© Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Here's a quick look at S&P 500-stock index profit margins, for example, going back more than 25 years. They remain high by historical standards.
Puppet Masters
Here's a quick look at S&P 500-stock index profit margins, for example, going back more than 25 years. They remain high by historical standards.
© Canal+
The hard-hitting documentary by Paul Moreira 'Ukraine, les masques de la révolution' [Ukraine: Masks of the Revolution], was aired on Monday night by Canal+, causing a stir in both Ukraine and France. On Sunday, the Ukrainian foreign ministry reported on Facebook that their ambassador in France had sent an outraged letter to Canal+ where he condemned the documentary as "a pamphlet of the worst disinformation traditions, using primitive methods of journalistic manipulation, including the handling of comments of respondents, distortions in translation and facts, and purely fabricated images."
That same day Le Monde heaped pressure on Canal+ by attacking the film's creator. Moreira has calmly and respectfully responded to his critics with a detailed post, translated into English here. To the credit of Canal Plus' management, the documentary was aired at the scheduled time:
© Jose Luis Gonzalez / Reuters
The administration will ask for the increase in spending to be spread over two years to expand access to treatment. The proposal, which the president will unveil in his budget recommendations next week, will be a significant boost in federal spending to battle the heroin addiction epidemic. The government is already spending $127 million on treatment programs this year.
If approved, the funding will help "ensure Americans who want treatment can get the help they need," said the White House.
Comment: Giving away more money to Big Pharma:
- Bigpharma wins, more people die: CDC delays revision of painkiller prescription guidelines
- Systemic abuse: Majority of opioid painkiller prescriptions written by family physicians, not 'pill mills'
- America's heroin crisis: Obama unveils new federal initiative to combat opioid addiction
- More Tennesseans died from legal prescription drugs than car accidents or gunshots
- Massachusetts police department fed up with Big Pharma's role in creating addiction through prescription painkillers
© REUTERS/ Denis Balibouse
"I concluded that after the first week of talks, there is more work to be done...I am not prepared for talks for the sake of talks."
"I decided to bring a temporary pause to the talks. The next stage will take place on 25 of February."
"At this stage it is very important to give the opportunity to those who have been insisting that the talks should take place that they also address the issues that are pending and unresolved."
"Therefore I will be asking for the International Group for Syria Support to convene as soon as possible, hopefully already in Munich, and the Security Council to meet, and we reconvene in Geneva again on February 25th."
© Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters
Ukraine's Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius
Ukraine's Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius
"Neither me, nor my team have any desire to serve as a cover-up for the covert corruption, or become puppets for those who, very much like the 'old' government, are trying to exercise control over the flow of public funds," Abromavicius said in his official statement on Wednesday.
His ministry's reform efforts have been "paralyzed" by the "concrete actions" of certain officials and groups, Abromavicius said, adding that he has been pressured by the president's administration to appoint "questionable individuals" to his team or to key positions in state-owned enterprises.
The minister namely mentioned Igor Kononenko as the one interfering with his work. Kononenko is a close ally of Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, his deputy in the bloc in the Verkhovna Rada, as well as Poroshenko's old business partner.
© CHIP SOMODEVILLA VIA GETTY IMAGES
US Senator Elizabeth Warren
US Senator Elizabeth Warren
"There are two legal systems," Warren said. "One for the rich and powerful, and one for everyone else."
Warren's office issued a report earlier this week documenting 20 cases in which federal officials had enough evidence against corporate malfeasance to issue fines. In most of the cases, companies were not even required to admit guilt. In only one case did a corporate offender go to jail -- Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, who received a 3-month sentence over a mine disaster that killed 29 people.
"It's not equal justice when a kid gets thrown in jail for stealing a car, while a CEO gets a huge raise when his company steals billions," Warren said. "It's not equal justice when someone hooked on opioids gets locked up for buying pills on the street, but bank executives get off scot-free for laundering nearly a billion dollars of drug cartel money."
Comment: When a country is controlled by corporations, it should be no surprise that the laws are then created and used to protect those corporations. The US is just such a country, wholly controlled by corporate interests who buy their own politicians and then have those stooges introduce legislation meant to protect them from the harm they cause.
© Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation
"Over the past week, Russian warplanes carried out 468 sorties in the Syrian Arab Republic, including 24 combat missions conducted by long-range Tu-22M3 bombers," Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, 1,354 terrorist targets have been destroyed in Syria's provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Raqqa, Daraa and Deir ez-Zor.
Russian long-range aviation thwarted a terrorist offensive in Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, Konashenkov said.
"Long-range bomber aircraft units supported the Syrian government troops defending the city Deir ez-Zor. Twenty three major terrorist targets were destroyed in the region as a result of airstrikes conducted by Tu-22M3 bombers flying in from Russia and task air force from the Hmeymim airbase. An attempt of a terrorist offensive in the Deir ez-Zor has been thwarted."
© JSC "PO "Sevmas
According to Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone, Commander of NATO's Maritime Command, his subordinates report "more activity from Russian submarines than we've seen since the days of the Cold War", HIS Jane's points out.
NATO is currently facing "a level of Russian capability that we haven't seen before," he added.
According to the vice admiral, Russia has managed to achieve "technology leaps that [are] remarkable, and credit to them" through "an extraordinary investment path not mirrored by the West." The new Russian submarines have better systems and longer operational ranges, he added.
Furthermore, it has become apparent that Russia has also worked hard on improving the expertise of its naval submarine crews, Dave Majumdar, the Defense Editor of The National Interest, remarks citing a report by the US Office of Naval Intelligence. As a result, NATO personnel have "seen a rise in professionalism and ability to operate their boats that we haven't seen before", Johnstone adds.
The current level of Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic is "very different from the period of quiet submarine activity that perhaps we've seen in the past," Vice Admiral Johnstone concludes, claiming that "that is a concern."
Comment: While the US military has been for years focusing on developing objects of force such as bullets and bombs to attack large groups of innocent civilians, Russia has quietly been developing their technology to be able to attack and defend against any military in the world. The US should be concerned about how far their military has fallen behind Russia's, especially since they continue to poke the bear.
© AP Photo/ Ebrahim Noroozi
What emerges in the public announcements following talks between China's President and all top Iranian leaders from Prime Minister Rouhani to Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, merely hints at what is clearly a profound shift in the relations between China and Iran. On January 23, an official Chinese Xinhua news agency statement on Xi's Iran trip, the first by any Chinese leader in fourteen years, declared the visit will, "lift their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership." In Teheran the Chinese President noted, "China stands ready to work with Iran to seize the momentum and further elevate our relationship and practical cooperation, so as to usher in a new chapter for our ties featuring comprehensive, long-term and stable development."
© Sputnik/ Alexei Druzhinin
Vladimir Putin is meeting with Henry Kissinger in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin confirmed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on Wednesday with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Comment: Oh, to be a fly on the wall during one of their conversations! Imagine: One of the last century's most genocidal political and elitist operatives Kissinger, meeting someone who is quite possibly the most astute, constructive and powerful world leaders of the last sixty years or so, Putin. What do they say to one another? Do they just pick each other's brains; each trying to understand the enemy better? Or do they share information that makes some attempt to stave off WWIII?
Comment: Now that capitalism has been used up, another ism will need to be explored to continue generating profits and grabbing more power and money.