November 2019

Reality on Thanksgiving Weekend

2019/11/29

Reality on Thanksgiving Weekend

America's privileged class never had things better throughout the year.

The vast majority of ordinary people struggle to get by, a few lost paychecks from homelessness, hunger and despair.

The world's richest country exploits them so wealth, power and privilege can benefit.

According to Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week:

"Hunger and homelessness don't stop for the holidays."

Tens of millions of Americans "liv(e) on the edge, forced to choose between basic necessities like purchasing food, paying rent, or going to the doctor" when ill.

Poverty is the nation's leading growth industry. Most US households face a daily struggle to get by.

On average, 550,000 Americans are homeless each night.

I see it firsthand whenever outside in downtown Chicago. The city's Magnificent Mile reveals a reality check.

Countless numbers of homeless, hungry, desperate people line both sides of the avenue, hoping passers-by will offer loose change to help them make it through another day.

Many are combat veterans, treated with disdain by the nation they served. Others have families with children. Some have part-time work when able to find it - paying poverty or sub-poverty wages and no benefits.

On Chicago's mean winter streets, they're in doorways, on benches, or wherever they can huddle from winter cold - at times extreme. An uncaring nation treats them like nonpersons.

According to Feeding America, "(m)illions people struggle to get by because of (unemployment), underemployment, stagnant wages and rising costs of living."

"(M)ore than 40 million people still turn to the (organization) each year for" help that federal, state, and local governments don't provide, adding:

"Millions of children and families living in America face hunger and food insecurity every day."

"Every community in the country is home to families who struggle with food insecurity including rural and suburban communities."

"Many households that experience food insecurity do not qualify for federal nutrition (food stamps and other) programs and need to rely on their local food banks and other hunger relief organizations for support."

Who's hungry or food insecure in the US? The very young. The elderly. The employed. The unemployed.

Urban and rural Americans nationwide of all races, creeds, colors, national origins, and genders - a nationwide epidemic.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, over 552,000 are homeless in the US on any given night.

They include individuals, entire families, "chronically homeless individuals," and military veterans.

The National Coalition for the Homeless explained that contributing factors to the problem include lack of affordable housing, limited housing assistance programs, and home foreclosures.

In 2017, the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimated that an hourly wage of $21.21 on average is needed to pay rent or afford another means of shelter.

The figure exceeds the average hourly wage "earned by the average renter by almost $5.00 an hour, and greatly exceed(s) wages earned by low income renter households."

Half of US households are either impoverished or bordering it. The vast majority of jobs are low-wage/part-time or temp with few or no benefits.

Most workers need two or more to survive - if able to find them. Real unemployment is 21% when calculated accurately as it was pre-1990.

Since the 2008-09 financial crisis, protracted Depression persisted for most US households, things worsening as economic conditions deteriorate.

While millions of Americans live on the edge, the vast majority of US discretionary income goes for militarism, maintaining the Pentagon's global empire of bases, endless wars on nations threatening no one, and corporate handouts - notably to Wall Street and military, industrial, security complex companies.

The great GOP 2017 tax cut heist was and remains all about transferring trillions more dollars to corporate America and super-rich households.

Reportedly, Trump may seek a 2020 tax cut on the phony pretext of benefitting the disappearing middle class.

According to Americans for Tax Fairness director Frank Clemente, another tax cut "will only increase the deficit even more and give Republicans a further excuse to cut essential services for working families" more than already.

If enacted into law, privileged Americans will benefit, not ordinary ones, Clemente adding:

Another tax cut would be "an admission by the president that his first tax cut was a scam."

"It wasn't aimed at the middle class but aimed at his wealthy friends and big corporations. Why should we expect anything different now?"

On Thanksgiving weekend and throughout the year, Americans are governed by one-party rule with two extremist right wings, waging war on humanity at home and abroad.

No nation in world history harmed more people over a longer duration than the US.

All sovereign independent states unwilling to sell their souls to the US at the right place are on its target list for regime change by preemptive wars, color revolutions, or old-fashioned coups - weakened in advance by economic terrorism.

Victims are blamed for US crimes committed against them. Mass surveillance is the new normal.

So are police state laws and censorship, the hallmark of totalitarian rule - the slippery slope where America and other Western societies are heading, lurching toward full-blown tyranny.

On Thanksgiving weekend and throughout the year, there's no cause to give thanks for governance contemptuous of ordinary people everywhere so privileged ones can benefit.

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The death of James Le Mesurier

2019/11/27

The death of former British intelligence officer turned humanitarian activist, James Le Mesurier, still raises many questions among the international and intelligence communities. The co-founder of the controversial "White-Helmets" (also known as Syrian Civil Defense) was found dead on November 11^th near his apartment in central Istanbul's Beyoğlu neighbourhood at around 4.30am. Turkish media reports said he was found with fractures to his head and legs and appeared to have fallen from a balcony. Two days later the Turkish authorities revealed that none of the acquired elements could lead to a homicide-hypothesis.

The dynamics of the accident recall the one of Ashraf Marwan, the Egyptian double agent who worked for Egypt and Israel during the Yom Kippur war and who was found dead on June 27^th 2007 after falling from the balcony of his fifth-floor apartment in London.

On April 29^th 2014 another "accident" occurred in Cairo when 31-year old Egyptian journalist and civil rights activist Bassem Sabry fell from the balcony of a Giza apartment complex, dying on the spot. A series of deaths that add up to previous other cases occurred in the 1970's such as the ones regarding Egyptian ambassador to Britain, General Leithy Nassif, who also fell from a balcony in London and the case of Ali Shafik, an alleged arms dealer and secretary in the office of former Egyptian Vice President Abdel Hakim Amer.

Even though these cases all differ in context, time period and location, they still have a common denominator, the mysterious fall from the balcony which somehow appears as a sinister place where an accident is very likely to occur.

Regarding Le Mesurier's profile and activity, his long experience within the British intelligence and the private intelligence sector is clear and proven, with tasks such as re-integrating the UCK within civil defense roles in the new-born Kosovo. After leaving the army in June of 2000, Le Mesurier covered several roles in the private security sector in the West Bank, in Gaza, Amman and Baghdad (where he took an advisor role at the Embassy of the United States).

From 2005 to 2012 Le Mesurier worked for the British headquartered Olive Group (later merged into the U.S. Constellis Group) and for Good Harbor Consulting, led by Richard A. Clarke, formerly National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection and Counter-terrorism under U.S. Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.

From 2012 to 2014 Le Mesurier worked for the UAE-based ARK (Analysis, Research and Knowledge) with the objective of legitimating economic, political and social aspirations of conflict-affected communities. In 2013 the British officer started a cooperation with the Turkish NGO "AKUT Search and Rescue" in order to train non-governmental Syrian civil defense teams on Turkish soil.

As explained by The Guardian, Le Mesurier was convinced that the conventional models of stabiliZation runt by big-budget contractors in the region were dysfunctional, and that the only viable path to recovery was through empowering and engaging local communities.

In 2014 Le Mesurier set up Mayday Rescue, a no-profit group registered in the Netherlands, with offices in Turkey, Jordan and UAE, specialized in training and assisting volunteer emergency first responders in areas of conflict, instability, and natural disasters. The new-born company formed and trained the well-known and initially cited "White Helmets", a group of first-responders who rush to the scenes of bombings to save lives.

The White-Helmets have been strongly criticized by Syrian, Russian, Chinese and Iranian media and institutions, often accused of working as a proxy for anti-Assad forces based in the West and to be an asset of the US and the UK. One interesting element is that the group was also banned from Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria.

One particularly suspicious aspect pointed out is the fact that the White Helmets operated exclusively in the Syrian areas controlled by rebels and Qaedist groups. Additionally, the rescue group was accused by Russia and the Assad government of staging chemical attacks such as the one in Douma (April 7^th 2018).

Even though a conspicuous part of the Western media defined such accusation as "Russian-orchestrated fake news", it is interesting to notice how even Western news sites and papers such as the British left-wing Morning Star exposed the issue related to orchestrated chemical attacks:

"At least 40 members of pseudo-humanitarian group the White Helmets have admitted to staging chemical attacks in Syria, according to a new study by a Russian think tank. Spokesman Maxim Grigoriev unveiled the results of the Foundation for the Study of Democracy's research, which purported to show the group had faked attacks to provoke a reaction against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad".

The real role of the White Helmets will probably never be revealed and the issue will always remain a matter of dispute between the two sides. Additionally, it cannot be ruled out that the group might have had a double objective, without denying the humanitarian side. After all this is an era where wars and intelligence operations are frequently carried out by the so-called proxies.

As to the death of James Le Mesurier, it will very likely go down in history as an "accident". The man simply fell from the balcony of his apartment in a central area of Istanbul where he was known to the locals as an English teacher and a very kind and courteous person, no doubt about that.

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Where is the UK heading?

2019/11/26

Where is the UK heading?

After an illegal campaign based on lies and scare-mongering, the Brexit bandwagon appeared to be leading Wacky Races in the United Kingdom. What now transpires is the majority of the electorate does NOT want Brexit.

It is inconceivable in practically any country on Earth that something like Boris Johnson could get anywhere near the premiership of his country. His party has been responsible for the most shocking cuts to public services, austerity which have pushed thousands, nay millions, of families into misery and has seen thousands of British children relegated to poverty. Many come to school without a meal in their bellies, some are shoeless. This, while the national debt has risen to a staggering 1.7 trillion pounds, or one point seven thousand billion pounds or 1,700,000,000,000. Despite this pitiful record, and despite the lies behind the Leave campaign on Brexit, Boris Johnson appears to be immune to scrutiny and seems to ride on the crest of a wave of lies because his Jack the Lad image with his unkempt hair and blustery buffoonery appears to strike a chord with a part of the electorate which appears to have lost its common sense. He is also helped by carefully managed media campaigns which see for instance difficult moments he faces with audiences blacked out while his opponents' awkwardness is highlighted, this on more than one main TV outlet. In any civilized country this would be illegal, as would the Conservative Party's sponsoring of spoof websites ridiculing its main opponent.

If we take Boris Johnson's party's domestic record, it is deplorable. His is the party which caused the deepest split in British society which will not go away for decades, in launching a reckless referendum on EU membership, without even explaining to the people what the consequences would be if the UK left. The answer to this question, as it has been said many times, is that any form of Brexit would have dire consequences for the economy, would see the pound plummet in value, would see a massive wave of endemic unemployment sweep across the country, relegating swathes of the UK's communities to long-term misery. The reason for this is that with half its economy tied to the European Union market, as a voting member of a large economic block, with a voice inside its institutions, the United Kingdom, with Brexit, will then lose these privileges, will have to pay for access to markets, making already tight margins unworkable, meaning the SMEs which constitute the backbone of the economy will have to pay more for imports, pay more to export and will not suddenly substitute their EU partners with willing new trademates from New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Firstly, nobody is going to queue up to do special business deals with a market of 65 million when there is a larger market of 450 million across the Channel and secondly when transportation costs are computed into margins, there is no alternative to the EU. More sinister even, the alleged secret talks between UK officials and agents in the USA eager to get their hands on the NHS, the National Health Service.

Worse, something the UK media is not reporting, the massive pile of lawsuits suing the backside off the UK for loss of earnings in the event of any form of Brexit, by individuals, companies, regions, countries even and worse still, the confusion that will kick in when British people wishing to remain European discover that under the EU Charter, which the UK signed, a European Citizenship is an acquired right and has nothing to do with nationality status as per the EU Charter itself.

Such basic precepts of fundamental arithmetic and economic theory and law are easy to understand yet they seem to have slipped the minds of part of the electorate in the UK, either because nobody has told them what is going to happen, or else they simply do not understand these universal tenets. Perhaps it is wishful thinking, perhaps it is an idea that the United Kingdom can and will always stand alone against winds and gales and tides. In adventure comics, maybe. Someone could even launch a comic called Britannia, complete with a sword-wielding heroine on the front cover who goes around Europe slashing moustaches off the faces of Frenchmen and challenging Germans to prove which is the better sausage, the Wurst or the British Banger (with an Italian name, the chippolata).

Today as the opinion polls stand, Boris Johnson's party, the Conservative or Tory Party, has a ten-point lead (41-43%) over Jeremy Corbyn's Labour (30-32%), with the Liberal Party led by Jo Swinson in third on 16% of voter intention, followed by the Greens and the Brexit Party on 3% each. The Scottish National Party (SNP) and Plaid Cymru, both anti-Brexit, are regional Parties. Scotland has 59 Members of Parliament in Westminster, 35 of these from the SNP, probably more in the 2019 election and Wales has 40 (Plaid Cymru cuurrently with 4). Tomorrow these gaps may narrow or even invert.

The Brexit lines are now clearly drawn: the Conservative Party stands for a Brexit based on Boris Johnson's deal, if he can get it through Parliament, if not he either has to drop the idea of Brexit or else go through with a no-deal Brexit, which would be even worse than a negotiated divorce; Labour stands for a renegotiated deal and a second referendum based on that deal or Remain; the Liberals, Greens, SNP and Plaid Cymru are against Brexit altogether, and the Brexit Party of course stands for a no-deal Brexit. Looking at the opinion polls today, voter intentions are firmly against Brexit, meaning that if the Conservative Party wins the election as the largest Party, the show will go on with a blocked Parliament without a majority and knowing most of the country does not want Brexit. How democratic would it be to deliver a monstrosity which all MPs know would break the country's back and leave the UK floundering around in the sands picking up the crumbs thrown to it by a handful of players outside the main economic streams or else be forced into unpleasant deals by partners who will take advantage of the weakness of being outside a major trading block? The second question is whether Boris Johnson's Tory party could care less. The third is whether or not the Tory Party and Boris Johnson are indeed the largest party on December 12.

The people do not want Brexit because they do not wish to be even more impoverished than they are, and they understand that with the shock of Brexit and a diving pouind, the electoral proimises being made are pointless because there will be less money available for public services. With Brexit, things can only get worse with less money available for hospitals, healthcare, schools, policing as less money comes into the kitty through taxation and more money is doled out in social benefits payments. What people do not realise is that if any form of Brexit is delivered, lawsuits worth billions upon billions of pounds will be served against the UK for breach of contract, on deals signed years ago before Cameron launched this nonsense because he was terrified of Farage and was afraid of losing a third of his party. Well that third now intends to hold on to power, unless the peoploe of the UK wake up for once and see what is happening.

Either the people of the United Kingdom wake up and understand that Boris Johnson and his party are not a good idea right now - who can trust him? - because he and they stand for Brexit, a disaster which will see famine in Britain for the first time in 300 years. The obstacle holding the country back is those people who are terrified of Labour without understanding that its policies are funded, and those who do not want Brexit or Boris as PM but have always voted Conservative and so will continue to do so. The trouble is, voting for Johnson = voting for Brexit. It is time for some serious consideration inside the UK to safeguard the future of the country's youth, which wants to remain in Europe, in the EU, in the international community as a wanted and respected fellow member. The bottom line is what right has a group of reactionary elitists, who do not understand the harm they are doing with Brexit, to destroy the future of their grandchildren and their country? Let's face it, what do they understand about the daily lives of most British people?

So, why vote for them?

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Russia to keep counter-sanctions against the West for good

2019/11/25

Russia will not be the first to abolish restrictive measures that were imposed in response to the sanctions against Moscow's current policy, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a news conference following his talks with Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne.

"If we discuss first steps on the part of Russia, the abolition of some of our restrictive measures, retaliatory restrictive measures, then the answer is obvious: of course, we are not going to cancel anything," Medvedev said, answering the question of whether Russia could be first to lift counter-sanctions.

The Russian prime minister said that the "sanctions do not please anyone," nor do many find Russia's retaliatory measures pleasing either. However, according to Medvedev, there are Russian companies that support keeping Russia'a retaliatory measures in effect for good.

The prime minister emphasized that Russia could preserve counter-sanctions for a long time, but the Russian Federation could still develop relations with European countries. "We'll wait and see: if Ukraine can move forward in resolving the internal conflict, then maybe our relations with the EU, which made this inter-dependent, will become better. Well, if they fail to move forward, then these sanctions will remain for a long time, and our counter-sanctions will also remain in effect for a long time, but even in these conditions we can live and develop," Medvedev said.

The West started introducing international sanctions against Russia in 2014, after the Crimea referendum and the outbreak of hostilities in the Donbass. In response, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the introduction of counter-sanctions, which banned imports of agricultural products, raw materials and food products from the countries that introduced anti-Russian sanctions: the USA, EU, Canada, Australia and Norway. Russian sanctions still ban imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, seafood, cheeses, milk, other dairy products, vegetables, fruits, and some other products from the above-mentioned countries. On August 13, 2015, Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, which joined the anti-Russian sanctions, were included on the list of countries from which it was forbidden to import food products. Russia put Ukraine on the same list from January 1, 2016.

In June 2019, Putin extended the food embargo against the countries that adopted anti-Russian sanctions in 2014 in response to Russia's reunification with Crimea and actions of the Russian Federation in the Donbass.

The presidential administration and the government believed that the food embargo would help revive domestic agricultural production. Five years later, one can speak about the success of import substitution only in relation to tomatoes, pork and poultry. The profit from sale of these food products totalled 75 billion rubles per year. Most of the items on the list of sanctioned goods can hardly be substituted or can not be substituted at all.

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International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

2019/11/25

If I could have one wish granted, it might well be a total end to rape. That means a significant weapon of war gone from the arsenal of conflict, the absence of a daily risk assessment for girls and women in public and private spaces, the removal of a violent assertion of power, and a far-reaching shift for our societies.

Rape isn't an isolated brief act. It damages flesh and reverberates in memory. It can have life changing, unchosen results-a pregnancy or a transmitted disease. Its long-lasting, devastating effects reach others: family, friends, partners and colleagues. In both conflict and in peace it shapes women's decisions to move from communities through fear of attack or the stigma for survivors. Women and girls fleeing their homes as refugees also risk unsafe transport and insecure living conditions that can lack locked doors, adequate lighting and proper sanitation facilities. Girls married as children in search of increased security at home or in refugee camps can get caught up in legitimized conditions of rape, with little recourse for those wishing to escape, such as shelter and safe accommodation.

In the vast majority of countries, adolescent girls are most at risk of sexual violence from a current or former husband, partner or boyfriend. As we know from our work on other forms of violence, home is not a safe place for millions of women and girls.

Almost universally, most perpetrators of rape go unreported or unpunished. For women to report in the first place requires a great deal of resilience to re-live the attack, a certain amount of knowledge of where to go, and a degree of confidence in the responsiveness of the services sought - if indeed there are services available to go to. In many countries, women know that they are overwhelmingly more likely to be blamed than believed when they report sexual assault, and they have to cope with an unwarranted sense of shame. The result of these aspects is a stifling of women's voices around rape, significant under-reporting and continuing impunity for perpetrators. Research shows that only a small fraction of adolescent girls who experience forced sex seek professional help. And less than 10 per cent of women who did seek help after experiencing violence contacted the police.

One positive step to increase accountability is to make rape universally illegal. Currently more than half of all countries do not yet have laws that explicitly criminalize marital rape or that are based on the principle of consent. Along with criminalizing rape, we need to get much, much better at putting the victim at the centre of response and holding rapists to account. This means strengthening the capacity of law enforcement officials to investigate these crimes and supporting survivors through the criminal justice process, with access to legal aid, police and justice services as well as health and social services, especially for women who are most marginalized.

Having more women in police forces and training them adequately is a crucial first step in ensuring that survivors begin to trust again and feel that their complaint is being taken seriously at every stage of what can be a complex process. Progress also requires that we successfully tackle the many institutional and structural barriers, patriarchal systems and negative stereotyping around gender that exist in security, police and judicial institutions, as they do in other institutions.

Those who use rape as a weapon know just how powerfully it traumatizes and how it suppresses voice and agency. This is an intolerable cost to society. No further generations must struggle to cope with a legacy of violation.

We are Generation Equality and we will end rape

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Passenger plane makes emergency landing after co-pilot dies

2019/11/24

An Aeroflot airliner flying from Moscow to Anapa (in Southern Russia) made an emergency landing at Platov Airport in the city of Rostov-on-Don because of the death of a co-pilot.

A source at emergency services of the region reported that the passenger plane made an emergency landing at the airport of Rostov-on-Don Airport after the co-pilot suddenly felt very sick. The man died during the landing. Airport services provided all necessary help and prepared the airplane for takeoff to the airport of destination.

It was said that the co-pilot, born in 1979, died of cardiac arrest. Investigation is underway.

Aeroflot expressed condolences to the pilot's family and friends. "Aeroflot expresses sincere condolences to the families and friends of the pilot," the press service of the company said. Aeroflot representatives also said that the captain of the jetliner decided to land the airplane in Rostov-on-Don to provide medical help to the co-pilot.

It was later said that the man died after the landing in the ER vehicle.

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WikiLeaks Exposes Doctored OPCW Report on Alleged CW Attack in Syria

2019/11/24

WikiLeaks Exposes Doctored OPCW Report on Alleged CW Attack in Syria

On November 23, WikiLeaks accused the OPCW "of doctoring (its Douma, Syria) chemical weapons report."

It published email information from an OPCW whistleblower, a member of its fact finding mission to Douma, expressing "his gravest concern over intentional bias introduced to a redacted version of the report he co-authored."

Bolivia: No Election Fraud, but a Color Revolution

2019/11/21

Bolivia: No Election Fraud, but a Color Revolution

OAS hasn't presented any evidence that there was a fraud, as a U.S. and a European independent institution have both concluded that Almagro manipulated data, to make possible the coup against Morales

No Evidence that Bolivian Election Results Were Affected by Irregularities or Fraud, Statistical Analysis Shows, is the title of a Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) study released on November 8.

Five days after it, on November 15 the Political Scientist at the University of Michigan Walter Mebane considered one of the world's most renowned experts in electoral fraud, released a report titled Evidence against Fraudulent Votes Being Decisive in the Bolivia 2019 Election. Mebane pointed out that the Organization of the American States (OAS) said it found irregularities in 274 electoral minutes, out of a total of 34,551. That is, 0.22% of the total.

According to Mebane, it does not differ much from the pattern seen in other countries' elections such as Honduras, Turkey, Russia, Austria, and Wisconsin. "Even removing fraudulent votes, MAS (Movement toward Socialism, Evo's party) has an advantage over ten percent," added the U.S. researcher.

The OAS report itself, in addition to recording that nonsense conclusion, admits that its work focused only on the regions where the candidate to re-election, Evo Morales, had been victorious. The organization headed by the Uruguayan Luis Almagro "did not provide evidence" to support any fraud, on the contrary, it made serious procedural errors in the audit, concluded researchers and analysts at the CEPR, based in Washington D.C.

"Examination finds tally sheets consistent with Evo Morales's first-round victory," says the study achieved by U.S., European and Asian experts. That coincides with independent poll surveys previous to Bolivia elections which scared the local upper classes, opposition to the first indigenous president in Bolivia's history. Polls that generated a deep hysteria and a witch hunt in the South American country, on the elections' eve.

CEPR researchers and analysts noted that the rapid count results closely matched the official count which, according to them, "is legally binding and completely transparent" in Bolivia. "Contrary to a post-election narrative that was supported without evidence by the OAS Electoral Observation Mission, statistical analysis shows that it was predictable that Morales would obtain a first-round win, based on the results of the first 83.85 percent of votes in a rapid count that showed Morales leading runner-up Carlos Mesa, by less than 10 points," the study pointed out.

The co-director of the CEPR, Mark Weisbrot, said that it was very unusual and highly questionable for the OAS to issue a so serious statement, without providing any evidence. It raises "disturbing questions about the organization's commitment to impartial, professional electoral observation," he added.

While the results found out by CEPR coincides with Bolivia's Tribunal Electoral, the OAS has a vast history of working according to U.S. interests in Latin America, strongly boycotting progressive governments. "The OAS is nothing more than a ministry of Yankee colonies," used to say, Fidel Castro.

What is said by the Bolivian opposition, too, is that hundreds of ballots and boxes have been found in trashes shortly after the election. Pictures and videos, which by themselves never prove anything, of course, have been spread while not even a single ballot has been presented to the Bolivian court.

Color Revolution

Luis Almagro himself, OAS Secretary-General, is a deplorable guy who, always knelt before the Empire, does not hesitate in using his office to spread lies advocating for Uncle Sam's coups, murderers, plunders, and invasions across the world's richest region in biodiversity, that is, Latin America.

If once again Mr. Almagro writes his name in Latin America's blacklist, he is not alone: the Bolivian oligarchy along with the Catholic and Evangelical churches, the European Union, the U.S. (listen to audio 15, released last October 9 by an anonymous source to several media outlets), and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian Evangelical Churches and Israel (audio 5).

These audios confirm, too, that the wave of violent protests against Evo Morales after the Bolivia election was not spontaneous, but previous, carefully, foreign-funded events called Color Revolution idealized by U.S. citizen Gene Sharp to overthrow governments across the world, contrary to the Washington regime's interests.

Elite Aware of Massive Support to Evo

The Bolivian upper classes themselves were always well-aware that Evo Morales would legitimately win the election, though they spent all the election's eve hysterically shouting that "everything is already prepared for Evo to win, the election will be stolen".

An example is a WhatsApp profiles' message widely spread in Santa Cruz de la Sierra by those classes which said "mourning to the ignorance of my people," referring to the majority of the Bolivians across the country who, they knew, would vote for Evo.

An upper-class seamstress and nurse from Santa Cruz de la Sierra who owns a store downtown among the local oligarchy who posted such a WhatsApp message, depicts the Bolivian situation. Like the class she belongs to, she pointed out to an inverted scenario she was trying to construct. And reveal other pillars of the Color Revolution, besides manipulation and disinformation which reign in Bolivia these times.

She voted for Carlos Mesa, "who was president for only six months! One cannot do anything in just six months!" she told Pravda.ru on the eve of the election. But her candidate was one year and a half in the Presidency. She ignores this fact.

Telling her somethings about Bolivia at that time, some weeks later, it was mentioned that her country was experiencing economic growth during Evo Morales' years. She angrily interrupted Pravda.ru, to exclaim to her perplexed Templar Knights leaders, then: "Has Bolivia economically grown?!". Her country, with Evo in the Presidency, was economically growing for years like no other in Latin America.

Ignorance, fear, hysteria: other fundamental Color Revolution spines.

Talking later to a stationary store owner in the same zone when the country was already stuck after the election, the white man originally from Santa Cruz de la Sierra said, "what's happening in Bolivia is a movement carried out by Santa Cruz's elite, historically discriminatory."

He told Pravda.ru that what was taking place was not a popular uprising. "See how many roads Evo has constructed. He has granted workers' rights as no other president did before. The minimum wage has had real gains in the last years. Our economy is growing like never before. Our police never had good automobiles, as they have now. Evo has started to industrialize Bolivia, what no one did in our history."

Last Saturday, November 16, Evo Morales' Vice-President Álvaro García Linera granted an interview to Buenos Aires' radio AM 750, saying that the roots of the coup d'état in Bolivia which forced Evo to resign, have racist motivations especially against the indigenous peoples of his country.

"They are killing peasants and indigenous people. In the five days of the government of the impostor Jeanine Áñez, 18 dead people have already been counted, all of them poor people. It's a government that drips blood."

Photo: By EneasMx - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://ift.tt/2D5WDBM

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Italy: Acqua Alta

2019/11/20

Acqua Alta

The Acqua Alta that drowns Venice in these rainy and gray days of November is unfortunately also a representation of the Italian political, social and economic situation. So Venice finds itself with alarming frequency at the mercy of ever larger tides that disfigure and ruin it, without those in charge being able to find a way to protect it, so Italy finds itself ruled by parties that seem to ignore everything that is of national interest.

The Italian Democratic Party (the former communists) has long since replaced the Soviet Union with the European Union in its political idea, envisaging transfers of national sovereignty to Brussels that would make Italy a succulent prey shared at least between Germany and France and perhaps even other European nations.

The 5 Stars Movement was the great hope of Italy: anti-system by vocation, it promised to our beloved country a moral reawakening that would give us dignity and honor. It ended up doing a government with just that DP that it said hated and despised, pointing to it for years as a bilge of malfeasance and corruption and therefore as an enemy to be destroyed.

To draw now the major political advantages from the exasperation of Italians for the uncontrolled immigration, the numerous crimes committed in Italy by foreigners who enjoy here a de facto impunity, almost due "to immigrant merits", the economic crisis that continues making the future uncertain for many people, the submission to Brussels that the parties in office always mistaken for good governance, to take advantage of all this are the Northern League of Matteo Salvini and the party of Giorgia Meloni, Brothers of Italy.

It is such an obvious success that the DPs and 5Stars are terrified of it and do not want new elections despite the fact that it is clear to everyone that they have formed an inept and contentious government, unable to successfully face the country's problems: but the fear of the judgment of Italian voters is greater than the good common sense that the situation would require.

In Italy too, as in other nations, there is a deep State, with indefinite and uncertain boundaries, but which nevertheless envelops politics and allows the functioning of that other State, the one under the eyes of all, that visible in the light of the sun.

Augusto Sinagra, from the height of his venerable age and experience, has witnessed great events in Italian politics and is among those who can help us to see the things in the right perspective.

Q) What do you think of Matteo Salvini and his League? And about Giorgia Meloni?

A) Matteo Salvini is an intelligent man and an excellent communicator who has tried to find a solution to one of the most dangerous present-day emergencies, namely that of a mass invasion of the national territory desired by external powers and internal complicity or stupidity. I believe (and I also hope) that Matteo Salvini achieves further and even more flattering electoral successes. I think to the next regional elections in Emilia Romagna. I've known Giorgia Meloni for many years, she was still a girl. She is a very active woman who has greatly improved in her personal and political education. However, not everyone around her deserves consideration. Giorgia Meloni should regain greater credibility by having the strength and loyalty to recognize her past mistakes, which are very serious errors: the trust in the Monti government, the favorable vote for the so-called "Fornero" law, the balanced budget and the mechanism of economic stability. You cannot say now that what you voted for in Parliament was all wrong. The fact that Meloni (if the press has correctly reported) has declared herself to be against the nationalization of ILVA is very perplexing. Personally, I cannot appreciate who - although not required - says I'm not a fascist when she had not had these "embarrassments" until recently.

Q) What judgment do you feel to express about the 5 Stars after the change of alliance following the August crisis and their political and economic ideas?

A) The electoral success of the M5S at the latest political votes (now reduced to a national average that can be generously estimated at around 10%) was determined by a reaction to the previous bad politics. The M5S has no political planning and is lacking in "managers" with even minimal capacity. It depends on a capital company which also includes an exponent of international finance. My idea is that the M5S was created (aboard the "Britannia" or overseas, it does not matter) to convey dissent and protest so that things gottopardescamente [1] remained as they were. I'm not talking about Grillo because I don't deal with jokers. My judgment is clearly negative as well as to have the M5S planned for some time and forced the government crisis of August 2019. They are the secular arm of economic liberalism and international capital. I cannot judge their political and economic ideas because they have none. They ignore the difference between capitalism and communism.

Q) What is the Italian Democratic Party, politically and socially? What are the reasons for its apparent continued success even in failure?

A) The DP has managed to rule and still rule against the popular will through the support of certain circles of the judiciary. But, above all, thanks to the support of Bernardo Mattarella's son who was elected precisely because of the DP's choice. The DP today represents and serves the interests of the grimmest bourgeoisie and the most vulgar right wing. What does DP represent politically and socially? It is a public danger to the economy and to workers. To those of the DP, only the hand remained of "left". How do you explain success even in failure? Partially, I have already answered, for the rest it depends on a tried and tested invisible system of under-power, which manifests itself servilely in the most widespread press and television by now enslaved professionally and morally to the "master".

Q) It seems that Donald Trump is chasing heads, even concerning the Italian part of Russiagate. With what possible results?

A) I don't know Donald Trump what kind of "hunting" he gave himself. However, Italian responsibility is increasingly emerging also at governmental and sub-government level in having established a slanderous mechanism against the US President to favor a character like Clinton, mentally unstable and warmonger. It seems that the Lord put his protecting hand on the world.

Q) How long could the current government, the Conte bis, last as standing more on a desperate need than on a true commonality of purpose?

A) The government in office has a very short duration and the desperate need to which it is addressed is to arrive at the time of appointments in Public Bodies, in the State administration and in the "parastate" so that the DP, although destined to further electoral collapse, can continue to govern. If Bernardo Mattarella's son [2] had institutional sensitivity and due impartiality and independence (which he has long lost), he should stress the resignation of the government. Of course, this would not be completely in line with the Constitution, but the aforementioned character has already shown that he has a very personal idea of the Constitution.

Q) Why do we fail to express, as a people, a stable government that is up to the problems and challenges that could even lead to the destruction of our nation?

A) The so-called "strong powers", the condition of colonial submission to which Italy has been subjected since September 3, 1943, the interests of international finance and monetarism, today well represented by this European Union, which is not the European Union that was wanted and are wanted, all of them do not want a stable government in Italy that knows how to face the needs of a Nation that is really sinking into the water. A stable government would first recover its monetary sovereignty by demonstrating that the so-called public debt does not exist. But, after the deaths of Enrico Mattei, Aldo Moro and Bettino Craxi (but I would also add Giuseppe Pella, of whom I would like to say that "still in my mind and in my heart is the good and dear paternal image"), that as everyone knows they were murdered, will there be someone who will want to assume the necessary responsibilities at the risk of their own life?

Q) Why have many Italian women reacted with hatred and contempt towards the poor Pamela Mastropiero and Desirée Mariottini, but with an even affectionate understanding for the immigrants who killed those two unfortunate ones?

A) It is very difficult to answer this question. About the why many Italian women have reacted almost contemptuously towards those poor girls Pamela Mastropietro and Desirée Mariottini and vice versa with almost understanding towards the murderous laymen (so-called "immigrants" and not only), it can only be ascribed to serious pathologies of mental distortion and morality caused by the general climate of subversion of every most elementary civil and ethical value. On the other hand, when it comes to affirming, as does Mrs. Cirinnà, "God, country, family, what a shitty life" [3], it is clear that an answer to the question could better be given by a psychiatrist.

Q) To conclude, what does "Homeland" mean in today's Italy and what to do to reinvigorate its meaning?

A) Unfortunately, the word "Homeland" today represents very little. Its meaning and its preceptive content could be recovered only by recovering the sense of solidarity, of social justice of personal and national dignity. But above all recovering the knowledge of the past in its truth and with all its lights and shadows; recovering the awareness of the present and that is of what it indicates as mandatory duties on the part of the individual and society in terms of an intransigent defense of the national interest; having, finally, a planning or political proposal that takes into account the national interest, starting with the defense of work and workers' rights. Homeland is honored and lived first with work. For the rest, to say what it is, the words of Alessandro Manzoni are enough: "One of arms, of tongue and altar, of memories, of blood and of heart".

[1] A reference to the novel "Il gattopardo" by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa: everything must change in order for nothing to change.

[2] Here prof. Sinagra refers to Sergio Mattarella, current President of the Italian Republic.

[3] For example here https://www.panorama.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Cirinna%CC%80-cartello-dio-patria-famiglia-1030x615.jpg

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Costantino Ceoldo - Pravda freelance

By it:User:Abbag, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://ift.tt/2QHbtXr

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Exquisite hobbies of Russian entrepreneurs: gold coins, medals and toil

2019/11/20

Prominent Russian billionaire entrepreneurs spend their time and money not only on entrepreneurial activities. There are dedicated collectors among them, too. Some of them approach their hobby as professionals, rather than enthusiastic amateurs. It is pleasing when such wonderful collections can be accessible for most of us, but many wealthy Russian collectors prefer to enjoy their acquisitions all by themselves.

Exquisite hobbies of Russian entrepreneurs: gold coins, medals and toil. 63953.jpeg

Source: twitter.com

Collections for everyone

Without exaggeration, the name of Victor Vekselberg, president of the Skolkovo Foundation, chairman of the board of directors of Renova group of companies, and concurrently founder of the Cultural-Historical Foundation The Link of Times, is associated with the return of the bells of the Holy Danilovsky Monastery and the archives of Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin to Russia. The first project of The Link of Times Foundation, namely, the acquisition of the world's largest private collection of great Russian jeweler Carl Faberge caused quite a commotion a while back. All acquisitions of the foundation, with the exception of the reconstructed Russian settlement of Fort Ross in California, are kept at Russian museums and universities.

Billionaire David Yakobashvili shares Vekselberg's patriotism. The would-be chairman of the board of directors of Wimm-Bill-Dann, David Yakobashvili, used to be a sound engineer in the days of his youth, repairing radio receivers and tape recorders. Probably, like any musically gifted Georgian, he had "Melodies of the Vera Quarter" playing in his head. In his mature years, his hobby evolved into a passion for collecting, and on the eve of the millennium, the Russian entrepreneur came up with an idea to establish a museum, which was subsequently given the modest name of "Sobraniye," which translates into English as "collection," or "meeting."

This collection, which is one of the largest private collections in the world, contains about 20,000 exhibits. In the building located at the intersection of Solyanka Street and Yauzsky Boulevard, one can see the plenty of sound and musical equipment: from phonographs and phonograph records dated from the beginning of the last century to perforated paper discs and vinyl records from the end of the last century.

The eyes of the visitor involuntarily catch self-playing musical instruments and mechanical pianos, orchestras and barrel-organs. The visitor would stand in front of a shop window with smaller music boxes on display, imaginatively stroke the phonograph bell while listening to the sound of the ticking clock.

The visitor, who shares a passion for music, will be impressed by the artifacts that are in no way related to Euterpe, the muse for music, because extensive museum collections contain works of decorative and applied arts, paintings and graphic designs. Particular attention should be given to the richest collection of Russian bronze, antique silver, glass and crystal of domestic and foreign production, as well as to the collection of ancient geographical maps.

Exquisite hobbies of Russian entrepreneurs: gold coins, medals and toil. 63954.jpeg

Source: forbes.ru

Vladimir Potanin, the head of Interros conglomerate, owns the world's largest collection dedicated to the Olympic movement. This is not surprising at all, because his son and daughter had won top prizes in world aquatic competitions. Potanin himself had done a lot for the triumph of the Sochi Olympics. His collection currently counts about 400 artifacts and grows larger still. The collection includes items of gold, silver, bronze, commemorative medals, torches, prize-winners' diplomas, honorary signs, cups, figurines and horns of the Olympic Games from different years. The auction value of award medals varies from $2,000 to $250,000. Personal awards are most expensive. Torches cost from $1,500 to $170,000, depending on their rarity. For example, only 100 torches had been made for the 1992 Albertville Games. They were designed by Philippe Starck, and Mr. Potanin owns one of those torches. The entrepreneur believes that the collection should serve the Olympic idea and inspire future champions, so he often takes his collection on the road. In May, Potanin's collection was exhibited in Minsk during the Second European Games.

Exquisite hobbies of Russian entrepreneurs: gold coins, medals and toil. 63955.jpeg

Source: xptz.ru

Vladimir Lisin, Russia's second wealthiest entrepreneur in 2019 according to Forbes magazine, collected an extensive collection of pre-revolutionary Kasli cast-iron sculptures. Extremely rare exhibits among more than 200 works of cast-iron art from the town of Kasli in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia may cost up to 5,000 US dollars. Lisin started his collection after he received a gift from his wife's grandmother - a sculpture by Pierre-Jules Mêne, a 19th-century French sculptor-animal painter called "Wild Boar attacked by Four Dogs". He had been expanding his collection with the works of Kasli cast-iron art ever since. The Russian cast-iron art had conquered Europe and Asia back during the dynasty of the Demidovs, who amassed a fortune during the times of Peter the Great. Being a former metallurgical engineer, a co-owner of the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant, he understands the difficulty of casting a heavy sculpture and an elegant figurine.

Collections for thyself

Exquisite hobbies of Russian entrepreneurs: gold coins, medals and toil. 63956.jpeg

Source: os.colta.ru

Experts do not even bother to evaluate Yakobashvili's collection. Yet, the collection of paintings and the majolica by Mikhail Vrubel, which Alfa Bank president Petr Aven acquired five years ago, was evaluated at $500 million. It is believed that this is one of the best private collections of Russian fine art and graphic designs. It includes Vasily Kandinsky's "Composition 8," which was bought at Christie's auction in New York for $23 million. Paintings by Serov, Chagall, Petrov-Vodkin and many other artists from Aven's collection had been exhibited for a number of times. Unfortunately, however, the banker's acquisitions (for example, a sculpture by Henry Moore, the most expensive acquisition) adorn his mansion in London, rather than Moscow museums. Aven himself decided that it did not make any sense to open a private museum in Moscow, because his collection "duplicates that of the Tretyakov Gallery, but, of course, is inferior to it from the point of view of the quality of the collection." Reportedly, the museum is going to open its doors in Riga.

Exquisite hobbies of Russian entrepreneurs: gold coins, medals and toil. 63957.jpeg

Source: fresher.ru

Rumor has it that Aven's colleague, Mikhail Fridman, co-owner and chairman of the supervisory board of the Alfa Group consortium, collects Japanese swords of samurai class. No one knows, how many of them his collection counts and which of them are most valuable ones.

Fridman has never exposed his collection of Japanese swords, also known as nihontos, in public. Skeptics believe that all the talks about the billionaire's hobby do not hold water. The situation on the market may substantiate this point of view, because small arms are freely available for purchase if they are low quality arms. A hundred or two of iconic swords, mainly tati swords - a type of Japanese blades of the Kamakura period, less than two dozens of katana blades - the most renowned type of the Japanese sword - and wakizashi, a short sword, make an exception from the rule. These rare blades are categorized as a national treasure of Japan (kokuho), and it is practically impossible to buy them legally.

Exquisite hobbies of Russian entrepreneurs: gold coins, medals and toil. 63958.jpeg

Source: ru.wikipedia.org

Entrepreneur Andrei Bokarev does not share his collection either. The owner of Transmashholding collects gold, but not in bullions - he collects unique items made of gold. Colleagues say that the hobby had an innocent start, when Mr. Bokarev allegedly used a gold Parker pen to sign an agreement with Iskander Makhmudov back in 1998. Back in the day, Andrei Bokarev headed Makhmudov's export company that subsequently developed into the largest coal trader, CarboOne. Twenty years later, the collection of gold items, mainly works of art, has grown to 500 objects, says a businessman familiar with Bokarev. It is surprising that the collection has no jewelry items, although the rare Patek Philippe desk clock in gold, which Bokarev bought in Courchevel for 3 million euros can be referred to as a jewelry item. Andrei Bokarev's latest and possibly most expensive acquisition is gold toilet worth millions of dollars. This is a fully operational toilet created by famous artist Maurizio Cattelan. This item is evaluated at more than $5 million. Rumor has it that the businessman pleased himself with the golden work of art for his recent birthday: the toilet was delivered to Moscow a month ago - for Bokarev's birthday, which he celebrates on October 23^rd.

Exquisite hobbies of Russian entrepreneurs: gold coins, medals and toil. 63959.jpeg

Source: forbes.ru

Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov's teen passion for coins has grown, by his own words, into a massive collection worthy of a museum. Russian gold coins make its centerpiece. With nearly 5,000 collected coins, Vagit Alekperov's collection deserves attention just because he has never been able to collect all of the gold coins that had ever been released, even though he started his collection 50 years ago. Alekperov believes that 20 percent of the coins that his collection lacks are simply not available on the market: they are kept either in museums or in private collections. As long as his wealthy heirs show no interest in this collection, the entrepreneur decided to create a museum in the future so that his collection could be kept and expanded without the right of sale.

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Hardline US Senators Call for Combatting China

2019/11/19

Hardline US Senators Call for Combatting China

On November 12, a joint press release by US Senate Foreign Relations Committee hardliners Chris Coons, Jeff Merkley, Marco Rubio, and Todd Young called for combatting China.

The so-called Global Economic Security Strategy Act of 2019 (GESS) is all about wanting China marginalized, weakened, contained, and isolated.

It's part of the US imperial strategy to undermine China's economic, financial, technological, and military development.

It calls for requiring Trump and future presidents "to regularly produce and submit to Congress a Global Economic Security Strategy."

Falsely claiming national security depends on unchallenged US economic growth, the measure calls for "respond(ing) in the most effective manner possible to international predatory economic practices (sic)."

These "practices" are a US specialty in dealings with other nations, seeking an advantage by fair or foul means - notably by wars of aggression and economic terrorism, wanting all nations subservient to its interests.

Young falsely claimed "(p)redatory economic practices by China and other strategic competitors has the potential to weaken America's national security and our standing in the world (sic)," adding:

"We must combat these predatory practices (sic) by working together with our likeminded partners and allies around the globe."

According to Merkley's disinformation, the GESS "would help ensure that America has a plan in place to respond to other countries' predatory economic strategies (sic), so we can ensure a level playing field and help working families thrive for generations to come (sic)."

Rubio notably is hostile to virtually everything just societies hold dear. Militantly hostile to China, he said the following:

"The (capitalist to the bone) Chinese Communist Party is undertaking a patient effort to reorient the global order to reflect their values and their interests at the expense of ours (sic), including using subsidies and protectionism to build up their capabilities in various key industries while destroying American competitors (sic)," adding:

"This bipartisan legislation recognizes the importance of combatting the threat China poses to US national and economic security by upholding the US-led global order (sic)."

According to Coons, GESS aims to "reduce threats to our nation's economy (sic) and promote fair competition for American workers and families (sic)."

Introduced on November 7, the the measure's full text hasn't been released.

It has nothing to do with promoting "free, fair and reciprocal economic relationships" with other nations, everything to do with dominating them.

In April 2018, similar legislation was introduced without mention of China in it.

In October, neocon hardliner Mike Pence slammed Beijing, falsely saying "far too many American multinational corporations have kowtowed to the lure of (its) money and markets by muzzling not only criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, but even affirmative expressions of American values (sic)."

Separately on Tuesday, hardline Senator Josh Hawley falsely accused Beijing of building its own political and economic power on the backs of our working class, devastating" US manufacturing (sic).

China and other low-wage countries benefit from offshored manufacturing and other jobs by corporate America.

They're to blame for what's gone on for decades, not recipient countries.

So are bipartisan US policies that facilitate offshoring. Paul Craig Roberts explained that offshored US jobs weren't "stolen by China," adding:

"...America is not losing jobs to foreign competition but to our own corporations moving the work abroad in order to lower their labor costs and raise capital gains and bonuses for owners and executives."

His book titled "The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism" explains it and related issues in detail.

"(J)obs were taken to China (and other low-wage countries) by US global corporations, along with the technology and business know-how, for the sole reason of maximizing US corporate profits," he stressed.

The problem lies in the US, not abroad. Politicians from both right wings of the one-party state blame other countries for their abuses of power, betrayal of the public trust, and other wrongdoing.

Roberts explained that "(t)he way to bring jobs home" isn't by tariffs on China or other countries, a wrongheaded policy.

Its by "tax(ing) corporations on the basis of the geographical location in which they add value to their products."

"If US corporations produce in the 50 states for their US market, the tax rate would be low."

"If they produce abroad in China or elsewhere for sale in the US, the tax rate would be high."

Winston Churchill once said: "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else."

We're still waiting after all these years. "The right thing" isn't in the vocabulary of majority US hardliners, wanting things their way and for interests they support - at the expense of everyone else.

Photo: Por U.S. Department of State from United States - Assistant Secretary Campbell With With Chen GuangchengUploaded by January, Domínio público, https://ift.tt/35ep1xj

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Italy: A poisoned society?

2019/11/16

Our western civilization is undergoing major changes, but while the basic economic structure has never changed and is not changing, remaining capitalist albeit with some variations on the same theme, it is on the social and cultural front that we see the most significant changes. Both Europe and Italy are hit by large migratory flows that bring foreign immigrants into their territory, immigrants generally poor and ignorant but of military age and who, according to the current vulgate, flee in search of a better life from their tormented countries of origin, whether they are in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East or Southeast Asia. Added to this, there are the new (sic) cultural currents: rants about gender; the progressive feminization of Western society which sees the modern male refuse of assuming the responsibilities of adult life and living his true nature; women who behave "as men" but show, at the end of the day, that they are not able to defend themselves even when their own lives are in grave danger.

Our western society is soaked in a poison that is killing it, slowly. Is the vision I have in mind too dark? I talked about it with Alessandro Meluzzi, a former Italian parliamentarian, psychiatrist and criminologist, a man of faith [1].

Q) For many, "The Sunset of the West" has become something more than the title of a book of the last century. In your opinion, is there really a crisis in the West and, if so, can you identify a trigger?

A) The decline of the West is a risk that many have decided to succumb to today. It is imposed from above, by a nebulous minority, a lifestyle that does not belong to us, inculcating even foreign ideologies. The root cause is the loss of a strong identity, constantly attacked by several fronts.

Q) Why does the Left, the world one but also the Italian one, feel so obliged to interfere in family relationships, between parents and children?

A) The world left wants a global hybridization in which all human beings are equal, without any difference. However, it's a horrifying idea: we would be robots unable to have our thoughts because there would be no different points of view.

Q) Immigration has taken on exceptional dimensions. In your opinion, is there a precise plan behind all this?

A) I don't know if there is a plan but I know that there is an organization behind non-EU crime in Italy, like that of the Nigerian Mafia for example. Immigrants gather in our territory and, corrupted by unhappiness, arm themselves against that Western identity we were talking about earlier.

Q) In the future of our nation is there the danger of an irreparable social upheaval, due to immigration faced lightly?

A) The danger is there but we build it in the future. It seems to me that a hope has remained. A hope that the center-right has corroborated in the last Regional Elections in Umbria. The Italians have expressed a clear vote: no immigration that could upset the reality for what we know.

Q) Is there a political or religious force in Italy that is really sensitive and alert to the current situation in our country?

A) It seems to me that now the Catholic Church no longer represents the religiosity of the Italians. On the other hand, the references of Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni [two center-Right leaders] to Christianity are clear. Thus, there is still a Christianity that is opposed to the spread of unmotivated do-goodism. Christianity is first and foremost an identity provider. An identity that Pope Francis, together with the Left, seems to want to destroy.

[1] https://ift.tt/37cgY69

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Costantino Ceoldo - Pravda freelance

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Bolvia coup: Why did Putin betray Evo Morales?

2019/11/16

Why would the Russian government bother to support left-wing regimes in Latin America to the detriment of Russia's relations with other countries?

Russia recognized Jeanine Agnes, an opposition representative, the interim President of Bolivia. Agnes immediately recognized the government of impostor Juan Guaido in Venezuela, which Moscow does not recognize. Why would the Kremlin increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro and recognize Jeanine Agnes, a pro-American protege? She did not have the right to declare herself president - the parliament should have done that instead, and Evo Morales's party holds the majority in the parliament.

To keep it simple, it was not nice to recognize Agnes with regard to the former president of Bolivia, who supported Russia's initiatives and position on Ukraine to Syria at the UN Security Council (Bolivia is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council). Evo Morales had also recognized the Crimea referendum and independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. One may say that Morales stepped down at his own will, but this is not true to fact, because he attempted to return through new elections. To verify this, Putin could talk to Morales on the phone.

On November 10, the entire administration of Bolivia, including President Evo Morales, resigned amid protests in the country to avoid violence, including against government officials. Morales was granted political asylum in Mexico and announced from there that he would return to the country if the Parliament asked for it. Many of Bolivia's continent neighbors condemned the "coup d'etat."

Jeanine Agnes, second vice-speaker of the Senate, a representative of the opposition, announced that she temporarily takes over the powers of the head of state. The military expressed their support for her. Washington and Brussels supported Agnes as well.

Boris Martynov, the head of the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Russia at the Moscow State Institute for International Relations, told Pravda.Ru that Russia's recognition of Agnes did not imply Russia's recognition of Guaido. "If we stick to such an absolutely uncompromising position, then Russia would have to terminate relations with all countries that recognize Guaido, for example, with Brazil, a BRICS member," the expert noted.

In his opinion, Russia's policies in Latin America had long been "ideologized", even after very serious changes in the region.

"The Russian government is a liberal one, but it supports left-wing regimes. We need to be more pragmatic in our relations with Latin America. We should not get attached to the countries that may support Russia verbally and sometimes in practice. In doing so, we put ourselves in opposition to other countries. This is not the right way to act," said Boris Martynov.

As for Bolivia Morales should have tried to find a successor after three terms in power. "Young people want change, they want adrenaline, they ant to take to the streets, to make some noise, even if there is no reason for it. The pace of Bolivia's development, its GDP growth, was one of the highest in Latin America," said Boris Martynov. "Bolivia needs stability because there is anarchy in the country. Agnes promised to hold elections, so we will see who is going to win them," the political scientist added.

There is the other side of the coin to the Bolivia story - the intervention of the United States.

"The USA intervenes and will continue to intervene into other countries' affairs. Leftist leaders of Latin American countries act is if they live on the Moon, rather than in USA's backyard. They need to learn to adapt themselves to circumstances. The USA will use any reason for an attack," Boris Martynov told Pravda.Ru.

As Pyotr Stolypin used to say, Russia needs to learn to distinguish between blood on the hands of a criminal and blood on the hands of a surgeon.

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Brexit Britain: Heading for catastrophe

2019/11/15

Brexit Britain: Heading for catastrophe

The electorate of the United Kingdom has one chance to bury Brexit and avoid a colossal mistake which will relagate the UK to insignificance and economic hardship.

The question remains, are the people of the UK wise enough to understand the enormity of their decision?

Every once in a while, a nation goes through a trial. This can come in the form of the outbreak of an infectious disease, a war, an invasion or an economic or political crisis. The way the country deals with this crisis dictates its position on the international stage after the thunderclouds have gone. The way the crisis is handled is the decision-making moment when the psyche of the nation in the years to come, and its standing among the rest of the international community, is forged.

Let us make a comparison between the United Kingdom and its oldest ally, Portugal, with which the Kingdom of England signed the Treaty of Windsor in 1386, the ally which Great Britain treated so badly in the nineteenth century by grabbing the territory between Angola and Mozambique (Portuguese colonies) and making a virtual declaration of war (the Ultimate of 1890) if the Portuguese resisted. Portugal's influence at one time spread along the east coast of South America (where Portugal held the vast territory which is today Brazil and back then also the colony of Sacramento, which was the northern part of Uruguay), around the entire African coast, along the Middle East, around Persia, India and the Far East, stretching to Malaysia, Indonesia, and was the first European country to reach Japan, and Australia.

Over the years this influence was consolidated into the territorial control of Brazil (which gained independence in 1822), Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe Isles and Mozambique in Africa, Goa, Daman and Diu in India (invaded by India in 1961), the Isle of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Malaca in Malaysia and East Timor in Indonesia (invaded by Indonesia in 1975). The vast African territories remained Portuguese territory, not colonies but provinces of the pluri-continental country "Portugal" until the Revolution on 25th April 1974, when a military coup ousted the former regime presided over by Marcelo Caetano (who replaced the President of the Council of Ministers, António de Oliveira Salazar, in 1968) and which saw Portugal's empire gain independence in the following two years.

Portugal went from a vast Empire to a rectangle along the western Iberian coast from one moment to the next. And it reinvented itself. It assimilated some 11 per cent of its population, who came back from the former overseas possessions, literally overnight, decided on the European project, joined the European Community in 1986 and in three decades has placed itself as best destination for tourism, best destination for city breaks, having the best capital city (Lisbon), best city destination (Porto), best sports club in the world (FC Porto, several times), and Lisbon enjoys one of the best ratings for quality of life anywhere in the world. Portugal knows who and what it is and every year accumulates prestige as Portuguese fill the world's top positions (for instance, UN Secretary General) and many positions of responsibility in the European Union over the years. Nobody speaks about a Portuguese Empire, Portugal assumes itself as a modern participant in the European Union, hosting more and more events of prestige, such as the Expo 1998, the UEFA Finals in 2004, the annual Web Summit today and many other occasions which place Portugal on the map for the best reasons.

Now let us compare this success story with the United Kingdom, which for a brief moment appeared to be OK with leaving its colonial past behind it and reinventing itself inside the Commonwealth, understanding at the same time that the European Economic Community was the political and geographical home for a country which has always been European, which is made up of Europeans, whose original population walked across the land bridge from Europe in 1 million to 850,000 BC and which trades with Europeans in a world of large trading blocks.

There is a huge difference in the comparison with Portugal: the UK is an island, or a group of islands and this breeds an insular, short-sighted, nay blind, mentality, it breeds a feeling of superiority, of being holier than the rest, of being self-sufficient, a kind of economic/political/social autarky which belongs to the decade of the 1930s.

The British press has spent decades ridiculing the European Community/Union, mauling Brussels, laughing at the size of Euro-apples, giggling at the decision to classify tomatoes as a fruit and not a vegetable (when they are indeed a fruit by definition) and the British people, as a rule and historically, have always had a mistrust of foreigners, back as far as the times of Mary I Tudor and her sister Elizabeth I.

The loss of the French possessions in a number of wars gave the English a historic sense of rivalry with their closest neighbours and two world wars with Germany gave rise to the absurd obsession with "Krauts" (the German word for cabbage) and a feeling of hatred and mistrust for all things European, with constant references to "The Continent" and "The Continentals".

And the Brexit referendum in 2016 is simply a reflection of this insular mentality taking hold in the shape of a bunch of opportunists hijacking the vote (which was only a consultory option, not a legally binding one), when those voting to leave the EU did not have a clue what they were voting for, and no idea of the dire consequences, outlined yesterday by the President of the European Council Donald Tusk, who warned that with Brexit, the UK will be a second-rate power shut outside the main power blocks of China/ASEAN, the USA/North America and the EU, and he is absolutely right.

Nobody in Europe understands what the British Brexiteers are thinking they will achieve, and it is clear that all they will manage is to repeat the same slogans over and over again, such as "we can do our own trade deals", like with whom and on what terms exactly?

However, over the last two years it has become evident that this is not exactly where the bulk of the British people are. The Scots and Northern Irish, for instance, are firmly in favor of remaining in the EU and inside the United Kingdom, it is now clear that also in England and Wales, most people do not want to leave, to turn their backs on a block in which they do over half their trade for free, and have a say in the policy-making processes, only to lose this voice and pay for access to the markets.

Most British people today do not hate the Germans or French, they do not hate Europe, they are not obsessed with the war. They want to do trade with Europe, they assume themselves as Europeans and they have got over the Imperial Britain of yesteryear. They are OK with being British, or Irish, inside the EU. Unfortunately many of these may be considering shrugging their shoulders and giving up, allowing Brexit to happen just because they are tired of arguing and so wish "to get it over with". The problem is, if it is over with and Brexit is done, there will be a horrible hangover not for a few years or decades, but forever.

You cannot leave a trading block in which you have a voice, then pay to do deals with it, without incurring a massive loss of influence and massive expenses, rising prices, and loss of revenue. Everyone knows this. Some press ahead in the hope of some nirvana in which Britain manages to go it alone against winds and tides. Unfortunately such notions are Quixotesque deliriums of madness.

Today, the British people have the chance to bury Brexit for good and to safeguard the prosperity of their nation for their children and grandchildren. Brexit was an idea. Never more than that. It was worth thinking about but the conclusion reached by everyone except for Farage and his bedpals in the UK Conservative Party is that it does not work in practice, it cannot possibly work and everyone who knows anything about economics will say of course it is impossible, it is a question of basic arithmetic. While politicians say this is not about Brexit, it has to be about Brexit because their policies and promises cannot be funded in a post-Brexit Britain, because Brexit will ruin Britain's economy, communities and people. This is the chance to vote wisely, not to act with irresponsibility and cowardice.

It is clear that the Conservative Party of Boris Johnson stands for Brexit and what will come after the election, if they win, will be a nightmare of epic proportions which will sell the United Kingdom's future and its children's future down the drain. Time for tactical voting, to bury Brexit for good, instead of burying Britain.

It is time for the people of the UK to rise up, understand the importance of this occasion and rise to the occasion. Shrugging and voting for the Tory Party just because Johnson appears to have leadership skills on TV will not secure the future of the British people's grandchildren. This time around, a vote for the Conservative Party is a knife in the heart of Britain's future.

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19-year-old bullied student goes on shooting spree in Russia

2019/11/15

A 19-year-old student went on a shooting spree at Construction and Housing Services School in Blagoveshchensk, the Amur region of Russia. One person - aged 19 - was killed, the attacker shot himself. Three people were wounded, all the injured have multiple gunshot wounds. The three injured are 17, 19 and 20 years old.

Two young people were rushed to the regional clinical hospital for children. One of them is in serious condition, the second person remains in condition of moderate severity.

The attacker was identified as a fourth-year student of the school, Daniil Zasorin. He was told to leave the classroom for coming late. The young man left, but then returned with a gun in his hand. He told the teacher to get out. The teacher ran to call for help.

When the police arrived, they saw a young man with a gun on the second floor. The man fired several shots at law-enforcement officers, the police returned fire. The shooter was then blocked in one of the classrooms, while the police were helping other students and teachers to evacuate.

The shooter was armed with a "Saiga" pump-action shotgun. He passed the guard by and went to the toilet room, where he loaded the gun. At that point, another random young man entered the toilet room. The attacker asked him if he wanted to live and offered the man to jump out of the window. The student did so and broke his both arms.

Afterwards, Zasorin went to the classroom, told the teacher to leave and opened fire on students. According to one of the students, all of Zasorin's classmates, except for one, instinctively tried to take shelter wherever they could. The shooter then asked him, why he wasn't hiding. The man allegedly replied that he did not care, and Zasorin shot him.

It is believed that a conflict between the peers could be a cause of the shooting. It was reported with reference to social media sites that Daniil Zasorin was bullied and harassed in his group.

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Can Russia be a superpower?

2019/11/15

Vladimir Putin speaks very little about the future of Russia, so recent not-so-competent revelations from French President Emmanuel Macron on this topic have attracted interest.

In a recent interview with The Economist, French President Emmanuel Macron named three scenarios for the development of Russia in the near future. According to the first scenario, Russia can independently restore the status of a superpower. It will be extremely difficult for Russia to do it, Macron believes, because the Russian Federation lacks economic power and population strength.

Russia is not likely to improve the demographic and economic situation with migrants' help, Emmanuel Macron said. There are many Muslims in Russia, plus Russia is surrounded by Muslim nations. This creates problems that Russia has to deal with, the French president said. Given the vastness of Russia's territory, Russia could take a huge advantage of the migration policy. However, Macron, concluded, Russia is an Orthodox conservative project, so such a plan will not work.

The concept of superpower designates a state that sets itself a goal to establish world domination and has necessary resources for this, including at least 250-million-strong population to trigger the rise based on domestic demand. The term was coined in 1944 in the West, when, as a result of World War II the list of recognized superpowers included the Soviet Union, the USA and Great Britain. The latter subsequently lost its colonies and dropped out of the list. The USSR lost the superpower status after Gorbachev's perestroika.

Andrei Manoilo, a professor at the Moscow State University named after Lomonosov, Doctor of Political Sciences, told Pravda.Ru that Russia does not need the superpower status. Instead, Russia needs sovereignty - the right and the ability to make decisions on issues of domestic and foreign policies in a sovereign fashion, rather than under the pressure of any country, group of countries, let alone the United States. The power of a state is not determined by the size of its population at all. It is determined by the level of people's education, the level of intellectual development, and professionalism. The Russians have all this.

According to the expert, the Russian economy is now balancing on the edge of abyss. Yet, it is important to understand that Emmanuel Macron is no expert either in the area of Russian economy or Russian demography. In addition, Macron has zero experience in administrative management in Russia, and therefore he has no moral right to talk about the Russian economy.

We would like to add here that Macron does not take into account the fact that Russia with her 148-million-strong population has an integration project - the Eurasian Economic Union. This increases the population to over 250 million, given Uzbekistan's announced intention to join the bloc. This number will make many high-tech technologies internally profitable. Integration also provides for the creation of a common security system and closer cooperation with China, which is not dangerous for Russia at all, contrary to what Emmanuel Macron said. Rather, Russia-China cooperation forms a counterbalance to Euro-Atlantic integration.

Furthermore, "Orthodox conservatism" coexists perfectly with Islamic conservatism and does not impede the migration of Muslims to places of their compact residence. Does Moscow want to be similar to Paris, where Muslims outnumber Catholics? Not a chance. Putin finds that Orthodoxy is closer to Islam rather than to Catholicism, since both religions are religions of monotheism, while Catholicism elevated Christ to the rank of God.

Russia is a vassal of China

Emmanuel Macron claims that Russia's second option is the Eurasian model. However, according to the French president, China is already dominating the region. Macron is convinced that Putin will never want to be a vassal of China. According to Andrei Manoilo, Russia's policy in Eurasia should be based on economic and political interaction within the Eurasian Economic Union and with other countries, primarily with China and Japan, as well as with the countries included in such blocs as the Collective Treaty Security Organization (CSTO), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa).

Russia is a partner of Europe

Macron's third scenario for the future of Russia is a balanced model of relations with Europe. Unlike Putin, the French leader believes that Europe is not a US vassal. Macron does not rule out that a "reset" of relations between the EU and Russia may take ten years. "If we want to build peace in Europe, restore European strategic autonomy, then we need to reconsider our position in relation to Russia," the French president said.

Andrei Manoilo believes that Macron's three scenarios are actually part of something whole. In a nutshell, they are elements, without which Russia cannot play a leading role in world politics. "Russia's policy towards Europe should be based on the principle of balanced partnership. Macron is right about this," the expert noted.

"In Russia, the main problem now is the lack of a development vector. It is not clear where we are going and what we are building. Many in Russia want to live for the day. The situation, in which a foreign leader outlines these visions of our own future, even our development trajectory, is, of course, laughable, because it is up to us to decide where we can go and what we can build as a society - communism, capitalism or something else," concluded Andrei Manoilo.

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