January 3, 2015

Anti-government street protests take place in Budapest, Hungary.

It appears another eastern European government is being threatened with street-protest-based overthrow. The fact that Hungary's Prime Minister has spoken out against the sanctions we are using to try and force Russian acceptance of U.S./E.U. hegemony over Ukraine does, of course, raise suspicions concerning our possible involvement in organizing this, and other, mass gatherings. One wonders how long it will be before we see Vicky Nuland and Senator McCain hobnobbing with the crowds?

A woman holds a placard showing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as a soccer player during an anti-government protest called by civil groups in Budapest January 2, 2015 (Reuters)


1000s rally in Hungary, accuse govt of drifting away from EU


Thousands of people have flooded on to the streets of Budapest to protest against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Protesters accused him of drifting away from the EU and strengthening ties with Russia. The protesters carried banners, saying “Game Over” and “Delete Viktor [Orban]”. According to AFP estimates, the demonstration gathered about 5,000 people in front of the Budapest opera house.

"We condemn the parties of the last 25 years... We cannot expect the state to think for us," one of the organizers of the demonstration, Zsolt Varady, said in a speech at the rally. "I think it is important for people to demonstrate," Varady said. "The politicians have gone far away from reality. They don't seem to represent the public's views."

People said they were concerned over the country’s policy on centralization in education and public administration. They accused Orban's government of drawing Hungary further away from other European Union members. "In all aspects of our lives, we fear the return of a centralized system similar to the one under communism, which my generation struggled against," said Eva Bari, a teacher. The activists also accused PM Orban of strengthening ties with Russia, as he has been a vocal opponent of sanctions against Moscow, currently a key EU policy. Orban has argued that they hurt Europeans more than they hurt Moscow, and pledged to lobby for their abolition.

The sanctions were imposed over Russia's position in the Ukrainian crisis, which started almost exactly a year ago with street protests not unlike those unfolding in Budapest now. In November 2013, Ukrainians took to the streets after the Ukrainian government postponed an integration deal with the EU. The Budapest protest organizers said they are calling another rally for February 1, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Budapest.

(snip)

Read more, and view videos of the protests, at: http://rt.com/news/219519-hungary-protests-orban-communism/

January 3, 2015

Frustrated Afghans wonder who is in charge amid cabinet delays and Taliban attacks

Source: Washington Post

KABUL — As Afghanistan begins an uncertain new era of coalition governance and self-defense against Taliban insurgents, protracted delays in forming a cabinet and filling most top posts in the three-month-old administration have left public agencies in disarray and Afghans wondering who is in charge.

This week, as Western combat troops left Afghanistan for good, President Ashraf Ghani hailed a new era of national pride and independence in a televised speech from his palace. He said the country had “passed two difficult tests” with transitions to a new civilian government and military control, and that the next challenge was to build a solid economy. But Ghani said nothing about the high-level vacancies in the government he heads in partnership with his former rival, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah – an issue that has left the nation in a state of anxiety and the wheels of the nascent National Unity Government wobbling. Most senior federal and provincial posts are empty and many projects are on hold, leaving a growing impression that no one is at the helm, just as the country needs a strong leadership team to fend off a resurgent Taliban and grapple with corruption.

In one province, police officials have been fired and not replaced despite a rash of violent crime. In another, frustrated parents are calling their legislators to get copies of school records. In the capital, no phones were answered at one federal ministry last week — an unusual occurrence even by lax Afghan standards. In another ministry, idle office workers made a video of each other dancing in the halls, which was later shown to a reporter.

“Everything is stuck. There is no framework, no direction, no one setting priorities or making decisions,” said Fawzia Koofi, one of many national legislators who have expressed similar concerns. “In a country like ours with a weak political system, you need strong ministers and governors to provide leadership, but we still don’t have any. So those below are either doing nothing or they are using the chance to do wrong things.”


(snip)


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/frustrated-afghans-wonder-who-is-in-charge-amid-cabinet-delays-and-taliban-attacks/2015/01/02/1ba98218-53b7-4c45-96b8-b762db9b4fc5_story.html

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As an ex-Afghan government Minister notes later in the article: “The problem is not technical deficiency, it is the lack of political will.” After thirteen years, a trillion dollars and two thousand American lives, we get a weak, disunited Afghan leadership with a lack of political will so severe they won't even fill patronage jobs in the government?

January 1, 2015

Oliver Stone replies to his critics.

The opinions noted film maker, Oliver Stone, recently expressed concerning the crisis in Ukraine caused a storm of controversy among supporters and opponents of American/NATO involvement there. Today he took time to answer a few questions and discuss some of the charges regarding his estimation of the situation.

American film director Oliver Stone (RIA Novosti)


Oliver Stone: Ukrainians are suffering from US 'ideological crusade' against Russia.


In response to those who took exception with his claims that the Ukrainian crisis involved “outside agitators,” Oliver Stone took to social media to advance his argument, saying that Ukrainians are the victims of a US strategy akin to Cold War 2.0. This week, Stone stirred a political firestorm with his views on what he believed sparked the Ukrainian crisis, following a private interview with Viktor Yanukovich, the former Ukrainian president who was ousted in the February 2014 coup.

"It seems clear that the so-called ‘shooters’ who killed 14 policemen, wounded some 85 and killed 45 protesting civilians, were outside, third-party agitators,” Stone said, following his four-hour conversation with Yanukovich in Moscow. “Many witnesses, including Yanukovich and police officials, believe these foreign elements were introduced by pro-Western factions – with CIA fingerprints on it.” According to the American-born filmmaker and writer, Ukraine is just the latest country in a long list to fall prey to “America’s soft power technique called ‘Regime Change 101.’”

Stone’s comments reverberated like an earthquake on both sides of the Ukrainian divide, prompting him to elaborate on his original statement. Stone’s follow-up post began with him explaining that he has no particular sympathy for Yanukovich. “For those of you angry with my analysis of Ukraine yesterday, please try to understand the bigger picture I’m offering,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “I have no brief for Viktor Yanukovich, he may well be the most corrupt president Ukraine’s ever had. Ukraine has a dramatic history of corruption. That is not my point.”

However, he went on to argue that there is “ample evidence of pro-Western, third-party interference” in Ukraine, specifically mentioning Victoria Nuland and John McCain, two high-ranking American officials who appeared on the streets of central Kiev at the height of the Maidan showdown between police and protesters. He also mentioned specific US government organizations, such as USAID, which has been operating in Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the National Endowment for Democracy, which he remarked “apparently organize very well on Facebook and Twitter,” suggesting a possible method of organizing the protesters for an anti-government rally.

(snip)

Read more at: http://rt.com/news/219211-stone-ukraine-us-policy/

January 1, 2015

Two young women who are clearly hoping for a better new year.

Simply following the policies of no negotiations with terrorists and no ransom payments to them will likely be a death sentence for these helpless young women. Here is hoping an exception will be made in their case.

(Still from YouTube video)



Vanessa Marzullo, 21 (left) and Greta Ramelli, 20, (right) were working on humanitarian projects in Syria (Photo from Facebook page)


Italian women held hostage by Syrian Islamists 'appeal for salvation' in video.


A freshly released video apparently shows two young female aid workers abducted in Syria last summer, appealing for the Italian government to save their lives. The video, uploaded to YouTube on December 31, shows two young women dressed in black clothes covering their entire bodies except faces and hands. One, apparently Vanessa Marzullo, is reading a brief statement in English, while the other, apparently Greta Ramelli, is holding a piece of paper that reads “17.12.14 Wednesday.”

“We are Greta Ramelli and Vanessa Marzullo,” Marzullo says in the 24-second video clip. “We supplicate our government and its mediators to bring us home before Christmas. We are in big danger and we could be killed. The government and mediators are responsible for our lives.”

The Italian Foreign Ministry declined to immediately confirm the authenticity of the video. Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper talked to Marzullo’s father, Salvatore, who said he had “no words” in response to the video.

Marzullo and Ramelli, both 21, were abducted near Aleppo in northern Syria on the night of August 1, three days after arriving there with a humanitarian mission. For both it was their second trip to the war-torn country. Since then, the two women have been reportedly sold on by several militant groups operating in Syria, La Repubblica says, citing Arab media. They are believed to be currently held either by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front or their fearsome allies, Islamic State.

(snip)


Read more at: http://rt.com/news/219199-italian-hostages-syria-video/