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Saturday, 13 December 2014

Agence France Press: Putin most influential person on planet

putin

© Sputnik. Sergey Guneev

Russian President Vladimir Putin before delivering State of the Nation address, 2014.



Russian President Vladimir Putin has topped the list of "most influential people of 2014," according to Agence France Presse news agency. About 380 journalists took part in compiling the list of most outstanding personalities of the outgoing year that the agency published on Friday.

"Vladimir Putin tops the chart of most important and influential people of 2014," Agence France Presse said in its comment.


The list of influential people according to the French news agency also includes Pope Francis and a young Pakistani human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yusufzai; the leader of the protesters in Hong Kong Joshua Wong; schoolgirls from Nigerian district CIBC kidnapped as a result of the attacks attributed to members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram; parents of executed American journalist James Foley - Diane and John.


Agence France Press is publishing its list of influential people of 2014 for the second consecutive year. The leader of 2013 ratings was a former U.S. intelligence employee Edward Snowden who found shelter in Russia; Iranian Leader Hassan Rouhani and Pakistani human rights activist Malala Yusufzai who remained on the list in 2014.


Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog


Poland: Tens of thousands of Poles protest in Warsaw over alleged election rigging

poland election rigging protests

© Reuters/Adam Stepien/Agencja Gazeta

Protesters gather during a demonstration march in Warsaw, December 13, 2014.



Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Warsaw to protest recent election results. Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski says the ballots were falsified with almost 20 percent of the votes being declared invalid.

Kaczynski's supporters are marching under the slogan in support of democracy.


The organizers of the rally claim that over 100,000 people have turned out to protest, which would be the largest demonstration in the history of post-war Poland. However, reports from the Polish newspaper, Wyborcza, say this figure has been significantly inflated. Other estimates have put the figure at around 60,000, the paper adds.




Joachim Brudzinski, the President of the Law and Justice Executive Committee, made a plea for calm earlier in the march, as previous rallies have ended in violence. We do not want any provocative banners," he said. "We want this march to be peaceful. To the people of Poland - the whole of Europe saw our determination to fight for a democratic, sovereign, independent Republic," he added, as reported by Wyborcza.

PiS party protest

© Reuters/Jacek Marczewski/Agencja Gazeta

Jaroslaw Kaczynski (C rear), leader of the Polish Law and Justice (PiS) party, takes part in a demonstration march in Warsaw December 13, 2014.



The controversy was caused by a computer glitch, which delayed the release of results, while many ballot papers were annulled because voters became confused and marked them incorrectly, according to AP.

More than 1,000 challenges to the results have so far been registered in various courts around Poland. A group of MEP's have also raised questions concerning the validity of the local elections, with both the first round on November 16 and the second round two weeks later being affected.

Polish protests flags

© (Reuters/Jacek Marczewski/Agencja Gazeta)

People carry Polish flags during a demonstration march in Warsaw December 13, 2014.



Concerns over the legitimacy of the results have also been raised by a group of MEP, and more than 1,000 challenges to the results have so far been registered in courts around Poland.





Critics of Kaczynski say he is making false claims about the local elections to boost his own profile and to influence the electorate ahead of next year's national elections, Inside Poland reports.

The march coincided with the 33rd anniversary of the start of martial law in Poland on December 13, 1981, when tanks rolled through the streets and those with connections to the Solidarity movement were arrested.


On November 11, at least 276 people were arrested and just under 50 people were injured after clashes broke out in the Polish capital, as nationalists took to the streets to mark National Independence Day.


Polish protests flags1

© Reuters/Adam Stepien/Agencja Gazeta

Protesters carry Polish flags during a demonstration march in Warsaw December 13, 2014.



Tens of thousands marched through the Polish capital on Tuesday, with many carrying the national flag. Extremist nationalist groups, such as the Radical Camp and the All-Polish Youth, attended the march.

In 2013, police had to deploy rubber bullets and pepper spray to disperse demonstrators, who were besieging the Russian Embassy in Warsaw with firecrackers and bottles.


Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog


Farmer attacked and killed by cattle in Northern Ireland


A 71-year-old man has died after he was attacked by cattle in County Fermanagh.

Robert Brown was killed at his farm at Knockmanoul, near Ballinamallard.


It is believed that it happened on Saturday night as he was preparing cows for a routine TB test.


He was found in his cattle yard by a neighbour after a family member could not get in touch with him. The Health and Safety Inspectorate is carrying out an investigation.


Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott knew Mr Brown and said it was an extremely sad day for the community.


"Robbie Brown has lived there all his life," he said.


"He is very much part of the community. His sister lives close to him as well.


"He was just a character who was extremely well known and, I have to say from what I know, he wouldn't have had an enemy in the country."


Last year, another farmer, Benny Foster, 71, died after he was gored by a bull near Killea.


Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog


Ranch hand hospitalized after cow attack in Cuyama Valley, California


A 65-year-old ranch hand is in the hospital after a cow attacked him during a branding operation at a ranch on Wednesday in the Cuyama Valley.

Shortly after 10 a.m., the cow charged the man and pinned him against a corral causing chest and upper body injuries. Firefighters responded to the ranch near the intersection of Highway 166 and Cottonwood Canyon Road to find the man having difficulty breathing.


Emergency medical personnel then transported the man in a medical helicopter to the trauma unit at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara.


Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog


Landslides destroy village in Indonesia, killing at least 17 people

landslide indonesia

© REUTERS/Idhad Zakaria/Antara Foto

Indonesian soldiers and rescue team members lift a cattle trapped in the mud after a landslide hit the village of Sampang in Banjarnegara, December 13, 2014



A landslide destroyed a remote village in Indonesia, killing at least 17 people, an official said on Saturday, as rescuers used their bare hands and sticks to search through the mud for scores of missing in the absence of heavy-lifting equipment.

Hundreds have been evacuated from around Jemblung village in the Banjarnegara regency of central Java, about 450 km (280 miles) from the capital, Jakarta, where media pictures showed a flood of orange mud and water cascading down a wooded mountainside after Friday's disaster.


Mudslides are common in Indonesia during the monsoon season, which usually runs from October until April. Large swathes of forest land, power lines and houses were buried.


Hampering the rescue effort was a lack of a telephone signal and earth-moving equipment in the isolated, rural area.


"There was a roaring sound like thunder," Imam, who lives in a neighboring village, told television. "Then I saw trees were flying and then the landslides. People here also panicked and fled."


Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said 17 people had been killed, 15 rescued, 91 were missing and 423 people from the surrounding areas had been taken to temporary shelters.


He said there was a history of similar disasters in the area.


landslide java indonesia

© REUTERS/Idhad Zakaria/Antara Foto

Indonesian soldiers and rescue team members walk through the mud after a landslide hit the village of Sampang in Banjarnegara, December 13, 2014



Eleven of the 15 rescued were receiving hospital treatment, he said. A government agency official added that the rescue effort had been suspended as light faded and would resume on Sunday.

Five of the dead were found in one car, television reported. It showed rescuers using bamboo stretchers to carry bodies away.


"Jemblung village was the most affected," Nugroho said. "The challenge is that the evacuation route is also damaged by the landslide."


A rescue team of about 400 people, which included police, military and local volunteers, used their bare hands and makeshift tools to search for people and clear the area.


A second resident said there had been no warnings of the likelihood of a landslide.


Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog


The number of U.S. children living in poverty this Christmas at record high


© Theeconomiccollapseblog.com



Did you know that 65 percent of all children in the United States live in a home that receives aid from the federal government? We live at a time when child poverty in America is exploding. Yes, the U.S. economy is experiencing a temporary bubble of false stability for the moment, but even during this period of false stability the gap between the wealthy and the poor continues to rapidly expand and the middle class is being systematically destroyed. And sadly, this is having a disproportionate impact on children. This is happening for a couple of reasons. First of all, poorer households tend to have more children than wealthier households. Secondly, most people tend to have children when they are in their young adult years, and right now young adults are being absolutely hammered by this economy. As a result, things just continue to get even worse for children living in this country. Here are 14 facts that show that the number of children in America living in poverty this Christmas is at an all-time record high...

#1 The National Center for Children in Poverty says that 45 percent of all U.S. children belong to low income families.


#2 According to a Census Bureau report that was released just this week, 65 percent of all children in America are living in a home that receives some form of aid from the federal government...



"Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of children," said the Census Bureau, "lived in households that participated in at least one or more of the following government aid programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Medicaid, and the National School Lunch Program."



#3 According to a report recently released by UNICEF, almost one-third of all children in this country "live in households with an income below 60 percent of the national median income".

#4 When it comes to child poverty, the United States ranks 36th out of the 41 "wealthy nations" that UNICEF looked at.


#5 An astounding 45 percent of all African-American children in America live in areas of "concentrated poverty".


#6 40.9 percent of all children in the United States that are living with only one parent are living in poverty.


#7 These days, a lot of single mothers are really, really struggling to survive. A decade ago, the number of women in America that had jobs outnumbered the number of women in America on food stamps by more than a 2 to 1 margin. But now the number of women in America on food stamps actually exceeds the total number of women that have jobs.


#8 It is hard to believe, but right now 49 million Americans are dealing with food insecurity.


#9 According to a report that was released last month by the National Center on Family Homelessness, the number of homeless children in the United States has reached a new all-time high of 2.5 million.


#10 There are more than half a million homeless children in the state of California alone.


#11 One recent survey found that about 22 percent of all Americans have had to turn to a church food panty for assistance.


#12 This year, almost one out of every five households in the United States will go through the holiday season on food stamps.


#13 One of the primary reasons why kids are suffering so much is because their parents are simply not making enough money. This is especially true for parents of young children. For example, check out the following numbers from the Atlantic...



Since the Great Recession struck in 2007, the median wage for people between the ages of 25 and 34, adjusted for inflation, has fallen in every major industry except for health care.


These numbers come from an analysis of the Census Current Population Survey by Konrad Mugglestone, an economist with Young Invincibles.


In retail, wholesale, leisure, and hospitality - which together employ more than one quarter of this age group - real wages have fallen more than 10 percent since 2007. To be clear, this doesn't mean that most of this cohort are seeing their pay slashed, year after year. Instead it suggests that wage growth is failing to keep up with inflation, and that, as twentysomethings pass into their thirties, they are earning less than their older peers did before the recession.



#14 Overall, the quality of the jobs in America continues to decline. At this point, most Americans do not bring home enough income to support a middle class lifestyle for their families. Below I have shared an excerptfrom an article that I published a while back...

The following are some statistics about wages in the U.S. from a Social Security Administration report that was recently released...


-39 percent of American workers made less than $20,000 last year.


-52 percent of American workers made less than $30,000 last year.


-63 percent of American workers made less than $40,000 last year.


-72 percent of American workers made less than $50,000 last year.



In addition to all of these numbers, there is also a lot of anecdotal evidence that families with children are really struggling right now.

For example, McDonald's has traditionally been a place where poor and middle class families have taken their children for a cheap meal. But the restaurant chain just released the worst sales numbers that we have seen in more than a decade.


And the really bad news is that this is just the beginning of the economic pain for families with children. The U.S. economy is in a bubble period right now, and the authorities have been trying with all of their might to keep the bubble inflated.


Just imagine a bodybuilder that is pressing with all of his might to do one more rep on the bench press. That is essentially where we are at. In a recent piece, Brian Pretti summarized some of the extraordinary measures that global central banks have taken to keep the economic bubble inflated...



Since early 2009, central banks globally have printed more than $13 trillion. In addition, governments across the planet have increased their borrowings at historic proportions (the US just crossed $18T - another new high!), all in an effort to stimulate economies and avoid deflationary pressures. Total US Federal debt has more than doubled in five years, an increase of $9.5 trillion and counting.



Despite all of these efforts, the best that we have achieved is economic stagnation.

And now it is becoming clear that the overwhelming deflationary forces around the globe are starting to win the battle. The central banks have used up their ammunition and they still have not turned things around. In fact, as Ambrose Evans-Pritchard so eloquently put it recently, what we see all around us is "evidence of a 1930s-style depression, albeit one that is still contained"...



What is clear is that the world has become addicted to central bank stimulus. Bank of America said 56pc of global GDP is currently supported by zero interest rates, and so are 83pc of the free-floating equities on global bourses. Half of all government bonds in the world yield less that 1pc. Roughly 1.4bn people are experiencing negative rates in one form or another.


These are astonishing figures, evidence of a 1930s-style depression, albeit one that is still contained. Nobody knows what will happen as the Fed tries to break out of the stimulus trap, including Fed officials themselves.



But will it still be contained once the next major financial crash strikes?

As I discussed yesterday, there has never been a time when conditions have been more ideal for a financial crisis since the last one happened in 2008.


So as bad as things are for the children of America right now, they are only going to get worse.


In the years ahead may we all have great compassion for these victims of our incredibly foolish economic mistakes.


Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog


On the brink of war and economic collapse

Nuclear Armageddon

© www.wired.com



On occasion a reader will ask if I can give readers some good news. The answer is: not unless I lie to you like "your" government and the mainstream media do. If you want faked "good news," you need to retreat into In exchange for less stress and worry, you will be led unknowingly into financial ruin and nuclear armageddon.

If you want to be forewarned, and possibly prepared, for what "your" government is bringing you, and have some small chance of redirecting the course of events, read and support this site.


It is your site. I already know these things. I write for you.


The neoconservatives, a small group of warmongers strongly allied with the military/industrial complex and Israel, gave us Granada and the Contras affair in Nicaragua. President Reagan fired them, and they were prosecuted, but subsequently pardoned by Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush.


Ensconced in think tanks and protected by Israeli and military/security complex money, the neoconservatives reemerged in the Clinton administration and engineered the breakup of Yugoslavia, the war against Serbia, and the expansion of NATO to Russia's borders.


Neoconservatives dominated the George W. Bush regime. They controlled the Pentagon, the National Security Council, the Office of the Vice President, and much else. Neoconservatives gave us 9/11 and its coverup, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the beginning of the destabilizations of Pakistan and Yemen, the U.S. Africa Command, the invasion of South Ossetia by Georgia, the demise of the anti-ABM Treaty, unconstitutional and illegal spying on American citizens without warrants, loss of constitutional protections, torture, and the unaccountability of the executive branch to law, Congress, and the judiciary. In short, the neoconservatives laid the foundation for dictatorship and for WW III.


The Obama regime held no one accountable for the crimes of the Bush regime, thus creating the precedent that the executive branch is above the law. Instead, the Obama regime prosecuted whistleblowers who told the truth about government crimes.


Neoconservatives remain very influential in the Obama regime. As examples, Obama appointed neoconservative Susan Rice as his National Security Advisor. Obama appointed neoconservative Samantha Power as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Obama appointed neoconservative Victoria Nuland as Assistant Secretary of State. Nuland's office, working with the CIA and Washington-financed NGOs, organized the U.S. coup in Ukraine.


Neoconservatism is the only extant political ideology. The ideology is "America ." Neoconservatives believe that History has chosen the United States to exercise hegemony over the world, thereby making the U.S. "exceptional" and "indispensable." Obama himself has declared as much. This ideology gives neoconservatives tremendous confidence and drive, just as Karl Marx's conclusion that history had chosen the workers to be the ruling class gave early communists confidence and drive.


This confidence and drive makes the neoconservatives reckless.


To advance their agenda neoconservatives propagandize the populations of the U.S. and Washington's vassal states. The presstitutes deliver the neoconservatives' lies to the unsuspecting public: Russia has invaded and annexed Ukrainian provinces; Putin intends to reconstitute the Soviet Empire; Russia is a gangster state without democracy; Russia is a threat to the Baltics, Poland, and all of Europe, necessitating a U.S./NATO military buildup on Russia's borders; China, a Russian ally, must be militarily contained with new U.S. naval and air bases surrounding China and controlling Chinese sea lanes.


The neoconservatives and President Obama have made it completely clear that the U.S. will not accept Russia and China as sovereign countries with economic and foreign policies independent of the interests of Washington. Russia and China are acceptable only as vassal states, like the UK, Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australia.


Clearly, the neoconservative formula is a formula for the final war.


All of humanity is endangered by a handful of evil men and women ensconced in positions of power in Washington.


Anti-Russia propaganda has gone into high gear. Putin is the "new Hitler."


Daniel Zubov reports on a joint conference held by three U.S. think tanks.


The conference blamed Russia for the failures of Washington's foreign policy. Read this article to see how neoconservatives operate in order to control the explanations. Even Henry Kissinger is under attack for stating the obvious truth that Russia has a legitimate interest in Ukraine, a land long part of Russia and located in Russia's legitimate sphere of influence.


Since the Clinton regime, Washington has been acting against Russian interests. In his forthcoming book, Professor Michel Chossudovsky presents a realistic appraisal of how close Washington has brought the world to its demise in nuclear war. This passage is from the Preface:




"The 'globalization of war' is a hegemonic project. Major military and covert intelligence operations are being undertaken simultaneously in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the Far East. The US military agenda combines both major theater operations as well as covert actions geared towards destabilizing sovereign states.


"Under a global military agenda, the actions undertaken by the Western military alliance (US-NATO-Israel) in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq are coordinated at the highest levels of the military hierarchy. We are not dealing with piecemeal military and intelligence operations. The July-August 2014 attack on Gaza by Israeli forces was undertaken in close consultation with the United States and NATO. In turn, the actions in Ukraine and their timing coincided with the onslaught of the attack on Gaza.


"In turn, military undertakings are closely coordinated with a process of economic warfare which consists not only in imposing sanctions on sovereign countries but also in deliberate acts of destabilization of financial and currency markets, with a view to undermining the enemies' national economies.


"The United States and its allies have launched a military adventure which threatens the future of humanity. As we go to press, US and NATO forces have been deployed in Eastern Europe. US military intervention under a humanitarian mandate is proceeding in sub-Saharan Africa. The US and its allies are threatening China under President Obama's


'Pivot to Asia'.


"In turn, military maneuvers are being conducted at Russia's doorstep which could lead to escalation. "The US airstrikes initiated in September 2014 directed against Iraq and Syria under the pretext of going after the Islamic State are part of a scenario of military escalation extending from North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean to Central and South Asia.


The Western military alliance is in an advanced state of readiness.


"And so is Russia."




As I have often remarked, Americans are an insouciant people. They are simply unaware. Suppose they were aware, suppose that the entire population understood the peril, could anything be done, or have the insouciant Americans fallen under the control of the police state that Washington has created?

I don't think there is much hope from the American people. The American people cannot tell genuine from fake leadership, and the ruling private elites will not permit real leaders to emerge. Moreover, there is no organized movement in opposition to the neoconservatives.


The hope comes from outside the political system. The hope is that the House of Cards and rigged markets erected by policymakers for the benefit of the One Percent collapses. David Stockman regards this outcome as a highly likely one. The collapse that Stockman sees as being on its way is the same collapse about which I have warned. Moreover, the number of Black Swans which can originate collapse are even more numerous than the ones Stockman correctly identifies. Some financial organizations are worried about a lack of liquidity in the fixed income (bonds) and derivatives markets. Barbara Novack, co-chair of Black Rock, is lobbying hard for a derivatives bailout mechanism.


David Stockman's article is important. Read it until you understand it, and you will know more than most everyone.


Many will ask: If the wealth of the One Percent is vulnerable to economic collapse, will war be initiated to protect this wealth and to blame the Russians or Chinese for the hardships that engulf the American population? My answer is that the kind of collapse that I expect, and that David Stockman and no doubt others expect, presents government with such social, political, and economic insecurity that organizing for a major war becomes impossible.


Whereas the political impotence of the American people and the vassalage of the Western World impose no constraints on Washington, economic collapse brings revolutions and the demise of the existing order.


As hard as collapse would make it for people to survive, the chances for survival are higher than in the event of nuclear war.


Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog