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Dollar

How'd that get there? Killary can't explain $675,000 speech fee - from Goldman Sachs

Ollie Richardson (translator)
Fort Russ
Fri, 05 Feb 2016 05:49 UTC
Hillary winking
Hillary Clinton has found it difficult to explain to voters why she has taken $675,000 from the bankers and Wall Street. This was reported by The Independent.

During the debate, she was unable to answer the question of why she received a round sum for doing a few speeches to staff of Goldman Sachs in 2014. "I don't know, that's what they offered, explained Clinton. "Any Secretary of State, as far as I know, did the same thing." She categorically rejected the suspicion of bribery: "Anybody who knows me, who thinks that they can influence me — name anything they've influenced me on. Just name one thing. I'm out here every day saying I'm going to shut them down. I'm going to jail them if they should be jailed".

The publication notes that the suspicion of bribery may very well be unfounded. Hillary and her husband Bill regularly perform at public events for a fee. So, in 2013, Hillary Clinton was paid 200 thousand dollars for a public performance.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to opinion polls, is the leader among Democrats in the fight for the nomination as candidate for President of the United States.

Her main rival among Republicans is the multi-billionaire Donald trump. The United States presidential election will be held on November 8th, 2016.

Comment: Bribe or no bribe, the fact that anyone would pay that kind of money to hear that kind of woman speak is mind-boggling. Future generations will look back and shake their heads that anyone would think it reasonable to pay murderers, war criminals, liars and psychopaths hundreds of thousands of dollars to babble on for an hour or two. In fact, it's so absurd that bribery is probably the only plausible explanation. Like the $100-hammer, it's a plausibly deniable way of making large amounts of money change hands. One hand washes the other! And Killary needs it: her hands are drenched in blood.

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Play

South Front: Syrian Army breaks 3-year siege in Aleppo province, Russian military adviser killed in Syria


South Front
Thu, 04 Feb 2016 05:24 UTC
south front
International Military Review - Syria (Feb. 4)


Comment: The breaking of the siege in Aleppo province is a big strategic victory. Hopefully the SAA will be able to hold on to this territory, thus effectively blocking the rebels access north, to their supporters and safe havens in Turkey.



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Bizarro Earth

Avalanche of water complaints followed EPA's assurances that Pennsylvania fracking was safe


RT
Fri, 05 Feb 2016 21:55 UTC
fracking water
© Tim Shaffer / Reuters
Thousands of complaints about drinking water have been discovered coming from communities near fracking activity. This casts doubt that on the claims by the Environmental Protection Agency that fracking isn't causing widespread damage to drinking water.

After a four-year study, the EPA had issued a June 2015 report that concluded that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, could be carried out safely and did not generally pose a threat to water supplies.

"EPA's draft study will give state regulators, tribes and local communities and industry around the country a critical resource to identify how best to protect public health and their drinking water resources," said Thomas Burke, deputy assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Research and Development, according to The Wall Street Journal.

However, Public Herald reports that Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has received 2,309 water complaints from 17 of 40 counties where fracking took place. Of those, 1,275 can now be viewed by the public, thanks to the investigations of non-profit Public Herald. The sheer number of complaints casts a shadow over EPA's claims, since Pennsylvania's official tally of water degradation is only 271 for all 40 fracking counties in the state.

Comment: The report cited by Vox comes from the Pennsylvania Dept of Health, which puts the high lead levels detected in children down to the use of lead paint in older buildings. But this publication by Penn State university clarifies that:
In Pennsylvania, the prevalence of leaded plumbing components and corrosive sources of water suggests that lead contamination is a common problem.
Flint, Michigan's water contamination is just the tip of the iceberg. Readers should take it as a given that drinking water is unsafe for drinking in all municipalities across the US.

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Bad Guys

Water thief: Christie Signs bill privatizing New Jersey's water supply


The Contributor
Sat, 06 Feb 2016 09:16 UTC
christie
© flickr / slgckgc
'Privatization is one of the single biggest threats to clean water and public health.'

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law on Thursday legislation that critics say sells out the state's water supply and democratic process for private profits.

The Water Infrastructure Protection Act, which purportedly aims to address aging infrastructure , allows for fast-tracking of sales of municipal water systems to private entities.

Among the sponsors of the measure, which passed the state legislature in December, was Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), who stated Thursday: "We recognize that there are times when private entities might be most capable of operating, maintaining and upgrading drinking water and sanitary wastewater systems," and keeps "the public's ability to be part of the process."

Quite the opposite, according to the law's critics.

Comment:

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No Entry

Finishing off ISIS/Daesh is not a priority for the West

Elijah J.Magnier
Fort Russ
Fri, 05 Feb 2016 03:34 UTC
ISIS
Finishing off ISIS is not a priority for Western powers, for reasons relating to economic and military interests in the Middle East.

When Anbar and Ninoy tribes raided the city of Mosul back in June 2014, these tribes, followed by ISIS, claimed the victory to itself and overshadowed the influence of the tribes. Iraq was governed by Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki who threw the Americans out of Iraq, and opened the doors of cooperation with Iran, so much so that almost every deal between the Prime minister, government cabinet, as well as the major and minor political parties and blocks, whether Sunni, Shi'a, or Kurds, were sketched and brokered in Tehran and Beirut.

Washington stood by as armed opposition against Baghdad grew, especially ISIS. It wanted ISIS to sow the seeds of destruction in Syria and Iraq; these allegations were confirmed by retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), in a report he had submitted to the US administration back in 2012.

There is no doubt that Iran's increasing influence in the region harms US interests, and the interests of other regional players. The US moved to contain ISIS but not to destroy it, when it headed towards the oil rich city of Kirkuk, and the Kurdish capital of Erbil, where regional and international interests are present, in the form of military cooperation, and oil extraction contracts, it is also used by the CIA as a launching base for its operations in the region.

Comment: Yup, those ISIS boys are all around useful to a lot of folks. No one wants to run them out of town, except the Syrian people suffering under their rule. No one seems to care about them, except their leader Bashar al-Assad, and Russia, who is doing just that.

The comment by Ya'alon was quite telling. So Israel prefers to hide behind a true terrorist group, rather than risk suffering another humiliating defeat at the hands of Hezbollah, let alone confront Iran, a real military power. Not only that, there's all that cheap, smuggled oil to consider.

Israel the main buyer of ISIS oil — Report

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Light Saber

Seeing sense? Merkel's coalition rival urges dismantling of anti-Russia sanctions after visiting Putin


RT
Thu, 04 Feb 2016 03:05 UTC
putin german minister meeting
© Aleksey Nikolskyi / SputnikRussian President Vladimir Putin, right, during his meeting with Minister-President of Bavaria Horst Seehofer at Novo-Ogaryovo, February 3, 2016.
Horst Seehofer, the premier of the state of Bavaria, a nominal partner in Angela Merkel's coalition, and a persistent thorn in her side, has called for a sea change in diplomatic dealings with Russia, following his trip to Moscow.

"Extending anti-Russia sanctions was a mistake," said Seehofer, referring to the EU's decision to prolong travel restrictions and economic embargoes against Russian individuals and companies over Ukraine late last year. "We need to consider the reality - they cannot be removed straight away. But we can deploy political means to repeal them... I think that they can be revoked in the foreseeable future."

Journalists returned to the subject of sanctions repeatedly as Seehofer spent an hour answering questions at the final press conference, following the two-day visit during which he met Russian President Vladimir Putin, and signed bilateral trade deals on behalf of his home state.

Seehofer tried to steer clear of incendiary soundbites that could annoy his partners in Berlin, insisting that he "wouldn't remove sanctions this month," and insisting any rapprochement was "conditional on Ukraine and Russia following the terms of the Minsk agreements."

But for all his careful phrases, the trip, unapproved by Merkel, had already conjured up a storm in Germany, with its Russia policy chief Gernot Erler, accusing him of "breaking the EU consensus" and "letting himself be exploited for publicity." Newspaper editorials accused him of "disloyalty" to Merkel, and "meddling" with his unsanctioned overtures.

Comment: The pain Europe feels due to economic sanctions the US insisted be imposed on Russia is getting worse every day. This is another thin but growing number of cracks in the solid front demanded by Washington. How much more is Europe willing to endure before they take action? The US certainly won't be giving them permission any time soon.

McCain says US to decide when European countries can lift Russian sanctions

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Radar

Russia to compensate for aggressive growth of US military presence in Europe


RT
Fri, 05 Feb 2016 02:51 UTC
Russia tanks
© Evgeny Biyatov / Sputnik
Russia will take measures to compensate for the continuing growth of US military presence in Europe, a senior diplomat has promised. He was commenting on the news that the Pentagon had asked for additional funding to strengthen its European forces.

"Symmetrical measures are unlikely, considering the enormous amount of money that American partners are allocating for this purpose. Next year they intend to allocate four times more than now," the head of the Foreign Ministry's Department of European Cooperation, Andrey Kelin, told RIA Novosti. "We will undertake compensatory measures to maintain a normal military-strategical balance," the diplomat added.

The comment came after mass media reported the United States Department of Defense planned to quadruple its spending in Europe, from $789 million to $3.4 billion. When Defense Secretary Ash Carter presented the plan he emphasized the funds were needed to counter "evolving challenges," including Russian aggression in Europe.

Comment: Further reading:
The decision to quadruple its military presence in Europe puts the US at its highest risk of a nuclear war with Russia, since the Cuban missile crisis of the early 1960s, as during the entire history of the mutual relationship it has never placed its military forces so close to Russia, according to Professor Stephen F. Cohen.

Referring to the recently announced US plan to quadruple its military presence in Europe, political analyst Professor Stephen F. Cohen called it an unprecedented and very dangerous provocation.

"We have never put our military force so close to Russia in the history going back to the 18th century," he said during the John Batchelor Show.

Western aggression: US has its military force closer to Russia than it did during Cold War


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Attention

Des Moines Register cites Dem caucus voting chaos, calls for audit of 'razor-thin' Killary win

Eliza Collins
Politico
Thu, 04 Feb 2016 02:35 UTC
vote rig iowa 2016
© Associated PressThe Register also said there were too many opportunities for error to arise.
In a strongly worded editorial on Thursday, The Des Moines Register called on the Iowa Democratic Party to move quickly to prove that Monday's results are correct.

The piece titled "Editorial: Something smells in the Democratic Party," starts out: "Once again the world is laughing at Iowa."

It gets sharper from there. "What happened Monday night at the Democratic caucuses was a debacle, period. Democracy, particularly at the local party level, can be slow, messy and obscure. But the refusal to undergo scrutiny or allow for an appeal reeks of autocracy," the DMR reads. "The Iowa Democratic Party must act quickly to assure the accuracy of the caucus results, beyond a shadow of a doubt."

The editorial cites Clinton's razor-thin victory as too close "not to do a complete audit of results." The newspaper editorial also said there were too many opportunities for error to arise.

Comment: It's fairly apparent that Killary will be one of the two presidential "candidates". The vote-rigging has become even more crude and brazen since Bush's 'hanging chads" in 1999.

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Quenelle - Golden

Austrian MP slams Erdoğan for 'brutal and undemocratic' policies


Sputnik
Fri, 05 Feb 2016 02:23 UTC
Erdogan
© UnknownTurkey's President Erdogan
Austrian MP Johannes Jarolim has left the Turkish-Austrian parliamentary friendship group in protest at the politics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Der Standard reported.

Austrian MP Johannes Jarolim has given up membership of the Turkish-Austrian parliamentary friendship group in protest at the politics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Austrian newspaper Der Standard reported on Tuesday.

"I am of the opinion that the freedom-loving Turkish people do not deserve the kind of president that President Erdogan has developed into," Jarolim explained his decision in a letter to the Turkish ambassador to Austria, Mehmet Hasan Gogus.
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Arrow Up

Yemeni tribes to unite against Saudi Arabia


Press TV
Fri, 05 Feb 2016 12:54 UTC
tribe meeting
© unknownMen of Hamdan and other tribesmen meet in Sana'a.
Yemeni tribes from across the country have called for mobilization against Saudi Arabia's deadly war on the Arab world's poorest nation, Press TV reports. Men of Hamdan, one of Yemen's most powerful tribes, rallied to the north of the capital, Sana'a, vowing to provide support in the form of potential mobilization for the country's fighters resisting the Saudi aggression.
"Tribesmen of Hamdan have marched in support of the popular resistance against the Saudi invasion and occupation of our country. Anyone who dares to invade our territories should know that Yemen has been and will always be the graveyard of invaders. As we trust Allah, we do not fear their internationally-banned weapons as victory is on our side," said one demonstrator.
Hundreds of tribesmen from the southern parts of the country held a gathering in the capital. The participants pledged union against what they described as a US-Israeli initiative targeting the country, which was being implemented by Saudi Arabia. "Yemenis from the north and the south are united against such US-Saudi project," said a keynote speaker at the event.

A recent damning UN report verified that the aggressors have targeted civilians in Yemen, documenting 119 sorties that violated international humanitarian law. "We know that the United Arab Emirates also has an interest in keeping our port of Aden under its domination. They want terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and Daesh to gain power in Aden," the speaker added.
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