Puppet Masters

Puerto Rico's 'debt crisis' is really colonial exploitation

Stephen Lendman
Global Research
Sat, 25 Jul 2015 13:55 UTC

© Ricardo Arduengo/AP
People walk through a shopping area in Río Piedras where many businesses have closed in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Officially called a "Free Associated State or Commonwealth," Puerto Rico has been exploited as a US colony since 1898. Its elected governor is powerless - little more than a potted plant ruled by Congress with America's president its head of state.

Washington never granted islanders control of their lives, welfare and destiny. They have no say over foreign relations, commerce and trade, their air space, land and offshore waters, immigration and emigration, nationality and citizenship, currency, maritime laws, military service, US bases on its territory, constitutionality of its laws, jurisdictions and legal procedures, treaties, radio and television, communications, agriculture, its natural resources and more.

Independence supporters aren't tolerated - men like Oscar Lopez Rivera, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, wrongfully imprisoned for wanting Puerto Ricans to live free, behind bars for over three decades.

Comment: Washington is bent on making sure that nothing like "freedom and democracy" will thrive on this planet.

The murder of Sandra Bland and America's 'color revolution'

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Sat, 25 Jul 2015 21:33 UTC

Sandra Bland and the jail cell where she died under extremely dubious circumstances

With today's release of dash-cam footage of the arrest of Sandra Bland, we're rerunning this breakdown of her case.

Sandra Bland. Remember the name, if you can. She's just the latest in a growing, publicly-known list of American citizens who have been either physically abused or murdered by US police for having the temerity to question their 'authority'.

On July 10th 2015, Sandra Bland had recently arrived in Prairie View, Waller County, Texas from Illinois to begin a new job at her alma mater, A&M University, a historically black school 40 miles northwest of Houston. Texas has been described as the most racist state in the USA, and Waller County the most racist county in Texas. Segregation there is a way of life, from the cradle to grave, literally; cemeteries in the county are divided between black and white, with significantly more money being spent on the upkeep of white cemeteries.

While driving in Prairie View that day, Waller County trooper Brian Encina, with nothing better to do than harass drivers for minor traffic "violations" that endanger no one, pulled Bland over for not signaling a lane change.

South Front military updates: Syria, Novorossia

South Front
Fri, 24 Jul 2015 20:17 UTC

Since June Islamic State has launched a series of spectacular counterattacks in a two-pronged line of effort targeting Kurdish and government forces [Bashar al-Assad] in northern Syria. Thus, ISIS launched an offensive against Hasaka City, conducting suicide attacks and seizing the government-held southwestern neighborhoods of the city. On July 16, government units and the national backup forces cut off ISIS supply route from al-Shaddadi and al-Meilabiyeh around Hasaka. It was few days after another supply route from Jisr Abyad in the southwestern side of Hasaka city had been blocked. Then the army re-took control of the main electricity transmission stations on the southern outskirts of Hasaka city.

Meanwhile, from thirty to forty Islamic State militants disguised in Kurdish YPG and the US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel uniforms infiltrated the Kurdish border town of Ayn al-Arab, detonating two SVBIEDs at the border crossing to Turkey and clashing with YPG forces.

French MPs, first Western politicians to visit re-unified Crimea, say 'no grounds for anti-Russian sanctions'

RT
Fri, 24 Jul 2015 19:36 UTC

There are no grounds to keep Russia sanctions in place, said member of the French National Assembly Thierry Mariani, who heads the parliamentary delegation currently on a two-day visit to Crimea.

"As the US is lifting Cuba blockades, I see no reasons for Europe to keep Russia sanctions in place," Mariani told reporters after speaking at the Crimean Parliament in Simferopol on Thursday. He added that he felt the effect of sanctions as the delegation's mobile phones stopped operating because European companies refuse to provide service in the area.

The Crimean status referendum held on March 16, 2014 made it possible for the Crimean peninsula to avoid the scenario unfolding in eastern Ukraine, he said.

Mariani noted that he "observed the devastation and the people's suffering with horror" while he was visiting war-torn Donbass two months ago.

Comment: It looks like the French delegation had some fun while in Crimea, too: Winning hearts and minds: French MP visiting Crimea buys T-shirt that says 'Obama, you're a schmuck'

Demand for gold shoots through the roof as Shanghai Gold Exchange withdrawals exceed all 2014 deliveries

Dave Kranzler
The News Doctors
Thu, 23 Jul 2015 15:44 UTC

The Shanghai Gold Exchange is the only major official physical gold trading market in the world. All trades on the exchange are settled with the exchange of ownership on physical gold bullion. Paper future contracts do not trade on the SGE. In contrast, trading occurs on the LBMA and Comex in paper gold. The Comex is de facto a 99.999% paper gold exchange for which the percentage metal backing the paper traded is minuscule. The LBMA has been rapidly "catching up" to the Comex in this regard, although on a percentage basis the LBMA experiences a higher amount physical gold exchanged than the Comex.

Because of the way in which the SGE functions, gold withdrawn from the SGE measures the true demand for gold in China in a given time period. All gold - except for the gold purchased by the Peoples Bank of China - purchased by any form of end user must pass through the SGE by law. It is for this reason that "withdrawals" represent the most accurate measurement of demand for gold in China - except the Central Bank's demand.

In the past two weeks, 106.1 tonnes of gold were withdrawn from the SGE. As Smaulgld.com has observed:

Gold withdrawals on the Shanghai Gold Exchange the past two weeks were larger than the amount of gold delivered on COMEX during 2014 and greater than the amount of gold Germany has repatriated from the New York Fed since 2013. LINK

I'll point out one minor correction to the fact above: it's more gold than the U.S. Government has been able to repatriate back to Germany.

Comment: Investors know that a big 'adjustment' is on its way. Time will tell how this will play out.

Rouhani assures critics that the nuclear deal is good for Iran

Bozorgmehr Sharafedin
Reuters
Thu, 23 Jul 2015 11:23 UTC

* Deal shows Iran's wishes, Rouhani says
* Rouhani puts authority on the line
* Blocking of deal not seen likely
* Accord is 'new page in history' (Adds Saudi comment, Mogherini, context, U.S. senator)

President Hassan Rouhani defended Iran's nuclear deal with world powers after it came under attack from conservatives at home, arguing on Thursday it reflected the nation's will and was "more valuable" than carping over the details. While many Iranians hope last week's agreement will bring an end to sanctions and deliver prosperity, the elite Revolutionary Guards military force and conservative lawmakers have said it endangers the country's security.

"This is a new page in history," Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on television, reiterating that the deal had launched a phase of reconciliation with the outside world. Pinning his authority to the fate of the agreement, Rouhani added that this new era had not begun when it was reached in Vienna on July 14 but rather on Aug. 4, 2013, the day Iranians elected him to solve the nuclear dispute.

Comment: With the influx of comments from the peanut gallery, opinions are encompassing all possible reactions in a virtual global tug-a-war. Rhetoric, hearsay, threats and bias aside, in the end it appears to come down to Obama and Khamenei: Obama with the necessary veto power to keep the deal and Khamenei the necessary approval power to seal it. All the rest is tap dancing.

Western oligarchs, NGOs, and the new 'Russian invasion' of South Ossetia

Henry Kamens
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 24 Jul 2015 15:30 UTC

What is going on here in Georgia, a country of never-ending flux, reform and intrigue? Various NGO-backed youth organisations and other 'vested interests' have begun conducting protests. This is not unusual in itself, but they are working at the behest of people like Mikheil Saakashvili and Carl Bildt, who don't exactly have good reputations in Georgia. Worse, they are being funded to do so.

The latest issue they are protesting about is the dispute over the borderline between Georgia proper and the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which gained a semblance of independence in the aftermath of the Russian-Georgian war of August 2008. A lineup of politicians and NGO types have closed ranks to make provocative statements about what is happening there and gain political ground. Individually and collectively they are making scripted statements like the following:

"Steps that could be perceived as provocative must be avoided, as must any action that is detrimental to ongoing efforts to stabilise the situation, in an atmosphere conducive to longer-term conflict resolution and regional stability."

This is the usual doublespeak, which we are left to infer things from because those things can't actually be said. The actual crux of the matter is, what is actually going on, and who is doing what to whom and why?

Comment: The ordinary people are used time and time again as pawns in the power plays of oligarchs.

Tactics of repression: The connections between Operation Jade Helm and the Ukrainian Far Right

Caleb Maupin
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 24 Jul 2015 15:11 UTC

© Capt. Thomas Cieslak/ U.S. Army
Green Berets assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) clear rooms inside a compound during a training mission held Feb. 20 at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

On July 15, the United States military began practicing "counterinsurgency" warfare in the southwestern regions of the country. In nine different states, the Army Green Berets, Navy Seals, US Marines Special Operations Command, and Air Force Special Operations Command have been practicing scenarios involving "insurgents" within the domestic United States.The mainstream media assures us that such drills are routine, while some more alarmist elements speculate that it is based on fears of a foreign invasion. However, anyone who is paying attention should know what these drills — mysteriously called "Operation Jade Helm" — are really about. People in the United States are not happy. Incarceration and police brutality are rising, and good-paying jobs are becoming increasingly rare. Neighborhoods throughout the midwest are a mess of foreclosed homes and unemployment. Food banks across the country are reporting a record demand amid a continuing episode of mass malnutrition, here in the so-called "richest country in the world." The NSA is listening to our phone calls and reading our e-mails, and practices by police and military that were once considered torture are becoming more routine and accepted.

Eurasian disintegration: The US intensifies efforts to replace Russian oil to Europe

Steven MacMillan
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 24 Jul 2015 15:23 UTC

The US is intensifying its efforts to replace Russia as one of the EU's largest energy suppliers, hoping to provide gas from the US itself to Europe, in addition to exploring regional players as possible suppliers. As Sputnik reported in an article titled: US will be Able to Supply Gas to Ukraine in Two Years:

"Senator John McCain said at a press conference in Kiev that the US will be able to provide Ukraine and the rest of Europe with gas in the next two years... According to him, Europe's dependence on Russian gas supplies is a major obstacle that makes Europe unable to strengthen further sanctions against Russia."

Since relations between the West and Russia have deteriorated so rapidly following the US coup in Ukraine, Western strategists have been working relentlessly to find a replacement to Russian energy supplies to the EU. In the immediate term, this is impossible, a reality that unnerves many in Washington and Brussels. But in the medium to long term, an assortment of countries could combine to replace Russian energy, or at least dramatically reduce Europe's energy dependence on Moscow.

Comment: The US attempt to isolate Russia has backfired on the West in general. But don't expect that to slow them down: We'll take you down with us: US fears isolation, keeps tight grip on Germany

MI5 warnings to Thatcher about Westminster pedophiles ignored

RT
Fri, 24 Jul 2015 13:48 UTC

A former MI5 director warned Margret Thatcher's administration that allegations concerning one MP who had a "penchant for small boys" could cause the government serious political embarrassment.

Investigators currently looking into the historic child sex abuse scandal found that nothing had been done about the potential threat to children, but rather the security service had warned the allegations could damage the reputation of Thatcher's government.

Newly discovered files show former spy chief Sir Anthony Duff had written to Cabinet Secretary Sir Robert Armstrong in 1986 to warn him of claims made about the behavior of one MP.

The new documents were analyzed by the head of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Peter Wanless and Richard Whittam QC.

Other politicians whose names were mentioned in the review of new material include former Cabinet minister Leon Brittan, Thatcher's aide Peter Morrison, ex-diplomat Sir Peter Hayman and former minister William van Straubenzee.

Wanless and Whittam said the documents showed that threats to children were not taken seriously.

Comment: The priorities of those in power are not merely "misplaced", rather they so often operate from the inhuman premise of destroying lives.

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Puppet Masters

Puerto Rico's 'debt crisis' is really colonial exploitation

The murder of Sandra Bland and America's 'color revolution'

South Front military updates: Syria, Novorossia

French MPs, first Western politicians to visit re-unified Crimea, say 'no grounds for anti-Russian sanctions'

Demand for gold shoots through the roof as Shanghai Gold Exchange withdrawals exceed all 2014 deliveries

Rouhani assures critics that the nuclear deal is good for Iran

Western oligarchs, NGOs, and the new 'Russian invasion' of South Ossetia

Tactics of repression: The connections between Operation Jade Helm and the Ukrainian Far Right

Eurasian disintegration: The US intensifies efforts to replace Russian oil to Europe

MI5 warnings to Thatcher about Westminster pedophiles ignored

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