I’d like to find a rebuttal to PBS’s 1 hour diatribe describing Putin as the primary kleptocrat, purposely running a kleptocracy.
FYI, I’m looking for an article that takes issue with the PBS program, not comments. It’s not that I don’t value comments…it’s just that it’s hard to use them as a “source”. I can’t do much to stop this mad march to war with Russia, but I’d like to stop my “liberal” friends from, once again, being convinced by “liberal media” that war is the answer…and yes, this does get old.
Thanks,

Posted by: S Brennan | Jan 15 2015 20:38 utc | 4

4
PBS and NPR are both State ZioMedia supremacist orgs, daily assaulting our intelligence, using Goebbels Repeat the Big Lie meme, rounding the corners of the square into a bullseye on our children’s terrible future no different than the Native Americans or the Native Hawaaians.
2
Further to Big Picture, the Western Pacific is going through one of the latest wet seasons in memory, and SEAsia some of the worst flooding, as the Northern Hemisphere winter plunges deep below the tropic line, in the third or fourth coldest winter in a row. The Warmists who violently disclaim volcanoes as the major source of CO2 essential to their ‘Greenhouse Theory’ fairy story, now demurely claim volcanic aerosols are cooling the earth more than ‘normal’.
Their perfidy is just another example of the Mil.Gov.Sci.Edu Deep State Wehrmacht, self-entitled little bureaucrats, serving TPTB, helping themselves to our last life savings that will never come back again.
On to Sebastopol for The Party! Victory is ours!

Posted by: Chip Nihk | Jan 15 2015 20:54 utc | 6

Hezbollah ready to respond to Israel strikes on Syria: Nasrallah”

Hezbollah’s Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah says the Lebanese resistance movement is prepared to respond to Israel’s repeated strikes on targets in Syria.
Nasrallah told Beirut-based al-Mayadeen news channel that Hezbollah is well-armed and its missiles can hit any Israeli target.
He noted that the Israeli strikes target not only territories in Syria but also the axis of resistance in the entire region.
“The repeated bombings that struck several targets in Syria are a major violation, and we consider that any strike against Syria is a strike against the whole of the resistance axis, not just against Syria,” Nasrallah said, adding, “The axis is capable of responding. This can happen any time.”

Posted by: somebody | Jan 15 2015 21:14 utc | 8

@4 http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/01/15/2415

Posted by: georgeg | Jan 15 2015 21:25 utc | 10

over @CSIS ios a forum on how to regime change russia
CSIS @CSIS · 6 hrs6 hours ago “What are the conditions of changing political power in Russia? Very unlikely through elections” – @iponomarev: http://cs.is/1wdvQpF
so russians prefer their current govt
also it seems a MAIDAN may be forming in Armenia…
EnaLolena ‏@EnaLolena ·13m13 minutes ago
did start Armenian Maydan?? pic.twitter.com/KP0MoDwiTL

Posted by: brian | Jan 15 2015 21:48 utc | 12

@KevinRothrock tweeted @iponomarev at @CSISRussia @CSIS giving powerpoint plan for violent regime change in #Russia https://storify.com/MarkSleboda1/kevin-rothrock#publicize …

Posted by: brian | Jan 15 2015 22:13 utc | 14

“Can you make less noise? We are trying to sleep” What I’d like to see on the cover of #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/WU70j9BL9g

Posted by: brian | Jan 15 2015 23:06 utc | 16

Obama administration pushes cybersecurity law to expand corporate-government collaboration

The legislation proposed by the Obama administration appears to be a repackaged version of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) of 2013 and the Cyber Intelligence Sharing Act (CISA) of 2014. Though presented to the public as a necessary security measure designed to protect citizens against identity theft and defend US infrastructure against hackers, the laws further expand the ability of the US government to acquire massive quantities of personal data without seeking specific warrants.
The intelligence sharing legislation, which the Obama administration is now seeking to push through Congress once again, gives legal immunity to corporations that grant the US government direct access to their networks and databases. In exchange for real-time access to their information systems, the big tech corporations would receive protection from state laws and constitutional privacy guarantees, as well as private contracts between individuals and communications firms.

Google and Facebook will love this. This is certainly one of the paybacks of the Je sui charlie campaign. I imagine that the UK and the European Unit will follow the lead of the pied piper, as always.
Obama may not, personally, be the worst president in US history … there’s too much of nothing and too little of person there to contend for that title … but the effects of his robotic actions have now exceeded the damage done by his patron saint – fellow b-reel actor Ronald Reagan – and have certainly done more structural damage than any other.

Posted by: jfl | Jan 15 2015 23:13 utc | 18

Damn, I’ve predicted the Strategy of Tension’s attack in Germany, Holland or Sweden and than it was Belgium.

Posted by: neretva’43 | Jan 15 2015 23:33 utc | 20

A case of smoke and mirrors http://www.opednews.com/articles/Justice-Hidden-Behind-a-by-Ray-McGovern-CIA_Iaea_Iran_Israel-150115-456.html

Posted by: GoraDiva | Jan 15 2015 23:41 utc | 22

@19
Thanks for the recommendation, I’ve got it bookmarked. There’s anther rave review here. From a diametrically opposed source.

Posted by: jfl | Jan 16 2015 0:37 utc | 24

@15 WoW, “seen in public”? How often was that, ever? His latest youtube is one day old.

Posted by: ruralito | Jan 16 2015 1:20 utc | 26

@19 not quite clear…link?

Posted by: S Brennan | Jan 16 2015 2:30 utc | 28

Russia has cut off gas to the former Ukraine and is no longer going to use it as a transit country. Typical Russian move: no threats, just action.

Posted by: Demian | Jan 16 2015 3:53 utc | 30

Russian Spring
01/15/2015-19:07
Summary from fronts by combatant Prokhorov:
In area of settlement Krimskoye (Bakhmutka, north-west of Lugansk Republic) the artillery fire liquidated all Ukrainian hardware – Ukrainians holed up in dugouts and did not attempt to rescue equipment.
The combatants did not dare to storm outpost 31 itself (near Krimskoy) for Ukrainians’ “Grads” were striking area from Lisichansk and must had spent train-load of rockets at least.
Ukrainians are lashing at district Petrovskiy (Donetsk) currently – the counter-strike is being sent to Mar`inka and Krasnogoronka (west of Donetsk). Hellish carnage is taking place near Avdeevka and in area of Opinoye (facing Donetsk airport).
Units of Ukrainian paratroopers (80 and 79, 81) are marching to Peski (the airport), where they must arrange for defense. The former defenders (units of 93rd, 1st tank, 17th tank, 3rd, 8th special force regiments) suffered immense losses.
City Gorlovka is being hit as well; shells are falling on Kondrat`yevka and Kalinovka (suburbs).
The airport is in fighting.
Russian Spring
01/15/2015-18:44
Commander “Motorola” : “At this moment the second and third floors (new terminal of Donetsk airport) are cleared. No one is there.”
…
The combatants began storming the new terminal on January 13. Same day “Motorola” confirmed his units had taken the first floor. Then Ukrainians “Cyborgs” were faced an ultimatum to leave the territory of the airport before 18:00.
The ultimatum was rejected; Ukrainian troops continued resistance and shelling adjacent territory.
Today, the combatants locked in the troops between first and fourth floors and gained control of the stairs.

Posted by: Fete | Jan 16 2015 4:55 utc | 32

R@30
I doubt that you have read any of Nasrallah’s speeches which are full of religious rhetoric, probably because he was trained as a preacher. They are repetitive not boring because you have to read all to get to his message which is usually interesting.
Maybe when you are better informed your comments might be more valuable and less pretentious.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 16 2015 5:18 utc | 34

Anonymous at 11 —
Psaki is bucking for promotion, with hard hitting material like that. This just in, confirmed reports of Russian armor at Kirovskoye in the Donbas. Note the winter camoflage, I believe the markings indicate the Guards Armor Regiment “Sneg” (Snow), the stone-cold Col. Moroznii in command.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jan 16 2015 5:54 utc | 36

Demian@29
Russia has done no cutting off of gas flows through Ukraine and won’t do that until the new pipelines are built in the next few years, the link you provided makes no such statement about immediate stopping of shipments.
This confusion seems to originate from the Daily Mail story about the 2009 shutdown of trans-Ukrainian gas because of theft.
I know some people want to see Russia do something dramatic in response to the sanctions but shutting down gas flows would be stupid.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 16 2015 6:19 utc | 38

Charlie Hebdo and the specter of Vichy: From Laval to Hollande

The two principal figures in the Vichy Regime were Marshal Philippe Pétain, the “chief of state,” and Pierre Laval, who served first as vice president of the Council of Ministers, and later as head of government. Pétain embodied the reactionary, anti-Republican traditions of the French ruling class and military. Hailed for leading French troops at the battle of Verdun and crushing anti-war mutinies during World War I, he was an ardent anti-Semite, tied to the regime of Spain’s fascist dictator Francisco Franco.
Laval personified the corruption of the French “left,” a man whose political career easily transitioned from the Socialist Party to collaboration with the Nazis. Laval joined the 1920s “Cartel of the Left” government, before emerging in conservative governments during the Great Depression of the 1930s. He left parliament and shifted far to the right amidst an upsurge of working-class struggle, eventually positioning himself as a chief fascist collaborator. It was noted at the time that Laval’s name was spelled the same backwards and forwards—a suitable expression of his spineless opportunism.
Following the war, Laval was put on trial and shot.
The example of Laval sheds light on the reactionary maneuvers of Hollande, another unprincipled manoeuvrer trained in the aftermath of the 1968 general strike by the ex-Vichy regime official, François Mitterrand. The Socialist Party had been reconstituted in the 1970s as an electoral vehicle for Mitterrand, now promoted as a candidate of the left.
For the past 35 years, what is erroneously called the French left has undergone a long downward spiral, culminating in the current President François Hollande and his prime minister, Manuel Valls, a man known above all for his mass deportation campaign against the Roma. For his right-wing policies, Hollande has justly become the most hated president in post-war French history. Support for Hollande plunged to 12 percent in the polls last November—lower even than the current 16 percent approval rating in France for the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
While there are still many unanswered questions about the terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo, it is absolutely clear that the French government is determined to utilize the atrocity to shift French politics even further to the right, implementing far-reaching attacks on democratic rights while ensuring that the French ruling class has a stake in the imperialist re-division of the world.
The stench of Vichy hangs over the Elysée Palace.

The collaboration this time is with the USA. Pity all the Frenchmen and women mindlessly particpating in the rape of Marianne; or is that mental image finally too much, too Charliesque, for the French themselves?

Posted by: jfl | Jan 16 2015 7:17 utc | 40

ukrainian-men-are-jumping-ship
My friend went to meet her parents, arriving from Germany, and was stunned: the international airport “Borispol” was overflowing with young men. She was able to park her car three miles from the terminal and the airport’s parking lot and adjacent areas were clogged with cars and buses. These are her impressions:
“Well, friends, what can I say? Had an epiphany today when I visited the airport “Borispol”! Now I’m glad we have been warned about the mobilization ahead of time and given a specific date – January 20th. At the airport there are scores of the departing! People of all stripes, with backpacks, bags, suitcases. The main contingent is men between 20 and 40 years old. Most – to Moscow! Others – to Turkey, Montenegro, Poland. That is, wherever is cheaper or no visas required. For this thanks to the idiots [in power]: our children are leaving their country, but at least they are not going to kill their brothers. But they will still come back! But you fascist rats, have nowhere to run! Although, I am told, all the deputies and members of the government have personal planes and reserved charters on standby. I hope not everyone will get to them in time…”
ukrainian-men-are-jumping-ship

Posted by: x | Jan 16 2015 11:14 utc | 42

Here’s the suicidal American consumerist view of … Sorry Charlie. The political line as the ultimate consumer product. Marketing as the epitome of Western ‘civilization’.
Reminds me of the angst that even Bilmon felt, not yet having a google email account, back in the day.

Posted by: jfl | Jan 16 2015 11:51 utc | 44

Twitter’s an interesting social medium. It’s pretty obvious what its intent was and is. It’s soliciting The Masses to amplify propaganda memes. A quick perusal of who and what is followed most and read the most underscores this. Brilliant in its hiding-in-plain-site transparency. Pursuant to that, the infamous and vaunted Billmon blocked me from following him and from viewing his Tweets — at least viewing them directly per his account. Not that I would have followed him — I wouldn’t. I follow no one.
Twitter

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 16 2015 12:53 utc | 46

Twitter is good for letting people know where you are and what you are up to, whether you are hanging with your homies or out dodging tear gas canisters…
… or looting and burning down QT’s, beauty salons and churches as well as shooting up rancorous politically satirical publications. Although, I thought that was the purpose of Facebook. If so, one or the other or both are superfluous.
I will concede that Twitter can be, and is, what you say, but it’s also what I say it is — increasingly the peoples’ go-to source for the vibe on breaking news. In this sense, it’s a perfect medium for social engineering and control.
As for me, I will use it as a platform for one or two line satirical zingers. If no one reads them, no problem, it’ll serve as practice, because practice makes perfect.
Here’s a good one:
Sexy Beast — Not!

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 16 2015 14:21 utc | 48

I did a bit of more digging and Wayoutwest maybe right after all……
“False / MISrepresented Report of Jan. 16 2015 gas supplies to Ukraine being cut off[edit]
Squealing like a stuck pig in order to get attention, the online rag NaturalNews(.com) has pumped out more drool to terrorize everybody that WW3 is ‘in the pipeline’ (yuk yuk) since Russia has again cut off supplies to Ukraine. So far this putridly sensational “report” remains unconfirmed and one can only surmise that the author is in some kind of crises in order to stoop so low as to publish such a slanted report without even the most basic of fact-checking first. Maybe he should try some other line of work (ay?) since his website is now partially spiraling into total irrelavance (on this topic anyway). To be fair his health related info. is on much stronger (fact-based) footing and maybe he should stick to just those topics – his strong suit.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Ukraine_gas_disputes

Posted by: notlurking | Jan 16 2015 14:50 utc | 50

@49
That last comment on wiki will be taken down as soon as the wiki editors see it.

Posted by: okie farmer | Jan 16 2015 15:34 utc | 52

DH@50
The Russian gas transit problems with Ukraine are long standing but recent events have made them acute. When this new transit system is completed Russia would be justified in stopping all gas supplies to the Fascists in Ukraine except to the Donbas and that is why they will probably continue to supply Ukraine’s needs.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jan 16 2015 16:19 utc | 54

@ 7 wOW
Nasrallah probably doesn’t want to be assassinated, hence the reason why he doesn’t make public appearances. Not really a sign of weakness, more like a sign of caution.

Posted by: farflungstar | Jan 16 2015 16:46 utc | 56

* the inevitable collapse of the USSA dollar is baked in the cake. It’s only a matter of time. The question is whether the demonic fiends in Washington, DC will unleash a nuclear hell storm to try to maintain their psychotic grip on power.* [1]
are there msg *hidden in plain sight* in the economist cover ?
https://socioecohistory.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/economist_magazine_jan2015.jpg
[1]
http://eventhorizonchronicle.blogspot.sg/2015/01/seismic-power-shifts-in-global.html

Posted by: denk | Jan 16 2015 16:59 utc | 58

5
“last-ditch Saudi attempt to hurt the Iranian economy by forcing a steep decline in oil prices ”
I’m unclear if this is what has caused the drop in oil prices. OPEC output has been steady leading up to, and during, the drop in oil prices. The increased supply of oil is coming from the US. Obviously OPEC could lower their output, but it’s not like they have increased output exponentially. I’d be curious to hear how wrong my line of reasoning is.

Posted by: IhaveLittleToAdd | Jan 16 2015 17:42 utc | 60

Posted by: dh | Jan 16, 2015 1:14:31 PM | 58
Thanks for that satire. Charlie Hebdo would be proud of it — I know I am.
I don’t know about all of you, but I sure am enjoying these low gas prices. I’m drinking more these days, if only because I can afford more ripple since the majority of my budget is no longer going to funding Putin’s expansionism and foolhardy panhandling in America’s hinterlands (Texas and The Dakotas). I bet the Russians are enjoying those low vodka prices too — I know I would be. Here’s to your livers, mates.
Here’s Johnny

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 16 2015 19:02 utc | 62

Be interested to read Fete’s sources on …
Kiev’s offensive stumbles in Donbass

Judging by the bits of information from the militia, the armed forces of Novorossia responded to attacks so powerfully that further aggravation of the situation on the part of Kiev is not expected. Thus, the planned attack on Donbass choked. Even the bloody provocation near Volnovaha did not help.

Posted by: jfl | Jan 16 2015 20:58 utc | 64

IS, ISrael, Nusra Front and “the moderates”:
http://radioyaran.com/2015/01/16/syrias-nusra-front-is-and-israel/

Posted by: Kerkaraje | Jan 16 2015 21:30 utc | 66

Sorry, I messed up the link to Phil Agee : The Descent of the US; the Rise of Latin America

Posted by: jfl | Jan 16 2015 21:37 utc | 68

@62 jfl 33 celius here on the west side of malaysia… seems hot to me at the moment..
1) russia has stopped the gas flows into ukraine…
2) russia has invaded ukraine.
3) russia has annexed crimea..
make yourself out to be a bozo by choosing to state any of the above 3 points. you too could be like an msm mouthpiece.

Posted by: ..james | Jan 17 2015 0:07 utc | 70

After its stunning success in Paris, testified to by its rave revues – Je suis Charlie – the US Plans to Train 5000 Syrian Militants Despite Europe Attacks.
That’s ‘despite’ rather than ‘in celebration of ‘ due to the msm’s continued, wildly successful, mass hypnosis.
Perhaps they should be more explicitly christened (oops, the pun) the main stream hypnotic media : the mshm.

Posted by: jfl | Jan 17 2015 1:56 utc | 72

while the heat seem to be on russia right now, a deadly war waged on china has been going on relentlessly..
target….china !
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/06/27/target-china-by-f-william-engdahl/

Posted by: denk | Jan 17 2015 2:16 utc | 74

Two interesting items today from Russia Insider.
A repost from Peak Prosperity by Chris Mortenson argues There is No ‘Move to War’. He sets out in detail the aggressive economic and political moves against Russia. He concludes thusly:

We Not On A Road To War, We’ve Already Arrived
If it looks like a war, acts like a war and smells like a war, it may just be a war. The US has been waging economic, financial, trade, political and even kinetic war-by-proxy against Russia. The only question is why?
From the perspective of Russians it seems clear that neocons are driving the US ship of state, and… simply not the sort of people with whom you negotiate in good faith…. The neocons believe they have the upper hand, they are part of the most powerful country on earth, and they never negotiate preferring to dictate.
The only problem is, the US is rapidly losing allies and friends the world over and it’s not nearly as powerful as it used to be, thanks to a profound failure to invest in itself (education, infrastructure, etc).

A dumb war by a dumb people doing dumb things. Great.
They also have an EXCLUSIVE: The West’s Go-to MH17 Expert Is a Social Media Hack. The poster “Byzantium” details the activities of Michael Higgins, a “then unknown British amateur military analyst….”
Often the single source of support for assertions of Syrian use of chemical weapons against DC’s proxies, “Higgins findings were later disputed by… arms control expert, Dr. Theodore Postol… [who] correctly pointed out that it’s impossible for Higgins to prove many of his Syrian assertions sitting in England far away from the crime scene.” — my emphasis, and again below.
After a very thorough discussion of the “evidence” and Higgins’ role in its manufacture, he makes some interesting remarks about the role of Banderastani security operatives in the discussion:

The same SBU, incidentally, that has produced the majority of the photographs Eliot Higgins and his ‘crowdsourced’ (read: a handful of people with unclear expertise who agree with him that MH17 is all Russia’s fault) Internet team have relied upon for their claims. And the same SBU, that seems to maintain aggressive but poorly English speaking trolls to police the comment threads of Mr. Higgins website, BellingtheCat.

To to return again to Zappa & the Mothers’ Just Another Band from LA — “Questions, Questions, Questions, flooding into the mind of the concerned young person today. Ah, but it’s a great time to be alive, ladies and gentlemen.”
Later Barflies, je suis Pervomaisk.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jan 17 2015 2:40 utc | 76

Speaking of demonic, Steve Gowans has published a 65-page PDF critique titled Plutocracy Promotion which, as one might expect, covers a lot of ground (definitely not for the squeamish or faint hearted).
This is the link to the index, not the PDF itself.
https://gowans.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/promoting-plutocracy-u-s-led-regime-change-operations-and-the-assault-on-democracy/

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 17 2015 2:44 utc | 78

in re gas to the Ukraine —
The report appears to be on the up and up; gas will stop once the connection is made thru Turkey. NewColdWar conveniently has re-posted a piece from Russia Insider paired with the Bloomberg story. From the former: upon completion “Russian gas will only be available through Turkey. The Ukrainian pipeline network will be used exclusively supply gas to Ukraine.” It also discusses Gazprom’s objectives in the negotiations with the EU.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jan 17 2015 3:46 utc | 80

Posted by: denk | Jan 16, 2015 9:16:32 PM | 71
Re the Vet’s Today article.
It’s way too alarmist. FWE fails to mention the excruciatingly embarrassing levels of greed, stupidity and cowardice emblematic of Western Power Pipe Dreams.
I’m still LMAO at this premature piece of self-congratulatory dumb-fuckery:
“A Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) is a major change in the nature of warfare brought about by the innovative application of new technologies which, combined with dramatic changes in military doctrine and operational and organizational concepts, fundamentally alters the character and conduct of military operations.”
Translation: “Scare taxpayers into letting us build 3x times more hardware than we could ever possibly need, get rich, bbq our balls, and then get ourselves obliterated by people who couldn’t possibly be as stupid as we’ve persuaded ourselves they are.”

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 17 2015 4:15 utc | 82

We’re in the era of plutarchy (the rule of wealth, combination of plutocracy and oligarchy is called plutarchy)… very good article on the way out of it (maybe): http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28505-richard-wolff-on-the-greek-crisis-austerity-and-a-post-capitalist-future

Posted by: GoraDiva | Jan 17 2015 5:24 utc | 84

Posted by: rufus magister | Jan 16, 2015 10:46:17 PM | 77
It seems that Russia agreed to the EU condition that pipeline providers and gas suppliers be run by different companies so as to ensure competition.
It also seems that the EU will negotiate Russian gas price as a whole.
I am not sure if that is the agreed outcome or part of negotiations. Last from Alexej Miller was that Turkish Stream would take longer than South Stream.
Last news from Bulgaria are that pipes still get delivered.
Bets are that the Euro will crack. After that economic flows will be rearranged.

Posted by: somebody | Jan 17 2015 7:53 utc | 86

Hearing in the French Senate, Dezember 17, 2014 on operation Chammal in Iraq

D. AUDITION DU GÉNÉRAL DE DIVISION (R) VINCENT DESPORTES, PROFESSEUR ASSOCIÉ À SCIENCES PO PARIS
…
Un mot sur Daech, d’abord.
…
Quel est le docteur Frankenstein qui a créé ce monstre ? Affirmons-le clairement, parce que cela a des conséquences : ce sont les Etats-Unis. Par intérêt politique à court terme, d’autres acteurs – dont certains s’affichent en amis de l’Occident – d’autres acteurs donc, par complaisance ou par volonté délibérée, ont contribué à cette construction et à son renforcement. Mais les premiers responsables sont les Etats-Unis.
…
Sur Daech, je suis d’accord avec M. de Montesquiou : plus cette organisation terroriste cherchera à étendre son emprise territoriale, plus elle se fragilisera et sera susceptible de subir nos frappes. Ce choix de la territorialisation signe la mort programmée de Daech – Napoléon fut défait devant Moscou ! Et c’est ainsi que Daech mourra avant Al-Qaïda. Quant à la question de rompre les flux qui en assurent le soutien, je pense, sans connaître le détail opérationnel en cause, qu’une part de la difficulté tient au fait que l’on frapperait là en territoire ami.

Short translation: The United States created this monster (ISIS). Other actors have contributed – some of them declared friends of the West, for short term political profit, out of indifference or free will, have contributed. But it is mainly the United States who are responsible.
It is difficult to stop the financing because you knock on friendly territory there.
Wow.

Posted by: somebody | Jan 17 2015 9:12 utc | 88

@82
‘ It seems that Russia agreed to the EU condition that pipeline providers and gas suppliers be run by different companies so as to ensure competition. ‘
My understanding is that Russia will build its pipeline up to the Greek border, and from there the European Unit can build whatever kind of pipeline with whatever kinds of covenants the Americans dictate.
But they better start now ’cause the Russians will be there with the gas in 2 years … and it will be sold to whomever wants it.
Take it or leave it.
That’s what Russia ‘agreed’ to, isn’t it?

Posted by: jfl | Jan 17 2015 9:25 utc | 90

almost forgot…..FETE…. thanks for those updates..

Posted by: ..james | Jan 17 2015 9:30 utc | 92

@87: “any thought on a specific date when putin might call in the ukee loan?”
I suspect it is contingent on a whole range of complex geopolitical issues. Not withstanding, if he’s in for the ‘kill’, and the poodles don’t come round to their senses, then my guess is sometime following the elections in Greece when the new likely separatist government signals ‘exit’ of the EU and loan defaults etc. No real logic for this, just seems to rhyme nicely with the new wave of Orthodox-centric policy.(*) He may well claim land east-of-Dnieper as payment of default at the same time. The key milestone (to pass) is SWIFT2.0 in operation B4 hand to handle/by-pass the expected DC-blowback etc. So, some BRICS coordination is also likely. It’s an ace up his sleeve and no need to use it until he needs too.
(*) – I’m sure the Chinese and Russian SCO collective will be happy to forward loan to Greece on the terminal’s anticipated revenue enable Greece to get out of German Bank grip. Russia is doing deals with Egypt on use of Ruble for tourist (& other) trade and I’d not rule out something similar for Greece as they adopt new currency (even the Ruble in the interim?). Then I’ll wait for the announcement that the Turk-Stream/Greek mega-hub will branch south under water to Cairo. If they are cheeky enough they’ll land it just south of Gaza. This is a new energy ‘curtain’ infrastructure ring with the EU(West) poodles on the outside and the apartheid state of Israel the meat in the sandwich. Germany is connected via North Stream and so the German-Russian-China project rolls on largely unhindered.

Posted by: x | Jan 17 2015 10:42 utc | 94

There is no war against Russia and China. That’s pure nonsense and propaganda. They’re all gangsters prowling the neighborhood and right now, Vito Corleone (America) is top dog amongst the five families, but Barzini is deliberating and maneuvering for more territory and a bigger slice on his own terms. However it shakes out, it will be gangsters in charge before during and after, with the majority of you dorks rooting for your gangsters. Me, I don’t want any gangsters in the neighborhood, so to me it makes no sense to support one gangster against the other because you’ll just get more of the same if your gangster wins. Also, since gangsters are devils, until you figure a way to eliminate gangsterism, a tall order if we’re not all on the same page, it’s best to relent to the devil you know rather than the one you don’t.

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 17 2015 13:01 utc | 96

typin on an ipod is a beech..

Posted by: ..james | Jan 17 2015 13:38 utc | 98

“it’s best to relent to the devil you know rather than the one you don’t.”
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jan 17, 2015 8:01:41 AM | 92
Interesting analogy, but, I believe I’ll wait and see. IMO, the jurys still out. With the Empire and it’s sycophants in the corporate world, “Global Plantation” is their “wet dream”, not so sure about the BRICS ambitions. What people do is important, not what they say.

Posted by: ben | Jan 17 2015 15:50 utc | 100