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Hats off to Norbert Lammert
By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Jerusalem
I feel I must salute the German Bundestag President Norbert Lammert for refusing to meet with Abdul Fattah al Sissi, the head of the bloody ruling junta in Egypt.
El-Sissi is planning to visit Germany in early June, probably to seek further legitimacy for his authoritarian regime.
On Wednesday, Lammert told the broadcaster Deutsche Welle that he didn't know what the head of an elected parliament would talk about with the 'undemocratic' Sisi
In his Wednesday interview with Deutsche Welle, Lammert was quoted as saying that "in light of these circumstances, I don't know what the president of an elected parliament and the president of a country that is regrettably not led democratically have to talk about."Lammert's remarks came following a letter he sent on Tuesday to the Egyptian ambassador in which he said that he has cancelled a meeting with Sisi planned to be held in June, citing human rights abuses, postponement of parliamentary elections, lack of democratic developments and mass death sentences in Egypt.
What Memorial Day Do You Honor?
SARTRE
Many accounts will praise the sacrifices and deeds of those who fought in the American wars. Some versions will emotionally express their thanks and respect, while others will list their heroic actions. There is another viewpoint that seldom gets the attention that it deserves. Simply put, what is the true reason that all this blood was shed and the meaning of continued torment that follows, when the guns are silenced? Some will say, we just need to revere those who served. Others may dare to ask, why and what for?
The most positive decision coming out of the last thirty years has significance that affects all of us. It honors those who served and those who supported each conflict. Not all may agree with this conclusion, but how many have ever thought it through? The draft is now abolished. Involuntary servitude is gone and forced indentured service has now become voluntary. That is a victory that we ALL should celebrate.
Before you tune out and shut your mind, consider a process that is rarely practiced today. Thinking . . . The purpose of the State, and yes this applies to America, as well; is to protect and serve citizens. Did you ever hear these words?
Netanyahu Appoints Right-Wing Extremist to Head Israel's Diplomatic Corps
by Stephen Lendman
Nissim Ben Shitrit is out as Israeli Foreign Ministry director-general. Netanyahu thanked him for his services. Dore Gold replaces him. He heads the neocon Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
He's a longtime Netanyahu confidant. He earlier advised him on foreign policy. They share the same over-the-top racist, hawkish ideology.
Gold is a former Israeli UN envoy, Sharon advisor, and sham peace process negotiator and advisor, among other dubious credentials. From 1985 - 1996, he was a Dayan Center for Near East Studies senior research associate and Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies US foreign and defense policy project director.
In 1991, he was a sham Madrid Peace Conference advisor. In 1996-97, he was Netanyahu's foreign policy advisor in his first term as prime minister.
Russian Nationals Traveling Abroad Risk Lawless US Abduction
by Stephen Lendman
In July 2014, US agents lawlessly abducted Roman Seleznyov
Washington's anti-Russian agenda includes arresting, detaining and charging its nationals with offenses they didn't commit.
Once in US custody, obtaining justice is impossible. Guilt by accusation suffices. Innocence is no defense. Russian citizens risk imprisonment in America for having the wrong nationality.
A Russian Foreign Ministry statement warned its citizens traveling abroad to be wary, saying:
Earlier 2013 and 2014 alerts were published. The latest one dated May 22, 2015 warns of "the threat of being detained or arrested at the request of law enforcement bodies and special services of the United States in third countries...It is very real."
"Despite our appeals for Washington to establish normal cooperation between law enforcement agencies on the basis of bilateral agreements on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters (from 1999), the US authorities continue the unacceptable practice of 'hunting' for Russians all over the world, ignoring international law and twisting hands of other countries."
Heading Toward Financial Maidan in Ukraine?
by Stephen Lendman
Ukraine's economy is a sinkhole of economic Depression. It's teetering toward collapse.
Its Q I GDP plunged 17.6% year-over-year. It's down 6.1% from Q IV 2014. Ten of the last 11 quarters saw economic contraction. Kiev depends on outside aid to keep operating.
Inflation is out-of-control. The Financial Times reported it reaching 61% in April. Its hryvnia currency is headed toward becoming worthless toilet paper. It's worth less than 5 cents to the dollar. Adjusted for its decline, real inflation tops 270% year-over-year. Living standards are plunging. Poverty is a growth industry. So are unemployment, underemployment and human misery. Most Ukrainians struggle to get by. They can't make ends meet. Skyrocketing prices makes basic goods and services unaffordable.
IMF diktats exacerbate already untenable conditions. They include laying off government employees, wage cuts, abolishing pensions for some retired workers, freezing them for others, and major cuts in other social benefits en route to eliminating them altogether - a prescription for economic collapse and perhaps Maidan II.
Despotic Saudi Regime to Execute Prominent Cleric
by Stephen Lendman
Saudi Arabia is notorious for public beheadings, whippings, torture, wars of aggression and other lawless actions. It remains America's closest Arab ally.
One rogue state supports another. Both partner in high crimes against peace. Syria and Yemen are Exhibits A and B.
Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr is a prominent nonviolent regime critic.
He's been beaten, shot, arrested, tortured, denied vitally needed medical treatment, and otherwise abused for expressing his views freely.
Last October, he was sentenced to death unjustly for nonexistent sedition, "seeking foreign meddling in (Saudi affairs), disobeying its rulers, and taking up arms against the security forces."
US/Iranian Relations: Back to Square One?
by Stephen Lendman
US concerns about Iran's well-known peaceful nuclear program were always red herring cover for its real aim - regime change, replacing Iranian sovereignty with stooge governance Washington controls.
However P5+1 one talks conclude by around end of June, US business as usual remains unchanged.
Washington wants Iranian independence destroyed. Israel wants its main regional rival eliminated, ideally balkanized into impotent mini-states under Western control.
In an interview with Saudi Arabian owned and operated Al Arabiya News, Obama declared Iran a "state sponsor of terrorism" - months after National Intelligence director James Clapper said this designation no longer applied to Tehran.
In his annual report to the US Senate, he highlighted Iran's "intentions to dampen sectarianism, build responsive partners, and deescalate tensions with Saudi Arabia."
Venezuelan/Palestine Relations: Based on Brotherhood, Solidarity and Mutual Support
by Stephen Lendman
Hugo Chavez recognized Palestinian self-determination saying "I address these words to the United Nations General Assembly…to ratify, in this day and in this setting, Venezuela's full support of the recognition of the Palestinian state: of Palestine's right to become a free, sovereign and independent state."
Chavez was the first head of state to condemn Israel's 2006 aggression against Lebanon.
He publicly accused Israel of "going mad and inflicting on the people of Palestine and Lebanon the same thing they have criticized, and with reason: the holocaust."
"But this is a new holocaust," he said, with the help of America - a rogue state responsible for regional genocide.
Ukraine's Latest Big Lie
by Stephen Lendman
Rogue states have no credibility whatever. Ukraine's regime is a US-installed Nazi-infested fascist police state. It's a serial lying machine.
US-anointed illegitimate oligarch president Poroshenko ludicrously claimed Russia has 11,000 troops in Ukraine - during an interview on German ZDF television.
"Today we can see that, despite the signed Minsk agreement, the number of Russian weapons and Russian troops on the occupied territory is increasing," he blustered.
Not a shred of evidence supports him. He complained about continued conflict in Donbass. He ignored his military's full responsibility complicit with Washington, systematically breaching Minsk ceasefire terms.
How America’s ‘News’ Media Killed America’s Democracy: TPP & TTIP
Eric Zuesse
As I reported on Wednesday, a deal was worked out in the U.S. Senate on the early afternoon of May 13th to "Fast-Track" through to approval U.S. President Barack Obama’s proposed trade deals, TPP with Asia, and TTIP with Europe. (It should have been reported on the nightly TV news programs, but most of them ignored it then, and reported the news only the next day when the Senators made it official.)
TPP and TTIP have been represented in America’s press as ‘trade' deals, but instead they’re actually about sovereignty. They’re about America and the other participating countries handing their democratic sovereignty — on regulation of the environment, consumer protection, worker protection, and finance — over to panels, all of whose members will be selected by the large international corporations that for years have been working with U.S. President Obama’s Trade Representative to draft these “trade” treaties.
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