Alternative News

Articles from non-mainstream as opposed to corporate for profit sources.

Stop Ayoreo land being taken

Details: Published on Saturday, 15 March 2014 18:00; Written by editor

We help tribal peoples defend their lives, protect their lands and determine their own futures.

Urgent action: Stop Ayoreo forest being destroyed by ranchers

Ranching company Carlos Casado S.A. has a license to bulldoze the last refuge for uncontacted Ayoreo Indians in Paraguay. Without the forest, the Ayoreo cannot survive. Contacted members of the tribe have sent a personal plea to Carlos Casado S.A. and its Spanish parent company Grupo San José, urging them to return the land to the Ayoreo before the forest, and their uncontacted relatives, are destroyed forever.

Please ask the companies' boss, Spanish tycoon Jacinto Rey González, to hand the land back to its rightful owners. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Or if this doesn't work for you, you can use this text to send an email to Mr González at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This week @ rabble.ca: Lots of surprises in the Quebec election

Details: Published on Friday, 14 March 2014 13:40; Written by editor

s17 r18.

14 Mar 2014

Hey rabble readers!

The Quebec election kicked off last week and it's full of surprises already, from statements of nationalism by the Liberals to the introduction of Parti Québéçois star candidate Pierre Karl Péladeau. We're following all the political twists and turnson the road to election day April 7. You can get the latest on the campaign on our elections page here.

In federal politics, this week Olivia Chow announced her Toronto mayoralty run and resignation from Parliament. Karl Nerenberg writes about the effect her departure will have on Parliament and Canada in his latest Hill Dispatches. And in the book lounge, Cathy Crowe delves into Chow's memoir My Journey, which inspires readers to believe in the power of community and a politics of hope.

Tomorrow, March...

FOODSCAPING REVOLUTION: Grow Food Now Lawns – We Should ALL Do This Urban Farming T

Details: Published on Friday, 14 March 2014 11:00; Written by editor

Look at THIS image! See that? That’s FOOD! Lots of it. And it’s all being grown in backyards. Grow your own food!

In the USA, home of the free, land of the brave, we’re not allowed to grow food in our yards. It’s almost laughable, if it weren’t so freaking sad. But in Geneva Switzerland they not only grow food, they produce LOTS of it!

So most neighborhoods and local areas in the USA do not allow you to grow food in your suburban yard… Why not?

Because the cities, townships, FDA and USDA and Health Department is afraid that we’ll sue them if someone gets food poisoning from eating food that could be tainted or “improperly processed”.

That’s really what it’s about. Liability. The state, city, local government is afraid that if they say “Yes. Go ahead and grow your own food.” that if someone gets sick, they will be liable for allowing it. I don’t think it’s about control. Maybe at some personal, power mongering way a Health inspector might get some personal thrill out of telling someone “No.”, but all in all I think it’s more about the gov getting their knickers in a wad. They simply don’t want to get sued.

How can we change it? Just do it. Make it PUBLIC. Very public. Don’t ask permission because then questions come up and it gives them the opportunity to say “No.”.

Just grow your own food. Learn the techniques, take precautions, clean your food, cook it well, and enjoy the fruits (and veggies) of your labor. If some pissy Health Dept. worker/inspector comes by and threatens you with a fine, get his or her name, and BLOG it all over the web.

Send the message: Bees can't wait

Details: Published on Thursday, 13 March 2014 12:00; Written by editor

Website | Send to a Friend | DONATE

EPA, get in gear & protect bees

Bees need help now

Tell EPA's leader to step up
and protect bees!

We'll deliver your message next week.

As you probably know, bees are in trouble. And EPA isn't acting fast enough to help protect them from harmful pesticides. Will you join us — along with more than a million people — in calling on EPA leader Gina McCarthy to step up?

We'll be delivering your comments to the agency in DC next week, making sure Administrator McCarthy gets the message: It's time to make protecting these vital pollinators a priority.

EPA, time for action» The science is increasingly clear. Neonicotinoid pesticides, alone and in combination with other pesticides, are a key factor in declining bee populations. Neonics have been linked to massive bee kills, and at non-lethal doses they can interfere with critical brain functions that bees need to navigate, forage and reproduce.

As head of EPA, it's up to Gina McCarthy to protect bees. The agency's current plan is to finish reviewing neonics by 2018... and then decide what to do. But with beekeepers reporting losses of 40-70% last year, it's clear bees can't wait.

Make bees a priority» Tell Administrator McCarthy: It's time to step up and protect bees. We rely on them for one in three bites of food we eat, and they need help urgently.

An orangutan graveyard, Wilmar, and the addiction to dirty palm oil

Details: Published on Wednesday, 12 March 2014 14:40; Written by editor

Blogpost by Wirendro Sumargo - November 11, 2013 at 3:00
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/wilmar-dirty-palm-oil/blog/47300/

This beautiful orang-utan sat just metres from me, serenely eating the fruit placed on the platform. It’s an incredible experience to see these creatures so close, and yet so at ease in their forest home. But this orang-utan represents an endangered species, and her forest home is under threat.

Until recently, this feeding station and the surrounding forest was part of a protected national park, but no longer. It is now owned by a palm oil company, Bumitama, that proudly boasts of its aggressive expansion plan, with 15,000ha pegged for new palm oil development this year – that’s nearly 60 football pitches per day!

But for now, this orang-utan is lucky.

An orang-utan graveyard

In August 2013, a Greenpeace International investigation with Friends of National Parks Foundation (FNPF) exposed a crime scene inside Bumitama’s new concession (PT ASMR) and just a few metres away from the oil palm plantation of PT BLP (part of BW Plantation). Here investigators documented an orang-utan skull.

Orangutan bones near Tanjung Puting National Park © Ulet Ifansasti / Greenpeace

Since March 2013, the remains of several orang-utans have been documented by Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) and FNPF in different locations along the border between the two palm oil concessions. In a letter to authorities requesting urgent intervention, the organisations describe the area as an orang-utan ‘graveyard’.

Police investigations are now in process and it is their responsibility to determine how these beautiful animals died and who is responsible.

Spring Into Action!

Details: Published on Wednesday, 12 March 2014 12:20; Written by editor

If you haven't noticed, with the start of spring, a new wave of youth-led action is gearing up to take on dirty energy. A couple weeks ago, nearly 400 youth were arrested in Washington DC at calling on United States president Barak Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline.

That same weekend, hundreds of people came together in Vancouver for the first ever ArtShift event, a full day creative action laboratory to galvanize creative, art-based action, and now we're gearing up for another PowerShift event in just 16 days.

PowerShift Atlantic is set to be the largest gathering of its kind in the Atlantic region with participants already coming from as Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrabor, New Brunswick, PEI and the northeastern United States, and with the TransCanada Energy East project starting to move into the review process, it couldn't be happening at a better time. Will you be able to join us in Halifax? Register now!

The divestment movement continues to grow as well, finding new footholds in faith communities as Trinity St.Pauls United Church recently announced it's decision to divest from fossil fuels!

And now we're getting ready for the biggest Fossil Fools Day ever on April 1st. Find or register an action near you!

Loretta Saunders' death.

Details: Published on Tuesday, 11 March 2014 01:55; Written by editor

There's a new petition taking off on Change.org, and we think you might be interested in signing it:

Hon. Kellie Leitch, Minister for the Status of Women: Call a public inquiry into hundreds of missing and murdered Aboriginal women like my cousin Loretta Saunders

By Holly Jarrett Cornwall Sign Holly's Petition

Last month, my cousin Loretta Saunders was murdered at age 26. She was a student at St. Mary's University in Halifax and was writing her honours thesis on the hundreds of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada.

Our family is Inuit, and Loretta has now become one of the over 800 missing or murdered Aboriginal women she was fighting for. It is time for our government to address this epidemic of violence against Aboriginal women.

Last week, we broke down when we learned Loretta's body had been found in a ditch beside the Trans-Canada Highway in New Brunswick. Our family is gathering strength and we will not let her death be in vain. We will fight to complete Loretta's unfinished work.

Please sign this petition and call on Federal Minister for the Status of Women Kellie Leitch to immediately call a public inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. The Native Women's Association of Canada and other groups have worked on this for years and I started this petition to support them and to demand justice for Loretta.

We need to know why it is that Aboriginal girls and women like Loretta are five to seven times more likely to die as a result of violence than non-Aboriginal women. This is what a public inquiry must address immediately so that action can be taken to stop these tragedies and protect aboriginal girls and women in Canada.

The Government has so far ignored calls for a public inquiry. If they don't act the tragedies will continue. The epidemic of racist and sexist violence against Aboriginal women in Canada is claiming lives and devastating families each month.

It boils down to a simple question. Does the Canadian Government think it's a problem that Aboriginal women are 5-7 times more likely to die from a violent attack? Right now, we don't know. I'm praying that Loretta's death and tens of thousands calling for the inquiry will finally move them to do the right thing.

We hope you can make it...

Details: Published on Monday, 10 March 2014 22:00; Written by editor

Survival Tribes News Act Now Donate

Do something incredible for Survival

Whether you decide to join a Survival challenge, organize your own event, or simply sponsor a fellow supporter, every penny raised will make a real difference to the lives of threatened tribal peoples for years to come.

Nixiwaka Yawanawá, from the Brazilian Amazon, will be joining Survival’s Hadrian’s Wall challenge: ‘Last year I climbed Ben Nevis to show my support to our brothers, the Awá, who have many struggles. It was an incredible experience and I am excited to be doing another sponsored challenge for Survival’.

Support Nixiwaka’s challenge – donate now →

10 Days to Have Your Say on Canada's Sex Work Laws

Details: Published on Monday, 10 March 2014 14:00; Written by editor

r19

Forward

Sex Work, Police Accountability and Privacy

In this month's Civil Liberties Update, we look at our work to:

Protect the rights and safety of sex workers
Demand oversight for Canada Border Services Agency
Keep the conversation about our privacy rights front and centre
Plus: Civil forfeiture in BC is delivered a blow by the courts!
AND nominations for our Board of Directors are now open!

Make Your Voice Heard: Public Consultation on Sex Work Laws

In December, 2013, the Supreme Court struck down Canada's prostitution laws, ruling that the laws impose dangerous conditions on sex workers.The BCCLA intervened in the historic Bedford case, welcoming the decision as a closing chapter on failed laws.

Until March 17, 2014 The Government of Canada is seeking the public's input on the criminal law's response to adult prostitution. We are urging all of you - our members and supporters - to participate in this consultation.

Read more here.

Seven Years of Inaction: Demanding CBSA Accountability

In 2006, The Maher Arar Inquiry recommended that Canadian Border Services Agency’s national security activities be subjected to independent review. The federal government has failed to act on this recommendation.

SeaWorld just got busted for violating the Animal Abuse Act

Details: Published on Monday, 10 March 2014 14:00; Written by editor

SeaWorld just got cited for violating the Animal Care Act -- and in a surprise move, California could pass a landmark ban on keeping orca whales in captivity!

It's time the company stopped keeping orcas in cages, and pressure is mounting. Speak out now to demand an end to this barbaric practice.

SeaWorld just got busted by a US government agency for violating the Animal Abuse Act -- and we may have a rare chance to end its animal cruelty for good.

SeaWorld imprisons orca whales in tiny, cage-like tanks -- and the USDA citation reveals conditions at the park are dangerous to the animals' health. SeaWorld is still defending its barbaric practices, but pressure is building on the company.

In a surprise move yesterday, a Californian congressmen introduced a law to make it illegal to keep orcas in captivity. This could change everything -- but SeaWorld is already mounting a vicious campaign to defeat this congressman's brave move. We need to tell the State of California that the public won't accept SeaWorld's imprisonment of orcas any longer.

California: Enact the Orca Welfare and Safety Act to stop SeaWorld's imprisonment and torture of whales now.

SeaWorld's actions are no surprise to anyone who has watched Blackfish, the documentary exposé showing how SeaWorld tortures these intelligent animals as they force them to perform tricks for the sake of entertainment and profits. But the Orca Welfare and Safety Act could change all that. The Act makes it illegal to “hold in captivity, or use, a wild-caught or captive-bred orca for performance or entertainment purposes.”

SeaWorld would have you believe that the captivity of whales is about education, but we know better -- it’s about profits. Through the years many groups, including SeaWorld's own trainers and staff, have called for the end of the imprisonment of whales.

Support an Indigenous-led National Inquiry for our Stolen Sisters

Details: Published on Saturday, 08 March 2014 18:40; Written by editor

Idle No More stands with the many individuals, families, groups, and communities working on the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Read the Idle No More response to the government report released today and check out other movement updates below.

Federal Report Fails Indigenous Women and Girls

In concert with the many responses and calls for action issued by Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups and the families of missing and murdered women, Idle No More denounces the Conservative government’s report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada, released today. A commitment to a national inquiry and a national action strategy, which have been called for repeatedly, are blatantly absent from the report.

Idle No More reiterates the stance that addressing the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, including trans and two spirit women, should be an international priority and supports grassroots efforts for an Indigenous defined, designed, and led inquiry. Idle No More supports working in solidarity with individuals, families, and community groups on this issue and will take direction from those who have the experience and knowledge and are best equipped to develop strategies for moving forward.

North American Indigenous Peoples Caucus (NAIPC) Announcement

"NAIPC calls for the immediate cancellation of the HLPM by the UN General Assembly. We also call on the state of Mexico to cancel its planned technical meeting to begin drafting the outcome document for the HLPM-WCIP; we call on the UNPFII to cancel any further participation and additional preparatory or advisory meetings for the HLPM. Additionally, NAIPC advances the position throughout Great Turtle Island, and to the world’s Indigenous Peoples, to call for the cancellation of the HLPM, and to withhold any and all support and participation. We call for the withdrawal of any support, active or tacit, for the HLPM by Indigenous Peoples anywhere in the world."

Sierra Life: Choosing true prosperity over "New Prosperity"

Details: Published on Saturday, 08 March 2014 18:40; Written by editor

Sierra Life: Choosing true prosperity over “New Prosperity”
r33

Tough Luck Taseko!

We’re celebrating the federal cabinet’s decision to save Fish Lake and reject Taseko Mining Ltd’s proposed “New Prosperity” mine. Congratulations to the Tsilhqotin on getting a step closer to protecting this cultural and spiritual icon in the heart of the Chilcotin.

Lady of the Waters: Somenos Marsh

Sierra Club BC’s Ana Simeon finds a moment of contemplative inspiration among the birds of Somenos Marsh, the conservation area where the RCMP hope to set up shop.

More Green Time, Less Screen Time

Turn off, tune in and get outside! We’re thrilled the parks ministers across the country agree that trees are good for our health.

Featured Event

Join Sierra Club BC and Accent Inns in Victoria on March 14 for Radical Reels, a selection of extreme outdoor sports films from the 2014 Banff Mountain Film Festival. Proceeds will help Sierra Club BC continue to conserve and protect B.C.’s wildlife and wild places.

Find other events in your area.

This week @ rabble.ca: International Women's Day: A time to celebrate, a time to act

Details: Published on Saturday, 08 March 2014 01:00; Written by editor

s17 r18.

07 Mar 2014

Hey rabble readers!

Get ready for International Women's Day on March 8 by taking action to honour the contributions, abilities and challenges of women! Our Activist Toolkit is showcasing lots of great feminist resources to support women in different places, spaces and networks around the world. You can get a roundup of resources and tools right here.

Canada Reads, the CBC's annual "battle of the books" competition, has become one of the most polarizing topics in CanLit. As the latest round wraps up this winter, we find ourselves asking: is Canada Reads beneficial to Canadian literature? In the rabble book lounge blog, Kaitlin McNabb parses the pros and cons of the literary contest while Christina Turner analyzes her feelings about this year's winner, Joseph Boyden's The Orenda.

Are we Wisconsin? Join CUPE 2278 in Vancouver for a film screening of We Are Wisconsin, a documentary about the workers' uprising in Wisconsin at the state capital over 26 days in February and March 2011 and a Republican governor's bill which threatened to wipe out workers' rights. The film will be followed by a panel discussion about the ongoing attacks on labour.

This week's top news

NDP's big ideas. Right here. Right now.
NDP MP Megan Leslie to rabble columnist Murray Dobbin: The NDP has got big ideas, and we're proud of them!
By Megan Leslie

Risky business: Harper government set to announce decision on Line 9 proposal
While there remains a glimmer of hope that the Line 9 pipeline proposal will be rejected by the Harper government, it seems unlikely. There is too much money to be made despite the severe risks.
By Meg Borthwick

The Conservatives' multi-pronged attack on science
The Conservatives' attack on science has a goal to transfer power and resources from public services and public science to private institutions.
By Justin Podur

Canada Post provided 800 pages on postal banking, but 700 are redacted
An Ottawa news outlet, Blacklock's Reporter, requested an 800-page report on postal banking and Canada Post redacted over 700 pages of it. What happened to this report and why was so much redacted?
By H.G. Watson

Why are visible minorities invisible in Canadian media?
One in five Canadians is a member of a visible minority. So, why is this diversity so grossly underrepresented in Canadian broadcast and print media?
By Amira Elghawaby

Mohawks begin direct action to force missing, murdered inquiry

Details: Published on Saturday, 08 March 2014 00:20; Written by editor

http://aptn.ca/news/2014/03/03/mohawks-begin-direct-action-to-force-missing-murdered-inquiry/

NATIONAL NEWS | 03. MAR, 2014 BY APTN NATIONAL NEWS

By Kenneth Jackson
APTN National News
The Mohawks of Tyendinaga have made the first move in their threat of direct action to force the prime minister to call a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women by putting up a blockade Sunday night. The Mohawks cut off Shannonville road just south of Hwy. 401 at about 8:30 p.m. according to Shawn Brant. “It’s happening,” Brant texted an APTN National News reporter. The area is about 20 minutes east of Belleville, Ont. and close to Mohawk territory. Both CN Rail and CP Rail run close together through the area. There are paths to the 401 from there as well that Brant and the Mohawks would be familiar with. Brant called it “good positioning.” Brant gave Prime Minister Stephen Harper until the end of February to call the inquiry or face direct action, but never heard from the prime minister. Brant told APTN Sunday night they are digging in. “We’re down for the long haul,” he said. “Harper will call it (an inquiry).” Brant said about 100 men started at the blockade and Brant himself will be there “24/7″.

Immunity for spying on citizens? Really?

Details: Published on Saturday, 08 March 2014 00:00; Written by editor

This is unbelievable. Justice Minister Peter MacKay is pushing through a bill that will give immunity to telecom providers who hand over our private data to police without a warrant. We need to spread the word about this dangerous legislation right now - please watch our hard-hitting viral video then share it with everyone you know online.

Justice Minister Peter MacKay is trying to cover the government’s online spying tracks by pushing a bill through Parliament that will actually provide immunity to telecom companies who have shared your sensitive private data without a warrant.1

That means that if you are the victim of cyber criminals, identity theft, or even wrongly targeted by police because your Internet or cell phone provider handed over your information without cause:

You don’t have the right to sue your provider for damages
You might never even find out your rights have been violated.

Parliamentarians are about to head home to their local ridings and your OpenMedia.ca team has a great way for you to amplify your voice at this unique moment.

Thanks to donations from Canadians like you, we’ve just launched a hard-hitting viral video to spread the word - please watch it then share it right now with everyone you know online: www.OurPrivacy.ca

Tough love to change the status quo

Details: Published on Friday, 07 March 2014 21:40; Written by editor

Join Us

Become a JVP member: stand up for what you believe in, join a fast-growing community of activists, and challenge the status quo every day.

Become a member for just $18

My decision to join Jewish Voice for Peace last October was an act of “tough love.”

I am a Reconstructionist Jew from Long Island. For most of my life I was active in Jewish and Zionist activities–as a member and leader in many organizations including local Jewish Federations, the New Israel Fund, and J Street.

Find out how you can help keep industry out of BC's parks

Details: Published on Friday, 07 March 2014 20:40; Written by editor

r19

Forward

Help keep industrial activity out of BC's provincial parks

Wells Gray Provincial Park (Michael Wheatley)

Hi PAOV,

For over 100 years British Columbians have fought to protect BC’s special wild places from bulldozers, chainsaws, pipelines and development. Today, after many decades of work, 14% of our province – from alpine meadows to old-growth forests – is now safeguarded by our park and protected area system.

Today that system is under threat.

On February 13, 2014, with no public consultation, the BC Government introduced Bill 4: The Park Amendment Act. The Bill is dangerous because it expressly provides for industrial activity within BC’s parks and protected area system, and opens the door for removal of land from these areas for industrial purposes.

Section 3 of the Bill also allows permits to be granted for “research” purposes. This sounds innocuous, but the term “research” is undefined and would enable the government to issue park permits for studies related to pipelines, transmission lines, logging roads and other industrial activities. “Research” could also include bulk ore sampling, clearing activities and other industrial activities that are clearly inconsistent with park purposes.

Support an Indigenous-led National Inquiry for our Stolen Sisters

Details: Published on Wednesday, 07 May 2014 16:00; Written by editor

...

Less than a week! Tell USDA to say "No" to 2,4-D corn

Details: Published on Thursday, 06 March 2014 23:40; Written by editor

Website | Send to a Friend | DONATE

Dow’s new GE seeds = more pesticide use

A bad idea

Dow's new GE corn and soy are designed for use with 2,4-D, and will drive up use of this
very hazardous pesticide.

Tell USDA to keep these GE seeds off the market!

Dear PAOV,

Thanks to public pressure, USDA extended the comment period for Dow's controversial new genetically engineered (GE) seeds. But time is running short! We have less than a week to get the message across: allowing 2,4-D-resistant corn and soy seeds on the market — and in the ground — is a very bad idea.

Join farmers, healthcare professionals and concerned communities across the country in urging USDA to say "No!" to these crops.

Speak up!» The widespread use of 2,4-D that will accompany these new GE seeds will threaten the health of rural communities and the livelihood of farmers. And allowing 2,4-D seeds on the market will pave the way for more herbicide-resistant GE crops waiting in the wings. Tell USDA to reject Dow's 2,4-D corn and soy.

The stakes are staggering. Noted agricultural scientist Charles Benbrook projects that widespread planting of Dow’s 2,4-D corn could trigger a 25-fold increase in the pesticide's use, with projected use in 2019 to be over 100 million pounds.

Looting of Ukraine Has Begun / Paul Craig Roberts

Details: Published on Thursday, 06 March 2014 22:20; Written by editor

THE LOOTING OF UKRAINE HAS BEGUN

Paul Craig Roberts

According to a report in Kommersant-Ukraine, the finance ministry of Washington’s stooges in Kiev who are pretending to be a government has prepared an economic austerity plan that will cut Ukrainian pensions from $160 to $80 so that Western bankers who lent money to Ukraine can be repaid at the expense of Ukraine’s poor. http://www.kommersant.ua/doc/2424454 It is Greece all over again.

Before anything approaching stability and legitimacy has been obtained for the puppet government put in power by the Washington orchestrated coup against the legitimate, elected Ukraine government, the Western looters are already at work. Naive protesters who believed the propaganda that EU membership offered a better life are due to lose half of their pension by April. But this is only the beginning.

The corrupt Western media describes loans as “aid.” However, the 11 billion euros that the EU is offering Kiev is not aid. It is a loan. Moreover, it comes with many strings, including Kiev’s acceptance of an IMF austerity plan.

Remember now, gullible Ukrainians participated in the protests that were used to overthrow their elected government, because they believed the lies told to them by Washington-financed NGOs that once they joined the EU they would have streets paved with gold. Instead they are getting cuts in their pensions and an IMF austerity plan.

The austerity plan will cut social services, funds for education, layoff government workers, devalue the currency, thus raising the prices of imports which include Russian gas, thus electricity, and open Ukrainian assets to takeover by Western corporations.

Ukraine’s agriculture lands will pass into the hands of American agribusiness.

One part of the Washington/EU plan for Ukraine, or that part of Ukraine that doesn’t defect to Russia, has succeeded. What remains of the country will be thoroughly looted by the West.

The other part hasn’t worked as well. Washington’s Ukrainian stooges lost control of the protests to organized and armed ultra-nationalists. These groups, whose roots go back to those who fought for Hitler during World War 2, engaged in words and deeds that sent southern and eastern Ukraine clamoring to be returned to Russia where they resided prior to the 1950s when the Soviet communist party stuck them into Ukraine.

At this time of writing it looks like Crimea has seceded from Ukraine. Washington and its NATO puppets can do nothing but bluster and threaten sanctions. The White House Fool has demonstrated the impotence of the “US sole superpower” by issuing sanctions against unknown persons, whoever they are, responsible for returning Crimea to Russia, where it existed for about 200 years before, according to Solzhenitsyn, a drunk Khrushchev of Ukrainian ethnicity moved southern and eastern Russian provinces into Ukraine. Having observed the events in western Ukraine, those Russian provinces want to go back home where they belong, just as South Ossetia wanted nothing to do with Georgia.

Washington’s stooges in Kiev can do nothing about Crimea except bluster. Under the Russian-Ukraine agreement, Russia is permitted 25,000 troops in Crimea. The US/EU media’s deploring of a “Russian invasion of 16,000 troops” is either total ignorance or complicity in Washington’s lies. Obviously, the US/EU media is corrupt. Only a fool would rely on their reports. Any media that would believe anything Washington says after George W. Bush and Dick Cheney sent Secretary of State Colin Powell to the UN to peddle the regime’s lies about “Iraqi weapons of mass destruction,” which the weapons inspectors had told the White House did not exist, is clearly a collection of bought-and-paid for whores.

In the former Russian provinces of eastern Ukraine, Putin’s low-key approach to the strategic threat that Washington has brought to Russia has given Washington a chance to hold on to a major industrial complex that serves the Russian economy and military. The people themselves in eastern Ukraine are in the streets demanding separation from the unelected government that Washington’s coup has imposed in Kiev. Washington, realizing that its incompetence has lost Crimea, had its Kiev stooges appoint Ukrainian oligarchs, against whom the Maiden protests were partly directed, to governing positions in eastern Ukraine cities. These oligarchs have their own private militias in addition to the police and any Ukrainian military units that are still functioning. The leaders of the protesting Russians are being arrested and disappeared. Washington and its EU puppets, who proclaim their support for self-determination, are only for self-determination when it can be orchestrated in their favor. Therefore, Washington is busy at work suppressing self-determination in eastern Ukraine.

This is a dilemma for Putin. His low-key approach has allowed Washington to seize the initiative in eastern Ukraine. The oligarchs Taruta and Kolomoyskiy have been put in power in Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk, and are carrying out arrests of Russians and committing unspeakable crimes, but you will never hear of it from the US presstitutes. Washington’s strategy is to arrest and deep-six the leaders of the secessionists so that there no authorities to request Putin’s intervention.

If Putin has drones, he has the option of taking out Taruta and Kolomoyskiy. If Putin lets Washington retain the Russian provinces of eastern Ukraine, he will have demonstrated a weakness that Washington will exploit. Washington will exploit the weakness to the point that Washington forces Putin to war.