'Just Following Orders', Updates On Greek Crisis, MERS Virus Spreading Across Asia, War On Donbass Resumes

The first link (video) makes some very interesting points which are highly germane in the age we find ourselves living: 

Just following orders? YOU have the power to end unlawful Wars of Aggression, US Constitution destruction, debt slavery Washington's Blog

US military and families: the Oath of Enlistment is the military’s honor and foundation of armed service: “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Basic training includes instruction to refuse unlawful orders, with officers authorized to arrest those who issue them. 

Following illegal orders is also evil because honor and Oath demand arresting those... issuing orders to destroy US Constitutional Rights (we’ve lost almost all of them), and issuing law for fundamental economic fraud damaging Americans to the annual cost of trillions of dollars.

A useful place for Americans to stand is with the US Supreme Court in one of its most cited decisions:

Anything passed as law in obvious violation of the US Constitution is not law, but void.

Void as a legal term means the alleged “law” has zero legal force; that “void things are as no things.” A court decision has root in the word decide, meaning to cut off or kill all other options.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Marshall’s crystal-clear wording is here.

This definitive legal ruling empowers Americans acting upon or enforcing such non-laws to reject them in full confidence of their Oaths to support and defend the US Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

The 3-minute video asks police, military, and other law enforcement:

When you signed-up to serve the US Constitution, was your Oath sincere?

Greek Crisis: No Bailout, No EU Block, Tick-Tock Tsipras / Sputnik International

Late night talks between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande failed to reach any agreement. Officials in Brussels have warned Athens that the European Central Banks (ECB) would impose tighter rules unless Tsipras' Syriza government signed up to more austerity measures.

Athens has postponed paying a $338 million (€300mm) payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) — chancing instead to bundle it into a single $1.8 billion (€1.6bn) payment due at the end of June. If Greece defaults on its payment to the IMF, it could become the first European country to default on the IMF, putting it in the same league with Zimbabwe and Argentina.

And the risk of joining that exclusive club is rising by the day. During a speech in London, Jens Weidman, President of Germany's Budesbank said:

"There is a strong determination to help Greece but time is running out, and the risk of insolvency is increasing by the day."

MERS virus spreading across Asia, South Korea fails to contain outbreak — RT News

Hong Kong issued a red alert and advised against traveling to South Korea, where an epidemic of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is gaining pace. The virus is spreading despite attempts to contain the outbreak.

In Korea, the number of infected people passed 100 this week, reaching 122 on Thursday. Tenth patient died from the disease, health officials said on Thursday. Most of the victims are elderly patients with other health problems unrelated to the virus. Over 3,250 people remain in quarantine.

Two people in Hong Kong who traveled to South Korea recently are being tested for possible MERS contagion, the authorities said on Thursday. Previously 31 people were tested negative in Hong Kong.

Earlier a man tested positive for the disease in China after coming from S. Korea, and a man in Taiwan was taken to hospital with symptoms consistent with MERS.

South Korean authorities are trying to stop the spread of the virus by closing schools and canceling public events. Neighbors in the region are scaling down tourist travel to South Korea, with Hong Kong alone scrapping 600 tours to the MERS-hit country.

Macau issued an advisory against traveling to South Korea.

War on Donbass Resumes, Western Media Remains Silent | New Eastern Outlook

The recent shelling of Donetsk and surrounding areas, carried out by Kiev’s military forces, has effectively ended the ceasefire and whatever illusions still remained of the Minsk 2 agreements. While there had been instances of violence before that of recent days, the level of intensity and bloodshed has undoubtedly escalated.

Although the Ukrainian military and Nazi paramilitary units have been targeting civilians – a flagrant war crime by any measure – there is a near total media blackout in the West. Meanwhile, the United States continues to argue that the “overwhelming majority of ceasefire violations” are as a result of anti-Kiev rebel activity, despite providing no evidence to substantiate these utterly false claims. Indeed, in the midst of an ongoing bloody war waged by Kiev against the people of Donbass, Washington continues to hold up President Poroshenko and his government of oligarchs and fascists as a force for peace.

Despite droning propaganda to the contrary, the reality is that Kiev’s forces have ended the ceasefire and resumed shelling of civilian and military targets. As of June 9, 2015, there have been dozens of accounts of Kiev attacking the city of Donetsk and smaller towns at or near the contact line (the separation zone agreed to during the Minsk negotiations.) The important point is that these attacks have been ongoing, and are not merely the resumption of hostilities in the last week.

Despite its unwillingness to publicly acknowledge and condemn the actions, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has in fact documented a staggering number of ceasefire violations by Kiev’s forces. According to OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) summary table of ceasefire operations on April 23, 2015 for instance, the observers documented that a majority of the uses of heavy artillery came from Kiev-controlled territory, and that any uses outgoing from rebel-controlled territory were, according to the timeline, retaliatory strikes. In fact, a close examination of the timeline reveals that nearly all of the early morning shelling was outgoing from Kiev-controlled territory, suggesting that Ukrainian military forces initiated shelling and then came under fire later in the day.

But of course, despite the repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement, the last several days have seen a significant escalation, one that has effectively ended the ceasefire and renewed the active engagement phase of the war.

There are scattered reports of significant casualties throughout the Donetsk region as the Ukrainian military and Nazi paramilitaries commence both renewed shelling and advances beyond the contact line. Last week there were numerous instances of shelling in Donetsk, including on June 3 when at least five civilians were killed, and 24 others wounded. In the aftermath of the shelling, the Chief Doctor at the Petrovksy District Hospital, Igor Rutchenko, said that patients had to be evacuated due to persistent shelling from Ukrainian military forces as the injured were rushed to the facility.

On the morning of June 5th, according to eyewitness accounts in the town of Maryinka, “a 52-year-old man was at home…when a group of Ukrainian troopers entered the yard – about eight men…The troopers started to inspect the [passport] documents, and then the [man] emerged out of the cellar. The Ukies pointed at him their machine guns at once and opened fire…He died from the injuries on the spot.” Such flagrant war crimes – summary executions in wartime – go entirely unreported in the western media.

Emotionally powerful video has emerged from Donetsk in recent days showing the results of shelling of residential homes and businesses. According to Eduard Basurin, spokesman for the Donetsk People’s Republic, “The Ukrainian forces’ most intensive attack was against the village of Shirokino. More than 150 82 mm and 120 mm shells were fired.” That such a level of shelling was initiated and sustained indicates the increased level of aggression by Kiev’s military.

But here, there must be an important point noted. While the anti-Kiev side continues to report civilians being killed by shelling and other means, there are no such equivalent reports from Ukraine’s military. In fact, as noted by Reuters, Kiev’s military spokesman Andriy Lysenko stated that, “Three Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and four others wounded in attacks by pro-Russian separatists in the east over the past 24 hours.”

Note the difference here. While in Donetsk, it is civilians being killed by Ukrainian military, Kiev can report no such equivalent carnage on its side. Indeed, it seems that all casualties on the Kiev-controlled side of the contact line have been military casualties, while on the rebel side it is both militia and civilian casualties. This simple fact, entirely omitted from the western narrative, is indicative of the nature of the conflict. Moreover, the false equivalence presented by that same media is disingenuous to say the least.

The coverage of the conflict in eastern Ukraine has been bad from the beginning. However, the omission of facts, and the clearly distorted coverage, has taken on a new level of insidiousness and dishonesty in recent days. Even in the scant attention that Kiev’s escalation does get in western media, it is not called what it is: aggression by Ukraine’s military.

Take for example the June 8, 2015 article from US government propaganda mouthpiece Voice of America, entitled In Donetsk, Frequent Shelling Fuels Distrust. Already from the title, one is struck by a clear obfuscation, namely that “distrust” is engendered by shelling, but no mention of whose shelling or whose distrust. Indeed, throughout the entire article, there is not a single mention of shelling committed by Kiev’s forces. Rather, one encounters phrases such as “many tend to blame authorities in Kyiv” – a clear evasion of the far more direct, far simpler, and far more accurate statement “Kiev is to blame” or “shelling by Kiev forces.” But of course, the purpose here is not to inform, but rather to absolve the Ukrainian military of direct responsibility for war crimes, and instead paint Russia as the aggressor, despite the facts.

Reading carefully this article, one is struck by the multiple images of women and children taking shelter in basements, pleading with media to tell their stories, pleading with the Ukrainian government to stop the shelling. The piece highlights multiple women with families who have been displaced and victimized by Ukrainian military attacks, and yet, conspicuously no mention of the phrase “attacks by Ukrainian military” or any variation on that. One could be forgiven for thinking that the bombardment of these women’s homes was a mere act of God, rather than a deliberate shelling of civilians.

What is conveniently left out is the fact that it is only Russian media that is reporting on the shelling by Kiev. Therefore, any reportage at all would, by definition, have to be “claimed by Russian media.” The idea is to both report what is happening, and to discredit it at the same time. Such dishonesty is par for the course when it comes to media coverage of this war.

The narrative of the war is replete with such dishonest reporting. Sadly, however, the dishonesty and utter callousness goes much deeper than that, to the very language employed and public relations campaign utilized to whitewash the egregious crimes of Kiev.

To paraphrase Karl Marx, “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.” While undoubtedly true, the war on Donbass is, in fact, both tragedy and farce simultaneously. While there is an unfolding human tragedy in Donetsk, Maryinka, and other cities and towns, the media coverage remains farcical.

Against a Brick Wall: US-Ukrainian Strategic Partnership Reaches Its Limits / Sputnik International

The US-Ukrainian strategic partnership lacks both a strategy and a partnership, American experts underscore, stressing that the EU and the United States are playing for high geopolitical stakes in the region.

Washington should reconsider its approach toward Ukraine, insist Matthew Rojansky, an expert on US relations with the states of the former Soviet Union and director at the Kennan Institute, Thomas Graham, a managing director of Kissinger Associates, Inc. and Michael Kofman, a military expert and public policy scholar at the Kennan Institute.

Meanwhile, the future of the country will be determined not only by "reform-minded" politicians and Ukraine's civil society but also by "longstanding, powerful oligarchic interests and pervasive corruption." The reforms proclaimed by the Ukrainian leadership have not yet proven effective, to the dissatisfaction of Ukrainians and Kiev's ruling coalition.

The experts highlighted that many Ukrainians openly express their doubts that "the current constellation of political leaders" can fulfill their promises.

But officially Washington is now deeply vested in the success of the new Kiev government, which formed after the 2014 elections; senior US officials have called their Ukrainian counterparts courageous and inspiring. "So Washington has little leverage on the Ukrainian leadership to follow through on specific policy reforms," the scholars stressed.

So far, the US-Ukrainian relationship is beginning to resemble a relationship between a patron and its client-state. According to the experts, such a relationship is hardly what the Ukrainian and American people want. Alas, it is seemingly what both could end up with, the scholars emphasized.

The United States "must forget the tired formula of persuading Ukrainians to pick a pro-Western path as a vehicle for foiling Russian-led integration projects," the experts noted, adding that Washington must also "stop believing that it can be an active player in Ukrainian politics to achieve a desired change."

The US and Global Terrorism: Two Sides of the Same Coin | New Eastern Outlook

As the famous proverb says, ‘Truth will out.’ It comes to mind upon learning more and more details about the origins of the criminal terrorist organization ‘The Islamic State.’ Who finances, directs and coordinates the plans and actions of these terrorists, murderers and looters?

In many countries, the media regularly publishes countless posts, comments and analyses claiming that US intelligence is behind the Islamic State, or at least that the United States uses and supports ISIS for their own interests in the Middle East. Until recently, the ‘free’ US media cynically brushed aside any such claims as conspiracy theories, and the Obama administration denied this fact in every possible way.

But secret official documents received from the Ministry of Defense and the US State Department and published by Turkish and Iranian newspapers shed light on the internal evaluation of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). These documents envisage ‘the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as a US strategic asset in the region (‘2012 Defense Intelligence Agency document: West will facilitate rise of Islamic State in order to isolate the Syrian regime, May 19, 2005). The date of these documents is also very important. They are dated back to the beginning of 2012 — the beginning of the history of ISIS. Still long before the fall of the Iraqi city of Mosul. These documents bring the proposal of the US Defense Intelligence Agency to the attention of the government and the institutions involved in the creation of the aggressive policy in the Middle East, according to which ‘ISIS may be useful for Washington in its efforts to isolate the Syrian regime and remove the administration in Damascus.’

The Iranian newspaper Mashregh writes openly that, ‘ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar ash-Sham, Lashkar-e Sham and numerous other groups that are geographically closely connected to the takfiris and Al Qaeda are the strike force which is secretly pursuing the policy of Western countries, primarily the United States, the reactionary Arab regimes and the Zionists.’

The strategic steps taken by the US and its allies in the region indicate that they intend to continue using the barbaric capabilities of terrorists for years to come ‒ not only in the Middle East but throughout the world, and are not even going to stop their inhuman game. From the perspective of the true leaders of the United States, they must at all costs preserve their own dominance in the Middle East, and for this purpose, they are willing to both disgrace their country by collaborating with terrorists and to sacrifice the UN Security Council, other international organizations and generally any human values.

Knowledge of this information, which has been discussed by experts for quite some time and which is no secret for intelligence communities around the world, sheds light on the ‘victorious’ outcomes of Washington in its fight against international terrorism. As the old adage goes, ‘The father (the US) will not destroy his child (in our case, the Islamic State and the like). Even when the brave ‘falcons’ (the United States and Saudi Arabia) are bombing the alleged positions of their terrorist friends, for an unknown reason, it is civilians who suffer most, whose hatred runs high towards their overseas ‘friends.’

UN report suggests Iran's satellite tech advancing ballistic missile program - Middle East - Jerusalem Post

The launch of a space satellite by Iran's military may indicate the Islamic Republic's possession of ballistic missile technology, a United Nations panels of experts claimed.

According to Fox News, the panel, which on June 1 issued its findings on the February 15 launch, claimed that while Tehran official's “have not been reporting any new ballistic missile developments” or “unveiling or testing of new types of ballistic missiles,” the Islamic Republic intends to deploy three more satellites by March 16 which it hopes to propel “from more powerful launchers and on the back of bigger carriers.”

The technology platform used for these experiments is based on a variant of the Shahab-3 ballistic missile, which has a range of 1,000 miles and is considered one of two Iranian missiles that may potentially be able to deliver a nuclear payload. 

Despite the findings of the panel, the issue of ballistic missile technology has been absent from the tenuous multilateral talks between Iran and the P5+1 nations. 

The Obama administration did not include any stipulations regarding the powerful delivery system in last November's interim deal and since then has unfrozen billions of dollars of Iranian assets. 

New Obama policy would make “merely posting firearm information on the internet” a crime – Intellihub

The blogosphere is sounding off about a pending new Obama policy that would impact not only the 2nd Amendment, but the 1st Amendment as well.

As incredible as it seems, individuals would be in violation by “merely posting information on the Internet about common firearms” which “could be interpreted as illegally sharing sensitive information with foreign nationals”

Applying issues related to “exporting” and “foreign nations” under an international treaty to individual on-line speech (under the guise of improperly sharing technical data about firearms) may seem like a stretch, but it is apparently what is happening, unless public opposition is voiced before this oh-so quiet regulation sets in towards the end of summer.

While it remains to be seen if such a policy would be enforceable, the mere redefinition of Internet activities – now under FCC regulation – is startling, suggesting that the “bark” about guns may be just as threatening to this anti-gun administration as the “bite” of ‘military-style weapons’ like the AR-15 that so frequently drives media coverage. According to the Washington Times:

Gun control and control of free speech would be combined in a new Obama administration plan that could send Second Amendment advocates to prison.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is furious about new regulations announced last week. The plan uses national security as an excuse to threaten gun advocates with prison time for sharing information about “military-style weapons. The problem is that almost every firearm is considered “military-style” by President Obama and the gun-control crowd.

These new restrictions involve commonly and legally available personal firearms.

Under the new proposal from the State Department, merely posting information on the Internet about common firearms could be interpreted as illegally sharing sensitive information with foreign nationals. So Mr. Obama’s plan is two-for-one in restricting constitutional rights: He would combine gun control with control over free speech.

The penalty? 20 years in prison plus a $1 million fine for each violation.Each time that any foreign national accesses the data is considered a separate violation.

Wow… I guess that’s pretty severe – enough to discourage even chance encounters with loose talk about one of the most sacred items that many Americans own.

The NRA is charging that the interpretation of language in the proposal would have the State Department treating online speech about firearms in the same way it treats actual firearms when it comes to the regulation of their “export.”

It’s happening again— President Obama is using his imperial pen and telephone to curb your rights and bypass Congress through executive action.

[…] the Obama State Department has been quietly moving ahead with a proposal that could censor online speech related to firearms. This latest regulatory assault, published in the June 3 issue of the Federal Register, is as much an affront to the First Amendment as it is to the Second. Your action is urgently needed to ensure that online blogs, videos, and web forums devoted to the technical aspects of firearms and ammunition do not become subject to prior review by State Department bureaucrats before they can be published.

The end run around the 2nd Amendment is nearly complete, giving Obama until the end of his administration to set in place legal hurdles that even a gun-toting, pro-2nd Amendment, NRA- and Tea Party-backed politician would be hard pressed to undo completely.

Yikes.

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