in Donetsk) in the course of his visit to one of the cities of the Russian Federation. The visit was arranged for the purpose of raising much needed funds for the population of the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics [LPR] as well as activating the operations of the local chapter of the “Novorossiya” public movement.
The coup in Kiev was paid for with US funds, was directed by the United States,
and the incumbent Ukrainian government is simply a marionette…
Eurasian News Fairway [ENF]: Igor Ivanovich, I will open with the most “terrifying” question. In your interview with the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies you say that war awaits Russia. What scenarios of its inception and development, methods of conducting it and possible consequences do you see?
Igor Strelkov [IS]: Ukraine will make attempts to strike against Novorossiya with a view to eliminating it entirely, and because Russia cannot allow the destruction of Novorossiya—cannot allow the genocide of the Russian people, the Russian population living there—then Moscow could somehow be drawn into a war. It is difficult to tell what the scale of this involvement could be. But the fact that Ukraine clearly intends to make war against Russia is entirely beyond doubt. Even if Novorossiya is surrendered, Ukraine will sooner or later unleash a war for Crimea because it does not recognize its transition into Russia, is not going to recognize it and almost openly declares that it will fight for the peninsula, by military means if necessary.
ENF: Speaking of war, do you mean a war “at the instigation of”?
IS: Naturally. The coup in Kiev was paid for with US funds, was directed by the United States, and the incumbent Ukrainian government is simply a marionette created for a confrontation with Russia, including by military means. It is for this reason that Ukraine makes no concessions—none whatsoever. Even the most minor. They do not observe even the Minsk accords that are, in principle, theoretically advantageous [to them], but instead use them only as a temporary respite for accumulating forces and a means to further wage war.
[The Minsk accords] are not in the least favourable to the People’s Republics
and the Militia because they signify the elimination of both of them.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Igor Strelkov: Resumption of War in Ukraine Inevitable
The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Ukraine Partnering with NATO…to the Surprise of No One
Despite more than a year of claiming otherwise, the US-backed government of Ukraine is now openly acknowledging their close association with NATO. Although the rhetoric is carefully guarded so as not to admit that Ukraine has become a de facto NATO member, the inescapable fact is that it is in all but name.
Remember back in 2013 and 2014 when those who railed against the US-NATO manufactured conflict in Ukraine – decrying Washington’s and Brussels’ belligerent policies as clear and unmistakable provocations – were called ‘conspiracy theorists’ for daring to suggest that behind the flowery language of ‘democracy’ and ‘liberal European values’ lay an insidious effort to bring Ukraine into NATO’s orbit? Remember how such voices (this author included) were described as ‘paranoid’ and ‘Putin propagandists’ while the United States’ handpicked successors to deposed President Yanukovich in Kiev were described as ‘patriots’ and ‘protectors of sovereignty’? Well, as it turns out, the conspiracy theories were incontrovertible facts, and the so-called ‘patriots’ were (and are) inveterate liars.
Ukraine: Reality vs Fiction
As Ukraine continues its slide into total and irreversible economic collapse, and Donetsk and Lugansk endure a second year of war, a little publicized announcement was made in Kiev by Prime Minister Yatsenyuk. On April 8, Interfax-Ukraine reported that Ukraine would be signing an agreement for close military cooperation with NATO. As Yatsenyuk himself explained, “The government is signing an agreement on cooperation in the field of support with NATO. It is an agreement on support between the Ukrainian Cabinet and NATO, which envisages the implementation of four trust projects with NATO, including military and technical cooperation, communications, new communications and information technologies.” Naturally, the language employed in this statement is critical to understanding the true meaning of the agreement.
First of all is the completely laughable notion of “cooperation” and “support” with NATO. A global military force employing some of the most advanced weapons systems and battlefield tactics is not exactly in search of a partner as dilapidated, disheveled, corruption-ridden, and generally ineffective as the Ukrainian military. The phrasing is merely a rhetorical flourish designed to save face in front of the already deeply discouraged and humiliated people of Ukraine, while simultaneously obscuring the fact that its military will now be merely an annex of NATO. In other words, far from a “partnership,” Ukraine is entering into an agreement of submission and subservience.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Ukraine Partnering with NATO…to the Surprise of No One
Remember back in 2013 and 2014 when those who railed against the US-NATO manufactured conflict in Ukraine – decrying Washington’s and Brussels’ belligerent policies as clear and unmistakable provocations – were called ‘conspiracy theorists’ for daring to suggest that behind the flowery language of ‘democracy’ and ‘liberal European values’ lay an insidious effort to bring Ukraine into NATO’s orbit? Remember how such voices (this author included) were described as ‘paranoid’ and ‘Putin propagandists’ while the United States’ handpicked successors to deposed President Yanukovich in Kiev were described as ‘patriots’ and ‘protectors of sovereignty’? Well, as it turns out, the conspiracy theories were incontrovertible facts, and the so-called ‘patriots’ were (and are) inveterate liars.
Ukraine: Reality vs Fiction
As Ukraine continues its slide into total and irreversible economic collapse, and Donetsk and Lugansk endure a second year of war, a little publicized announcement was made in Kiev by Prime Minister Yatsenyuk. On April 8, Interfax-Ukraine reported that Ukraine would be signing an agreement for close military cooperation with NATO. As Yatsenyuk himself explained, “The government is signing an agreement on cooperation in the field of support with NATO. It is an agreement on support between the Ukrainian Cabinet and NATO, which envisages the implementation of four trust projects with NATO, including military and technical cooperation, communications, new communications and information technologies.” Naturally, the language employed in this statement is critical to understanding the true meaning of the agreement.
First of all is the completely laughable notion of “cooperation” and “support” with NATO. A global military force employing some of the most advanced weapons systems and battlefield tactics is not exactly in search of a partner as dilapidated, disheveled, corruption-ridden, and generally ineffective as the Ukrainian military. The phrasing is merely a rhetorical flourish designed to save face in front of the already deeply discouraged and humiliated people of Ukraine, while simultaneously obscuring the fact that its military will now be merely an annex of NATO. In other words, far from a “partnership,” Ukraine is entering into an agreement of submission and subservience.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Ukraine Partnering with NATO…to the Surprise of No One
‘US National Guard’s drills in public aimed at dealing with domestic ‘dissidents’’ — RT Op-Edge
US Army field manuals admit that public drills are aimed at dealing with political dissidents that need to be “reeducated to gain a new appreciation of US policies,” Paul Joseph Watson, Infowars Editor at Large told RT’s In the Now.
RT: The police in the US are accused more than ever now of militarization. A video has appeared online showing armed national guardsmen conducting exercises near a children's playground in Virginia. We contacted the infantry brigade - here's what they told us: coordination was made with the Staunton Police Department, these are freshers who are training on basic military subjects like drill and ceremonies, basic first aid, military courtesies and the guns they carry are replicas. What is wrong with it?
Paul Joseph Watson: What is wrong with that is the fact that they are doing it not on base but in public. And we have to put this in the context of a spate of videoswhich have emerged in the recent weeks with not only National Guard but US Army troops in some cases working with police conducting these public drills which in some cases, not in this case but others, are based around crowd control and civil unrest. And the line they always give us that it’s designed for overseas combat, foreign operations. But if you then read the US Army’s actual manuals that they release, it’s clear that it’s for dual purpose, it’s for “dissidents” on US soil. So the media regurgitate this claim that all these drills are just foreign operations. Yet they are doing it in public, in plain sight, while privately in their own field manuals admitting that it’s to take on “dissidents within the continental US.” That’s why people are concerned about it and a lot of our audience is National Guard or former or current US military. They are concerned about these public drills. They didn’t enlist to police the US people which is a lot of this seems to be geared towards.
Complete story at - ‘US National Guard’s drills in public aimed at dealing with domestic ‘dissidents’’ — RT Op-Edge
RT: The police in the US are accused more than ever now of militarization. A video has appeared online showing armed national guardsmen conducting exercises near a children's playground in Virginia. We contacted the infantry brigade - here's what they told us: coordination was made with the Staunton Police Department, these are freshers who are training on basic military subjects like drill and ceremonies, basic first aid, military courtesies and the guns they carry are replicas. What is wrong with it?
Paul Joseph Watson: What is wrong with that is the fact that they are doing it not on base but in public. And we have to put this in the context of a spate of videoswhich have emerged in the recent weeks with not only National Guard but US Army troops in some cases working with police conducting these public drills which in some cases, not in this case but others, are based around crowd control and civil unrest. And the line they always give us that it’s designed for overseas combat, foreign operations. But if you then read the US Army’s actual manuals that they release, it’s clear that it’s for dual purpose, it’s for “dissidents” on US soil. So the media regurgitate this claim that all these drills are just foreign operations. Yet they are doing it in public, in plain sight, while privately in their own field manuals admitting that it’s to take on “dissidents within the continental US.” That’s why people are concerned about it and a lot of our audience is National Guard or former or current US military. They are concerned about these public drills. They didn’t enlist to police the US people which is a lot of this seems to be geared towards.
Complete story at - ‘US National Guard’s drills in public aimed at dealing with domestic ‘dissidents’’ — RT Op-Edge
The "War On Cash" Migrates To Switzerland | Zero Hedge
Banks Increasingly Refuse Cash Withdrawals – Switzerland Joins the Fun
The war on cash is proliferating globally. It appears that the private members of the world’s banking cartels are increasingly joining the fun, even if it means trampling on the rights of their customers.
Yesterday we came across an article at Zerohedge, in which Dr. Salerno of the Mises Institute notes that JP Morgan Chase has apparently joined the “war on cash”, by “restricting the use of cash in selected markets, restricting borrowers from making cash payments on credit cards, mortgages, equity lines and auto loans, as well as prohibiting storage of cash in safe deposit boxes”.
This reminded us immediately that we have just come across another small article in the local European press (courtesy of Dan Popescu), in which a Swiss pension fund manager discusses his plight with the SNB’s bizarre negative interest rate policy. In Switzerland this policy has long ago led to negative deposit rates at the commercial banks as well. The difference to other jurisdictions is however that negative interest rates have become so pronounced, that it is by now worth it to simply withdraw one’s cash and put it into an insured vault.
Having realized this, said pension fund manager, after calculating that he would save at least 25,000 CHF per year on every CHF 10 m. deposit by putting the cash into a vault, told his bank that he was about to make a rather big withdrawal very soon. After all, as a pension fund manager he has a fiduciary duty to his clients, and if he can save money based on a technicality, he has to do it.
Swiss National Bank headquarters
Photo credit: Daniel Rohr A Legally Murky Situation – but Collectivism Wins Out
What happened next is truly stunning. Surely everybody is aware that Switzerland regularly makes it to the top three on the list of countries with the highest degree of economic freedom. At the same time, it has a central bank whose board members are wedded to Keynesian nostrums similar to those of other central banks. This is no wonder, as nowadays, economists are trained in an academic environment that is dripping with the most vicious statism imaginable. As a result, withdrawing one’s cash is evidently regarded as “interference with the SNB’s monetary policy goals”. Thus SRF reports:
Complete story at - The "War On Cash" Migrates To Switzerland | Zero Hedge
The war on cash is proliferating globally. It appears that the private members of the world’s banking cartels are increasingly joining the fun, even if it means trampling on the rights of their customers.
Yesterday we came across an article at Zerohedge, in which Dr. Salerno of the Mises Institute notes that JP Morgan Chase has apparently joined the “war on cash”, by “restricting the use of cash in selected markets, restricting borrowers from making cash payments on credit cards, mortgages, equity lines and auto loans, as well as prohibiting storage of cash in safe deposit boxes”.
This reminded us immediately that we have just come across another small article in the local European press (courtesy of Dan Popescu), in which a Swiss pension fund manager discusses his plight with the SNB’s bizarre negative interest rate policy. In Switzerland this policy has long ago led to negative deposit rates at the commercial banks as well. The difference to other jurisdictions is however that negative interest rates have become so pronounced, that it is by now worth it to simply withdraw one’s cash and put it into an insured vault.
Having realized this, said pension fund manager, after calculating that he would save at least 25,000 CHF per year on every CHF 10 m. deposit by putting the cash into a vault, told his bank that he was about to make a rather big withdrawal very soon. After all, as a pension fund manager he has a fiduciary duty to his clients, and if he can save money based on a technicality, he has to do it.
Photo credit: Daniel Rohr
What happened next is truly stunning. Surely everybody is aware that Switzerland regularly makes it to the top three on the list of countries with the highest degree of economic freedom. At the same time, it has a central bank whose board members are wedded to Keynesian nostrums similar to those of other central banks. This is no wonder, as nowadays, economists are trained in an academic environment that is dripping with the most vicious statism imaginable. As a result, withdrawing one’s cash is evidently regarded as “interference with the SNB’s monetary policy goals”. Thus SRF reports:
“Since the national bank has introduced negative interest rates, pension funds in the country are in trouble. Banks are passing the negative rates on to them. This results in the saved pension money shrinking, instead of producing a return. A number of pension funds are therefore thinking about keeping their money in an external vault instead of leaving it in bank accounts.
One fund manager showed that for every CHF 10 m. in pension money, his fund would save CHF 25,000 – in spite of the costs involved in vault rent, cash transportation and other expenses.
However, as our research team has found out, there is one bank that refuses to pay out money in such large amounts. The editorial team has gotten hold of a letter from a large Swiss bank in which it tells its customer, a pension fund:
“We are sorry, that within the time period specified, no solution corresponding to your expectations could be found.”
Bank expert Hans Geiger says that this “is most definitely not legal”. The pension fund has a sight account, and has the contractual right to dispose of its money on demand.
Complete story at - The "War On Cash" Migrates To Switzerland | Zero Hedge
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Land Destroyer: American Politics: A House of Mirrors
April 25, 2015 (Ulson Gunnar - NEO) - A house of mirrors is an immersive, highly distorted and intentionally confusing version of reality. Those walking its corridors are sometimes amused and sometimes frightened by the disorienting experience, but luckily for them, it is only temporary. There is an exit, and they will walk through it, back to reality.
But what if one existed their entire lives in such a distorted reality and knew of no exits? Would they convince themselves that these distorted images reflected back at them were in fact reality no matter how unnatural they appeared? Could they convince themselves to enjoy and even embrace this distorted reality?
One ponders such questions when looking from the outside-in on American politics. It too is a house of mirrors reflecting back a reality entirely distorted. Also like a house of mirrors, American politics have been intentionally constructed this way, to confuse, disorient and even frighten the American people when necessary to exercise mass persuasion over them. The final result is perpetual impunity granted to the powers that truly be, hiding behind the powers that allegedly were "elected," and powers whose authority only exists in this house of mirrors and no further.
New Leaders, Old Wars
Consider US President George Bush Sr. He launched the inaugural war of what he himself called a "New World Order." Operation Desert Storm included multiple nations comprising of nearly a million soldiers who swept from the map one of the largest conventional armies (4th largest) in the world. Bush Sr., however, paused just ahead of sweeping the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power. His successor, US President William Jefferson Clinton would keep Iraq subdued with periodic bombing campaigns and the imposition of both crippling sanctions and no-fly zones in the north and south of Iraq.
Complete story at - Land Destroyer: American Politics: A House of Mirrors
But what if one existed their entire lives in such a distorted reality and knew of no exits? Would they convince themselves that these distorted images reflected back at them were in fact reality no matter how unnatural they appeared? Could they convince themselves to enjoy and even embrace this distorted reality?
One ponders such questions when looking from the outside-in on American politics. It too is a house of mirrors reflecting back a reality entirely distorted. Also like a house of mirrors, American politics have been intentionally constructed this way, to confuse, disorient and even frighten the American people when necessary to exercise mass persuasion over them. The final result is perpetual impunity granted to the powers that truly be, hiding behind the powers that allegedly were "elected," and powers whose authority only exists in this house of mirrors and no further.
New Leaders, Old Wars
Consider US President George Bush Sr. He launched the inaugural war of what he himself called a "New World Order." Operation Desert Storm included multiple nations comprising of nearly a million soldiers who swept from the map one of the largest conventional armies (4th largest) in the world. Bush Sr., however, paused just ahead of sweeping the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power. His successor, US President William Jefferson Clinton would keep Iraq subdued with periodic bombing campaigns and the imposition of both crippling sanctions and no-fly zones in the north and south of Iraq.
Complete story at - Land Destroyer: American Politics: A House of Mirrors
Friday, April 24, 2015
Champagne Tastes On Beer Incomes: Tax Declarations In Ukraine Suggest Enduring Corruption
KYIV -- Yulia Tymoshenko didn't have much of an income in 2014.
The former Ukrainian prime minister spent part of the year in prison, part of it rehabilitating in the hospital, and much of it in back-to-back campaigns for president and parliament.
But nevertheless, she managed to buy a luxury car, according to her tax declaration. And that’s despite having no savings at all.
Tymoshenko’s mysterious finances are by no means unique among Ukrainian politicians. As they begin to make their 2014 income declarations public -- something that they are legally obliged to do every April -- it became painfully obvious that such financial discrepancies are commonplace.
And they cross party affiliation, age, and background.
The gaps between officials' incomes and their assets are a painful reminder of the deep-rooted corruption and insider deals that continue to plague Ukrainian politics, despite being the main cause of two revolutions.
Tymoshenko declared that last year her family purchased a Mercedes Benz GL-350, worth about $78,000, in Ukraine.
Complete story at - Champagne Tastes On Beer Incomes: Tax Declarations In Ukraine Suggest Enduring Corruption
The former Ukrainian prime minister spent part of the year in prison, part of it rehabilitating in the hospital, and much of it in back-to-back campaigns for president and parliament.
But nevertheless, she managed to buy a luxury car, according to her tax declaration. And that’s despite having no savings at all.
Tymoshenko’s mysterious finances are by no means unique among Ukrainian politicians. As they begin to make their 2014 income declarations public -- something that they are legally obliged to do every April -- it became painfully obvious that such financial discrepancies are commonplace.
And they cross party affiliation, age, and background.
The gaps between officials' incomes and their assets are a painful reminder of the deep-rooted corruption and insider deals that continue to plague Ukrainian politics, despite being the main cause of two revolutions.
Tymoshenko declared that last year her family purchased a Mercedes Benz GL-350, worth about $78,000, in Ukraine.
Complete story at - Champagne Tastes On Beer Incomes: Tax Declarations In Ukraine Suggest Enduring Corruption
Poll: Russians Haven't Been So Positive About Their Country in 5 Years | News | The Moscow Times
Russians are more positive about their country than they have been since the state-run Public Opinion Research Center began surveys for its social sentiment index five years ago, the pollster said Tuesday.
The index, based on a comparison of respondents' assessments ranging from "everything is terrible" to "everything is excellent," reached its high of 70 points regarding attitudes toward the country in March this year, compared with 22 points in early 2010 and 2011.
Respondents were even happier about their own lives, with that aspect of the index reaching 81 points, slightly below the previous month's high of 84 points, compared with 55 and 53 in 2010-11.
The index is established by calculating the difference between the number of people who had positive responses and the number who had negative responses.
While the pollster did not give any specific reasons for the high spirits, Russia's isolation from the West amid the Ukraine crisis may have something to do with it.
Complete story at - Poll: Russians Haven't Been So Positive About Their Country in 5 Years | News | The Moscow Times
The index, based on a comparison of respondents' assessments ranging from "everything is terrible" to "everything is excellent," reached its high of 70 points regarding attitudes toward the country in March this year, compared with 22 points in early 2010 and 2011.
Respondents were even happier about their own lives, with that aspect of the index reaching 81 points, slightly below the previous month's high of 84 points, compared with 55 and 53 in 2010-11.
The index is established by calculating the difference between the number of people who had positive responses and the number who had negative responses.
While the pollster did not give any specific reasons for the high spirits, Russia's isolation from the West amid the Ukraine crisis may have something to do with it.
Complete story at - Poll: Russians Haven't Been So Positive About Their Country in 5 Years | News | The Moscow Times
When Did We Become Murderers? - The Automatic Earth
Appalled doesn’t cover it. Disgusted won’t do either. Angry doesn’t come close. Maybe I have yet to learn of a word that would express my feelings on the following topic. There’s a disease, an epidemic, that spreads through out the western world. We are all turning into accomplices to murder. And I still believe we are better than that. Just perhaps not all of us.
The US, and the rest of the west, have made plenty enemies already without needing to create their own out of thin air – as if there were ever a need to create enemies. But that’s still what we’ve been doing in many places in the world, including Ukraine. And there’s an entire multi-billion machine working just to make us think what someone else wants us to think about these ‘enemies’.
These days, when you call someone ‘pro-Russian’, that’s about on on the same level as ‘murderer’, rapist, things like that. And that must be why the western press once again resorts to ‘pro-Russian’ as a swear word, or even curse, in reporting on the murders of at least 10 people in Ukraine over the past 3 months. As far as we can see, all were considered ‘allies’ of former President Yanukovych (whatever ‘allies’ may mean in this context) and 2 were journalists (of whom at least 1 was also a historian).
Yanukovych was (or is, actually) not a saint. He was the utterly corrupt president of a country that has been utterly corrupt for a very long time. It still is today, and it’s getting worse, fast. Whereas Russia didn’t feel it had the right or need to interfere in the country, the west did. Its interference culminated in the ouster of Yanukovych in late February 2014, and the introduction of a ‘government’ that is extremely pro-western and extremely anti-anything-’that has anything to do’-with Russia (including the language).
First, we saw the US install its puppet Yatsenyuk as PM (we know about this through leaked tapes of US Dep. Secretary Victoria Nuland). ‘Yats’ to this day has never been elected to office by ‘his’ people (or any other people, for that matter) . A few months later came oligarch Poroshenko as president, who was.
Both men have been instrumental in waging a very bloody and deadly war against a significant segment (a third) of their own population, in east Ukraine. This warfare has coincided with an ever more blatant propaganda war against anything-’that has anything to do’-with Russia, both in Ukraine and across the west. Need I repeat not one of the accusations against Russia has, still to date, ever been substantiated, despite the best spy satellites etc. equipment in human history?
Whereas someone who cannot be accused of anything worse than being pro-Russian is merely equal to a murderer or rapist, being – labeled as – pro-Putin is several levels worse than that. Meanwhile, Russian President Putin himself has been compared to the biggest mass-murderers in human history, amongst others by US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Complete story at - When Did We Become Murderers? - The Automatic Earth
The US, and the rest of the west, have made plenty enemies already without needing to create their own out of thin air – as if there were ever a need to create enemies. But that’s still what we’ve been doing in many places in the world, including Ukraine. And there’s an entire multi-billion machine working just to make us think what someone else wants us to think about these ‘enemies’.
These days, when you call someone ‘pro-Russian’, that’s about on on the same level as ‘murderer’, rapist, things like that. And that must be why the western press once again resorts to ‘pro-Russian’ as a swear word, or even curse, in reporting on the murders of at least 10 people in Ukraine over the past 3 months. As far as we can see, all were considered ‘allies’ of former President Yanukovych (whatever ‘allies’ may mean in this context) and 2 were journalists (of whom at least 1 was also a historian).
Yanukovych was (or is, actually) not a saint. He was the utterly corrupt president of a country that has been utterly corrupt for a very long time. It still is today, and it’s getting worse, fast. Whereas Russia didn’t feel it had the right or need to interfere in the country, the west did. Its interference culminated in the ouster of Yanukovych in late February 2014, and the introduction of a ‘government’ that is extremely pro-western and extremely anti-anything-’that has anything to do’-with Russia (including the language).
First, we saw the US install its puppet Yatsenyuk as PM (we know about this through leaked tapes of US Dep. Secretary Victoria Nuland). ‘Yats’ to this day has never been elected to office by ‘his’ people (or any other people, for that matter) . A few months later came oligarch Poroshenko as president, who was.
Both men have been instrumental in waging a very bloody and deadly war against a significant segment (a third) of their own population, in east Ukraine. This warfare has coincided with an ever more blatant propaganda war against anything-’that has anything to do’-with Russia, both in Ukraine and across the west. Need I repeat not one of the accusations against Russia has, still to date, ever been substantiated, despite the best spy satellites etc. equipment in human history?
Whereas someone who cannot be accused of anything worse than being pro-Russian is merely equal to a murderer or rapist, being – labeled as – pro-Putin is several levels worse than that. Meanwhile, Russian President Putin himself has been compared to the biggest mass-murderers in human history, amongst others by US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Complete story at - When Did We Become Murderers? - The Automatic Earth
The West’s new ‘Cold War’ is with Dostoevsky’s Russia, not Stalin’s | C2C
“All great nations,” wrote Fyodor Dostoevsky in an 1873 letter to the future Emperor Alexander III, “have manifested themselves and their great powers…and have brought something, if only a single ray of light, into the world, precisely because they have remained themselves, proudly and undauntedly, always and presumptuously independent.”
The West firmly disagrees. Despite their stated commitment to multiculturalism, most Western states in fact believe that the whole world should be like them – secular, democratic, and capitalist. Consequently, they tend to interpret any attempt by Russia to be “presumptuously independent” as an aggressive act. As Russian foreign policy has become more assertive in the past decade, the result has been a crescendo of accusations that Russia has started a “new Cold War”.
Former U.S. National Security Agency spook John Schindler claims that Russia is aggressively promoting its agenda through “Orthodox jihad”, which “bears more than a little resemblance to Holy War in a Russian and Orthodox variant.” Schindler writes that Vladimir Putin, “has created and nurtured a virulent ideology, an explosive amalgam of xenophobia, Chekism and militant Orthodoxy which justifies the Kremlin’s actions and explains why the West must be opposed at all costs.”
New York Times columnist David Brooks agrees. Noting that in January 2014 the Kremlin distributed books by three late 19th/early 20th century Russian philosophers – Vladimir Solovyov, Nikolai Berdyaev, and Ivan Ilyin – to regional governors, Brooks argues that Russian foreign policy rests upon “a highly charged and assertive messianic ideology.”
In Soviet times this was true, but not today. Marxist universalism is probably best seen as a product of the ideology’s Western origins. In this sense it was something of an aberration in Russian history. Under Putin, Russia has turned back towards its native roots. It is true that Putin has become more conservative over the past decade, and his religious faith appears genuine. Nevertheless, the depiction of his ideology as aggressive and messianic is wide of the mark.
Dostoevsky’s call for independence came not out of a desire for power, but rather out of the conviction that it was the only way in which a nation could bring anything of value into the world, “if only a single ray of light”. The great novelist inherited much of the intellectual baggage of nineteenth century Slavophilism, which derived from German Romanticism, and took from Romanticism the idea that national diversity was desirable. Nations contributed to the universal good not by blindly copying others (in Russia’s case by copying the West), but by nurturing what was unique and best about their own culture. National independence was seen as advantageous for the common international good.
Complete story at - The West’s new ‘Cold War’ is with Dostoevsky’s Russia, not Stalin’s | C2C
The West firmly disagrees. Despite their stated commitment to multiculturalism, most Western states in fact believe that the whole world should be like them – secular, democratic, and capitalist. Consequently, they tend to interpret any attempt by Russia to be “presumptuously independent” as an aggressive act. As Russian foreign policy has become more assertive in the past decade, the result has been a crescendo of accusations that Russia has started a “new Cold War”.
Former U.S. National Security Agency spook John Schindler claims that Russia is aggressively promoting its agenda through “Orthodox jihad”, which “bears more than a little resemblance to Holy War in a Russian and Orthodox variant.” Schindler writes that Vladimir Putin, “has created and nurtured a virulent ideology, an explosive amalgam of xenophobia, Chekism and militant Orthodoxy which justifies the Kremlin’s actions and explains why the West must be opposed at all costs.”
New York Times columnist David Brooks agrees. Noting that in January 2014 the Kremlin distributed books by three late 19th/early 20th century Russian philosophers – Vladimir Solovyov, Nikolai Berdyaev, and Ivan Ilyin – to regional governors, Brooks argues that Russian foreign policy rests upon “a highly charged and assertive messianic ideology.”
In Soviet times this was true, but not today. Marxist universalism is probably best seen as a product of the ideology’s Western origins. In this sense it was something of an aberration in Russian history. Under Putin, Russia has turned back towards its native roots. It is true that Putin has become more conservative over the past decade, and his religious faith appears genuine. Nevertheless, the depiction of his ideology as aggressive and messianic is wide of the mark.
Dostoevsky’s call for independence came not out of a desire for power, but rather out of the conviction that it was the only way in which a nation could bring anything of value into the world, “if only a single ray of light”. The great novelist inherited much of the intellectual baggage of nineteenth century Slavophilism, which derived from German Romanticism, and took from Romanticism the idea that national diversity was desirable. Nations contributed to the universal good not by blindly copying others (in Russia’s case by copying the West), but by nurturing what was unique and best about their own culture. National independence was seen as advantageous for the common international good.
Complete story at - The West’s new ‘Cold War’ is with Dostoevsky’s Russia, not Stalin’s | C2C
The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Weaponizing Information
In mid-April, hundreds of U.S. paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade arrived in western Ukraine to provide training for government troops. The UK had already started its troop-training mission there, sending 75 troops to Kiev in March. [1] On April 14, the Canadian government announced that Canada will send 200 soldiers to Kiev, contributing to a military build-up on Russia’s doorstep while a fragile truce is in place in eastern Ukraine.
The Russian Embassy in Ottawa called the decision “counterproductive and deplorable,” stating that the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine have “called for enhanced intra-Ukrainian political dialogue,” as agreed upon in the Minsk-2 accords in February, and that it would be “much more reasonable to concentrate on diplomacy…” [2]
That viewpoint is shared by many, especially in Europe where few are eager for a “hot” war in the region. Nor are most people enamoured of the fact that more billions are being spent on a new arms-race, while “austerity” is preached by the 1 Per Cent.
But in the Anglo-American corridors of power (also called the Atlantic Alliance), such views are seen to be the result of diabolical propaganda spread through the Internet by Russia’s “secret army.” On April 15, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by Ed Royce (R-Calif.), held a hearing entitled “Confronting Russia’s Weaponization of Information,” with Royce claiming that Russian propaganda threatens “to destabilize NATO members, impacting our security commitments.” [3]
The Committee heard from three witnesses: Elizabeth Wahl, former anchor for the news agency Russia Today (RT) who gained her moment of fame by resigning on camera in March 2014; Peter Pomerantsev, Senior Fellow at the Legatum Institute (a right-wing UK think-tank); and Helle C. Dale, Senior Fellow for Public Diplomacy at The Heritage Foundation, a right-wing U.S. think-tank. [4] The Foreign Affairs Committee website contains video clips of the first two witnesses – well worth watching if you enjoy Orwellian rhetoric passionately delivered.
The day before the hearing, in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Royce wrote, “Vladimir Putin has a secret army. It’s an army of thousands of ‘trolls,’ TV anchors and others who work day and night spreading anti-American propaganda on the Internet, airwaves and newspapers throughout Russia and the world. Mr. Putin uses these misinformation warriors to destabilize his neighbors and control parts of Ukraine. This force may be more dangerous than any military, because no artillery can stop their lies from spreading and undermining U.S. security interests in Europe.” [5]
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Weaponizing Information
The Russian Embassy in Ottawa called the decision “counterproductive and deplorable,” stating that the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine have “called for enhanced intra-Ukrainian political dialogue,” as agreed upon in the Minsk-2 accords in February, and that it would be “much more reasonable to concentrate on diplomacy…” [2]
That viewpoint is shared by many, especially in Europe where few are eager for a “hot” war in the region. Nor are most people enamoured of the fact that more billions are being spent on a new arms-race, while “austerity” is preached by the 1 Per Cent.
But in the Anglo-American corridors of power (also called the Atlantic Alliance), such views are seen to be the result of diabolical propaganda spread through the Internet by Russia’s “secret army.” On April 15, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by Ed Royce (R-Calif.), held a hearing entitled “Confronting Russia’s Weaponization of Information,” with Royce claiming that Russian propaganda threatens “to destabilize NATO members, impacting our security commitments.” [3]
The Committee heard from three witnesses: Elizabeth Wahl, former anchor for the news agency Russia Today (RT) who gained her moment of fame by resigning on camera in March 2014; Peter Pomerantsev, Senior Fellow at the Legatum Institute (a right-wing UK think-tank); and Helle C. Dale, Senior Fellow for Public Diplomacy at The Heritage Foundation, a right-wing U.S. think-tank. [4] The Foreign Affairs Committee website contains video clips of the first two witnesses – well worth watching if you enjoy Orwellian rhetoric passionately delivered.
The day before the hearing, in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Royce wrote, “Vladimir Putin has a secret army. It’s an army of thousands of ‘trolls,’ TV anchors and others who work day and night spreading anti-American propaganda on the Internet, airwaves and newspapers throughout Russia and the world. Mr. Putin uses these misinformation warriors to destabilize his neighbors and control parts of Ukraine. This force may be more dangerous than any military, because no artillery can stop their lies from spreading and undermining U.S. security interests in Europe.” [5]
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Weaponizing Information
Walled off: In non-rebel eastern Ukraine, frustrations with Kiev mount - CSMonitor.com
KHARKIV, UKRAINE — It's been nicknamed the "Great Wall of Ukraine." Its planned combination of barbed-wire fences, watchtowers, berms, and tank traps along Ukraine's 1,300-mile border with Russia look like something you'd find on one of Israel's borders with its hostile neighbors.
If it's ever completed, the wall will seal a frontier that, until last year, had always been wide open. Inaugurating construction here last fall, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk indicated that much more than just a physical barrier was intended. "This will be the eastern border of Europe," he said.
But in nearby Kharkiv, an overwhelmingly Russian-speaking city of one-and-a-half million, mention of the wall is mostly greeted with snorts of irritation. The idea of splitting permanently and irrevocably from Russia wins virtually no acceptance. Many people here have family and friends in Russia, the local economy is heavily dependent on trade with Russia, and some say they just can't wrap their heads around the idea of a frontier being there in the first place.
"The Russian city of Belgorod is an hour's drive away; until recently there were almost no border formalities. It's a scene of my childhood; I love that place," says Yury Smirnov, a taxi driver. "Now the border inspections take hours, and it's humiliating. Belgorod might as well be on the moon."
Complete story at - Walled off: In non-rebel eastern Ukraine, frustrations with Kiev mount - CSMonitor.com
If it's ever completed, the wall will seal a frontier that, until last year, had always been wide open. Inaugurating construction here last fall, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk indicated that much more than just a physical barrier was intended. "This will be the eastern border of Europe," he said.
But in nearby Kharkiv, an overwhelmingly Russian-speaking city of one-and-a-half million, mention of the wall is mostly greeted with snorts of irritation. The idea of splitting permanently and irrevocably from Russia wins virtually no acceptance. Many people here have family and friends in Russia, the local economy is heavily dependent on trade with Russia, and some say they just can't wrap their heads around the idea of a frontier being there in the first place.
"The Russian city of Belgorod is an hour's drive away; until recently there were almost no border formalities. It's a scene of my childhood; I love that place," says Yury Smirnov, a taxi driver. "Now the border inspections take hours, and it's humiliating. Belgorod might as well be on the moon."
Complete story at - Walled off: In non-rebel eastern Ukraine, frustrations with Kiev mount - CSMonitor.com
Thursday, April 23, 2015
The Murderers of Kiev by Justin Raimondo -- Antiwar.com
Ukraine’s gangster regime shows its true colors
by Justin Raimondo, April 17, 2015
There seems to be a “suicide” epidemic afflicting opponents of the current Ukrainian government – nine opposition politicians and two journalists have mysteriously died since the beginning of the year. Here is the timeline of terror that has opponents of the regime fearing for their lives:
January 26 – Nikolai Sergienko, former deputy chief of Ukrainian Railways and a supporter of Viktor Yanukoych’s Party of Regions, reportedly shot himself with a hunting rifle. The windows were all locked from inside, and no note was found.
January 29 – Aleksey Kolesnik, the former chairman of the Kharkov regional government and a prominent supporter of the now-banned Party of Regions, supposedly hung himself. There was no suicide note
February 24 – Stanislav Melnik, another former Party of Regions member of parliament, was found dead in his bathroom: he is said to have shot himself with a hunting rifle. We are told he left a suicide note of “apologies,” but what he was apologizing for has never been revealed, since the note has not been released.
February 25 – Sergey Valter, former Party of Regions activist and Mayor of Melitopol, was found hanged hours before his trial on charges of “abuse of office” was set to begin. Whoever was responsible neglected to leave a “suicide” note.
February 26 – Aleksandr Bordyuga, Valter’s lawyer and former deputy chief of Melitopol police, was found in his garage, dead, another “suicide.”
February 26 – Oleksandr Peklushenko, a former Party of Regions member of parliament and chairman of Zaporozhye Regional State Administration, was found dead in the street with a gun wound to his neck. Officially declared a “suicide.”
February 28 – Mikhail Chechetov, a professor of economics and engineering, former member of parliament from the Party of Regions, and former head of the privatization board, supposedly jumped from the seventeenth floor window of his Kiev apartment. Another “suicide”!
March 14 – Sergey Melnichuk, a prosecutor and Party of Regions loyalist, “fell” from the ninth floor window of an apartment building in Odessa. Or was he pushed?
April 15 – Oleg Kalashnikov, yet another prominent Party of Regions leader, died of a gunshot wound – the eighth since the beginning of the year.
Kalashnikov, a former member of the Ukrainian parliament and a very vocal and visible critic of the Kiev regime, was found shot to death in his home. This time, the authorities are having a hard time spinning it as a “suicide,” although they haven’t come right out and said it was murder. Kalashnikov had recently been campaigning for the right of Ukrainians to celebrate the victory of the Allies during World War II – a controversial topic in Ukraine, where sympathy for the Third Reich and its Ukrainian collaborators is rife among supporters of the current government. He had reportedly received numerous death threats because of his stand.
Complete story at - The Murderers of Kiev by Justin Raimondo -- Antiwar.com
by Justin Raimondo, April 17, 2015
There seems to be a “suicide” epidemic afflicting opponents of the current Ukrainian government – nine opposition politicians and two journalists have mysteriously died since the beginning of the year. Here is the timeline of terror that has opponents of the regime fearing for their lives:
January 26 – Nikolai Sergienko, former deputy chief of Ukrainian Railways and a supporter of Viktor Yanukoych’s Party of Regions, reportedly shot himself with a hunting rifle. The windows were all locked from inside, and no note was found.
January 29 – Aleksey Kolesnik, the former chairman of the Kharkov regional government and a prominent supporter of the now-banned Party of Regions, supposedly hung himself. There was no suicide note
February 24 – Stanislav Melnik, another former Party of Regions member of parliament, was found dead in his bathroom: he is said to have shot himself with a hunting rifle. We are told he left a suicide note of “apologies,” but what he was apologizing for has never been revealed, since the note has not been released.
February 25 – Sergey Valter, former Party of Regions activist and Mayor of Melitopol, was found hanged hours before his trial on charges of “abuse of office” was set to begin. Whoever was responsible neglected to leave a “suicide” note.
February 26 – Aleksandr Bordyuga, Valter’s lawyer and former deputy chief of Melitopol police, was found in his garage, dead, another “suicide.”
February 26 – Oleksandr Peklushenko, a former Party of Regions member of parliament and chairman of Zaporozhye Regional State Administration, was found dead in the street with a gun wound to his neck. Officially declared a “suicide.”
February 28 – Mikhail Chechetov, a professor of economics and engineering, former member of parliament from the Party of Regions, and former head of the privatization board, supposedly jumped from the seventeenth floor window of his Kiev apartment. Another “suicide”!
March 14 – Sergey Melnichuk, a prosecutor and Party of Regions loyalist, “fell” from the ninth floor window of an apartment building in Odessa. Or was he pushed?
April 15 – Oleg Kalashnikov, yet another prominent Party of Regions leader, died of a gunshot wound – the eighth since the beginning of the year.
Kalashnikov, a former member of the Ukrainian parliament and a very vocal and visible critic of the Kiev regime, was found shot to death in his home. This time, the authorities are having a hard time spinning it as a “suicide,” although they haven’t come right out and said it was murder. Kalashnikov had recently been campaigning for the right of Ukrainians to celebrate the victory of the Allies during World War II – a controversial topic in Ukraine, where sympathy for the Third Reich and its Ukrainian collaborators is rife among supporters of the current government. He had reportedly received numerous death threats because of his stand.
Complete story at - The Murderers of Kiev by Justin Raimondo -- Antiwar.com
Saker rant: A 5th column in the Russian media? Absolutely! | The Vineyard of the Saker
Is there a 5th column in the Russian media?
Hell yeah!
It is literally all over the place!
Like during the latest Q&A with President Putin. I don’t know if anybody else noticed this, but it really pissed me off. Check out who got to ask a question from the studio:
For those who don’t know these faces – they are some of the worst “demofreaks” in Russia. Meet:
Irina Khakamada: bigtime Nemtsov groupie, professional protester and feminist.
Alexei Venediktov: editor in Chief of the rabidly anti-Russian “Ekho Moskvy” (Echo of Moscow) Radio Station, aka “Ekho Matsy” (Echo of the Matso) due to its russophobic political line. He is actually a “true believer” in western democracy
Alexei Kudrin: one of the figureheads of the Atlantic Integrationists, a hardcore market economist, forever offended since he was fired (by Medvedev, of all people!).
Konstantin Remchukov: owner and editor in chief of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, who has received the official imprimatur of the Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty.
Just look at their faces! They have that “eternal sadness of the professional dissident” in their eyes. Clearly, they “suffer” from the “regime” and they feel like 21st century versions of Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn. They also feel hurt, because the barbaric, reactionary and ungrateful Russian people never gave them the support they feel that their courageous stance deserves, and so, not a single one of their candidates made it into the Duma. Not one!
Complete story at - Saker rant: A 5th column in the Russian media? Absolutely! | The Vineyard of the Saker
Hell yeah!
It is literally all over the place!
Like during the latest Q&A with President Putin. I don’t know if anybody else noticed this, but it really pissed me off. Check out who got to ask a question from the studio:
Khakamada Venediktov Kudrin Remchukov
For those who don’t know these faces – they are some of the worst “demofreaks” in Russia. Meet:
Irina Khakamada: bigtime Nemtsov groupie, professional protester and feminist.
Alexei Venediktov: editor in Chief of the rabidly anti-Russian “Ekho Moskvy” (Echo of Moscow) Radio Station, aka “Ekho Matsy” (Echo of the Matso) due to its russophobic political line. He is actually a “true believer” in western democracy
Alexei Kudrin: one of the figureheads of the Atlantic Integrationists, a hardcore market economist, forever offended since he was fired (by Medvedev, of all people!).
Konstantin Remchukov: owner and editor in chief of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, who has received the official imprimatur of the Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty.
Just look at their faces! They have that “eternal sadness of the professional dissident” in their eyes. Clearly, they “suffer” from the “regime” and they feel like 21st century versions of Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn. They also feel hurt, because the barbaric, reactionary and ungrateful Russian people never gave them the support they feel that their courageous stance deserves, and so, not a single one of their candidates made it into the Duma. Not one!
Complete story at - Saker rant: A 5th column in the Russian media? Absolutely! | The Vineyard of the Saker
Enough Already | Opinion | teleSUR English
The U.S. capitalist model continues to serve a tiny elite at the expense of the living standards of millions.
Amidst the usual self congratulatory palaver that crowds out reason in U.S. media and academia, a recent essay by Paul Buchheit in AlterNet (a source I admit I very rarely consult) conveys some very striking information.
Here are some excerpts:
Buchheit continues:
Amidst the usual self congratulatory palaver that crowds out reason in U.S. media and academia, a recent essay by Paul Buchheit in AlterNet (a source I admit I very rarely consult) conveys some very striking information.
Here are some excerpts:
"America's wealth grew by 60 percent in the past six years, by over $30 trillion. In approximately the same time, the number of homeless children has also grown by 60 percent."Shouldn’t that one fact be enough evidence - yes, just that one fact - to convince everyone that U.S. institutions are barbaric? Or perhaps that is too extreme a reaction? Maybe it is nasty naysaying as compared to righteously celebrating the new model iPhone while ignoring homelessness?
Buchheit continues:
"Financier and CEO Peter Schiff said, 'People don’t go hungry in a capitalist economy.' The 16 million kids on food stamps know what it's like to go hungry. Perhaps, some in Congress would say, those children should be working. 'There is no such thing as a free lunch,' insisted Georgia Representative Jack Kingston, even for school kids, who should be required to 'sweep the floor of the cafeteria'."When you study much earlier times, and you find horribly harsh formulations, at least you can note that in many cases they arose when there was generalized ignorance of related issues. Now, however, we all know what is right. But we are pressured to do what is wrong - and to then rationalize it.
"Teacher Sonya Romero-Smith told about the two little homeless girls she adopted: 'Getting rid of bedbugs, that took us a while. Night terrors, that took a little while. Hoarding food'."Complete story at - Enough Already | Opinion | teleSUR English
Ukraine Conflict Threatens to Spread as Anti-Communist Law Increases Tensions
ODESSA, Ukraine—Outside of the city administration building here on April 16, three older men who said they were from the local Communist party unfurled a red hammer and sickle flag to protest a national law banning symbols of the Soviet Union.
Nearby, police and local militia units were standing in a defensive ring around city hall. Threats of a protest against upcoming city council votes had local law enforcement on edge, anticipating it could reignite the city’s simmering pro-Russian separatist movement. When the Soviet flag was unfurled, the police immediately responded. And after a few minutes of protest the three Communist party members relented peacefully and put the flag away.
“Hiding the flag doesn’t change the way we think,” one said, while carefully folding the flag. “We are still Communists.” They declined to give their names, but two claimed to be Red Army veterans.
There were a few scuffles between police and local agitators and at least one arrest, but no large-scale violence. By evening, the crowds and police had dispersed and the square outside city hall was once again filled with mothers pushing strollers and teenagers performing tricks on their BMX bikes. Life in this Black Sea port city and tourist destination, which is more than 380 miles from the front lines of the Ukraine conflict, appeared to be continuing on as normal. But many residents here worry that a pro-Russian uprising could erupt anytime, potentially spurring the approximately 2,500 Russian troops stationed in the nearby Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria to invade.
“Only about 20 percent of Odessa is pro-Russian,” said a Right Sector soldier who went by the nom de guerre “Maverick,” standing guard in central Odessa last weekend. “But that’s enough to cause serious problems.”
Major combat in the Ukraine conflict has mostly been confined to cities and villages located in the “Donbas”— a pocket of territory on the Ukraine’s southeastern border with Russia where, despite the Feb. 12 cease-fire, fighting continues daily.
Complete story at - Ukraine Conflict Threatens to Spread as Anti-Communist Law Increases Tensions
Nearby, police and local militia units were standing in a defensive ring around city hall. Threats of a protest against upcoming city council votes had local law enforcement on edge, anticipating it could reignite the city’s simmering pro-Russian separatist movement. When the Soviet flag was unfurled, the police immediately responded. And after a few minutes of protest the three Communist party members relented peacefully and put the flag away.
“Hiding the flag doesn’t change the way we think,” one said, while carefully folding the flag. “We are still Communists.” They declined to give their names, but two claimed to be Red Army veterans.
There were a few scuffles between police and local agitators and at least one arrest, but no large-scale violence. By evening, the crowds and police had dispersed and the square outside city hall was once again filled with mothers pushing strollers and teenagers performing tricks on their BMX bikes. Life in this Black Sea port city and tourist destination, which is more than 380 miles from the front lines of the Ukraine conflict, appeared to be continuing on as normal. But many residents here worry that a pro-Russian uprising could erupt anytime, potentially spurring the approximately 2,500 Russian troops stationed in the nearby Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria to invade.
“Only about 20 percent of Odessa is pro-Russian,” said a Right Sector soldier who went by the nom de guerre “Maverick,” standing guard in central Odessa last weekend. “But that’s enough to cause serious problems.”
Major combat in the Ukraine conflict has mostly been confined to cities and villages located in the “Donbas”— a pocket of territory on the Ukraine’s southeastern border with Russia where, despite the Feb. 12 cease-fire, fighting continues daily.
Complete story at - Ukraine Conflict Threatens to Spread as Anti-Communist Law Increases Tensions
The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | The Long Arm of the EU: the Association Agreement and Expansionist Policies
It is often alleged that the EU’s foreign policy is cobbled together in an ad hoc fashion – more often badly than well – and, so the common critique goes, that there is a lack of any coherent strategy. In this paper I maintain, to the contrary, that the European Union is in fact pursuing a targeted geostrategic goal aimed at extending its sphere of influence. The motive for this is the deeply rooted belief that in order to achieve its goal of becoming a “world power”, it is essential for it to gain control of an imperial ‘grand area’ – as will be shown by reference to publications of the [European] Group on Grand Strategy (GoGS). The first priority is to control its immediate “neighbourhood”, the most important means for which is the conclusion of an association agreement between a neighbouring state and the EU. It was thus no accident – for precisely this reason – that the escalation of tension and violence in Ukraine came immediately after the former president, Victor Yanukovich, decided to postpone signature of the association agreement with the EU which was then on the table.
Pretension to world power status and strategy of expansion
Influential exponents of European politics are more and more openly articulating the pretension to join the front line of the battle for global power and influence. Thus Social-Democrat Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, said in 2013:
“Whether it wants to be or nor, Europe is a ‘global player’. The EU is the biggest and richest single market in the world, our economic strength accounts for a quarter of the world’s GDP. The EU is the biggest trading bloc in the world, the biggest donor of development aid in the world – the EU is an economic giant. Global economic power goes hand in hand with global political responsibility; Europe cannot back out of that responsibility. Europe’s partners are justified in expecting that Europe will face up to its responsibility and that the economic superpower will also become a global political superpower”.
From the point of view of the political elites, a “European Superpower” that wants to be taken seriously inescapably has to exert control over its European neighbourhood. Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorkski formulated it perfectly when he said: “If the EU wants to be a superpower – and Poland endorses that aim – it has to be able to exercise influence in its own neighbourhood”.
Thomas Renard, Senior Research Fellow at Egmont and Consultant to GoGS, underscores this: “Of course the EU has to establish itself as a power in its own region if it wants to be a global power”.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | The Long Arm of the EU: the Association Agreement and Expansionist Policies
Pretension to world power status and strategy of expansion
Influential exponents of European politics are more and more openly articulating the pretension to join the front line of the battle for global power and influence. Thus Social-Democrat Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, said in 2013:
“Whether it wants to be or nor, Europe is a ‘global player’. The EU is the biggest and richest single market in the world, our economic strength accounts for a quarter of the world’s GDP. The EU is the biggest trading bloc in the world, the biggest donor of development aid in the world – the EU is an economic giant. Global economic power goes hand in hand with global political responsibility; Europe cannot back out of that responsibility. Europe’s partners are justified in expecting that Europe will face up to its responsibility and that the economic superpower will also become a global political superpower”.
From the point of view of the political elites, a “European Superpower” that wants to be taken seriously inescapably has to exert control over its European neighbourhood. Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorkski formulated it perfectly when he said: “If the EU wants to be a superpower – and Poland endorses that aim – it has to be able to exercise influence in its own neighbourhood”.
Thomas Renard, Senior Research Fellow at Egmont and Consultant to GoGS, underscores this: “Of course the EU has to establish itself as a power in its own region if it wants to be a global power”.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | The Long Arm of the EU: the Association Agreement and Expansionist Policies
Monsanto sued in Los Angeles County for false advertising - Seattle GMO | Examiner.com
Today a class action lawsuit (Case No: BC 578 942) was filed in Los Angeles County, California against the Monsanto corporation. The suit alleges that Monsanto is guilty of false advertising by claiming that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, targets an enzyme only found in plants and not in humans or animals. Monsanto makes this claim to support the contention that glyphosate is harmless to humans.
In the lawsuit, the argument is made that the targeted enzyme, EPSP synthase, is found in the microbiota which reside in our intestines and therefore this enzyme is found in humans and animals. It is further stated in the lawsuit that there are many human and animal health problems associated with the disruption of our intestinal microbes.
“Because it kills-off our gut bacteria, glyphosate is linked to stomach and bowel problems, indigestion, ulcers, colitis, gluten intolerance, sleeplessness, lethargy, depression, Crohn's Disease, Celiac Disease, allergies, obesity, diabetes, infertility, liver disease, renal failure, autism, Alzheimer’s, endocrine disruption, and the W.H.O. recently announced glyphosate is 'probably carcinogenic'.”
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization (WHO), last month declared that glyphosate is Group 2A carcinogen. The American Cancer Society quickly followed suit, also listing glyphosate as a Group 2A carcinogen.
An Environmental Protection Agency memo dated October 30, 1991 states that the EPA classified glyphsate as a possible carcinogen in 1985. In this 1991 memo, without any justification, this classification was changed to Not Carcinogenic. Three scientists refused to sign, two of whom wrote beside their name: Do Not Concur. This document contains data that clearly shows a statistically significant increase in tumors in laboratory animals treated with glyphosate. But because there weren't more tumors in the group of animals who received a higher dose of glyphosate than there were in the group that received a lower dose, Monsanto made the claim that the tumors could not be related to glyphosate.
Complete story at - Monsanto sued in Los Angeles County for false advertising - Seattle GMO | Examiner.com
In the lawsuit, the argument is made that the targeted enzyme, EPSP synthase, is found in the microbiota which reside in our intestines and therefore this enzyme is found in humans and animals. It is further stated in the lawsuit that there are many human and animal health problems associated with the disruption of our intestinal microbes.
“Because it kills-off our gut bacteria, glyphosate is linked to stomach and bowel problems, indigestion, ulcers, colitis, gluten intolerance, sleeplessness, lethargy, depression, Crohn's Disease, Celiac Disease, allergies, obesity, diabetes, infertility, liver disease, renal failure, autism, Alzheimer’s, endocrine disruption, and the W.H.O. recently announced glyphosate is 'probably carcinogenic'.”
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization (WHO), last month declared that glyphosate is Group 2A carcinogen. The American Cancer Society quickly followed suit, also listing glyphosate as a Group 2A carcinogen.
An Environmental Protection Agency memo dated October 30, 1991 states that the EPA classified glyphsate as a possible carcinogen in 1985. In this 1991 memo, without any justification, this classification was changed to Not Carcinogenic. Three scientists refused to sign, two of whom wrote beside their name: Do Not Concur. This document contains data that clearly shows a statistically significant increase in tumors in laboratory animals treated with glyphosate. But because there weren't more tumors in the group of animals who received a higher dose of glyphosate than there were in the group that received a lower dose, Monsanto made the claim that the tumors could not be related to glyphosate.
Complete story at - Monsanto sued in Los Angeles County for false advertising - Seattle GMO | Examiner.com
US Training Nazis, Western Media Providing Cover | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization
By Eric Draitser
It has become a popular position both in the mainstream and pseudo-alternative media, and among those on the Russophobic left, to downplay the significant fascist influence on the political and military institutions, as well as the cultural character of the “New Ukraine.” Quite often, the reality of Ukrainian fascism is obscured by vague assertions that such conclusions are merely “Russian propaganda,” that they are simply Kremlin talking points, and not statements of objective reality.
Indeed, influential political figures such as the ever-hilarious John McCain and Jen Psaki, and global media brands like The Guardian and FOX, have all rushed to the nearest camera or twitter account to proclaim that Ukraine is “free” and that we should “stand united” with it. Carefully embedded in these pleas is the notion that Ukraine is democratic, and that whatever “ultra-nationalists” – coded language for fascists and Nazis – exist, are merely a marginal influence at best.
Such vacuous statements belie the inescapable fact that Nazis make up an important strata of both the political and military establishment. Moreover, they are intended to provide cover for US policy which provides these elements with the support they need to both influence the political development of the country, and prosecute its illegal war against the people of Donetsk and Lugansk.
At issue is not whether everyone in Ukraine is a Nazi, as that is an absurd argument that no one is really making. Rather, the question has to do with precisely which individuals and factions that are unmistakably fascist are being supported, directly or indirectly, by the US and its allies. More to the point, which of the US-backed Nazi elements are integral to the continued illegal war against the East, and which figure prominently in the future trajectory of the Ukrainian state.
Arming Nazis to Fight for “Democracy”
The war in Ukraine is being prosecuted by the US-backed government in Kiev using all available means. While of course the regular Ukrainian military forces (also armed and trained by the US) are fighting this war, alongside them, and in concert with them, are outright Nazi elements who, like their regular army brethren, are receiving direct support from Washington.
The Associated Press reported on March 31, 2015 that “The United States plans to send soldiers to Ukraine in April for training exercises with units of the country’s national guard… the units to be trained include the Azov Battalion, a volunteer force that has attracted criticism for its far-right sentiments including brandishing an emblem widely used in Nazi Germany.” Of course, first and foremost is the fact that US military will be on the ground in Ukraine providing direct support for the Ukrainian military. Isn’t that precisely what Washington accuses Russia of doing (while failing to provide evidence), namely providing direct military support on the ground?
Complete story at - US Training Nazis, Western Media Providing Cover | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization
It has become a popular position both in the mainstream and pseudo-alternative media, and among those on the Russophobic left, to downplay the significant fascist influence on the political and military institutions, as well as the cultural character of the “New Ukraine.” Quite often, the reality of Ukrainian fascism is obscured by vague assertions that such conclusions are merely “Russian propaganda,” that they are simply Kremlin talking points, and not statements of objective reality.
Indeed, influential political figures such as the ever-hilarious John McCain and Jen Psaki, and global media brands like The Guardian and FOX, have all rushed to the nearest camera or twitter account to proclaim that Ukraine is “free” and that we should “stand united” with it. Carefully embedded in these pleas is the notion that Ukraine is democratic, and that whatever “ultra-nationalists” – coded language for fascists and Nazis – exist, are merely a marginal influence at best.
Such vacuous statements belie the inescapable fact that Nazis make up an important strata of both the political and military establishment. Moreover, they are intended to provide cover for US policy which provides these elements with the support they need to both influence the political development of the country, and prosecute its illegal war against the people of Donetsk and Lugansk.
At issue is not whether everyone in Ukraine is a Nazi, as that is an absurd argument that no one is really making. Rather, the question has to do with precisely which individuals and factions that are unmistakably fascist are being supported, directly or indirectly, by the US and its allies. More to the point, which of the US-backed Nazi elements are integral to the continued illegal war against the East, and which figure prominently in the future trajectory of the Ukrainian state.
Arming Nazis to Fight for “Democracy”
The war in Ukraine is being prosecuted by the US-backed government in Kiev using all available means. While of course the regular Ukrainian military forces (also armed and trained by the US) are fighting this war, alongside them, and in concert with them, are outright Nazi elements who, like their regular army brethren, are receiving direct support from Washington.
The Associated Press reported on March 31, 2015 that “The United States plans to send soldiers to Ukraine in April for training exercises with units of the country’s national guard… the units to be trained include the Azov Battalion, a volunteer force that has attracted criticism for its far-right sentiments including brandishing an emblem widely used in Nazi Germany.” Of course, first and foremost is the fact that US military will be on the ground in Ukraine providing direct support for the Ukrainian military. Isn’t that precisely what Washington accuses Russia of doing (while failing to provide evidence), namely providing direct military support on the ground?
Complete story at - US Training Nazis, Western Media Providing Cover | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization
The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | The Decline and Fall of the United States
David Swanson | Crosspost with Progressive Activists Voice
Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. — Robert Frost. Fire and Ice
The USS Ronald Reagan in the China Sea: America has 10 carriers, weapons primarily designed for offensive operations and power projection around the globe. Most other nations have at best one, as tactically these vessels are extremely vulnerable to aviation, submarine and missile attack. (Click to expand image)
Posted by Tom Baldwin
After a speech I gave this past weekend, a young woman asked me whether a failure by the United States to properly surround and intimidate China might result in instability. I explained why I thought the opposite was true. Imagine if China had military bases along the Canadian and Mexican borders with the United States and ships in Bermuda and the Bahamas, Nova Scotia and Vancouver. Would you feel stabilized? Or might you feel something else? The U.S. empire can continue to see itself as a force for good, doing things that would be unacceptable for anyone else but never to be questioned when performed by the global cop — that is, it can go on not seeing itself at all, expanding, over-reaching, and collapsing from within. Or it can recognize what it’s about, shift priorities, scale back militarism, reverse the concentration of wealth and power, invest in green energy and human needs, and undo the empire a bit sooner but far more beneficially. Collapse is not inevitable. Collapse or redirection is inevitable, and thus far the U.S. government is choosing the path toward the former. Let’s look at a few of the indicators.
Failing Democracy
The United States bombs nations in the name of democracy, yet has one of the least democratic and least functioning of the states calling themselves democracies. The U.S. has the lowest voter turnout among wealthy, and lower even than many poor, countries. An election is looming for next year with leading contenders from two aristocratic dynasties. The United States does not use national public initiatives or referenda in the way that some countries do, so its low voter turnout (with over 60% of eligible voters choosing not to vote in 2014) matters all the more. The U.S. democracy is also less democratic than other wealthy democracies in terms of its internal functioning, with a single individual able to launch wars.
Low public participation is not the result of satisfaction so much as recognition of corruption, combined with antidemocratic barriers to participating. For years now 75% to 85% of the U.S. public has been saying its government is broken. And clearly a big part of that understanding is related to the system of legalized bribery that funds elections. Approval of Congress has been under 20% and sometimes under 10% for years now. Confidence in Congress is at 7% and falling quickly.
Recently a man, expecting to lose his job at the very least, landed a little bicycle-helicopter at the U.S. Capitol to try to deliver requests to clean the money out of elections. He cited as his motivation the “collapse of this country.” Another man showed up at the U.S. Capitol with a sign reading “Tax the 1%” and proceeded to shoot himself in the head. Polls suggest those are not the only two people who see the problem — and, it should be noted, the solution.
Of course, the U.S. “democracy” operates in greater and greater secrecy with ever greater powers of surveillance. The World Justice Project ranks the United States below many other nations in these categories: Publicized laws and government data; Right to information; Civic participation; and Complaint mechanisms.
The U.S. government is currently working on ratifying, in secret, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which empowers corporations to overturn laws enacted by the U.S. government.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | The Decline and Fall of the United States
Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. — Robert Frost. Fire and Ice
The USS Ronald Reagan in the China Sea: America has 10 carriers, weapons primarily designed for offensive operations and power projection around the globe. Most other nations have at best one, as tactically these vessels are extremely vulnerable to aviation, submarine and missile attack. (Click to expand image)
Posted by Tom Baldwin
After a speech I gave this past weekend, a young woman asked me whether a failure by the United States to properly surround and intimidate China might result in instability. I explained why I thought the opposite was true. Imagine if China had military bases along the Canadian and Mexican borders with the United States and ships in Bermuda and the Bahamas, Nova Scotia and Vancouver. Would you feel stabilized? Or might you feel something else? The U.S. empire can continue to see itself as a force for good, doing things that would be unacceptable for anyone else but never to be questioned when performed by the global cop — that is, it can go on not seeing itself at all, expanding, over-reaching, and collapsing from within. Or it can recognize what it’s about, shift priorities, scale back militarism, reverse the concentration of wealth and power, invest in green energy and human needs, and undo the empire a bit sooner but far more beneficially. Collapse is not inevitable. Collapse or redirection is inevitable, and thus far the U.S. government is choosing the path toward the former. Let’s look at a few of the indicators.
Failing Democracy
The United States bombs nations in the name of democracy, yet has one of the least democratic and least functioning of the states calling themselves democracies. The U.S. has the lowest voter turnout among wealthy, and lower even than many poor, countries. An election is looming for next year with leading contenders from two aristocratic dynasties. The United States does not use national public initiatives or referenda in the way that some countries do, so its low voter turnout (with over 60% of eligible voters choosing not to vote in 2014) matters all the more. The U.S. democracy is also less democratic than other wealthy democracies in terms of its internal functioning, with a single individual able to launch wars.
Low public participation is not the result of satisfaction so much as recognition of corruption, combined with antidemocratic barriers to participating. For years now 75% to 85% of the U.S. public has been saying its government is broken. And clearly a big part of that understanding is related to the system of legalized bribery that funds elections. Approval of Congress has been under 20% and sometimes under 10% for years now. Confidence in Congress is at 7% and falling quickly.
Recently a man, expecting to lose his job at the very least, landed a little bicycle-helicopter at the U.S. Capitol to try to deliver requests to clean the money out of elections. He cited as his motivation the “collapse of this country.” Another man showed up at the U.S. Capitol with a sign reading “Tax the 1%” and proceeded to shoot himself in the head. Polls suggest those are not the only two people who see the problem — and, it should be noted, the solution.
Of course, the U.S. “democracy” operates in greater and greater secrecy with ever greater powers of surveillance. The World Justice Project ranks the United States below many other nations in these categories: Publicized laws and government data; Right to information; Civic participation; and Complaint mechanisms.
The U.S. government is currently working on ratifying, in secret, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which empowers corporations to overturn laws enacted by the U.S. government.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | The Decline and Fall of the United States
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Yemeni Americans Feel Doubly Betrayed as US Government Refuses to Evacuate Them from Yemen | The Dissenter
The US envoy to Djibouti spoke about the “tough experience” Yemeni Americans trapped in Yemen last week, however, what was missing from his remarks were any indications that the government will end its refusal evacuate tens of thousands of Americans from the war-ravaged country.
Tom Kelly, according to McClatchy, acknowledged that hundreds of Americans had fled Yemen for Djibouti recently on foreign ships and aircrafts after dangerous journeys on land. At one point, “evacuees” were left behind at the “port of Aden because they had been unable to climb up rope ladders to board an Indian navy frigate from smaller boats that had ferried them to the larger ship, which had been unable to dock because of fighting in the city.”
Dozens of Americans arrived on that frigate on April 11. Potentially, 55,000 Americans remain in Yemen and have received no pledge from their own government that there will be help for them so they can escape. Countries like China, India, Pakistan and even Somalia have launched missions to rescue their citizens but the US has decided not to launch an operation to specifically help Yemeni Americans, even though it easily could because it is coordinating with the Saudi-led coalition that is bombing the country.
Gadeir Abbas, an attorney representing dozens of Yemeni Americans who are stranded in Yemen, is this week’s guest on the “Unauthorized Disclosure” podcast. He talks about the lawsuit filed to force the US government to help these trapped Americans. He highlights the betrayal Yemeni Americans feel as their government treats them like second class citizens and discusses what it would take to evacuate them.
In the second half of the show, Abbas, who represents an American named Gulet Mohamed in his challenge to his placement on the No Fly List, highlights the latest developments. The government is now informing plaintiffs in No Fly List cases that they have a new process where Americans can get confirmation that they are on the list. Abbas contends the changes are meaningless, however, and discusses how none of what the government has implemented resolves Mohamed’s case.
Complete story at - Yemeni Americans Feel Doubly Betrayed as US Government Refuses to Evacuate Them from Yemen | The Dissenter
Tom Kelly, according to McClatchy, acknowledged that hundreds of Americans had fled Yemen for Djibouti recently on foreign ships and aircrafts after dangerous journeys on land. At one point, “evacuees” were left behind at the “port of Aden because they had been unable to climb up rope ladders to board an Indian navy frigate from smaller boats that had ferried them to the larger ship, which had been unable to dock because of fighting in the city.”
Dozens of Americans arrived on that frigate on April 11. Potentially, 55,000 Americans remain in Yemen and have received no pledge from their own government that there will be help for them so they can escape. Countries like China, India, Pakistan and even Somalia have launched missions to rescue their citizens but the US has decided not to launch an operation to specifically help Yemeni Americans, even though it easily could because it is coordinating with the Saudi-led coalition that is bombing the country.
Gadeir Abbas, an attorney representing dozens of Yemeni Americans who are stranded in Yemen, is this week’s guest on the “Unauthorized Disclosure” podcast. He talks about the lawsuit filed to force the US government to help these trapped Americans. He highlights the betrayal Yemeni Americans feel as their government treats them like second class citizens and discusses what it would take to evacuate them.
In the second half of the show, Abbas, who represents an American named Gulet Mohamed in his challenge to his placement on the No Fly List, highlights the latest developments. The government is now informing plaintiffs in No Fly List cases that they have a new process where Americans can get confirmation that they are on the list. Abbas contends the changes are meaningless, however, and discusses how none of what the government has implemented resolves Mohamed’s case.
Complete story at - Yemeni Americans Feel Doubly Betrayed as US Government Refuses to Evacuate Them from Yemen | The Dissenter
Putin warns Israel: Selling arms to Ukraine would provoke Russian S-300 sales to Syria too
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning to Israel against selling arms to Kiev - in retaliation for the S-300 air-defense missiles Russia has released for Iran – adds a European dimension to the dispute by planting Israel squarely in the middle of Moscow’s Ukraine dispute with the United States. The Russian leader’s implied threat to hit back by sending the same missile system to Syria as well as Iran, touches on another dispute between Russia on the one side and the US and Israel on the other, namely the Syria conflict.
Whereas critics of the Netanyahu government highlight its falling-out with the Obama administration over the Iranian nuclear issue, they disregard the intense US-Israeli military cooperation in two vital regions of conflict – Syria and Ukraine.
This working relationship is not lost on Putin.
The intelligence updates placed on his Kremlin desk reveal that, just as the US and Israel (and Jordan) have been arming rebel forces fighting in southern Syria, they are also working together to give the Ukrainian army the weapons for breaking its incendiary standoff with the pro-Russian separatists.
In the last fortnight, thousands of military advisers from the United States, Canada, France, the UK and Germany were shipped into Ukraine to train the national army. Due in the coming days are 290 officers and troops of the American 173 Airborne Brigade.
Complete story at - Putin warns Israel: Selling arms to Ukraine would provoke Russian S-300 sales to Syria too
Whereas critics of the Netanyahu government highlight its falling-out with the Obama administration over the Iranian nuclear issue, they disregard the intense US-Israeli military cooperation in two vital regions of conflict – Syria and Ukraine.
This working relationship is not lost on Putin.
The intelligence updates placed on his Kremlin desk reveal that, just as the US and Israel (and Jordan) have been arming rebel forces fighting in southern Syria, they are also working together to give the Ukrainian army the weapons for breaking its incendiary standoff with the pro-Russian separatists.
In the last fortnight, thousands of military advisers from the United States, Canada, France, the UK and Germany were shipped into Ukraine to train the national army. Due in the coming days are 290 officers and troops of the American 173 Airborne Brigade.
Complete story at - Putin warns Israel: Selling arms to Ukraine would provoke Russian S-300 sales to Syria too
John Helmer: The Potentate Of Prague — How the War Party in Washington is Losing Eastern Europe, Hillary Clinton Too | naked capitalism
By John Helmer, the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia, and the only western journalist to direct his own bureau independent of single national or commercial ties. Helmer has also been a professor of political science, and an advisor to government heads in Greece, the United States, and Asia. He is the first and only member of a US presidential administration (Jimmy Carter) to establish himself in Russia. Originally published at Dances with Bears
Andrej Babis is the one of the wealthiest men in eastern Europe — if you bite bread, read a newspaper, fill your car with fuel, or put fertilizer on your window box in Prague, chances are you owe Babis money. He is also Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Finance Minister, and candidate to become the next Czech President.
When Babis announced on Friday in Washington that he is planning to sue the US foreign policy establishment for libel, he wasn’t bluffing. His aim is to stop the US State Department, American officers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, and the war party in Kiev from attacking him as a Kremlin stooge.
The rise of Babis is also the takeoff of another albatross which is about to hang itself around the neck of candidate to become President of the US, Hillary Clinton. For it’s her campaign booster and pollster, Douglas Schoen and his old firm Penn Schoen Berland (PSB), which claim credit for inventing Babis’s political party, Akce Nespokojených Občanů (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens) – the acronym ANO also means “yes” in Czech – and putting Babis in power. From non-existence in 2011, ANO took 19% of the votes in the Czech lower house election of 2013, a close second behind the ruling Social-Democratic Party; 17% in the Czech senate election of last October. According to the American pollster, PSB’s Czech-educated executive, Alexander Braun is the winner of several US awards for his Czech political campaigns. He also claims credit, along with Schoen, for advising “notable clients…includ[ing] Tony Blair and Hillary Clinton, as well as presidents in Mexico, Ukraine, and Philippines.”
With the ANO vote running at close to 20%, and Babis’s voter approval rating at better than 60%, he and his appointees in the Czech Government control the ministries of finance, defence, justice, transport, environment, and regional development. Try buying, lighting, and stubbing out a cigarette between Karlovy Vary in the west, on the German border, and Ostrava in the east, near Poland, and you need ANO’s permission.
If it is American strategy to prevent Germany or Russia, or the two of them together, from ruling who can drop their butts in Eastern Europe, then the rise of the potentate of Prague is either a good thing, or a bad thing. For the time being, it’s an uncertain, so a dangerous thing.
When “Dragoon Ride”, a convoy of 120 armoured cars from the US Army and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), tried to rally Czech support for American rule of Ukraine and war against Russia last month, it was the ANO ministries which refused to allow them to drive through Prague, diverting them instead to a military base on the outskirts.
The US Army called “Dragoon Ride” a “highly visible demonstration of U.S, commitment to its NATO allies and demonstrating NATO’s ability to move military forces freely across allied borders in close cooperation.” On March 29 the Stars and Stripes reported that “the convoy unleashed fierce debate among the Czech people and politicians. On Saturday, thousands of people gathered in Prague, the capital, to demonstrate support for and opposition to the convoy and American foreign policy.” The Ukrainian regime media called that “the opening of another Russian front in the Czech republic”, and the Czech Republic “Russia’s outpost in central Europe.” In Kiev Babis’s ANO was called the “Führerpartei”.
Complete story at - John Helmer: The Potentate Of Prague — How the War Party in Washington is Losing Eastern Europe, Hillary Clinton Too | naked capitalism
Andrej Babis is the one of the wealthiest men in eastern Europe — if you bite bread, read a newspaper, fill your car with fuel, or put fertilizer on your window box in Prague, chances are you owe Babis money. He is also Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Finance Minister, and candidate to become the next Czech President.
When Babis announced on Friday in Washington that he is planning to sue the US foreign policy establishment for libel, he wasn’t bluffing. His aim is to stop the US State Department, American officers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, and the war party in Kiev from attacking him as a Kremlin stooge.
The rise of Babis is also the takeoff of another albatross which is about to hang itself around the neck of candidate to become President of the US, Hillary Clinton. For it’s her campaign booster and pollster, Douglas Schoen and his old firm Penn Schoen Berland (PSB), which claim credit for inventing Babis’s political party, Akce Nespokojených Občanů (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens) – the acronym ANO also means “yes” in Czech – and putting Babis in power. From non-existence in 2011, ANO took 19% of the votes in the Czech lower house election of 2013, a close second behind the ruling Social-Democratic Party; 17% in the Czech senate election of last October. According to the American pollster, PSB’s Czech-educated executive, Alexander Braun is the winner of several US awards for his Czech political campaigns. He also claims credit, along with Schoen, for advising “notable clients…includ[ing] Tony Blair and Hillary Clinton, as well as presidents in Mexico, Ukraine, and Philippines.”
With the ANO vote running at close to 20%, and Babis’s voter approval rating at better than 60%, he and his appointees in the Czech Government control the ministries of finance, defence, justice, transport, environment, and regional development. Try buying, lighting, and stubbing out a cigarette between Karlovy Vary in the west, on the German border, and Ostrava in the east, near Poland, and you need ANO’s permission.
If it is American strategy to prevent Germany or Russia, or the two of them together, from ruling who can drop their butts in Eastern Europe, then the rise of the potentate of Prague is either a good thing, or a bad thing. For the time being, it’s an uncertain, so a dangerous thing.
When “Dragoon Ride”, a convoy of 120 armoured cars from the US Army and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), tried to rally Czech support for American rule of Ukraine and war against Russia last month, it was the ANO ministries which refused to allow them to drive through Prague, diverting them instead to a military base on the outskirts.
The US Army called “Dragoon Ride” a “highly visible demonstration of U.S, commitment to its NATO allies and demonstrating NATO’s ability to move military forces freely across allied borders in close cooperation.” On March 29 the Stars and Stripes reported that “the convoy unleashed fierce debate among the Czech people and politicians. On Saturday, thousands of people gathered in Prague, the capital, to demonstrate support for and opposition to the convoy and American foreign policy.” The Ukrainian regime media called that “the opening of another Russian front in the Czech republic”, and the Czech Republic “Russia’s outpost in central Europe.” In Kiev Babis’s ANO was called the “Führerpartei”.
Complete story at - John Helmer: The Potentate Of Prague — How the War Party in Washington is Losing Eastern Europe, Hillary Clinton Too | naked capitalism
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Wave of assassinations in Ukraine targets critics of Kiev regime
In the lead-up to the May 9 celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany at the end of World War II, there has been an accelerating wave of political assassinations targeting critics of the Western-backed, far-right regime in Kiev.
Yesterday evening, a group calling itself the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)—the name of a Ukrainian fascist militia that collaborated with Nazi forces in carrying out ethnic genocides of Jews and Poles during World War II—claimed responsibility for the killings. In a statement emailed to opposition legislators and political commentators, it also gave “anti-Ukrainian” persons 72 hours to leave the country or be killed if they stayed behind.
It pledged to carry out the “complete extermination” of enemies of Ukraine and a “merciless insurrectionary struggle against the anti-Ukrainian regime of traitors and Moscow toadies,” according to a report in Der Spiegel .
The killing spree began this week with the murder of journalist Sergey Sukhobok. On Wednesday evening, Oleg Kalashnykov was found dead in his home in Kiev. He was a former parliamentarian from the Party of Regions and a close ally of President Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian politician ousted in a NATO-backed, fascist-led putsch in February of 2014 that installed the current regime in Kiev.
According to Interior Ministry advisor Anton Heraschenko, killers were waiting for Kalashnykov outside his residence and shot him when he returned.
Before his death, Kalashnykov indicated that he had received death threats over his call to commemorate May 9. He addressed a letter to his friends warning that “open genocide on dissent, death threats, and constant dirty insults” had become the “norm” since he publicly raised the issue. He reportedly added in the letter that Ukraine was under Nazi occupation.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Wave of assassinations in Ukraine targets critics of Kiev regime
Yesterday evening, a group calling itself the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)—the name of a Ukrainian fascist militia that collaborated with Nazi forces in carrying out ethnic genocides of Jews and Poles during World War II—claimed responsibility for the killings. In a statement emailed to opposition legislators and political commentators, it also gave “anti-Ukrainian” persons 72 hours to leave the country or be killed if they stayed behind.
It pledged to carry out the “complete extermination” of enemies of Ukraine and a “merciless insurrectionary struggle against the anti-Ukrainian regime of traitors and Moscow toadies,” according to a report in Der Spiegel .
The killing spree began this week with the murder of journalist Sergey Sukhobok. On Wednesday evening, Oleg Kalashnykov was found dead in his home in Kiev. He was a former parliamentarian from the Party of Regions and a close ally of President Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian politician ousted in a NATO-backed, fascist-led putsch in February of 2014 that installed the current regime in Kiev.
According to Interior Ministry advisor Anton Heraschenko, killers were waiting for Kalashnykov outside his residence and shot him when he returned.
Before his death, Kalashnykov indicated that he had received death threats over his call to commemorate May 9. He addressed a letter to his friends warning that “open genocide on dissent, death threats, and constant dirty insults” had become the “norm” since he publicly raised the issue. He reportedly added in the letter that Ukraine was under Nazi occupation.
Complete story at - The Greanville Post • Vol. IX | Wave of assassinations in Ukraine targets critics of Kiev regime
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