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Western governments and media are using Russophobia to conceal their own social and economic decline

Finian Cunningham
RT
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 16:29 UTC
russian bear
© Getty Images
It is an age-old statecraft technique to seek unity within a state by depicting an external enemy or threat. Russia is the bête noire again, as it was during the Cold War years as part of the Soviet Union.

But the truth is Western states are challenged by internal problems.

Ironically, by denying their own internal democratic challenges, Western authorities are only hastening their institutional demise.

Russophobia - "blame it all on Russia" - is a short-term, futile ploy to stave off the day of reckoning when furious and informed Western citizens will demand democratic restitution for their legitimate grievances.

The dominant "official" narrative, from the US to Europe, is that "malicious" Russia is "sowing division;""eroding democratic institutions;" and "undermining public trust" in systems of governance, credibility of established political parties, and the news media.
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Dominoes

Trump Education Dept. reverses Obama policy, will not consider transgender complaints about bathroom access as falling under federal law

Carlos Garcia
The Blaze
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 16:18 UTC
trump devos
© Alex Wong/Getty Images
The Department of Education will no longer consider complaints by transgender students of unequal restroom access as part of their jurisdiction, according to a statement by their spokesperson published Monday.

Here's what they said

Buzzfeed reported that Department of Education spokesperson Liz Hill said that they do not consider transgender complaints as falling under the Title IX federal civil rights law.

"Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, not gender identity," Hill said.
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Stock Down

Trump privatizes America - chooses financial predation over production

Sharmini Peries, Michael Hudson
Counter Punch
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 12:00 UTC
trump cut medicare
SHARMINI PERIES: President Trump presented his infrastructure plan on Monday. The long-awaited plan proposes to spend $200 billion in federal funds over the next 10 years. This is to be complemented with another 1.3 trillion in spending from cities, states, and private investors for a total of 1.5 trillion. Another major component of the plan is to reduce red tape and approval processes so that projects are approved much faster.

Here's what Trump had to say in presenting the plan.
This morning, I submitted legislative principles to Congress that will spur the biggest and boldest infrastructure investment in American history. The framework will generate an unprecedented $1.5 to $1.7-trillion investment in American infrastructure. We're going to have a lot of public-private. And that way it gets done on time, on budget.

Comment: Why is it that America, the UK, and increasingly other Western countries following the neo-liberal agenda, insist on privatising public utilities when they are shown to never work, whereas elsewhere they are able to provide decent socialised healthcare and build railways that will encircle the plant without issue??

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Gift

Inspector general probing $1.25 million Jill McCabe received from Clinton insiders during Andrew McCabe's FBI's Hillary Investigation


True Pundit
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 13:10 UTC
Dr Jill McCabe
The Inspector General probing the FBI is taking a very close look at over $1.2 million donated by Hillary Clinton-backed campaign bundlers to the political coffers of Dr.Jill McCabe, the wife of defrocked FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, federal sources confirm, at the same time McCabe was spearheading the Bureau's investigation into Hillary Clinton.

Democratic PACs controlled by Hillary Clinton insiders paid the Deputy Director of the FBI's wife almost $700,000 in campaign funds before the senior FBI official, who was supervising Clinton's investigation, lobbied against charging her criminally. In fact. McCabe intentionally withheld evidence in the Hillary investigation just prior to the 2016 election.

But while the $700,000 has been publicly disseminated in numerous media reports, federal officials said they have traced an additional $525,000 that Dr. McCabe raised from Hillary-linked donors for Dr. McCabe's failed 2015 Virginia Senate seat race.

That comes to a total of $1.25 million that Hillary-backed factions kicked into Dr. McCabe's coffers while her husband was leading the FBI's investigation into Clinton for classified and top secret security breaches with her email and server usage while Secretary of State.

Comment: Did the Clintons and the McCabes scratch each other backs?

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Vader

Macron foolishly threatens to strike Syria if chemical weapons were used against civilians by Assad regime (they weren't)


RT
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 22:59 UTC
macron
© Ludovic Marin / Reuters
Emmanuel Macron has promised to "strike" Syria if any evidence emerges that chemical weapons were used against civilians. However, he added that French intelligence agencies do not have proof to back up such allegations.

"On chemical weapons, I set a red line and I reaffirm that red line," Macron told reporters in Paris on Tuesday. "Today, our agencies, our armed forces have not established that chemical weapons, as set out in treaties, have been used against the civilian population."

If any evidence is found, France will strike the places where chemical weaponry shipments "originate," he added. The French President also recalled his phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which took place last Friday.

"I've reiterated it to President Putin, asking to make it very clear to the Syrian regime, which has reaffirmed that it does not use chemical weapons ... but we are watching it," Macron stated.
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Eye 1

Venezuelan official claims Colombia plotting 'bombing' or 'invasion' of the country


RT
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 12:03 UTC
Colombia military
© Nacho Doce / Reuters
Soldiers of the Military Forces of Colombia patrol a street in Bogota on September 5, 2017.
Venezuela's chief prosecutor has alleged that Colombia is eyeing a military operation in his country, while stressing that "we will not allow it." He provided no evidence to back up his claim.

In Colombia, they are planning to revive eras that had ended in human history, like military bombing, a military invasion or the occupation, through blood and gunfire, of a peaceful country like Venezuela," Venezuelan Chief Prosecutor Tarek William Saab said at an event in Anzoátegui state, according to EFE news agency. "We will not allow it," he added.

Saab did not provide any proof for his allegations, which came amid a visit by the head of the US Southern Command, Admiral Kurt Tidd, to Colombia over the weekend.

Comment: The Miami Herald reports more on the region's reactions to these accusations:
Tidd and Colombian Vice President Óscar Naranjo met in the troubled coastal city of Tumaco on Saturday. According to the vice president's office, they met to review bilateral efforts to stem the flow of drugs from Colombia's Pacific coast.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, a staunch Caracas ally, however, called Tidd's presence "suspicious."

"Any imperialist military threat against our sister Venezuela, and our region, will be undone by the dignity, sovereignty and unity of our democratic countries," Morales wrote on Twitter.

On Monday, the commander of Colombia's armed forces, Gen. Alberto Mejía, suggested he had his hands too full with domestic issues to worry about Venezuela's accusations.

"We have so many problems in our own country, and that's what we are solely dedicated to and focused on," he said at a press conference. "We're only interested in the problems of the Colombian people."
Despite these assurances from the commander of Colombia's army, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos stated that his government will not recognize the results of Venezuela's upcoming elections.

Further reading: Chavismo lives in Venezuela: US-backed opposition get virtually wiped off the municipal map during elections

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Map

Lavrov: US trying to create 'quasi-state' out of Syrian land


RT
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 12:03 UTC
Syrian Democratic Forces
© Rodi Said / Reuters
Fighters from a new border security force under the command of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Hasaka, northeastern Syria, January 20, 2018
The US has likely taken a "course to create a quasi-state" in the Kurdish SDF militia-held regions of Syria, despite the proclaimed adherence to the territorial integrity of the country, Russia's FM Sergey Lavrov said.

The US activities in Syria are driven by undertaking "dangerous, unilateral steps" instead of trying to "achieve a common understanding" between all the parties, Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday.

He warned that Washington's true goal might be the partitioning of Syria. The recent steps of Washington, including the creation of the so-called Border Security Force (BSF), operating under the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have prompted even more questions in Moscow.

Comment: Further reading:

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Bad Guys

WH defends its handling of Porter scandal, intel chief hits out at 'broken' vetting system


RT
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 12:03 UTC
Dan Coats
© Aaron Bernstein
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats
The White House has defended its handling of the background check for Rob Porter, a former top aide to President Donald Trump accused of domestic abuse.

Porter, who worked as a top White House aide despite domestic abuse allegations from two former wives, resigned last week after stories emerged of his behavior. President Trump has questioned the legitimacy of the allegations against Porter, who has denied the claims.

Addressing the controversy at the daily press briefing Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters that its personnel security office had not finished making a recommendation on Porter's security clearance even though the FBI had finished its investigation. As Trump's staff secretary, Porter would have had access to highly secretive information.
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Vader

Intel chiefs pay lip service to Russian threat & fears of China in Senate testimony


RT
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 12:03 UTC
Christopher Wray Mike Pompeo Dan Coats
© Aaron P. Bernstein / Reuters
FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and Director of National Intelligence DNI Dan Coats testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, February 13, 2018
Testifying before the US Senate on worldwide threats, six intelligence chiefs often banged the drum of 'Russian interference.' The tune was old and rang hollow, however, as mere assertions were offered in place of evidence.

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dan Coats was joined by CIA chief Mike Pompeo, FBI Director Christopher Wray, NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers, and the heads of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), to apprise the Senate Intelligence Committee on worldwide threats.

Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) set the tone for Tuesday's hearing, asking the witnesses to declare publicly they stand by the January 2017 assessment produced by the former DNI, which blamed Russia for "interfering" in US elections in an unspecified manner. Everyone dutifully answered yes.

Comment: Further reading:

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Stock Down

City of London think tank predicts "imminent" US stock market crash of up to 50%

Nafeez Ahmed
Medium
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 12:00 UTC
NASDAQ
A new analysis published on the website of a London-based think-tank, funded by the world's biggest banking and financial services institutions, warns that the US stock market is on the brink of an imminent crash that could trigger another global recession.

The document by a senior US economist and former Houblon-Norman Fellow at the Bank of England is published on the website of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), which runs around 100 roundtable events a year involving financial services insiders from the UK and beyond.

The document forecasts that in 2018, US stock prices are likely to plummet by as much as "forty to fifty percent" - compared to the less than five percent plunge in early February. The document was published weeks before the recent stock market volatility.

Comment: One wonders what economic models the financial oligarchs have in mind. Because while Western nations continue with their failing economic and political model, other countries, like Russia and China, have been buying up gold, restructuring their economies, forging ahead with massive infrastructure projects and mutually beneficial deals, working towards a world that does not rely on the corrupt US

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