OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO FIRE CIA DIRECTOR, JOHN BRENNAN?

Check out Ray McGovern's blog http://www.raymcgovern.com/ Will Obama fire CIA Director - John Brennan - over spying on Senate Committee?   [Ray McGovern - ex-CIA]

SEE ALSO Why is Washington Risking War with Russia? http://www.thenation.com/article/180825/why-washington-risking-war-russia

RUSSELL BRAND - ISRAEL-PALESTINE DEBATE

Israel-Palestine: Is This A Debate?  Russell Brand The Trews (E111) Source - Youtube -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_m98GAdqKM

US MEDIA - ISRAELI BIAS

American media's new pro-Israel bias: the same party line at the wrong time Evolving conversations on the ground demand probing questions on-air. So why does TV news look like a Netanyahu ad? Chris McGreal theguardian.com, Friday 1 August 2014 03.45 AEST Here are a few questions you won’t hear asked of the parade of Israeli officials crossing US television screens during the current crisis in Gaza: What would you do if a foreign country was occupying your land? What does it mean that Israeli cabinet ministers deny Palestine’s right to exist? What should we make of a prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who as opposition leader in the 1990s was found addressing rallies under a banner reading “Death to Arabs”? These are contentious questions, to be sure, and with complicated answers. But they are relevant to understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today. They also parallel the issues routinely raised by American journalists with Palestinian officials, pressing to consider how the US would react if it were under rocket fire from Mexico, to explain why Hamas won’t recognise Israel and to repudiate Palestinian anti-Semitism. But it’s a feature of much mainstream journalism in the US, not just an issue of coverage during the last three weeks of the Gaza crisis, that while one set of questions gets asked all the time, the other is heard hardly at all. ... Take Netanyahu’s appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday. The host, Bob Schieffer, permitted the Israeli leader to make a lengthy case for the his military’s ground attack, guiding him along with one sympathetic question after another. Finally, after describing Netanyahu’s position as “very understandable”, Schieffer asked about dead Palestinian civilians – but only to wonder if they presented a public relations problem in “the battle for world opinion”. ... [bias] At one extreme is Fox News, where last week Sean Hannity shouted down a Palestinian guest, Yousef Munayyer, because he would not condemn Hamas as a terrorist organisation, then proceeded to terminate the interview. Munayyer, director of the Jerusalem Fund in Washington, has appeared repeatedly on CNN where he is treated more respectfully. But he told me he is frequently brought on to answer accusations from the Israeli side, rather than explain the Palestinian perspective in the way that Israeli officials and commentators are allowed to lay out their case.  ... There is evidence of a shift in public opinion, mostly generational: a Pew poll this month showed falling support for Israel among younger Americans. Over 65s backed the Jewish state by 60% to just 9% support for the Palestinians. Among young adults, aged 18-29, just 44% were behind Israel with backing for the Palestinians rising to 22%.  As opinion shifts, it will be harder to go on presenting just one side of the story. Rest of article @ source http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/31/american-media-israel-bias-netanyahu

Article started off strong and held my interest.

The media sounds laughable in the US.

Fox News is appalling.  The guy that did the shouting gets flack online. 

Pew Poll put me right off the article.

Pew means bull to me.

Turkish PM - Social media hit

Emma Watson joins protest against Turkish politician's claim women should not laugh out loud Actress Emma Watson tweets a photo of herself laughing, in protest against comments made by Turkey's vice prime minister that women should not laugh out loud By Raziye Akkoc 1:03PM BST 01 Aug 2014 When Turkey's deputy prime minister gave a speech about what he saw as Turkey’s poor moral state, he was wanting to deliver a message to his people. Bulent Arinc, speaking at a ceremony to mark Eid - celebrating the end of Ramadan- urged Turkish women to abide by a rigorous code - and know what is "haram," or forbidden. "A woman will know what is haram and not haram," he said. "She will not laugh out loud in public. She will not be inviting in her attitudes and will protect her chasteness." His comments were widely ridiculed, with Instagram, Facebook and Twitter ablaze with pictures of women laughing and the hashtag, #direnkahkaha (ignore him - laugh) was born. On Friday Emma Watson joined in, tweeting a photo of herself laughing in public. Rest of article at source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11005428/Emma-Watson-joins-protest-against-Turkish-politicians-claim-women-should-not-laugh-out-loud.html

Clash of cultures Turkish Vice PM story still kicking around, but nobody notices the food security for the poor being blocked by the US, in favour of profits.

Any chance that this celebrity could draw attention to that?

Er, maybe not.  She's with the UN mob who are just an extension of the US.

Dow Jones - Plunges

News > Business News

Stock Market Plunges on Thursday

7:35AM Friday
August 1, 2014

(NEW YORK) --The stock market plunged Thursday, wiping out all of the gains this month.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 317.06 points to 16,563.30. The Nasdaq fell 93.13 points to 4,369.77, and the S&P 500 dropped 39.40 points to 1,930.67.
This follows weak earnings at companies like Exxon Mobil, Yum Brands, and Whole Foods. 

Investors may also be worried about tension with Russia, fighting in Gaza, or debt in Argentina.

Source:
http://www.wgowam.com/common/more.php?m=58&ts=1406895604&article=57B7BB5918F611E4B51EFEFDADE6840A&mode=2

........................................................
[wikipedia]

"... the Dow is among the most closely watched U.S. benchmark indices tracking targeted stock market activity."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_Jones_Industrial_Average

........................................................

The Nasdaq is the LARGEST STOCK EXCHANGE IN US.

........................................................

COMMENT

This sounds exciting.

No idea about stock market, but 'stock market plunge' doesn't sound too good.

Most of news sources I looked at online seem to be focused on the 200,000 jobs gained.  Putting a positive spin on the stockmarket losses?

That's what I'm guessing -- but I have next to zero knowledge.  LOL.

UKRAINE GAS - TALKS OR NO TALKS?

Russia's Envoy Names Date of Ukraine Gas Talks, EU Out of Loop

Reuters
Aug. 01 2014 16:34
Last edited 16:34

Officials from Russia, Ukraine and the European Union will discuss gas supplies on Sept. 12, Interfax news agency quoted Russia's EU envoy, Vladimir Chizhov, as saying on Friday, but EU authorities said they knew nothing about the meeting.

Chizhov was quoted as saying that Russia had already made its suggestions known to Brussels for resolving a standoff between Russia and Ukraine over gas prices.

A European Commission official said: "We don't know about this date."

European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger has brokered a series of talks involving Russia and Ukraine over how much Kiev should pay Russian natural gas exporter Gazprom for its gas deliveries.

The dispute led Moscow on June 16 to halt supplies to Ukraine, which depends on Russia for more than half of its gas needs. Ukraine is also the transit route for up to half of the gas Russia supplies to the European Union, raising the threat of knock-on disruption of supplies.

Oettinger held bilateral talks with Ukraine on the issue in July, but an expected meeting with Russia's energy minister was delayed.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/504440.html - [Non Russian source]

Find this a bit hard to follow.

The only thing I get out of this is that Ukraine gas supply is halted; and there's a knock-on effect to other countries.

Meeting delayed.  Yeah, probably because the US has other plans.  LOL

Russia and India and the US

Russia and India Report Article Time for India to stand by Russia Both countries would benefit if Russian companies were given a red carpet to operate in India, especially in infrastructure projects. August 1, 2014 Ajay Kamalakaran  It was quite obvious that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in India this week, was trying hard to ‘persuade’ External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Indian government to take a hard line against Russia in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. It’s for good measure that there is now a government in New Delhi that is actually bothered about Indian national interest and not following an agenda that is being set by Washington. [LOL ... that last bit definitely sounds true.  See WTO & food security.] ... China is a country that America has realised can never be swayed in its direction. Its size and growing influence give the world’s second largest economy enough confidence to not be bullied by the West, basically making it a lost cause for Washington.  India on the other hand is a key for American designs to divide the world into what it classifies as good guys and bad guys. Although Barack Obama initially seemed less confrontational and much more of a dove than his predecessor, he does his Nobel Peace Prize a disservice.  [LOL.  Yep.] ... The very fact that the West is trying to isolate Russia is a good opportunity for Russian companies to expand their cooperation with both India and Indian companies, especially in infrastructure projects. This is the best time to welcome Russian investment in India and offer tax breaks and preferential agreements for Russian businesses. It would be a winning formula for both countries. There is also some talk about trading in national currencies, but here India and Russia need to exercise a lot of caution. There were a lot of complaints from both sides about the way the old rupee-rouble trade was conducted and things threatened to boil over in the early 1990s over the exact evaluation. It may be better to wait and watch how Russia and China are able to trade in roubles and yuan, before replicating the example in trade with India. Many major economies would like to reduce their dependence on the dollar but this has to be done in a practical and planned manner. China’s overt support for Russia has not led to any serious repercussions from the West, simply because America and its allies are afraid of doing anything that would cause mutual and irreparable damage. The same would apply for India, which is now too big and strategically important to risk ‘losing.’ This is precisely why greater cooperation amongst the BRICS nations is making those trying to protect the existing world order nervous. Greater Indo-Russian engagement and cooperation, both bilaterally and in multilateral setups like the BRICS, is one of the keys to a new global order: one that is not dominated by a war-hungry superpower. Extracts only Source - Russia and India Report - here.

Thought this was worth reading.  It's extracts only.  Complete article @ link provided.

Spot on about a couple of things.

Need to learn about currency trading, as I don't know anything at all about that.

Anyway, it was a good read.  :)