MattSh
MattSh's JournalPutin and Assad have made fools of the West
At the outset of Syria’s brutal four-year civil war, I was an almost unique voice in the British media deploring the push to depose the secular dictator President Bashar al-Assad, especially in the absence of a genuinely popular uprising against him. Here in The Spectator I tried to point out that such a short-term strategy would have devastating long-term consequences. Assad, I argued, would not fall, because the people of Damascus would not rise up against him. The so-called secular rebels were in fact vicious Islamists in disguise. Western interests in the region would be dramatically undermined by Saudi and Iranian militias, who would fight a devastating proxy war. Syria’s extraordinarily diverse population risked annihilation as a result. And we could even end up provoking a full-blown war with Russia.
No one listened, and I tired of trying to convince them of their folly. Four years on, the suffering of the Syrian people — 250,000 slaughtered, half of the population internally displaced and millions more made refugees — is obvious. And last week, in the midst of Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since the second world war (brought about in no small part by fleeing Syrians), the extent of the West’s geopolitical miscalculations became painfully evident. Jihadists of various affiliations, who are now unequivocally the only opposition, were encroaching on Syria’s Alawite-dominated coastal heartland, and inching ever closer towards Damascus. So the long-time Syrian ally Russia called Washington’s bluff by establishing military bases in the regime stronghold Latakia. In a flash its tanks, fighter jets, military advisers, warships and even its most modern anti-aircraft missile system were in place. Its engineers constructed an airport landing strip almost overnight, as its navy conducted menacing drills in the nearby (Russian-leased) Syrian port of Tartus.
This was the most brazen overseas military deployment by Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. But it caught Nato off guard. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, we learnt of the Islamic State’s new caliphate — arguably the most important development in the region since the founding of Israel in 1948 — only when its leader announced the event on YouTube. Still, the question remains: why did the Russians move to guarantee Assad’s survival? The short answer is because the West’s Syrian strategy was in such disarray that Russia could expect Nato to look the other way.
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Assad is in fact now more popular than ever in the roughly one third of Syria he still controls. Anyone in Damascus or on the coast who supported the Islamic State long since either joined it or blew themselves up among the infidels. The West, though, is more hated than ever. A recent poll found that 80 per cent of Syrians believe we created the Islamic State — a common belief, incidentally, throughout the Middle East (and not entirely inaccurate). So it took Washington and its reactionary Gulf allies four years and billions of dollars to end up eating humble pie. They have now effectively admitted that Moscow was right about Syria all along. In the process, they have undermined any humanitarian credibility our military adventurism may still have had after the Iraq nightmare.
John R. Bradley is the author of four books on the Middle East.
Complete story at - http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9643672/putin-and-assad-have-made-fools-of-the-west/
You Must Check out the Making of the Amazing 'Silver Arrows' | Fstoppers
This is it... I've come across the mother lode of photography personal projects that will just blow you away. Czech photographer Jan Rambousek and Creative Director Tomas Kopecny were inspired to visually recreate some of the most noteworthy scenes from Grand Prix racing during the 1930s. The series is entitled "Silver Arrows" due to the fact that Mercedes race cars were dominating the race series during that time period. The final images are incredible and gorgeous, but what's even more amazing is the research, detail, and overall production that went into creating these images. Prepare to be inspired and amazed.
The artists' statement about the photo series:
Join us and experience the most celebrated moments of the story of the Silver Arrows as they unfold right before your eyes in breathtaking scale. Our large format prints provide detail that could never have been captured with the photographic technology of the time.
Using a combination of original photography with the most advanced 3D graphics we brought the legendary silver cars of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union — along with other famous brands — back to life.
We’re confident that our story of the Silver Arrows and the people involved will feel as authentic to you as they did to the hundreds of thousands of spectators in the stands in era of the asphalt burning legends.
...Only a limited amount of material is preserved from the original 1934-1939 races, but we found as much text, photography, and film as we could, and pored over it until our eyes bled.
The goal: To achieve perfect historical accuracy and realism in every composition, down to the last detail. From the design of the cars to the type of welding on their bodies, from the landscape of the locations to the clothing of the crowd — we wanted everything to look just right.
It was a labor of love, and we think its fruits paid off. We hope you’ll think so too.
Complete story at - https://fstoppers.com/automotive/you-must-check-out-making-amazing-silver-arrows-85607
This Chrome extension reminds you that “refugees” and “migrants” are “humans” - Quartz
This Chrome extension reminds you that “refugees” and “migrants” are “humans” - Quartz
So contentious is the refugee crisis facing Europe that even the words used to reference it have come under fire. The concern is that the words “refugee,” “asylum seeker,” and “migrant” risk dehumanizing the people, who are being hidden behind the labels used to define them.
Such is the opinion of Australian creative studio Agency. On Sept. 4, four of the 20 people who work at the agency, a non-profit focused on promoting social causes, put down the work they do for clients to dedicate several hours to a project called “Rehumanize.” The project is essentially an app extension for the browser Chrome that replaces textual occurrences of “refugee,” “asylum seeker,” or “migrant” with “human.”
Even for those who argue these words are etymologically correct and not usually meant to be offensive, replacing them using the app still has a sobering effect, emphasizing that there is tangible, relatable suffering behind the labels. Below are some examples:
Complete story at - http://qz.com/497876/this-chrome-extension-reminds-you-that-refugees-and-migrants-are-humans/
Extension here... https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rehumanize/fndemhlchjmbionkkacpflllkfeppjpm?hl=en-US
Abby Martin returns to TV with "The Empire Files"
Toon - Do your job Muppets...
NOTE: That's not a misspelling...
LIBOR
The London Interbank Offered Rate is the average interest rate estimated by leading banks in London that the average leading bank would be charged if borrowing from other banks.
In June 2012, multiple criminal settlements by Barclays Bank revealed significant fraud and collusion by member banks connected to the rate submissions, leading to the Libor scandal. The British Bankers’ Association said on 25 September 2012 that it would transfer oversight of LIBOR to UK regulators, as proposed by Financial Services Authority managing director Martin Wheatley's independent review recommendations. Wheatley's review recommended that banks submitting rates to LIBOR must base them on actual inter-bank deposit market transactions and keep records of those transactions, that individual banks' LIBOR submissions be published after three months, and recommended criminal sanctions specifically for manipulation of benchmark interest rates. Financial institution customers may experience higher and more volatile borrowing and hedging costs after implementation of the recommended reforms. The UK government agreed to accept all of the Wheatley Review's recommendations and press for legislation implementing them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor
Czech Cops Haul Refugees Off Trains to Germany and Write Numbers on Their Arms in Ink
(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — For most of us, the image of a serial number on a forearm conjures up indelible images of 1940s Germany, but it seems this is not the case for the Czech police, who adopted the controversial practice earlier this week.
As the immigration debate intensifies throughout Europe, police in the Southern Czech region of Moravia resorted to the method in an attempt to stem the tide of people fleeing war by heading to the E.U.
According to The Independent, during the early hours of Tuesday morning, over 200 people were arrested as their trains arrived from Austria and Hungary. The refugees were removed from the trains heading to Germany, detained, and flagged with identification numbers written on their arms with marker pens. Photographs in the Czech media showed police officers writing registration numbers on the arms of women and children among chaotic scenes of razor wire and makeshift camps.
“What never stops amazing me are people who look at the Holocaust and think that it only holds lessons for Germans & Jews,” European Media Director of Human Rights Watch Andrew Stroehlein said on Twitter.
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According to Czech media, after arrest, refugees are placed in secure institutions and believe it or not, are then required to pay for the privilege. Following a backlash of international criticism, the Czech Republic has since announced that it no longer plans to detain Syrian refugees trying to reach Germany, making it the latest country to abandon European asylum rules in the face of the global crisis.
Complete story at - http://theantimedia.org/czech-cops-haul-refugees-off-trains-to-germany-and-write-numbers-on-their-arms-in-ink/
More here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/czech-police-haul-migrants-off-trains-to-germany-and-write-numbers-on-their-arms-in-ink-10482651.html
IMF Officials Implicated In Theft, Concealment Of Ukraine Loan Corruption, US Justice Department
IMF Officials Implicated In Theft, Concealment Of Ukraine Loan Corruption, Us Justice Department Investigating | Dances With Bears
Officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in flight from evidence of negligence, incompetence, and corruption in their management of billions of dollars in loans for Ukraine.
Nikolai Gueorguiev, head of the Ukraine team at IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, and Jerome Vacher, the IMF representative in Kiev, refuse to respond to questions on their role in the offshore diversion of IMF loan money through Privatbank and Credit Dnepr Bank, banks owned by Ukrainian oligarchs Igor Kolomoisky and Victor Pinchuk. The Fund’s Managing Director Christine Lagarde and her spokesman, Gerry Rice, are covering up evidence of conflicts of interest and multiple violations of the IMF Staff Code of Conduct which have been occurring in the Ukraine loan programme. Simonetta Nardin, head of the Fund’s media relations, refuses to explain her apparent violations of the Code, or respond to evidence that she fabricated elements of her career resume.
On Tuesday a spokesman at the US Department of Justice in Washington confirmed that an investigation is under way of the role played by US clearing banks in the movement of IMF funds through the Privatbank group and companies connected with Kolomoisky. Speaking for the Asset Forefeiture and Money Laundering Section, Peter Carr declined to give more details.
In recent indictments presented to US courts, Justice Department officials have defined the crime of money laundering as the transmission or transfer of money through “a place in the United States to or through a place outside the United States” with the “intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity”; with knowledge that the transfer of funds represents “the proceeds of some unlawful activity”; and with the intention to “conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of unspecified unlawful activity”.
The role of US system banks, such as Citibank, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase, in clearing US dollar transactions has been the basis of selective Justice Department prosecutions of Russian and pro-Russian Ukrainian companies and individuals since the toppling of President Victor Yanukovich in Kiev in February 2014. In contrast, Ukrainian allies of the US in that operation, including Yulia Tymoshenko, Kolomoisky, and Pinchuk, have not been pursued on court evidence of their involvement in corruption and money-laundering.
Complete story at - http://johnhelmer.net/?p=14017#more-14017
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Current location: Former USSR
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