Greg Krasovsky's response to President Obama's Statement "On Actions in Response to Russian Malicious Cyber Activity and Harassment."
For those of you who know me or follow me on Facebook, I have been emphatic about the wrongfulness and evil of foreign interference in another country's domestic political affairs, including elections - the only exception being to stop independently & objectively confirmed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The recent Russo-phobic attacks and allegation by Hillary Clinton's supporters against Russia for supporting Donald Trump and "sabotaging Hillary Clinton's candidacy, have gotten under my skin, due in part to the fact that I am (was):
- both an American citizen and a Russian citizen by birth (yes, I was born in the USSR),
- a lawyer (both in U.S. and Russia),
- a political scientist (political dissident is more accurate),
- a human rights activist,
- a former police officer (1989-1992 in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)
- a former network systems administrator at Columbia University, and
- a former auditor and forensic accountant.
Moreover, I really hate it when suspected criminals make false allegations of serious crimes against either their victims, their victims' supporters or whistle-blowers.
The viciousness with which the folks behind Hillary Clinton (the American and global interests that she represents) have been attacking Russia and Donald Trump should scare us all.
We don't need another cold war, especially a war started by American illegal (per international law) foreign interventions & regime change operations, such as in Syria and Ukraine.
We don't need another McCarthy era where any anti-establishment leader or organization is falsely labeled as communist or pro-Putin.
Remember the surveillance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders of labor, civil rights and anti-Vietnam war movements by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI in the 1960s? have you read about it?
Do we want to go back to those days?
Guess what folks, J. Edgar Hoover may be dead, but there are enough people (and even worse) like him today in the FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, DHS and the State Department.
They consider themselves true patriots and defenders of Good Old America, but in fact these folks look more like the characters from Star Wars who served the Empire and The First Order.
Anyway, let's look closely at President Obama's accusations against Russia and, even if they are objectively established to be true by verifiable evidence, we have a case of "the pot (POTUS?) calling the kettle black":
1. "Interference with the U.S. Election Process"
Q: Did the Russian government officially support a certain candidate, e.g. like Donald Trump?
A: No, but the U.S. does it ALL the time in other countries.
Q: Did the Russian Government provide funding (overtly or covertly) to a certain political candidate, party or PAC?
A: No, but the U.S. does it ALL the time in other countries.
Q: Did the Russian Government provide training, equipment, money and other material support to American political & civil activists in support of a particular party or candidate?
A: No, but the U.S. does it ALL the time in other countries.
Q: Did the Russian government sabotage a particular political candidate or a party by
- releasing negative (compromising) information about them,
- their freezing funds & bank accounts abroad,
- engaging in selective prosecution or regulatory enforcement against their businesses abroad,
- damaging their equipment & communications, such as through in Cyber-warfare?
A: No, but the U.S. does it ALL the time in other countries.
2. "These data theft and disclosure activities could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government."
Q: How many infamous hackers are not on Kremlin's payroll?
A: Lost of them, including by groups like Anonymous, Legion, A: LulzSec, TeaMp0isoN, NullCrew and etc.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hacker_groups
Q: How many personal email accounts of famous & important people have been hacked by individual hackers who are not on the Kremlin's payroll?
A: Lots of them, just google it and you'll see these famous folks:
- Vice-Presidential nominee & former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin,
- CIA Director John Brennan, whose personal email account was hacked by a 16 year old American kid.
- Hillary Clinton, whose personal email account was hacked by a 44 Romanian father and husband, Marcel Lazar, AKA Guccifer.
*FYI, Lazar hacked into email accounts of about 100 victims between 2012 and 2014.
"They included celebrities, business executives and political figures such as Sidney Blumenthal, an adviser with whom Clinton corresponded using her personal email account; confidantes of former president George W. Bush; and former secretary of state Colin Powell."
See http://www.smh.com.au/world/guccifer-hacker-who-exposed-hillary-clinton-emails-jailed-20160902-gr762e.html
Q: Does POTUS have any verifiable evidence that Wikileaks, Bradley Manning or other recent famous whistle-blowers were on the Kremlin's payroll at the time that they release sensitive & classified U.S. government information and/or emails to the press?
A: No, otherwise you would have read in the American establishment's flagship newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Q: Is it true that the DNC, Clinton and Podesta email thefts & disclosures to the press "COULD" have been done "ONLY" with the approval of Russian President Putin or the Russian government?
A: No, these hacks, thefts and disclosures to the press could have been done by independent hackers (many of them are anarchists) or insider whistle-blowers.
****
Well, that's enough Q&A for now.
What about the strength & specificity of evidence presented by the CIA, DHS and FBI allegedly confirming that the DNC & Podesta email hacks were done by Russian foreign intelligence services -- SVR and GRU, counterparts of CIA and DIA -- and their agents?
Where is it? As an investigator, I don't see any verifiable digital fingerprints or trails leading right to the Kremlin's door.
What I see is President Obama and Hillary Clinton's supporters attacking Donald Trump with that age-old "ace-up-the-sleeve", the Russian menace.
Why? Because leaks & theft of sensitive and damaging electronic information today (by lone-wolf whistle-blowers and hackers) are scary to the establishment, as these leaks are very hard to prevent.
On top of that, thanks to the Internet, organizations like Wikileaks and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LiveLeak), this leaked & stolen information -- true information no matter how damning or classified -- can be read and seen by billions of people within minutes and hours in TOTAL circumvention of the main-stream media outlets owned & controlled by the establishment.
Now imagine a foreign state that does not obey the Western political establishment, like China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, offering rewards or incentives and sanctuary to independent hackers & whistle-blowers in the the millions of dollars for such sensitive information.
Wait a minute! This sounds awfully familiar. Hasn't the CIA been offering such rewards to its agents & collaborators abroad for decades?
So this is why the American Establishment has gone apes..t over these Clinton, DNC & Podesta email leaks.
They have seen how these leaks can influence voters opening up their eyes to the ugly truth about government & political corruption -- an ugly truth which until now was easily ignored, blocked or white-washed by loyal media outlets.
They have also seen how independent sources of news - including social media - can play a crucial role in close elections. After all, when victors and losers can be separated by only a few hundred or thousand votes in any given state, this is scary.
So how do you try to neutralize the truth? You call it
- wacky conspiracy theories,
- fake news,
- leaks & thefts ordered and orchestrated by your country's arch-enemies through their spies in America
- domestic terrorism,
- foreign control & occupation of American Democracy.
Do these people really think that the American public, even it doesn't have my education & work experience, is naive enough to fall for this?
Yes, they do. Why? Because they've done this before and have seen that it works in The Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. Heck, it'll probably work in Australia and New Zeland, too!
Just look at Ukraine over the last three years as a recent example of applied political science, including regime change & social control.
- Massive anti-Russian propaganda & demonization by privately-owned Ukrainian media outlets.
- Total clamp-down on any political dissent and opposition to the civil war in Eastern Ukraine.
- Complete black-out of any news coverage demonstrating war crimes & crimes against humanity by the Ukrainian government troops and nationalist paramilitary groups.
- Immediate investigation and potential secret detention & torture of anyone who sympathizes with the Eastern Ukrainian autonomists (separatists) and opposes the Poroshenko regime's continuation of civil war and refusal to grant those Eastern Ukrainian regions autonomy.
Why do I bring up Ukraine? Because I was an insider and a witness to the start of the civil war in East Ukraine in May and June of 2014.
That's when I discovered that Western MSM can publish outright lies about foreign interventions and civil wars and, when ordered by their owners & sponsors, will ignore horrific war crimes and crimes against humanity when these crimes are encouraged, assisted, facilitated even committed by U.S. military "advisers," intelligence personnel, contractors, agents and allies.
But American MSM did the same thing when it came to America's interventions and ensuing crimes against civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. They also did it in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia and Honduras.
BTW, if Russia did not provide military assistance to Eastern Ukrainian insurgents -- who were demanding autonomy and federalization after refusing to recognize the unconstitutional coup that deposed President Yanukovich -- then Eastern Ukraine could have looked like Yemen looks today after Saudi Arabian bombings with bombs & weapons from the U.S. and NATO member states.
So after my personal lesson in 2014, I have learned to question any narrative that's put before us by Western corporate-establishment owned mainstream media and by the American government.
Alleged Russian-sponsored theft and dissemination of Clinton-DNC-Podesta emails is not the main big threat to American Democracy today.
The main threats are
- Corruption, if not effective seizure & current control, of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches by major trans-national Financial-Industrial Groups (FIGs) through the purchase of politicians and civil servants like Hillary Clinton;
- The rise of the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) that feeds on foreign conflicts (while plunging our country further into debt & domestic terrorism) and the Surveillance State (Police State), both foreign & domestic, and the corporations that run it with their supporters & political appointees in relevant government departments & agencies; and
- the seizure & control of Major Media by FIGs and members of MIC to neutralize journalists as the 4th branch of government that could expose wrong-doing, abuse of power and corruption in the other three branches and help our population "drain the swap" that extends way past Foggy Bottom and K Street in Washington;
- the current clamp-down on internet-based news that cannot be controlled & censored by our government, establishment FIGs and the MIC.
- the surveillance and likely future selective persecution (and prosecution) of domestic opposition under various terrorism & counter-espionage laws that would have America's Founding fathers turn over in their graves.
So until we are presented with verifiable clear-cut evidence of Russian spying and hacking of Clinton/DNC/Podesta emails, I would worry more about our domestic enemies who masquerade as American Patriots and defenders of Freedom & Democracy worldwide - especially when they fund, arm and provide political & media support to throat-slashing terrorist groups fighting dictators that don't obey the U.S.
IMHO, Russia does not present a genuine threat to the U.S. in Syria, Ukraine and its cautious support of Iran.
Russia, with its large Muslim population, is extremely concerned amount the spread of radical Islam and its terrorist groups (like Al Qaeda and ISIS), especially when these groups are
- funded by supposed U.S. allies (like Saudi Arabia and Qatar),
- fight with Western and American weapons, including portable anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons which could eventually end up in Russia,
- are incubated in failed states after U.S. interventions (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now Syria)
On top of radical Islamic terrorism, Russia is now concerned about the rise of ultra-nationalist Russophobic paramilitary groups in neighboring Ukraine, who could start to commit terrorist acts in Russia (which does not have a secure border with Ukraine) using weapons procured from ISIS, Al-Qaeda and their affiliates in the Middle East.
So Russia will continue to do everything necessary to protect its population, economy and political system from American intervention through
- funding of Russian opposition,
- funding of Russian opposition media,
- economic sanctions, including related to Russia's currency and access to foreign financial markets,
- market interference in Russia's primary exports and sources of export revenues,
- build-up of hostile military forces (NATO) along Russia's borders,
- neutralization of Russia's defensive nuclear capabilities by placement of ABM systems next to Russia's borders (under the guise of protecting Europe from Iran or Japan from North Korea?),
After all, if the Russians were doing the same thing to the U.S., would America be justified in its defensive posture and measures?
But don't just take my word for it -- please look at some of these other sources listed below on this topic :
So what do you think?
*******
Select Excerpt from President Obama's statement "On Actions in Response to Russian Malicious Cyber Activity and Harassment":
"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions. In October, my Administration publicized our assessment that Russia took actions intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.
These data theft and disclosure activities could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government.
Moreover, our diplomats have experienced an unacceptable level of harassment in Moscow by Russian security services and police over the last year.
Such activities have consequences. Today, I have ordered a number of actions in response."
See https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/29/statement-president-actions-response-russian-malicious-cyber-activity
*******
Details Still Lacking on Russian ‘Hack’
https://consortiumnews.com/2016/12/29/details-still-lacking-on-russian-hack/
It Wasn’t the Russians: Hillary Lost Because She Blew Off Sanders and His Voters
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/12/20/it-wasnt-the-russians-hillary-lost-because-she-blew-off-sanders-and-his-voters/
Obama’s Sanctions against Moscow “Intended to Box In Donald Trump”. Evidence that Hacking of DNC Accusations are Fake
http://www.globalresearch.ca/breaking-obamas-sanctions-against-moscow-intended-to-box-in-donald-trump-evidence-that-hacking-of-dnc-accusations-are-fake/5565481
America’s Secret Planned Conquest of Russia
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/12/americas-secret-planned-conquest-russia.html
Reality Check: 5 Problems with CIA Claim That Russia Hacked DNC/Podesta emails...
https://www.facebook.com/BenSwannRealityCheck/videos/1301123713285909/
How an evidence-free CIA finding alleging Russian interference in the US election was turned into an indisputable ‘truth’
https://gowans.wordpress.com/
Clinton’s Defeat and the “Fake News” Conspiracy
http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/12/clintons-defeat-and-the-fake-news-conspiracy/
“Blame the Russian Game” and the Information War: Mainstream Media “Fake News” vs. Truth from Alternative News"
http://www.globalresearch.ca/blame-the-russian-game-and-the-information-war-mainstream-media-fake-news-vs-truth-from-alternative-news/5563534
********
See https://www.facebook.com/gkrasovsky/posts/10154397533433742
Friday, December 30, 2016
Sunday, December 18, 2016
The World Press Freedom Index 2016.
Greg Krasovsky: With the recent debate around "fake news" in the United States, let's take another look at the freedom of the press worldwide.
I'm saddened and embarrassed that my home countries, Russia, Ukraine and The United States didn't do better than their current rankings in The World Press Freedom Index, especially the U.S.
But hey, at least everyone is ahead of China, right???
***
The World Press Freedom Index.
WHAT IS IT?
Published by Reporters Without Borders annually since 2002, the World Press Freedom Index measures the level of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries using the following criteria – pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative environment, transparency, infrastructure, and abuses.
The WPFI is an important advocacy tool based on the principle of emulation between states.
Because it is well known, its influence over governments is growing.
Many heads of state and government fear its annual publication.
The Index is a point of reference that is quoted by media throughout the world and is used by diplomats and international entities such as the United Nations and the World Bank.
WHAT DOES IT MEASURE?
The Index ranks 180 countries according to the level of freedom available to journalists.
It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country.
It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking.
Nor is it an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country.
The 2016 edition of the World Press Freedom Index, which Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published on 20 April, 2016, shows that there has been a deep and disturbing decline in respect for media freedom at both the global and regional levels.
The survival of independent news coverage is becoming increasingly precarious in both the state and privately-owned media because of the threat from ideologies, especially religious ideologies, that are hostile to media freedom, and from large-scale propaganda machines. Throughout the world, “oligarchs” are buying up media outlets and are exercising pressure that compounds the pressure already coming from governments.
All of the Index’s indicators show a decline from 2013 to 2016. This is especially the case for infrastructure. Some governments do not hesitate to suspend access to the Internet or even to destroy the premises, broadcast equipment or printing presses of media outlets they dislike. The infrastructure indicator fell 16% from 2013 to 2016.
https://rsf.org/en/deep-and-disturbing-decline-media-freedom
1 Finland
2 Netherlands
3 Norway
4 Denmark
5 New Zealand
6 Costa Rica
7 Switzerland
8 Sweden
9 Ireland
10 Jamaica
18 Canada
41 United States
149 Mexico
7 Poland
12 Slovakia
14 Estonia
24 Latvia
35 Lithuania
67 Hungary
49 Romania
60 Mongolia
76 Moldova
107 Ukraine
148 Russia
151 Turkey
157 Belarus
160 Kazakhstan
176 China
https://rsf.org/en/ranking_table
Another turn of the screw in the post-Soviet region.
The fact that Russia (148th, up 4) improved its ranking slightly should not raise hopes because its score fell as a result of the persecution of critics, which has reached levels not seen for three decades. And Russia’s behaviour has legitimized the growing repression throughout the region because Moscow acts as a regional “model”.
After plummeting in the 2015 Index because of the Maidan crackdown and the fighting in the east, Ukraine (107th) has jumped 22 places in the latest Index thanks to a significant decline in violence and to some long-awaited reforms. But major challenges remain, starting with the oligarchs’ grip on the media and the “information war” with Russia.
https://rsf.org/en/another-turn-screw-post-soviet-region
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Karma over Russia?
"The CIA was founded to undermine democracy overseas, to overturn elections, to influence internal politics of sovereign countries, to destabilize governments. And to lie to us about it.
Should we believe a mainstream media report that the CIA believes the Russians manipulated US elections to get Trump elected?
Or is the supposed CIA assessment itself a form of coup against the US elections? Have the coups come home?
Jacob Hornberger looks back at the CIA coups through history in this important piece..."
Please read the rest at: http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2016/december/12/karma-over-russia/
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
The Empire Files: Abby Martin Exposes John Podesta.
Greg Krasovsky: When you see the level of corruption and pay-to-play that Wikileaks exposed by publishing DNC, Clinton and Podesta emails, it's no wonder that the Clinton camp and its allies in mass media have tried to shift the blame from their exposed corrupt misconduct by blaming the messenger as "Russian State Actors" working with Russian Hackers!
Don't fall for this blame game using Russia as the boogeyman.
This type of reaction is well-known and typical of exposed white-collar criminals - they immediately try to discredit the victims, witnesses and whistle-blowers as being criminals themselves.
Even the FBI has refused to confirm allegations that Russian Hackers or security services are responsible for obtaining these Clinton/DNC/Podesta emails and forwarding them to WikiLeaks.
What's more important is the type, depth and pervasiveness of corruption that these emails have exposed in the Clinton camp.
Do we want these people in The White House? This may be worse for America that electing President Frank Underwood from "House of Cards" Netflix series! Talk about life being scarier than fiction!
Should anyone be surprised why the Clinton campaign has been demonizing Donald Trump in every possible way?
This is simply a part of the rigged two-party "We have to vote for the lesser of two evils!" charade.
Unless Donald Trump is the Devil incarnate, how would any rational, intelligent and honest American vote for Hillary Clinton after all that Wikileaks have exposed?
This presidential election has confirmed the need for Americans to stop falling for corporate main-stream media propaganda paid for by special interests (who often own major media outlets).
Given the 20 Trillion dollar federal debt and similarly disturbing debts and ongoing budget deficits on state, county and municipal levels, Americans cannot afford to keep the pay-to-play politicians that are bankrupting our country for the sake of special interests that fund their election campaigns and also bribe them through jobs and other sweetheart deals for the politicians and their families.
Especially when these corrupt politicians are supported and paid (i.e. owned) by the military-industrial complex which makes billions from our defense & intelligence budgets that are justified by never-ending military & political interventions abroad.
These interventions and undeclared wars -- always conducted in the name of spreading freedom & democracy and ensuring security -- not only create terrorists who will kill American citizens but also kill, injure and ruin the lives of millions of innocent civilians abroad (women, children and senior citizens who we conveniently call collateral damage).
So when you go to the voting booth today, please think about whether your still want to be a hostage viewer in the current American political puppet theater.
Not only have the producers and puppet-masters of this show have gotten you to buy the tickets to this truly "Greatest Show on Earth", but they also expect you to leave the theater satisfied with the performance that the actors, directors and producers have put on just to keep you a satisfied, obedient and docile voter, tax-payer and consumer.
As a result, many Americans will grudgingly pay for this show about 40% of their income in taxes (federal, state & municipal income, property and sales taxes), will continue to tolerate poor-quality public education, expensive higher education, high medical costs (even with insurance) and some true patriots will lose their lives trying to protect our country in foreign wars primarily waged to protect economic interests of major US corporations and financial-industrial groups.
Is this what we want? Is this what honest, hard-working and patriotic Americans deserve?
The only way out of this political circus is to boycott the existing major parties (both Democratic and Republican) as hopelessly corrupted and to support honest, competent and independent candidates for elected positions in our three branches of government (executive, legislative and judiciary) on all levels - municipal/county, state and federal.
Any other suggestions?
See https://www.facebook.com/URA.Observer/posts/1513454918668642
*******
The Empire Files: Abby Martin Exposes John Podesta.
"With the Wikileaks release of thousands of emails belonging to John Podesta, very little is known in US society about Podesta himself.
While he’s maintained a low profile, John Podesta is actually considered one of Washington’s biggest players, and one of the most powerful corporate lobbyists in the world.
In this episode of The Empire Files, Abby Martin explores John Podesta’s political rise, his vast network of corporate connections and his think tank "Center for American Progress."
Learn why the Podestas and the Clintons are a match made in ruling class heaven."
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fat63bqvG8
*******
Secret World of US Election: Julian Assange talks to John Pilger (FULL INTERVIEW)
Whistleblower Julian Assange has given one of his most incendiary interviews ever in a John Pilger Special, courtesy of Dartmouth Films, in which he summarizes what can be gleaned from the tens of thousands of Clinton emails released by WikiLeaks this year.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sbT3_9dJY4
*******
The Podesta Emails.
"WikiLeaks series on deals involving Hillary Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta.
Mr Podesta is a long-term associate of the Clintons and was President Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff from 1998 until 2001.
Mr Podesta also owns the Podesta Group with his brother Tony, a major lobbying firm and is the Chair of the Center for American Progress (CAP), a Washington DC-based think tank."
See https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
"Meet The Grifters In Chief" - The Cold Clinton Reality & The Clinton System.
Greg Krasovsky: I agree that "This is how the Clintons operate. They don’t change. Any one who pulls the lever for Mrs. Clinton takes responsibility for setting up the nation for all the blatant corruption that will follow."
But what's more dangerous is a corrupt public official who can make more money for himself and his sponsors from war and regime change around the world. After all, war is one of the most profitable ventures, aside from illegal drugs, prostitution and slavery.
So please don't fall for the demonization of Donald Trump and don't believe the outright lies, innuendo and scaremongering that the Clinton camp has put out there through mainstream media outlets controlled by The Clintons' supporters about Trump's supposed ally/spymaster V.Putin and Russia's alleged secret involvement in this presidential campaign.
This is not an endorsement for Donald Trump - he has lots of issues on his own.
This is a pre-election last warning to all voters: don't fall for the "I have to vote for the lesser of the two evils" junk or the "a vote for an independent is a vote for the enemy" spiel.
Please consider voting for an independent, competent and honest candidate that's not an egoist, madman or on the payroll of scary domestic & foreign special interests.
"Meet The Grifters In Chief" - WSJ Lashes Out At Hillary Scandals
"In an election season that has been full of surprises, let’s hope the electorate understands that there is at least one thing of which it can be certain: A Hillary Clinton presidency will be built, from the ground up, on self-dealing, crony favors, and an utter disregard for the law.
This isn’t a guess. It is spelled out, in black and white, in the latest bombshell revelation from WikiLeaks. It comes in the form of a memo written in 2011 by longtime Clinton errand boy Doug Band, who for years worked simultaneously at the Clinton Foundation and at the head of his lucrative consulting business, Teneo.
It is astonishingly detailed proof that the Clintons do not draw any lines between their “charitable” work, their political activity, their government jobs or (and most important) their personal enrichment. Every other American is expected to keep these pursuits separate, as required by tax law, anticorruption law and campaign-finance law. For the Clintons, it is all one and the same—the rules be damned.
...
The obvious question is where are the prosecutors? (For that matter, where is Lois Lerner when you need her?) Any nonprofit lawyer in America knows the ironclad rule of keeping private enrichment away from tax-exempt activity, for the simple reason that mixing the two involves ripping off taxpayers. Every election lawyer in the country lives in fear of stepping over the lines governing fundraising and election vehicles. The Clintons recognize no lines.
Here’s the lasting takeaway: The Clintons spent their White House years explaining endless sleazy financial deals, and even capping their exit with a scandal over whether Bill was paid to pardon financier Marc Rich. They know the risks. And yet they geared up the foundation and these seedy practices even as Mrs. Clinton was making her first bid for the presidency. They continued them as she sat as secretary of state. They continue them still, as she nears the White House.
This is how the Clintons operate. They don’t change. Any one who pulls the lever for Mrs. Clinton takes responsibility for setting up the nation for all the blatant corruption that will follow.
...
Hillary and Bill Clinton are asking for a third term in the White House, and voters who want to know what this portends should examine the 12-page memo written by a Clinton insider that was hacked and published Wednesday by WikiLeaks. This is the cold, hard reality of the Clinton political-business model.
...
The Band memo reveals exactly what critics of the Clintons have long said: They make little distinction between the private and public aspects of their lives, between the pursuit of personal enrichment, the operation of a nonprofit, and participation in U.S. politics."
To Read the Full Story: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-28/meet-grifters-chief-wsj-lashes-out-hillary-scandals
The Cold Clinton Reality
Why isn’t the IRS investigating the Clinton Foundation?
Main Street Columnist Bill McGurn on how the former president used his foundation as a vehicle for personal enrichment.
"Hillary and Bill Clinton are asking for a third term in the White House, and voters who want to know what this portends should examine the 12-page memo written by a Clinton insider that was hacked and published Wednesday by WikiLeaks. This is the cold, hard reality of the Clinton political-business model.
Longtime Clinton aide Doug Band wrote the memo in 2011 to justify himself to lawyers at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett who were reviewing his role and conducting a governance review of the Clinton Foundation at the..."
To Read the Full Story: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cold-clinton-reality-1477608696
The Clinton System
"On January 17, in the final Democratic debate before the primary season begins, Bernie Sanders attacked Hillary Clinton for her close financial ties to Wall Street, something he had avoided in his campaigning up to that moment: “I don’t take money from big banks….You’ve received over $600,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs in one year,” he said.
Sanders’s criticisms coincided with recent reports that the FBI might be expanding its inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s emails to include her ties to big donors while serving as secretary of state. But a larger question concerns how Hillary and Bill Clinton have built their powerful donor machine, and what its existence might mean for Hillary Clinton’s future conduct as American president.
...
Among the most striking and troubling aspects of the Clinton System are the large contributions corporations and foreign governments have made to the Clinton Foundation, along with Bill Clinton’s readiness to accept six-figure speaking fees from some of them, at times when the donors themselves had a potential financial interest in decisions being made at Hillary Clinton’s State Department.
An investigation published in April 2015 by Andrew Perez, David Sirota and Matthew Cunningham-Cook at International Business Times shows that during the three-year period from October 2009 through December 2012, when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, there were at least thirteen occasions—collectively worth $2.5 million—when Bill Clinton received a six-figure speaking fee from corporations or trade groups that, according to Federal Government records, were at the time engaged in lobbying at the State Department.
...
The record of the Clinton System raises deep questions about whether a Hillary Clinton presidency would take on the growing political influence of large corporate interests and Wall Street banks.
The next president will need to address critical economic and social issues, including the stagnating incomes of the middle class, the tax loopholes that allow hedge-funders and other members of the super-rich to be taxed at lower rates than many average Americans, and the runaway costs of higher education. Above all is the question of further reform of Wall Street and the banking system to prevent a recurrence of the behavior that brought about the Great Recession of 2007-2008."
To Read the Full Story: http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/01/30/clinton-system-donor-machine-2016-election/
But what's more dangerous is a corrupt public official who can make more money for himself and his sponsors from war and regime change around the world. After all, war is one of the most profitable ventures, aside from illegal drugs, prostitution and slavery.
So please don't fall for the demonization of Donald Trump and don't believe the outright lies, innuendo and scaremongering that the Clinton camp has put out there through mainstream media outlets controlled by The Clintons' supporters about Trump's supposed ally/spymaster V.Putin and Russia's alleged secret involvement in this presidential campaign.
This is not an endorsement for Donald Trump - he has lots of issues on his own.
This is a pre-election last warning to all voters: don't fall for the "I have to vote for the lesser of the two evils" junk or the "a vote for an independent is a vote for the enemy" spiel.
Please consider voting for an independent, competent and honest candidate that's not an egoist, madman or on the payroll of scary domestic & foreign special interests.
*******
"Meet The Grifters In Chief" - WSJ Lashes Out At Hillary Scandals
"In an election season that has been full of surprises, let’s hope the electorate understands that there is at least one thing of which it can be certain: A Hillary Clinton presidency will be built, from the ground up, on self-dealing, crony favors, and an utter disregard for the law.
This isn’t a guess. It is spelled out, in black and white, in the latest bombshell revelation from WikiLeaks. It comes in the form of a memo written in 2011 by longtime Clinton errand boy Doug Band, who for years worked simultaneously at the Clinton Foundation and at the head of his lucrative consulting business, Teneo.
It is astonishingly detailed proof that the Clintons do not draw any lines between their “charitable” work, their political activity, their government jobs or (and most important) their personal enrichment. Every other American is expected to keep these pursuits separate, as required by tax law, anticorruption law and campaign-finance law. For the Clintons, it is all one and the same—the rules be damned.
...
The obvious question is where are the prosecutors? (For that matter, where is Lois Lerner when you need her?) Any nonprofit lawyer in America knows the ironclad rule of keeping private enrichment away from tax-exempt activity, for the simple reason that mixing the two involves ripping off taxpayers. Every election lawyer in the country lives in fear of stepping over the lines governing fundraising and election vehicles. The Clintons recognize no lines.
Here’s the lasting takeaway: The Clintons spent their White House years explaining endless sleazy financial deals, and even capping their exit with a scandal over whether Bill was paid to pardon financier Marc Rich. They know the risks. And yet they geared up the foundation and these seedy practices even as Mrs. Clinton was making her first bid for the presidency. They continued them as she sat as secretary of state. They continue them still, as she nears the White House.
This is how the Clintons operate. They don’t change. Any one who pulls the lever for Mrs. Clinton takes responsibility for setting up the nation for all the blatant corruption that will follow.
...
Hillary and Bill Clinton are asking for a third term in the White House, and voters who want to know what this portends should examine the 12-page memo written by a Clinton insider that was hacked and published Wednesday by WikiLeaks. This is the cold, hard reality of the Clinton political-business model.
...
The Band memo reveals exactly what critics of the Clintons have long said: They make little distinction between the private and public aspects of their lives, between the pursuit of personal enrichment, the operation of a nonprofit, and participation in U.S. politics."
To Read the Full Story: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-28/meet-grifters-chief-wsj-lashes-out-hillary-scandals
The Cold Clinton Reality
Why isn’t the IRS investigating the Clinton Foundation?
Main Street Columnist Bill McGurn on how the former president used his foundation as a vehicle for personal enrichment.
"Hillary and Bill Clinton are asking for a third term in the White House, and voters who want to know what this portends should examine the 12-page memo written by a Clinton insider that was hacked and published Wednesday by WikiLeaks. This is the cold, hard reality of the Clinton political-business model.
Longtime Clinton aide Doug Band wrote the memo in 2011 to justify himself to lawyers at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett who were reviewing his role and conducting a governance review of the Clinton Foundation at the..."
To Read the Full Story: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cold-clinton-reality-1477608696
The Clinton System
"On January 17, in the final Democratic debate before the primary season begins, Bernie Sanders attacked Hillary Clinton for her close financial ties to Wall Street, something he had avoided in his campaigning up to that moment: “I don’t take money from big banks….You’ve received over $600,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs in one year,” he said.
Sanders’s criticisms coincided with recent reports that the FBI might be expanding its inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s emails to include her ties to big donors while serving as secretary of state. But a larger question concerns how Hillary and Bill Clinton have built their powerful donor machine, and what its existence might mean for Hillary Clinton’s future conduct as American president.
...
Among the most striking and troubling aspects of the Clinton System are the large contributions corporations and foreign governments have made to the Clinton Foundation, along with Bill Clinton’s readiness to accept six-figure speaking fees from some of them, at times when the donors themselves had a potential financial interest in decisions being made at Hillary Clinton’s State Department.
An investigation published in April 2015 by Andrew Perez, David Sirota and Matthew Cunningham-Cook at International Business Times shows that during the three-year period from October 2009 through December 2012, when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, there were at least thirteen occasions—collectively worth $2.5 million—when Bill Clinton received a six-figure speaking fee from corporations or trade groups that, according to Federal Government records, were at the time engaged in lobbying at the State Department.
...
The record of the Clinton System raises deep questions about whether a Hillary Clinton presidency would take on the growing political influence of large corporate interests and Wall Street banks.
The next president will need to address critical economic and social issues, including the stagnating incomes of the middle class, the tax loopholes that allow hedge-funders and other members of the super-rich to be taxed at lower rates than many average Americans, and the runaway costs of higher education. Above all is the question of further reform of Wall Street and the banking system to prevent a recurrence of the behavior that brought about the Great Recession of 2007-2008."
To Read the Full Story: http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/01/30/clinton-system-donor-machine-2016-election/
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Is the U.S. trade embargo risking lives in Cuba?
Is the U.S. trade embargo risking lives in Cuba?
A man carries a gas cylinder on the back of his bicycle as he passes a billboard that reads in Spanish "Blockade: The longest genocide in history" in Havana on Jan. 26, 2016. Desmond Boylan AP
“WASHINGTON - Despite the improved ties between the United States and Cuba, the United Nations is expected to again condemn the American trade embargo against the communist island.
For the 25th year in a row, Cuba has called for the United Nations to issue a resolution against the U.S. “blockade,” as the Cubans refer to the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
We hope again – we cannot anticipate the vote, we will see on Oct. 26 – that the international community will be on Cuba’s side and call for an end to the blockade,” Josefina Vidal, who heads the U.S. Department at Cuba’s Foreign Ministry, told students last week during a conference at Havana University.
In what is expected to be a telling display of the international perspective on the United States’ continued application of the embargo, the U.N. General Assembly is expected to overwhelmingly pass a resolution Wednesday calling for end to the U.S. policy that restricts trade between the countries.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/world/article110245497.html#storylink=cpy
...
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls the embargo the “most unjust, severe and long-lived system” of sanctions ever applied against a country.
The U.S. government has sought to end the embarrassing ritual against the United States, but the Cuban government has declined to stop or even tone down its scathing account of how the island has been affected.
The Cuban government estimates the U.S. embargo has cost the island more than $125 billion over the half-century that it’s been in place. Cuban leaders document the impacts in great detail, from the somewhat trivial to life-threatening, in a blistering 42-page report.
They raise questions as to whether the U.S. government has put Cuban lives at risk because of sanctions that restrict access to diagnostic equipment for leukemia patients and devices crucial for pediatric heart surgery."
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/world/article110245497.html
Cuba: Rejecting Sanctions, Sending a Message
"Sanctions continue to impede imports of critical goods and equipment from the US just as Cuba is prevented from exporting products and services to the US. Cuba has no direct banking relations with the US. US corporations cannot invest in the Cuban economy, except in the telecommunications industry.
...
It has been estimated that the sanctions have cost Cuba billions of dollars just in the course of the first six months of 2016. The impact upon the public health sector — the comprehensiveness and affordability of public health care being one of the greatest achievements of the Cuban Revolution — has been dire. Between April 2015 and April 2016, the accumulated monetary repercussions of the sanctions policy amounted to some 82.7 million dollars. Cuba is compelled to purchase medicines, “spare parts for diagnostic and treatment equipment, medical instruments and other supplies necessary for (the health) sector to function” from distant markets when it would have been so much cheaper to obtain them from the US itself.
It is not just the health sector that has suffered from sanctions. The food sector, education, sports and culture have all had to pay the price. Even biotechnology, a field in which Cuba has registered excellent progress, has had to bear the adverse consequences of the unjust and vicious US policy.
...
It is widely known that it is the US Congress more than the White House that is determined to perpetuate sanctions against Cuba. While some members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives feel that the sanctions should be lifted, the lobbies and special interests that want to continue to punish Cuba remain formidable. It is significant that Congress has received 51 legislative initiatives that seek to reinforce the sanctions. Obama cannot afford to ignore this. Nonetheless, he has executive powers that can circumvent some of the hurdles erected by the pro-sanctions groups.
This is why pro-justice citizens’ groups in the US and from around the world should intensify their efforts to persuade the powers-that-be in the US to eliminate the sanctions totally. Voices from within the US are critical; more human rights advocates, academics and representatives of the different religious communities should speak up. They should also counter the untruths, the half-truths and the outright lies about Cuba, the sanctions and the “security of the American people”.
People outside the US should also play their role. They should remind their governments to stick to their anti-sanctions position when the issue comes up again before the UN General Assembly on 26 October 2016. For the last 24 years, the vast majority of UN member states have voted to end the US sanctions regime. The last UN General Assembly vote on 27 October 2015 was the most convincing ever. 191 out of the 193 member states of the UN demanded that the sanctions be lifted. The only two states that voted against the resolution were the US and Israel."
Read more here http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/10/21/cuba-rejecting-sanctions-sending-a-message/
For the 25th year in a row, Cuba has called for the United Nations to issue a resolution against the U.S. “blockade,” as the Cubans refer to the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
We hope again – we cannot anticipate the vote, we will see on Oct. 26 – that the international community will be on Cuba’s side and call for an end to the blockade,” Josefina Vidal, who heads the U.S. Department at Cuba’s Foreign Ministry, told students last week during a conference at Havana University.
In what is expected to be a telling display of the international perspective on the United States’ continued application of the embargo, the U.N. General Assembly is expected to overwhelmingly pass a resolution Wednesday calling for end to the U.S. policy that restricts trade between the countries.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/world/article110245497.html#storylink=cpy
...
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls the embargo the “most unjust, severe and long-lived system” of sanctions ever applied against a country.
The U.S. government has sought to end the embarrassing ritual against the United States, but the Cuban government has declined to stop or even tone down its scathing account of how the island has been affected.
The Cuban government estimates the U.S. embargo has cost the island more than $125 billion over the half-century that it’s been in place. Cuban leaders document the impacts in great detail, from the somewhat trivial to life-threatening, in a blistering 42-page report.
They raise questions as to whether the U.S. government has put Cuban lives at risk because of sanctions that restrict access to diagnostic equipment for leukemia patients and devices crucial for pediatric heart surgery."
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/world/article110245497.html
Cuba: Rejecting Sanctions, Sending a Message
"Sanctions continue to impede imports of critical goods and equipment from the US just as Cuba is prevented from exporting products and services to the US. Cuba has no direct banking relations with the US. US corporations cannot invest in the Cuban economy, except in the telecommunications industry.
...
It has been estimated that the sanctions have cost Cuba billions of dollars just in the course of the first six months of 2016. The impact upon the public health sector — the comprehensiveness and affordability of public health care being one of the greatest achievements of the Cuban Revolution — has been dire. Between April 2015 and April 2016, the accumulated monetary repercussions of the sanctions policy amounted to some 82.7 million dollars. Cuba is compelled to purchase medicines, “spare parts for diagnostic and treatment equipment, medical instruments and other supplies necessary for (the health) sector to function” from distant markets when it would have been so much cheaper to obtain them from the US itself.
It is not just the health sector that has suffered from sanctions. The food sector, education, sports and culture have all had to pay the price. Even biotechnology, a field in which Cuba has registered excellent progress, has had to bear the adverse consequences of the unjust and vicious US policy.
...
It is widely known that it is the US Congress more than the White House that is determined to perpetuate sanctions against Cuba. While some members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives feel that the sanctions should be lifted, the lobbies and special interests that want to continue to punish Cuba remain formidable. It is significant that Congress has received 51 legislative initiatives that seek to reinforce the sanctions. Obama cannot afford to ignore this. Nonetheless, he has executive powers that can circumvent some of the hurdles erected by the pro-sanctions groups.
This is why pro-justice citizens’ groups in the US and from around the world should intensify their efforts to persuade the powers-that-be in the US to eliminate the sanctions totally. Voices from within the US are critical; more human rights advocates, academics and representatives of the different religious communities should speak up. They should also counter the untruths, the half-truths and the outright lies about Cuba, the sanctions and the “security of the American people”.
People outside the US should also play their role. They should remind their governments to stick to their anti-sanctions position when the issue comes up again before the UN General Assembly on 26 October 2016. For the last 24 years, the vast majority of UN member states have voted to end the US sanctions regime. The last UN General Assembly vote on 27 October 2015 was the most convincing ever. 191 out of the 193 member states of the UN demanded that the sanctions be lifted. The only two states that voted against the resolution were the US and Israel."
Read more here http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/10/21/cuba-rejecting-sanctions-sending-a-message/
'Very aggressive' Vladimir Putin announces US Clinton WW3 fears in chilling video.
Putin Has Hot Words For Clinton’s Attempts At ‘Confrontation’.
"Stung at the hostile tone of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s efforts to cast Russia as America’s greatest enemy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he won’t let Clinton become a global bully.
“Jeopardizing Russian-American relations in order to gain brownie points internally – I consider this to be harmful and counterproductive,” Putin recently told reporters in Russia in a video.
“It’s not funny anymore. If somebody out there wants confrontation. This is not our choice but this means that there will be problems,” Putin warned."
See http://www.westernjournalism.com/putin-has-hot-words-for-clintons-attempts-at-confrontation/
'Very aggressive' Vladimir Putin announces US Clinton WW3 fears in chilling video.
NEW video of Russian President Vladimir Putin discussing his concerns about the US election has shocked viewers.
"In the clip – filmed in Russia – Putin, 64, tells a group of journalists that the US is creating a "distraction" aiming "to distract voters from the country's problems" by creating "an enemy and uniting the nation against them".
He references both Iran and Russia as the potential enemies.
But when asked whether he prefers Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton his response says a lot about ongoing World War 3 fears.
The President responded: "Mrs Clinton has chosen to take up a very aggressive stance against our country, against Russia.
"Mr Trump, on the other hand, calls for cooperation – at least when it comes to the international fight against terrorism."
See http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/556336/Putin-Russia-America-US-Clinton-Trump-world-war-three-fears-video
***
URA Observer on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/URA.Observer/
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Who owns Ukraine's media?
Who owns Ukraine's media?
There is a war being waged in Ukraine and it is playing out on television sets and in the minds of viewers.
"There is a war being waged in Ukraine, but this one is not being fought from trenches in the east. It is being played out on television sets and in the minds of viewers on an informational frontline where oligarchs and politicians fight for influence.
On this battlefield, the media serves as a weapon with which owners can exert political leverage, attack opponents or foment specific public sentiments.
Oligarchs, through their control of and influence on the media, play a critical role in shaping the discourse around and public consciousness of unfolding events. And this, says former investigative journalist and current member of parliament Sergey Leshchenko, poses a danger to democracy.
"TV stations are used for achieving political goals," he says.
Some of Ukraine's wealthiest oligarchs, including the country's president, Petro Poroshenko, Igor Kolomoisky, Dmytro Firtash, Victor Pinchuk and Rinat Akhmetov, own media groups. While only Poroshenko is actually in government, Kolomoisky, Firtash, Pinchuk and Akhmetov are all involved in supporting and promoting political parties or policies.
Ukraine ranked 129th out of 180 countries in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.
...
Media is a threat to Ukraine's fledgling democracy. Because oligarchic media "deprived [the public] of the possibility to receive balanced and true information about what's going on," says Telekritika's Roman Shutov, "it changes their behaviour, the political behaviour and the electoral behaviour." The use of the media in the political and economic war in which the various factions of the Ukrainian establishment are engaged is disruptive for democracy.
"As oligarchs manipulate and divide the public," Shutov argues, they create "a threat to internal stability" and pose "a challenge to democracy".
Democracy and the freedom of the press have been appropriated by the elite to create a factionalised plutocracy in the guise of a democratic state. The media, Yuri Makarov argues, looks "like a reflection in a broken mirror"."
Greg Krasovsky: What makes matters worse is that most of these Oligarch-controlled media outlet are actively fomenting Russo-phobia with tacit approval by the U.S. Government.
Please read rest of the article at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/04/owns-ukraine-media-160405130121777.html
There is a war being waged in Ukraine and it is playing out on television sets and in the minds of viewers.
"There is a war being waged in Ukraine, but this one is not being fought from trenches in the east. It is being played out on television sets and in the minds of viewers on an informational frontline where oligarchs and politicians fight for influence.
On this battlefield, the media serves as a weapon with which owners can exert political leverage, attack opponents or foment specific public sentiments.
Oligarchs, through their control of and influence on the media, play a critical role in shaping the discourse around and public consciousness of unfolding events. And this, says former investigative journalist and current member of parliament Sergey Leshchenko, poses a danger to democracy.
"TV stations are used for achieving political goals," he says.
Some of Ukraine's wealthiest oligarchs, including the country's president, Petro Poroshenko, Igor Kolomoisky, Dmytro Firtash, Victor Pinchuk and Rinat Akhmetov, own media groups. While only Poroshenko is actually in government, Kolomoisky, Firtash, Pinchuk and Akhmetov are all involved in supporting and promoting political parties or policies.
Ukraine ranked 129th out of 180 countries in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.
...
Media is a threat to Ukraine's fledgling democracy. Because oligarchic media "deprived [the public] of the possibility to receive balanced and true information about what's going on," says Telekritika's Roman Shutov, "it changes their behaviour, the political behaviour and the electoral behaviour." The use of the media in the political and economic war in which the various factions of the Ukrainian establishment are engaged is disruptive for democracy.
"As oligarchs manipulate and divide the public," Shutov argues, they create "a threat to internal stability" and pose "a challenge to democracy".
Democracy and the freedom of the press have been appropriated by the elite to create a factionalised plutocracy in the guise of a democratic state. The media, Yuri Makarov argues, looks "like a reflection in a broken mirror"."
Greg Krasovsky: What makes matters worse is that most of these Oligarch-controlled media outlet are actively fomenting Russo-phobia with tacit approval by the U.S. Government.
Please read rest of the article at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/04/owns-ukraine-media-160405130121777.html
Killed in Turkey: No investigation two years after suspicious death of American journalist Serena Shim.
Killed in Turkey: No investigation two years after suspicious death of American journalist Serena Shim.
"October 19 marks two years since the very sudden and suspicious death of American journalist Serena Shim near Suruç, Turkey, close to the Syrian border.
Although all signs point to foul play, indeed murder, by Turkish intelligence, until now the US government has neither conducted nor demanded an inquiry into the events of the alleged car accident which Turkish officials say was the cause of Shim’s death, let alone offer condolences to the family.
Serena Shim was at the time reporting on Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), from the Turkish side. She was, in her own words, one of the first, if not the first, on the ground to report on ,“Takfiri militants going in through the Turkish border”. These include not only ISIS but also terrorists from the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA).
As Shim’s sister Fatmeh Shim stated in 2015, “She caught them bringing in ISIS high-ranked members into Syria from Turkey into camps, which are supposed to be Syrian refugee camps.”
Serena Shim’s January 2013 expose, “Turkey’s Pivotal Role in Syria’s Insurgency: PressTV Report from Inside Turkey,” showed footage of what she estimated to be 300 semi-trucks “awaiting militants to empty them out”; included testimony explaining how Turkey enables the crossing of foreign terrorists “freely” into Syria; spoke of the funneling of arms via the Incirlik US Air Base in Turkey to terrorists in refugee camps or on through to Syria; and highlighted the issue of terrorist training camps portrayed as refugee camps, guarded by the Turkish military.
Shim named the World Food Organization as one of the NGOs whose trucks were being used to funnel terrorists’ arms into Syria, and stated this in her last interview, just one day before being killed. Notably, in that interview she also explicitly stated that she feared for her life because Turkish intelligence had accused her of being a spy."
...
"...Russia Today (RT) spoke with Shim’s sister, who said:
“There’s so many different stories. The first was that Serena’s car was hit by a heavy vehicle, who proceeded to keep on driving. They could not find the vehicle nor could they find the driver. Two days later, surprisingly, they had found the vehicle and the driver, and had pictures of the heavy vehicle hitting my sister’s car. Every day coming out with new pictures of different degrees of damages that have happened to the car.”
“Serena and my cousin who was the driver of the car were taken to two different hospitals. She was reported first dead at the scene. Then coming out with later reports that she passed away at the hospital 30 minutes later from heart failure?! ” "
Greg Krasovsky: So where is the outrage and demand for answers from Western Mainstream Media?
Please read rest of the article at:
http://theduran.com/killed-in-turkey-no-investigation-two-years-after-suspicious-death-of-american-journalist/
"October 19 marks two years since the very sudden and suspicious death of American journalist Serena Shim near Suruç, Turkey, close to the Syrian border.
Although all signs point to foul play, indeed murder, by Turkish intelligence, until now the US government has neither conducted nor demanded an inquiry into the events of the alleged car accident which Turkish officials say was the cause of Shim’s death, let alone offer condolences to the family.
Serena Shim was at the time reporting on Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), from the Turkish side. She was, in her own words, one of the first, if not the first, on the ground to report on ,“Takfiri militants going in through the Turkish border”. These include not only ISIS but also terrorists from the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA).
As Shim’s sister Fatmeh Shim stated in 2015, “She caught them bringing in ISIS high-ranked members into Syria from Turkey into camps, which are supposed to be Syrian refugee camps.”
Serena Shim’s January 2013 expose, “Turkey’s Pivotal Role in Syria’s Insurgency: PressTV Report from Inside Turkey,” showed footage of what she estimated to be 300 semi-trucks “awaiting militants to empty them out”; included testimony explaining how Turkey enables the crossing of foreign terrorists “freely” into Syria; spoke of the funneling of arms via the Incirlik US Air Base in Turkey to terrorists in refugee camps or on through to Syria; and highlighted the issue of terrorist training camps portrayed as refugee camps, guarded by the Turkish military.
Shim named the World Food Organization as one of the NGOs whose trucks were being used to funnel terrorists’ arms into Syria, and stated this in her last interview, just one day before being killed. Notably, in that interview she also explicitly stated that she feared for her life because Turkish intelligence had accused her of being a spy."
...
"...Russia Today (RT) spoke with Shim’s sister, who said:
“There’s so many different stories. The first was that Serena’s car was hit by a heavy vehicle, who proceeded to keep on driving. They could not find the vehicle nor could they find the driver. Two days later, surprisingly, they had found the vehicle and the driver, and had pictures of the heavy vehicle hitting my sister’s car. Every day coming out with new pictures of different degrees of damages that have happened to the car.”
“Serena and my cousin who was the driver of the car were taken to two different hospitals. She was reported first dead at the scene. Then coming out with later reports that she passed away at the hospital 30 minutes later from heart failure?! ” "
Greg Krasovsky: So where is the outrage and demand for answers from Western Mainstream Media?
What's the US State Department doing to investigate this suspicious death? How about the FBI?
Hmm, sounds like Serena Shim was reporting on an inconvenient truth - that Turkish Intelligence and other Western Intelligence Agencies were aiding Syria's "moderate opposition" (i.e. Pro-US and anti-Assad groups, including radical Islamic terrorists).
Please read rest of the article at:
http://theduran.com/killed-in-turkey-no-investigation-two-years-after-suspicious-death-of-american-journalist/
Monday, October 10, 2016
The war against Columbus Day?
Commentary by Greg Krasovsky on "The war against Columbus Day" in The Washington Post.
You know the writing is on the wall when an establishment newspaper, such as the Washington Post, starts publicly questioning Columbus Day.
I hate to say it, but over the years I've come to realize that Christopher Columbus was no hero.
Yes, he may have a been a 15th century European pioneer explorer who discovered (for himself and his crown) the Caribbean, but any praise that the discovery should have merited was quickly obliterated by the brutal, sadistic and murderous exploitation of Native Americans by Columbus and his allies, including his brother.
Here's an appropriate quote from another WP article today "More cities celebrating ‘Indigenous Peoples Day’ amid effort to abolish Columbus Day"
"“This is something that I’ve struggled with for a long time,” Sarah Adams-Cornell told the station last month. “The fact that our country, our state and our city celebrate this holiday around this man who murdered and enslaved and raped indigenous people and decimated an entire population.”"
If we claim to be moral, tolerant and democratic, then we need to make this holiday into a tribute to all the indigenous Americans who wrongly and needlessly perished from European colonization of the Americas.
We also need to start setting this right with Native Americans in the United States, especially in light of all the treaties that were violated with Native American tribes and nations.
So when will the Washington Post demand that the Washington Redskins drop the team's racist name?
Hmmm...I guess that it's easier to criticize an abstract holiday that costs businesses and the government money than to go after one of America's most visible sport teams?
How about detouring or canceling that Dakota Access Pipeline which would desecrate Native American burial grounds and potentially pollute their lands?
Please read "Tribe to Continue Fight After Court Refuses to Halt Dakota Access Pipeline" to get a sense at how fair the current American Court system is toward Indigenous Americans.
Or is Big Oil an exception as well when it comes to rehabilitating and compensating victims of genocide and other war crimes that were committed against Indigenous Americans?
How can we ask G-d to bless America and expect that his blessing (a divinely exact apportionment of G-d's supreme justice for observing AND violating His laws, including those that prohibit stealing from your fellow man as well as killing, raping, unjustly enslaving and exploiting him) will bring America prosperity and peace when we as a country not only continue to refuse to repent for what we've down to Indigenous Americans, make amends (reasonable reparations) but also continue to violate blatantly their rights and dignity?
So what happens eventually to those people, societies, nations and empires who continue to tempt G-d's judgment and wrath by habitually violating his laws?
I think that some call it Karma. What goes around comes around.
Does G-d and the Universe tolerate moral recidivism on such a mass scale as the genocide of Indigenous Americans more than American states that have "Three Strikes & You're Out" laws on their books against felon repeat offenders?
So let's stop tempting fate, repent about what our ancestors, country and government did to Native Americans and make amends.
Otherwise, every time that we sing "God Bless America..." we'll be writing another letter in the Divine guilty verdict and sentence against us with all ensuing consequences for us and our progeny.
Since the Lord works in mysterious ways, I don't think that we'll be able to avoid or commute that sentence no matter how much money we throw at avoiding divine wrath through defense or technology.
Let's just remember how much money the Roman Empire spent on defense, civil works and entertainment after brutally colonizing, enslaving and killing millions within and around its Empire, including the Jews.
But even adopting Christianity at the end couldn't help save Rome, which never recognized and repented for what it did to all those "savages" and peoples "lesser" than Roman nobility and citizens.
Those who do not properly learn history are bound to repeat it.
With all that in mind, do we continue to celebrate Columbus Day and discriminate against (oppress!) Indigenous Americans or do we begin to recognize and celebrate true heroes like Red Cloud who fought to protect his people and land? See "Red Cloud’s War"
So what's our choice, America?
Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day?
Above photo is from The Huffington Post's "Native American Activists Ramp Up Push To Rebrand Columbus Day"
*******
Selected Excerpts:
"“It is important to acknowledge the original people of this land, and that is something that Columbus Day has completely contradicted,” Laura Medina, an Arizona State University student and activist
...
"Phoenix and Denver join at least 26 other cities across the country that will celebrate Native Americans on Monday, while federal and state governments observe Columbus Day.
...
The idea of celebrating Indigenous People’s Day was first proposed nearly 40 years ago, when a delegation of Native nations to a U.N. conference in Geneva passed a resolution.
Thirteen years later, in 1990, the First Continental Conference on 500 Years of Indian Resistance in Ecuador passed a resolution changing Columbus Day into a celebration of Native Americans."
Thirteen years later, in 1990, the First Continental Conference on 500 Years of Indian Resistance in Ecuador passed a resolution changing Columbus Day into a celebration of Native Americans."
Also please read this WP blog "Answer Sheet" - "Columbus Day is still a U.S. federal holiday. But why?"
"As for Columbus himself, he mapped the coasts of Central America and South America but never set foot on North America, and died thinking he had discovered Asia.
He ruled the Caribbean islands as viceroy and governor so brutally that, according to US-History.com: “Even his most ardent admirers acknowledge that Columbus was self-centered, ruthless, avaricious and a racist.”
...
In 1937, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Congress, bowing to lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, an influential Catholic group that wanted a Catholic hero to be honored, proclaimed Oct. 12 to be Columbus Day, a national holiday. In 1971, the holiday date was changed to the second Monday in October."
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