Puppet MastersS


Cow

BLM officials reportedly killed Bundy cows because they were too "rowdy" - some of the cows were shot up to seven times

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© Blaze
Members of the Bundy family brought "disturbing new evidence" to Greta Van Susteren on Monday, claiming that federal officials killed some of their cows and threw them into a mass grave during the tense standoff between the Bureau of Land Management and armed supporters of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.

Bundy's wife, Carol, claimed they discovered some of their cattle that had been "shot" dead and tossed into "shallow grave that had been dug and covered up."

When asked if they had received any explanation from the BLM regarding the dead cattle, Carol said they are not in communication with the agency. The family says they have found a total of eight dead cows so far - "four from the pit, two in the corral and then two bulls out on the range that we found."

"We just can see the evidence that I have some of my cattle that are no longer with us," she said.

Treasure Chest

Why we're in a new Gilded Age: Review of Capital in the Twenty-First Century

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© Emmanuelle MarchadourThomas Piketty in his office at the Paris School of Economics, 2013
Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty, translated from the French by Arthur Goldhammer Belknap Press/Harvard University Press, 685 pp., $39.95

Thomas Piketty, professor at the Paris School of Economics, isn't a household name, although that may change with the English-language publication of his magnificent, sweeping meditation on inequality, Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Yet his influence runs deep. It has become a commonplace to say that we are living in a second Gilded Age - or, as Piketty likes to put it, a second Belle Époque - defined by the incredible rise of the "one percent." But it has only become a commonplace thanks to Piketty's work. In particular, he and a few colleagues (notably Anthony Atkinson at Oxford and Emmanuel Saez at Berkeley) have pioneered statistical techniques that make it possible to track the concentration of income and wealth deep into the past - back to the early twentieth century for America and Britain, and all the way to the late eighteenth century for France.

The result has been a revolution in our understanding of long-term trends in inequality. Before this revolution, most discussions of economic disparity more or less ignored the very rich. Some economists (not to mention politicians) tried to shout down any mention of inequality at all: "Of the tendencies that are harmful to sound economics, the most seductive, and in my opinion the most poisonous, is to focus on questions of distribution," declared Robert Lucas Jr. of the University of Chicago, the most influential macroeconomist of his generation, in 2004. But even those willing to discuss inequality generally focused on the gap between the poor or the working class and the merely well-off, not the truly rich - on college graduates whose wage gains outpaced those of less-educated workers, or on the comparative good fortune of the top fifth of the population compared with the bottom four fifths, not on the rapidly rising incomes of executives and bankers.

Chess

G-7 nations stupid moves: Agree to more sanctions on Russia

G-7 nations
© Jerry Lampen, APPresident Obama gathered with G7 world leaders in The Hague, Netherlands
The United States and other nations in the Group of Seven agreed Friday to "move swiftly" to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine.

In a joint statement released Friday night by the White House, the G-7 nations said they will act urgently to intensify "targeted sanctions." The statement said the G-7 will also continue to prepare broader sanctions on key Russian economic sectors if Moscow takes more aggressive action.

The White House said U.S. sanctions could be levied as early as Monday.

The announcement came as top Ukrainians spoke of imminent invasion and Moscow said that pro-Russian separatists would not lay down their arms in eastern Ukraine until activists relinquish control over key sites in Kiev.

The G-7 nations said they were moving forward on the targeted sanctions now because of the urgency of securing plans for Ukraine to hold presidential elections next month.

The penalties are expected to target wealthy Russian individuals who are close to President Vladimir Putin, as well as entities they run. However, the U.S. will continue to hold off on targeting broad swaths of the Russian economy, though the president has said he is willing to take that step if Putin launches a military incursion in eastern Ukraine.

Light Saber

Sanctions 'not effective' in the modern world says Putin

Putin
© AFP Photo / Sergey GuneevPresident of Russia, attending the plenary meeting of the First Media Forum of independent regional and local mass media, held by the all-Russia People's Front in St.Petersburg, April 24, 2014
Sanctions against Russia will backfire and actually benefit the economy, President Vladimir Putin has said. His comments follow US President Obama's threat that the White House has prepared a third round of sanctions.

"Over-reliance can lead to a loss of sovereignty," Putin said at a media forum in St. Petersburg on Thursday.

Western-led sanctions have several advantages for Russia, the President said.

The threat of real economic sanctions is already helping boost domestic businesses, bringing more offshore funds back to Russia, and giving policymakers the push they need to establish a domestic payment system. Similar to what Prime Minister Medvedev said last week, sanctions will only make Russia stronger.

De-offshorization has long been a priority of the Kremlin, and Western-led sanctions only help this cause.

Russians with Western-held assets worry their funds could be frozen at any moment, which gives incentives to keep money domestically and pay taxes into the Russian budget, and not an offshore tax haven. An estimated $111 billion of Russian money, or 20 percent of the country's exports, is "lost" offshore,

Policymakers are also encouraging businesses to list their companies in Russia, and not abroad, to shield themselves from sanctions.

USA

Raising up compliant children in the American police state

"[The aim of public education is not] to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. . . . Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim . . . is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States..." - Henry Mencken, American Journalist (April 1924)
Police State
© ForgetTheBox

How do you persuade a nation of relatively freedom-loving individuals to march in lock step with a police state? You start by convincing them that they're in danger, and only the government can protect them. Keep them keyed up with constant danger alerts, and the occasional terrorist incident, whether real or staged.

Distract them with wall-to-wall news coverage about sinking ships, disappearing planes and pseudo-celebrities spouting racist diatribes. Use blockbuster movies, reality shows and violent video games to hype them up on military tactics, and then while they're distracted and numb to all that is taking place around them, indoctrinate their young people to your way of thinking, relying primarily on the public schools and popular culture.

After all, public education the world over has always been the vehicle for statist propaganda of one sort or another, whether it's religion, militarism, democracy or totalitarianism, and America is no exception. In fact, today's public schools, far from being bastions of free speech, are merely microcosms of the world beyond the schoolhouse gates, and increasingly, it's a world hostile to freedom.

As I show in my book A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, within America's public schools can be found almost every aspect of the American police state that plagues those of us on the "outside": metal detectors, surveillance cameras, militarized police, drug-sniffing dogs, tasers, cyber-surveillance, random searches, the list goes on. Whether it takes the form of draconian zero tolerance policies, overreaching anti-bullying statutes, police officers charged with tasering and arresting so-called unruly children, standardized testing with its emphasis on rote answers, political correctness, or the extensive surveillance systems cropping up in schools all over the country, young people in America are first in line to be indoctrinated into compliant citizens of the new American police state.

Quenelle

Quoting Winston Churchill gets politician arrested in UK

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© libertygb.org.ukPaul Weston delivers remarks in Winchester
Recently there have been a spate of free speech controversies, from Phil Robertson's temporary suspension from Duck Dynasty for comments made on homosexuality and race, to the resignation of Firefox CEO Brandon Eich over a political donation made six years ago in support of traditional marriage, to the revocation of an honorary degree and cancellation of a commencement speech to be delivered by human rights activist and Muslim apostate Hirsi Ali at Brandeis University for critical statements on Islam.

But Americans can take heart that they are not subjected to the stringent speech laws of Great Britain, where an event transpired this past weekend that takes the cake when it comes to censorship.

Paul Weston, a member of the GB Liberty Party, and current candidate for the South East England constituency of the European Union Parliament, delivered a speech in Winchester, a part of his constituency, in which he quoted from Winston Churchill's 1899 book, "The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan." In particular, Weston quoted Churchill on the topic of Islam. As a result of his speech (and his refusal to stop speaking), Weston was arrested.

Here is the passage that Weston quoted from Churchill's book on the steps of Winchester Guildhall during the afternoon of April 26th, while addressing a group of passers-by on the street via megaphone.

Star of David

Inglourious Basterd: Yakuba Cohen - Israel's "greatest" spy

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Plastic surgery that transformed his appearance and countless incredible operations have established Jacob ("Yakuba") Cohen as a legendary spy who operated in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Egypt. A testimony he gave before he died sheds new light on his story.

The burial plot at the cemetery of Kibbutz Alonim in northern Israel is situated at the heart of a pastoral thicket: in the last days of winter, only feeble sun rays penetrate through the tree branches. The tranquility, interrupted only by the chirping of birds, does not betray the fact that under this tombstone lies one of the most tempestuous and fascinating spies in the history of Israeli intelligence: Jacob "Yakuba" Cohen.

The story of Yakuba is not widely known to the general public, but within the intelligence community he is a true legend. Generally, the glory of spies normally involves a paradox: the more successful the spy is, the higher the chances that his activity will remain shrouded in secrecy and unknown to the general public, even after his or her death. The better known spies are those whose operations had been exposed, namely - those who were "blown".

Yakuba Cohen was born in 1924 in the Nahalat-Zion neighborhood of Jerusalem, to a Jewish family of Persian origins. He had 12 brothers and sisters, and his father, a Bible and Hebrew teacher, was very strict about everyone in the household speaking Hebrew. Young Yakuba spent a lot of his time playing with the children of the nearby Arab village of Sheik-Bader, absorbing their language and culture. The village sheik was a friend of Yakuba's grandfather and in those days relations between Jews and their Arab neighbors were good. However, pursuant to the hostilities of 1936-37, the picture changed somewhat. "One day, in 1936, while I was working during the summer holiday in the Montefiore neighborhood, I saw three Arabs passing through a nearby field and a Jew walking in the opposite direction. They proceeded to stab him to death and as I watched the entire incident, I screamed my head off," Yakuba recounted about an incident that had a profound effect on him as a child.

Document

Puppet U.S. Dept. of State spokesperson Psaki denies press freedom - insists on going after reporters who publish leaks

rt reporters psaki
© AFP Photo / Nicholas KammUS State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Announcing its third annual Free the Press campaign to highlight censorship and oppression of journalists "around the world," the US State Department made clear it doesn't consider press freedom issues in the United States the same way it does abroad.

The aim of the third annual Free the Press campaign is to focus attention on "journalists or media outlets that are censored, attacked, threatened, or otherwise harassed because of their reporting."

But, apparently, the US' own crackdown on journalists, particularly those involved in whistleblowing, is a completely "separate category" to be highlighted by such an event, as Jen Psaki, the spokesperson for the US State Department made clear.

"We highlight, as we often do, where we see issues with media freedom around the world," Psaki told Matthew Lee of the Associated Press, who asked if she believes there are some problems with press freedom in the US that should be discussed as well.

"Otherwise harassed?" Lee asked. "Does that include those who may have been targeted, harassed, imprisoned, or otherwise, whatever, by the United States Government?"


Stock Down

Bankrupt Ukraine strikes 3.2 bcm reverse gas flow deal with Slovakia - probably won't be able to pay

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© Reuters/Gleb GaranichWorkers stand near pipes at a gas compressor station in the Ukrainian settlement of Orlovka, about 280 km (174 miles) west of the Black Sea port of Odessa
Energy-pinched Ukraine has reached a deal to start reverse gas flows from Central European neighbors via an unused pipeline to Slovakia. Starting from October, Ukraine will import 3.2 billion cubic meters of gas.

Ukraine and Slovakia signed a memorandum of intent in Bratislava on Monday. The European Commission said the cooperation between Slovakia and Ukraine is a "win-win for both parties".

"It shows the EU's strong commitment in support of Ukraine's energy sector, which is also reflected in the economic and financial package the Union has swiftly provided for Ukraine in the past weeks. I would like to thank Energy Commissioner Oettinger and his team, who played a central role in paving the way for today's agreement," Jose Barroso, President of the European Commission, who attended the ceremony, said in a statement.

By next spring, deliveries from Vojany, Slovakia to the western Ukrainian city of Uzhorod could reach 10 billion cubic meters, the amount European Commissioner for Energy Gunter Oettinger requested.

Deliveries from Slovakia could satisfy up to 20 percent of Ukraine's natural gas demand, which in 2013 was 55 billion cubic meters.

War Whore

Obama rolls out 'scary' new sanctions on Russia

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New round of Western sanction against Russia will target seven individuals and 17 companies. They are meant to affect Moscow's stance over the ongoing Ukrainian crisis.

The individuals listed by the US Department of Treasury on Monday include Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, chair of the parliamentary commission on Foreign Affairs, Aleksey Pushkov, chief of presidential office, Vyacheslav Volodin, and Igor Sechin, the head of Rosneft oil company.

The list of sanctioned companies, which Washington believes to be "linked to Putin's inner circle," includes several banks, construction and transport companies.

The Volga Group, an investment vehicle that manages assets on behalf of the businessman, Gennady Timchenko, and SMP Bank, whose main shareholders were affected by the previous set of US sanctions, are among those to face restrictive measures.

Oil and gas engineering company, Stroytransgaz, and one of Russia's biggest rail transporters of oil, Transoil, are also among the companies affected by the sanctions.