International Politics Thread - Disease and Disaster

[Kara]

Sure am looking forward to hearing the utterly banal "Jihadi John" for the next X weeks.

[Madrun Badrun]

Ya I find it disgusting that in this day and age bad guys don't even take the time to pick out a cool name like Hitler or Stalin.  If you're going to make the news, at least do it right. 

[Kara]

Stalin even had to refresh his personal brand a few times to keep up with things. When the times demanded intellectual revolutionaries, he was Koba, when they demanded an unshakable rock upon which to build the one true science of Marxism-Leninism, he became Stalin.

[Joe Molotov]

Ya I find it disgusting that in this day and age bad guys don't even take the time to pick out a cool name like Hitler or Stalin.  If you're going to make the news, at least do it right. 

Gay Stalin might work.

[chronovore]

Ya I find it disgusting that in this day and age bad guys don't even take the time to pick out a cool name like Hitler or Stalin.  If you're going to make the news, at least do it right. 

Gay Stalin might work.

Gay Stallin’ neatly describes PD’s modus operandi.

[Kara]

I can't believe this was Red Ed's dad.

http://monthlyreview.org/2015/01/01/voices-of-socialism-karl-marx/

[Kara]

http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-election-2015/1.644600

[Am_I_Anonymous]

http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-election-2015/1.644600

Potheads for Peace sounds like a solid political strategy 

If I knew what a kibitz was I'd vote for them.

[benjipwns]

I'm leaning towards the Get Us The Fuck Out of Here Party. Though the Third Temple Now Party have some interesting ideas.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

You know, all joking aside, I have a ton of respect for anybody who lives in Haifa or anywhere near the border. Takes a lot of gumption.

[Kara]

I'm leaning towards the Get Us The Fuck Out of Here Party. Though the Third Temple Now Party have some interesting ideas.

This a funny post if you've read The Yiddish Policemen's Union.

[Steve Contra]

http://www.clickhole.com/blogpost/you-cant-spell-israel-without-liars-commentary-548

[benjipwns]

 

 :israelcry

[benjipwns]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=154454479&postcount=1307

...and the first bomb (of stupid?) appears to just have been dropped!

(Image removed from quote.)

supposedly a few hours ago a country-wide government order was issued, asking for all illegal immigrants to be immediately released (!!), countrywide. even at the borders.
even more unbelievable than this, is a statement that just started to circulate the internet, supposedly signed by the president of the "Panhellenic Federation Border Guards", saying that he got instructions that "even in the case that they discover by accident people trying to illegally enter the country", they are not to be detained. only their details to be written down (wtf?) and immediately given a travel warrant good for six months, and let them go wherever they want.
oh, and all the detention centers for illegal immigrants, they are to be shut down country-wide too.
 
now, I dont know if this is to happen starting tomorrow morning as it is suggested, I am not even sure in the 100% validity of this claim at all, but as I said local internet has just picked it up, and on one mainstream tv news prog. it was just mentioned near the very end of the bulletin. so right now it looks it has a ..good(?) chance it is legit.


this is the news site that claims that they spoke with the president of border guards that he confirmed it:
http://www.lifo.gr/now/greece/61881
(poor google translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=el&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lifo.gr%2Fnow%2Fgreece%2F61881&edit-text=&act=url)


if true... the consequences for this....
anybody just crosses the border and is legit. we write down whatever the hell they tell us to write, and we issue travel papers based on this info. then we let go. wtf?
a) the role of the embassies we have all over the word is zeroed immediately. why bother when you can just ..walk in? the loss of control (very far from perfect or even good control there was) is unfathomable.
b) the medical horror.... anybody just walks in, might as well have whatever illness or widespread disease, epidemic, the whole book.  document says nothing about medical exams - a thing which would be practically 100% impossible anyway.
c) the center of Athens... that poor city... I cant even imagine how the places of central athens that are already packed to the brim with legal/illegal immigrants will even look after six months of said order. 
then of course, I wont even think about the potential increase in (already huge) criminality, or cases of malicious people trying to find a way to enter Greece/Europe. etc.

if this is true, we practically just invited all the scum/wanted/criminal on the run/criminal for career/etc for a free fucking meal, and all-inclusive too.

----
and by the time I was typing the above, I already found the official site for the panhellenic border guard, and apparently the story the news site above runs, its verified here:
http://www.posyfy.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=463:2015-03-03-18-03-00&catid=100:2011-10-26-07-21-01
googletrans: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=el&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.posyfy.gr%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D463%3A2015-03-03-18-03-00%26catid%3D100%3A2011-10-26-07-21-01&edit-text=

[Rufus]

He edited already:

*edit:
seems debunked by announcement of ..."Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection" on mainstream media 10 mins ago:
http://news.in.gr/greece/article/?aid=1231389857
(google trans) https://translate.google.com/transla...857&edit-text=

well, reading carefully, he doesnt say that this order was not issued, or that the Panhellenic captain of border guard is lying, he basically claims that neither him, nor the interior affairs minister, nor the other deputy minister have issued it.
he doesnt say this order does not exist. very strangely, he offers as an excuse that "...I might think some Brigadier may have issued this order, as the 'judges' (the part where the political power decides who rises and who leaves from the army higher-ups) are not started yet" (suggesting said brigadiers have become ..impatient?? and may issue such orders? does not compute too well)
anyway, more on this when there are.

[benjipwns]

Someone just sent me this:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/22/can-a-parallel-digital-currency-solve-the-greek-financial-crisis

Soon – if the Greek crisis is not resolved – one of the most audacious pieces of lateral thinking ever could get a try-out: a parallel digital currency, issued by the Greek government, modelled on Bitcoin, but with a crucial difference.

In orthodox economics, money barely figures. It’s just there, acting as a lubricant to supply and demand. The assumption is: markets create money, and the state’s role is to make sure it’s not fake or diluted.

Bitcoin is an audacious attempt to create money beyond the control of any state. It is a digital currency, in the form of a limited number of tokens. It is championed by people who would, if they could, return to a gold standard – where states are obliged to limit the amount of money in the economy. What these money fundamentalists worry about is states creating so much money that booms and busts become inevitable and inflation erodes wealth. In this sense, Bitcoin’s aim is to function as “digital gold”.

If things go badly for Greece, finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has said he would consider creating a parallel digital currency, using Bitcoin’s digital security and transparency, but doing the exact opposite of what the money fundamentalists intend.

Varoufakis outlined, in a detailed blog post 12 months ago, how a Bitcoin-like virtual currency could be used to get around the ECB’s refusal to boost demand through quantitative easing. Just like Bitcoin, it would be exchangeable one for one with euros. But it would be issued by the state – and if you were prepared to hold it for two years, you would earn a profit paid for by taxes. For this reason, Varoufakis called it “future-tax coin”.

If the Greek government issued a parallel digital currency, and forced banks and businesses to use it, this would boost the money supply in defiance of the policy of the European Central Bank, said Varoufakis. In addition, he predicted, the currency would provide “a source of liquidity for the governments that is outside the bond markets, which does not involve the banks and which lies outside any of the restrictions imposed by Brussels or the various troikas”.

It would create an extra call on the nation’s tax revenues, so would have to be capped. If you issued future-tax coins worth 10% of GDP, in two years’ time, you would lose a sizeable chunk of your tax bill, warned Varoufakis.

So another way of thinking about a parallel second currency is: it’s a way of borrowing from tax receipts tomorrow to fund a monetary stimulus today. Which, if you reduce it even further, is like getting a fiscal stimulus for free. If used in crisis mode, it would also allow Greece to survive, for a time, its banks being sunk by the withdrawal of ECB emergency aid.

If a parallel currency ever happens (I am writing this on Friday: anything could happen by Monday), it will dramatise one of the key arguments of anti-establishment economists like Varoufakis: that states – not markets – create money.

Money only has value, say these economists, because states decree it. Furthermore, the state is not just standing above the market, regulating the currency: the act of taxing and spending is what creates money, not the act of buying and selling in a marketplace. It’s called “modern monetary theory”, but it’s no mere theory.

If it is right, the obvious practical conclusion is that a state with its own currency is always solvent. It can always create more money and pay people in that money. Therefore, it can always run a deficit – always use state spending to suppress unemployment. The only condition is that people must believe the state will exist in future.

And this is where it gets dicey for both the eurozone and Greece. If the Germans kick Greece out of the euro, that raises a big question mark over whether the euro quasi-state will permanently stand behind the currency as designed. The euro might come under speculative attack, as investors seek to pick off the next Greece, and place bets on the value of any new currencies that might emerge.

But the risks are even higher for Greece, should it start issuing a parallel, digital euro. Because Varoufakis’s digital currency is only redeemable against future tax revenues, you would have to believe the Greek state could not collapse.

Jabawocky 22 Feb 2015 15:37

I don't think modern monetary theory is a theory, it is merely logic finally applied to economics where it previously has been woefully lacking. Economics should really be a branch of accountancy, where it belongs.
The idea that philosophy has a role in any theory of money is a damming indictment of an entire discipline. Money is a human creation and this is understandable by humans without philosophy. The real question is who creates and delivers the mystery and why. The greatest battle in history is who gets to create money and for what end it is then used. Until electorates get this the 1% will keep this to themselves and prevail.

All that said, you have been perhaps the only mainstream commentator with anything like an objective view on the Greek crisis, a fact which deserves high levels of commendation. please keep up the good work.

[Kara]

Syriza

Related: http://m.spiegel.de/international/europe/a-846788.html

[benjipwns]

Ooh will this be a dark and gritty reboot of the economy or a hopeful and almost comedic reboot?

Following a "technical moment of insolvency," her plan calls for the state to inject fresh capital into the banks so that they can continue serving those sectors that are required for the economy to function.

Now when you say a "technical moment" of insolvency should I have the gun loaded or already in my mouth?

Am I reading this wrong or does this woman not understand what sovereign bonds are and why they might be in a bank instead of "held by the governments"? (SAD*)

*Standard Anarchist Disclaimer has a great acronym much better than SLD.

[fizzel]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=154454479&postcount=1307

...and the first bomb (of stupid?) appears to just have been dropped!

(Image removed from quote.)

supposedly a few hours ago a country-wide government order was issued, asking for all illegal immigrants to be immediately released (!!), countrywide. even at the borders.
even more unbelievable than this, is a statement that just started to circulate the internet, supposedly signed by the president of the "Panhellenic Federation Border Guards", saying that he got instructions that "even in the case that they discover by accident people trying to illegally enter the country", they are not to be detained. only their details to be written down (wtf?) and immediately given a travel warrant good for six months, and let them go wherever they want.
oh, and all the detention centers for illegal immigrants, they are to be shut down country-wide too.
 
now, I dont know if this is to happen starting tomorrow morning as it is suggested, I am not even sure in the 100% validity of this claim at all, but as I said local internet has just picked it up, and on one mainstream tv news prog. it was just mentioned near the very end of the bulletin. so right now it looks it has a ..good(?) chance it is legit.


this is the news site that claims that they spoke with the president of border guards that he confirmed it:
http://www.lifo.gr/now/greece/61881
(poor google translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=el&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lifo.gr%2Fnow%2Fgreece%2F61881&edit-text=&act=url)


if true... the consequences for this....
anybody just crosses the border and is legit. we write down whatever the hell they tell us to write, and we issue travel papers based on this info. then we let go. wtf?
a) the role of the embassies we have all over the word is zeroed immediately. why bother when you can just ..walk in? the loss of control (very far from perfect or even good control there was) is unfathomable.
b) the medical horror.... anybody just walks in, might as well have whatever illness or widespread disease, epidemic, the whole book.  document says nothing about medical exams - a thing which would be practically 100% impossible anyway.
c) the center of Athens... that poor city... I cant even imagine how the places of central athens that are already packed to the brim with legal/illegal immigrants will even look after six months of said order. 
then of course, I wont even think about the potential increase in (already huge) criminality, or cases of malicious people trying to find a way to enter Greece/Europe. etc.

if this is true, we practically just invited all the scum/wanted/criminal on the run/criminal for career/etc for a free fucking meal, and all-inclusive too.

----
and by the time I was typing the above, I already found the official site for the panhellenic border guard, and apparently the story the news site above runs, its verified here:
http://www.posyfy.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=463:2015-03-03-18-03-00&catid=100:2011-10-26-07-21-01
googletrans: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=el&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.posyfy.gr%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D463%3A2015-03-03-18-03-00%26catid%3D100%3A2011-10-26-07-21-01&edit-text=

The Greeks have always had a political equivelent of Little Boy and Fat Man dangling over the rest of Europe with their asylum seeker camps.

[chronovore]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/05/us-ambassador-to-south-korea-mark-lippert-injured-in-attack

Dude was scheduled to give a lecture, gets slashed by a national unification extremist wielding a 10-inch knife. Security footage shows the hotel didn’t even have security guards on the entrance -- not that they’d have searched everyone going in the hotel, but the attacker has a record of public attacks on officials. C’mon.

[Great Rumbler]

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters have used a bulldozer to start destroying a 3,000-year-old Assyrian city near Mosul in Iraq, archaeologists and other sources have told Al Jazeera.

The demolition at Nimrud on Thursday comes less than a week after video was released showing ISIL fighters destroying ancient artefacts in a Mosul museum.

"They came at midday with a bulldozer and started destroying the palace," said an Iraqi official in touch with antiquities staff in Mosul.

She said the winged-bull statues known as lamassu at the gates of the palace of Ashurnasirpal II had been smashed. It was not clear what else had been destroyed on the site, about 20km southeast of Mosul.

In last week's ISIL video , fighters were shown using power drills and sledgehammers to try to destroy similar statues at the ancient site of Nineveh, within Mosul.
The mutli-tonne figures were placed at the palaces' gates as protective spirits.

One source told Al Jazeera the fighters warned Mosul residents last week that they would move on to Nimrud next. Hatra, a World Heritage Site, is also believed to be in danger.

Stories like this just break my heart, man. I know I shouldn't be more upset over this than stories of actual human beings being slaughtered, but...the idea that these incredible statues and buildings have stood for thousands of years against the ravages of time, countless wars, and the rise and fall of empires only to be reduced to rubble in a matter of hours by a bunch of ignorant thugs with sledgehammers and bulldozers is just so sickening.

[Brehvolution]

I dunno. Iraq has it's own army. If it isn't going to protect things they must not be that important.

[Rufus]

They're not gonna burn personell for historic artefacts. Can't blame 'em, either. :/

[Kara]

http://www.icij.org/project/swiss-leaks/real-housewives-hsbc

Really sucks that the Man is going to shit up all the fun here.

[Joe Molotov]

http://www.icij.org/project/swiss-leaks/real-housewives-hsbc

Really sucks that the Man is going to shit up all the fun here.

BRB, switching occupation to "Pool Boy".

[Kara]

 

Sorry for being lttp on this, but I was reading an article about Greece and I saw a photo of the current finance minister and realized he was VALVE'S INHOUSE ECONOMIST for awhile.

Maybe they can sell TF2 hats.

[benjipwns]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/spiegel-interview-with-greek-prime-minister-tsipras-a-1022156.html

Spiegel: But we’re still a bit confused. Does Greece want and need a third bailout package in June when you run out of money?

Tsipras: I wouldn’t call it a bailout.

Spiegel: What would you call it instead?

Tsipras: I would say that Greece has financing needs. We have massively consolidated our budget in recent years and now have primary surpluses instead of deficits. But we still can’t borrow money ourselves on the capital markets. To do so, we have to win back trust, become competitive and return to growth. Until that time, though, we have to finance ourselves in another way.

Spiegel: Which means, you need money from the Europeans.

Tsipras: Look, it’s not about philanthropy for Greece. It’s about joint responsibility and European solidarity. If Greece can’t service its debt, that also has an effect on our partners. As such, a safety net for Greece is necessary and we also have to return to the capital markets as rapidly as possible. But that can’t be combined with a program that has led to a situation of social distress; we need one that brings growth.

[Kara]

SPIEGEL: Mr. Prime Minister, most of your European partners are indignant. They accuse you of saying one thing in Brussels and then saying something completely different back home in Athens. Do you understand where such accusations come from?

Tsipras: We say the same things in Germany as we do in Greece. But sometimes, problems can be viewed differently, depending on the perspective. (He points to his water glass.) This glass here can be described as being half full or half empty. The reality is that it is a glass filled half-way with water

 

[Joe Molotov]

I say potayto, you say we broke as fuck.

[Kara]

I like how they're going to give benefits by mobile. It's very Estonia (e-Stonia?) meets Old Labour.

When can we get this for our Obama phones?

[Yeti]

SPIEGEL: Mr. Prime Minister, most of your European partners are indignant. They accuse you of saying one thing in Brussels and then saying something completely different back home in Athens. Do you understand where such accusations come from?

Tsipras: We say the same things in Germany as we do in Greece. But sometimes, problems can be viewed differently, depending on the perspective. (He points to his water glass.) This glass here can be described as being half full or half empty. The reality is that it is a glass filled half-way with water

 

I disagree, I think the reality it that the glass is emptied halfway of water.

[injurai]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/15/vladimir-putins-mystery-disappearance-seems-to-have-been-flu


 


Real theory. Putin is being turned into a secret nazi robot

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

more like commi cyborg

[Nibel]

Putin is lurking KTT, waiting for the Kendrick and Kanye leaks

[benjipwns]

[Joe Molotov]

Okay, I will!

[kingkitty]

Fun Fact: Chuck Norris has done three films in Israel. His favorite was Delta Force.

[benjipwns]

I wonder does that mean his favorite to shoot in Israel or his favorite in terms of the end product? I'm starting to rethink my vote for Bibi.

[Kara]

Can't wait for my aliyah so I can be even more embarrassed of my country / government than I already am.

[benjipwns]

Code: [Select]

Likud     23.26
person who believes in the development and protection of a Jewish nation Union     18.74
Joint List     12.08
Yesh Atid     8.78
Kulanu     7.41
The Jewish Home     6.40
Shas     5.80
Yisrael Beiteinu     5.17
United Torah Judaism     5.16
Meretz     3.89
Yachad     2.98
Ale Yarok     0.97
Arab List     0.10
The Greens     0.08
We are all friends     0.06
U'Bizchutan     0.05
Economy Party     0.04
Hope for Change     0.03
Flower Party     0.02
Pirate Party of Israel     0.02
Brit Olam     0.02
Living with Dignity     0.01
Or     0.01
Democratura     0.01
Moreshet Avot     0.01
Atid Ehad     0.00
Nooooo the Flower Party 

[Joe Molotov]

We are all friends

[Kara]

We are all friends

[Kara]

Decent showing for Joint List. Wonder if it'll put pressure on the special interest parties like Shas to merge; that is the way of Israeli politics after all.

person who believes in the development and protection of a Jewish nation Union

[benjipwns]

Obama revenge for Netanyahu's Congress talk? 1987 report on Israel's top secret nuclear program released in unprecedented move.

[Kara]

Arutz Sheva link.

[benjipwns]

Arutz Sheva link.

"the only independent national radio station in Israel" and a counterbalance to " 'negative thinking' and 'post-person who believes in the development and protection of a Jewish nation' attitudes."

[benjipwns]

"Here’s an exchange that took place yesterday afternoon between Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, and Jonathan Karl, ABC News’s White House correspondent:"

Karl: Josh, just a quick one first on Yemen. I know you’re asked this every time something terrible happens in Yemen. But now that we have essentially complete chaos in Yemen, does the White House still believe that Yemen is the model for a counterterrorism strategy?

Earnest: Jon, the White House does continue to believe that a successful counterterrorism strategy is one that will build up the capacity of the central government to have local fighters on the ground to take the fight to extremists in their own country, and the United States can serve both to diplomatically offer up some political support to central governments. We can offer very tangible support to local security forces in the form of training and equipping, and we can also support the operations of those security forces through whether it’s the deployment of ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] capability, or even in the case of Iraq, military airstrikes.

And that is a template that has succeeded in mitigating the threat that we face from extremists in places like Yemen and Somalia, and is a template that we believe can succeed in mitigating the threat emanating from Syria as well.

Karl: I mean, that’s astounding. You’re saying that you still see Yemen as the model? That building up the central government, which has now collapsed; a president who’s apparently fled the country; Saudi troops amassing on one border; the Iranians supporting the rebels—you consider this is a model for counterterrorism?

Earnest: Again, Jon, what the United States considers to be our strategy when confronting the effort to try to mitigate the threat that is posed by extremists is to prevent them from establishing a safe haven. And certainly, in a chaotic, dangerous situation like in Yemen, what the United States will do and has done is worked to try to support the central government, to build up the capacity of local fighters, and use our own technological and military capabilities to apply pressure on the extremists there.

Look, there’s no doubt that we would like to see a functioning central government in Yemen; we don’t see that right now. And that is why we’re supportive of the U.N.-led process to try to put an end to the violence and instability, to bring all sides together to the table to try to resolve their differences; to build up the capacity of the central government; to build up the capacity of local forces and to continue to apply pressure to extremists.

What I will say is that we have not seen that kind of progress in terms of strengthening the central government. I think you could make a pretty strong case that we’ve seen the opposite of that. But we do continue to enjoy the benefits of a sustained counterterrorism security relationship with the security infrastructure that remains in Yemen.

Karl: Do you think the security infrastructure still remains in Yemen?

Earnest: There are elements of the Yemeni government that we continue to be in touch with that continue to further our efforts to apply pressure to extremists that seek to operate in that country. And we continue to have the capability—again, because of the planning and because of the relationships that we have in the region, we do continue to have the capability to take out extremists if they’re posing a threat to the United States.

[Kara]

Again, Jon, what the United States considers to be our strategy when confronting the effort to try to mitigate the threat that is posed by extremists is to prevent them from establishing a safe haven. And certainly, in a chaotic, dangerous situation like in Yemen, what the United States will do and has done is worked to try to support the central government, to build up the capacity of local fighters, and use our own technological and military capabilities to apply pressure on the extremists there.

[jakefromstatefarm]

GCC's getting involved, in case anyone missed it:
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/26/regional-rivalries-threaten-to-prolong-yemens-civil-war.html
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/26/Saudi-airstrikes-yemen.html

or, well, you know, more involved

[Kara]

More like FGC amirite lol.

[Madrun Badrun]

I kind of wish it was Oman that was in this mess instead of Yeman.  Cause then Oman would be like 'O man' and Yemen would be like 'Yeh man, glad it aint us'.  But it is

[Joe Molotov]

I think you're taking a Laos on that one.

[Kara]

I kind of wish it was Oman that was in this mess instead of Yeman.  Cause then Oman would be like 'O man' and Yemen would be like 'Yeh man, glad it aint us'.  But it is

Oman, did you hear? Iran all the way here to tell you. Israeli bad, a Qatar crashed--Syrias injuries among the crew. Bahrain, I can't run back with it pouring down like this, Saudi at your mechanic still?

[benjipwns]

When did KCNA start treating South Korea so nicely? They used to always call it the "U.S. puppet state" or something like that.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2015/201503/news27/20150327-19ee.html

S. Korean Company Trade Unions Protest Management Side's Move to Sell off Subsidiaries
Pyongyang, March 27 (KCNA) -- Four trade unions under the Samsung Group of south Korea held a rally in Suwon, Kyonggi Province on Mar. 21 in solidarity with the members of the Metal Workers Trade Union to condemn the management side.
The speakers accused the management side of the unreasonable plan it worked out in November last year to sell off four subsidiary companies to other group. The management side has since been negotiating with the group, they noted.
They called on other workers serving the unethical and immoral enterprise to join the on-going struggle.
Representatives of trade unions sent a joint statement to the management side in demand of a stop to the sale.
Earlier, the workers had a demonstration march.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2015/201503/news27/20150327-22ee.html

S. Korean Youth Flay U.S. for Egging Defectors on to Scatter Anti-DPRK Leaflets
Pyongyang, March 27 (KCNA) -- Young south Koreans held a press conference before the UN Headquarters in New York on March 20 at which they denounced the U.S. for egging north Korean defectors on to scatter anti-DPRK leaflets, according to Thongil News, an internet paper of south Korea.
In a petition to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council they said anti-DPRK leaflet scattering has been supported and manipulated by the U.S. Department of State since the passage of the "North Korean Human Rights Act" in the U.S. in 2004.
They demanded the U.S. stop funding the U.S. "Human Rights Foundation" for the leaflet operation.
The U.S. support is an act of blocking the improvement of north-south relations, they charged. They demanded the UN Human Rights Council recommend the U.S. government to halt the support.
Meanwhile, they conducted information service against anti-DPRK leaflet scattering in major streets of New York.

[benjipwns]

ENGEL (1:58): I know several people in the US military who were taken by surprise by this [action in Yemen]. Senior officials who would have been expected to know that there was going to be an operation in Yemen, they didn’t. They were finding out about it almost in real time.

And they believe, and some US members of Congress believe, that the reason Saudi Arabia and other states didn’t tell the US that it was going to launch this war against Shi’ite backed, or Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen, is because Saudi Arabia and other countries simply don’t trust the United States anymore, don’t trust this administration — think the administration is working to befriend Iran to try and make a deal in Switzerland, and therefore didn’t think that the intelligence frankly would be secure.

I think that is a situation that is quite troubling for US foreign policy, where traditional allies — like Saudi Arabia, like Egypt, like the United Arab Emirates — don’t know if the US is reliable at this stage to hold onto this information when it comes to Iran.

[Kara]

What was the excuse for the intervention in Bahrain during the Arab Spring then.

[Brehvolution]

It's funny listening to the righties scoff at the notion that Iran would ever want peace when it's the righties that really want war.

[Rufus]

Diplomacy isn't dead.

[Phoenix Dark]

can't wait to get home and see what Jennifer Rubin has to say.

[Great Rumbler]

It's about time we solved an issue with something other than bombs.

[benjipwns]

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-accuses-u-s-of-lying-about-new-nuke-agreement/

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Just hours after the announcement of what the United States characterized as a historic agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, the country’s leading negotiator lashed out at the Obama administration for lying about the details of a tentative framework.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused the Obama administration of misleading the American people and Congress in a fact sheet it released following the culmination of negotiations with the Islamic Republic.

Zarif bragged in an earlier press conference with reporters that the United States had tentatively agreed to let it continue the enrichment of uranium, the key component in a nuclear bomb, as well as key nuclear research.

Zarif additionally said Iran would have all nuclear-related sanctions lifted once a final deal is signed and that the country would not be forced to shut down any of its currently operating nuclear installations.

Following a subsequent press conference by Secretary of State John Kerry—and release of a administration fact sheet on Iranian concessions—Zarif lashed out on Twitter over what he dubbed lies.

“The solutions are good for all, as they stand,” he tweeted. “There is no need to spin using ‘fact sheets’ so early on.”

Zarif went on to push back against claims by Kerry that the sanctions relief would be implemented in a phased fashion—and only after Iran verifies that it is not conducting any work on the nuclear weapons front.

Zarif, echoing previous comments, said the United States has promised an immediate termination of sanctions.

“Iran/5+1 Statement: ‘US will cease the application of ALL nuclear-related secondary economic and financial sanctions.’ Is this gradual?” he wrote on Twitter.

He then suggested a correction: “Iran/P5+1 Statement: ‘The EU will TERMINATE the implementation of ALL nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions’. How about this?”

The pushback from Iran’s chief diplomat follows a pattern of similar accusations by senior Iranian political figures after the announcement of previous agreements.

Following the signing of an interim agreement with Iran aimed at scaling back its nuclear work, Iran accused the United States of lying about details of the agreement.

The primary thing I like about this is just the fact of Iran's foreign minister using twitter as his medium for this.

 
Truly a glorious new era.