Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Tuesday 13 January 2015

Op-Ed Articles
 


 "Boots On The Ground"?
Obama To Seek Authorization For Military Force Against ISIS

By Tyler Durden

Senator John Cornyn said President Obama told congressional leaders during meeting today at White House he would seek authorization for military force on Islamic State.


The Unmourned:
Another Mass Killing by the Peace Prize Prez

By Chris Floyd

News arrives today of yet another clutch of unimportant, unmournable deaths at the hands of extremist violence.


China's Global Political Shift

By F. William Engdahl

China will transform our world over the next decade.


Peculiarities of Russian National Character

By Dmitry Orlov

Russia has just offered the EU a deal. Why freeze yourselves out when we can all freeze out Washington instead?


Were Gitmo Murders Covered Up As Suicides?

Video

Army Staff Sergeant Joseph Hickman, came to believe that three men were murdered in a secret CIA black site at Guantanamo.


What Would It Be Like If We Really Lived In A Democracy?

By Arthur D. Robbins

What is usually called democracy is in fact an oligarchy of elected representatives responsible to the business interests who bankrolled their campaign.


Don't Believe What You Hear About The US Economy

By Dean Baker

Just about everything we've heard about the economy is wrong.


Social Justice Quiz 2015:
How Much Do You Know about Inequality?

By Bill Quigley

In 1990, twenty percent of all children in the US lived in poverty. What percent of the children in the US live in poverty today?

   
      

Hard News
    



143 Boko Haram militants killed as Cameroon repels army base raid:
The attack on the Cameroonian military base at Kolofata came as Nigeria said the number of people who lost their lives in an assault by Boko Haram on the town of Baga last week was no more than 150.


Nigeria's President Prefers to See No Evil, Speak No Evil:
You'd expect Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to condemn the carnage inside his country, particularly after he called last week's massacre at a French satirical newspaper a "dastardly terrorist attack." But you'd be wrong: Jonathan has yet to acknowledge that any of the Boko Haram attacks even took place.


Suicide attack kills 3 Libyan soldiers, injures 4 W. Benghazi;
Three Libyan soldiers were killed and four seriously wounded in a suicide attack on a roadside checkpoint west of Benghazi in eastern Libya, an army commander said on Tuesday. The checkpoint, set by a battalion of special forces and shock troops, was targeted during a routine inspection as the attacker detonated an explosive-laden car.


Egypt's Mubarak may be freed after court ruling:
If released, the deposed president will still likely remain in a military hospital for security reasons


Iraq: Bomber Kills 12 North of Baghdad:
A suicide car bomb killed 12 Shiite militiamen and Iraqi soldiers on Monday in a town north of Baghdad, the Iraqi authorities said, setting off a battle between security forces and fighters with the extremist Islamic State group.


Four killed, 18 injured in northern Iraq:
Four fighters were killed and 18 others wounded from the pro-government Shiite militia al-Hashd al-Shaabi in suicide attacks and mortar strikes on Monday in Samarra, northern Iraq, a security source has said.


Obama to Offer Proposal for War on Islamic State, Senators Say;
President Barack Obama told congressional leaders he will propose terms for a measure authorizing U.S. military force against Islamic State, two top Republicans said following a White House meeting today.


France extends airstrikes in Iraq on Islamic State;
France's lower house of Parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved extending French airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq.


8 IS militants killed in northern Syria:
At least eight members of the Islamic State (IS) militant group were killed on Tuesday in clashes with Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, APA reports quoting Xinhua.


US-led airstrikes kill three civilians in Syria:
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group based in Britain, one of the strikes killed three civilians working at an oil facility near the town of Mayadin, in Deir al-Zor province.


Syria denies nuclear allegations, weapons experts skeptical too:
Nuclear weapons experts have expressed doubts about the report, since the site, which is visible on Google Earth, is not all that secret, the Christian Science Monitor said Sunday.


Living among Gaza's dead;
Families living in squalor inside Gaza City's el-Sheikh Shaban cemetery are calling for international intervention.


New sanctions could torpedo Iran nuclear deal: ;
It is still possible to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, but new U.S. congressional sanctions could seriously undermine prospects for an agreement and end up isolating Washington instead of Tehran, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations said on Monday.


Ukraine : Shell hits bus 'killing 10' in Buhas:
A statement said the incident happened at a government checkpoint in Buhas, about 35km (22 miles) south-west of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. Donetsk regional officials blamed pro-Russian rebels but a report said rebel leaders had denied it.


Ukraine's Effort to Cut Russian-Gas Reliance Sees Explorers Exit :Analysis -
Chevron pulled out of an agreement to explore the Oleska field in western Ukraine. The economy is expected to shrink 6 percent this year, according to Moody's Investors Service, after tumbling 7.5 percent in 2014.


America's Going to Lose the Oil Price War: : Analysis -
The price is now approaching a level where U.S. production will begin shutting down.


EU Considers Improved Russia Ties -- Update:
The European Union could significantly scale back sanctions and resume discussions with Russia on issues from visa-free travel, cooperation with the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union and the crisis in Libya, Syria and Iraq if Russia moves to end the crisis in eastern Ukraine, according to an EU discussion paper.


Russia to step up combat capabilities in Crimea; -
Russia's top general said on Tuesday he would beef up combat capabilities this year in Crimea, the Arctic and the country's westernmost Kaliningrad region that borders two NATO states.


China and Russia to launch new credit rating agency in 2015:
The new Universal Credit Rating Group (UCRG) is being set up to rival the existing agencies Moody's, S&P and Fitch, and its first rating will be issued this year.


Pakistan: Militants storm checkpost, kill 7 Pak soldiers:
At least seven soldiers of Frontier Corps (FC) were killed and one injured when a group of militants stormed a checkpost in the Mekhtar area of the troubled Loralai district of Balochistan province on Monday.


John Kerry: Pakistan must fight militant groups that threaten Indian, US interests:
Pakistan must fight militant groups that threaten Afghan, Indian and US interests, US secretary of state John Kerry said on Tuesday as he voiced sympathy for the victims of the December 16 attack on a Pakistani military school.


Afghan policeman kills commander, district governor:
An Afghan policeman shot and killed his commanding officer and a district governor in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, officials said on Tuesday, in an attack claimed by Taliban insurgents, who said the policeman had defected to their movement.


Police: Up to 6 Paris terror suspects may still be at large:
As many as six members of a terrorist cell involved in the Paris attacks may still be at large, including a man who was seen driving a car registered to the widow of one of the gunmen, police officials said Monday.


Turkish President's Stunning Outburst:
The French Are Behind The Charlie Hebdo Massacre; Mossad Blamed


Jimmy Carter blames Paris attacks on Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
Muslim frustration over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the factors that led to the attacks on satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in Paris last week, former US President Jimmy Carter told Jon Stewart on the Daily Show on Monday.


Je suis Bibi! Netanyahu brings Likud to Paris:
Even before Netanyahu gave his show on the sidewalks of Paris, his party demonstrated a new record in thickheadedness when it published on its Facebook page a post proclaiming solidarity with the Jews of France, with the symbol of the Likud at the bottom. A short time later the logo was removed, and only the solidarity remained.


Spitting On Other People's Prophets Is Not A Western Value:
In a BBC interview following the Charlie Hebdo Massacre, Jewish Chronicle writer David Aaronovitch advised those who do not approve of 'freedom of speech' to 'move to Pakistan.' It is not surprising to find a Zionist Jew advocating voluntary cleansing; after all, expulsion is a Jewish nationalist favourite adventure


Here is the cover of Charlie Hebdo's next issue:
French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo is set to release its first issue since last week's attack on Wednesday. Three million copies will be printed in 16 languages, AFP reports.


Europe's answer to France terror 'attack on free speech' is greater Internet censorship:
About half of Europe's member states are pushing for greater online censorship powers in the wake of the terror attacks in France earlier this month.


Paris attacks renew Australia debate:
The attack on satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo reignites the debate over Australia's race-hate laws, which prohibit certain forms of speech.


Complaint against John Howard to the International Criminal Court:
Australia's former Prime Minister John Howard has been accused of war crimes before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.


Tony Blair questioned by MPs about IRA fugitives ('on the runs'):
Politics Live blog


Mexico protesters try to enter base:
Relatives of the 43 Mexican students who went missing on 26 September in Guerrero state clash with police as they try to enter an army base.


Shouts of 'torture' disrupt Senate session;
Capitol Police arrested 11 people for interrupting Senate proceedings on Monday after they screamed chants against U.S. interrogation techniques, according to the agency's Public Information Officer Shennell Antrobus.


Tear gas, pepper spray disperse crowds of Ohio football fans;
US police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse students and college football fans who flooded the streets of Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, following the Buckeyes' National Championship win.