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Light Sabers

Moscow blames radicals for deadly clashes in Ukraine, EU leaders ponder sanctions against government


RT
Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:55 UTC
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© Reuters / Sergei SupinskyAnti-government rioters clash with the police on Independence Square in Kiev early on February 19, 2014.
Moscow believes the deadly clashes in Kiev were an attempt at a coup by radicalized protesters. EU leaders have quite an opposite view, calling for sanctions against Ukrainian government officials.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry described the violence in Ukraine as an attempt at a coup d'etat and a "brown" revolution, accusing European politicians and institutions of "refusing to admit that all of the responsibility for the actions of radical forces in Ukraine rests with the opposition."

"The Russian side is demanding the leaders on the streets to stop the violence in their country, immediately resume dialogue with the lawful government without threats and ultimatums," the statement reads.

The Kremlin has also interpreted the violence in Ukraine as a coup attempt. President Putin's spokesman said that "from the point of view of the Russian leadership", all of the responsibility for the bloodshed could be laid at the door of "the extremist forces."
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Bacon

Price of meat actually rose 23% in the U.S. in 2011, not 6% as reported by government

Robert Hoffman
Dayton News
Wed, 19 Feb 2014 04:00 UTC
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© American Flavors blogspot
Consumers, have you noticed the record high prices for meat and other staple items in the grocery store? All families continue to pay more of their disposable income for food products, putting hardship and difficulty on personal budgets. A larger portion of the family budget now pays for food costs leaving less money for personal use, college savings, and vacations.

Smart shoppers, carefully observing prices and evaluating portions, noticed several changes at the markets the past few years. Many food products and beverages now come in smaller sizes as manufacturers remain reluctant to raise prices. In addition, for the past several years, restaurants have lessened portion sizes rather than raise prices.

Although the U.S. government reportedly said food prices rose 6.4 percent since 2011, ground beef rose 16.8 percent, chicken rose 18.4 percent, and bacon rose a whopping 22.4 percent. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects that beef will continue rising another 3-4 percent in 2014. In an economy struggling with high unemployment and prolonged recession, it truly remains appalling how prices can increase so much.

The government likes to blame the weather and drought for the rising prices. In addition, world demand for American products, especially China, increases the prices of these foods. Sometimes farmers will also state that their production costs have risen, and they must pass them to the consumer.
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Extinguisher

Maintaining myth they can actually do something about extreme weather, California lawmakers drafting legislation to prevent wildfires

Erin Kelly
USA Today
Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:31 UTC
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© Jae C. Hong, APFirefighter Jeff Newby sprays water as he battles the flare-ups from a damaging wildfire on Jan. 17 near Azusa, Calif.
With record droughts fueling fears of devastating wildfires in the West, members of Congress from the region are trying to boost chronically underfunded federal fire prevention efforts.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has teamed up with Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, to offer a bill that would stop the vicious cycle of federal agencies raiding fire prevention funds to pay for emergency firefighting efforts.

The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, which was also introduced in the House this month, would create a special disaster fund to fight huge "mega-fires", which make up about 1% of wildfires but use up 30% of fire suppression funds.

The funding change would free up as much as $412 million a year in the Forest Service and Interior Department budgets to prevent fires by thinning the overgrown tree stands and underbrush that fuel the blazes.
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Play

Psychopathic American leaders joke about dead veterans and children

Realist Report
Youtube
Tue, 04 Feb 2014 07:24 UTC
American political leaders of both parties are war mongering psychopaths. They do not care about you, your family, or the lives of innocent people. Watch as they laugh and make jokes about suffering and death. Warning: Graphic footage.

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Apple Red

U.S. House raises $17.2 trillion debt ceiling, no strings attached


RT
Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:09 UTC
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© Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFPU.S. Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner.
The US House of Representatives has agreed to raise the government's borrowing cap until March 2015, without specifying the exact limit. It's a huge shift as the bill was approved for the first time in three years with no conditions from Republicans.

The bill next goes to the Senate, where approval is expected from the Democratic majority.

The 221-220 vote was a landmark victory for Democrats, and will put an end to Washington's budget enmity, which led to a two week US government shutdown in January.

Raising the debt ceiling, an action Republicans have fought against staunchly for three years, means the US will increase the $17.2 trillion borrowing limit and be able to meet promised financial obligations.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner promised the February 27 technical default deadline, set by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, would be met in good faith.

The vote was "a positive step in moving away from the political brinkmanship that's a needless drag on our economy," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement after the vote.
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Laptop

Bitcoin exchanges suspend conversions as hacker attack intensifies

Charles Arthur
The Guardian
Wed, 12 Feb 2014 14:38 UTC
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© Ted Soqui/ Ted Soqui/CorbisBitcoin's value has plunged as the attack has intensified.
Moves follow crackdowns by China and Russia on use of the cybercurrency amid fears over criminal use

Three online exchanges for the bitcoin virtual currency have suspended conversions into state-backed currencies, saying they are under attack from hackers suspected of trying to create fraudulent transactions.

The value of the currency has plunged as the attack has intensified, from $926 on 5 February to $530 on 12 February on MtGox, one of the affected exchanges. Bitstamp, based in Slovenia, and BTC-e, in Bulgaria, also halted withdrawals indefinitely on Wednesday as they came under attack.

The moves follow crackdowns by China in December and Russia last week on use of the cybercurrency, which some authorities fear could be used for money laundering, funding terrorism or tax evasion.
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Attention

Global capitalism has written off human race

Paul Craig Roberts
Press TV
Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:08 UTC
Capitalism is over
© Unknown

Economic theory teaches that free price and profit movements ensure that capitalism produces the greatest welfare for the greatest number. Losses indicate economic activities where costs exceed the value of production, thus investment in these activities is curtailed.

Profits indicate economic activities where the value of output exceeds its cost, thus investment increases. Prices indicate the relative scarcity and value of inputs and outputs, thus serving to organize production most efficiently.

This theory doesn't work when the US government socializes cost and privatizes profits as it has been doing with the Federal Reserve's support of "banks too big to fail" and when a handful of financial institutions have concentrated much economic activity. Subsidized "private" banks are no different from the former publicly subsidized socialized industries of Great Britain, France, Italy, and the former communist countries. The banks have imposed the costs of their incompetence, greed, and corruption on taxpayers. Indeed, the socialized firms in England and France were more efficiently run and never threatened the national economies, much less the entire world, with ruin as do the private US "banks too big to fail." The English, French, and communists never had to print $1,000 billion dollars annually to save a handful of corrupt and incompetent financial enterprises.
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Arrow Down

Colombia President fires chief of armed forces


Press TV
Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:01 UTC
Colombian Army Chief, General Leonardo Barrero
© UnknownPicture taken on January 20, 2014, shows Colombian Army Chief, General Leonardo Barrero, delivering a speech during a press conference in Tame Arauca, Colombia.
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos has fired the country's chief of armed forces for "disparaging comments" about the judiciary.

Santos said on Tuesday that General Leonardo Barrero was dismissed for "disrespectful remarks" against the judiciary and nation in a phone conversation published on the weekend.

The allegations were published by Colombia's Semana magazine. Barrero's remarks were found on secretly recorded phone conversations made during probe into the corruption allegations.

Barrero was heard insulting the investigating prosecutors in a phone call with a colonel imprisoned over possible links to extrajudicial killings.

Barrero told colonel Robinson Gonzalez del Rio, who is facing criminal charges over the killing of two men in 2007, that the prosecutors' investigations into the extrajudicial killings is a "bunch of crap," and suggesting that he and others "organize a mafia" to discredit investigating judges.
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Heart - Black

Protect Syria: Will Samantha Power's words fool us again?

Caleb Maupin
RT
Wed, 19 Feb 2014 06:47 UTC
Tank confiscated by Syrian rebels
© AFP Photo / Abu Hadi Al-HamwiA tank confiscated by rebel fighters fires at a pro-government position near the Syrian city of Hama, on February 19, 2014.
After several hours of closed-door Security Council Consultations at the United Nations on Thursday, February 13, US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power came out in front of the press to do what she does best.

Power gave a speech bemoaning what she called "the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation." She gave statistics of "6.8 million Syrians in need of assistance.... There were 4.25 million internally displaced persons..." She spoke of "images of emaciated and tortured Syrians, of dead and dying children, and of so much more."

Samantha Power has been the UN Ambassador for several months now, after a lengthy career as one of the many voices reciting this same narrative. Each performance is delivered with a different cast of characters, in different corner the globe where some government has defied Wall Street and neo-liberalism, and the pentagon is itching to attack. The public, of course, must be psyched up to support arming the terrorists, sending the cruise missiles, and overthrowing the defiant regime.
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USA

Do we care about people if they live in Bahrain?

David Swanson
War Is A Crime.org
Mon, 17 Feb 2014 05:41 UTC
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I had a heck of a time making sense of the U.S. Navy's new motto "A Global Force for Good" until I realized that it meant "We are a global force, and wherever we go we're never leaving."

For three years now people in the little island nation of Bahrain have been nonviolently protesting and demanding democratic reforms.

For three years now the king of Bahrain and his royal thugs have been shooting, kidnapping, torturing, imprisoning, and terrorizing nonviolent opponents. An opponent includes anyone speaking up for human rights or even "insulting" the king or his flag, which carries a sentence of 7 years in prison and a hefty fine.

For three years now, Saudi Arabia has been aiding the King of Bahrain in his crackdown on the people of Bahrain. A U.S. police chief named John Timoney, with a reputation for brutality earned in Miami and Philadelphia, was hired to help the Bahraini government intimidate and brutalize its population.
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