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After Grand Jury in Eric Garner Chokehold Case Doesn’t Indic Officer
.Belgium may unilaterally recognize Palestine – report
Stefan Löfven: 'This is an irresponsible action of these parties and is unprecedented in our political history.' Photograph: Pontus Lundahl/AP
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/nyregion/grand-jury-said-to-bring-no-charges-in-staten-island-chokehold-death-of-eric-garner.html?_r=0.
The
fatal encounter in July was captured on videos and seen around the
world. But after viewing the footage and hearing from witnesses,
including the officer who used the chokehold, the jurors deliberated
for less than a day before deciding that there was not enough
evidence to go forward with charges against the officer, Daniel
Pantaleo, 29, in the death of the man, Eric Garner, 43.
Officer
Pantaleo, who has been on the force for eight years, appeared before
the grand jury on Nov. 21, testifying that he did not intend to choke
Mr. Garner, who was being arrested for allegedly selling loose
cigarettes. He described the maneuver as a takedown move, adding that
he never thought Mr. Garner was in mortal danger.
District
Attorney Daniel M. Donovan Jr. of Staten Island said he would have a
grand jury start its investigation next month.Grand Jury to Take Up
Death Linked to Police Chokehold in Staten IslandAUG. 19, 2014
The
decision came barely a week after a grand jury found no criminality
in the actions of another white police officer, Darren Wilson, who
shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man in
Ferguson, Mo.
US Army Sends 100 Tanks To Eastern Europe To "Deter Russian Aggression"
The
ink on Barack Obama's Chuck Hagel termination letter hasn't dried yet
but already the US president's new, and seemingly far more hawkish
advisors, are having their warmongering presence felt. Case in point:
the Eastern European theater of (Cold) war, where Military.com
reports that the new Army commander in Europe plans to bolster the
U.S. armored presence in Poland and the Baltic states and keep
rotations of U.S. troops there through next year and possibly beyond
to counter Russia. Lt. Gen. Frederick "Ben" Hodges, who
replaced Lt. Gen. Donald M. Campbell earlier this month as commander
of U.S. Army Europe, said the Army was looking to add about 100
Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles to the forces in Eastern
Europe
These
U.S. Army M1A2 Abrams tanks are part of the European Activity Set,
a combined-arms battalion-sized set of vehicles and equipment pre-positioned
at Germany’s Grafenwoehr Training Area. Markus Ruachenberger/U.S. Army
a combined-arms battalion-sized set of vehicles and equipment pre-positioned
at Germany’s Grafenwoehr Training Area. Markus Ruachenberger/U.S. Army
"We
are looking at courses of action for how we could pre-position
equipment that we would definitely want to put inside a facility
where it would be better
maintained, that
rotational units could then come and draw on it and use it to
train, or
for contingency purposes," Hodges
said in a briefing from Vilnius, Lithuania.
So
"better maintained... or for contingency purposes." Got it.
That probably also explains why as NATO is seeking to deliver 100
tanks to Eastern Europe, it has already added several
squadrons of fighter jets just
minutes away from Russia's border. For "contingency purposes."
Before:
After:
As
before, we wonder how the US would react if Russia were to place a
few extra fighter jets in Cuba or a few hundred tanks in Mexico.
Aside from historical fact of course.
But
back to NATO's tanks whose only mission is "contingency",
and certainly not to intimidate Putin that the NATO ring around the
nation is closing.
Hodges
visited a training site in Lithuania that could be used to store
armor and said he would look at similar sites in Estonia and Poland.
"Certainly, I don't see a need to build infrastructure -- a FOB
[Forward Operating Base] if you will -- or anything like that, that
would be used for U.S. forces," Hodges said.
Since taking command, Hodges has made clear his concerns about Russia, which annexed Crimea last March and has supported the separatists in eastern Ukraine. U.S. Army Europe, which had 280,000 troops at the height of the Cold War, now has 31,000.
The rotations of U.S. troops on training missions in Eastern Europe would provide "deterrence against Russian aggression," Hodges said.
"I don't think that Russia has any intention of some sort of a conventional attack into NATO territory because they know that would generate an Article 5 response."
Which
is why it is best to provoke Russia first by building up NATO armed
forces on Russia borders, something NATO previously express would not
happen.
He
referred to the NATO treaty article calling on all member states to
respond to an attack on any member of the alliance. Poland,
Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia are all members of the 28-member NATO
alliance.
"I think that what they [the Russians] do want to do is to create that ambiguity, plant the seeds of uncertainty so that the alliance members lose confidence that the rest of the alliance would come to their aid if they were, in fact, attacked," Hodges said.
Well,
no, that's not what the Russians want. But if NATO keeps piling
fighter jets and tanks on its border it will leave Putin no other
choice. Which is precisely what the NATO endgoal is here.
In other news, speaking on background, a senior administration official traveling with Vice President Joe Biden on his trip to Ukraine last week said the U.S. has provided more than $100 million in non-lethal assistance "to help the Ukrainians defend themselves."
The aid included night-vision goggles;protective vests; counter-mortar radars; blankets; vehicles; and Meals, Ready to Eat, the official said. The official said the U.S. had concluded that arming Ukraine would be counter-productive since "no matter how many weapons we provided to Ukraine, they were going to get outgunned by the Russians."
Well,
actually here the US is lying once again. Recall that "Hacked
US Documents Said To Reveal Extent Of Undisclosed US "Lethal
Aid" For Ukraine Army",
proving once again that the US is just as heavily involved in the
Ukraine civil war as is Russia, also implying that the stated NATO
reason for intervention is nothing but the red herring NATO wants to
brings tensions to a new high, one that preferably breaks out in
limited conflict orcontained
armed combat. Because
clearly the global economy has reached its GDP plateau and only war
can push it beyond at this point.
As
for how Russia feels about this latest NATO expansion, we go to
Bloomberg where we read that "Russia
is taking countermeasures and will take more, based on analysis of
NATO actions near it’s borders, Interfax news service says citing
Alexander Grushko, Russia’s envoy to military alliance, in
Brussels."
Grushko
adds that there is "no reasons for additional deployment of NATO
forces near Russian borders, according to IFX", and that NATO
measures, strengthening military activity near Russian borders, lead
to intensification of military tensions.
Of
course they do. And NATO knows it all too well.
And
speaking of limited conflict, Germany is already having nightmares
about what is sure to be a very, very long recession. As Pravda
reported,
"the
German government prepares for a long conflict with Russia."
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the
crisis with Russia could take more than a decade, and
Ukraine's aspirations to NATO only "adds fuel to the fire,"
he said in an interview with ZDF television channel on Sunday,
November 30th.
"Sometimes, 14 days are enough to start a conflict, but may take 14 years to solve this conflict," the head of German diplomacy said. When asked whether the conflict with Russia could last for such a long time, Steinmeier responded positively.
For the German minister, the issue of Crimea's future appears to be unsolvable. According to Steinmeier, international recognition of the Crimea as a part of the Russian territory is impossible. "We can not either ignore the illegal annexation of the Crimea, or forget about it and just ignore this fact. The conflict between us will continue," the Foreign Minister of Germany said.
Horrible
news if you are Europe, right? Well yes... and no. Horrible if you
are a member of the soon to be exinct middle-class, i.e., the 99%. If
you are lucky enough to be among Europe's uber-rich, all that the
decade long conflict between Europe and Russia will do is provide the
ECB with a constant scapegoat to engage in more, more, moreeasing,
be it QE or otherwise, which in turn will crush the middle class like
in the US, but make the uber-rich, uber-richer than
they have ever been.
Which
is ironic: as Europe's wealthiest wage a war of words against the
former KGB spy and current head of Russia through their numerous
media holdings, it is they that
should be most grateful for his existence.
Nigerian
communities reeling from massive Shell oil spill
Fishermen
and the environment of Niger Delta continue to suffer the
consequences of a massive Shell oil spill in the Niger Delta - one of
the worst in years. The oil giant says 1,200 barrels had been
recovered as of Tuesday.
Traveling
to the affected areas of the Niger Delta in Nigeria, Reuters
witnessed the devastation in the delta which covers 20,000 km²
within wetlands of 70,000 km².
Crude
is everywhere, enough in some cases to fill Jerry can with the black
gold.
"We
saw dead fish, dead crabs ... This spill occurred 7-8 nautical miles
from the shore ... so the volume runs into thousands of
barrels," Alagoa
Morris, head of the Niger Delta Resource Center for Environmental
Rights Action, told Reuters.
Morris
was referring to the Shell oil spill at the site on the Okolo Launch
on Bonny Island in late November where an estimated 3,800 barrels of
oil have leaked into the data, according to an investigation by Shell
and government officials.
According
to the oil giant, the spill was caused by a failed crude theft......
Hungary
fuming after McCain calls PM Orban ‘neo-fascist dictator’
Hungary’s
Foreign Ministry has summoned the US envoy after US Senator John
McCain called Prime Minister Viktor Orban a “neo-fascist dictator.”
Washington is incensed with Orban for seeking closer ties with
Russia.
The
US charge d’affaires, Andre Goodfriend, will be asked for an
explanation for McCain’s comments.
"The
Hungarian government ... rejects the words of Senator John McCain
regarding the Hungarian prime minister and the relationship of
Hungary and Russia," Levente
Magyar, state secretary at the ministry, told national news agency
MTI, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile
the country’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said: "Hungarian
citizens ... articulated a very clear opinion that everyone ought to
respect,” referring
to the victory of Orban’s center-right Fidesz party in
parliamentary, European and local elections
McCain’s
comments came in a highly charged speech at the US Senate on Tuesday,
where he hit out at President Barack Obama’s appointment of
Hollywood producer Colleen Bell as the new US ambassador to Budapest.
"I
am not against political appointees... I understand how the game is
played, but ... [Hungary] ... is on the verge of ceding its
sovereignty to a neo-fascist dictator getting in bed with Vladimir
Putin, and we're going to send the producer of 'The Bold and The
Beautiful' as the ambassador," he
told the Senate, Reuters reported......
.Belgium may unilaterally recognize Palestine – report
:
Four
political parties that form Belgium’s government have reportedly
agreed to recognize the Palestinian state, despite diplomatic
pressure from Israel and its allies. The recognition will happen “at
a moment deemed appropriate.”
Belgium
could become the second European Union member to officially recognize
the Palestinian state,reported Le
Soir, French language daily Belgian newspaper.
Belgium’s
coalition government allegedly drafted a motion regarding recognition
of the Palestinian state earlier this week. The document that will be
submitted to nation’s parliament for implementation bears no set
date of recognition, though.
Swedish Government Falls
An
hour ago, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Loefven failed to get enough
government votes to support his latest budget, despite threats he may
resign if the budget did not win majority support. This follows after
Sweden's Democrats, the third-largest party, "plunged
the Nordic nation into a crisis"
yesterday after vowing to oppose any government budget that promoted
immigration. Loefven, 57, in late night talks with the four-party
Alliance opposition was then unable to reach any agreement on a way
forward for his budget of tax increases and higher welfare spending.
Cited
by Bloomberg, Loefven said that “There
was no will to have a dialog on the budget issue" - which
sounds about as "compromising" as Barack Obama. He may now
go down in history as Sweden’s shortest-serving premier in about 80
years, having taken control in September elections. The coalition’s
proposal was rejected in a formal vote today in parliament, as the
Sweden Democrats voted for the Alliance budget.
The
former union boss led the Social Democrats back into power by ousting
Fredrik Reinfeldt’s center-right coalition in September elections.
The premier said last night he will also explore the option of
resubmitting his budget to the finance committee in parliament.
Another option is for snap elections to be called for the first time
since 1958.
While
for now Loefven has not resigned, the latter option is precisely what
he picked. Follow the key BBG headlines from a just concluded press
briefing by the prime minister:
- SWEDISH PM LOEFVEN SAYS SWEDEN IN SERIOUS SITUATION
- SWEDISH PM LOEFVEN SAYS WON'T ACCEPT NEW POLITICAL SITUATION
- SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER LOEFVEN CALLS FOR NEW ELECTION IN 2015
- SWEDISH PM SAYS NEW ELECTION TO BE HELD ON MARCH 22
- SWEDISH GOVT: WILL NEVER ALLOW SWEDEN DEMS TO DICTATE RULES
- SWEDISH PM LOEFVEN WON'T SEEK ANY FURTHER TALKS WITH OPPOSITION
and
last but not least:
- SWEDISH PM LOEFVEN SAYS WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
How
idealistic. We give him a few days before he too succumbs to the
siren song of "Get
to work Mr. Chairman",
the same song that has made a complete mockery out of America's own
legislative branch.
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