John Dolva

Author: Fidel Castro Ruz | internet@granma.cu march 28, 2016 12:03:14 Brother ObamaThe kings of Spain brought us the conquistadores and masters, whose footprints remained in the circular land grants assigned to those searching for gold in the sands of rivers, an abusive and shameful form of exploitation, traces of which can be noted from the air in many places around the country. Tourism today, in large part, consists of viewing the delights of our landscapes and tasting exquisite delicacies from our seas, and is always shared with the private capital of large foreign corporations, whose earnings, if they don’t reach billions of dollars, are not worthy of any attention whatsoever. Since I find myself obliged to mention the issue, I must add - principally for the youth - that few people are aware of the importance of such a condition, in this singular moment of human history. I would not say that time has been lost, but I do not hesitate to affirm that we are not adequately informed, not you, nor us, of the knowledge and conscience that we must have to confront the realities which challenge us. The first to be taken into consideration is that our lives are but a fraction of a historical second, which must also be devoted in part to the vital necessities of every human being. One of the characteristics of this condition is the tendency to overvalue its role, in contrast, on the other hand, with the extraordinary number of persons who embody the loftiest dreams. Nevertheless, no one is good or bad entirely on their own. None of us is designed for the role we must assume in a revolutionary society, although Cubans had the privilege of José Martí’s example. I even ask myself if he needed to die or not in Dos Ríos, when he said, “For me, it’s time,” and charged the Spanish forces entrenched in a solid line of firepower. He did not want to return to the United States, and there was no one who could make him. Someone ripped some pages from his diary. Who bears this treacherous responsibility, undoubtedly the work of an unscrupulous conspirator? Differences between the leaders were well known, but never indiscipline. “Whoever attempts to appropriate Cuba will reap only the dust of its soil drenched in blood, if he does not perish in the struggle,” stated the glorious Black leader Antonio Maceo. Máximo Gómez is likewise recognized as the most disciplined and discreet military chief in our history. Looking at it from another angle, how can we not admire the indignation of Bonifacio Byrne when, from a distant boat returning him to Cuba, he saw another flag alongside that of the single star and declared, “My flag is that which has never been mercenary...” immediately adding one of the most beautiful phrases I have ever heard, “If it is torn to shreds, it will be my flag one day… our dead raising their arms will still be able to defend it!” Nor will I forget the blistering words of Camilo Cienfuegos that night, when, just some tens of meters away, bazookas and machine guns of U.S. origin in the hands of counterrevolutionaries were pointed toward that terrace on which we stood. Obama was born in August of 1961, as he himself explained. More than half a century has transpired since that time. Let us see, however, how our illustrious guest thinks today: “I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas. I have come here to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people,” followed by a deluge of concepts entirely novel for the majority of us: “We both live in a new world, colonized by Europeans,” the U.S. President continued, “Cuba, like the United States, was built in part by slaves brought here from Africa. Like the United States, the Cuban people can trace their heritage to both slaves and slave-owners.” The native populations don’t exist at all in Obama’s mind. Nor does he say that the Revolution swept away racial discrimination, or that pensions and salaries for all Cubans were decreed by it before Mr. Barrack Obama was 10 years old. The hateful, racist bourgeois custom of hiring strongmen to expel Black citizens from recreational centers was swept away by the Cuban Revolution - that which would go down in history for the battle against apartheid that liberated Angola, putting an end to the presence of nuclear weapons on a continent of more than a billion inhabitants. This was not the objective of our solidarity, but rather to help the peoples of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and others under the fascist colonial domination of Portugal. In 1961, just one year and three months after the triumph of the Revolution, a mercenary force with armored artillery and infantry, backed by aircraft, trained and accompanied by U.S. warships and aircraft carriers, attacked our country by surprise. Nothing can justify that perfidious attack which cost our country hundreds of losses, including deaths and injuries As for the pro-yankee assault brigade, no evidence exists anywhere that it was possible to evacuate a single mercenary. Yankee combat planes were presented before the United Nations as the equipment of a Cuban uprising. The military experience and power of this country is very well known. In Africa, they likewise believed that revolutionary Cuba would be easily taken out of the fight. The invasion via southern Angola by racist South African motorized brigades got close to Luanda, the capital in the eastern part of the country. There a struggle began which went on for no less than 15 years. I wouldn’t even talk about this, if I didn’t have the elemental duty to respond to Obama’s speech in Havana’s Alicia Alonso Grand Theater. Nor will I attempt to give details, only emphasize that an honorable chapter in the struggle for human liberation was written there. In a certain way, I hoped Obama’s behavior would be correct. His humble origin and natural intelligence were evident. Mandela was imprisoned for life and had become a giant in the struggle for human dignity. One day, a copy of a book narrating part of Mandela’s life reached my hands, and - surprise! - the prologue was by Barack Obama. I rapidly skimmed the pages. The miniscule size of Mandela’s handwriting noting facts was incredible. Knowing men such as him was worthwhile. Regarding the episode in South Africa I must point out another experience. I was really interested in learning more about how the South Africans had acquired nuclear weapons. I only had very precise information that there were no more than 10 or 12 bombs. A reliable source was the professor and researcher Piero Gleijeses, who had written the text Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976, an excellent piece. I knew he was the most reliable source on what had happened and I told him so; he responded that he had not spoken more about the matter as in the text he had responded to questions from compañero Jorge Risquet, who had been Cuban ambassador and collaborator in Angola, a very good friend of his. I located Risquet; already undertaking other important tasks he was finishing a course which would last several weeks longer. That task coincided with a fairly recent visit by Piero to our country; I had warned him that Risquet was getting on and his health was not great. A few days later what I had feared occurred. Risquet deteriorated and died. When Piero arrived there was nothing to do except make promises, but I had already received information related to the weapons and the assistance that racist South Africa had received from Reagan and Israel. I do not know what Obama would have to say about this story now. I am unaware as to what he did or did not know, although it is very unlikely that he knew absolutely nothing. My modest suggestion is that he gives it thought and does not attempt now to elaborate theories on Cuban policy. There is an important issue: Obama made a speech in which he uses the most sweetened words to express: “It is time, now, to forget the past, leave the past behind, let us look to the future together, a future of hope. And it won’t be easy, there will be challenges and we must give it time; but my stay here gives me more hope in what we can do together as friends, as family, as neighbors, together.” I suppose all of us were at risk of a heart attack upon hearing these words from the President of the United States. After a ruthless blockade that has lasted almost 60 years, and what about those who have died in the mercenary attacks on Cuban ships and ports, an airliner full of passengers blown up in midair, mercenary invasions, multiple acts of violence and coercion? Nobody should be under the illusion that the people of this dignified and selfless country will renounce the glory, the rights, or the spiritual wealth they have gained with the development of education, science and culture. I also warn that we are capable of producing the food and material riches we need with the efforts and intelligence of our people. We do not need the empire to give us anything. Our efforts will be legal and peaceful, as this is our commitment to peace and fraternity among all human beings who live on this planet. Fidel Castro Ruz March 27, 2016 10:25 p.m.

Sunday, March 27, 2016 4:00 PM GİRÊ SPÎ - ANF Documents seized by YPG and SDF refute Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s claims that Turkey prevents the passage of ISIS and Al-Nusra gangs into Syria. The hundreds of documents the SDF seized in the ISIS headquarters it captured in Til Hemis, Til Bırak, Hol, Kobanê, Mount Kızwan, Şeddadê and Gîrê Spî refute Turkish President Erdoğan’s claim that ‘ISIS captures are captured and sent back.’ In these documents, the passage of ISIS gangs from all across the world, particularly Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and Tajikistan, from Turkey to Syria can be seen. The documents prove that ISIS gangs have been using the airports in İstanbul and Adana, receiving residency permits from the Turkish government, and entering Syria and Rojava from Turkey since 2013. ISIS GANGS TRAVEL TO SYRIA VIA TURKEY After the ISIS gangs’ massacre in the Belgian capital Brussels on March 22, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed that Turkey had ‘captured the perpetrators of the massacre and sent them back to their countries.’ The documents the SDF seized in Şeddadê and Gîrê Spî show that hundreds of ISIS gangs traveled to Syria and Rojava with the help of the Turkish state. The Turkish state, whose ties to ISIS become clearer every day, claimed that they had warned Belgium about the gangs in order to cover up its responsibility. However, the documents SDF seized show that hundreds of ISIS gangs travel to Syria and Europe through Turkey. The aforementioned documents include bus tickets, electronic Turkish visas, residency permits, and documents with the stamps of Turkish immigrations and airport offices. TURKISH STATE CONTROLS RESIDENCY AND TRANSPORTATION! The seized documents include residency permits lacking information on the dates of entrance and exit to Turkey, and show that the gangs primarily use Kilis and Urfa for crossing into Syria and Rojava. TURKEY-ISIS RELATIONS ARE CRYSTAL CLEAR! The Turkish state’s logistical and military aid to jihadist gangs in Syria shows that Turkey-ISIS relations are crystal clear. The documents seized by the SDF include information on the transportation of chemical and explosive materials from Turkey to Syria. One of the documents belongs to a jihadist from Kazakhstan called Bekmurzayev Meiirzhan, and another one signed by İstanbul Police Foreigners’ Deparment Manager Erkan Aydoğa belongs to Sultan Argerim also from Kazakhstan. SDF also seized a document showing that ISIS gang Mukysh Tolganay entered Turkey through İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen airport. Other documents show that Abdulaziz Abdullah from East Turkistan, Kiyomov Thumakul from Tajikistan, Syahhutra from Indonesia and hundreds of other ISIS gangs had residency permits issued by the Turkish state. Below, we share some of the documents that the SDF recently seized. We will soon share other documents on the Turkish language classes ISIS gangs receive, and Turkish manuals explaining how to make explosives and poison to jihadist gangs. http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/relations-between-turkey-and-isis-documented-once-again _____________________ News Desk - ANF According to the Syrian state television, regime forces took control of Palmyra. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Reuters have confirmed that regime forces took control of Palmyra. The city of Palmyra is in the UNESCO world heritage list. ISIS gangs had entered the city last year, and burned and damaged temples and historical artifacts that are two thousand years old.

It looks like the few contributors to that site left Cuba because they are more interested in capitals baubels than concrete realities though admittedly they all acknowledge the fact that all Cubans are entitled to free quality education and healthcare. There are no homeless people. Everyone eats enough and live secure lives. Not only that, all Cubans can be proud of a country that supports in real ways people and countries that are suffering the effects of rapacious captalism. All in spite of the economic war that Washington wages. Truly an example to the world of what can be done.

What is the ‘TAK’ and who are its members? – Amed Dicle 25.03.2016 08:06 News NEWS DESK – Amed Dicle of Firat News Agency (ANF) released a news today on TAK analyzing TAK’s structure and its role in the Kurdish Question. Dicle’s news is given as its original version released by ANF. “It is beneficial to examine the TAK; an organization that received attention after its actions in Ankara. In fact, it is not the Kurds but the state that should explain the TAK because the existence of the organization is a direct result of state policies. Still, let us have a look at the general structure of this organization. According to the information on its website, Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (Teyrêbazên Azadiya Kurdistan-TAK) was formed in 2004. In its website, the TAK states that it did not carry out any actions in 2004 and 2005, and began its actions in Turkish metropolitan areas in 2006. The TAK carried out its first action on May 22, 2007. TAK member Güven Akkuş (Erdal Andok) carried out the action in the Anafartalar Bazaar of Ankara’s Ulus district. Akkuş was from Maraş, grew up in İstanbul, and joined the organization from Europe. The TAK stated that Akkuş’s target was Yaşar Büyükanıt, the former commander of the Turkish armed forces, but the action did not reach its goal. Back when the action was carried out, the political environment was intense like today and the signs of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s poisoning had caused public indignation among Kurds all across the globe. On its website, the TAK says that it carried out actions between 2006 and 2012, but there is no information on the details of these. In 2013 and 2014, the organization did not carry out any actions. It resumed its actions on December 23, 2015 in Sabiha Gökçen Airport, and most recently carried out the two actions in Ankara in 2016. In its written statement on December 30, 2015, the TAK described the goals, actions and tactics of the PKK and other Kurdish organizations as ‘too soft and ineffective responses to the war the Turkish Republic’s fascism is waging against Kurdish people’ and announced the beginning of a new process. The TAK did not carry out any actions during the negotiations in İmralı but declared that it would be active after the end of the negotiation process. In the same statement, the TAK emphasized that it would avenge the oppression and massacre of Kurdish people. In other words, the TAK positioned itself as a revenge organization. It also organized itself on the basis of responding to all threats and pressures targeting the Kurds and the Kurdish People’s Leader Öcalan. After the recent two actions in Ankara, many people argued that the TAK was under the influence of the PKK. The TAK is not the PKK. The PKK declared numerous times that it had no relations with the TAK. The PKK is a movement with political and social projects and a perspective. It is organized in many different aspects of life and has thousands of guerrillas. It is not logical for a movement that has military structures to establish another military group. Its actions against soldiers and militarist forces do not defy the laws of war, and it views attacks targeting civilians as war crimes. The PKK signed the Geneva War Convention in 1994 and launched investigations into its actions during the 1980s that resulted in civilian casualties. It criticized these attacks and condemned the killing and harming of civilians, even if they were accidental. The TAK points out that it targets the Turkish state’s institutions and economy. It declared that it does not target civilians, and expressed its sadness for the civilian casualties in Ankara. As we understand from the organization’s recent statements, the TAK perceives the PKK’s war as incomplete and adopts a more radical line of action. From TAK statements, we can see that some of the organization’s members were in the PKK in the past. Many TAK members come from the social groups that were created through the PKK’s struggle. However, the TAK and the youth around it view the PKK’s efforts for a political solution as inadequate, and form other organizations that aim to increase the level of struggle. Arguing that the TAK and the PKK are the same can only be a special war propaganda or plain ignorance and unconsciousness. Then, could the PKK stop the TAK if it wanted to? The answer to this question is no. In its website, the TAK states that it does not get orders from the PKK and would continue its actions until the liberation of Öcalan and Kurdish people. This issue is not a simple one; it is beyond hierarchies and organic relations. The sociological and emotional dimensions of the issue are deeper than what most people think. Why does the TAK exist, when a radical organization such as the PKK is already waging a political, military and social struggle? This is the question that should be asked because thousands of young people in Kurdistan believe that a result can only be reached through fighting the Turkish state. Thousands of people chant the slogan of ‘Revenge’ on the streets and call upon the PKK to take revenge. There are sociological reasons behind why some people seek revenge. Thousands of young Kurdish people carry out the photos of TAK militants in the streets of Turkey, London, Berlin, Paris, and Brussels. Thousands of young people were criticizing the PKK for not fighting during the process of negotiation in İmralı. If you go to any event that brings together thousands of Kurdish people, you will see that many people share the TAK’s perspective. You can observe thousands of young people expressing themselves in a similar manner. So it is impossible to understand the situation from a table far away from Kurdistan and Kurdish people. Many groups that are sensitive on the Kurdish issue have not yet figured out the situation. They do not know why thousands of young people come to the point of being a member of TAK. They focus on the political components of the situation as opposed to the sociological ones. In its website, the TAK does not offer a political project for the future. Since every action has political reasons and consequences, politics is the only way for dissolving the TAK. It is necessary to remove the social and political conditions that lead up to such actions, and we have witnessed this need in 2013 and 2014. After the state ended the political talks and resumed its massacres, the TAK reactivated itself. Politics prevent such organizations from getting a social footing. We must examine why people in their 20s sacrifice themselves and organize for this purpose. It is more beneficial to examine the TAK through sociology as opposed to simple political analyses. Who are these people? TAK members are the acquaintances, neighbors and relatives of Taybet İnan, a 60 years old woman and mother of 8 children, who was killed and whose body was left to rot on the street by the police in Silopi… They are the peers, schoolmates, and colleagues of Hacı Birlik whose dead body was dragged behind an armored vehicle in Şırnak… They are the friends of Mahsum whose dead body was ran over by tanks in Diyarbakır… They are the friends of Ekin Van, whose body was displayed after her execution in Varto… They are the acquaintances and friends of the tens of women and men who were burnt in basements in Şırnak… They are the brothers and sisters of hundreds of children who were shot while playing games in front of their houses… They are the children of families whose houses were destroyed in Sur and relatives were executed on the street… They are the children of the streets that have writings such as ‘Be proud if you’re a Turk, obey if you’re not’ on the walls… To summarize, any young Kurd will give you thousands of reasons for joining the TAK. It is impossible to approve the death of civilians during TAK actions. It is everyone’s right to criticize and condemn these casualties. We should criticize more and make it clear that targeting civilians is not acceptable in any war. However, all of these points do not change the reality of TAK because of the realities described above shape the emotions and thoughts of thousands of people. How many Turkish intellectuals that analyze the Kurdish issue today know of the basements of savagery in Cizre, or Taybet İnan, Hacı Birlik, Ekin Van, and the 3 months old Miray from Cizre who was shot in the arms of her grandfather? It is impossible for people who have no idea about these to have an understanding of TAK. This is why many Kurds view their criticism towards TAK as repulsive and insincere. Examining the TAK as a contemporary reaction will not yield any results. The only way for deactivating such structures is an ending of the state’s oppression and denial of Kurdish people. Otherwise, TAK will continue its actions and even new TAKs will emerge. Some AKP officials who criticize the PKK today are remembered to have said that more PKKs would emerge if the Kurdish issue were not solved. The situation is exactly the same for TAK. If thousands of people are ready to ‘sacrifice their lives’ and the majority of Kurdish society does not believe in a resolution within ‘Turkish borders,’ it is time to completely reexamine the situation. Focusing on the results of actions in evaluations is the easiest option.”

The only file release I've heard of is something on the awful years of the US backed Generals in Argentina. (Apparently Obama is bringing some to Argentina during his visit to support the Vulture Funds rape of that country. I understand progressive groupings there are underwhelmed). I read Granma and Prensa Latina regularly and have seen no mention of any JFK related file release. The MC event is possibly pivotal. Though, as someone who believes the conspiracy on a street level is about the threat of changed economic conditions promised by JFK's Civil Rights Bill, I think it will pan out to be a distraction. BTW Cubans are not poor and hungry. They've weathered the US illegal economic sabotage program very well. (proving that socialism is far superior.) , The last time there was a dictator in control of Cuba it was the US backed Batista.

RT: The stream of accusations is growing against Ankara over illegal oil trade and support of Islamic State, with politicians and experts calling for Turkey to be held accountable for its actions after a new batch of evidence gathered by RT. Former UK ambassador to Syria, Peter Ford, has described as “very convincing” a report aired by RT which features piles of oil accounting papers left behind by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) fighters. “There was plenty of evidence even before these latest – very damning – revelations that Turkey was up to its neck in support for collaboration with Islamic State,” he said. Read more ISIS, oil & Turkey: What RT found in Syrian town liberated from jihadists by Kurds (EXCLUSIVE) According to Ford, the “obsession” of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with removing from power his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, and preventing the strengthening of the Kurds in Syria saw Turkey become eager “to stop at nothing, including collaboration with Islamic State terrorists,” Ford stressed. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that if Turkey had sincerely tried to put an end to the activities of Islamic State it could well have gone slow and we wouldn’t perhaps even be having this latest atrocity in Brussels,” the former ambassador stressed.

ISIS, oil & Turkey: RT films trove of jihadist docs detailing illegal trade with Ankara (EXCLUSIVE) Published time: 24 Mar, 2016 03:00 Edited time: 24 Mar, 2016 03:48 Get short URL Islamic State documents, including invoices, which militants abandoned while retreating in haste. / RT An RT Documentary crew filming in northern Syria has seen Islamic State (IS, ISIS/ISIL) documents abandoned by retreating terrorists and found by the Kurds that, along with captured IS recruits, provide a stunning insight into Turkey-IS oil trade links. TrendsIslamic State, Syria unrest, Syria-Turkey Shortly after the outbreak of the Syrian war, IS became a game-changer in Iraq and, in particular, Syria. Beheadings on camera, mass killings, and enslavement, as well as apparent connections to the Paris and Brussels attacks had become synonymous with the terror group, giving it wide publicity. Running a viable militant organization with such remarkable capabilities would be impossible without some logistical and financial support from the outside. Turkey, which has been actively engaged in the Syrian war since the outset, has repeatedly denied claims that it is aiding IS. However, while Ankara insists that it is the jihadist group’s sworn enemy, facts on the ground often tell a different story. RT has spoken to several witnesses who were involved in Islamic State’s trade activities and accessed the terror group’s documents, which provide insight into how and where foreign militants enter Syria to join the terrorist “state.” Abandoned buildings used by ISIS militants in northern Syria. / RT Detailed oil invoicesThe RT Documentary team did most of its filming in the town of Shaddadi, located in the Syrian province Hasakah, which has been partly overrun by IS jihadists. Following the liberation of Shaddadi, which is home to some 10,000 people, RT filmed Kurdish soldiers walking around what used to be the homes of IS fighters and examining piles documents that had been left behind. Some of the files seized at the scene turned out to be detailed invoices used by IS to calculate daily revenues from their oil fields and refineries, as well as the amount of oil extracted there. All the documents had Islamic State’s symbol at the top. Example of an Islamic State invoice specifying the quantity of oil sold. / RT The files showed that “IS has kept very professional records of their oil business,” said the author of the new RT Documentary on Islamic State filmed in northern Syria, who chose to remain anonymous for security reasons. Every invoice included the name of the driver, the vehicle type driven, and the weight of the truck, both full and empty, as well as the agreed upon price and invoice number. One of the discovered invoices dated 11 January, 2016, says that IS had extracted some 1,925 barrels of oil from Kabibah oil field and sold it for $38,342. IS oil goes to Turkey – IS fighters come via TurkeyRT spoke to local residents who had been forced to work in the IS oil industry about what it was like working at the terrorist-controlled oil refinery and where the extracted oil was sold. The locals attested that “the extracted oil was delivered to an oil refinery, where it was converted into gasoline, gas and other petroleum products. Then the refined product was sold,” the RT documentary’s author said. “Then intermediaries from Raqqa and Allepo arrived to pick up the oil and often mentioned Turkey.” Important information revealing the connection between IS and Turkey was provided by a Turkish militant previously captured by the Kurds. The IS recruit said on camera that the terrorist group does, in fact, sell oil to Turkey. “Without even us asking the fighter directly, he admitted that the reason why it was so easy for him to cross the Turkish border and join IS was, in part, due to the fact that Turkey also benefited. When asked how, he said that Turkey gets something out of it – something such as oil.” RT was also able to speak with a Kurdish soldier in the area, who displayed a collection of passports he had gathered from the dead bodies of IS fighters. The documentary crew’s exclusive footage shows the documents of several jihadists who had come from all over the world, including countries such as Bahrain, Libya, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tunisia, and Turkey. Passports belonging to Islamic State fighters bearing stamps from Istanbul, Turkey. / RT Most of these foreign fighters seemed to have come via Turkey, as all of their passports contained entry stamps issued at Turkish border checkpoints. A YPG member also provided some photos that were retrieved from a USB drive allegedly belonging to future IS militants. One photo showed three men standing in front of the Obelisk of Theodosius, known today as Sultanahmet Meydani, a famous landmark in Istanbul. The next photo showed the three among other fellow militants somewhere in Syria – all armed and equipped. One of the IS fighters that RT interviewed revealed that there had been no border guards waiting for them when they crossed from Turkey into Syria. Islamist propaganda printed in IstanbulTurkey’s logistical support for extremist fighters trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, or at least its non-interference with their cross-border movements, has been widely reported, but little has been said about the ideological support coming from Turkish soil. Among the documents left behind by the terrorists at an IS-run hospital, RT’s crew discovered an Islamist propaganda leaflet printed in Arabic titled “How to wage a perfect battle against the criminal Assad’s regime,” which described ways to combat the Syrian government. Curiously, the brochure was printed in Turkey, with the cover openly displaying the postal address and phone number of an Istanbul printing house, supplemented by Facebook contacts. Cover of an Islamist, anti-Assad propaganda leaflet printed in Istanbul, Turkey. / RT “Many of the people spoke about the connection with Turkey. Turkey is the direct neighbor of IS. If it was willing to close the ‘connection’ between Turkey and IS, the terrorist organization could no longer survive,” the author of the RT documentary said, recalling interviews with Kurds and captured IS recruits. “If IS would stop receiving weapons, new recruits, food, and other help from Turkey, then IS would lose a big sponsor.” Turkey benefits from Islamic State because the terrorist group provides it with cheap oil and is fighting both Syria’s government and Kurdish population. This is an opinion shared by both Kurds and their mortal enemies from the jihadist organization. The IS documents obtained by RT may provide additional evidence revealing the dirty game being played by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Syria.

A world war has begun. Break the silence – John Pilger Published time: 22 Mar, 2016 21:20 Get short URL I have been filming in the Marshall Islands, which lie north of Australia, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Whenever I tell people where I have been, they ask, "Where is that?" If I offer a clue by referring to "Bikini", they say, "You mean the swimsuit."Few seem aware that the bikini swimsuit was named to celebrate the nuclear explosions that destroyed Bikini Island. Sixty-six nuclear devices were exploded by the United States in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958 – the equivalent of 1.6 Hiroshima bombs every day for twelve years. Read more © atomcentral David v Goliath: Marshall Islands take on nuclear powers at UN court Bikini is silent today, mutated and contaminated. Palm trees grow in a strange grid formation. Nothing moves. There are no birds. The headstones in the old cemetery are alive with radiation. My shoes registered "unsafe" on a Geiger counter. Standing on the beach, I watched the emerald green of the Pacific fall away into a vast black hole. This was the crater left by the hydrogen bomb they called "Bravo". The explosion poisoned people and their environment for hundreds of miles, perhaps forever. On my return journey, I stopped at Honolulu airport and noticed an American magazine called Women's Health. On the cover was a smiling woman in a bikini swimsuit, and the headline: "You, too, can have a bikini body." A few days earlier, in the Marshall Islands, I had interviewed women who had very different "bikini bodies;" each had suffered thyroid and other life-threatening cancers. Unlike the smiling woman in the magazine, all of them were impoverished: the victims and guinea pigs of a rapacious superpower that is today more dangerous than ever. I relate this experience as a warning and to interrupt a distraction that has consumed so many of us. The founder of modern propaganda, Edward Bernays, described this phenomenon as "the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the habits and opinions" of democratic societies. He called it an "invisible government". How many people are aware that a world war has begun? At present, it is a war of propaganda, of lies and distraction, but this can change instantaneously with the first mistaken order, the first missile. Read more © Edgar Su ‘Top priority’: Next-generation US nuclear submarines head Navy’s budget In 2009, President Obama stood before an adoring crowd in the centre of Prague, in the heart of Europe. He pledged himself to make "the world free from nuclear weapons". People cheered and some cried. A torrent of platitudes flowed from the media. Obama was subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It was all fake. He was lying. The Obama administration has built more nuclear weapons, more nuclear warheads, more nuclear delivery systems, more nuclear factories. Nuclear warhead spending alone rose higher under Obama than under any American president. The cost over thirty years is more than $1 trillion. A mini nuclear bomb is planned. It is known as the B61 Model 12. There has never been anything like it. General James Cartwright, a former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said, "Going smaller [makes using this nuclear] weapon more thinkable." In the last eighteen months, the greatest build-up of military forces since World War Two – led by the United States – is taking place along Russia's western frontier. Not since Hitler invaded the Soviet Union have foreign troops presented such a demonstrable threat to Russia. Ukraine – once part of the Soviet Union – has become a CIA theme park. Having orchestrated a coup in Kiev, Washington effectively controls a regime that is next door and hostile to Russia: a regime rotten with Nazis, literally. Prominent parliamentary figures in Ukraine are the political descendants of the notorious OUN and UPA fascists. They openly praise Hitler and call for the persecution and expulsion of the Russian speaking minority. This is seldom news in the West, or it is inverted to suppress the truth. In Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – next door to Russia – the US military is deploying combat troops, tanks, heavy weapons. This extreme provocation of the world's second nuclear power is met with silence in the West. What makes the prospect of nuclear war even more dangerous is a parallel campaign against China. Seldom a day passes when China is not elevated to the status of a "threat." According to Admiral Harry Harris, the US Pacific commander, China is "building a great wall of sand in the South China Sea." What he is referring to is China building airstrips in the Spratly Islands, which are the subject of a dispute with the Philippines – a dispute without priority until Washington pressured and bribed the government in Manila and the Pentagon launched a propaganda campaign called "freedom of navigation." What does this really mean? It means freedom for American warships to patrol and dominate the coastal waters of China. Try to imagine the American reaction if Chinese warships did the same off the coast of California. Read more The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) © U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kenneth Abbate US Navy deploys small armada headed by USS Stennis to South China Sea I made a film called ‘The War You Don't See,’ in which I interviewed distinguished journalists in America and Britain: reporters such as Dan Rather of CBS, Rageh Omar of the BBC, David Rose of the Observer. All of them said that had journalists and broadcasters done their job and questioned the propaganda that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction; had the lies of George W. Bush and Tony Blair not been amplified and echoed by journalists, the 2003 invasion of Iraq might not have happened, and hundreds of thousands of men, women and children would be alive today. The propaganda laying the ground for a war against Russia and/or China is no different in principle. To my knowledge, no journalist in the Western "mainstream" – a Dan Rather equivalent, say – asks why China is building airstrips in the South China Sea. The answer ought to be glaringly obvious. The United States is encircling China with a network of bases, with ballistic missiles, battle groups, nuclear-armed bombers. This lethal arc extends from Australia to the islands of the Pacific, the Marianas and the Marshalls and Guam, to the Philippines, Thailand, Okinawa, Korea and across Eurasia to Afghanistan and India. America has hung a noose around the neck of China. This is not news. Silence by media; war by media. In 2015, in high secrecy, the US and Australia staged the biggest single air-sea military exercise in recent history, known as Talisman Sabre. Its aim was to rehearse an Air-Sea Battle Plan, blocking sea lanes – such as the Straits of Malacca and the Lombok Straits – that cut off China’s access to oil, gas and other vital raw materials from the Middle East and Africa. In the circus known as the American presidential campaign, Donald Trump is being presented as a lunatic, a fascist. He is certainly odious; but he is also a media hate figure. That alone should arouse our scepticism. Read more Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump. © Joe Skipper Trump: ‘I want to get along with Russia’ Trump's views on migration are grotesque, but no more grotesque than those of David Cameron. It is not Trump who is the Great Deporter from the United States, but the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Barack Obama. According to one prodigious liberal commentator, Trump is "unleashing the dark forces of violence" in the United States. Unleashing them? This is the country where toddlers shoot their mothers and the police wage a murderous war against black Americans. This is the country that has attacked and sought to overthrow more than 50 governments, many of them democracies, and bombed from Asia to the Middle East, causing the deaths and dispossession of millions of people. No country can equal this systemic record of violence. Most of America's wars (almost all of them against defenceless countries) have been launched not by Republican presidents but by liberal Democrats: Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, Obama. In 1947, a series of National Security Council directives described the paramount aim of American foreign policy as "a world substantially made over in [America's] own image." The ideology was messianic Americanism. We were all Americans. Or else. Heretics would be converted, subverted, bribed, smeared or crushed. Donald Trump is a symptom of this, but he is also a maverick. He says the invasion of Iraq was a crime; he doesn't want to go to war with Russia and China. The danger to the rest of us is not Trump, but Hillary Clinton. She is no maverick. She embodies the resilience and violence of a system whose vaunted "exceptionalism" is totalitarian with an occasional liberal face. As presidential election day draws near, Clinton will be hailed as the first female president, regardless of her crimes and lies – just as Barack Obama was lauded as the first black president and liberals swallowed his nonsense about "hope." And the drool goes on. Read more Georges Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management © Ruben Sprich George Soros pumping millions into Democrats, alarmed by Trump’s rise Described by the Guardian columnist Owen Jones as "funny, charming, with a coolness that eludes practically every other politician,” Obama the other day sent drones to slaughter 150 people in Somalia. He kills people usually on Tuesdays, according to the New York Times, when he is handed a list of candidates for death by drone. So cool. In the 2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton threatened to "totally obliterate" Iran with nuclear weapons. As Secretary of State under Obama, she participated in the overthrow of the democratic government of Honduras. Her contribution to the destruction of Libya in 2011 was almost gleeful. When the Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi, was publicly sodomised with a knife – a murder made possible by American logistics – Clinton gloated over his death: "We came, we saw, he died." One of Clinton's closest allies is Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of State, who has attacked young women for not supporting "Hillary." This is the same Madeleine Albright who infamously celebrated on TV the death of half a million Iraqi children as "worth it". Among Clinton's biggest backers are the Israel lobby and the arms companies that fuel the violence in the Middle East. She and her husband have received a fortune from Wall Street. And yet, she is about to be ordained the women's candidate, to see off the evil Trump, the official demon. Her supporters include distinguished feminists: the likes of Gloria Steinem in the US and Anne Summers in Australia. A generation ago, a post-modern cult now known as "identity politics" stopped many intelligent, liberal-minded people examining the causes and individuals they supported, such as the fakery of Obama and Clinton; such as bogus progressive movements like Syriza in Greece, which betrayed the people of that country and allied with their enemies. Self-absorption, a kind of "me-ism", became the new zeitgeist in privileged western societies and signaled the demise of great collective movements against war, social injustice, inequality, racism and sexism. Today, the long sleep may be over. The young are stirring again. Gradually. The thousands in Britain who supported Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader are part of this awakening – as are those who rallied to support Senator Bernie Sanders. In Britain last week, Jeremy Corbyn's closest ally, his shadow treasurer John McDonnell, committed a Labour government to pay off the debts of piratical banks and, in effect, to continue so-called austerity. Read more Democratic U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton (L) and Bernie Sanders. © Mike Segar Hillary and Bernie, it’s time to start talking foreign policy In the US, Bernie Sanders has promised to support Clinton if or when she's nominated. He, too, has voted for America's use of violence against countries when he thinks it is "right." He says Obama has done "a great job." In Australia, there is a kind of mortuary politics, in which tedious parliamentary games are played out in the media while refugees and Indigenous people are persecuted and inequality grows, along with the danger of war. The government of Malcolm Turnbull has just announced a so-called defence budget of $195 billion that is a drive to war. There was no debate. Silence. What has happened to the great tradition of popular direct action, unfettered to parties? Where is the courage, imagination and commitment required to begin the long journey to a better, just and peaceful world? Where are the dissidents in art, film, the theatre, literature? Where are those who will shatter the silence? Or do we wait until the first nuclear missile is fired? This is an edited version of an address by John Pilger at the University of Sydney, entitled ‘A World War Has Begun.’ JohnPilger.com - the films and journalism of John Pilger

The truth behind Brussels attacks After France, simultaneous attacks targeting Belgium have claimed almost 40 lives, with around 200 injured people. The attacks targeted Zavantem International Airport and Maalbeek metro station. Wednesday, March 23, 2016 11:20 AM NEWS DESK - ANF - ULAŞ ÖMER DEMİR After France, simultaneous attacks targeting Belgium have claimed almost 40 lives, with around 200 injured people. The attacks targeted Zavantem International Airport and Maalbeek metro station. The security alarm in the country have been raised to the maximum level. The attack was claimed by ISIS, but considering the scope, attacks of this extent are extremely hard without aid from any country. Two weeks before the attacks, following the EU-Turkey refugee deal, on March 8 a committee consisting of Belgium’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders, Minister of Interior Jan Jambon, Minister of Justice Koen Geens and Minister of Asylum and Migration Theo Francken visited Turkey. The Belgian committee met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Interior Efkan Ala and Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ from the Turkish committee before the Turkey-Belgium Ministers of Foreing Affairs, Justice and Interior Affairs meeting on March 9. The main agenda of the meeting was sharing information on ISIS recruits from Belgium and the joint efforts of police forces regarding common finger print databases. The Belgian committee knew going in to the meeting that the Turkish side would put the Kurds in Belgium and their institutions. The Belgian committee wanted to reach an agreement on sharing information on 1224 Belgian nationals with relations to ISIS. Thinking they would reach said agreement with minor compromises regarding Kurds, the Belgian committee withdrew from the meeting when the Turkish side raised difficulties. The reason for the withdrawal was Turkish committee insisting on the arrest of Kurdish politicians (several politicians including Kongra Gel President Remzi Kartal, KCK Executive Council Member Zübeyr Aydar) in Belgium, their return to Turkey and the shutting down of Kurdish institutions (KNK, foundations and Kurdish press institutions). Pointing out that these requests would mean breaking their own laws, the Belgian committee withdrew from the agreement when the Turkish committee made the agreement harder at the last minute. Minister of Asylum and Migration Theo Francken’s party NVA had the following statement on their website regarding the meeting: “The information provided by our side can be used against the Kurdish people, we cannot take this risk as it can be used with the intention of oppressing the Kurdish people.” Francken also pointed out that they made a choice of principle by withdrawing from the agreement, which hinted that they were facing a Turkish committee with no regard to principles or law. Before these meetings, the Kurds in Belgium put up a tent, with permission from Belgian authorities, in front of the European Council building in Brussels to draw attention to Turkey’s massacres in Kurdistan. The Kurdish people wanted to draw both European and Belgian authorities’ attention to the massacres in Kurdistan with this action. But failing to get what they wanted from the Belgian committee, Erdoğan and the AKP started pushing news that there was a “PKK Tent in front of the European Parliament” from their own visual and printed media. Despite the targeting, Belgian authorities didn’t intervene with the Kurds’ tent. First, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu targeted the Kurds’ tent and said it was a challenge to Turkey. Then Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan in a statement on March 18 said, “It may not mean much to you to watch the bombs exploding in Turkey from television screens. When the same bombs start to explode in your cities, you will definitely know what we feel. But then it will be too late. There is no reason that this bomb won’t explode in Brussels where terror sympathisers are allowed to put on a show in the middle of the city, or in any other city in EU.” Following Erdoğan’s threat, the tent Kurds put up in front of the European Council was burned down by a group of fascists in the night of March 19. The burning of the tent in Europe’s capital, so easily and in a place covered inch by inch by cameras, and the failure to determine the perpetrators created questions. Reports say the police have told the Kurds on duty in the tent at night that they didn’t need to stay in the tent and the security of the place was in the police’s hands. The tent is attacked after the two guards leave, in the most protected part of Europe, and the attackers can not be caught. The attackers are yet to be apprehended, although they have taken selfies in the tent they burned and shared them on social media. Despite the tent being burned down, the Kurds continued their demonstration in front of the European Council. And the tent was targeted by AKP media once again. On the day of the attack in Belgium, March 22, 2016, AKP newspaper Star came out with the headline, “Terrorist Belgium”. The AKP newspaper the tent was repaired, Öcalan posters were put up again and the police was protecting the demonstrators, thus putting the tent in target again. It is not a coincidence that Belgium’s Zavantem International Airport and Maalbeek metro station are targeted simultaneously on the day Star came out with the headline “Terrorist Belgium” and right after Erdoğan threatened Belgium on March 18. It is a clear indication that Erdoğan, not getting the support he wants against the Kurdish people and the PKK, will not refrain from committing massacres in Europe’s capital Brussels, like the ones committed in Cizre and Sur.

It seems to me that nothing substantial was accomplished. Obama merely reiterated what most people think anyway which is that the blockade is crap (and always was). There was no committment about returning the illegally occupied Guantanamo Bay. Given that the President of Venezuela had just completed a visit, it would have been nice to hear a rational statement about that from Obama. Just PR. Time will tell if anything meaningful comes from this.

Saturday, March 19, 2016 4:50 PM BEHDINAN - ANF KCK (Kurdistan Communities' Union) Executive Council Co-Presidency issued a written statement on the blast that occurred near the Beyoğlu Governorate and the riot police stationed in front of the governorate in Istanbul earlier today. Quoting Turkish media and officials' statements, KCK noted that one assailant and 4 other people died during the attack, and the attacker’s identity and affiliation remain unknown. KCK emphasized that it is against the targeting of civilians, and condemned attacks that are carried out in this way. The Co-Presidency also offered condolences and well wishes to the families of the civilians massacred in Istanbul. Kurdistan Communities' Union stated that it has been insisting on a democratic political resolution of the Kurdish question since its guerrilla struggle began in 1984, noting that the AKP government sabotaged the democratic solution of the Kurdish issue and attempted to crush the Kurdish Freedom Movement. KCK recalled that the Kurdish people’s resistance for self-administration emerged as a response to the ongoing dirty war in Kurdistan and the AKP’s refusal to solve the issue through democratic politics. The Co-Presidency highlighted Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan’s decisions to refuse the peace declaration made by state and HDP officials on February 28, 2015 and Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s call for a peaceful solution; and to heavily isolate Öcalan, who has been viewed as the most reasonable political actor in the resolution of the Kurdish issue, since April 5, 2015. The statement also recalled the AKP’s invalidation of June 7 elections and the launch of an all-out war against Kurdish people on July 24, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of people including soldiers, police officers and PKK guerrillas. In its statement, KCK emphasized that it does not prefer war to peace, and described the massacre of civilians as a crime that the KCK firmly stands against. The Co-Presidency recalled its dedication to abide by the Geneva Convention on War and stated that the guerrillas of the Kurdish freedom struggle would continue to act within the boundaries of this convention. KCK said that unlike the Turkish state that continues to commit serious war crimes, it would pay utmost attention in order to prevent damage to civilians during the on-going war. WE MUST OPPOSE CIVILIAN MASSACRES NO MATTER WHO PERPETRATES THEM KCK called upon everyone to oppose civilian massacres no matter who perpetrates them, and condemned Turkish politicians and media outlets for their selective approach that ignores the Turkish forces’ massacre of hundreds of civilians including children, women and the elderly. The Co-Presidency described the silence on Turkish forces’ massacre of hundreds of civilians as political immorality, and called upon everyone to stand up against all civilian massacres. KCK noted that the murder of civilians should not be normalized, and invited international powers to stop having double standards and object to civilian massacres no matter who perpetrates them. The Co-Presidency reminded that Newroz currently celebrated in Kurdistan and the Middle East represented the people’s resistance against cruelty. KCK called upon political powers in Turkey to take a step for the solution of the Kurdish issue and the democratization of Turkey, and announce the beginning of a ceasefire that would end the isolation of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan and enable the healthy political negotiation of the issue. Lastly, KCK stated that the democratic solution of the issue with the spirit of Newroz would bring about people’s solidarity and a free and democratic life in Turkey and the Middle East.

Turkish army commits massacre by chemical gas against civilian in Kurdish city 19.03.2016 22:04 News Turkish army has commited chemical massacre in Gever (Kurdish city on Turkey-Iran border). At least 40 civilian have been killed by chemical Gas which Tukish Army used it to attack the people at the city who are refusing Turkish army existing in their city . One person talked to Dijla Agency (Diclehaber) and told them 40 person have been killed and the other people in the city are facing the death after the chemical attack. It is worth to be mentioned, Turkish army has started a big campaign against Kurdish people in Bakur (east south Turkey) to defeat their uprising against Turkish authorities.

#JusticeForKurds

I cannot understanding what the issue is. ? Ed. Snowden, McAffey and above, for example, have explained that the FBI ( or anyone else ) should have no difficulty in breaking in to the phone. If that is so, Apple, the FBI, the DoJ, and all silent bodies, and opportunistic individuals are being disingenious and or revealing a disturbing ignorance. If their business is business. ? : Leonid Bershidsky : "Apple's righteous fight for its customers is generating ... favourable publicity".

15 March 2016 by Memed Aksoy Recently I appeared for the second time on Russia Today's 'Sputnik Orbiting The World' hosted by George Galloway and Gayatri Galloway. This time our topic of discussion was centred around Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's tightening grip on power, tensions and struggle between the government and the Gülen Movement, freedom of expression, media and judiciary and the war on the Kurds. Once again due to time constraints not everything that was necessary to complete the discussion was said. I would like to add some notes to the discussion, which you can watch at this link or at the bottom of the page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The most important point to add to the discussion is that there are currently two camps in Turkey; one camp is the Erdogan and AKP government camp, which includes the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and large sections of the co-opted Republican People's Party (CHP) as well as conservative, neo-liberal, right-wing circles outside parliament. This camp's character is statist, nationalist, Islamist and authoritarian and its aim to get Turkey through the next 5-7 years with the state, status-quo and its borders intact regardless of any cost. The second camp, which is much smaller is headed ideologically by imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and politically by Selahattin Demirtas and includes the Kurdish movement, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), socialist and leftist parties and groups in Turkey and North Kurdistan and certain social democrat, labour and minority groups in Turkish society. This camp's character is based on democratising and strengthening society, weakening the centralised state and building local democratic structures for regional autonomy to resolve Turkey's longstanding Kurdish question as well as other deep-rooted issues. Making this distinction in the light of recent developments - the declaration of the Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement, the Ankara bomb and Turkey's continued attacks on Kurdish towns within Turkey and also across the border in Rojava - is important because these two camps represent the fundamental contradiction in Turkey, not Erdogan and Gülen. But Erdogan's rhetoric has also escalated the polarisation and dichotomy that has been formed. Increasingly his rhetoric has echoed George W. Bush's "war on terror - us against them" rhetoric before the invasion of Iraq and we all know how that turned out. Unfortunately, now more than ever Turkey is faced with the danger of civil war and it is the policies of the government and president that has created the current crisis. It is questionable whether Erdogan and the AKP ever had the intention of resolving the Kurdish question or writing up a new constitution, as they have been in power for 14 years and are yet to do either. What is for sure is that their time and credit has run out, because for the Kurds and democracy forces of Turkey who have been waiting for almost 100 years, now is a historic moment. It will either bring about lasting change in the region and strengthen a secular, leftist, democratic movement that can go on to play an active part in the politics of the Turkey or it will consolidate the AKP's historical political line, which will continue meaning an attack on freedoms, democracy and human rights. The EU, US and other powers will not intervene or be overly critical of Erdogan and the Turkish government in the coming months or year. Although they are not very happy with Erdogan's performance and intermittent outbursts targeting them, they will try to keep him onside for as long as possible. I believe Erdogan knows he has lost their support and this is why he has turned his attention to crushing the opposition within Turkey and North Kurdistan. He believes that he will be able to stay in power electorally if he controls public perception and opinion using the media and silences dissent using the judiciary and military. But the history of Turkey and world governments tells us that this is not necessarily the case. If the 'superpowers' do decide to get rid of Erdogan and he is weakened enough to achieve this, then a very difficult time will be on the cards for the 'neo-sultan' of Turkey. Some quarters are even saying Erdogan could find himself at the International Criminal Court, to be tried for war crimes against Kurds and in Syria. Dare I say we have crossed a line recently and there is no turning back, this may be a fight to the death.

AlphaGo wins game 5. Stunning. As commentator said, a new era for GO is ushered in.

Creative Genius Lee beats AlphaGo Game 4. edit add : 5 min replay. Watch for move 78. edit add 2 : Just a thought. I was pondering Lee's second game opening , noting how his first two moves were kind of skewed symmetrically and later after the third how the only point on the board that doesn't have a mirror is the centre point. A story goes how Japanese players realised this a long time ago and an ambassador to the Chinese court was able to use that to advantage. Now the break point is move 78 to which AlphaGo responded with a stone in the centre point. Apparently that was a mistake that led to defeat. Could it be that it exposes a flaw in AlphaGo? edit add 3 : If AlphaGo plays better as white, how would AlphaGo respond to a first play by black in the center?

12.03.2016 14:22 Headline, News 12.03.2016 14:22 Headline, News NEWS DESK – 10 revolutionary organisations from Kurdistan and Turkey have announced the establishment of Peoples’ United Revolutionary Movement as a unity of force and action formed in the wake of discussions ongoing since December. Representatives of 10 revolutionary organisations attended a joint press meeting in guerrilla zones to announce their alliance with the purpose of stepping up the revolution in all areas including armed struggle against the “collaborative fascist AKP and TC (Turkish Republic) system of sovereignty”. Speaking here before the press release, PKK Executive Committee Member Duran Kalkan listed the names of the following revolutionary organisations from Turkey and Kurdistan that got united to defeat fascism and become a glimmer of hope for peoples; TKP/ML, PKK, THKP-C/MLSPB, MKP, TKEP-LENİNİST, TİKB, DKP, DEVRÎMCÎ KARARGAH and MLKP. While Proletarian Revolutionary Coordination also joins the United Revolutionary Movement, Resurrection Movement has voiced favorable opinion to join the association. Kalkan said this unity of revolutionary forces has been formed to accomplish revolution against the AKP that is trying to establish a new fascist dictatorship by restoring the fascist military coups of 12 March and 12 September. He pointed out that the Peoples’ United Revolutionary Movement has also been announced on 12 March at the 45th anniversary of 12 March 1971’s fascist military coup, 21st anniversary of 12 March 1995 Gazi massacre, and 12th anniversary of 12 March 2004 Qamishlo massacre. Kalkan continued, inviting all those revolutionary organisations and societal circles that want to fight fascism to join the joint struggle. Kalkan’s speech was followed by the read-out of the joint declaration in Turkish and Kurdish, which called attention to the ongoing crisis and war in the Middle East that threatens the whole humanity. Stressing that the AKP government took part in one of the dirtiest alliances formed by regional and international powers in this bloody war, the joint declaration pointed to the all-out war the AKP is waging against all the peoples and opposition groups in the country today, with especially the Kurdish people suffering a massacre under tank and artillery fire targeting their ancient living areas. “The Turkish Republic is trying hard to establish a one-party dictatorship and suppress the entire opposition by gathering behind itself all the traditional, modern, reactionary and fascist powers of the system of sovereignty. This bloody and fascist alliance is being sustained over enmity against Kurds today. The heavy destruction, pain and exploitation created by regional powers has brought the revolutionary state to maturity and paved the way for Peoples’ United Revolutionary Movement. Defending and progressing the Rojava revolution, Kurdish resistance for self-rule and United Revolutionary Struggle of our peoples means defending the life safety and future of all the oppressed, laborers, intellectuals, democrats and all the people. No social circle in Turkey has a safe future within this system as all opposition powers are under attack. If the Kurdish resistance for self-rule gets broken, the AKP government will suppress the entire opposition in Turkey with blood in the same aggressiveness and cruelty. The future of progressive, revolutionary and pro-labor circles in Turkey is therefore intertwined with the future of the Kurdish resistance”, the declaration said. The statement underlined that Peoples’ United Revolutionary Movement aims to attain democracy and free future for peoples against imperialism, capitalism, chauvinism, fascism and racism, by considering the overthrow of the fascist AKP ruling with all its social bases through popular revolution as essential. Peoples’ United Revolutionary Movement called upon everyone harmed by fascism and reactionism, mainly women, youth and workers to get organised, united and fight for freedom, democracy and fraternity of peoples.

If you watch the above game on youtube (recommended) you'll find links to the other games + commentaries. Looks like this will revolutionise the the game. AlphaGo does not get tired or emotional. It pedantically zips through possibilities, giving an appearance of intelligence. This superior reach is introducing moves that will be studied and likely dramatically change the way humans will play the game, significantly at least at the top level. I wonder if the game should be played with no time restrictions at all for a human to have a chance. Also should Lee at this point have a handicap. What are the implications in game play, politics, economics, the art of war, the study of history, sociology . . . ?

Thanks' Norman. ______________ Wow - Amazing - this'll be studied for years. I understand Lee is 9 Dan. I wonder if AlphaGo wins three in a row whether Lee'll get a handicap. Game 1 AlphaGo wins Start at 28 minutes:

imo: you're all right ( and wrong ). It's a matter of perspective. From a left revolutionary pov the right position is that ultimately any position that accepts that a capitalist system can be reformed in favour of people rather than profits is wrong and to the right of left. Within the bubble of capitalism there is a spectrum of left and right. Anyone within that bubble is to the right of a left outside of it. On the far right is fascism which is usually thought of as outside by people in the bubble while it actually is the last bulwark against communism by capital which is why bigots like Trump, Erdogan, Thatcher, Pinochet, the Kiev clique etc etc are acceptable. In the revolutionary left, there is also left and right. Anarchism, to the borders of democratic socialism. I consider myself a revolutionary centrist. Of course, I consider myself right and other positions to be wrong. When all is said and done, what's left is humanism.

Celebrating International Womens Day in Kurdistan Turkish jets target civilian villages in Qandil https://t.co/xGGlqyTfh1 Rojava Defense Units ‏@DefenseUnits Mar 9 Rojava Defense Units Retweeted Rêdûr Xelîl On March 8 in #Aleppo, opposition groups utilized chemical agents in their attacks on #SheikhMaqsoud neighborhood: Sputnik Verified account ‏@SputnikInt Mar 8 White phosphorus used in jihadist attack on #Kurdish-controlled area - #YPG http://sptnkne.ws/aNwg Sputnik Verified account ‏@SputnikInt Mar 2 Thousands of #Kurds have been killed in Sur region during #Turkey's crackdown on #PKK http://sptnkne.ws/aKvP 'We want to convey our views on peace negotiation at the Geneva III' 09:45 09/03/2016 3İlham Ehmed, co-chair of the Assembly of Democratic Syria (DSM) talked about Syrian Civil War peace conference (Geneva III) which has been delayed many times. İlhami said that women want to attend ... ARTE documentary on Kurdish woman fighters on Women’s Day QSD fighters to liberate Mekmen, ISIS’ last base between Raqq and Cezîre‘Burned to death, beheaded’: Cizre Kurds accuse Erdogan’s forces of civilian massacre (RT EXCLUSIVE)

Turkey Helps Terrorist Take Chemical Weapons to Syria: YPGThursday 10 March 2016 Turkey Helps Terrorist Take Chemical Weapons to Syria: YPG Alwaght- Turkey provided a clear transit route for the chemical weapons that were deployed against Syrian Kurds near the city of Aleppo on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Kurdish YPG militia says. In an interview with RT, Redur Xelil, Syrian anti-government militants “took advantage of the ceasefire” to launch attacks against a Kurdish-controlled area near Aleppo in northern Syria. According to Xelil, the shells emitted an “unnatural smell” and “yellow smoke” upon impact, indicating that chemical weapons were involved. “Our sources inside the rebel groups have confirmed that toxic substances were used. We also have verified information that sarin gas was delivered to them from Turkey. All signs point to the fact that these factions were using banned weapons, but we cannot access the launching area, as it is located on the front between the Turkish and rebel forces,” Xelil added. Kurdish deputies in the Turkish parliament have previously accused Ankara of supplying ISIS and other terrorist groups inside Syria with chemical weapons, which are used both in their fight against the Syrian government and to pin responsibility for their deployment on the government of President Bashar Assad. Tuesday’s attack, which also involved phosphorus, did not result in any severe casualties. “This attack was a failure, but this doesn’t mean that there won’t be another one. We are convinced the enemy has shells containing improvised shells containing phosphorus and sarin gas,” said Xelil. Early January a senior Russian diplomat said it is highly likely that the ISIS Takfiri terrorists are using chemical weapons in Syria, state media report. Mikhail Ulyanov, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for non-proliferation and arms control said an investigation must be launched into claims that Turkey sends possible supplies of sarin components to Syria, citing proof provided by a Turkish lawmaker lawmaker Eren Erdem of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Erdem said ISIS terrorists in Syria were behind a 2013 chemical attack, and that they received materials required to produce the deadly sarin gas through Turkey.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016 12:15 PM STRASBOURG - ANF - HÜSEYİN ELMALI HDP Urfa deputy Osman Baydemir, Batman deputy Ali Atalan and HDP European Parliament Representative Faik Yağızay held a press conference in the EP together with the Left Group. Marie-Christine Vergiat from the Kurdish Friendship Group in the European Parliament, Takis Hadjigeorgiou, co-chair of the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, and Spanish MP Miguel Urban Crespo also attended the press conference which called upon the European Union and other European institutions to take action against the Turkish state massacres in North Kurdistan. Speaking here, HDP Urfa MP Osman Baydemir called attention to the genocidal attacks conducted by AKP forces against Kurdish population, describing the situation as a "state of war violating human rights". Baydemir recalled that more than 650 civilian people were killed and 450 thousand forcibly displaced during the past 10 months under the name of "counter-terrorism". Drawing attention to the ongoing artillery and tank strikes against the living areas of civilian population, Baydemir stressed that the European Parliament, European Union and other institutions should urgently visit the Kurdish region and witness the destruction on the ground. He added that independent press members are not allowed to cover the ongoing conflict in the region, while perpetrators are being granted impunity. Baydemir emphasised that Europe should take initiative for the re-beginning of a ceasefire and talks for negotiations, and avoid giving into Erdoğan's blackmail on refugees. Speaking after, Takis Hadjigeorgiou, co-chair of the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, stated that; “The ceasefire process was important to the European Parliament for it stopped the bloodshed as negotiations between two sides continued. When we went to the mainly Kurdish region, governors, especially that of Diyarbakır, rejected our demand for a meeting with their side despite the fact that the Kurdish question can be resolved only through negotiations.” Spanish MP Miguel Urban Crespo told the followings regarding his observations during the course of their visit in North Kurdistan; “The city of Diyarbakır was being shaken by the sounds of artillery strikes. This is not a normal situation but truly a state of war. Municipality administrators, workers, politicians and everyone we talked to are under a great pressure.” Speaking after, Marie-Christine Vergiat, President of the Kurdish Friendship Group in the European Parliament, also called attention to the massacres committed by the AKP against Kurdish people, saying; “What we saw and learned show that the state doesn't respect the laws of war, let alone human rights.”

I appreciate the input. I still wouldn't let size of book or quality of pen man ship stand in the way. I read the second part and appreciated the conclusion. That's close to what I'd say is balanced. Later