Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Sunday 23 August 2015


The European Union Times

Posted: 22 Aug 2015 05:24 AM PDT

A truly apocalyptic Ministry of Defense (MoD) report circulating in the Kremlin today states that strategic battle plans have now been disseminated to all military and special forces commands in response to the expected mass invasion by US-led Ukrainian troops of separatist held region Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Autonomous Republic of Crimea ahead of what is expected to be an “Armageddon-like blow” to Western financial capitols on 23 September.
Dubbed the “September War” by Federation defense planners, this report notes that on 23 September, Ukraine is due to pay a massive $500 million bond payment it is not able to do…which would then cause their default on a $3 billion bond payment to Russia meaning it would have to be paid immediately too.
Rather than risking the collapse of their already falling apart global economic system due to Ukraine falling into default, this report explains, Western capitols, led by the Obama regime, are “factoring” into this already fraught with danger situation a war with Russia as an “outlet” to divert their population’s attention away from the devastation of their own economies.
Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev warned the West against this war earlier today by stating, “Both Ukraine and the forces currently governing the country from the outside should realize that the resumption of hostilities leads to further decline in the Ukrainian economy, a greater number of hostilities, destruction of infrastructure and affects negatively the regional and international situation.”, but further noted that pro-Kiev armed units in eastern Ukraine now total 90,000 men and officers, 450 tanks, 203 salvo artillery units, and five Tochka-U missile complexes.
The Defense Ministry of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Eduard Basurinearlier, yesterday grimly noted the “master plan” to be used by Ukraine in launching their “September War” by stating:
“Information has been received about the plan of forthcoming actions by the Ukrainian army from a source in the Ukrainian General Staff and, no matter how strange this may seem, there are still true officers there who do not want to fight against their own people.
Kiev plans to deliver two converging blows in the direction of the settlement of Uspenka to defeat the DPR and advance to the border with Russia and subsequently prevent civilians from reaching the Russian territory. Along with this, two groupings [of Kiev’s forces] are intended to launch an offensive in the Donetsk direction north and south of Donetsk towards Ilovaisk, close the circle around the republic’s capital and encircle the city.
Further on, active offensive operations will be launched in the Luhansk direction with the aim to advance to the border with Russia.”

As these 90,000 US-led Ukraine forces are preparing to usher in World War III to protect Western “banksters” against 40,000 separatist fighters, this MoD report continues, NATO “comically” warned the DPR against grabbing anymore land, while at the same time, “equally as comical”, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter warned the Pentagon that Russia is now an “existential threat” to America.
As to how Russia could possibly be an “existential threat” to the United States, this report notes, is never explained by the Obama regime whose military spending is a staggering nearly $600 billion a year (compared to Russia spending $70-80 billion)…and as President Putin warned this past June: “Publish a map and mark all the US bases on it. You will see the difference between the US and Russia.”

Even the highly respected American press organization CounterPunch has noticed the sheer insanity of the Obama regime wanting war with Russia, this report says, and who in their article today titledDeadly Cheering for War in Ukraine by Western Press stated:
“The editors of the [Washington] Post are pulling off a ruse. Kyiv has not abided by a single clause of Minsk-2, and the regime’s foreign backers, including in the editorial offices of the nearly all of Western media, keep a careful silence on the subject. So let’s pause for a moment to reflect.
The Washington Post (and some other mainstream media) publishes articles and photo stories by journalists in and around Kyiv-controlled eastern Ukraine.
But the Post‘s journalists can’t seem to provide examples of how “Russia’s forces continue to shell and rocket Ukrainian positions on a daily basis”.
Surely, if the situation is that severe, there must be no shortage of visual examples to provide to readers? And surely the U.S. government can provide satellite images to mainstream media of the “9,000 Russian soldiers” in eastern Ukraine as well as other examples of Russian intervention? Unless… it’s all, or mostly, make believe.
On the rebel side of eastern Ukraine, there is no shortage of examples of grim, daily shelling by Ukrainian armed forces, which are backed by NATO. Alas, and not by accident, such reports never, ever grace the pages of the Western media.”
And as the “grim daily shelling” of civilians by US-led Ukrainian forces continues in Western media silence, this report further states, it goes without its irony that the American right-wing hawk Henry Kissinger and left-wing British Labour Leader socialist Jeremy Corbyn have now united togetherwarning the West of their insanity in launching this “September War”…and which Kissinger actually stated what it was really about, “Breaking Russia has become the objective for US”.
Though not stated in this MoD report, it is worth noting that even the left-leaning American political website Vox Media is now warning of this “September War” too, and as they chillingly stated in their article titled How World War III Became Possible:
“Europe today looks disturbingly similar to the Europe of just over 100 years ago, on the eve of World War I. It is a tangle of military commitments and defense pledges, some of them unclear and thus easier to trigger. Its leaders have given vague signals for what would and would not lead to war. Its political tensions have become military buildups. Its nations are teetering on an unstable balance of power, barely held together by a Cold War–era alliance that no longer quite applies.”
To if the American and European people themselves will be able to awaken before this war starts there remains no evidence as the vast majority of these peoples still remain asleep in their slumber of propaganda filled celebrity trivia news…but from they will, undoubtedly, soon be shaken from by the noise right outside their very windows.
Source
        
Posted: 22 Aug 2015 05:01 AM PDT

Nearly 2,000 illegal Muslim immigrants have reportedly been stranded during a rainy night in a border area between Greece and Macedonia, with hundreds more arriving there in the hope of invading borderless Western Europe.
Illegals, mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, who have remained in the no-man’s land at the border area since Thursday, slept the night on Friday in open space despite heavy rain and declining temperatures, AFP reported.
This is while Macedonian army soldiers were deployed throughout the wooded area that lines the 50-kilometer border, the report added citing army spokesman colonel Mirce Gjorgoski, who did not offer further details.
Meanwhile, Macedonia declared a state of emergency on Thursday and sealed off its border for 24 hours.
However, following clashes between police and migrants that left at least eight refugees injured, Skopje decided to allow in a limited number of the migrants so that they could continue with their illegal invasive journey to Western Europe.
Macedonian security forces began allowing several dozens of refugees to cross the border and take a train to the north late on Friday in their efforts to reach the European Union zone.
Moreover, hundreds more migrants were also reported to be heading towards the border from the Greek side on foot or arriving on buses from the direction of the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki.
According to figures released by the UN refugee agency, thousands of migrants pour into Greece every week in an effort to travel through Macedonia and Serbia to reach the European Union.
Source
        
Posted: 22 Aug 2015 04:53 AM PDT


Alveda King, the niece of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, says that the tactics employed by the Black Lives Matter movement do not represent the spirit of what her uncle stood for.
“I’m thinking some people don’t even remember Martin Luther King and what he stood for,” said King during an appearance on the Alex Jones Show, referring to the recent interruption of Bernie Sanders’ campaign event by Black Lives Matter protesters.
“Of course black lives matter, all lives matter….they don’t even know that it’s disrespectful to go to a meeting and jump into people’s faces and scream ‘black lives matter’ but no one has taught them how to articulate a need and because they don’t know how, they’re doing it inappropriately,” she added.
Asked what was happening behind the scenes, King remarked, “You wonder, who’s kind of behind the movement, who’s paying them,” adding that the political campaigns she was involved in paid people to hold signs and attend rallies.
Earlier this year it was reported that George Soros had donated around $33 million in one year to groups affiliated with Black Lives Matter activism.
“People don’t only do that when someone’s running for office, they do it to disturb a community….so a lot of that is happening,” said King, adding that other young people were joining in with the BLM movement “with zeal, without even examining what the message is.”
“There are people who want anarchy and confusion so that they can continue to do things that they were doing and nobody will ask them any questions,” remarked King
King is not the first individual closely linked to the civil rights struggle spearheaded by MLK to criticize the Black Lives Matter movement.
Back in June, we highlighted comments made by former Mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young, a personal friend of MLK who marched with King in Selma, Alabama and was with him when he was assassinated. Young was also instrumental in pushing through the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act.
“The problems we face don’t have anything to do with the (Confederate) flag. The fact is that 93% of black people killed are killed by other black people. So black lives matter. Let us start believing that we matter,” Young told Fox 5.
Source
        
Posted: 22 Aug 2015 04:42 AM PDT
A US Army soldier gestures to a fellow soldier as they participate in annual military drills in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea.
The United States has put its forces in South Korea on a heightened state of alert known as “enhanced status” as war between Seoul and Pyongyang looms.
On Friday, North Korea warned its southern neighbor to halt the “provocations” and its propaganda broadcasts against Pyongyang by Saturday afternoon or pay the price.
“If South Korea does not respond to our ultimatum,” North Korea’s deputy UN ambassador, An Myong-hun, told reporters in New York, “our military counteraction will be inevitable and that counteraction will be very strong.”
Despite the high tensions, the United States resumed joint war games, known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2015, with South Korea on Friday following a brief suspension on Thursday.
The drills simulate a full-scale invasion by North Korea. Pyongyang has denounced the joint drill as provocative.
“With regard to the situation on the Korean peninsula, the United States is very concerned by the [North Korean] August 4 violation of the armistice agreement and we are monitoring the situation very closely,” said David Shear, the assistant secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs.
“We are in close touch with our commanders and with our [South Korean] ally, and the United States remains steadfast in its commitments to the defense of its allies and will continue to coordinate closely with the Republic of Korea,” he said.
The United States has more than 28,000 troops deployed in South Korea, which has remained technically at war with its neighbor since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Tensions have increased between the Asian countries after two South Korean soldiers were critically wounded earlier this month by North Korean mines allegedly placed in the demilitarized zone between the two states.
In response, South Korea started propaganda broadcasts across the border. On Thursday, North Korea retaliated by firing artillery into the South, and South Korea fired back.
On Friday morning, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un put his frontline troops on combat readiness and ordered them to prepare for a possible war.
“Our military and people are prepared to risk an all-out war not just to simply respond or retaliate, but to defend the system our people chose,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Saturday morning on the official KCNA news agency.
“The situation has reached the verge of war and can no longer be reversed,” the statement added.
Shear, the American military official, said US forces were put on enhanced status because of the ongoing maneuver.
“US forces went on an enhanced status as part of the exercise. They are remaining in an enhanced status as part of the exercise, and of course to ensure adequate deterrence on the peninsula,” he said.
Shear claimed North Korea’s “provocative actions heightened tensions” and called on “Pyongyang to refrain from actions and rhetoric that threaten regional peace and stability.”
The South Korean Defense Ministry has rejected the North’s ultimatum, with a spokesman insisting the country would “continue operating the loudspeakers.” The South also placed its military on high alert.
In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Friday, American political activist and radio host Don DeBar said that the potential for a war between the two Koreas “is going to hinge on how seriously North Korea… feels threatened by ‘the exercises,’” referring to the massive military drills that tens of thousands of Korean and American troops recently launched.
Source
        
Posted: 22 Aug 2015 03:39 AM PDT

A Spanish Radio program which said Jews were promoting Satanism recently raised the ire of Israelis. One of the program’s episodes says Jews “propagated the cult of Lucifer” and even used black magic to “call on the powers of darkness.”
The controversial episode dubbed ‘From the Inferno-The Jewish People: Propagator of the Satan Cult’ appeared in the ‘A la Carta’ radio program aired by Spain’s RTVE back July 25 this year. However, it came under spotlight of Israeli media only this week.
The 30-minute episode starts with ominous music. Then a presenter quotes Jacob Frank, a controversial 18th-century Polish-Jewish religious leader. Frank claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi and was excommunicated by Jewish authorities due to his heretical doctrines and controversial teachings.
“The Jews first propagated the cult of Lucifer in several secret satanical societies,” the presenter says, as cited by Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Through black magic, the Israelites called on the powers of darkness with demonic rational.”
According to the episode synopsis, “the Jewish founders of the occult and masonry society introduced the cult of Lucifer.”
The episode, however, doesn’t’ state where exactly and in which period of human history Jews ‘propagated’ the Satan cult. Neither does it specify how many Jews joined Satanism or how they called their ‘dark powers’.
The episode about Jewish Satanism was condemned by Yigal Palmor the Director of Public Affairs and Communications of the Jewish Agency for Israel, whose primary aim is immigration of Jews in Israel. He also served as the spokesman for Israeli Foreign Ministry between 2008 and 2014.
“How can a public entity give a podium to this sort of crude, lowly and disgusting racism? A return of the Inquisition,” Palmor tweeted.
Not all social media users welcomed the controversial episode. Some of them accused the program of instigating religious hatred.
“Bravo RTVE to propagate the ‘oldest hatred’ worldwide. Are not you ashamed?” wrote one user in the comments to the program, while another said he doubts if what was presented is journalism at all.
‘A la Carta’ seems to be fond of exploring ‘Satanic’ issues. Other episodes are titled ‘Satanic Secrets in the Vatican’, ‘Children of Satan’ and even ‘Silent Demonic Invasion’.
Source
        
Posted: 21 Aug 2015 02:12 PM PDT

Researchers have managed to identify a generic ‘console’ that makes some people more prone to obesity. But this ‘console’ can be switched off. So those who enjoy a Big Mac and sitting in front of TV instead of working out can lose weight while asleep.
The so-called FTO region that “harbors the strongest genetic association with obesity” was identified in the study conducted by scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University Medical School. The paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“Obesity has traditionally been seen as the result of an imbalance between the amount of food we eat and how much we exercise, but this view ignores the contribution of genetics to each individual’s metabolism,” said senior author Manolis Kellis, an MIT professor of computer science.
The scientists proved they could manipulate the genes to reverse the signatures of obesity in both human cells and mice. According to Claussnitzer, the results of the gene manipulation were “dramatic.”
“These mice were 50 percent thinner than the control mice, and they did not gain any weight on a high-fat diet. Instead they dissipated more energy, even in their sleep, suggesting a dramatic shift in their global metabolism,” she added.
Now the researchers are hoping to get rid of obesity, a disorder that affects more than 500 million people worldwide and contributes to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and cancer.
“By manipulating this new pathway, we could switch between energy storage and energy dissipation programs at both the cellular and the organismal level, providing new hope for a cure against obesity,” Kellis said.
Earlier studies attempted to link the FTO region with brain circuits responsible for appetite or propensity to exercise. However, the recent results show no connection between brain circuits and FTO.
“Our results indicate that the obesity-associated region acts primarily in adipocyte progenitor cells in a brain-independent way,” Melina Claussnitzer, a visiting professor at CSAIL and teacher of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, said, as cited by MIT.
Source
        
Posted: 21 Aug 2015 01:44 PM PDT

Brazilians, amongst other western nations, consume 4-5 times more sugar than the quantity recommended by the WHO (World Health Organization). Learn how it affects your eyes. Sugar consumption is growing worldwide and has become a major public health issue in several countries.
Sugar consumption is growing worldwide and has become a major public health issue in several countries. Brazil is one of them. This way, the per capita consumption of sugar is responsible for the intake of 400 to 500 calories/day, according to a study conducted at Harvard University (USA). This is 4 to 5 times more than the 100 calorie/day or 6 teaspoons that match the 25 g/day as recommended by the WHO (World Health Organization). Besides obesity and diabetes, this habit causes heart and eye diseases in the medium term.
The ophthalmologist from the Penido Burnier Institute, Leoncio Queiroz Neto, states that prior to the scales, the eyes can signal that sugar consumption is very high in people who have no predisposition to gain weight. Eye problems triggered by hyperglycemia go far beyond the already known diabetic retinopathy. “Adults who have never used glasses and suddenly begin to have blurry sight at distance, should do a blood test,” he warns. This is because the increase of glucose in the bloodstream may induce myopia by causing swelling of the crystalline natural lens of the eye responsible for focusing the images. Not coincidentally, he points out, it is common for diabetics to reach the office believing that they need to change the glasses. In many cases it is only a fluctuation in refraction due to poorly controlled blood glucose. Changing the glasses does not help. When blood glucose is under control the glasses correct the eyesight.
Other effects
The loss of glycemic control in Brazil is larger than imaginable. VIGITEL 2014 (Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases Surveillance through telephone interviews), an annual survey conducted by the Ministry of Health since 2006, shows that 18.1% of Brazilians eat sweets daily being 15.6% of the male population and 20.3% of women.
According to Queiroz Neto increasing and reducing the thickness of the lens caused by fluctuating blood sugar predisposes to the formation of cataracts, clouding of the lens. Today, the operation is the only way to remove cataracts. The expert says that the ideal for diabetics is laser surgery. This is because the technique makes precise cuts and a self-sealing slant releasing the closure points. This precision, he highlights, reduces the risk of the procedure, speeds recovery and prevents visual distortion caused by irregular healing that can occur in the conventional method.
The ophthalmologist points out that another ocular disorder resulting from the loss of glycemic control is glaucoma. “The disease occurs because increasing the thickness of the lens in some people hinders the flow of aqueous liquid that fills the eye, and leads to increased intraocular pressure characteristic of glaucoma,” he explains. Treatment is with eye drops to maintain normal intraocular pressure. Glaucoma, he points out, is the second leading cause of permanent blindness in the world. If the drops are not used properly it results in the loss of the visual field until complete blindness occurs.
Diabetic retinopathy
The most dreaded eye disease resulting from hyperglycemia is the retinopathy that usually appears after 10 years of living with diabetes. The expert says that the retinopathy results from the obstruction of retinal vessels. Initially it leads to decreased vision and spotting when it reaches the macula, the central portion of the retina responsible for detailed vision. As it progresses, it can lead to the formation of new vessels. Being weaker, these new vessels can rupture and cause major bleeding in the back of the eye that leads to permanent blindness.
Queiroz Neto warns that some foods increase the risk of clogged arteries and vessels. They are those which combine glucose and fructose such as soft drinks, processed fruit juices, among others. This is because when this cocktail falls in the liver it is converted into fat. To keep the vision, the ophthalmologist recommends checking the composition of foods. Whenever they combine sugar and fructose there is more of a risk for circulation, including the eyes.
Source
        
Posted: 21 Aug 2015 12:55 PM PDT


Mikhail Gorbachev: “I’m really extremely worried”.
If there is to be a war between NATO and Russia, it will begin the Donbass region of Ukraine.
On Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the regime in Kiev is preparing a new offensive in the contested area, a move that would violate the Minsk II ceasefire signed in February.
Last week seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 40 wounded in skirmishes near Donetsk.
At the same time, Eduard Basurin, the spokesperson for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, accused the Ukrainian military of attacking its area with tanks and heavy armament,
The US has accused Russia of inflaming tension in the region and using the ceasefire to capture 28 towns and villages in a 250 square kilometer wide area.
“The struggle in Ukraine is more serious than ISIS,” said the former US ambassador to Ukraine and Director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington, John Herbst. “It’s very simple. Any military thinker looks at a threat – what is the possible damage? Putin wants to change the peace established in 1991 and after World War II.”
“Putin wants all of Ukraine,” added Ukrainian MP Dmytro Lubinets.
First Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Andriy Parubiy, the radical nationalist leader of the coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of Ukraine last year, told InterFax on Thursday 30 units of Russian military hardware have crossed over the border in the last two days.
Military Preparations for War
Meanwhile, US and British special forces are actively preparing Kiev’s military for escalated combat, reports Stephen Lendman.
Earlier this month it was reported that approximately 75 British military trainers are currently in the Ukraine to help the Kiev government defeat “Russian-inspired terrorism.”
British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, who characterized the crisis in Donbas as “red hot,” said his country plans to double the number of trainers working with the Kiev government’s military.
As well, the United States stated in July it will train regular Ukrainian military forces later this year.
In February the Obama administration announced it may send “defensive arms” to Ukraine.
The following month the House of Representatives voted to urge Obama to arm Ukraine.
“The West needs to bolster deterrence in Ukraine by raising the risks and costs to Russia of any renewed major offensive,” a report issued by the Atlantic Council and the Brookings Institute argues. “That requires providing direct military assistance — in far larger amounts than provided to date and including lethal defensive arms.”
The report was authored in part by Michèle A. Flournoy, the former Undersecretary for Defense. Flournoy is a “liberal interventionist” who worked as a senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies and supported 2005 advocacy campaign spearheaded by the neoconservative Project for the New American Century that called for increasing the size of the US military.
Globalist Insiders Predict War
Reports of Russian troops entering Donbas, the training of Ukrainian soldiers by the US and Britain, unprecedented military exercises by NATO and Russia, and repeated violations of the Minsk ceasefire agreement point to a wider conflict and the possibility of a world war between two nuclear superpowers.
As Infowars.com reported earlier this month, war games by NATO and Russia increase the possibility of “dangerous military encounters” and war on the European continent, according to the London-based European Leadership Network think tank.
“While spokespeople may maintain that these operations are targeted against hypothetical opponents, the nature and scale of them indicate otherwise: Russia is preparing for a conflict with NATO, and NATO is preparing for a possible confrontation with Russia,” Ian Kearns, director of the ELN, said in the report.
The report highlights NATO’s “Allied Shield” exercise in June and Russia’s “snap exercise” held in March that involved 80,000 military personnel.
“These tensions are further aggravated and elevated into a sense of unpredictability when the exercises are not pre-notified or publicly announced beforehand, as is apparently the case with a number of Russian exercises,” the report states.
Globalist insiders, from Henry Kissinger to Mikhail Gorbachev, have warned about the increasing danger of a war in Ukraine that may develop into a larger world war.
In January Kissinger told the US Senate Armed Services Committee he was “uneasy about beginning a process of military engagement in Ukraine without knowing where it will lead us and what we’ll do to sustain it.”
“I believe we should avoid taking incremental steps before we know how far we are willing to go. This is a territory 300 miles from Moscow, and therefore has special security implications,” he said.
“I can no longer say that this Cold War will not lead to a ‘Hot War’. I fear that they could risk it,” said Gorbachev.
“The statements and propaganda on both sides make me fear the worst. If anyone loses their nerve in this charged atmosphere, we will not survive the next few years… I’m really extremely worried.”
Source
        
Posted: 21 Aug 2015 12:34 PM PDT

The Yemeni army, backed by popular committees loyal to Ansarullah fighters, has fired a ballistic missile at a Saudi military base in the southwestern Jizan region.
The Tochka short-range ballistic missile targeted the al-Wajeb naval base, which is the largest Saudi military facility in the Jizan area.
The Yemeni allied forces also managed to take full control of Tuwaileq heights, which also lie in Jizan border region.
Saudi border guards are massively stationed in the Tuwaileq heights.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Ansarullah forces and their allied army troops killed several Saudi soldiers after a botched operation to retake two bases in Jarah Valley of Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jizan region.
Yemeni army forces, backed by popular committees and tribal fighters, have been targeting Saudi military posts while at the same time fighting al-Qaeda-linked militants across the country.
The attacks by Yemeni forces are aimed at pressuring the kingdom to halt its deadly aerial bombardments on Yemeni civilians.
Yemeni forces say their attacks on Saudi targets are in retaliation for Riyadh’s brutal aggression of the impoverished Arab country aimed at restoring power to the fugitive former president of Yemen, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a close Saudi ally.
In the latest attacks, Saudi jets pounded Ma’rib Province. They also carried out a number of raids in Tai’zz, Hajjah, and Sa’ada provinces. Saudi artillery also fired shells across the border.
Saudi Arabia began its military aggression against Yemen, without a UN mandate, On March 26. Over 4,300 people have been killed in the conflict, the World Health Organization said on August 11. Local Yemeni sources, however, say the death toll is much higher.
Source
        
Posted: 21 Aug 2015 12:06 PM PDT

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has confirmed his resignation and early election plans for Greece in a live address. The move comes after Athens managed to pay a huge chunk of its €3.4 billion debt to the ECB.
“The political mandate of the January 25 elections has exhausted its limits and now the Greek people have to have their say,” Tsipras said in a televised address Thursday night.
Tsipras said that he will now be looking for the Greek people to vote to continue the government program of his leftist Syriza party.
Local media have been speculating about the possible upcoming announcement since Thursday morning. Citing a source in the government, Reuters reported that Tsipras would propose holding the snap elections on September 20.
The resignation was handed in immediately after the address. However, no specific date for the snap poll was mentioned. However, Tsipras requested that President Prokopis Pavlopoulos hold the elections as soon as possible.
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos told ERT that this time the election “will not be the same as those of 2012, because now there is agreement, and there is a framework for the recapitalization of banks.”
Energy Minister Panos Skourletis and other politicians have been recently calling for the government to return to the ballot box.
“The political landscape must clear up. We need to know whether the government has or does not have a majority,” he told ERT.
On Friday, eurozone finance ministers agreed to a third bailout program for the crisis-stricken country. Athens will receive a total of €86 billion over three years.
The same day, the Greek parliament approved a draft law enacting a third bailout plan. Forty-three members of Tsipras’s Syriza party, including former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, voted against the bill or abstained. The party holds 149 seats in the parliament.
Skourletis said that Greek PM should move faster: “I would say elections first, then the party congress.”
According to a Syriza lawmaker in the European Parliament, Dimitris Papadimoulis, the elections “whenever they are announced by the government, will provide a stable governing solution.”
“My feeling is that Syriza will have an absolute majority,” he told Mega TV.
Commenting on Tsipras’ decision to step down, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem stressed that it is “crucial that Greece maintains its commitments to the eurozone.”
“I recall the broad support in the Greek parliament for the new program and reform package and I hope the elections will lead to even more support in the new Greek parliament,” Dijsselbloem added.
‘Snap election – smart move by Tsipras’
Syriza party campaigner, Anastasia Giamali, said that announcing the vote was “a very smart move” by Tsipras considering the current situation in Greece and its political system.
“I think that the main reason Alexis Tsipras declared a snap election is to reduce the negative side effects for the people that voted for him and Syriza – the unemployed, the working classes, the poor, the pensioners,” she told RT.
Giamali defended the bailout deal Greece signed with the international creditors, stressing that it “isn’t the best agreement possible, but it’s a far better agreement that any previous government has brought up.”
According to the campaigner, Tsipras and Syriza “had no choice but to accept” the EU-IMF terms, as they negotiated “in an environment of banking and economic asphyxiation forced on the country.”
“And at the same time they promised, going into this election, to tackle tax evasion, corruption and bureaucracy – and this are problems that are… the causes of many problems in Greece and the crisis, to an extent,” she said.
Former Greek Diplomat and ambassador, Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, told RT that people in Greece are starting to realize that they can’t both remain in the euro and avoid austerity.
“This is maybe one reason, why Tsipras is making the snap election so quickly… so that the people won’t be attacked by all the austerity measures that will come in basically in October,” he explained.
The foreign creditors “will be worried [because of the upcoming election], basically, because from now until … the elections will be held no measure that has been imposed upon Greece will be implemented because basically we will have a caretaker government that will not have the power to implement these measures,” Chrysanthopoulos said.
No matter what the outcome of the snap election will be, the European leaders who gave Tsipras a hard time during the debt negotiations have already achieved their goal, sociology professor Costas Panayotakis at the City University of New York told RT.
“European leaders got what they wanted, which was continuation of the austerity policies and from their point of view that sends a message to other anti-austerity forces in Europe, notably in Spain, that there is no alternative,” Panayotakis said. “What has happened in Greece, for the moment, is a bit of a setback for anti-austerity throughout the continent and that may affect the elections that will be coming up in many other parts of Europe.”
Source
        
Posted: 20 Aug 2015 02:48 PM PDT

Macedonia has declared a state of emergency on its southern and northern borders over a surge in migrants and refugees, the Interior Ministry announced. The country said it would involve the army in confronting the crisis.
“We expect the involvement of the army will bring two desired effects – it will increase security among our citizens in the two regions and will allow for a more comprehensive approach toward people expressing their interest in applying for asylum,” Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski said.
He told Reuters that the “official border crossings are not shut,” but that authorities may have moved to seal off illegal routes used by the migrants and refugees.
Thousands of migrants were stranded on Thursday in a ‘no-man’s land’ between Macedonia and Greece, near the Macedonian town of Gevgelija. From there, they planned to catch trains that would take them to the Serbian border, and onto Hungary, where they would benefit from Europe’s borderless Schengen zone.
Riot police were sent to the town to try to restore order amid the chaos, and Reuters has reported that the flow of migrants in the town now appears to have suddenly stopped.
Macedonia has become a major transit route for migrants heading from Greece to more prosperous EU countries.
On Wednesday, Macedonia warned that it is running out of trains to transport the thousands of Syrian refugees heading toward the European Union, and called on its neighbors to help combat the “alarming situation.”
“The Macedonian Railway Company has no more capacity to carry all those who want to travel toward western European countries,” the head of the state railway, Nikola Kostov, told Telma TV channel, urging neighboring countries and others to provide more train carriages.
The problem may worsen with the potential arrival of thousands who are being evacuated by boat from the Greek island of Kos to the mainland, after 21,000 people landed on Greek shores last week alone.
“Depending on how Greece uses ships to decongest the islands that will also temporarily increase the arrivals here,” said Alexandra Krause, senior protection officer at the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Macedonian capital Skopje.
Almost 39,000 migrants, most of whom hail from Syria, have been registered passing through Macedonia over the past month. This figure is more than double that from the previous month.
Source
        
Posted: 20 Aug 2015 01:41 PM PDT
Scientists have produced a prototype vaccine with promising results in treating MERS.
Scientists say they have produced a prototype vaccine against the lung infection MERS coronavirus that has shown promising results.
According to the study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the vaccine has been successful in guarding monkeys and camels against the deadly disease.
“The data show that the vaccine is capable of generating protective antibodies in laboratory studies and also in camels,” explained Professor Andrew Easton of Warwick University who participated in the research led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
“This is very promising as a possible way to reduce virus spread in camels and therefore to reduce the risk of infection in humans,” he added.
MERS (Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome) has infected 1,400 people and claimed 500 lives since 2012. It has occurred in Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, Europe, and in the US, with no treatment or preventative medicines to fight disease.
The recent 2015 MERS outbreak in South Korea raised an alarm as the infection spread from one patient to over 181 people, resulting in hospital closings, severe economic impact and more than 30 deaths.
A cousin of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), MERS causes coughing, fever, pneumonia and kidney failure but it does not appear to be as contagious as SARS, which killed some 800 people in a 2003 epidemic.
According to the World Health Organization, the disease has an overall mortality rate of 35 percent.
Source
        
Posted: 20 Aug 2015 12:01 PM PDT

Cannabis kills cancer, the National Cancer Institute admits.
The institute recently updated its ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page about marijuana to include various studies revealing how cannabis “may inhibit tumor growth by causing cell death, blocking cell growth, and blocking the development of blood vessels needed by tumors to grow” while also protecting normal, healthy cells.
“A laboratory study of cannabidiol (CBD) in estrogen receptor positive and estrogen receptor negative breast cancer cells showed that it caused cancer cell death while having little effect on normal breast cells,” the NCI stated. “Studies in mouse models of metastatic breast cancer showed that cannabinoids may lessen the growth, number, and spread of tumors.”
Here’s the NCI’s full list:
  • Studies in mice and rats have shown that cannabinoids may inhibit tumor growth by causing cell death, blocking cell growth, and blocking the development of blood vessels needed by tumors to grow. Laboratory and animal studies have shown that cannabinoids may be able to kill cancer cells while protecting normal cells.
  • A study in mice showed that cannabinoids may protect against inflammation of the colon and may have potential in reducing the risk of colon cancer, and possibly in its treatment.
  • A laboratory study of delta-9-THC in hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) cells showed that it damaged or killed the cancer cells. The same study of delta-9-THC in mouse models of liver cancer showed that it had antitumor effects. Delta-9-THC has been shown to cause these effects by acting on molecules that may also be found in non-small cell lung cancer cells and breast cancer cells.
  • A laboratory study of cannabidiol (CBD) in estrogen receptor positive and estrogen receptor negative breast cancer cells showed that it caused cancer cell death while having little effect on normal breast cells. Studies in mouse models of metastatic breast cancer showed that cannabinoids may lessen the growth, number, and spread of tumors.
  • A laboratory study of cannabidiol (CBD) in human glioma cells showed that when given along with chemotherapy, CBD may make chemotherapy more effective and increase cancer cell death without harming normal cells. Studies in mouse models of cancer showed that CBD together with delta-9-THC may make chemotherapy such as temozolomide more effective.
Additionally, the National Institute on Drug Abuse also referenced similar, recent studies which revealed “marijuana can kill certain cancer cells and reduce the size of others.”
“Evidence from one animal study suggests that extracts from whole-plant marijuana can shrink one of the most serious types of brain tumors,” the NIDA said in April. “Research in mice showed that these extracts, when used with radiation, increased the cancer-killing effects of the radiation.”
But you’re still going to jail if you get caught using it as medication in most states.
“The worst part is that even marijuana without THC is still illegal, despite having zero ‘high’ effects,” health expert Anthony Gucciardi wrote. “A quick search within the PubMed National Library of Medicine database for ‘marijuana’ turns up a host of studies, highlighting every aspect imaginable regarding the plant in its many forms.”
Despite all these numerous, proven benefits of marijuana, the federal government wants it to remain illegal while the FDA approves expensive prescription drugs with more side effects and far less research.
“The truth? Marijuana is backed by more clinical research than most pharmaceutical drugs,” Gucciardi added.
Source
        
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Posted: 20 Aug 2015 11:34 AM PDT

France’s far-right party National Front (FN) has decided to expel Jean-Marie Le Pen, its founder and honorary president, over his sharp criticisms of his daughter’s measures as the current party leader.
On Thursday, the FN’s executive committee removed the octogenarian politician from his position and annulled his membership in the party.
The decision was made after the committee questioned the controversial far-right figure for around three hours in the FN headquarters in Nanterre, near the French capital city of Paris.
Following the session, Jean-Marie expressed his dismay at the party’s ruling, saying he has not made any mistake to deserve such a verdict.
“There is indignation, there is sadness, it’s always trying when one has the feeling of not having made any mistake, of having expressed one’s opinion as a politician,” he said, adding that he will appeal the party’s verdict in court.
Meanwhile, his daughter Marine Le Pen supported the party’s decision, saying she did attend the meeting so that the FN’s executive committee would consider the case with “total impartiality.”
“Jean-Marie Le Pen kicked off a process of which he knew the outcome by multiplying mistakes over many weeks, which could only lead to this kind of decision,” she said in a statement.
Jean-Marie, notorious for his bold remarks, has been a staunch critic of his daughter’s policy as the FN’s president.
This is while, Marine, who took over the FN from her father in 2011, accuses the 87-year-old of committing “political suicide” over his ultra-nationalist remarks, saying she has been struggling to improve the image of the party which has been tarnished for years due to Jean-Marie’s unacceptable stance.
Back in April and in the latest in a string of his controversial remarks, Jean-Marie called on the French government to form a united front with Russia to save the white world.
Source
        
Posted: 20 Aug 2015 11:07 AM PDT

South Korean sources claim there is evidence that North Korea is about to test-fire short and medium-range missiles, a source said. It comes a day after the two rival nations exchanged artillery fire across the border.
“The North is showing signs of deploying a Scud missile near Wonsan and a Rodong missile in the North Pyeongan Province,” a government source told the Yonhap news agency, citing data from a radar system that South Korean and US military operate jointly.
“It seems that (the North) is weighing the timing of the firing under its strategic intention to increase military tension on the Korean Peninsula to the highest level,” the source noted.
Pyongyang uses missile tests to demonstrate resilience in standoffs with Seoul, for instance during South Korea’s regular and large military drills with US troops.
The leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un has ordered frontline combined forces to enter a state of war from 5:00p.m. (0830 GMT) on Friday, the official KCNA news agency reports.
The order was issued during an emergency meeting of the central military commission of the ruling party, Xinhua reports. The announcement comes after an exchange of fire between the rivals on Thursday.
South Korean military fired dozens of artillery shells across the border on Thursday, the Yonhap news agency reported. The attack came in response to apparent shelling of the southern part of the border area by the North’s military.
“A barrage of supposedly North Korean military shells was detected by (South Korea’s) anti-battery radar” at 3:52pm, a ministry official said as cited by the agency.
Earlier the South Korean Defense Ministry said shelling from across the border was detected by counter-battery radar, but that the South didn’t return fire.
No casualties or damage on the ground was reported after the alleged shelling from the North. However, South Korea ordered the evacuation of civilians from the border area to the west of the Korean Peninsula, where the incident happened.
According to the KBS broadcaster in South Korea, the North’s shells targeted a military loudspeaker that has been broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda across the border. North Korea has repeatedly demanded the removal of such loudspeakers, calling them provocative.
In the wake of the fire exchange, North Korea reiterated its demands, saying propaganda must cease within 48 hours or military action will ensue, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry.
Relations between North and South Korea are tenser than usual at the moment in the wake of a land mine incident this month. Two South Korean troops were hit by a primitive landmine explosion, with Seoul blaming Pyongyang, an accusation the North denied. Mounting propaganda loudspeakers along the borders was the South’s response to the incident.
Source
        
...

[Message clipped]  View entire message
Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 08:43