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United States urges China to keep pressure on N. Korea, as Beijing stops coal imports from Pyongyang


RT
Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:37 UTC
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
© KCNA / ReutersNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un
The US has called on Beijing to keep the pressure on North Korea, as Chinese authorities announced they were suspending all coal deliveries from Pyongyang.

"All countries should fully and transparently implement all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions on the DPRK," a US State Department spokesperson said, referring to North Korea, as cited by Reuters.

"We continue to urge China to exert its unique leverage as North Korea's largest trading partner to convince Pyongyang to return to serious talks on denuclearization," the official added.
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Map

Insanity of a NATO 2.0 for Middle East

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 15:23 UTC
Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump
© AP Photo/ Evan Vucci
As US President Donald Trump hosts Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House this week, on the agenda is the formation of a "NATO-style" alliance for the Middle East, according to reports.

As if one US-led warmongering alliance in Europe and the North Atlantic were not enough. Now the world will see a clone of NATO let loose on the already conflict-torn Middle East region, if the reported discussions materialize.

Instead of combating alleged Russian aggression, the putative US-led Middle East alliance - which one could designate as NATO 2.0 - is defining Iran as the top regional threat.
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Oscar

'Post-truth' & 'post-fake' crossroads: Sergey Lavrov Russia's FM top quotes at Munich Security Conference


RT
Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:19 UTC
Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov
© Grigoriy Sisoev / SputnikRussia's Foreign Minister Lavrov walks before delivering his speech during the 53rd Munich Security Conference in Munich
Mankind is at the "crossroads," with the so-called "liberal world order" having failed to adjust to post-Cold War reality, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov told the Munich Security Conference, adding that only cooperation could take the current post-truth era to the age of post-fake.

On world order
"They say that all wars begin in the minds of people, and by this logic, that's where they are supposed to come to an end. However, this hasn't been the case with the Cold War yet, [at least] judging by some speeches of politicians in Europe and in the US, including statements that were made yesterday and today at the beginning of our conference."
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Light Saber

"You're fired!" - White House dismisses NSC aide after harsh criticism of Trump

Eliana Johnson
Politico
Sat, 18 Feb 2017 14:49 UTC
Trump
© GettyCraig Deare complained in particular that senior national security aides do not have access to Donald Trump.
Official complained about the president at a closed-door think tank gathering.

The White House abruptly dismissed a senior National Security Council aide on Friday after receiving reports that he had publicly laced into the president and his senior aides, including son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump at an event hosted by a Washington think tank.

The aide, Craig Deare, was serving as the NSC's senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Earlier in the week, at a private, off-the-record roundtable hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center for a group of about two dozen scholars, Deare harshly criticized the president and his chief strategist Steve Bannon and railed against the dysfunction paralyzing the Trump White House, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Comment: How to drain the swamp.

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Bizarro Earth

Syria Update: Turks Fail To Take Al-Bab - "Rebels" Die In Infighting

Bernhard
Moon of Alabama
Sat, 18 Feb 2017 14:00 UTC
East Aleppo Feb 2017
East Aleppo battle lines February 15, 2017
This week the Turkish President Erdogan visited the Gulf states. He asked for bigger investment in Turkey and for cash for his project to occupy more parts of Syria. A week ago Erodgan had claimed:

"Al-Bab is about to be captured. Manbij and Raqqah are next," Erdogan said, adding their number one priority was to form a safe zone in the country. This week he brought his Army Chief of Staff Arak to the Gulf to declare victory. Several Erdogan friendly media outlets in Turkey (any other left?) reported:
Operation Euphrates Shield has entered a new phase in al-Bab, as the offensive stage is over now that the town has largely been recaptured from Daesh.

"The operation in al-Bab is over," Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar said at a press conference in Qatar on Wednesday during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's trip to Gulf countries.
...
Silence now dominates the area that was once scene to heavy clashes. Turkish tanks patrol al-Bab's streets and the Syrian opposition has pressed a major advance.
That claim was a huge lie. While Turkish forces had earlier taken some outskirts of Al-Bab and claimed to own 40% of the city they were by then stuck and later in full retreat.

Comment: Further reading:

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Radar

US aircraft carrier group deployed for 'routine patrols' in South China Sea


RT
Sun, 19 Feb 2017 23:16 UTC
US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)
© U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kurtis A. Hatcher / navy.mil
Ignoring repeated warnings from Beijing not to aggravate tensions in Southeast Asia, the US Navy has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group for "routine" maritime patrols in the vicinity of the disputed South China Sea waters.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, together with aircraft from the Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer started "routine operations in the South China," the US Navy announced.

The deployment of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 began Saturday, just days after China issued a stern warning to stay away from the area.

"China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Wednesday. "China respects and upholds the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea which countries enjoy under international law, but firmly opposes any country's attempt to undermine China's sovereignty and security in the name of the freedom of navigation and overflight."


Comment: Beijing warns Washington against naval patrols in disputed S. China sea


Comment: More analysis on the South China Sea situation:

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Arrow Up

Venezuelan government takes CNN off the air, accusing it of #fakenews


BNO News
Sat, 18 Feb 2017 03:19 UTC
Venezuela
The Venezuelan government has ordered CNN en Español to be taken off the air immediately, accusing the Spanish-language network of misrepresenting the truth against the country's government.

Venezuela's National Commission of Telecommunications (Conatel) announced its decision on Wednesday, just days after CNN aired a report that angered the government.

Viewers in Venezuela reported that the signal of CNN en Español could no longer be received.

Although the government did not point to a specific incident, a statement from Conatel accused CNN of misrepresenting and distorting the truth to undermine the country's government.

As such, the agency has ordered the immediate suspension of CNN en Español.

Comment: See also :

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Attention

Best of the Web: Interview with DHS insider: 'It's spy versus spy'


VicturusLibertas
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 23:14 UTC
Trump and Netanyahu
VL has been fortunate enough to work with some awesome people! We have loyal and awakened followers who help bring us information, and we also have trusted insiders, whistleblowers and leakers who trust us enough to give us information, too.

Today, we have an exclusive interview with a special DHS insider who has answered some critical questions we have on PizzaGate. Our insider prefers to call it PedoGate and what he told us blew our minds!

We are so fortunate that members of the Intel community like our work and feel they can trust us. We have been trying to get to the bottom of PizzaGate for months and the answers we got from our DHS insider stunned and shocked us. Here we go!
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Gold Seal

The Deep State's Dramatic Emergence Is Proof Our Elections Don't Mean What We Think They Do (VIDEO)


Truthstream Media
Fri, 17 Feb 2017 00:00 UTC
deep state flag
The intelligence community and the entire shadow government appears to be taking clear action to undermine the current administration, according to Dennis Kucinich and others. At the heart of it is an agenda to cash in on the conflict between the U.S. and Russia that is leading toward a new Cold War. Aaron Dykes further discusses the Deep State in this video.

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Eagle

While elites played empire with people's money, America fell apart


Washington's Blog
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:00 UTC
Infrastructure usa
The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the nation's infrastructure a D+ grade, and estimates that the federal government will need to spend $20.5 billion per year to keep the country's bridges safe.
Our extraordinary misallocation of national treasure and political power has set a banquet of consequences that few are willing to face, much less address head-on. If we had to sum up this vast misallocation, we might start by characterizing it as the result of a multitude of elites playing Empire with money borrowed from future generations.

We can start the list of extraordinary misallocations of national treasure with the Neocon's endless wars of choice. Ten years ago, estimates of the total cost of the Iraq misadventure were $3 trillion: Cost of Iraq War: $3 Trillion; Cost of Solar Plants to Power all 105 million U.S Households: $500 Billion (April 10, 2008)

(Yes, I know solar energy is not "the solution" due to intermittency, lack of storage, fossil fuels are needed to build and maintain the solar infrastructure, etc. - but the point is: would we be better off if we'd invested 20% of the money squandered on the Iraq misadventure on alternative energy, even with all its limitations?)

But this does not exhaust the list of extraordinary misallocations of treasure. Universities have found the funds to build grand edifices on campus (never mind the trillion dollars in student loan debt that funded the delusions of grandeur) while much of the rest of our educational infrastructure crumbles as deferred maintenance takes its inevitable toll.
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