Successful Syria operation boosts Russians’ interest in politics, researchers claim

Sociologists have registered record growth in the Russian citizens’ interest to politics and researchers tie this fact to Russia’s recent successes on the international arena, especially its anti-ISIS operation in Syria.

 

According to the latest research conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), 48 percent of Russians say they are interested in politics, which is the highest figure since 2001. Forty-nine percent of responders said that politics was not at the top of their interests’ list, and 3 percent said it was difficult to give a direct and simple answer to this question. For comparison, in 2010 the share of Russians who said that they considered politics to be an important subject was 30 percent and 64 percent said that they had no interest in politics whatsoever.

https://www.rt.com/politics/342076-interest-to-politics-on-rise/

 

SUCCESSFUL SYRIA OPERATION BOOSTS RUSSIANS’ INTEREST IN POLITICS, RESEARCHERS CLAIM

According to the latest research conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), 48 percent of Russians say they are interested in politics, which is the highest figure since 2001. Forty-nine percent of responders said that politics was not at the top of their interests’ list, and 3 percent said it was difficult to give a direct and simple answer to this question. For comparison, in 2010 the share of Russians who said that they considered politics to be an important subject was 30 percent and 64 percent said that they had no interest in politics whatsoever.

The 2016 research also shows that the current events in Syria and Russia’s counter-terrorist operation in this country were the most popular discussion topics among Russians. The situation in Ukraine ranked second, the ongoing price hikes in Russia were in third place and the last Q&A session with President Vladimir Putin was in fourth place.

http://www.infowars.com/successful-syria-operation-boosts-russians-interest-in-politics-researchers-claim/

Former Top Obama Official Says Operation Choke Point Had ‘Collateral’ Consequences

One of President Barack Obama’s former top Justice Department officials behind Operation Choke Point said Thursday the program had “unintended but collateral consequences” on banks and U.S. consumers.

“Unfortunately, as the investigations continue, so too have one of the unintended but collateral consequences of such vigilance: mass de-risking,”wrote  Michael J. Bresnick, who previously served as executive director of Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, under which Operation Choke Point was created. “Members of the industry have raised their hands in frustration and simply avoided lines of business typically associated with higher risk. This reaction to [the Justice Department’s] enforcement initiative, and similar matters brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is certainly understandable.”

Bresnick addressed the issue in an op-ed for American Banker.

http://dailysignal.com/2016/04/07/former-top-obama-official-says-operation-choke-point-had-collateral-consequences/

FORMER TOP OBAMA OFFICIAL SAYS OPERATION CHOKE POINT HAD ‘COLLATERAL’ CONSEQUENCES

Unfortunately, as the investigations continue, so too have one of the unintended but collateral consequences of such vigilance: mass de-risking,”wrote Michael J. Bresnick, who previously served as executive director of Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, under which Operation Choke Point was created. “Members of the industry have raised their hands in frustration and simply avoided lines of business typically associated with higher risk. This reaction to [the Justice Department’s] enforcement initiative, and similar matters brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is certainly understandable.”

Bresnick addressed the issue in an op-ed for American Banker.

According to government documents, Operation Choke Point was designed by the Justice Department in 2012 to “attack Internet, telemarketing, mail, and other mass market fraud against consumers, by choking fraudsters’ access to the banking system.”

http://www.infowars.com/former-top-obama-official-says-operation-choke-point-had-collateral-consequences/

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REVEALS CONTROVERSIAL GUN TRAFFICKING STING DOCUMENTS

The Justice Department had previously withheld thousands of pages of documents from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the scandal. Consequently the House held then-Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt in 2012. In 2016, President Barack Obama invoked executive privilege to shield the documents.

On January 16, US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, for the District of Columbia, ruled the Obama administration cannot use executive privilege to prevent Congress from accessing information on Operation Fast and Furious.

“The committee has a duty to understand and shine light on what was happening inside Department of Justice during the time of this irresponsible operation. Yet DOJ has obstructed our investigative work for years,” said Jason Chaffetz, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman.

http://www.infowars.com/justice-department-reveals-controversial-gun-trafficking-sting-documents/

A EUROPEAN PATRIOT ACT WILL NOT KEEP PEOPLE SAFE

I am sure a frightened population will find government promises of perfect security attractive and may be willing to allow more surveillance of their personal lives. They should pause a little beforehand and consider what their governments have done so far to keep them “safe.”

The government of France, for example, has been particularly aggressive in its Middle East policy. Then-French President Sarkozy was among the most determined proponents of “regime change” in Libya. That operation has left the country in chaos, with much of the territory controlled by an ISIS and al-Qaeda that were not there before the “liberation.” As we learned last week from Hillary Clinton’s emails, Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron were much more concerned with getting their hands on Libya’s oil after the overthrow of Gaddafi. The creation of a hotbed of terrorism that could easily make its way to Europe was not important. They wanted to secure enormously profitable deals for well-connected French and English energy companies.

BRUSSELS ATTACK: OPERATION GLADIO EVENT TO FINALIZE SURVEILLANCE STATE

Both men were convicted criminals. Ibrahim was sentenced to nine years in prison for opening fire on police with a Kalashnikov rifle during an armed robbery on a stockbroker and Khalid was sentenced to five years probation for carjackings. Khalid was in possession of a Kalashnikov at the time of his arrest.

Najim Laachraoui, named as the third attacker, was the subject of a manhunt in connection with the Paris attack last November. Laachraoui was named as an accomplice of Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested in the Molenbeek district of Brussels earlier this week. Abdeslam hid in plain sight for months.

http://www.infowars.com/brussels-attack-operation-gladio-event-to-finalize-surveillance-state/

COUNTY LAUNCHES MANDATORY BRAINWASHING OPERATION

A small county in the state of Florida recently went on the offensive regarding homeschooling, requiring parents to provide them information about their children despite there not being a law stating that the parents were required to do so.

http://www.infowars.com/county-launches-mandatory-brainwashing-operation/

Operation Choke Point: The Government’s Covert War on Small Business

Banks are sending notices of account closure out to small businesses across the country, to clients they’ve done business with for years, even decades. The reason? They often don’t provide one.

But a growing number of business owners believe they know why they’re being cut off from the financial system. It’s Operation Choke Point, ostensibly an attempt to crack down on fraudulent businesses, but in reality a dragnet that has ensnared innocent entrepreneurs unfairly classified as “high-risk” players.

Earlier this year, FDIC chairman Martin Gruenberg told Congress that Choke Point was over, but many business owners believe the FDIC and DOJ has passed enforcement duties along to a newly created independent agency: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the brainchild of progressive senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The CFPB operates under the guidance of the Federal Reserve and doesn’t rely on Congress for funding, which critics say allow it to operate without any meaningful checks on its power.

Reason TV profiled two business owners who believe they’ve been targets of Choke Point and its legacy: a payday lender in Southern California and a hookah seller in North Carolina. Brian Wise of the U.S. Consumer Coalition, an organization that’s been compiling Choke Point stories from across the nation, also appears in the video.

Watch the video above for a deeper look into the covert financial regulation affecting small businesses across the nation.

Approximately 10 minutes. Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Camera by Alex Manning, Josh Swain, Todd Krainin, and Weissmueller. Music by Podington Bear and Chris Zabriskie.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this video. Subscribe to Reason TV’s YouTube channel for daily content like this.

https://reason.com/reasontv/2015/08/21/operation-choke-point-the-governments-co

OPERATION CHOKE POINT: THE GOVERNMENT’S COVERT WAR ON SMALL BUSINESS

But a growing number of business owners believe they know why they’re being cut off from the financial system. It’s Operation Choke Point, ostensibly an attempt to crack down on fraudulent businesses, but in reality a dragnet that has ensnared innocent entrepreneurs unfairly classified as “high-risk” players.

Earlier this year, FDIC chairman Martin Gruenberg told Congress that Choke Point was over, but many business owners believe the FDIC and DOJ has passed enforcement duties along to a newly created independent agency: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the brainchild of progressive senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The CFPB operates under the guidance of the Federal Reserve and doesn’t rely on Congress for funding, which critics say allow it to operate without any meaningful checks on its power.

http://www.infowars.com/operation-choke-point-the-governments-covert-war-on-small-business/