“The U.S. military has conducted an airstrike on Islamic insurgents in Iraq, the Pentagon’s press secretary said via Twitter on Friday.
In a later statement, he said the bombing took place around 6:45 am ET, targeting artillery being used to shell Kurdish forces defending Erbil.
U.S. officials told NBC News that two U.S. Navy fighter jets based on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf dropped 500-pound bombs on Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham forces…..”
Comments »“Either Europe is run by a bunch of unelected idiots, or… well, that’s about it.
After blindly doing the US’ bidding over all propaganda matters Ukraine-related, and following just as blindly into round after round of US-inspired sanctions, sanctions to whose retaliation Europe would be on the frontline unlike the largely insulated US, Europe appears to be absolutely shocked and is apoplectic that after several rounds of sanction escalations, Russia finally unleashed its own round of sanctions and yesterday announced a 1 year ban on all European food imports, something which will further push Europe into a triple-dip recession as already hinted by Italy yesterday.
In fact, Europe is so stunned by this unexpected “politically-motivated” retaliation by Russia, it issued a press release.
Statement by Commission spokesman on the announcement of measures by the Russian Federation
The European Union regrets the announcement by the Russian Federation of measures which will target imports of food and agricultural products. This announcement is clearly politically motivated. The Commission will assess the measures in question as soon as we have more information as to their full content and extent. We underline that the European Union’s restrictive measures are directly linked with the illegal annexation of Crimea and destabilisation of Ukraine. The European Union remains committed to de-escalating the situation in Ukraine. All should join in this effort. Following full assessment by the Commission of the Russian Federation’s measures, we reserve the right to take action as appropriate.
Surely, Putin is waiting for the European Commission to also issue a #hashtag before he starts shaking in his boots.
For an indication of just how clueless Europe is, we also read that it is ready to appeal to the World Trade Organization to have the Russian agriculture import bans lifted….”
Comments »“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acts everyday more like an autocratic government endowed with superpowers beyond anything every imagined by the men who framed our form of government. Consider this disturbing report filed by the Washington Times on August 1 about a DHS raid on a private residence in South Carolina to seize a car that couldn’t pass Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) muster.
Jennifer Brinkley said she saw a line of law enforcement vehicles approaching her home and wondered what was wrong, the local WBTV reported. Homeland Security agents then went to her 1985 Land Rover Defender and lifted the hood.
“They popped up the hood and looked at the Vehicle Identification Number and compared it with a piece of paper and then took the car with them,” she said, WBTV reported.
She told Fox News that she was told the agents seized the vehicle because they thought it violated the Clean Air Act — though at the time, they weren’t completely sure. She also said her vehicle was just one of 40 that feds seized in various locations that same day for the same reason.
Ms. Brinkley told Fox News that she has no idea where the vehicle is now and that feds won’t tell her.
“I’m sad because I owned the car. It’s just an iconic car. I’m in disbelief … and surprised that somebody can come in and take your property,” she told Fox News. “It’s scary, it’s scary when it happens to you.”
What’s even scarier is that it is happening more and more. The EPA, DHS, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), etc. are all accustomed to unaccountably passing regulations afforded the color of law, enforcing those regulations, adjudicating challenges to those regulations in front of “judges” appointment by the commissioners of those agencies, and imposing burdensome fines on anyone foolish enough to defy these petty tyrants.
Charles Pinto Duclos, a French writer and historian contemporary with the Founders, wrote:
We see on the theater of the world a certain number of scenes which succeed each other in endless repetition: where we see the same faults followed regularly by the same misfortunes, we may reasonably think that if we could have known the first we might have avoided the others. The past should enlighten us on the future: knowledge of history is no more than an anticipated experience.
In the case of these federal agencies terrorizing citizens….”
Comments »“House Republicans voted to proceed with a lawsuit against President Obama on Wednesday, saying that his executive actions are so extreme that they violate the Constitution.
The nearly party-line vote — all Democrats voted against it, and all but five Republicans voted for it — further agitated an already polarized climate on Capitol Hill as both parties used the pending suit to try to rally support ahead of the November elections.
Halfway across the continent, Obama almost gloated at the prospect of being sued.
“They’re going to sue me for taking executive actions to help people. So they’re mad I’m doing my job,” Obama said in an economics speech in Kansas City, Mo. “And by the way, I’ve told them I’d be happy to do it with you. The only reason I’m doing it on my own is because you’re not doing anything,” he said of Congress.
The clash came a day before Congress is scheduled to begin a 51 / 2-week summer break and as must-pass bills on reshaping veterans’ health care and highway construction appeared headed for passage — while most everything else was not….”
Comments »“The Obama administration is accusing Russia of firing artillery to hit Ukrainian military sites and planning to send pro-Russian separatists more lethal weaponry. Janine Davidson, Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow for defense studies, offer analysis on the News Hub with Sara Murray. Photo: Getty Images.
WASHINGTON—U.S. defense and diplomatic officials said Thursday that Russia is firing artillery across its border at Ukrainian military positions, an assertion that Moscow now is directly engaging in hostilities against Ukrainian government forces.
The accusation represents a harsh new U.S. stance against the Kremlin in the aftermath of the crash of Malaysia Airlines 3786.KU -2.22% Flight 17, downed last Thursday by an antiaircraft missile. The U.S. has been accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of supporting armed pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine, but the newest allegation suggests the conflict is coming to more closely resemble a war between the two countries.(Follow the latest updates on the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine.)
The latest finding, based on U.S. intelligence that officials would not detail, comes as European Union diplomats appeared Thursday to be overcoming some of the political divides that have tempered their response to the Ukrainian crisis, moving to place sanctions on Russian access to European capital markets, energy technology and sensitive military goods.
Also Thursday, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe reported that “shrapnel-like, almost machine-gun-like holes” were found in two separate pieces of Flight 17’s fuselage, evidence consistent with the use of a sophisticated antiaircraft missile.
Reports of Russian artillery fire into Ukraine also were picked up by social media, said a U.S. official, but were confirmed with a “high level of confidence” by U.S. intelligence agencies. U.S. officials said the information on the Russian attacks was declassified Thursday.
“If true, this represents a serious escalation on Putin’s part,” said Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia and White House adviser. “Instead of using last week’s tragedy as a pretext for ending this war, he seems to be doing the opposite, doubling down.”
A spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington disputed the allegations…..”
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEuviNg2UCg#t=63 450 300] Comments »[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27esxkQtfTc 450 300]
Comments »“(WMR)—The attack policy that the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has used in indiscriminately targeting civilians in Gaza mirrors the policy of the Ukrainian government in attacking civilians in eastern Ukraine. Moreover, the two operations, Israel’s “Protective Edge” and Ukraine’s “Anti-terrorist operation,” have something else in common. Both were developed by the same Zionist fascist elements who are calling the shots in Jerusalem and Kiev.
Ukrainian-Israeli billionaire Igor Kolomoisky, who has served as the governor of Dnepropetrovsk province in eastern Ukraine since March, has spent billions of dollars beefing up the Ukrainian army with advanced weapons used to target civilians in eastern Ukraine. The latest operation by Ukraine saw an airstrike on residential apartment buildings in Snezhnoe in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. A number of civilians, including women, the elderly, and children have been killed by Ukrainian forces financed by Kolomoisky. In addition, Kolomoisky has relied on the help of ex-IDF forces ever since he helped oust Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February. It is believed that Kolomoisky funded the arrival in Ukraine of a team of ex-IDF commandos, known as the “Blue Helmets of Maidan” and led by an Israeli commando code-named “Delta,” to fight alongside anti-Yanukovych forces in the Maidan Square uprising. The Israeli Blue Helmets of Maidan fought alongside a number of neo-Nazi units, including those from the Svoboda and Right Sector organizations…..”
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Comments »“Amid massive public opposition and behind-the-scenes globalist scheming, the new regime in Ukraine took a major step toward surrendering the nation’s sovereignty to the Brussels-based European Union super-state. In exchange for giving up self-government and independence to the unelected, perpetually expanding EU bureaucracy that now dominates policy across the 28-member bloc, Ukraine will be able to sell its exports without paying tariffs. Meanwhile, armed conflict continues to rage across wide swaths of Eastern Ukraine as the death toll rises.
As part of the far-reaching scheme between Kiev and Brussels, known as the “Association Agreement” and the “Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area,” Ukraine’s economy and society are set to be radically restructured under the supervision and dictates of so-called “eurocrats.” The avalanche of regulations and decrees coming from the EU will also be imposed. The Ukrainian people, as with other peoples under the thumb of the EU, will have little say in the process.
Unsurprisingly, the establishment and the rulers of Ukraine and Europe celebrated the plot. The self-styled “president” of the EU,Bilderberg operative and unelected “global-governance” monger Herman Van Rompuy, for example, claimed the agreements with Ukraine are “milestones in the history of our relations and of Europe as a whole.” Speaking at the signing “ceremony” in Brussels, Van Rompuy, who regularly calls for “convergence” with Moscow, also claimed that people in Kiev and elsewhere “gave their lives for this closer link to the European Union.”
In reality, of course, even Western polls going back to the start of the foreign-backed uprising in Ukraine showed significantly less than half of the public supported closer ties to the sovereignty-destroying super-state. Other surveys of the population suggested that even fewer backed the EU agreement, despite fiendish globalist efforts to portray the sole options for Ukraine as oppression from Moscow or Brussels. However, as with virtually everything about the emerging regime in Brussels, the voice of the people matters little — indeed,EU “integration” has itself taken place largely in direct defiance of voters.
Ukrainian “President” Petro Poroshenko, meanwhile, claimed while signing the thousands of pages of “agreements” last week in Brussels that June 27 was “maybe the most important day for my country after independence day” in 1991, following the supposed “collapse” of the Soviet Union. “All of us would have wished to sign the agreement under different, more comfortable circumstances,” he added. “On the other hand, the external aggression faced by Ukraine is another strong reason for this crucial step.”
The controversial deals with the EU are essentially the same plot that ousted Ukrainian “president” Viktor Yanukovych was set to sign in November. However, under pressure from Moscow, which offered a more enticing “aid” package, the now-deposed former ruler in Kiev backed out at the last moment. With plenty of help from globalists such as George Soros and others at the Council on Foreign Relations, Western-backed forces helped stir up riots and eventually an armed uprising against Yanukovych’s corrupt regime…..”
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Comments »“MOSCOW—Ukrainian forces used aircraft and artillery against pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country early Tuesday, as fighting intensified after President Petro Poroshenko declared an end to a 10-day unilateral cease-fire that had failed to stop the violence.
“The active phase of the antiterrorist operation resumed this morning,” Parliament Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov, told legislators in Kiev on Tuesday. “Our armed forces are striking the bases and staging areas of the terrorists.”
The decision to use the army represents a gamble by Mr. Poroshenko that Russia won’t send in its troops, massed for months on the other side of the border, and that Kiev’s ragtag forces can oust the increasingly well-armed militants.
Fighting was reported in several areas across the region, including at posts along the Russian border that Ukrainian forces had lost to separatists in recent weeks, as well as near the international airport in Donetsk, the region’s largest city. Separatist officials also confirmed the fighting had picked up across the region.
Four civilians were killed and five wounded in the city of Kramatorsk….”
Neo Nazis Unleash Hatred in Ukraine
Comments »[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lklRk_Xit_A#t=74 450 300]
Comments »“It’s no secret that President Obama and the would-be global governors at the United Nations are anxious to disarm the American people. Now they’re looking to hire some help in getting it done.
From the UN’s Programme of Action and Arms Trade Treaty, to his own executive orders, Obama is pursuing every available avenue toward de facto repeal of the Second Amendment and the God-given right to keep and bear arms that it protects.
Over the next few weeks, though, the UN is looking to add personnel to its gun grabbing gestapo. In a job advertisement open until July 26, the UN is looking for a “Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Officer.”
What will this bureaucrat’s bailiwick be? Here’s a summary of the job description as posted by the UN:
Act as a Focal Point for DDR [Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration] components for 2-3 missions, responsible for planning, support to implementation and evaluation;
Advise, develop and review (as appropriate) initial DDR functional strategy and concept of operations for further development into a full programme by the DDR component and the National DDR Commission;
Provide Headquarters support in planning the civilian and military logistics support for DDR;
Continually review DDR programme strategy and implementation through relevant documents, reports and code cables;
Conduct field missions to assess implementation of established DDR programmes;
Identify potential problems and issues to be addressed and suggest remedies to DDR units in the field; and
Liaise with others (UN, regional organizations [sic] and Member States) providing DDR training.
As if the list of tasks assigned to the disarmament specialist isn’t enough to fire up patriots who own firearms and refuse to have them seized by the UN or the Obama administration, the UN wants to base this office in New York City!
It is more than a little incompatible that a country that places such a high value on gun ownership that it enshrined it in its Bill of Rights participates in an organization that has such disdain and disregard for those rights that it is opening a disarmament office in that country.
Lest anyone think that there’s nothing to fear from this agent of disarmament, consider the definitions of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration provided by the UN on an information page linked to the job opening announcement:
Disarmament is the collection, documentation, control and disposal of small arms, ammunition, explosives and light and heavy weapons from combatants and often from the civilian population.
Demobilization is the formal and controlled discharge of active combatants from armed forces and groups, including a phase of “reinsertion” which provides short-term assistance to ex-combatants.
Reintegration is the process by which ex-combatants acquire civilian status and gain sustainable employment and income. It is a political, social and economic process with an open time-frame, primarily taking place in communities at the local level.
The objective of the DDR process is to contribute to security and stability in post-conflict environments so that recovery and development can begin. DDR helps create an enabling environment for political and peace processes by dealing with security problem that arises when ex-combatants are trying to adjust to normal life, during the vital transition period from conflict to peace and development.
Notably, the UN ……”
Comments »“House Speaker John Boehner (shown) announced on Wednesday that he would be filing suit against President Obama over his abuse of executive power. Boehner indicates that he had been mulling over the decision recently but that his concerns over Obama’s refusal to comply with constitutional limitations has helped him to decide in favor of a suit.
“The Constitution makes it clear that a president’s job is to faithfully execute the laws. In my view, the president has not faithfully executed the laws,” the Ohio Republican said on Wednesday. “When there are conflicts like this between the legislative branch and the administrative branch, it’s … our responsibility to stand up for this institution.”
Boehner’s announcement is not a complete shock, as Republicans have been vocal about their frustration with the president’s abuse of executive powers, particularly in his second term.
Fox News reports, “Republicans have voiced frustration with Obama’s second-term ‘pen and phone’ strategy of pursuing policy changes without Congress — particularly environmental rules via the Environmental Protection Agency.”
In March, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would speed up potential lawsuits against the president, but the Senate refused to take up the bill.
According to Boehner’s spokesman Michael Steel, the Senate’s failure has forced the House to pursue alternative options. “The president has a clear record of ignoring the American people’s elected representatives and exceeding his constitutional authority, which has dangerous implications for both our system of government and our economy,” Steel said in a statement.
And though Boehner’s announcement follows on the heels of various threats to launch impeachment proceedings against the president, he assures that the lawsuit is not about impeachment, but about ensuring that the president adheres to constitutional authority.
“This is not about impeachment — it’s about him faithfully executing the laws of this county,” Boehner said. “My view is the president has not faithfully executed the laws. What we have seen clearly over the last five years is an effort to erode the power of the Legislative Branch.” Boehner added that it is not simply that Obama ignores the law, but that he virtually “brags about” doing so.
President Obama had said that 2014 would be a “year of action,” and he has spent much of it issuing executive orders on things such as minimum wage, federal pay discrimination, and newly announced regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency on carbon admissions. The president has also taken administrative action to delay parts of the Affordable Care Act.
Boehner has not yet filed the lawsuit, but said on Wednesday that he plans to do so….”
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The Interpreter is overtly a clearinghouse for anti-Russian propaganda and ceaselessly promoted by corporate-funded and directed faux-rights advocates like the Neo-Con lined National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Freedom House – both of which are funded and perpetuated by the US State Department itself.
In an entry titled, “Russian Defense Ministry Apologizes For Lying About White Phosphorus,” we discover the degree to which The Interpreter is propaganda. Upon reading the entry, we find out that the Russian Defense Ministry did no such thing as “apologize.” Instead, what is described is a war crime committed by Neo-Nazi Right Sector militants working on behalf of Kiev’s “Security Service of Ukraine” (SBU). Right Sector captured the journalists, interrogated them, and coerced a confession from them. Right Sector then simply claimed they worked for the Defense Ministry and their coerced confession constituted a formal apology for “lying,” before handing the captured journalists over to Kiev’s SBU.
The entry claims:
“Then a video of one of the detained reporters, Evgeny Davydov, appeared on pro-Kiev media, showing him confessing while he was still in captivity that he was forced to put in false information by editors in Moscow, and that in fact he wasn’t even in Slavyansk when the broadcast was edited and had obtained no footage from the town.”
The entry then admits:
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzCcBbP1VjA#t=144 450 300] Comments »“The two correspondents from Zvezda, a TV channel of the Russian Defense Ministry, Davydov and Nikita Konashenkov had been detained 14 June outside Slavyansk, reportedly by Right Sector militants who transferred them to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) where they were investigated on suspicion of espionage.”
Far from proving or disproving the use of white phosphorus in eastern Ukraine, the propaganda stunt instead illustrates that Nazi Right Sector militants are still operating in eastern Ukraine, taking journalists hostage – a serious crime – and working directly with the regime in Kiev. Regarding the alleged use of white phosphorus, RT’s report and Russian officials themselves clearly call for an investigation, and nothing more. And while the use of white phosphorus is being contested by Western media houses, the aerial and artillery bombardment of populated regions in eastern Ukraine is confirmed, and ongoing…..”
“Public Faith in Congress Falls Again, Hits Historic Low
Of major U.S. institutions, Americans most confident in the military
by Rebecca Riffkin
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans’ confidence in Congress has sunk to a new low. Seven percent of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in Congress as an American institution, down from the previous low of 10% in 2013. This confidence is starkly different from the 42% in 1973, the first year Gallup began asking the question.
Confidence in Congress since 1973
These results come from a June 5-8 Gallup poll that updated Americans’ confidence in 17 U.S. institutions that Americans either read about or interact with in government, business, and society.
Americans’ current confidence in Congress is not only the lowest on record, but also the lowest Gallup has recorded for any institution in the 41-year trend. This is also the first time Gallup has ever measured confidence in a major U.S. institution in the single digits. Currently, 4% of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in Congress, and 3% have quite a lot of confidence. About one-third of Americans report having “some” confidence, while half have “very little,” and another 7% volunteer that they have “none.”
Confidence in Congress has varied over the years, with the highest levels in the low 40% range recorded in the 1970s and again in the mid-1980s. Confidence rose in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but has declined since 2004, culminating in this year’s historic low.
Three in Four Americans Have High Confidence in the Military
The military continues to rank at the top of this year’s list, with 74% of Americans having either a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the institution. Another 20% of Americans have “some” confidence in the military. Seven percent have very little or no confidence. The military has ranked at the top of the list all but one year since 1989. Prior to that, the church or organized religion, now with 45% confidence, typically finished first.
Confidence in Institutions
As is the case with confidence in Congress, Americans’ confidence in many of these institutions has changed over time. The current 74% of Americans who have high levels of confidence in the military is actually lower than it has been in the past. Confidence in the military spiked in March 1991 to 85%, just after the first Persian Gulf War, but fell back through the 1990s. It also spiked in 2002 and 2003, after 9/11, and again in 2009, just before U.S. troops began withdrawing from Iraq.
Still, the current 74% confidence level is significantly higher than the average 67% rating given…”
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