Puppet Masters

Why 'madman' Poroshenko's threats should be taken seriously

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 11:18 UTC

Whilst Ukraine has no power to make good on Poroshenko's threats, they are a clear sign that no will to peace exists in Kiev.

One of the oddly reassuring signs about today's world is that when Petro Poroshenko speaks, few people listen. Even many supporters of the 2014 coup in Kiev realise that Poroshenko is more of a trigger happy cartoon character than he is the perverse fascist reincarnation of Che Guevara that he occasionally fashions himself to be. Yet even though he's been discredited and disgraced as a 'leader', his threats cannot be totally ignored.

His most recent outburst came when he said that someday the Ukrainian flag will fly over the Russian Republic of Crimea. In the same speech he claimed that his flag would also fly in Donbass, a statement which is clearly not in the spirit of the Minsk agreement...not that it would matter, as Kiev violated the agreement shortly after it was ratified.

But more importantly, imagine if a German Chancellor told a brigade of the German army that someday the German flag will fly over Gdansk or if a British Prime Minister said that someday the Union flag will fly over Lagos? There would be international outrage.

Comment: Further reading:

Ukraine celebrates 25 years of economic collapse

Ukraine's 'crude provocation', Vladimir Putin speaks with Germany's Merkel and France's Hollande, Porky excluded

Turkey, the Kurds and the insanity of U.S. policy in Syria

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 11:26 UTC

US policy in north east Syria has hugely complicated and exacerbated the situation there, setting the Turks and the Kurds against each other, and provoking threats of US military action in support of a misconceived policy that has not been thought through.

The war in Syria has been described as a game of three dimensional chess played by nine different players.

I don't think this is really true. The main part of the war is a straight contest between the Syrian government and its Jihadi opponents who are trying to overthrow it. As our contributor Afra'a Dagher has written, these Jihadis often use different names; however in terms of who they are and what they represent who are their external sponsors, they are always the same.

The situation in north east Syria is however more complex than elsewhere in Syria, so I will try to explain it in more detail. Whilst it is highly dangerous, as I will show the danger here comes not from what Erdogan and Turkey are doing, but from the US, which has experienced in this area a major debacle.

Comment: Washington's failed coup in Turkey has created a new alliance in Syria - an alliance of Syrian, Turkish, Russian, and Iranian interests. This is a huge game changer as the 'Masters of the Universe' now find themselves reacting to forces moving further outside their control. Expect more chaos, more shrill war-mongering, and more terror, because this is an 'unacceptable' position for megalomaniacs.

Further reading: Turkish tanks cross Syrian border in military op to retake city of Jarablus from ISIS with US air support - UPDATES

Facebook is categorizing you politically — Here's how to see what they think of you

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC

Imagine a computer system in which people voluntarily submit personal information about everything in their private lives from the type of perfume they like to their worldly and political views. Then imagine what someone with access to that information could do with it. The implications are horrifying — yet this system exists, and more than 1.7 billion people readily submit to using it. It's called Facebook.

Every time you hit the like button, react to a post, click on a link, like a page, scroll past something, or update your status — Facebook is watching and recording it.

The social media leviathan will tell you that it does these things to better serve its users and its advertisers. However, it effectively establishes divisive categories in which to place its users, so they are unlikely to see things that challenge their way of thought.

Peacefully challenging one's worldviews, however, is how progress is made. When we are constantly reassured that everything we believe as a Democrat or a Republican is correct, we are more likely to dismiss beneficial arguments to both of those paradigms. And it's dangerous.

The US double game in Yemen reaches its peak

Salman Rafi Sheikh
New Eastern Outlook
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC

On Saturday, August 20, the U.S. stated that it was going to reduce the number of its 'advisers' currently working in tandem with the Saudi Arabia led coalition in Yemen, further stating that the primary reason was the coalition's inability to control civilian casualties. Fifth Fleet spokesman Lieutenant Ian McConnaughey said that the United States now has 'a limited number, less than five, that are working directly on the advisory cell that we have here' in Bahrain. That number is down from about 45, in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, at its peak. While the U.S. has made its pull out from Yemen quite "public", the reality remains hidden and the actual extent of the support the U.S. continues to provide continues to fail to attract the Western media's attention at the same time.

While McConnaughey was right in saying that the U.S. team of advisers is engaged primarily in providing "imagery" to the coalition forces that in turn allows their forces to make better decisions, this is however not the actual support the U.S. has been and is still providing to the Saudis. It is through arms sale, worth billions of dollars, that the U.S. is supporting Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. The illusion of this "pull out" becomes evident when we look at the fact that it was only a month ago that there was an announcement from the U.S. State Department about an arms sale to Saudi Arabia of over $1 billion.

Comment: See also:

George Galloway: Jeremy Corbyn is telling truth about #traingate

RT
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 06:48 UTC

George Galloway has defended Jeremy Corbyn from an "absurd" scandal in which the Labour leader was accused of fabricating claims that he couldn't find a free seat on a busy Virgin train.

The former Labour MP told RT that he had heard the true story "from the horse's mouth," and that Corbyn was telling the truth when he said the train was "ram-packed."

He accused Virgin boss Richard Branson of breaking data protection laws by releasing CCTV images of the train showing passengers' faces and claimed the multi-billionaire is worried about Corbyn's plans to re-nationalize the railways.

New global security model for multipolar world

Tayyab Baloch
Katehon
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC

China has appeared on the world stage as a "Global Power" with military might and the world's fastest growing economy. The Chinese leadership has not only curtailed the US' dirty game to prevent China from becoming world power, but they also proven that China has the potential to repair, through development, the damage dealt by the US striving to maintain hegemony. Russia's struggle to reenter onto the world stage as a superpower as it was during the Soviet era has been successful under the leadership of Vladimir Putin. The leaderships of both countries, China and Russia, have realized that the only way to defeat the unipolar world is through constituting the institutions of a new multipolar world by shifting the centers of power. In fact, Sino-Russian strategic partnership is introducing a new world order based on peace and development.

Last year, both leaders celebrated the 70th anniversary of victory in World War II together by inviting multipolar world leaders to Red Square and Tiananmen Square's military marches of the world's armies. Nearly the whole world and their armies participated, except the US and Europe. The US and the Western NATO bloc who boycotted the Russian and Chinese celebrations of victory over Nazism and fascism are those very ones dragging the world towards total war, while both Russia and China have joined efforts to make the world safer from this emerging threat of war. The all-embracing partnership between Moscow and Beijing has hinted that both are ready to defend the world from this US-sponsored dirty game. Hence why both of the multipolar world's super powers are not only constituting a joint security mechanism for multipolar world security, but both are also preparing to team up against the common foe from the Black Sea to the South China Sea.

Whitewash: Israeli military clears itself of any wrongdoing in multiple airstrikes that killed Palestinian families during 2014 Gaza slaughter

Josef Federman
Associated Press
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 13:18 UTC

The Israeli military on Wednesday cleared its forces of wrongdoing in three deadly incidents that took place during the 2014 Gaza war — including an airstrike that killed 15 members of a single family.

Israel's investigative process is at the heart of a Palestinian case to press for war crimes charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court in the Hague. The Palestinians say that Israel has a poor record of prosecuting wrongdoing in its ranks. Wednesday's announcement was likely to add to those claims.

In a statement Wednesday, the military said it had closed a total of seven investigations without filing charges after a special team collected testimony from Gaza residents and Israeli officers.

The deadliest incident involved an airstrike in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Aug. 1, 2014, that killed 15 members of the Zoroub family.

The army said the building was used by Hamas as a command and control center. While its statement suggested that the civilian casualties were higher than expected, it said the airstrike was in line with international law, which can allow attacks on homes used for military purposes. It said that among the dead was Nazmi Zoroub, whom it identified as a senior Hamas commander.

Louisiana flood victims told they must have a permit before they can fix their homes

Claire Bernish
The Free Thought Project
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 17:50 UTC

After Baton Rouge, Louisiana, suffered inundating rains and widespread, historic flooding, residents have begun the formidable cleanup and rebuilding necessary to bring some normalcy back to their lives. As laborious as these tasks might be, however, the government has no intentions of alleviating stress from the effort: burdensome building permits — essentially, government permission slips — must still be obtained before rebuilding can begin.

Considering the daunting expense of rebuilding in itself, those State permission slips may make reconstruction cost-prohibitive for some, while others — given the strict regulations pertaining to the floodplain and more — may not be allowed to rebuild on their own property at all.

"We haven't suspended any or our requirements for permitting," Justin Dupuy, building official for Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge, told Reason in an interview. "Before they start making any repairs, they just need to call in and check with us to see what they need."

Any homes needing more extensive reconstruction than simply the removal of water-damaged drywall and carpeting — cases where waters reached the level of electrical sockets — will need a full construction permit from the parish government.

Powerful explosion rips through Belgian sports center

RT
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 00:34 UTC

A powerful explosion went off at a sports facility in the Belgian city of Chimay, partially destroying the building and injuring an unknown number of people, local media report.

At least one person was killed and two were injured after the building collapsed, Belga News Agency reported citing emergency services spokesperson.

The cause of the blast was not immediately clear. Rescuers are working at the site, and more people are believed to be trapped under the rubble.

Two Japanese newspapers accuse police of 'violating press freedom' at anti-US military protest

RT
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 23:11 UTC

Two Okinawa newspapers have accused the Japanese riot police of using force to remove their journalists from a protest against the construction of US military helipads in the area last week.

The Okinawa Times and the Ryukyu Shimpo newspapers said that the security forces acted in "violation of freedom of the press" by disrupting the activity of their reporters at the rally.

According to the outlets, the journalists had their hands twisted by police while they were being forcibly removed from the site of the demonstration.

The protest was against the construction of US military helipads in the small village of Higashi, in the north of the Okinawa prefecture.

"Reporters' news-gathering activities were restricted for about 30 minutes despite showing their IDs to officers to prove that they were reporters," the Okinawa Times stated.

The paper warned that the actions "constituted a violation of the freedom of the press and we will not tolerate it."

The Ryukyu Shimpo also ran a piece in which the outlet "strongly protested the violation of free speech" by the security forces.

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Puppet Masters

Why 'madman' Poroshenko's threats should be taken seriously

Turkey, the Kurds and the insanity of U.S. policy in Syria

Facebook is categorizing you politically — Here's how to see what they think of you

The US double game in Yemen reaches its peak

George Galloway: Jeremy Corbyn is telling truth about #traingate

New global security model for multipolar world

Whitewash: Israeli military clears itself of any wrongdoing in multiple airstrikes that killed Palestinian families during 2014 Gaza slaughter

Louisiana flood victims told they must have a permit before they can fix their homes

Powerful explosion rips through Belgian sports center

Two Japanese newspapers accuse police of 'violating press freedom' at anti-US military protest

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