International News, WHat's Happening, Out There?

[KingOrfeo]

Yeah, that's pretty indicative of the standard of the EU 'leadership'.

What a childish prat.

Mr Juncker went on to say he was banning any informal and secretive negotiations on Britain's departure from the EU.

He said there will be no secret meetings between UK, national governments and commissioners in the corridors. "I ban that."

Well, that sure as Hell ain't childish. That's mature decisive leadership, that is.

 

[JackLuis]

Turkish military group shuts bridges down in attempted coup d’etat: AP

Just breaking are reports of an attempted coup in Turkey!

Members of the Turkish military attempted to stage a coup d’etat, the Associated Press reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim made the statement after tanks were spotted shutting down portions of the Bosphorus and Fatih bridges in Istanbul and military jets were seen flying low over residential areas in Ankara.

According to Agence France-Presse, the bridges were shut down by an internal security military group known as the gendarmerie.

A video circulating online, which can be seen below, reportedly shows one of the aircraft flying over the city.

Coup or false flagging?

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

http://www.dw.com/en/blast-caused-by-explosive-device-kills-one-person-near-nuremberg/a-19424502

Blast caused by explosive device kills one person near Nuremberg

Police in the town of Ansbach have said a man was killed when an explosive device he was believed to be carrying detonated near an open-air music festival. Twelve people were injured, three of them seriously.


(Hmmm. Did the bomb go off, too soon ?)


More violence

A man with a machete was arrested earlier in the day in Reutlingen after police said he killed one person and injured two others.


https://www.buzzfeed.com/claudiakoe...-ten-injured?utm_term=.mlv6oPnnyK#.bx0WbOGGqr


The machete-wielding attacker sparked panic after killing a woman near a Turkish fast-food kiosk in downtown Reutlingen, German mass-circulation newspaper "Bild" reported Sunday.

Two more people, a man and a woman, were reportedly wounded in the attack.
A car driver spotted the attacker running away from the scene and hit him with his vehicle, allowing police to grab hold of the suspect and make an arrest, according to a police spokesman cited by the DPA news agency.

The alleged perpetrator was reported to have been arguing with the deceased woman before attacking her.

Violent arsehole, and a criminal. Not a terrorist. *sigh*

http://www.dw.com/en/man-armed-with-machete-kills-woman-in-germany/a-19424224

 

[snugglestruggle]

Bring in MOAR!

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

"...this apparent serenity belies an ugly truth. The regions of Veneto, where Vicenza is located, and Tuscany are the epicentres of Italy’s banking crisis, which has cost citizens hundreds of millions of euros."


The country’s third-largest lender, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, is expected to fail a stress test whose results will be released on Friday night, and a heated debate is under way between Rome and Brussels on how to save the bank.


In April, the historic bank was rescued by a newly created Italian fund, Atlante (or Atlas in English) that was created to stop certain mid-size banks from collapsing.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...lys-banking-crisis-locals-lost-millions-euros


"This is one of the richest territories of Italy. If this territory stops, there will be problems for all of Italy."

- Achille Variati, the mayor

 

[BotanyBoy]

Bring in MOAR!

Diversity will fix it!! Diversity is better than 100mph tape

 

[JackLuis]

Japan knife attack: stabbing at care centre leaves 19 dead

Man armed with knives attacks facility in Sagamihara, outside Tokyo, before telling police: ‘It is better that disabled people disappear’

Police in Kanagawa prefecture said Uematsu had driven to the nearby Tsukui police station and turned himself in after the attack.

“I did it,” the 26-year-old former employee of the facility was quoted as saying. “It is better that disabled people disappear,” he was said to have added.

Uematsu, a resident of Sagamighara, was carrying a bag full of knives and other sharp-edged tools, some of which were bloodstained, when he handed himself in.

Wingnuts come in all colors and sizes I guess.

 

[JackLuis]

Oldies but Goodies: Russia Preps Crews for ‘Doomsday Nuke Trains’

Russia will soon start training crews for its feared missile trains, Echo Moskvy Radio reported citing the head of the Strategic Missile Forces’ military education department, Viktor Nesterov.

Colonel Nesterov said that in 2020 Russia’s armed forces will receive a new generation of ICBM-launching trains.

The Barguzin railroad ICBM system will carry six RS-24 Yars ICBMs, as compared to three RS-22 Scalpels carried by its predecessor, the Molodets railroad ICBM system.

The Molodets railroad ICBM system, armed with three RS-22 ICBMs was retired in 2005 in keeping with the START-2 treaty. Out of the 12 Soviet-era missile trains, 10 were destroyed and the remaining two were sent to a museum.

Choo, Choo! Russia Reviving Elusive ‘Nuke Trains' With 30 Yars ICBMs
Barguzin will be greatly superior to Molodets in terms of range, accuracy, and other characteristics. Ths will allow the system to remain in service for a long time, at least until 2040, Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces commander, Col.-Gen. Sergey Karakaev said.

Oh Shit!

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

It has been an eventful summer, for the UK
It seems the fallout from Brexit is taking effect

I am an American Democrat, and I do feel anxious for the people of the UK
Over the years, the Tories have proved themselves to be heartless as our American Neo- Conservatives.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...itter-first-head-to-head-debate-a7172646.html

The debate in Cardiff, has happened.

In the heated 90-minute debate in Cardiff the pair clashed as Mr Smith acknowledged that “we agree about so much of this stuff”, with Mr Corbyn swiftly retorting: “So why did you resign?”

Mr Smith replied: “Because I don’t think you’re going to be able to deliver it. I don’t think we can win with Jeremy at the moment. And without being able to win and put our principles into practice, I don’t see that we are going to be able to do anything other than protest. We’ve got to win in order to get this stuff done, otherwise it’s just hot air”.

Looking at his challenger, the Labour leader responded: “You walked away. You walked away”.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/03/ukip-leadership-woolfe-james-labour-weakness

3 August 2016


Corbyn is the strong favourite to win the contest, but some of his allies fear that up to 50,000 new members could be excluded from the ballot by the vetting process. Another 150,000 people who signed up after early January are also prevented from voting unless they paid £25 to be a supporter.

A legal challenge at the high court about whether that decision was valid is due to be heard on Thursday, as the Labour website at the time suggested all new members would be eligible to vote in the leadership contest.



http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/03/labour-leadership-owen-smith-jeremy-corbyn-factions



UKIP


All of this leaves Ukip at a crossroads. The old and unwritten law in the party was that “Nigel always wins”. But with Farage ruling out what would have been his fourth return as Ukip’s leader, the party’s future looks more uncertain than ever before.



Some in Labour might laugh, cheer even, at the fallout. Labour MPs in the north will breathe a sigh of relief, believing that the apparent disintegration of their new rival will relieve pressure. But only a fool would view events in these terms. There is another interpretation and it spells disaster for Labour.


If Ukip does implode then where would its voters go? They would certainly not endorse Corbyn. His team might cheer as they continue to stack up votes in safe seats, such as Oldham and Tooting, but at the next general election they will experience nothing short of disaster that will, in turn, take decades to recover from.

If Theresa May wins over just half of the Ukip electorate, then at least three dozen Labour seats could easily fall to the Conservatives. Then there are the former Labour seats that were captured by the Conservatives in 2015, such as Morley and Outwood, where the collapse of Ukip would help May to turn a fragile lead into a strong one.



https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/03/ukip-leadership-woolfe-james-labour-weakness

America once had a strong labour and Union alliance,but Ronald Reagan broke their strength.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

"It may be five years ago tomorrow, but barely a day goes by when I don’t think of the night that Tottenham was engulfed in violence."

"In the days that followed the 2011 riots, the world’s media descended on north London."

"At the time, I urged the government to learn the lesson of the 1985 Brixton riots, which had taken place during my childhood."

"In response to the 2011 riots, the coalition government set up the Riots, Communities and Victims Panel."

"The government’s response to the report was snuck out of the back door during the 2013 summer break without even a press release to announce its publication. It was an insult to the victims and their communities. To conclude, as the government did, that they were already doing enough to “build stronger, more resilient places” was frankly laughable."

"Despite the post-Brexit rhetoric about a north-south divide, across the length and breadth of the nation we are seeing the gap between an asset class and an underclass growing ever larger."

"A sense of hopelessness and powerlessness that spans generations and defines entire areas does not breed respect for society or its rules. When people have so little to lose, desperation can quickly turn to anger and violence. This was the lesson of the riots – let it not go unlearned."


https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-riots-british-streets-burn-again-david-lammy


gsgs comment- I look across the pond, and see America's problems mirrored.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Black Lives Matter activists protesting against racism in the UK blocked roads in three major cities on Friday, including London, where traffic was brought to a standstill outside Heathrow airport.

Black Lives Matter UK (UKBLM), a loose network of anti-racism activists, called the “shutdown” to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot dead by police during a hard stop (a planned operation that involves armed officers deliberately intercepting a vehicle to confront suspects). Duggan’s shooting, and the police response afterwards, sparked the 2011 riots.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...-matter-protest-sparks-heathrow-traffic-chaos


http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...protest-racism-police-brutality-a7174806.html

"In every aspect of our lives – coming into the country, walking down the street, sitting in a classroom, earning at work – we are at a disadvantage in Britain. We have had enough. We will fight until in every aspect of our lives it is recognised that Black Lives Matter."

 

[JackLuis]

Sarkozy: Abrasive, divisive and running again to lead France

Nicolas Sarkozy launched a bid Monday to win back the French presidency, announcing he would seek his party’s nomination to run in next year’s election.

The pugnacious 61-year-old conservative, who in 2012 ended a five-year term mired in unpopularity, had made no secret of his ambition to reconquer the top office.

“I have decided to be a candidate in the 2017 presidential election,” Sarkozy wrote in a new book, “Tout pour la France” (All for France), due out this week.

“France demands that you give her your all. I feel I have the strength to lead the fight at such a turbulent moment in our history,” he wrote in an extract seen by AFP, alluding to the terror attacks that have rocked the country since January 2015.

“The next five years will be filled with danger but also with hope.”

Sarkozy becomes the 13th person to put their name forward for the French presidency, a job that has sweeping powers.

He faces several challengers within conservative ranks.

His chief rival, former premier and Bordeaux mayor Alain Juppe, who is seen as a moderate, is the favourite to win the party’s nod.

But Juppe’s lead in opinion polls has shrunk in recent weeks as Sarkozy steps up his rhetoric on Islamist extremists and immigration following the July 14 truck massacre in Nice.

So has France lost it's fucking mind, or are they joining the American plan. 13 Rightists all trying to be the hardest dick in the stable? Who will play the part of the Liberal War hawking Princess?

 

[JackLuis]

New Zealand's homeless: Living in cars and garages

New Zealand was once a pioneer of the social welfare state, but now one in every 100 New Zealanders are homeless.

According to the University of Otago, which analysed the latest census data from 2013, more than 40,000 people, or one in 100 New Zealanders, are now homeless. This includes those living rough, in emergency housing or living in substandard garages.
Homelessness on this scale is new to New Zealand, which was a pioneer of the social welfare state. In the 1930s, it launched an ambitious programme to build thousands of social or "state" houses. The policy was based on the idea of equality, equal opportunities and the fair distribution of wealth - notions that have long been core values for most New Zealanders.
"We used to pride ourselves as being an egalitarian society," Jenny says. "But we are no longer that unfortunately, especially in Auckland, when we are seeing so many families that are homeless."
"The amount of rent that is being charged here in Auckland has doubled for many of them. However, their wages haven't doubled. Some of them are working two full-time jobs and they still can't afford to pay the high rent," she says.

 

[JackLuis]

Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff Shows ‘Washington is Behind Coup in Brazil’

Thousands of people took to the streets in Brazil in protest against the impeachment of suspended President Dilma Rousseff. Massive rallies in support of Rousseff took place in ten states after Brazil's Senate voted to oust Dilma. Radio Sputnik discussed the situation in Brazil with Peter Koenig, former World Bank member and geopolitical analyst.

“What amazes me most always is that this so called progressive media do hardly mention the long and bloody hand of Washington in this coup. Just about a year ago international lawyers were very clear about baselessness of impeachment of Rousseff," Koenig said. He further said, "They also mentioned the illegality of launching such a procedure because there was really nothing that could be reproached against Dilma Rousseff except that she may have manipulated the government’s accounts, not stealing but just to make the accounts look better. Exactly what Europe is doing all the time, what the US is doing as well,” Koenig said.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

New Zealand and Aukland have been struggling, because of the damaging earthquakes.

The cycles of the worldwide bubble and bust has hit the islands hard. The loss of what basic tools of life, they had, has caused hardship.

It illustrates in miniature, the difficulties that come, when the ultra rich pull trillions of dollars out of the wider system.

Scarce resources. Debt. Struggling to remain with their heads above water.

Now, another major earthquake arrives to make more trouble.

7.1 is nothing to sniff disdainfully, at.

I am hoping that the losses are small, and the damage is minimal.