Puppet MastersS


Newspaper

Best of the Web: Putin's interview with Il Corriere della Sera

Vladimir Putin
President of Russia
Sat, 06 Jun 2015 15:32 UTC
Putin
© Presidential Press and Information OfficeInterview to the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good evening.

Luciano Fontana: Good evening, Mr President. First of all, we would like to thank you for giving us this important opportunity to interview you today.

Vladimir Putin: It is my pleasure.

Luciano Fontana: My name is Luciano Fontana. I am the new head of Il Corriere della Sera, and here with me is my colleague, Paolo Valentino, who worked for a long time in Russia and even married a Russian woman.

Vladimir Putin: You are the new head of the newspaper?

Luciano Fontana: Yes, it has only been a month.

Vladimir Putin: Congratulations you on the appointment.
Read More...
Eye 1

UK's Big Brother Watch reveals excessive police requests to access private communications


RT
Sat, 06 Jun 2015 15:32 UTC
The overreaching surveillance state in the U.S. certainly takes most of the headlines, but the UK is every bit on par if not worse. A recent report, responded to below by Steve Jolly of NOCCTV, indicates that there have been 700,000 police requests to access private communications in the UK over a two-year period - which amounts to a request every 2 minutes. And these requests are almost never denied; in fact, they have a 96% approval rate. This surely can't purely be to "thwart terrorism."
Read More...
TV

SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Interview with geopolitical analyst Stephen Lendman

Sott Editors
Sott.net
Sun, 07 Jun 2015 18:00 UTC
Sott Talk Radio logo
This week on Behind the Headlines we spoke with geopolitical analyst Stephen Lendman. Born in 1934, Stephen is a Harvard University graduate and a prolific writer on major world and national issues. His articles have appeared on many news websites and he maintains a personal blog at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Stephen is a regular guest on alternative news radio shows and hosts his own show on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network three times weekly. The author or editor of four books:Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive For Hegemony Risks World War III, Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity, How Wall Street Fleeces America, Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War and The Iraq Quagmire: The Price of Imperial Arrogance, Stephen is a 2008 Project Censored winner and 2011 Mexican Journalists Club international journalism award recipient.

Running Time: 01:27:00

Download: MP3

Read More...
Star of David

Israel hits Gaza with airstrikes again after more rockets fired by Omar Brigades


RT
Sun, 07 Jun 2015 12:02 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Amir Cohen
Israeli jets struck several sites in northern Gaza on Sunday, as Israel blamed Hamas for launching a missile into Ashkelon and ordered all Gazan border crossings to be closed. The Palestinians say a pro-Islamic State group is trying to provoke a war.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said the Air Force has hit a number of "terror infrastructure sites" in the northern Gaza Strip, the Jerusalem Post reports. This was in direct response to a rocket fired on Saturday from Gaza, which exploded outside of Israel's southern Ashkelon region in an open space. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Comment: Will the Islamic State set the whole Middle East on fire?

Read More...
Yoda

A man of conscience: Putin reveals what motivates him


Sputnik
Sat, 06 Jun 2015 19:48 UTC
Putin
© RIA Novosti/Alexei DruzhininRussian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that being honest with yourself and the people who have entrusted you to govern the country is extremely important for a head of state.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera on the eve of his visit to Milan, the Russian leader admitted that he "tried not to make himself an idol."

He noted that there are many worthy examples of brilliant leaders in Russian and European history; however, it is necessary to act in accordance with the present day circumstances.

"I try, or rather I am motivated by the interests of the Russian people in my work on the basis of all [the experience] that has been amassed over the past times. I act in accordance with the conditions of our present day life and, of course, I try to develop a medium-term and long-term strategy for our economy, policy, first and foremost, our domestic one, and our international agenda."

"Being honest with yourself and the people that have entrusted you this work is the most important thing," the Russian leader concluded.

Comment: When comparing Putin's words and actions, it becomes exceedingly clear that he is a man of uncompromising integrity. Unlike his Western counterparts.

Read More...
Info

'Third World War being fought piecemeal': Pope Francis slams global 'atmosphere of war'


RT
Sat, 06 Jun 2015 20:39 UTC
Image
© Reuters / Stringer
Pope Francis has attacked what he called "the atmosphere of war," which he believes is hampering the world. He also attacked those profiteering from war and those engaging in arms sales, as he led a mass in Bosnia on Saturday.

Francis received a joyous welcome from around 100,000 people who lined the streets of Sarajevo, Bosnia's capital, as his motorcade made its way to the national stadium, where the pontiff celebrated mass for a mainly Catholic audience of around 65,000, speaking in Italian.

Many conflicts across the planet amount to "a kind of Third World War being fought piecemeal and, in the context of global communications, we sense an atmosphere of war," the pontiff said, according to AFP.

"Some wish to incite and foment this atmosphere deliberately," he added, attacking those who want to foster division for political ends or profit from war through arms dealing.

Comment: The Pope is absolutely correct here but what are the solutions? It will be interesting to see the results of Putin's visit with the Pope.

Read More...
Black Magic

War crimes! Israel is in 'grave violations against children in armed conflict' [graphic images]

Eva Bartlett
RT
Fri, 05 Jun 2015 16:22 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Ammar Awad
Reports have come out that the UN was considering adding Israel to the list of "grave violations against children in armed conflict." As detailed below, Israeli army and Israel's state policies are systematically violent against Palestinian children.

A recent Independent article noted that [Special Envoy for Children and Armed Conflict Leila] "Zerrougui's draft report cited IDF attacks on schools and hospitals during the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip..."

Even though the UN has historically not taken strong action against any of Israel's war crimes over the decades, let alone those specifically against Palestinian children, Israel has reportedly exerted pressure to be de-listed from the draft list, with seeming success.

The Independent wrote, "UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, however, is said to be leaning towards not including Israel in the list, amid what several diplomatic sources anonymously said was intense lobbying from Israel."

Apparently, Israel thinks such call for its joining the list is "a heinous and hypocritical attempt to besmirch the image of Israel and it is doomed to fail," Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon reportedly said.

In fact, the UN should have listed Israel from at least 2009 when, as the UN website notes, "the Security Council decided to also list armed forces and groups who kill and maim children, commit sexual violence against children, and attack schools and hospitals."
Image
Does Israel violate the six areas detailed? Five out of six, most definitely:
Read More...
MIB

The myth of organised crime

Michael Woodiwiss
History & Policy
Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
Organised crime, the mythology of the Mafia, and the American/Anglo Response
  • The UK government's 2011 strategy for organised crime, Local to global: reducing the risk from organised crime, is based on 'reducing the risk' of a poorly understood phenomenon.
  • Most popular and professional understanding of organised crime in the UK, and elsewhere, derives from the USA, where policy has been informed by an association with a set of myths associated with 'Mafia' criminality and dominated by an approach based mainly on centralising law enforcement.
  • This spawned legislation such as the American Organized Crime Control Act (OCCA) of 1970, which was designed to cope with a highly centralised and rational criminal structure that never existed. This act has provided a blueprint for organised crime control both at home and abroad.
  • Through the commitment to United Nations (UN) anti-drug and anti-crime conventions and other agreements, most nations, including the UK, have ignored the deficiencies of American organised crime control and followed its lead since the 1980s.
  • A British approach that replicates American institutions and tactics has not so far made a positive impact on crime control here, but is about to be further enshrined with the launch of the National Crime Agency in 2013.
  • More attention should be given to understanding the sources and nature of the risk the Home Office strategy is hoping to reduce. In the meantime, debate is limited by mythical statistics and a flawed national and international security consensus.

Comment: The war on crime, the war on drugs, the war on terror, even the war on poverty, who benefits? Follow the money.

Read More...
Play

South Front Military Reports 5-6 June 2015: Blatant Minsk violations by Kiev continue unabated


South Front
Sat, 06 Jun 2015 15:55 UTC
south front
The clashes have been continuing at the frontline since last evening. Ukrainian artillery has shelled Putilovka and Kievskiy districts of the city Donetsk. The firefight was going in the sector of Spartak last night. Kiev's forces attacked from sector of Avdeevka to the Yakovlevka and Yasinovataya checkpoint.


Comment: Kiev has been violating the Minsk 2.0 agreements since the beginning, and the U.S. has known about for just as long. See: Caught red handed: Leaked email reveals Kiev violated ceasefire many times. But that hasn't stopped them from publicly stating the exact opposite. What can we expect? Psychopaths are notorious liars.

Read More...
Snakes in Suits

OSCE representative to Ukraine resigns


Sputnik News
Sat, 06 Jun 2015 14:39 UTC
Image
© OSCE/Mikhail Evstafiev

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) representative to Ukraine Heidi Tagliavini resigned over disagreements between the sides involved in Contact Group reconciliation talks, a source close to negotiations said Saturday.

Tagliavini's resignation was reported in Swiss national media late Friday. The Die Suedostschweiz daily later cited the country's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs as confirming the Swiss diplomat's intention to leave the post in the near future.

"Having seen that it is not help that the sides need, but that they cannot agree in the first place, Ms. Tagliavini decided that her future work will not get the peace process moving," the source told RIA Novosti.

Comment: The parties responsible for increasing tensions don't need the OSCE. They say Russia invaded Ukraine 389 times, and that's going to be the story no matter what. They believe that they're the reality creators:
"The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors ... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'"
But now, thanks to their lunacy, reality is actually a lot closer to 'Russian propaganda'. Check out:

Read More...