As we approach High Noon in the savage Brazilian politico-economic western, here's what is at stake following my previous piece on RT.

For the past five days, all hell has broken loose. It started with judge Sergio Moro, the tropical Elliott Ness at the head of the two-year-old, 24-phase Car Wash corruption investigation, crudely manipulating an - illegal - phone tapping of a Lula-Dilma Rousseff conversation, which he duly leaked to corporate media and was instantly used as "proof" that Lula may be back in power as Chief of Staff because he's "afraid" of Elliott Ness.

As a crucial instance of the total information war currently at play in Brazil - with the hegemonic Globo media empire and the major newspapers salivating for a white coup/regime change more than ever - the shaky "proof" turbocharged the Rousseff impeachment drive to a whole new level.

The Syrian Kurds dropped a bombshell this week when they unilaterally announced the tentatively titled "Federation Of Northern Syria" between themselves, Turks, Arabs, and the other ethnicities of the region, or in other words, what they envision will one day become a 'federation within a federation'. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina inside the absolutely dysfunctional country of the same name is an apt comparison, although the "Federation of Northern Syria" and the rest of the country might horribly break up into a kaleidoscope of separate identity-based groups if the federalization virus isn't snipped in the bud soon enough.

Regardless of how far it might eventually go or not, the fact remains that the Kurds' self-interested declaration flies in the face of everything that the Syrian Arab Army and its people have been doing over the past five years to preserve the unitary nature of their state, and it's sure to lead to a lot of tension at the ongoing Geneva III talks. What the Kurds have done in one move is dramatically change the nature of the intra-Syrian reconciliation conversation and formally introduce the idea of Identity Federalism, the pitfalls of which the author earlier analyzed in a research report for Russia's National Institute for Research of Global Security.


As destabilizing as the Kurds' announcement was and might eventually turn out to be, it's still far from certain that they'll achieve their stated objective by the time everything is said and done, and it's much more likely that they took the steps that they did as part of a calculated political gambit in securing a seat at Geneva. Regardless of their motivations, however, it's undeniable that the genie of federalization has been released from the think tank bottle and is now oozing into the mainstream, but the doom and gloom pertaining to this scenario doesn't mean that it's irreversibly inevitable and that there isn't time left to stop it.

North Korea has launched short-range projectiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan, South Korean Yonhap News Agency reports.

The missiles flew for about 200 kilometers before landing off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement as cited by Reuters.

The South Korean military said the missiles were launched from the northeastern city of Hamhung at around 15:19 (06:19 GMT).

"Our military is keeping close tabs on the situation and standing by with a heightened defense posture," the JCS said, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Over the past decade, we've been told that inflation has been tame -- actually below the target the Federal Reserve would like to see. But if that's true, then why does the average household find it harder and harder to get by?

The ugly reality is that the true annual cost of living is far outpacing the government's reported inflation rate. By nearly 10x in many parts of the country.

Obama's much-hyped "pivot to Asia" seems to be going smoothly: China has now warned that the Asia-Pacific risks becoming a "second Middle East" if the US continues its policy of encroachment in the region. How delightful.

Beijing's warning came after Washington inked a new deal with Manila which will allow American military forces access to disputed areas of the South China Sea. Considering that Beijing previously threatened war if the US "continued to make a fool of itself" in the region, it's no surprise that China didn't take this news particularly well:

State-owned news agency Xinhua accused the United States of fuelling tensions after Washington announced five locations that its forces can have access to under a 10-year security deal with the Philippines.

"Muddying waters in the South China Sea and making the Asia-Pacific a second Middle East will do no good to the United States," Xinhua said in a commentary posted on its website on Saturday.

"Implementing a defence pact signed two years ago with the Philippines, one of the most aggressive South China Sea claimants, and designating an air base facing the Nansha Islands as one of the five locations which American forces will have access to have fed speculation about Washington's real purpose behind the moves."

The Syrians supposedly have a right to determine their own future, but, as evidenced by a recent State Department press briefing, this future can only look like the one that Washington has in mind for the war-torn Arab Republic.

During a briefing that took place on March 17, State Department spokesman John Kirby tried to explain why the Obama administration opposed the Kurdish self-rule in northern Syria, but could not quite nail it.

Kirby said that Syria was supposed to stay unified, could not contain any semi-autonomous zones and could not be led by Bashar al-Assad, but the Syrians surely had the freedom to choose whatever future they wanted for their own country.

State Department spokespeople sometimes seem to have mastered the art of making mutually exclusive assumptions. Jen Psaki cannot but spring to mind.

Kirby's lengthy explanation (or an ill-fated attempt thereof) was best summed up by AP diplomatic writer Matt Lee.

"So the political transition in Geneva - the Syrians are free to come up with whatever kind of system they want. It's up to them to decide. But the United States says they can't have Assad as their leader, and they can't have a federal system of any sort. How is that leaving it up to the Syrians to decide how they're going to govern themselves?"

© Voice of America

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey LavrovProminent Western commentator misrepresents essay by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov calling for dialogue to make it look threatening.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently published a lengthy essay on international relations.

As is the Russian way it includes a lengthy historical introduction, discussing Russia's history, emphasising the uniqueness of its culture, but also drawing attention to Russia's interconnection to Europe and its role as part of European civilisation

It is the sort of essay which was once commonly written by European statesmen but which only Russian statesmen now seem able to write. The historically challenged leaders of today's West are no longer capable of writing in this way.

The essay read fairly and objectively is a call for dialogue and cooperation between Russia and the West based on mutual respect and equality. As Lavrov himself puts it:

"We are not seeking confrontation with the United States, or the European Union, or NATO. On the contrary, Russia is open to the widest possible cooperation with its Western partners. We continue to believe that the best way to ensure the interests of the peoples living in Europe is to form a common economic and humanitarian space from the Atlantic to the Pacific, so that the newly formed Eurasian Economic Union could be an integrating link between Europe and Asia Pacific."

All government, in its essence, is a conspiracy against the superior man: its one permanent object is to oppress him and cripple him...The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.

- H.L. Mencken

It does not take a majority to prevail but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.

- Samuel Adams

Fiat justitia ruat caelum
"Let justice be done though the heavens fall."

I believe it is the duty of every single American citizen to sit down and watch the following mini-documentary. In just 45 minutes, you will learn more about the state of the union and the the world around you than decades of schooling and mainstream media could ever provide. Ignorance is not bliss, and if it weren't for the blinding levels of ignorance pervasive in modern society, we wouldn't find ourselves in this current deplorable state — on a knife's edge between manageable serfdom and intolerable tyranny.

Brazil's Supreme Court has blocked former President Lula da Silva from becoming chief of staff to President Dilma Rousseff amid ongoing corruption probes. The ruling could stoke new tensions in Brazil, plagued by anti-government demonstrations.

Earlier this month, Silva, often referred to as one of the most popular politicians in Brazil's history, was brought in for questioning in an investigation into an alleged kickback scheme in the state oil company Petrobras. Should he become a cabinet minister, he can only be prosecuted with the approval of the Supreme Court.

The 70-year-old heavyweight politician was sworn in as chief aide to Rousseff on Thursday, in an effort to help her win back working-class supporters during the worst economic recession in decades.

Silva's appointment, which makes it much harder to investigate alleged links to a corruption scandal, immediately came under fire, with critics saying Rousseff deliberately wanted to shield the influential veteran politician from prosecution.

"The goal of the falsity is clear: prevent the carrying out of a preventative arrest order" against Silva being considered by a lower court, Justice Gilmar Mendes wrote in his ruling on Friday. The government is likely to appeal the ruling, which will be decided by the full court.

Although Rousseff and Silva have repeatedly denied the accusations, tens of thousands demonstrators gathered to rally on Friday. Riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters who had blocked Sao Paulo's central thoroughfare since Wednesday, Reuters reported.

The suicide bomber responsible for the attack in Istanbul on Saturday was identified as a Turkish-born man affiliated with the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group, the Turkish interior minister has said.

The bomber was born in 1992 in the southern city of Gaziantep, Efkan Ala told the media on Sunday. He was identified by his DNA as Mehmet Öztürk and had no previous criminal record.

He said five people have been arrested in connection with the bombing, which killed four people and injured over 30.

"We have determined that Mehmet Ozturk, born in 1992 in Gaziantep, carried out the heinous attack on Saturday in Istanbul. It has been established that he is a member of Daesh," Efkan Ala told the media, referring to the IS by its derogatory Arabic acronym.