| Puppet Masters |
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FARS News Agency
2015-11-26 18:51:00 Comment: The stories we hear in the news about world events are often a mere fraction of what is really going on. If the account below is true, then it is possible that there was a lot more to the downing of the Russian jet by Turkey than is publicly acknowledged. Given how the events played out, Turkey's decision to down the jet does not make sense (suggesting possible NATO treachery). But perhaps things did not go according to plan: Iran, Syria and Russia may have stymied a plan that Turkey hoped to use to their own political advantage. If so, they are paying for it now.
Russian sources revealed on Thursday that the pilot of the Russian Su-24 jet that was shot down by Turkey over the Syrian airspace on Tuesday was rescued in an operation by Iran's globally renowned IRGC Qods Force Commander Major General Soleimani. On Tuesday, a Russian Su-24 bomber jet crashed in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the plane was downed by an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish F-16 jet over Syrian territory, falling 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Turkish border. The crew of the plane ejected and one pilot was killed by fire from the ground, according to the Russian General Staff. The co-pilot Captain Konstantin Murahtin survived. But the story of how he survived in a land surrounded by various types of terrorist groups for tens of kilometers was unknown until today. | |
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RT
2015-12-04 18:32:00
A new Senate bill would require phone companies to notify the government if a change is made in how customer records are stored. This comes as the NSA's bulk data collection expires but calls to increase surveillance intensify following recent attacks. On Thursday, Angus King (I-Maine) and Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) introduced the Private Sector Call Record Retention Act. This followed the expiration of the National Security Agency's (NSA) controversial bulk collection of millions of Americans' phone records. | |
Comment: What a load of baloney! So far the US efforts to stop ISIS terrorism has resulted in next to nothing compared to the huge damage inflicted on ISIS by Russia over the past month or so. If Russia can do it why can't the USA? The answer seems rather obvious.
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Sputnik
2015-12-04 18:11:00
Sahra Wagenknecht, deputy chair of the German Die Linke (Left Party), criticized the government's decision to send a military party to battle Islamic State terrorists in Syria. In an interview with Die Welt she said that the decision, agreed upon in Vienna, was "sheer lunacy" that could precipitate a Third World War. "Germany is entering a big war with a huge potential for an escalation... If in Syria we are also going to fight Russia, the conflict may degenerate into WW3," Wagenknecht warned. | |
Comment: It will be interesting to see if Germany is only catering to NATO, or hedging its bets for a possible alliance with Russia.
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Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook 2015-12-03 17:53:00
Geopolitical analyst Christoph Germann posted a very subtle, almost unnoticed link in his Twitter feed in the immediate aftermath of the ambush of Russia's Su-24 near the Syrian-Turkish border by an alleged Turkish F-16. It was a link to an article published just ahead of the incident titled, "US air force Gen Selva visits Ankara to discuss terror, Syria," which stated specifically (emphasis added): Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Paul J. Selva starts his visit to Ankara reportedly to discuss the fight against DAESH and Turkey's border security in the region,It would seem that the US general would be either on hand, or having just concluded his business with his Turkish counterparts just as Turkey carried out what surely was a long-planned ambush of a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish border, and in particular, precisely over the "Turkmen-populated areas in Syria." | |
Comment: This is something the American 'strategists' don't seem to get: that Russia can't be goaded, prodded or coerced into making decisions that would hinder the completion of their real goals. Putin seems to have the Midas touch in this regard: whatever the West throws at them, the Russians manage to turn it around in such a way that helps them, politically, economically, militarily.
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Sputnik News
The US-led coalition in Syria has deployed three times more drones in the past few days than before with up to fifty UAV's often up in the air at the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said on Friday.2015-12-04 22:22:00 "Most of these drones are on reconnaissance missions over terrorist-held oilfields and could share the information with the public," Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told reporters in Moscow. |
Comment: Maybe the US-led coalition is surveying damage to their ISIS assets?
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Sputnik
2015-12-04 15:37:00
Russian aviation has conducted 431 sorties and hit 1,458 terrorist targets in seven Syrian provinces over the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday. "Over the past week (from November 26 to December 4), Russian aviation has carried out 431 sorties from the Hmeymim airbase and conducted pinpoint strikes on 1,458 terrorist targets in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa," the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said. Terrorist command centers, training camps, ammunition depots and strongholds have been destroyed by Russian airstrikes, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said. | |
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Translated for Fort Russ by J. Arnoldski
Fort Russ 2015-12-04 17:20:00
Perhaps the main feature of today's address by Vladimir Putin was his emphasis on the fact that Russia and Russians need to change. The year 2015 is coming to a close, and this year was very important in terms of understanding who we are, where we are going, and what we want from the political leadership of our country. After the momentous year of 2014, when the elite and the people together decided that it is time for the country to regain the status of a superpower, it was very important to ensure that we, the country, the people, and the political elite, are ready to pay for history. Independence, self-esteem, and the right to decide one's fate are very expensive. The calculation of our enemies was simple and pragmatic: the Russians, realizing that one can't lay on soft cushions for eternity, will prefer the dream of parmesan and black bread than being builders of a great empire. After all, the most recent incarnation of the Russian Empire was betrayed in exchange for jeans and Coca-Cola - well, what can be worse than parmesan? This time, the script didn't work. Over the course of 2015, Russians have not repented of their choice, and the Russian managerial elite have finally consolidated themselves around the president. In word and deed, Russia has confirmed its application to participate in the redivision of the world order. The decision to return Crimea was made and secured. There is no turning back and it is possible to talk seriously about global stakes, goals, and methods of accomplishing them. Putin very clearly outlined that we live in a time of the creation of new trading blocs and the development of new breakthrough technologies, and the position of Russia in the context of these processes will determine its future place in the global division of labor. Occupying a decent place in the world of the future is the main challenge for our country. | |
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Pepe Escobar
Counterpunch 2015-12-03 17:22:00
So why did Washington take virtually forever to not really acknowledge ISIS/ISIL/Daesh is selling stolen Syrian oil that will eventually find is way to Turkey? Because the priority all along was to allow the CIA - in the shadows - to run a "rat line" weaponizing a gaggle of invisible "moderate rebels". As much as Daesh - at least up to now - the Barzani mob in Iraqi Kurdistan was never under Washington's watch. The oil operation the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) runs to Turkey is virtually illegal; stolen state-owned oil as far as Baghdad is concerned. Daesh stolen oil can't flow through Damascus-controlled territory. Can't flow though Shi'ite-dominated Iraq. Can't go east to Iran. It's Turkey or nothing. Turkey is the easternmost arm of NATO. The US and NATO "support" Turkey. So a case can be made that the US and NATO ultimately support Daesh. What's certain is that illegal Daesh oil and illegal KRG oil fit the same pattern; energy interests by the usual suspects playing a very long game. What these interests are focused on is to control every possible oil asset in Iraqi Kurdistan and then in "liberated" Syria. It's crucial to know that Tony "Deepwater Horizon" Hayward is running Ug Genel, whose top priority is to control oil fields that were first stolen from Baghdad, and will eventually be stolen from Iraqi Kurds. And then, there's the Turkmen powder keg. The key reason why Washington always solemnly ignored Ankara's array of shady deals in Syria, through its fifth column Turkmen jihadis, is because a key CIA "rat line" runs exactly through the region known as Turkmen Mountain. These Turkmen supplied by Ankara's "humanitarian" convoys got American TOW-2As for their role in preserving prime weaponizing/ smuggling routes. Their advisers, predictably, are Xe/Academi types, formerly Blackwater. Russia happened to identify the whole scam and started bombing the Turkmen. Thus the downing of the Su-24. | |
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RT
2015-12-04 15:55:00
Several terrorist leaders have been killed in Russian airstrikes in Syria over the past week, the Defense Ministry said. In Latakia province, a dugout with the leader of a large terror group named Abu Abdu and several other field commanders has been destroyed, General-Major Igor Konashenkov, a Defense Ministry spokesman, told a media briefing on Friday. "Also during the week, several [terrorist] leaders were eliminated near the village of el-Latamna in Hama province," he added. Illegal oil trade by the terrorists was also targeted by the Russian Air Force, with Konashenkov speaking of "12 oil pump stations, eight oil fields and refineries, and over 170 oil tanker trucks" being destroyed over the past seven days.
"Over the past week, between November 26 and December 4, Russian aircraft have performed 431 sorties from the Khmeimim airbase [in Syria's Latakia province] and carried out 1,458 pinpoint airstrikes against terrorist facilities in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa," he said. According to Konashenkov, terrorist command centers, strongholds, militant training camps and arms depots were targeted. "I want to emphasize that all our bomber and attack planes received cover from Su-30 [fighter jets]," he stressed. The measure was implemented after the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air Force on November 24. | ||
Comment: The Russian airstrikes in Syria already halved the Islamic State's income a day from illegal oil trade. Bilal Erdogan, the son of Sultan Erdogan, desperately needs new oil smuggling routes and tankers. Russia is watching their every move. The Erdogan family mob was branded as "criminals", with Moscow presenting only an appetizer of all the evidence it has in store.
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Phil Stewart and David Alexander
Raw Story 2015-12-03 14:57:00
Women can compete for all U.S. military jobs, including front-line combat posts, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Thursday, overriding Marine Corps objections in a historic move to strike down gender barriers in the armed services. "As long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before," Carter told a Pentagon news conference. "They'll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars, and lead infantry soldiers into combat. They'll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALS, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers and everything else that was previously open only to men," he said. Carter said the opening to women would take place following a 30-day waiting period required by law, after which women will be integrated into new roles in a "deliberate and methodical manner." During the waiting period, the military services will finalize plans for integrating women into the new positions, he said. The move comes nearly three years after the Pentagon first eliminated its ban on women serving in front-line combat roles and began a process that would let women compete for 220,000 additional military jobs. Then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted a ban in force in 2013 on women in front-line combat roles, a restriction seen as increasingly out of place during a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan in which women were increasingly in harm's way. Women represented about 2 percent of U.S. casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, with some 300,000 deploying to the conflict zones. Carter said most of the services favored opening all jobs to women, but the Marine Corps had sought a partial exception for roles such as infantry, machine gunner, fire support reconnaissance and others. | |
Comment: More cannon fodder for the Pentagon.
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Jonathan Watts
The Guardian 2015-12-04 16:23:00
As the world gathers in Paris for the daunting task of switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy, one small country on the other side of the Atlantic is making that transition look childishly simple and affordable. In less than 10 years, Uruguay has slashed its carbon footprint without government subsidies or higher consumer costs, according to the country's head of climate change policy, Ramón Méndez. In fact, he says that now that renewables provide 94.5% of the country's electricity, prices are lower than in the past relative to inflation. There are also fewer power cuts because a diverse energy mix means greater resilience to droughts. It was a very different story just 15 years ago. Back at the turn of the century oil accounted for 27% of Uruguay's imports and a new pipeline was just about to begin supplying gas from Argentina. | |
Comment: While Uruguay's shift to 'clean energy' is being held up at the UN climate change conference in Paris as the model to follow, note that foreign - in this case, German - energy companies control what is effectively a giant wind farm. Note also that this means the population of this small country pay the highest prices in Latin America for their energy.
While it's great to become independent of Big Oil, it comes at the cost of remaining dependent on other Western firms, which is ultimately what these 'climate change conferences' are about: lobbying/business events for Western-controlled multinationals. | |
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Farsnews Agency
2015-12-04 06:07:00
The fight against international terrorism should start with pressuring Turkey, now the main sponsor for militants groups in Syria, leader of the Lebanese orthodox party Masarik Roderick Khoury said. "Turkey is the first and main power which funds and supplies weapons to terrorist groups. We believe the fight against terrorism should begin with pressuring Turkey. Now," Khoury said at a press conference in Moscow, Sputnik reported. "The name of the real leader of the terrorists is Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish President). The others like Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (ISIL leader) and al-Qaeda are just his servants. Al-Nusra Front also carries out orders from Turkey," he pointed out. According to him, there is real evidence to the allegations. Khoury said that after the city of Kassab, near Lattakia, was liberated from terrorists Turkish ambulance vehicles, clothes and weapons were found there. Khoury added that when the terrorists take Syrian or Lebanese hostages they only can be released after negotiations with Turkey. | |
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Dan Williams and Karolina Tagaris
Reuters 2015-12-04 16:25:00
Israel has quietly tested ways of defeating an advanced air-defense system that Russia has deployed in the Middle East and that could limit Israel's ability to strike in Syria or Iran, military and diplomatic sources said. The sources said a Russian S-300 anti-aircraft system, sold to Cyprus 18 years ago but now located on the Greek island of Crete, had been activated during joint drills between the Greek and Israeli air forces in April-May this year. The activation allowed Israel's warplanes to test how the S-300's lock-on system works, gathering data on its powerful tracking radar and how it might be blinded or bluffed. | |
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TASS
2015-12-02 15:25:00
The Russian aviation airstrikes in Syria have caused a twofold decline in Islamic State's revenue from illegal oil trade, from $3 million to $1.5 million a day, chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff Sergey Rudskoi said on Wednesday. "The revenue of this terrorist organisation reached $3 million a day. After two months of airstrikes delivered by the Russian aircraft on the terrorists, their oil revenue declined to $1.5 million a day," the official said."Over the two past months, the Russian air strikes have destroyed 32 oil refining complexes, 11 oil refineries, 23 oil pumping stations and 1,080 vehicles carrying petroleum products," he said. At the same time, he added, the gangs "continue to receive considerable funds, as well as weapons, ammunition and other assets for their activity." The Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) currently earns about $2 bln a year from illegal oil trade. Islamic State terrorists currently have no less than 8,500 fuel vehicles, which transport up to 200,000 barrels of oil daily."The profits from selling oil are one of the most important sources of the terrorists' activity in Syria. They earn around $2 billion every year, spending these funds on recruiting gunmen around the world and providing them with weapons, equipment and armament," [Defense Minister] Antonov said. Russia's Aerospace Forces have been carrying out airstrikes against the facilities of gunmen in Syria since September 30 at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Over the past two months, the airstrikes have destroyed more than 1,000 tankers of crude oil and dozens of oil refining facilities belonging to terrorists. | |
Comment: To fight and kill a monster, you must also destroy its source.
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TASS
2015-12-04 12:41:00
The Kremlin has left unanswered the question about the possibility of opening a second Russian airbase in Syria. "No, I cannot offer any comment," presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media, when asked if the media reports of plans for creating a Russian base in Homs province were true. At the moment Russia's air group operating against the terrorist Islamic State in Syria is based at Hmeimim. Russia's Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes in Syria at facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations,which are banned in Russia, on September 30, 2015, on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.The air group initially comprised over 50 aircraft and helicopters, including Sukhoi Su-24M, Su-25SM and state-of-the-art Su-34 aircraft. They were redeployed to the Khmeimim airbase in the province of Latakia. On October 7, four missile ships of the Russian Navy's Caspian Flotilla fired 26 Kalibr cruise missiles (NATO codename Sizzler) at militants' facilities in Syria. On October 8, the Syrian army passed to a large-scale offensive. In mid-November, Russia increased the number of aircraft taking part in the operation in Syria to 69 and involved strategic bombers in strikes at militants. As the Russian Defense Ministry reported, Russia's air grouping has focused on destroying terrorist-controlled oil extraction, storage, transportation and refining facilities. | |
Comment: No comment, while not a "yes," is not a "no." It is likely that, should the war in Syria and adjacent territories escalate due to Western meddling and its self-serving agenda, the need for another Russian base may become a reality, if not already in the works. Russia is not a pushover and knows how best to systematically play this hand.
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| Society's Child |
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David A. Graham
The Atlantic 2015-12-04 13:06:00
A baffling, surreal scene just played out on the two networks, where the landlord of the San Bernardino shooting suspects apparently allowed reporters into their apartment. The result was disturbing. On live national television, reporters sifted through the remains of the lives of Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. They picked over children's toys. They held up photos, speculating about whether the woman depicted in one might be Malik. They displayed Social Security cards and driver's licenses with readily identifiable information—and not just for the deceased suspects:
As if the journalistic irresponsibility of baselessly speculating while holding up images of potentially innocent people on TV wasn't bad enough, it beggars belief the scene wasn't taped off and guarded. Reporters were given free rein to walk through an apartment that is an important part of the investigation, and they were allowed to handle what one would expect to be evidence. Police didn't appear to know the media tour was going on. Brian Ries of Mashable reports:
Asked FBI Los Angeles if suspects' apartment now open to the media/public: "I don't believe so...it is still an ongoing investigation."— Brian Ries (@moneyries) December 4, 2015
However, an NBC spokeswoman said the tour was approved by the FBI:
As @mitchellreports said on @MSNBC: the apt owner permitted the press tour, the FBI has already cleared out useful evidence — Erika Masonhall (@ErikaMasonhall) December 4, 2015
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World Socialist Web Site
2015-12-04 18:54:00
A group of San Francisco policemen cornered a 26-year-old man and opened fire on him at point-blank range, riddling his body with 15 shots Wednesday afternoon. The killing, graphically depicted in a video posted on Instagram, took place in the Bayview section of the city, one of its poorest neighborhoods. The video can be viewed here. The victim, later identified as Mario Woods, 26, was armed only with a kitchen knife, which he held onto despite being pepper-sprayed and shot with beanbag ammunition. Woods was making no move to attack police, and can be seen in the video backing away and raising his hands in front of him as though in self-defense. Woods is backed into a wall by at least a half-dozen cops, all with guns drawn. He attempts to sidle along the wall to his right. Then one of the cops accosting him steps in front of him, cutting off his last route of escape. When Woods takes one further step, the cops open fire, while bystanders scream in horror. The police were responding to a report by a stabbing victim who was receiving treatment at San Francisco General Hospital, who claimed he'd been attacked at Third Street and Le Conte in Bayview-Hunters Point. Woods was at that location when police arrived. The resulting confrontation was recorded on smartphone video by a witness on a city bus passing by. When the uploaded video caused widespread outrage, the San Francisco Police Department sought to smear the victim, releasing a report that he had been identified as a gang member in 2009, affiliated with the so-called Oakdale Mob, and subjected to a civil injunction. The "gang injunctions" issued by San Francisco authorities after 2006 amount to lifetime bans on individuals going to certain neighborhoods of the city, usually the poor neighborhoods in which they had grown up and where their families live. Eyewitnesses and acquaintances told the local press that Woods was no threat to anyone, someone who "wouldn't hurt a fly" and was frequently seen hanging around in the neighboring smoking or drinking a beer. Comment: Warning: Graphic video, explicit language.
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Comment: Another completely unnecessary and brutal murder by San Francisco police officers. We hope the family sues.
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Dan Sanchez
Activist Post 2015-12-04 18:42:00
When I first learned of the recent attacks in Paris, a chill went down my spine. "No," I thought, "This is all happening too fast." I was terrified. I was not terrorized, mind you. What happened in Paris was tragic, of course. But I was not so ignorant and innumerate as to think the kind of violence it represented was a statistically significant direct threat to myself and my loved ones. I was fully cognizant that, even with the recent uptick in terror attacks, the probability of my family ever being caught up in one was vanishingly minuscule. I am more likely to be felled by a deer or a bolt of lightning than by a jihadist's Kalashnikov. What terrified me was the response of all the people who are incapable of such a proportional perspective: those who saw the news from France and panicked, thinking "I'm next!" As distant as it was, the Paris attacks unleashed in America a surge of fear and of calls for greater police powers, as well as an attendant wave of anti-Muslim hate and war lust. | |
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Christopher Dreier
World Socialist Web Site 2015-12-04 18:21:00
On the evening of November 29 hundreds of people demonstrated outside the Berlin refugee registration centre, the State Office for Health and Social Affairs (LaGeSo), to protest against the inhumane treatment of refugees. The demonstration was organized at short notice by volunteers from the group "Night before LaGeSo" via Facebook and was supported by other groups, including "Moabit Helps". Many of the demonstrators, who gathered despite pouring rain, brought homemade signs and banners bearing slogans such as "Refugee crisis? No, a management crisis!" "First welcome, then (allowed to) freeze" and "Stop the shameless spectacle". Rebecka, a student at Humboldt University who regularly helps refugees, came to the demonstration because she regards the conditions at LaGeSo as scandalous. "The behaviour of the Berlin Senate can only be described as institutional racism", she said. "The temperature has dropped and the first fatality is only a matter of time. This can only be explained by the fact that people are to be forced to quit Berlin." A similar assessment was to be heard from almost everyone aware of the conditions prevailing at LaGeSo and who had decided to attend the demonstration. For months, hundreds of refugees have been forced to wait for hours at the gates of the site in all weather conditions, to sign up for an asylum procedure or receive vital provisions. Those forced to queue include many sick persons, the elderly and children. Although the initial registration of refugees has now been outsourced, many still wait at the LaGeSo premises for transport to the new application centre in Bundesallee. Hundreds also wait day after day to obtain a guarantee of payment for accommodation in a hostel, a medical certificate or other essential social services. LaGeSo's Kafkaesque numbering system has collapsed, and so it is now basically: first come, first served. This deliberately created situation means that people begin queuing in the evening and then spend the night in front of LaGeSo in the hope of securing an appointment the next day. | |
Comment: Read the latest report from the German editors of SOTT.net on the rise of hatred towards refugees and Muslims in Germany.
Refugee crisis in Germany - Nazis on the rise - 'Never again' is happening again See also: | |
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Zen Gardner
Waking Times 2015-12-02 19:04:00
The stuff we're forced to witness and read about is incredible. Literally. Besides this obviously orchestrated clampdown and ramped up war mongering following the Paris "incident', front and center is the Syrian turnaround by a bold stepping, clear minded Russia. The media is beside itself furiously trying to bury, minimize, justify and demonize this wise and functional step , the barefaced truth of which is turning this psychopathic move toward western hegemony on its warped head. The ongoing genocides in Yemen, Ukraine and Palestine continue with nary a flicker of mention in the western press, with the Yemen extermination recently exacerbated no doubt by weaponized storms further jeopardizing the lives of millions in that defenseless country. If that isn't dystopian enough, the newly placed head of the Human Rights Commission of the so-called United Nations is none other than Saudi Arabia, a country deeply tied to all things terrorist who have just announced a mass beheading to take place as part of their public relations inspired move to continue to appear as barbaric as possible. | |
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Allison Deger
Mondo Weiss 2015-12-03 17:45:00
Yesterday in a major operation more than 1,000 Israeli forces crowded the streets of Shuafat Refugee camp in East Jerusalem to demolish by explosion the family home of a Palestinian who killed three and wounded 14 in a car ramming attack in November 2014, causing clashes between residents and Israeli police. While the demolition was in progress Israeli forces closed all entrances into the camp and roads inside of the congested neighborhood. Ambulances were prevented from driving into the area to retrieve patients wounded with rubber bullets in unrest until the Israeli army left the camp, Red Crescent spokesperson Erab al -Fuqaha told Mondoweiss.
During the explosion, debris damaged the homes of numerous neighboring Palestinians, cracking foundations and walls and shattering windows.
Scores of Shuafat residents logged the incursion over social media. A Facebook page for the camp posted photos showing dark blue clad police in riot gear walking through the street. Video footage from the Israeli military and camp residents show police using maps to guide them to the al-Akri family home, drilling holes in the wall to implant explosives, and detonating incendiary devices which caused a mushroom cloud of smoke. | |||
Comment: Another glimpse into what life is like for Palestinians under the domination of a psychopathic regime. It is absolutely horrifying what they have to endure under Israeli occupation.
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TASS
2015-12-04 10:53:00
A court in Tajikistan's southern Khatlon province has sentenced seven local residents to prison terms ranging from 7 to 27 years on charges of involvement in the activities of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group (outlawed in Russia), the court secretariat told TASS on Friday. According to the verdict announced by the judge, the defendants are charged under several articles of the country's Criminal Code, including the establishment of a criminal organization, public appeals for changing the existing political system, promotion of IS ideas and recruitment of citizens for taking part in the fighting in Syria. "The law enforcement bodies of the province traced the extremist group, among its members were three young people under 18, after the incident with rising the IS flag in the city of Shaartuz in August," a source in Tajikistan's Interior Ministry told TASS. The investigation proved the involvement of the group's members in attempts to recruit young residents of Shaartuz to Islamic State, active correspondence in social networks with supporters of the terrorist organization and a statement of their support for their ideas. According to the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan, more than 700 citizens of the country, mostly young people, are taking part in the fighting in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan on the side of the Islamic State. | |
Comment: IS tentacles reach far and wide. Every point of recruitment is an anchor to and of this devastating societal plague and territorial end-game, brought to someone else's (your) doorstep courtesy the US, UK, Israel and NATO. No restrictions apply.
Recruitment involves a propaganda video, promises of money and a "carefree life" for those who travel to IS-controlled areas in Syria and Iraq. Most recruits come from labor migrants. Scaremongering plays on the fears of the "Islamist threat" and the societal effects/ramifications of radicalization. Over a million Tajik migrants work in Russia. | |
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RT
2015-12-03 19:52:00
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission in which they allege that Google has been violating the privacy of students as young as seven years old by mining their data. The EFF's Tuesday complaint said that Google can track every search term, site, and video students view using a feature that is enabled by default on the Chromebooks that are sold to schools. The data collection is allegedly not used for advertising purposes, but rather to "to improve Google products." The complaint alleges that the monitoring is in violation of a Student Privacy Pledge that Google signed in 2014, which the EFF said is legally enforceable under the Federal Trade Commission Act. | |
Comment: Isn't Google's motto "Don't be evil"? Perhaps they don't consider spying to be evil.
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Ben Church
RT 2015-12-04 16:46:00
Hate crimes against Muslims in London have risen threefold in the wake of the Paris attacks, according to police. British Muslims fear further attacks after MPs voted to extend airstrikes against Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) from Iraq into Syria. On November 10, three days before the Paris attacks, 24 hate crimes were reported to police from the previous week. By contrast, 76 were recorded in the week ending November 24. Islamic communities across the country are fearful of more hostility resulting from parliament's decision to launch airstrikes on Syria. Speaking to the BBC, Mussurut Zia from Muslim Women's Network UK said the situation in Syria "increased the likelihood of them being targeted." | |
Comment: For more on this rising phenomenon:
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Simon Black
Sovereignman.com 2015-12-04 14:45:00
As any long-time reader of this column knows, we routinely draw from historical lessons to highlight that this time is not different. Throughout the 18th century, for example, France was the greatest superpower in Europe, if not the world. But they became complacent, believing that they had some sort of 'divine right' to reign supreme, and that they could be as fiscally irresponsible as they liked. The French government spent money like drunken sailors; they had substantial welfare programs, free hospitals, and grand monuments. They held vast territories overseas, engaged in constant warfare, and even had their own intrusive intelligence service that spied on King and subject alike. Of course, they couldn't pay for any of this. French budget deficits were out of control, and they resorted to going heavily into debt and rapidly debasing their currency. Stop me when this sounds familiar. | |
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RT
2015-12-04 12:54:00
An apparent firebombing of a nightclub in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, has claimed at least 16 lives, security officials report. Earlier reports said 18 people had been killed. The attackers tossed multiple Molotov cocktails inside the establishment located at a hotel in the Agouza area near the center of Cairo in the early morning assault, starting a fire, Egyptian media reported. The Cairo Post newspaper says three masked assailants reportedly carried out the attack. Six people were injured, according to preliminary estimates. Cairo police are searching for the perpetrators as a rescue operation continues. An official told Reuters that one of the suspects was an employee of the restaurant that was attacked. | |
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Sarah A Matott
Carlsbad Current-Argus 2015-12-03 21:52:00
More than 250 oil workers escaped injury Thursday morning after an explosion rocked the Anadarko gas refinery near Orla and forced safety workers to evacuate people from a 10-mile radius, officials said. Only two workers were reported to have minor injuries by late Thursday. The black plume of smoke from the refinery was visible from as far away as the Guadalupe Mountains and the explosion could be felt 25 miles away. The fire broke out about 9 a.m. at the Ramsey Natural Gas Processing Plant near Orla, about 45 miles away from Carlsbad. The plant is owned by Western Gas Partners and is operated by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. John Christiansen, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation vice president of corporate communications, said in an email Thursday afternoon the fire was still burning into the night, but had diminished and had been contained to one area of the plant. Emergency scanner traffic indicated that firefighters would stay at the site overnight to ensure any remaining fire burned safely. | |
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Top Rated Viral
2015-12-04 03:39:00
An Oklahoma company has designed a bullet-resistant blanket that's designed to protect children and teachers in the event of a school shooting. The Bodyguard Blanket, made by ProTecht, is a bulletproof 5/16-inch pad that the company says is made from the same materials used by the U.S. military. Steve Walker, a podiatrist who conceptualized the blanket, told The Oklahoman that the idea came to him after two tragedies: the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and the tornadoes in Oklahoma. He said the idea was to "stop that blunt-force trauma when that rubble is falling down on a child." The company estimates that the blanket can provide protection against 90% of all weapons that have been used in school shootings in the U.S. | |
Comment: Profiteering on the back of hysteria. Disgusting.
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The Local, Sweden
2015-12-03 15:33:00
Two Swedish women have been banned from owning animals after authorities found they had treated their cats as makeshift babies with one of them even 'breastfeeding' her pet. Several anonymous reports prompted animal protection officers from Halland county council to visit the women's homes in the south-western Swedish region this autumn. It emerged that the pair had pushed their two cats around in pushchairs. They had spoon-fed the cats while keeping them strapped to highchairs, and had also let the animals suck on pacifiers. One woman also confessed she regularly let her cat suckle on her breast. Authorities ruled that the pets had been mishandled and had been prevented from exercising natural animal behaviour, wrote Swedish public broadcaster SVT on Thursday. It was further stated that the women were no longer allowed to own pets. The two cats were taken care of by animal protection officers following a visit to the women's homes. Cats are among the most popular pets in Sweden, with the country's total feline population estimated to be more than a million. | |
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Melissa Dykes
The Daily Sheeple 2015-12-03 00:00:00
We live in a world of short-term memories and long-term memory deficiencies. If the 24-hour news cycle was any indication, Americans appear to be bouncing from one catastrophic mass shooting to the next, with hardly any breathing room. Like this is just a regular occurrence America has learned to endure because... guns. It's the prevalence of firearms in the hands of the people, the anti-gunners say. Calls to limit, rewrite, redefine, or outright dispose of the 2nd Amendment are rampant. But no one is looking at the data. If they did, they would realize something is really, really,really wrong here. No, there haven't always been so many mass shootings. It hasn't always been this way. Mass shootings have skyrocketed in this country just in the last seven years under President Obama. The following was compiled using the database over at Mother Jones on mass shootings in the U.S. from 1982—2015, up to and including the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon on October 1st, 2015. It also includes the Wikipedia lists for mass shootings in the United States by year and postal killings in the U.S. | |
Comment: There is a pattern to the mass shootings in the US:
1. Witnesses claim to see more than one apparently well-trained shooters. The media initially reports such, but later settles on a different narrative. 2. Police and/or military personnel are often nearby because of simultaneous drills, enabling them to be redirected to the scene of the shootings. 3. The shootings distract from some other big news event - nationally or globally. In the case of the San Bernardino shootings, this could be the series of revelations indicating that NATO member Turkey is funding and protecting ISIS terrorists in and around Syria. As the truth about the sham that is the US-led 'war on terror' emerges into the mainstream, we can expect ever more senseless mass shootings, while the police state continues to grow in scope and violence - for the people's own good, of course. This is what happens to all empires as they madly grab at everything they can just before they destroy themselves. | |
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