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Chess

Nicola Sturgeon: Brexit will lead to 2nd Scottish independence referendum


RT
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 17:51 UTC
Nicola Sturgeon Scottish Independence
© RT
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced plans for a second Scottish independence referendum to take place in autumn 2017 or spring 2018. It comes as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to formally launch Brexit negotiations.

Sturgeon told a press conference in Bute House, Edinburgh, on Monday she will stand up for Scotland's interest and make sure the Scottish people have a choice at the end of Brexit negotiations.

Claiming the government's plan for a 'hard Brexit' will "damage the economy and change the very nature of our society and country," Sturgeon announced her intention to go to the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood next week to ask it to approve a second Scottish independence referendum.
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X

Chinese Communist Party warns of 'creeping destabilization' from radical Islamists


AP
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 17:51 UTC
china
© Flickr/ Max Braun
China's ruling Communist Party is hardening its rhetoric about Islam, with top officials making repeated warnings this past week about the specter of global religious extremism seeping into the country.

Shaerheti Ahan, a top political and legal affairs party official in Xinjiang, became the latest official from a predominantly Muslim region to warn political leaders gathered in Beijing about China becoming destabilized by the "international anti-terror situation."

Over the past year, President Xi Jinping has directed the party to "Sinicize" the country's ethnic and religious minorities, while regional leaders in Xinjiang, home to the Uighur (WEE-gur) ethnic minority, have ramped up policing amid an uptick in violence.

Comment: While the AP can claim that China risks 'exacerbating a cycle of repression,' what they don't mention is the fact that China's 'radical Islam' problem is made in the USA. Of course this is part of the strategy - foment revolutionary conditions and then blame the government for 'cracking down' on the problem.

In an interesting development Al Jazeera reports that top Communist officials are now drawing comparisons with Trump to justify their approach:
Speaking at a regional meeting open to the media, Ningxia Communist Party secretary Li Jianguo drew comparisons to the policies of US President Donald Trump's administration to make his point.

"What the Islamic State and extremists push is jihad, terror, violence," Li said. "This is why we see Trump targeting Muslims in a travel ban.

"It doesn't matter whether anti-Muslim policy is in the interests of the US or it promotes stability, it's about preventing religious extremism from seeping into all of American culture."


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Network

'Holy grail' for spies: Sensitive US Air Force documents left exposed online


RT
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 17:22 UTC
US Air Force documents
© mackeeper.com
A lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force left "gigabytes of files" accessible online that contained personal or sensitive information on more than 4,000 officers and even actor Channing Tatum, according to a new report.

For an indeterminable amount of time, a backup drive chocked full of personal and government information was left exposed to the public online, according to a report by ZDNet. The drive, not protected by a password, contained intimate details of thousands of Air Force officers, some of whom have top secret security access, and login information to a Department of Defense internal system containing names of staff with security clearances.

The drive was first discovered by MacKeeper security researchers. The information has since been taken offline. Many of the materials were marked as "confidential" or "sensitive," but none were labeled classified, ZDNet reported.
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Snakes in Suits

McCain hornswoggle: Trump should 'retract wiretap claim or provide proof'


RT
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 10:18 UTC
Dingbat McCain
© Mark Makela/Reuters
Republican stalwart John McCain has called on US President Donald Trump to provide evidence to back up his claim that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower during the election campaign or else drop the allegations entirely.

"The president has one of two choices, either retract or provide the information that the American people deserve," McCain said in an interview on CNN's State of the Union. "I have no reason to believe that the charge is true, but I also believe that the president of the United States could clear this up in a minute."

"If the allegation is left out there, it undermines the confidence the American people have in the entire way that the government does business," the veteran senator added.


Comment: Depending on how the American people deal with the reality of how their government 'does business', a loss of confidence isn't necessarily a bad thing.


McCain was one of several top Republicans to question the president's claims. On CBS's Face The Nation House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said he has seen no evidence to back up the wiretap claims. "I think he's frustrated with selective leaks coming from parts of government that malign his campaign," Ryan said.


Comment: There is plenty of evidence to suggest the wiretapping did occur and many powerful people are implicated in the scandal:

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Bullseye

NATO: An out-dated, useless paper tiger Trump should dump

Phil Butler
New Eastern Outlook
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 16:26 UTC
Putin: NATO pokušava uvuči Rusiju u sukob i miješa u unutrašnje poslove
© Kay Nietfeld / www.globallookpress.com
American President Donald Trump has called NATO "obsolete" in an interview with The Times back in January. The US president's view mirrors that of generations of Americans and Europeans who've wondered at the purpose of the military alliance since the fall of the Soviet Union. In Brussels and Berlin though, the bureaucrats and vested interests scurry like frenzied jungle monkeys posturing to save a paper tiger protector.

NATO is a paper tiger, you know? But first let me clarify, for those of you reading who are too young to have heard this terms before. The term "paper tiger" comes from the Chinese phrase zhilaohu (紙老虎), which means - "something that seems threatening but is ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge". This is the fact of the matter of the North American Treaty Organization (NATO). Since its formation in 1949 this military alliance has only proven one thing, its ineffectiveness as either a peacekeeping force - its utter uselessness for the purpose it was instituted for. NATO nations spend 70% of the money spent on military and defense, and the organization has never won a war or deterred chaos. NATO is mostly a home for useless armchair warriors and a country club of unneeded bureaucrats.

NATO's first Secretary General, Winston Churchill's chief military assistant Lord Ismay, stated back in 1949 that the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down." Not a lot has changed in nearly seven decades, except the Germans are up and most Europeans are down. Oh, and the fact America may be "out" soon. As for Russia wanting "in", there is no convincing evidence to show Europe has anything Russia needs except gas money. Moving on, the history of NATO's military effectiveness is dubious at best, catastrophic in the worst case. Let me illustrate for you.
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Dollars

Ukraine whining pays off - Sen. Graham to moronic foreign minister: Just shut up and we'll cut you a check

Ricky Twisdale
The Duran
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 13:43 UTC
fm Ukraine Klimkin
Foreign minister of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin
Senator Lindsey Graham lost patience with Ukrainian lackey Pavlo Klimkin who droned on about Russian aggression far too long

Russophobia watchers got a real treat on Tuesday. That is, if you manage to maintain a sense of humor about these things.

The ambassadors of Poland, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were joined by the foreign minister of Ukraine, the diminutive dweeb Pavlo Klimkin, for a deluxe crying and whining session. The goal: extract as much money as possible from US taxpayers by licking Washington's boots.

Klimkin, who was born in Russia, was apparently considered too ridiculous to be allowed to represent that country, but he was more than welcome in Ukraine. After all, they do appear to prefer being run by foreigners. (Most of whom have by now resigned in despair of trying to reform the country.)

The all-star panel of professional Russophobes spun out the usual groundless fear-mongering about Russia's "threat" to Europe and Putin's maniacal ambitions. I will not waste time recounting their bland tall tales, but those interested may watch or read their published testimony (in mostly illiterate English) here.
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Eye 1

Russian FM: Saudi plan to attack Yemen port city would 'cut millions off from food & aid supplies'


RT
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:48 UTC
Yemen Saudi Arabia bombing airstrikes Houthi
© Abdu Muhammed Yahya Haydar / Anadolu Agency / Getty ImagesSmoke rises from Al Hudaydah city of Yemen after Saudi-led coalition air attack to Houthis' quarters in Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition's plans to launch an assault on Yemen's biggest port-city, Al Hudaydah, have caused concern in the Russian Foreign Ministry, which warns the operation would significantly worsen the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country.

The coalition's "plans to storm Yemen's biggest port of Hudaydah give rise to serious concerns," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement published on the ministry's official website.

She added that battles in this area "would not only inevitably lead to a mass exodus of the [local] population but would also de facto cut the [Yemeni] capital of Sanaa from... food and humanitarian aid supplies."

Comment: No doubt the Saudis are very aware of this attack's consequences. It's a deliberate strategy - to destroy any resistance in Yemen. Good on the Russian FM for calling them out on it.

Further reading:

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Info

Afghanistan asks Russia to provide help in economic reconstruction


Sputnik
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 16:04 UTC
Afghan security force
© AFP 2017/ NOORULLAH SHIRZADA
Kabul has offered Moscow to participate in the restoration of 124 facilities important for the national economy, the commercial attache of the Afghan embassy to Russia Kasem Mohammad said Monday.

"Many facilities in Afghanistan were built by Soviet specialists and can be restored by Russia. There are more than 100 of them, being precise — 124. I will mention some of them. The Salang tunnel, the Kabul bakery, the Polytechnical University, the Jangalak automobile repair plant, and the power station in Pol-e-Khomri," Mohammad told Izvestiya newspaper.
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Chess

Francois Fillon: EU-Russia relations are strategic issue, sanctions are a mistake


RT
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:48 UTC
Francois Fillon, former French Prime Minister
© Charles Platiau / ReutersFrancois Fillon, former French Prime Minister
French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon says he wants to open up dialogue with Russia, while blaming the "bad policy" of the EU for driving Russia away. He also stressed that the sanctions imposed on Moscow are Europe's "responsibility."

"Russia is drifting away... But why? Because we initially had a bad policy towards Russia," Fillon said in an interview with Europe1.

He pointed out that it was Europe that imposed sanctions on Moscow, adding "now I state that we have made mistakes."

Comment: Further reading: French election chaos: Fillon's fraud accusations could force him out of the race

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Jet4

US bombed Al Qaeda in Yemen more in one week than Obama did in entire year


Sputnik
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:48 UTC
al Qaeda ISIS terrorist
© AP Photo/ Hani Mohammed
Last week, the US hit Yemen more times than it did during any entire year of President Barack Obama's administration.

Forty targets were hit by airstrikes and drone strikes in early March, Foreign Policy magazine reported, pointing out that the administration of new US President Donald Trump seems to be much quicker to give the go-ahead to attacks than that of his predecessor.

A former senior US defense official contrasted the previous administration's discursive process, in which "stuff moved like molasses through the National Security Council," frustrating military planners, with the new administration's quick-draw approach, in which the military appears to have a stronger role in decision making and action is favored over deliberation.

Comment: Further reading:

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