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June 1, 2016

Isis, Isil, IS or Daesh? - has journalistic quest for sensationalism glorified these "Crapules" ?

Daesh executions - a daily ritual
The western corporate owned press, obsessed by sensationalism to meet their profit motives has been going overboard in publicizing the exploits of a band of, nothing less than derelict, deranged murderers, who have killed thousands of innocent people, including their own, by terrorist acts, and plain brutal murder.

In this process of extremely poor journalism, a large number of press outlets have indirectly glorified this bunch of brutal  murderers, their followers and ideology,  by giving them a variety of  names, including, but not limited to -  Isis to Isil, IS and  Daesh.

Maybe the worst thing the Press did was naming the land occupied  by this band of  killers, the "Islamic State".

You don't need to be Einstein to understand that these swatches of land are not a state, will never be a state, and have very little to do with Islam.

"Daesh" (or Da'ish) is probably a far better name to call this group of murderers.

 Both in the Middle East and further afield, it has been used as a way of challenging the legitimacy of the group, due to the negative connotations of the word.

Daesh is essentially an Arabic acronym formed from the initial letters of the group's previous name in Arabic - "al-Dawla al-Islamiya fil Iraq wa al-Sham".

Although it does not mean anything as a word in Arabic, it sounds unpleasant, and the group's supporters object to its use.

Daesh also sounds similar to an Arabic verb that means to tread underfoot, trample down, or crush something.

So if  one feels the need to identify this group of terrorists, please use the name  "Daesh", or you can also simply call them "les Crapules", as the French like to call them.

 EU-Digest.

May 31, 2016

The Netherlands: Dutch debtors to get 6 month payment break - by Janene Pieters

The Netherlands plans to give people who are deeply in debt a six month break in which they don’t have to make payments, won’t get reminders for payments and won’t get a visit from a bailiff, State Secretary Jetta Klijnsma of Social Affairs and Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice announced on Tuesday, NU reports.

With this break the government wants to give debtors the opportunity to catch their breath, create some order and make a plan to pay off their debt. During the six month period, income above the minimum standard will still be put aside for eventual debt repayment.

The government hopes to implement the measure by January 1st next year. The proposal was drawn up in consultation with debt relief association NVVK, bailiffs, the association of Dutch municipalities VNG and the four major cities.

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, long insisted that a plan be made to give people in debt a breather. The ChristenUnie and the CDA eventually gave up on waiting for the State Secretary and submitted their own legislative proposal. But during a Kamer debate last month, Klijnsma promised to set up a proposal as soon as possible.

Read more: Dutch debtors to get 6 month payment break - NL Times

May 30, 2016

EU-Russia: Juncker's Attendance of SPIEF Sign to Begin EU-Russia Dialogue

It is high time for reconcilliation
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s attendance of the upcoming St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is a sign that the EU is ready to begin dialogue with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

Peskov said, however, that Juncker’s visit to St. Petersburg would not mean an immediate thaw in relations as time is needed to rebuild trust.

“Yes, Mr. Juncker’s arrival is expected and we’re preparing for this. Overall the issue of relations between Russia and the European Union is extremely important for the Russian Federation. [Relations] aren’t currently at their best,” Peskov told journalists.

Russia’s relations with the European Union will be discussed during a special session at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum (SPIEF) organized by the Valdai discussion club.

The SPIEF is an international economic and business event, which attracts politicians, entrepreneurs, scientists and media from all over the world to discuss the most significant issues for Russia and the global community. The next SPIEF forum is scheduled for June 16-18.

Note EU-Digest: Compliments to Jean-Claude Juncker - Obviously the US does not like for the EU to decide about its own destiny, specially when it comes to foreign policy and military activities, regardless of all the mess it brought the EU in so far - Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and the refugee crises. It is high time the EU considers it's own interests first - improving relations with Russia on our own continent should certainly be a major priority.

Read more: Juncker's Attendance of SPIEF Sign to Begin EU-Russia Dialogue - Kremlin

May 29, 2016

TTIP-EU-USA- Obama’s Push for a New Transatlantic Relationship ( "with many flaws") - by Judy Dempsey

"TTIP not as good as being advertised"
U.S. President Barack Obama has only nine months left in office. He now seems a man in a hurry. During his visit to Europe on April 21–25, he made a big pitch for the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which would radically change the functioning of trade between European and U.S. companies.

Speaking in the German city of Hannover, where he opened one of the world’s biggest trade fairs, he told German Chancellor Angela Merkel and scores of leading company executives how time was slipping by to clinch this trade deal. “If we don’t complete negotiations this year, then upcoming political transitions in the United States and Europe would mean this agreement won’t be finished for quite some time,” he said.


Obama’s pitch is long overdue. TTIP is not only about establishing a trade deal that would set crucial standards for how business is conducted. It is also about underpinning if not reviving the West’s liberal economic order, which is coming under massive pressure from Russia and particularly China.

After annexing Crimea in 2014 and later invading parts of eastern Ukraine, Russia is now meddling in Europe through a sophisticated propaganda campaign that does everything to publicize populist and Euroskeptic movements and anti-U.S. sentiments.

Russia is doing everything possible to rattle NATO weeks before the alliance holds a summit in Warsaw, where it will discuss how to improve the security of its Eastern members in the face of increasing Russian intimidation.

Europe’s divisions over refugees and TTIP also play into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A weakened Europe and a weakened transatlantic relationship are to Russia’s benefit. And to China’s.
Second only to the United States in terms of economic power, China is making a big bid to set new trading standards through its sheer size and political ambitions. Beijing’s huge investments in Africa and Latin America are about seeking allies to assert its authority and influence on the global stage.

That is why TTIP matters. If the deal does not go ahead, the West will have lost a major chance to regain its influence and set trading standards for the coming decades. Above all, Europe and the United States will have lost the opportunity to build a new transatlantic relationship, as the old one, built from the carnage of World War II, increasingly lacks the strategic importance and direction that it once had.

Despite the political and strategic significance of TTIP, European leaders have shied away from speaking out in favor of the deal. Merkel has rarely weighed in on an issue that has so far been successfully hijacked by a highly organized anti-TTIP campaign, not just in Germany but across Europe. Hours before Obama’s arrival in Hannover, tens of thousands of people demonstrated against TTIP.

Critics of TTIP insist that only big corporations will be the winners, that the United States will reap most of the benefits, and that consumers across Europe will be affected by lower standards when it comes to food protection and social issues.

Tell that to Germany’s Mittelstand, the medium-sized companies that are the backbone of the country’s economy. The German mechanical engineering industry, for example, ships more than €16 billion ($18 billion) of goods each year to the United States.

But don’t think a gadget made in Germany can be sold in its original form to a U.S. retailer. “We have to replace our EU plugs with US plugs, even though they essentially look the same, have the same safety characteristics and perform the same function,” said Carl Martin Welcker, vice president of the German Mechanical Engineering Industry and managing partner of Alfred H. Schütte, a machine tool factory.

“We are not just talking about plugs. We use the metric system to standardise our threads, whereas the USA measures in inches – so we have to change the threads in certain safety pipes,” he added. “The EU and the USA even have different requirements when it comes to the content of operating instructions. We end up producing the same machine twice, only differently. We have to buy materials twice, store materials twice. Machines have to be tested twice and approved twice.”

Just imagine the extra costs if a European company wants to enter and compete in the U.S. market. TTIP would do away with these different standards, in turn creating more jobs for European companies—and cutting production costs. These benefits are rarely articulated, just as the long-term strategic implications of TTIP are almost never discussed.

Instead, TTIP has become associated with populist, Euroskeptic, and antiglobalization movements. And there is more than a tinge of anti-Americanism, as Obama surely sensed during his visit to London on April 22–24. Indeed, his public support for Britain to remain in the EU and his pleading for European leaders to support TTIP were really about the United States wanting a stronger Europe and a revitalized transatlantic relationship.

Unless there is a major shift across Europe in the coming months, Obama’s bid to clinch what would be a historic trade deal will elude him. Russia and China will no doubt be relieved.



Note EU-Digest: The above report in favor of the TTIP , put together by a a US Democratic Party supported Think-Tank also contains some major omissions which are not in favor of this TTIP. 


These include:


The disappearance of jobs in some sectors

Increased international competition will lead to fewer jobs in some sectors. Research has shown, for example, that jobs will be lost among producers and exporters of machinery and meat. The Netherlands is looking for ways to compensate for job losses. The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation is consulting the trade unions on this issue.

TTIP must not have a negative impact on our European social model. The government seeks to safeguard labour relations and terms of employment in the Netherlands. The government has asked the Social and Economic Council (SER) for advice on protecting labour standards in TTIP.

Concerns about lower standards

There are concerns that TTIP will lead to lower European standards. Like standards on food safety, the environment, privacy and labour conditions. TTIP’s benefits must not be brought about at the expense of people, animals and the environment. The Netherlands and the EU want to see firm guarantees to this effect in the agreement. See What guarantees does the EU want to see in TTIP?

Concerns about TTIP’s impact on low- and middle-income countries

TTIP could have an adverse impact on some low- and middle-income countries and their products. Yet TTIP’s benefits for these countries seem to outweigh the disadvantages. Higher economic growth in the US and the EU means, for example, more market opportunities for other countries, including poorer ones. The agreement should also make it easier for developing countries to export to the EU and the US.

The economic benefits of TTIP must not be enjoyed at the expense of low- and middle-income countries. The Netherlands believes that the agreement must offer just as many benefits to these countries, too. It has consistently called for a focus on these countries’ interests. The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation has commissioned a thorough study of TTIP’s impact on them. 

Concerns that companies will be able to do as they please

Some civil society organisations are concerned that the investment protection provided by TTIP will give companies too much power. They fear it will limit governments’ democratic scope to make laws and regulations. This is known as the regulatory chill effect. Foreign investors that feel they 
have been disadvantaged can, for example, challenge a government decision

The Netherlands and the EU want to see a chapter on investment protection in TTIP that will prevent this from happening. That can be achieved by setting clear rules for conflicts between governments and investors. TTIP presents an opportunity to improve the traditional system of investment protection. The European Commission and the Netherlands are pressing for balanced system of investment protection that precludes abuse.

Read more: Obama’s Push for a New Transatlantic Relationship - Carnegie Europe - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

May 28, 2016

Turkey- Erdogan condemns US support of Kurdish militias in Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday condemned the United States' support of Kurdish fighters in Syria after AFP pictures revealed US commandos wearing the insignia of a militia branded a terror group by Ankara.

"The support they give to... the YPG (militia)... I condemn it," said Erdogan. "Those who are our friends, who are with us in NATO... cannot, must not send their soldiers to Syria wearing YPG insignia."

Erdogan's comments came after an AFP photographer captured images of US troops in Syria wearing insignia of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

Ankara regards the YPG as a terror group, accusing it of carrying out attacks inside Turkey and being the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for over three decades.

"The PKK, the PYD, the YPG, Daesh (Islamic State), there is no difference. They are all terrorists," Erdogan said.

It had long been public knowledge that around 200 US commandos are in northern Syria helping local militia target the Islamic State extremist group's de facto capital Raqa and guiding in coalition air strikes.

Erdogan, speaking in the majority Kurdish city Diyarbakir, accused the US of being dishonest because of its support for the militia and its political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

"I believe that politics should be exercised with honesty," he said.

The US. seeking to avoid a rift with ally Turkey, swiftly announced Friday that special operations troops in northern Syria would henceforth stop wearing the badge of the YPG guerrillas.

However the State Department played down the spat, insisting that Washington and Ankara remain close partners in the broader fight against the Islamic State, despite disagreements about the role of the YPG.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the United States of "hypocrisy" and "double standards" and said the American soldiers might just as well have worn the logo of Al-Qaeda, the IS group or Boko Haram.

The United States has blacklisted the PKK as a "foreign terrorist organisation" but regards its Syrian-based sister group the PYG as a useful ally in the face of the Islamic State threat.

Read more: Flash - Erdogan condemns US support of Kurdish militias in Syria - France 24

May 27, 2016

Greece: Putin Arrives In Greece On First Visit To EU This Year

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Greece on his first visit to the European Union this year as the bloc weighs whether to extend sanctions against Russia amid continuing tensions over Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.

Putin arrived in Athens on May 27 to begin a two-day visit. He is due to meet Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for energy and investment talks later in the day.

Putin's visit -- his first to the EU since December -- comes as the bloc's leaders are to discuss next month whether to renew sanctions on Russia's banking, defense, and energy sectors that expire in July.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on May 27 that the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) economic powers have agreed that sanctions imposed against Russia over its actions in Ukraine must be extended next month.

“The G7 has agreed on the vital importance of sanctions rollover in June,” Cameron said following a two-day G7 summit in Japan. “Ukraine is the victim of Russian-backed aggression. We must never forget that fact.”
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on May 27 floated the possibility of a "step-by-step" reduction of EU sanctions against Russia if there is progress on implementing peace accords on Ukraine.

"I hope that by the end of June there will be progress and then we can see if we can reduce the sanctions step by step, or if we stay with the measures we have right now," Steinmeier told reporters in Tallinn.

Read more: Putin Arrives In Greece On First Visit To EU This Year

May 26, 2016

The US Presidency:A Psychologist Analyzes Donald Trump’s Personality - by Dan P. McAdams

The Next US President ?
In 2006 Donald Trump  made plans to purchase the Menie Estate, near Aberdeen, Scotland, aiming to convert the dunes and grassland into a luxury golf resort.

He and the estate’s owner, Tom Griffin, sat down to discuss the transaction at the Cock & Bull restaurant. Griffin recalls that Trump was a hard-nosed negotiator, reluctant to give in on even the tiniest details.

But, as Michael D’Antonio writes in his recent biography of Trump, Never Enough, Griffin’s most vivid recollection of the evening pertains to the theatrics. It was as if the golden-haired guest sitting across the table were an actor playing a part on the London stage.
 
“It was Donald Trump playing Donald Trump,” Griffin observed. There was something unreal about it.

The same feeling perplexed Mark Singer in the late 1990s when he was working on a profile of Trump for The New Yorker. Singer wondered what went through his mind when he was not playing the public role of Donald Trump. What are you thinking about, Singer asked him, when you are shaving in front of the mirror in the morning? Trump, Singer writes, appeared baffled. Hoping to uncover the man behind the actor’s mask, Singer tried a different tack: “O.K., I guess I’m asking, do you consider yourself ideal company?”

“You really want to know what I consider ideal company?,” Trump replied. “A total piece of ass.”

I might have phrased Singer’s question this way: Who are you, Mr. Trump, when you are alone? Singer never got an answer, leaving him to conclude that the real-estate mogul who would become a reality-TV star and, after that, a leading candidate for president of the United States had managed to achieve something remarkable: “an existence unmolested by the rumbling of a soul.”

Is Singer’s assessment too harsh? Perhaps it is, in at least one sense. As brainy social animals, human beings evolved to be consummate actors whose survival and ability to reproduce depend on the quality of our performances. We enter the world prepared to perform roles and manage the impressions of others, with the ultimate evolutionary aim of getting along and getting ahead in the social groups that define who we are.

More than even Ronald Reagan, Trump seems supremely cognizant of the fact that he is always acting. He moves through life like a man who knows he is always being observed. If all human beings are, by their very nature, social actors, then Donald Trump seems to be more so—superhuman, in this one primal sense.

Many questions have arisen about Trump during this campaign season—about his platform, his knowledge of issues, his inflammatory language, his level of comfort with political violence. This article touches on some of that. But its central aim is to create a psychological portrait of the man. Who is he, really? How does his mind work? How might he go about making decisions in office, were he to become president? And what does all that suggest about the sort of president he’d be?

Trump’s personality is certainly extreme by any standard, and particularly rare for a presidential candidate; many people who encounter the man—in negotiations or in interviews or on a debate stage or watching that debate on television—seem to find him flummoxing. In this essay, I will seek to uncover the key dispositions, cognitive styles, motivations, and self-conceptions that together comprise his unique psychological makeup.

Trump declined to be interviewed for this story, but his life history has been well documented in his own books and speeches, in biographical sources, and in the press. My aim is to develop a dispassionate and analytical perspective on Trump, drawing upon some of the most important ideas and research findings in psychological science today.
 
Read the full report : A Psychologist Analyzes Donald Trump’s Personality - The Atlan