Submitted by Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,
By now, anyone in this country still of sound mind knows that Barack Obama presided through eight years of remarkable continuity - of changeless conditions that left a great many hopeless. As the days of his tenure dwindle, what do we make of the departing 44th president?
A Russian military aircraft crashed into the Black Sea yesterday killing all 92 passengers on board. The Russian defence ministry said that the plane disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from Sochi at 05:25 (02:25 GMT), heading for Latakia in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the relatives of the passengers. “I want to express my most sincere condolences to the families of our citizens who died in the plane crash in the Black Sea this morning. The government will do everything to provide support.
In an unexpected escalation that was not the result of Israel's angry response to Friday's UN vote which passed a resolution condemning the country's settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, and which the US refused to veto, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday called on French Jews to leave their country to protest a Paris-hosted conference planned for next month aimed at restarting Palestine-Israel peace talks, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth has reported.
Avigdor Lieberman
Marine Le Pen said that NATO exists only ‘to serve Washington’s objectives’, and that she plans to hold a Brexit-style referendum. In an explosive interview with a Greek newspaper, the French presidential candidate, who is leader of France’s National Front, called for many of the leading nations of the EU to call time on Brussels’ hegemony of the continent. She also supported closer ties with Russia as she blasted what she saw as NATO meddling in eastern Europe.
The U.S. has accused Russia of having “interfered” in the 2016 presidential election without providing any hard evidence. Yet, the US establishment who mainly backed Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump have interfered in presidential elections of other countries. There is well-documented evidence of interference with the elections of numerous foreign nations under the pretext of protecting or furthering US “interests” abroad. The US was found to have interfered in foreign elections at least 81 times between 1946 and 2000 – not counting US-backed military coups or regime change efforts.