politics for the 99%

Published on Axis of Logic (first on Strategic Culture Foundation ), by Pepe Escobar, March 5, 2016.

From a failed attempt to clear the Calais jungle to the appalling situation at the Greek-Macedonian border, the EU crumbles under the strain of a massive refugee crisis. Even the Kafkaesque Brussels Eurocrat construct admits it – off the record, because official EU must always project a mythical image of unity: “We are on the edge of an abyss” … //

… Behold Fortress Europe: … //

… Ankara’s power play: … //

… Chaos, created then applauded:

No one in Brussels will do it. So Frau Merkel ultimately would have to be the only EU leader to confront Erdogan and read him the riot act. It’s not only a matter of politely requesting Ankara to reduce refugee numbers. It’s to order him to do so; question him on why he released them en masse in the first place last year; and withhold any future financial rescue package, including the building of refugee camps inside Syrian territory.

The stark fact is that the whole refugee crisis – an existential crisis for Europe – is being used by Ankara as a bargaining chip for an elaborate extortion racket. Erdogan wants a tsunami of EU cash; and he wants a tsunami of concessions regarding Turkey’s negotiations for accession to the EU.

Meanwhile, there’s no concerted EU refugee policy to be seen. Not even a balancing act between humanitarian concerns and deterrence, altruism and realpolitik. No EU political leader will confront the responsibility of NATO’s wars (with petrodollar GCC support) crafting the whole crisis. The absolute majority of refugees are Syrians, Afghans and Africans who depart the continent via NATO-destroyed Libya.

Polls consistently show that a majority of EU citizens don’t want to welcome refugees anymore. As Belgium-based Jean Bricmont, author of Humanitarian Imperialism has correctly stressed, EU citizens who were never consulted on the issue of refugees and who are constantly asked to make sacrifices because ‘there is no money’ understandably do not accept this moral discourse anymore.

Bricmont is among the very few in Europe to connect the dots: The same people who encouraged ‘humanitarian’ interventions and ‘support’ for armed insurrections abroad, that have led to perpetual wars, generating a constant flow of refugees, are now demanding that the population of our countries ‘welcome the refugees’. They first generate chaos there, then they applaud chaos here.

Well, that’s the whole logic of the Empire of Chaos in a nutshell.

(full text).

Links:

Bernie Sanders wins caucuses in Kansas and Nebraska, as Clinton takes Louisiana, on RT, March 6, 2016;

TVA pension cuts – a new stage in the assault on American workers, on WSWS, March 5, 2016;

Dispersez-vous VS concentrons-nous, pour changer d’ère démocratique, bannissons la réaction. dans Médiapart.fr, par QUITTERIE DE VILLEPIN, le 4 mars 2016;

Tax cuts, free trade and dying Republican dogma, on AJOT, by Paula Dwyer, March 4, 2016;

The New Mind Control. Subliminal Stimulation, Controlling People without Their Knowledge, March 3, 2016;

INDIA: NGO Proposes Implementing Citizen’s Dividend through Mining Reforms, on BIEN, by Josh Martin, March 3, 2016;

A Plan in Case Robots Take the Jobs – Give Everyone a Paycheck, on Business Standard, by Farhad Manjoo . March 3, 2016;

Canada: The Hidden Highlight Of Ontario’s 2016 Budget, on What’s Working, March 3, 2016;

Canada: A realistic plan to narrow the income gap, on The Star, by Carol Goar, March 2, 2016: a think-tank has released a sensible blueprint to reverse income polarization;

France – revenu de solidarité active: le président du département de l’Eure refuse un marché de dupe, dans F3/Normandie, par Sylvie Caller, le 2 mars 2016;

The coup that set Ghana and Africa 50 years back, on Pambazuka News, by Charles Quist-Adade, March 2, 2016: Nkrumah wanted to industrialize Ghana within a generation, and everything was on course until the Americans and their British cousins used some disgruntled and self-serving Ghanaian soldiers to stage that terrible coup on 24 February 1966. It was a major setback, not only for Ghana but the whole of Africa;

Christian Picciolini:

• Life After Hate, 21.13 min, uploaded by The Agenda with Steve Paikin, Feb 29, 2016 … at 14, Christian Picciolini was recruited into the white power skinhead movement. By 18, he was a senior member in America’s first neo-Nazi skinhead gang, spiralling deeper into racist skinhead culture and touring with his band, Final Solution. He organized brutal extremist skinhead cells across the country, until eventually he left the movement. He joins The Agenda to discuss his memoir, “Romantic Violence,” and the work of his peace advocacy organization, Life After Hate;
• His book on amazon.co.uk: Romantic Violence, Memoirs of an American Skinhead, by Christian Picciolini, edited 26 March 2015;
• on en.wikipedia: Christian Picciolini (born November 3, 1973) is the co-founder of the nonprofit peace advocacy organization …; /External Links;

Full Alert – David Icke, 116.30 min,uploaded by Andromeda Constellation, Feb 14, 2016;

Related: Perverse, Unpredictable Effects of Negative Interest Rates – Mortgage Rates Soar in Switzerland, Dec 16, 2015;

Newfoundland: Immigrants Left High and Dry on The Rock, on The Dominion, by BRAD DUNNE, May 21, 2014: lack of support forces newcomers;

… and this:

• Cleopatra’s Underwater Palace, 2.16 min, uploaded by celticrose2 (the celtic rose) – Dr Kathleen Martinez, a young archaeologist from the Dominican Republic, has been excavating a site near Alexandria in the search for the tomb of Cleopatra. After being given permission to conduct a dig at the site for 2 months, Dr Martinez’s team have discovered two chambers which has won them the right to continue the dig into the next season … more videos in autoplay;

Heritage Key:

• on en.wikipedia, Heritage Key was a content-oriented online community aimed at those with an interest in history and culture. It featured both media resources and an interactive experience …;
• on flickr, photo sharing;
• on YouTube, Videos about the Ancient World.