"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"

Father God, thank you for the love of the truth you have given me. Please bless me with the wisdom, knowledge and discernment needed to always present the truth in an attitude of grace and love. Use this blog and Northwoods Ministries for your glory. Help us all to read and to study Your Word without preconceived notions, but rather, let scripture interpret scripture in the presence of the Holy Spirit. All praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Please note: All my writings and comments appear in bold italics in this colour

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Ex-French President Sarkozy Faces Another Corruption Trial

Corruption is Everywhere - Ex French President
By Sommer Brokaw  

UPI -- A judge Thursday ordered former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to stand trial for allegedly trying to illegally obtain information from a judge.


A French judicial official said Sarkozy, who led the country from 2007 to 2012, must go to trial along with one of his lawyers and a former magistrate on charges of active corruption and influence peddling.

At issue is Sarkozy's calls to a senior judge who was investigating separate allegations of illegal campaign funding in his 2007 presidential bid.

Each of the three parties ordered to face trial have denied the allegations. Sarkozy's lawyers announced he will appeal the order. The court scheduled an appeal hearing for June 25, Sarkozy's lawyers said in a statement to the Telegraph..

"Nicolas Sarkozy will ... calmly wait for the result of the motion for a declaration of invalidity. He does not doubt that once again the truth will triumph," the statement said.

If his appeal is denied, he will be the first former French president to stand trial for active corruption while in office, the Telegraph reported. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, and the influence peddling charge has a maximum sentence of five years. Each involve fines.

The trial order adds to Sarkozy's legal battles. Police detained him earlier this month and questioned him over separate allegations of illegal campaign funding from former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his 2007 presidential election bid.

He also faces allegations of illegal campaign funding in his 2012 re-election bid in a separate trial.

Sarkozy denies the allegations.





Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Several European Countries Refuse to Follow UK Lead in Russia Diplomat Expulsions

European Union flags fly outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels. © Yves Herman / Reuters

As Western countries expel Russian diplomats over the Skripal case based completely on premature analysis of the facts and the chemicals, other nations are being more level-headed, refusing to act until the investigation has been completed.

On Monday, 18 European Union nations, other European countries, the US, and Canada announced they would be expelling Russian diplomats from their territories in solidarity with the UK's recent decision. The US expelled 60 Russian diplomats, while other nations in Europe only expelled between one to four. 

The move was made after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury, UK, earlier this month, which Western nations have blamed on Moscow.

However, there have been some dissenting voices in the sea of uniformity. On Tuesday, Switzerland noted that it would wait for the results of the investigation before taking any action. Its Foreign Ministry said that the country "supports mechanisms and institutions that can independently clarify facts and security evidence." 

Obviously, Switzerland is not part of NATO or there would be no room for wisdom and patience like that. Truth has no relevance in NATO.

Austria, an EU member, said it would not be taking any "national measures," while noting its desire to "keep the channels of communication to Russia open."

Cyprus also declined to expel any Russian diplomats without any further evidence. "Our country is not in a position to take measures against countries that are permanent members of the UN Security Council," government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou told Cyprus News Agency (CNA) on Monday, as quoted by the Independent Balkan News Agency (IBNA).

Neither Austria nor Cyprus are NATO members. Slovakia and Greece are members of NATO and ought to be congratulated for not being bullied into submission.

Slovakia was not eager to jump the gun either. "The development of the situation, as well as Russia's response to the calls addressed to it by the EU countries -- including Slovakia -- will influence the next steps that we are prepared to consider in this case," the Slovakian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. However, the country said it was summoning the Russian ambassador "without delay."

Last week, ahead of a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May at a European Council summit dinner in Brussels, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stressed the need for an investigation into the Skripal case before jumping to conclusions.

“We have to express our solidarity to the UK, to the British people, but at the same time we need to investigate,” he said.

Other EU nations, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia, have also declined to join the expulsion frenzy.

And while May hails the coordinated move by Western countries as the "largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history," Russia's Foreign Ministry has spoken out against the "unfriendly step."

"We express our strong protest in the wake of the decision taken by a number of EU and NATO member countries to expel Russian diplomats. We consider this as an unfriendly step that is not consistent with the goals and interests of establishing the underlying reasons and searching for the perpetrators of the [Skripal] incident," a Monday statement from the Foreign Ministry said.


Is Russia responsible for the poisoning of the Skripals? Possibly. It might have been some kind of message from Putin to traitors abroad. That's not so far-fetched, in fact it's been done before. But the Litvinenko poisoning made it obvious that chemical weapons could be traced with a fair degree of accuracy. Consequently, it would take a pretty stupid person to then use another chemical that could be traced to Russia in attempted assassinations, unless they wanted that chemical to be traced to Russia.

Is Putin that brazen? Maybe, but I seriously doubt that he is that stupid! Assassinating traitors does not require a Russian signature for other traitors or potential traitors to get the message. So, it seems obvious to me that this is a false flag operation, or possibly committed by someone within Russia wanting to demonize Putin even more than he already is.

Like the chemical weapons attacks in Syria, they occur for a purpose. Syria has no purpose in using chemical weapons, but all of its many enemies have the purpose of causing the USA to turn against Syria and against any possibility of peace breaking out.

Who gains from Russia being accused of a chemical attack in the UK? Who has benefited from the attacks? Theresa May, for one. NATO for another.

Who lead the premature response to the chemical attack in Syria? USA. Who leads the premature response to the Skripal attack? UK. Who refuses to allow independent investigation into both attacks? The UK and the US! Both are NATO countries.

I'm not accusing anyone of anything here. Just saying there are a lot of coincidences; a lot of decisions being made prematurely; a reluctance to thoroughly investigate; and it all fits with NATO's purpose of driving Russo-hysteria. It's all great for weapons sales.... Follow the money...

Sunday, March 25, 2018

37 Dead, Dozens of Children Missing after Tragic Mall Blaze in Russia’s Kemerovo

Please pray for these children

© 42.mchs.gov.ru

As rescuers continue to search the burned-out shopping mall in the city of Kemerovo, many have been frantically trying to reach their relatives, including children who were in the mall’s cinema or play area when the fire started.

At least 11 children are among the victims of the blaze, with the death toll now exceeding 30, according to sources in the emergency services, cited by Russian news agencies.

Some 69 people, including 40 children, were said to be missing after the fire in the shopping mall.

The fire, which broke out on Sunday afternoon, was finally contained some 12 hours later, after engulfing some 1,600 square meters. The building sustained severe damage, its roof and floors partially collapsing.

Some 43 people were injured in the blaze, according to the emergency services, and 37 remain hospitalized.



Saturday, March 24, 2018

Astonishing Corruption in South America and How to Clean it Up

Brazilian bishop ‘stole $600,000 from church collection plates’
Corruption is Everywhere - Catholic church, Brazil


A bishop and several priests in Brazil have been charged in connection with the theft of more than $600,000 belonging to parishioners.


Police arrested Bishop of Formosa JosĂ© Ronaldo Ribeiro as well as a number of other clergymen Monday after police found large quantities of cash during a raid on Ribeiro’s home. They group are accused of pilfering funds, amounting to 2 million reais ($608,000), from various sources.


Ribeiro and four other priests allegedly stole money from collection plates, donations and fees paid for weddings and baptisms. The supposedly ill-gotten gains were then used by the group to buy a cattle ranch and a lottery ticket shop, according to Brazilian media Globo TV.

Ribeiro scored something of an own goal when parishioners became suspicious and reported him to authorities, who then opened an investigation in 2015. Prosecutors charged a total of 11 people with misappropriation of funds, money laundering, ideological falsehood and criminal association on Friday.





WikiLeaks lawyer talks corruption & more with
ex-Ecuadorian President

Corruption is Everywhere - South American  politics

Ex-Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa sits down with prominent Spanish judge and WikiLeaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon. The two of them talk transnational, corporate “neocolonialism” and the fight against corruption.

Ecuador's former President Rafael Correa © Daniel Tapia ‘Telling the vain from the profound’: Ex-Ecuadorian president’s show to premiere on RT

Following in the footsteps of former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, the outspoken Rafael Correa is set to become the latest top-tier politician to host a program on RT. His weekly show, ‘Conversations with Correa’ (Conversando con Correa) mainly revolves around the major social and political problems gripping the world.

This time corruption, multinational corporations and smear campaigns against Latin America’s progressive leaders top the agenda of Correa’s show. His guest is Baltasar Garzon, a renowned Spanish lawyer and head of Julian Assange’s legal team.

“Turning the fight against corruption into an ideology issue is a very dangerous phenomenon,” the lawyer opines, citing the example of Brazil’s President Inacio Lula da Silva who was sacked from the post following a long corruption row.

“I think this is a gross injustice,” Garzon says, adding that Lula’s successor, President Dilma Rousseff, was also accused of being corrupt. Rousseff “as an honest person, should not have been removed from office through impeachment,” the WikiLeaks lawyer states. “This, from any point of view, is a shame.”

Recalling his experience as head of state, Correa remarks: “I can say there is a lot of ideological talk when it comes to combatting corruption.” According to Correa, who led the Ecuadorian government for over a decade, there is a myth that “corruption exists in state institutions only.”

"Normally, the state is neither better nor worse than the society it represents,” he posits. “People often think that the fight against corruption is the responsibility of the President, the head of state, but in fact it is the duty of the entire people.”

Correa stresses that fighting corruption has often been used in Latin America to target political opponents, and Garzon agrees. “Justice has become extremely prejudiced and biased against all those people who, in one form or another, were supporters of the previous government,” the lawyer says, recalling former Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner whose tenure was marred by several corruption scandals.

“It came even to the point that when a corrupt official is exposed, he is not condemned for the very fact of being corrupt, but for being caught in such a stupid way,” Garzon adds.

Almost a direct quote from something I wrote last year!

It was Correa who, in 2012, granted asylum to WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, despite harsh criticism from the UK. Assange is still exiled in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.




Cleaning Up: The Brazilian Judiciary Roots Out Corruption
By Vanessa Ruales | Harvard Political Review

In 2002, there was an air of excitement in Brazil as the Workers’ Party (PT) came into power. The new party, led by its exceptionally charismatic leader, Luiz InĂĄcio Lula da Silva, promised unparalleled change to the political establishment, among them reforms aimed at stamping out the country’s age-old problem of corruption. Now, the Workers’ Party—and Lula himself—is ironically decimated by its own graft: the Odebrecht scandal.

Odebrecht, Latin America’s largest construction firm, was one of various companies that paid millions of dollars in bribes to Brazilian officials in exchange for contracts with Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil firm. The investigation in response to the scandal, Operation Lava Jato, uncovered the systemic graft of the country’s most powerful executives and politicians. 

The investigation marks a momentous change in Latin America: governments have finally been forced to answer to corruption allegations at the highest levels of government and business, breaking a long tradition of the public’s tacit acceptance of corruption as simply the way the government works.

What led to this avalanche of governmental accountability in Brazil? What accounts for the sudden successful prosecution of so many figures in government and business? The answer lies within the unexpected but powerful force of the judicial reforms the PT made during its 13-year rule. These anti-corruption reforms have not only made corrupt leaders suffer the consequence of their actions, but have also begun the process of creating a culture among the populace of an intolerance towards corruption.

Imagine that! What a concept!

Brazil’s Jeitinho Culture

Brazilians have long been accustomed to a government riddled by corruption. In fact, Brazil’s judiciary has been plagued by a tacit cultural acceptance of corruption as a necessary evil. This belief is so deeply entrenched in Brazilian society that there is even a term for it: the jeitinho brasileiro, or the Brazilian way. The justification for this acceptance? A common expression among Brazilians regarding their public officials explains it simply—Rouba mas faz—The Brazilian politician steals, but gets things done. Consequently, instead of serving as a check on the power of Congress and the Executive, the judiciary was nothing more than a tool for Brazilian politicians.

Lula da Silva during his first presidential term, December 2002.

Prior to Luiz InĂĄcio Lula da Silva’s administration, the legal process was known for its misconduct and lack of political independence. The government deliberately overwhelmed courts with time-consuming, inconsequential cases. Because the 1988 Constitution granted citizens a seemingly endless right to appeal decisions, small cases languished in the system for years. The government often took advantage of this fact to avoid paying its debts. Similarly, instances of corruption by judges were also common; some judges were known to have sold more lenient sentences to convicted criminals. Therefore, Lava Jato took the world by surprise when the investigation exposed a legal system tremendously effective at rooting out corruption.

The Story of Lava Jato  

While the Lava Jato investigation originally began as a simple money laundering operation, the investigation soon uncovered evidence of corruption in the Brazilian government.  In February 2014, investigators were led to Posto da Torre, a popular gas station in the heart of Brasilia during an operation inspecting doleiros, or money launderers. There, the police unexpectedly found a currency exchange and money wiring machine in the gas station that allowed executives from Petrobras, Brazil’s state oil company, to steal company money and move it to overseas accounts. These doleiros worked for Paulo Roberto Costa, a Petrobras executive who became the principal link to exposing dishonest public officials. He revealed to investigators that he and other Petrobras executives had routinely overpaid and provided extremely profitable terms to companies they hired for various contracts, such as the building of oil refineries. These companies would, in return, pay one to five percent of each deal back to Petrobras executives, amounting to about $3 billion in bribes.

Ultimately, the Lava Jato investigation not only implicated minor local officials, but even prominent figures in the national government. When whistleblower DelcĂ­dio do Amaral, leader of the Workers’ Party in the Senate, was jailed on corruption charges, do Amaral immediately turned on other politicians, providing to the police a testimony that implicated 74 minor officials. Within his testimony, do Amaral provided evidence that implicated corrupt politicians from all parties, flagrantly demonstrating to the Brazilian public and the world the extent of graft in the government. Most surprisingly of all, he contributed the accusations that placed scrutiny upon former President Lula da Silva and his hand-picked successor, then-President Dilma Rousseff.

The National Congress of Brazil

This corruption investigation entangled not only Brazil’s leading domestic politicians, but also powerful officials abroad with the discovery of Odebrecht’s involvement. Probes into these cases revealed that, in the same way, the company paid bribes to officials all over Latin America to secure lucrative construction contracts. Consequently, the Odebrecht scandal rocked the world with a staggering $800 million in payoffs, and $7 billion in settlements.  

Reforms Under Lula Begin Fight Against Jeitinho

Although Lula ran on a campaign of anti-corruption, numerous instances of graft in his administration prompted widespread protests; in response, Lula enacted a set of anti-corruption measures that later proved to be crucial in the Lava Jato investigation. The most important of these changes was to provide more power and more resources to federal police and prosecutors, according to Jonathan Watts, Latin American correspondent from The Guardian. In a recent interview, Watts told the HPR that “The key step was in allowing public prosecutors to vote for the attorney general.” Consequently, the ability for prosecutors to choose their own attorney general led to the appointment of  Rodrigo Janot, who was ruthless in his prosecution of corruption. Not only did Janot keep the Lava Jato investigation running despite major backlash from politicians left and right, but he also maintained the rule of law when he charged Lula and Rousseff with corruption, even though Rousseff had appointed him four years prior.

In addition to this change in electing the attorney general, Lula also enacted a set of laws fighting anti-corruption that profoundly improved courts’ efficiency, enabling them to process more corruption cases. Among these statutes were Law 11417, which allowed the Supreme Court to judge cases based on stare decisis, the legal principle which allows previous decisions made in similar cases to stand. This in turn allowed for the reduction of the Supreme Court’s massive caseload. The Court’s more than 11,000 judges were thus able to focus more resources on trying anti-corruption cases. Thee changes symbolized a crucial step in strengthening the judiciary and eventually weakening jeitinho culture.  

Lawmakers Unintentionally Root Out Corruption

When Brazilians saw that the Workers’ Party government had enacted legislation in response  to their original demands, the public took to the streets again in 2013. More than a million protested the government’s corruption as well as excess spending and an increasing scarcity of government services, which was caused by a deep economic downturn and made worse by preparations for the impending World Cup and Olympics.

After witnessing the satiating effect of anti-corruption legislation in Lula’s administration and whilst feeling the pressures of economic malaise, Rousseff enacted four anti-corruption laws: the 2011 procurement reforms, 2011 freedom of information law, 2013 Clean Company Act, and, most importantly, the 2013 organized crime bill. Andrew Spalding, professor of law at the University of Richmond (UR) School of Law and head of U.R.’s Olympic Anti-Corruption Research Team, discussed Lula’s legal reforms with the HPR. “The organized crime bill is by far the most important of the four major legal reforms in blowing open the Odebrecht bribery scandal. This is underappreciated, even among Brazilian lawyers.”

What lawyers and lawmakers did not appreciate, Spalding explained, was the two principal provisions of the bill: obstruction of justice charges and extended leniency agreements. The former referred to the stipulation that those who were charged with obstruction of justice were subject to the same punishment as if they had been accomplice to the crime or had committed the crime themselves. The latter referred to the greater ability of judges to grant plea bargains, or a reduction in a criminal’s sentence in exchange for providing information to the police that could aid them in arresting a more heinous criminal. Prior to the bill, judges could only reduce a sentence by two-thirds, but now had the authority of going as far as dropping charges.

Without the combination of these laws, the organized crime bill, and the reforms made under the Lula administration, Lava Jato could not have occurred. Freed up from trivial cases and an independent Attorney General, judges like Judge Sergio Moro took harsh stands on corruption, refusing bail from the arrested elite. This measure was enough to convince Nestor CerverĂł, the Petrobras executive, to talk to the police about a plea deal and to provide the further evidence necessary to untangle the web of corruption. 

By spring of 2017, plea bargains implemented by the organized crime bill implicated 77 involved individuals. Furthermore, the obstruction of justice charge allowed for an added pressure on defendants, as they not only faced their own charges of obstruction of justice, bribery, and other crimes, but also implicated their families in the process. 

Brazilian federal judge Sergio Moro

Consequently, what started as a routine money laundering investigation led to billions of dollars in settlements for companies involved, brought executives like Marcelo Odebrecht to justice, investigated graft in more than 100 powerful politicians, and scrutinized even the makers of the reforms, Lula and Rousseff. The sentencing and impeachment of these two figures, although controversial, signals that Brazil’s judiciary has made great strides in effectively fighting corruption.

The Future of Corruption in Brazil

Although these reforms appear to have reduced corruption in Brazil, the current presidency of Michel Temer, an outspoken advocate of dismantling Lava Jato and the leader of Brazil’s most corrupt party, the PMDB, has led to concerns about the efficacy of  these reforms. Temer has been charged with racketeering and obstruction of justice, funneling federal money to key officials that could help him avoid a conviction.

However, Brazil’s judiciary may still prove to be resilient in the face of such challenges. Latin America expert and professor of government at Harvard University, Steven Levitsky, explained, “for a long time, Brazil’s judiciary has grown more independent, more sophisticated for decades.” Given this fact, and Brazil’s increasing economic development (thus creating a society more demanding of democracy), it is likely that this slow change will continue regardless of Temer’s presidency.

The idea of the resilient strength of Brazil’s judiciary is especially pertinent considering the upcoming presidential elections. As of January 2018, recently convicted ex-president Lula da Silva is the lead candidate at 35 percent, according to Reuters, while the Trump-like right-wing dark horse candidate Jair Bolsonaro is in second place. In a country where the two leading presidential candidates have either been convicted of corruption or criticized for charges of racism and sexism, Brazil’s political future appears to be bleak.

However, Levitsky’s analysis of the Brazilian people’s predicament provides hope: the judiciary system has strengthened for so long that it has changed Brazilians’ expectations of their leaders. Their probable choice of Lula as their next president is not a reflection of the continued approval of the jeitinho, but a reflection of the fact that the system is so corrupt that it is difficult to find a clean and capable candidate. Consequently, it will take time for the system to change along with this judicial and cultural shift. While Bolsonaro’s candidacy is worrisome and likely indicates growing political and economic discontent, the results of Lava Jato are clear. The people have changed their expectations and will continue to demand a clean government, thus slowly continuing to strengthen Brazil’s jewel: its judiciary.





Peru takes ex-president’s passport amid corruption probe

In this photo provided by Peru’s presidential press office, Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski waves to government workers and supporters outside the House of Pizarro government palace and presidential residence one day after offering his resignation in Lima, Peru, Thursday, March 22, 2018. Kuczynski announced his decision to resign in a nationally televised address, accusing opponents of plotting his overthrow for months and making it impossible to govern. Lawmakers are slated to debate whether or not to accept his resignation on Thursday. (Peruvian presidential press office via AP) (Associated Press)
By Associated Press 

LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian judge on Saturday barred recently resigned President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski from leaving the South American nation for 18 months while he’s investigated for money laundering.

The ruling came a day after congress accepted Kuczynski’s resignation and swore in Vice President Martin Vizcarra as his successor.

Kuczynski, 79, is being probed for some $782,000 in payments his consulting firm received a decade ago from Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction giant at the heart of Latin America’s biggest-ever bribery scandal. Some of the payments took place when Kuczynski was a government minister, raising questions about whether they were made in return for political favors.

The former Wall Street investor has denied any wrongdoing. He said the consulting firm, Westfield Capital, was then being managed by his business partner and that he paid taxes on all earnings from that era.

Odebrecht has admitted to paying $800 million in bribes to officials across Latin America including $29 million in Peru.

At the same time the hearing was taking place, prosecutors carried out a search of Kuczynski’s home in Lima and another property outside the capital.

“Peru since the 19th century has watched the sad show as presidents and ex-presidents flee the country and justice,” said Hamilton Castro, the anti-corruption prosecutor who had requested Kuczynski be barred from leaving Peru. “This is the historical behavior that we seekers of justice have to take into account.”

Kuczynski’s lawyer promised his client’s full cooperation and said he would abide by the prosecutor’s request not to leave the country. Kuczynski was not present at Saturday’s hearing.

Kuzynski is the fourth former Peruvian president to be investigated for taking payments from Odebrecht. One is currently in jail while another, Alejandro Toledo, for whom Kuczynski served as finance minister, has refused to return to Peru from the U.S. to face charges.




19 Years After NATO Bombed Serbia, Most Serbs Won’t Take Apology From Alliance – Poll

In the 1990s, NATO lost its raison d'ĂȘtre when the Iron Curtain fell and Communism collapsed. They had to find a new reason for their existence and where better to find a reason for a military alliance than in the Balkans. They got their new lease on life and it only cost a few thousand lives at most. 

Since 1999, NATO has seemingly made a art-form out of provoking regional wars - Libya, Syria, etc., but as both these missions became absolute disasters, NATO has turned it's attention to fear-mongering - creating hysteria about Russia that is way over the top. But they are making and selling weapons like never before in history, so everyone is getting filthy rich. 

© Marko Djurica / Reuters

A majority of Serbs today would not accept an apology from NATO for its 1999 military intervention in Kosovo. Only 10 percent would wish to see their country become a member the trans-Atlantic defense bloc, recent poll shows.

The continued animosity towards NATO in Serbia was highlighted by an opinion poll conducted by the Belgrade-based Institute for European Affairs in mid-March. According to the poll, only 10 percent of Serbs support membership of the military bloc while 84 percent oppose it. The mood is particularly strong in the Serbian capital, where the level of support for NATO membership is 5.8 percent, and among young people aged 18 to 25 (7.7 percent). Only 18 percent believe that becoming an ally would be beneficial for Serbia.

Former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic and his policies are perceived as the main reason for the bombings by 17.4 percent of Serbs. The second-most mentioned reason was that the US and Western powers were simply pursuing their interests. It was cited by 15.2 percent of respondents. Other popular explanations included a goal to push ethnic Serbs out of Kosovo (12.6 percent) and to remove Kosovo from Serbia (10.5 percent).

If NATO were to offer Serbs an apology for the bombings, 62 percent of them would not accept it according to the poll. The defiant attitude is most prominent among Belgrade residents (65.9 percent) and people aged 30-44 (67.3 percent), who were teens or young adults during the bombing campaign. A majority of 66 percent said NATO bombings of Yugoslavia could have been avoided.

NATO justified its intervention in Kosovo by accusing the Milosevic government of ethnically cleansing the province. 

Of course, only NATO would believe that the way to end ethnic cleansing is to drop bombs on people.

The bombings lasted 78 days and officially claimed at least 758 civilian lives, though Serbian sources say the true figure may be double that. The violence in Kosovo followed decades of inter-ethnic alienation and tension in the province. The loss of the province was a great symbolic blow to Serbs, who historically consider the land essential to their statehood and of great spiritual significance.




Friday, March 23, 2018

Salafist Muslim Kills 3, Wounds 16 in Southern France

‘Ready to die for Syria’:
What we know so far about gunman in southern France

Radouane Lakdim, who was identified as the man behind the shooting & the hostage situation in southern France. / AFP

The man who killed three people and injured 16 in southern France shouted he was ready to “die for Syria” as he took hostages, and had links to radical Islam, the Paris Prosecutor said. Here is what we know about the attacker.

The man, who on Friday opened fire in south-western French town of Carcassonne and took hostages in the nearby Trebes, has been identified as Morocco-born Radouane Lakdim. Lakdim lived in Carcassonne, the Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins, who is heading the investigation into the attack, said at a press conference.

Following the Friday shooting in Carcassonne, the 26-year-old stormed a Trebes supermarket “shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and referring to himself as a “soldier of Islamic State,” Molins said. Lakdim also said he was ready to die for Syria and demanded his “brother” be released, referring to Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving terrorist suspect behind the Paris attacks in 2015, who is now in prison awaiting trial.

Molins has confirmed that Lakdim was known to police since at least 2011, when he was detained for illicit possession of a weapon. In 2015, he was also arrested for drug trafficking.

Since at least 2014, Lakdim had been monitored by the French security services because of his ties to radical Islam, the Paris prosecutor said. Earlier on Friday, the French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said that the assailant was known only for “petty crimes.” Collomb added that the man was under surveillance for some time, but that French law enforcement found no signs of “radicalization” in his behavior.

Molins, however, revealed that Lakdim had known links to the ultra-conservative Islamic Salafist movement. He added that the gunman “had been effectively monitored by intelligence services in 2016 and 2017,” and it “did not reveal any apparent signs that could lead [the law enforcement agencies] to foresee [that] he would act.”

His ties to Salafists should have been enough of a sign!


During the press conference, Molins also revealed that a female accomplice of the attacker has been detained and placed in custody. He added that she is a relative of the assailant, without disclosing any details.

Lakdim opened fire on four police officers in Carcassonne on Friday morning and then took people hostage in a supermarket in the neighboring town of Trebes. He is also suspected of killing the driver of a car in Carcassonne and stealing his vehicle before the hostage-taking. Elite French units stormed the supermarket, after they heard gunshots being fired inside, and killed the gunman.

Four people, including the attacker himself, were killed and 16 others injured in the two attacks, according to the French authorities. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack without providing any evidence, and French investigators are now checking if this claim holds water.

Failed job of security services?

The attacks in southern France are largely a result of the French intelligence services’ failure, Charles Shoebridge, security analyst and former UK Army officer, told RT.

“If your intelligence systems fail to [such an] extent that a terrorist suspect is able to get through to his targets … there is very little that can be done to physically prevent that attack,” Shoebridge said, commenting on the attacks in Carcassonne and Trebes.

“If this person was known to police and intelligence services and was on some kind of watch list, questions should be asked about the decision-making processes” of these bodies, he added. At the same time, he pointed out that increased security measures taken by France following previous terrorist attacks carried out on its soil might, in fact, be ineffective against this kind of threat.

The state of emergency introduced in France following the November 2015 Paris attacks saw “a lot of military, a lot of police deployed to the streets,” Shoebridge noted. Even though it had a certain positive impact on the security of some particular “key points” considered to be potential terrorist targets, such as train stations or concert venues, what it really did was just make terrorists choose other targets, Shoebridge explained, adding that terrorists then focused on smaller towns where there were fewer security forces.




How Big a Threat is Russia to the Baltic States?

When Russia walked into Crimea and took over without firing a shot it was because Crimea is mainly Russian-speaking and they saw Russia as a better patron than Ukraine. Both countries are hopelessly corrupt, but Crimeans preferred Russia anyway.

In 2016, a UN vote was held calling Russia an occupying power, only 70 out of 193 voted in favor, 77 abstained and 26 nations voted against calling Russia an occupying power.

Consequently, there was no general condemnation for Russia moving into Crimea and protecting their only naval base on the Black Sea, after the western-backed coup that suddenly made Ukraine NATO-friendly. NATO, in their ambition to establish a raison d'etre, however, has been working feverishly in the last 2 years to demonize Russia pretending it is an imminent threat to Europe. They have been so effective at this that half of Europe is in near hysteria. Meanwhile, weapons manufacturers are getting even more filthy, and I mean 'filthy' rich than they already were.

I have accused Putin of desiring to rebuild the Soviet Empire and I'm not convinced that he has abandoned that ambition. But when I look for evidence of it, other than Crimea and eastern Ukraine, I'm hard pressed to see any.

The most obvious route of Russian expansion into Europe would come through the Baltic States: Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. They have a large number of Russian-speaking citizens and some history with the Soviet Union. I have been watching for unrest among Russian-speaking people in these countries and today I finally see it.

Colossally stupid!

The problem is, the unrest was provoked by unconstitutional education reforms by the government of Latvia. Their move against Russian speaking people was either provoked by the hysteria stirred up by NATO, or they were provoked by some more clandestine persuasion. In any event, it is a colossally stupid thing to do. It is poking the sleeping bear and daring him to respond. I have no doubt that NATO is behind this either overtly or covertly.

Russian-speaking minority in Latvia protests against new legislative attack on their identity

A protest in Riga against the introduction of Latvian as language of instruction in ethnic minorities schools
© Mikhail Korytov / Sputnik

Latvia’s largest opposition party has called for the reversal of education reforms that threaten Russian-language classes in the country’s schools, claiming they contradict the national constitution and international convention.

The Social Democratic Party, called "Harmony," represents the interests of Russian speakers that constitute up to 40 percent of Latvia’s population. The call to reverse the education reforms was made to President Raimonds Vejonis on Thursday.

Latvia 'purging unwanted media' by expelling Russian journalists over 'security threat' – Moscow

It followed a decision by the Latvian parliament to pass a bill that would exclude lessons in Russian from the curriculum in all of the country’s schools, including schools specifically for ethnic minorities. The only exception is for classes on Russian language and literature, or unspecified subjects “connected with culture and history.”

Unconstitutional law

“The bill in its new edition contradicts not only the Latvian constitution, but also Latvia-related international documents, such as the Council of Europe’s framework convention on protection of minorities, that was adopted and ratified by the Latvian parliament in 2005,” stated Harmony’s letter, as quoted by TASS.   

The convention mentioned by lawmakers provides that persons who belong to ethnic minorities have the right to study their languages, and the right to found private educational establishments. It also obliges national governments to undertake measures to give minorities such opportunities, especially in areas where the share of such minorities is large.

“The conditions set out in the convention fully match the situation in Latvia and the passed bill contradicts the convention because it provides that in several years all schools for ethnic minorities, in particular for Russians, should be banned, despite of the fact that historically there are a lot of Russian speakers living on Latvia’s territory. Apart from that, it is discriminating people on the basis of their ethnicity,” stated the open letter.

The first educational reform in Latvia that seriously undermined the teaching of Russians in the country’s schools was launched in 2004. After mass protests, the authorities adjusted the recommended curriculum and now the law allows about 40 percent of subjects in be taught in Russian.

The only official language in Latvia is Latvian and passing a language test is a strict requirement for receiving the Latvian citizenship. This has resulted in a situation whereby hundreds of thousands of people have to live with a “non-citizen” passport. Most of those non-citizens are ethnic Russians and large shares of them are Belarusians and Ukrainians, but there are also Poles and Lithuanians. Non-citizens have no voting rights, they cannot serve in the Latvian military and police and are officially banned from working as civil servants, lawyers or pharmacy salespersons.



Thursday, March 22, 2018

Austrian Diplomat Recalled from Israel for Wearing 'Nazi' Shirt

Rising AntiSemitism in Europe - Austria

FILE PHOTO. © Grigoris Siamidis / Reuters

Austria’s Foreign Ministry has recalled an employee from its embassy in Israel after he posted a photo of himself on Facebook wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the name of a Nazi tank division.

Weekly news magazine Falter published screengrabs of JĂŒrgen-Michael Kleppich wearing a green shirt bearing the words “Stand your ground” and “Frundsberg”. Frundsberg is a reference to the 10th SS Panzer Division during World War II. The division was named after the 16th century German commander Georg von Frundsberg. Kleppich’s Facebook account has since been deleted.

The controversial shirt is by a clothing brand that specializes in “patriotic” apparel and markets itself as an online store for the identitarian, white nationalist, movement. Falter also reported that Kleppich previously posted a photo of his grandfather in a Nazi uniform.

Kleppich has been summoned to Vienna to “clarify all circumstances” surrounding his wearing of the shirt, Austria’s foreign minister, Karin Kneissl, told the ORF radio station. "If there is a disciplinary cause, a disciplinary procedure will be initiated,” she said.

The attachĂ© is also reportedly a member of the right wing Freedom Party which is a junior partner in Austria’s coalition government. The party has been at the center of several Nazi-related allegations in recent years. Earlier this year a party official was forced to resign after it emerged that his fraternity published a songbook praising the Holocaust.

The state of Israel has said it will not have any direct contact with politicians from the party, which controls Austria’s foreign, interior and defense ministries as part of its government formation pact with the larger People’s Party.

What kind of stupid to you have to be to wear a Nazi shirt in Israel? And why would Austria allow right-wing nut-cases to go to Israel to represent their country? And why do right-wing nut-cases want to glorify Nazis in the first place - they were losers you know? Inhuman, lunatics, and losers! What kind of pathetic excuses for human beings would find them heroic?



Another Day, Another President Charged for Corruption

Corruption is Everywhere - President of South Korea

Warrant issued for former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak
By Elizabeth Shim 

Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has been charged with accepting more than $10 million in bribes.
EPA-EFE/YONHAP

UPI -- Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has been issued an arrest warrant after being charged with multiple counts of corruption.

The arrest warrant is the fourth of its kind to be issued to a former South Korean leader, local news service CBS No Cut News reported Thursday.

Lee, 76, faces a dozen charges, including accepting more than $10 million in bribes from Seoul's national intelligence service and powerful corporations, according to Yonhap.

The decision came late Thursday at 11:06 p.m. from Park Beom-seok, a judge with Seoul Central District Court.

Park said the arrest warrant is justified on account of the "seriousness of the crime" and "in the context in which it was investigated."

Lee has also been charged with embezzling more than $32 million that was then allocated to the "DAS" slush fund, according to No Cut News.

South Korean prosecutors submitted a 80,000-page document of evidence and argued in favor of detaining Lee in a 1,000-page statement.

Prosecutors say Lee is the ultimate proprietor of the DAS fund.

For the bribes he received he should receive at least a 11-year prison sentence, prosecutors argued.

Lee defended his legacy as president and former mayor of Seoul on Thursday in a Facebook post, local newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun reported Thursday.

"I tried to pursue clean politics by isolating the wrong practices of the past," Lee said, adding his administration, which came to power the same year as the 2008 global financial crisis, implemented policies that prevented economic recession in South Korea.

Lee said he has "had a hard time" in the past 10 months, and added his family is "suffering" in the wake of the investigations into his case.

The former South Korean leader said "everything is my fault" in the handwritten social media post published on Thursday.



Jews Moved to Warsaw Ghetto During WWII To Avoid non-Jews & ‘Nasty Poles’ – Father of Polish PM

© United States Holocaust Memorial Museum / Wikipedia

Jews moved to the ghetto during WWII to avoid non-Jews, including “nasty Poles,” an ex-senator and father of the current Polish PM said. The claim comes amid the ongoing spat between Israel and Poland over Warsaw’s Holocaust bill.

“Do you know who chased the Jews away to the Warsaw Ghetto?” Kornel Morawiecki asked while speaking to Polish Kultura Liberalna magazine on Tuesday.

“The Germans, you think? No. The Jews themselves went because they were told that there would be an enclave, that they would not have to deal with those nasty Poles.”

The eyebrow-raising statement was made by the father of current Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who assumed office in December 2017. 

The ex-politician went further, touching upon another hot topic – the alleged complicity of Jews in the Nazi-led genocide against the Jewish population.

Polish authorities tried to distance themselves from the controversial remark by the prime minister’s father. According to Deputy Foreign Minister Bartosz Cichocki, Morawiecki’s comment “does not reflect the position of the government.” 

Relations between Poland and Israel started to sour after Warsaw passed controversial legislation in February outlawing use of the phrase “Polish death camp.” It also blamed Poles for complicity in Holocaust crimes during the World War II. The bill attracted harsh criticism from Israeli authorities and Jewish groups worldwide.

The spat reached new levels after Morawiecki Jr referred to “Jewish perpetrators” during the Nazi era. “There were Polish perpetrators, as there were Jewish perpetrators, as there were Russian perpetrators, as there were Ukrainian and German perpetrators,” the newly-appointed PM said, responding to an Israeli journalist.

The remark immediately drew fire from his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, who criticized Morawiecki’s “inability to understand history and a lack of sensitivity to the tragedy” of Israeli people. Jewish groups immediately responded that the Polish prime minister definitely ‘crossed line of common sense.’ 



Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Peruvian President Kuczynski Resigns Amid Corruption Probe

Corruption is Everywhere - President of Peru
The third President this week, and it's only Wednesday
2 Previous Presidents are also under investigation
By Danielle Haynes 

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski stepped down Wednesday after months of calls for his resignation. File Photo by Olivier Douliery/UPI | License Photo

UPI -- Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced his resignation Wednesday amid an investigation into his connection to the Odebrecht corruption scandal.

Lawmakers have called on the president to step down for months after documents revealed Brazil-based Odebrecht paid $780,000 from 2004-07 to a consulting business set up by Kuczynski.

Last week, Kuczynski said he received a $700,000 payment from an Odebrect affiliate for contacts during a closed-door congressional hearing. The payment came between his time as prime minister and economy minister, and president, something critics said was a conflict of interest.

Even his prior supporters pushed him to resign in recent days amid allegations he attempted to reward members of Congress for their vote against his impeachment.

The 79-year-old is one of the highest-ranking politicians in Latin America to face downfall over the Odebrecht scandal. In a plea deal with the United States Justice Department last year, the construction firm acknowledged it paid nearly $800 million in bribes to secure infrastructure contracts, including $29 million to Peru during 2005 to 2014. The company was fined $2.6 billion over its role in the scandal.

Impeachment proceedings against Kuczynski were scheduled to begin Thursday.



Sarkozy Indicted Over Libyan Financing of 2007 Election Campaign – Reports

Corruption is Everywhere - French Presidential Elections

© FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is reportedly under formal investigation over allegations that his 2007 election campaign received funding from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

According to a source in the judiciary, Sarkozy is being investigated for illicit campaign financing, misappropriation of Libyan public funds and passive corruption, Reuters reports. According to Le Monde, several former senior figures in the Gaddafi regime have provided new evidence confirming the allegations of illicit financing.

Sarkozy, who was president of France from 2007 to 2012, denies the allegations. The former French president faced two days of questioning before being released from judicial detention on Wednesday afternoon.

The allegations against Sarkozy emerged in 2012 and a judicial inquiry was launched in 2013. In November 2016, middleman Ziad Takieddine said he transported €5 million from Tripoli to Paris in late 2006 and early 2007.

Takieddine’s statements corroborated remarks made by the former director of military intelligence of the Gaddafi regime, Abdallah Senoussi, in his evidence to the National Transitional Council of Libya, the de facto Libyan government during the country’s civil war.