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Friday, September 14, 2018

A prediction or just an opinion?


This is a very timely contribution. 


Chris Hedges at TruthDig
Conjuring Up the Next Depression

During the financial crisis of 2008, the world’s central banks, including the Federal Reserve, injected trillions of dollars of fabricated money into the global financial system. This fabricated money has created a worldwide debt of $325 trillion, more than three times global GDP. The fabricated money was hoarded by banks and corporations, loaned by banks at predatory interest rates, used to service interest on unpayable debt or spent buying back stock, providing millions in compensation for elites. The fabricated money was not invested in the real economy. Products were not manufactured and sold. Workers were not reinstated into the middle class with sustainable incomes, benefits and pensions. Infrastructure projects were not undertaken. The fabricated money reinflated massive financial bubbles built on debt and papered over a fatally diseased financial system destined for collapse.

What will trigger the next crash? The $13.2 trillion in unsustainable U.S. household debt? The $1.5 trillion in unsustainable student debt? The billions Wall Street has invested in a fracking industry that has spent $280 billion more than it generated from its operations? Who knows. What is certain is that a global financial crash, one that will dwarf the meltdown of 2008, is inevitable. And this time, with interest rates near zero, the elites have no escape plan. The financial structure will disintegrate. The global economy will go into a death spiral. The rage of a betrayed and impoverished population will, I fear, further empower right-wing demagogues who promise vengeance on the global elites, moral renewal, a nativist revival heralding a return to a mythical golden age when immigrants, women and people of color knew their place, and a Christianized fascism.

The 2008 financial crisis, as the economist and Truthdig columnist Nomi Prins points out, “converted central banks into a new class of power brokers.” They looted national treasuries and amassed trillions in wealth to become politically and economically omnipotent. In her book “Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World,” she writes that central bankers and the world’s largest financial institutions fraudulently manipulate global markets and use fabricated, or as she writes, “fake money,” to inflate asset bubbles for short-term profit as they drive us toward “a dangerous financial precipice.”....

Posted by MariaS at 19:42 0 comments
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Tulsi Gabbard talks to Jimmy Dore


Great interview.  Really worth a watch.


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Informative Interview ...


A very informative interview with Medea Benjamin of CodePink.  Please go to link and read the entire thing.

From TheRealNews Network
Whitewashed Saudi ‘Reformer’ Prince Boosts Authoritarian Crackdown on Dissent


 ....Also this week we saw another story in the headlines where a Saudi man was arrested for appearing in a video in which he had breakfast with a female colleague. The Saudi regime called this video of them eating breakfast together, quote, “offensive,” and the Saudi regime also claimed that this video of them eating breakfast violated rules, quote, “regulating women’s placement at work.”.....


 ...The U.S. has guaranteed that there will be no overthrow of this regime, either internally or externally. And this has happened throughout the administrations, Democrat, Republican. And over the more recent decades it’s not just the money and the oil that Saudi Arabia has, but it’s the way that the Saudis have cleverly used that money to invest in the United States and become very important in the U.S. economy, buying hundreds of billions of dollars of treasury bonds, investing in Wall Street firms, more recently in high-tech firms like Uber. And this makes them very important to the running of the U.S. economy.

 And then you have to add on top of that the issue of weapons sales. Weapon sales is an enormous business. It’s over $100 billion that were negotiated in weapon sales under the Obama administration, and now even more are being negotiated under the Trump administration... 

.... And while we have Western journalists applauding MBS, portraying him as a supposed protector of women’s rights, this woman who is facing death row, her name is Israa al-Ghomgham, she actually has the dubious honor of potentially being the first female human rights activist to be executed by the Saudi regime....

..... Yes, her trial is coming up in October. And it’s a horrible example of how the Saudis will brook no dissent when it comes to the Shia population who live in the eastern part of the country, which is actually the oil-rich part of the country. You would think they would be the ones to benefit most from the wealth. But instead there has been a constant discrimination and crackdown on the Shia population. And so yes, now we have the example of Isaa and others who are on death row for trying to nonviolently fight for the rights, the equal rights, of the Shia population....

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Sunday, September 9, 2018

NYT's failed attempt to divide and conquer Trump's admin??

In the era of Trump everybody's going bonkers including Trump, the MSM, the pro-Trump-ers but most decidedly and definitely the anti-Trump-ers.


 Dr. Paul Craig Roberts at his website:
I Know Who the “Senior Official” Is Who Wrote the NY Times Op-Ed

 I know who wrote the anonymous “senior Trump official” op-ed in the New York Times. The New York Times wrote it.

The op-ed (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50194.htm) is an obvious forgery. As a former senior official in a presidential administration, I can state with certainty that no senior official would express disagreement anonymously. Anonymous dissent has no credibility. Moreover, the dishonor of it undermines the character of the writer. A real dissenter would use his reputation and the status of his high position to lend weight to his dissent.
The New York Times’ claim to have vetted the writer also lacks credibility, as the New York Times has consistently printed extreme accusations against Trump and against Vladimir Putin without supplying a bit of evidence. The New York Times has consistently misrepresented unsubstantiated allegations as proven fact. There is no reason whatsoever to believe the New York Times about anything.
Consider also whether a member of a conspiracy working “diligently” inside the administration with “many of the senior officials” to “preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting” Trump’s “worst inclinations” would thwart his and his fellow co-conspirators’ plot by revealing it!
This forgery is an attempt to break up the Trump administration by creating suspicion throughout the senior level. If Trump falls for the New York Times’ deception, a house cleaning is likely to take place wherever suspicion falls. A government full of mutual suspicion cannot function.

The fake op-ed serves to validate from within the Trump administration the false reporting by the New York Times that serves the interests of the military/security complex to hold on to enemies with whom Trump prefers to make peace. For example, the alleged “senior official” misrepresents, as does the New York Times, President Trump’s efforts to reduce dangerous tensions with North Korea and Russia as President Trump’s “preference for autocrats and dictators, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un” over America’s “allied, like-minded nations.” This is the same non-sequitur that the New York Times has expressed endlessly. Why is resolving dangerous tensions a “preference for dictators” and not a preference for peace? The New York Times has never explained, and neither does the “senior official.”....
Posted by MariaS at 21:19 0 comments
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What's going on in Venezuela?


When the Empire (it's dying, yes ... but its sting from its deathbed is just as deadly as ever) decides to "regime change", terrible things happen to countries and citizens of those countries.

From MediaLens 
 Empire Journalism: Venezuela, the US and John McCain

The US political commentator Michael Parenti once observed that:
'Bias in favor of the orthodox is frequently mistaken for "objectivity". Departures from this ideological orthodoxy are themselves dismissed as ideological.'
Once you understand the truth of that remark, seeing the daily biases and distortions of the corporate media becomes obvious. Thus, there is plenty of space on the BBC News website, and plenty of time on the BBC's airwaves, to discuss the Venezuela migrant crisis, hyper-inflation and food shortages. Rob Young, a BBC News business correspondent, wrote:
'Venezuela, now in its fourth year of recession, has joined a sad list of other countries whose economies imploded as hyperinflation tore through them.'
Young quoted a senior official of the International Monetary Fund:
'The situation in Venezuela is similar to that in Germany in 1923 or Zimbabwe in the late 2000s.'
A BBC News clip headlined, 'Begging for food in Venezuela', emphasised:
'Food has become so scarce in Venezuela after the economy collapsed that people are getting desperate.'
Likewise, there has been ample heart-wrenching coverage of Venezuelans fleeing to other countries. But you will struggle to find any substantive analysis of the severe US sanctions and long-standing threats to bring about a US-friendly government in Caracas, including an attempted coup in 2002 to remove Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's then president.
On August 19, BBC South America correspondent Katy Watson reported for BBC News at Ten:
'President Nicolas Maduro is doing little to stop his country's economic freefall. Last week, he announced plans to devalue the country's currency; an attempt to rein in inflation that the International Monetary Fund says could hit one million per cent by the end of the year.'
But there was next to no context. BBC viewers were led to believe that the blame for the crisis in Venezuela lay squarely at Maduro's door.
By contrast, consider the analysis of Gabriel Hetland, an expert academic on Latin America. He stated that the Venezuelan government's actions – and inactions – have made the crisis 'far worse'. But crucially:
'the government has not acted in a vacuum, but in a hostile domestic and international environment. The opposition has openly and repeatedly pushed for regime change by any means necessary.'
On August 4, there was even an attempt to assassinate President Maduro, with responsibility claimed by a clandestine opposition group made up of members of the Venezuelan military.
Hetland continued:......
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Some of my tweets Sep 1 - 8






















































































































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Saturday, September 1, 2018

Turkey's in the oven ... July, August 2018


All anti-Erdogan folks are invited to the feast. Never forget that Erdogan's Turkey was one of the main culprits in the destruction of its neighbour Syria. Karma has come calling on Erdogan and the Erdogan-minded Turks!!!  In one of the items below you will see the kind of military equipment Turkey produces and (very quietly) has been selling to UAE and others.




 


 


 





https://www.voanews.com/a/turkey-rules-out-compliance-with-us-sanctions-on-iran/4498168.html
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday ruled out his country's compliance with U.S. sanctions on Iran, a move that threatens to exacerbate tensions between the NATO allies.
"We have told them we will not join these sanctions," said Cavusoglu, referring to a meeting last Friday with senior U.S. officials in Ankara. "While we are explaining why we will not obey these sanctions, we have also expressed that we do not find these U.S. sanctions appropriate."...































 https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/article217046250.html
Sprawled at the very eastern end of the Mediterranean, Turkey is the farthest from the Atlantic of any of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 29 member states.
Those 2,000 miles are also fast coming to symbolize a looming chasm between the crucial 69-year-old alliance and its leading partner, the United States, and that Middle Eastern land of 80 million as it slides into deeper authoritarianism under Tayyip Erdogan, and perhaps into the Russian orbit...

Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/article217046250.html#storylink=cpy

 


 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-erdogan-germany-netherlands-warning-europeans-not-walk-safely-a7642941.html
 Turkey's Erdogan warns Europeans 'will not walk safely on the streets' if diplomatic row continues.It comes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned war of rhetoric must stop


 https://medium.com/@HellenicLeaders/despite-turkeys-pr-pushback-it-s-still-the-worstallyever-c6fc730c89c
 Fresh off the heels of being temporarily, at least, denied its F-35 fighter jets in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, Turkish government officials are in full-blown crisis mode, desperately trying to convince the American public and lawmakers that Turkey is a reliable ally that is being wrongly treated. Nothing could be further from the truth.....







http://thehill.com/policy/international/404070-germany-considering-emergency-assistance-to-turkey-in-wake-of-us 
Germany considering emergency assistance to Turkey in wake of US sanctions: report
Germany is considering offering Turkey emergency aid funds as U.S. sanctions continue to wreak havoc on the Turkish economy.
“We would do a lot to try to stabilize Turkey,” a senior German official said, according to The Wall Street Journal. “We don’t have much choice.”
Berlin is still discussing what measures it will take, but is considering everything from a coordinated European bailout like that used in the eurozone debt crisis to project-specific loans by state-controlled development banks and bilateral aid....






https://turkeypurge.com/journalist-tells-story-of-turkeys-post-coup-detainees-tortured-in-ankara-building 
Journalist tells story of Turkey’s post-coup detainees tortured in Ankara building



https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/08/pastor-held-turkey-prepared-european-court-lawyer-180830085534170.html 
US pastor held in Turkey prepared to go to European court: lawyer
Case to be taken to European Court of Human Rights if Andrew Brunson is not released by Turkish judiciary, lawyer says.



https://turkeypurge.com/report-1655-people-get-life-sentences-in-turkeys-coup-trials-over-past-2-years
Turkish courts have handed down 1,655 life sentences so far in 200 investigations following the 2016 failed coup, according to state-run Anadolu news agency.
A total of 289 cases were opened against coup suspects, media said, adding that 1,655 life sentences were given in 200 of those cases.
Of 1,655, 765 were aggravate life sentences, meaning the convicts “have to spend the rest of their lives in solitary confinement, without the possibility of parole.”
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Some of my tweets August 28 - 31
















































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NDP's sad passing


Politicians are lousy animals.  And, some are lousier than others.

Yves Engler at DissidentVoice
Canada’s NDP and the World’s Downtrodden

The NDP hierarchy’s response to noted war hawk John McCain’s death is shameful. Even worse, it reflects a general hostility towards the victims of Western imperialism.

After the U.S. Senator died over the weekend federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh tweeted:
John McCain had the courage not to stoop to divisive politics. He showed us that we can disagree in a way that creates dialogue and discussion, not fear and division. Rest In peace.
Rachel Notley also praised a US politician who never met a war he didn’t like. “As @BarackObama wrote today”, the leader of Alberta’s NDP Government noted, “all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means.” In a follow-up tweet Notley called McCain “a true public servant.”
Even purportedly progressive Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili praised McCain on Twitter, saying “sad to hear of the passing of Sen. John McCain – a principled man who served his country with honour in difficult times.” (Meili at least had the sense to delete his tweet.)
Anyone who has any doubt about celebrating McCain should watch Rania Khalek’s video and, as Ben Saucier noted in a succinct rejoinder to Singh:
McCain heavily promoted the lies that led to the Iraq war. He championed the NATO bombing of Libya. He supported and armed the jihadists destroying Syria. He played a role in bringing neo-Nazis to power in Ukraine and backed Saudi Arabia’s genocide in Yemen. He was no hero.
But, praising a man who rose to public attention by dropping bombs on civilian targets (a war crime) in North Vietnam is only part of the leadership’s whitewash of Western militarism. At the end of last month Singh published a statement on Korean War Veterans Day “honouring the brave veterans of the Canadian army who fought valiantly during the Korean War, so that today, South Koreans can live in peace and prosperity.”
It’s absurd to imply the 1950–53 Korean War was designed to secure “peace and prosperity” for South Koreans. About 27,000 Canadian troops and numerous warships expanded and internationalized a civil war that left as many as four million dead....

 

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Lawyers' Petition for Grand Jury on the yet not fully and truthful investigation of 9/11

The 9/11 crime must be fully investigated and everyone involved must be made to pay.  The event has traumatized too many of us.


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Thursday, August 30, 2018

Some of my tweets August 21 - 27



























































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