I've never been to Ukraine. My ancestors were from there-- Beyond the Pale, a phrase my grandfather never taught me but that Mick Jones of the Clash did; his ancestors were too. Last we checked in, the country was in turmoil and seemed headed right towards bloody civil war. Hundreds are already dead and thousands injured. Suddenly, this morning, things are looking up.

By Ramona Wadi | MEMO | February 21, 2014

Russian Information Agency Novosti
February 22, 2014
Ukraine Parliament Considers President’s Ouster, Early Vote

Press TV | February 22, 2014

A Syrian opposition leader has praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for expressing support for militants wounded during the conflict in Syria.
Muhammad Badie told Israel Radio Friday that the Syrian opposition is grateful to Netanyahu for his February 18 tour to a field hospital in the (occupied) Golan Heights.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
February 21, 2014
Secretary General discusses European Defence and Ukraine in Greece

Voice of Russia
February 21, 2014

Ukraine: another piece in US-NATO-EU neo-con puzzle
John Robles

© Photo: Golos Stolitsy

Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts

John Galsworthy, 1911: Air war last and worst hideous development of the black arts of warfare

CLICK HERE to download the mp3 of this audio podcast.
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Transcipt:
Welcome. This is James Corbett of corbettreport.com, and you’re listening to The Well-Read Anarchist. This is Episode 2 of this podcast series, “An Introduction to Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.”

Last night, as I watched the television news, there were consecutive stories on massive street protests in Ukraine and Venezuela. They were all presented as democratic protests against undemocratic and unresponsive governments. Not one of the stories mentioned the not unimportant detail that, in each case, the violent street protests were targeting governments democratically elected […]

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Here, at least, is a place to start: intelligence officials have weighed in with an estimate of just how many secret files National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden took with him when he headed for Hong Kong last June. Brace yourself: 1.7 million. At least they claim that as the number […]

The Barack Obama administration’s insistence that Iran discuss its ballistic missile program in the negotiations for a comprehensive nuclear agreement brings its position into line with that of Israel and senators who introduced legislation drafted by the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC aimed at torpedoing the negotiations. But the history of the issue suggests that the […]

by KenAt last we have a date: April 13. That's when the seventh and final season of Mad Men debuts on AMC. I've got so much stuff to watch now that it will require even more juggling than I've been doing lately, but I had already taken the precaution of ordering Blu-rays of Seasons 4 and 5 to go with my U.K. DVD set of Seasons 1 and 2 and the U.S. DVDs of Season 3. I guess when it comes time I'll have to bite the bullet and pay the stiff current asking prices for Season 6.Or . . .

At least 57 militants were killed today, but the number is likely higher. As it is the prayer day, reports may have been thinner than usual. There were clashes in Anbar but only one death was reported there. An Iraqi soldier and a child were wounded in attacks.

Also, Iraqi troops have ended their weeklong assault on militants who took over the town of Suleiman Bek in Salah ad Din province.

Last week, I posted a fabulous audio link to a very important interview conducted between Dave Gahary, of American Free Press, and Wolfgang Halbig, school security expert and former law enforcement officer, about exposing the truth about the Sandy Hook operation and hoax.  Wolfgang Halbig brought forward some very damaging evidence that clearly shows that the entire "official story" behind Sandy Hook was a complete lie.   It does seem that Wolfgang Halbig has touched a few "nerves" concerning his allegations that Sandy Hook was a complete fraud and that NOBODY DIED in that operation...

About 2,000 protested in Hebron today to Open Shuhada Street

Trans Resister Radio #79 | Guillermo Jimenez of Traces of Reality shares some of his experiences producing independent media, and gives us his thoughts on the subject in general. How important is it to avoid the sensationalism of mainstream media? Go beyond the hype to get to the truth.

If it works for Sunny John, it works for me.by KenAs I've had frequent occasion to note, Howie and I tend to respond to remarkably similar stories, and so it is that while I was still thinking about the hoped-for suicide of Housa Speaker "Sunny John" Boehner, Howie was already asking: "Will Boehner Commit Suicide Over The Minimum Wage?

 
 
A bill has been introduced in the US House of Representatives that would cut federal funding to American academic institutions that boycott Israel.
The bipartisan legislation was introduced by Representatives Peter Roskam (R-Illinois) and Dan Lipinski (D-Illinois) in early February and is US lawmakers’ first effort at federal level against higher learning institutions that choose to boycott Israel, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday.

 
by FRANKLIN LAMB

Arizona passes bad law, federal judge OK’s police spying on Muslims, British Catholics censor song, video on abuse by priests…..Click here for free audiobook from Audible, and kick in $15 to the PBC Podcast!
–Arizona passes anti-gay law disguised as religious freedom
–In New York, federal judge rules that NYPD surveillance of mosques doesn’t violate rights
–Ooberfuse uninvited to Catholic conference in Britain over anti-abuse song and video

CBS
February 20, 2014
Ukraine: Opposition Leader Warns Yanukovych ‘You Will End Like Gadhafi’
Excerpt:
Opposition lawmaker Oleh Lyashko warned that Yanukovych himself was in danger.

Stephen Lendman Blog
February 21, 2014
Unconditional Surrender in Ukraine
By Stephen Lendman
As things now stand, Obama won. EU partners won. Fascist extremists won. Russia lost.
So did ordinary Ukrainians. Months of struggling for something better apparently turned out in vain. More on this below.
Events remain fast-moving. Overnight negotiations produced an early Friday morning deal.

Cook's Amy Walter penned a warning for Republicans on the minimum wage yesterday: "when it comes to the debate over the minimum wage, there is more risk than reward for Republicans."

Al-Akhbar | February 21, 2014

The US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro asserted that the Israeli-Palestinian peace deal currently being negotiated by US Secretary of State of John Kerry will include recognition of Israel as “the nation state of the Jewish people”,The Times of Israel reported on Friday.

MEMO | February 21, 2014

Diplomatic sources told AFP on Thursday that Saudi Arabia has sidelined its intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, by transferring key aspects of the Syrian dossier, which he had previously been overseeing, to Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.

Interfax-Ukraine
February 21, 2014
28 MPs quit Party of Regions faction in Rada
Rada passes bill allowing Tymoshenko’s release
17 MPs leave Party of Regions faction in Rada
Yanukovych declares Feb 22-23 days of mourning victims
Rada passes bill preventing prosecution of protestors
Riot police getting ready to leave presidential HQ

In my most recent post, I showed that Mann’s claim to have been “exonerated” by the Oxburgh inquiry had no more validity than Mann’s claim to have won a Nobel prize. In today’s post, I’ll continue my series on the “investigations” by showing that Mann’s claim to have been “exonerated” by the Muir Russell inquiry is equally invalid.

By Matthew Cagle | ACLU | February 19, 2014

FBI “Terror Plot” Claims Continue to Unravel

TweetA "private" plane with the Libyan flag on the tail was blown up in the sky over Tunisia and fell near the Carthage airport. The plane had flown out of Mitiga Airport (the old US military airport in Tripoli) now occupied by Abdulhakem Belhaj Al Qaeda leader in Tripoli. Aboard the plane was none other than Muftah al Dawadi, a known and wanted Al Qaeda leader. This is the man who led the Sarin gas attack on Libyan civilians a few weeks ago. It is being reported that this was an ambulance plane carrying wounded.

Also: Obama may escalate role in Syrian war
As the United States is revisiting its plans for Syria, US Congressional officials say the idea of using drones against targets in the Middle Eastern country is gaining popularity in Washington.
Washington’s plans for what it calls limited strikes in Syria comes months after the administration of President Barack Obama failed to sell an offensive missile campaign against Syria to America’s war-weary public.

A small business owner and T-shirt maker who had his products forced off of internet marketplaces by the NSA has WON his fight against the agency.
Dan McCall is the owner of Liberty Maniacs which is a T-shirt company based out of Minnesota. We were the very first to tell you about McCall and his fight with the NSA last August when we featured him during one of our Truth in Media episodes.

Over the last decade, America has quietly expanded its military presence throughout Africa in an attempt to counter Chinese and other emerging nations’ influence, while consolidating control over critical strategic resources and trade routes.

This is how REAL Whistle Blowers are treated! O’Busha land.

By Steve Ellner | Venezuelanalysis | February 20, 2014 

Drunk? Stoned? Stupid? Draw your own conclusion but Steve Israel likes what he seesMore than a few congressmembers have been pissed off enough about Steve Israel's shady behavior to mention it to me. Maybe it's just the ones who I talk to but there sure does seem to be a consensus among normal Democrats that they guy is a one sleazy, untrustworthy character. And everybody just wrings their hands.

By Dan Beeton | CEPR | February 19, 2014

Dear Mr. Hoffmanre: Luther the Antinomian? (see the comments section following our blog post on Martin Heidegger)You mentioned that in England even the yeoman was sovereign. That did not prevent the Upper Classes from kidnabbing the poor and sending them to the colonies as slaves.One Question: How do you reconcile the supremacism, mass murder, lack of love and unforgiveness of the Old Testament theology with the Prince of Peace?

By Kate Colwell | Friends of the Earth | February 19, 2014

Via Reason‘s Matt Welch, Ron Paul appeared on Fox Business’s The Independents to talk about staying out of Ukraine’s business and seeking clemency for Edward Snowden:
 

Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

These changes could also reduce household debt. In the current system, new money is only created when banks lend. Banks will only lend if someone is willing to go into debt. That is why the government wants to fuel growth by encouraging more household borrowing. But with household debt at its highest level in history, any further increase could lay the foundations for another financial crisis.

By Noel Brinkerhoff | AllGov | February 21, 2014

Yet another official at the nation’s most challenging environmental cleanup project has been fired after raising serious safety concerns.

Last year, President Obama offered to compromise Social Security inviolability on the alter of the plutocrats and their advocates (the GOP and the ConservaDems) who want to cut-- if not abolish-- social insurance. It was a bad mistake but, lucky for America, the Republicans, who had demanded it, refused to compromise and Chained CPI wasn't adopted. This year, the president has decided to focus on his State of the Union message about opportunity as his budgetary vision. It's a reflection that the budget is falling rapidly already and would fall more if Congress passes immigration reform.

Stop NATO
February 21, 2014
1) White House demands Ukrainian government withdraw all security force from center of capital
2) Putin meets Russia’s Security Council members to discuss Ukraine crisis
3) European Union agrees to fast-track sanctions against Ukraine
4) Russia foreign minister slams threat of sanctions against Ukraine
5) Ukrainian Health Ministry: Kiev death toll reaches 75
6) Interior Ministry: Sixteen police officers killed
7) Belarusian president sends condolences to his Ukrainian counterpart
1)

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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
Arnold Zweig: Selections on war
Henri Barbusse: Selections on war
====
Arnold Zweig
From The Crowning of a King (1937)
Translated by Eric Sutton

ACLU

Law enforcement is taking advantage of outdated privacy laws to track Americans like never before. New technologies can record your every movement, revealing detailed information about how you choose to live your life. Without the right protections in place, the government can gain access to this information — and to your private life — with disturbing ease.

Ukraine president announces early elections, promises coalition government

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