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The US is politicizing the Olympics again in trying to ban Russia from Rio

Paul Craig Roberts
paulcraigroberts.org
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 14:41 UTC
ioc russia
Washington and its Canadian vassal are trying to use a Western media-created Russian athletic doping scandal to ban Russian participation in the Olympic games in Brazil. Washington and Canada are pressuring other countries to get on board with Washington's vendetta against Russia. The vendetta is conducted under the cover of "protecting clean athletics."

You can bet your life that Washington is not motivated by a respect for fairness in sports. Washington is busy at home destroying fairness to the poor, and Washington, which disregards the sovereignty of countries and international law against naked aggression, is busy abroad destroying millions of lives for hegemonic purposes.

We could conclude that Washington wants hegemony in sports just as it does in foreign affairs and wants Russian athletes out of the way so that Americans can win more medals. But this would be to miss the real point of Washington's campaign against Russia. The "doping scandal" is part of Washington's ongoing effort to isolate Russia and to build opposition to Putin inside Russia.

There is a minority known as "Atlanticist Integrationists" inside the Russian government and in the business sector that believes that it is more important for Russia to be integrated into the West than to be sovereign. This minority of Russians is willing to trade off Russian independence for Western acceptance. Essentially they are traitors who Putin tolerates.
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Eiffel Tower

French national assembly votes for 6-month state of emergency extension


RT
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:57 UTC
eiffel tower military
© Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
In the wake of the gruesome terrorist attack in Nice last week, which left 84 people dead, the National Assembly has voted to extend the ongoing state of emergency in France for another six months until the end of January 2017.

Following lengthy debate, French lawmakers voted to extend government powers for the fourth time at around 2:00am Wednesday night. The extension now needs to be approved by the Senate.

President Francois Hollande declared the state of emergency last year, a day after coordinated attacks on November 13 were carried out by teams of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) gunmen, killing 130 people.

The powers deriving from a law adopted in 1955 offer the government a number of exceptional powers in the event of a threat to national security. Under the new extension, French authorities have been given the power to make house arrests without a court order, as well as conduct searches without a court authorization.

Comment: France is following in the footsteps of Big Brother America, which has been under a state of emergency ever since 9/11. As Hollande said just days before the Nice attacks, France can never be a republic while such a state of emergency is in effect. Guess that's the point. Further reading:

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Info

The history and politics of the IMF

Zain Raza
TVI
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 14:23 UTC
IMF money pills
In this video we interview journalist and author Ernst Wolff. Wolff's latest book is called Pillaging the World: The History and Politics of the IMF which is also available in German and Arabic. This video series aims to provide context behind the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the role it has played in world affairs since its formation up until the current period.

The following questions are addressed in the following video:
  • What motivated Ernst Wolff to write the book Pillaging the World: The History and Politics of the IMF?
  • Under what context was the International Monetary Fund (IMF) founded?
  • Why was the International Monetary Fund founded? What role has it played in the past?
  • What effects do the IMF's policies have on the social and cultural fabric of a country?
  • What terminology does the IMF employ and is there Orwellianism at play which cloaks its actual practices?

Comment: See also:

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Stock Down

IMF predicts negative economic fallout from Brexit


RT
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:45 UTC
british
© Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
A performer playing the role of Britain's Queen Elizabeth parachutes from a helicopter
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its global growth outlook for the next two years due to the uncertainty caused by Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

The Washington-based institution now expects the world economy to grow by 3.1 percent in 2016 and by 3.4 percent in 2017 - 0.1 percent down compared to the figures posted in April.

The UK's 2017 growth forecast has been slashed by 0.9 percentage points, to 1.3 percent with the current year outlook changed by 0.2 percentage points to 1.7 percent.

The IMF projects insignificant impact on the US economy. The fund raised its forecast for the euro area 0.1 points this year, to 1.6 percent, and lowered it by 0.2 points in 2017, to 1.4 percent.

The UK's Brexit vote may cause a "substantial increase in economic, political and institutional uncertainty" having a huge impact on investment, market and consumer confidence, according to the IMF.
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Attention

Chinese military vice chairman urges troops to get ready for combat to 'win the war'

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:26 UTC
Chinese Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Fan Changlong
© Reeuters
While it is unclear how much of it is populist bluster, how much is posturing, and how much an actual, objective caution, Bloomberg points out an article by China's news agency Xingua posted on the website of the Ministry of National Defense, in which Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission (which is chaired by Xi Jinping himself) "urges Chinese troops to get prepared for combat by improving planning, equipment and logistical support in order" to be ready to "win the war."

Bloomberg adds that Fan made the comments in recent inspection tour of China's Southern Theater Command. The warning comes days after China officially warned the US that its patrols in the South China Sea - which despite last week's decision by the Hague tribunal - deems as its own, could end in "disaster."
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Magnify

Why coup failure may mean death blow to Ataturk's vision of Turkey


Sputnik
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:15 UTC
Ataturk Erdogan
© www.slate.com
The Past. The Present. The Future?
Several days have passed since the failure of the attempted military coup in Turkey, and it's becoming obvious that the consequences of the failed plot will have very serious and detrimental effects for the Turkish polity and society, writes Inosmi.ru columnist Dmitri Dobrov. Metin Munir, a veteran Turkish journalist from the internet news portal T24, wrote about the failed coup attempt as follows: "Erdogan is saved, but Turkey is going under."

For his part, in an analysis published by RIA Novosti, Dmitri Dobrov warned that what Turkey may be witnessing today "is the end of Kemalist Turkey, where the army had been the guarantor of secularist principles and democracy, even if only in the conditional sense. What will happen to the country following this event is hard to say, but democracy is definitely set to suffer for it."

President Erdogan, for his part, called the attempted coup a "gift from God." For his critics, Dobrov suggested, it is "an opportunity to 'take care' of opposition from both the right and the left - from supporters of liberal civil society, to the pro-Kurdish parties. It's no wonder that the world's press has begun to speculate that Erdogan may have deliberately staged the coup to consolidate his power."

For now, the journalist recalled, it remains unclear what exactly motivated the officers to stage the abortive coup. "Although Erdogan himself had alleged that they were motivated by Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, it's also possible that they acted on the principle of protecting the Kemalist tradition - which sees the army as the guarantor of Turkey's secular order. It's quite possible that they had patriotic intentions."

Comment: Turkey has had a tumultuous past, and it continues. Whether tradition and progressive reform can coexist is a challenge. Whether tradition and authoritarian repression can coexist may be the break point. "Erdogan is saved, but Turkey is going under." Obviously these two won't coexist in the present state for very long.

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Eye 2

Disgusting! US-backed 'moderate rebels' behead 11 year old child in Syria


South Front
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:40 UTC
Nour al-Din al-Zenki Syria moderate rebels behead 11 year old child

U.S.-backed Syrian “moderate” rebels smile as they prepare to behead a 12-year-old boy (left), whose severed head is held aloft triumphantly in a later part of the video. [Screenshot from the video]
The US-backed 'moderate rebels' from the Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki captured a Palestinian kid, accused him of being a "spy" of Palestinian pro-government militia, Liwa al-Quds, and beheaded him for this. The event was in the militant-controlled refugee camp "Handarat Camp" in northern Aleppo. Nour al-Din al-Zenki operates in the area of Aleppo city and receives financial aid from the United States, in a CIA run program to support the so-called "moderate rebel groups."

Nour al-Din al-Zenki is affiliated to the Supreme Military Command (SMC) of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and as major part of FSA units collaborates with various Jihadist groups, including the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, Al Nusra.

Deputy Spokesperson for the State Department, Mark Toner, told reporters at a daily briefing Tuesday that the US may reconsider assistance to the group if reports of beheaded boy are confirmed. Toner refused to provide any information about the expected US reaction.

Comment: This is the kind of scandal that should shock the world and initiate debate about what the heck the US and its allies are up. But in the world we live in people are so used to news like this that they simply shrug their shoulders, play Pokemon Go, and turn a blind eye to the sponsorship of child murder.

Further reading: US air strike in Syria kills up to 85 civilians 'mistaken for Isil fighters'

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Bullseye

Nice, France attack: A harvest of horror

Tony Cartalucci
Land Destroyer Report
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:58 UTC
French jet
While the Western media poses as perplexed over the recent string of horrific attacks across Europe and particularly in France, the latest of which unfolded this week in the seaside city of Nice leaving over 80 dead and many more injured, it is clear that France itself has cultivated the soil within which terrorism and violence has taken root.

Through France's own domestic and foreign policy, it has created the perfect storm to continue "watering" terrorism at home and abroad, while its political leaders carefully cultivate the predictable division, fear, hysteria, and violence that is now unfolding. Between attacks in 2015 and 2016, over 200 people have now died in France as a result of violent domestic attacks.

French Foreign Support of Terrorism

Since 2011, France has played a key role in destabilizing North Africa and the Middle East. In 2011, it participated in the US-led NATO assault on Libya, as well as sending troops to other African nations including the Ivory Coast and Mali. France also currently maintains troops in Sahara, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Central African Republic, and Sahel in Africa, as well as troops still participating in the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan.

While France has portrayed these operations as essential for maintaining global stability and security, it has done anything but. In addition to creating chaos from which torrents of refugees are now fleeing - all the way to Europe - it should be noted that a component of French involvement abroad is also the arming and funding of militant groups. This was especially so in Libya, where France helped install into power terrorists affiliated with Al Qaeda.

The London Telegraph's 2011 article, "France supplying weapons to Libyan rebels," would report that:
France has begun supplying weapons to the Libyan rebels despite the UN arms embargo, confirming on Wednesday it had dropped assault rifles into the Nafusa Mountains south-west of Tripoli.
It would also report that:
The air drop would appear to be in violation of the arms embargo against Libya instituted by the United Nations. But Nato officials believe that the UN security council resolution 1973 which authorised the bombing campaign allows for a wide range of actions in furtherance of the mission to "protect civilians".

Comment: See also:

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Boat

Hague decision 'stirred the pot': South China Sea agreement on horizon without Western help


Sputnik
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:03 UTC
Filipino soldiers
© REUTERS/ Erik De Castro
The parties to the South China Sea dispute could be moving closer to an agreement, despite last week's ruling from a court of arbitration in The Hague, which was rejected by China.

On Tuesday China's Xinhua news agency reiterated Beijing's intention to disregard the South China Sea ruling handed down by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague on July 12.

The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines, which brought the case to arbitration in 2013. The court declared that China has no legal basis for claiming historic rights to resources within the South China Sea's nine-dash line, which has been used by Beijing to stake its claim on most of the sea territory.
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Radar

Ruled by fear: Hollande mobilizes 10,000 reserve security personnel


Sputnik
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:46 UTC
French anti-terror soldiers
© AFP 2016/ MATTHIEU ALEXANDRE
French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday said he ordered the mobilization of 10,000 operational reserve personnel to boost the country's security.

"I gave the order to mobilize the second-level operational reserve that consists of former military personnel and police officers," Hollande said in an address to the French National Gendarmerie Training Center.

France has been on high alert since the deadly Paris attacks in November 2015. The state of emergency was due to expire on July 26. Earlier on Wednesday, the French National Assembly voted to extend the state of emergency for six months in the wake of the July 14 attack in Nice that resulted in the deaths of 84 people.

Comment: France's descent into a militarized state ruled by fear and "Islamic radicalization"

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