Intel Overwatch News Synopsis: 7/14/15

methane on its own? I don’t think so, sides of craters are not indicative a random explosion.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/09/nicolai-sennels-psychology-why-islam-creates-monsters

Psychopathic people and behaviour are found within all cultures and religions but 1 tops them all. Cultural psychological mechanisms are a natural consequence of being influenced by a religion like Islam and stemming from a 1,400 year old tribal society with very limited freedom to develop beyond what the religion allows via

Classical brainwashing methods in the upbringing

During numerous sessions with more than a hundred Muslim clients, I found that violence and repetition of religious messages are prevalent in Muslim families. Combined with countless repetitions of Quranic verses in Islamic schools and families, all this makes it very difficult for children to defend themselves against being indoctrinated to follow the Quran, even if it is against secular laws, logic, and the most basic understanding of compassion

Four enabling psychological factors- culture it generates cultivates four psychological characteristics that further enable and increase violent behavior- anger ( holy anger), self-confidence- not able to handle criticism, responsibility for oneself ( all is allah’s will, no inner control) and intolerance- Muslims are told that they are superior to non-Muslims, destined to dominate non-Muslims, and that they must distance themselves socially and emotionally from non-Muslims.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/31/health/baby-seals-avian-flu/index.html

new strain of avian flu that jumped from birds to mammals is responsible for the death of more than 160 seals off the New England coast last year, scientists announced Tuesday.  The virus could theoretically pose a threat to human health, they said.  Harbor seals — most of them babies less than 6 months old — began appearing with severe pneumonia and skin lesions in September of last year

AFRICA

http://omojuwa.com/2015/07/chadian-police-to-arrest-anyone-wearing-full-face-veil/

Chadian police on Sunday warned that anyone found wearing the Muslim full-face veil would be arrested, after a Boko Haram suicide bombing in the capital left 15 dead.  Saturday’s attack in a bustling N’Djamena market by a man disguised as a woman in a full-face veil also injured 80 and spread panic across the city. Why not here?

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/07/14/32-people-killed-in-al-Shabab-attack-on-southern-Somali-district/7811436902563/?spt=su

African Union forces in Somalia say they killed 25 al-Shabab militants who attacked a district in the country’s south.  Five soldiers and two civilians also died in the five-hour attack Monday on Rage Celle. attack comes after al-Shabab last week claimed responsibility for two coordinated attacks that killed five people at hotels in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu.

The militants are also suspected of killing 14 people and injuring 11 July 7 in Kenya near the northeastern border with Somalia.

CYBER

http://warontherocks.com/2015/07/the-9-scariest-things-that-china-could-do-with-the-opm-security-clearance-data/

1. Identify undercover officers
2. Neutralize U.S. government officials
3.  Threaten overseas family members.
4.  Harass clearance holders or their families in the United    States
5.  Wire you for sound.
6.   Figure out exactly what it takes to get a security clearance.
7.   Publish the data
8.   Guess passwords
9.   Spear phish

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-12/hacked-in-the-u-s-a-china-s-not-so-hidden-infiltration-op

Eric Hess, KeyPoint’s chief executive officer, and Rob Giannetta, USIS’ chief information officer, have said their companies weren’t notified about the problems at the Office of Personnel Management, even though they should have been under contractual obligations.  The agency disputes those assertions and says it shared information with the two companies, as well as CACI International Inc., another contractor. The hackers eventually obtained log-in credentials of a KeyPoint employee in late 2014 which they used to further penetrate the agency’s network.

Around the same time as the Anthem attack, the FBI warned companies of cyber-attacks from infrastructure within China aimed at stealing sensitive business and personal data. But the alert came more than a year after the attacks first began, private investigators now conclude. Health insurers Premera Blue Cross, serving Washington state, and Carefirst Inc., based in Maryland, disclosed their networks had been breached in May, becoming the latest known campaign victims.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/opm-hack-fingerprints-china-20150714

now fingerprints, pilfering of 1.1 million fingerprints is “probably the biggest counterintelligence threat in my lifetime,” one former NSA official said. fingerprints are part of an exploding field of biometric data, which the government is increasingly getting in the business of collecting and storing. Fingerprints today are used to run background checks, verify identities at borders, and unlock smartphones, but the technology is expected to boom in the coming decades in both the public and private sectors.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/02/us-germany-us-spying-idUSKCN0PC1DT20150702
new reports, NSA just can’t stop

Germany is taking seriously the latest reports about U.S. spying on senior government ministers and they are putting strains on vital security cooperation between the two countries. Among the officials targeted were the economy minister and as well as several deputy ministers, most worried by the risks of industrial espionage, particularly given the links his ministry has to companies.

ECONOMICS

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/brics-bank-aiib-to-break-imf-world-bank-monopoly-china-think-tank/articleshow/48053695.cms

when the other side is calling what it is yet American policy makers deny because they  cannot handle the ramifications of

a competing world economic force, reality will be painful. Carly Fiornia is clueless to say she would use financial sanctions for Iran. Iran has an answer to that.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-07-14/china-s-economic-troubles-start-to-spread

Singapore is the closest thing Asia has to an economic barometer. Its highly open, trade-reliant economy usually signals when trouble is approaching the global stage. And at the moment, Singapore is flashing clear warning signs.

The city-state’s gross domestic product plunged 4.6 percent last quarter, a downturn almost certainly triggered by China. Singapore’s plight may mark a dangerous inflection point not just for Asia, but for the entire global economy. Best zero sum way for sole benefit to get out of an economic fix, wag that dragon.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2015xiatbricssco/2015-07/01/content_21154058.htm

BRICS Contingency Fund, initiated by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), will be operational in 30 days, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. Fund aims to be an alternative to the BRICS nations if they ever find themselves in need of quick funds in a crisis and will amount to 100 billion U.S. dollars.

All five member countries are contributing to the Fund, with China being the leading contributor with 41 billion U.S. dollars, Brazil, Russia and India with 18 billion dollars each, and South Africa with 5 billion dollars.

“The agreement aims to provide temporary resources to BRICS members facing pressure in their balance of payments. This instrument will contribute to promoting international financial stability, as it will complement the current global network of financial protection. How Iran would outfox carly if she was president.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-02/china-state-official-hints-beijing-may-bailout-greece

Silk Road Economic Belt and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. China has this ability even with stock market in tank -it would be difficult to imagine a more fitting pilot program for the world’s newest supranational lender than a rescue package for the birthplace of Western democracy which has been brought to its knees by that most Western of all multilateral institutions, the IMF

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/brics-bank-aiib-to-break-imf-world-bank-monopoly-china-think-tank/articleshow/48053695.cms

formation of the New Development Bank (NDB) by the BRICS nations along with the formation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will break the monopoly of the IMF and World Bank and make their functioning more democratic, a state-run Chinese think tank has said.  All the BRICS, (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economies have become founding members of the AIIB, while China, India and Russia turned out to be the three largest shareholders of the bank,”  ..

Greece –soon to be known as the target of the great German gold theft

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-02/finally-truth-greek-debt-so-big-everyone-understands-it-won%E2%80%99t-be-repaid

Finally truth by a EU leader

Berzins, President of Latvi had a surprisingly accurate observation in an interview with Latvian Independent TV when he said that “this [Greek] debt is so big that everyone understands that it won’t be repaid.”  “loans to Greece have just bought time so that those in power don’t have to take decisions. This is like a game: who can hold out longer by not  showing that this money has been lost? This burden has become bigger and there obviously is no possibility to repay.”

He concluded that the “debt write down of Greek debt will come after bankruptcy of state.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jul/12/greek-crisis-surrender-fiscal-sovereignty-in-return-for-bailout-merkel-tells-tsipras

Merkel’s new bitch, Tsiparas, Germany domination of Greece’s economy, the real fun will start soon when Tsiparas tries to get his followers to go along with a deal T said he was against. Greece is still pissed about German occupation in WW2

50bn state assets to be transferred -German proposal could see Greek state assets managed and privatised by an independent trust. Germany also wants reforms in Greece to be supervised by the European Commission and legislation to ensure automatic cuts if Greece misses its deficit targets.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-07-13/greece-should-just-quit
question is be a sovereign state (leave eu) or be Merkels whipping post – stay. Hmmm- I say tell Merkel to stick it. -current deal had to split the difference between Europe’s divided leaders. France and others want Greece to stay in the euro system; Germany and its supporters don’t. The upshot is that Greece must agree to much stricter terms than were previously offered, pass laws to implement far-reaching policy changes within three days, and place a huge stock of assets marked for privatization under EU supervision; then, and only then, will Germany and other euro zone governments ask their legislators for permission to start discussing a new bailout program.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-13/cashtration-goes-greece-so-goes-world

Cashtration: As Goes Greece, So Goes The World. Greek debt is tied to EU debt. EU debt is tied to world debt. The coming debacle may unfold in this manner:

• Greeks try to adjust to subsistence living, on what little the banks allow them daily.
• They make no payments on their own debt, as even mere subsistence is difficult.
• Companies do the same, as they’re having a hard time just paying wages and other overheads and can’t afford to pay interest on their loans.
• Greek banks continue to provide depositors with an “allowance”, whilst their income source (interest on loans) dries up.
• Banks become insolvent and cease paying “allowances” altogether. (And remember, this is the depositors’ own money that will be denied them.) Depositors are unsecured creditors and lose it all.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/13/the-berlin-bulldozer-and-the-sack-of-athens-greece-eurozone/#
The Berlin Bulldozer and the Sack of Athens -Europe’s creditor-in-chief has trampled over values like democracy and national sovereignty, and left a vassal state in its wake. Which country will be next? Clearer than ever that Europe’s dysfunctional monetary union has a German problem, too. As creditor-in-chief in a monetary union bereft of common political institutions, Germany is proving to be a calamitous hegemon. Paris may have tempered Berlin’s petulant threat to force Greece out of the euro, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel undoubtedly calls the shots. The deal that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras capitulated to mirrored German demands, not the proposals he drafted with French help last week. By pointing out the futility of resistance if Greece wished to remain in the euro, Paris has, in a sense, acted as Berlin’s agent in securing Athens’ acquiescence.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-13/greek-bailout-rests-on-asset-sale-plan-that-s-already-failed

Greece’s last-ditch bailout requires the country to sell 50 billion euros ($55 billion) of assets, an ambition it hasn’t come close to achieving under previous restructuring plans. Since then, such deals have yielded just 3.5 billion euros, according to the state privatization authority. With out at least 25b in recapitalization – Greece is still tits up and Germany is Greece’s domanitrix

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/13/eurozone-greece-ecb-idUKL5N0ZS0W520150713

new drama date is 7/20

One of the preconditions imposed on Greece for a deal is that it signs into law European rules that would put euro zone authorities at the ECB and in Brussels, rather than Athens, in charge of identifying and closing or breaking up sick banks.

Since the banks are undercapitalized by at least €25 billion, and realistically over €60 billion-Greece is about to hand over the keys to the only thing that is forcing it to hand over the keys. So what happened to that 112.5 Germany got the right to seize back in 2012.   This in turn could lead to a shake-up of the sector that could see some banks close, with losses pushed onto bondholders and possibly even large depositors. In such circumstances, there would be little that Athens could do to prevent this.  One European official had told Reuters that the number of big banks in the country could be reduced from four – National Bank, Piraeus, Eurobank and Alpha – to as little as two.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/some-greek-banks-to-open-for-pensioners-1435653433

imf said the Greek government failed to transfer €1.55 billion ($1.73 billion) by close-of-business on Tuesday—the largest, single missed repayment in the IMF’s history.  Greece pays private Japanese bond fund but not imf – get the picture. Tsipras had asked for a new rescue program—the country’s third in five years—to help pay for some €29.15 billion ($32.52 billion) in debt coming due between 2015 and 2017.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3159710/Greek-civil-service-workers-announce-24-hour-strike-government-gives-creditors-insider-reveals-leaders-furious-rows-says-Tsipras-crucified.html

now the civil disturbance of the betrayed starts – civil war in the making if Tsipras keeps current course.

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/07/14/eu-could-force-britain-to-pay-850m-to-bail-out-greece/

Although Britain is signed up to an emergency EU fund, Prime Minister David Cameron believes he has won an opt-out as the UK is not a member of the Eurozone. However, EU Commission President Jean Claude-Juncker is desperate to raise funds to keep Greece in the euro.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/14/us-eurozone-greece-imf-report-idUSKCN0PO1CB20150714

IMF report on Greece seen by Reuters Says Greece needs debt relief far beyond what Europe has been willing to consider so far Updated debt sustainability analysis projections are subject to considerable downside risks

Greek borrowing at anything below AAA rates would cause an unsustainable debt dynamic for decades. Eurozone creditors alternatives is either annual transfers to Greek budget or deep upfront haircuts .Debt expected to peak at 200% of GDP in next two years.Greece’s Gross financing needs to rise above 15% GDP threshold deemed safe The IMF have been for bigger haircuts to Greece throughout the saga

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-14/imf-declares-war-germany-secret-report-lagarde-says-greece-will-need-massive-debt-re
PUTINS EARLY XMAS GIFT – IMF is now openly at war with Germany (and its sound money compatriots like Finland) over debt forgiveness, which further underscores the split in Europe between the German bloc and the those who favored leniency for Greece, and, by extension, a relaxation of the doctrine of strict fiscal discipline that has dominated EU politics (in word if certainly not in deed in the periphery) since the onset of the European debt crisis. any debt haircut for Greece will only serve to embolden other periphery debtor states, especially those where Syriza sympathizers enjoy growing support ahead of elections. In short, if parties like Podemos in Spain perceive that Germany has blinked on debt relief they too will push for writedowns, something we outlined in detail after the last IMF “leak” in “Did IMF Just Open Pandora’s Box.”

IRAN

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/198130#.VaU9ePmqG8A
Destroying the State of Israel serves a messianic purpose for the subscribers of this ideology.

“There is a view that the Mahdi [Muslim Messiah – ed.], the Twelfth Imam, when he comes he will kill all the Jews.”

Khamenei’s school outlines how “the Iranians have to help the Mahdi to realize this goal – to kill all the Jews and wipe Israel off the map of the world.”  Herrera warned that as a result, Israel must do everything possible to prevent Iran obtaining nuclear weapons.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/05/us-iran-nuclear-usa-awkward-idUSKCN0PF0NL20150705

It’s always awkward to defend your enemies. But that’s the position U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration has found itself in with Iran as it pushes for an historic accord that would end a 12-year nuclear standoff.

Tehran and Washington, which have called each other the “Great Satan” and a member of the “Axis of Evil” during 36 years of hostility, are more used to exchanging insults than defending each other. The two foes cut diplomatic ties after Iranian revolutionaries seized 52 hostages in Tehran’s U.S. embassy during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

http://www.ibtimes.com/iran-wants-sell-nuclear-products-including-uranium-heavy-water-other-nations-2005659
how they will get around any agreement, already stockpiling equipment to Sudan & rumor is South America, to go ahead with nuke production. Hello Carly Fiornia – Iran already has a plan to get around financial sanctions via BRICS

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/14/world/middleeast/new-hearing-begins-in-iran-for-jason-rezaian-of-washington-post.html?_r=0

IRAQ

4 americans held, none let go with the “deal” – so much for not leaving any Americans behind. Mr. Rezaian, who has been The Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief since 2012, is accused of engaging in espionage on behalf of the United States government and conducting activities against Iran. Although he is a dual citizen of both countries, the Iranian government recognizes only his Iranian citizenship.

http://www.ibtimes.com/iraq-christian-militia-battles-islamic-state-militants-isis-terrorists-are-our-enemy-2005827

at least they are putting aside their differences for the common good of all

http://www.netadvisor.org/2015/03/31/us-iran-negotiating-a-nuclear-deception/#.VaU0uvmqG8A
In 2012 Iran’s expansion of terrorism was the highest it has ever been in 20 years.   Iran is financing and expanding terrorism and control in the Middle-East (Iraq, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen for example). Iran is holding U.S. citizens hostage. Russia is helping Iran to expand its nuclear capability while Obama is ready to wave the white flag, hand Iran billions of more dollars. The Obama Administration fantasizes that Iran will produce fewer (not get rid of) nukes? Right…It would not be unreasonable to think that Iran would use their multiple terror networks such as Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthi rebels or others to detonate a nuclear device in one or more of their enemy countries.

Per rouhani- any agreement is based on Iran’s interests, at Geneva, the world powers became our bitch ( last word is embellishment).   Obama will try to bypass Congress and take the proposed Iran nuclear deal to the United Nations (UN) for enforcement. The only problem with that is the UN does not have ANY authority over the United States Constitution. Under Article VI, the U.S. Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land.
What Should be Done:

• Demand immediate and unconditional release of the four American hostages. Do not continue negotiations until step one is done. Set a time frame, say 14 days. In the event of delay or problems (excuses), begin progressively increasing sanctions every day after 14 days of a failed release of the hostages.
• Iran gets nothing until they have handed over (and verified) all of the current nuclear centrifuges to ______ (pick country – not Russia, maybe China).
• Take the number of working reactors Iran has and divide them by the sanctioned dollars held against Iran. After each reactor is verified to be dismantled, Iran gets pro-rata funds held in sanctions back. Set a time limit for this accomplishment. Sanctions increase daily again after 14 days for failure to comply. Any failure to comply, added sanctions are not removed upon compliance. Recalculate the number of working reactors and divide by the new total of sanctions for potential release.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/07/iran-nuclear-weapons-deal-obama/398465/

If the agreement pushes Iran further away from the nuclear threshold, then Israel will be better off with this deal than without it-but it isn’t. lifting of crippling sanctions means that at least $150 billion, will soon enough flow to Tehran. With this very large pot of money, the regime will be able to fund both domestic works and foreign adventures in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and elsewhere.  Its still death to America and Israel

http://www.jpost.com/page.aspx?pageid=7&articleid=408

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have done very well out of international sanctions — and if a nuclear deal is done in Vienna this week under which those sanctions are lifted, they are likely to do better still.   Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), created by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, is more than just a military force. It is also an industrial empire with political clout that has grown exponentially in the last decade. Kind of like the PLA

ISIS

http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-ramadan-war-muslim-leaders-condemn-islamic-state-attacks-call-holy-month-time-1990904#.VZVjcgpFcNo.twitter
ISIS Ramadan War: Muslim Leaders Condemn Islamic State Attacks, Call Holy Month Time For Peace. fter a recent call from the Islamic State group to its supporters around the globe to launch attacks during the Muslim holy month, Muslim leaders in America and Europe have also been at work trying to repair Islam’s troubled image in the West. Ramadan “is about self-reflection and increased compassion for those in need, and [ISIS] turns that completely on its head,” said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C. “It’s so diabolical in terms of their call being diametrically opposed to the actual purpose of Ramadan.”

http://www.meforum.org/5316/lebanon-sunnis-isis

Lebanese Sunnis are willing to support whoever can defeat their enemies and restore their pride, many of them find ISIS appealing for quite a few reasons: They have an aversion to Shiites and feel estranged from the Lebanese state while harboring nostalgia for the caliphate. Many admire power in any form, and others have a predisposition to anomic terrorism.

http://www.businessinsider.com/son-of-boston-police-captain-charged-in-alleged-isis-inspired-bomb-plot-2015-7?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1
Ciccolo was arrested immediately after taking delivery of the firearms, which included a Colt AR-15 .223 caliber rifle, a SigArms Model SG550-1 556 caliber rifle, a Glock 17- 9mm pistol and a Glock 20-10 mm pistol,” the DOJ stated. “Ciccolo had previously been convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in jail and therefore was prohibited from possessing firearm. he planned on filling a pressure cooker with “lack powder, nails, ball bearings and glass,”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3159638/ISIS-blow-booby-trapped-BABY-teaching-militants-use-explosives-says-head-Iraqi-security-committee.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

there is no innocent life if it’s an infidel life

http://sputniknews.com/asia/20150630/1024006668.html

part of its rapid land grab, the self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group has, for the first time, made significant inroads into Afghanistan, wresting control of a sizeable chunk of Nangarhar province away from the Taliban.

http://www.meforum.org/5355/turkey-syria-gambit#.VZVloXAoJpw.twitter

It was supposed to be simple: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s days in power were numbered; the Nusayri (Alawite) man would be toppled by Syria’s Sunni majority in a popular revolt. The Sunni majority would set up in Damascus a Muslim Brotherhood type of regime that would be subservient to Ankara, and Turkey’s southern border with Syria would be now be a borderless Sunni “Schengen” zone; cross border trade would flourish with the free movement of labor and capital. Peace would prevail along the 900-km border, and Turkish and Syrian Sunni supremacists would advance their agenda in the not-always-so-Sunni lands of the Middle East  as a basis of a resurrected ottoman empire

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/world/middleeast/sinai-isis-attack.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

two days after militants assassinated Egypt’s top prosecutor on a Cairo street, the military on Wednesday called in F-16 war planes and helicopters to beat back a coordinated assault in Northern Sinai by a jihadist group affiliated with the Islamic State. Egyptian soldiers were killed, police officers were trapped in their posts, ambulances were paralyzed by booby-trapped roads and residents were warned to stay indoors by jihadists roaming on motorcycles.

The scale and complexity of the attack far exceeded any of the group’s previous strikes in Sinai, raising the possibility that it has begun to coordinate more closely with the Islamic State leadership based in Syria, experts said. Talking about allowing idf to come in.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/197596#.VZV2VokI081.twitter

Egyptian source has revealed that if after launching a brutal attack in Sinai the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group approaches Gaza, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi may “invite” the IDF to strike it.  The source, who is “familiar with Egypt’s decision-making process,” told Haaretz on Thursday that Sisi may give the green light given that Gaza falls under Israel’s responsibility.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/war-with-isis-us-on-high-alert-as-it-investigates-hundreds-of-links-to-terror-group-across-all-50-states-10359183.html

arrests shut them down

ISRAEL/SYRIA/IRAQ
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/197486#.VaWPaPmqG8C
, Israel is taking steps to prepare for a military strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities so as to defend itself from the impending threat.  Iran has refused to allow inspections of its covert nuclear sites and declared it will use advanced centrifuges as soon as a deal is met, meaning the leading state sponsor of terrorism could potentially obtain a nuclear arsenal within weeks, all while getting billions of dollars in sanctions relief through a nuclear deal.  Interesting clause 10 actually has the US to stop this.

http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-threat-israel-islamic-state-supporters-threaten-christians-jerusalem-vow-1988055#.VZQsUN_2RBc.twitter

group of supporters of the Islamic State militant group has reportedly vowed to slaughter Christian Arabs in Jerusalem. They have released a slew of flyers in recent days that threatened to “clean this country and the Muslim Quarter from these Christians during this holy Ramadan

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11712237/US-blocks-attempts-by-Arab-allies-to-fly-heavy-weapons-directly-to-Kurds-to-fight-Islamic-State.html

US (KERRY) has blocked attempts by its Middle East allies to fly heavy weapons directly to the Kurds fighting Islamic State jihadists in Iraq. Peshmerga are fighting modern American weaponry with out-of-date Soviet equipment

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/197724#.VaWd7vmqG8C

Turkish army has called a meeting of troop commanders stationed along its fortified border with Syria to discuss a possible intervention in Syria. Turkey has boosted its military defenses on the volatile border over the past week, stationing tanks and anti-aircraft missiles there as well as bolstering troop numbers, as fighting between Islamist-led groups and Syrian regime forces in the northern city of Aleppo has intensified.  The Turkish build-up has fed speculation that the government is planning to intervene in Syria to push ISIS  jihadists back from the border and halt the advance of Kurdish forces who have made gains against the extremists in the area.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/05/us-mideast-crisis-zabadani-idUSKCN0PF0AH20150705

Syrian army and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters said on Sunday they had entered the rebel-held city of Zabadani on the second day of a major offensive to capture the border area around the Beirut-Damascus highway. The area around the once popular resort city was part of a major supply route for weapons sent by Syria to Hezbollah before the 2011 outbreak of the Syrian conflict, which has killed more than 200,000 people.

http://debka.com/article/24707/

Turkey and Jordan said preparing buffer zones inside Syria. Israeli air support mooted. Putin issues warning. Turkey hosts some two million refugees and Jordan more than a million and a half. Stemming this flow is not the least of the goals of their buffer zone plans. Both plan to stop ISIS.

LATIN AMERICA/MEXICO

http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/forget-el-chapo-meet-el-mencho-and-his-bloodthirsty-cartel/61431?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=07142015

El Mencho AKA Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes- Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación-different from some who might want to be feared but aren’t trying to build a territorial dynasty – Kind of like ISIS and I have intel he is working with them- risen to commanding heights in the landscape of Mexican narcotrafficking, rivaling the power El Chapo once had

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/07/05/pope-francis-brings-message-of-solidarity-to-south-america.html

Pope Francis brings message of solidarity to South America

“The pope of the poor” chose to visit Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay specifically because they are among the poorest and most marginal nations of a region that claims 40 per cent of the world’s Catholics.  Correa, for his part, echoed many of Francis’ own themes about the “perverse” global economic system that keeps the poor on the margins while the rich get richer, exploiting the Earth’s natural resources in the process.

“Holy Father, the global order isn’t only unjust, it’s immoral,” Correa said.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/pope-francis-excoriates-global-capitalism-as-subtle-dictatorship-20150712-giag56.html

so we go with an overt dictatorship instead?  Marxist is as Marxist does just like in the days of the Sandinistas

https://www.yahoo.com/news/latin-america-celebrates-greek-austerity-no-vote-095822566.html?soc_src=mediacontentsharebuttons&soc_trk=tw

A handful of countries across Latin America congratulated Greece on its Sunday referendum in which voters rejected creditors’ austerity demands. Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, whose country defaulted on a mountain of debt more than a decade ago, called the vote a victory.

“Greece: decisive victory for democracy and dignity,” she wrote on Facebook Sunday, expressing Argentina’s “solidarity with the brave Greek people and their government. Evo Morales, Bolivia’s leftist president, congratulated Greece on Sunday, calling the referendum a defeat against “European imperialism.” Morales, a harsh critic of free-market economies, said the referendum was “the beginning of the liberation of the European people.”  “I congratulate the great Greek people for the triumph of their ‘no vote’ over debt, which is a defeat inflicted on European imperialism,” he was quoted as saying by state-run news agency ABI.

Cuban President Raul Castro echoed the other leaders, congratulating Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Monday in Granma

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-07/14/c_134411909.htm

An earth observation satellite jointly developed by China and Brazil was put into operation on Tuesday. The China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite-04 (CBERS-04) was sent into orbit on Dec. 7, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence. Tests on the satellite’s application and operational systems during orbit were found to meet the general requirements of the design.

The satellite was developed by China’s Academy of Space Technology and the National Institution of Space Research from Brazil. It can cover terrain the size of China in 26 days and provide images of medium solution.

Data from the satellite will be used in crop estimate, survey of geological disasters and other fields, and will be provided to African and Latin American countries for free

SOUTH CHINA

https://readfomag.com/2015/07/analysis-what-you-need-to-know-about-chinas-active-defense-strategy/
To maintain strategic deterrence and carry out nuclear counterattack”.  That strategic deterrence ranges from its DF-21 “Carrier Killer” missile and over-the-horizon munitions to cyber and electronic warfare.  Nuclear counterattack suggests that first-strike is not an option, however, it’s likely that China would consider first-strike in the event that its mainland sovereignty was threatened.  A nuclear attack is the proverbial ‘permanent solution’ to any problem. However,if possession is nine-tenths of the law, then consider China well in the lead.  Conservative estimates put neighboring nations’ militaries 10-20 years behind an ability to counter Chinese force projection in the area.  And the thinking goes that if a U.S. presence can just hang on in the region for even part of that time, then it gives those neighboring nations some time to become more competitive.  And for their part, neighboring nations have steadily increased their military budgets after the alarming rise of the Chinese military.

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2015/06/world/china-sea-disputed-territory/?sr=sharebar_twitter

3 flash points in SC sea.

1- Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands

China and Japan have faced off over these rocky islands known as Diaoyu in Chinese and the Senkaku in Japanese. Taiwan also claims sovereignty.

2-Paracel Islands

China controls the Paracel islands; they are also claimed by Vietnam. They’re located close to proved and probable oil reserves.

3- Spratly Islands

Spratly Islands are claimed by Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia and all five parties have airfields. China has built artificial islands on seven reefs located near the islands
http://www.theage.com.au/world/japan-warns-china-making-new-platform-in-east-china-sea-20150712-giad2b.html
China has been constructing a new offshore platform near the median line between its shoreline and that of Japan in the East China Sea, where China is developing gas fields, according to the Japanese government. November 2013, China declared an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, though it cannot completely cover this area with radar from the Chinese mainland.

“If radar was installed on the platform, it would supplement the (ADIZ),” Mr Nakatani told the committee. “It would improve China’s capacity for surveillance and warning, which could give them a better idea of the SDF’s activities.”

The boundary between Japan and China in the East China Sea is not clearly demarcated. The area where the platform is being built is on China’s side of a line that runs midway between the two nations’ shores.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/06/southchinasea-philippines-buoys-idUSL3N0ZG1VT20150706

Not the first time as the Spratlys – Philippine navy recently found a large steel marker bearing Chinese inscriptions and hundreds of yellow buoys in waters near the Reed Bank- Reed Bank lies 80-90 nautical miles (148-167 km) west of the Philippines in what Manila regards as its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ)-, an area of the South China Sea where Manila has long explored for oil and gas, Philippine naval sources said. But efforts to remove the buoys were thwarted by the sudden appearance of a Chinese naval patrol vessel, prompting the Philippine boat to flee

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/13/us-southchinasea-philippines-shoal-exclu-idUSKCN0PN2HN20150713?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter

Philippine navy is quietly reinforcing the hull and deck of a rusting ship it ran aground on a disputed South China Sea reef in 1999 to stop it breaking apart, determined to hold the shoal as Beijing creates a string of man-made islands nearby. Using wooden fishing boats and other small craft, the navy has run the gauntlet of the Chinese coastguard to move cement, steel, cabling and welding equipment to the BRP Sierra Madre since late last year 100 meter-long (330-foot) tank landing ship was built for the U.S. Navy during World War Two. It was eventually transferred to the Philippine navy, which deliberately grounded it on Second Thomas Shoal to mark Manila’s claim to the reef in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea. A small contingent of Philippine soldiers are stationed onboard. Since the start of 2014, the Philippine navy’s regular attempts to re-supply soldiers on the BRP Sierra Madre with food and water have become a cat-and-mouse routine, with large Chinese coastguard vessels on patrol in the area trying to block the path of the smaller Philippine boats, naval officials said.  Philippine vessels have always gotten through by making a run for the shoal’s shallow waters, which aren’t deep enough for the Chinese coastguard, naval officials said. The tear-shaped shoal itself is large, some 10-11 nautical miles from top to bottom.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/10/us-japan-nato-missile-exclusive-idUSKCN0PJ2RV20150710

12-country NATO consortium oversees development and shares the costs of the SeaSparrow missile, an advanced ship-borne weapon designed to destroy anti-ship sea-skimming missiles and attack aircraft. The missile is made by U.S. weapons firms Raytheon (RTN.N) and General Dynamics.

Consortium, established in 1968 by four countries including the United States, is set to develop an upgraded version of the SeaSparrow in the coming years.  Having Japan on board would spread the project’s costs, but Washington also sees a role for Japan in leading multinational military industrial partnerships in Asia at a time when China’s military modernization and assertiveness is alarming many countries in the region, said the U.S. source.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/14/us-india-andamans-military-idUSKCN0PO2N120150714?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

India getting in on checking Chicom expansion, remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, chain’s location was its biggest asset in watching China’s navy. Scattered between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, the Andaman and Nicobar islands are closer to Myanmar and Indonesia than the Indian mainland. More importantly, its southern isles lie near the top of the Malacca Straits, a gateway to the Indian Ocean and through which China gets three-quarters of its oil.  “The world’s busiest shipping lanes are just to the south

http://sputniknews.com/asia/20150711/1024495270.html

and Indonesia too – areas in Sambas, West Kalimantan, as well as the Natuna Islands, Riau Islands and Tarakan, North Kalimantan.  Indonesia has repeatedly said that it has no territorial interests in these waters until – maps in the past have shown Beijing’s nine-dash-line claims of sovereignty as including Indonesia’s Natuna Islands – so-called nine-dashed line that takes in about 90 percent of the 3.5 million square kilometer South China Sea on Chinese maps

http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/29161/chinese-ships-sink-vietnams-fishing-boat-off-hoang-sa-paracels

Vietnamese fishing boat was operating in Vietnamese waters off the central province of Quang Ngai on Thursday night when it was reportedly scared away and sank by two Chinese vessels by ramming. chinese ships then left the scene, leaving all the 11 fishermen floating at sea while clinging to the lifebuoys from their sunken ships.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/4th-of-july-fireworks-world-war-iii-with-china-dead-ahead-2015-07-03?mod=mw_share_twitter

RUSSIA

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/russia-outraged-polands-removal-soviet-war-memorial-130100672.html

Russia said on Saturday it was outraged by Poland’s destruction of a Soviet war monument, warning Warsaw of the “most negative consequences” after what it said was a flagrant violation of an agreement between the two countries on protecting memorial sites.  Poland has been one of the most vocal critics of Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014. Russia and Poland share a history of conflicts and the disagreement over war memorials is likely to add to tensions. Kind of makes you think that Russia doubts the legality of poland’s independence from Russia.

http://www.vox.com/2015/6/29/8845913/russia-war
August 2014 that the real danger began-(bs 10 years before) , and that we heard the first warnings of war. That month, unmarked Russian troops covertly invaded eastern Ukraine, where the separatist conflict had grown out of its control. The Russian air force began harassing the neighboring Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which are members of NATO. The US pledged that it would uphold its commitment to defend those countries as if they were American soil, and later staged military exercises a few hundred yards from Russia’s border. The warnings: “War is not something that’s impossible anymore” In the Cold War, he pointed out, both sides had understood this risk and installed political and physical infrastructure — think of the “emergency red phone” — to manage tensions and prevent them from spiraling out of control. That infrastructure is now gone

II. The gamble: Putin’s plan to make Russia great again

“Russia seems doomed to continue its decline — an outcome that should be no cause for celebration in the West,” Nye wrote in a recent column. “States in decline — think of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1914 — tend to become less risk-averse and thus much more dangerous.”

III. The drift: How the unthinkable became possible

today’s tensions bear far more similarity to the period before World War I: an unstable power balance, belligerence over peripheral conflicts, entangling military commitments, disputes over the future of the European order, and dangerous uncertainty about what actions will and will not force the other party into conflict.

What will trigger – Baltic states or nato takedown or Ukraine or …..

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/10/us-usa-defense-dunford-state-idUSKCN0PK27120150710
Kerry does not agree USMC Gen nominated to be America’s next top uniformed commander that Russia poses an existential threat to the United States. Really? So if his treatment of Russia is an indicator, does he view Iran as a threat?

http://warontherocks.com/2015/07/general-dunford-is-right-about-russia-but-not-because-of-their-nukes/
Russia, unlike the Islamic State or China, is the only entity on the planet that has the proven ability to decisively threaten American vital interests in all three of the regions most important to the United States, in part because Russia is physically connected to them. Certainly, Russia’s military stockpile of roughly 4,500 nuclear weapons appears threatening, but ultimately these weapons are only one tool in the service of Russian national security policy.

most compelling aspect of Russia’s security policy is its zero-sum nature, a stark alternative to the West’s positive-sum approach, pursued to great success in most of Europe over the last several decades. To a large extent, Moscow’s zero-sum approach to national security is a function of Russia’s historical geopolitical position, with potential adversaries on three sides — Germanic peoples to the west, Muslims to the south, and Chinese and Japanese to the east. Under these circumstances, domestic political incentives appear to favor zero-sum approaches in national security. And the sooner the United States learns how to compete with Russia in a zero-sum context, the more effective it will be in responding to Gen. Dunford’s concerns.  A positive-sum game, when two parties make a voluntary exchange, both are better off. Zero sum, Russia wins and opposite side is toast.

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/07/putin-rebuilds-russias-military-while-us-strategy-is-all-over-map/

Blindness to the potential for future war does not afflict Vladimir Putin- his focus to direct the strategic preparation and conduct of military operations; to define Russia’s strategic military needs and allocate strategic resources. Thanks to Putin, the Russian STAVKA (or national high command) has enjoyed a rebirth with the infusion of new, young blood into the Russian Armed Forces’ senior ranks. Building effective military power takes time, resources and imagination. Now is the time to build for the future.  Putin gets it. Do we ( meaning current us leadership)? No

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/525643.html

A recent decision by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office to review the legality of a 1991 decision granting the Baltic states independence from the Soviet Union has irritated the governments of the Baltic states and raised concern among their allies. At the same time, Russian officials confirmed that “the matter has no legal prospects” and no direct implications for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.  Read we own Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia. Since the 2000s, many Russian government officials and pundits have consistently argued that the period of independence and sovereignty of the Baltic states is an “abnormality,” as opposed to the “normality” of the period when the region was under Russian or Soviet rule. On July 29, 1991, Russia conceded that Lithuania had been “annexed” by the Soviets (though Moscow avoided the word “occupation”) in an official agreement. By the mid-1990s, however, the Russian government started to move away from even acknowledging Soviet annexation.

http://rt.com/news/273391-us-nuclear-bomb-europe/

Recent test of the US В61-12 nuclear bomb confirms Washington’s plans to maintain nuclear weapons in Europe that are capable of reaching Russia, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said on Monday. 2 more tests scheduled for

Nuke bunker buster

https://twitter.com/MailOnline/status/618155871147851777

Russia has claimed to have built a revolutionary new weapon system that can render enemy satellites and weapons useless.

Its Russian makers say it is a ‘fundamentally new electronic warfare system’ which can be mounted on ground-based as well as air- and sea-borne carriers.  However, it has refused to reveal how the system works. This can shut down Aegis, already has.

UKRAINE
http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-analyst-and-ex-cia-agent-we-are-in-an-extraordinarily-dangerous-time-right-now-2015-7

yes, all it will take is one screw up

http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-continue-tests-nuclear-capable-iskander-short-range-ballistic-missiles-near-2005406

Russian military unit will be testing the Iskander ballistic missile near the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea this month, the press service of the southern region of Krasnodar said Monday. The tests, which are in range of many Eastern European countries — not to mention Ukraine — further ratchet up the tension that has been escalating between U.S.-led NATO and Russia since Moscow annexed Crimea 16 months ago and got involved in the eastern Ukraine conflict.

Russia’s recent testing of the missile system, which can carry nuclear weapons, has been part of tit-for-tat threats between Moscow and Washington that both sides would place nuclear weapons back in European territory, namely in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea and in the U.K. If either side did make such a move, it would be in breach of Cold War

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/13/world/europe/police-in-western-ukraine-clash-with-paramilitary-group-7-are-hurt.html?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Sailthru&_r=1&nr_email_referer=1

basically Ukraine is a feudalistic type environment – weak president with competing warlords aka billionaire oligarchs.  Democracy can never be but this is NATOs front line to stop Russian expansion.  So internally, there is no cohesion, no common view, just a puppet of a “nation”

http://europe.newsweek.com/ukrainian-president-record-number-russian-troops-border-330210

55k now (not counting Crimea) soon to be over 100k, 2 more tank divisions being placed and its potential blitzkrieg time.

GEORGIA

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/13/georgia-russia-border-idUSL5N0ZT2OT20150713
Russia moving border markers making part of an international oil pipeline in territory under Russian control. Russian troops have been installing barbed wire and fences around South Ossetia since the war but residents say the soldiers have now erected border signs up to about 1.5 km (one mile) beyond the administrative border. BP’s 830-km (520-mile) Baku-Supsa pipeline runs from Azerbaijan to the Georgian Black Sea terminal of Supsa and has the capacity to transport up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

SAUDI ARABIA

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/14/us-iran-nuclear-saudi-idUSKCN0PO29B20150714
Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers on Tuesday will make the Middle East a “more dangerous part of the world” if it comes with too many concessions, a Saudi official told Reuters, signaling Gulf Arabs’ deep unease over the accord.

So now we have alienated practically every sunni state except Pakistan that want the pipeline project to continue to Iran.

Saudi journalists, clerics and analysts were more forthcoming in setting out the country’s fears, which are also fueled by a sense that Riyadh’s main ally, Washington, now has divided loyalties after helping Iran to come in from the cold.

“Iran made chaos in the Arab world and will extend further after the agreement, and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries should reduce their confidence in America and turn their focus to Russia and China,” said Mohammed al-Mohya, the news anchor on the state-run Saudi Channel 1.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2015/0703/Goodbye-Washington-hello-Moscow-Saudi-Arabia-finds-friendly-face-in-Putin?cmpid=addthis_twitter

two oil-producing giants seem to have made a breakthrough last month in their often adversarial relationship, signing several cooperation pacts. But incompatible foreign policies may yet cool the new warmth that will get warmer thanks to the Iran nuke deal.

YEMEN

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2015/07/12-al-qaeda-yemen-emirate-saudi-riedel

sunni helping sunni but ISIS is not addressed, once Houthi receive a major resupply,

Riyadh’s apparent willingness to tolerate an al-Qaida stronghold on its southern border has raised conspiracy theories in Yemen that the Saudis implicitly at least welcome AQAP as an ally against the Zaydis. There are also long standing suspicions that the Kingdom would like to annex Hadramawt to give it access to the Indian Ocean and a route for an oil pipeline to Mukkalla that would allow oil to reach the sea without transiting the Straits of Hormuz.