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Catalonia Declares Independence
Stephen Lendman
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and majority parliamentarians declared Catalonia’s right to be a sovereign independent state.
A 92% referendum “yes” vote demanded it. For democracy to have meaning, it’s essential to enforce the will of the people.
“It is not a personal decision,” Puigdemont explained, adding “(t)his is a special and historic moment having a long outreach.”
Catalans long awaited independence from fascist Spain. Puigdement and parliamentarians seek dialogue with Madrid.
PM Mariano Rajoy earlier ruled it out, saying “(w)e are going to prevent independence from occurring. That is why I can tell you with absolute frankness that it will not happen.”
It remains to be seen what’s coming. Rajoy may invoke Article 155 of Spain’s constitution, suspending Catalonia’s autonomous status, contravening international law, along with likely sending in thousands of national police, civil guards and soldiers.
NATO “Concerned by Russia’s Military Buildup Close to Our Borders”
Eric Zuesse
The Secretary-General of NATO said this on October 9th, speaking in NATO member Romania, right across the Black Sea from Russia’s region of Crimea (which had always been part of Russia except for the brief period 1954-2014, when the Soviet dictator arbitrarily transferred Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 — i.e., the Soviet dictator had made Crimea ‘Ukrainian’, and only in 2014 was a plebiscite actually held there in order to determine what the people there wanted, and more than 90% chose to be restored to the Russian Government). He said, on October 9th, that NATO is “concerned by Russia’s military buildup close to our borders”, but NATO actually had expanded up to Russia’s borders; in no way had Russia expanded up to NATO’s borders. NATO’s leader was importantly misrepresenting history, there.
In fact, Romania, itself, used to be a member of the former Soviet Union’s Warsaw Pact military alliance of nations, which had been set up by the Soviet Union in response to America’s having established in 1949 its NATO military alliance with Western European nations. After the Cold War ended, on Russia’s side, in 1991, and has been secretly continued by the U.S. Government and its allies right up to the present time, Romania became a member of the NATO anti-Russian alliance in 2004, under George W. Bush’s Administration. But Bush’s father, President George Herbert Walker Bush, had, as the U.S. President, established, in 1990, the foundation for what NATO now is doing in Romania, against Russia — even though Russia had, in fact, ended the Cold War on its side, in 1991.
DPRK Leader Justifies Development of Nuclear Weapons and Ballistic Missiles
Stephen Lendman
On Saturday, Kim Jong-un addressed North Korea’s Second Plenum of the Seventh Central Committee of the Workers Party.
According to Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), he said “nuclear weapons of the DPRK are a precious fruition borne by its people's bloody struggle for defending the destiny and sovereignty of the country from the protracted nuclear threats of the US imperialists.”
“And they are a powerful deterrent firmly safeguarding the peace and security in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia…guaranteeing the Korean nation’s sovereignty and rights to existence and development…”
He noted the DPRK’s technological advances “despite the escalating sanctions of the US imperialists and their vassal forces.”
He accused Washington of “making last-ditch efforts to completely stifle the sovereignty and the rights to existence and development of the DPRK by cooking up UNSC (UN Security Council) sanction resolutions one after another.”
He “affirmed that the prevailing situation and the reality show that our (Workers) Party was absolutely right when it dynamically advanced along the socialist road of Juche (self-reliance), holding fast to the line of simultaneously pushing forward the economic construction and the building of nuclear force and that our Party should invariably keep to this road in the future…”
Vladimir Putin Turns 65
Stephen Lendman
Saturday, October 7, was Putin’s 65th birthday. Numerous leaders and others sent good will messages.
Happy birthday Vladimir Vladimirovich. Wishing you many more. If you tire of running Russia, maybe you’d consider straightening things out in America - a peace president urgently needed here.
It was just another working day for Russia’s leader, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained saying:
“Usually Putin celebrates his birthday with relatives and dear ones. Sometimes with his colleagues. The list of telephone conversations for tomorrow is long. The president will be getting greetings.”
It’s unclear if Trump called - doubtful. Putin’s Saturday schedule included chairing a Russian Security Council meeting.
Earlier he said he’s too young to retire. He’s overwhelmingly popular. His approval rating exceeds 80% - compared to dismal Trump’s 32%.
U.S. Public Don’t Care if ‘News’media Lie
Eric Zuesse
To say that the U.S. public don’t care if ‘news’media lie, is shocking, but I shall here present evidence that it actually is true — not in some mere theory, but in empirical fact.
A typical example of Americans not caring about the truthfulness, nor even about the honesty, of their sources of alleged ‘news’, is that, during the period of October 3rd through the 5th, there were two news-reports both of which were true, but which, when taken together, display the total disconnect between newsmedia-honesty, on the one hand, and the confidence that the American people have in the nation's ‘news’media, on the other.
Putin Addresses Russia’s Energy Week Forum
Stephen Lendman
It’s ongoing from October 3 - 7 in Moscow and St. Petersburg, attended by representatives of hundreds of international energy companies, officials from 70 foreign countries, leading experts in the field participating.
Topics discussed include global energy needs, fuel and energy sector directions, along with challenges the sector faces to supply worldwide needs in the years ahead.
Putin addressed these issues in his welcoming remarks, explaining why Russia is attractive to foreign investors despite sanctions. It’s a reliable business partner, Putin saying “(t)he most significant advantage we have is that we never double-deal. We are always honest with our partners. We openly lay out our position.”
“It’s to our advantage” to operate this way, the same way it engages in all geopolitical dealings. Foreign partners cooperating with Russia see it for themselves.
“If we disagree with something, we say so outright and outline our position. We also say that we do keep partners’ position in mind and respect it, but that we will opt for this or that mode of action,” said Putin.
Jimmy Carter Explains What North Korean Leaders Told Him
Stephen Lendman
The neocon/CIA-connected Washington Post gave him feature op-ed space to discuss one of the vital issues of our time - the urgency of avoiding another Korean war, potentially with nuclear weapons, devastating the peninsula and beyond if used, Carter saying:
“(T)he strong possibility of another Korean war…is the most serious existing threat to world peace, and it is imperative that Pyongyang and Washington find some way to ease the escalating tension and reach a lasting, peaceful agreement.”
True enough, the problem lying squarely in Washington, not Pyongyang, for decades wanting normalized relations with America and the West.
Carter met earlier with Kim Il-sung (North Korea’s founder), Kim Jong-nam (his eldest son and successor), and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly.
He found them and other DPRK officials “completely rational and dedicated to the preservation of their” country. They’re not madmen, as falsely portrayed by US and other Western hardliners.
Their demands are entirely legitimate, Carter explaining they want direct talks with Washington, a peace treaty ending decades of an uneasy armistice.
Netanyahu Vows Stolen Palestinian Land Won’t Ever Be Given Back
Stephen Lendman
Last August, Netanyahu vowed Judea and Samaria (illegally occupied Palestinian West Bank land) belongs to Israel forever, blustering:
“This is the land of our fathers, this is our land. We are here to stay, forever. There will be no uprooting of communities in the Land of Israel,” adding:
Samaria is a “strategic asset. From these hills we can see the Land of Israel from one end to the other.”
“Imagine that radical Islamic forces were stationed on these hills. That would be a danger not only to us, but to all our neighbors.”
“It would endanger the whole region and the entire Middle East. Given everything that is happening around us, one could only imagine the consequences.”
Israel supports the most “radical” of “radical Islamic forces,” supplying ISIS and likeminded terrorists with weapons, treating their wounded in its field hospitals, terror-bombing Syrian targets to aid their campaign of murder and other atrocities, including use of CWs falsely blamed on Damascus.
White House Talking Points on Las Vegas
Stephen Lendman
NBC News and the Washington Examiner obtained them. Were they written ahead of Sunday’s incident, knowing what was coming?
The talking points aim to quell arguments for gun control, useless against state-sponsored gun violence.
They stress “gather(ing) facts before…mak(ing) sweeping policy arguments for curtailing the Second Amendment.”
They state Trump welcomes “a reasoned and well-informed debate on public safety” while affirming supporting the Second Amendment, calling gun ownership a constitutional right “meant to protect people’s freedoms.”
“The President believes that our founding principles, like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms must be protected while maintaining public safety.”
General Strike and Mass Protest in Catalonia
Stephen Lendman
On Tuesday, strike action along with hundreds of thousands of Catalans taking to the streets in Barcelona, protesting against police state viciousness last Sunday made headlines.
Normal activity in the city ground to a halt, people chanting “Independence!” and “The streets will be ours!” Thousands gathered outside PM Mariano Rajoy’s People’s Party Barcelona office.
Supportive firemen played bagpipes, crowds cheering them on. A huge banner was displayed saying “Catalonia is NOT Spain” in English.
Dozens of roads were blocked, local transportation affected including ports. Many businesses closed for the day. So were schools and tourist areas. Medical centers operated at minimal levels.
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said “I am convinced this strike will be widely followed.” Rajoy greatly misjudged the spirit of Catalan residents.
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