Details beginning to come out behind this horrific terrorist attack in Russia.  Volgograd is a city of around 1 million people, about 690 km  northeast of Sochi and close to Russia’s volatile region of North  Caucasus. The city saw a terrorist attack just in October, when a   suicide  bomber blew herself up in a bus, killing six people and  injuring more than 30 others.

#Волгоград теракт вокзал добровольцы помогают скорой http://t.co/VfE2sJgCbp

— Кобликов Александр (@Koblikov34) December 29, 2013

•The power of the explosion at Volgograd’s station was equivalent  to at least 10 kg TNT, according to Vladimir Markin [Health Ministry].  The explosive device  was stuffed with pieces of scrap metal. The Committee said that  an undetonated F-1 grenade was also found at the scene.
•The female was initially identified as Oksana Aslanova, a close  friend of Naida Asiyalova – also known as ‘Amaturahman’ – who was  behind the October Volgograd attack. Aslanova is said to have  been married twice to two militants, both eliminated earlier.
A few hours later, more evidence emerged suggesting that a man  could have also been involved in the attack. The version, which  was also picked up by investigators, came after a male finger  with a pin from a grenade was found at the scene. (more…)

Venezuela, in a squeeze for hard currency, devalued its currency for foreigners another 44%, following an initial devaluation of 32% by Chavez in February.  The move is seen as a necessity to keep Venezuela from defaulting on sovereign debt when reliance on excessively high levels of public spending has been the tool of Chavez and his successor, Maduro, to maintain their grip on power.  It is the 6th such major devaluation in a decade.
The move is essentially a bookkeeping sleight-of-hand – it allows the Venezuelan central bank to balance its books by “earning” more Bolivars for its oil export sales, at a time when overall sales volume has decreased dramatically.

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According to CBS, several hundred thousand Ukrainians occupied a central square in the capital earlier Sunday, denouncing President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to turn away from Europe and align this former Soviet republic with Russia.

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I really wanted to hunker down and ride it out.  But the insufferable propaganda around the death of Nelson Mandela is too much to ignore. Rather than deconstruct all of these ridiculous liberal CNN-isms and talking points, let’s just cut it down to brass tacks and stick to historical facts.
Apartheid as a political structure in South Africa was bad. Oppression under any guise is always wrong.
But with Apartheid you must step back to the geo-political map of 1976-1990 and evaluate the alternatives.
A bunch of stuff happened between the fall of the Shah of Iran and the collapse of the Berlin Wall / Soviet Empire which framed the backdrop for U.S. political discussion and eventual activity in South Africa.
Namely, for those of us who were actually engaged in the fight, the last big push of desperate Communist expansion was underway.  (more…)

Update:  Here’s announcement:

No doubt Denis McDonough and Valerie Jarrett are putting the final touches and approvals together for POTUS to obfuscate in a propaganda speech.   They, along with the Cintons and Samantha Powers, will need to construct the verbiage carefully to hide their intention of undermining the Progressive Fabian arch-nemesis, Israel.   Choosing to announce at 10:30 on football night lets them slip in a few s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s !

GENEVA — Iran and six major powers agreed early Sunday on an historic deal that freezes key parts of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for temporary relief on some economic sanctions, diplomats confirmed.
The deal was reached after four days of marathon bargaining and an 11th-hour intervention by U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and other foreign ministers from Europe, Russia and China. the sources said.
The agreement, sealed at 3 a.m. signing ceremony in Geneva’s Palace of Nations, requires Iran to halt or scale back parts of it nuclear infrastructure, the first such pause in more than a decade. (more…)

A structurally subtle sentence set into a presser given by U.S. Secretary John Kerry to the press in the Middle East, yes.   But ask yourself this:  when was the last time a Secretary of State needed to tell the world, his boss, The President of The United States, was honest?
The irony is, and what the media will not report, this Kerry statement was given at the exact same time a series of Russian ships are docking in Egypt; as discussions begin between the Egyptian and Russian government’s for a Russian military base to be located in Egypt.    Egypt is looking for a “DEPENDABLE” ally.
Abu Dhabi: US Secretary of State John Kerry says no deal with Iran is better than a bad deal. And any deal with Iran would not allow them to own a nuclear weapon.
He was addressing a joint press conference with Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister.

“US President Obama is a man of his word,” Kerry said. “He said in his speech before the UN that the US will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon and this is our policy to which we are committed.”

Kerry said the US has a strategic partnership with the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other partners in the region.  (read more)

….. “um, just because the cat had kittens in the oven, it don’t make em’ biscuits”…

There are many people talking about President Obama and Secretary of State, John Kerry, being so willing to sell out Israel by negotiating with Iran.
Indeed a deal to let the Iranians’ off the sanction hook was damn near pulled off, were it not for the French.
Yes, you read that right, France – the quasi socialist fromage’ nation which has elected an avowed Socialist to it’s head, yet the body electorate is increasingly returning to nationalism.  Go figure…..
…..But, well, then again, we have a right-of-center U.S. electorate body right here who have re-elected a self aware socialist in our White House.   Strange times, strange times.  I must digress.
The point is – were it not for France, President Obama and John Kerry would have given the Iranian Mullahs a win.   Why?
Despite the geo-political international 3-D chess game which might be sold as an explanation, nothing could be further from the truth.   Obama just needed a win – any win.
When you look historically at five year Political Obama, when the media pundits line up to deconstruct him [see obamacare] he will pull off a distraction for no other reason than to put a perceived BIG DEAL in his immediate resume’.
The deal is given a bold headline so the resume’ reader does not note the failure just afore it. (more…)

This story is another reflection of how short-sighted and self-interested the circle around President Obama is.    Everyone knows that Israeli covert military strikes are done to stop the risk before it reaches the gate.  They live surrounded by enemies.  
In this example a Russian / Syrian military weapons cache was destroyed.   The White House leaks that Israel were the ones who carried it out.   This type of leak puts international pressure on Israel, makes them appear further isolated, and can weaken their ability to proactively respond to threats.
(Via Times of Israel) – Israel is fuming with the White House for confirming that it was the Israeli Air Force that struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia on Wednesday, hitting weaponry that was set to be transferred to Hezbollah.
Israel has not acknowledged carrying out the strike, one of half a dozen such attacks widely ascribed to Israel in recent months, but an Obama administration official told CNN on Thursday that Israeli warplanes had indeed attacked the Syrian base, and that the target was “missiles and related equipment” set for delivery to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel’s Channel 10 TV on Friday night quoted Israeli officials branding the American leak as “scandalous.” For Israel’s ally to be acting in this way was “unthinkable,” the officials were quoted as saying. (more…)

You have probably seen multiple written accounts, stories and publish articles, recently about a growing international backlash.   This stems from revelations that under the specific direction of President Obama  the NSA (National Security Agency) has been spying upon a growing contingent of international leaders. 
Our allies are furious with the NSA for spying on them and their respective leaders.   Consequently U.S. credibility and trust has been deconstructed.
Indeed, by recent count the list of Allied Western nations rising in open opposition to President Obama, and his administration, stands around 35.  That’s THIRTY FIVE.
It is against that bold and visible backdrop we wish to draw back your attention.

In July of 2012, during his Term-two presidential bid, President Obama gave a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno, Nevada. His speech was specifically constructed to outline his accomplishments:

“Because we’re leading around the world, people have a new attitude toward America.” “There’s more confidence in our leadership. We see it everywhere we go.”
– Barack Obama July 2012

At the time many of us just about fell out of our seats. With quick dispatch, and working purely from immediate memory, we outlined the following:

[2012]  There are many administration claims that I shake my head when I hear, but this one is perhaps the worst. It is a complete and utter fallacy to proclaim President Obama’s foreign policy has been even remotely successful. This is just freestyle off the top of my head, but consider: (more…)

Via Weasel Zippers – who shares: So knowing she’s a liar, knowing that she’s in bed with the “rebels”, that she put out conflicting accounts, that she whitewashed the “rebels” into a more “moderate” force, this woman is worthy, according to John McCain, of being hired to his staff.   This is so unbelievable, it makes one think that there is some greater personal underlying reason operating here.

WASHINGTON DC – Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain hired the Syria analyst in favor of U.S. intervention who was fired for fabricating her Ph.D., Foreign Policy reported.
Elizabeth O’Bagy, formerly of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), will start Monday as a legislative assistant in Sen. McCain’s office.
McCain told Foreign Policy that “Elizabeth is a talented researcher, and I have been very impressed by her knowledge and analysis in multiple briefings over the last year.” The senator’s office said they would not make any further comment on O’Bagy’s employment. (more…)