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Putin Paranoia: Pat Buchanan talks some common sense

Pat Buchanan
Townhall.com
Tue, 17 Feb 2015 17:38 UTC
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Hopefully, the shaky truce between Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko, brokered in Minsk by Angela Merkel, will hold.

For nothing good, but much evil, could come of broadening and lengthening this war that has cost the lives of 5,400 Ukrainians.

The longer it goes on, the greater the casualties, the more land Ukraine will lose, and the greater the likelihood Kiev will end up an amputated and bankrupt republic, a dependency the size of France on the doorstep of Europe.

Had no truce been achieved, 8,000 Ukrainian troops trapped in the Debaltseve pocket could have been forced to surrender or wiped out, causing a regime crisis in Kiev. U.S. weapons could have begun flowing in, setting the stage for a collision between Russia and the United States.


Comment: Many were forced to surrender, and many were wiped out. Some managed to escape, albeit with less than 2 battalions' worth of heavy weaponry. Everything else was either captured or destroyed.

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Vader

Obama's fake war against his own proxy army ISIS

Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 17:28 UTC
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Since August 2014, the US Air Force with the support of a coalition of 19 countries has relentlessly waged an intensified air campaign against Syria and Iraq allegedly targeting the Islamic State brigades.

According to Defense News, over 16,000 airstrikes were carried out from August 2014 to mid January 2015. Sixty percent of the air strikes were conducted by the US Air Force using advanced jet fighter and bombing capabilities (Aaron Mehta, "A-10 Performing 11 Percent of Anti-ISIS Sorties". Defense News, January 19, 2015.)

The airstrikes have been casually described by the media as part of a "soft" counter-terrorism operation, rather than an act of all out war directed against Syria and Iraq.

This large scale air campaign which has resulted in countless civilian casualties has been routinely misreported by the mainstream media. According to Max Boot, senior fellow in national security at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Obama's strategy in Syria and Iraq is not working... [ because] the U.S. bombing campaign against ISIS has been remarkably restrained". (Newsweek, February 17, 2015, emphasis added).

Americans are led to believe that the Islamic State constitutes a formidable force confronting the US military and threatening Western Civilization.
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Map

EU caught between US and Russia

Pepe Escobar
Sputnik
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 17:16 UTC
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© AFP 2015/ KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV
Minsk 2.0 agreement de facto shows that Germany and France, the leading European powers are trying to break away from the "American Chaos project."

Washington has certainly succeeded in permeating an already embattled EU with a little extra - what else - chaos, by pitting the "West" against Russia.

The Obama administration - infested with neo-con cells, those ghosts inside the machine - have always believed that a package of Western sanctions plus a Saudi-unleashed oil price war would be enough to bring down the Russian economy, thus "changing its behavior" on Ukraine, and in the best scenario provoking regime change in Moscow.

Well, it's not working. Minsk 2.0 - as fragile an agreement as it is - de facto shows Germany (assisted by France), the leading European powers, trying to break away from the American Chaos project.

Comment: The US needs chaos elsewhere to avoid shinning a light on it's own impending collapse.

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Quenelle - Golden

Ayatollah Khamenei says Iran to retaliate against Western sanctions by withholding gas


PressTV
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 21:56 UTC
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© Unknown
Ayatollah Khamenei says Iran can cut back on gas supplies in response to Europe’s sanctions.
With sanctions being used as a political weapon of choice by the West, Iran is turning the tables on Europe, pledging to withhold on gas supplies. The pledge made by Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all major decisions, comes at a crucial time. Iran is heading to a decisive round of nuclear negotiations, with sanctions being at the heart of contention.

"If sanctions are supposed to be the way, it is the Iranian nation which will sanction them (Europe) in the future," Ayatollah Khamenei has said. "The hapless Europe needs gas and based on existing explorations, we possess the biggest share of the world's gas reserves," he added.

Political analysts say Ayatollah Khamenei's statements serve as a warning to the West, signaling that Iran will not accept any dictate in the talks. Europe and the US have been using the weapon of sanctions to twist Iran's arm over its nuclear program. Ayatollah Khamenei said, "Iran holds the world's largest oil and reserves combined and when the time comes we will sanction them and the Islamic Republic is capable of doing that."

According to statistical energy reviews, Iran holds the world's largest proven natural gas reserves, at 33.8 trillion cubic meters or 18.2% of the total proven reserves. The country's proven oil deposit is estimated 157 billion barrels, the fourth-biggest after Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and, Canada.
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Piggy Bank

Germany rejects Greece's bailout extension request


RT
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 02:55 UTC
Greece
© Reuters / Yannis Behrakis
Germany rejected Greece's 6-month bailout extension request, according to German Finance Ministry spokesman. The two sides have until Friday to agree on a deal, otherwise, Greece runs out of money.

German Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger told Bloomberg News in an emailed statement that the terms proposed by Greece do not meet the earlier agreed conditions of providing financial aid.

However, the European Commission sees the request as a good omen showing the Greek government's willingness to reach a compromise on stabilizing the economic situation in the eurozone.

"President Juncker sees this letter as a positive sign, which, in his assessment, could pave the way for a reasonable compromise in the interest of the financial stability in the euro area as a whole," Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a news briefing.

Comment: We'll see what kind of 'compromise' will be reached. Varoufakis has made clear what Greece is willing to do. And he's not bluffing. See: Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis: No more games in Greece

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War Whore

U.S. hand in Ukraine coup impossible to deny


RT
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 02:49 UTC
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© Reuters / Valentyn Ogirenko
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L, back) attends a meeting with deputies of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev, April 22, 2014
After months of denying having a hand in the Ukrainian coupe, US President Barack Obama admitted playing power broker for the "transition." This probably falls short of America's actual involvement.

Washington was investing heavily in Ukraine long before the Maidan protests started in Kiev in 2013. According to Victoria Nuland, the State Department's top diplomat for Europe, since 1991 America has poured $5 billion of taxpayers' money into what she called assisting Ukrainians in building "democratic skills and institutions."

Some of the money went into sponsoring various NGOs, political parties and media outlets. For instance, Hromadske.tv, an internet-based television channel created in summer 2013, received a grant of some $50,000 from the US embassy. The channel provided full-time coverage of the Maidan protests and gave a platform to various opposition figures.

Such funding is a well-known tool of the American government. Washington describes it as promoting a positive change and denies accusations that it gives money to get leverage to pursue its own goals in targeted countries. But in Ukraine US officials played a far more prominent role than simply funding local players.

Some like film director Oliver Stone even call it a US-staged coup, while former US Congressman Ron Paul called for the US to stop meddling in Ukraine.
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Crusader

Hungary criticizes EU's anti-Russian crusade


RT
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 02:36 UTC
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© Reuters/Laszlo Balogh
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has criticized EU's attempts to isolate Moscow, in particular blaming former Polish PM and President of the European Council Donald Tusk for spearheading the European anti-Russia crusade.

"This rift in the EU is very deep, of a strategic nature," Orban said regarding the division in the EU and on how to build the bloc's relationship with Russia.

The European Council President Tusk is "on the other side" of this dividing line, Orban said, a day after striking economic deals with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Tusk has been an ardent critic of Moscow's stance throughout the Ukrainian conflict, and on numerous occasions has called for a much tougher sanctions against Moscow. He speaks out against the "appeasement" of Moscow.
Once again, appeasement encourages the aggressor to greater acts of violence. Time to step up our policy based on cold facts, not illusions

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) January 24, 2015
But the EU countries are divided in Brussels in their attitude towards Russia. Orban specified that the Baltic States and Poland sided with the United States in their belief that Russia should be gradually excluded from cooperation with Europe.

Comment: Looks like more and more countries are finding out how dumb it was for the EU to bend to the U.S. will and try to isolate Russia. At this rate, there won't be too many countries left in the EU that agree with its foreign policy.

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Piggy Bank

Pathetic: Half-million of Wal-Mart's US workers to get average 50 cent pay raises

Anne D'Innocenzio, AP Retail Writer
Houston Chronicle
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 00:09 UTC
Doug McMillon
© Gareth Patterson/AP
Wal-Mart President and Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon speaks during an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, in Bentonville, Ark.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is hoping its decision to boost workers' paychecks will help it boost its bottom line.

The nation's largest private employer announced on Thursday that it's giving a raise to about half-million U.S. workers as part of a $1 billion investment that includes changes that Wal-Mart says are aimed at giving workers more opportunities for advancement and more consistent schedules.

The changes come as the company has faced increased pressure to pay its hourly employees more. But Wal-Mart, which has been criticized for its messy stores and poor customer service, says it's also focusing on recruiting and retaining better workers so that it can improve its business.

Comment: This article makes it sound like Wal-mart decided to improve the wage situation but the reality is that it is being forced to do so:

Walmart forced to raise minimum wage at one-third of stores due to state mandates

It's a crying shame that workers can't be paid a living wage due to the greedy psychopathic corporations.

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USA

Euromaidan: Anatomy of a Washington-backed coup d'etat

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 21:14 UTC
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In late November 2013, the 'Euromaidan' in Kiev began as a popular protest against a generalized state of corruption and cronyism in Ukraine. The spark that ostensibly ignited the protests was the inability of then President Yanukovych to sign an EU Association Agreement that would cut Ukraine's economic and military ties to Russia in favor of a closer relationship with the EU and NATO.

The EU had made the release of former Ukrainian prime minister and "gas princess" Tymoshenko a precondition for signing the agreement. But the fact that Tymoshenko was/is a convicted embezzler of state funds, combined with the rather severe economic impact the EU Association Agreement would have had on the Ukrainian economy, made it impossible for a consensus in the Ukrainian government to be reached, despite the fact that Yanukovych urged Parliament to put aside their differences and ratify the agreement. In fact, the EU's insistence that Tymoshenko be released appears now to have been designed to ensure the EU-Ukraine Association agreement failed and Yanukovych blamed for that failure and removed from office. Whatever the case, when the agreement was not signed, Ukrainians took to the streets in protest, right on cue.
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Laptop

Hacker from Anonymous claims he was charged after refusing to help FBI


RT
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 23:20 UTC
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© Reuters/Dado Ruvic
A 28-year-old hacker currently serving a six-month prison sentence for computer crimes now says that authorities asked him to help the United States gather information on Mexican drug cartels, then charged him with dozens of counts after he refused.

Fidel Salinas of Texas started his half-year prison sentence last Friday, according to court documents obtained by RT, three months after he accepted a plea deal that saw him owning up to a single count of accessing without authorization the computer system of Hidalgo County in 2012. The activity was part of an operation that authorities say involved the hacktivist collective Anonymous.

This Wednesday, however, Wired reported that Salinas said ahead of surrendering to US Marshals last week that the agreement he reached with the Department of Justice was hardly the first time that the two had discussed a deal.
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