I couldn't believe my ears recently when I learned that George Galloway, long-standing thorn in the side of the British establishment... is a firebrand supporter of Scotland remaining in the United Kingdom that is ruled with an iron fist by said establishment! Here's a synopsis of his arguments against Scottish independence, from a recent 'speech' (more like an abrasive and illogical rant) titled 'Just Say Naw', apparently one of many as he toured Scotland to campaign against independence from the UK Crown.

I confess to not having been able to listen to it all - it was really difficult for me to see him fall so low after admiring his defence of working class interests for so long. Scots aren't merely voting 'Yes' for a change of passport, as he flippantly suggests; they're doing so because there is no way for them to continue the 'class war' - as he puts it - within the status quo.

While it's true that "fundamental class points" remain pertinent for Scots whichever state they live under, how those "class points" are addressed is another matter entirely. Scots have woken up to realize that said interests cannot be addressed by a government down in London. Of COURSE Scottish oligarchs envision 'the natural order of things' continuing more or less undisturbed. But surely reducing the number of oligarchs with access to Scotland's resources has at least the potential to improve things for Scots? At the very least, a smaller centralized state run by and for the Scots oligarchs he names in his talk is less likely to get away with as many war crimes, and as much corruption. than a larger centralized state run by and for many more oligarchs in London.

Provoking war abroad raises specter of staged attacks at home

The FBI has foiled yet another entirely fabricated terror threat of its own creation, with missing mechanisms in two firearms provided to a potential terrorist being the only thing that prevented this latest case of entrapment from going "live."

A Rochester man, Mufid A. Elfgeeh, is accused by the FBI of attempting to provide material support to ISIS (undercover FBI agents), attempting to kill US soldiers, and possession of firearms and silencers (provided to him by the FBI). The FBI's own official press release stated (emphasis added):

According to court records, Elfgeeh attempted to provide material support to ISIS in the form of personnel, namely three individuals, two of whom were cooperating with the FBI. Elfgeeh attempted to assist all three individuals in traveling to Syria to join and fight on behalf of ISIS. Elfgeeh also plotted to shoot and kill members of the United States military who had returned from Iraq. As part of the plan to kill soldiers, Elfgeeh purchased two handguns equipped with firearm silencers and ammunition from a confidential source. The handguns were made inoperable by the FBI before the confidential source gave them to Elfgeeh.

What is perhaps more chilling are the details of Elfgeeh's plans to kill US soldiers. The FBI's press release stated (emphasis added):

Court documents also indicate that Elfgeeh first discussed the idea of shooting United States military members in December 2013 when he told CS-2 that he was thinking about getting a gun and ammunition, putting on a bulletproof vest, and "just go[ing] around and start shooting." In February 2014, Elfgeeh told CS-2 that he needed a handgun and silencer. Elfgeeh later gave CS-2 $1,050 in cash to purchase two handguns equipped with silencers and ammunition. On May 31, 2014, CS-2 delivered the two handguns equipped with silencers and ammunition to Elfgeeh. After Elfgeeh took possession of the items, he was arrested by members of the Rochester Joint Terrorism Task Force. Elfgeeh is currently being held in custody.

Elfgeeh's plans are also - coincidentally - verbatim, the dream scenario of Washington's warmongers currently attempting to sell a war that will straddle both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border, allow the US to provide terrorists operating in Syria with air support, and lead to punitive operations against the Syrian government for attacking US-backed terrorists with the final objective being long-sought after regime change in Damascus.

NATO's Secretary General has accused Russia of being unwilling to build a partnership with the organization, but some Western analysts say it was the Alliance itself which "has violated nearly each and every paragraph of its agreement with Russia, which has stabilized Europe for a certain time".

"We have tried long and hard to build a partnership in a way that respects Russia's security concerns and is based on international rules and norms... Regrettably, Russia has rejected our efforts to engage. Instead, Russia considers NATO, and the West more broadly, as an adversary," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a Carnegie Europe event that marked the end of his mandate as NATO chief.


He also added that Russia "has trembled" all of the agreements that kept the peace in Europe and beyond.

But German government consultant and publicist Christoph Horstel has argued that it was quite the opposite.

"I have re-read the NATO-Russia act right before this interview and I see very clearly, there is no thorough discussion necessary, that the paper in fact is dead", he told Radio VR.

He attributes this death to NATO and accuses the organization of murder. "NATO has violated nearly each and every paragraph of this important paper, which has stabilized Europe for a certain time. And it has done so since at least, 2003, when Iraq was infected by an unauthorized invasion," Horstel added.

Russia will provide military and other assistance to Iraq and Syria in the fight against terrorism, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on the sidelines of an international conference on Iraq in Paris on Monday.

"We have spoken of our contribution to supporting the Iraqi government in their fight against terrorists, ensuring security of their state. In a similar way we provide military and other kind of assistance to Syria that is also facing a serious terrorist threat, maybe to a lesser degree. We also provide assistance to our partners in Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan. So we have something to contribute to the common efforts," Lavrov said.


No double standards in the fight against terrorists are acceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on the sidelines of an international conference on Iraq in the French capital on Monday.


"We have long been raising the issue of terrorist activity that has dramatically intensified in the Middle East and in North Africa after the "Arab spring" events, after the goals of overthrowing the regimes were set above the general goals of preventing the terrorism threat spread," he said.

Eric Worrall writes: The imminent climate summit in New York is rapidly turning into an utter embarrassment for President Obama and UN Secretary General Bank Ki-Moon, in addition to becoming a bit of a punishment round for national deputy leaders.

Aussie PM Tony Abbott today defended his decision not to hop on an earlier flight to America, so he could attend the UN climate conference in New York, because he has more important matters to attend to, such as running the country.

Tony Abbott defends skipping UN climate change summit in New York

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also indicated they likely won't attend the summit.

Top Leaders From China, India to Skip UN Climate Change Summit

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has indicated he will not be attending

Stephen Harper to skip UN Climate Summit, attend dinner instead

Even Angela Merkel, President of über green Germany, will not be attending the UN climate summit.

Merkel Snubs New York "Ban Ki-Moon" Climate Conference! ... "Burying The Global Climate Agreement"!

If Vladimir Putin and Gazprom finalize their grand plan to expand into the Chinese energy market, the European Union will be left literally in the cold. After years of trying to reduce Gazprom's presence in Europe, the European Commission may see Gazprom leaving of its own desire. Such a scenario will not be pleasant for their European consumers.

Speaking at the building site of the Power of Siberia pipeline, Vladimir Putin outlined his strategy for the future of Russian natural gas exports.

"After we create a network of gas pipelines here, in the Far East and Siberia, we'll have the possibility to unite the European part of the gas pipeline system with its eastern counterpart and, from the standpoint of export possibilities and expanding the geography of the country's gas infrastructure development, this will give us big advantages in rechanneling gas flows, depending on the world market situation - either to send more gas to the West or to achieve a greater effect to the East," the Russian President said.

"Rechanneling gas exports" is a worst-case scenario for the European Union. For years, Brussels has been making life difficult for Gazprom by constantly demanding price cuts and introducing discriminatory rules and regulations aimed at reducing Gazprom's influence in Europe. The European Commission proved that it doesn't shy away from using political blackmail against governments willing to cooperate with the Russian energy giant. The crusade against Gazprom's South Stream project, led by America's Russophobe-in-chief, Senator John McCain and supported by Europe's unelected bureaucracy, is the best proof that Europe is not willing to settle for honest, long-term cooperation with Russia. Brussels has been using its status as the biggest buyer of Russian gas to gain maximum leverage over Gazprom. This situation is about to change.

"First of all, we are thinking about our own interests and development goals," Russian President Vladimir Putin says

Russia will not pressure the West with sanctions but will pursue its own interests, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

The introduction of protective measures is not caused by the striving to punish our partners, Putin said. "First of all, we are thinking about our own interests and development goals," he added.

Putin believes that the Western countries that adopted sanctions against Russia in fact defied the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"The sanctions imposed on Russia are nothing but a departure from the basic WTO principles by some of our partners," Putin said at a meeting of the State Council on Thursday. "They violate the principle of all countries' equal access to the markets of goods and services. They ignore the most favored nation status in trade and the principle of fair and free competition."

"All this is being done in a politicized way, without any observance of WTO rules," he said. "In fact, a group of Western countries has unilaterally taken the liberty of 'deleting' these and some other WTO principles for Russia, which is on the list of the world's six largest economies," the president noted.

He's that and much more. He's a world class diplomat. He shames his Western counterparts.

They're more secretaries of war than foreign affairs. They urge waging one after another. Lavrov goes all-out for peace. He does so in all conflict zones. Wars settle nothing. They assure more conflicts.

Lavrov addressed his colleagues at the September 15 Paris International Conference on Peace and Security in Iraq. He said in part: "Russia consistently stands for the continued independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq."

"We strongly support the advancement of inclusive political process with a view to ensuring accord among all the political groups and ethno-confessional groups in that country."

ISIL/ISIS, the Islamic State (IS) terrorists threaten Iraq's future. "They bring death and destruction to neighboring Syria... (T)hey openly declare(d) their intention to" head the entire Middle East toward the abyss of religious wars.

They want their ways imposed on others. They tolerate no opposition. They violate fundamental Islamic principles. They're polar opposite IS extremism. They teach love, not hate. Peace, not violence. Charity, not selfishness. Tolerance, not terrorism.

Islam, Christianity and Judaism have common roots. Who'd know it in today's US-manipulated climate of hate, fear and belligerence.

Who'd understand when America wages war on Islam at home and abroad. Who'd imagine IS is a US creation. Who'd think it trains, arms, funds and directs its fighters. Who'd guess they're used to topple independent governments. Who'd suspect Western claims are propaganda. Truth is systematically buried. Big Lies repeat ad nauseam.

Dozens of radicals threw sound and smoke grenades as they surrounded Kiev's presidential building. The radical Right Sector leader threatened Ukraine's president with same fate as Yanukovich, criticizing the law giving special status to eastern regions.

Around 300 angry protesters wore masks and shouted nationalistic slogans as they tried to break through a police barrier. They carried red and black flags belonging to the radical Right Sector group.

The aggressive crowd was demanding that President Petro Poroshenko veto a bill that was passed by parliament earlier this Tuesday.

The new law gives special status to eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, as well as amnesty to those who were fighting against government forces.

That particular status will also see early local election carried out this December and allow the use of the Russian language as an official one.

In the meantime, the leader of the radical Right Sector Dmitry Yarosh described the law as "anti-national" on his Facebook page.

Secretary of State John Kerry finished his weekend tour of the Middle East, arriving in Paris to participate in an international conference on Iraq's security. The primary destination of the head of the U.S. Department of State was Saudi Arabia, where he met in Jeddah with representatives of the Arab countries (members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt and Jordan) and Turkey, to persuade them to join the coalition established by the United States to fight "Islamic State," while, in reality, to restore the "anti-Syrian alliance" comprised of NATO and conservative Arab regimes.

Naturally, the key participant in the talks was Saudi Arabia, as the current spiritual leader of the Sunni world and the richest country in the region, prepared to finance plans for the overthrow of the regime of Bashar al-Assad. On the agenda was the issue of ending supplies to ISIL from Turkey and Jordan, as well as the prevention of financial support reaching the terrorists from abroad. The United States would also like to see Arab governments use their media for outreach. First and foremost, this would be popular TV networks "Al-Jazeera" and "Al-Arabiya," financed by Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, respectively.


Before flying to Saudi Arabia, Kerry visited Baghdad and Amman. Jordan's King Abdullah II said at the end of the visit by the Secretary of State that he is ready to join the coalition, while stressing that "but the main problem of the Middle East is Israeli occupation of Palestinian land."

Kerry's talks took place shortly after President Obama's declaration of his intent to "weaken and destroy" IS in both Iraq and Syria. A senior State Department official involved in the negotiations noted that the meetings are being hosted by the Saudis. According to this official, this is significant not only because of the size and economic influence of Saudi Arabia, "but also because of its religious significance for Sunnis." Overcoming the differences between Sunnis and Shiites in the region and in Iraq is an crucial part of improving the effectiveness of the coalition, as the majority of the fighters of "Islamic State" are Sunnis, and the new government in Baghdad Shiite-led, supported by Iran.

As later became clear, John Kerry pushed on participants in the Jeddah meeting the idea that the coalition might require enhanced presence of military bases in the region and overflight rights for military aircraft carrying out strikes against "Islamic State." The Secretary also called for increased efforts to combat funding of extremist groups by individuals and private Islamic charities, since financial supervision in Kuwait and Qatar is extremely weak. Kerry put special emphasis on ending oil smuggling by "Islamic State" across the Jordanian and Turkish borders. Here, however, certain complexities arise, since IS sells oil and gas products from oil fields and refining facilities in controlled areas to companies owned by the two countries at almost 50% of the world price, allowing Jordanians and Turks to do pretty good business, and IG to earn at least three million. dollars per day. Therefore, as we learned, Washington will carry out "more focused work" with these countries over the next few weeks.