Puppet MastersS


War Whore

Sanctimonious scumbags: West demonizes Russia doing everything to avoid conflict in Ukraine

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© AFP/Vasily BatanovThis picture taken on February 27, 2014 shows a placard reading "Crimea is Russia" on a barricade at the entrance of the Crimean parliament in Simferopol.
It is pure hypocrisy for the same Western powers fomenting the chaos in Ukraine to brandish the idea that Russia should be chided for some kind of military intervention that has not happened, political analyst Eric Draitser told RT.

RT: Russia has held snap military drills in the region bordering Ukraine. This does give the EU grounds to be reasonably concerned, doesn't it?

Eric Draitser: Well it should not necessarily give them concern considering that it was the EU, the United States and NATO powers were first at instigating the unrest in Kiev and in Ukraine more generally. We have seen that the unrest has been sponsored by the US. We know of course that Victoria Nuland and some of the figures in Germany who have been backing Klitschko and Yatsenyuk, they were exacerbating the situation, fomenting from the very beginning. So now in response to the unrest through the country, particularly in response from these probing attacks that we have seen since the takeover of Kiev, extending into the Eastern portion of the country.

You have seen regions in Ukraine, such as Crimea and elsewhere, calling on Russia to come and to protect the citizens. Now what Russia is doing in response is certainly not an intervention, not by any stretch of the imagination. What we have seen rather is putting military on high alert just like they did in 2008 in response to provocative attacks from Georgia.

War Whore

Is the US backing neo-Nazis in Ukraine?

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© AP/Chris UsherJohn McCain
As the Euromaidan protests in the Ukrainian capitol of Kiev culminated this week, displays of open fascism and neo-Nazi extremism became too glaring to ignore. Since demonstrators filled the downtown square to battle Ukrainian riot police and demand the ouster of the corruption-stained, pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, it has been filled with far-right streetfighting men pledging to defend their country's ethnic purity.

White supremacist banners and Confederate flags were draped inside Kiev's occupied City Hall, and demonstrators have hoisted Nazi SS and white power symbols over a toppled memorial to V.I. Lenin. After Yanukovich fled his palatial estate by helicopter, EuroMaidan protesters destroyed a memorial to Ukrainians who died battling German occupation during World War II. Sieg heil salutes and the Nazi Wolfsangel symbol have become an increasingly common site in Maidan Square, and neo-Nazi forces have established "autonomous zones" in and around Kiev.

An Anarchist group called AntiFascist Union Ukraine attempted to join the Euromaidan demonstrations but found it difficult to avoid threats of violence and imprecations from the gangs of neo-Nazis roving the square. "They called the Anarchists things like Jews, blacks, Communists," one of its members said. "There weren't even any Communists, that was just an insult."

"There are lots of Nationalists here, including Nazis," the anti-fascist continued. "They came from all over Ukraine, and they make up about 30% of protesters."

Comment: Seeking out, aligning with and empowering the scummiest elements in every country on Earth... ah, it's the American Way.


Propaganda

U.S.Hypocrisy: Scoundrel media Putin bashing

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It's relentless. It never quits. It's for any reason or none at all. Cold War geopolitics never ended.

Since Soviet Russia's 1991 dissolution, Western policy remained hard-wired in place.

Putin defends Russian sovereignty. He opposes US imperial lawlessness. Washington considers him public enemy number one. At stake is world peace.

A previous article discussed Stephen Cohen. He's a Russian expert. He discussed scoundrel media practice. It's longstanding. It's "pervasive," said Cohen. It's reprehensible.

"(E)ssential facts and context" are suppressed. Managed news misinformation substitutes. It's no less ideologically driven than during the Cold War days, Cohen explained.

Putin is viciously demonized. Facts are conveniently twisted. Truth is nowhere in sight.

Cohen sees a "new Cold War divide between West and East" unfolding. Imagine a possible hot one following.

Imagine what could imperil humanity. Imagine the damn fool in the White House risking it.

Washington Post editors are neocon extremists. They endorse confrontation. They bash Putin relentlessly. They invent reasons to do so.

Network

NSA robots are 'collecting' your data - Eavesdropping by algorithm is still eavesdropping‏

nsa logo spy
© Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters‘Worrying about a computer reading your email,’ a Google executive likes to say, ‘is like worrying about your dog seeing you naked’. So what happens when spy agency algorithms with naked photos of you become ‘useful to the analyst’?
Increasingly, we are watched not by people but by algorithms. Amazon and Netflix track the books we buy and the movies we stream, and suggest other books and movies based on our habits. Google and Facebook watch what we do and what we say, and show us advertisements based on our behavior. Google even modifies our web search results based on our previous behavior. Smartphone navigation apps watch us as we drive, and update suggested route information based on traffic congestion. And the National Security Agency, of course, monitors our phone calls, emails and locations, then uses that information to try to identify terrorists.

Documents provided by Edwards Snowden and revealed by the Guardian today show that the UK spy agency GHCQ, with help from the NSA, has been collecting millions of webcam images from innocent Yahoo users. And that speaks to a key distinction in the age of algorithmic surveillance: is it really okay for a computer to monitor you online, and for that data collection and analysis only to count as a potential privacy invasion when a person sees it? I say it's not, and the latest Snowden leaks only make more clear how important this distinction is.

Treasure Chest

Geopolitical dimensions of the coup in Ukraine, and why fascist militias are necessary for Western powers

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"When the Soviet Union was collapsing in late 1991, Dick wanted to see the dismantlement not only of the Soviet Union and the Russian empire but of Russia itself, so it could never again be a threat to the rest of the world," wrote former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in his recently published memoirs. Gates was referring to the then-Secretary of Defense, and later US Vice President, Dick Cheney.

The statement sheds light on the geopolitical dimensions of the recent putsch in Ukraine. What is at stake is not so much domestic issues - and not at all the fight against corruption and democracy - but rather an international struggle for power and influence that stretches back a quarter of a century.

Bad Guys

Ukraine interior minister accuses Russia of 'military invasion' as Crimea airports are seized

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© UnknownSeparately, dozens of armed men in military uniforms without markings are patrolling the airport in Simferopol
Russian military forces are blocking an airport in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea near the Russian naval base in an "armed invasion", Ukraine's interior minister has said.

Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post that the Belbek international airport in Sevastopol is blocked by military units of the Russian navy. Mr Avakov described the blockade as a "military invasion and occupation."

Mr Avakov described the Sevastopol blockade as "an armed provocation" and said: "I consider what has happened to be a military invasion and occupation in violation of all international agreements and norms."

But Russia's Black Sea Fleet has denied its forces were involved in a seizure or blockade of the airport, according to the Interfax news agency.

Star of David

Amnesty International accuses Israeli psychopaths of war crimes

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© Jim Hollander/EPAIsraeli soldiers clash with Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank city of Hebron.
Israeli forces are using excessive, reckless violence in the occupied West Bank, killing dozens of Palestinians over the past three years in what might constitute a war crime, Amnesty International said.

In a report entitled Trigger Happy, the human rights group accused Israel of allowing its soldiers to act with virtual impunity and called for an independent review of the deaths.

The Israeli army dismissed the allegations, saying security forces had seen a "substantial increase" in Palestinian violence and Amnesty had revealed a "complete lack of understanding" about the difficulties soldiers faced.

Stock Down

Ukraine's 'treasury empty' - economy in free fall

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© AFP/Sergei SupinskyArseniy Yatsenyuk
Ukraine's new Prime Minister, opposition leader Arseny Yatsenyuk, has promised the government would do its best to avoid a default, a difficult task as the country's treasury is empty and the economy is in disarray.

Yatsenyuk says he expects an EU/IMF economic stabilization package soon, but didn't give any specifics on timing.

Strengthening ties with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund will remain a priority as Ukraine rebuilds, Yatsenyuk said on Thursday in Kiev, Itar-Itass reported.

Yatsenyuk said negotiations with Russia would continue, and he considers the neighboring country "a partner".

The IMF failed to come through with a loan of $10-15 billion last August, and it remains to be seen what offer they will come up with for the new government. But in December Ukraine signed a $15 billion loan deal with Russia. The first $3 billion was paid to Ukraine in December, but the second installment of $2 billion, is postponed until Moscow deems Ukraine has formed a legitimate government.

Stormtrooper

The new Ukraine exposed: Notorious far-right Ukraine leader attacks prosecutor

Aleksandr Muzychko
© UnknownAleksandr Muzychko
Ukrainian radical nationalist leader Aleksandr Muzychko went on with the rampage against regional authorities, lashing out at a local prosecutor with obscene language, punches and threats. The radical claimed the prosecutors were "sabotaging" their job.

Muzychko, who is a member of the Right Sector radical movement, arrived at Rovno (Rivne) Oblast prosecutor's office after he heard claims that a criminal investigation into a local murder is being delayed.

The controversial "activist," known for taking part in the Chechen conflict against Russian troops, for his recent Kalashnikov brandishing in front of regional authorities and for making openly anti-Semitic statements, decided to take the matter into his own hands.

Without going into detail, Muzychko grasped a procedural prosecutor he found present at the workplace, nearly strangling the clerk with his own tie and shouting at him in dirty language.

The prosecutor asked to be given a chance to explain the situation, but the heated radical did not want to hear any explanations.

"Shut the f**k up, you b*tch! Your f**king time is over," he uttered, threatening to rope the clerk like a dog and lead him to the people on Maidan.

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS OBSCENE LANGUAGE [Though not in English]


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Comment: Who needs external enemies when you have such guys as your leaders.
'I dare you take my gun!' AK-47-toting Ukraine far-right leader tells officials


Gold Bar

Market manipulation: Gold brightens as Bitcoin exchange goes "dark"

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Today's AM fix was USD 1,340.00, EUR 975.33 and GBP 803.12 per ounce.

Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,332.75, EUR 969.48 and GBP 798.53 per ounce.

Gold rose $2.80 or 0.21% yesterday to $1,340.60/oz. Silver fell $0.15 or 0.68% at $21.86/oz.

Gold has given up early gains and is now lower in all currencies and 0.6% lower in dollars to $1,332.20/oz. Traders may be taking profits today after gold reached 4 month highs. Economic data yesterday raised questions about the strength of the U.S. economy, increasing gold's safe-haven appeal.