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"Before pointing fingers make sure your hands are clean."

-- Bob Marley

News and Opinion

Washington accuses Russia of “crimes against humanity” to justify escalation of Ukraine war

On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris formally accused Russia, for the first time, of carrying out “crimes against humanity,” part of an escalating propaganda campaign to condition public opinion for the direct deployment of US-NATO troops into the war over Ukraine. Speaking at the Munich Security Council, Harris asserted, “Russian forces have pursued a widespread and systemic attack against a civilian population—gruesome acts of murder, torture, rape and deportation. Execution-style killings, beatings and electrocution.” Harris declared, “In the case of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence. We know the legal standards. And there is no doubt these are crimes against humanity.”

Presumably, Harris was referring to the definition of such crimes provided in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. ... Indeed, the US government does not recognize the authority of international law over its own officials, but by any objective standard every living American president should be hauled before a war crimes tribunal. ...

As with previous American proclamations about human rights abuses by Russia, Harris’ comments were meant to provide cover for the major escalation of the war being waged by Washington on Russia’s doorstep. ... Over the past 48 hours, the US media has begun to moot the prospect of deploying ground troops to Ukraine. In an editorial over the weekend, the Washington Post called for NATO to deploy “a convincing array of military muscle on the ground.” Chuck Todd, the host of Meet the Press, the leading US political talk show, asked, “Will the US and its allies be able to defeat Putin without putting any NATO or US boots on the ground?”

Over the weekend, former National Security Council official Alexander Vindman declared in an interview with the Associated Press that all restraints are being lifted on US intervention in Ukraine. “I feel increasingly confident that [the White House will] provide everything and anything that the Ukrainians need,” he said. “It’s just going to be a matter of time.”

By formally accusing the Russian government of crimes against humanity, the Biden administration is making it clear that Russian leaders face the fate of the leaders of other countries targeted by the US for regime change. In other words, the United States is seeking to block all remaining routes to a diplomatic settlement in order to turn the conflict into a full-scale war between NATO and Russia.

Putin delivers confident Federal Assembly speech, suspends START nuclear treaty

US informed Russia of Joe Biden’s Kyiv visit hours before departure

The White House notified the Kremlin of Joe Biden’s intention to visit Kyiv hours before he departed for Ukraine, it has been revealed, as the details began to emerge of how the US president pulled off his high-profile diplomatic coup.

Meticulously planned over several months by a tight circle of key advisers, Biden’s visit was described as “unprecedented in modern times” by his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on the grounds that it was the first time a US president had visited “the capital of the country at war where the United States military does not control the critical infrastructure”.

“We did notify the Russians that President Biden will be travelling to Kyiv,” Sullivan said. “We did so some hours before his departure for deconfliction purposes, and because of the sensitive nature of those communications I won’t get into how they responded or what the precise nature of our message was, but I can confirm that we provided that notice.” ...

Biden crossed into Ukraine at about 10pm on Sunday night, having quietly boarded a train in the Polish town of Przemyśl. His motorcade pulled up alongside his carriage allowing him to board unseen. His security detail took up most of the train’s eight carriages.

According to a pool reporter on board, the journey through the night was uneventful with a few stops, at least one of which was to take on additional security guards. The train arrived at Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi station at 8am on Monday.

Democrats, Republicans join up to urge Biden to send F-16s to Ukraine

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pressing President Joe Biden directly to send F-16 warplanes to Ukraine as the fight against Russia’s invasion enters its second year.

Five House members argued modern jets — which Kyiv has sought, but the administration has so far not agreed to — “could prove decisive for control of Ukrainian airspace this year” in a Thursday letter to Biden obtained by POLITICO.

“The provision of such aircraft is necessary to help Ukraine protect its airspace, particularly in light of renewed Russian offensives and considering the expected increase in large-scale combat operations,” the lawmakers wrote.

The letter was organized by Maine Democrat Jared Golden. Also signing on were Democrats Jason Crow of Colorado and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Republicans Tony Gonzales of Texas and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin.

The missive is the latest push from Capitol Hill to give Kyiv U.S.-made fighters. It also comes as supporters of Ukraine aid in both parties look to navigate a faction in the new House Republican majority that wants to curtail assistance.

Hungary's Orban Accuses EU of Prolonging War in Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday that the European Union is partly to blame for prolonging Russia’s war in Ukraine, doubling down on his government’s insistence that supporting Kyiv was a mistaken strategy for Europe.

Speaking at an annual state of the nation address in Budapest, Orban said the EU had fanned the flames of the war by sanctioning Russia and supplying Ukraine with money and weapons, rather than seeking to negotiate a peace with Moscow.

“When Russia launched its attack, the West didn’t isolate the conflict but elevated it to a pan-European level,” Orban said. “The war in Ukraine is not a conflict between the armies of good and evil, but between two Slavic countries that are fighting against one another. This is their war, not ours.” ...

The right-wing populist leader has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire, saying he and his government are “on the side of peace,” and condemning his Western allies for providing assistance to Kyiv.

North Korea launches more missiles as Kim sister warns Pacific could become ‘firing range’

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast Monday, South Korea’s military said, as the powerful sister of the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, warned the nuclear-armed state could turn the Pacific into a “firing range”. The tests prompted the head of the ruling party in South Korea to warn that continued provocations by Pyongyang would only strengthen calls for the South to develop its own nuclear deterrent – a move that would dramatically raise tensions on the peninsula. ...

Kim Jong-un’’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, warned against the increased presence of US strategic assets on the Korean peninsula after the US held joint air exercises with South Korea and separately with Japan on Sunday. “We are carefully examining the influence it would exert on the security of our state,” she said in a statement reported by state media “The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the US forces’ action character.” ...

Chung Jin-suk, head of the ruling People Power party, said South Korea had a “clear option” to counter the North’s continued development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. “We must first secure a concrete nuclear deterrence,” Chung told a party meeting, according to the Yonhap news agency. “We need to strengthen our ‘Kill Chain’ so North Korea can never rise to its feet again if it uses nukes on the Korean peninsula.”

Kill Chain refers to a preemptive strike capability under which the South, facing an imminent nuclear attack from the North, would attempt to “decapitate” the regime’s leadership. Chung added: “We need to seriously consider developing our own nuclear capabilities if such a response is insufficient.”

There is strong public support for the idea of arming South Korea with nuclear weapons, as concern grows over North Korea’s development of weapons of mass destruction. A Gallup Korea poll last month showed that 76% of respondents said the country needs to develop its own nuclear deterrent – three times as many as opposed the idea.

Turkey hit by two more powerful earthquakes two weeks after disaster

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake and a second measuring 5.8 have hit Turkey’s southern province of Hatay, terrifying those left in a region devastated by twin earthquakes two weeks ago.

Turkey’s interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, said that at least three people were killed and 213 wounded by the latest quakes, after a large government hospital in the city of İskenderun in the north of Hatay province declared it was evacuating patients.

The latest quakes, less powerful than the 7.8- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that tore a path of destruction through southern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February, threaten yet more devastation in a region where many people have fled their destroyed homes for the safety of other towns and villages outside the quake zone.

The larger quake struck at a depth of just 2km (1.2 miles), the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said, potentially magnifying its impact at ground level. It was centred near the southern Turkish city of Antakya and was felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.

Turkey’s disaster management agency AFAD said the epicentre of the larger quake was below the Defne district of Hatay, in a region where many have complained of a lacklustre government response to the first earthquakes.

EPA Used TAINTED Corporate Tests To Clear Ohio Water

Investigation Shows Rail Giant Donated to Ohio Governor a Month Before Toxic Crash

An investigation published Monday revealed that just weeks before a Norfolk Southern-owned train overloaded with hazardous materials derailed and caused a toxic chemical fire in East Palestine, Ohio, the rail giant donated $10,000—the maximum amount allowed—to help fund the inauguration of the state's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.

According to WSYX, the Columbus-based news outlet that conducted the investigation, "This contribution, which is part of $29,000 the Virginia-based corporation has contributed to DeWine's political funds since he first ran for governor in 2018, is merely one piece of an extensive, ongoing effort to influence statewide officials and Ohio lawmakers."

"In all, the railway company has contributed about $98,000 during the past six years to Ohio statewide and legislative candidates, according to data from the secretary of state," WSYX reported. "Virtually all went to Republicans, although Norfolk Southern hedged its support for DeWine in 2018 with a $3,000 check to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray."

In addition to shelling out loads of campaign cash, Norfolk Southern has also extensively lobbied DeWine, statewide officials, and Ohio lawmakers.

Quarterly reports disclosing the company's lobbying activities show that DeWine and other statewide officials were targeted 39 times over the past six years, while Ohio lawmakers were targeted 167 times during the same time period.

"Most of the disclosed attempts to influence Ohio leaders came on generic rail or transportation issues," WSYX reported. "Some efforts, however, were devoted to defeating legislation that would have established tougher safety standards for rail yards and train operations." ...

Norfolk Southern's successful bid to thwart at least one Ohio bill aimed at improving railroad safety—explained in depth by the local news outlet—mirrors the company's triumphant campaign to weaken federal regulations.

Before dozens of its train cars careened off the tracks and burst into flames in East Palestine on February 3—leading to the discharge of vinyl chloride and other carcinogenic chemicals—Norfolk Southern "helped kill a federal safety rule aimed at upgrading the rail industry's Civil War-era braking systems," The Lever reported earlier this month.

Norfolk Southern CAUGHT Trapping Residents In No Fault Contract

Cincinnati-area water districts shut off intake from Ohio River due to contamination from East Palestine derailment

Only days after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine publicly declared the water in East Palestine safe to drink, water authorities in Cincinnati, hundreds of miles away, announced they would shut off the intakes from the river “out of an abundance of caution.” The water authority in northern Kentucky that serves Campbell and Kenton counties and portions of Boone, Grant and Pendleton is following Cincinnati’s lead.

Chemicals leaked from the catastrophic derailment and “controlled release and burn” of vinyl chloride from a tanker car would reach the Greater Cincinnati Water Work’s Ohio River intake by late Saturday or early Sunday morning, officials said.

According to public works officials, thus far they have only detected very low levels of the chemical butyl acrylate, a byproduct of the burning of hundreds of thousands of gallons of vinyl chloride, upstream of the city. This is believed to have seeped into the Ohio River from a small creek approximately 300 miles north. The Ohio River passes less than 20 miles south of East Palestine. The same day DeWine’s office was informed that a large chemical plume of butyl acrylate had reached Gallipolis, Ohio, and was expected to arrive near Huntington, West Virginia.

Richard Harrison, the executive director of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), told the Cincinnati Enquirer the rain that fell across the region on Thursday had made a “significant impact” in speeding the arrival of the contaminants to the city’s water intake. Harrison told the newspaper that the levels of the compound in the water are still far below what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would consider hazardous. Nevertheless, the justified decision to close the intake has exposed attempts by the government and the Norfolk Southern railroad to convince residents that there is no longer any danger to the public in East Palestine. ...

In a report yesterday on ABC News, Professor of Environmental Health at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Peter DeCarlo, told host Martha Raddatz, “Based on the available data that we’ve seen on the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] response site, we just don’t have the information we need to understand what chemicals may be present. We know it started as vinyl chloride, but as soon as you burn that, all bets are off. You have a lot of chemical by-products that can happen from a combustion process like that.” Raddatz followed with a crucial question, “Even though officials are saying you’re safe?” DeCarlo responded, “The monitoring equipment that they’re using to determine things that are safe doesn’t give us chemical specificity. It doesn’t tell us what chemicals are present. It just says they are below some level. There are plenty of chemicals that can be created from that fire that can be toxic at much lower levels.”

Police Murders of Fred Hampton to Laquan McDonald: Chicago Police Council Elections Are a First

Major SCOTUS Case Could UPEND Big Tech

Biden Visits Ukraine, Poland Ahead Of War Anniversary, IGNORES East Palestine Ohio; Mayor 'FURIOUS', Trump visits East Palestine

"Justin, is that you?"

‘Incredibly intelligent, highly elusive’: US faces new threat from Canadian ‘super pig’

For decades, wild pigs have been antagonizing flora and fauna in the US: gobbling up crops, spreading disease and even killing deer and elk. Now, as fears over the potential of the pig impact in the US grow, North America is also facing a new swine-related threat, as a Canadian “super pig”, a giant, “incredibly intelligent, highly elusive” beast capable of surviving cold climates by tunneling under snow, is poised to infiltrate the north of the country.

The emergence of the so-called super pig, a result of cross-breeding domestic pigs with wild boars, only adds to the problems the US faces from the swine invasion. Pigs are not native to the US, but have wrought havoc in recent decades: the government estimates the country’s approximately 6 million wild, or feral, pigs cause $1.5bn of damage each year.

In parts of the country, the pigs’ prevalence has sparked a whole hog hunting industry, where people pay thousands of dollars to mow down boar and sow with machine guns. But overall, the impact of the pigs, first introduced to the US in the 16th century, has very much been a negative, as the undiscerning swine has chomped its way across the country.

“We see direct competition for our native species for food,” said Michael Marlow, assistant program manager for the Department of Agriculture’s national feral swine damage management program. “However, pigs are also accomplished predators. They’ll opportunistically come upon a hidden animal, and the males have long tusks, so they’re very capable of running and grabbing one with their mouth."

“They’ll kill young fawns, they’re known to be nest predators, so they impact turkeys and potentially quail.” The wild pigs are also responsible for a laundry list of environmental damages, ranging from eating innocent farmers’ crops to destroying trees and polluting water. They also pose “a human health and safety risk”, Marlow said.

Brazil: flooding and landslides kill dozens in São Paulo state

At least 36 people have died and dozens are missing after torrential rain brought flooding and landslides to coastal areas of south-east Brazil over the weekend as the country geared up for its annual carnival celebrations. Rescue efforts continued in São Paulo state on Monday as more than 500 workers searched for victims, cleared roads and tried to reconnect isolated communities.

But the task was hampered by heavy rain, which has also displaced hundreds of people and trapped an undetermined number of tourists who had travelled for carnival.

During a visit to the badly affected coastal city of São Sebastião on Monday, Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said the disaster underlined the need to stop building homes in areas at risk of landslides and major floods. “Sometimes nature takes us by surprise, but sometimes we also tempt nature,” Lula said. “I think it’s important that neither happens.”

São Paulo declared a 180-day state of calamity for six cities after what experts termed an unprecedented extreme weather event.

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

The Power-Serving Myth That Anti-War Protests Make No Difference

Recognizing The War Is Lost The 'West' Seeks An Exit

On Ukraine, is Biden signaling that ‘as long as it takes’ may have an end-date?

The Buildup To War In Ukraine - Sunday, February 20, 2022

On Ukraine, is Biden signaling that ‘as long as it takes’ may have an end-date?

Europe’s Second Largest Industrial Base Sinks Under the Weight of Energy Costs as Divisions Open Up in the Ruling Coalition

Turkish President Erdogan’s Grip on Power Threatened by Devastating Earthquake

Challenging the Cold War Narrative with Journalist Joe Lauria

Capitalism as Mental Illness

Craig Murray: Nicola Sturgeon – Used & Discarded

'Moderate PAC' Is Latest Big-Money Push to Keep Democrats in Line on Israel

Government Plot To CRUSH New Media

US migrant crisis: New York state sends migrants buses to Canada

How The CIA Keeps Us Sh*tting Our Pants!

Max Blumenthal at Rage Against the War Machine

Anya Parampil at Rage Against the War Machine

Robby Soave: NATIONAL DIVORCE Incoming? MTG Says Red States and Blue States Should SPLIT UP

Putin SUSPENDS Nuclear Weapons Treaty With US

Aaron Maté SLAMS Report Alleging Putin ENDING Only Russia-US Nuclear Arms Treaty

A Little Night Music

The Tams - Be Young Be Foolish Be Happy

The Tams - I've Been Hurt

The Tams - Standing In

The Tams - Riding For A Fall

The Tams - Untie Me

The Tams - For The Love Of A Woman

The Tams - It's Better To Have Loved A Little

The Tams - Shelter

The Tams - All My Hard Times

The Tams- What Kind Of Fool (Do You Think I Am)