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Porshenko's warmongering against Russia descends into electioneering hysteria


The Strategic Culture Foundation
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 18:44 UTC
Poroshenko

Poroshenko with Ukranian army soldiers
This week the head of Ukrainian armed forces Viktor Muzhenko claimed that Russia was prepping a massive invasion of his country with up to 80,000 troops. Such incendiary claims have been made before by Kiev, only to be proven false over and over.

How is that such a reckless regime is not hauled before an international court for incitement against peace owing to its crazed claims? Of course, because it is patronized by Washington and European allies who are not exactly averse to incitement against peace as can be seen with regard to Venezuela, Syria and countless other countries.

Another twist this week in the tortuous "Russians are coming" scaremongering fable were Ukrainian media claims that eight Russian submarines were spotted in the Azov Sea. Presumably that lurid vignette was intended to amplify public fears of a naval offensive in conjunction with the alleged mass troop invasion from "north, east and south".
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Snakes in Suits

Feds gorge themselves on lobster as part of $97bn end-of-fiscal year spending spree - report


RT
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 19:31 UTC
lobster
© Global Look Press / M. Stolt
Federal agencies splurged on lobster tail and other gratuitous frills in just one month in a convoluted plot to avoid future budget cuts, a new report claims. The spending orgy has received dozens of 1-star reviews on Twitter.

A jaw-dropping study published by a transparency NGO, OpenTheBooks, found that in the last month of fiscal year 2018 (September), the feds forked out an unfathomable $97 billion on essentials such as sirloin steak, snow crab, lobster tail, golf carts, iPads and of course - lest we forget - bombs. The last-minute shopping spree is part of a mind-melting scheme in which federal agencies spend every last penny they have or risk budget cuts in the future.

The Pentagon was particularly eager to take advantage of the "use it or lose it" fiscal policy, shelling out more than $61 billion over 30 days. More than $20 billion went towards the department's bread and butter - guns, ammunition and bombs - but there was plenty of cash left over for some end-of-the-year treats.
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Star of David

Exposing Israel's covert role in the brewing India-Pakistan conflict

Whitney Webb
MintPress News
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 18:22 UTC
modi netanyahu
© Sebastian Scheiner/Associated Press
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the King David hotel in Jerusalem, July 5, 2017
Well-known British journalist Robert Fisk recently wrote a very telling and troubling article in The Independent regarding the outsized role of the state of Israel in the burgeoning tensions between India and Pakistan, two nuclear powers. The story - despite its importance, given the looming threat of nuclear war between the two countries - was largely overlooked by the international media.

The tit-for-tat attacks exchanged between India and Pakistan last week have seen long-standing tensions between the two countries escalate to dangerous proportions, though Pakistan helped to deescalate the situation somewhat by returning and "saving" an Indian pilot whose plane had been shot down in retaliation for India's bombing of targets in a disputed area administered by Pakistan.

That bombing was retaliation for a car bomb attack launched by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants, a group that both India and Pakistan recognize as a terrorist organization, against Indian forces. Some analysts have speculated that India's decision to bomb this area was made by Indian President Narendra Modi, a Hindu ethno-nationalist, in order to rally his base ahead of upcoming Indian elections in May.

Comment:

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Yoda

Chelsea Manning sent back to jail for refusing to testify in secret proceedings against Wikileaks


RT
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 17:54 UTC
Manning grand jury Wikileaks
© Associated Press/Matthew Barakat
Chelsea Manning was ordered to jail Friday, March 8, 2019, for refusing to testify to a Virginia grand jury investigating Wikileaks.
US army whistleblower Chelsea Manning has been taken into custody for contempt of court after refusing to testify in front of a grand jury in what's believed to be the case against WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange.

Manning received a subpoena from the US District Court in January.

She appeared before a grand jury on Wednesday and invoked her First, Fourth and Sixth Amendment rights. She said the questions pertained to her 2010 disclosures of the American military's misconduct, and she had answered those extensively during her 2013 court-martial.

Comment: More from Fox News:
Manning was ordered to jail by U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton after a brief hearing in which Manning confirmed she had no intention of testifying. She told the judge she "will accept whatever you bring upon me."

"These secret proceedings tend to favor the government," Manning told reporters before her hearing, according to The Washington Post. "I'm always willing to explain things publicly."

Manning's lawyers have asked she be confined to her home instead due to the medical complications she faces.

Chelsea Manning was ordered to jail Friday, March 8, 2019, for refusing to testify to a Virginia grand jury investigating Wikileaks. (AP Photo/Matthew Barakat)

The judge, however, concluded U.S. Marshals could appropriately handle her medical care.

Prosecutor Tracy McCormick said Manning can easily end the incarceration on the civil charge by testifying.
Chelsea Manning embodies the integrity sorely needed in the world today. She is willing to return to incarceration despite having already endured seven years of horror, in the course of upholding her principles and defending the right of US citizens to know what their government is doing in their name.

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Eye 1

Facebook announces plan to censor anti-vaccination 'misinformation and hoaxes' on its platforms

Soo Youn
ABC News
Thu, 07 Mar 2019 17:47 UTC
facebook thought police, facebook censorship
Facebook is tackling rampant misinformation campaigns about vaccines on its platforms.

The company will both fight the proliferation of false information about vaccines in its News Feed, ads, on Instagram or suggested content. It will also try to provide context and correct information about vaccine safety and public health, Facebook said in a statement released on Thursday.

The announcement comes just two days after Ethan Lindenberger, an Ohio teenager, told a U.S. Senate committee he defied his parents to get vaccinated despite growing up in an anti-vaccine, or "vaccine-hesitant" home.

He told senators on Tuesday that misinformation distributed, particularly on Facebook, puts children at risk.

"Certain individuals and organizations which spread misinformation and instill fear into the public for their own gain selfishly put countless people at risk," Lindenberger said in written testimony.

Comment: Who decides what is "misinformation" about vaccines and information that discusses very real issue of the dangers surrounding vaccines? The fact that Facebook isn't giving any credence to the dangers of vaccines should give everyone pause over how free speech is being handled on social media.

There are plenty of horror stories regarding vaccine injuries:

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Yoda

Assange prosecutors focusing on Chelsea Manning era releases, not DNC dmails

Elizabeth Vos
Disobedient Media
Sun, 25 Nov 2018 17:02 UTC
JulianAssange
© Risk
Julian Assange
It seems that the shades have finally been ripped off of the persecution of Julian Assange. Fallen by the wayside is the pretense used to justify his arbitrary detention: allegations of sexual misconduct, of Russian involvement, and of aiding Trump's ascension to the Presidency.

Gone is the pretense that it is not the rabid wolves of the US and UK military state baying, slavering for Assange's blood. Former intelligence assets in the guise of "journalists" openly call for Assange's arrest.

Recent reports have indicated that formerly secret charges pending against Julian Assange will focus on material relating to Chelsea Manning and the earliest releases published by WikiLeaks. Alternatively, on WikiLeaks' Vault7 releases in March 2017 or on the help he and his organisation gave to Edward Snowden to get the NSA whistleblower to safe asylum.

Comment: "In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -- G. Orwell. Tragically, this is a time of deceit, and Julian Assange is reaping the truth-teller's reward. His bravery in the face of it is inspiring.

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X

PM Khan says no militant groups will be able to attack from Pakistani soil

Asif Shahzad
Reuters
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 17:49 UTC
imran khan

Imran Khan
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said no militant group would be allowed to operate from Pakistani soil to carry out attacks abroad, days after his government announced a sweeping crackdown against Islamist militant organizations.

Pakistan faces growing international pressure to rein in Islamist groups that carry out attacks in neighboring India.

One such attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14, claimed by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Pakistan-based group, killed 40 Indian paramilitary police and led to clashes between the nuclear-armed rivals as India retaliated.

Both countries carried out aerial bombing missions last week and even fought a brief dogfight over Kashmir before tensions cooled.

But the United States, Britain, and many other nations are urging Pakistan to act against anti-India militant groups.

Pakistan has a history of using Islamist groups to pursue foreign policy aims in the region, but it has denied Indian accusations it actively supports militants fighting Indian forces in India's part of Muslim-majority Kashmir.

Comment: See also:

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Bulb

Venezuela blames sabotage, US 'electricity war' after major power outages


RT
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 17:45 UTC
caracas blackout
© Reuters / Carlos Jasso
A view of Caracas during blackout.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused the US of waging an "electricity war" against the country, as Caracas and other cities were plunged into darkness Thursday night. The government says the incident is likely sabotage.

Thousands of commuters in Caracas had to walk home as a power outage shut down the capital's subway, resulting in massive traffic jams.The lights also went out in the largest airport of Caracas.


People on social media described disruptions in most of the nation's regions and it is unclear how long the blackout will last. The government had to cancel school lessons and suspend the working day on Friday due to the emergency, Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez wrote on Twitter.

Comment: Now we get to see in action the US cyberwarfare 'kill-switch' programs Snowden warned about in 2013...

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Sherlock

Trump witch hunt: Judicial Watch uncovers DOJ docs revealing Bruce Ohr was contact for Clinton operative Christopher Steele


Judicial Watch
Thu, 07 Mar 2019 17:36 UTC
bruce ohr and chris steele

Christopher Steele, Bruce Ohr, Glenn Simpson
Judicial Watch announced today it received 339 pages of heavily redacted records from the U.S. Department of Justice which reveal that former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr remained in regular contact with former British spy and Fusion GPS contractor Christopher Steele after Steele was terminated by the FBI in November 2016 for revealing to the media his position as an FBI confidential informant.

The records show that Ohr served as a go-between for Steele by passing along information to "his colleagues" on matters relating to Steele's activities. Ohr also set up meetings with Steele, regularly talked to him on the telephone and provided him assistance in dealing with situations Steele was confronting with the media.

Judicial Watch obtained the records through a March 2018 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed after the Justice Department failed to respond a December 2017 request Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-00490)). The lawsuit seeks:
  • All records of contact or communication, including but not limited to emails, text messages, and instant chats between Bruce Ohr and any of the following individuals/entities: former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele; owner of Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson; and any other employees or representatives of Fusion GPS.
  • All travel requests, authorizations and expense reports for Bruce Ohr.
  • All calendar entries for Bruce Ohr.
The timeframe for the requested records is January 1, 2015, to December 7, 2017.
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Sherlock

Andrew Yang, 2020 presidential candidate, says "universal basic income" proposal is not socialism

Camilo Montoya-Galvez
CBS News
Thu, 07 Mar 2019 17:31 UTC
andrew yang
© CBS News
New York businessman and Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang believes his "tranformational" universal basic income proposal - which would give every American over the age of 18 a $1,000 stipend each month - is not part of a socialist platform.

"I'm a CEO and business person and I'll tell you that putting money into people's hands is good for business, it's good for the economy and it's good for markets," Yang said on CBSN's "Red and Blue. "This is not socialism. This is capitalism where income doesn't start at zero."

Yang told CBS News he's not concerned his proposal could become an easy political target for Republicans eager to denounce socialism and government giveaways because he believes the monthly stipends would invigorate America's capitalist economy.

The little-known Manhattan entrepreneur is hoping the issue will set him apart from the rest of the candidates in the crowded Democratic primary field, the most diverse in U.S. history. Although his name recognition across the country is dwarfed by those of other contenders in the race, Yang told CBS News his campaign raised nearly $600,000 in February.

Yang's proposal, he said, "would create millions of jobs around the country and would allow families and individuals to help manage this historic transition that we're in in terms of technology transforming the labor force."
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