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Putin and new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discuss readiness for top-level cooperation


RIA Novosti
Fri, 23 May 2014 19:39 UTC
Russian President Vladimir Putin
© RIA Novosti / Michael Klimentyev
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin and India's incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi have discussed plans for future top-level contacts, the Kremlin said Friday.

"The Russian President congratulated Modi with the victory in the elections and a rise to the position of Prime Minister of India. Both sides emphasized the continuance of traditionally friendly Russian-Indian relations, which have been steadily developing based on the Declaration of Strategic Partnership," the Kremlin's press office said in a statement.

According to the statement, the parties expressed readiness for further cooperation in trade, economy, science and other fields, as well as coordination on key international issues, including within the UN, G20 and BRICS.

Modi, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will be inaugurated as India's Prime Minister on May 26. The opposition BJP was recently announced the winner of the general elections conducted from April 7 to May 12.

Comment: The U.S. government's intention of isolating Russia from the world is apparently having no effect! In fact, in the past weeks we've see Russia developing stronger relationships with more and more countries.

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Radar

Mission accomplished in Iraq: the biggest oil heist in history

Mike Whitney
RINF
Fri, 23 May 2014 10:57 UTC
no oil war
© unknown
Prior to the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, US and other western oil companies were all but completely shut out of Iraq's oil market. But thanks to the invasion and occupation, the companies are now back inside Iraq and producing oil there for the first time since being forced out of the country in 1973." - Antonia Juhasz, oil industry analyst, Al Jazeera.

These are the 'best of times' for the oil giants in Iraq. Production is up, profits are soaring, and big oil is rolling in dough. Here's the story from the Wall Street Journal:
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Cell Phone

Behind the Headlines: NATO, from Regional Defence Pact to Global Military: Interview with Rick Rozoff

Sott Editors
Sott.net
Sun, 25 May 2014 18:00 UTC
Sott Talk Radio logo
This week on SOTT Talk Radio we spoke with Rick Rozoff, an investigative journalist who lives and works in Chicago. An active opponent of war, militarism and intervention for over 40 years, Rozoff manages the STOP NATO website and writes on the threat of international militarization, especially in the form of the globalization of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Rozoff contends that NATO is the first attempt in history to establish an aggressive global military formation. It currently includes a third of the nations of the world, either as members or partners, has members and partners on five continents, and has conducted active operations on four, with the potential to expand its reach into the remaining two where it has not yet officially intruded itself.

Running Time: 01:50:00

Download: MP3

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USA

Paul Craig Roberts - Putin's threat just stunned U.S. & Europe


King World News
Fri, 23 May 2014 11:23 UTC
Image
Today former US Treasury official, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, warned King World News that the threat made by Putin today just stunned the United States and Europe. Dr. Roberts also discussed how the threat unfolded today at the International Economic Forum in Russia. Below is what Dr. Roberts had to say in this powerful interview.

Eric King: "Dr. Roberts, there is this International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg (Russia). I know the U.S. has pulled out, but does the high level of attendance, despite Washington's pressure, indicate fading U.S. influence?"

Dr. Roberts: "Yes. One of the advisors to Putin had publicly complained that Washington had put unprecedented pressure on American and European countries not to attend. But it turns out that present at this forum, which began yesterday and continues today and tomorrow, there are official delegations from 62 countries, and the CEOs of 146 of the major companies in the world....
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Umbrella

Scottish Parliament to consider asylum petition for Edward Snowden


Agence France-Presse
Tue, 20 May 2014 08:10 UTC
hands holding protect Snowden sign
© www.express.co.uk
The people speak out in defense of their defender.
Scottish lawmakers will consider a petition Tuesday to grant fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden asylum in Scotland should it gain independence.

The petition will be considered by the Scottish Parliament's Public Petitions Committee, which allows individual voters to put forward proposals.

It has been lodged by former university lecturer Mick Napier, who says Snowden deserves political asylum.

Napier's petition says Snowden "revealed uncontested information on the extensive surveillance undertaken by the British GCHQ and the US NSA to the extent that they furtively collect all emails and text messages of every citizen."

It adds: "For this we owe him a debt of gratitude and the award of political asylum would be a demonstration of that gratitude."
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USA

Write down this date: July 1st, 2014 - End of America

Porter Stansberry
EndOfAmerica.com
Sat, 24 May 2014 08:50 UTC
On this date, U.S. House of Representatives Bill "H.R. 2847" goes into effect. It will usher in the true collapse of the U.S. dollar, and will make millions of Americans poorer, overnight. You now have just several weeks to prepare...


SOTT summary of the transcript

dollar crash
On July 1, 2014, the U.S. House of Representatives Bill "H.R. 2847" goes into effect. It will usher in the true collapse of the U.S. dollar, and will make millions of Americans poorer, overnight. You now have just several months to prepare...

Economic Factors at Play

I know that to most people, the situation seems to be getting better in America. Stocks have recovered all their losses. Real estate has rebounded. Unemployment and bankruptcies have dropped. But here's the thing: The unfortunate reality is that we are actually in a much more dangerous and precarious place today than we were six years ago. I'm simply following my research to its logical conclusion.
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Book

As publishers fight Amazon, books vanish

David Streitfeld and Melissa Eddy
The New York Times
Fri, 23 May 2014 07:24 UTC
Amazon

Amazon's power over the publishing and bookselling industries is unrivaled in the modern era. Now it has started wielding its might in a more brazen way than ever before.

Seeking ever-higher payments from publishers to bolster its anemic bottom line, Amazon is holding books and authors hostage on two continents by delaying shipments and raising prices. The literary community is fearful and outraged - and practically begging for government intervention.

"How is this not extortion? You know, the thing that is illegal when the Mafia does it," asked Dennis Loy Johnson of Melville House, echoing remarks being made across social media.

Amazon is, as usual, staying mum. "We talk when we have something to say," Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder and chief executive, said at the company's annual meeting this week.
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Book

Better late than never? 'Impeach Obama' movement gains speed with new book on 'lawlessness'

Paul Bedard
Washington Examiner
Wed, 21 May 2014 18:18 UTC
Image
© rightsideva.blogspot.com
Change we can believe in
The underground effort by some conservatives to impeach President Obama for picking and choosing which laws to enforce is about to shift into a higher gear with a new book from a noted terrorism prosecutor detailing seven impeachable offenses on topics ranging from immigration to Obamacare.

In Faithless Execution: Building the Political Case for Obama's Impeachment, Andrew C. McCarthy makes the legal case to dump the president, but also hopes to build the political will in Congress and the nation to take the unusual move last used against former President Bill Clinton following the Monica Lewinsky affair.

"You have to make the public case that the president has to be removed," said McCarthy. "I'm trying to make it," he said.

Comment: While information about the legality of a president who routinely flouts the U.S. constitution is to be welcomed, it should be noted that Encounter Books has strong neo-conservative origins, having originally been a project of Irving Kristol.

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Book

Russia has secret document spelling out reaction to ridiculous sanctions


Yahoo News
Fri, 23 May 2014 15:38 UTC
Putin Obama chess game cartoon
© Eric Allie
Russia has prepared a classified document setting out actions it would take if Western nations impose further sanctions on Moscow over its involvement in the crisis in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin's top economic aide said on Friday.

The United States and European Union have hit officials, lawmakers and companies close to Putin with sanctions and have warned they could impose broader measures affecting swathes of the economy if deemed necessary to rein in Russia.

"I can say that strategy or no strategy, there is a tactic, it has been worked out, it is in the form of a document - a document that is closed, for obvious reasons," Andrei Belousov told state-run Rossiya-24 television when asked whether Russia had strategy in place.

"Whether it is sanctions against individuals or against companies, whether it is sectoral sanctions, comprehensive, systemic sanctions, whether they touch the banking system or not - corresponding actions have been set out for each of these levels," he told Rossiya-24 in an interview on the sidelines of Russia's annual economic forum.

"And so, if something is applied against the Russian Federation, we know how to react quite quickly."

Belousov echoed Putin's warning that sanctions would boomerang against those who imposed them and suggested further punishments for Russia would go against the interest of European nations in particular.

"I can tell you my observation: Our Western partners - our colleagues who work in Russia - are much more worried about sanctions than we are," Belousov said.

"That applies to German companies, French companies, Italian companies - that is, companies from countries that are quite strongly represented here."

Comment: When will the West learn? They are like the parasite that cannot realize it will perish with the body it infests. In this case, however, it looks like Putin and his advisers are smart enough not only to counter the short-sighted Western belligerence and arrogance, but also to come out on top. It will be interesting to see how they respond!

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Laptop

FBI threatens to go after Russian hackers


RT
Fri, 23 May 2014 18:26 UTC
keyboard and data
© www.foxnews.com
U.S. in hot pursuit of Russian cyber espionage.
On the heels of a high-profile indictment announced earlier this week by the United States Department of Justice against five Chinese military officers, sources say Russian hackers could be among the next individuals targeted by the DOJ.

The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy magazine and the Chicago Tribune all reported this week that officials close to the US government's hunt for foreign hackers say Russians are on the radar of the Justice Department, and could be named in the next DOJ indictment.

All three outlets hesitated to name their sources, but the Journal reported that people familiar with the government's investigations said alleged cybercriminals in Russia are likely to be charged soon.
"For several years, the Obama administration has put Chinese and Russian cyber spies and criminals at the top of its list of worst offenders in what officials describe as a relentless campaign targeting American businesses for the benefit of those countries' own industries," Shane Harris wrote for FP. "Estimates on the true cost of cyber-espionage range widely, but are generally believe by experts and officials to be in the tens of billions of dollars annually."
As Harris reported, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week that the FBI was aggressively pursuing further criminal investigations pertaining to foreign hacking cases, but fell short of announcing the filing of new charges. Now with Monday's indictment out of the way and the US officially charging members of the Chinese military for the first time ever, however, multiple sources said that American authorities are gearing up to throw the book at Russian hackers.

Comment: Mr. Comey has recently made statements rejecting comparisons between the kind of intelligence gathering that the U.S. does when it spies on foreign corporations to "understand what the other is doing," and the alleged actions of Chinese hackers that pilfered material to Chinese companies to give advantages in business negotiations and global markets. He seems to think one is acceptable and the other is stealing. Guess which one.

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