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#GreenNewDeal Utopia: US Rep. Ocasio-Cortez doubles down on 'Free-Money for lazy people' FAQ debacle

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ideology
© Ben Garrison
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has inserted her foot squarely in her mouth as her "Green New Deal" PR nightmare continues.

After removing an embarrassing FAQ from her website which failed to match the environmental legislation package she introduced on Thursday, one of her advisers went on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight and lied about it.

The now-deleted version of the FAQ originally uploaded by AOC's office contained an absurd provision for "economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work," a phrase which AOC adviser Robert Hockett - a Cornell law professor, claimed came from a "doctored document."

Treasure Chest

Venezuela's oil giant PDVSA reportedly moves joint ventures' accounts to Russia's Gazprombank

PDVSA oil pump
© Reuters / Isaac Urrutia
Amid the tightening noose of US sanctions, Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA is reportedly moving bank accounts of its joint ventures with foreign companies to Russia's Gazprombank, Reuters reports, citing documents and sources.

Customers of PDVSA's joint ventures with US-based Chevron Corp, France's Total SA, Norway's Equinor and other projects with foreign companies have reportedly been instructed to deposit their payments into Russia-based bank accounts following the latest crippling round of Washington's sanctions, Reuters reports.

Imposed on January 28, the fresh round of sanctions are aimed at cutting the government of Nicholas Maduro off from oil proceeds, after Washington recognized the self-proclaimed 'interim' president Juan Guaido and claimed that Venezuela's state funds and profits should be controlled by the 'legitimate government.'

Snakes in Suits

'Russians at the doorstep': US ambassador says Germany must 'use its leverage' to keep Kremlin in line

Richard Grenell with Angela Merkel
© REUTERS/AXEL SCHMIDT
The US ambassador to Germany says Berlin needs to escalate its stand-off with Russia by investing more in weapons, and pressuring it over energy links. Moscow believes that Germany won't submit to American "blackmail."

"The Germans have the leverage with Russia. Imagine if Chancellor Merkel stood up and said: Because of the Russian behavior, because of the malign activity in the increased offense, we cannot give you more influence by buying your energy," Richard Grenell, a career diplomat who was assigned to Germany last year, told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

The current White House administration has persistently urged Angela Merkel's government to restrict or halt the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which is due to be completed later this year.

Eye 1

US killing INF treaty further hampers any hopes of peace

nuclear missile
© Ministerio de Defensa de la Federación Rusa
The decision to withdraw from the INF was not based on a military necessity, but a political one.

With his announcement that the United States is suspending compliance with and withdrawing from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has sparked a fundamental debate about the future of arms control. The INF Treaty was at the heart of a new arms control regime created by the Reagan administration that helped lead to the end of the Cold War. Now, far from being the no-brainer the Trump administration is suggesting, the death of the treaty could easily harm rather than bolster U.S. and allied security.

The United States has claimed since 2013-and NATO allies, after being provided with evidence from Washington, concur-that Russia illegally tested land-based cruise missiles with ranges of 500 kilometers. Perhaps neither President Vladimir Putin nor top Russian officials understand or believe that the manner of testing a cruise missile would put it in violation of such a deal, but the reports that Russia has now fielded at least four battalions of these systems render its perceptions immaterial, at least from Washington's standpoint.


Comment: And we know how reliable 'evidence' from Washington is.


Comment: So the US has actually made the situation worse in it's unfounded accusations, is anybody surprised?


TV

Israel's politicians barred from specific photo ops with IDF soldiers in election campaigns

Netanyahu soldiers
© Amos Ben-Gershom, GPONetanyahu meets with soldiers from the 51st Battalion on the Gaza border
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is expected to bar politicians from posting joint photos with Israel Defense Forces soldiers on their social media outlets in order to promote their election campaign.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as the defense minister, as well as members of his ruling Likud Party and members of other parties will not be allowed to use photos with IDF troops on their private Facebook and Twitter pages. They will also not be allowed to appear with the troops on billboards, however, the attorney general is expected to allow posting photo ops on official social media platforms.

Mandelblit has been reviewing the issue after the Labor Party filed a petition to the Central Elections Committee Chairman, High Court of Justice Deputy Chief Hanan Melcer, calling on him to prevent further posts involving soldiers on politicians' private social media accounts.

Comment: Using the troops to boost one's image is a common propaganda ploy, so it's no surprise that these 'visits' surge before election time:


Bad Guys

US blockade cost Venezuela $350 billion since 2013, primary reason for economic crisis

trump venezuela
© CELAGAccording to the report, the U.S. created the necessary conditions to allegedly "legitimize" military intervention in Venezuela.
The Economic Debates Unit of the Latin American Geopolitical Strategic Center (CELAG) released a report on "the economic consequences of the boycott against Venezuela," on Friday, in which it is proved that the "international financial blockade to Venezuela since 2013 is the main responsible for the economic crisis."

According to CELAG's report, the financial and economic blockade that was mainly promoted by the United States, and enforced by its allies, would have cost Venezuela around US$350 billion "in the production of goods and services between 2013 and 2017."

Blocking a country financially is paramount when trying to asphyxiate the national economy. The external attacks are able to undermine the economic and productive capacity of the country, and therefore, destroy the economy. According to the study, these economic and financial attacks "are usually the prelude to military intervention."

Comment: The US and its lackeys have done everything their power to ruin Venezuela and yet the country has persevered, although, unlike Russia and Iran, it doesn't look like it will be able to ride out the chaos creation for much longer: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: US Regime Change Operation in Venezuela - This Time It's Legit?


Star of David

Flashback Israel's propaganda isn't fooling anyone - except Israelis

netanyahu speech congress
© Agence France-PresseBenjamin Netanyahu delivers his speech before Congress, March 3, 2015.
'Hasbara' is the Israeli euphemism for propaganda, and there are some things, said the late ambassador Yohanan Meroz, that are not 'hasbarable.' One of them is Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

And propaganda shall cover for everything. We'll say terrorism, we'll shout anti-Semitism, we'll scream delegitimation, we'll cite the Holocaust; we'll say Jewish state, gay-friendly, drip irrigation, cherry tomatoes, aid to Nepal, Nobel Prizes for Jews, look what's happening in Syria, the only democracy, the greatest army. We'll say the Palestinians are making unilateral moves, we'll propose negotiations on the "settlement bloc borders," we'll demand recognition of a Jewish state and we'll complain that "there's no one to talk to."

We'll wail that the whole world is against us and wants to destroy us, no less. The deputy minister will call on Switzerland to boycott, the minister will declare that boycotts are unacceptable, the deputy director of the Foreign Ministry will explain that a bigger budget is needed, and Sheldon Adelson will convene an emergency conference in Las Vegas - and despite it all, nothing will budge. Propaganda won't cover for everything.

Comment: Isreal should have heeded Levy's words. From the grass-roots movement of BDS to the expose of the Zionist Lobbies in the US and UK by Al Jazeera, the world is closing in on Israel. How much longer can they shut it out?


Light Saber

"Nothing hurts like the truth": Russian Ambassador slams Paris' attacks on Sputnik & RT

RT france
© Reuters / Philippe WojazerA reporter holds a microphone with a logo of RT France
The reason behind the French authorities' attacks on Russian media, in particular, the Sputnik news agency and RT broadcaster, is that "nothing hurts like the truth," Russian Ambassador in Paris Alexei Meshkov told Sputnik in an interview.

Last week, Le Point magazine reported that French President Emmanuel Macron had called one of the yellow vest protest movement leaders, Eric Drouet, a "media product, a product of social media." According to Macron, yellow vests receive instructions from abroad, while their activities are supported by trolls and special accounts on social networks, including those allegedly bought by RT and Sputnik. Following the remarks, the Russian Foreign Ministry sent an official diplomatic note to the French Embassy in Moscow, demanding to verify the statements.


Comment: Macron is either a pathological liar or paranoid beyond the boundaries of sanity. Either way, he manages to reveal his nature while at the same time ridiculing the majority of France who support the Yellow Vests.


"It is noteworthy that the attacks by the French authorities - by the way, I would also mention the constant attacks by the local media - are directed against those of your colleagues who work for the French audience. The reason, in my opinion, is simple and is as old as the hills. The popular wisdom says - nothing hurts like the truth," Meshkov said.

Comment: The attacks on RT and Sputnik began before the Yellow Vest protests but, understandably, the authorities who do not have control over those outlets, like they do the rest of mainstream media, see them as a serious threat to their propaganda war:


Vader

Flashback Why are Washington's foreign policy think tanks spoiling for more war? Look at their donors.

Hillary Clinton
© Associated Press / Pablo Martinez MonsivaisDemocratic Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress and the America Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Monday, March 23, 2015, in Washington.
War is first and foremost a profitable racket.

Washington, DC, may be the only place in the world where people openly flaunt their pseudo-intellectuality by banding together, declaring themselves "think tanks," and raising money from external interests, including foreign governments, to compile reports that advance policies inimical to the real-life concerns of the American people.

As a former member of the House of Representatives, I remember 16 years of congressional hearings where pedigreed experts came to advocate wars in testimony based on circular, rococo thinking devoid of depth, reality, and truth. I remember other hearings where the Pentagon was unable to reconcile over $1 trillion in accounts, lost track of $12 billion in cash sent to Iraq, and rigged a missile-defense test so that an interceptor could easily home in on a target. War is first and foremost a profitable racket.

Comment: Trump was elected on this sentiment: no more foreign interventions, no more nation-building. But he has been hamstrung by the entrenched apparatus connected to these think tanks by the revolving door of time in office, and time in the political "private sector".

Still, best laid plans and all. Not one of theses centers of "intellect" foresaw the effect of Russia intervening in Syria (note that the article was written one month after Putin's announcement). Since then, Russia has gone on to frustrate many of the warmongers' cherished goals with patience and more unexpected moves. That is what comes of believing the world is their's to make over as they choose.


Light Saber

"Worst scenario": Russia warns against US military interference in Venezuela's affairs

venezuela
© AP Photo / Ariana Cubillos
US President Donald Trump earlier confirmed that US military intervention in Venezuela was "an option." His statement came amid media speculation after White House National Security Adviser John Bolton was photographed holding a yellow notepad that read: "5,000 troops to Colombia" during a press briefing on new sanctions against Venezuela.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has stated that military interference in Venezuela's internal affairs would be the "worst scenario", adding that such an intervention would have "catastrophic" consequences.

"We will not speculate about what the results of any contacts would be, but we strictly adhere to the line that destructive external intervention, especially armed intervention in Venezuelan affairs, would be the worst possible scenario. Its consequences are difficult to predict, but it is clear that the hypothetical use of force in this situation will lead to a surge in bloodshed and to consequences that will also have effect outside Venezuela, Ryabkov said commenting on meetings by the contact group on Venezuela in Uruguay.

Comment: We only need to see the US 'legacy' of military intervention over the last several decades that it's a bad idea for everyone involved - even for the psycho's in Washington and London who just are too blinded by wishful thinking to see the eventual outcome: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: US Regime Change Operation in Venezuela - This Time It's Legit?