Welcome to Sott.net
Fri, 05 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Puppet Masters
Map

X

Ukraine demands for unreasonable gas prices leads to deadlock with Russia


RT
Wed, 11 Jun 2014 14:53 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo / Alexei Nikolsky
Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
Russia has offered Ukraine a final gas price of $385 per 1,000 cubic meters, and if Kiev continues to ask for a lower price, rapport between the two countries will fall apart, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.

"We believe our proposals offered more than a partnership aimed to support the Ukrainian economy during its difficult period when it was in need. But if our proposals are rejected, then we move into a completely different stage, it's not our choice," Putin said at a meeting with government officials.

The price has now been set at $385 per thousand cubic meters, $100 less than the previous $485 price Moscow set but more than the $268.50 price Kiev demanded.

"Gazprom has offered its Ukrainian partners the exact same conditions that the government had under Viktor Yanukovich - a $100 discount on the contract price, with a final price of $385 per thousand cubic meters," Putin said.

"Gas price for Ukraine in the $ 385 would be acceptable, and Russia can still provide discounts depending on volume," EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said.

Comment: Putin's actions continue to defy the propaganda directed at him from the West. Despite being painted as a dictatorial thug, or even compared to 'Hitler', his behavior is quite the opposite. The proposed gas terms are more than fair. The rejection by the Kiev regime reveals the obstinate and disruptive nature of those calling the shots in the Ukraine. It's yet another example of the pathocracy projecting their hollow landscape onto others.

      Read More...
USA

We'll work with Muslim nut-jobs, but not the Muslim Brotherhood: U.S. bankrolled anti-Morsi activists in Egypt

Emad Mekay
Al-Jazeera
Wed, 10 Jul 2013 14:35 UTC
Image
© EPA
Egyptian protesters tear down the US flag during a demonstration at the US Embassy in September 2012
Documents reveal US money trail to Egyptian groups that pressed for president's removal.

President Barack Obama recently stated the United States was not taking sides as Egypt's crisis came to a head with the military overthrow of the democratically elected president.

But a review of dozens of US federal government documents shows Washington has quietly funded senior Egyptian opposition figures who called for toppling of the country's now-deposed president Mohamed Morsi.

Documents obtained by the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley show the US channeled funding through a State Department programme to promote democracy in the Middle East region. This programme vigorously supported activists and politicians who have fomented unrest in Egypt, after autocratic president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising in February 2011.

The State Department's programme, dubbed by US officials as a "democracy assistance" initiative, is part of a wider Obama administration effort to try to stop the retreat of pro-Washington secularists, and to win back influence in Arab Spring countries that saw the rise of Islamists, who largely oppose US interests in the Middle East.

Activists bankrolled by the programme include an exiled Egyptian police officer who plotted the violent overthrow of the Morsi government, an anti-Islamist politician who advocated closing mosques and dragging preachers out by force, as well as a coterie of opposition politicians who pushed for the ouster of the country's first democratically elected leader, government documents show.
      Read More...
Arrow Down

Private US prisons are getting rich by abusing illegal immigrants

Hamilton Nolan
Gawker
Tue, 10 Jun 2014 09:34 UTC
Private Prisons
© Bureau of Justice Statistics
What sort of criminal is the target of most federal prosecutions? Mobsters? Bank robbers? No: illegal immigrants. And where do they go? To private prisons, for whom America's immigration system is a giant profit center.

A new report from the ACLU takes a deep look at Criminal Alien Requirement [CAR] prisons - privately run federal prisons designed to house people convicted of breaking immigrations laws. You might be shocked to learn how big of a business this has become. From the report:
Nationwide, more than half of all federal criminal prosecutions initiated in fiscal year 2013 were for unlawfully crossing the border into the United States - an act that has traditionally been treated as a civil offense resulting in deportation, rather than as a criminal act resulting in incarceration in a federal prison. This is dramatically changing who enters the federal prison system. The tipping point came in 2009, when more people entered federal prison for immigration offenses than for violent, weapons, and property offenses combined - and the number has continued to rise each year since.
Thanks to very deliberate choices on the part of our legal system, more immigration violations now end with prison, rather than with deportation. In Texas alone, there are five CAR prisons housing nearly 14,000 inmates convicted of immigration crimes.
      Read More...
Airplane

Russia launches military drills alongside NATO wargames


RT
Wed, 11 Jun 2014 11:21 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti / Igor Zarembo
The Baltic Sea and skies are getting crowded as Russia launches military training of its assault forces in the exclave of Kaliningrad in answer to the double war-games being conducted by joint NATO forces on the territory of the three Baltic States.

NATO's decision to conduct dual war games next to Russian borders in the Baltic has not been left unaddressed by Russia's Defense Ministry, which prepared a surprise training of first strike forces - marines, paratroopers and long-range bombers - right in the backyard of the NATO military maneuvers.

"We conduct military training simultaneously with the international war games that have started in Europe, Saber Strike-2014 and BALTOPS-2014," said the ministry's press service.

Comment: As NATO engages in Saber Strike rattling and more provocations, we're seeing the first signs of a military response from Russia since their pullback from the Ukrainian border. The US and friends haven't engaged in an actual war against a real military power since WWII, and one does wonder how far they're willing to go. We can probably expect more chest puffing until they can displace blame for an economic collapse or some similar event to further define 'the enemy over there.'

      Read More...
V

William Cooper predicted 9/11 less than 11 weeks before attacks happened - June 28, 2001


YouTube
Wed, 11 Jun 2014 10:18 UTC
9/11 truth
"Whatever they're going to blame on Usama bin Laden - don't you believe it...They will soon do something outlandish to gain the support of the Sheeple."

This is one of Cooper's recordings of his radio talk show 'Hour of the Time' from 06/28/01. It is less than 11 weeks before 9/11 attacks really happened.

Most of you who have been following the 'official' government cover-up of 9/11 are well aware of Mr. Cooper's contributions to the truth movement. Those of you less familiar with his work might want to dig a little deeper. Cooper not only warned of a coming planned attack on US soil, he went so far as to name the scapegoat - Bin Laden.

Many believe that Cooper was killed (11/5/2001) because of the things he says here: disclosing highly sensitive information & particularly forewarning listeners to disregard any connection to Osama Bin Laden should a future attack on US soil occur.

      Read More...
Light Sabers

India ready to pay Iran in euros for oil


Press TV
Mon, 24 Mar 2014 05:28 UTC
Image
© File Photo
An Iranian oil tanker
India is ready to pay Iran in euros rather than rupees for crude oil imports after an Iranian official recently said Tehran prefers euro payment, Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry sources in New Delhi say.

The unnamed sources said India will change the current practice of rupee payment as soon as Iran files an official request to that effect, the Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday.

On March 16, Mohsen Qamsari, the director for international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said Tehran prefers to receive payments for crude oil exports to India in euros rather than in rupees following the easing of sanctions against Iran as a result of the Geneva nuclear deal.

Comment: Also see: Russia turns its back on the petrodollar

      Read More...
Handcuffs

Russian investigator: Those who commit crimes in southeastern Ukraine will not avoid retribution


ITAR-TASS
Wed, 11 Jun 2014 04:11 UTC
Head of Russia's Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin
© ITAR-TASS/Zurab Dzhavakhadze
Head of Russia's Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin
Head of Russia's Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin said none of those who are committing crimes in southeastern Ukraine will be able to avoid retribution.

"We'll get them, as the allies said in their statement in 1943 (at the Tehran conference - eds ITAR-TASS) even at the bottom of the ocean, and they will bear - sooner or later - moral, political and criminal responsibility for the actions they are taking against the peoples of Ukraine today," Bastrykin said at a meeting of the Military Leaders and Naval Commanders forum on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of Marshall Fyodor Tolbukhin's birthdate.

Earlier, the Investigative Committee has organised a specialised department on investigation of crimes against civilians in Ukraine and opened a criminal case on illegal methods of war used by as yet unidentified military of Ukraine's Armed Forces and members of the Ukrainian National Guard and Right Sector. The reasons to open the criminal case were the shelling of cities Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Donetsk, Mariupol and others.
      Read More...
Rocket

The Saker: Why the US-Russian nuclear balance is as solid as ever and why nuclear war is not on the cards

The Saker
The vineyard of the Saker
Tue, 10 Jun 2014 03:49 UTC
Mutual destruction
© Unknown
Ok. Today I am going to address the nuclear threat canard one last time. After that, I will just ignore this topic which, frankly, is a waste of time. Here are two comments which were recently posted on the blog:
"Security experts in the U.S. do not agree that Russia has a credible nuclear deterrent. The story is that the Russian nuclear force is in disrepair and that the U.S. can easily destroy most of what is left. They may be wrong--but that's what seems to be the thinking by at least some officials. "

"How exactly do YOU know that the US military knows that a successful nuclear first strike against Russia is impossible? So far, Saker, you have basically merely claimed this without providing any serious evidence whatsoever."
Both of these comments are typical of the kind of nonsense which have flooded in blogosphere in the recent times. The first one quotes "experts" who speak about the state of disrepair of the Russian nuclear forces. The second one hints at some secret capability which would make a first-strike possible. I will address both.
      Read More...
Black Magic

Paul Craig Roberts: 'US doesn't care about its allies if there is a chance to hurt Russia'


RT
Wed, 11 Jun 2014 03:22 UTC
South Stream pipeline
© RIA Novosti / Ramil Sitdikov
The US is trying to halt the South Stream project aimed at supplying Europe with gas as it hopes this would have an adverse economic effect on Russia, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts told RT.

RT:Bulgaria and Serbia confirmed the South Stream project will continue, despite significant pressure from the EU. Why have they taken that decision do you think?

Paul Craig Roberts: I think what is going on here; it's the US, not the EU. Bulgarians themselves said that they are being pressured by Washington to stop the work on the pipeline. This is the pipeline that runs under the Black Sea from Russia into Bulgaria; it borders Ukraine and makes it possible for Russia to continue to supply energy to Eastern and Western Europe. The problem with the existing pipeline through Ukraine is that Ukraine is broke, it is not paying its bills, and Russia faces the prospect of trying to supply Europe through the pipeline through Ukraine which would result in theft of gas by Ukraine that can't pay its gas bill. This is giving an alternative way of supplying Europe, so Europe itself has no interest in blocking the construction of this pipeline. This is an America imposed decision.

RT: If all this is Washington's initiative, then why it is trying to stop the project aimed at supplying with energy its own ally?

PR: Washington doesn't care what happens to Eastern or Western Europe, it is trying to hurt Russia, and Washington thinks that if it can stop Russia's ability to sell gas to Europe, this will have an adverse economic effect on Russia. Of course it will also have an adverse economic effect on Europe, in fact, probably worse, because German industry is dependent on Russian energy supplies, and all Europe is dependent on Russia's energy supplies not to freeze to death in the winter time. What you see here is the Washington empire, the exceptional and indispensible people who are superior to all other life forms, completely willing to sacrifice their allies in order to hurt Russia. That's all it about. That is not about anything else.
      Read More...
Cult

Criminal! US pressures El Salvador to buy Monsanto's GMO seeds


RT
Wed, 11 Jun 2014 03:13 UTC
Monsanto HQ
© AFP Photo / Juliette Michele
The entrance sign is seen at the headquarters of Monsanto, at Creve Coeur (St. Louis), Missouri
As one of the preconditions to authorizing close to $300 million in aid, the United States is pressuring El Salvador to purchase genetically modified seeds from Monsanto instead of non-GM seeds from local farmers.

According to Sustainable Pulse, a website covering developments related to genetically modified organisms and sustainable agriculture, the US will reportedly withhold $277 million in aid through the Millennium Challenge Compact if El Salvador refuses to purchase GM seeds from the biotech company Monsanto.

The website states that the stalled aid package was originally put on hold in late 2013, when it was revealed that Millennium Challenge Corporation would not deliver funds to the country unless "specific" economic and environmental reforms were made. Apparently, one of those is related to the purchase of GMO seeds.

Speaking with Verdad Digital, however, the president of the El Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technologies (CESTA) criticized the US negotiating position and said the country should back away from its demand.

"I would like to tell the U.S. Ambassador to stop pressuring the Government (of El Salvador) to buy 'improved' GM seeds," CESTA president Ricardo Navarro said, adding that the move would hurt the local economy and only benefit US companies.
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts