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Media spin in action: CNN's Amanpour show edits out criticism by visiting RT host


RT
Wed, 26 Nov 2014 19:17 UTC
cnn Christiane Amanpour
© Agence France-Presse/Mike Coppola
Christiane Amanpour

Comment: It's amazing how quickly a media puppet buckles when called out on their failings. CNN editors cut out what could only be labeled a tantrum by Christiane Amanpour at being questioned about her record of consistently supporting US foreign policies with her reportage. RT has served the cause of media transparency by publishing the full transcript of Ms. Amanpour's conversation with RT host Anissa Naouai and Russian fifth-columnist Mikhail Kasyanov.


Last week, CNN's Christiane Amanpour invited RT's Anissa Naouai to discuss what the US channel called 'a heated propaganda war' by the Russian government. But it never showed viewers Naouai's criticism of Amanpour's own propaganda exercises.

Naouai, host of RT's In The Now, was invited to speak along with Mikhail Kasyanov, a former Russian prime minister and a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin's policies.


RT offers a complete video of Naouai's answers, as well as the full transcript of the discussion below.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Mr. Kasyanov, Anissa Naouai in Moscow, thank you both very much indeed for joining me. Let me first ask you, Mikhail Kasyanov, Mr. Putin, President Putin seems to believe that Russia has an image problem and wants to change the way Russia is portrayed around the rest of the world. It is an image problem or is there a problem, a policy problem?

MIKHAIL KASYANOV: That's a deep problem of the policy. The problem of Mr. Putin, because Mr. Putin believes that such a policy he pursues internally and externally, that's normality in 21st century, which is absolutely not. And therefore he is sometimes even angry on the Western society, why the Western society doesn't accept his regime as normal one. Therefore that's a problem of mentality rather than of image.

CA: Anissa, let me ask you, do you feel that "Russia Today" and other state-sponsored media is specifically designed to counter what your government, your president believes is a bad image problem, an unfair shake in the West?

Comment: And with that childish parting shot, Amanpour shuts it down. A disgraceful performance by a so-called "leading journalist".

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Attention

Here be fascists: Stay away from Kiev!

Justin Raimondo
Antiwar.com
Wed, 19 Nov 2014 22:39 UTC
azov
"Their children will hole up in basements!" screeched Ukrainian "President" Poroshenko, the oligarch and "Chocolate King." "This is how we will win this war!" He was talking about the children of the people of East Ukraine, whose cities are being bombed from the air by the US-supported Ukrainian military. Thousands have been killed, mostly civilians: Ukraine's war on its own people has displaced nearly a million people. Many have fled to neighboring Russia, while a little under half a million are classified as internally displaced refugees. The Ukrainian military, which claims to be fighting "terrorists," is using cluster bombs - weapons that are banned in the civilized world, but freely used by Ukraine's military, which includes the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion.

Formally inducted into Ukraine's US-backed military machine, the Azov Battalion was organized by openly neo-Nazi groups, and has been such a success that their deputy commander, Vadim Troyan, has been appointed the city of Kiev's chief of police. Troyan is a member of the "Patriot[s] of Ukraine," a paramilitary group associated with the Social-National Assembly - an umbrella group, founded in 2008, uniting a number of ultra-rightist and openly neo-Nazi Ukrainian organizations. The appointment was made by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, a member of the "moderate" People's Front party of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

While both Troyan and the Ukrainian government deny any association with neo-Nazis, the Human Rights Group of Kharkiv says he "ran for Ukraine's parliament this year as a member of the People's Front. He is described on their site as being a member of 'Patriot of Ukraine.'" Before Troyan's elevation to the top law enforcement position in the country's capital, he and his fellow neo-Nazis were quite well-known to the police in Kharkiv, where they regularly beat up their political opponents as well as foreign students, migrants, and homosexuals.

Comment: See: SOTT EXCLUSIVE: U.S., Canada, Ukraine whitewashing fascism - CrossTalk

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Bomb

NATO top commander reiterates 'Russian threat' while pledging more military aid to Kiev


RT
Wed, 26 Nov 2014 20:51 UTC
Philip Breedlove
© Reuters / Valentyn Ogirenko
U.S. General Philip Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, reacts during a news conference in Kiev, November 26, 2014.
The US and NATO have started helping the Ukrainian military 'increase its capacities and capabilities,' NATO's top military commander said during a visit to Kiev.

US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, who is the commander of the US European Command and NATO Allied Command Operations, said at a press conference during his Ukrainian visit on Wednesday that a "comprehensive" plan has been developed.


Comment: Sure looks that way.


The general said that a plan to address the requirements of Ukraine's military has been created as a result of 25 visits, with parts of it already being executed. "The work is good, it has been given great support from my command," Breedlove said, adding that the forces will proceed with developing a "series of train-advise-assist capabilities" with the Ukrainian army.

Comment: Shades of Dr. Strangelove: NATO Chief General Breedlove warns Moscow: No more 'stealth invasions' of 'little green men'

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Airplane

Transparency?! Why do we allow Kiev to write the official report on MH17?

Eric Zuesse
Washington's Blog
Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:08 UTC
poroshenko

"The Russkies are comin'! ... Where's the damn safety on this thing?!"
There are only two suspects in the shoot-down of the MH17 Malaysian airliner over Ukraine on July 17th: the separatist rebels, whom the Ukrainian Government charge had shot it down mistaking it for one of the Ukrainian Air Force bombers that routinely drop bombs onto the separatists and their families and indiscriminately onto everyone else in that region; or otherwise the Ukrainian Air Force itself, as a means for President Obama to be able to win increased international sanctions against Russia for Russia's support of those blamed rebels.

That's it, and that's all.

One of these two suspects, the Ukrainian Government, was granted by the other three member-states of the official MH17 'investigating' commission, a veto-power over anything that's written into that 'investigating' report.

In other words, basically what exists is this:

The Ukrainian Government gets to write the official 'investigation' report on that 'accident.' The other three Obama-allied nations will place their signatures onto it - or else there simply won't be any such 'final report.'

Comment: See also: Zuesse's analysis, while true in spirit, is lacking some details. A national press controlled by oligarchs is a symptom, not necessarily a cause, of a 'fascist drift'. Once a country has declined that far into ponerogenesis, yes, 'fascism' is inevitable. And by fascism, we mean full-blown pathocracy: where psychopaths occupy all significant positions of leadership and influence, where possible dissidents are kept dumbed down, or oppressed by internal police, or sent off to die in patriotic and useless wars. But the first step is always and everywhere a group of psychopaths - the oligarchs - gaining control of some key institutions of power.

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Evil Rays

SOTT EXCLUSIVE: U.S., Canada, Ukraine whitewashing fascism - CrossTalk

Harrison Koehli
Sott.net
Wed, 26 Nov 2014 18:44 UTC
azov

U.S. and Canada: supporting their Nazi brothers in Ukraine!
Today, RT's CrossTalk features Dmitry Babich, Alexander Mercouris and Nebojsa Malic talking about the recent vote by the U.S., Canada and Ukraine against a Russian-proposed UN resolution condemning the heroization of Nazism. (See Revealing their fascist allegiance: US, Canada & Ukraine vote against Russia's anti-Nazism resolution at UN for details.) As host Peter Lavelle asks, "Is this an attempt to whitewash fascism, or merely a desperate maneuver to protect the Kiev regime?"

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Snakes in Suits

Did they want more violence in Ferguson? 10 'coincidences' too glaring to ignore

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Tue, 25 Nov 2014 18:04 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Was it a conspiracy or was it incompetence? Those appear to be the only two alternatives that we are left with after the horrific violence that we witnessed in Ferguson on Monday night. The first round of Ferguson rioting back in August took everyone by surprise, but this time authorities had more than three months to prepare. They had the ability to control precisely when the grand jury decision would be announced and how many cops and National Guard troops would be deployed on the streets.

But despite all this, the violence in Ferguson on Monday night was even worse than we witnessed back in August. Either this was a case of almost unbelievable incompetence, or there was someone out there that actually wanted this to happen. If someone out there is actually trying to provoke more violence in Ferguson, then the rioters are being played like a fiddle.

Most of them have no idea that they could potentially just be pawns in a game that is far larger than they ever imagined. The only other alternative to explain what we just saw is incompetence on a level that is absolutely laughable.

Something definitely does not smell right about all of this, and let us hope that at some point the American people get the truth.

Comment: Certainly some interesting observations.

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War Whore

U.S. baiting Russia by increasing number of armored vehicles next to its borders


RT
Wed, 26 Nov 2014 18:01 UTC
Image
© Reuters / Ints Kalnins
U.S. soldiers deployed in Latvia perform during a drill at Adazi military base October 14, 2014
American armored vehicles sent to Poland and the Baltic States for military drills are to remain for the constant training of local troops and rotation of US forces. More fighting vehicles will be "pre-positioned" at US military bases in Germany.

The US Department of Defense intends to boost the number of its armored vehicles on the territory of the NATO member states in Eastern Europe.

Next year the number of M1 Abrams tanks and M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles will reach 150 vehicles.

"The troops will come over and train, and they'll go back. The equipment will stay behind," the newly-appointed head of US Army forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, told AFP in a phone interview from Estonia.

This is going to be "a lot cheaper" than transporting tanks across the Atlantic for ongoing joint training missions of European and US troops, which are currently deployed in the region for several months, he said on Tuesday.

Deployment of additional hardware to Baltic States and Poland goes on within the framework of the US 'Operation Atlantic Resolve' effort, established to reassure American allies in Eastern Europe anxious about a "resurgent Russia."

Comment: The war machine must continue to churn. The U.S.-controlled NATO is surrounding Russia in blatant warmongering tactics. Russia is being extremely controlled in their response to such aggressive tactics. The fact that Western media goes around calling Putin the evil dictator who wants to take over the world is just pathetic. The media is now just the government mouthpiece, spewing whatever propaganda the psychopaths in the U.S. wish. It should be clear to anyone paying attention that the U.S. is the empire that wishes to dictate to other countries what they can and cannot do.

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Light Saber

Lavrov calls use of terrorists for regime change in Syria 'unacceptable', says Russia will continue to support Syrian government


RT
Wed, 26 Nov 2014 17:49 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti / Evgeny Biyatov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Comment: Russia is making it clear, they will not allow a U.S.-led coup to happen in Syria like it has in Ukraine. The U.S. wants to replace Assad with a more American friendly politician (stooge). Never mind that Assad is democratically elected. If a country's elected leader does not bow to the wishes of the West, the West has shown that is has no qualms engaging in a violent overthrow of that country. At least there is one country in Russia that is finally standing up to such imperialistic tactics.


Moscow condemns efforts to overthrow Syria's political regime using terrorist groups in the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"Russia condemns the use of extremist groups in efforts to change the regime [in Syria]," Lavrov said, at a news conference on Wednesday in Sochi, after meeting his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem.

The foreign minister called the US refusal to compromise with Syrian authorities "openly ideology-driven," saying that Syria's nuclear disarmament confirms the country's cooperation internationally.

Saying the fight against terrorism should be conducted without "double standards," the minister said strikes on the Islamic State forces without approval from Damascus violated international laws.

"In relation to this, questions to the US-led coalition arise, about who perform strikes on Islamic State without agreement with Damascus," said Lavrov.

Russia will keep advising Syria and other countries under terrorist threat on their military efficiency, Lavrov added, saying the fight against growing extremist forces in the Middle East is the international community's top priority.

Moscow has also asked the EU and UN to address the issue of terrorists selling oil from the occupied regions. Lavrov said that information regarding terrorists stealing oil from territories in Syria and Iraq continues to surface, and Russia is unimpressed with UN investigations into the matter.

The minister also criticized the EU decision to suspend its embargo on buying oil from Libya, saying there is still a region in the oil producing country controlled by terrorists.
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Quenelle

Putin: Russia won't get dragged into geopolitical intrigues and conflicts


RT
Wed, 26 Nov 2014 17:21 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti / Alexey Druzhinin

Comment: This is a clear message to the Western psychopathic warmongers. Putin is not stupid, he knows that Obama and his buddies are doing all they can to get Russia involved in messy, expensive conflicts. Putin is essentially advocating an isolationist foreign policy, which is the best policy for the citizens of Russia. Putin is representing his people the best way possible, giving the people exactly what they want. If only Obama, Harper, and Cameron had two firing neurons, they might actually learn a thing or two about diplomacy from Putin.


Russia threatens no one and will stay aloof from geopolitical intrigues, however strongly anyone may wish to pull the country into them, said Russia's President Vladimir Putin, addressing a meeting on the development of the armed forces.

"We are not threatening anyone and are not planning to get involved in any geopolitical games, intrigues and especially conflicts, no matter who would want to pull us into them," Putin said at a meeting with military chiefs in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Wednesday.

The president stressed the importance of ensuring the sovereignty and integrity of Russia and its allies. He also said that an "integrated approach and the unification of all public authorities is needed in solving issues concerning national defense."

He noted that in recent years, Russia has completed the formation of an integral system of military planning, updated military management, and in January last year a new defense plan was approved.

On Monday, Putin met Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and head of GHQ Valery Gerasimov to discuss military development plans. The top officials talked about the formation of military units in Crimea, and a new unified strategic command in the Arctic based on Russia's Northern fleet from December 1.
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Snakes in Suits

Missing in the debate on the Swiss gold referendum and how Switzerland joined the EU by stealth contrary to the wishes of the people

Eric Schreiber
Goldsilverworlds.com
Wed, 26 Nov 2014 11:07 UTC
The Swiss will vote on a referendum on November 30th that would ban the Swiss National Bank (SNB) from selling current and future gold reserves, repatriate foreign stored gold holdings to Switzerland, and mandate that gold must comprise a minimum of 20% of central bank assets. The SNB does not usually comment on political referendums. However, in this case it has done so quite vocally.

Swiss vote
© Unknown
A “YES” vote will begin a process to restore restraint, accountability, and transparency on an institution that took advantage of the removal of its previous gold holding constraint already once before to explode its balance sheet, reinvent itself as a hedge fund, and significantly expand into areas of policy far beyond its original remit.
Why has the central bank decided to step into the political fray and oppose this initiative? What are its concerns? Are they valid or motivated by other factors?

The SNB's primary objections to the gold initiative are three fold.
  1. It claims that gold is "one of the most volatile and riskiest investments",
  2. that a 20% gold requirement will lower the "distributions to the confederation and the cantons" since gold does not pay interest like bonds and dividend paying stocks, and
  3. that the 20% gold holding requirement will interfere with its ability to conduct monetary policy and complicate efforts to maintain "the minimum exchange rate", the "temporary" policy of pegging the Swiss franc (CHF) to the Euro (EUR) it initiated in 2011 and continues to enforce to this day.
The first two concerns can quickly be addressed and discounted. Gold is indeed a volatile asset at times but so are bonds and equities. In recent years Greek, Spanish, Italian, Irish and other European bonds have been far more volatile than gold. The SMI, the Swiss stock index, lost over 50% of its value on two separate occasions between 2000 and 2009 while gold steadily rose at an annual rate of 8.50% over the same period.

Regarding the second concern, the distribution of proceeds derived from financial speculation and paid to the confederation and cantons, one has to question whether or not it is really appropriate for the SNB to re-brand itself as a hedge fund instead of remaining focused on its core responsibilities as a central bank.

Comment: See also:

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