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Quenelle

Jewish writer Gideon Levy in Haaretz: Jeremy Corbyn isn't anti-Semitic, should be UK's PM

Gideon Levy
Haaretz
Thu, 09 Aug 2018 15:06 UTC
Jeremy Corbyn
© REUTERS / Neil Hall
Jeremy Corbyn is a paragon of a leftist, one who has fought his whole life for the values he believes in. Israelis regard him as a sort of alien - the left here has never been led by an Israeli Corbyn, nor by anyone who can hold a candle to him.

Corbyn is a brave man. He voted in parliament 553 times against his party's position, and yet he took its leadership by storm. He voted against the war in Iraq, against nuclear weapons and against British rule in Northern Ireland. He was active in Amnesty against Augusto Pinochet, and was arrested in anti-apartheid demonstrations in South Africa.

With such a conscience and courage he wouldn't have gotten anywhere in Israel, apart from Breaking the Silence. In Britain he has a good chance of being elected the next prime minister. Nothing lights up the imagination and inspires hope more than that. Anyone who wants to see the world take action against the Israeli occupation should dream of Corbyn.

Corbyn has been declared the next enemy of the Jews. Viktor Orban is a righteous among the nations; the American alt-right is the rock of Israel and its savior; Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines' leader who called to kill millions "like Hitler," is a welcome guest in Israel - and Corbyn is the enemy of the people.

Comment: See also:

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Info

Pakistan's new PM Imran Khan gives first televised speech - plans to cut servant staff from 542 to 2


RFE/RL
Mon, 20 Aug 2018 13:59 UTC
imran khan
© Reuters/ Athit Perawongmetha
Pakistan's 21-member cabinet has been sworn in, a day after newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed in a televised speech that his government would cut spending, end corruption, and repatriate public funds.

Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath of office to 16 federal ministers in Islamabad on August 20. Khan has also appointed five advisers to his cabinet.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said after taking his oath of office that he was aware of foreign policy challenges ahead. He promised to tackle all key issues.

Khan took the oath of office on August 18 after his party won the most parliamentary seats in the July 25 elections but fell short of a majority, forcing it to form a coalition.

The former cricket star turned politician spoke for more than an hour in a live televised address on August 19, saying he wants to see "Pakistan a great country" with social services for the poor.

He also lamented the growing divide between rich and poor in the Muslim-majority nation of some 200 million people.

Comment: Khan seems to be Pakistan's Trump: an outsider politician seeking to make Pakistan great (again?). He has charisma, and is already using persuasion techniques to pace and lead the public in the direction he wants to take his country. Case in point: he has promised to cut his household servant staff from 542 to just 2, to set an example of how Pakistan's ruling elite should change their "lavish lifestyle". He is framing his reforms in the lingo of the people, Islamic values:
During his inaugural speech in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, Khan said in order for the country to prosper, an Islamic welfare state must be introduced and debt must be cut via taxation of the rich. He also pledged to slash poverty and illiteracy rates.

"I want to speak about how the rich and powerful live in this country. The prime minister has 524 servants and 80 cars. The prime minister, which is me, also has 33 bulletproof cars. The prime ministers all have helicopters and airplanes to fly them. We have massive governor houses and every conceivable luxury," Khan said, Dawn reports. How could it be, the cricket star-turned PM asked, that "on the one hand we don't have money to spend on our people, and on the other we have people living like our colonial masters used to live? I want to tell my people, I will live a simple life, I will save your money," he said. As the literacy rate in Pakistan hovers above 40 percent, Khan also pledged to increase education levels across the country.
...
In a country where less than one percent pays income tax, Khan went on to outline plans to reduce debt via taxation rather than loan. "It is your responsibility to pay taxes," said Khan. "Think of this as a jihad [holy war], that you need to pay tax for the betterment of your country."
See also: Is Imran Khan's Pakistan ready to escape the clutches of the US?

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Black Cat

Bolton stokes the hysteria: China, North Korea & Iran may target US elections - offers no proof


RT
Mon, 20 Aug 2018 12:15 UTC
john Bolton
© Global Look PressJohn Bolton
The upcoming 2018 US midterm elections might be targeted by Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, National Security Advisor John Bolton has warned, while declining to provide any evidence.

"I can say definitively that it's a sufficient national security concern about Chinese meddling, Iranian meddling, and North Korean meddling that we're taking steps to try to prevent it, so it's all four of those countries, really," Bolton told Martha Raddatz, co-anchor of ABC's This Week, on Sunday.

Bolton produced the remark when asked to elaborate on US President Donald Trump's cryptic tweet that accused certain "fools" of looking only at Moscow while an election meddling threat might also be coming from Beijing. When confronted about what exactly China did to US elections in the past, Bolton dodged the question, simply reassuring Raddatz that the four countries could be seeking to tamper with the upcoming polls.

Comment:

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Light Sabers

Clapper throws Brennan under the bus: 'John and his rhetoric have become an issue'

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sun, 19 Aug 2018 10:55 UTC
John Brennan and James Clapper
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper threw former CIA Director John Brennan under the bus on Sunday, telling CNN's State of the Union that "John and his rhetoric have become an issue in and of itself," adding "John is subtle like a freight train and he's gonna say what's on his mind."


Somebody wants to keep their security clearance...

Brennan's latest "rhetoric," of course, is his Sunday morning threat to sue the Trump administration following the stripping of his security clearance.


That said, Clapper empathized with Brennan over shared concerns regarding what they say is a threat to the United States from the Trump administration.

Comment: There's no honor among thieves, as they say. See also:

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Bug

Best of the Web: Bombshell: Courts documents reveal #MeToo movement leader raped teenage boy then paid him off


RT
Mon, 20 Aug 2018 10:38 UTC
Asia Argento
Not so glorious now, is it? Asia Argento, the actress who kickstarted last year's global anti-men campaign. Was she paid to do it?
Asia Argento, an Italian actress and director at the forefront of the #MeToo campaign that brought down producer Harvey Weinstein over sexual assault, herself reportedly assaulted an underage actor, and paid him to stay silent.

Court documents reportedly seen by the New York Times outline allegations by Jimmy Bennet, actor and rock musician, who says Argento sexually assaulted him when he was 17 and she was 37. The age of consent in California, where the alleged assault took place, is 18.

Comment: Watch now as they defend her by saying "but that wasn't rape - it was consensual..."

As we said at the time, while we would, hypothetically, extend our sympathy to the actual individual victims of rape (preferably, shown to be such in a court of law), the entire batch of claims was rendered dubious-by-association because of the 'public shaming' witch-hunt manner in which they became known.

In any event, Hollywood - and other dens of iniquity - ranks among the least deserving venues of public sympathy.

And what does this say about the shallow, vapid nature of people - the world over - who fell for this emotional guff? The whole #MeToo nonsense was one great big spasm of emotional incontinence.

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Light Sabers

Turkey's defiance of US has support from Russia, China and Qatar

Ivan Danilov
Sputnik
Mon, 20 Aug 2018 08:27 UTC
turkey flag silhouette
© Sputnik / Andrey Stenin
The Turkish crisis is not in any way shape or form a financial one. It's an unequivocal attempt to punish Erdogan for his geopolitical transgressions against Pax Americana. The crisis will either break Turkey or help radically reshape the global order.

US-Turkish relations are at their lowest point in recent history. The crisis only appears to be financial, even though it has some painful financial implications for Turkey.

Although Erdogan's incompetent monetary policy made Turkey excessively vulnerable to American economic sanctions, the reason for sanctions is a political one. That's not a conspiracy theory, that's an open secret. Even the mainstream Western media, like Reuters have no qualms in spelling out the real reasons of crisis in the US-Turkish relations:

Comment: Washington's games may have worked on their lackey's in Europe, but they're unlikely to work on the rest of the world now that there's a viable alternative provided by China, Russia and their allies. And in the process, the US is becoming increasingly isolated and showing itself as the ego-maniacal player that it really is: For more, check out SOTT radio's:

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Bad Guys

Afghanistan: A relentless purposeless war that America should be ashamed of

Eric Margolis
ericmargolis.com
Sat, 18 Aug 2018 09:06 UTC
A U.S. Army crew chief flying on board a CH-47F Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan
© ReutersA U.S. Army crew chief flying on board a CH-47F Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan
After 17 bloody years, the longest war in US history continues without relent or purpose in Afghanistan.

There, a valiant, fiercely-independent people, the Pashtun (Pathan) mountain tribes, have battled the full might of the US Empire to a stalemate that has so far cost American taxpayers $4 trillion, and 2,371 dead and 20,320 wounded soldiers. No one knows how many Afghans have died. The number is kept secret.

Pashtun tribesmen in the Taliban alliance and their allies are fighting to oust all foreign troops from Afghanistan and evict the western-imposed and backed puppet regime in Kabul that pretends to be the nation's legitimate government. Withdraw foreign troops and the Kabul regime would last for only days.

The whole thing smells of the Vietnam War. Lessons so painfully learned by America in that conflict have been completely forgotten and the same mistakes repeated. The lies and happy talk from politicians, generals and media continue apace.

This week, Taliban forces occupied the important strategic city of Ghazni on the road from Peshawar to Kabul. It took three days and massive air attacks by US B-1 heavy bombers, Apache helicopter gun ships, A-10 ground attack aircraft, and massed warplanes from US bases in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar and the 5th US Fleet to finally drive back the Taliban assault. Taliban also overran key military targets in Kabul and the countryside, killing hundreds of government troops in a sort of Afghan Tet offensive.

Comment: See also: The long sordid and violent history of US intervention and pillaging of Afghanistan

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Broom

"Strategic partner": Russia to Sign S-400 missile contract with India in October


Sputnik
Mon, 20 Aug 2018 09:15 UTC
s-400
© Sputnik / Vitaliy Ankov
All technical and economic aspects of the contracts with India on the delivery of S-400 air defense systems and Project 11356 frigates have been coordinated, Russia is hoping to sign both contracts in October, Director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Dmitry Shugaev told Sputnik.

"As for the S-400, we have already prepared everything to sign this contract. All the main technical and commercial aspects have been agreed upon, and I think that we are close to making this happen. We hope to sign both contracts with our Indian partners by the end of the year," Shugaev said adding that October would be perfect for that as the Russian-Indian summit takes place at that time.

The Russian defense cooperation chief also said that Moscow had reduced the final price of S-400 systems for New Delhi taking into consideration the strategic partnership between Russia and India.

Comment: Meanwhile the West can barely get their ships to float, their planes to fly, or weld nuclear missiles correctly - it's no wonder the only countries willing to buy their dodgy equipment are those looking to commit crimes against humanity, like the Saudi's in Yemen: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Trump Ditches Europe, Europe Bluffs, Russia and China Carry on With Eurasian Integration

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Play

Iran FM Zarif: Signing nuclear deal may have been a mistake


RT
Mon, 20 Aug 2018 09:40 UTC
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif
© Brendan McDermid / ReutersIranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif
Joining the landmark 2015 international nuclear deal may have been a mistake in the first place, the Iranian foreign minister has said. The deal is now agonizing because of what he called Washington's 'addiction to sanctions.'

Speaking to CNN, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the US has a "disease" in that it's addicted to sanctions. Some of the American economic sanctions, suspended under the 2015 JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) agreement in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program, have kicked in now that US President Donald Trump has ripped up his side of the deal. But even before that, Zarif said, Washington's hands were itching to slap Tehran with economic penalties.

"Even during the Obama administration the United States put more emphasis on keeping the sanctions that it had not lifted rather than implementing its obligations on the sanctions that it lifted," Zarif told CNN's Nick Patton Walsh.

Comment: He pointed out that years of foreign economic pressure made Iranian people resistant to sanctions, which under any circumstances will hurt the Iranian economy.
"US sanctions have always hurt ... What it's hurting, though, is people who want to buy medicine. People who want to buy food," Zarif added.


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Pistol

Drive-by shooting at US Embassy in Turkey - Shots fired, but no casualties


RT
Mon, 20 Aug 2018 08:15 UTC
us embassy shots turkey
An unknown gunman fired several shots at the US Embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara from a passing car, smashing a window. Police are looking for the suspect.

No one was injured in the attack, local media report. The shooting took place at about 5am local time (2am GMT). Five or six gunshots were heard near the security guard's cabin at the embassy's Gate 6. They came from a white car that drove by and escaped before its license plate number could be determined.


Comment: US-Turkish relations are heating up by the day.

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