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The lunacy of Philippine President Aquino likening China to Nazi Germany


Global Times
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 14:05 UTC
Image
© Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Philippine president Benigno Aquino made the comments during a speech in the Japanese parliament during his visit to Tokyo.
If we can pardon Benigno Aquino for being "an amateur student of history", we are still shocked by his ignorance -- what kind of national leader would liken present-day China to Nazi Germany?

During a speech in Japan, the Philippine president claimed that there was a risk to the world continuing to appease China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, comparing the situation to Hitler's annexing Czechoslovakia before World War II (WWII).

Aquino also made similar remarks last year when he told The New York Times that his nation could not stand up to China alone.

In painting this "David vs Goliath" picture, Aquino may very well be genuinely afraid and uncertain. This is understandable. But he can rest assured that China won't bully other countries just because they are small.

But "small countries should not make trouble willfully and endlessly", as Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying responded.

Even if some countries are unsure about China, to so brazenly transmogrify the country into Nazi Germany is completely out of line.
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Propaganda

Japan can't rewrite fascist history

Li Shouen
CCTV
Sat, 06 Jun 2015 13:33 UTC
Image
© Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu
Photo taken on April 10, 2015 shows the displayed exhibits during an exhibition marking the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.
This year marks three 70-year anniversaries for China: the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the end of World's Anti-Fascist War and the establishment of the United Nations.

In the war against Fascist Powers and Japanese militarism, the Allied Forces, including the United States, Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom and others had made tremendous contributions to achieve victory that would end World War II, which was witnessed by the whole world with peace treaties signed.

In recent decades, the Soviet Union had disintegrated and the so-called 'Color Revolutions' sparked regime change for a number of sovereign nations. Hence, the world keeps changing at the blink of an eye. Meanwhile here in Asia, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assumed office, his administration has made alliances with nationalist right-ring forces who believe that historical facts can be challenged and distorted.

It's important to remember history so as to explore a better future. We have an obligation to tell the world that those who intentionally falsify history for their political benefits can inflict horrendous harm on the global community. The China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) hosted an international seminar in Beijing to celebrate the end of World War II as a victory against Fascism. Government officials and scholars from China and Russia have recounted contributions made by China and the Soviet Union during the war, and they discussed its historic implications for the current international political climate in order to fight against reckless attempts to distort WWII history.
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Vader

Obama to urge G7 leaders to maintain ineffective and self-defeating Russian sanctions


RT
Fri, 05 Jun 2015 13:10 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo/Christof Stache
US President Barack Obama will urge G7 leaders to keep sanctions in place against Russia at the G7 summit in Germany, US officials said. The US says it needs to "maintain the pressure" on Moscow.

The G7 nations will meet in Bavaria, Germany for a two-day summit beginning Sunday. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that the sanctions imposed on Russia will be on the agenda.

"In my understanding, the president plans to talk with the European leaders about the necessity to continue the sanctions, which are already in place. This will be part of the discussion," Earnest told a press briefing. He added, though, that he "would acknowledge that we have not yet seen the kind of change in behavior that we have long fought for."

Charles Kupchan, the White House Senior Director for European Affairs, confirmed that meetings at the summit will be centered on the US and Europe putting pressure on Moscow.

"The president will be making the case to his European colleagues that the European Union should move ahead and extend sanctions when they end," Kupchan said.

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Network

China blamed as US govt agency hacked, 4 million federal workers affected


RT
Fri, 05 Jun 2015 21:51 UTC
cyber attack
© Reuters / David McNew
Hackers breached the system of the US government agency responsible for gathering personnel information on federal employees and granting security clearances, potentially affecting the data of 4 million people, officials said.

It is not known who is responsible for the breach, but officials told Reuters that a foreign government or entity is to blame. The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal cited unnamed government officials who blamed Chinese hackers.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also said Chinese hackers are believed to be behind the attack, according to the Associated Press.

The Chinese Embassy in the US has called the accusations against Chinese hackers "hypothetical" and irresponsible.

"Jumping to conclusions and making a hypothetical accusation is not responsible" and is "counterproductive," the embassy's spokesman, Zhu Haiquan, said in reply to a Reuters inquiry, adding that it is difficult to track hacker activity across borders. China is applying great efforts to combat cyber-attacks, Zhu said.

The security breach was revealed Thursday by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which is also the affected agency. However, the attack itself occurred in April.

In a press release, OPM said it will contact roughly 4 million people whose personally identifiable information may have been compromised.

Comment: These cyber attacks are escalating - how long before a 'national emergency' is declared? Several months ago Admiral Mike Rogers, the director of the U.S. National Security Agency warned:
China and "probably one or two" other countries have the ability to invade and possibly shut down computer systems of U.S. power utilities, aviation networks and financial companies
Was last year's cyber attack on Sony Pictures 'priming' the American people for future attacks by a so-called "foreign government or entity"?

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Heart - Black

Death of sanity: Mike Huckabee says Israeli occupation made life great for Palestinians: Now they have sidewalks

Joan Shipps
Raw Story
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 12:43 UTC
Mike Huckabee speaks
© YouTube
Mike Huckabee speaks in Central Park at the Israel Day Concert on May 31, 2015
In a speech in New York this weekend, Mike Huckabee told a sympathetic crowd that Israeli occupation has made life great for Palestinians, Arutz Sheva reports.

The Republican presidential candidate gave a keynote at the 22nd annual Israel Day Concert in Central Park, a "star-studded" event to honor "three slain Israeli teens." This year's show featured performances by musicians Alex Clare, Gad Elbaz, Mati Shriki, and others, as well as speeches by political officials, including George W. Bush's former ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton.

"We must educate world," Huckabee said in his Sunday speech, "that the Israelis have done more to bring prosperity, peace, and a state of liberty to people, whether they're Jewish or not."


Comment: Are you nauseous yet?


The former governor of Arkansas describes a visit last year to a Soda Stream factory in Judea, where he observed "600 Arabs and 500 Jews working side by side, the Arabs earning four times the amount of money they would in any place in the [Palestinian Authority]." Even still, says Huckabee, there is probably "somebody in Europe or somebody in this country sitting in some Ivy League ivory tower" questioning Israel's supreme authority.

"Tell that to Arabs who've made more than ever in their lives," Huckabee quips. He argues occupied Palestine is better off under Israeli control, because of sidewalks, hospitals, and schools that Palestinians "never had before."

Huckabee says the relationship between the United States and Israel is not just a matter of "political convenience" for him, but of "personal passion." A devout Christian, Huckabee speaks of the U.S.-Israeli alliance with undertones of fire-and-brimstone, Old Testament spirituality.

"There is no explanation for Israel," Huckabee declares, "other than the hand of almighty God that has preserved and protected and given the Jews their homeland after 2,000 years of being scattered across the earth." And there is no evident reason that the United States should exist, Huckabee says, "other than the providence of God's hand."

Huckabee accuses U.S. political leaders of being more diplomatic with Iran than they are with Israel. If he becomes president, Huckabee says, he will make sure Iran will not obtain bombs and then use them to attack Israel.

A "threat to Israel is a threat to the United States," Huckabee explains. "Our liberty is threatened by the forces of radical jihad." Those who identify pressing American policy issues other than radical jihad, according to Huckabee, won't call the "enemy by its name."

Comment: And, so begins the parade of dangerous idiots.

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Snakes in Suits

Go to war or go home: House resolution to force debate on fight against ISIS


RT
Fri, 05 Jun 2015 02:31 UTC
Image
© Reuters / Stringer
A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to force a debate on the war against ISIS - by threatening to bring the US troops home by the end of the year. Congress has approved funds for the conflict for months, while dodging discussion of its status.

Calling Congress the "poster child for cowardice", Representative Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) proposed a "concurrent resolution" on Thursday, seeking to force a debate in the House by June 23 on whether to officially declare war, or give President Obama until the end of the year to pull US troops out of Iraq and Syria.

The resolution is co-sponsored by representatives Walter Jones (R-NC) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).

Comment: McGovern is right in bringing this issue up. But this will probably do little to stop the fighting.

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Fire

The Danes are revolting: Tax Administration set on fire

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 02:23 UTC
Image
In Fredensborg, Denmark, ten official cars from the Tax Administration Office were set on fire and destroyed overnight in a protest. As ExstraBladet reports, police received notification Wednesday night at 3:09 a.m. that the Tax Administration offices on Kratvej were on fire. So far, there are no suspects. But, as Martin Armstrong notes, the police will undoubtedly hunt for someone retaliating against the Tax Man.

As Martin Armstrong further points out, this is not the first time the world has seen this...

On February 18, 2010, a man in a dispute with the IRS for seizing his home flew his plane in a suicide mission directly into the IRS building in Austin, Texas.

Comment: There just might be more of this in the near future.

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Eye 2

The reality of Kiev's repression of anti-fascism in Ukraine

Eric Draitser
Counter Punch
Wed, 27 May 2015 21:23 UTC
Image
© Facebook
‘Alley of Glory’ in Odessa on May 9, 2015. Marchers chant anti-fascist slogans
There is a common misconception in the West that there is only one war in Ukraine: a war between the anti-Kiev rebels of the East, and the US-backed government in Kiev. While this conflict, with all its attendant geopolitical and strategic implications has stolen the majority of the headlines, there is another war raging in the country - a war to crush all dissent and opposition to the fascist-oligarch consensus. For while in the West many so called analysts and leftists debate whether there is really fascism in Ukraine or whether it's all just "Russian propaganda," a brutal war of political repression is taking place.

The authorities and their fascist thug auxiliaries have carried out everything from physical intimidation, to politically motivated arrests, kidnappings, torture, and targeted assassinations. All of this has been done under the auspices of "national unity," the convenient pretext that every oppressive regime from time immemorial has used to justify its actions. Were one to read the Western narrative on Ukraine, one could be forgiven for believing that the country's discontent and outrage is restricted solely to the area collectively known as Donbass - the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics as they have declared themselves. Indeed, there is good reason for the media to portray such a distorted picture; it legitimizes the false claim that all Ukraine's problems are due to Russian meddling and covert militarization.

Instead, the reality is that anger and opposition to the US-backed oligarch-fascist coalition government in Kiev is deeply rooted and permeates much of Ukraine. In politically, economically, and culturally important cities such as Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, and Kherson, ghastly forms of political persecution are ongoing. However, nowhere is this repression more apparent than in the Black Sea port city of Odessa. And this is no accident.
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Safe

Western banks to reduce presence in Russia & Ukraine due to 'unfavorable conditions' - whose fault is that?

Mike Wheatley
Russia Insider
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 20:46 UTC
banks closing Ukraine Russia

Raiffeisen Bank is one of the banks rumored to be partially or fully ceasing to do business in Ukraine and Russia
Standard & Poor's believes that Western banks will attempt to exit Ukraine completely, while winding down their involvement in Russia until such a time as geopolitical tensions are reduced.

The continuation of "unfavorable conditions" in Russia and Ukraine means that Western banks are likely to try and exit the latter market and reduce the volume of operations in the former, according to a new report from the international rating agency Standard & Poor's.

The agency suggests that foreign banks are "reviewing their development strategy options in Russia and Ukraine", as the banking sector in both countries will likely take several years to recover from their recent decline, said Natalia Yalovskaya, a credit analyst at Standard & Poor's.

"Given the challenging operating environment, we estimate the growth prospects of the banking sector, and improving the quality of assets and profitability as a rather weak in Russia and even more unfavorable in Ukraine", Yalovskaya said.

S&P doesn't rule out that Western banks will attempt to exit the Ukrainian market altogether, while trying to reduce their presence in Russia. However, the agency notes that withdrawing from Ukraine altogether may be difficult due to a lack of buyers interested in acquiring Western bank's assets in the country.

"In early 2015 the Ukranian government announced it was looking to restructure its commercial debt obligations in foreign currency. In accordance with our criteria, we will classify the exchange offer of securities or other similar restructuring of Ukraine's debt in foreign currency as the equivalent of a default," the agency said.

Comment: Standard & Poors is just another front for the Empire of Chaos. Its downgrading of Russian bonds to junk status in 2014 was one salvo in the attempt to undermine Russia. It's not the first time S&P has used its "credibility" to undermine a troublesome country. In the long run, this development appears to be only good for the Eurasian Union, Putin's vision of a community of mutually respectful countries:

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War Whore

From the Death Party: Lindsey Graham warns of more war, troops in Middle East if he's elected president in 2016


RT
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 21:12 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Christopher Aluka Berry
Republican presidential candidate U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham
The 2016 presidential election is still over a year away, but potential Republican Party nominee Sen. Lindsey Graham(R-South Carolina) wants GOP voters to know what's in store if he wins the White House: more war.

Graham, one of the more recent and mainstream members of the Republican Party to toss their hat in next year's race, told Fox News during an interview this week that he has a much different idea for tackling the so-called Islamic State than President Barack Obama.

While the Obama administration is adamant about maintaining a policy against the terrorist group - also known as ISIS, or ISIL - that doesn't involve boots on the ground, Graham said he wouldn't hesitate to send American troops to the Middle East.

"I'm trying to tell the American people, the Republican primary voter: The only way I know to defend this country is to send some of us back to Iraq and eventually to Syria to dig these guys out of the ground, destroy the caliphate, kill as any of them as you can, hold territory and help people over there help themselves," Graham said during an interview on Thursday morning that was first spotted by Mediaite.

Comment: His comments could just be political posturing, but one gets the sense that the good senator would truly enjoy his chance to start more wars and kill more people. Such are the politicians of our day, no longer hiding behind good intentions and kissing babies. They openly reveal their cold-hearted nature.

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