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Amnesty slams UAE as 'deeply repressive state beneath facade of glamour'


RT.com
Wed, 19 Nov 2014 21:22 UTC
Image

Built on slave labor - the corrupt UAE
The United Arab Emirates has been accused of an "unprecedented clampdown on dissent," as more than 100 activists have been jailed since 2011 for calling for political transformation, Amnesty International said in a newly released report.

In an 80-page report titled 'There is no freedom here': Silencing dissent in the UAE, the NGO blames the ruling theocracy for distracting the eye of foreigners with the glamorous appearance of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, while at the same time conducting harsh violations of human rights.

The probe, published ahead of the F1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, exposes the gap between the public image the UAE tries to present and the harsh reality on the ground.

"Millions of spectators from across the world are expected to tune in to watch the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix this weekend - yet most of them will have little clue about the ugly reality of life for activists in the UAE," said Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa Program, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

The "darker reality" in the UAE is characterized by torture and widespread abuse by authorities - something that has gone largely unnoticed since the start of the series of Arab Spring uprisings in 2011.
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Snowflake

Ukraine's coal reserves 'unprecedented' low, not enough for another month - Deputy Energy Minister


RT.com
Wed, 19 Nov 2014 21:07 UTC
Image

Ukraine is running short on coal reserves as a direct result of a US State Dept. coup in the country earlier this year.
Two out of ten coal-fired power plants in Ukraine only have enough stock for a few days, as the key coal mines supplying the plants are located in Donbass where Kiev and self-defense forces are fighting, says Ukraine's Deputy Energy Minister Yury Zyukov.

In 2012 and 2013 Ukraine extracted about 85 million tons of coal, of which 40 billion tons were used for domestically, Zyukov told Glavkom magazine, adding that previously Ukraine even exported coal.

"Situations as this one have never happened in the history of an independent Ukraine, we have never had such precedents."

Comment: And again we see feckless and self-destructive policies being implemented by the Kiev junta because Ukraine is now, as a result of the US-led coup in March, entirely beholden to US and EU foreign policy which is aimed at destroying Russia and cares nothing for the well-being of the Ukrainian people.

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Bullseye

Libyan 'rebels' now ISIS (they always were)

Tony Cartalucci
Land Destroyer Report
Wed, 19 Nov 2014 19:50 UTC
isis libya

Same convoy, different flag. Even in 2011, it was painfully obvious the so-called "rebels" fighting with NATO assistance in Libya were in fact members of long-standing Al Qaeda franchises including the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Their strongholds in eastern Libya served as the "revolution's" cradle, meaning the "revolution" was merely cover for a NATO-assisted Al Qaeda uprising. In other words, NATO handed Libya over to Al Qaeda, and is attempting to do likewise with Syria.

Comment: As usual, Tony Cartalucci nails it. As he's written before, ISIS is the U.S.'s dream proxy army. They simply arm a group of terrorists in one country, call them 'pro-democracy protesters' or 'moderate rebels', then send them into another country. In the case of ISIS, they put on a show, claiming to be fighting them (even though they're essentially identical to the 'moderate rebels' they're openly supporting there), but their efforts are so ineffective and blatantly opposite to their stated goals that they enter the realm of farce.


The United States has attempted to claim that the only way to stop the so-called "Islamic State" in Syria and Iraq is to first remove the government in Syria. Complicating this plan are developments in Libya, benefactor of NATO's last successful regime change campaign. In 2011, NATO armed, funded, and backed with a sweeping air campaign militants in Libya centered around the eastern Libyan cities of Tobruk, Derna, and Benghazi. By October 2011, NATO successfully destroyed the Libyan government, effectively handing the nation over to these militants.

What ensued was a campaign of barbarism, genocide, and sectarian extremism as brutal in reality as what NATO claimed in fiction was perpetrated by the Libyan government ahead of its intervention. The so-called "rebels" NATO had backed were revealed to be terrorists led by Al Qaeda factions including the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The so-called "pro-democracy protesters" Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi was poised to attack in what NATO claimed was pending "genocide" were in fact heavily armed terrorists that have festered for decades in eastern Libya.

Almost immediately after NATO successfully destroyed Libya's government, its terrorist proxies were mobilized to take part in NATO's next campaign against Syria. Libyan terrorists were sent first to NATO-member Turkey were they were staged, armed, trained, and equipped, before crossing the Turkish-Syrian border to take part in the fighting.

Comment: Play with fire and you might get burned. This can only end badly for everyone on the planet.

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Bomb

Did we vote for war?

Patrick J. Buchanan
AntiWar.com
Tue, 18 Nov 2014 19:57 UTC
Image

Pulitzer (right) and Hearst (left) go to war over the Spanish American War
"How do you like the Journal's war?"

So boasted the headline of William Randolph Hearst's New York flagship that week in 1898 that the United States declared war on Spain.

While Hearst's Journal, in a circulation battle with Joe Pulitzer's World, was a warmongering sheet, it did not start the war.

Yet the headline comes to mind reading the Wall Street Journal, whose editorial pages seem to have concluded that on Nov. 4 America voted for new wars in the Middle East, and beyond.

On Nov. 13, the Journal's op-ed page was given over to Mark Dubowitz and Reuel Marc Gerecht of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Assuming nuclear talks with Iran conclude unsuccessfully by the Nov. 24 deadline, they write, we have four options.

Two involve continued or tougher sanctions. The other two are a preemptive war featuring U.S. air and missile strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, or a U.S. attack to bring down Bashar Assad's regime.
"Taking Mr. Assad down would let Tehran know that America's withdrawal from the Middle East and President Obama's dreams of an entente with Iran are over."
It would surely do that.

Comment: Of course! Without wars to feed the bankers, everything would collapse.

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Passport

Russia is being 'isolated'. Really? Putin accepts credentials of 15 new ambassadors

Michael Klimentyev
Sputnik
Wed, 19 Nov 2014 18:42 UTC
Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the credentials of 15 new ambassadors during a ceremony held on Wednesday at the Grand Kremlin Palace.
new ambassadors Russia
© Sputnik/Michael Klimentyev
Russian President Vladimir Putin handed out letters of credence to 15 newly appointed ambassadors during a diplomatic accreditation ceremony in Kremlin
"I would like to sincerely wish you every success and express a hope that your work here will facilitate the development of bilateral relations and mutual cooperation in various areas between Russia and the countries you represent," Putin said.

The Russian president handed out letters of credence to newly appointed ambassadors Mohhamed Ali Kamil (Djibouti), Claude Bezot (Central African Republic), Petros Zeggai Asgedom (Eritrea), Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz (Poland), Kim Hen Jun (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Kodzo Kpoku Alabo (Ghana), Nguyen Thanh Son (Vietnam), John Francis Tefft (United States), Solomon Jason Mbuzi (Zambia), Umit Yardim (Turkey), Wynjones Matthew Kisamba (Tanzania), Yanosh Balla (Hungary), Juan Humberto Umeres Alvares (Peru), Juan Ernesto Vasquez Araya (Nicaragua), and Akmal Kamalov (Uzbekistan).

"Heads of 15 diplomatic missions are here today and, as we traditionally do, I would like to briefly characterize the state of relations with every state which you represent," the president stated.

Comment: Trite as it is, honey really does catch more flies than vinegar, and Russia has backed up its kind words with real deeds. The US will find that its bullying tactics will fail, and sooner than later. Moscow is perfectly positioned to act when that happens.

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Cut

The vultures are circling: The end of the Postal Service as we know it

Kira Lerner
ThinkProgress
Tue, 18 Nov 2014 17:43 UTC
US postal service
© Associated Press/Toby Talbot
If Congress does not pass legislation that would save the Postal Service from financial collapse before the end of its current session, the future of the country's mail service will be in the hands of a senator who opposes government unions and thinks the Postal Service should be privatized.

In January, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is slated to take over as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees the federal workforce and the entire Postal Service. Johnson has said that the Postal Service should go through a bankruptcy process that would result in a downsized, private corporation that would lose the benefits of governmental oversight and regulation. It could also allow the revised entity to terminate or substantially modify its contracts, including its collective bargaining agreements with various postal unions.


Comment: And there you have it. The USPS is subject to unique and unfair rules with respect to its operation, such as pre-contribution to its pension fund, which distorts the financial state of the department. The Postal Service is actually one of the few profitable government agencies, running entirely generated revenue:
"The red ink one hears about stems entirely from congressional politics. In 2006, a lame-duck Congress mandated that the Postal Service pre-fund future retiree health benefits. No other public or private entity is required to do this for even one year; USPS has to pre-fund 75 years into the future, and pay for it over a decade. This $5.6 billion annual charge accounts for 100 percent of postal "losses."
One can imagine the salivating private sector just waiting to step into the void if this bill gets through.


Last year, Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) introduced the Postal Reform Act of 2014 which would restructure the needless requirement that the agency pre-fund 75 years' worth of employee health benefits, a demand no other businesses or institutions face. The bill would also allow for a gradual end to Saturday mail service if financially necessary, as well as the eventual termination of door-to-door service, but would not mandate either of these steps.
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Light Sabers

Fighting words: Lugansk militia leader throws down gauntlet to Ukraine president


RT
Wed, 19 Nov 2014 17:03 UTC
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© RIA Novosti
Prime Minister of the Luhansk People's Republic Igor Plotnitsky (L) and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (R).
The leader of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky has thrown down the gauntlet to the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, pledging that "the one who wins, will set his terms" for ending the bloody conflict in the region.

"I suggest you consider just one, but a very good scenario," Plotnitsky wrote in an open letter to Poroshenko. "Let's (following the example of the ancient Slavic leaders and glorious Cossack chieftains) get together in a fight: whoever wins will dictate terms to the opposite side."

Plotnitsky's "terms" are multiple, among them an immediate cessation of all hostilities; withdrawal of all legal, semi-legal and illegal armed groups of Ukraine beyond the administrative boundaries of Lugansk and Donetsk Regions; the start of peace negotiations between Ukraine on one side and the LPR and Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on the other.

"For the fight to be fair, each party has a right to engage 10 observers-seconds and 10 mass media representatives," Plotnitsky informed, adding that he doesn't mind a live broadcast on any TV channel, gallantly leaving the choice of location for the fight and choice of weapons up to the billionaire chocolate baron-turned-president.

"Why stir up mutual hatred and destroy people, cities, economy? You and I will have to heal these wounds for decades! Isn't it better to end all disagreements in a fair fight?" Plotnitsky wondered.

"God will judge and will not tolerate unjust victory", he stated.

Comment: What Plotnisky offers makes a lot of sense but Poroshenko knows he cannot win. Back in the day there was a time where military leaders physically led the armies into battle. Now the gutless psychopaths let others do their bidding.

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Chart Pie

Ukrainian Economics in 1 Minute

Pepe Escobar
Russia Insider
Wed, 19 Nov 2014 16:25 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Ukrainians take a bath
Kiev's foreign reserves plunged last month by a whopping 23.2 per cent to a paltry $12.6 billion.

By the end of the year it will be even messier.

Kiev's gotta pay a $3.1 billion gas bill to Gazprom, or else...

Image
© Unknown
Ice swimmer in Belarus.
The central bank will have to sell more foreign currency to support the hryvnia. And there are MORE hefty gas bills as General Winter advances.

Is the austerity-devastated EU lending them at least one euro? Of course not.

It's up to the IMF, who now OWNS Ukraine.

Yet there will only be "emergency funding" if Kiev applies that good ol' "structural adjustment" - as in turning the overwhelming mass of Ukrainians into beggars for life.

These are the facts. The rest is rubbish.
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Bullseye

Syrian crisis, geopolitics, false flag terror and the nature of ISIS - Interview with Mimi al-Laham (aka Syrian Girl)

Brandon Turbeville
brandonturbeville.com
Tue, 18 Nov 2014 09:44 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Truth on the Tracks with Brandon Turbeville - November 18, 2014

Brandon inteviews Mimi al-Laham (aka Syrian Girl). Brandon and Mimi discuss the Syrian crisis, Geopolitics, false flag terror, the nature of ISIS, what to expect in the future and much more.


Comment: Interesting interview between two analysts who have been providing objective coverage of the situation in the Middle East.

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Play

Eric Draitser: U.S. fomenting war in Syria


Press TV
Sat, 15 Nov 2014 09:17 UTC
The US strategy of fomenting war in Syria by arming militants there will exacerbate tensions in the Middle East, says Eric Draitser.


The US strategy to continue "fomenting war" in Syria by arming militants there will "exacerbate tensions" in the Middle East and expand the US wars throughout the region, a geopolitical analyst in New York says.

"The United States is already at war in Iraq, the United States is at war in Syria, the US proxies of ISIS are at war against Hezbollah trying to expand the war into Lebanon," Eric Draitser, the founder of StopImperialism.com said, using another acronym for the ISIL terrorist group.

The main objective of Washington in stirring unrest in the region is for the "purposes of advancing a hegemonic agenda," Draitser told Press TV on Saturday.

"The notion that the United States is fighting a war against ISIS is in and of itself a fraud," he said.

"This is sternly the corollary aspect to the larger mission to depose [Syrian President Bashar] Assad, to institute regime change in Syria and deprive Iran of its primary strategic ally in the region, (and) to move towards a US/UK/NATO/Israeli hegemony in the region that breaks the axis of resistance from Tehran, Iraq, Syria, and Hezbollah," he continued.


Comment: GRTV Documentary - ISIL and its So-Called Caliphate: Israeli-US Tools to Divide Iraq
The US military cannot go into any country that it desires for regime change. This is why Washington has applied other techniques for regime change. In 2006, with the failure of the US to break the Resistance Bloc or Axis of Resistance in the Middle East, the US began its "redirection" policy and opted to use insurgencies, sectarianism, colour revolutions, and intensified covert operations.

The Washington Post reports that the United States is preparing plans to escalate the CIA's role in arming and training anti-government militants in Syria.

Officials say the move is aimed at accelerating covert US support to "moderate" militant groups, while the Pentagon is preparing to establish its own training bases, the report said.

Comment: Related video that reveals the AngloZionist plans for the Middle East that are currently unfolding.



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