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Russian CEO: Effect of sanctions on Russia is waning


RT
Tue, 19 May 2015 16:35 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti / Ramil Sitdikov
Norilsk Nickel General Director and Board Chairman Vladimir Potanin
The effect of sanctions is waning and its high time investors returned to Russia, said Vladimir Potanin the CEO and a principal owner of Norilsk Nickel. He adds that Russia and the US had great potential for rapprochement.

"Nobody wants more sanctions. I think we reached a stable level in terms of tensions," Potanin told Bloomberg Television Monday.

Potanin said Russia and the US had great potential to be friends, but something "has been broken" since Russia showed support for the US after September 11.

It is hard to change the legacy of relations between Russia and the rest of the world, but relations could improve if the parties had a "challenge to overcome together," said Potanin adding that Russia wants to be friends, not pupils in the class.

Comment: The Western sanctions against Russia were impotent from the start. The U.S. simply does not understand how strong Russia is or how well they are able to survive on their own.

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Stock Down

Fossil fuels subsidised by a 'shocking' $10m a minute, says IMF

Kashmira Gander
The Independent
Tue, 19 May 2015 16:56 UTC
oil drilling
Governments around the world will subsidise the cost of gas, coal and oil with a "shocking" $10million (£6million) a minute this year, a new study by economic experts has revealed.

The estimated figure, which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has described as "extremely robust", suggests that firms benefit from $5.3 trillion (£3.4 trillion) a year. That is more than the annual total worldwide governments spend on health care, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics.

Researchers defined energy subsidies as the difference between what consumers pay for energy and its "true costs", as firms do not pay the costs levied against governments by burning fossil fuels.

This sum factors in supply costs and the damage that energy consumption inflicts on people's health and the environment, two senior IMF officials wrote in a blog post, entitled "Act Local, Save Global", launching the study on Monday.

China will spend the most this year, and was responsible for over 40 per cent of the total amount as it relies heavily on coal, followed by the US at 13 per cent, while the EU will account for 6 per cent.

"These estimates are shocking," experts Benedict Clements and Vitor Gaspar wrote in the post.

"Energy subsidies are both large and widespread. They are pervasive across advanced and developing countries," the added.
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Eye 2

Report finds American Psychological Association collaborated with U.S. government to bolster CIA torture program

James Risen
NY Times
Thu, 30 Apr 2015 19:35 UTC
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© John Moore/Getty Images
An American soldier patrolling outside Abu Ghraib prison in 2005. The public disclosure of images of prisoners being abused there prompted debate about the way the United States was treating detainees
The American Psychological Association secretly collaborated with the administration of President George W. Bush to bolster a legal and ethical justification for the torture of prisoners swept up in the post-Sept. 11 war on terror, according to a new report by a group of dissident health professionals and human rights activists.

The report is the first to examine the association's role in the interrogation program. It contends, using newly disclosed emails, that the group's actions to keep psychologists involved in the interrogation program coincided closely with efforts by senior Bush administration officials to salvage the program after the public disclosure in 2004 of graphic photos of prisoner abuse by American military personnel at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

"The A.P.A. secretly coordinated with officials from the C.I.A., White House and the Department of Defense to create an A.P.A. ethics policy on national security interrogations which comported with then-classified legal guidance authorizing the C.I.A. torture program," the report's authors conclude.

The involvement of health professionals in the Bush-era interrogation program was significant because it enabled the Justice Department to argue in secret opinions that the program was legal and did not constitute torture, since the interrogations were being monitored by health professionals to make sure they were safe.

The interrogation program has since been shut down, and last year the Senate Intelligence Committee issued a detailed report that described the program as both ineffective and abusive.
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Bulb

Russian Duma speaker urges EU to ignore U.S. propaganda, work with Russia on common interests


RT
Mon, 18 May 2015 16:46 UTC
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© Reuters / Francois Lenoir
State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin has urged European politicians to stop listening to US propaganda and start working on common Eurasian economic interests with Russia.

Naryshkin expressed his views on the best possible course for European politics in an article entitled "Natural Allies", published on Monday in the Russian government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

He wrote that the foundations of the European Union or "Big Europe" had been laid by people who remembered the lessons of the First and Second World Wars and these people still assert NATO's eastward expansion was a mistake. Europe is taking great risks if it remains in the political wake of a nation located thousands of miles from the European continent. The Ukrainian crisis is yet another confirmation of the fact that EU member countries must decide on their foreign policies without any foreign interference, he noted.

If this doesn't happen, Washington will eventually destroy the EU's economic sovereignty by skillful manipulation of WTO mechanisms, Naryshkin wrote. Large-scale, rigid deals the United States is pushing through, under the guise of liberalization of trade, are in reality bringing the European economy under US control, he noted.
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Bizarro Earth

Rob Kirby on the big picture facing us

Greg Hunter
USAWatchdog
Wed, 20 May 2015 00:00 UTC
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Rob Kirby of Kirby Analytics
Gold expert Rob Kirby arranges deliveries of the yellow metal to his clients measured by the ton. Kirby says news that China may disclose it has 30,000 tons of gold will be devastating for the West. Kirby contends, "We could be fast approaching the moment when the tide is going to turn and go out, and we are going to find out who's wearing a bathing suit. I think that time is fast approaching, if it is not here already." Kirby also says, "I think the implied message is we are going to show you how much we have, and then you are going to have to show us how much you have. . . . America, very likely doesn't have, in my view, doesn't have the gold they claim to have. They also probably spent a lot of other people's gold in safe keeping."

What would happen to the U.S. dollar if China revealed a vast holding of physical gold? Kirby contends,
"If this would destabilize the dollar enough . . . it could cause a sudden drop in the U.S. dollar, which could signal a tsunami of dollars coming back to America and could set off a very, very ugly, ugly bout of inflation, which could build into a hyperinflation in America. This would bring social unrest in America. This is the social unrest the U.S. military and the Pentagon have been saying is inevitable and is coming to America. This is exactly the kind of backdrop you would expect to have before this would occur."

Comment: Kirby paints an excellent big picture around the inevitable collapse of the Western dollar-based financial system. In his words: "This sort of activity is not tolerated in Nature forever".

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Map

Japan may invite Putin to visit and settle Kuril Islands dispute


RT
Wed, 20 May 2015 14:37 UTC
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© Reuters / Kyodo
Tokyo has signaled it would like Vladimir Putin to finally resolve a territorial dispute and sign a peace treaty 70 years after the end of World War II. The Kremlin said it would welcome dialogue.

Moscow is willing to restart peaceful dialogue with Tokyo to finally sign a WWII peace treaty, but Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said that claiming sovereignty over Kuril Islands makes Japan the only country that questions the results of WWII.

Masahiko Komura, the current vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and a former foreign minister, met in Tokyo with the Chairman of the Russian State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin, on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Komura said that Tokyo would like to settle the issue of the four southern Kuril Islands.

Comment: Japan just keeps stirring up the Kuril Island issue. What can they offer Russia for the islands?

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Better Earth

No, you can't go back to the USSR!

Dmitry Orlov
ClubOrlov
Tue, 19 May 2015 12:48 UTC
Image
One of the fake stories kept alive by certain American politicians, with the help of western media, is that Vladimir Putin (who, they vacuously claim, is a dictator and a tyrant) wants to reconstitute the USSR, with the annexation of Crimea as the first step.

Instead of listening to their gossip, let's lay out the facts.

The USSR was officially dissolved on December 26, 1991 by declaration №142-H of the Supreme Soviet. It acknowledged the independence of the 15 Soviet republics, and in the place of the USSR created a Commonwealth of Independent States, which hasn't amounted to much.

In the west, there was much rejoicing, and everyone assumed that in the east everyone was rejoicing as well. Well, that's a funny thing, actually, because a union-wide referendum held on March 17, 1991, produced a stunning result: with over 80% turnout, of the 185,647,355 people who voted 113,512,812 voted to preserve the USSR. That's 77.85% - not exactly a slim majority. Their wishes were disregarded.
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Quenelle - Golden

The masks are off: Russian patriotism grows rapidly in the face of US and EU aggression


Sputnik News
Wed, 20 May 2015 12:48 UTC
Image
© Host photo agency

The feeling of patriotism is rapidly growing in the Russian society. The US and EU policy towards Russia makes many people believe that Western countries are trying "to force Russia into a box" and that this is "a time of great opportunity" for the country, the Christian Science Monitor wrote.

Patriotism among Russian citizens is growing every day and an understanding that Western states are not friends of their country make Russians more consolidated than ever before, Christian Science Monitor correspondent Fred Weir wrote in his article.

The majority of Russian citizens approve of Crimea's entry into the Russian Federation and the protection of the interests of Russian-speaking population in Donbass by the Moscow government. The aggressive rhetoric of the West against Russia with regard to Ukrainian events revealed a huge gap between Russian and Western perceptions.

Comment: And check out what happened after the Victory Day celebrations:
If you try to dismiss any of this as Russian state propaganda, then here is something else you should be aware of. Did you hear of the spontaneously organized procession in which, after the official parade, half a million people marched through Moscow with portraits of their relatives who died in World War II? The event was called "The Eternal Regiment" (Бессмертный полк). Similar processions took place in many cities throughout Russia, and the total number of participants is estimated at around 4 million.Western press either panned it or billed it as an attempt by Putin to whip up anti-western sentiment. Now that sort of "press coverage," my fellow space travelers, is pure propaganda! No, it was an enthusiastic, spontaneous outpouring of genuine public sentiment. If you think about it just a tiny bit, nothing on this scale could be contrived artificially, and the thought that millions of people would prostitute their dead for propaganda purposes is, frankly, both cynical and insulting.

America's Achilles Heel and Russia's indomitable spirit


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Eye 2

Police investigating 1,400 suspects in VIP child sex abuse inquiry

Jamie Grierson and Sandra Laville
The Guardian
Wed, 20 May 2015 12:21 UTC
Image
© Various/PA/Getty/Wireimage/AFP/Reuters
Clockwise from top left: Fred Talbot, Gary Glitter, Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall, Max Clifford.
More than 1,400 suspects have been investigated by police looking into child sex abuse allegations against VIPs including politicians, celebrities and institutions.

A national police group, known as Operation Hydrant, released the figures at a briefing on its inquiry into possible links between child sex abuse investigations involving public figures currently being run by different forces across the country.

Chief Constable Simon Bailey, chair of the group, told the briefing that out of 1,433 alleged offenders identified nationwide, 76 were politicians, 43 were from the music industry, seven were from sport and 135 were from the TV, film or radio industries. Some 216 are now dead.

Comment: This disgusting rabbit hole is getting deeper and deeper!

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Bad Guys

Lavrov: Events in Macedonia orchestrated from outside


Sputnik
Wed, 20 May 2015 12:07 UTC
Image
© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov
Lavrov said that outside pressure is being put on current Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski for not agreeing to follow Western-backed sanctions against Russia and is being blamed for incompetency.
"There are attempts to pressure Gruevski's government for refusing to join in on sanctions against Russia and for backing the Turkish Stream [gas] pipeline [construction]."
Moscow is concerned over the situation in Macedonia, Lavrov said during a speech before the Russian upper house of parliament.
"The Macedonian events are quite brutal and are being orchestrated from outside."

Comment: Since Ukraine didn't work out well for the Western powers, how about creating a 'new' hotspot? The West are really getting desperate but people are seeing through these games.

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