Puppet Masters

Right Sector to hold public meeting on 'future of Ukrainian revolution'

Sputnik News
Tue, 21 Jul 2015 14:19 UTC

The future of the Ukrainian revolution will be discussed during a popular meeting which will be held by the Right Sector on Tuesday in Kiev, Dmitry Yarosh, leader of the movement, announced. He also said the Ukrainian government is incapable of carrying out real reforms.

A popular meeting which will be held in Kiev by the Ukrainian nationalist Right Sector movement on Tuesday should bring Ukrainians the prospect of further changes in their country, Dmitry Yarosh, leader of the organization, said.

Earlier, the Right Sector announced it would organize a meeting at Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in central Kiev on July 21.

Comment: Anyone who takes Yarosh's desire for "social reforms" seriously is exhibiting one of the first criterion for ponerogenesis:

One phenomenon all ponerogenic groups and associations have in common is the fact that their members lose (or have already lost) the capacity to perceive pathological individuals as such, interpreting their behavior in a fascinated, heroic, or melodramatic ways. The opinions, ideas, and judgments of people carrying various psychological deficits are endowed with an importance at least equal to that of outstanding individuals among normal people.

The atrophy of natural critical faculties with respect to pathological individuals becomes an opening to their activities, and, at the same time, a criterion for recognizing the association in concern as ponerogenic. Let us call this the first criterion of ponerogenesis.

Andrew M. Lobaczewski, Political Ponerology (A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes)

New 'austerity tax' sends Greek prices soaring

Sputnik News
Tue, 21 Jul 2015 13:44 UTC

Despite the optimism that followed the reopening of Greece's banks yesterday, it seems that locals are already feeling the pinch of the country's new bailout terms after just one day, with a new austerity tax making most everyday items - from coffee to taxis and even condoms - far more expensive.

As part of 'confidence building' measures, introduced by the Greek government on the back on negotiations with Eurozone creditors, an existing sales tax was expanded and increased from 13 percent to 23 percent.

The wide-ranging tax applies to the sale of various products and services such as coffee, restaurants sales, various meat products, language schools and even ferries to the Greek islands.

Comment: Also see:

Greece made to fail by the banks and other parts of the story you are not being told by the media

Will Greece become Ukraine 2.0? Yes, if Nuland's hubby has his way

Varoufakis - new Greek bailout doomed. It is the 'greatest disaster'

General Wesley Clark suggests putting "disloyal Americans" in internment camps

Michael Krieger
Liberty Blitkreig
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 12:55 UTC

If these people are radicalized and don't support the United States, and they're disloyal to the United States, as a matter of principal that's fine, that's their right. It's our right and our obligation to segregate them from the normal community for the duration of the conflict.

- General Wesley Clark in a MSNBC interview

Noting that the recent tyrannical, entirely anti-American comments made by General Wesley Clark during a MSNBC interview are statist and disturbing would be the understatement of the century.

Former US army psychological warfare officer and counter-terrorism analyst: Putin is probably the best thing that has happened to Russia in a hundred years

PressTV
Sun, 12 Jul 2015 19:48 UTC

Press TV has conducted an interview with Scott Bennett, former US army psychological warfare officer and counter-terrorism analyst in San Francisco, to discuss a report saying that American intelligence agencies have been spying on Russian President Vladimir Putin for over the past twenty years.

Following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Varoufakis - new Greek bailout doomed. It is the 'greatest disaster'

RT
Sat, 18 Jul 2015 18:29 UTC

Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has warned that the economic reforms from Greece's debt holders are doomed to fail. The assessment comes as PM Alexis Tsipras has reshuffled his cabinet in efforts to secure a third bailout package.

The EU is preparing to start talks with Athens on a third bailout which could reach €86 billion ($93 billion), but the reform program laid down by Brussels as a precondition for the bailout will "go down in history as the greatest disaster of macroeconomic management ever," Varoufakis told BBC.

"This programme is going to fail whoever undertakes its implementation," he said. Asked when will it fail, he replied, "It has failed already."

Varoufakis stressed that in given conditions Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who himself does not believe in the bailout, had little option but to sign the agreement. "We were given a choice between being executed and capitulating. And he decided that capitulation was the ultimate strategy," Varoufakis said.

On Saturday, new cabinet ministers were sworn in after Tsipras replaced hardliners in his government, following the agreement with the EU creditors.

Comment: Bottom line: Greece was made an offer it couldn't refuse.

Master and servant: How Washington controls Europe

Alan Mackinnon
Morning Star Online
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 16:21 UTC

In my previous article (Nato is the menace not Russia, M Star June 20) we examined the case study of Ukraine and discussed the rapid expansion of Nato over the past 20 years.

In this piece we focus on how the United States exercises its power over Europe — and why.

Firstly, it is often asserted that Nato is a purely defensive alliance.

Certainly, the original Washington Treaty which established Nato in 1949 was framed as a mutual defence pact with the emphasis on defence, security and protection.

Yet the reality of recent practice is different.

Comment: NATO has Europe ensnared in an elaborate web of debt, blackmail, corruption, and austerity. The rest of the world, struggling to grow in this corrupting atmosphere, is attempting to build an alternative. Check out:

Was Greece set up to fail?

China's SWIFT alternative (CIPS) and the engineered death of the dollar

Lords and Vassals: Relations in a unipolar world

New wave of propaganda portends US invasion of Syria

Tony Cartalucci
Land Destroyer
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:00 UTC

It was recently reported that US policymakers have signed and dated plans drawn up for the US invasion and occupation of Syria. The plan as described by the Fortune 500-funded Brookings Institution - a corporate think-tank that has previously drawn up plans for the invasion, occupation, and "surge" in Iraq - is to occupy border regions of Syria with US special forces to then justify a nationwide "no-fly-zone" if and when Syrian forces attempt to retake these "safe zones."

The "safe zones" are to be used by various terrorists fronts Brookings admits are tied to Al Qaeda, to take refuge from Syrian air power and from which to stage and launch attacks deeper into Syrian territory. The end game is the Balkanization of Syria into ineffectual vassal states the US can later stitch together into a larger client regime.

It was also reported that this signed and dated conspiracy to invade, occupy, and destroy Syria would be followed by widespread propaganda aimed at selling the policy paper under the guise of "defeating" the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL). In reality, hundreds of trucks a day, originating deep within NATO-member Turkey's territory, cross the Turkish-Syrian border unopposed, destined for ISIS territory, keeping the terrorist front well supplied and armed, along with its ranks full of fresh fighters.

It is clear that US, British, and other regional allies conducting airstrikes on ISIS in Syria are doing so with full knowledge that whatever damage they are doing is quickly absorbed by the logistical torrent they themselves allow, even underwrite, to freely flow into ISIS territory. No attempts have been made by the US or any of the NATO nations involved in the Syrian conflict, to first stem ISIS' supply lines - an elementary and obvious strategic goal necessary if the West was truly interested in stopping ISIS.

Comment: The psychopathic U.S. political-military-industrial-complex learned that they would not be allowed to overtly attack Syria on the fabricated 'Assad used chemical weapons on his own people' narrative in September 2013. Russia had its navy waiting to respond to Obama's 'red line' rhetoric, which is probably why the opportunity and choice to disarm Syria of its chemical weapons was taken and observed by the world community. But as the U.S. and allied regimes creep forward in the covert and slow motion attempt to invade, undercut and subsume sovereign Syria, they'd better think twice: Russia, Iran and other nations know exactly what's occurring and are only biding their time until a tipping point of aggression is breached. When that happens, all hell may break loose because the U.S. will not - cannot - be allowed to take over Syria. That is when we will see a real red line.

Russia replaces China as most attractive BRICS country for investors

RT
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 17:55 UTC

The Russian market has replaced China to become the most attractive BRICS country for investors in 2015, according to Bloomberg. Pricier oil that has rebounded from a six-year low and easing political risks make it the best BRICS investment bet.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg say Russian shares are undervalued, by up to a half compared with other BRICS countries. Russian shares can be more profitable if the political risks continue to reduce.

One of the two key Russian indices - a ruble denominated MICEX - trades at 5.9 times the projected earnings of its members. For example, Brazil's Ibovespa, Sao Paulo Stock Exchange Index, shows 12.6 multiples, being the second cheapest in the BRICS. China, India and South Africa are above 15.

"Our models are telling us to buy Russia. There is a very strong turnaround potential. It's an increasingly difficult call to get right because of politics. I'd be happy to pull the trigger in the next two to three months," Tim Love, a London-based investment manager at GAM told Bloomberg. GAM's assets are estimated at $130 billion.

Comment: This is another clear sign that the sanction levied by the U.S./EU against Russia have ultimately failed to produce what they intended. Russia is not only surviving the economic attack, they are turning it into a beneficial development by finding alternative sources of economic output. They should thank the imperialists!

MH17, one year on: What really happened, and why

Patrick Henningsen
21st Century Wire
Fri, 17 Jul 2015 16:41 UTC

MH17, a crime pinned on Russia

This month marks the one year anniversary of the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 - an incident that took place against a backdrop of a brutal proxy war - pitting Kiev and its supporters in Washington DC, the EU and NATO - against rebel forces in eastern Ukraine and Russia. As with most 21^st century conflicts, truth has been the first casualty of war here.

On July 17, 2014, flight MH17 traveling east from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - crashed near the village of Grabovo, and on the outskirts of the town of Torez just outside of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, approximately 40 km from the Ukrainian-Russian border.

To call this situation volatile would almost be an understatement. A pivotal event such as this could easily be used as a pretext for escalating not only a New Cold War between the West and Russia, but also a hot war. Only six months previously, the Ukraine found itself in the throes of a western-backed coup d'état in Kiev which tore the country apart. This was quickly followed by a snap referendum in Crimea, where voters opted for secession from the Ukraine and into the relatively secure arms of the Russian Federation. The west cried foul and so began a new grudge match. Arguably, tensions between the west and Moscow have been at their highest since the apex of the Cold War during the east-west Soviet era. Needless to say, with MH17 the stakes could not be any higher, and regarding the west, it was obvious who would be assigned the blame for this tragedy.

Comment: See also:

One year later: All evidence still suggests MH17 shot down by a jet fighter

Life after sanctions: Iran's oil industry to increase production by one million barrels per day by 2016

Sputnik News
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 15:52 UTC

Although experts claim that Tehran would need at least a year to restore oil production halted by sanctions, Iran's oil industry is capable of increasing production faster than anyone expects, London-based journalist Javier Blas notes.

According to Javier Blas, a London-based journalist and commodities market expert, Iran could restore its oil production faster than analysts and traders predict.

"The consensus among analysts and traders is that Tehran needs at least a year after sanctions are lifted to raise output to the level prevailing before restrictions were imposed in 2012," Blas remarked.

Comment: Oil is an object of major interest in the "Great Game":