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Hardhat

Best of the Web: Muslims and the working class: France's marginalized and natural Yellow Vest allies

Ramin Mazaheri
The Saker
Thu, 25 Apr 2019 14:06 UTC
gilets jaunes pairs protest
© Kamil Zihnioglu | APYellow Vests protesters march on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, March 2, 2019.
Yellow Vests and Muslims are the two largest groups in France which suffer from socioeconomic marginalization - and there is no doubt that they will be open political allies, eventually.

Even though the Yellow Vest anti-government movement is historic in scope, duration and intensity, and even though Muslims comprise 5-10% of France's population, there has been almost zero media coverage of the interplay between these two forces.

Check Google in French or English and you truly find almost nothing. I have been waiting and waiting to do a story on this angle for Iran's PressTV - I am their Paris correspondent - but there is simply no "news peg" from which we can start any report.

The reasons for this silence are due to four key reasons but, mostly, it's because the plight of Muslims and Yellow Vests are so obviously similar: just as French media ignores the Muslim community to promote violent misrepresentations instead, so they ignore the true substance of the Yellow Vests in favor of tabloid coverage.

Comment: The author may wish for more, but just the fact that this protest movement is taking place in France - the Western country with the largest Muslim majority - tells us a lot about its overall resilience against the decades of 'clash of civilization' brainwashing, and the utter failure of the 'Global War on Terror' to atomize this particular population into total submission...

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Quenelle - Golden

Best of the Web: Yellow Vests reject Macron's 'rubbish' tax cuts, protest across France for 24th straight week


RT
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 13:46 UTC
yellow vests Strasbourg April 27 2019
© AFP / Patrick HertzogProtesters take part in an anti-government demonstration called by the "Yellow Vest" (gilets jaunes) movement in Strasbourg, eastern France, on April 27, 2019.
Unrelenting Yellow Vest activists have marched in Paris and other French cities for the 24th straight weekend, just days after Emmanuel Macron tried to placate the protest movement with promises of lower taxes.

The demonstrators who assembled in Paris, Toulouse and Strasbourg on Saturday appear to signal that despite the French president's recent concessions to the group, the Yellow Vest movement is alive and well.



Oh Thursday, Macron held the first major press conference of his two-year presidency, in which he announced that he wanted to implement "significant" income tax cuts.


Comment: Just think about that; it's the first time in TWO YEARS he has deigned to have a press conference.


Comment: Interesting sidenote about this week's protest in Paris; the police, while still numbering in the thousands, did not violently suppress it (though they did in Strasbourg).

This is likely because the trade unions and Melenchon and his liberal-lefty friends decided to join the Yellow Vest Paris protest this week...

See also: Macron offers Yellow Vests €5bn in tax cuts, asks French to 'work more' in return

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MIB

Best of the Web: Suspicious timing: Sunday Times interviews 'New IRA' terrorists

John Mooney
Sunday Times
Sun, 28 Apr 2019 11:49 UTC
New IRA Sunday Times
Original Sunday Times headline
The New IRA has said the political fallout from Britain's decision to leave the European Union has presented it with an opportunity to recruit young supporters as Brexit has underlined the presence of the border and partition.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, which took place after the murder of Lyra McKee in Derry on April 18, representatives from the group's army council acknowledged there was no public support for their campaign of violence but said they would continue to mount attacks in Northern Ireland for propaganda reasons.


Comment: So, this newly constituted terrorist group kills someone, then has a free pass to be interviewed by the British security services' favourite newspaper? Hmmm...


"Our armed actions serve one purpose. They are symbolic. They are propaganda. They let the world know there is an ongoing conflict in Northern Ireland," said one of the dissident leaders.

"Condemning the IRA is nothing new. We are not interested in being popular. Republicanism has always been a small core of people."

The dissident added: "Brexit has forced the IRA to refocus and has underlined how Ireland remains partitioned. It would be remiss of us not to capitalise on the opportunity."

Comment: The return of Irish 'nationalist' terrorism in Northern Ireland (and in Britain) in recent years has only one real winner: the British security state. (Well, two winners: the pro-Anglo-American ultra-liberal Dublin government gets to rag on again about the evils of nationalism).

A fundamental reason why Sinn Fein/the Provisional IRA gave up terrorism in the 1990s was because their organization was by then thoroughly riddled with British (and even some American) spies. For decades, their man in charge of deciding who was or was not a British spy (and executing them)... was a British spy.

With the game rigged at that level, Sinn Fein/IRA settled for playing politics and the long game. It took a little longer than they anticipated, but indeed an opportunity for Irish reunification has opened up: Brexit. But they have to play it right. And, as any actual Irish nationalist will have obviously by now figured out, playing it violently is the surest way for reunification to NOT happen.

What better way to thwart the leverage the EU currently has over London, whereby it risks 'losing' Northern Ireland to Dublin/the EU in the event of a hard Brexit, than by reigniting a spiral of terror which justifies the re-imposition of a hard border?

"Sorry, we would have allowed you to govern yourselves, whole and free, but you're clearly not civilized enough for that yet..."

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Snakes in Suits

Best of the Web: China hawks grieve in their era of discontent, see Belt & Road as culmination of 'decades-long war' against the U.S.

Christopher Scott
Asia Times
Fri, 26 Apr 2019 12:00 UTC
committee present danger
"China, China, China, China, China...!!!"
As world leaders descended on Beijing to consult on building out much-needed infrastructure around the globe, a group of Trump administration allies and some of the United States' biggest China critics gathered at the St Regis Hotel in New York to air their grievances on the current state of affairs.

The meeting of the revived Committee on the Present Danger, an effort borrowing its name from a Cold War-era organization, saw a curious mixture - at times from the same speaker - of alarmist rhetoric and confidence that China was doomed to fail of its own flaws.

Largely absent from the event was a call for the US to form a grand strategy to compete with China's Belt and Road Initiative. The global infrastructure investment push is being showcased in Beijing during three days of events, contrasting the atmosphere of rivalry on display in New York with one of cooperation.

Comment: That lack of insight/honesty among all-too-many of its intellectuals is America's core problem. Statistically, the most murderous regime of the 21st century is, by a mile... the USA.

If it's not Russia, it's China, because the US could never admit that it's collapsing under the weight of its own corruption:

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Pistol

Best of the Web: Sequence complete? Now gunman opens fire at a San Diego synagogue, on Jewish Sabbath - 1 person dead, 3 injured


NBC News
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 22:26 UTC
synagogue mourners
One person died after a 19-year-old man walked into a Chabad synagogue in a San Diego suburb Saturday morning and shot people inside, and the suspect is in custody, the sheriff said.

Three other people were injured in the shooting at Chabad of Poway, which occurred around 11:23 a.m., and those people are hospitalized and stable, San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore said.

"This individual was with an AR-type assault weapon and opened fire on the people inside the synagogue," Gore said.

An off-duty Border Patrol agent in the area fired at the suspect as he fled the Chabad of Poway and struck his car, Gore and San Diego Police Chief David Nislei said at a news conference.

A San Diego police officer en route to the scene saw the suspect's vehicle and "the suspect pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up," Nislei said. As the suspect was being placed in custody, police "clearly saw a rifle sitting on the front passenger seat," Nislei said.

Comment: Like in Christchurch, this one's been given a backstory, complete with a manifesto-I-wrote-just-this-morning-and-uploaded-to-social-media-on-my-way-to-the-shooting. The only thing that's different is that they replaced instances of 'Muslims' with 'Jews'.

This is, presumably, the third in their sequence of shoot-em-ups at places of religious worship. First they massacred Muslims during Friday prayers in Christchurch on March 15th; then they massacred Christians on Easter Sunday, and now they've 'rounded out the plot' by targeting Jews on a Saturday.

The two Western attacks, of course, were nothing compared with the Sri Lanka multi-site attacks. Our Dear Leaders, it seems, retain some capacity to 'rein it in' when going on the blitz with 'our own kind'.

In any event, it's full-steam ahead in the Global Manufactured Clash of Civilizations...

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Blue Planet

Best of the Web: The second Belt and Road forum: A transformation of the world economic order

Matthew Ehret
Sott.net
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 22:21 UTC
From April 25-27 Beijing will host a second international forum on the Belt and Road Initiative, and it won't be a small deal...

belt road forum 2019
37 world leaders attended this year's Belt and Road Forum outside Beijing, China
The four weeks preceding this event have seen an incredible surge of nations and institutions joining the BRI framework beginning with Italy's Memorandum of Understanding as the first G7 nation in March, followed soon thereafter by Luxembourg and Switzerland. Weeks later, China won another victory by consolidating billions in infrastructure deals with the 16+1 Central and Eastern European Nations who have signed onto the BRI. This particular forum was especially important as it saw Greece join the alliance changing the name to the 17+1 group. Greece's official participation in this bloc extended the group beyond its nominal "central and eastern" geographical limits and the importance of Greece- whose Port of Piraeus and emerging rail infrastructure funded by China provide a key bridge in the Maritime New Silk Road to Europe.

If that wasn't enough, China participated in the April 9-10 International Arctic Forum in Russia whereby the first treaty was signed between Russia and China on scientific cooperation in the Arctic, and sweeping agreements were made around Chinese-Russian infrastructure development on a policy which has become known as the "Polar Silk Road"- again extending the limits of the BRI beyond its "east-west framework". Just as the Arctic conference was ending, an unprecedented Canadian Arctic Policy Report was publicized calling for a transformation of Canada's Arctic doctrine towards a pro-development orientation in response to the "changing geopolitical rules" initiated by Russia and China.
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Blue Planet

Best of the Web: World Leaders Gather For Second 'Belt And Road' Forum in Beijing


CCTV
Fri, 26 Apr 2019 20:04 UTC
putin xi BRI 2019
© Xinhua/Wang YeChinese President Xi Jinping, his wife Peng Liyuan and guests of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation attend a banquet in Beijing, China, April 26, 2019.
With the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) taking place in Beijing, leaders around the globe are speaking highly of the initiative and voicing their expectations for the gathering.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was initiated by China in 2013 with the aim of enhancing all-around connectivity through infrastructure construction, exploring new driving forces for world economic growth, and building a new platform for world economic cooperation.

The BRI has created a new dimension for the development of the world economy, and its long-term strategic plan is unusual, said President Ueli Maurer of the Swiss Confederation.

The Swiss president believed that globalization is the key to successful global development, and to achieve globalization, infrastructure construction at various levels would be indispensable.

Comment: 37 leaders attended this year's forum, up from the 29 who attended the inaugural forum in 2017. Most were leaders of Asian countries, but 10 European and 4 African leaders also attended. $64 billion in trade deals were made, although the focus, as before, was on long-term strategic planning for the development and transformation of global infrastructure.

The guest of honor was, you guessed it - Vladimir Putin - who received an honorary doctorate from Tsinghua University and held two full-cabinet bilateral meetings with Xi Jinping.


Remarking on Chinese-Russian annual trade turnover reaching $108 billion in 2018 - which succeeded the target of $100 billion - Putin said:
"It would be no exaggeration to say that our countries have approached this anniversary with relations the best they have been in their entire history. This is the result of meticulous and successful work over the past thirty years."
Here's the transcript of Xi's keynote speech at the forum. And here's Putin's.

Putin's press conference at the forum, where he answered a range of questions about current events:


The US, continuing its self-isolation on the global stage, didn't even bother to send a low-level representative this year.

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Vader

Best of the Web: Report: US govt sanctions have killed 40,000 Venezuelans so far


RT
Thu, 25 Apr 2019 18:50 UTC
Counting $
© Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
The Trump administration claims that its increasingly punitive sanctions on Venezuela "do not target the innocent people" but the government of President Nicolas Maduro. A new report on the effects of sanctions debunks that myth.

The analysis, compiled by Mark Weisbrot and Jeffrey Sachs at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), found that the sanctions have increased hunger, disease, mortality, have displaced millions of Venezuelans and exacerbated the country's economic crisis. Overall, the report says the measures have caused "very serious harm to human life and health, including an estimated 40,000 deaths" between 2017 and 2018.

Weisbrot and Sachs, both well-known American economists, wrote that: The sanctions in fact "fit the definition of collective punishment of the civilian population" as described by the Geneva and Hague conventions, as well as being "illegal under international law."

Yet, a totally different narrative has been adopted by mainstream media in the US, which seems to unquestioningly accept the Trump administration's claims that civilians are not the targets. Ever since Trump recognized unelected opposition figure Juan Guaido as Venezuela's self-declared "interim president" in January while calling for the overthrow of Maduro, big chunks of the media have cheered on his efforts. It barely even raised eyebrows when national security advisor John Bolton went on Fox News and admitted that oil was the US's major interest in the country.

Comment: The whole world's an emergency for the US - from Venezuela to France to Sri Lanka to North Korea to New Zealand - because it's about to lose it all.
An 'imaginary' statement from Abrams:

US Special Representative to Venezuela Elliott Abrams called for the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, and said tens of billions in foreign investment could pour into the country as a result of his ouster. Abrams dug deep and gave his best John Lennon impression, asking his audience to "imagine" a free and prosperous Venezuela with clean water, enough food and a stable currency.



See also: Activists guarding Venezuela's DC embassy brace for US seizure - takeover meant to shore up failed Guaido coup

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Gold Seal

Best of the Web: US Amb. to Russia says deployment of two carrier groups to Med is 'message to Russia' - Russian Foreign Ministry delivers mother-of-all-comebacks


Sputnik
Thu, 25 Apr 2019 20:38 UTC
putin hypersonic missile
US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman earlier characterised the deployment of two carrier groups in the Mediterranean Sea as a signal to Russia, saying the warships represented "100,000 tonnes of international diplomacy" amid alleged Russia's "destabilising activities around the world."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has commented on Ambassador Huntsman's remarks, advising the envoy to study history.

"I would like to remind the Ambassador that Russia, throughout its centuries-long history, has repeatedly encountered such threats, issued as recommendations, and has repeatedly demonstrated their worthlessness... Perhaps the Ambassador would like for Russia to have one more holiday to celebrate? To be honest, we didn't have any such plans", Zakharova said, apparently referring to the upcoming Victory Day holiday, which Russia celebrates annually on 9 May in honour of the victory over Nazi Germany in WWII.

Zakharova also lamented that the language of threats and sanctions seems to have become the calling card of US diplomacy.

Comment: The US is stuck in the 19th century, when 'gunboat diplomacy' actually meant something.

In the 21st century, unstoppable missiles render all that hulking metal useless...

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Smiley

Best of the Web: At It Again: Russian Phone Pranksters Trick Macron With Fake Call From Ukraine's Zelensky


RT
Thu, 25 Apr 2019 15:39 UTC
Vovan Lexus russian phone pranksters
© Reuters/Philippe Wojazer; Russian Look/Pravda KomsomolskayaRussian prankster team Vladimir ‘Vovan’ Kuznetsov and Alexei ‘Lexus’ Stolyarov
The French president has fallen victim to infamous Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, who posed as Ukraine's President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky after his recent landslide victory, a video from the trolling duo claims.

Vladimir 'Vovan' Kuznetsov and Alexei 'Lexus' Stolyarov released a 15-minute recording of the call on Wednesday with a person they claim is Macron - although the identity of the prankee has not been confirmed.

At one point during the call, the supposed Zelensky says he believes it is time for Ukraine to again "build a dialogue with Russia," to which Macron replies this is "absolutely right."

Comment: The latest in a long line of epic exposures by the Russian duo of Vovan and Lexus. They should be getting journalism awards.

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