Putin to the rescue: Bilateral agreements with Russia give Greece a strategic spot in the EU's 'energy landscape' - is more to come?

While mainstream media promulgate a fictitious message of Russian threats in the Baltic, Vladimir Putin's next big play lies far to the south, writes Oliver Tickell. The gross intransigence of the EU, the IMF, the European Central Bank and Germany are forcing Greece into a powerful new economic and energy alliance with Russia that will reshape Europe - and for the better.

We could see Greece simply renouncing its manifestly unpayable and unjust €320 billion national debt, and quitting the Eurozone straitjacket - while receiving an emergency liquidity package from Russia to support the launch of the New Drachma.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will , the reports today - along with all other mainstream news media.

How do we know this? Because the UK's Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said so. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia watch out - the Russian peril is fast coming your way.

"There are lots of worries", Fallon told the newspaper.

"I'm worried about Putin. There's no effective control of the border, I'm worried about his pressure on the Baltics, the way he is testing NATO, the submarines and aircraft ... They are modernising their conventional forces, they are modernising their nuclear forces and they are testing NATO, so we need to respond."

Covert attack by Russia on the Baltic states is , Fallon insisted.

Now where did we hear that before? Ah yes. On 16th December 1998 President Bill Clinton said that that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein presented "a clear and present danger " to the stability of the Persian Gulf and the safety of people everywhere.

We all know where that led: the Iraq war followed a few years later. We also know that the claim was a monstrous untruth: Saddam had no chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. So why should we believe Fallon now? Where is his evidence? He has none. When you already know the truth, who needs evidence?

Fallon - and NATO - should keep their eyes on the ball

But while Fallon's attention is focused on the imaginary threat to the Baltic states, there is another country that really could be 'at risk' - and not because of cyber-attack, invasion by 'green men' or a campaign of destabilisation emanating from the Kremlin.

No, the EU, the European Central Bank, the IMF and European finance ministers have already been doing all the destabilisation that's needed - forcing Greece into a deep programme of austerity that has seen the economy shrink by 25% over five years, the closure of vital public services, mass unemployment and the forced sell-off of public assets.

And now the Greeks - and their newly elected Syriza government - have had enough. This week the Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras flatly refused to renew the €240 billion 'bailout' package, which comes with all the austerity strings, and he today advanced proposals for a 'six-month assistance package' free of harsh conditions to give Greece time to renegotiate its debt.

The standoff continues, and will be decided tomorrow by EU finance ministers. It's not looking good: Germany has already stated that the Greek proposal . But if the finance minsters don't agree, then what?

You guessed it: Tsipras will turn to Russia. Earlier this month Tsipras and Putin agreed on a range of bilateral ties , including the construction of a pipeline that would carry Russian natural gas from the Turkish border across Greece to the other countries of southern Europe.

This follows the re-routing of the 'South Stream' pipeline, which had been due to cross Bulgaria but was effectively blocked by the EU's retrospective application of energy market rules, under heavy pressure from the USA. Last November and December Putin negotiated the pipeline's realignment across Turkey with Turkish President Erdogan - right up to the Greek border.

Following the agreement between Putin and Tsipras, which came complete with an invitation to Moscow on Victory over the Nazis day, 9th May, the pipeline link to the major countries of southern Europe is now complete, at least on paper. And once it's built, Greece will effectively control - and profit from - that gas supply, and take a strategic position in Europe's energy landscape.

But Greece is a NATO member!

Greece's increasingly warm relationship with Russia is already causing concern among other EU and NATO countries. German Defense Minister Ursula von Der Leyen has saidthat Greece was

This provoked a fierce retort from Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos who branded the attack as - noting that

Statements that replace the EU and NATO's institutional bodies are unacceptable as blackmailing", he added.

So if Tsipras's refinancing proposal is refused tomorrow will Greece quit NATO and the EU, to join the Eurasian Union? Not if Mr Putin gets his way: Greece is worth much more to Russia as an ally within the EU and NATO than outside - where it can veto more trade sanctions against Russia, block the TTIP and CETA trade deals with the USA and Canada, and oppose NATO's increasing belligerence from within.

But we could see Greece simply renouncing its manifestly unpayable and unjust €320 billion national debt, and quitting the Eurozone straitjacket - while receiving an emergency liquidity package from Russia to support the launch of the New Drachma.

In fact, we could see a re-run of important elements of the Ukraine play of December 2013, when Russia offered a support package under which it would buy $15 billion in bonds from Ukraine, supporting its collapsing currency, and supply it with deeply discounted gas - £268 per cubic metre rather than the maarket price of $400.

A $15 billion purchase of New Drachma denominated Greek bonds would be a superb launch for Greece's new currency, and would firmly cement Greece's long term alliance with Russia, providing it with a valuable long term bridgehead into both the EU and NATO.

This move would also give inspiration and confidence to progressive political movements across Europe that take inspiration from Syriza's fight for economic justice - in Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, the UK and beyond - and bear the powerful message: there is an alternative.

And while NATO, the EU, the USA and their loyal servants, among them the UK's Michael Fallon, deliberately whip up a fictitious threat in the Baltic, ignoring the real danger they face to the south, the masterly Mr Putin would once again make fools of them all.

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The war on personal liberty ramps up: California bill seeks to end vaccine exemptions

© unknown

Despite its notoriety for being one of the least free states in America, California does still have some lingering freedoms in certain regards. Ever since California mandated that all teachers and students be vaccinated against polio in 1961, the state made sure to allow certain exemptions. In fact, California has some of the best vaccine exemption laws. Residents living there are allowed to keep their children vaccine free, for either religious or personal reasons; a status which it shares with 19 other states.

But unfortunately, in California, no individual right can remain untouched forever. After the measles outbreak in Disneyland, the busybody freak show is out in full force, and they want to cull as many vaccination exemptions as they can.

Senate Bill 277 does not specifically address the religious exemption. But if passed as now drafted, the bill would end all "personal belief exemptions," including religious exemptions, said Sen. Richard Pan, a Sacramento Democrat and pediatrician who co-authored the bill with Sen. Ben Allen, D-Redondo Beach.

"There is no religious exemption in the statute," Pan told this newspaper Thursday. But he indicated that might change as the debate over the legislation plays out over the next several months. "I'm certainly open to the discussion about the necessity and the nature of any proposed religious exemption."

That could come through "the legislative process or the governor himself, if he wishes to be engaged early on," Pan said. "It's up to him."

When Pan, then an assemblyman, carried a bill in 2012 aimed at tightening vaccine policy, Gov. Jerry Brown signed it. But he directed state health officials to maintain the ease of religious exemptions.

Asked if Brown believes that the issue of religious exemptions needs to be revisited, Jim Evans, a spokesman for the governor, would only say that "the governor believes that vaccinations are profoundly important and a major public health benefit and any bill that reaches his desk will be closely considered."

Sometimes it's just painful to hear these people discussing the destruction of our rights so casually, but there it is. The idea that our freedoms are at the whims of legislators like these is just unbelievable, but I guess that's par for the course in California. The politicians there (as well as plenty of the residents) have zero respect for individual freedom, and it's frightening to think that a state like that holds so much influence over the rest of the country.

And the debate over vaccines themselves is hardly relevant. Even if they worked perfectly, and didn't cause autism, and truly helped build herd immunity, this is still highly unethical. Everyone should have the right to choose what they put into their bodies, and every parent should have a say in how they raise their children.

Fortunately not everyone is going along with this, and contrary to popular belief, California isn't brimming with collectivist sheep as far as the eye can see. Those people just happen to be a majority that forces their beliefs down the throats of everyone else.

Keith Howe, 59, a San Jose chiropractor, has long opposed efforts to impose vaccinations requirements. He said when Pan introduced his legislation in 2012, "I sent him a scathing letter saying this is not Communist China and he is not Mao Zedong. He is violating the Constitution and the Bill of Rights."

My sentiments exactly.

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Elderly Indian man temporarily paralyzed after being body slammed by Alabama police for walking on the sidewalk

© Sarah Cole/Paul Huggins

An elderly man was recently visiting Alabama from India when he found himself beaten by police who left him paralyzed.

Madison, Alabama police brutalized the 57-year-old Indian citizen who had committed no crime, he was only going for a walk on the sidewalk outside of his son's home. Now, one officer is being charged for leaving Sureshbhai Patel temporarily paralyzed and hospitalized with fused vertebrae, as a result of the severe beating he received from the police.

"He was just walking on the sidewalk as he does all the time," Chirag Patel, the son of Sureshbhai said. "They put him to the ground." No crime had been committed. Madison Police on Monday issued a statement saying the department had suspended the officer and were investigating the use of force in this case. The police statement wished the man a "speedy recovery."

Chirag Patel is an engineer who had just flown his father to America from the small Indian town of Pij. Sureshbhai Patel was trying to help his wife care for Chirag's 17-month-old son, so that Chirag could finish graduate courses for his masters degree in electrical engineering at the University of Alabama. "This is a good neighborhood. I didn't expect anything to happen," Chirag said.

Madison police blamed the elderly man in a statement Monday, saying that they received a call that a man was "looking in garages." "The caller, who lives in the neighborhood did not recognize the subject and thought him to be suspicious," the police statement on the incident stated.

Hank Sherrod, the attorney for the Patel family, said "this is broad daylight, walking down the street. There is nothing suspicious about Mr. Patel other than he has brown skin." Sureshbhai Patel speaks no English. The Madison police acknowledge a "communication barrier." Sherrod explains, however, that Sureshbhai told the police officers "no English" and told them his son's address. But that didn't stop the officers from beating the man to the point of paralysis.

"The subject began putting his hands in his pockets," the police statement says. "Officers attempted to pat the subject down and he attempted to pull away. The subject was forced to the ground, which resulted in injury." Sherrod said one officer slammed his client face first into the ground, with his arms pulled behind him.

"This is just one of those things that doesn't need to happen," Sherrod explained."That officer doesn't need to be on the streets." "He was just walking on the sidewalk as he does all the time," Chirag Patel, the son of Sureshbhai said. "They put him to the ground." Well now he is off the streets. Eric Parker, the officer responsible for the beating Patel took, was just arrested and is being fired after Indian officials demanded action from the United States.

Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for India's External Affairs Ministry, said that their government takes the incident "very seriously." They are in contact with the U.S. mission in New Dehli, Akbaruddin said. They also are in contact with officials in Washington and Alabama, Akbaruddin added. He was responding to reporters' questions in New Dehli.

"What we will communicate is that we are extremely disturbed," he said. "This is a matter of concern for us, and India and the U.S. as open pluralist societies need to address these issues and find ways in a mature manner so that these are aberrations and are not the norm."

Patel's attorney said that his client suffered partial paralysis but hopes for a full recovery.

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Keeping Fear Alive: As DHS shutdown looms, Jeh Johnson Issues Terror Warning To Mall of America Customers

Just as the DHS congressional Feb 27th budget deadline and possible shutdown nears, a conveniently timed new domestic terror alert was issued today by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. Two weeks ago Jeh Johnson also warned that a lapse in funding would cause a “terrible disruption,” and “A shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security in these times is frankly too bitter to contemplate, but we have to contemplate it,”



Could this be another politically motivated scare tactic being used against the US Congress and the American people?



Well... It was not too long ago that Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge admitted in his book The Test of Our Times , that he “was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush’s re-election.”



The NY Daily News in 2004 found that:

Ashcroft’s Justice Department rolled out terrorism announcements frequently to give Bush a boost in the polls against Democrat John Kerry. Ridge’s first hint that Bush political aides were leveraging fear of terror attacks — an issue where Bush polled well — came in May 2004. Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller held a press conference to warn about American-Al Qaeda Adam Gadahn and other suspects. 

CNN Reports

from Jeh Johnson's appearance today:

Shoppers at the Mall of America need to be "particularly careful" after a terror group singled out the Minnesota super-mall for attacks, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says...



"If anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America today, they've got to be particularly careful," Johnson said. "There will be enhanced security there, but public vigilance, public awareness and public caution in situations like this is particularly important, and it's the environment we're in, frankly."



His comments come as the Mall of America implements new security measures -- some of which the mall said in a statement would be noticeable to shoppers.

It is very possible that Jeh is just taking a page from the

Former FBI assistant director that in a new documentary film explains that "to keep budgets high, we must ‘keep fear alive’

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Not enough fear: Mall of America terrorist threat

© Ariana Lindquist/Bloomberg

Mall of America, the nation’s biggest shopping center in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Visitors to the Mall of America must be "particularly careful" after a terror group threatened the Minneapolis-area tourist attraction, the U.S. Homeland Security secretary said.

Jeh Johnson's comments during an interview Sunday on 's "State of the Union" program followed the release of a video Saturday by the terror group al-Shabaab that called for attacks in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., according to the news network.

"If anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America today, they've got to be particularly careful," Johnson said. He said later on 's "Meet the Press" that he wasn't telling people to steer clear of the mall.

Gunmen from al-Shabaab, based in Somalia, attacked a shopping mall in Kenya in September 2013. At least 67 people died during the attack, which lasted for days. Minneapolis is home to one of the largest Somali populations in the U.S., and federal officials have said al-Shabaab lured recruits from the region.

The world is dealing with a "new phase" of global terrorism, Johnson said on . Previously, terror groups would train recruits to commit acts of violence and then send them into other countries to carry out plans. Now, such groups are using the Internet and social media to push people to carry out attacks on their own, he said.

Tourist Traffic

"I'm sure security at the mall will be enhanced in ways visible and not visible," Johnson said in his interview. "There needs to be an awareness" by the public as well, he said.

Mall of America has "implemented extra security precautions, some may be noticeable to guests, and others won't be," according to an e-mailed statement by Dan Jasper, a spokesman. "We will continue to follow the situation, along with law enforcement, and will remain vigilant as we always do in similar situations."

The complex in Bloomington, Minnesota, has more than 500 stores and attracts 40 million visitors a year, about two-fifths of them tourists, according to its website. It's owned by Triple Five Group, an Edmonton, Alberta-based development company.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police are also investigating the "exact contents and authenticity" of the video allegedly from the terror group because it contains a threat against Canada's West Edmonton Mall, Canadian Press reported.

That mall is also owned by Triple Five Group.

Funding Fight

Johnson's interviews on several Sunday morning U.S. news shows aired five days before funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to lapse. Such an event would trigger a shutdown of non-essential agency operations unless Congress enacts new funds. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner want to use a spending bill to force President Barack Obama to reverse his orders shielding undocumented immigrants from being deported.

On Monday, McConnell will try for a fourth time to advance a House-passed Homeland Security spending bill, H.R. 240, that would require Obama to abandon the immigration action he announced in November.

Democrats have blocked the measure three times. They say Congress should fund Homeland Security, which is responsible for immigration and border enforcement, without setting new limits on immigration policy. Democrats have said they are holding firm in defense of the president's policies.

Court System

The Justice Department is preparing to appeal a judge's order last week that blocked Obama from implementing his immigration policy changes. On Monday, the administration also will seek an emergency order allowing the president's plans to proceed during the appeal.

Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona said in an interview on 's "Face the Nation" Sunday that he didn't support efforts to shut the government down and that the federal court system is the "best way" to resolve the impasse.

"But have no doubt I am angry, as are my constituents in a border state, that the president of the United States would unconstitutionally issue the executive orders he did," McCain said.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, urged Republicans to fund the department and fight Obama's actions in court.

"The worst possible option is to defund the Department of Homeland Security," Graham said on 's "This Week" program. "And I will not be part of that."

'Skeleton Crew'

Johnson said separately on Sunday that he plans to be on Capitol Hill "continuously" this week to press for an end to the stalemate.

During a shutdown, while 80 percent to 85 percent of the department's employees would be required to come to work, many wouldn't be paid on time, Johnson said at a cyber-security panel at a National Governors Association meeting in Washington. About 30,000 employees would be furloughed, with headquarters in "skeleton crew" mode, he said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency would have 80 percent of its workforce furloughed at a time of severe weather in parts of the U.S., Johnson said. The agency would also be unable to process disaster-aid claims during a shutdown, he said.

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The rebellion in Ukraine is reversing the Maidan revolution - der Spiegel tells Poroshenko he must 'cave in, in order to win'

© Reuters / Baz Ratner

Rebels walk near a building damaged during fighting in the village of Nikishine, south east of Debaltsevo February 17, 2015.

Most western media are 'soft-controlled' by the government and in end effect by Washington. For starters, the editors and journalists hired can be trusted to follow the cultural-Marxist party line, no need to 'control' them explicitly.

So if for instance der Spiegel writes something, you can expect it to be in line with what Washington thinks. Yesterday der Spiegel came with the surprising advice to Kiev to 'cave in, in order to win': spiegel.de - Kiew muss aufgeben, um zu siegen

The author of the article Benjamin Bidder says that Kiev's plan A, regain control over the entire area of the former Ukraine, is unrealistic (which it is). Kiev forces have low morale and are up against an enemy backed by Russia, with virtually endless military resources. Even if Washington would send in heavy weapons, it would not make a difference.

The article starts with the lie that the war was forced upon Ukraine by Russia. In reality it was the violent CIA coup in Kiev, the demand that Ukranian should be the only official language, as well as intimidating tones from the operetta Nazis from Lvov to 'teach the Moskals a lesson', that triggered the Donbass resistance. Additionally the very realistic threat that Ukraine could join NATO on the fast track forced Moscow's hand in Crimea. There would not have been a war in Ukraine without the western backed Euro-Maidan protest + subsequent violent coup.

Bidder accuses Poroshenko of denial of reality and that he should accept that rebel hold territories are lost for Kiev and that Kiev can't win this war. As long as the war lasts, no real beginning can be made with the reconstruction of Ukraine (at the expense of the EU taxpayer).

But now comes the really interesting part: Bidder says that continuation of the war is in the interest of Moscow, not Kiev. The war is a tool for the Kremlin to reverse the Maidan-revolution.

One day later it seems as if Poroshenko does indeed follows Bidder's advice, when he calls for deployment of an EU peacekeeping police force to separate the combatants, with the Balkans as a positive example.

[spiegel.de] - Ukraine fordert EU-Soldaten zur Kontrolle der Front

Apparently Poroshenko has indeed given up on Donbass. Angela Merkel repeated yesterday her familiar message that, although Russia violated international law by annexing Crimea, EU-governments were nevertheless interested in shaping a 'European peace order', including Russia.

Editor: smart tones from der Spiegel. The US has probably understood that it will not be possible to drag Europe into a conflict/(cold) war with Russia and that Crimea and Donbass are lost and that the West must be satisfied with rump-Ukraine. Under these conditions war is more in the interest of Moscow than the West.

With peace in Ukraine, the West can begin to consolidate its gains and incorporate rump-Ukraine into the West. Germany and France will block any notion of Ukraine becoming a NATO member, not to antagonize Moscow too much.

The big question is: will Moscow go along and accept the loss of rump-Ukraine from its sphere of influence? Our tentative guess would be: probably yes, but peace could still be some time off, when NAF will try to occupy the rest of the Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts, as they have announced they will.

But as long as the rest of 'Novorossia' refuses to revolt, than there is no hope for Moscow for regime change in Kiev, at least not in the short term. Perhaps in the long term, when Ukraine becomes disillusioned with the West and Europe in particular. But for the moment, Ukraine will probably give Europe a try for at least a couple of years.

The following package, acceptable to both EU and Russia, is in the cards:

• Ukraine not member of NATO


• Association treaty Rump-Ukraine with EU


• International recognition of Crimea and probably Donbass as members of the Russian Federation


• Lifting of all sanctions


• Basket case Ukraine becomes a responsibility for the West (read: an already financially overstretched Europe)

In the long term, this is not a bad deal for Russia. It is obvious that the EU does not want conflict, let alone a new cold war with Russia, unlike the US. At some point the role of the US will be greatly diminished anyway (that racial and financial house of cards will fall apart in 202x ) and the rise of China to superpower status will drive Russia and EU almost automatically into each others arms.

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Muslim anti-anti-Semitism: Norwegian Muslims form human chain around synagogue

© Reuters/Hakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix

Muslims join hands to form a human shield as they stand outside a synagogue in Oslo February 21, 2015.

Muslims in Oslo formed a human chain around the city's main synagogue, chanting "No to anti-Semitism, no to Islamophobia." Over 1,000 people took part in the rally to show solidarity with Jews just a week after a fatal shooting in a Denmark synagogue.

Muslims in Norway, many young women, formed what they called a ring of peace, as the small Jewish congregation filed out of the synagogue after Shabbat prayers on Saturday.

The Muslim message to the Jews in Norway was simple - they mourn and stand in solidarity with the victims of increasingly instances of violence against Jews in Europe, including the terror attacks in France in January and in neighboring Denmark last week.

"This shows that there are many more peacemakers than war-makers," Zeeshan Abdullah, one of the organizers told the crowd. "There is still hope for humanity, for peace and love across religious differences and background."

[embedded content]

The spirit of solidarity filled the air, with Norway's chief rabbi performing a traditional Shabbat ceremony outside.

"It is unique that Muslims stand to this degree against anti-Semitism and that fills us with hope...particularly as it's a grassroots movement of young Muslims," said Norway's Jewish community leader Ervin Kohn.

Just to be on the safe side, authorities, apart from ramping up the police presence, also dispatched sharp shooters around the building.

"It has been calm as we expected. We had no reason to expect any trouble but we were prepared," said police superintendent Steiner Hausvik, adding that about 1,300 people attended the vigil.

The disturbing spate of attacks against the Jewish minority in Europe prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge European Jews to immigrate to Israel if they felt unsafe. Europe's Jewish population has been steadily declining over the past seven decades after the WWII. While in 1960 it was about 3.2 million, by 2010 only 1.4 million were living there - or roughly 0.2 percent of Europe's population, according to the PEW Research Center.

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