News from Kiev and Ukraine (Nov 27 - Dec 16)

Kiev of course has not collapsed yet, and it may somehow make it through it's recent troubles relatively unscathed. But from what I'm seeing, this outcome seems less and less likely as time goes by. Still, it's hard to wish this kind of trouble on most people. But sadly, a small, hard core group of idiots can force a whole nation to sink under the waves into the Ocean of Oblivion.

Ukraine is a country that doesn't have much of a reason to exist. Its whole raison d'être is defined as anti-Russia. Beyond that, they've rarely had a country; never been much of anything; never aspired to be something. Their only aspiration is to not be Russia. They're the anti-Russia. Just like matter and anti-matter cannot coexist; Russia and anti-Russia cannot coexist.

Skilled Professionals Are Leaving Ukraine.

Well, should we really be surprised? Exactly what do they have to look forward to by remaining in Ukraine? A sinking economy? Deteriorating infrastructure? Continuing dysfunctional government? A nice 2 meter deep hole with one's name on it? A Jekyll and Hyde educational system that metastasizes every couple of years depending who is in charge? A government run by Nazis? You can have all of this and a whole lot more if you remain in Ukraine; but if this isn't exactly your cup of tea, you're a whole lot better off somewhere else. And the exodus has begun.

The Antonov aircraft plant ceases production.

Well, it's certainly not the first, nor will it be the last industrial operation to shut down. But it's certainly one of the largest industrial operations in all of Kiev. And now it's no more, at least temporarily. Because it seems the Boeing Corporation may be interested in taking over this plant. But trying to take over of vibrant operation with a lot of orders is a lot more expensive than taking over a factory that is idle. But from the USA's point of view, this is what the whole Ukrainian revolution was for. Ruin the economy, force formally vibrant companies to shut down operations, and let foreign corporations buy the whole operation for kopeks. And by buying into a depressed economy such as Ukraine, you can pocess a workforce that costs 50% less than a it would have cost two years ago.

Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has an accident.

Boy, that sounds so innocuous, doesn't it? Just like Little Bobby had an accident. (Except it's a whole lot more serious).

Luckily, it's not something very serious; certainly nothing close to the scale of a Chernobyl. Yet the authorities here are playing with fire. They are trying to use nuclear fuel sourced from the USA in Soviet era nuclear reactors. There have been numerous warnings stating that this could cause a disaster, but when the choices are using compatible and well tested products from Russia, or using untested products from the USA, the chance to thumb your nose at Russia was just too big for some of the idiots in charge around here to pass up. But don't blame the current government for this one. This decision goes back to 2005, when the "Orange Revolution" government was in charge. So then, as now, go for the highly modified and untested products from the USA, screw Russia, and hope for the best.

Right on schedule, following a high profile terrorist attack, the government of Australia is now "investigating new security laws" and other methods that can be used to gut the civil liberties, privacy, and general way of life of Australian citizens. Only a day after the Sydney Siege, Australian "lawmakers," intelligence agencies, legal branches, and other government officials sprung into action in order to discuss the possibility of passing yet another law allowing the collection and housing of telecommunication and Internet data of Australian citizens.

On December 16, the Australian Parliament was hearing testimony by Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin who "warned of 'grave implications' for terrorism investigations if telecommunications companies are not forced to keep phone and internet data."

"I could not understate enough that it would have grave implications for law enforcement's ability in this country to investigate, deter and disrupt potential terrorist acts," Colvin said. He also claimed that, as new Telecom Companies entered the market, there was less data being collected and what data was being collected is being held for shorter periods.

The inquiry comes as part of the Joint Intelligence and Security Committee's "debate" over a third round of oppressive laws regarding phone and computer data collection and retention.

Of course, since the inquiries conveniently have come on the heels of the Sydney Siege, lawmakers are now asking whether or not these measures could serve to prevent "lone wolf" attacks as well as coordinated acts of terrorism. A separate inquiry is being requested to determine if these laws could prevent events like the Sydney Siege which appears to be something vastly different from a lone wolf attack and instead more like a state-sponsored event.


The committee is also "set to examine the next package of proposed counterterrorism laws" in the very near future.

Earlier this evening China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange's (SAFE) Wang Yungui noted "the impact of the Russian Ruble depreciation was unclear yet, and, as Bloomberg reported, "SAFE is closely watching Ruble's depreciation and encouraging companies to hedge Ruble risks." His comments also echoed the ongoing FX reform agenda aimed at increasing Yuan flexibility which The South China Morning Post then hinted in a story entitled "Russia may seek China help to deal with crisis," which which noted that Russia could fall back on its 150 billion yuan ($24 billion) currency swap agreement with China if the ruble continues to plunge, that was signed in October. Furthermore, two bankers close to the PBOC reportedly said the swap-line was meant to reduce the role of the US dollar if China and Russia need to help each other overcome a liquidity squeeze.

As Bloomberg reported, earlier in the evening, China's Wang Yungui noted

• *CHINA IS CLOSELY WATCHING RUBLE'S DEPRECIATION: SAFE'S WANG
• *CHINA ENCOURAGES COS. TO HEDGE RUBLE RISKS, SAFE'S WANG SAYS
• *REAL IMPACT OF RUBLE DEPRECIATION UNCLEAR YET, SAFE'S WANG SAYS

Adding that China plans sweeping reforms to promote FX flexibility.

And then The South China Morning Post hints,

Russia could fall back on its 150 billion yuan (HK$189.8 billion) currency swap agreement with China if the rouble continues to plunge.

If the swap deal is activated for this purpose, it would mark the first time China is called upon to use its currency to bail out another currency in crisis. The deal was signed by the two central banks in October, when Premier Li Keqiang visited Russia.

"Russia badly needs liquidity support and the swap line could be an ideal tool," said Bank of Communications chief economist Lian Ping.

The swap allows the central banks to directly buy yuan and rouble in the two currencies, rather than via the US dollar.

Two bankers close to the People's Bank of China said it was meant to reduce the role of the US dollar if China and Russia need to help each other overcome a liquidity squeeze.

China has currency swap deals with more than 20 monetary authorities around the world. Swaps are generally used to settle trade.

"The yuan-rouble swap deal was not just a financial matter," said Wang Feng, chairman of Shanghai-based private equity group Yinshu Capital. "It has political implications as it is a sign of mutual trust."

The rouble has lost more than 50 per cent against the US dollar this year, pushing Russia to the brink of a currency crisis, though measures announced by the central bank helped it recover some ground yesterday.

Li Lifan, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the swap would not be enough for Russia even if it is used in its entirety. "The PBOC might agree to extend something like 15 billion yuan initially as a way of showing China's commitment to Russia."

A danger from the "war on terror" was always that it would encourage the spread of an authoritarian U.S. state, ignoring international law abroad and constitutional rights at home, a process that is now growing more apparent with impunity for both torturers and police who kill minorities, writes Nat Parry.

The international fallout from last week's long-delayed release of the Senate Intelligence Committee's 500-page executive summary of its still-classified 6,000 report on CIA torture could hardly be more intense, with calls coming from the United Nations, foreign governments and the human rights community for prosecutions of those who carried out or authorized the torture techniques described in the report, including senior officials from the Bush administration.

But judging from the self-assured comments of CIA and former administration officials, there is no real concern over the possibility of any criminal liability, a lack of accountability which has led to a palpable arrogance among those who would be behind bars if laws were actually enforced on an equal basis in the United States.

The above-the-law sense of entitlement was perhaps most clearly on display in former Vice President Dick Cheney's appearance this Sunday on "Meet the Press," stating that when it comes to using torture, "I'd do it again in a minute."

When presented with gruesome details from the Senate report on torture - for example the newly revealed "enhanced interrogation technique" of "rectal feeding," i.e., anal rape - and asked for his definition of what might constitute "torture" in a legal sense, Cheney retorted that torture is "an American citizen on his cellphone making a last call to his four young daughters shortly before he burns to death in the upper levels of the Trade Center in New York on 9/11."

Short of this rather high bar, nothing, by definition, that the United States does to its detainees could conceivably be considered torture.

In the aftermath of yet another highly publicized terror attack (or at least the potential for a high profile attack) in Australia by foreign-born jihadists, the Western public is once again experiencing a variety of emotional reactions that they have carefully been trained to experience whenever such events take place at home or abroad.

The xenophobic pro-war right is predictably using the attack as an example of how all Muslims are terrorists and how their total annihilation and implementation of police state tactics are the only solution. The pathetic left-wing is attempting to portray the gunman as a "lone nut" with no political motives as a justification for more "anti-terror" laws. The vast majority in the middle, however, believe the official mainstream version of events, quake in their boots, and move on to the next form of entertainment provided to them by the culture creators without a second thought.

Yet, as is almost always the case, there is much more to the story than is being reported by mainstream outlets. There exists a number of unanswered questions and unexplained inconsistencies with the story of "Man Haron Monis" and his hostage taking escapade in Sydney.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday slammed a recent decision by a top European court to remove Palestinian faction Hamas from the EU's list of "terrorist" organizations.

"The friendship we see from the United States stands in complete contrast to what we are seeing regretfully in Europe," according to a statement issued by Netanyahu's office just before he was scheduled to meet with U.S. Senator-elect Joni Ernst.

"We saw today examples hanging before us of European prejudice," Netanyahu was quoted as saying.

Earlier Wednesday, the European Court in Luxemburg revoked a previous decision by the Council of the European Union to include Hamas on its list of "terrorist" groups.

In 2001, the council put Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, on its list of "terrorist" groups. Two years later, it added Hamas itself to the list.

Dr. Jacques Pauwels is not the kind of historian you often hear about in the mainstream media. He's obviously not the kind of "expert" they refer to for historical facts. Actually, one crucial propaganda method consists in excluding current events from their historical context.

Listening to Pauwels makes one realize the scope of the lies we've been fed about the Second World War, fascism and democracy, and how myths related to previous wars need to be upheld in the mainstream discourse to satisfy never ending war propaganda needs.

In a speech held December 15 in Montreal, he explained that World Wars I and II were all about crushing mass revolutionary movements.

The myth of the Good War

Every time Westerners' approval for war is required, the myth of the good war surfaces: the Second World War was a good war, a necessity to quench Hitler's blood thirst. Pauwels tears this myth apart, uncovering the vicious nature of the western elite.

The reasons for the US involvement in World War II lie in the social-economic conditions of the time, not in an outpouring of compassion destined to save humanity from fascism. The US elite was actually in favor of fascism, a very convenient tool to crush the mass revolutionary movement embodied by the Russian Revolution and the USSR.

Lincoln - As the Republican leader in the U.S. Senate pledged quick approval of the Keystone XL pipeline early next year, final offers were landing Tuesday in dozens of Nebraska mailboxes.

TransCanada Corp. said it mailed new offers of right-of-way payments this week to more than 100 Nebraska landowners who have refused to sign an easement contract.

The letters also say the company will pursue eminent domain against landowners who don't agree to terms by Jan. 16. The company says Nebraska law requires condemnation proceedings to start within two years of the state's approval of the pipeline route, which occurred Jan. 22, 2013.

"This really is an effort to reach voluntary agreements rather than going through the eminent domain process," said Andrew Craig of Omaha, Keystone's land manager. "We always prefer to go through negotiations."

The director of a leading pipeline opposition group said there are 115 landowner holdouts, and she expects them to refuse the latest offer. Jane Kleeb of Bold Nebraska also argued that the company lacks a legal basis to use eminent domain since the state's pipeline routing law has been declared unconstitutional and is under review by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

"This is not about money," Kleeb said. "This is about their family legacies, their land and protecting their water."

The state's highest court could rule on the pipeline case as early as Friday.

While landowners were opening envelopes Tuesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell was promising to put a Keystone XL bill at the top of the agenda when the Senate convenes in January. Passage of legislation approving the pipeline is likely in a Republican-controlled Senate, which could set up an early veto confrontation with President Barack Obama.

Congressional Republicans have been pushing for approval of the pipeline for years. Obama has resisted because of environmental concerns.

"We're optimistic we can pass it and put it on the president's desk," McConnell said

Another ceasefire in Donbass for the first time in many months is without the artillery cannonade. Peaceful cities again became peaceful. Machine gun bursts and single shots from small arms don't count. Ukrainian troops folded their heavy rocket artillery and are performing a rotation. Battered units of UAF are being replaced by fresh troops. This is where the fun begins.

One of my friends got a call from a friend living in a prosperous European country and hysterically reported that the husband of her relative, a soldier of one of the divisions of NATO, was sent to Ukraine, changed into Ukrainian uniform and delivered to the location of Donetsk airport. She also reported that according to this soldier, almost all who, under the pretext of rotation, comes to the airport - are Europeans and Americans. NATO troops are taking this strategic object under their control.

Yesterday, Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov told NTV channel he'd like to quit his post as leader of Chechnya and help the local militias in Novorussia (Donetsk and Lugansk) fight their Ukrainian attackers. This comes after Kiev's corrupt officials initiated criminal proceedings against him last week and threatened to put him on an international 'wanted' list. He responded:

They can keep saying whatever they like. But I am going to ask the (Russian) president for permission to quit my post in order to go to Donbass to protect the interests of those citizens who are fighting there now.

The day after the probable false-flag terror attack in Chechnya's capital city Grozny on December 4, several members of the Ukrainian Rada, including Yuri Beryoza, Andriy Levus and Ihor Moiseychuk voiced their support for the terrorist attack, calling for a "second front" to open in Russia's Caucasus region. One of these fools, Moiseychuk, even implied a wish for Kadyrov's assassination, uploading a video of him shooting an assault rifle at a photograph of Kadyrov.