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Monday, March 30, 2015

Parts Unknown .... The Iran episode that the powers-that-be wish didn't exist

Update:  Yup ... You Tube has removed the vid citing  copyright claims from CNN.  What these two entities are doing should tell you that this episode is very important to remove at least part of the brainwashing you have been subjected to by the MSM and the governments of the West.

Here's another copy of the vid.  This is likely gonna be removed too very, very soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzKaamz4sIw


Don't know when this vid will be removed from YouTube, so if you want to watch it, do so at your earliest.

This is definitely a "must watch" Parts Unknown episode.  It will open your eyes to a lot of what you thought you knew about Iran and it will change your opinion on many things you were told by the powers-that-be here in North America.  Iran has a long way to go before it becomes the kind of Muslim country like the "moderate Muslim countries" of Indonesia and Malaysia .... but one thing is 100% sure:  Iran will get there at least a century before Saudi Arabia and her Sunni allies.



What's the commonality between contemporary dance and modern art? They both suck


When you can't paint for nuts and an elephant can draw better than you, then the genuis manipulator that you are, along with support from other manipulating "artists" in the business of selling "art works" to fools and snobs, had to come up with a brillant idea to fool the snobs.... let's hear your applause for "modern art" that looks like a soiled diaper pressed unto a canvas. The vid below is a perfect example of how snobs and fools can be exposed for the idiots that they actually are to believe that long lines, short lines, dots, circles, squares, zig-zags and wriggly worms in different colors is something that actually talks to you about feelings and more additional shit.



And, just like how the manipulating "modern art" con masters  and those who sell their works to you at "art galleries" opened with laundered money, so also you will find  people with two left feet who can't dance for nuts but can flay their arms about and jump around without a skipping rope and yet manage to make you believe that they are the greatest "contemporary dancers" by flayed about their arms and jumping around like dying grasshoppers . 



Our wonderful world of dumbed-down people and make believe continues to continue.  But for how long, that is the question.
 

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

World War 3 news and updates .... March 24


Some of the countries in it, either in major or minor roles:
USA, UK, Canada,  Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Yemen, Nigeria, France with (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad ) Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Albania, Estonia, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Republic of Korea, Ireland, Spain, Slovakia, Norway, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Novorussia, Ukraine, Russia, Chechnya, Somalia, Iran, India, South Korea, North Korea,  Central African Republic, Kenya, Tunisia, The Philippines, Egypt,  Albania, Serbia, China, Sudan, South Sudan, Bukina Faso, Palestine, Georgia, Chad, Spain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Nepal, Congo, Uganda, Romania, Mexico, Gambia, Haiti, Cameroon, Chad, Algeria, Venezuela, Thailand, Argentina, Vietnam, Myanmar, Georgia ....

From BBC
Yemen could become   'protracted conflict' envoy warns
The conflict in Yemen could become "protracted in the vein of an Iraq, Syria, Libya combined scenario'' the UN's special envoy has warned.
Jamal Benomar was speaking as the Security Council met in New York to express support for ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
Mt Hadi fled the capital Sanaa in February as Houthi rebels from the north tightened their grip on the city.
The rebels, who are Shia, have now taken Yemen's third-largest city, Taiz.
In a video link from Qatar, Mr Benomar called for "peaceful dialogue" and warned that Yemen was on the "edge of civil war".......

From MotherJones
US Weapons Have a Nasty Habit of Going AWOL  
From Afghanistan to Yemen, a short history of American arms ending up in the wrong hands.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon can't say what happened to more than $500 million worth of gear—including "small arms, ammunition, night-vision goggles, patrol boats, vehicles and other supplies"—it had given to the Yemeni government. The news comes as Al Qaeda and Iranian-backed groups vie to control the country following the collapse of the country's US-backed regime in January. The Post noted that the Pentagon has stopped further shipments of aid, but the damage has been done. "We have to assume it's completely compromised and gone," an anonymous legislative aide said.
This isn't the first time US military aid to allies has gone AWOL or wound up in the wrong hands. A few notable examples:

Libya: In late 2012, the New York Times reported that weapons from a US-approved deal had eventually gone to Islamic militants in Libya. The deal, which involved European weapons sent to Qatar as well as US weapons originally supplied to the United Arab Emirates, had been managed from the sidelines by the Obama administration.
Syria: More than once, American arms intended to help bolster the fight against ISIS in Syria and northern Iraq have ended up in the group's control. Last October, an airdrop of small arms was blown off target by the wind, according to the Guardian. ISIS quickly posted a video of its fighters going through crates of weapons attached to a parachute.
Iraq: American weapons supplied to the Iraqi army have also found their way ISIS via theft and capture. And weapons meant for the Iraqi army have also gone to Shiite militias backed by Iran. This isn't a new..............


From PressTV
Thirty people have been killed   in fresh clashes between Ansarullah fighters and forces loyal to the fugitive President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi in Bayda Province.
The clashes erupted on Tuesday, when the pro-Hadi tribesmen attacked several bases and checkpoints of Houthi fighters. The fighting left 15 Houthi fighters and nine tribesmen dead.
In Marib, east of the capital, Sana’a, six tribesmen loyal to Hadi, including a tribal chief, were killed in clashes with Ansarullah fighters late on Monday.

From AlJazeera
Thousands march in Kabul over mob killing of woman
Marchers demand justice for Afghan woman beaten to death after being falsely accused of burning Quran.
Thousands have marched through the Afghan capital, demanding justice for a woman who was beaten to death by a mob a week ago after being falsely accused of burning a Quran.
Men and women of all ages carried banners and some painted their faces red as a symbol of the bloodied face of Farkhunda, the 27-year-old religious scholar killed last week by the mob.
Farkhunda, who went by one name like many Afghans, was beaten, run over with a car and burned before her body was thrown into the Kabul River.
Organisers of Tuesday's march - the second protest over the brutal slaying in as many days - estimated that up to 3,000 people took part............

From Reuters
Obama: U.S. to maintain troop levels   in Afghanistan through 2015
President Barack Obama on Tuesday granted Afghan requests to slow the drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and said he would maintain a force of 9,800 through the end of 2015 while sticking to a 2017 exit plan.
Obama said the speed of the reduction in 2016 would be established later this year and the goal remained to consolidate U.S. forces in the country to a presence at the Kabul embassy at the end of 2016.
Under a previous plan U.S. forces were to have been cut to about half of the current level of just under 10,000 by the end of 2015. But U.S. officials said improved relations with Afghan leaders contributed to a revision of the plan.........

From NewInvestors
Obama Pentagon can't account for $500 million  in weapons left in Yemen
You know how sometimes you lose your cellphone, so you ask a family member to call it? And finally you detect the ringing under the bed where the phone fell? Happy ending.
Well, this story is not like that. It seems the Obama administration has misplaced some military equipment, a large amount of military equipment. A very large amount, actually. It doesn't know where about $500 million in weapons and equipment is, in fact.
That's $500,000,000 -- a half-a-billion dollars. Almost as much taxpayer money as it blew on that solar energy company Solyndra, owned by an Obama bundler. Except the Solyndra money went down a political rat-hole........


This is what the supposedly Christian countries of the West has wrought on Christians of the Middle East by siding with the Sunni jihadis.  Did you expect anything better from Western leaders?
 From NewYorkMag

I Was an ISIS Hostage   for 5 Months..........
....On February 28, 2013, I left Lebanon to visit my family in Syria. I had passed maybe 15 Syrian Army checkpoints, and nobody bothered me. But then I came to another one, and men wearing black clothes stopped me and took me aside with another man. I didn't know this other man, but he was from my area and, like me, was Christian. They looked at my I.D. and said, “Your name is very strange.” So I knew they realized I was Christian. They took us into a building to see a man with a long beard, a Salafi. After about ten minutes, they took us out and handcuffed us and put us in the back of a truck where we couldn’t see anything.
They drove us for about eight hours, and when we stopped, they blindfolded us and chained us to the wall. You hear about hostages, but you have no idea. That night, they talked to the man who was with me and said they were going to kill him. That was it; he was going to die. And they tortured him. They electrocuted him and beat him very badly. They saw something in his mobile phone. I don't know what it was, but they were very angry.........

From ZeroHedge
Regime Change: America's Failing Weapon Of International Deception
For years, Winston Churchill’s famous quote, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried,” has served as Americans’ last word in any political discussion which requires validation of the US government, no matter how corrupt or flawed in its behavior, as the best in the planet, comparatively or by default.  Never mind the meaning that Mr. Churchill had intended back in 1947, or how the international political panorama has changed during the past seven decades.
These remarks were made by Britain’s prime minister before the House of Commons a few months before there was a changing of the guards in the “Anglo-Saxon Empire” as the Brits gave away their colonial hegemony in favor of the super-influential economic and military power represented by the United States.  And that was symbolically marked by Britain’s relinquishing its mandate in Palestine, and the creation of Israel. .........

.........And that’s where our empire, or sphere of influence, stands these days… fighting the windmills of the world, giants that we see menacing “American interests,” and doing it under the banner of “for democracy and human rights.”  Such lofty empire aims appear to rationalize an obscene military budget almost twice as large as those of Russia, China, India and United Kingdom combined!  Americans, representing less than 5 percent of the world’s population, are footing a military bill almost twice as large as that expended by half of the world’s population.  If that isn’t imperialistic and obscene, it’s difficult to image what other societal behavior could be more detrimental to peace and harmony in this global village where we all try to co-exist...........

From Yahoo
US, Israel snub UN rights council session on Gaza war.
US and Israeli envoys refused to attend a UN Human Rights Council special session Monday on the situation in the Palestinian territories in the aftermath of the 2014 Gaza conflict.
The US decision will disappoint those who hoped the recent disagreement between the allies over Iran policy and the Middle East peace process would see Washington withhold diplomatic cover from Israel.
"As was the case last year, the United States will not engage in the debate. Neither will Israel. Instead, we will call a vote, and vote 'no' on Item 7 resolutions," said the US ambassador to the council, Keith Harper.....

From TerrorismWatch
More than 120 000 people   have fled their homes in the impoverished southern Philippines since fighting broke out between government troops and Islamic militants in late January, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.
"UNHCR is concerned about the safety of civilians as the conflict spreads into local villages," spokesperson Babar Baloch told reporters.
The Philippines military launched an offensive earlier this year against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a rebel group fighting for an independent Muslim homeland in the south.
The offensive, including attacks with artillery and helicopter gunships, has taken place in poor farming areas on Mindanao island, where Muslim rebels have for decades fought for independence...... 

From DailyStar
Algeria temporarily evacuates   Turkish workers after IS threat: sources
Algerian authorities temporarily evacuated nearly 100 Turkish construction workers from a roadway project east of Algiers as a precaution after a threat from militants affiliated with Islamic State, security sources said on Monday.........

From Reuters
North Africa jihadi front spreads   to Arab Spring cradle Tunisia
Praised as a model of Arab Spring progress, Tunisia has finally been drawn onto the global jihadi battlefield after Islamist militants gunned down foreign tourists in a brazen assault at the heart of the capital.
The storming of the Bardo museum inside the heavily guarded parliament compound was more deadly evidence Islamist militants are turning to North Africa as a new front beyond their main battlegrounds in Iraq and Syria.
Libyan and Tunisian jihadists have streamed to the ranks of Islamic State and other militant groups in Syria and Iraq. That flow is reversing with experienced North African fighters returning to target their homelands. ............


From TomDispatch
It Didn't Work in Afghanistan,   So Let's Do It in Mexico
........The Pentagon and CIA are also involved in Mexico in significant ways. Since at least 2011, the Pentagon has deployed both piloted aircraft and drones in the Mexican war on drugs. The CIA has also sent operatives to do intelligence gathering. And without specifying which agencies are responsible for such activities, the New York Times reports that "the United States has trained nearly 4,500 new [Mexican] federal police agents and assisted in conducting wiretaps, running informants, and interrogating suspects.” Furthermore, the "Pentagon has provided sophisticated equipment, including Black Hawk helicopters.”

In 2011, the State Department recalled career diplomat Earl Anthony Wayne from Kabul.  He was then serving as deputy ambassador to Afghanistan and coordinating with the NATO-led occupation forces there. His new assignment based on his counterinsurgency experience? Ambassador to Mexico. In 2013, the U.S. Army opened a special-ops center in Colorado, according to the El Paso Times, "to teach Mexican security forces how to hunt drug cartels the same way special operations teams hunt al-Qaida." Because that worked out so well in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Drug War Comes Home (Along With Plenty of Blowback)
All in all, the U.S. drug war in Mexico has been an abject failure. In spite of high-profile arrests, including in 2014 Joaquín "El Chapo” Guzmán, who ran the Sinaloa group, and in 2015 Servando "La Tuta" Gómez, head of the Knights Templar Cartel in Michoacán, the cartels seem as strong as ever. They may occasionally split and reassemble, but they are still able to move plenty of product, and reap at least $20 billion a year in sales in the United States. In fact, this country remains the world's premier market for illegal drugs.

The cartels are responsible for the majority of the methamphetamine sold in the United States today. Since 2006, when a federal law made it much harder to buy ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in this country, the cartels have replaced small-time U.S.-based meth cookers. The meth they produce is purer than the U.S. product, apparently because it's made with purer precursor chemicals available from China. The other big product is heroin, whose quickly rising consumption seems to be replacing the demand for cocaine in the United States. On the other hand, marijuana legalization appears to be cutting into the cross-border traffic in that drug.............

From MediaLens
Love For Libya: 2011-2015
Islamic State's horrific mass beheading of 21 Coptic Christians last month forced a reluctant UK media system to return to Libya, scene of saturation news coverage in 2011.
Then, the media lens hovered obsessively over every Libyan government crime – indeed, over every alleged and even predicted crime - in an effort to justify a Nato 'intervention' that was supported by most media and 557 British MPs, with just 13 opposed......
....Today, as many as 1,700 armed gangs are fighting over a country in which at least five governments have tried and failed to restore basic order. Djiby Diop, a 20-year-old from Senegal who spent three months amidst the chaos, explains:

    'Everyone in Libya is armed now. Every guy of my age has a gun. If you don't work for them, they shoot you. If you don't give them all your money, they shoot you. Or they shoot you just for fun. Or they will throw you in prison and you have to pay 400 dinars (£200) to get released.'.........

From RT
Private army in Kiev:   Why oil stand-off in Ukraine shows oligarchs won Maidan revolution
Whatever the outcome of the stand-off between President Petro Poroshenko and his subordinate Igor Kolomoysky may be, their conflict over Ukrainian oil giant Ukrnafta reveals realities about post-Maidan Ukraine which mainstream media manages to circumvent.
 Firstly, the country is still ruled by oligarchs, not by the people, even though Igor Kolomoysky is formally governor of Dnepropetrovsk region. Kolomoysky’s private army simply took control first of Ukrtransnafta (Ukraine’s oil transportation monopoly) and later of Ukrnafta. What does this tell us about the Ukrainian state?
Secondly, Ukraine’s oligarchs are not at peace with each other; the country is bracing for a major 'war for assets' between the country’s richest men (Kolomoysky is worth $2.4 billion on the Forbes list and 'The Chocolate King' Poroshenko is worth $1.3 billion).
Thirdly, the Maidan revolution not only left the country without any meaningful legal opposition in the parliament or in the media – as Kost Bondarenko, director of the Kiev-based Foundation for Ukrainian Politics, put it in his article for the Moscow-based Nezavisimaya Gazeta – but the revolution also....



From VOANews
Cameroon Blames CAR for Fresh Attack 
Cameroon says suspected rebels from the Central African Republic have kidnapped 16 people from its territory, including influential local politicians, clergy and businessmen. Although the government says no group has claimed responsibility, it is widely speculated that supporters of rebel leader Abdoulaye Meskine are pressing for his release and that of his fighters who have been arrested and detained in Cameroon.
Governor Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua of Cameroon's eastern region that shares a boundary with the troubled Central African Republic, says the 16 people including four women were attacked by at least 30 heavily armed men in Babio on March 19. The kidnap victims were returning from the burial of a local official of Cameroon's ruling political party, the Cameroon People's Democratic movement. He says the bus transporting the clergy, politicians and businessmen was seized by the assailants at Midnight and taken to the Central African Republic..........

From JerusalemPost
UNHRC investigator: Israel likely ‘deliberately’ targeted civilian homes  in Gaza war
A report charging that Israel apparently “deliberately” targeted civilian homes will be presented Monday to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva by its special investigator Makarim Wibisono.
Is is part of a general debate the UNHRC will hold on Israeli violations of human rights during its 28th session.
The day will open with a short initial oral report from the controversial Commission of Inquiry into the Gaza war, which is made up of a two-member investigatory team, headed by former New York Supreme Court judge Mary McGowan Davis...........

From Reuters
South Syrian rebels say Assad foes are supplying more arms  
Mainstream rebels in southern Syria say foreign states have stepped up weapons supplies to them since Damascus launched an offensive early last month to regain the frontier zone near Jordan and Israel.
This suggests President Bashar al-Assad's Arab and Western enemies want to help preserve the last major foothold of what they call the moderate opposition, although the rebels say the equipment still falls short of their needs..........

Wonder how much Saakashvili has been paid by the US govt for this new role as wannabe coup leader. 
From GeorgiaStateNews
Georgian Ex-President     Saakashvili's Party Launches 'Tbilisi Maidan'
Fugitive Ex-President Threatens Georgia With Protests, 'Coup' Several hundred people have gathered in downtown Tbilisi as part of a protest organized by ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement party against the current government, in what is supposed to be the biggest opposition march since 2012.
At this time, a stage and a large screen have been installed on the central square of the Georgian capital, and groups of people are moving toward the square. An organized march is supposed to take place later on, and police have blocked off the center of the capital. ..........

From RT
Czech people were told not to throw tomatoes and eggs at a US military convoy rumbling through Eastern Europe, the local media said, citing the laws of the land. Those in love with egg & tomato hurling may get up to three years if convicted.
“Should anyone emerge with the intent to attack the convoy, with [items] such as tomatoes or eggs, it would qualify as disorderly conduct according to Czech legislation (up to 2 years without parole, in recidivist cases up to 3 years) or damage to property (sentences in the range of 6 months to 3 years).”

This statement was aired on Czech TV Nova and cited by the Russian Insider last week, ahead of the planned US military convoy.
Operation ‘Dragoon Ride’, a convoy of US military vehicles, mostly IAV Stryker APCs, started on Saturday. The convoy will make its way through Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, the Czech Republic, with its final destination being Germany. It will cross the Czech Republic between March 29 and April 1 on its way to a base in the German city of Vilseck. ..........

Sunday, March 22, 2015

It takes the warmonger country of USA five decades to admit that the other warmongering country of Israel also has nuclear weapons similar to theirs


Of course, the world knew about the weapons and knows too well about the hypocrisy of both the USA and Israel and the hypocrisy of their allies. 
 
William Greider writing at TheNation:
It’s Official: The Pentagon Finally Admitted That Israel Has Nuclear Weapons, Too

While the Washington press corps obsessed over Hillary Clinton’s e-mails at the State Department, reporters were missing a far more important story about government secrets. After five decades of pretending otherwise, the Pentagon has reluctantly confirmed that Israel does indeed possess nuclear bombs, as well as awesome weapons technology similar to America’s.

Early last month the Department of Defense released a secret report done in 1987 by the Pentagon-funded Institute for Defense Analysis that essentially confirms the existence of Israel’s nukes. DOD was responding to a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by Grant Smith, an investigative reporter and author who heads the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy. Smith said he thinks this is the first time the US government has ever provided official recognition of the long-standing reality.

It’s not exactly news. Policy elites and every president from LBJ to Obama have known that Israel has the bomb. But American authorities have cooperated in the secrecy and prohibited federal employees from sharing the truth with the people. When the White House reporter Helen Thomas asked the question of Barack Obama back in 2009, the president ducked. “With respect to nuclear weapons, you know, I don’t want to speculate,” Obama said. That was an awkward fib. Obama certainly knows better, and so do nearly two-thirds of the American people, according to opinion polls.......

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Did America destroy Iraq on Netanyahu's say-so ?


Yup, she did!   Was there even one Iraqi terrorist amongst the Muslims who brought death and destruction to American on 9/11?   If not, then pray tell why did the USA decide to bomb Iraq?  The answer is simple.  Netanyahu told the US Senate what they were supposed to do.... fight a war on behalf of Israel. Excellent strategy and of course, the either heavily bribed or blackmailed politicians, obeyed.


Hon. Rob Nicholson, you are wrong. "Moral Clarity" would have been if you had raised your voice when a genocide was going on in Gaza courtesy your friends in Israel


We have no business interfering in Iraq or Syria.  It is the USA's problem which the USA has brought about due to their Israel-lead foreign policies.  Let Canada's bosom pals like Saudi Arabia, UAE and the rest of the Sunni nations along with Israel ... handle the situation there.  Everybody and even their dead uncles know that Canada venturing into conflicts in the Middle East has nothing to do with "moral clarity"  ...  as if the governments of the West cry their eyes out for the unfortunate folks in those regions. 

Nicholson lies about "moral clarity" when heart of hearts he knows just like everybody else, that going into the Middle East conflicts have nothing to do with morality concerns but everything to do with geopolitical changes and most of those reasons are to do with USA and Israel.   
When politicians tell these bold-faced lies, their credibility and the credibility of their party, goes down several notches.  


Kim Mackrael writing at Globe&Mail
Iraq mission a matter of ‘moral clarity’   for Canada, Foreign Affairs Minister says
Extending Canada’s military mission in Iraq is a matter of “moral clarity” that all political parties should support, Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson says. In a carefully crafted speech to foreign diplomats on Thursday, Mr. Nicholson‎ set out the Conservative government’s case for boosting Canada’s role in the U.S.-led coalition. He argued that Islamic State extremists present a danger to the region and a direct threat to Canada and its allies that could grow quickly if it’s left unchecked.

Mr. Nicholson’s comments lay the groundwork for the government’s proposal to the House of Commons next week, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper will ask MPs to support a plan to expand and extend the current six-month mission. The pre-emptive speech, aimed at about 50 foreign diplomats and delivered before a group of journalists, sought to place pressure on federal opposition parties, who have questioned the scope of Canada’s involvement.

It was the latest salvo in an extended campaign that saw federal ministers hint repeatedly at plans to renew the military commitment. Mr. Harper said Wednesday that he would seek approval for the extension, a revelation that came in the middle of a break week on Parliament Hill, at a time when many MPs had returned to their ridings........

Friday, March 20, 2015

Comedy at CrossTalk: Speaker of lies from the Jerusalem Post


I laughed out loud.  Man oh man .... Jews can really lie through their teeth with a straight face.  No wonder they make the best writers of fiction!  My favorite books are written by Jewish authors.  If nothing else, you gotta admire at least their chutzpah .... I believe it is a Yiddish word derived from Hebrew and if they could, I feel sure they would  impose a penalty on any person daring to equal them in their chutzpah.  Not that that is likely to ever happen.



What happens when a peacekeeping country like Canada has a warmonger take over her reins?



What happens is, we lose the lovely blanket of neutrality we used to have.  Moreover, when the leader of our country can stand by the despicable butcher of Gaza in the slaughtering of  innocent children and their parents ..... it is truly a vomit-inducing moment. The butcher and his party term such almost yearly destruction of life and property as "mowing the lawn"  and to see Canada's entire government, including the Libs AND the NDP standing by Israel in a genocide of the innocent is beyond the pale. Sadly, Canada has lost its moral standing in the world and nothing can ever bring it back.
 
Brian Stewart writing at CBC:
From Afghanistan to Iraq, the perils of overconfidence Canada was way too ambitious when it came to Afghanistan, and we paid a price for it

The first time I visited one of the Canada's big aid projects in Afghanistan I was assured I would see plenty of local gratitude as students at a school we supported were expected to give us a warm welcome.

Well, warm it was — a shower of rocks and ridicule from the boys at the all grades school in Kandahar.

Actually, I would have found the whole scene quite funny had it not been for the obvious embarrassment and rage of the soldiers escorting us as we ducked the incoming rocks, all caught on camera.

This was hardly what our soldiers had come to this war-ravaged country to fight for, and I had the real feeling Canada's much vaunted development mission in Afghanistan wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

As Ottawa gets set to expand our military mission against ISIS in Iraq — likely with the promise of some aid development to follow — it's probably worth considering such past interventions, particularly given the audit just out on how our Afghan aid really fared.

The internal government audit of what has been the largest aid program in Canadian history concluded the $2.2 billion we spent yielded very mixed results, many of them disappointing in the extreme..........

Thursday, March 19, 2015

UFOs ... Yesterday's conspiracy theories are today's facts


Very interesting and informative vid. 
It's a downright scary feeling that if the big war breaks out between Russia and NATO,  millions around the world will be seeing these UFOs and we will then know exactly what they are capable of doing to us puny humans and our infrastructure.  Russia is on par with the USA, and maybe even  better, on similar UFO technology.... don't forget that.



There's no denying that USA's Foreign Policies have given rise to terrorism from Muslims


We never look at the root causes, do we? Of course, one of the two main causes of Muslim crimes is their book ... but how about acknowledging the other cause?  All that the far right parrots keep parroting about is Muslim terrorism here, there, everywhere ... but never ever, not even once do they admit that America is largely responsible for the mayhem wrought on the innocent by jihadis who oft times are aided, trained and funded by America's dirty money.

Most of the tourists killed in the Tunis terrorism attack for which jihadis in Iraq and Syria have claimed "credit"  were cruise ship passengers from MSC Splendida and Costa Fascinosa ...  both operated by Italian companies.  Norwegian Cruise Lines stopped docking in Tunisian ports from the time... I think it was early last year... when customs officers there refused entry to their Israeli passengers.



Wednesday, March 18, 2015

I dislike dishonesty

Larry Miller why, why, why did you apologize for stating the truth?  One should always stick by one's convictions even if it means the world will turn against you but that's not going to stop you being proud of yourself. So what's important to you ... what others think of you or what you think of yourself?  You said what probably 80% of Canadians think but only 10% have the courage to voice.  Truth when spoken aloud is at times inflammatory, but only to those who pretend to be saints. You had the courage to speak the truth and then you lost it.  **sigh**

While glancing at the comments to the CBC article below, I came across this link from a Pakistani "21st Century Woman" .... see what she says about the veil.


Larry Miller, Conservative MP, recants inflammatory niqab-ban comment
'This sentiment is not an aberration among the Conservatives,' NDP critic says
A veteran backbench Conservative MP has apologized for telling Muslim women who want to wear the niqab while taking the citizenship oath to "stay the hell where you came from."

In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound MP Larry Miller said that he stands by his views that those who wish to be sworn in as citizens should uncover their face.

"However, I apologize for and retract my comments that went beyond this," he said.

According to a post on the Broadbent Institute-affiliated blog Press Progress, Miller — who was once described by National Post columnist John Ivison as "the voice in [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper's ear" — made the comments during an open-line talk show on local radio station CFOS on Monday...........

Sunday, March 15, 2015

World War 3 news and updates .... March 15


Some of the countries in it, either in major or minor roles:
USA, UK, Canada,  Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Yemen, Nigeria, France with (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad ) Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Albania, Estonia, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Republic of Korea, Ireland, Spain, Slovakia, Norway, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Novorussia, Ukraine, Russia, Chechnya, Somalia, Iran, India, South Korea, North Korea,  Central African Republic, Kenya, Tunisia, The Philippines, Egypt,  Albania, Serbia, China, Sudan, South Sudan, Bukina Faso, Palestine, Georgia, Chad, Spain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Nepal, Congo, Uganda, Romania, Mexico, Gambia, Haiti, Cameroon, Chad, Algeria, Venezuela, Thailand, Argentina, Vietnam, Myanmar ....

Is a coup about to happen in Saudi Arabia?
From BBC
The US embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh has cancelled all consular services for Sunday and Monday due to "heightened security concerns".
In a statement, the embassy said consular services in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran would not be available.
It urged US citizens to take extra precautions when travelling in Saudi Arabia and to keep a low profile.
On Friday, the embassy warned that Western oil workers could be the target of militant attacks.
It said it had information that "individuals associated with a terrorist organisation" could be targeting people working in the oil-rich Eastern Province.........

Is there hope for returning refugees of East Ukraine?  Has the civil war there stopped for good?  Their fate is in the hands of despicable politicians which means the poor and downtrodden are always at a disadvantage.


From Yahoo
Russia was ready to bring its nuclear weapons into a state of alert during last year's tensions over the Crimean Peninsula and the overthrow of Ukraine's president, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks aired on Sunday.
Putin also expanded on a previous admission that the well-armed forces in unmarked uniforms who took control of Ukrainian military facilities in Crimea were Russian soldiers.
Putin's comments, in a documentary being shown on state TV, highlight the extent to which alarm spread in Russia in the weeks following Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster in February 2014 after months of street protests that turned increasingly violent.
The documentary comes as speculation swirls about Putin's 10-day absence from public view. On Monday, he will meet with the president of Kyrgyzstan in an event covered by the news media, which would be his first appearance before journalists since March 5..........

Hmmm ... why did I think Vietnam and Japan couldn't see eye to eye?
From JapanTimes
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan agreed Sunday to continue bilateral efforts to ensure maritime security, underlining the importance of respecting the rule of law, ministry officials said.
Meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction underway in Sendai, Kishida was quoted as saying Japan wants to increase cooperation with Vietnam over wide-ranging issues such as maritime security.
Kishida and Doan also discussed matters related to the South China Sea, the ministry said.
The sea is the focus of lingering tensions over territorial rows between China and Southeast Asian countries, notably Vietnam and the Philippines.....



From RT
The Chinese military deployed fighter jets to patrol the country’s border with Myanmar after a cross-border bombing killed four Chinese villagers and left nine injured. Beijing warned its neighbor of "decisive action" if the incident is repeated.
The jets will "track, monitor, warn and chase away" Myanmar military planes, Chinese Air Force spokesman Shen Jinke was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.
Myanmar’s ambassador to Beijing, Thit Linn Ohn, was summoned to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday, as Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin lodged a formal protest and demanded a thorough investigation into the incident, the agency reported.
Liu called on the Myanmar authorities to “safeguard the security and stability in the border areas between China and Myanmar."
China will take "firm and decisive action" to protect the safety of its people if any further deadly stray fire incidents should happen, Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the China Central Military Commission, said Saturday in a phone conversation with Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Defense Services. Fan also demanded that Myanmar should punish the perpetrator severely, apologize to and compensate the bereaved families, and inform the Chinese authorities of the result, China Military Online reports. ............

From CNN
Nigerian troops discovered a Boko Haram bomb factory this week after they seized a northern town from the extremists, the military said.
The factory was tucked inside a fertilizer company in Buni Yadi town in Yobe state, according to officials.
Islamist fighters took over the town in August, one of many seized in the troubled northeast. Troops have battled the militants for months to regain control, and said they recaptured it last week.
Militants planted explosive devices along the highway on their way out, which delayed the soldiers' advance. Four soldiers were killed during the operation. ......


From Guardian
Hamid Karzai: Afghanistan in danger  of sliding 'under thumb' of Pakistan
Former president tells the Guardian of his concern over Afghanistan’s tilt towards Pakistan and Ashraf Ghani’s gamble on brokering a peace deal with the Taliban
Afghanistan’s historic struggles against British imperialism and Soviet invasion will have been in vain if the country succumbs to pressure from neighbouring Pakistan, Hamid Karzai has warned in an interview with the Guardian.
The former president of Afghanistan made his remarks at a time when his successor, Ashraf Ghani, has overturned the country’s traditionally hostile relationship with Pakistan in the hope of enlisting its help in brokering a peace deal with the Taliban.
Several once-unthinkable concessions made to Pakistan in recent months have horrified Karzai and many of the men who helped him rule for more than a decade.
“We want a friendly relationship but not to be under Pakistan’s thumb,” he said. ..........



From Reuters
Iraqi Kurds says Islamic State used chlorine gas against them.
Iraqi Kurdish authorities said on Saturday they had evidence that Islamic State had used chlorine gas as a chemical weapon against their peshmerga fighters.
The Security Council of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region said in a statement to Reuters that the peshmerga had taken soil and clothing samples after an Islamic State suicide bombing in northern Iraq in January. It said laboratory analysis showed "the samples contained levels of chlorine that suggested the substance was used in weaponised form.".........


From MiddleEastEye
Thousands rally in Kuwait as opposition vows 'new phase of protests'
Thousands of Kuwaiti opposition activists rallied in the capital Monday demanding the release of a prominent leader and calling for democratic reforms in the Gulf state.
The demonstrators called for the release of Mussallam al-Barrak, a former MP who last week started serving a two-year jail term on charges of insulting the ruler.
Several former opposition lawmakers led some 3,000 people, including women, who gathered outside parliament in the largest opposition rally in about nine months.........



From Reuters
Russia rejects U.S. concerns over Vietnam base role in bomber flights
Russia on Friday rejected U.S. concerns about its use of a former American base in Vietnam for the refueling of Russian bomber flights around U.S. territory in the Pacific, dismissing recent U.S. statements as "puzzling" and "strange".
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the United States had asked Vietnam to stop letting Russia use Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay for tanker aircraft that have refueled nuclear-capable bombers engaged in shows of strength over the Asia-Pacific region.
“It is strange to hear such statements from representatives of the state whose armed forces are permanently stationed in a number of Asia-Pacific countries and which continues to increase its level of military activity in the region," Russia's Defense Ministry said......

American money fuels unrest and gives birth to civil wars all over our planet.  American money aided the Taliban, whether knowingly or not, is besides the point.  And, just as American money funded terrorism in Afghanistan so also it should not come as a surprise that the same dirty money is aiding the jihadis in Syria and Iraq today.... and IMO, this time round, America's dirty money is funding terrorism very, very KNOWINGLY.
From NYTimes
C.I.A. Funds Found Their Way Into Qaeda Coffers 
In the spring of 2010, Afghan officials struck a deal to free an Afghan diplomat held hostage by Al Qaeda. But the price was steep — $5 million — and senior security officials were scrambling to come up with the money.
They first turned to a secret fund that the Central Intelligence Agency bankrolled with monthly cash deliveries to the presidential palace in Kabul, according to several Afghan officials involved in the episode. The Afghan government, they said, had already squirreled away about $1 million from that fund.
Within weeks, that money and $4 million more provided from other countries was handed over to Al Qaeda, replenishing its coffers after a relentless C.I.A. campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan had decimated the militant network’s upper ranks.....

See the before and after night time pics from space of a country destroyed by the USA and allies via proxy civil war. The first pic is from 2012 the second from 2014.
From NYTimes
  Syria After Four Years of MayhemAn analysis of satellite photographs taken over Syria found that the country is 83 percent darker at night than before the war. Widespread migration is one of the main causes.



From Sputnik
Poroshenko Wants Peace, But  Prepares for War ...With Arms From 11 EU States
The head of one of eastern Ukraine's breakaway republics asks why Ukraine's president is publically talking about the delivery of weapons from nearly a dozen countries in Europe while simultaneously proclaiming his commitment to peace.
Igor Plotnitsky, leader of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic, has asked why a Kiev looking for lasting peace in eastern Ukraine has just announced the purchase of weapons from nearly a dozen European countries.....

From PressTV
Israel seeking to block UN inquiry   into Gaza war crimes
Israel has launched a campaign to block a UN inquiry into Tel Aviv’s human rights violations during its 50-day bloody war on the blockaded Gaza Strip last summer.
Israel is directing its diplomats to ensure that a majority of 47 countries on the UN Commission of Inquiry on Gaza do not support an investigation into the latest Israeli offensive against the Palestinian land, the Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.
    The campaign aims to get “as many countries as possible – with the hope that at least 24 will not approve the committee’s findings – to either vote against, abstain or not show up [for the vote],” the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs told the representatives abroad in a cable.
Part of the campaign against the UN commission is to discredit its head, Canadian lawyer William Schabas, who has accused Israel of war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression against Palestinians......


From Newsweek
Taliban Deny Kidnapping Shias in Afghanistan
Authorities are still trying to secure release of 30 Hazara Shias abducted while traveling to Kabul.
The Taliban said Friday they were not responsible for the abduction of 30 Shia Muslims in southern Afghanistan last week, as rescue efforts restarted after a halt for bad weather.
Masked gunmen stopped two buses on the road to Kabul from Herat on Feb. 24 and took 30 male passengers hostage, all of them members of the Hazara minority ethnic group. No one has claimed responsibility for the abduction, but kidnappings for ransom by bandits and militias are common in Afghanistan.....

From Reuters
Clashes erupted in central Libya
 on Saturday between Islamic State fighters and a force loyal to a Tripoli-based faction, a military official and residents said.
It was the first publicly known major confrontation between the two groups since militants loyal to Islamic State, the group which has seized much of Iraq and Syria, established a larger presence in central Libya in recent weeks.
Islamic State, which analysts say is splintered into smaller factions in Libya, has sought to exploit turmoil in the major oil producer where two rival governments and their respective allies fight for power.....

From IHRC
London is to host one of several protests in an international day of protest designed to draw attention to the fate of thousands of political dissidents imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.
The event on Saturday March 14 by the Universal Justice Network is designed to highlight the little publicised persecution faced by those who criticise the ultra-conservative monarchy and its policies.
According to a 2011 report by IHRC, there are an estimated 30,000 political prisoners in Saudi Arabia out of a population of approximately 18 million Saudi nationals.
Many of them are political reformists but their number also includes religious leaders who have campaigned for fundamental rights and freedoms.........

From BBC
Volunteering with the Kurds to fight IS
Syria's Kurds are engaged in a bitter battle with the forces of Islamic State (IS) in the north of their country - and increasingly foreign volunteers are finding themselves on the front lines.
"Can you not show my face," the young man asked, as we stood in the Kurdish hospital in Syria. "I don't want my mum knowing I've been shot."
I'll call him Sam. He's from the south of England and is in his early 20s. He's short and slight. Standing in his camouflage gear and boots, he came up to my shoulder. With blue eyes and sallow skin, he looked 16.
Sam had been shot in the arm, in a firefight with the Islamic State.
There's been fierce fighting in north-eastern Syria as the Kurdish People's Protection Unit, or YPG, attempt to hold on to territory they've taken from the Islamic State.
The YPG have made gains - most spectacularly, with the help of coalition airstrikes, in Kobane - but on the ground they are often outgunned and outmanned by the militants.
So foreign volunteers, some of them terribly inexperienced, have been pushed from the rear, to the front. Sam included. ............

From BBC
Deadly bomb attacks hit Egypt's Sinai peninsula Bomb attacks targeting the police and army in Egypt's restive Sinai peninsula have killed two people and wounded more than 30, officials say.
A suicide bomber targeted a police compound in the city of El-Arish, leaving a civilian driver dead.
A roadside bomb later exploded beside an armoured vehicle, killing a soldier.
Sinai Province, a jihadist group affiliated to Islamic State, claimed it was behind the first attack, the al-Yawm al-Sabaa newspaper reported.
Militants based in the Sinai have killed hundreds of soldiers and police since the military overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. ...........



From Reuters
U.S. to keep more troops in Afghanistan    than planned - AP
The United States has abandoned plans to cut the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 5,500 by year's end, the Associated Press reported on Saturday, but a senior U.S. official told Reuters no decision has been made.
Many of the 9,800 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan would probably remain well into next year, although no final decision on numbers had been made yet, AP reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
President Barack Obama probably will use a Washington visit by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani this month to announce the new withdrawal timeline, AP said.............

From VICE
Is This the 'Final Push'? Chad and Niger Enter Nigeria to Tackle Boko Haram
Niger and Chad sent troops backed by warplanes and artillery into northeastern Nigeria this weekend, reportedly capturing two towns as part of a fresh offensive against Islamic militant group Boko Haram.
Troops gathered at the Niger border before launching the attack, and officials now claim to now control the towns of Malam Fatouri and Damasa — the latter of which lies six miles inside Nigerian territory.
"We have kicked the enemy out of these areas and they are now under our control," a Niger military source told Reuters.
He also said that about 300 Boko Haram militants had been killed, and that the armies had received permission from Nigeria to launch the attacks. ........

From ZComm
Maybe Obama’s Sanctions on Venezuela are Not Really About His “Deep Concern” Over Suppression of Political Rights
The White House on Monday announced the imposition of new sanctions on various Venezuelan officials, pronouncing itself “deeply concerned by the Venezuelan government’s efforts to escalate intimidation of its political opponents”: deeply concerned. President Obama also, reportedly with a straight face, officially declared that Venezuela poses “an extraordinary threat to the national security” of the U.S. — a declaration necessary to legally justify the sanctions.

Today, one of the Obama administration’s closest allies on the planet, Saudi Arabia, sentenced one of that country’s few independent human rights activists, Mohammed al-Bajad, to 10 years in prison on “terrorism” charges. That is completely consistent with that regime’s systematic and extreme repression, which includes gruesome state beheadings at a record-setting rate, floggings and long prison terms for anti-regime bloggers, executions of those with minority religious views, and exploitation of terror laws to imprison even the mildest regime critics.

Absolutely nobody expects the “deeply concerned” President Obama to impose sanctions on the Saudis — nor on any of the other loyal U.S. allies from Egypt to the UAE whose repression is far worse than Venezuela’s. Perhaps those who actually believe U.S. proclamations about imposing sanctions on Venezuela in objection to suppression of political opposition might spend some time thinking about what accounts for that disparity...........


From Guardian
Sweden’s stopped selling arms to Saudi Arabia.  Why can’t the UK follow suit?
It’s always nice to have the Scandinavians around, to show us there’s a better way of doing things. The Nordic and Anglo-American models of capitalism sit at opposite ends of the developed world league table on inequality and, as a direct result, on a range of key measures of social wellbeing. Healthy, happy lives for them. Food banks and zero-hour contracts for us. Now, in another area of national embarrassment – foreign policy and arms sales – the Swedes have also demonstrated that there’s an alternative path available.
Our teachable moment began on Monday when Saudi Arabia blocked Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallström from speaking about human rights at a meeting of the Arab League. On Tuesday, in the face of opposition from Sweden’s business elite and leading politicians, Stockholm tore up a long-term arms trade agreement with the Saudis which had brought in the equivalent of £900m in 2014 alone. The Swedish state itself may not have relished the decision, but pressure from the political left after the blocking of Wallström’s speech made the continuation of arms sales untenable.............

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Anthony Bourdain in Cuba


Back from Cuba after a lovely vacation away from freezing Toronto and now I must somehow find a way to stop thinking of food and alcohol.
Isn't it ironic that the people from the land of the brave and the "FREE"  are not free to visit Cuba like we Canadians can?

Everybody should get a chance to visit communist Cuba because after being there you will appreciate your own country more than ever before.

While in Cuba, I watched a Bourdain show on Iran which was a repeat from a few months ago but I had never seen it over here in Canada.  I tried to find the full episode on YouTube and elsewhere without success.  You gotta wonder why the governments of the Anglo nations don't want the general public to get a glimpse into the real Iran and would rather show us photos of gays being hanged and women in shrouds.  


Canadians prepare yourselves to have Syrian spies and pimps living next door to you as new immigrants ....


because our wonderful Canadian government under the auspices of the great Stephen Harper and his Conservatives, have found it fit to turn this once peacekeeping country into a  warring one which sends Canadians fighting for downright stupid causes in Muslim countries, where our spy agency also deems it fit to hire anybody who shows even a tiny hint of opposition to the Assad regime. 

We have been criticizing Turkey for not having  better control over their border, but how are the Turks supposed to control their borders when the people crossing back and forth have papers stemming from the coalition forces?  Canadian and British consulates in the region have been making a mess of things as you will rightly surmise from reading the article below.


From DailySabah:
Video shows UK girls being aided in joining ISIS by Canadian spy
While Canada remains quiet on reports that a spy allegedly working for its intelligence service helped smuggle three British girls into Syria via Turkey to join ISIS, Turkey's A Haber TV broadcast footage of the man with the girls as he arranged their trip

A video has been released by Turkish A Haber news channel showing the suspected spy working for the Canadian intelligence agency helping British girls join ISIS.

More details emerged on Friday about the Syrian national who arranged for the three British girls to cross into Syria through the Turkish border to join the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). A Haber's report based on Turkish security sources revealed connections between the spy, British recruits of ISIS and likely the Canadian intelligence service. The Turkish government initially refused to identify the person's nationality but Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced on Friday that the person was "a Syrian national." Çavuşoğlu was the first to break the news on Thursday when he said in a televised interview that a person was caught in connection with smuggling Shamima Begum, 15, Amira Abase, 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, the three British girls who left their London homes in early February, into Syria...........

..........A Haber reported that the 28-year-old man was a dentist who fled the conflict in Syria into Jordan. He sought asylum in another country before the Canadian Embassy became interested in his asylum case. He then traveled to Canada by approval of the embassy and stayed there for a while before returning to Jordan. A Haber correspondents claimed he contacted a Canadian embassy official in Jordan called "Matt" and quoted Turkish police sources that Matt was likely an employee of a British intelligence service. Kubilay Gülbek, a senior correspondent for A Haber, said Rashed only acted as a smuggler and was paid by the intelligence service. Gülbek said that based on information discovered on Rashed's laptop computer, he helped 140 Britons travel to Syria to join ISIS apart from the three girls. Rashed allegedly handed recruits to an ISIS commander who is a British citizen. Quoting his sources, Gülbek said the three British girls were currently in Raqqa and were "brides" for ISIS militants.

He told A Haber that Rashed relayed information about people he smuggled into Syria to "Matt" from the Canadian Embassy via WhatsApp. Gülbek said the current addresses of ISIS militants in Britain who left the armed faction and maps of ISIS camps in Syria were also found in possession of al-Rashed..........

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Hillary Clinton's "email scandal"


Another hit at Hillary Clinton but chances are nothing will stop her from winning the presidency. 

I think it was two years ago while on a vacation I was dining with some Americans-in-the-know  and the talk at the table boiled down to "Hillary will be the next prez and in either 2020 or 2024 Obama will regain the White House."  The more I see how corrupt the USA has become,  the more I can see into its future and see those predictions made facts because the super-rich who are masters of the puppet politicians care two hoots about democracy or about the citizenry's voting rights.  

From CBSnews
Hillary Clinton to State Dept.: Release my emails  
Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging the State Department to release the emails she wrote from a private email account when she was secretary of state.

In a tweet late Wednesday, the likely Democratic presidential candidate wrote, "I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible."

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in response to Clinton's tweet that the department will review for release the emails Clinton provided.

Harf said the department will conduct the review as quickly as possible, but said that could take some time, given the sheer volume of emails.

Meanwhile, Republicans are signaling that questions about her email practices as secretary of state will follow her into her widely anticipated presidential campaign.

GOP leaders, who control the investigative powers of Congress, say the revelations reaffirm a long-held GOP portrayal of Bill and Hillary Clinton as secretive and playing by their own rules.

Democrats dismiss the accusations as trivial and question whether the emails will resonate with voters in an election 20 months away.....

Jihadi John apologist


No matter how and why the scum known as Jihadi John has become the scum he is,  scum he will remain in the eyes of every decent human  being on this planet.  Only idiots of the first order will find excuses to excuse his horrible crimes.  Even if the UK govt had a hand in some real or perceived mistreatment of this creature, that's no excuse to go off the handle and kill innocent people in some of the most horrific ways possible.  You think governments don't have a hand in the mistreatment of non-Muslims?  Do you see them going berserk like Muslims do?


Citigroup's bad investment in Turkey = loss of $800 M ....


but will the executives responsible for, first the decision to invest and now the decision to take the huge loss, be deprived of their usual big bucks bonuses?  Never!
And, yet you wonder why ordinary folks despise the banksters?


From Bloomberg:
Citigroup Loses $800 Million as It Exits Turkey’s Akbank
Citigroup Inc. is ending its investment in Akbank TAS, Turkey’s second-largest bank by market value, at a loss of $800 million on the value of its 2007 purchase.

The U.S.-based lender sold all of its remaining 9.9 percent holding in the Istanbul-based bank for $1.15 billion dollars, it said in a statement on Thursday. The bank negotiated an early exit from a three-year lockup agreement it signed with Akbank’s main owner, Sabanci Holding, when it sold an almost equivalent stake for the same amount in 2012.

The two disposals generated about $2.3 billion, compared with the $3.1 billion Citigroup spent buying the 20 percent stake in 2007. Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat is divesting minority stakes to focus on the New York-based lender’s core business. The early sale may signal that local stocks, already the world’s second-worst performers in the last month, have further to slide, according to analysts.

“The fact that Citi wanted to sell earlier than planned could be a bad indication for the markets,” said Cagdas Dogan, at BGC Partners Inc. “It sort of implies that they expect them to keep on falling.” ..........

Inevitable Revolution USA .... we can't say we didn't see it coming


Police State USA where the police know they have power to do whatever they like to descendants of slaves, brown immigrants and the homeless and unbalanced.  The inevitable revolution will be mainly due to the criminal behaviour of the police force who treat  citizens like enemies on the  battlefield. 
Where are the stats showing how many innocent people have died at the hands of those who are supposed to "serve and protect" the very citizenry they kill?  I am willing to bet that on a yearly basis, more innocent people are killed by the police in America than by terrorism or terrorists.

And, America dares to call itself the "land of the free and the brave"  .... pitiful, really pitiful!!!



Read the report from the DOJ to see just how depraved the people serving in the police department have let themselves become.


From CBC
Ferguson police report: 5 examples of abuse of power
Black residents targeted for harassment by police, U.S. Justice Department report says
The U.S. Justice Department issued a scathing report about the Ferguson, Mo., police force on Wednesday, accusing it of engaging in practices that are discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The department actually issued two reports, one that said it won't prosecute a former Ferguson police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old. However, another report looked into the police department itself.

It found that the shooting occurred in an environment of systematic mistreatment of blacks, in which officials swapped racist emails and jokes without punishment and black residents were disproportionately stopped and searched, fined for petty offences and subjected to excessive police force.

Here are some examples highlighted in the report:

1. Officer swears at bus patron

A black man said he was sitting at a bus stop when a patrol car abruptly pulled up in front of him and the officer inside rolled down his window and addressed him as follows: Lieutenant: Get over here. Bus patron: Me? Lieutenant: Get the f*** over here. Yeah, you. Bus patron: Why? What did I do? Lieutenant: Give me your ID. Bus patron: Why? Lieutenant: Stop being a smart ass and give me your ID. The lieutenant ran the man’s name for warrants. Finding none, he returned the ID and said, "Get the hell out of my face." ......

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The butcher of Gaza is also an Oscar winning actor


Yes ... we can't expect anything less from evil which passes itself off as a saviour of "God's  chosen people" while aiding and abetting with  jihadis who burn people to death and chop off heads on camera.  What a despicable man!!  And, to think that this individual is held in high esteem by political parties in the Anglo nations is totally vomit-inducing.

From ConsortiumNews
Netanyahu’s False Narrative 

 
March 4, 2015
As members of the U.S. Congress bobbed up and down with applause, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spun a tale of brave little Israel fretting about its survival, but he left out the fact that Israel has a large arsenal of nuclear weapons and has often been the one to invade its neighbors, as Marjorie Cohn recalls.

By Marjorie Cohn
On March 3, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an impassioned plea to Congress to protect Israel by opposing diplomacy with Iran. Referring to “the remarkable alliance between Israel and the United States” which includes “generous military assistance and missile defense,” Netanyahu failed to mention that Israel has an arsenal of 100 or 200 nuclear weapons.

The day before he delivered that controversial address, Netanyahu expressed similar sentiments to AIPAC, Israel’s powerful U.S. lobby. He reiterated the claim that Israel acted in the 1967 Six-Day War “to defend itself.” The narrative that Israel attacked Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in self-defense, seizing the Palestinian territories in the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula in 1967, has remained largely unquestioned in the public discourse.

Israel relies on that narrative to continue occupying those Palestinian lands. And the powerful film “Censored Voices,” which premiered at Sundance in February, does not challenge that narrative.

But declassified high-level documents from Britain, France, Russia and the United States reveal that Egypt, Syria and Jordan were not going to attack Israel and Israel knew it. In fact, they did not attack Israel. Instead, Israel mounted the first attack in order to decimate the Egyptian army and take the West Bank...........

Sunday, March 1, 2015

World War 3 news and updates ... March 1


Some of the countries in it, either in major or minor roles:
USA, UK, Canada,  Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Yemen, Nigeria, France with (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad ) Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Albania, Estonia, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Republic of Korea, Ireland, Spain, Slovakia, Norway, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Novorussia, Ukraine, Russia, Chechnya, Somalia, Iran, India, South Korea, North Korea,  Central African Republic, Kenya, Tunisia, The Philippines, Egypt,  Albania, Serbia, China, Sudan, South Sudan, Bukina Faso, Palestine, Georgia, Chad, Spain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Nepal, Congo, Uganda, Romania, Mexico, Gambia, Haiti, Cameroon, Chad, Algeria, Venezuela, Thailand, Argentina ....

From DailyBeast
Main U.S.-Backed Syrian Rebel Group Disbanding,  Joining Islamists
One of the last moderate Syrian rebel groups trusted by Washington is waving the white flag—and picking up the Islamists’ black one.
The Syrian rebel group Harakat al-Hazm, one of the White House’s most trusted militias fighting President Bashar al Assad, appeared to be collapsing Sunday, with activists posting a statement online from frontline commanders saying they are disbanding their units and folding them into brigades aligned with a larger Islamist insurgent alliance distrusted by Washington.
The statement bore Hazm’s stamp and logo, and according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, the brigade’s fighting units are disbanding. Emails and phone calls to Hazm’s political leaders were not returned......

Ukraine's economy in the toilet thanks to the organizers of the coup.


From ChinaOrg
3 killed in suicide attack   on NATO vehicles in Kabul
Three people were killed and another wounded after a suicide car bombing targeted NATO-led forces' vehicles in Afghan capital of Kabul on Thursday, sources said.
The casualties included one Turkish service member of the NATO- led Resolute Support (RS) forces, an Afghan civilian and the attacker, the Afghan government confirmed, adding one Turkish soldier sustained injuries in the attack.
The attack occurred in the morning, after the bomber rammed his car bomb into a two-vehicle convoy of RS forces near the Iranian embassy in Wazir Akbar Khan, a diplomatic district in central Kabul.
Unofficial sources said the likely target of the attack was the vehicle of NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Ismail Aramaz, a Turkish diplomat, who escaped the blast.....

And, in the NATO-created "democratic" Utopia of Afghanistan, kids frolic around in opium fields as little slaves to the drug trade.  Bet they pray to their allah for the well-being of America... who wouldn't given such a rich satisfying and enriched life?

From Tass
Lugansk official: Aidar military detained as they take weapons from Donbass to Kiev
KIEV, March 1. /TASS/. Some military of Ukraine’s Aidar territorial battalion, which participates actively in the punitive mission in Donbass, are involeved in criminal activities, including extortion and arms trafficking, head of the Lugansk regional administration Gennady Moskal said on Sunday.
"A part of that battalion has deserted from Aidar, begun illegal activities of looting, robbery, racketeering, theft of vehicles and other crimes in the towns and villages controlled by the Ukrainian military," the official’s website reads.
He also said about an attempt of taking from the zone of the force mission in Donbass to Kiev of an arsenal, which, he said, was supposed to be used in Kiev "to destabilise the situation" there.
"Several days earlier, the Lugansk regional police stopped a criminal group, led by Aidar military called Filat. The criminals were fighting for an hour against the police and used automated guns."
As the police detained the military and searched the places where they lived, they confiscated over 6,000 bullets, five boxes with grenades, 15 mines, two boxes with with TNT blocks, twelve grenade launchers and several Kalashnikovs............



From Reuters
  U.S.-led coalition launches air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq, Syria
 A U.S.-led coalition launched seven air strikes in Iraq and two in Syria since early Saturday against Islamic State militants, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Sunday.
The military statement said two air strikes involving U.S. drones in Syria near Al Hasakah struck an Islamic State tactical unit and destroyed two vehicles. In Iraq, the U.S.-led coalition used warplanes and drones to strike near Al Asad, Al Qaim, Kirkuk and Mosul, destroying Islamic State tactical units, boats, a storage facility, buildings and other targets, according to the statement......


From WSJ
U.N. Warns Arms Bound for Libya Pose Terror Risk
Report says foreign governments’ transfers to warring factions could wind up with Islamist radicals
Foreign governments that send fresh military supplies to Libya’s warring factions risk increasing arms flows to regional terror groups, a United Nations report warned.

“Current transfers to Libya are probably contributing to further onward proliferation of materiel,” the report released this weekend said. Such proliferation presents “a significant security challenge for other countries in the region, particularly from a terrorism perspective,” it added.

Libya Dawn, a coalition of Islamist militias that has taken over Tripoli and much of the rest of western Libya, has been fighting troops commanded by secular general Khalifa Haftar. Those troops have the support of an internationally recognized government based in the east.

Both sides are jockeying for the country’s vast oil reserves—Africa’s largest—while trying to present themselves to the West and regional governments as opponents of Libya’s Islamic State franchise...........

The 3-year uprising that the Anglo nations' media is doing its best to keep under wraps and away from the eyes of the general public in the West  because the royal family of UK along with the USA  are in  bed with the Bahraini dictators.


From Breitbart
The Italian Navy is resuming exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, including near the coast of Libya, amid concerns about rapidly deteriorating security in the North African nation.
The exercise will begin on Monday. It includes anti-submarine, anti-aircraft and anti-ship training operations.
The exercise was suspended for a year because of the heavy deployment of Italian Coast Guard, Navy and other Italian vessels during intensive rescue and surveillance operations to combat migrant smuggling from Libyan shores. That mission was stopped when a European Union maritime operation recently started anti-smuggling patrols.....


From IBT
UAE denies reports of arms supply to Ukraine.   The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has denied reports suggesting the Gulf state will supply arms to Ukrainian forces as part of a defence deal.

Though the two sides have signed a contract, it does not cover weapons supply, a UAE official said.
"An agreement on cooperation in defence technologies the UAE and Ukraine signed recently does not stipulate any contracts for deliveries of weaponry to the Ukrainian side," Faraj Faris al-Mazrouei, a senior aide to UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan, told local news outlet Emarat al-Yawm.

With the West reluctant to supply weapons to Ukraine, officials had earlier said they would purchase arms from elsewhere to bolster the country's defensive capabilities.....

East Ukraine's town of Debaltseve


From SightMag
Syria: Nineteen Assyrians released  but hundreds remain captive
Nineteen Assyrians that were captured from the Syrian village of Tel Goran, have been released by Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and have arrived safely at St. Mary's Church in Hasaka, Syria.

According to the Assyrian International News Agency, negotiations for their release had been ongoing for three days and were mediated by local Arab tribal leaders.
Of the 19 that were released, 17 were women and 2 were men, said a spokesperson for AINA. “But not all who were captured from Tel Goran were released. One of the hostages, an elderly woman, said that ISIS did not release her son and two other men who were guarding the village.
“ISIS also refused to release a six-year-old girl. According to reports from the released hostages, Islamic State (ISIS) said it plans to use the girl as a bargaining chip. The girl's mother was released but would not leave her daughter behind and stayed with her.”

The spokesman told the ASSIST News Service, “The hostages looked tired and disheveled but were otherwise unharmed.”
According to AINA, the number of Assyrians captured by Islamic State is between 262 and 373. With the release of this group of 19, the number still being held by this terror group remains in the hundreds. ...........

Iraq's rich history is being erased by madmen in the pay of Saudi Arabia and other interested parties.


From NYTimes
Rebels Accuse Saudis of Fueling Unrest   to Divide Yemen
The leader of the Houthi rebel group here, in an unusually combative speech Thursday that reflected frustration by the rebel movement at its deepening isolation, accused Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s powerful neighbor, of financing armed opponents and trying to divide the country.

The Houthis control the capital, Sana, in northern Yemen, and much of the nation’s military. Yet their authority faces a sharp challenge from Yemen’s former president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled to the southern city of Aden on Saturday and, with the backing of Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf monarchies, declared that he was still the country’s legitimate leader..........


From IndexOnCensorship
Safa Al Ahmad is a Saudi journalist   and documentary maker who has spent the last three years covertly filming an unreported mass uprising in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
Her 30-minute documentary, Saudi’s Secret Uprising, was broadcast by the BBC in May 2014, and has drawn widespread attention to the violent and bloody protests.
Al Ahmad took enormous risks in her regular filming trips to the Eastern Province. First, as a woman travelling alone, she drew the attention of Saudi officials, who operate in a country in which women have limited control over their day-to-day lives. Second, she carried a camera full of footage of dissenting activists. Saudi Arabia is ranked by Freedom House as one of the most restrictive Arab countries in terms of free expression – Al Ahmad would almost certainly have faced severe punishment if caught filming..........

From Bloomberg
Iran Builds Ties With Yemen’s Houthis as GCC Moves Embassies
 Yemen’s Shiite Muslim Houthi group is boosting ties with Iran shortly after Sunni Gulf Arab monarchies moved their embassies to a southern port city to back the government of President Abdurabuh Mansour Hadi.

An Iranian flight carrying medical supplies arrived in Sana’a, the capital controlled by the Houthi movement, on Sunday, a day after the two countries signed an aviation agreement, al-Masirah television reported. Saleh al-Sammad, an official with the group, is leading a delegation to Tehran to discuss political and economic cooperation, the Saba news agency reported on Sunday.
Yemen is emerging as the latest ground for a proxy confrontation between Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter that backs Hadi, and Shiite Iran, where officials have expressed support for the Houthi group. The two countries are on opposite ends of the civil war in Syria, with Saudi Arabia backing the mainly Sunni rebels against President Bashar al-Assad, who has Iranian support.........


Canada trying to get away from blame?  We assisted in getting rid of Gadhafi, didn't we?  Our all-knowing Foreign Affairs Minister and his boss the Prime Minister ... both warmongers, were rooting for war and getting rid of Gadhafi was of paramount importance to these US lackeys and now it looks like these two actually ignored the advice of our military bigwigs and insisted on going headlong into Libya.
From OttawaCitizen
Canadian military intelligence officers predicted in 2011 that Libya could descend into a lengthy civil war if foreign countries provided assistance to rebels opposing the country’s dictator Moammar Gadhafi, according to documents obtained by the Citizen.

The warning, made just days before several countries, including Canada, began their March 2011 bombing campaign against Gadhafi’s regime, has unfolded as predicted.

Libya has descended into chaos as rival tribes and militias continue to battle each other for control of the country.
Last week, Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Dayri warned that warring factions were pushing his country into a full-scale civil war. Italy has also raised concerns that Islamic extremists who now occupy parts of the country pose a threat to the region and Europe.

The Canadian government and military played key roles in overthrowing Gadhafi and highlighted those efforts as a significant victory both for Libya and Canadians.

At the time, then-foreign affairs minister John Baird reinforced Canada’s support for the rebel groups fighting Gadhafi, pointing out they had a well-developed plan that would transform the country into a democracy. “The one thing we can say categorically is that they couldn’t be any worse than Col. Gadhafi,” said Baird......

The US and US banksters failed to start a revolution in Argentina ... this time round.  Let's give them some more time to regroup and rearm.

From Reuters
Libya's PM says Turkey supplying weapons to rival Tripoli group
Libya's internationally recognised Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni said his government would stop dealing with Turkey as it was sending weapons to a rival group in Tripoli so "the Libyan people kill each other", ramping up his rhetoric against Ankara.
Two administrations, one in the capital and Thinni's in the east, have been vying for power since an armed group called Libya Dawn seized Tripoli in July and reinstated lawmakers from a previous assembly, four years after Muammar Gaddafi's ousting........