Puppet MastersS


Vader

Ukraine being torn apart by Western-backed colour mobs on an 'EU Jihad'

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© Voltaire Net
If you only watch the mainstream media coverage, or read major newspapers, you'd think that what is happening in the Ukraine right now is some kind of organic, grassroots political reform movement. It's nothing of the sort.

At the height of hypocrisy, we can witness US officials and western media pundits all chastising Ukrainian authorities for cracking down on violent protesters. As if the governments of the US or the UK wouldn't do exactly the same if street gangs set fire to government buildings in Washington or London.

Beyond all the freedom and democracy rhetoric pouring out of the western media and neoliberal government orifices, what we are essentially looking at is an attempted coup d'état in the Ukraine, orchestrated by a cadre of western NGO's and multilateral institutions - in concert, trying to unleash a more sophisticated version of the Arab Spring on Europe's doorstep.

The situation on the street is extremely dangerous right now. As Voltaire Net's Andrew Korybko points out, the west have nudged the Ukrainian government into an almost impossible situation. Korybko states:

Newspaper

Top editor at NYT sez Obama's presidency is the "most secretive White House" she's ever seen

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© Al Jazeera AmericaJill Abramson, first female executive editor of The New York Times.
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden helped The New York Times "keep the public informed on what I consider to be very important matters," says Jill Abramson, the woman who has the final say on what constitutes "all the news that's fit to print." As executive editor of the Times - the first woman to hold what has been one of the most influential positions in American journalism - Abramson sets the agenda. We talk to her about what she calls the "most secretive White House" she has covered as well as the newspaper's "seriously flawed" coverage of the run-up to the Iraq War, which happened during her watch as Washington bureau chief. John Seigenthaler also asks Abramson about the future of print newspapers and about accusations that the Times is too far left.

John Seigenthaler: Let me dive right into the news and a little bit about the NSA and Edward Snowden. Daniel Ellsberg was quoted recently as saying that Edward Snowden was his hero. Do you see Snowden as a hero or a traitor?

Jill Abramson: I see him as a very good source. We have published many of the NSA and GCHQ (British intelligence) documents that came from Snowden. And so I view him, as I did Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, as a very good source of extremely newsworthy information.

Pirates

Monsanto CEO 'We need to do more' to win GMO debate

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© southweb.org
Proposals to require labels for foods containing genetically modified ingredients so far have a spotty record at the ballot box. Another defeat arrived Tuesday in St. Louis, this time at the annual shareholder meeting of Monsanto Co.

Investors in the GMO seed maker overwhelmingly rejected a shareholder proposal that would have pushed Monsanto to get behind labeling efforts itself - after it spent millions lobbying against such measures at the state level. Only about 4% of Monsanto shares were voted in support of the effort.

The shoot-the-moon proposal did, however, bring Monsanto Chief Executive Hugh Grant to personally debate some fierce critics of his company's business practices - something he acknowledged Monsanto hasn't done much of in the past.

Comment: Excellent examples of Monsanto 'doing more' to win the GMO debate:
"Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job." - Phil Angell, Monsanto's director of corporate communications, quoted in the New York Times, October 25, 1998
"If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it." - Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, quoted in the Kansas City Star, March 7, 1994



Bad Guys

When is the far-right acceptable to the West? When it's in Ukraine

Kiev
© Reuters/Valentyn OgirenkoKiev, January 25, 2014
The 'progressive' Western political elites and the establishment journalists who act as PR agents for them would like us to think that they are unequivocally opposed to neo-Nazism, homophobia, racism and far-right political extremism.

But how genuine is their opposition? The current disturbances in Ukraine and the western response to them, suggests that it's highly selective to say the least.

Let's imagine for a moment that there were violent demonstrations led by ultranationalists and neo-Nazis in a Western European country, and that those demonstrators held up posters of figures who had collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. That they had shouted neo-Nazi slogans and their leaders had made anti-Jewish and homophobic statements. That these same protesters had used violence to try and topple the democratically elected government - and that they had seized government buildings. We can expect the western elites and establishment journalists to fiercely denounce the protesters, who would definitely be labeled "rioters," that they would call for "law and order" to swiftly be restored and for the leaders of the demonstrators to be arrested, and for them to be prosecuted under hate speech legislation.

Yet this is exactly what has been happening in Ukraine, and far from condemning the far-right protesters, the Western elites have been enthusiastically supporting their cause.

Before Christmas, Senator John McCain, the US's leading neocon politician, flew to Kiev and dined with opposition leaders, including Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of the extreme far-right Svoboda party. Later, McCain stood alongside Tyahnybok at an anti-government rally. In 1999 a report from Tel Aviv University, cited by Britain's Channel 4 News, called Svoboda "an extremist, right-wing, nationalist organization which emphasizes its identification with the ideology of German National Socialism." In 2004, Tyahynbok claimed that Ukraine was run by a "Muscovite-Jewish mafia." Although the party has tried to clean up its image since then, the far-right extremism and ugly ultranationalist rhetoric remains - but that doesn't seem to trouble too much the western elite figures cheering on street protests, in which Svoboda and other ultranationalist groups have played such a leading role.

The same hypocrisy is shown in relation to the issue of gay rights.

Take 2

Republican Party calls for end to NSA domestic phone records program

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© Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call/Getty ImagesRepublican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus speaks at the RNC Election Night party at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC.
The resolution calls on on Republican members of Congress to enact amendments to the Section 215 law that currently allows the spy agency to collect records of almost every domestic telephone call

In the latest indication of a growing libertarian wing of the GOP, the Republican National Committee passed a resolution Friday calling for an investigation into the "gross infringement" of Americans' rights by National Security Agency programs that were revealed by Edward Snowden.

The resolution also calls on on Republican members of Congress to enact amendments to the Section 215 law that currently allows the spy agency to collect records of almost every domestic telephone call. The amendment should make clear that "blanket surveillance of the Internet activity, phone records and correspondence - electronic, physical, and otherwise - of any person residing in the U.S. is prohibited by law and that violations can be reviewed in adversarial proceedings before a public court," the resolution reads.

The measure, the "Resolution to Renounce the National Security Agency's Surveillance Program," passed by an "overwhelming majority" by voice vote, along with resolutions calling for the repeal of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and reaffirming the party's pro-life stance, according to Reince Priebus, the RNC chairman.

Camcorder

Pentagon to launch blimps to guard against cruise missiles

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© CBS NewsTwo blimps will float over the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.
The Pentagon has discovered a gap in the defenses of Washington, D.C., and it's about to test a solution.

But depending on your point of view, the solution is either vital for national security or a threat to American privacy.

Starting this fall, two blimps will float at 10,000 feet over the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in an attempt to develop a defense for the nation's capital against cruise missiles fired from ships offshore.

Two blimps will float over the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Russia already has a large arsenal of cruise missiles - essentially low-flying unmanned aircraft - and other countries like Iran are developing them.

"As it stands today, we have practically zero capability to detect it, much less defend against it," one military officer said of the cruise missile threat.

The blimps carry radars that can search for hundreds of miles to detect the launch of a cruise missile and relay the data to interceptor missiles which have been positioned around Washington since Sept. 11, 2001.

Vader

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (Documentary)

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Naomi Klien's book The Shock Doctrine explains the origins and objectives of 'disaster capitalism'. This documentary, directed by Jonas Cuarón, is an investigation of disaster capitalism, based on Naomi Klein's proposition that 'neo-liberal capitalism' feeds on natural disasters, war and terror to establish its dominance.


'Neo-liberalist capitalism', of course, is merely the ideological veneer masking pure naked greed - psychopathology writ large.

Comment: Current events in Ukraine seem to be following the same old template we have seen in action so many times before. Latin America, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Libya and Syria - the actors are sometimes different but the basic scenario is always the same: psychopathic elites crushing the masses.


Dollar Gold

Venezuela currency controls: Pros and Cons

Venezuela's currency controls including its fixed exchange rate are among the most controversial of Chavez-era policies. Under former president Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's currency was fixed, and exchange controls were imposed. The initial objective of Chavez's currency policies was to stem capital flight amid the 2002-03 oil strikes, but they are now a well established part of the government's economic policy; particularly aimed at controlling inflation and sheltering domestic industries, among other goals.

It's important to note that this isn't the first time Venezuela has seen a fixed exchange rate. After coming off the gold standard in 1930, Venezuela's currency was fixed. Until 1983, Venezuela's currency was widely perceived as among the most stable in the region. From 1983-89, the country had a multiple exchange rate regime, with room for a parallel exchange market. However, by the time controls were lifted in 1989 there was around a 132% difference between the official and parallel rates.

Stock Down

Argentina powerless as economy plummets

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© AFP
Argentina appears powerless in the face of the hemorrhage of the peso, as the central bank reported Thursday it had burned through $2.1 billion in reserves in January alone.

The government is struggling to beat back a mounting rush into dollars that has stoked 26 percent inflation despite price controls on many items and pressure on businesses to avoid price increases.

Foreign reserves, crucial to service foreign debts and pay for needed imports like fuels, have tumbled from $52 billion at the beginning of 2011 to $28.5 billion as of January 30, according to Central Bank data.

Vader

May the farce be with you - Janet Yellen compares Bernanke to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Ben & Janet
© ZeroHedge
Just in case you had any lingering doubt about how hopelessly screwed the world's monetary and financial system really is, all you have to do is learn that in a series of ceremonies (because that is so appropriate with a record number Americans on food stamps) celebrating Ben Bernanke in recent days incoming Fed head Janet Yellen likened Bernanke to Obi-Wan Kenobi, the wise, experienced Jedi Knight mentor to his protégé Luke Skywalker in Star Wars movies.

There's nothing that makes you feel more warm and fuzzy inside than the recognition that the soon to be most powerful person in the world thinks that printing trillions of dollars and giving it to criminals at zero interest qualifies as attributes of a intergalactic Jedi Master.

On the flip-side, this right here is what 95% of Americans think of Bernanke and his criminal cartel.