World Politics

[blutto]

....interesting article...Bernanke comments on the Greek crisis and Germany's part in it and the effects on Europe...

" German unemployment is low, in part, because of the country's strong trade surplus. The trade surplus, in turn, can be attributed to Germany's use of the euro, which Bernanke argues is weaker than a German mark would be if it still existed today."

....and...

"Nobody is suggesting that the well-known efficiency and quality of German production are anything other than good things, or that German firms should not strive to compete in export markets.

What is a problem, however, is that Germany has effectively chosen to rely on foreign rather than domestic demand to ensure full employment at home, as shown in its extraordinarily large and persistent trade surplus, currently almost 7.5 percent of the country's GDP.

Within a fixed-exchange-rate system like the euro currency area, such persistent imbalances are unhealthy, reducing demand and growth in trading partners and generating potentially destabilizing financial flows. Importantly, Germany's large trade surplus puts all the burden of adjustment on countries with trade deficits, who must undergo painful deflation of wages and other costs to become more competitive."


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/ben-bernanke-on-germanys-relationship-with-europe-2015-7#ixzz3gRyb9VkN

Cheers

 

[l.Harm]

Very true. Not the first one to notice, though

 

[blutto]

Re:

Very true. Not the first one to notice, though

....understood but what I found interesting is that Bernanke is making comments that are somewhat outside the normally used narrative ( and both absolutely true and critical to fully understand how this crisis started and why it may continue if not addressed )...

Cheers

 

[l.Harm]

Turkey bombing ISIS positions. Not getting much coverage in the media imo.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Re:

Turkey bombing ISIS positions. Not getting much coverage in the media imo.

This is the game changer that should have occurred a long time ago. If the Turks had come in against ISIS from the start, and if the Turks had allowed missions to be flown from Turkish bases last year, ISIS would never have grown to what we see today.

 

[python]

the game changer ? to what end: to finally defeat the islamic state or to create more irreversible mess ? sure, either would be the game changer...

as far as i know, there are currently almost a dozen air forces kicking and 'killing' isis daily. adding the turkish eagles or even allowing the coalition planes to bomb from the turkish bases is not changing the nature of the current military strategy ( that is clearly a failure so far) - bomb and bomb but no west's boots on the ground. unless, i missed the news, turkey did NOT commit troops yet...moreover, in addition to a confusing list of enemies the turks were already committed to oppose - assad, hezbollah, iran, syrian and iraqi kurds - it added today the turkish kurds. yes, they declared the end of the multi-year ceasefire pointing to the turkish attacks on their brothers in syria.

i simply dont see the game changed, unless the west decides the essential priority WHO is the primary enemy ?

if it is the islamic state - which is a common sense priority in my mind - then, a broad and effective coalition must be created. it shall include, yes, the us, nato, iran, iraq, russia, syria and whoever else ready to fight the savages (syrian kurds, hezbollah...) the world knows even the weirder coalitions (like budding stalin to fight hitler) when the true leader as opposed to the current crop of midget politicians ruled the west.

what we are seeing instead is the collection of selfish, narrow minded players (turkey included) pushing their little proxies to execute the disjointed tactic.

if there is a different game, it is more mess, imho

 

[ToreBear]

Miracle from above. I actually agree with some of what the snake said. This isn't a gamechanger as much as it's a different kind of headache with huge numbers of different variables coming into play.

Sure being able to use Incerlic makes it easier to conduct more air strikes, but how do you kill what is essentially a death cult? After you killed the death cult, or removed them from the area, who takes over?

As for the Turkish relations with the Kurds, it's a bit more complicated than the snake states, and he might have confused the details. The Iraqi Kurds allow Turkey to conduct operations against the kurds in Iraq. Strange hu? Well actually the Iraqi Kurds allow Turkey to conduct operations against the PKK in Iraq. In fact the Turks and Iraqi Kurds have good relations. The PKK however are Turkish kurds who are conducting an insurgency/ terrorcampaign in Turkey. The PYD are the kurds in Syria(though of course they don't represent all kurds there). The PYD is fighting ISIL around Kobani and those other areas with some help from the coalition and some Iraqi Kurds that have been allowed transit by the Turks. The problem is that the PYD are affiliated with the PKK, and they are not exactly beacons of democracy, murdering political opponents etc is not something they have difficulty with.

Thats why it's a bit difficult for the Turks to side with them against Isil. Also the PKK has traditionally been supported by Syria, and the PYD have not really been that opposed to the Assad regime.

So if the Turks go all in and help the PYD, they might be indirectly helping the PKK and the Assad regime. It's a big mess.

 

[python]

the confused one is you, as if a wild bear stumped on the apes cranial and split it in 2...that's the only conclusion one can arrive at reading your incoherent piece on the kurds. you may have wanted to come across as an expert but in fact sound barely comprehensible.

my mentioning of the kurds was aimed at one and only point that was missed by many western commentators - that the the 'game changer' was merely a shift in the Turkish policy designed to both push back at isil AND to weaken certain kurdish forces. the very complicated inter-kurdish relations you are so confused about are irrelevant to that point. what's relevant is that the turks started to bomb the very kurds that are fighting (and not w/o some success) the isil savages.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/27/uk-mideast-crisis-kurds-town-idUSKCN0Q10UB20150727?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

in one word, turkey has attacked the kurdish forces in both syria and iraq, while only the 'hopeful' game changer angle had been stressed by many observers in the west.

i dont criticize turkey per se.. it is likely acting the way it does in the interst of its own security, but it will hardly defeat the isil if it also bombs those kurds who seem pushing the isil back.

 

[ToreBear]

Nope, I'm not confused at all. I think you are confused. The link you provided said nothing about any bombing of Kurds who are fighting Isil in Syria or Irak. Turkey has stated that PYD is not a target. Only PKK. And the PKK are quite small compared to the Pesmerga which are the Iraqi Kurds who are doing the fighting against the Islamic state.

 

[blutto]

....well, colour me confused on this one too....seems from my quick reading of the issue so is the Western media but find below a few articles that at least are trying to address the issue ( unfortunately not from the greatest of sources so proceed with caution)...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11762210/For-Erdogan-Turkish-assault-is-about-containing-the-Kurds-as-much-as-fighting-Isil.html

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-25/has-us-finished-trap-assad-had-begun-set-turkey

....the problem is the main players in this, the various Kurd factions, Turkey, the mob of Jihadists, the Israelis and their bum boys the Saudis and Qatar as well as that paragon of "straight shooting" and brilliant foreign policy the good olde US of A, and of course Assad haven't really been clear about anything....and then there are the oil factions which always seem to work in the dark pulling their various money lubricated levers of power ( and somewhere in the background the Russians are doing their voodoo chess thang )...

....that being said this would be a good thing to figure out so if anyone runs across something that brings clarity to this situation please drop in on this thread....

Cheers

 

[python]

Nope, I'm not confused at all....The link you provided said nothing about any bombing of Kurds who are fighting Isil in Syria

you are right, you aren't confused ...-you are willfully, knowingly and very conscientiously ignorant. you have personally provided the evidence easily available to any curious in this particular case, not to mention the innumerable, fanboy doping apologist cases for your compatriots (an OT to dwell upon here) you have been proven to be by the multiple posters ...

to help your ignorance, the link i provided was clearly a context, an illustration to the syrian kurds successes fighting the isil. nothing more or less.

a quote from the link i provided above, the very first sentence you'd have to see if you were remotely open minded:

The Kurdish YPG militia on Monday captured a town from Islamic State fighters in northern Syria after a month-long offensive against the ultra hardline militants

these were the very same kurds bombed by the turks earlier. the googles is filled with the links and if you cared to be minimally honest, you'd acknowledge it. surely, an 'expert' on the kurdish affairs would not have missed the the bbc article:
Kurdish militia forces in Syria have accused Turkey of attacking them.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33675760

these were exactly the same kurds bombed by the turks (the YPG militia) that according to my earlier link pushed the isil savages from a syrian town.

stop embarrassing yourself the ape-like bear-torn-apart, at least stop using the ape logicc

 

[blackcat]

Re: Re:

Turkey bombing ISIS positions. Not getting much coverage in the media imo.

This is the game changer that should have occurred a long time ago. If the Turks had come in against ISIS from the start, and if the Turks had allowed missions to be flown from Turkish bases last year, ISIS would never have grown to what we see today.

They need the Americans A.OK tho. Who has been in Turkey recently? Just McCain? I doubt he does official envoy duties, does not matter with the myriad military installations of the yanks there. Is not there a major base of the yanks in the south?

 

[blackcat]

Re:

if there is a different game, it is more mess, imho

you emoticon : mad : see what you did? M.A.D

this is it pyth!

as much as the Americans talk of "stability", this is BS, their actions and policies suggest the opposite, and instability is the status quo ante. They dont seek to give the Iraqis and Iranians breath and peace. The Americans have been at this with their dual containment strategy for decades now.

Why leave the materiel behind in Libya? Why kick out Gaddafi? (I know, but this is stability v instability we are weighing), why leave Egypt unstable, democracy, are as Monar Eltahawy calls them, the general council of Mubaraks.

Is the policy incoherent, or is the actual coherency in the incoherency and to set parts of the globe ablaze?

keep the wells and the spigots pumping for oil so stability? nah, the evidence proves this talking point as hollow.

 

[ToreBear]

Re:

Nope, I'm not confused at all....The link you provided said nothing about any bombing of Kurds who are fighting Isil in Syria

you are right, you aren't confused ...-you are willfully, knowingly and very conscientiously ignorant. you have personally provided the evidence easily available to any curious in this particular case, not to mention the innumerable, fanboy doping apologist cases for your compatriots (an OT to dwell upon here) you have been proven to be by the multiple posters ...

to help your ignorance, the link i provided was clearly a context, an illustration to the syrian kurds successes fighting the isil. nothing more or less.

a quote from the link i provided above, the very first sentence you'd have to see if you were remotely open minded:

The Kurdish YPG militia on Monday captured a town from Islamic State fighters in northern Syria after a month-long offensive against the ultra hardline militants

these were the very same kurds bombed by the turks earlier. the googles is filled with the links and if you cared to be minimally honest, you'd acknowledge it. surely, an 'expert' on the kurdish affairs would not have missed the the bbc article:
Kurdish militia forces in Syria have accused Turkey of attacking them.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33675760

these were exactly the same kurds bombed by the turks (the YPG militia) that according to my earlier link pushed the isil savages from a syrian town.

stop embarrassing yourself the ape-like bear-torn-apart, at least stop using the ape logicc

Ha, you don't like being even slightly wrong do you?

A Turkish government official said its military operations sought "to neutralise imminent threats to Turkey's regional security" and were targeting IS in Syria and the Kurdish separatist PKK in Iraq.

"We are investigating claims that the Turkish military engaged positions held by forces other than [IS]," the official said.

Kurdish forces within Syria, he added, remain "outside the scope of the current military effort".

Did they target the PYD/YPG? Turks say no.

 

[blutto]

....confusion reigns in the Turkish file....

"NATO holding rare emergency meeting to review Islamic State threat, Turkey's reaction"

"Turkey requested the extraordinary meeting to gauge the threat the Islamic State extremist group poses to Turkey, and the actions Turkish authorities are taking in response, including attacks on Kurdish rebels."

....and...

"In a series of cross-border strikes, Turkey has not only targeted the IS group but also Kurdish fighters affiliated with forces battling IS in Syria and Iraq.

The Syrian Kurds are among the most effective ground forces battling IS and have been backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, but Turkey fears a revival of the Kurdish insurgency in pursuit of an independent state."

....and...

"For some NATO members and independent observers, it's unclear whether Turkey's No. 1 target is IS or the Kurds, said Ian Kearns, director of the European Leadership Network, a London-based think-tank ."

....so the story so far...IS is a threat so Turkey is bombing the Kurds who are the most effective force against IS....yeah makes lots of sense....

.....the above from... http://www.timescolonist.com/nato-holding-rare-emergency-meeting-to-review-islamic-state-threat-turkey-s-reaction-1.2013674

Cheers

 

[blutto]

....here is some breaking news based on the latest from the famous and ubiquitous unnamed/anonymous source....

"An anonymous source in one of Ukraine's security agencies said that the Malaysian Boeing was shot down as a result of an unauthorized Ukrainian Buk-M1 launch.

RIA Novosti reports citing a source in a Ukrainian security agency that the MH17 catastrophe may have been the result of an unanticipated situation during the training of one of Ukraine's air defense units.

The anonymous source states the following: "On July 17 2014, the commander of the 156th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment was instructed to conduct missile crew training on providing coverage for Ukrainian ground forces in the suburbs of Donetsk, which entailed deploying the battalions, training target acquisition and tracking procedures, and carry out a simulated destruction of an aerial target using Buk-M1 missiles." He said that battery commanders were issued launch keys, however, there were no plans to launch an actual 9M38M1 missile.

The training exercise involved two Su-25 aircraft, their task was to conduct aerial reconnaissance and designated training targets in the vicinity of Ukrainian troop concentration to the West of Donetsk.

The source: "After one of the aircraft entered Buk detection zone, it began to be tracked by a missile crew located near Zaroshchenskoye. In all likelihood, due to a tragic coincidence the flight paths of the Malaysian Boeing and the Su-25 coincided and, in spite of the altitude difference, were indicated on the Buk radar as a single target which proved fatal for the Boeing. If two targets are located on the same azimuth from the launch vehicle, the tracking system automatically shifts to the one which represents the largest radar target."

SBU is trying to establish why the unauthorized launch took place. The source does not possess information about the course of that investigation."

....which reads like much of the unsubstantiated stuff coming out of the Western press on this topic don't it?....but there is a wee little detail here that is kinda intriguing....and it has to do with the source and why he spoke...

"That still leaves the small matter of whether the anonymous source is legit and we have no way of knowing that. However, if that aspect of the story is true, it would indicate a certain desire to make amends with Moscow which of course implies the need to find a scapegoat...

Turchinov? Or how about the former SBU head Nalivaichenko who's been spilling the beans on Turchinov's corruption?

Or, again assuming that aspect of the story is legit, it might be an indication that the Ukrainian military might be in the mood for a little coup of its own to finally be rid of this crew of extremist mediocrities that passes for the country's civilian leadership.

.....the Ukrainian military option here is sorta kinda maybe believable if only for the fact there is big tension btwn it and the fascist backed govt.

Cheers

 

[blutto]

....NATO dances around the Kurd issue at its rare meeting....

"Associated Press

BRUSSELS - NATO proclaimed its "strong solidarity" with Turkey following a rare emergency meeting Tuesday in which members also urged the country not to use excessive force in its fight against extremists, a NATO official said."

....and...

"However, while public statements stressed NATO unity, the official said members also used the closed-door meeting to call on Turkey not to use undue force and to continue peace efforts with representatives of the Kurdish minority. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record."

....from... http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/news/world_news/article_20521739-c5c5-590b-87a7-2dd832e92fc8.html

Cheers

 

[Merckx index]

LMAO, Putin says Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel Prize.

Which one? Peace? Economics? Chemistry? Lots of possibilities here.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fifas-blatter-deserves-nobel-prize-says-putin-101428485--sow.html

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Are you limited to just one?

 

[ToreBear]

Re:

....here is some breaking news based on the latest from the famous and ubiquitous unnamed/anonymous source....

"An anonymous source in one of Ukraine's security agencies said that the Malaysian Boeing was shot down as a result of an unauthorized Ukrainian Buk-M1 launch.

RIA Novosti reports citing a source in a Ukrainian security agency that the MH17 catastrophe may have been the result of an unanticipated situation during the training of one of Ukraine's air defense units.

The anonymous source states the following: "On July 17 2014, the commander of the 156th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment was instructed to conduct missile crew training on providing coverage for Ukrainian ground forces in the suburbs of Donetsk, which entailed deploying the battalions, training target acquisition and tracking procedures, and carry out a simulated destruction of an aerial target using Buk-M1 missiles." He said that battery commanders were issued launch keys, however, there were no plans to launch an actual 9M38M1 missile.

The training exercise involved two Su-25 aircraft, their task was to conduct aerial reconnaissance and designated training targets in the vicinity of Ukrainian troop concentration to the West of Donetsk.

The source: "After one of the aircraft entered Buk detection zone, it began to be tracked by a missile crew located near Zaroshchenskoye. In all likelihood, due to a tragic coincidence the flight paths of the Malaysian Boeing and the Su-25 coincided and, in spite of the altitude difference, were indicated on the Buk radar as a single target which proved fatal for the Boeing. If two targets are located on the same azimuth from the launch vehicle, the tracking system automatically shifts to the one which represents the largest radar target."

SBU is trying to establish why the unauthorized launch took place. The source does not possess information about the course of that investigation."

....which reads like much of the unsubstantiated stuff coming out of the Western press on this topic don't it?....but there is a wee little detail here that is kinda intriguing....and it has to do with the source and why he spoke...

"That still leaves the small matter of whether the anonymous source is legit and we have no way of knowing that. However, if that aspect of the story is true, it would indicate a certain desire to make amends with Moscow which of course implies the need to find a scapegoat...

Turchinov? Or how about the former SBU head Nalivaichenko who's been spilling the beans on Turchinov's corruption?

Or, again assuming that aspect of the story is legit, it might be an indication that the Ukrainian military might be in the mood for a little coup of its own to finally be rid of this crew of extremist mediocrities that passes for the country's civilian leadership.

.....the Ukrainian military option here is sorta kinda maybe believable if only for the fact there is big tension btwn it and the fascist backed govt.

Cheers

Seems to be a possible theory as to why the MH17 was shot down. It describes a weakness in the targeting and tracking system. IMHO this would be when only the TELAR (Launcher with Radar) is used and not a separate radar vehicle. Thats likely one of the compromises the designers used to get the system onto a single vehicle. It functions to an extent stand alone, but is best used when hooked up to a radar vehicle as well which is able to conduct such target discrimination.

As for who this anonymous source is: It makes perfect sense if you change it to someone within the Russian regime that has access to the internal Russian investigation into how and why a Russian Buk shot down the plane.

This accidental training launch theory with an excercise close to the frontlines is just a humorous propaganda attempt.

But what can you expect from a Putin government that is backed by Fascists like Dugin and the Night Wolves biker gang.

 

[ToreBear]

Re:

LMAO, Putin says Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel Prize.

Which one? Peace? Economics? Chemistry? Lots of possibilities here.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fifas-blatter-deserves-nobel-prize-says-putin-101428485--sow.html

Economics. Exploring the functioning of illicit means of finance, wealth management and corrupt practices within a global nonprofit institution.

 

[blutto]

.... the latest from the Syrian front....

"Turkish air attacks on the PKK have provoked bloody Kurdish retaliation. With claims that America approved the strikes that restarted the conflict, Patrick Cockburn argues that the US may have made its worst mistake since invading Iraq."

....from... http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42493.htm

....which may lead to this...

"The Kurds in Syria and their leader Salih Muslim are under attack from the Islamic State and now also from Turkey. They have now offered to reconcile with their only reliable partner, the Syrian government. Salih Muslim said that the Kurds would join the Syrian army if that army would show a "new mentality". He spoke favorably of the father of Bashar al Assad and his relations with the Kurds and discussed various forms of federalism.

THIS IS HUGE!

Should the Syrian government take up this offer for talks (likely!) and guarantee some kind of Kurdish autonomy within some federal Syrian structure the Syrian army would regain the manpower to again go on the offense. Supported by Iran and Russia and united with the Kurds the Syrian army would again be dominant power in the country and likely be able to retake the insurgency and islamist occupied areas."

....from... http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42491.htm

....keeping in mind that this new direction by Turkey was prompted by a suicide attack by alleged IS agents....however the details of the attack are a little weird given the response...

" Last weeks suicide attack on a meeting of young, mostly Kurdish socialists attributed to the Islamic State was probably a false flag operation initiated by Erdogan's secret service. I discussed the possibility of such an attack a month ago: The Turkish Military Rejects Erdogan's War Plans - "False Flag" Needed?. The attack on the Kurds was then used to justify an operation against the Islamic State. But that operation is only pretended. That Erdogan's claim of attacking the Islamic State is only theater and that his real aim is a war on the Kurds who fight the Islamic State can be seen best in these tweets:

@SlemaniTimes
Turkey arrests 593 individuals on terrorism charges, though only 32 are #ISIS members, the rest are from Kurdish parties."

Cheers

 

[Amsterhammer]

Re:

LMAO, Putin says Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel Prize.

Which one? Peace? Economics? Chemistry? Lots of possibilities here.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fifas-blatter-deserves-nobel-prize-says-putin-101428485--sow.html

This is absolutely *** hilarious.

 

[VeloCity]

Bit of a change of pace, NY Times had a fascinating story about illegal fishing that raises all kinds of legal, moral, and ethical questions about the conundrum of 'policing the commons', as it were.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/world/a-renegade-trawler-hunted-for-10000-miles-by-vigilantes.html

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

LMAO, Putin says Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel Prize.

Which one? Peace? Economics? Chemistry? Lots of possibilities here.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fifas-blatter-deserves-nobel-prize-says-putin-101428485--sow.html

Obviously economics. Who would have thought that greed and corruption would be so highly admired in Russia ? Putin never fails to provoke. Vladimir Provoker Putin.