Ukraine Watch...

[emordnilap]

Did you see that Evgeny Fedorov video?

That is scary.

[emordnilap]

This one takes the prize for the most batshit-crazy hysterical warmongering propaganda so far in my book. It's propaganda about propaganda! Ooh, 'meta'.

The [Washington] Post's View:
Putin’s propoganda keeps Russians in the dark about Ukraine and more

[...]In prosecuting his [Putin's] widening war in Ukraine,[...]

It would be funny, were it not for the fact that they're trying desperately to drag the World into a conflict that my very well end all life on the planet, and there's no emoticon for that.

That's not a 'big' lie. It's gargantuan.

[emordnilap]

Another take on leviathan lies from none other than Paul Mobbs.

"During the 21st century, terrorism has been an insignificant cause of mortality in the United Kingdom. The annualised average of five deaths caused by terrorism in England and Wales over this period compares with total accidental deaths in 2010 of 17,201, including 123 cyclists killed in traffic accidents, 102 personnel killed in Afghanistan, 29 people drowned in the bathtub and five killed by stings from hornets, wasps and bees."

That said, must we declare bees and hornets to be as dangerous as al-Qaida? Perhaps that's why the Government doesn't want to ban neonicotinoid pesticides in Britain.

[emordnilap]

Where is this "evidence"?

The big lie - hence there is none. You'll find reference to 'Russian aggression' in practically every 'western' news article.

Obarmy, in Estonia, is happily spreading the big lie, accusing Russia of a 'brazen assault' on Ukraine. Eh?

[Little John]

At some point, Russia will significantly react. The USA knows this and so must have a counter-reaction already lined up. In which case, what is it and what is the end-game? Is the USA seriously trying to destabilise Russia?

[Little John]

What's really depressing me is that as I have continued to have conversations with friends and family over the last few weeks about Russia and the Ukraine, bit by bit the response by them has been to turn to a general anti-Russian sentiment and acceptance of the West's MSM narrative. When I insist they point to a single shred of evidence to back any of it up, they become confused and, in some case, aggressive.

This is an old propaganda trick. If you can get people to emotionally invest in a narrative, then they will be doubly difficult to dissuade of it since it will require an equal emotional effort by them to divest themselves of it. And so it entrenches.


People are, by and large, f***ing stupid

[another_exlurker]

At some point, Russia will significantly react. The USA knows this and so must have a counter-reaction already lined up. In which case, what is it and what is the end-game? Is the USA seriously trying to destabilise Russia?

Essentially, yes. US corporations want unfettered access to Russian resources and the economy. They also want the same unfettered access to the Chinese market. It's the only way that America can continue to live beyond its means and the only way that the illusion of continued growth can be sustained for just that bit longer. It also necessitates dollar hegemony, which must be maintained at all costs (no pun intended, honest guv'nor).

[emordnilap]

What's really depressing me is that as I have continued to have conversations with friends and family over the last few weeks about Russia and the Ukraine, bit by bit the response by them has been to turn to a general anti-Russian sentiment and acceptance of the West's MSM narrative. When I insist they point to a single shred of evidence to back any of it up, they become confused and, in some case, aggressive.

This is what I see too. They don't tend to become confused or aggressive, simply more insistent. Because it's something they read or watched, that is their, errrmmm, 'evidence'.

[another_exlurker]

What's really depressing me is that as I have continued to have conversations with friends and family over the last few weeks about Russia and the Ukraine, bit by bit the response by them has been to turn to a general anti-Russian sentiment and acceptance of the West's MSM narrative. When I insist they point to a single shred of evidence to back any of it up, they become confused and, in some case, aggressive.

This is an old propaganda trick. If you can get people to emotionally invest in a narrative, then they will be doubly difficult to dissuade of it since it will require an equal emotional effort by them to divest themselves of it. And so it entrenches.


People are, by and large, ******* stupid

I've been encountering the same thing, with a few notable exceptions. It's as if the majority of the population have lost the ability to think critically.

As an aside to a couple of my recent posts, Alternet has fallen strangely silent about the Ukraine. No articles have been published by them (that I can find, so I stand to be corrected) since March of this year. It would seem that there is a concerted effort to move any and all decent and accurate reporting of the Ukraine out to the fringes of the alternative news media and firmly into the areas that can be easily dismissed as conspiracy theory sites/blogs. It's a remarkable way to completely shut down any criticism and examination of the official narrative.

[emordnilap]

It's a remarkable way to completely shut down any criticism and examination of the official narrative.

Hence my comment here:

Did you see that Evgeny Fedorov video?

That is scary.

[Little John]

I was watching a Horizon programme the other night and it made mention of the 40 odd telecommunication optic fibre cables that come from the US and the rest of the world to the UK on the Cornish coast near Bude. Over 80% of all UK internet traffic goes through these cables. Surprise, surprise, that’s where GCHQ has got a big F--k-off base just a few hundred yards away.

The programme explained that it is now on the record, since Snowden's revelations, that GCHQ has directly tapped into these cables and is diverting them through their base. At which point every single bit of data, and I do mean every singe bit, is pushed through automated algorithms to look out for broad data patterns. In other words, to see which way the wind is blowing at a global level. This enables them to predict, before even we the people know it, what we are likely to think and or/do next. This, in turn, allows them to directly manipulate the MSM and to indirectly macro-manipulate the rest of the Internet’s communicational space in ways that are already ten moves ahead of the rest of us.

The truth is, the internet is not proving to be the libertarian saviour once promised. Instead, it is making us less free than ever since our every individual move can now be tracked and traced and, where that is not possible, our collective psychology can be accurately defined, predicted and manipulated. It's a cliché, but Orwell's world really has come to pass right under our noses

[Little John]

War is coming. I just didn't think things would start getting this silly this soon;

http://www.globalresearch.ca/preparing- ... ia/5393375

About the author:
Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury and Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal, has held numerous university appointments. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Dr. Roberts can be reached at http://paulcraigroberts.org

Preparing for War with Russia. Removing Russia with a Preemptive Nuclear Attack? What is the Future of Humanity?

The Russian government has finally realized that it has no Western “partners,” and is complaining bitterly about the propagandistic lies and disinformation issued without any evidence whatsoever against the Russian government by Washington, its European vassals, and presstitute media.

Perhaps the Russian government thought that only Iraq, Libya, Syria, China, and Edward Snowden would be subjected to Washington’s lies and demonization.

It was obvious enough that Russia would be next.

The Russian government and Europe need to look beyond Washington’s propaganda, because the reality is much worst.

NATO commander General Breedlove and Senate bill 2277 clearly indicate that Washington is organizing itself and Europe for war against Russia (see my previously posted column).

Europe is reluctant to agree with Washington to put Ukraine in NATO. Europeans understand that if Washington or its stooges in Kiev cause a war with Russia Europe will be the first casualty. Washington finds its vassals’ noncompliance tiresome. Remember Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland’s “f**ck the EU.” And that is just what Washington is about to do.

The US Senate’s Russian Aggression Prevention Act, about which I reported in my previous column, does even more mischief than I reported. If the bill passes, which it likely will, Washington becomes empowered to bypass NATO and to grant the status of “allied nation” to Ukraine independently of NATO membership. By so doing, Washington can send troops to Ukraine and thereby commit NATO to a war with Russia.

Notice how quickly Washington escalated the orchestrated Ukrainian “crisis” without any evidence into “Russian aggression.” Overnight we have the NATO commander and US senators taking actions against “Russian aggression” of which no one has seen any evidence.

With Iraq, Libya, and Syria, Washington learned that Washington could act on the basis of baldfaced lies. No one, not Great Britain, not France, not Germany, not Italy, not the Netherlands, not Canada, not Australia, not Mexico, not New Zealand, not Israel, nor Japan, nor S. Korea, nor Taiwan, nor (substitute your selection) stepped forward to hold Washington accountable for its blatant lies and war crimes. The UN even accepted the package of blatant and obviously transparent lies that Colin Powell delivered to the UN.

Everything Powell said had already been refuted by the UN’s own weapons inspectors.

Yet the UN pussies gave the go-ahead for a devastating war.

The only conclusion is that all the whores were paid off. The whores can always count on Washington paying them off. For money the whores are selling out civilization to Washington’s war, which likely will be nuclear and terminate life on earth.

It is hardly surprising that Washington now targets Russia. The world has given Washington carte blanche to do as it pleases. We have now had three administrations of US war criminals welcomed and honored wherever the war criminals go. The other governments in the world continue to desire invitations to the White House as indications of their worth. To be received by war criminals has become the highest honor.

Even the president of China comes to Washington to receive acceptance by the Evil Empire.

The world did not notice Washington’s war crimes against Serbia and didn’t puke when Washington then put the Serbian president, who had tried to prevent his country from being torn apart by Washington, on trial as a war criminal.

The world has made no effort to hold Washington responsible for its destruction of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Syria and Gaza. The world has not demanded that Washington stop murdering people in Pakistan and Yemen, countries with which Washington is not at war. The world looks the other way as Washington creates the US Africa Command. The world looks the other way as Washington sends deadly weapons to Israel with which to murder women and children in the Gaza Ghetto and then passes Senate and House Resolutions cheering on the Israeli murder of Palestinians.

Washington is accustomed to its free pass, granted by the world, to murder and to lie, and now is using it against Russia.

Russian President Putin’s bet that by responding to Washington’s aggression in Ukraine in a unprovocative and reasonable manner would demonstrate to Europe that Russia was not the source of the problem has not payed off. European countries are captive nations. They are incapable of thinking and acting for themselves. They bend to Washington’s will. Essentially, Europe is a nonentity that follows Washington’s orders.

If the Russian government hopes to prevent war with Washington, which is likely to be the final war for life on earth, the Russian government needs to act now and end the problem in Ukraine by accepting the separatist provinces’ request to be reunited with Russia. Once S.2277 passes, Russia cannot retrieve the situation without confronting militarily the US, because Ukraine will have been declared an American ally.

Putin’s bet was reasonable and responsible, but Europe has failed him. If Putin does not use Russian power to bring an end to the problem with which Washington has presented him in Ukraine while he still can, Washington’s next step will be to unleash its hundreds of NGOs inside Russia to denounce Putin as a traitor for abandoning the Russian populations in the former Russian provinces that Soviet leaders thoughtlessly attached to Ukraine.

The problem with being a leader is that you inherit festering problems left by previous leaders. Putin has the problems bequeathed by Yeltsin. Yeltsin was a disaster for Russia. He was Washington’s puppet. It is not certain that Russia will survive Yeltsin’s mistakes.

If Washington has its way, Russia will survive only as an American puppet state.

In a previous column I described the article in Foreign Affairs, the journal of the Washington foreign policy community, that makes a case that the US has such strategic advantage over Russia at this time that a “window of opportunity” exists for the US to remove Russia as a restraint on US hegemony with a preemptive nuclear attack.

It is almost certain that Obama is being told that President John F. Kennedy had this window of opportunity and did not use it, and that Obama must not let the opportunity pass a second time.

As Stephen Starr explained in a guest column, there are no winners of nuclear war. Even if the US escapes retaliatory strikes, everyone will die regardless.

The view in Washington of the neoconservatives, who control the Obama regime, is that nuclear war is winnable. No expert opinion supports their assumption, but the neocons, not the experts, are in power,

The American people are out to lunch. They have no comprehension of their likely fate.

If Europeans know, they have decided to live for the moment on Washington’s money.

What life is faced with is a drive for hegemony on the part of Washington and ignorant unconcern on the part of the rest of the world.

Americans, worked into a lather about Washington’s unfunded liabilities and the viability of their future Social Security pension, won’t be alive to collect it.

[another_exlurker]

The following report is a slap in the face to president Obama and his NATO partners meeting today in Newport Wales.

Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) “have registered no troops, ammunition or weapons crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border over the past two weeks, the OSCE report said on Wednesday.” (Itar-Tass)

“Throughout the week, the Observer Teams noticed a net increase of young people (both men and women) wearing military-style dress crossing the border in both directions but did not observe any weapons among these groups,” the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission’s report covering a period from August 20 to September 3 said.

Original article.

Oops, someone forgot to supply the OSCE with the script.

[3rdRock]

I was watching a Horizon programme the other night and it made mention of the 40 odd telecommunication optic fibre cables that come from the US and the rest of the world to the UK on the Cornish coast near Bude. Over 80% of all UK internet traffic goes through these cables. Surprise, surprise, that’s where GCHQ has got a big ****-off base just a few hundred yards away.

The programme explained that it is now on the record, since Snowden's revelations, that GCHQ has directly tapped into these cables and is diverting them through their base. At which point every single bit of data, and I do mean every singe bit, is pushed through automated algorithms to look out for broad data patterns. In other words, to see which way the wind is blowing at a global level. This enables them to predict, before even we the people know it, what we are likely to think and or/do next. This, in turn, allows them to directly manipulate the MSM and to indirectly macro-manipulate the rest of the Internet’s communicational space in ways that are already ten moves ahead of the rest of us.

The truth is, the internet is not proving to be the libertarian saviour once promised. Instead, it is making us less free than ever since our every individual move can now be tracked and traced and, where that is not possible, our collective psychology can be accurately defined, predicted and manipulated. It's a cliché, but Orwell's world really has come to pass right under our noses

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[raspberry-blower]

I've been encountering the same thing, with a few notable exceptions. It's as if the majority of the population have lost the ability to think critically.

As an aside to a couple of my recent posts, Alternet has fallen strangely silent about the Ukraine. No articles have been published by them (that I can find, so I stand to be corrected) since March of this year. It would seem that there is a concerted effort to move any and all decent and accurate reporting of the Ukraine out to the fringes of the alternative news media and firmly into the areas that can be easily dismissed as conspiracy theory sites/blogs. It's a remarkable way to completely shut down any criticism and examination of the official narrative.

There is www.informationclearinghouse.info who post some very thought provoking stuff - such as this

The Western sponsors of this indisputable state terrorism against civilians have abdicated all responsibility for their policy of criminal interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs. Yet they turn round with crass irony and blame Russia for the conflict and chaos.

Irresponsible Western governments and corporate media add to their recklessness by amplifying provocative claims coming out of Kiev and its puppet president Petro Poroshenko, accusing Russia of embarking on the «greatest war» in Europe since the Second World War. Again, no evidence is presented, just the mindless assertion of febrile imaginations.

Also, www.counterpunch.org are running stories on Ukraine such as this

The media has played a pivotal role in this tragedy, deliberately misleading the American people on critical details related to the case in order to shape their coverage in a way that best serves the interests of the government. The MSM doesn’t care about identifying the criminals who killed 298 passengers. Their job is to demonize Putin and create a pretext for waging war on Russia. And that’s exactly what they’re doing

Ditto for Western MSM.