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Sunday Coup Attempt in Venezuela?
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Washington bears full responsibility for political and economic war on the country, along with months of street violence - wanting fascist tyranny replacing Bolivarian social democracy.
On Sunday, Venezuela’s military thwarted a terrorist attack on Fort Paramacay in Carbobo state, according to President Nicolas Maduro, saying:
“I cannot describe it in any other way. It is a terrorist attack against the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and the Armed Forces has reacted in a united way, with morality, with decisiveness.”
The incident occurred two days after the Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly was inaugurated - tasked with revising or rewriting the country’s constitution. It’s primary aims are to restore order and preserve Bolivarian social democracy.
Deplorable Daily Media Message on Russia
by Stephen Lendman
Western media are virtually of one mind on Russia, irresponsibly claiming it’s a bad guy - America, Canada, EU countries, and Israel defenders of democratic values, polar opposite reality.
Intense anti-Russia propaganda persists relentlessly, disinformation and Big Lies drowning out hard truths.
The NYT is the leading proliferator of anti-Russia agitprop, a virtual daily media onslaught on the country.
On August 2, it praised neocon Vice President Pence. In Tallin, Estonia, he hyped a nonexistent Russian threat. In Tbilisi, Georgia, he blustered “(w)e are with you. We stand with you.”
He told Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian leaders America pledges to defend their countries against nonexistent Russian “force, threats, intimidation or malign influence,” adding:
“No threat looms larger in the Baltic States than the specter of aggression from your unpredictable neighbor to the east,” disgracefully denigrating Russia, irresponsibly claiming it intends to “redraw international borders by force, undermine the democracies of sovereign nations and divide the free nations of Europe one against another.”
Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly Inaugurated
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
On Thursday, anti-Bolivarian Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz’s attempt to halt the swearing in of the democratically elected 545-seat body failed.
A court order she sought was denied - based on phony claims of unconstitutionality and voter fraud. She lied claiming “(t)he country is headed toward dictatorship.”
It’s the hemisphere’s model democracy, struggling in the face of US-orchestrated political and economic war, along with CIA-instigated street violence - classic Washington color revolution tactics used to topple independent governments.
On Friday, Constituent Assembly members were sworn in as scheduled. Thousands of Chavistas took to the streets supportively, welcoming the CA’s first working session.
Russia’s PM Unloads on Trump
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Things are more dreadful today than any time in modern memory. A US president is held hostage by ruthless neocons infesting Congress and his administration.
He’s opposed by media scoundrels overwhelmingly against him, denigrating whatever he does or doesn’t do relentlessly - an assault on him to continue as long as he remains in office.
He has two choices - go along with the pure evil agenda of the Clintons, Bush/Cheney and Obama, their war on humanity at home and abroad, the interests of Wall Street and war-profiteers, or be removed from office by impeachment or more sinister means.
Odds favor his ouster anyway because he was supposed to lose, not win, last November. The wrong presidential aspirant sits in the oval office, unforgivable in Washington. Winning prevented neocon favorite Hillary’s triumph, the way things were supposed to turn out.
Washington and Brussels: Running in Reverse
James Petras
Washington and Brussels’ response to foreign affairs challenges, as they face their own political and economic disasters and decline, has been to impose economic sanctions, boycotts and issue increasingly reckless military threats against rival nations. The ruling and main opposition parties in the US and EU have taken over the major media, turning ‘news programs’ into propaganda campaigns promoting violent power grabs (‘regime change’) and self-defeating trade wars.
Washington’s belligerency amounts to merely pounding on empty oil drums on behalf of the US oil giants. Overt hostility prepares for trade wars, military confrontations and possible regional conflagrations . . . where the US and EU will likely face even greater defeats.
Economic warfare is designed to impoverish nations and create a pretext for sowing internal discord and sabotage, especially through buying political candidates, organizing street mobs and recruiting military vassals.
Tillerson Calls for Regime Change in Venezuela
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
In January, before his confirmation as secretary of state, Tillerson said he’d work with US Latin American allies to replace what he called the “incompetent and dysfunctional” (democratically elected) Maduro government.
“I would urge close cooperation with our friends in the hemisphere, particularly Venezuela’s neighbors Brazil and Colombia, as well as multilateral bodies such as the OAS, to seek a negotiated transition to (un)democratic rule in Venezuela,” he blustered.
He’s been hostile toward the country for years, earlier losing a World Bank arbitration battle over its nationalization of ExxonMobil assets when he was CEO, the company at the time offered fair compensation.
He called for working with OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, “invoking the Inter-American Democratic Charter to promote the normalization of the situation in Venezuela and restore (pre-Bolivarian) (un)democratic institutions.”
Trump Signs Controversial Sanctions Bill
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
On August 2, a White House statement by Trump on signing the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (HR 3364),” illegally imposing sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea, said the following:
“I favor tough measures to punish and deter bad behavior by the rogue regimes in Tehran and Pyongyang.”
“I also support making clear that America will not tolerate interference in our democratic process, and that we will side with our allies and friends against Russian subversion and destabilization.”
“That is why, since taking office, I have enacted tough new sanctions on Iran and North Korea, and shored up existing sanctions on Russia.”
In signing the measure, he called it “significantly flawed,” including “clearly unconstitutional provisions,” encroaching on presidential authority to negotiate, “driv(ing) China, Russia and North Korea much closer together,” along with antagonizing EU allies.
Tony Blair an Unindicted War Criminal
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Britain is complicit in virtually all US wars of aggression, a special partnership in high crimes.
In July 2002, the notorious “Downing Street memo” was leaked, later publicly revealed, its authenticity never challenged.
Secret Washington/UK collusion was exposed. So-called intelligence claiming justification for war on Iraq was cooked to fit already agreed on policy.
Smoking gun evidence proved it. Bush, Blair and others around them lied. They falsified evidence for war on Iraq. So-called WMDs didn’t exist.
Then Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz later was asked why fictitious WMDs became a casus belli. “It was the only thing we could all agree on,” he said.
Blair’s so-called 2003 “Dodgy Dossier” included more incriminating evidence. Dr. David Kelly’s death followed proof he revealed about sexing up the document to justify unjustifiable war on Iraq.
Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly Elections
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
On Sunday, Venezuelans elected 545 Constituent Assembly members - tasked with revising or rewriting the nation’s constitution.
The aim is restoring order after months of street violence - a US-orchestrated plot to replace Venezuelan democracy with fascist tyranny, complicit with internal dark forces, wanting the country returned to its bad old days, destroying Bolivarian social justice in the process.
According to National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena, turnout was 41.53% - 8,089,320 Venezuelans voting, many more than pre-election estimates. Opposition elements called for boycotting the election.
Global Polling: Which Nations Are Happiest? Unhappiest?
Eric Zuesse
Results have recently been published from surveys of 68,759 people in 69 countries around the world during 2016 by WIN/Gallup International, which organization had asked each of these scientifically sampled persons:
“In general, do you personally feel very happy, happy, neither happy nor unhappy, unhappy, or very unhappy about your life?”
The resulting raw percentages were posted online at "WIN/Gallup International’s 40th Annual Global End of Year Survey”, but the nations weren’t ranked there; W/G’s report is more like a data-dump than like a report.
So, based upon their numbers, I have here actually ranked the 69 nations, from the happiest, to the unhappiest, according to WIN/Gallup’s own calculations of “Net happiness,” which are their study’s bottom-line figures for each nation. WIN/Gallup says that “Net happiness (happy minus unhappy) globally is +59%,” and this indicates that the world’s average person is happy with his/her life, but not very happy with it. That’s good performance, but not terrific, worldwide.
