Puppet MastersS


Yoda

Remembering Tony Benn and his five little democratic questions

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© Matthew Fearn/PA Wire
Take a moment, please, to note the passing of a distinguished spokesman for the left, a man both firebrand and gadfly, of whom many Americans have never even heard. Yet what he did and said are of importance to us all and especially to the cause of democracy.

Tony Benn died in London Friday morning, age 88. A diehard socialist once described by elements of the right wing in his country as the most dangerous man in Britain, The New York Times noted in its obituary that he was "the first peer to surrender an aristocratic title [in order] to remain in the House of Commons:
A rebellious scion of a political dynasty, Mr. Benn embraced a socialist position to the left of many of his colleagues in the Labour Party, particularly as it moved to the center under Prime Minister Tony Blair in the 1990s. While Britain's political elite resisted and diluted union power, Mr. Benn championed labor union rights. While many Britons embraced the European Common Market in the 1970s, Mr. Benn opposed continued membership. And while Mr. Blair led the country to war in Iraq and elsewhere, Mr. Benn, a prominent advocate of nuclear disarmament, campaigned for peace.
First as a Member of Parliament - he entered the House of Commons in 1950 at the age of 25 and served for half a century - and a cabinet minister, then as a public lecturer and writer, he was a perpetual thorn in the side of more establishment politicians. Prime Minster Harold Wilson said of Benn, "He immatures with age," but he served as an invaluable advocate for the poor and defenseless, fighting on their behalf and always struggling to keep his colleagues aware of their plight. If we can find the money to fight wars and kill people, he would remind them, we can find the money to help people.

Comment:
The greatest leader Britain never had: Tony Benn knew the rules, but would not play the game
Why I am a Bennite - A Eulogy to the Rt Hon Tony Benn by George Galloway MP


Safe

High earners leaving New Jersey in droves due to taxes

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© Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Report: New Jersey residents fleeing high tax burdens in the state

New Jersey's high taxes may be costing the state billions of dollars a year in lost revenue as high-earning residents flee, according to a recent study.

The study, Exodus on the Parkway, was completed by Regent Atlantic last year but held for publication until after the November 2013 elections. The study stated it "intentionally" held its results "as 2014 is not an election year for state legislators" and it will "hopefully encourage a serious and objective dialogue aimed at addressing and solving the challenges that New Jersey currently faces."

The study shows the state has been steadily losing high-net-worth residents since 2004, when Democratic Gov. Jim McGreevey signed the millionaire's tax into law. The law raised the state income tax 41 percent on those earning $500,000 or more a year.

Gold Coins

Unintended consequences? Western sanctions will cause Russia to change its economic partners...for the better

BRICS leaders
© Agence France-Presse/Sergei KarpukhinBrazil's President Dilma Rousseff, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, China's President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma pose for a photo after the BRICS leader's meeting at the G20 summit on September 5, 2013 in Saint Petersburg.
Western sanctions might push Russia to deepen cooperation with BRICS states, in particular, to strengthen its ties with China, which will possibly turn out to be a big catastrophe for the US and the EU some time later.

On March 18, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, claimed in a BBC interview that Russia would switch to new partners in case of economic sanctions being imposed by the European Union and the United States. He highlighted that the modern world isn't unipolar and Russia has strong ties with other states as well, though Russia wants to remain in good relations with its Western partners, especially with the EU due to the volume of deals and joint projects.

Those "new partners" are not really new since Russia has been closely interconnected with them for almost 13 years. This is all about the so-called BRICS organization, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRICS represents 42 percent of the world's population and about a quarter of the world's economy, which means that this bloc of states is an important global actor.

The BRICS countries are like-minded in regard to supporting the principles of international law, the central role of the UN Security Council and the principles of the non-use of force in international relations; this is why they are so actively performing in the sphere of settling regional conflicts. However, the cooperation between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa goes beyond political aspects and is also demonstrated by dynamic trade and multiple projects in different areas. Today, in total, there are more than 20 formats of cooperation within the BRICS which are intensively developing. For example, in February the member-states came to an agreement about 11 prospective directions of scientific and technical cooperation, from aeronautics to bio- and nanotechnology. In order to modernize the global economic system, at the center of which stand the US and the EU, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have created the BRICS Stock Alliance and are creating their own development bank to finance large infrastructure projects. On the whole, despite fierce criticism of BRICS as an organization with no future, it is developing and increasing cooperation with its members and, in fact, BRICS is showing pretty good results.

With suspension of Russian participation in G8 and possible strengthening of economic sanctions, the experts expect some particular industries to be targeted, including limits on imported products. While the West seeks to hit Russia hard, it is important to notice that Russia is ready to switch to other markets, for instance BRICS, and increase trade volumes with countries from this bloc.

Light Sabers

Lavrov says Russia is thankful to BRICS members on their position on Crimea

BRICS collage
© Voice of Russia
Russia's partners in BRICS that are Brazil, India, China and South Africa have expressed an understanding of the Russian position on Crimea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"As far as a meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers is concerned, we have heard the understanding of the current situation and of historic aspects of the whole situation here in The Hague, and we are thankful to our partners for this," Lavrov told a news conference in The Hague on Monday.

Commenting on media reports that Australia may fail to invite Russia to the G20 summit, Lavrov said that the foreign minister of South Africa, the current president in BRICS read out a communique that "states our approach to the situation in the world."

"The common position was stated: we altogether not just Australia formed the G20 and we will work in this mechanism just as we have once concluded," he said

Bad Guys

Western leaders take their ball and go home: World leaders cancel G8 Summit in Russia after Ukraine crisis, plan G7 meeting in Brussels

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© AP
The G8 is once again to become the G7.

Leaders of the so-called Group of Eight announced Monday they would cancel their planned June meeting in Sochi, Russia, and suspend their participation in the international group, following Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and threats toward Eastern Ukraine.

The smaller group announced its plans in a joint statement after meeting in The Netherlands. Instead, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States will meet with European Union leaders in Brussels as the G7, in the latest blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

U.S. President Barack Obama convened a meeting of the G7 on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague, with the goal of increasing pressure on Russia following its actions in Ukraine. The G7 nations had previously suspended preparations for the Sochi conference following Russia's takeover of Crimea.

Che Guevara

Oliver Stone: Obama wrong to isolate Venezuela

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An antigovernment demonstrator stood with a ribbon covering her mouth during a protest in front of an office of the Organization of American States in Caracas.
The George W. Bush administration had a stated policy of trying to isolate Venezuela from its neighbors, and the strategy ended up isolating Washington instead. President Obama, in his first meeting with hemispheric leaders in Trinidad in 2009, promised to turn a new page. But today, his administration finds itself even more isolated than that of his predecessor, and for much the same reasons.

Consider the lopsided vote on Venezuela at the Organization of American States earlier this month. Not only did the OAS reject Washington's attempt to get the organization to intervene in Venezuela, but to add insult to injury, 29 countries passed a resolution expressing their solidarity with the government of President Nicolás Maduro, with only 3 against. It is hard to imagine a more resounding diplomatic defeat in a body where the US government still has a disproportionate influence.

The Obama administration seems surrealistically unaware that this is a different hemisphere than it was 15 years ago. Governments representing the majority of Latin America are now from the left, including Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Venezuela in South America and El Salvador and Nicaragua in Central America. These governments emphatically reject Washington's depiction of the recent events in Venezuela as a government trying to "repress peaceful protesters." Instead, they share Maduro's view that the protests are an attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government, which has been the stated goal of the protest movement's leadership from the beginning. Even President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, who is reluctant to criticize Washington, used the word "destabilization" to describe the protests. These governments see that Washington is using its muscle to support this effort.

Bad Guys

U.S. and EU: 'Spent gigantic resources on massive ideological sowing' - behind current Ukrainian crisis

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© Reuters/Gleb Garanich
The Western nations have spent a tremendous amount of time and effort in influencing Ukrainian society and leading it to the present situation, believes Konstantin Kosachev, the head of Russia's federal agency for foreign cooperation.

Rossotrudnichestvo has been doing everything it can to maintain Russian cultural influence in Ukraine, but the European Union and the United States have incomparably greater resources, Kosachev said in an interview with the business daily Vedomosti (Rossotrudnishestvo is the federal body in charge of humanitarian cooperation and the welfare of the Russian Diaspora within the Foreign Ministry).

The Russian side has worked to maintain the existing level of its cultural presence - it organized events promoting Russian language, helped Ukrainian students study in Russian universities, organized exhibitions, concerts and other events, Kosachev said in the interview.

Top Secret

More revelations from Edward Snowden: "Some of the most important reporting to be done is yet to come"

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© AFP/Beto BarataA member of the Avaaz online community organization wears a "Snowden" mask in Brasilia, on February 13, 2014.
Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden emerged from his Russian exile Tuesday in the form of a remotely-controlled robot to promise more sensational revelations about US spying programs.

The fugitive's face appeared on a screen as he maneuvered the wheeled android around a stage at the TED gathering, addressing an audience in Vancouver without ever leaving his secret hideaway.

"There are absolutely more revelations to come," he said. "Some of the most important reporting to be done is yet to come."

Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who has been charged in the United States with espionage, dismissed the public debate about whether he is a heroic whistleblower or traitor.

Instead, he used the conference organized by educational non-profit organization TED ("Technology Entertainment Design"), to call for people worldwide to fight for privacy and Internet freedom.

Internet creator Tim Berners-Lee briefly joined Snowden's interview with TED curator Chris Anderson, and came down in the hero camp.

Vader

US-backed military regime in Egypt sentences 529 Morsi supporters to death

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© AFP/GETTYEgyptian relatives of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi cry after the court ordered the execution of 529 Morsi supporters after only two hearings.
Complaints of miscarriage of justice as judge takes just two sessions to find defendants guilty of police officer's murder

A judge in southern Egypt has taken just two court sessions to sentence to death 529 supporters of Mohamed Morsi for the murder of a single police officer.

Sixteen people were acquitted after lawyers said they had not been allowed to present a proper defence before the judgment was made.

The defendants were arrested last August during a wave of unrest in which supporters of the former president react violently to the clearance of a pro-Morsi sit-in in Cairo during which more than 900 people were killed. In addition to the murder, the 529 were accused of attempting to kill two other police officers and attacking a police station.

The death sentences are not final and appeals are likely; similar sentences have often been commuted in Egypt. But families of the accused and rights lawyers described the process as a miscarriage of justice.

Waleed Sultan, whose father was among those sentenced to death, said: "Nothing can describe this scandal. This is not a judicial sentence, this is thuggery."

Calculator

Russia's State Duma passes amendment allowing voters to contest election results

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© RIA Novosti / Yakov Andreev
The Russian Lower House has approved an amendment allowing the annulment of election results if voters complain of irregularities.

The bill changing the federal law on the basic guarantees of voters' rights has been presented following last year's ruling of the Constitutional Court confirming that ordinary citizens can contest election results, though only in the constituencies in which they cast their votes.

Previously, the processes of investigating violations at elections could only be started after complaints from candidates or participating parties.

The new bill stipulates that any voter can turn to the courts with complaints over the decisions, actions or inactions of the district elections commissions. The new rule applies to elections to state bodies and to referendums. If a court finds the election results invalid a recount of votes is automatically ordered, but only in the constituency where the proven violations took place.