© Reuters
Puppet Masters
The main problem in any democracy is that crowd-pleasers are generally brainless swine who can go out on a stage & whup their supporters into an orgiastic frenzy—then go back to the office & sell every one of the poor bastards down the tube for a nickel apiece. ― Hunter S. Thompson
Nor is it about healthcare, abortion, higher taxes, free college tuition, or any of the other buzzwords that have become campaign slogans for individuals who have mastered the art of telling Americans exactly what they want to hear.
Politics today is about one thing and one thing only: maintaining the status quo between the Controllers (the politicians, the bureaucrats, and the corporate elite) and the Controlled (the taxpayers).
Hillary will not save the nation. Nor will Bernie, Trump, Rubio, or Cruz.
The only ones who can save the nation are "we the people," and yet the American people remain eager to be persuaded that a new president in the White House can solve the problems that plague us.
No matter who wins this next presidential election, you can rest assured that the new boss will be the same as the old boss, and we—the permanent underclass in America—will continue to be forced to march in lockstep with the police state in all matters, public and private.
Indeed, as I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, it really doesn't matter what you call them—the 1%, the elite, the controllers, the masterminds, the shadow government, the police state, the surveillance state, the military industrial complex—so long as you understand that no matter which party occupies the White House in 2017, the unelected bureaucracy that actually calls the shots will continue to do so.
Consider the following a much-needed reality check, an antidote if you will, against an overdose of overhyped campaign announcements, lofty electoral promises and meaningless patriotic sentiments that land us right back in the same prison cell.
© www.washingtonpost.com
President Rouhani, pleased with the outcome.
President Rouhani, pleased with the outcome.
Preliminary Interior Ministry data indicated reformist leader Mohammad Reza Aref leading the list of 30 candidates in Tehran, according to the IRNA news service. Aref served as first vice president in 2001-05. Principlist candidate Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel placed 31st in the Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr electoral district.
Iranians voted on February 26 to elect a new Islamic Consultative Assembly of 290 members for four-year terms.
Over 4,800 candidates have registered to participate in the election, according to the Iranian Central Election Commission. Around 500 women have made it into electoral lists.
With over 54 million Iranians eligible to cast their ballots, voters are choosing mainly between candidates from the Principlists Coalition electoral list, comprising various conservative political parties, and candidates from the Pervasive Coalition of Reformists.
Rouhani and former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani are leading in the parallel race to the Assembly of Experts, the 88-member clerical body that appoints the country's supreme leader.
© RT
© Stringer / Reuters
Fifty artillery rounds were fired by the Turkish military on targets north of Aleppo on Monday as part of the US-led coalition's offensive against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.
On Sunday, a Russian TV crew managed to obtain video proof of Turkey's increased military presence on the Syrian border, which showed fortifications and tanks at the frontier.
"The barrels of the tanks and self-propelled guns are pointed in the direction of the mainly Kurdish Syrian city of Kobane," a journalist from REN-TV said.
It came just one day after reports emerged of the northern Syrian town of Tell Abyad being attacked by militants coming from Turkey.
Comment: Does Turkey have multiple personalities? On the one hand they support ISIS (via the illegal oil trade, allowing their fighters to cross the Turkish border in both directions, giving them material support). On the other, they bomb them. What's going on? Are the Turkish media reports false? Did the U.S. have a stern talk with Erdogan in order to help with Turkey's image? Are there divisions within the Turkish government/military?
For more on the ceasefire, see: Syrian cessation of hostilities: 'Largely successful' so far, but even 'failure' is a success for Russia
© Wissm al-Okili / Reuters
People gather at the site of bombings in Baghdad's Sadr City February 28, 2016.
People gather at the site of bombings in Baghdad's Sadr City February 28, 2016.
ISIS uses the same tactics aimed at creating fear and we need to recognize that the concept the extremists act against the West is a fallacy, because in reality they kill more Muslims, said Massoud Shadjareh. It's not a conflict between Islam and the West but an abomination against the humanity, he added.
Sunday's twin explosions in eastern Baghdad killed at least 73 people and left about 110 more wounded. The first bomb detonated at an outdoor market in Sadr City, which is a mainly Shia district. The explosion was followed by a suicide attack aimed at those who had rushed to help the wounded. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the deadliest string of bombings this year.
Comment: The flags of terrorist groups have been attracting psychopaths from around the world like moths to the flame. Nurtured financially and militarily by their sponsors within Washington, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, they have left entire countries in ruin. If it weren't for Russian intervention this abomination would be even worse.
It seems the real war against terror is a struggle against this global network of psychopathy, the damage it has done, and the lies it has spread in order to justify its crimes. These lies have been used to justify torture, ethnic cleansing, the erosion of Western freedoms, the hatred of everything 'Arab', the corralling of refugees, and genocide. 'Never again' is happening again, and it's hidden in plain sight.
Further reading:
Demonstrators hold up a poster of Putin and Assad in Damascus
Sure, the U.S. and their Wahhabist allies will invent stories about Russian and Syrian violations, but they'll be just as transparent as all the previous lies (e.g. indiscriminate bombings of hospitals and civilians). The fact is, as the Russian MOD said on Saturday, Russia is "in full control" of the situation in Syria. It will be a fairly simple matter to identify any ceasefire violations, and provide proof (something the U.S. apparently hasn't heard of). The U.S. may be planning 'Plan B from Outer Space', but they're dreaming - Russia and Syria won't even consider it, totally ruling out the scenario of breaking Syria apart.
The U.S. has now agreed to share information about the groups they support, and their locations - if those groups sign up to the ceasefire, that is. Until now the U.S. has refused to divulge information about their movements, despite Russia repeatedly asking and stating their willingness to avoid making them targets.
© Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
There may be a systemic problem in the supply chain, said Rep. Duncan Hunter, who is a Marine veteran, after the meeting held at the Capitol Hill last week, Stars and Stripes reported.
"It's been impossible for me to find out how the money is getting stopped and why it is not going down to where it's supposed to be," he said.
The problem may become a major issue should the US ramp up deployments back to the heights seeing at the peak of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., an Air Force combat veteran.
One of the people participating in the meet was Sean Matson, who retired from the SEALs and now heads a military supply company. He said the military measured his head four times before each deployment with plans to provide him a more advanced ballistic helmet, but it never materialized. He and six of his fellow SEALs each spent about $900 to get their necessary gear.
Aaron Negherbon from the nonprofit group Troops Direct, which steps in and delivers military supplies to troops that they cannot acquire through regular channels, said equipment as crucial as tourniquets or sniper gear may not be provided in time by the military supply chains.
"They came to us for...batteries because they didn't have any of those ... It is kind of like, 'What the heck is going on?'" Negherbon said.
© www.rt.com
Tony Blair misrepresented evidence on WMD before Iraq invasion, allowed desire to supersede proof and reason.
Tony Blair misrepresented evidence on WMD before Iraq invasion, allowed desire to supersede proof and reason.
Broken Vows, a new book about the former PM by investigative journalist Tom Bower, reveals that Blair had decided as early as 2002 that Saddam Hussein should be removed, but failed to state his intentions to his Chief of Defence Staff, Cabinet Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and most of the Cabinet.
The book alleges that because so many top officials were out of the loop, the military were unable to begin training in earnest for an invasion, and subsequently suffered due to insufficient equipment. Blair always insisted he was an "honest broker," looking for a peaceful solution.
Amongst the allegations in the book are the claims that Blair refused to make proper post-invasion plans, tried to get rid of the Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Mike Boyce and ignored warnings that the invasion could be a catastrophe.
It also alleges that Blair told then-head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove to bring him raw intelligence on Iraq which could be used to bolster the case for invasion. It claims he told the security chief, "My fate is in your hands."Dearlove was also complicit in compiling the so-called "dodgy dossier" on Saddam Hussein's supposed possession and development of weapons of mass destruction, which provided the basis for the 2003 invasion.
Comment: As they say, "it all comes out in the end." Blair is a war criminal, amongst a cadre of like-minded Western warmongers with a joy to destroy. Estimates of up to 1M Iraqis died subsequent to their decisions. Will the Brits finally give this guy his Day of Reckoning?
© www.newsweek.com
Al-Shabab kills 30 in twin blasts in Baidoa, Somalia.
Al-Shabab kills 30 in twin blasts in Baidoa, Somalia.
The blasts rocked the center of the city of Baidoa, targeting a busy spot near a restaurant."The restaurant and the junction were very busy and the death toll may rise," Reuters quoted the Police Major Bilow Nurr as saying. The targeted city is located about 245 kilometers (152 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
Thirty people were killed, with another 40 wounded, police Colonel Abdi Osman confirmed. The police official added that one bomb had blown up at the junction, while another explosion had targeted the restaurant. Hospital employees said that some of the bodies they received were unidentifiable due to horrible charring.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab terror group claimed responsibility for the attack, with the group's military operation spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab stating: "We targeted government officials and forces," as reported by Reuters. According to Musab, a police station was located nearby.
The attack comes just of days after Al-Shabaab fighters killed 14 people when they set off a car bomb and stormed the Somali Youth League hotel, also known as the SYL hotel, located in the heavily secured area near the presidential palace in the center of Mogadishu. The extremists group is fighting against Somalia's Western-backed government, with the goal of imposing a strict version of Islamic law.
Comment: And the list of tragedies continues without falter.
Comment: Some surprising common sense coming from an ex-MI6 agent!