Special Articles,  Longer Term Dynamics and Overviews - 2011 

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Commentary: "How The United States Has Benefited From 9/11" [12/31/11] "September 11, 2001, is another date that will live in infamy. The tragic events that occurred on this day have forever changed the United States, and the world. Like similar events in history, it served as a catalyst, creating a flurry of new rules, regulations and, as we now see, serious restrictions on the freedoms we once had. Just as Pearl Harbor launched America into WWII, and the burning of the Reichstag building in Germany granted untold powers to Hitler, 9/11 has allowed America to demonstrably flex its muscles around the world, while at the same time, severely limiting our civil liberties here at home. In one fell swoop, it enabled the government to deal with many nagging problems. If one didn’t know better, I’d have to say that 9/11 was exactly what the doctor ordered. Stop and consider how the United States has benefited from 9/11. Think of all the subsequent drastic actions that have occurred since the attack. For the relatively small price of only 3,000 souls, the US has aggressively dealt with issues effecting all totalitarian empires: controlling not only the world, but clamping down on its own people.  [...]"  

Commentary:  "Beware Corporate Psychopaths – They Are Still Occupying Positions Of Power" [12/31/11] "Over the years I've met my fair share of monsters – rogue individuals, for the most part. But as regulation in the UK and the US has loosened its restraints, the monsters have proliferated. In a paper recently published in the Journal of Business Ethics entitled "The Corporate Psychopaths: Theory of the Global Financial Crisis", Clive R Boddy identifies these people as psychopaths. "They are," he says, "simply the 1 per cent of people who have no conscience or empathy." And he argues: "Psychopaths, rising to key senior positions within modern financial corporations, where they are able to influence the moral climate of the whole organisation and yield considerable power, have largely caused the [banking] crisis'. And Mr Boddy is not alone. In Jon Ronson's widely acclaimed book The Psychopath Test, Professor Robert Hare told the author: "I should have spent some time inside the Stock Exchange as well. Serial killer psychopaths ruin families. Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies."  [...]" 

MSM: "Israel Warmongering-News Analysis" Press TV [12/31/11] [25:05] "In this edition of News Analysis we will examine the possibility of another war on the Gaza strip by Israel and whether this latest threat underlies deeper worries by Israel due to changes in the regional landscape from the Arab Spring in which parliamentary results from different Arab countries show a break from the past with Israel. [...]"  Press TV interviews Webster Tarpley about these matters.

MSM: "Crooks And Liars Gives Us Just A Small Sampling Of Ron Paul's Craziest Positions" [12/31/11] "There are two important conversations going on about Ron Paul right now. The first is whether or not racist comments that came from old issues of the Ron Paul Report show that Paul is or was racist (they do). The other conversation is about whether or not progressives should support Paul because of his stances on the war, civil liberties and economic issues. The second conversation is much more important. Whether or not Paul is a racist (and I believe he is, as well as a bigot of various other types), that's not nearly as important as his stances on a myriad of other issues. Obviously, racism should automatically disqualify a candidate from serving in any office, much less president, but if he were elected, his views on race would have little impact on policy, outside of potential Supreme Court nominations. He didn't like the Civil Rights Act and opposes hate crimes legislation, but, as president, his alleged bigotry would not have a major impact on legislation, since most laws related to these issues pass with veto-proof majorities. Anyone considering Paul as a candidate should certainly take into account his views on race, gender and the LGBT community -- all of which are atrocious -- but they should also take into account the vast array of other issues in which he is not only incredibly wrong, but where his policy prescriptions would make things worse. Some Occupy Wall Street supporters are Paul supporters, but Paul is very clearly aligned with the 1 percent [...]"  Related: See below: If all of Paul's proposals went into action, it would befuddle society in general.

Webster Tarpley: "Critique of Ron Paul’s Austerity Plan" [12/30/11] [60:00]  Note: Webster G. Tarpley reviews the draconian austerity plans of Ron Paul, which if put into action would devastate the entire US population in a manner worse than happened in Germany in the 1930's. Of course, none of the 'presidential candidate' figureheads are relevant to any positive change for the society. The future for latter 2012 and later, if time were to go on, would be very dark ... the astrology of it alone, understanding all the cultural parameters, would guarantee the collapse of the civilization. So would the geological activity and climate shifts, combined with food shortages. What will definitely get us out of here in the near future, before the end of 2012, is something most people don't even understand. Matrix 5 readers, for whom the books were written, understand, and it's the case that we will all be out of here before people think we will. In reality, nothing that can be done, or not done, here, will change the eventualities on this planet which will unfold in 2012. It's a good thing. Really. We're all finally getting a vacation worth its weight in gold. Very good interview with Tarpley, and worth listening to.  Note that everything Tarpley talks about with Ron Paul or others would not manifest until after 2012 ... so it shows what things would be like, were we still here. In a sense, it's interesting that all the plans of the powerful involve closing down society .... ironically, just after it's no longer needed.

Commentary:  "Mossad Hints Nuclear Iran Not Existential Threat To Israel: Report" [12/30/11] "The chief of Mossad has reportedly hinted that a nuclear-armed Iran does not necessarily pose an existential threat to the Jewish state, Hareetz said Thursday. The newspaper quoted Israeli ambassadors at a briefing by Mossad’s director Tamir Pardo Tuesday as suggesting that should the Islamic Republic attain nuclear-weapons capability, this would not necessarily pose an existential threat to Israel. "What is the significance of the term existential threat? Does Iran pose a threat to Israel? Absolutely. But if one said a nuclear bomb in Iranian hands was an existential threat, that would mean that we would have to close up shop and go home. That's not the situation. The term existential threat is used too freely," one of the ambassadors, who spoke to the Israeli newspapers, quoted Pardo as saying. The ambassadors said Pardo had not commented on whether Israel was preparing for a military operation against Iran. "But what was clearly implied by his remarks is that he doesn't think a nuclear Iran is an existential threat to Israel," one of the ambassadors told Haaretz. On Dec. 18, Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that his country and the U.S. were determined to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear arms, while President Barack Obama vowed not to take options off the table in terms of facing Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had credible information that the Islamic Republic was carrying out "activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device." Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful and medical means and power generation purposes only, as it faces punitive international sanctions over such activities. [...]" 

Commentary:  "Israel Global Propaganda Guide: Sad, Sad World Of Israel's Big-Time Liars" [12/30/11] "It goes without saying that Israel's lie machine has an instruction manual for those it recruits into its vile business. Stuart Littlewood looks at Israel's propaganda minister, the self-confessed racist squatter Yuli Edelstein, and takes a close look at the manual to which Edelstein and other Zionist propagandists work, the "Global Language Dictionary". Written by Frank Luntz, a US Republican political consultant and pollster, on behalf of the Israel Project, a US media advocacy group, the manual teaches Israel propagandists how to hoodwink people about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, how to silence critics and how to avoid making statements that produce negative reactions. [...]"  Note:  Amazing ... sort of like the "AP Guide to Remembering Which Line of Bullshit to Inflict, and Why"

Commentary:  "Ubiquitous Surveillance By Big Brother"  [12/30/11] "A recent Brookings Institution report has now confirmed what many have suspected for some time – that the United States government (and virtually every other government in the world) has the capability to monitor and record nearly every interaction that occurs within its national borders. For years, those individuals who have tried to warn others of the creeping surveillance state were met with denials and catcalls of “conspiracy theory,” as well as the famous claims that it was not physically possible to monitor everyone. This new report, however, shatters into a million pieces the delusional rationalities of the uninformed. The Brookings Institution report entitled, “Recording Everything: Digital Storage as an Enabler of Authoritarian Governments" PDF discusses the increasing capacities for surveillance due to the improvement in technology and the sinking costs of its procurement, along with the implications for human rights and authoritarianism that come along with it. The report begins by stating: Within the next few years an important threshold will be crossed: For the first time ever, it will become technologically and financially feasible for authoritarian governments to record nearly everything that is said or done within their borders – every phone conversation, electronic message, social media interaction, the movements of nearly every person and vehicle, and video from every street corner. Governments with a history of using all of the tools at their disposal to track and monitor their citizens will undoubtedly make full use of this capability once it becomes available. [...]" 

Commentary:  "Israel's Revenge: Support of Concept of Armenian Slaughter By Turks As Genocidal Holocaust" [12/30/11] "In a strange way I found something rather amusing this morning as I was skimming through the ‘news’ on Ynet’s site. There was a report about Israel possibly recognising the Armenian holocaust as an actual event in history. There definitely is no humour involved in or connected to this very dark period of history, but what I found amusing were the reasons why the call for its recognition now, almost a century after the fact. The reasons are not out of sympathy for the Armenian nation, but because of the status of Turkish-Israeli relations. It has nothing to do with the suffering that the Armenians went through. As the report itself states; The question of what exactly happened there is irrelevant to this issue. After all, no sane historian is willing to accept the Turkish claim that it was merely a matter of a civil war and not a methodical massacre of the Armenians by the Turks. [...]"  Related: MSM: "Israel Debates Whether Armenian Killings Genocide" [12/27/11] "Over their prime minister's objections, Israeli lawmakers are debating a proposal to recognize the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide. Doing so would likely further strain already acrimonious relations with Turkey, which denies the genocide label and insists the massacres occurred in civil unrest as the Ottoman Empire collapsed during World War I, with losses on both sides. An Israeli government official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested that Monday's debate be canceled. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to disclose the information. Israel has previously stopped short of recognizing the killings of 1.5 million Armenians as a genocide. In recent years, however, ties with Turkey have frayed badly.  [...]"  Related: See "Turkey Freezes All Political Relations With France Over Genocide Row" [12/23/11] below, with related stories, and who ultimately controls Turkey.

MSM: "Fast and Furious’ Linked to Immunity Deal Between U.S. and Sinaloa Cartel, Trafficking Defendant Alleges in Court" [12/30/11] "A Mexican drug trafficker awaiting trial in a Chicago federal court claims that the notorious Sinaloa cartel received weapons from “Operation Fast and Furious” under an alleged immunity agreement that the U.S. government made with cartel leaders, in exchange for information on rival gangs. The defendant in a trafficking case before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Vicente Jesus Zambada-Niebla, also claims the immunity deal allowed the criminal cartel to “continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs” into the United States. He wants the U.S. government to provide documents relating to the botched gun running sting operation along the southwest border, arguing that it would benefit his defense. [...]"  

Commentary:  "You Are Not Your Costume: Urgent Addendum to the Modern Slave Guide to Modern Slavery" [12/29/11] "Humans are observers in a symbolic world, and modern slavery uses this against us. The slavedrivers have kept the ancient power symbols secret from the masses as their ultimate source of power, but they has a weakness: if we become aware how they are used against us, they lose their power. One doesn’t need to be “illuminated” to understand that costumes are symbolic representations of social order. As a species, we are very attuned to externalities; as a culture, uniforms and other costumes condition us deeply. We do much more than wear clothes: we dress a role and play the part, because without the costumes there can be no play. [...]" Note: Interesting essay.

US Politics: "The Israeli Defense Firm That Tallies The Iowa Caucus" Christopher Bollyn [12/28/11] "Now, who really is Voxeo, and why are the Iowa caucus results tallied by them? Voxeo is headed by Jonathan Taylor, who is the company’s President and CEO. From 1995 to 1997, Jonathan was the founder and President of InterResearch and Development Group (IRdg), Inc. IRdg created and licensed iPost – the first internet powered OEM unified messaging solution – to leading telecommunications providers including Ericsson, Unisys and Motorola. IRdg was acquired by Elron Electronic Industries (Nasdq: ELRN) subsidiary MediaGate in 1997.” There you have it. Jonathan Taylor’s company, which he founded, was taken over by Elron Electronic Industries, the Israeli defense high tech company: In its early days, Elron focused on defense, particularly electronics and avionics, as well as the emerging medical and technology sectors. In 1966, Elron founded Elbit, which combined the expertise of the Ministry of Defense-Research Institute in special computer design with Elron’s experience in electronic product design, manufacture and management.... [...] This is important information that Americans need to know and which they will not find in the Zionist-controlled media in the United States. It needs to be understood that the entire election process in the United States is a fraud. More than that, it is a fraud that is being perpetrated by the Israeli defense establishment on the naïve and gullible American public. The sine qua non of an honest and transparent election process is the open counting of the votes by the voters themselves in each polling station in front of the open eyes of other citizens and members of the media. Any compromise in this most fundamental and essential process which acts to remove the citizenry from the vote-counting process simply cannot be accepted. This is what Americans MUST get back to, in every polling station in the nation: paper ballots that are hand counted in front of the public. Nothing else will do to protect their democratic franchise in the United States – NOTHING. [...]"   Related:  "Iowa GOP Moving Vote-Count To "Undisclosed Location" "Threats to disrupt the Iowa Republican caucuses next week have prompted state GOP officials to move the vote tabulation to an "undisclosed location," POLITICO has learned. The state party has not yet told the campaigns exactly where the returns will be added up, only that it will be off-site from the Iowa GOP's Des Moines headquarters. The 2008 caucus results were tabulated at the state party offices, which sit just a few blocks from the state capitol. Activist groups including the Occupy movement have indicated that they'll attempt to interrupt rallies in the closing days before next Tuesday's caucuses [...]"  Note: To 'prevent' a Ron Paul 'victory'?

Commentary:  "Canada Shipping Weapons Grade Uranium To The US" [12/28/11] What makes these types of shipments particularly galling is Canada's horn blowing on non-proliferation. " Canada is proactive in its non-proliferation efforts. Through the Proliferation Security Initiative, Canada works cooperatively with other countries to prevent illicit trafficking in nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, their means of delivery, and related materials. The Proliferation Security Initiative supports UN Security Council Resolution 1540, the first ever Security Council Resolution on non-proliferation issues." These covert shipments sure appear to be "illicit trafficking". Is that why there is so much secrecy surrounding them? [...]"  

Commentary: "Government Censors Document Revealing Plans To Wage War On Americans" [12/28/11] includes 4 Video clips"... The government-linked document we posted was marked ‘Source Selection Sensitive’ but not considered classified. Further, it was listed publicly on a government website that was soliciting bids for government contracts. However, despite its public classification, it contains information that clearly is NOT intended to gain wide publicity. As we reported earlier, the highly contentious federal government plans for Continuity of Government (COG) are largely classified, yet have come to light in shards. Congressman Peter de Fazio made waves after going on the House floor to give a speech raising hell about how the plans for COG, including martial law, were not only classified, but kept secret from Congress, the only organ of public officialdom still tied directly to the people. Similarly, this clip shows the 1980s investigations into the Iran-Contra Affair where questions about the Rex 84 plan for martial law were met with sharp calls for silence for national security reasons: [...]"  

MSM: "Putin Ejects Kremlin 'Puppet Master' After Protests" [12/28/11] "Facing a swelling wave of public anger over fraud-tainted elections, prime minister Vladimir Putin has rejected demands for a rerun of the vote, while the Kremlin has reassigned the architect of his tightly controlled political system to a job with no apparent domestic political duties. The order by president Dmitry Medvedev to make Vladislav Surkov a deputy prime minister in charge of economic modernisation was variously interpreted as a sign that leaders recognise the need for significant reform and as a cosmetic move with little meaning. Allegations of fraud in December's national parliamentary election sparked a wave of protests unprecedented in post-Soviet Russia, including two vast rallies in Moscow that attracted tens of thousands. Putin, who was president in 2000-2008, seeks to return to the Kremlin in elections in March, and the protests have undermined his image as the inevitable winner. [...]"  

Commentary: "Putin : Protesters Are Receiving Their Funding From The West" [12/28/11] "WMR has learned from an eastern European intelligence source that the CIA. Britain’s MI-6, and George Soros, who actually fronts for the Rothschild family, has been funneling money to Russian protest movements through the Republic of Georgia. The Soros-style “themed” revolution for Russia is being called the “White Revolution” or “Snowy Revolution,| with the color white being chosen as the thematic color for the attempted Russian uprising. Perhaps not coincidentally, the White Army was also the name for the counter-Bolshevik revolutionary forces composed of czarist loyalists supported by British, French, American, Japanese, and Czech troops who, from 1917 to 1922, attempted to invade Russia and restore czarist rule. The White Army invaded Russia from Poland, Lithuania, the Caucasus, and Siberia. The western media is mocking Russian Prime Minister for suggesting during a television interview that when he saw protesters in Moscow wearing white ribbons, he thought they were wearing condoms. Putin said, “I decided it was propaganda against AIDS, that these were, pardon me, dangling contraceptives . . . I didn’t really get it . . . But on the whole, my first thought was that this is good, that people are fighting for a healthy lifestyle.” Putin said he could not understand why people unrolled a condom (gandon) before pinning it to their chest..[...] In fact, Putin, a KGB veteran, was signaling to the West’s disruption network in Russia and neighboring countries that he is aware of how the protesters are receiving their funding from the West, including Soros, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) — the main cipher for CIA funds — and MI-6. Time magazine and other corporate media operations are trying to portray Putin as insensitive with his comment about condoms and white protest ribbons but his answer to the question posed to him was a direct message to Washington and London that he is aware of the destabilization efforts being conducted by western intelligence services in concert with Soros and the government of Georgia.[...]"  Related: "Soros' Hand Seen in Anti-Putin Protests" "Anti-Putin leader Boris Akunin has ties with Soros' foundations. It appears that Global financial oligarchs, obsessed with erasing national sovereignty world wide, like George Soros and others are instigating another revolution in Russia under the veil of "free and fair democracy". On December 24, 2011 a second opposition rally was held in Moscow, with an estimated 28 to 120 thousand protesters, over the alleged "vote-rigging" that occurred on the December 4th election, won by Putin's United Russia party. As reported by Reuters, the Russian novelist Boris Akunin asked protesters from a large stage. "Do you want Putin to return to the presidency?" Whistling and jeering, protesters chanted: "No!" Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili, a writer, essayist and literary translator. As of now he is the most commercially successful writer in Russia, selling around 15 million books in Russia and more than 1 million abroad. He also happens to be the former chairman of the board for a Soros fund, called the Pushkin Library, where he helped compile a 100-volume edition of the best works of Russian Literature of all time. Marianna Tax Choldin, chair of the Soros Foundation's Network Library Program was quoted in an article back in August of 2000, after being awarded the Pushkin medal by the Russian government. "Through the Soros program, we've helped dozens of libraries in many areas of library development, including automation, collection development, preservation, Internet access and training," Interestingly enough, Soros himself had received the same award previously. The medal recognizes extraordinary contributions to Russian culture and education [5] [...]"  Note: As Webster Tarpley says, Putin is the ONLY significant obstacle to the hegemony of the West and NATO, and they're trying hard to get him out of the way. Putin is a 'timing factor' in limiting the speed of unfolding events.

MSM: "Syrian NGOs Working Directly With British Government" [12/27/11] "The coverage by the corporate-owned Western media exclusively relies on “activists inside and outside the country,” the London-based “Syrian Human Rights Monitoring Centre” which apparently has no web presence, the Damascus Center for Human Rights which boasts memberships with the National Endowment for Democracy and Tides Foundation-funded International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, funded by the European Union, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Sigrid Rausing Trust, and Humanity United. [...]"  Related: "Syria: Zionist Mobilization, Muslim Brotherhood Allied" "The hasbara (propaganda) that is spread throughout the Zionist-owned mainstream media is identical in nature to a house of cards. No matter how imposing the house may be, remove one card from the structure, and it shall immediately collapse in an almost glorious fashion. It is due to its foundation; its towering essence is overshadowed by its flimsiness. The Zionist media imposes its hasbara in terrorizing fashion; like the usurping Israeli entity’s bombs falling upon illegally besieged Gaza or Lebanon, the hasbara enters the psyche as an F-16 bombardment. But unlike the bombs, which are so unstoppably and menacingly destructive, the hasbara is weaker than the web of a spider coming in contact with a machete. Remove just one element, one detail from a news story laced with hasbara, like the house of cards, the aforesaid story will crash to the ground, broken and dismembered. [...] Al-Jazeera’s admission only gives further credence to what has already been exposed: the Zionist entity and the House of Saud, allied with the US, Turkey and Jordan, have launched a full-scale destabilization operation against Bashar al-Assad and his government. Mobilizing its forces from certain ‘hotspots,’ or joint operations rooms, the Zionist-Saudi axis has used its agents ex-Syrian VP Abdel-Halim Khaddam, AIPAC member Farid al-Ghadry, Brookings Institution Fellow Ammar AbdulHamid, State Dept giant Jeffrey Feltman and multiple Syrian Muslim Brotherhood leaders to fund, incite, train, guide, organize and direct its agents within Syria to drive the Assad leadership into the ground in hopes of replacing it with an anti-Iran, anti-Hezbollah regime subservient to the Zionist-Saudi axis. With weapons being provided by Jordan and armed operations initiated by Zionist agent Muthanna al-Dhari, Syria has been plunged into chaos . Feltman’s role is crucial, as he developed the final phase of this plot with Saudi National Security Advisor ‘Prince’ Bandar bin Sultan, spending $2 billion in the process . [...]"  

Commentary: "Sayanim — Israeli Operatives in the U.S." [12/27/11] "Israel is doing all it can to make Iran the next disastrous ‘war for control’ and the 85% of corrupt US politicians will vote it in when the time comes as seen in the Press TV report below. It is ‘support the war or lose your seat’. This is why, I’ve decided to do a re-run of Jeff Gates’ timely article. Sayanim — Israeli Operatives in the U.S. in which he best describes why Israel is successful in the US. [...]"  Note:  Jeff Gates, documents ‘How the Israel Lobby led the effort to take America to War in Pursuit of Tel Aviv’s Expansionist Agenda, in his Blockbuster book:  Guilt by Association: How Deception and Self-Deceit Took America to War.

Commentary:  "Fanatic Rabbi Who Teaches “Goyim Slavery” Comes to U.S." [12/27/11] "In its 30 years of existence, Shas has evolved from a marginal ethnic political group to Israel’s fourth largest party in the Knesset and is today the unchallenged kingmaker of Israeli politics. Its leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yossef, as quoted in Israel’s Jerusalem Post, teaches: The sole purpose of non-Jews is to serve Jews, according to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the head of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages and a senior Sephardi adjudicator.  “Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel,” he said in his weekly Saturday night sermon on the laws regarding the actions non-Jews are permitted to perform on Shabbat. Now, Shas — or in its full name, the Sephardic Torah Guardians Movement — is attempting to establish a beachhead among American Sephardic Jews and, it hopes, replicate its success in Israel. On December 4, the group launched its United States affiliate, American Friends of Shas, based in Brooklyn. [...]" 

Internet: "Hackers Target Global Think Tank" [12/26/11] "Hackers targeted Stratfor, a global intelligence company, but it was unclear Sunday evening whether the breach and apparent release of credit card information was the work of the group Anonymous. In a posting on the website Pastebin, hackers said they released Stratfor subscriber data, including information on 4,000 credit cards as well as the company's "private client" list. The posting cited AntiSec, a Web-based collaboration with the activist hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec. U.S.-based Stratfor, which provides independent analysis of international affairs and security threats, sent an e-mail to subscribers on Sunday: "On December 24th an unauthorized party disclosed personally identifiable information and related credit card data of some of our members. We have reason to believe that your personal and credit card data could have been included in the information that was illegally obtained and disclosed." But Stratfor also said the "private clients" disclosure was "merely a list of some of the members that have purchased our publications and does not comprise a list of individuals or entities that have a relationship with Stratfor beyond their purchase of our subscription- based publications." [...]"  

Webster Tarpley: "World Crisis Radio Update" [12/25/11] MP3 Audio [120:00] Select Dec 24, 2011 podcast and click play arrow to listen, or download. Also available as two segments. Note: The general situation of the 'ruling class' and the psychological destabilization, election observations and more.

MSM: "Swedish Research Professor: Norway Attack Appears To Be State-Sponsored" [12/25/11] "Swedish-born Ola Tunander is a research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), a research institute where he has spent most of his career since receiving his PhD from Linköping University in 1989. But a recent article authored by Tunander in which he seeks to discover what might have driven Brevik to set off a car bomb outside government offices in Norway and gun down 69 people at a summer camp for young Labour Party supporters, has prompted the head of PRIO to distance himself from the piece. PRIO director Kristian Berg Harpviken told Norwegian magazine Minerva that Tunander’s article left him with a feeling of “considerable unease”. Harpviken was also dismayed with what he viewed as a serious lapse in judgment on behalf of Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift, a multidisciplinary peer review journal, for agreeing to publish the contentious text in its latest issue. In his article, Tunander reaches the conclusion that terrorist acts of such magnitude are seldom possible without the involvement of state forces, “and we can’t rule out that being the case this time too.” In the midst of a web of alternative theories, Tunander lays out a “simple chronology” detailing the fractious diplomatic relationship between Norway and Israel in the months before the massacre, with Oslo indicating it would be willing to recognize a Palestinian state. On two occasions, Tunander notes the significance of the date of the attacks. First, he travels back to 1973, when members of the Israeli spy agency Mossad were arrested on July 22nd after a botched operation in which they assassinated the wrong person on Norwegian soil. He also calls to mind the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem by Zionist paramilitary group Irgun, which took place on July 22nd 1946. “We have discussed the right-wing extremist Israeli and Judeo-Christian side of Breivik’s network, Israel’s interest in disciplining Norway, and Israel’s celebration of bomb attacks. In this respect, Breivik’s attack appears to resemble a new king David Hotel attack: July 22nd,” he writes. [...]" 

Commentary: "Thousands Of US Military Forces May Face Trial Over Torture" [12/25/11] "Thousands of US military forces, who served in the Iraq war, may face prosecution for being involved in torturing Iraqi prisoners, a political analyst tells Press TV's US Desk. “It's a very deep concern that as many as 10,000 Americans may face prosecution” for involvement in subjecting Iraqi prisoners to torture and ruthless treatment during the US war with Iraq, said Gordon Duff, a senior editor of Veterans Today Journal, in an interview with our channel on Thursday. In July, US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a detailed report on the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees under the administration of former US President George W. Bush. [...]"  

MSM: "Turkey Freezes All Political Relations With France Over Genocide Row" [12/23/11] "Turkey has frozen relations with France, recalling its ambassador and suspending all economic, political and military meetings in response to French MPs' approval of a law that would make it a crime to deny that the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman Turks was genocide. The furious Turkish reaction to Paris's parliamentary vote marked an unprecedented low between the Nato partners. The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, cancelled permission for French military planes to land and warships to dock in Turkey, annulled all joint military exercises, recalled the Turkish ambassador to France for consultations and said he would decide case by case whether to let the French military use Turkish airspace. He said this was just the start and "gradually" but "decisively" other retaliation measures would be taken against France. He warned of heavy diplomatic "wounds" that would be "difficult to heal". [...]"  Note: Interesting, how Turkey seizes on certain issues the same way Israel does. There's a reason for that. Modern Turkey is controlled by the Dönmeh: Related: "The Dönmeh: The Middle East’s Most Whispered Secret" Wayne Madsen [11/11/11] Part 2  "There is a historical “eight hundred pound gorilla” lurking in the background of almost every serious military and diplomatic incident involving Israel, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Greece, Armenia, the Kurds, the Assyrians, and some other players in the Middle East and southeastern Europe...And it is the secretiveness attached to the subject that has been the reason for so much misunderstanding about the current breakdown in relations between Israel and Turkey, a growing warming of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and increasing enmity between Saudi Arabia and Iran [...] Although known to historians and religious experts, the centuries-old political and economic influence of a group known in Turkish as the “Dönmeh” is only beginning to cross the lips of Turks, Arabs, and Israelis who have been reluctant to discuss the presence in Turkey and elsewhere of a sect of Turks descended from a group of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition in the 16th and 17th centuries. These Jewish refugees from Spain were welcomed to settle in the Ottoman Empire and over the years they converted to a mystical sect of Islam that eventually mixed Jewish Kabbala and Islamic Sufi semi-mystical beliefs into a sect that eventually championed secularism in post-Ottoman Turkey. It is interesting that “Dönmeh” not only refers to the Jewish “untrustworthy converts” to Islam in Turkey but it is also a derogatory Turkish word for a transvestite, or someone who is claiming to be someone they are not. The Donmeh sect of Judaism was founded in the 17th century by Rabbi Sabbatai Zevi, a Kabbalist who believed he was the 'Messiah' but was forced to convert to Islam by Sultan Mehmet IV, the Ottoman ruler. Many of the rabbi’s followers, known as Sabbateans, but also “crypto-Jews,” publicly proclaimed their Islamic faith but secretly practiced their hybrid form of Judaism, which was unrecognized by mainstream Jewish rabbinical authorities. Because it was against their beliefs to marry outside their sect, the Dönmeh created a rather secretive sub-societal clan." [...]" 

Flashback: "British Intelligence Reports: Israeli Mossad Ran 9/11 Arab "Hijacker" Terrorist Operation" [12/22/11] "British intelligence reported in February 2002 that the Israeli Mossad ran the Arab hijacker cells that were later blamed by the U.S. government's 9/11 Commission for carrying out the aerial attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. WMR has received details of the British intelligence report which was suppressed by the government of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. [...] A Mossad unit consisting of six Egyptian- and Yemeni-born Jews infiltrated "Al Qaeda" cells in Hamburg (the Atta-Mamoun Darkanzali cell), south Florida, and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates in the months before 9/11. The Mossad not only infiltrated cells but began to run them and give them specific orders that would eventually culminate in their being on board four regularly-scheduled flights originating in Boston, Washington Dulles, and Newark, New Jersey on 9/11. [...]"   Note: This is a piece of information that has not been discussed, in general.

Commentary: "The Diabolical Genius that is Modern Government" Bill Bonner [12/22/11] "You’ll recall that this series began by pointing out how worthless most “theories of government” really are. They’re not theories at all. They don’t explain anything. Instead, they are just wishful thinking…flattery…and apologia for the elite who use government for their own ends. The “social contract,” for example, is a fraud. You can’t have a contract unless you have two willing and able parties. They must come together in a meeting of the minds — a real agreement about what they are going to do together. But what is the ‘social contract’ with government? There was never a meeting of the minds. The deal was forced on the public. And now, imagine that you want out. Can you simply “break the contract?” You refuse to pay your taxes and refuse to be bossed around by TSA agents and other government employees. How long would it be before you got put in jail? What kind of contract is it that you don’t agree to and can’t get out of? They can dress it up…print out a piece of paper…have a solemn ceremony in which everyone pretends it is a real contract. But it’s not worth the paper it’s not written on. Also, what kind of a contract allows for one party to unilaterally change the terms of the deal? Congress passes new laws almost every day. The bureaucracy issues new edicts. The tax system is changed. The pound of flesh they got already wasn’t enough; now they want a pound and a half! Every theory of government we’ve come across is a scam. So we offer a better theory: government is just a way for the insiders to take advantage of the outsiders. [...]" 

MSM: "Alaska Lawmaker Takes On TSA Over Airport Scanners" [12/22/11] "A state lawmaker in Alaska really doesn't like the TSA's airport body scanners. Democrat Chris Tuck is running ads on local TV reminding Alaskans that they, like everyone else, have the right to turn down the scans and get a patdown instead, reports the Anchorage Daily News. "And if they touch you inappropriately, call the airport police," Tuck adds. The state representative mostly cites privacy concerns, saying that "these machines still allow TSA screeners to see through your clothes" and that the TSA then stores the images, notes CNN. The agency says he's wrong on both counts. New machines take only a generic body outline and don't store images, says a spokesman. "Might be my mistake on that one," Tuck says of the news that the devices can't store images, but he still wants to see proof. Tuck also mentions health concerns over the scanners, which the TSA similarly discounts, but his real beef is the "unnerving" routine itself. "You have people holding their arms out like they're criminals and being treated like criminals. And it's the whole psychological effect that we're imposing on society, and instilling fear and ... breeding suspicion of one another." [...]"  

Commentary: "America Drone Wars In Africa: A Constellation Of Secret Airstrips And Drone Bases" [12/22/11] "In 2009, The Pentagon established an agreement with the Seychelles government to establish a drone base within proximity of the country's civilian airport. The base is operated by the US Air Force. The Seychelles islands with a population of 85,000 inhabitants are strategically located in the Indian Ocean. They are close to the U.S. combined Navy and Air Force base in Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago, from which major military operations are conducted. Diego Garcia is also a major center of the military intelligence establishment. The Seychelles are also directly opposite Somalia and its capital Mogadishu.  [...] Reports confirm that "the base in the Seychelles is part of a constellation of drone bases that the U.S. government has expanded in the region" [officially] to monitor or attack al-Qaeda affiliates," namely as part of a counter-terrorism mandate, "to make the world safer for Africans. [...]"  

Corbett Report: "The Manas Question: Drugs, Revolution & Terrorism on the Road to Afghanistan" [12/22/11] [4:59] "The Manas Air Base, situated near the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, has played a key role in the increasingly important Central Asian region since its inception. First opened in December 2001 to support the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, the Manas Air Base plays host to the US Ninth Air Force and serves primarily as a transit point for US goods and personnel coming and going from Afghanistan. As part of the so-called Northern Distribution Network, a key supply route for NATO troops in Afghanistan that bypasses the now-blockaded Pakistani borders, Manas continues to be a strategically vital asset for the US. At the same time, the base has also been a point of contention with the locals for years, and the controversy doesn’t seem likely to die down any time soon. As important as the base is to the Kyrgyz people, the true nature of Manas remains an open question. For years, it has been at the centre of a string of allegations revolving around drug-running, terrorism and stage-managed revolutions. This is our EyeOpener Report by James Corbett, presenting Kyrgyzstan’s Manas Air Base, and exploring its reported position as a center where the US conducts covert meetings and operations with various militant Islamic groups such as Pakistani Jundullah, its importance as a major transit point for Western controlled and routed Afghan heroin, the true nature of the Tulip Revolution, the incoming Kyrgyz president’s latest threats to close the base, and the nation’s position on a fault line in the tectonics of geopolitics.  [...]"  Note: This a short, preliminary 'eye-opener' report.

MSM: "UN Condemns Unilateral Coercive Measures" [12/21/11] "The UN General Assembly condemned the implementation of unilateral coercive measures with extraterritorial effects, considering them an instrument of political or economic pressure against any country. The rejection was adopted yesterday by 137 votes in favor and 54 against, with no abstentions. Among the votes against are the United States, Israel and almost all European Union countries, but none from Latin America and the Caribbean or Africa. The text is titled Human Rights and Unilateral Coercive Measures, and states that the condemned actions were intended to prevent countries from exercising their right to freely determine their political, economic and social development. Such measures also preclude the full realization of economic and social development of the population of the affected countries, harm their welfare and create obstacles to the full enjoyment of human rights, including health, food, medical care and necessary social services. The text also warns that food and medicines should not be used as an instrument of political pressure. It also rejects the extraterritorial nature of unilateral coercive measures for threatening the sovereignty of States and urges not to recognize or implement them, but to counteract them with administrative or legislative decisions. [...]" 

MSM: "Official: Israel Unprepared For Wartime" [12/21/11] " The Israeli government's watchdog agency says the country is short on bomb shelters and is ill-prepared to protect its citizens in case of war. The state comptroller's annual report, published in part on Tuesday, says Israel has not learned the lessons from the 2006 Lebanon war, when dozens of Israeli civilians were killed by Hezbollah rockets. The report blames official bodies, including the military and the Interior Ministry, for "serious lapses" in wartime readiness. It says some government bodies are shirking their responsibilities and not investing needed funds in preparedness plans. The report says there are not enough bomb shelters in schools and public places, leaving hundreds of thousands of Israelis unprotected in case of attack. [...]" 

Commentary:  "How Pay-Pal Squeezes Merchants with Unfair and Likely Illegal Business Practices" [12/20/11] "When Andrew Sauter decided to start taking online credit card payments for his small business, he didn’t think twice about PayPal, the dominant Web-based money transmitter in the United States. A subsidiary of the auction giant eBay, PayPal bills itself as “the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online” and “the world’s most loved way to pay and get paid.”  In exchange for the service, Sauter paid 2.2 percent of each transaction to PayPal, along with a $30-per-month fee, totaling about $5,400 over the life of the account. For four years, everything worked. But when he checked his account on September 3, he found an unwelcome surprise. Instead of the nearly $2,600 he expected, his available balance was only $192, with $2,399 listed as “pending.” PayPal was reserving 30 percent of the value of each of his transactions for 90 days. The reserve was applied retroactively, creating a sudden cash-flow problem that threatened to shut him down or force him to take on expensive and otherwise-unnecessary loans. What followed for Sauter mirrors the experiences of many other merchants who rely on, and reward, PayPal to make their businesses function: a battle with an opaque corporate bureaucracy marked by frustration, desperation and dead-ends. With the help of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Sauter, who lives in Chicago, would eventually get his money and compel PayPal to withdraw its reserve permanently. He also joined Zepeda v. PayPal, an ongoing class-action lawsuit representing, according to one of the principle litigants, more than 1,800 plaintiffs in similar situations. [...]"  Related: "PayPal’s Links to Palantir, a Metasearch Technology Used by Intelligence, Law Enforcement and Military Organizations" [11/27/11] and related article "Palantir, the War on Terror's Secret Weapon" [11/24/11] below.

Commentary: "Stocking Up For Doomsday: It’s Not Just For “Crazies” Anymore" [12/20/11] " ... As the world fell deeper into crisis and more information, namely from alternative media, began to emerge about the fragility of the existing financial, economic, monetary and social paradigms, more Americans and citizens of other nations came to the realization that perhaps not everything was as under control as it has been made out to be. When the financial system collapsed in late 2008 it wiped out trillions of dollars in wealth and turned once successful middle class laborers into poverty stricken recipients of emergency services. Governments around the world, led by the monetary policy of the United States, responded by attempting to infuse trillions of dollars of new debt into an already debt-laden and over-leveraged system, with Congressional members reportedly being threatened with the real possibility of martial law in the streets of America unless they took action. The unprecedented government intervention on a massive global scale was not enough. As it stands now, the banks of Europe are set to fall, just as they did in the 1930′s. The United States, far removed from the creditor status it held during the Great Depression, is the largest debtor in human history. It’s creditor, China, is an up and coming economic giant who has made known, on numerous occasions, that it would like nothing more than to see an end to US dollar’s dominance as the world’s reserve currency and America’s military and economic might weakened. Tensions amid nuclear allegations in the middle east are heating up with Iran, while influential countries in the region like Egypt and Syria are progressively being destabilized on a daily basis. The world, for those paying attention, is on the brink of a major paradigm shift. And many have come to the conclusion that government really has no way of mitigating the fundamental problems we face. "  Note: No kidding. They're conceptually hobbled sequentials.

Interviews: "Psychologists Explain 911 Denial" [12/19/11] [15:08] "Listen to experts here, they explain how not just 911 but every single disaster can be carried out deliberately as the majority of the general public would never believe it possible." 

Webster Tarpley: "World Crisis Radio Update" [12/19/11] MP3 Audio [120:00] Select Dec 17, 2011 podcast and click play arrow to listen, or download. Also available as two segments. Note: The world strategic crisis continues. The discussion begins with the collapse of the United States empire and what's happening.

Commentary: "Global Economic Crisis: The USA, An Insolvent and Ungovernable Country " [12/19/11] "... In fact, the United States ends 2011 in a state of weakness unmatched since the Civil War. They practice no significant leadership at international level. The confrontation between geopolitical blocs is sharpening and they find themselves confronted by almost all the world’s major players: China, Russia, Brazil (and in general almost all of South America) and now Euroland (30). Meanwhile, they cannot control unemployment where the true rate stagnates at around 20% against the backdrop of an unabated and unprecedented reduction in the labour force (which has now fallen to its 2001 level (31)). Real estate, the foundation of US household wealth along with the stock market, continues to see prices drop year after year despite desperate attempts by the Fed (32) to facilitate lending to the economy through its zero interest rate policy. The stock market has resumed its downward path artificially interrupted by two Quantitative Easings in 2009 and 2010. US banks, whose balance sheets are much more heavily loaded with financial derivative products than their European counterparts (33), are dangerously approaching a new series of bankruptcies of which MF Global is a but a precursor, indicating the absence of procedural controls or alarms three years after the collapse of Wall Street in 2008 (34). Poverty is gradually increasing in the country every day, where one in six Americans now depend on food stamps (35) and one in five children has experienced periods of living on the streets (36). Public services (education, social, police, highways...) have been significantly reduced across the country to avoid city, county, or state bankruptcies. The success with which the revolt of the middle class and the young (TP and OWS) has met is explained by these objective developments. And the coming years will see these trends get worse. The weakness of the 2011 US economy and society is, paradoxically, the result of the “rescue” attempts carried out in 2009/2010 (stimulus plans, QE ...) and the worsening of a pre-2008 “normal” situation. 2012 will mark the first year of deterioration from an already badly impaired situation (37). SMEs, households, local authorities (38), public services,... have no more “padding” to soften the blow of the recession into which the country has fallen again (39). We anticipated that 2012 would see a 30% drop in the Dollar against major world currencies. In this economy, which imports the bulk of its consumer goods, this will result in a corresponding decrease in US household purchasing power against a backdrop of double-digit inflation.
The TP and OWS have, therefore, a bright future ahead of them since the wrath of 2011 will become the rage in 2012/2013.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Is The World Really Doomed?" The Guardian, UK [12/19/11] " ... The apocalypse," wrote the German poet and essayist Hans Magnus Enzensberger in 1978, "is aphrodisiac, nightmare, a commodity like any other ... warning finger and scientific forecast ... rallying cry ... superstition ... a joke ... an incessant production of our fantasy ... one of the oldest ideas of the human species. Its periodic ebb and flow ... has accompanied utopian thought like a shadow."  It is haunting us again. A sense of doom dominates recent films such as Melancholia, in which a vast unknown planet suddenly appears from behind the sun and converges inexorably on Earth; and Take Shelter, about a taciturn American Everyman, living quietly with his family somewhere on the suburban plains, who starts dreaming extravagantly about devastating coming storms and social breakdown. There is doom television, such as the BBC1 series Survivors, a post-apocalyptic soap opera that ran from 2008 to 2010, about the struggles of ordinary Britons after a deadly flu pandemic. There is doom literature, from the exhaustingly erudite – Living in The End Times, by the Slovenian superstar philosopher Slavoj Žižek – to the more digestible – The Coffee Table Book of Doom, by Steven Appleby and Art Lester, published in time for this Christmas, and complete with cute cartoons and would-be wry discussions of the likelihood of an asteroid strike or global food shortage or "supersize hurricane". There is doominess in pop music, not just in the usual genres such as metal, but on the fashionable fringes of dubstep and techno, where the much blogged-about young record label Blackest Ever Black issues echoing, funereal instrumentals with titles such as We Must Hunt Under The Wreckage Of Many Systems. There is an ever louder babble of apocalypse-predicting subcultures, amplified and partly sustained by the internet: peak-oil doomers, who believe the world's energy supplies will collapse and mass famine will follow; Christians who anticipate an imminent day of rapture when believers will ascend to heaven and non-believers will perish; interpreters of the ancient Maya calendar who, contrary to mainstream scholarship, are convinced that the world will end on 21 December 2012; and traditional survivalists, stockpiling tinned goods and constructing rural "survival retreats" to sit out Armageddon, who in recent years have been more active than for decades, according to one of their gurus, James Wesley Rawles, American author of the 2009 bestseller Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse. This autumn, as the estimated world population passed seven billion, an earlier prophet of doom, Paul Ehrlich, co-author of the 60s and 70s bestseller The Population Bomb and professor of population studies at Stanford University in California, resurfaced in the British press to warn that demand for the planet's resources would soon decisively exceed supply. "Civilisations," he reminded this newspaper, "have collapsed before." [...] Especially in Britain, the media love frightening forecasts: from the rightwing Daily Express, with its fondness in recent years for near-constant, alarmist front-page weather warnings, to the leftwing New Statesman, whose 5 December coverline read: "The death spiral: Is it too late to avert a British Depression?" Even The World in 2012, the latest edition of the Economist's annual compendium of predictions, abandons its usual relentless capitalist cheerleading for warnings about an economic "Great Stagnation" and further "mayhem on the streets" of the west. "The world won't end in 2012," writes editor Daniel Franklin. "But at times it will feel as if it is about to." In July, the word "apocalypse" appeared 60 times in British national newspapers. In August, 70 times. In September, 92 times. In November, 100 times. Usually calm Guardian columnists have started to ponder Armageddon. After the chancellor George Osborne's bleak autumn statement on the economy, Zoe Williams discussed the pros and cons of food hoarding. In November, Simon Jenkins declared: "Today's [economic and political] predicament is unquestionably worse than the 1970s." The same month, Ian Jack wrote: "Build a bunker with a vegetable plot on some high ground and leave it to your grandchildren: dangerous levels of climate change now look all but inevitable. [...]"  Note: The collapse of the civilization is happening in league with the dynamics of 'graduation' (M5) that is already underway.

MSM: "Russia, India To Consolidate Strategic Partnership" [12/18/11]   "President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia spoke highly of Russian-Indian relations during his talks with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Moscow Kremlin earlier today. He described these relations as a time-tested privileged strategic partnership. Following the meeting, a Joint Statement was adopted on boosting the Russian-Indian strategic partnership in the face of challenges of the changing world. The parties to the talks reiterated their adherence to carrying-out long-term cooperation in the field of using nuclear power for peaceful purposes. According to the statement, Russia and India will seek to commission at an early date the first two power generating units of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. The plant is being built using the Russian technology. The two leaders attended a ceremony to sign a protocol on rendering technical assistance to India in launching the production, in India, of the SU-30MKI Russian fighter jet, which has become the flagship of the Indian Air Force. [...]"  

World Politics: "Russia Finally a WTO Member" [12/18/11] "Russia finally got its secret decoder ring for the World Trade Organization today, ending an 18-year quest for admittance. The vote is likely to provide a boost for both Russia's economy and that of its top trading partner, the European Union, the AP predicts, with the latter potentially boosting its exports by some $5.2 billion a year. It will also oblige Russia to abide by the Geneva-based group's trading rules. Russia was the only G20 nation that wasn't part of the 153-nation group.  [...]"  

MSM: "Russia Will Stop Any Attack Against Iran" Press TV [12/18/11] [46:34] "Russia will try to stop any military attack against Iran as the two countries have mutual interests and any attack against Tehran would also be a serious problem for Russia, a Russian military analyst tells Press TV. [...]" 

Commentary: "Analysis: Global Corporate Control" [12/17/11] "Bankers rule the world. A new Swiss Federal Institute of Technology study PDF says so. Written by Stefania Vitali, James Glattfelder and Stefano Battiston, it's titled "The network of global corporate control," saying: "We find that transnational corporations from a giant bow-tie 1structure and that a large portion of control flows to a small tightly-knit core of financial institutions. This core can be seen as an economic 'super-entity' that raises new important issues both for researches and policy makers." The study says 147 powerful companies control an inordinate amount of economic activity - about 40%. Among the top 50, 45 are financial firms. They include Barclays PLC (called most influential), JPMorgan Chase, UBS, and other familiar and less known names. Twenty-four companies are US-based, followed by eight in Britain, five in France, four in Japan, and Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands with two each. Canada has one. Moreover, "top ranked" companies "hold a control ten times bigger than what could be expected based on their wealth." As a result, they have enormous influence over political, financial, and economic activity. In his book titled, "When Corporations Rule the World," David Korten said they're able to transfer enormous amounts of power, wealth and resources from public to private hands with government complicity. Money power and concentrated wealth in few hands especially harm humanity. "These forces have transformed" financial institutions and other corporate predators "into instruments of a market tyranny that is extending its reach across the planet like a cancer, colonizing ever more of the planet's living spaces, destroying livelihoods, displacing people, rendering democratic institutions impotent, and feeding on life in an insatiable quest for money" and profits as a be and end all. Only bottom line priorities and market dominance matter, not human welfare, environmental sanity, peace, equity and justice. Transnational giants are the dominant institution of our time - especially financial ones with money power control of everything. [...]"  

Commentary: "America Just Says No to the Rule of Law" [12/17/11] "In 2005, Michael Greco, the President of the American Bar Association, decided he had to come to the defense of the rule of law in the US. A variety of Bush administration practices, such as signing statements, struck Greco as dangerous transgressions against the constitution, and he commissioned three research reports on the subject from groups of ABA specialists who had deep experience working within the executive branch, including the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the Justice Department. Each report identified serious violations of the constitution, and expressed alarm at the gravity of the consequences should they go unchecked. Greco made the reports public, and delivered them to the White House, only to be met with silence from the media and the political establishment. [...] The rule of law, it seems, was no longer a concern to the US establishment, even when the legal profession's umbrella association was weighing in with stern warnings. However indifferent the establishment may have become to the rule of law by 2005, a large proportion of American citizens were not willing to tolerate brazen illegality at the top.I ndignation at the Bush administration's disregard for the law played a significant role in delivering the Presidency and majorities in both chambers of Congress by 2008. President Obama's own background as a one-time teacher of constitutional law conditioned optimism that his administration would honor the rule of law, and would hold many Bush administration officials accountable for their transgressions. Such was the spirit of 2008. [...]"  

MSM: "UK Implicated In Afghanistan Drug Trade" [12/16/11] "A senior Afghan official has accused Britain of involvement in illicit narcotics trade in Afghanistan, Press TV reports. "There are documents and evidence that show that British forces in [Afghanistan's] Helmand Province not only did nothing to prevent the illicit drug trade, but in some cases also took part in it," Yousef-Ali Vaezi, an advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, told Press TV on Thursday. "They cooperated in the cultivation, production, and trafficking of drugs," he added. He also said that the restrictive conditions brought in the declaration of the national gathering of Afghan tribal leaders -- the Loya Jirga -- which was recently held to discuss long-term security agreement with the US, were still valid. Based on the conditions, Vaezi said, the US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan would not be granted immunity from prosecution.[...]" 

Propaganda Ploy: "Court Filings Assert Iran Had Link to 9/11 Attacks" [12/16/11] "Two defectors from Iran’s intelligence service have testified that Iranian officials had “foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks,” according to a court filing Thursday in a federal lawsuit in Manhattan that seeks damages for Iran’s “direct support for, and sponsorship of, the most deadly act of terrorism in American history.”  [...]"  Note: A trumped up legal decision which is not a surprise, considering the historical record, who is involved and what they've done so far. See the official Iran 911 Case website which reflects this propagandistic dynamic. Flashback: "Lawyers Ask NYC Judge To Find Iran Liable For 9/11 " [05/22/11] "Lawyers representing 9/11 families are asking a federal judge to find Iran culpable in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, saying new evidence shows Iranian officials had advanced word of the attacks and helped train the hijackers. The lawyers filed papers Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan saying there is “clear and convincing” evidence to conclude default judgment damages should be paid to their plaintiffs — families and personal representatives of some of those killed in the attacks. Supporting their arguments, the lawyers cited the testimony of three defectors from Iran’s intelligence service, the Ministry of Information and Security, saying they worked in positions that gave them access to sensitive information regarding Iran’s state sponsorship of terrorism. They said the testimony, part of 28 hours of testimony by four witnesses, supports a claim that Iranian officials had advanced word of the attacks and that Iran helped train those who carried it out. [...]" |  "Judge Says Iran Played Role in 9/11 Attacks" [3:00] Note: A total propagandistic fabrication, announced by CNN US-Israeli reporter Wolf Blitzer.

MSM: "Iraq War Ends" [12/16/11] "Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared the Iraq War over in a quiet ceremony in Baghdad, saying the conflict was worth the cost because it set Iraq on a path to democracy. After speeches, the flag of United States Force-Iraq was "cased"—furled around a flagpole and covered in camouflage — and the US military’s mission was declared at an end ... eight years, eight months, and 25 days after it started. American troops will be home for the holidays, and won't have to wait for the Dec. 31 deadline set by a US-Iraq agreement, reports the Washington Post.  [...]"  

RT Interview: "Man Of Mass Destruction'? RT Challenges Iraq War Architect Richard Pearle" [12/15/11]   [11:41] "As the day draws closer for the US to withdraw its troops from Iraq, many question how Iraq will fare on its own. RT spoke to one of the chief architects of this campaign, who shared his views on the justifications and failings behind the invasion. ¬A former assistant to the US Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan and a chairman of the Defense Policy Board under George W. Bush, Richard Perle is considered one of the most controversial figures in US politics. [...]"  

MSM: "Secret Trade Report Obtained By AIPAC And Israel Compromised Sensitive US Industry Secrets" [12/14/11] "Following a three year Freedom of Information Act battle, US Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk has been forced to publicly release a secret report about America's first bilateral trade agreement. The 1984 report predicted which US industries would be most harmed by massive trade preferences for Israel. In 2009 the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep), a Washington nonprofit that works to improve policy formulation, sought public release of the report. The USTR refused. IRmep appealed to an outside review panel arguing that declassified FBI files revealed both the Israeli government and American Israel Public Affairs Committee unlawfully obtained the report in 1984. A declassified FBI investigation uncovered AIPAC's receipt of the report from Israel's Economics Minister, who refused to divulge how he obtained it. IRmep successfully argued that Americans most harmed by the data theft should also have access to the report. Passage of Israel trade preferences into law in 1985 created a chronic US deficit averaging $10 billion per year. In May of 2011, IRmep's Center for Policy and Law Enforcement filed a petition with the USTR Section 301 Committee demanding $6.64 billion in compensation for exporters that suffered confidential business information loss to AIPAC and Israel. Although USTR refused to pursue the petition, the report's public release now provides crucial evidence for civil damage claims to be filed in court against AIPAC. Stakeholders may now download released sections of the report and links to FBI files.

Commentary:  "Grand Delusion: Resisting the Siren Song of "Specialness" [12/13/11] "The U.S. presidential campaign is now in full swing. (In truth, it never actually ends; the savage grasping and grappling among damaged souls seeking their brief season of domination and death-dealing goes on daily without respite.) In the months to come, we will be subjected to an ever-growing, ever-roaring flood of rhetoric about the unique, unquestionable, divinely ordained goodness of America. (And how the "other side" would destroy or demean this precious moral 'specialness'.) This rhetoric will come both from the radical, society-shaking extremists laughingly called "conservatives" in our fun-house political system, and from the reactionary defenders of elite wealth and murderous militarism laughingly known as "progressives." (And, of course, from the well-fed, milky mannered, comfortably numb burghers known as "centrists.")  All Americans are marinated in this mindset from birth, and it is reinforced in them, every day, by the most powerful and pervasive media machinery in history, by enormous societal pressure, and by the dead heavy weight of tradition. Even the most hardened cynics might feel the stirrings of atavistic response to these siren songs woven into the fabric of the American psyche. In such cases, I recommend a reading of the following two articles. They will help remind you of the reality being cloaked by the psyche-stirring, button-pushing bullshit of the grasping wretches seeking power. First, a remarkable piece in the London Review of Books, detailing the personal testimony of a child -- a child -- sold into years of captivity and torture at the hands of the proud, always-to-be-honored defenders of American values. It's the story of Mohammed el Gorani, a Saudi-born teenager from Chad, whose black skin made him a special target for his captors in the gulag hellholes of Kandahar and Guantanamo. [...]"

MSM: "Blackwater, Er, We Mean Xe, Changes Name Again" [12/13/11] " Blackwater's attempt to scrub clean its image by rebranding itself as Xe Services didn't really throw anyone off the scent—it was forever identified as "the company formerly known as Blackwater"—so now the company is trying again. Today, it will formally announce its new name, "Academi," and it's one the company is hoping you'll forget. CEO Ted Wright tells the Wall Street Journal his goal is to make the company "boring."  [...]" 

World Politics: "Billionaire Prokhorov to Challenge Putin" [12/13/11] "Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov plans to challenge Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for the Russian presidency in March elections after the biggest anti-government demonstrations in a decade emboldened Russia’s opposition. “This is the most important decision of my life,” the owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team told reporters in Moscow today. Prokhorov, 46, Russia’s third-richest man with a fortune Forbes magazine estimated at $18 billion, said that he’ll seek to build support from the grassroots level and that he opposes “revolution” and “populism.” He quit as leader of the Right Cause party on Sept. 15, accusing President Dmitry Medvedev’s administration of blocking the group’s preparations for parliamentary elections in December. [...]"  Related: See below.

Webster Tarpley: "World Crisis Radio Update" [12/12/11] MP3 Audio [120:00] Select Dec 10, 2011 podcast and click play arrow to listen, or download. Also available as two segments. Note: The increasing acrimony of the US-Russia clash, the US/British attack on the Euro, and more.  Related: "Webster Tarpley World Crisis Radio 12-10-2011" 8 Video clips

Flashback: "The International: Oil, Drugs, Guns & Kissinger Associates" [12/09/11] "At the nadir of Four Horsemen/Gulf Cooperation Council/CIA petrodollar drugs for guns recycling scheme quietly sit the international banksters. Through every major scandal and behind every despotic regime stands a global financial oligarchy- ultimate beneficiary of the world’s addiction to oil, guns and drugs. The oil wealth generated in the Persian Gulf region is the main source of capital for these bankers. They sell the GCC sheiks 30-year treasury bonds at 5% interest, then loan the sheiks’ oil money out to Third World governments and Western consumers alike at 15-20% interest. In the process these financial overlords- who produce nothing of economic import- use debt as their lever in consolidating control over the global economy. [...] The international bankers oversee Persian Gulf oil wealth generated by their Big Oil tentacles. Chase Manhattan called the shots at Iran’s central Bank Markazi, then looted the Iranian Treasury as insiders Rockefeller, Kissinger and McCloy whisked their Shah puppet into exile. Chase had close ties to the Saudi SAMA central bank and Venezuela’s central bank, where Rockefeller-controlled Exxon Mobil “is the CIA”. Chase launched the Saudi Industrial Development Fund which doled out contracts to Chase-owned multinationals during the Saudi modernization drive, then bought Saudi Investment Banking Corporation, which did exactly the same. [1] World Bank Presidents Eugene Black and John McCloy both came from Chase. Morgan Guaranty Trust presided over the House of Saud oil kitty. SAMA, created as the Kingdom’s Central Bank as the ink was still drying on the US/Saudi Security Agreement, was run by IMF goon Anwar Ali, who was handled by the “Three Wise Men” or “White Fathers”, the most powerful of which was John Meyer, chairman of Morgan Guaranty Trust’s International Division and later chairman of Morgan Guaranty. Meyer funneled SAMA petrodollar royalties into Morgan, which was investment counselor to SAMA. [2] Morgan was banker to Bechtel and ARAMCO. Stephen Bechtel sat on Morgan Guaranty’s board, as did Chevron Texaco CFR insider George Schultz and Sulaiman Olayan, the Bechtel straw man crucial to recycling Persian Gulf petrodollars into international banks.[...]" 

MSM: "Sen. Sanders Files Amendment To End Corporate Personhood" [12/09/11] "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a constitutional amendment to the U.S. Senate on Thursday that would overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United ruling. The decision held that corporations have the same First Amendment rights as people, and that political spending was free speech. The ruling allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections, so long as their actions were not directly coordinated with a candidate’s campaign. “There comes a time when an issue is so important that the only way to address it is by a constitutional amendment,” Sanders said. He had previously described the Citizen United ruling as “basically insane.” “Nobody that I know thinks that Exxon Mobil is a person,” Sanders said in November. The Saving American Democracy Amendment would state that corporations are not entitled to the same constitutional rights as people. It would also ban corporate campaign donations to candidates, and give Congress and the states broad authority to regulate spending in elections. “The dominance of corporations in Washington has imperiled the economic security of the American people and left our citizens profoundly disenchanted with our democracy,” said Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), who has introduced a companion measure in the U.S. House. “I look forward to working with Sen. Sanders to save American democracy by banning all corporate spending in our elections and cracking down on secret front groups using anonymous corporate cash to undermine the public interest.” The amendment comes only days after the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to support a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment that would assert that corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights. [...]"  Related: "Los Angeles Votes To End To Corporate Personhood" [12/07/11] "The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to support a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment that would assert that corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights, and that money is not the same as free speech. The resolution was backed by Move to Amend, a national coalition working to abolish corporate personhood and overturn U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United ruling. The decision gave corporations and unions the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections, so long as their actions are not coordinated with a candidate’s campaign. “Move to Amend’s proposed amendment would provide the basis for overturning the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission,” stated Mary Beth Fielder, Co-Coordinator of LA Move to Amend. “The Supreme Court has no legitimate right to grant people’s rights to corporations. We must clearly establish that it is we, The People, who are meant to rule.” [...]"  

Commentary:  "MIT Study With Major Corporate “Advisers” Promotes Centralized Control Of Power Grid" [12/08/11] " ... Their proposed solution is for the federal government to “designate a single agency to have responsibility for working with industry and to have appropriate regulatory authority to enhance cybersecurity preparedness, response, and recovery across the electric power sector, including bulk power and distribution systems.” We’ve seen how well centralization works, and any sane person would not continue to promote the fallacy that putting more power in fewer hands is somehow going to solve everyone’s problems. This is exactly what happened with the Department of Homeland Security (which, incidentally, the Obama administration has said should head up securing the grid) which has become a behemoth organization so wildly out of control that it is almost surreal. Yet the MIT study, chaired by John G. Kassakian and Richard Schmalensee, still recommends that we unify our system under the command of a single government entity. Not to mention, so-called “advisory committee members” from corporations that could very well stand to gain considerable amounts of money if such a plan were put into action. The most questionable individuals come from the following corporations: the Microsoft Corporation, General Electric Company, Cisco Systems, the Exelon Corporation, Southern California Edison, Nexant, Inc., and the ABB Group. Other entities involved with the advisory committee are worth listing: [...]" 

Webster Tarpley: " The Stimson-Marshall-McCloy-Lovett-Bundy Clique Schemed for US Defeat at Pearl Harbor" [12/07/11] MP3 Audio File. Very good review. Tarpley has just released a book on Pearl Harbor. Bio: "Webster Griffin Tarpley is one of the most incisive critics of Anglo-American hegemony. As an activist historian he is best known for his book – George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography (1992), a masterpiece of research which is still a must read.  AB Princeton 1966, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa; Fulbright Scholar at University of Turin, Italy; MA in humanities from Skidmore College; and Ph.D. in History from The Catholic University of America. He is fluent in Italian, German, French, Latin and Russian.   

Pearl Harbor - The Reality: "Pearl Harbor: Mother Of All Conspiracies" " Roosevelt (FDR) provoked the attack, knew about it in advance and covered up his failure to warn the Hawaiian commanders. FDR needed the attack to sucker Hitler to declare war, since the public and Congress were overwhelmingly against entering the war in Europe. It was his backdoor to war. FDR blinded the commanders at Pearl Harbor and set them up by - 1. denying intelligence to Hawaii (HI) 2. on Nov 27, misleading the commanders into thinking negotiations with Japan were continuing to prevent them from realizing the war was on 3. having false information sent to HI about the location of the Japanese carrier fleet. [...]"   Related: MSM "FDR Warned Of Pearl Harbor Attack Days In Advance"  "A new book reports that two days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that officially brought the United States into World War II, President Roosevelt was warned about such a possible attack in a memo from naval intelligence. U.S. News' Paul Bedard writes more about the story: In the newly revealed 20-page memo from FDR's declassified FBI file, the Office of Naval Intelligence on December 4 warned, "In anticipation of open conflict with this country, Japan is vigorously utilizing every available agency to secure military, naval and commercial information, paying particular attention to the West Coast, the Panama Canal and the Territory of Hawaii." [...]" "Did FDR Provoke Pearl Harbor?" "Today, 70 years after Pearl Harbor, a remarkable secret history, written from 1943 to 1963, has come to light. It is Hoover’s explanation of what happened before, during and after the world war that may prove yet the death knell of the West. Edited by historian George Nash, Freedom Betrayed: Herbert Hoover’s History of the Second World War and Its Aftermath is a searing indictment of FDR and the men around him as politicians who lied prodigiously about their desire to keep America out of war, even as they took one deliberate step after another to take us into war. Yet the book is no polemic. The 50-page run-up to the war in the Pacific uses memoirs and documents from all sides to prove Hoover’s indictment. And perhaps the best way to show the power of this book is the way Hoover does it — chronologically, painstakingly, week by week. [...]" | "McCollum Memo: The Smoking Gun of Pearl Harbor" "On October 7, 1940, Lieutenant Commander Arthur McCollum of the Office of Naval Intelligence submitted a memo to Navy Captains Walter Anderson and Dudley Knox (whose endorsement is included in the following scans). Captains Anderson and Knox were two of President Roosevelt's most trusted military advisors. The memo, scanned below, detailed an 8 step plan to provoke Japan into attacking the United States. President Roosevelt, over the course of 1941, implemented all 8 of the recommendations contained in the McCollum memo. Following the eighth provocation, Japan attacked. The public was told that it was a complete surprise, an 'intelligence failure', and America entered World War Two. [...]"  Note: And with 9/11, the public was also told it was a complete surprise, an 'intelligence failure', and America entered the fascist totalitarian fabricated "War on Terror" which has no actual substance aside from what is perpetrated and allowed by the US government, it's cohorts and patsies. In the end ... it's a war against the individual ... the eventual outcome when reincarnated retreads are in charge of a corporate fascist collective. It's all predictable, and inevitable, as part of the galaxy game on the local level. 

Pearl Harbor - The Propaganda: "How Pearl Harbor – and December 1941 – Made America a Global Power" [12/07/11] [8:09] "In his powerful, thickly researched new book, December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World, Craig Shirley chronicles the day-by-day shifts in American culture, politics, and national identity through that horrible month. Before December, Shirley tells Reason’s Nick Gillespie, a solid majority opposed entry into World War II and the “eminently respectable” America First movement was poised to help select the next president of the United States. Non-interventionism was so universal that Franklin Roosevelt himself had campaigned for his third term as president on a promise to keep “American boys” out of European wars. [...] Shirley talks with Reason's Nick Gillespie about what was gained - and lost - in the historical hinge point that was December 1941."  Related: "Sacrifice at Pearl Harbor - BBC Documentary" 1989 [61:00] "For nearly 50 years, the world has believed President Franklin D. Roosevelt's declaration that the Pearl Harbor attack was a " completely unexpected assault on a neutral nation". Sacrifice at Pearl Harbor tells another, hidden story - using actual recording of intercepted diplomatic communications, declassified government documents, archival footage and interviews with diplomats and spies from around the world. We now know that intelligence operatives from the US and three Allied nations monitored the Japanese fleet's progress on its deadly mission to Oahu in late 1941. Yet neither Admiral Kimmell nor General Short received a word of warning that might have allowed them to avert the sacrifice of 4,000 American casualties in less than 90 minutes. [...]" Note: Of course, this was all bullshit. It was murder ... they knew it was coming, they planned for it and wanted it to happen. 

MSM: "Costly Ambition: 'With Sanctions On Iran Oil, US Chokes Own Economy'" [12/07/11]   [4:24] "Iran is warning against new Washington-backed sanctions over its nuclear programme, which will target its oil exports. It says they may more than double fuel prices. Jamal Abdi from the National Iranian American Council, says such sanctions will only choke already-struggling Western economies. [...]"  

MSM: "BP: Halliburton "Destroyed Evidence" [12/06/11] "BP is accusing Halliburton of having "intentionally destroyed evidence" related to the explosion aboard an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that led to the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The accusation comes in court papers filed by BP Monday in federal court in New Orleans as part of a lawsuit aimed at having sanctions imposed on Halliburton Energy Services Inc., which was a contractor for BP on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. An explosion on the rig on April 20, 2010, killed 11 people working on the rig and injured 16 others. The explosion led to more than 200 million gallons of oil being released into the Gulf. BP alleges in its filing that Halliburton destroyed evidence on cement testing and violated court orders by not bringing forth "inexplicably missing" computer modeling results. "Halliburton has steadfastly refused to provide these critical testing and modeling results in discovery. Halliburton's refusal has been unwavering, despite repeated BP discovery requests and a specific order from this Court," the documents state. "BP has now learned the reason for Halliburton's intransigence -- Halliburton destroyed the results of physical slurry testing, and it has, at best, lost the computer modeling outputs that showed no channeling. More egregious still, Halliburton intentionally destroyed the evidence related to its nonprivileged cement testing, in part because it wanted to eliminate any risk that this evidence would be used against it at trial," the BP papers say. [...]"  

MSM: "Division of Cerberus Capital Management Buying Large U.S. Firearms Companies" [12/06/11] "... In recent years, many top-selling brands — including the 195-year-old Remington Arms, as well as Bushmaster Firearms and DPMS, leading makers of military-style semiautomatics — have quietly passed into the hands of a single private company. It is called the Freedom Group — and it is the most powerful and mysterious force in the American commercial gun industry today. Even within gun circles, the Freedom Group is something of an enigma. Its rise has been so swift that it has become the subject of wild speculation and grassy-knoll conspiracy theories. In the realm of consumer rifles and shotguns — long guns, in the trade — it is unrivaled in its size and reach. By its own count, the Freedom Group sold 1.2 million long guns and 2.6 billion rounds of ammunition in the 12 months ended March 2010, the most recent year for which figures are publicly available. Behind this giant is Cerberus Capital Management, the private investment company that first came to widespread attention when it acquired Chrysler in 2007. (Chrysler later had to be rescued by taxpayers). With far less fanfare, Cerberus, through the Freedom Group, has been buying big names in guns and ammo. [...]"  

Webster Tarpley: "World Crisis Radio Update" [12/05/11] MP3 Audio [75:00] Select Dec 3, 2011 podcast and click play arrow to listen, or download. Also available as two segments. Note: The decline of the 'occupy wall street movement' is discussed, as well as other current issues, including the withdrawal from Iraq and what's happening with the world banking panic, and the convergence of several crises. Bio: "Webster Griffin Tarpley is one of the most incisive critics of Anglo-American hegemony. As an activist historian he is best known for his book – George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography (1992), a masterpiece of research which is still a must read. He is a 9/11 Truth Scholar and activist; AB Princeton 1966, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa; Fulbright Scholar at University of Turin, Italy; MA in humanities from Skidmore College; and Ph.D. in History from The Catholic University of America. He is fluent in Italian, German, French, Latin and Russian. A decades-long expert on international terrorism, his 1978 study for the Italian parliament “Chi ha ucciso Aldo Moro?” (Who Killed Aldo Moro?) broke open the ownership of the “Red Brigades” by NATO’s clandestine “stay-behind” networks."

Commentary:  "Walking Guns and Laundering Drug Money – The “War” on Drugs is Doing Just Fine" [12/05/11] "If there is an argument to be made that the United States is the biggest purveyor of terrorist activities across the world which we justify with the endless “Global War on Terror” (and that argument is not hard to make), what does that say about our “War on Drugs”? Look at just a few of the recent stories from the headlines and judge for yourself… The Justice Department lied repeatedly about “gun walking” firearms to Mexican drug cartels – There was a policy in place at the highest levels in the ATF and the Justice Department to ship weapons to Mexican “drug cartels”. This is at a time when violence in Mexico is at it’s highest level since the Spanish landed on their shores. In February the Assistant Attorney General wrote the following to an investigating body of congress; it was a complete fiction… a lie… and congress now has the emails to prove it. [...]" Related: "Fast and Furious" Whistleblowers Struggle Six Months After Testifying Against ATF Program" "Six months ago, several agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stood before Congress to testify about the details of a U.S. government program that armed Mexico's largest drug cartel with thousands of assault rifles. The administration denied it at the time and questioned the agents' integrity. The men were nervous and scared. They said they feared for their careers, their reputation and their families. [...]"  See also article below.

MSM: "DEA Launders Mexican Profits Of Drug Cartels" [12/05/11] "Undercover American narcotics agents have laundered or smuggled millions of dollars in drug proceeds as part of Washington’s expanding role in Mexico’s fight against drug cartels, according to current and former federal law enforcement officials. The agents, primarily with the Drug Enforcement Administration, have handled shipments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash across borders, those officials said, to identify how criminal organizations move their money, where they keep their assets and, most important, who their leaders are. They said agents had deposited the drug proceeds in accounts designated by traffickers, or in shell accounts set up by agents. The officials said that while the D.E.A. conducted such operations in other countries, it began doing so in Mexico only in the past few years. The high-risk activities raise delicate questions about the agency’s effectiveness in bringing down drug kingpins, underscore diplomatic concerns about Mexican sovereignty, and blur the line between surveillance and facilitating crime. As it launders drug money, the agency often allows cartels to continue their operations over months or even years before making seizures or arrests.  [...]"  

MSM: "Egypt Islamist Parties Win More Than 60% Of The Vote" [12/05/11] Note: This is NOT what the US and Israel wanted to hear.  Related: "Muslim Brotherhood Says No to "Islamist Government" [12/04/11] " Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood put the kibosh on speculation that its Freedom and Justice Party would team up with the ultraconservative Salafi movement’s Al Nour party to dominate Egypt’s new parliament. The Freedom and Justice party issued a statement yesterday denying an “alleged alliance” that would form an “Islamist government.” [...]"| "Islamist Muslim Brotherhood Leads Polls In Egypt" [12/02/11]   [2:05] "Egypt's Islamists claim they're leading the polls in the country's parliamentary election. The first poll of its kind in years there saw millions turn out to vote for their future, with results from the first round expected within hours. RT's Anissa Naouai is in Cairo. [...]"  Note: According to Webster Tarpley and others, the Muslim Brotherhood is a patsy of the CIA, which of course explains why they are cryptically 'anti-Islamist' in an Islamic country. | "Israel Finds Egypt Vote Result Disturbing"   "Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says the initial result of the Egyptian elections are “very disturbing,” amid fears that the Muslim Brotherhood will end the long-standing peace treaty between the two. "The process of Islamisation in Arab countries is very worrying," Israel's Channel Two television quoted Barak as saying. [...]"  Note: Well, that's exactly what the Brotherhood said it doesn't want ... just what Israel wants. No surprise. See also below.

Commentary: "The “Free Syria Army”: Placard-Waving Protesters are Actually Machine Gun-Wielding Terrorists" [12/04/11] "The “Free Syria Army” is literally an army of militant extremists, many drawn not from Syria’s military ranks, but from the Muslim Brotherhood, carrying heavy weapons back and forth over the Turkish and Lebanese borders, funded, supported, and armed by the United States, Israel, and Turkey. [...]"   

Exposé: "FOIA Documents Show FBI Illegally Collecting Intelligence Under Guise of "Community Outreach" [12/04/11] "The FBI has been illegally using its community outreach programs to secretly collect and store information about activities protected by the First Amendment for intelligence purposes, according to FBI documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union. “The trust that community outreach efforts aim to create is undermined when the FBI exploits these programs to gather intelligence on the very members of the religious and community organizations agents are meeting with,” said Michael German, ACLU senior policy counsel and a former FBI agent. “The FBI should be honest with community organizations about what information is being collected during meetings and purge any improperly collected information.” FOIA documents showing instances of inappropriate intelligence gathering include: [...]"  

Commentary:  "The Fruits of Globalization: Regression, Destitution, Domination" [12/03/11] "Part of a strategy to confound Chinese expansion, part of a long Malthusian tradition of stifling human progress, the gears of progress have been ground to a halt in yet another sovereign nation at the hands of Wall Street and London's global corporate-financier interests and their stable of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). [...]" Globalists Grind Development to a Halt in Myanmar (Burma)

Commentary: "Pakistan: Gateway to the Zionist Endgame?" Martin Iqbal [12/03/11] "Israel’s plan to eviscerate the Arab and Muslim states, eyes nuclear Pakistan as the final hurdle. In the wake of NATO’s deadly November 26 attack on Pakistan, the S.I.T.E. Intelligence Group rears its head to carry forward the Zionist deceptions. In February 1982 an important Hebrew paper appeared in a Jewish journal named KIVUNIM (Directions). Penned by Oded Yinon and titled ‘A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties‘, the essay delineates strategies for Israel to become a regional hegemon in the Middle East. The short and long term strategies discussed involve the dissolution of the surrounding Arab states, and the expansion of Israel beyond its current (undeclared) borders. Over a decade later in 1996, a Zionist study group led by arch Jewish Zionist Richard Perle wrote a paper entitled ‘A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm‘. ‘A Clean Break‘ was largely a rehashing of Oded Yinon’s essay, adapting the same strategies to the contemporary geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. [...] Not only is Syria now undergoing the major Zionist destabilisation plot prescribed in Yinon’s strategy, but this plot is being carried out on the ground with major Turkish military, operational, and territorial support. This is something that was recommended in Richard Perle’s ‘Clean Break’ rehashing of the strategy: "  Note: Very good article. Related:  "Islamic Scholar Explains The Libyan Conquest - Sheik Imran Hosein " [7:33]  

Trends: "Tucson NSA ‘Fortress’ Under Scrutiny" [12/02/11] " An existing concrete poured reinforced building originally engineered to be a bank in 1972 has been designated Tucson’s NSA’s central intelligence hub. Its location is said to be for the preparation to a predicted catastrophic event. This event is predicted, however not specifically defined. “It could be anything catastrophic” they announce, and the fear is mounting upon every article that posts. There is a suspected militarized infrastructure being erected under the noses of Tucson residents. The city was epicenter to a mass murder involving a member of the U.S. Congress, in which the murder of a federal judge took place in early January of 2011. The object of this article is to begin to illustrate a significant aspect of what is perhaps being hidden from public knowledge before its very eyes. This is a complex subject in which several articles will follow. Rather than intimidate the reader with an influx of background informational facts that leads to this story at hand, let this study of one particular building renovation project currently under construction in planning since 2004 exemplify the activities that parallels similar projects throughout the United States. It is as a clear example of federalization and installment of installations converted from acquired properties. This is the continuation of the military- industrial complex. In Tucson, Arizona, there seems to be a militarized infrastructure logistically planned along a rather straight north to southerly tract. [...]"  

Commentary: "Vietnam-Style Exit: Russia Could Deliver Death Blow To NATO In Af-Pak War Theater" [12/02/11] "Maria Sultan, defence analyst, while talking to this correspondent said that if the Russians also cut the supply line of NATO then it will turn out to be a cold death for NATO troops. “They will literally be strangled in Afghanistan with 90,000 troops, and as they admit that they have reserves for three months, which actually means they have reserves for two months, then NATO will have to airlift the troops and during the airlift only 15 to 20 percent can get out alive out of the 90,000 troops”, Maria said. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Neoconservatives Planned Regime Change Throughout the Middle East and North Africa 20 Years Ago" [12/01/11]   " ... General Wesley Clark … said the aim of this plot [to "destroy the governments in ... Iraq, ... Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran”] was this: “They wanted us to destabilize the Middle East, turn it upside down, make it under our control.” He then recounted a conversation he had had ten years earlier with Paul Wolfowitz — back in 1991 — in which the then- number -3- Pentagon- official, after criticizing Bush 41 for not toppling Saddam, told Clark: “But one thing we did learn [from the Persian Gulf War] is that we can use our military in the region – in the Middle East – and the Soviets won’t stop us. And we’ve got about 5 or 10 years to clean up those old Soviet regimes – Syria, Iran [sic], Iraq – before the next great superpower comes on to challenge us.” [...]"  

Propaganda Theatre: "UN: "Syria now in a civil war with 4000 dead" [12/01/11] "Civil war has been the worst-case scenario in Syria since the revolt against Assad began eight months ago. Damascus has a web of allegiances that extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy, raising fears of a regional ... [...]"  Note: This premise is a total media fabrication created to promote another illegal incursion into a peaceful country. Reality: "No Civil War In Syria, But A Killing Spree By CIA-NATO Death Squads"  MP3 "Webster G. Tarpley on the Kevin Barrett Show [...]"  Webster Tarpley: "The Anatomy of the NATO-CIA Destabilization of Syria" [11/29/11]   [56:36] Note: Tarpley Interviewed by Hanaa Alsaleh of Syria’s Addounia Television. Very good.  See also "World Crisis Radio Update" [11/28/11] below for more background. He was there ... "UN Report on Syria: Based on Witness Accounts ... OUTSIDE of Syria" [11/29/11] "Wall Street and London's media machine eagerly churned out headlines like BBC's "Syria security forces 'commit crimes against humanity'" announcing the conclusions of a recent UN Human Rights Council report regarding the ongoing violence in Syria. However, even upon reading the BBC article it is soon discovered that, "the investigation team members say they were denied entry into Syria itself," and that the entirety of their "evidence" is garnered solely from interviews with "223 victims, witnesses and also army defectors to investigate alleged human rights violations." BBC's article raises immediate suspicion over the veracity of the report, as "victims, witnesses, and defectors," interviewed outside of Syria is not evidence, but rather more hearsay by groups of people with a vested interest in painting the Syrian government in the worst light possible. However, upon actually reading the full text of the UN Human Rights Council report, we see just exactly "how" the report was compiled. [...]"  

Propaganda Theatre:  "Turkey Announces New Sanctions On Syria" [12/01/11] " Adding to the pressure on Syria, Turkey on Wednesday announced tough new sanctions, including freezing government assets, suspending loans and banning all military sales. The United Nations says more than 3,500 people have been killed since major protests erupted in Syria in March. Opposition activists reported heavy gunfire Wednesday as security forces stormed the village of Dael in the southern Dara province. At least 16 people were killed around the country, according to the Local Coordination Committees, a major opposition network. Most foreign journalists are barred from reporting in Syria and the accounts could not be independently verified. [...]"  Note:  Why does Turkey support Israel's agenda? See "The Dönmeh: The Middle East’s Most Whispered Secret" Wayne Madsen [11/11/11] Modern Turkey: a secret Zionist state controlled by the Dönmeh" below:

World Politics: "Russia Activates Missile Early Warning Radar System" [11/30/11] "Russia has turned on a new incoming missile early warning system in its westernmost region in response to US plans for a missile shield in Europe. President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the system to be activated on a visit to the radar unit in Kaliningrad, a Baltic region bordering EU countries. The unit is equipped with the new Voronezh-DM radar system. Mr Medvedev has warned Russian missiles could be deployed on the EU's borders if the shield is installed. [...]" 

MSM: "Chemical Arms Conference Opens In The Hague" [11/29/11] "The 16th international Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) has kicked off in The Hague, with the elimination of chemical weapons across the world as its main focus. [...]" 

Commentary:  "The New Authoritarianism: From Decaying Democracies to Technocratic Dictatorships and Beyond" [11/29/11] "We live in a time of dynamic, regressive, regime changes. A period in which major political transformations and the dramatic roll back of a half century of socio-economic legislation are accelerated by a prolonged and deepening economic crises and a world-wide financier led offensive. This essay explores major ongoing regime changes that have a profound impact on governance, the class structures, economic institutions, political freedom and national sovereignty. We delineate a two-stage process of political regression. The first stage involves the transition from a decaying democracy to an oligarchical democracy; the second stage currently unfolding in Europe involves the transition from oligarchical democracy to colonial-technocratic dictatorship. We will identify the specific features of each regime focusing on the specific conditions and socio-economic forces behind each “transition”. We will proceed to clarify the key concepts, their operative meaning: specifically the nature and dynamics of “decaying democracies” (DD), oligarchical democracies (OD) and “colonial technocratic dictatorship” (CTD). [...]"  

MSM: "Iran, Turkey Sign Consular Agreement" [11/29/11] "The Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey have signed a cooperation agreement to increase the level of consular interactions. [...]"  

Commentary: "Medvedev's Address to Russia: A Stark, Measured Statement of The Grave Strategic Reality" [11/28/11] "Russian President Dmitri Medvedev's November 23 televised address to the nation conveyed the stark reality that the Russian leadership anticipates the outbreak of global nuclear war, and is determined both to defend Russia under those circumstances and, by warning of this, to try to deter it. [...]"  

MSM: "Sea Alert: Russian Warships Head For Syria" [11/28/11] "Moscow is deploying warships at its base in the Syrian port of Tartus. The long-planned mission comes, providentially, at the very moment when it could help prevent a potential conflict in the strategically important Middle Eastern country. ­The Russian battle group will consist of three vessels led by the heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser, Admiral Kuznetsov. Russian military officials insist that the move has 'no connection with the ongoing crisis in the region' and was planned a year ago, the Izvestia newspaper reports. Apart from Syria, the aircraft carrier and its escort ships are set to visit the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Genoa in Italy and Cyprus, says the former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Viktor Kravchenko. Nevertheless, he added that the presence of a military force other than NATO’s is very useful for this region, because “it will prevent the outbreak of an armed conflict,” Izvestia quoted Kravchenko as saying. The Soviet Union, the Admiral recalled, created a special naval squadron to deter Western military forces in the Mediterranean Sea.  [...]"  Related: In reality, there are some Russian naval forces already at Tartus. See below for context and more info.

Webster Tarpley: "World Crisis Radio Update" [11/28/11] MP3 Audio [90:00] See Nov 26, 2011 podcast. Absolutely vital update  Middle East Map 

Commentary:  "Senate Moves To Allow Military To Intern Americans Without Trial" [11/28/11] "The Senate is set to vote on a bill next week that would define the whole of the United States as a “battlefield” and allow the U.S. Military to arrest American citizens in their own back yard without charge or trial. “The Senate is going to vote on whether Congress will give this president—and every future president — the power to order the military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians anywhere in the world. The power is so broad that even U.S. citizens could be swept up by the military and the military could be used far from any battlefield, even within the United States itself,” writes Chris Anders of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. [...]" 

MSM: "Filthy Lucre: Afghan Drug Profits Too Juicy To Resist" [11/28/11]   [2:43] "America's approach to tackling the flow of illegal drugs from Afghanistan is misguided. This criticism from Russia's anti-drugs chief who believes a complete eradication of poppy fields is the only solution - a position not currently shared by the U.S. However, this reluctance now has some asking if the deadly business is proving simply too lucrative to destroy. [...]"  

MSM: "Analysis: Syria And The Unfolding Hegemonic Game" [11/28/11] "In spite of mounting international and regional pressure on Bashar al-Assad’s regime, there is still no real prospect of a quick end to the on-going instability and instead Syria is set to enter a long and bloody civil war. And as political stalemate continues, a genuinely regional hegemonic contest between Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey over this small but strategically important nation has begun to unfold. Since the fall of Mubarak, Saudis have decided to drastically reduce their reliance on the US for securing their foreign policy interests. Riyadh has not only begun to strengthen its armed forces, but it has also decided to use its petro-dollar more aggressively seeking to buy influence in return for the provision of generous financial assistance. [...]" 

MSM: "U.S. Rebuffed In Push To Head Off Cluster Bomb Ban" [11/27/11] "A U.S.-led push to regulate, rather than ban, cluster munitions failed Friday after 50 countries objected, following humanitarian campaigners’ claims that anything less than a outright ban would be an unprecedented reversal of human rights law. While the United States, China and Russia want rules about the manufacture and use of cluster bombs, activists say such regulations would legitimize the munitions, backtracking from the Oslo Convention, an international treaty that seeks a worldwide ban. “Against all odds it looks like we’re going to have success this evening,” Steve Goose, head of the arms division at Human Rights Watch, told a press conference in Geneva. [...]"  

MSM: "Pakistan Stops NATO Supplies After Raid Kills Up To 28" [11/27/11] "NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military outposts in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing as many as 28 troops and plunging U.S.-Pakistan relations, already deeply frayed, further into crisis. Pakistan retaliated by shutting down vital NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, used for sending in just under a third of the alliance's supplies. The attack is the worst single incident of its kind since Pakistan uneasily allied itself with Washington in the days immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. targets. Relations between the United States and Pakistan, its ally in the war on militancy, have been strained following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in a raid on the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May, which Pakistan called a flagrant violation of sovereignty. A spokesman for NATO-led troops in Afghanistan confirmed that NATO aircraft had been called in to support troops in the area and had probably killed some Pakistani soldiers. "Close air support was called in, in the development of the tactical situation, and it is what highly likely caused the Pakistan casualties," said General Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). He added that he could not confirm the number of casualties, but ISAF is investigating the "tragic development." [...]" 

MSM: "George W Bush And Tony Blair Found Guilty Of War Crimes" [11/26/11] [2:33] "Former US president George Bush and his former counterpart Tony Blair were found guilty of war crimes by the The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal which held a four day hearing in the Malaysia. The five panel tribunal unanimously decided that Bush and Blair committed genocide and crimes against peace and humanity when they invaded Iraq in 2003 in blatant violation of international law. The judges ruled that war against Iraq by both the former heads of states was a flagrant abuse of law, act of aggression which amounted to a mass murder of the Iraqi people. In their verdict, the judges said that the United States, under the leadership of Bush, forged documents to claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. They further said the findings of the tribunal be made available to members of the Rome Statute and the names of Bush and Blair be entered into a war crimes register. Both Bush and Blair repeatedly said the so-called war against terror was targeted at terrorists. Lawyers and human rights activists present here say the verdict by the tribunal is a landmark decision. And the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Foundation said it would lobby the International Criminal Court to charge former US president George Bush and Former British prime minister Tony Blair for war crimes. [...]"  

RT Interview: "Baltic Gitmo: CIA 'Black Site' To Land Lithuania In Court" [11/26/11]   [3:22] "The small Baltic state of Lithuania may face trial in The Hague for torture, amid allegations it's been harbouring a secret CIA prison. It's after a lawsuit filed by a terror suspect who was locked up without charge by the U.S. for almost a decade. [...]" 

Global Research TV: "War With Iran: History and Consequences" [11/26/11] [12:11] "This month's release of a new International Atomic Energy Agency report into Iran's nuclear energy program has caused a flurry of diplomatic activity, political posturing, and breathless news headlines about the supposed imminent threat of an alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program. [...]"  

RT Interview:  "Nuke Carrier Leads US Strike Force Into Syria Waters" [11/26/11]   [5:21] "Patrick Henningsen, a political analyst from America's 'Infowar.com' online magazine, says we are seeing initial steps of a repeat of what we saw in Libya.  It's thought the U.S. has redeployed its newest aircraft carrier from the Persian Gulf to the Syrian coast. Washington is also urging American citizens to leave Syria immediately. [...]"  Note: Cash Cow For Oil Companies and banks, who are behind this, using the US military as enforcers. Related: MSM: "Public Relations Campaign for Military Intervention in Syria Begins" "France’s foreign minister, Alain Juppé, has raised the prospect of Syrian intervention. After a meeting in Paris with Burhan Ghalioun of the Syrian national council, Juppé said “humanitarian corridors or humanitarian zones” should be established to protect civilians from the alleged abuses of the al-Assad regime. The effort mirrors an earlier one in Libya. In February, the Libyan League, the National Endowment for Democracy (established to do the dirty work of the CIA abroad) and various NGOs petitioned the United Nations to suspend Libya from the UN Human Rights Council. [...]" 

RT Interview:  "Syria Then Iran And The Real Target Is Russia: Escobar: No War With Iran Before 2012 Elections" [11/25/11]   [4:06] "Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar says that America's missile shield in Europe targets Russia - and is part of Washington's strategic plan of global dominance. [...]"  Related: "US Deploys Aircraft Carrier to Syrian Coast"   "Violence continued in Syria today, with a number of civilian protesters killed. The focus however was off the coast, where America’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS George H. W. Bush, has taken up a position just outside of Syrian territorial waters, after a deployment near the Straits of Hormuz. There was no official explanation for why the US would deploy the carrier there, but it comes amid growing speculation that NATO-ally Turkey is poised to launch an invasion of Syria, and the possibility that a US-backed regime change. [...]" 

Commentary: "G20: One Of The Biggest Spy Operations In Canadian History" [11/24/11] "Police organizations across the country co-operated to spy on community organizations and activists in what the RCMP called one of the largest domestic intelligence operations in Canadian history, documents reveal. Information about the extensive police surveillance in advance of last year's G8 and G20 meetings in southern Ontario comes from evidence presented in the case of 17 people accused of orchestrating street turmoil during the summits. [...] And RCMP records suggest that the reconnaissance continues. Report logs indicate at least 29 incidents of police surveillance between the end of the G20 summit and April 2011 — more than nine months after world leaders departed Toronto.[...]"  

Commentary: "Pentagon’s "War On Drugs" Among The Most Lucrative Sources Of Cash For Private Security Contractors" [11/23/11] "An obscure Pentagon office designed to curb the flow of illegal drugs has quietly evolved into a one-stop shop for private security contractors around the world, soliciting deals worth over $3 billion. The sprawling contract, ostensibly designed to stop drug-funded terrorism, seeks security firms for missions like “train[ing] Azerbaijan Naval Commandos.” Other tasks include providing Black Hawk and Kiowa helicopter training “for crew members of the Mexican Secretariat of Public Security.” Still others involve building “anti-terrorism/force protection enhancements” for the Pakistani border force in the tribal areas abutting Afghanistan. The Defense Department’s Counter Narco-Terrorism Program Office has packed all these tasks and more inside a mega-contract for security firms. The office, known as CNTPO, is all but unknown, even to professional Pentagon watchers. It interprets its "counter-narcotics mandate" very, very broadly, leaning heavily on its implied counterterrorism portfolio. And it’s responsible for one of the largest chunks of money provided to mercenaries in the entire federal government. CNTPO quietly solicited an umbrella contract for all the security services listed above — and many, many more — on Nov. 9. It will begin handing out the contract’s cash by August. And there is a lot of cash to disburse.[...] "   Related: Commentary: "US Drug War Construct"  "The "US War on Drugs" is a complex and intricate intelligence construct.  For the intelligence operation to be successful, however, the various drug cartels, US law enforcement agencies and government institutions must remain unaware of the role they are performing on the geopolitical chessboard for the elite within the military intelligence construct. [...]"  

MSM: "Confusion Center: Feds Now Say Hacker Didn't Destroy Water Pump" [11/23/11] "A report from an Illinois intelligence fusion center that a water utility was hacked cannot be substantiated, according to an announcement released late Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security. [...]"  Note: So they lied. Related: See the following stories below: "Political Theatrics: "Foreign Hackers Targeted U.S. Water Plant In Apparent Malicious Cyber Attack" [11/20/11] and attached stories.  

Commentary: "Time to Test Corporate Leaders to Weed out Psychopaths" [11/22/11] "Given the state of the global economy, it might not surprise you to learn that psychopaths may be controlling the world. Not violent criminals, but corporate psychopaths who nonetheless have a genetically-inherited biochemical condition that prevents them from feeling normal human empathy. Scientific research is revealing that 21st century financial institutions with a high rate of turnover and expanding global power have become highly attractive to psychopathic individuals to enrich themselves at the expense of others, and the companies they work for. A peer-reviewed theoretical paper from 2011 titled "The Corporate Psychopaths Theory of the Global Financial Crisis" ** PDF details how highly-placed psychopaths in the banking sector may have nearly brought down the world economy through their own inherent inability to care about the consequences of their actions. The author of this paper, Clive Boddy, previously of Nottingham Trent University, believes this theory would go a long way to explain how senior managers acted in ways that were disastrous for the institutions they worked for, the investors they represented and the global economy at large. If true, this also means the astronomically expensive public bailouts will not solve the problem since many of the morally impaired individuals who caused this mess likely remain in positions of power. Worse, they may be the same people advising governments on how to resolve this crisis.[...]"  Related: "The Influence of Corporate Psychopaths on Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Commitment to Employees"  PDF | Philosophical Papers in Applied Ethics

Commentary:  "Gunwalker Scandal Broadens--The FBI Connection" [11/22/11] "Confidential informants who are participating in the Congressional probe of the Project Gunwalker (Operation Fast and Furious) scandal have now zeroed in on the FBI connection. Such a connection has been hinted at in the past, but information relayed today shows that FBI involvement was much deeper than anyone imagined. The investigation into Gunwalker has revealed a scandal involving multiple departments of the Obama Administration--Justice, FBI, ATF, ICE, DEA, DHS, and State. These connections have been verified through previously hidden emails and documents, and sworn testimony of whistleblowers. [...]"  Note: See "Weapons and Drug Cartels" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories.  

Commentary: "Non-Profit Group Linked To Homeland Security Promotes Absurd Fear Of Non-Existent Threat Of Terrorism" [11/22/11] "A so-called “Community Awareness Program” (CAP) has been launched by the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab (the CELL), a non-profit group directly linked to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The CELL is the same group behind the absurdist fear-mongering video entitled “Recognizing the 8 Signs of Terrorism” which is nothing more than a clear attempt to strike illogical fear into the hearts of Americans. [...]" 

RT Interview: "Webster Tarpley from Damascus: ‘CIA, MI6 and Mossad, together against Syria'" Link Fixed [11/21/11]   [8:19] "Moscow has accused the west of stirring up tensions in the Arab world by calling for the overthrow of the Syrian regime. Russia says calls from certain states for the Syrian opposition to avoid dialogue with the government, are only provoking further violence. Author and journalist Webster Tarpley, who's in Damascus, says, it's very simple, western powers are behind the violence in Syria. [...]"  

Commentary: "Newspaper Publisher Caves, Agrees Excerpts Of Articles Do Not Infringe Copyright" [11/21/11] "In a victory for fair use, the publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Stephens Media, filed papers yesterday conceding that posting a short excerpt of a news article in an online forum is not copyright infringement. The concession will result in entry of a judgment of non-infringement in a long-running copyright troll case that sparked the dismissal of dozens of baseless lawsuits filed by Righthaven LLC. [...] "This is a hard fought and important victory for free speech rights on the Internet," said Laurence Pulgram, the partner who led the team at Fenwick & West, LLP in San Francisco. "Unless we respond to such efforts to intimidate, we'll end up with an Internet that is far less fertile for the cultivation and discussion of the important issues that affect us all." 

MSM: "Global Economic Outlook Grim, China Tells U.S. Trade" [11/21/11] "Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan warned Monday that the global economy remains in a grim state and that an "unbalanced recovery" might be the best option, at talks where senior U.S. officials warned of a souring mood at home toward China. Policymakers globally are expressing increasing alarm at the risks facing the world economy, mainly stemming from financial contagion in Europe. Several central banks, including those in the euro zone, Australia, Brazil and Indonesia, have cut official interest rates to support their economies. "Global economic conditions remain grim, and ensuring economic recovery is the overriding priority," said Wang, the top official steering China's financial and trade policy, at the start of the second day of talks. [...]" 

Exposé: "Document Trove Exposes Surveillance Methods: Huge Cell, Internet Spy Biz Operates in Secret" [11/21/11] "Documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal open a rare window into a new global market for the off-the-shelf surveillance technology that has arisen in the decade since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The techniques described in the trove of 200-plus marketing documents, spanning 36 companies, include hacking tools that enable governments to break into people's computers and cellphones, and "massive intercept" gear that can gather all Internet communications in a country. The papers were obtained from attendees of a secretive surveillance conference held near Washington, D.C., last month. Intelligence agencies in the U.S. and abroad have long conducted their own surveillance. But in recent years, a retail market for surveillance tools has sprung up from "nearly zero" in 2001 to about $5 billion a year, said Jerry Lucas, president of TeleStrategies Inc., the show's operator. Critics say the market represents a new sort of arms trade supplying Western governments and repressive nations alike. "The Arab Spring countries all had more sophisticated surveillance capabilities than I would have guessed," said Andrew McLaughlin, who recently left his post as deputy chief technology officer in the White House, referring to the Middle Eastern and African nations racked by violent crackdowns on dissent. [...] The documents show that at least three companies—Vupen Security SA of France, HackingTeam SRL of Italy and Gamma's FinFisher—marketed their skill at the kinds of techniques often used in "malware," the software used by criminals trying to steal people's financial or personal details. The goal is to overcome the fact that most surveillance techniques are "useless against encryption and can't reach information that never leaves the device," Marco Valleri, offensive-security manager at HackingTeam, said in an interview. "We can defeat that.[...] "  

Webster Tarpley: "World Crisis Radio Podcast" [11/21/11] MP3 Audio [120:00] "  Note: See Nov 19, 2011 podcast. Also available in two separate hour tracks. You may also like to listen to this program via "Video Clips" Autoplay 8 Video clips .  Tarpley was reporting from from Beruit, Lebanon.

Interview: "U.S. Nuclear Weapons Expert Debunks Iran Weapons Fraud" [11/21/11] [30:00] "Clinton Bastin, a nuclear chemical engineer and former head of the DOE program on nuclear materials and reprocessing, debunked the Iran nuclear weapons fraud in a 30-minute telephone interview for LPAC yesterday. [...]" 

World Politics: "India Successfully Tests Long Range Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile" [11/21/11] "Last week, India successfully test fired one of its longest range missiles capable of carrying a one-ton nuclear warhead deep inside China, officials said. A Defense Research and Development Organization spokesman said the Agni-IV missile was launched at 9:00am (0330 GMT) from a test site in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. “All the parameters have been met and it was a very successful test,” DRDO spokesman Ravi Gupta told AFP. He said the nuclear-capable, two-stage missile which is powered by solid fuel was fired beyond the Bay of Bengal into the Indian Ocean. Agni means fire in Sanskrit. “Agni-IV has a maximum range of 3,500 kilometers (2,170 miles) but this time the launch parameter was 3,000 kilometers,” the official spokesman said. A previous test of the Agni-IV on December 10, 2010 failed after the missile went off its trajectory and plunged into the sea. Defense ministry sources said military scientists were also giving the final shape to the 5,000-kilometre range Agni-V, scheduled to be test-fired for the first time early next year. India has also said it may develop an intercontinental ballistic missile. The Agni series is one of five missiles being developed by the DRDO under an Integrated Guided Missile Development Program launched in 1983. India is among the world’s top 10 military spenders. It plans to splurge $50 billion by 2015 to upgrade its military. It has fought three wars with rival Pakistan since their independence in 1947 and a brief but bloody border conflict with China in 1962.  [...]" 

Political Theatrics: "Foreign Hackers Targeted U.S. Water Plant In Apparent Malicious Cyber Attack" Washington Post (CIA-Influenced) [11/20/11] "Foreign hackers (allegedly Russian) caused a pump at an Illinois water plant to fail last week, according to a preliminary state report. Experts said the cyber-attack, if confirmed, would be the first known to have damaged one of the systems that supply Americans with water, electricity and other essentials of modern life. Companies and government agencies that rely on the Internet have for years been routine targets of hackers, but most incidents have resulted from attempts to steal information or interrupt the functioning of Web sites. The incident in Springfield, Ill., would mark a departure because it apparently caused physical destruction. Federal officials confirmed that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were investigating damage to the water plant but cautioned against concluding that it was necessarily a cyber-attack before all the facts could be learned. “At this time there is no credible corroborated data that indicates a risk to critical infrastructure entities or a threat to public safety,” said DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard. [...]" Note: In the first story, They mention nothing abut the fact that the industrial control systems are connected to the internet, allowing the very hacking they seem to 'fear'. However, according to the DHS a couple of weeks earlier, Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are not supposed to be connected to the internet. See this related article: "Feds" Concerned About 'Hackers': But DHS Says Industrial Control Systems Not Supposed To Be Connected To Internet" [11/06/11] "Federal authorities are concerned about "new research" showing " U.S. prisons are vulnerable to computer hackers, who could remotely open cell doors to aid jailbreaks. “You could open every cell door, and the system would be telling the control room they are all closed,” said John J. Strauchs, a former CIA operations officer who helped develop a cyber-attack on a simulated prison computer system and described it at a hackers’ convention in Miami last week. [...] The security systems in most American prisons are run by special computer equipment called Industrial Control Systems, or ICS. They are also used to control power plants, water treatment facilities and other critical national infrastructure. ICS has increasingly been targeted by hackers because an attack on one such system successfully sabotaged Iran’s nuclear program in 2009. [...] Sean P. McGurk, who led the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to secure ICS until leaving in September, said the department had looked into the researchers’ claims using the special ICS computer test bed at the Idaho National Laboratory. “We validated the researchers’ initial assertion … that they could remotely reprogram and manipulate” the special software controllers that run the systems, Mr. McGurk said. ... Teague Newman, another member of their team, said ICS systems are not supposed to be connected to the Internet.   Note: See "Social Control" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories.  

Commentary: "House of Mirrors, Part II- Living the Fantasy: How Guilt, Innocence & Facts Are Made Irrelevant" Link Fixed [11/20/11] [As the U.S. becomes more and more the kind of country it has traditionally opposed, the answer to where we are headed may lie more in the arcane traditions of a dim past than in a bright future.]  "On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, numerous commentators from across a broad spectrum of opinion focused their alarm not so much on the horror of events in lower Manhattan ten years before, but on what America has become in the aftermath of that horror. Ten years on, the United States desperately expands what appears to be an increasingly irrational, corrosive and ultimately self-destructive national security mandate around the globe and here at home. In the darkening gloom of the upcoming 2012 Presidential elections as the U.S. builds up its forces in the Middle East and returns its attention to Asia’s Pacific rim, the CIA’s focus is no longer on analyzing intelligence on terrorists, but simply killing those perceived as a threat to its existence or perhaps more cynically, its livelihood. In the hardened fortresses of endless war, American soldiers walled off from human society claim their own lives in record numbers while in beltway foreign policy circles “Peace” has become a dirty word. In the darkening gloom, robot Predator drones target those thought to be “terrorists” or those suspected of being terrorists. Those unfortunate enough to be standing nearby are targeted as well and will one day be the target of drones piloted by computer software and facial recognition, making the machine-killing completely autonomous. [...]"  Related: "House of Mirrors, Part I- Mystical Covert Agendas: America’s New Role as the Dark Force" [11/09/11]   "If anyone (correctly) thought that the war on terror and Washington’s response to it had taken on a fantastical otherworldly quality, this recent quote on the front page of the Washington Post seemed to confirm it. Following 9/11the elected government of the United States of America delivered the country to a whole department (of Homeland Security) dedicated to expanding the government’s fear of darkness into everybody’s life (remember the 2003 duct tape and plastic sheeting craze?) Now we also have a top secret military operation known as the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) that thinks it is the dark. Begun as a modest hostage rescue team, JSOC has morphed into a veritable heart of darkness, with the power to murder at will and with immunity from American legal jurisdiction (which apparently still maintains that such assassinations are illegal).  [...]"  

Commentary: "Interview With Neutron Bomb Inventor Sam Cohen" [11/19/11] "For most of Sam Cohen's life, he has struggled against politicians who, in his opinion, have sacrificed good sense when it comes to the nation's defenses. Cohen is the physicist who invented the neutron bomb, the one that kills people but leaves things like tanks and buildings intact. Plans to deploy his creations in Europe during the '70s and '80s awakened the "peace movement" across that continent, stopping its deployment. With that and other battles lost, the 76-year-old Cohen finds solace in his Brentwood home, nestled high on a hill overlooking Los Angeles. [...]  For Cohen, the neutron bomb is the ultimate sane weapon. It kills humans, or as he puts it "the bad guys," but doesn't produce tremendous collateral damage on civilian populations and the infrastructure a civilian population needs to survive. This meant, in Cohen's mind, that a conventional war could escalate without immediately leading to an all-out nuclear holocaust. If regular nuclear weapons were used across Europe, the radioactive fallout could turn the continent into a wasteland for decades. That wouldn't be the case if neutron bombs were used. [...]   With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism as we knew it, the Bush administration moved to dismantle all of our tactical nuclear weapons, including the Reagan stockpile of neutron bombs. In Cohen's mind, America was brought back to Square One. Without tactical weapons like the neutron bomb, America would be left with two choices if an enemy was winning a conventional war: surrender, or unleash the holocaust of strategic nuclear weapons. Other nation's haven't been afflicted by the U.S. blindness regarding neutron bombs. According to Cohen: Evidence exists that China has neutron bombs stockpiled, and that the United States gave the Chinese the technology to build them. Russia has a large quantity of such weapons, as well as the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. Israel has hundreds of neutron weapons. The neutron bombs would allow Israel to stop advancing Arab armies and tank columns - even one on Israeli soil - without permanently contaminating the land. South Africa, which constructed a cache of neutron weapons before the end of white rule, claimed it dismantled those weapons before handing over power to the Nelson Mandela government. Cohen, however, claims to have it on good authority that white military leaders still control the secret stockpile as "an insurance policy. [...]"   Related: Flashback: "800 Krytrons Smuggled to Israel: The Great Krytron Caper" "On May 12, Newsweek magazine disclosed that a federal grand jury in Los Angeles was investigating California businessman Richard Kelly Smyth on charges of violating U.S. export laws by shipping between 800 and 810 sophisticated timing devices called krytrons to a company in Israel without State Department approval. In addition to their numerous civilian applications, krytrons can be used as elegant triggering devices for nuclear weapons and limited exports are permitted only under a strict licensing procedure. Newsweek suggested the case may have "serious implications for U.S.-Israeli relations." [...]" 

Interview: "Dr. Webster Tarpley: Saudi Wahabhi Sect & Israel Fund 'Al-Qaeda' Rebels In Syria" [11/19/11] [15:25] Part 2 [12:05]   Note: See "Syria" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories.  

Legal Case: "Judge Declares Law Governing Warrantless Cellphone Tracking Unconstitutional" [11/19/11] "In a succinct one-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Lynn N. Hughes of the Southern District of Texas declared that the law authorizing the government to obtain cellphone records without a search warrant was unconstitutional. “ [...]"  

MSM: "Watch Nigel Farage Dance On The Euro’s Grave" [11/18/11]   [2:39] "Nigel Farage needs no introduction: the famous Euroskeptic is one of very few men who has had the temerity to question, often in an abnormally high decibel fashion, the stupidity of the Eurozone leaders from day one. Now that he has been proven correct, he has every right to gloat, which he does to everyone’s delightful amusement in the European parliament. The look on the unelected von Rompuy’s face, especially as he watches his decade-long bureaucratic nirvana crash and burn every single day, is quite priceless.  [...]"  

MSM: "Kabul Insists On Iran Ties 'At Any Cost'" [11/18/11] "Addressing the opening session of the country's “Loya Jirga,” or grand council on Wednesday, Karzai said that Kabul will deepen its ties with Tehran despite the sour US-Iran relationship. The president said that Afghans are thankful to the Iranian nation for extending assistance to Afghan refugees during the past three decades. About 2,000 elders and power brokers are meeting in the Afghan capital of Kabul to discuss the future of the US military presence in the war-torn country. [...]" 

Commentary: "TSA Backs Off Independent X-Ray Scanner Safety Test Knowing Truth Came Out in 1998" [11/18/11]   "After reports as far back as 1998 surfaced and revealed that the TSA’s X-ray scanners could be causing around 100 cases of cancer per year conservatively, the TSA announced that it would be launching an ‘independent’ study over the safety of the machines... [...]"  Note: See "Social Control" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories.  

Investigations: "Washington Post Takes Editorial Direction from the CIA & the White House" [11/18/11] "Washington Post Reporter Confirms Identity and Roles of Two CIA Officers Involved in Suppression of Critical Pre-9/11 Intel & The Post’s Knowledge of Secret Inspector General Report [...]"  

MSM: "Benjamin Netanyahu 'Turning Israel Into A Dictatorship'" [11/17/11] "Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition has been accused of trying to turn Israel into a "dictatorship" after it introduced legislation to tame senior judges and human rights groups opposed to its settlement construction policies.  Members of the Kadima, the principal opposition party, waved black flags to mourn the "death of democracy" after Israel's parliament, the Knesset, passed two bills that will tilt the balance of the country's Supreme Court sharply to the right. The legislators involved in the protest had their flags confiscated before being expelled from the Knesset's chamber at the orders of the speaker. The passage of the bills has prompted outrage among many Israeli politicians who see them as an assault on the independence of the judiciary, one that would undermine the country's cherished democratic foundations. Tzipi Livni, the leader of the opposition, accused Mr Netanyahu of an "attempt to transform Israeli into a type of dictatorship," while her Kadima party claimed that the legislation represented the "gravest" challenge to democracy since the establishment of the state in 1948. Under the legislation, which must go through two further readings before becoming law, legal obstacles preventing a conservative judge, Asher Grunis, from becoming president of the Supreme Court would be lifted. [...]"  

UK: "Armed Forces Minister Sorry For Misleading Mps Over Depleted Uranium" [11/16/11] "The armed forces minister has been forced to apologise over misleading statements he made regarding the legality and dangers of depleted uranium weapons. Nick Harvey admitted that he had inadvertently misled MPs about a Ministry of Defence review that he said had concluded the weapons were permissible on humanitarian and environmental grounds under the Geneva conventions. It subsequently emerged that the review had never happened, and Harvey has apologised for the error, which he said had been made "in good faith". He has ordered that a review into the weapons' legality be carried out by civil servants. The department is facing calls for the weapons to be suspended until it is completed. The revelations come as a cross-party campaign is launched to pile pressure on the MoD to phase out the use of depleted uranium (DU). The tank shells that depend on it have to be renewed in 2013. DU is a chemically toxic and radioactive heavy metal produced as waste by the nuclear power industry that is included in weapons because it is an extremely hard material capable of piercing armour. Once the frontline has moved on, however, it can contaminate the environment, and has been linked to health problems in civilian populations. The British army fired shells containing 2.3 tonnes of DU during the Gulf wars in 1990-91 and 2003. DU is used to harden 'Charm3' armour-piercing shells carried by British Challenger tanks. [...]"  

Interview: "Gerald Celente - Alex Jones Show" [11/16/11] [80:14] Note: The full interview from November 3, 2011.

Commentary: "Ruin & Rebuild: Warfare Worth $300bln Libya Windfall" [11/16/11] "Libya has big plans for its post-war future, hoping to be reborn as the next Dubai and having all the necessary sun and beaches, with oil reserves aplenty. British companies are likely to come out on top of those lining up for a piece of the action. It was France and the UK who initially led the effort to topple Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Britain, together with France, sent their navy and fighter jets to establish a sea blockade and assault military targets on Libyan territory. Now the National Transitional Council (NTC) of Libya says its friends will be rewarded – and these are not just words. [...]"  

Commentary: "Nuclear Pots Call Iranian Kettle Black" [11/16/11] "Here we go again. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) long awaited, much ballyhooed report on Iran’s nuclear activities has been thunderously greeted in North America as conclusive evidence that Iran is working on nuclear weapons. Tehran has long denied such claims. So, more tellingly, did a 2007 US combined intelligence assessment that rudely pulled out the rug from under the feet of the Bush-era neocons who were trying to engineer war with Iran. Now, they are back, in full fulmination mode. There’s little new in this IAEA report, and a lot of déjà vu. We read the old story floating around since 2002 about a mysterious laptop stolen from Iran and passed to US intelligence. It allegedly contains scientific material about explosive compression methods to trigger a nuclear explosion, and designs to shrink nuclear warheads to fit in missile nosecones. The UN and western powers say this stolen computer’s contents conclusively proves Iran has violated the UN’s non-proliferation treaty, to which Tehran is a signatory. Israel and its American partisans are raising a hue and cry about an impending nuclear attack on the Jewish state by Iran’s "crazy" leaders. [...]"  

World Politics - Iraq: "Breakdown: Maliki Frets Over ‘Iraqi Spring" [11/15/11] "Moves by an Iraqi Sunni-dominated province to demand autonomy from Baghdad and rumors of coup d’etat led by Ba’athists have Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki very worried about the prospects of a rebellion. Such an “Iraqi Spring” would enjoy the full financial and political backing of Saudi Arabia’s new Crown Prince, Nayef Ibn Abdul-Aziz. In recent years Nayef has seen his country’s influence in Iraq drop dramatically as Tehran’s star rose. The uprising would be very different to the Arab Spring. Instead of a grassroots revolt against an autocratic ruler, this would see Sunnis revolt against the Shi’ite politicians imposed on them since Iran established its hegemony over Iraqi politics in 2003. Saudi Arabia is determined to attack Iran’s influence once Americans troops leave this December. And as a staunch anti-Shi’ite royal who has an old grudge to settle, Nayef sees Iraq as a perfect battlefront for a confrontation with the Iranians. It all started with a tip from the new leaders of Libya that ex-Ba’athists and Saddam Hussein loyalists were plotting a coup d’etat. Libya’s interim leader Mahmud Jibril revealed the information to Maliki, dug up from papers of the deceased Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, during a surprise visit to Baghdad in October. In response to the alleged plot, Maliki later that month ordered the arrest of over 600 Ba’athists – all Sunnis. [...]"  Related: "Mixed Reactions to Iraq Coup Plot" "... Aseel al-Nujayfi, the Sunni governor of Nineveh and head of the Hadba bloc, came out in support of the arrested Baathists and warned that Iraq is returning to “sectarian violence.” Nujayfi said, “We have to benefit from these people’s professions, to let them participate in civil and political life and use their expertise to rebuild the new Iraq.” He added, “The Iraqi government is sticking to its promise to eradicate Baathism in Iraq.” [...]"  Note: Civil war outbreak in Iraq. 

MSM: "Israel launches new missile that can reach New York and Tokyo" [11/15/11] "Israeli military men conducted a successful launch of Jericho-3 intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday. The test was carried out at the Palmahim air base, the Irish Times said. At the same time, officials with Israel Defense Forces said that they had conducted the tests of a new missile engine in the morning of November 2. The launch of the missile could be seen from Ashkelon to Tel Aviv, Newsru Israel said. According to publications in the media, the three-stage missile is capable of delivering a 750-kilo warhead to a distance of more than 10,000 kilometers. If the reports about the range of Jericho-3 are true to fact, then it means that the missile can reach such cities as Tokyo and New York. The distance between these two cities and Tel Aviv makes up a bit more than 9,000 kilometers. According to Western sources, Israel passed the Jericho-3 missile into service in 2008. However, the work on the project still continues, MissileThreat.com says.  [...]"   Related: See "Israel's 'Sampson' Option" [11/13/11] Below.

MSM: "‘Turkey In Command Of Newly Deployed Predators’ Missions’" [11/14/11] "In line with the US plan to pull out of Iraq, Predators will fly for the last time from Iraq on Nov. 22; from then onwards the four predators currently based in Turkey will be taking over surveillance missions,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying on Saturday. The foreign minister’s words came following media reports that the US had deployed four drones in Turkey. He confirmed that two of the Predators were already based at İncirlik Air Base in Adana and would be taking up surveillance in a timely manner so as not to leave any gaps after US forces leave Iraq. [...]"  Related: Why Turkey is supporting these dynamics is explained by the article below, The Dönmeh: The Middle East’s Most Whispered Secret" [11/11/11], which goes into the background alliances which make "Modern Turkey: a secret Zionist state controlled by the Dönmeh". Note:  See also, below, "America’s Secret Empire of Drone Bases: Its Full Extent Revealed for the First Time" [11/11/11]

Commentary: "Israel's 'Sampson' Option" [11/13/11] "The Samson Option is a term used to describe Israel’s alleged deterrence strategy of massive retaliation with nuclear weapons as a “last resort” against nations whose military attacks threaten its existence, and possibly against other targets as well.  Israel refuses to admit it has nuclear weapons or to describe how it would use them, an official policy of nuclear ambiguity, also known as "nuclear opacity." This has made it difficult for anyone outside the Israeli government to definitively describe its true nuclear policy, while still allowing Israel to influence the perceptions, strategies and actions of other governments. As early as 1976, the CIA believed that Israel possessed 10 to 20 nuclear weapons.  By 2002 it was estimated that the number had increased to between 75 and 200 thermonuclear weapons, each in the multiple-megaton range. Kenneth S. Brower has estimated as many as 400 nuclear weapons.  These can be launched from land, sea and air. This gives Israel a second strike option even if much of the country is destroyed.  Seymour Hersh writes that the "surprising victory of Menachem Begin's Likud Party in the May 1977 national elections...brought to power a government that was even more committed than Labor to the Samson Option and the necessity of an Israeli nuclear arsenal." [...]  In 2003, Martin van Creveld, a professor of military history at Israel’s Hebrew University, thought that the Al-Aqsa Intifada then in progress threatened Israel's existence. Van Creveld was quoted in David Hirst's "The Gun and the Olive Branch" (2003) as saying: "We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets for our air force. Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: 'Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.' I consider it all hopeless at this point. We shall have to try to prevent things from coming to that, if at all possible. Our armed forces, however, are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under. [...]"  

Interview: "Paul Craig Roberts - Loss Of The Middle Class, Dictatorial Executive Branch And Loss Of Law" [11/13/11] [60:45] "The "Father of Reaganomics" talks about the police state America has become. [...]"  

MSM: "War Crimes Court's Next Target: NATO" [11/12/11] "Some NATO officials fear an investigation is nigh, after the ICC's prosecutor said Libya war-crimes allegations would be reviewed "impartially and independently," NATO-affiliated diplomats tell the AP. But an examination of allegations won't necessarily lead to an investigation, and in an effort to avoid a probe, NATO may soon launch an internal review of civilian casualty cases. NATO says it conformed to UN guidelines "to take all necessary measures to protect civilians." Still, "in the event we receive a request for information, NATO is prepared to assist in any way it can," an official says. "We are not talking about any specific incident," says ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. "We are saying, 'Yes, if there are allegations of crimes we will review that." But concerns over an investigation have prompted tension among members, insiders say. [...]" 

Commentary: "The Dönmeh: The Middle East’s Most Whispered Secret" Wayne Madsen [11/11/11] Part 2  "There is a historical “eight hundred pound gorilla” lurking in the background of almost every serious military and diplomatic incident involving Israel, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Greece, Armenia, the Kurds, the Assyrians, and some other players in the Middle East and southeastern Europe...And it is the secretiveness attached to the subject that has been the reason for so much misunderstanding about the current breakdown in relations between Israel and Turkey, a growing warming of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and increasing enmity between Saudi Arabia and Iran [...] Although known to historians and religious experts, the centuries-old political and economic influence of a group known in Turkish as the “Dönmeh” is only beginning to cross the lips of Turks, Arabs, and Israelis who have been reluctant to discuss the presence in Turkey and elsewhere of a sect of Turks descended from a group of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition in the 16th and 17th centuries. These Jewish refugees from Spain were welcomed to settle in the Ottoman Empire and over the years they converted to a mystical sect of Islam that eventually mixed Jewish Kabbala and Islamic Sufi semi-mystical beliefs into a sect that eventually championed secularism in post-Ottoman Turkey. It is interesting that “Dönmeh” not only refers to the Jewish “untrustworthy converts” to Islam in Turkey but it is also a derogatory Turkish word for a transvestite, or someone who is claiming to be someone they are not. The Donmeh sect of Judaism was founded in the 17th century by Rabbi Sabbatai Zevi, a Kabbalist who believed he was the 'Messiah' but was forced to convert to Islam by Sultan Mehmet IV, the Ottoman ruler. Many of the rabbi’s followers, known as Sabbateans, but also “crypto-Jews,” publicly proclaimed their Islamic faith but secretly practiced their hybrid form of Judaism, which was unrecognized by mainstream Jewish rabbinical authorities. Because it was against their beliefs to marry outside their sect, the Dönmeh created a rather secretive sub-societal clan." [...]" Note: Interesting section: "Modern Turkey: a secret Zionist state controlled by the Dönmeh"

Analysis: "The War Clouds Form over Iran" Wayne Madsen [11/11/11] "Israel’s all-powerful lobby in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an organization composed of Israeli collaborators, infiltrators, and outright traitors to the United States, is steamrolling through the House of Representatives H.R. 1905, which would prohibit the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, members of the U.S. Foreign Service, or any special envoy from engaging in any sort of diplomatic contact, official or unofficial, with any member or agent of the government of Iran. Only when the President informs the requisite committees may he proceed with engaging on diplomatic contact with Iran. Israel has de facto control over the foreign affairs committees of Congress, so any White House notification of the need to contact Iranian officials would be instantly transmitted to Binyamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem and Israel would then circumvent any U.S.-Iranian contact. AIPAC, with its resolution, is further making the United States a vassal of the Jewish state. Israel’s strategy is to make certain that its plans to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and, perhaps other targets, meet no opposition from diplomatic circles in the United States… Israel has placed its own interests well beyond and in contravention of those of the United States. Faced with the prospect of an Israeli attack on Iran, backed by Saudi Arabia – Israel’s secret ally in the region – has had ripple effects across the Middle East and Asia. Countries in Asia are scrambling to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as full members. Confronted by a belligerent United States, NATO, and Israel intent on toppling the governments of Syria and Iran, the economic, cultural, and de facto collective security pact that comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan announced after its prime ministers' summit in St. Petersburg that SCO would soon be opening its doors for full membership for Pakistan, Iran, and India. The Asian nations want to freeze the United States out of interference in Asia. [...]"  

MSM: "Europe’s Shadowy New Parallel Government" [11/11/11] "The Cannes G20 summit was marked by the emergence of a new “political-economic lobby”, reports El Mundo: the Groupe de Francfort, or Frankfurt Group (GdF), which is composed of eight public figures...Critics of the GdF, who claim it is responsible for the political assassination of George Papandreou and a knife stuck in Silvio Burlusconi’s back, have dubbed it a ‘politburo’ in reference to its absence of democratic legitimacy, while its supporters maintain that it is a necessary antidote euro crisis.  The eight public figures: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy – increasingly dubbed ‘Merkozy’ in the European press – but also Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, ECB President Mario Draghi, and Olli Rehn, the EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs. The group was born from a chance meeting at the Frankfurt Opera House on 19 October, where all of its members attended a ceremony to mark the end of Jean-Claude Trichet’s tenure as President of the ECB.[...]"  

Commentary:  "America’s Secret Empire of Drone Bases: Its Full Extent Revealed for the First Time" [11/11/11] "They increasingly dot the planet. There’s a facility outside Las Vegas where “pilots” work in climate-controlled trailers, another at a dusty camp in Africa formerly used by the French Foreign Legion, a third at a big air base in Afghanistan where Air Force personnel sit in front of multiple computer screens, and a fourth that almost no one talks about at an air base in the United Arab Emirates. And that leaves at least 56 more such facilities to mention in an expanding American empire of unmanned drone bases being set up worldwide. Despite frequent news reports on the drone assassination campaign launched in support of America’s ever-widening undeclared wars and a spate of stories on drone bases in Africa and the Middle East, most of these facilities have remained unnoted, uncounted, and remarkably anonymous -- until now.  Run by the military, the Central Intelligence Agency, and their proxies, these bases -- some little more than desolate airstrips, others sophisticated command and control centers filled with computer screens and high-tech electronic equipment -- are the backbone of a new American robotic way of war. They are also the latest development in a long-evolving saga of American power projection abroad -- in this case, remote-controlled strikes anywhere on the planet with a minimal foreign “footprint” and little accountability. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Experts Say the CIA, Not N Korea, is Counterfeiting US Dollars" [11/10/11] "Sources allege that the CIA prints the falsified ’Supernotes’ at a secret facility near Washington to fund covert operations without Congressional oversight.” The American secret service, the CIA, could be responsible for manufacturing the nearly-perfect counterfeit 50 and 100-dollar-notes that Washington pins on the terror regime of North Korea. The charge comes after an extensive investigation in Europe and Asia by the Sunday edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung of Frankfurt, and after interviews with counterfeit money experts and leading representatives of the high-security publishing industry. The U.S.-dollar forgeries designated “Supernotes,” which are so good that even specialists are unable to distinguish them from genuine notes, have circulated for almost two decades without a reliable identification of the culprits. Because of their extraordinary quality, experts assume that some country must be behind the enterprise. The administration of George W. Bush officially accused Pyongyang of the deed in the autumn of 2005, derailing Six-Party Talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. Since then, tensions on the Korean Peninsula have increased considerably. America charges that North Korea is financing its rocket and nuclear weapons program with the counterfeit “Supernotes.” North Korea is one of the world’s poorest nations and lacks the technological capability to produce notes of such high quality. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung, North Korea is at present unable to even produce the won [the North Korean currency]. The sources, which do not wish to be identified, allege that the CIA prints the falsified “Supernotes” at a secret facility near Washington to fund covert operations without Congressional oversight. [...]"  

MSM: "CIA dictated new IAEA report on Iran" [11/10/11] "An Iranian lawmaker says the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran's nuclear case has been dictated by the Central Intelligence Agency. Member of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash told IRNA on Wednesday that the latest IAEA report proved that the nuclear agency has no authority to act on its own and only serves US and Israeli interests. The Iranian lawmaker said that the IAEA must work within the framework of a legal system. However, the new report on Iran's nuclear program runs contrary to IAEA obligations and commitments. He stressed that international organizations have originally been formed to defend the rights of nations. Nonetheless, they have failed in their primary objectives, and are now at the disposal of certain states. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano's latest report on Iran's nuclear activities was given to the 35 members of the Board of Governors Tuesday evening, ahead of the seasonal meeting of the board, which is scheduled to be held in Vienna from November 17 to 18. Iran dismissed the report as "unbalanced, unprofessional and prepared with political motivation and under political pressure mostly by the US." The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program. However, as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, Iran says it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence indicating that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production. [...]"  

MSM: "Supreme Court Hears Whether GPS Counts as 'Big Brother'" [11/09/11] "Citizens traveling public highways should have no expectation of privacy just because police are tracking their movements through GPS rather than in person, the U.S. government argued Tuesday in a case before the Supreme Court that pits the interest of law enforcement against individual privacy rights. The dispute springs from a situation in which police affixed a GPS tracking device to a suspect's car without a proper warrant. It monitored the suspect's movements for several weeks, noting where his vehicle went and how long it stayed at each location. [...]" Related: "Justice Breyer Warns Of Orwellian Government" "A Supreme Court justice on Tuesday expressed major concerns that the government would engage in round-the-clock surveillance reminiscent of the totalitarian world of the George Orwell novel 1984 if the court ruled in the government's favor. The court heard oral arguments in the Jones case, in which the outcome will determine whether warrantless GPS tracking by law enforcement is an invasion of Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure. [...]"  

MSM: "Bolivia Vice President Says U.S. Drug Agents Not Welcome Back" [11/09/11] "Bolivia's vice president says U.S. drug agents will not be returning to his country despite the newly announced normalization of diplomatic relations. Vice President Alvaro Garcia says the Drug Enforcement Administration "was a mechanism of political blackmail" and is not welcome back. [...]" Related: "DEA Has Own Special Forces Squads in Foreign Countries " "The D.E.A. now has five commando-style squads it has been quietly deploying for the past several years to Western Hemisphere nations — including Haiti, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Belize — that are battling drug cartels, according to documents and interviews with law enforcement officials.  [...]"  

Commentary: "IAEA Iran Report Thrives on Laptop of Lies" [11/09/11] "In an atmosphere of cringing obedience to Washington, Mr. Amano cannot choose but to play into the hands of the US officials who look over his shoulders and observe with diligence what he puts to paper in the report he writes about Iran. The US-engineered new allegation against the Islamic Republic which is part of a 15-page document issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency is that Iran carried out “work on the development of an indigenous design of a nuclear weapon including the testing of components. Some activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device continued after 2003” and “some may still be ongoing.” This new allegation is indeed based on the fiction of the laptop of death. [...]"  Related: "The 'Laptop Of Mass Destruction" "The George W Bush administration has long pushed the "laptop documents" - 1,000 pages of technical documents supposedly from a stolen Iranian laptop - as hard evidence of Iranian intentions to build a nuclear weapon. Now charges based on those documents pose the only remaining obstacles to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declaring that Iran has resolved all unanswered questions about its nuclear program. But those documents have also been regarded with great suspicion by US and foreign analysts. German officials identified the source of the laptop documents in November 2004 as the Mujahideen e-Khalq (MEK), which along with its political arm, the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), is listed by the US State Department as a ' terrorist organization'. There are some indications, moreover, that the MEK obtained the documents not from an Iranian source but from Israel's Mossad. In its latest report on Iran, circulated on February 22, the IAEA, under strong pressure from the Bush administration, included descriptions of plans for a facility to produce "green salt", technical specifications for high explosives testing and the schematic layout of a missile re-entry vehicle that appears capable of holding a nuclear weapon. Iran has been asked to provide full explanations for these alleged activities. [...]"  

Commentary: "Letting Israel Off The Hook On Nuclear Weapons" [11/09/11] "Stuart Littlewood takes a look at the warmongers in London and Washington who are dancing to Israel's clamour for war on Iran over its alleged nuclear programme while turning a blind eye to the Zionist entity's own substantial nuclear capability, estimated 400 warheads. [...]"  

Propaganda Theatre: "Iran Has Technology To Build Nuke", IAEA Says" [11/08/11] "A report by the U.N. nuclear agency says Iran would need about six months to enrich uranium to the quality needed for a weapon if it wanted to do so.  [...]"  Note: The other side of this is that Israel has 300+ nuclear weapons and has no need to challenge anyone else, but the state of permanent victimhood and paranoia will not permit them to co-exist with anyone else, and they wish to be masters of the planet ... so that guarantees their destruction. These immature reincarnated retreads will be going to another world, soon enough, where they will pursue their ends there. Meanwhile, the intelligent, the astute and the mature will do more worthwhile things, and will graduate the galaxy game. 

Interview: "Afghani Claims US Generals are Trafficking the Heroin" [11/08/11] [7:26] "Afghanis just want NATO out, they want their independence back. NATO cannot go anywhere without a large convoy and helicopter support. The puppet Afghan government is totally mafia like."

Commentary: "10 Reasons America Will Be Judged As The Most Brutal Empire In History" [11/08/11] "Good and evil doesn't have a grey zone. Killing and stealing is bad. Violence is never "good" or necessary unless it is used to defend against killers and thieves. Indeed, that is the morality behind the "just war" principle as defined by international laws and treaties. Yet, this simple concept of right and wrong gets muddled by differing ideas about religion, patriotism, economics and many other divisions. The "just war" rule has crumbled under the ambitions of empires throughout history. The American-led Anglo Saxon empire is no different. This empire has been brutally conquering and colonizing territory since the fall of Rome. However, it has only gained an American face in the last century. The United States quickly emerged as the world's "superpower" primarily through its economic might. For some time, many believed the U.S. to be a shining example of economic freedom for other nations to emulate. Indeed, America was eager to promote "economic freedom" globally to open new markets for U.S.-based corporations. When foreign leaders refused to allow these corporate interests into their country, those leaders were replaced through a variety of covert actions. The form of government that would be installed did not matter to the empire makers so long as the corporate interests were served. In most cases these nations simply surrendered to the seemingly unlimited power of the almighty dollar, thus camouflaging the traditional method of forceful empire building. [...]" 

 Webster Tarpley: "World Crisis Radio Update" [11/08/11] [120:00] Note: Select November 5th show.

Commentary: "Targeting Iran: World War III and The Chain of Obedience" [11/06/11] "In recent development, what is unfolding is an integrated attack plan on Iran led by the US, with the participation of the United Kingdom and Israel.  [...] Central to an understanding of war, is the media campaign which grants it legitimacy in the eyes of public opinion. A good versus evil dichotomy prevails. The perpetrators of war are presented as the victims. Public opinion is misled: “We must fight against evil in all its forms as a means to preserving the Western way of life.” Breaking the “big lie” which upholds war as a humanitarian undertaking, means breaking a criminal project of global destruction, in which the quest for profit is the overriding force. This profit-driven military agenda destroys human values and transforms people into unconscious zombies.  [...] "  

Commentary: "The Drip, The Perv, and Their Dog-and-Pony Show" [11/06/11] "Let me count the ways I love the English language, with its depth and breadth and height, its "feeling out of sight/For the ends of Being and ideal Grace," its precision, flexibility and color. But we exhaust even its pejorative riches when describing the cowards, cretins and con-men of the US Senate. [...]"  

LaRouche: "G-20 Final Communiqué Shuns Reality" [11/06/11]   "The final communique issued by the G-20 summit in Cannes, at the very least reflects paralysis and lack of leadership in the face of impending global catastrophe. The indecision visible in the summit communique caused European markets to immediately plummet, as the Greek Parliament prepared to vote on the fate of the Papandreou government. [...]"  

MSM: "Feds Drop Plan to Lie in Public-Record Act Requests" [11/04/11] "The Justice Department abruptly dropped proposed Freedom of Information Act rules Thursday authorizing the government to inform the public that records do not exist even if they do. The government said the plan "falls short." Civil rights groups, and a host of lawmakers from both sides of the spectrum, had blasted the Justice Department’s original proposal. “For five decades, the Freedom of Information Act has given life to the American value that in an open society, it is essential to carefully balance the public’s right to know and government’s need to keep some information secret,” said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont.) “The Justice Department’s decision to withdraw this proposal acknowledges and honors that careful balance, and will help ensure that the American people have confidence in the process for seeking information from their government.” [...]" 

MSM: "Abramoff: Reforms Won't Stop 'Bribery' in Congress" [11/04/11] "Lobbyists still “own” Congress, according to Jack Abramoff, dismissing the “faux reform efforts” passed in the wake of the scandal that landed him in prison. “The system hasn’t been cleaned up at all,” Washington’s most infamous ex-peddler of influence tells 60 Minutes in an interview airing Sunday. “There's an arrogance on the part of lobbyists... that no matter what they come up with, we're smarter than they are and we'll overcome it." He cited as an example a new rule against taking lawmakers to lunch. “But you can take him to a 'fundraising lunch' and not only buy him that steak, but give him $25,000 extra.” Abramoff boasted that in his heyday he had 100 lawmakers under his thumb—usually because he’d promised their staffers high-paying future jobs. “The moment I said that to them … that was it. We owned them,” he said. “Everything we want, they’re going to do." [...]" Video clip  [1:24] 

Explorations: "How to Have Wake Induced Lucid Dreams: aka The WILD Technique" [11/02/11] "The Wake Induced Lucid Dream (aka WILD) is the most powerful lucid dreaming technique known to man for two reasons: 1. It enables you to have conscious dreams whenever you want 2. It produces the most vivid kind of lucid dreams possible Also called the Mind Awake / Body Asleep technique and the Hypnagogic Imagery Technique, a WILD enables you to enter a lucid dream - directly from a waking state [...]"  Note: Better than blunt force trauma. Related: "Lucid Dreaming FAQ" |  "How to Have an Out-Of-Body Experience" "The following is a method used to consciously induce an out-of-body experience (OBE), short of actually having to fall asleep.  [...]" 

Commentary:  "CIA Drone Assassinations Violate the Law of War" [11/02/11] "The constitutional arguments against the Central Intelligence Agency’s assassinations of Anwar al-Awlaki and, two weeks later, his 16-year-old son have been widely discussed. Less well known, however, is the case against CIA assassinations to be made on the basis of the law of war. Into the breach has stepped Howard University law professor Morris Davis, who in a recent column presented a well-researched case that the CIA’s drone assassination program is illegal under the law of war and that, as a result, CIA personnel participating in drone strikes could be prosecuted for murder. Davis knows his subject well. He was a U.S. Air Force judge advocate for 25 years and served as chief prosecutor of the Guantanamo Bay military commissions from 2005 to 2007, resigning from that post in disgust at the use of torture to extract evidence from prisoners and the interference in the proceedings from the Pentagon. He is now executive director and counsel of the Crimes of War Education Project. In other words, Davis’ opinion on the matter of war crimes should not be taken lightly. [...]" 

Commentary: "We Are On the Edge of World War III - Lyndon LaRouche" Global Politics Series [11/02/11] [60:05] "An October 29, 2011 speech by Lyndon LaRouche about the British Empire (Wallstreet and Lombardstreet) and a soon coming WW III,  mixed with his own impressions. [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "Man, Economy, and Liberty | Murray N. Rothbard" [11/01/11] [28:44] "Murray Rothbard comments and responds to the speakers and papers at the Mises Institute colloquium, "Man, Economy and Liberty"; March 1, 1986. [...]" Note: Many links below video to a lot of material.  Related: "The Ethics of Liberty" "Murray Rothbard's greatest contribution to the politics of freedom is back in print. Following up on Mises's demonstration that a society without private property degenerates into economic chaos, Rothbard shows that every interference with property represents a violent and unethical invasion that diminishes liberty and prosperity. First published in 1982, The Ethics of Liberty is a masterpiece of argumentation, and shockingly radical in its conclusions. Rothbard says that the very existence of the state--the entity with a monopoly privilege to invade private property--is contrary to the ethics of liberty. A society without a state is not only viable; it is the only one consistent with natural rights. When it first appeared, the book was ignored by the scholarly world. Robert Nozick's treatise, taking a much softer view, was heralded instead. Nozick has since moved on to social democracy. Meanwhile, Rothbard's primary philosophical work went out of print and then virtually disappeared. Foreign-language editions have appeared, but the English version was unavailable. But times have changed. For believers in liberty, Rothbard is an invaluable intellectual asset. At last, his most rigorous argument is available again, and in the stirring prose he is famous for. [...]" "Audio book version" | "Rothbard Destroys A Common Statist Argument" [2:19] Note: A short extract from Murray Rothbard's book "The Ethics of Liberty". In fact, the 'state' is about as anti-social as something can be. [...]" Ref

Commentary: "Government And Big Business: The False Dichotomy" [11/01/11]   "What is a false dichotomy? It is a situation where there seems to be a narrow field of two options to choose from, when there is actually a larger set of possibilities beyond those guidelines. In other words, you are asked to choose between black and white, leaving you to think that the only colors in existence are black, white and maybe gray, when in reality there is a whole palette of different shades and tints that were left completely out of the discussion. The statement, “If you’re not with us, then your against us” is a classic false dichotomy, because it presents two options -- both of which amount to violence -- while completely neglecting the option of remaining neutral. Likewise, the traditional two-party political system in the West is a striking example of the false dichotomy. The Democrats and Republicans may have some small insignificant differences that play on people’s emotions, but when it comes to all the important things that effect everyday life for average people there is a “bipartisan consensus” to protect Anglo-American business interests, regardless of public opinion. This bipartisan alliance against the average citizens results in a one-party system that gives the illusion of being a two-party system. This leaves no choice for the majority of the country who just want to live honest lives without being subject to the policies that either of those two parties are seeking to enact. After watching identical policies transpire under Bush and Obama, most Americans have come to understand that both parties are one and the same. However, there are many deeper false dichotomies in our civilization which can also hinder our ability to see the big picture. The most pervasive example would be that of big business and government; Wall Street and Washington. It’s no secret that big business works so closely with the government that they are arguably the same entity; this fact is highlighted by the revolving door that exists between these two different factions of the state. Most people who find themselves in high-level political positions were once CEO’s of fortune 100 companies, and those who aren’t will likely become a well-connected lobbyist upon leaving office. [...]"  

RT Interview: "Lessig: US Could Fall Like Rome" [11/01/11]   [10:58] "At the heart of the Occupy Wall St. movement, is discontent over the corruption in our political system. And the fact that it's money and it's tight grip over the government, that keeps Wall Street bankers out of jail, while Americans keep losing jobs, homes, and struggle to pay off their debts. The CBS/New York Times poll that came out this week showed that 89% of Americans don't trust their government. And 43% now agree with the Occupiers. Lawrence Lessig, author of "Republic, Lost" discusses. [...]"  

Commentary: "Americans: Awash In Spin" Paul Craig Roberts [10/31/11] "I have come to the conclusion that Big Brother’s subjects in George Orwell’s 1984 are better informed than Americans. Americans have no idea why they have been at war in the Middle East, Asia and Africa for a decade. They don’t realize that their liberties have been supplanted by a Gestapo Police State. Few understand that hard economic times are here to stay. [...] Recovery can only happen in the delusional world created for us by the concentrated media. No longer permitted to utter one world of truth, the 'presstitutes' proclaim non-existent recoveries and weapons of mass destruction and demonize Washington’s chosen opponents. The sovereign debt crisis in Europe has distracted Americans from the much worst crisis in their country. After two decades of exporting US manufacturing and middle class jobs, and after a decade of consumer debt growth that has resulted in millions of foreclosed homeowners and massive credit card and student loan debt that cannot be paid, consumers have no income growth or borrowing capacity with which to fuel an economy based on consumer demand. [...]"  Note: "Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is the father of Reaganomics and the former head of policy at the Department of Treasury. He is a columnist and was previously an editor for the Wall Street Journal." 

Report: "20% Of CIA Analysts Function As “Targeters” Tasked With Picking People Out For Elimination" [10/31/11] "A recent report says that 20 percent of analysts working for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) function as “targeters” tasked with picking people out for elimination. A new report released by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) shows that the CIA budget has witnessed a USD 1 billion increase over the past year in a bid to step up covert operations in other countries, Antiwar.com, reported. This is while the US military's intelligence budget has witnessed a 10 percent reduction during the same time period indicating that in future the armed forces will become more dependent on the CIA and other similar agencies for intelligence.  Over the years, the CIA has also been involved in countless covert operations that have been kept secret from the US Congress. The US has a history of handing presidential approval to the CIA and enabling it to carry out covert operations against different governments and people around the world, depending on Washington's agenda for the region. [...]"  

Interview: "The Planned Authoritarian Society" Alan Watt [10/30/11] [15:25] Part 2 [15:19]| Part 3 [13:43] "Alan Watt makes an appearance to talk about the New World Order and its agenda for world enslavement." 

LaRouche: "World in Review" [10/30/11] [8:37] "With the murder of Gaddafi by order of Barack Obama, the British Empire has detonated their "New Balkans" in the extended Middle East as the incendiary cockpit for World War III. If we neglect to expel Obama from office in time, we may find ourselves hurtling towards a general all-out war with those very nations who should be our closest allies and friends. [...]"  

Commentary: "Politics And Shadow Politics: Understanding The Elite's War On Humanity" [10/29/11]   "Politics is the management of people. It is important to understand the psychology as well as the symptoms of problems." - Henry Kissinger. The quote is from a Time Magazine article by Hugh Sidey called, "The Presidency: Majesty, Poetry and Power," that was published on October 20, 1980. "People first feel things without noticing them, then notice them with inner distress and disturbance, and finally reflect on them with a clear mind." - Giambattista Vico; The New Science, pg. 94. "No, the demons are not banished; that is a difficult task that still lies ahead. Now that the angel of history has abandoned the Germans, the demons will seek a new victim. And that won't be difficult. Every man who loses his shadow, every nation that falls into self-righteousness, is their prey.... We should not forget that exactly the same fatal tendency to collectivization is present in the victorious nations as in the Germans, that they can just as suddenly become a victim of the demonic powers." - Carl Jung; The Postwar Psychic Problems of the Germans (1945). "Politics," said Henry Kissinger, "is the management of people." Based on this definition, shadow politics is the management of the mass death of people. Specifically, it is the management of public perceptions about acts of mass destruction and mass death as carried out by government leaders. The premeditated destruction of Iraq by the United States government provides a present-day example of how government leaders justify the mass murder of foreign populations to their own people. Neoconservative thinking was the ideological source of both the destruction of Iraq and the destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Neoconservatism and Environmentalism are the two schools of thought in this age that call for the mass destruction and mass death of human communities. Neocons want to conquer the Earth, and Environmentalists want to save it. Both groups are politically powerful, media savvy, financed by big money, and filled with psychotics who have fantasies of mass destruction and mass death. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Judge Andrew Napolitano: "A Nation Of Sheep Breeds A Govt. Of Wolves" [10/29/11] [7:14]    

Interview: "Jeff Rense Interviews Joel Skousen" World Affairs Brief [10/29/11]   [40:09] " Joel Skousen, is author, retreat consultant, and founder and editor of World Affairs Brief, a weekly news analysis service. a weekly news-analysis service dedicated to providing an understanding of the hidden agendas behind the actions of world leaders and other powerful individuals who influence government from behind the scenes. [...]" 

MSM: "British Monarchy Scraps Rule of Male Succession in New Step to Modernization" [10/29/11] "The 16 countries that recognize the British monarch as head of state have abolished male precedence in the order of succession. [...]"  

Commentary:  "The Triumph of America's Supranational Emergency State" [10/28/11] "Today marks the 10th anniversary of the destruction of the American Constitution. On October 26, 2001, the Bush administration and U.S. Congress passed the Patriot (Traitor) Act and used the false flag 9/11 attacks to sell it to the American people. The prediction that the Traitor Act would help the U.S. National Security State completely take over American society has come true. Useless government agencies like the TSA, FBI, IRS, DEA and CIA have been given carte blanche to spy on Americans and crush dissent. In the last few years, illegal TSA checkpoints have been set up across America to control the movement of people and create a false sense of security in the public mind. Their intent is to get Americans to slowly conform to the new totalitarian society in which government officials treat people like mindless cattle and monitor the individual's every move. It is wrong to call America's totalitarian beast "a National Security State." It does not provide security and it is not even national. A more fitting term is "Supranational Emergency State." Let me explain. [...]"  

Interview: "Judge Andrew P. Napolitano Talks To Lew Rockwell About American Totalitarianism" [10/28/11] Click "Play in Popup" or click right arrow.

Commentary: "The American Form of Government " [10/27/11] [10:36] "An explanation of the various forms of government, and why America is not a democracy. [...]"  

Interview: "Paul Craig Roberts: Washington Will Make Libya A Puppet State" [10/26/11]   [9:10] "Who will rule the unstable country? Paul Craig Roberts, columnist and former Reagan administration official, tells us more. [...]" 

Commentary:  "G. Edward Griffin: One World Government & Collectivism" 90:00]   Note: Nice presentation. See his excellent work The Creature from Jekyll Island 

Update: "Wartime Contracting Panel Seals Records for Next 20 Years" [10/26/11] "Established by Congress to investigate and expose government waste, the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan has decided to not reveal its volumes of materials to the public for another two decades. After three years of work, the commission officially shut down last week, having concluded that the U.S. misspent between $31 billion and $60 billion in contracting for services in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it won’t allow its records to be opened for public review at the National Archives until 2031, because some of the documents contain “sensitive information,” according to one official. Steven Aftergood, an expert on government secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, told The Wall Street Journal that the 20-year term “seems like a long period of time, particularly for a commission whose whole purpose is to improve accountability and expose waste.” [...]"  Related: "Pentagon Has Paid US$1 Trillion To Fraudulent Defense Contractors" Defense Web [10/24/11] | "Left Behind In Iraq: Thousands Of Contractors" [10/23/11] "Once the U.S. military presence in Iraq is gone, the embassy in Baghdad, the largest U.S. embassy in the world, will be staffed by approximately 1,700 diplomats and representatives of various cabinet agencies. They will be supported by approximately 5,000 security contractors. There will also be up to 4,000 contractors supporting every service for U.S. personnel in Iraq from food to sanitation and anything else necessary for diplomats to carry out their jobs. [...]" | "Soldiers May Be Leaving Iraq, But Contractors Will Remain" [10/22/11] "American troops may be leaving Iraq before the end of the year, but U.S. contractors aren’t going anywhere soon. ABC News reports that the State Department “is expected to have about 5,000 security contractors in Iraq as of January 2012 (they already have about 3,000 in country).” There will also be 4,500 “general life support” contractors to provide food and medical services. [...]" | "Defense Dept. Gave $431 Billion to Contractors After They were Convicted of Fraud " [10/22/11]   

MSM: "FBI Saw Dark Side Of Rep. John Murtha" [10/26/11] "Last week’s release of FBI documents finally put in writing what nobody had ever said on the record: The FBI suspected that former Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and lobbyists close to him were running a scheme to funnel earmarks to sham companies and nonprofits to benefit the lawmaker’s friends and former staffers. Bits and pieces of this story were kicked around for years before Murtha died in February 2010. The Los Angeles Times, Roll Call, the Washington Post and others had documented the odd appearance of earmarks for tiny defense contractors that just happened to open an office in western Pennsylvania and just happened to hire one of the lobbying firms close to Murtha and just happened to begin making campaign donations to Murtha and other Members of Congress close to him. Reporters could do little but assemble the coincidences and couldn’t prove there was anything wrong with the bigger picture. But it turns out the FBI was reading the stories and was very interested — interested enough that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into Murtha and some of the lobbyists in his orbit, a fact that never leaked while Murtha was alive.In part, the probe never leaked precisely because he was alive. [...]"  

Commentary:  "The 9/11 Best Evidence Panel" [10/26/11] "A contentious social issue, which has persisted for a decade now, is whether or not US Government’s official narrative of the events of September 11, 2001, is substantially flawed. The 9/11 Commission was supposed to provide a thorough account of those events, but has failed to quell the debate.  [...] To encourage further investigation of this issue, a Delphi survey of 22 expert panelists has been conducted regarding the “best evidence” that indicates flaws in the official narrative of 9/11. This Panel included professors of chemistry, physics, aeronautics, and engineering; air force and commercial pilots; journalists; authors and film makers; an aircraft accident investigator; a public health officer; a lawyer; and a politician. This multi-disciplinary team of professionals has achieved consensus on 13 points of this evidence, and the degree of consensus was at least 90%, which means that there is a high degree of certainty that that evidence truly does refute the official narrative. The 13 Points developed by the Panel are available at Consensus911.org."  Note: See "9/11" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories.  

Commentary:  "The State Is The 1 Percent" [10/25/11] "The “occupy” protest movement is thriving off the claim that the 99 percent are being exploited by the 1 percent, and there is truth in what they say. But they have the identities of the groups wrong. They imagine that it is the 1 percent of highest wealth holders who are the problem. In fact, that 1 percent includes some of the smartest, most innovative people in the country — the people who invent, market, and distribute material blessings to the whole population. They also own the capital that sustains productivity and growth. But there is another 1 percent out there, those who do live parasitically off the population and exploit the 99 percent. Moreover, there is a long intellectual tradition, dating back to the late Middle Ages, that draws attention to the strange reality that a tiny minority lives off the productive labor of the overwhelming majority. I’m speaking of the state, which even today is made up of a tiny sliver of the population but is the direct cause of all the impoverishing wars, inflation, taxes, regimentation, and social conflict. This 1 percent is the direct cause of the violence, the censorship, the unemployment, and vast amounts of poverty, too. Look at the numbers, rounding from latest data. The US population is 307 million. There are about 20 million government employees at all levels, which makes 6.5 percent. But 6.2 million of these people are public-school teachers, whom I think we can say are not really the ruling elite. That takes us down to 4.4 percent. We can knock of another half million who work for the post office, and probably the same who work for various service department bureaus. Probably another million do not work in any enforcement arm of the state, and there’s also the amazing labor-pool fluff that comes with any government work. Local governments do not cause nationwide problems (usually), and the same might be said of the 50 states. The real problem is at the federal level (8.5 million), from which we can subtract fluff, drones, and service workers. In the end, we end up with about 3 million people who constitute what is commonly called the state. For short, we can just call these people the 1 percent. [...]"  

World Economy: "Cargo Shipping Demand Is Picking Up" [10/25/11] "Shipments of commodities and raw materials such as grains, iron ore, coal etc. are excellent leading indicators of the future global economic growth. After all, no one books a cargo ship unless there is a firm order at the other end. So it is of great interest to note that the index that tracks the dry bulk cargo demand and rates has turned up after posting a low in August. The Baltic Dry Index is up 73% since August 8, 2011. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Republican Bill Would Allow Border Patrol To Ignore Environmental Laws" [10/25/11] " House Republicans want to give the U.S. Border Patrol unprecedented authority to ignore 36 environmental laws on federal land in a 100-mile zone along the Canadian and Mexican borders. If the legislation were to be approved, the Border Patrol would not have to comply with the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act and 32 other federal laws in such popular places as the Great Lakes, Olympic National Park, Glacier Park and the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area. Under the GOP plan, the Border Patrol would have free rein to do such things as build roads and offices, put up fences, set up surveillance equipment and sensors, and use aircraft and vehicles to patrol in all national parks, forests and federal land in the zone. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said the Border Patrol "has become encumbered with layers of environmental regulations," making it difficult to deal with drug smugglers, human traffickers and other criminals who are targeting public lands along the U.S. borders. The committee passed the plan on a 26-17 party-line vote this month. A vote by the full House is expected soon, though no date has been set, and similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate. In Washington state, where the zone would include nearly half the state, Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire is questioning why such a law is needed. She noted that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Border Patrol, has not asked for the change. "The current approach, partnering with sister agencies -- Interior and USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) -- seems a reasonable approach," Gregoire said. Environmental groups say they're alarmed by the proposal. [...]" Related: Flashback: "ACLU Assails 100-Mile Border Zone as ‘Constitution-Free’" [10/22/08]  

UK: "MI6 Role In Libyan Rebels' Rendition 'Helped To Strengthen Groups Attacking British Troops in Iraq'" [10/25/11] "Secret documents reveal British intelligence concerns and raise damaging questions about UK's targeting of Gaddafi opponents. British intelligence believes the capture and rendition of two top Libyan rebel commanders, carried out with the involvement of MI6, strengthened "al-Qaida" and helped groups attacking British forces in Iraq, secret documents reveal. The papers, discovered in the British ambassador's abandoned residence in Tripoli, raise new and damaging questions over Britain's role in the seizure and torture of key opponents of Muammar Gaddafi's regime. Britain is already facing legal actions over its involvement in the plot to seize Abdul Hakim Belhaj, leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) who is now the military commander in Tripoli, and his deputy, Sami al-Saadi. Both men say they were tortured and jailed after being handed over to Gaddafi. The documents reveal that British intelligence believe the pair's rendition boosted al-Qaida by removing more moderate elements from the insurgency's leadership. This allowed extremists to push "a relatively close-knit group" focused on overthrowing Gaddafi into joining the pan-Islamist terror network. One document, headed "UK/Libya eyes only - Secret", showed the security services had monitored LIFG members since their arrival in Britain following a failed attempt to kill Gaddafi in 1996, and understood their aim was the replacement of his regime with an Islamic state. The briefing paper, prepared by the security service for a four-day MI5 visit in February 2005, said that following the seizure of its two key leaders the year before the group had been cast into a state of disarray. "The extremists are now in the ascendancy," the paper said, and they were "pushing the group towards a more pan-Islamic agenda inspired by AQ [al-Qaida]". Their "broadened" goals, it continued, were now also the destabilisation of Arab governments that were not following sharia law and the liberation of Muslim territories occupied by the west. The 58-page document, which included names, photographs and detailed biographies of a dozen alleged LIFG members in the UK, went on to highlight "conclusions of concern" in the light of these changes. [...]"  

Commentary: "Several Major Exercises Scheduled On November 9" [10/24/11] "Two major hazard excercise are scheduled for November 9 2011 and also close approach of asteroid 2005 YU55. Testing of Emergency Alert System (EAS) and PACWAVE11, a multi-scenario exercise that will allow PTWS countries to exercise using a destructive local or regional tsunami scenario are to be held on the date. [...]"  Related: "FEMA Communication Takeover Test Scheduled For November 9" [10/19/11]  "FEMA, the FCC, and Homeland Security plan to commandeer the airwaves next month. The Emergency Alert System (EAS) will be tested at 1 PM EST on November 9. EAS alerts are transmitted over radio and television broadcast stations, cable television and other media services. Local and state EAS components are tested weekly and monthly, but this will be the first national test of the system. It is significant that FEMA will conduct the mandatory test. FEMA was created by executive fiat. EO 12148 was signed into law by a stroke of Jimmy Carter’s pen on July 20, 1979. FEMA is described as a federal agency designed to coordinate government response to natural disasters that overwhelm the resources of local and state authorities. In fact, the federal agency was established as part of a martial law mechanism. [...]"  

Commentary: "The End Of History – Paul Craig Roberts" [10/23/11] "If Washington’s plans succeed, Libya will become another American puppet state. Most of the cities, towns, and infrastructure have been destroyed by air strikes by the air forces of the US and Washington’s NATO puppets. US and European firms will now get juicy contracts, financed by US taxpayers, to rebuild Libya. The new real estate will be carefully allocated to lubricate a new ruling class picked by Washington. This will put Libya firmly under Washington’s thumb. With Libya conquered, AFRICOM will start on the other African countries where China has energy and mineral investments. Obama has already sent US troops to Central Africa under the guise of defeating the Lord’s Resistance Army, a small insurgency against the ruling dictator-for-life. The Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, welcomed the prospect of yet another war by declaring that sending US troops into Central Africa “furthers US national security interests and foreign policy.” Republican Senator James Inhofe added a gallon of moral verbiage about saving “Ugandan children,” a concern the senator did not have for Libya’s children or Palestine’s, Iraq’s, Afghanistan’s and Pakistan’s. [...]" 

UK: "British Firms Urged To 'Pack Suitcases' In Rush For Libya Reconstruction Business" [10/23/11] "The starting pistol for British firms to pursue contracts in Libya has been fired by the new defence secretary, Philip Hammond, who urged companies to "pack their suitcases" and head there to secure reconstruction contracts. As Nato announced that it plans to wind up operations in Libya, Hammond said that great care had been taken during the campaign to avoid destroying critical infrastructure. "Libya is a relatively wealthy country with oil reserves, and I expect there will be opportunities for British and other companies to get involved in the reconstruction of Libya," he told the BBC in an interview. "I would expect British companies, even British sales directors, [to be] packing their suitcases and looking to get out to Libya and take part in the reconstruction of that country as soon as they can," said Hammond, who replaced Liam Fox as defence secretary a week ago. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Iraq Rejected U.S. Demands For Troop Immunity, Sinking Deal, Says PM" [10/23/11] " For the first time in decades, Iraqis face a future on their own, with neither Saddam Hussein's iron fist nor the United States' military might to hold them together. This has been both their dream and nightmare: They wanted American troops (the occupiers) to go, but they wanted American troops (the protectors) to stay. Now many fear an increase in violence, growing Iranian influence and political turmoil after President Barack Obama's definitive announcement that all U.S. forces will leave by the end of the year. In conversations with The Associated Press, Iraqis across the political, religious and geographic spectrum on Saturday questioned what more than eight years of war and tens of thousands of Iraqi and U.S. lives lost had wrought on their country. They wondered how their still struggling democracy could face the challenges ahead. "Neither the Iraqis nor the Americans have won here," said Adnan Omar, a Sunni from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. [...]"  Related: | "No Immunity For Troops, Iraq Tells US" [10/18/11] "Iraq's refusal to grant immunity to US troops remaining in the country beyond a yearend deadline has stalemated talks between the two sides over the extension of US forces' presence in the country. There are currently about 43,500 US soldiers deployed in Iraq. According to a 2008 bilateral security accord, known as the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), all the US troops are required to leave the country by the end of this year. Under pressure from Washington, Iraqi political leaders recently agreed to allow some of the US forces to stay longer for 'training' purposes, but refused to shield them from prosecution. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has also rejected the US proposal that 3,400 of the troops remain in the country, saying “we do not need such a large number.” Over one million Iraqis have been killed in the US-led invasion and occupation of the country since 2003, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored. [...]"  

Update: "No Unilateral Action Inside Pakistan: Clinton" [10/22/11] " Hillary Clinton on Friday ruled out any unilateral action against terrorists’ safe havens inside Pakistan saying, “We want action against them in concert with our strategic partners like Pakistan.” [...]" Note: See "Pakistan" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories.  

Commentary: "The Curious Nature of the Self Chosen Few" [10/22/11] "Hilarious Clinton laughs at the alleged death of Khadaffi. Howdy Doody, Hilarious and the rest, preened at the zombie death of Bin Laden and the sheer amount of lies in recent times are so great that it is impossible to list them. They continue apace. We have no real proof of the death of Khadaffi. Please be aware of that. It’s one thing for the Zionist media to trumpet it, for whatever gain they believe it will bring them, in their efforts to consolidate all of the world banks under their power; which is why they also want Iran but, for the alternative media to immediately begin acknowledging it as well is something else. I’m not saying he isn’t dead. I’m saying these people lie like they breathe. It’s what they do. [...]" 

MSM: "Killing Gaddafi Spares ICC Embarrassment For US & Britain" [10/21/11] "The death of Muammar Gaddafi, killed by NATO and US-backed rebels, will be hailed by western powers, not merely because they have now seized control of another oil-rich country under the dubious auspices of the "Arab Spring," but because Gaddafi will be prevented from exposing western support for Al-Qaeda terrorists under the glare of a UN International Criminal Court trial. Initial reports suggest that Gaddafi attempted to flee the town of Sirte but his convoy was bombed by NATO warplanes. Rebels then captured and killed the former Libyan leader by putting a bullet through his head. The former Libyan leader's untimely death conveniently avoids the embarrassment of having to put him in front of a United Nations tribunal at the Hague. [...]"   Related: "Sociopath Hillary Clinton Laughs At News Of Gaddafi Death" [0:12] "Hillary is the queen of terror and war ... a living weapon of mass destruction. The central figure at the center of the worlds mass human death projects. The fact she can laugh at it reveals the true sociopathic level of empathy inside this woman. She just engineered the war, and now she is going to engineer the new government." | "Gaddafi Killing Gets War Criminal Blair Off The Hook"   "Dodgy business dealings and secret meetings will remain undisclosed. [...]" | Alex Jones Interview: "Webster Tarpley on the Gaddafi Killing" [10:42] Part 2 [7:52] 

Commentary: "Americans Pay Dearly to Maintain Israel’s Nuclear Secrets" [10/21/11] "According to newly declassified FBI files, NUMEC’s venture capitalist David Lowenthal and founder Zalman Shapiro knowingly failed to comply with even the lax AEC standards in force in the 1960s for handling radioactive waste at NUMEC. An FBI wiretap placed on Lowenthal’s phone picked up shocking news of a major illicit radioactive spill on May 5, 1969. Lowenthal and Shapiro were both under investigation for diverting enough HEU to Israel to build more than a dozen atomic weapons. Shapiro and Lowenthal were in the midst of their “exit strategy” — selling NUMEC to Atlantic Richfield, which would (along with successor Babcock & Wilcox and then American taxpayers) be left holding the bag for massive future cleanup and health indemnity costs. [...]" 

 Legal Case: "Canada's Supreme Court Protects Hyperlinkers" [10/21/11] "Canada's Supreme Court ruled that hyperlinks on websites the link to defamatory content do not constitute publication, shielding content sharers from liability, should they inadvertently post links to libelous material. [...]"  

Commentary: "US Military Paid $1.1 Trillion To Contractors That Defrauded The Government" [10/21/11] "The Pentagon has paid $1.1 trillion to hundreds of defense contractors and their parent companies that have defrauded the government over the past ten years, according to a Department of Defense report released Thursday. More than 300 contractors involved in civil and criminal fraud cases that resulted in judgments of $1 million or more during the last decade were paid a total of $573.7 billion by the US military, including $398 billion that was paid to contractors after judgments for fraud. When awards to parent companies are included, the Pentagon awarded $1.1 trillion to the top 37 companies that defrauded the US military since 2000. [...]"  

Commentary:  "History Repeating Itself: U.S. Hawks Hover Over Iran" [10/21/11] "Whether calls for war against Iran are meant to placate American allies in the Middle East who cannot stomach its supposed nuclear ambitions, are an attempt to reassert US dominance in the oil rich region, or are the last signs of a flagging empire lashing out in self-denial, those who are longing for it to be morning again in America might very well expedite its imperial twilight. History seems to be repeating itself as the hawks who called for the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein are now rattling their sabers for war against Iran. But why are those who once called for a new American Century hopelessly stuck in a bygone era? [...]"  Note: Why? Because they're immature reincarnated retreads who don't know how to do anything else.

MSM: "US To Set Water Pollution Standards For 'Fracking'" [10/21/11] "The US government unveiled plans Thursday to set national standards for wastewater discharges from natural gas drilling amid growing concern over water pollution from a technique known as "fracking." The EPA said in a statement it would accept comments for new standards over the coming months for shale gas extraction as well as for gas from underground coalbeds. "No comprehensive set of national standards exists at this time for the disposal of wastewater discharged from natural gas extraction activities," the agency said in a statement. The new regulations come in the face of criticism that the frenzy for natural gas exploration and new horizontal drilling techniques such as hydraulic fracturing or fracking to extract gas from shale formations would lead to contamination of underground water supplies. [...]"  Related: "Rush to Drill for Natural Gas Creates Conflicts With Mortgages" "As natural gas drilling has spread across the country, energy industry representatives have sat down at kitchen tables in states like Texas, Pennsylvania and New York to offer homeowners leases that give companies the right to drill on their land. And over the past 10 years, as natural gas has become increasingly important to the nation’s energy future, Americans have signed more than a million of these leases. [...]"  Note: See "Oil & Gas" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories.  

Commentary: "Study Shows that One 'Super-Corporation' Pulls the Strings of Global Economy" [10/20/11] "A University of Zurich study 'proves' that a small group of companies - mainly banks - wields huge power over the global economy. The study is the first to look at all 43,060 transnational corporations and the web of ownership between them - and created a 'map' of 1,318 companies at the heart of the global economy. The study found that 147 companies formed a 'super entity' within this, controlling 40 per cent of its wealth. All own part or all of one another. Most are banks - the top 20 includes Barclays and Goldman Sachs. But the close connections mean that the network could be vulnerable to collapse. 'In effect, less than one per cent of the companies were able to control 40 per cent of the entire network,' says James Glattfelder, a complex systems theorist at the Swiss Federal Institute in Zurich, who co-wrote the research, to be published in the journal PLoS One. [...]"  

Commentary:  "9/11 Judge Rules CIA / US Government Above the Law" [10/19/11] "Manhattan Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein has declined to hold the CIA in contempt for destroying videos that it had been ordered by the courts to preserve. The case revolves around 92 videos, depicting hundreds of hours of interrogations of detainees. The tapes allegedly contained evidence of torture, and the CIA was ordered by numerous courts to produce the videos in relation to lawsuits arising from torture allegations. The 9/11 Commission also demanded that the tapes be produced. Instead, the agency destroyed them. Although the Obama Justice Department had already decided last year that no criminal charges would be filed for this blatant obstruction of justice, Judge Hellerstein’s recent ruling insures that the agency will not even face civil sanctions or so much as a contempt order for willfully breaking the law. In his ruling, Judge Hellerstein, the very judge who had ordered the CIA to produce the tapes in September of 2004, notes that the agency had instead provided a description of what they say was on the tapes and “implemented new protocols” to insure that they don’t destroy evidence again, so there is no need to hold them accountable in any way. Judge Hellerstein’s decision is not without precedent. [...]" 

Turkey: "Interview with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan" CNN [10/19/11] [11:11] A very important interview with a major player in the Middle East. Related:"Turkish PM slams Israel at the Arab League " [09/13/11] [1:53] | "Charlie Rose interviews Turkish PM Erdogan" Sep 2010 [10:56] Part 2 [10:56]| Part 3 [10:56]| Part 4 [10:56]| Part 5 [10:55] " [...]"  Note: One cannot understand the dimensions of what is happening in the Middle East right now, and in the near future without understanding this ... where Turkey is coming from and what their perspective is. It will help you evaluate events and dynamics as they unfold on this level.  

Commentary: "The Price of Power: Congressional Leadership Positions for Sale to the Highest Bidder" [10/19/11] "... Uniquely among legislatures in the developed world, our Congressional parties now post prices for key slots on committees. You want it — you buy it, runs the challenge. They even sell on the installment plan: You want to chair an important committee? That'll be $200,000 down and the same amount later, through fundraising. Unlike most retailers, though, Congressional leaders selling committee positions never offer discounts. Prices only drift up over time. This practice is perhaps the one case where bipartisanship flourishes in Congress today. The Democrats' 2008 price schedules quoted in Currinder's Money in the House are just variations on themes introduced by the Republicans in the 1990s, when Newt Gingrich brought in the earliest versions of "pay to play" and Tom DeLay consulted computer printouts of members' contributions at meetings to decide on committee chairs. Everybody in D.C. is in on the game. Only the public is still in the dark. [...]"  

Commentary: "War And The Return Of Populism" [10/18/11] "The Obama cult is drawing what sounds like its last breath on the American political scene, with the President’s reelection increasingly in doubt. Yet that doesn’t begin to explain why Obama is risking alienating his base with yet another overseas conflict that we can’t afford, and the American people don’t want. Nor does it explain why he is making unambiguous statements in support of a narrative that has been met with undisguised disdain by nearly every Iran expert with any credibility: almost no one believes the Quds force, the Iranian version of our “Special Forces,” would employ an alcoholic used car salesman to recruit a Mexican drug cartel to off the Saudi ambassador and commit terrorist acts in the US (and Argentina, an allegation that appears to have been thrown into the mix for good measure). No one, that is, but the President of the United States and the anonymous high government officials who have been spinning this absurd story behind the scenes. [...]"  Related: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein Uses Verbal Repetition In Bid To 'Convince' the Public that 'Iran Plot' Was Real"  [2:15] "Senator Dianne Feinstein has employed a form of mind control, using repetition, to convince the public that the Iran terror plot was real. Feinstein, speaking to stark Zionist and CNN teleprompter reader Wolf Blitzer, repeated “this was real” at least six times during a three minute interview. This fake Iran terror plot, run by the FBI and DEA, is so obviously fake that war hawks and Israeli firsters such as Feinstein have gone to great lengths in their bid to alter reality [...]"  Note: Feinstein has no credibility amongst normal people. | Commentary:  "Ten Reasons To Question US Allegations of Iranian Terror Plot" Note 2: See "Social Control and Theatrical Fabrications" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories  

Commentary: "America’s Secret Empire of Drone Bases: Its Full Extent Revealed for the First Time" [10/18/11] "A ground-breaking investigation examines the most secret aspect of America's shadowy drone wars and maps out a world of hidden bases dotting the globe. They increasingly dot the planet. There’s a facility outside Las Vegas where “pilots” work in climate-controlled trailers, another at a dusty camp in Africa formerly used by the French Foreign Legion, a third at a big air base in Afghanistan where Air Force personnel sit in front of multiple computer screens, and a fourth that almost no one talks about at an air base in the United Arab Emirates. And that leaves at least 56 more such facilities to mention in an expanding American empire of unmanned drone bases being set up worldwide. Despite frequent news reports on the drone assassination campaign launched in support of America’s ever-widening undeclared wars and a spate of stories on drone bases in Africa and the Middle East, most of these facilities have remained unnoted, uncounted, and remarkably anonymous -- until now. Run by the military, the Central Intelligence Agency, and their proxies, these bases -- some little more than desolate airstrips, others sophisticated command and control centers filled with computer screens and high-tech electronic equipment -- are the backbone of a new American robotic way of war. They are also the latest development in a long-evolving saga of American power projection abroad -- in this case, remote-controlled strikes anywhere on the planet with a minimal foreign “footprint” and little accountability. Using military documents, press accounts and other open source information, an in-depth analysis by AlterNet has identified at least 60 bases integral to U.S. military and CIA drone operations. There may, however, be more, since a cloak of secrecy about drone warfare leaves the full size and scope of these bases distinctly in the shadows. [...]"  

Commentary: "Dengue, Pakistan and CIA" [10/18/11] "On September 27, 2011 Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) have asked the security agencies to probe into the deliberate spread of Dengue virus into Pakistan (Pakistan Observer, 2011). The demand of doctors has spread across the globe immediately and in Pakistan it has been creating massive anti-American sentiments because the public perception that dengue is being used as an agent of Biological warfare to kill or threaten the Nation besides Drone attacks and other deadly covert operations. By the end of September 2011, about 12,000 people were affected of the disease. Due to the sudden and rapid spread of the disease, “In less than a month, 126 people have died and more than 12,000 have been diagnosed with the virus, which has spread rapidly among both rich and poor in Pakistan's cultural capital Lahore” (Gilani, 2011) while as of today, total number of dengue patients is 16,288 with 201 deaths so far in Punjab province of Pakistan. In 1967, Science Magazine reported that at the US government center in Fort Detrick, Maryland, dengue fever was among those diseases that are at least the object of considerable research and that appears to be among those regarded as potential BW (biological warfare) agents (Blum, 2003, p. 189). Before discussing the reasons for dengue as choice for CIA as biological warfare agent, we see the intellectual opinion and potential of dengue as being a biological warfare agent. [...]"  

Commentary: "The Pathology Of The Politician" UK [10/17/11] "Politicians are not normal people. They are weird. It isn’t politics that has made them weird: it’s their weirdness that has impelled them into politics. Whenever another high-profile minister teeters or falls, the mistake everyone makes is to ask what it is about the nature of their job, the environment they work in and the hours they work, that has made them take such stupid risks. This is the wrong question. We should ask a different one: what is it about these men and women that has attracted them to politics? On the whole, by and large, and with any number of exceptions, individuals drawn to elective office are driven men and women: dreamers, attention-seekers and risk-takers with a dollop of narcissism in their natures. [...]" Note: A dollop? Much, much more than that.

Corbett Report: "Morbid Addiction: The CIA and the Drug Trade" [10/17/11]   [19:17] "Just as the British Empire was in part financed by their control of the opium trade through the British East India Company, so too has the CIA been found time after time to be at the heart of the modern international drug trade. From its very inception, the CIA has been embroiled in the murky underworld of drug trafficking. There are billions of dollars per year to be made in keeping the drug trade going, and it has long been established that Wall Street and the major American banks rely on drug money as a ready source of liquid capital. With those kinds of funds at stake, it is unsurprising to see a media-government-banking nexus develop around the status quo of a never-ending war on drugs – aided, abetted and facilitated by the modern-day British East India Company, the CIA. This is our EyeOpener Report by James Corbett presenting the history, documented facts, and cases on the CIA’s involvement and operations in the underworld of drug trafficking, from the Corsican Mafia in the 1940s through the 1980s Contras to the recent Zambada Niebla Case today. [...]"  Transcript  Note: See "Weapons Sales, Drug Cartels, Etc" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories and updates.

Commentary: "The Suicide of Liberty" by Paul Craig Roberts [10/16/11] "Pat Buchanan’s latest book, Suicide of a Superpower, raises the question whether America will survive to 2025. The question might strike some readers as unduly pessimistic and others as optimistic. It is unclear whether the US, as we have known it, will survive its next presidential election. Consider the candidates. Liberal law professor Jonathan Turley, who was likely to have been an early Obama supporter, now wonders if Obama is “the most disastrous president in our history.” Despite Obama’s failure, the Republicans can’t come up with anyone any better. One Republican candidate admires Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman who gave us financial deregulation and the financial crisis. Another is ready for a preemptive strike on Iran. Yet another thinks the Soviet Union is a grave threat to the United States. None of these clueless dopes are capable of presiding over a government. [...] Anyone who has been paying attention knows that the “superpower” is over-extended financially and militarily. The US is currently involved in six conflicts with Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and Pakistan on the waiting list for full-fledged military attacks and perhaps invasions. Russia is being encircled with missile bases, and war plans are being drawn up for China. [...]"  

MSM: "Mexico Captures Zetas Cartel Leader" [10/16/11] "Mexico’s army on Thursday said it captured a top lieutenant in the infamous and powerful Zetas drug cartel, adding that he is responsible for the casino attack in August in the city of Monterrey that killed 52 people. [...]"  

MSM: "War Profiteers Defraud The U.S. Of Billions" [10/15/11] "Contractors hired by the U.S. Defense and State departments to help support operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have wasted or stolen billions of tax payer dollars since 2002, according to a Congressional report released this week. Of the $206 billion the Pentagon has spent, at least $31 billion, and possibly as much as $60 billion, have been lost, according to the House Commission on Wartime Contracting. [...]"  

MSM: "Iran Seizes 250 Tons Of Narcotics" PressTV [10/15/11] [2:13] "We have seized about 250 tons of traditional narcotics like opium, hashish, morphine and heroin being trafficked from Afghanistan. The amount shows an eight-percent increase compared with last year,” said Ali Mobedi, the head of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters, on Tuesday. He went on to say that the Iranian officials, during the same time interval, have seized 140 percent more crack cocaine, compared with last year. “About 85 percent of the drugs were seized exactly on the border of Iran and Afghanistan,” the official pointed out, stressing that the detained amount is enough to destroy the whole human population. According to the UN Drug Report 2011, Iran, which shares a 936-kilometer border with Afghanistan and a 909-kilometer border with Pakistan, has intercepted 89 percent of all the seized opium worldwide. The Iranian government has set up static defenses such as man power and electronic equipment along its border to maintain more control of the area. Within a span of thirty years, more than 3700 Iranian police officers have been killed and tens of thousands more injured in counter narcotics operations, mostly on Afghan and Pakistan borders.  [...]"  Note:  Another reason why the 'intelligence' community doesn't like Iran - they're cutting into world drug trafficking profits used to fund covert totalitarian operations. Note2: See "Weapons Sales, Drug Cartels, Etc" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories and updates. It seems that Hillary Clinton is personally involved with the Gunwalker program.

MSM: "Pentagon Can’t Demonstrate Funds Are Being Spent as Intended" [10/14/11] "The Pentagon, which previously warned that reliable military spending figures could not be produced until 2017, has discovered that financial ledgers are in worse shape than expected and it may need to spend a billion dollars more to make DOD’s financial accounting credible, according to defense officials and congressional sources. Experts say the Pentagon’s accounting has never been reliable. A lengthy effort by the military services to implement new financial systems at a cost so far of more than $6 billion has itself been plagued by overruns and delays, senior defense officials say. The Government Accountability Office said in a report last month that although the services can now fully track incoming appropriations, they still cannot demonstrate how their funds are being spent. [...]"  Related: "Black 9/11: A Walk on the Dark Side" " .... I would argue that Chalmers Johnson’s estimate was corroborated on September 10, 2001, on the eve of the worst terrorist attack in US history, when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged during a press conference that the Department of Defense (DoD) could not account for $2.3 trillion of the massive Pentagon budget, a number so large as to be incomprehensible. Any remaining hope that the US military might still get its budgetary house in order were dashed at 9:38 am the next morning, when the west wing of the Pentagon exploded in flames and smoke, the target of a terrorist strike. Incredibly, the exact point of impact was the DoD’s accounting offices on the first floor. The surgical destruction of its records and staff, nearly all of whom died in the attack, raises important questions about who benefited from 9/11. Given the Pentagon’s vast size, the statistical odds against this being a coincidence prompted skeptics of the official story to read a dark design into the attack. As Deep Throat said: “Follow the money.”  [...] That morning, there were other striking anomalies. The crash of AA 11 into the North Tower at 8:46 am should also have raised red flags, because the point of impact at the 95th and 96th floors was too remarkable to be happenstance. Both floors were occupied by Marsh & McLennan, one of the world’s largest insurance brokerages, with family ties to the private intelligence firm, Kroll Associates, which held the security contract at the World Trade Center. Indeed, the network of corporate ties is so entangled that were I to trace all of the links, they would easily fill a book. Here, I will sketch out only the most salient connections. [...]" |"Black 9/11: A Walk on the Dark Side - Part 2" | " U.S. Military Spending Is Totally Out Of Control And Can't Last" "The path is unsustainable as the following charts from CFR's Center for Geoeconomic Studies will show. The U.S. is grossly overweight in military spending relative to population and GDP [...]"

RT Interview: "Absurdity of Iranian Assassination Allegations" Pepe Escobar [10/13/11]   [7:33] "The American government wants the whole unsuspecting world to believe that the general of the IRGC, which is a very complex and very sophisticated operation in Tehran, which is more important than their armed forces, they have intelligence operations all over the world… They are going to sub-contract a hit – mafia style killing – to a failed Corpus Christi, Texas salesman with a record of bad checks, and he’s going to contact somebody posing as a member of the Zetas Mexican drug cartel, and boast that ‘I can give you 1.5 million dollars and you’re going to hit the ambassador at his favorite restaurant in Washington… I can provide you with tons of opium if you want to do business with my contacts in Tehran.’ In a script conference in Hollywood this thing would go to the garbage immediately. Problem is it’s being paddled by the Attorney General of the United States. Is it coincidence that the Attorney General announced this plot on the very day subpoenas were issued over the Fast and Furious perjury debacle? As we’ve said countless times in the past, when politicians and those highly visible to the public come under fire and stand to lose their positions of power, they deflect blame, or in this most recent case of Iran, create a completely new enemy. With respect to blame deflection, this has all of the hallmarks of an event that took place on August 20, 1998, when then President Bill Clinton launched a cruise missile attack against suspected Sudenese VX nerve gas factories at the height of the Lewinsky scandal that threatened to end his Presidency. You may recall that it was on August 17, 1998 that President Clinton admitted to having an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with the White House Intern. It turns out that the attack, later justified because of ties to Osama Bin Laden, manufactured pharmaceuticals – aspirin. Do you see the pattern? The Clinton Sudanese incident was easily covered up, as Sudan served no significant strategic importance to the US, its allies or our foreign challengers. The problem with the Iranian situation, of course, is that we have been butting heads over nuclear energy and other regional issues for nearly a decade – with both sides calling for war, albeit indirectly. [...]" 

Commentary: "40 Signs That America Is Rotting From The Inside Out" [10/13/11] "It would be easy to know how to defend America if enemy forces were invading our shores. But how do you defend a nation that is rotting from the inside out? How do you eradicate the internal decay that is eating away at the heart and soul of this nation a little bit more every single day? Just like we saw happen with the Roman Empire, the internal rot that is eating its way to the surface threatens to bring us down as a nation. Greed, corruption, gluttony, lust and pride have become national pastimes. We are addicted to debt, food, entertainment and pleasure. We have been taught to hate those that look different from us or that believe different things than we do. Society is literally coming apart at the seams and the federal government is increasingly implementing “Big Brother” security measures in an attempt to maintain control and keep us “safe”. We have far more people in prison than any other nation on the planet and yet things just keep getting worse and worse. So how can we fix America? How do we rescue a nation that is rotting from the inside? [...]" 

Commentary: "The Pathological Selfishness of Government Officials" Scott Lazarowitz [10/12/11] "Recently I wrote about how some people use the armed, compulsory powers of government to restrict the rights and economic activities of others as a means of protecting one's own selfish economic interests, profits, etc. That includes the unions and minimum wage laws, and big corporations such as those among Big Pharma in their legal restrictions against generic and supplement makers. But there is another kind of government selfishness, even worse. That is when the government officials themselves restrict the rights of and threaten those people who publicly express dissent and criticism toward those government officials and their bad policies. On his blog yesterday, Future of Freedom Foundation President Jacob Hornberger wrote: Leaving aside what Awlaki did to justify his assassination, one big problem is that governments often end up viewing citizens who oppose their policies as enemies of the state, ones who are considered just as dangerous to 'national security' as those who actually take up arms against the government. Thus, governments with the omnipotent, non-reviewable power to take out their own citizens oftentimes end up sliding the assassination scale to encompass those who are threatening national security or demoralizing the war effort by simply opposing what the regime is doing … In (government officials’ and statists’) minds, whatever the U.S. government is doing to combat communism or terrorism has to be good and anyone who opposes it must be helping the communists or the terrorists. The best way to describe this statist mindset is through the simplistic statement, 'You’re either with us or against us.' Thus, if a person is opposing the government’s actions against communists and terrorists, that person must be supporting the communists or the terrorists.  That’s how dissidents and critics end up on their government’s watch lists, terrorist lists, communist lists, no-fly lists, or assassination lists. By standing up against the government’s policies, they are inevitably viewed as enemies of the state by government officials." [...]"  

Commentary: "America's Conquest of Africa: The Roles of France and Israel" [10/12/11] "I will begin with the scandal of Operation Gladio that climaxed in the murder of former Italian Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, who on the day of his kidnapping, was to announce an Italian coalition government that would include the Italian Communist Party. Leader of the Christian Democratic Party at that time, Francesco Cossiga, admits in the 1992 BBC Timewatch documentary about Operation Gladio, that he chose to “sacrifice” Moro “for the good of the Republic.” Not unlike the targeted assassinations that the U.S. government engages in around the world, where someone extrajudicially makes decisions on who lives and who dies. In the three-part documentary, Cossiga states that the decision caused his hair to turn white. Operation Gladio is the ugly real-life tale of the U.S. government’s decision to hire members of the state security apparatus of various European countries, and in collaboration with recruited community allies, wreak terror on innocent citizens by blowing up train stations, shooting customers in grocery stores, and even killing police officers in order to convince populations in Europe to give up their rights in exchange for certain security measures and enhanced state power. [...]" 

MSM: "FBI Director Vows More Use of ‘Lone Wolf’ Provision of Patriot Act" [10/11/11] "Testifying yesterday in Congress, FBI Director Robert Mueller and National Counterterrorism Center director Matthew Olsen both agreed that the seldom used “lone wolf” provision of the USA PATRIOT Act, a provision which allows broad intelligence gathering of people with no actual terrorism ties, would become much more widely used in the months and years to come. [...]"  

Commentary: "The Invisible Surveillance State: DHS And The End Of America As We Know It" [10/10/11] "Since its inception in response to the September 11th attacks, the behemoth bureaucracy known as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has grown into an organization that is nothing short of nightmarish. The DHS boasts 216,000 employees (as of 2010), a $98.8 billion budget in the 2011 fiscal year, and child agencies that include: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), United States Coast Guard (USCG), United States Secret Service (USSS), and the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD). The DHS has been behind countless highly controversial policies and incidents including (but definitely not limited to): [...] To understand the concept of the subversion of dissent through surveillance, we must examine two factors. First, is the reality of the spying itself, which we just outlined clearly above. Second, are the common arguments and talking points used by the champions of Big Brother culture, and how nonsensical they can be. Let’s take a look some of these arguments now…  [...] "  

Commentary: "Besieged Inside Their Own Fortresses" [10/10/11] "The only distinguishing feature remaining of a U.S. embassy as such is its diplomatic status. In reality, they are a nest of spies and military command centers. Washington has been aware that it is in breach of the Vienna Convention ever since the siege of its "embassy" in Tehran and the arrest of its personnel for spying. The State Department has therefore transformed its "embassies" into “fortresses”, which nevertheless constitute an open target in view of their illegal activities.  [...]"  

Commentary:  "The Al Qaeda Legend : Wither The "Global War on Terrorism" Prof. Michel Chossudovsky [10/09/11] Throughout the post 9/11 era, Al Qaeda and the “threat of Islamic terrorism” have played a central role in defining Washington’s diplomatic agenda, shaping its rhetoric at World summits as well as establishing the contours of US military doctrine. The pre-emptive “defensive war” doctrine against Al Qaeda and its alleged “State Sponsors” constitutes the foundation of America’s post 9/11 National Security Strategy (NSS), first formulated in early 2002. In the wake of 9/11, the Al Qaeda Legend became part of the mainstay of US foreign policy. Contained in the 2002 NSS is the notion of a “global jihadist network of terrorists” and “state sponsors of terrorism”. The response of the US administration is to launch “a war of global reach”, a “Global War on Terrorism” (GWOT): [...]"  Note: This is part 1 of a series.

Commentary:  "White House ATF Fast and Furious Emails and Documents" [10/09/11] "Emails and documents related to the ongoing investigation of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ “Fast and Furious”/Project Gun Runner program leaked to CBS. Includes a map of distribution routes for weapons involved in the program leading to locations throughout Mexico. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Washington Targeting China's Achilles Heel" [10/09/11] "While nervously watching China edging closer to becoming the predominant world power in the 21st century, Washington has also been keeping a keen eye on China's heavy reliance on foreign oil to meet its growing energy needs. Engdahl analyses the oil trap that Washington has laid for China in Libya and through AFRICOM's deployment across Africa.  [...]"  

China: "Two Worrying Possibilities For China's Disappearing Bank Deposits" [10/08/11] "No one knows exactly what happened to $173 billion that was withdrawn from China's banks in July. Victor Shih draws some disturbing conclusions: Although the mystery remains unsolved for the moment, solving the mystery is important for investors who want a sense of where the economy is heading. If large sums are indeed disappearing into the shadow banking system, then a rapidly rising share of the financial system is beyond the direct control of the government. If large sums are indeed flowing out of China, we may have the beginning of major, sustained outflows from China. [...]"   Related: "Chinese Professor Warns Of 6,400-Fold Increase In Land Sale Values, Huge Local Government Financing Bubble"  [2:17] "A Tsinghua University professor posted the following stunning fact on Sina Weibo (via Global Macro Monitor). In 1989 the value of China's land sales was $70 million. By 2010 land sales were worth $470 billion -- a 6,700-fold increase. This increase reflects a ridiculous surge in land values and growing use of land sales by local governments for revenue. The professor also found that land sales had risen from 0.24 percent to 74 percent of local government financing. This land is mostly coming from farmers, as many as 140 million of whom had their land confiscated in the past 17 years. Cities turn around and sell land to developers who build giant ghost cities. Worried yet? [...]"  "Fears Of An Economic Meltdown In China" [10/08/11] "Far from being able to rescue world capitalism, China is becoming a major source of economic instability, feeding the deepening global crisis. [...]"  

Commentary: "The Top 100 Statistics About The Collapse Of The Economy" [10/08/11] "The U.S. economy is dying and most American voters have no idea why it is happening. Unfortunately, the mainstream media and most of our politicians are not telling the truth about the collapse of the economy. This generation was handed the keys to the greatest economic machine that the world has ever seen, and we have completely wrecked it. Decades of incredibly foolish decisions have left us drowning in an ocean of corruption, greed and bad debt. Thousands of businesses and millions of jobs have left the country and poverty is exploding from coast to coast. We are literally becoming a joke to the rest of the world. It is absolutely imperative that we educate America about what is happening. Until the American people truly understand the problems that we are facing, they will not be willing to implement the solutions that are necessary. The following are the top 100 statistics about the collapse of the economy that every American voter should know.... [...]"  

Investigation: "9/11 Masterminds - Explosive Connections " [10/08/11] [15:15] "Most of the material for this video was adapted from Kevin Ryan's landmark article on who had "Demolition access to the WTC Towers" [...]"   Note: See "9/11" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories and updates.

MSM: "McChrystal: U.S. Wasn’t Ready for Afghan War" [10/08/11] "The U.S. began the war in Afghanistan with a "frighteningly simplistic" view of the country and even 10 years later lacks knowledge that could help bring the conflict to a successful end, a former top commander said Thursday. Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal said in remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations that the U.S. and its NATO allies are only "a little better than" 50 percent of the way to reaching their war goals. [...]"  Note: Wasn't ready? Seeing as Afghanistan has been known as the 'graveyard of empires' for hundreds of years, and there was also the recent experience of the Soviets in Afghanistan ... the whole war was an unnecessary fraud geared only to enrich the military-corporate-industrial- financial-congressional complex. This is exceedingly transparent. Related: "Study:  More than 400,000 War Veterans Have Mental Health Issues" Note: These young men and women were sent to kill and be killed to enrich a handful of people, under the childish guise of 'protecting freedom". Stupid and naive for them to believe this, but it was, after all, part of their path. | "Afghans Say Karzai Assassination Plot Foiled" "Afghan intelligence officials say they have arrested six people who they believe were planning to assassinate President Hamid Karzai. The alleged plotters had recruited one of Mr Karzai's bodyguards and had possible links to the militant Haqqani network, the officials said. Analysts say the arrests may be seen as part of a plan to discredit Pakistan. Relations between the two countries are tense over alleged links between Pakistan and Haqqani militants. [...]" | "Jalaluddin Haqqani, Once CIA's 'Blue-Eyed Boy,' Now Top Scourge For U.S. In Afghanistan" "The U.S.'s new public enemy No. 1 in Afghanistan is one of its own making. Ten years into the occupation of Afghanistan, American officials describe the militia led by Jalaluddin Haqqani as the country's deadliest insurgent group, responsible for a slew of particularly bold attacks, including the day-long assault three weeks ago on the U.S. embassy in Kabul. But Haqqani's rise to power can be traced directly back to the secret, multi-billion-dollar U.S. campaign to create a radicalized and well-equipped army of Islamic jihadists -- known as the mujahideen -- to lead a war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s. [...]" 

Interview: "Chomsky on “Occupy Wall Street” and Israel Imminent Collapse" [10/07/11]   [12:08] "In an interview with RT’s Marina Portnaya, prominent scholar Professor Noam Chomsky gives his take on some of he world’s political hot topics. Chomsky vividly shares his reflections on the wall street protests and warns of an impending serious poverty and real unemployment similar to the great depression, he talks about the 2012 American presidential campaign spending and how positions in both the white house and the congress are being bought, not earned. ...“For 35 years, the US and Israel have been rejecting a political settlement that is supported virtually by the entire world. A couple of months ago, there was a meeting of the oligarchs — people who pretty much run the economy of Israel,” Chomsky says, “and they warned the government that it better accept something like this resolution, because otherwise, Israel will be, as they put it, South Africanized: even more isolated, with boycotts, refusal to load ships, and their economy will collapse.” [...]"  

World Politics: "UK Prime Minister Bemoans "Pointless" EU Legislation" [10/06/11] "David Cameron had some harsh words for EU officials during his speech at the Conservative Party conference. The British Prime Minister branded EU legislation as "pointless" as he lamented that the potential of the European market was being eroded by time-wasting measures. "The EU is the biggest single market in the world – but it’s not working properly," he said. "Almost every day, I see pointless new regulation coming our way. A couple of weeks ago I was up in the flat, going through some work before the start of the day and I saw this EU directive. Do you know what it was about? Whether people with diabetes should be allowed to drive. What’s that got to do with the single market?" Cameron reiterated; that half the world's governments are in a debt crisis and, with the Eurozone staring at the abyss, he wouldn't be joining the Euro. He also said that the only way to get the economy to recover was to curtail government spending, before announcing he would spend up to £14,000 ($21,610) on some of the unemployed to get them back working. Overall, a lot of problems reaffirmed, very few solutions outlined. [...]" 

Interview: "CBS Reporter Says White House Screamed at Her Over ' Fast and Furious'" [10/06/11] [9:57] "On The Laura Ingraham Show, CBS News investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson spoke with Laura today about her latest bombshell report on the Obama administration's Operation Fast and Furious scandal. Judging from the White House's reaction to her investigation, it seems officials there know they are in deep, hot water. [...]" Related: "ATF Fast and Furious: New documents show Attorney General Eric Holder was briefed in July 2010"  [10/03/11] CBS [2:36] "New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress. On May 3, 2011, Holder told a Judiciary Committee hearing, "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks." Yet internal Justice Department documents show that at least ten months before that hearing,  [...]" Note: Other links to documents are on the page. Note: See "Weapons Sales, Drug Cartels" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories and updates.

Aljazeera: "U.S. Anti-Corporate Movement Expands" [10/06/11] "In the two weeks since activists with Occupy Wall Street began protesting in New York, the movement has gained traction nationwide with events in almost every major U.S. city. Meanwhile, more mainstream allies are joining the cause, including unions, members of Congress, celebrities, pundits, and academics. Demonstrators and sympathisers oppose "corporate greed and corrupt politics," the "gangsterism of Wall Street," and the disproportionate effect the global economic downturn has had on "the other 99 percent." On Oct 2, the protests took a chaotic turn when New York police arrested over 700 protesters after they swarmed onto Brooklyn Bridge and shut down a lane of traffic for several hours.  [...]"  

Commentary: "James Angleton | 7 Types Of Ambiguity" [10/05/11] "... Angleton is perhaps best understood as the Patron Saint of Homeland Security. Compartmentalized secrecy, zero accountability, and access to everything. Yuri Nosenko spending almost 4 years in solitary confinement, undergoing beta version Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, was most definitely a precursor for the current situation in Guantanamo Bay and hundreds of other secret prisons around the world. Then again, that's just a cheap literary device. It's unfair to the nuances of the truly Angletonian theory of Counterintelligence to presume that he would approve of a rush job as sloppy as DHS turned out to be. Consider the recent headlines declaring that over four million US citizens have classified clearances, and over a million of those are private contractors. Angleton liked recursive loops. Within the Countertintelligence desk, Angleton ran an additional secret team named SIG -- Special Investigative Group. This alone is a beautifully pure illustration of Hagbard Celine's First Law: secret police within the secret police within the secret police. This kind of total freedom from scrutiny was essential to the proper practice of Power. "It is inconceivable that a secret arm of the government has to comply with all the overt orders of the government," he once remarked, and that simple binary trap was the source for most of Angleton's headaches. [...]" "Deception is a state of mind--and the mind of the state." - James Jesus Angleton 

MSM: "France to Keep Fracking Ban to Protect Environment, Sarkozy Says" [10/05/11]   "France will maintain a ban on fracking until there is proof that shale gas exploration won’t harm the environment or “massacre” the landscape, President Nicolas Sarkozy said. “Development of hydrocarbon resources underground is strategic for our country but not at any price,” Sarkozy said during a visit to Ales in southern France. “This won’t be done until it has been shown that technologies used for development respect the environment, the complex nature of soil and water networks.” The French government plans to revoke shale permits, including one held by Total SA, because of concerns over the environmental repercussions of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which was made illegal in July. This process, widely used in North America, involves pumping water and chemicals into rock to release gas. The government is in the process of canceling the Montelimar permit held by Total and the Nant and Villeneuve-de- Berg licenses granted to Schuepbach Energy LLC, according to a statement yesterday from the environment and industry ministries. Lawmakers voted to make fracking illegal last June, making France the first country in the world with such a ban. [...]"  

MSM: "Bush-Era Operation Wide Receiver Involved Guns 'Walking'" [10/05/11] "The federal government under the Bush administration ran an operation that allowed hundreds of guns to be transferred to suspected arms traffickers — the same tactic that congressional Republicans have criticized President Barack Obama's administration for using, two federal law enforcement officials said Tuesday. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and other Republicans have been hammering the Obama Justice Department over the practice known as "letting guns walk." The congressional target has been Operation Fast and Furious, which was designed to track small-time gun buyers at several Phoenix-area gun shops up the chain to make cases against major weapons traffickers. In the process, federal agents lost track of many of the more than 2,000 guns linked to the operation.  [...] Last October, Jason Weinstein, deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's criminal division, raised concerns about investigative methods in Operation Wide Receiver and about the timing of announcing indictments in both Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious. "It's a tricky case given the number of guns that have walked, but it is a significant set of prosecutions," Weinstein wrote in a Justice Department email turned over to Congress, which released the document. Weinstein raised the question in asking whether Lanny Breuer, the assistant attorney general who runs the Justice Department's criminal division, should participate in a news conference when indictments in Fast and Furious and the case resulting from Wide Receiver were unsealed."  

MSM: "35 US Reactors Could Fail During An Earthquake, GE Says" [10/04/11] "GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy said 35 reactors it built for utilities from New York to Washington may not shut down properly during an earthquake. The likelihood of failure is "low," the company said in an advisory to customers on additional actions to take. GE Hitachi, which made First Energy Corp.'s Perry, Ohio, plant on Lake Erie, about 120 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, and Exelon Corp.'s Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey, is recommending testing to determine what level of friction would prevent control rods from fully inserting into the reactor core during an earthquake, according to filings with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "There is no discussion of a recall of any control rods at this point," Neil Sheehan, a Philadelphia-based spokesman for the commission, said in an e-mail. "The focus is on testing as evaluations continue on whether any modifications are necessary." The issue is contained in a series of reports to the federal agency dating to December 2010, Sheehan said. The affected plants don't include Dominion Resources Inc.'s North Anna in Virginia, which remains shut because of a 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered 11 miles away on Aug. 23. The issue is a "low probability event" that became known to the company several months before the March earthquake and radiation leaks at the Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, Michael Tetuan, a spokesman for GE Hitachi in Wilmington, N.C., said in an e-mail. [...]"  Note: The article lists where these units are.

Commentary: "The Day America Died: The Only Future For Americans Is A Nightmare" Dr. Paul Craig Roberts [10/04/11] "Some of us have watched this day approach and have warned of its coming, only to be greeted with boos and hisses from “patriots” who have come to regard the US Constitution as a device that coddles criminals and terrorists and gets in the way of the President who needs to act to keep us safe. In our book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions, Lawrence Stratton and I showed that long before 9/11 US law had ceased to be a shield of the people and had been turned into a weapon in the hands of the government. The event known as 9/11 was used to raise the executive branch above the law. As long as the President sanctions an illegal act, executive branch employees are no longer accountable to the law that prohibits the illegal act. On the president’s authority, the executive branch can violate US laws against spying on Americans without warrants, indefinite detention, and torture and suffer no consequences. [...] Americans have overwhelming evidence from news reports and YouTube videos of US police brutally abusing women, children, and the elderly, of brutal treatment and murder of prisoners not only in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and secret CIA prisons abroad, but also in state and federal prisons in the US. Power over the defenseless attracts people of a brutal and evil disposition. [...]" Readers ask me what they can do. Americans not only feel powerless, they are powerless. They cannot do anything. The highly concentrated, corporate-owned, government-subservient print and TV media are useless and no longer capable of performing the historic role of protecting our rights and holding government accountable. Even many antiwar Internet sites shield the government from 9/11 skepticism, and most defend the government’s “righteous intent” in its war on terror. Acceptable criticism has to be couched in words such as “it doesn’t serve our interests.”  Voting has no effect. President “Change” is worse than Bush/Cheney. As Jonathan Turley suggests, Obama is “the most disastrous president in our history.” Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate who stands up for the Constitution, but the majority of Americans are too unconcerned with the Constitution to appreciate him. To expect salvation from an election is delusional. All you can do, if you are young enough, is to leave the country. The only future for Americans is a nightmare. "  Note: More from Dr. Roberts

Legal Case: "Corexit Makers May Be Liable for Use at Oil Spill" [10/04/11] " Companies involved in the use of the dispersant Corexit during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill last year cannot get immunity from what may be hundreds of thousands of personal injury claims, a federal judge ruled. After the Deepwater Horizon oil-drilling rig exploded on April 20, 2010, unleashing the worst oil spill in U.S. history, BP directed third-party cleanup workers to spray and inject more than 1.8 million gallons of Corexit into oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Early on, the Environmental Protection Agency told BP to stop using Corexit because of the dispersant's known toxicity, but BP objected and continued to use the chemical. Part of the massive multidistrict litigation for the oil spill involves claims by those who have allegedly suffered injuries from exposure to Corexit. The dispersant's manufacturer, Nalco, tried to dismiss these claims by noting that it merely followed orders passed down from the president of the United States in distributing the highly toxic chemical. Corexit is banned in several counties including the U.K. because of its known toxicity. If Nalco had been following federal orders, it could have sought immunity under two separate rules: the government contractor defense and a provision of the Clean Water Act (CWA) that protects any private contractor following orders from the federal government. But U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled Friday that Nalco was following orders from BP, not orders from the United States, and can therefore be held liable for damages. [...]"  Note: See "Oil & Gas" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories and updates.

"Palestinian UN Membership Roulette" [10/02/11] "As Palestinian legal advisor in 1987, Law Professor Francis Boyle drafted its Declaration of Independence, creating a Palestinian state. Palestinians now want and deserve official recognition and full de jure UN membership. Washington and Israel remain obstructionist. Doing so further isolates both countries. Globally, Obama and Netanyahu are laughing stocks, more caricatures than leaders. [...]"  Related: "Palestine is Already Legally a Sovereign State & is Seeking Membership of the UN, Not Statehood" [09/29/11] "A combination of mistakes—whether through ignorance or design—and significant omissions of fact have left the American public misinformed about why the Palestinians went to the United Nations last week and what they are trying to achieve. The biggest error repeated across the media in hundreds of headlines and stories is that the Palestinians are seeking statehood at the U.N. In fact, Palestine is already legally a sovereign state and is seeking membership of the United Nations, not statehood. The United Nations does not grant or recognize statehood. Only states can recognize other states bilaterally. The U.N. can only confer membership or non-member, observer state status to already existing states. The U.N. Charter is clear. Article 4 says that only existing states may apply for U.N. membership. [...]" 

MSM: "US Blocks $200 Million In Aid To Palestinian Authority" [10/02/11] "The United States Congress has blocked nearly $200 million in aid for the Palestinians in response to President Mahmoud Abbas' request to join the UN, a British newspaper report said Saturday. The Independent called the move the most tangible sign yet of the seriousness of US threats to halt funding in the coming year if Abbas continues with his actions at the UN. The unpublicized block has been in force since August and was imposed in response to the then-planned UN recognition bid and to earlier reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas, the newspaper said. The decision was strongly condemned by the Palestinian Authority, the daily reported. The cutoff threatens projects such as food aid, health care, and support for efforts to build a functioning state, it said. "This is not constructive at all. Such moves are unjustified," said PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib. "These are mainly humanitarian and development projects -- it is another kind of collective punishment which is going to harm the needs of the public without making any positive contribution." Khatib added that the Palestinian Authority had not done anything wrong or illegal and that, "it is ironic to be punished for going to the United Nations," the newspaper reported.  [...]"  Related: "Saudi Arabia Donates $200 Million To The PA"   Saudi Arabia will pay $200 million to the Palestinian Authority, the official Palestinian news agency said on Monday, funds that will ease a financial crisis faced by the authority as it prepares to apply for full UN membership this week.

MSM: "Super Committee Democrats Push Tax Hikes First In Deficit Talks" [10/02/11] "Democrats want tax hikes to be the first item negotiated in "super committee" deficit-reduction talks, trying to force Republicans to confront an issue at the heart of this year's budget fights, sources told Reuters. The tough stance by Democratic members of the powerful 12-member congressional panel reflects the party's wariness that Republicans might try to sideline the issue of revenue increases in the negotiations. "They've raised the idea of doing taxes first," a Republican aide involved in the discussions said on Friday on condition of anonymity. The panel has the task of finding ways of cutting the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years. If it fails to agree on a plan by November 23, automatic spending cuts will be triggered, beginning in 2013. [...]"  Note: Which won't matter, because we won't be caring about things like this.   Related: See below.

MSM: "Super Committee Meets in Secret" [10/01/11] "The Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka the “Super Committee” tasked with eliminating $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit, has met secretly over the past month, keeping its discussions out of the press and refusing to divulge any of its considerations for budget cuts or tax increases. The committee’s secrecy would appear to be in violation of its own rules, which require that meetings be open to the public. John Wonderlich at the Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit watchdog organization, says the members of the Super Committee are “denying that they’re holding meetings, in order to avoid longstanding requirements that those meetings be public.” Secrecy has been a part of the committee even before it was officially created by Congress. It was “created through a wildly secretive process that produced a bill that nobody could read before voting on it,” adds Wonderlich. The committee has until November 23 to issue its budget recommendations, which the House and Senate must approve in their entirety. Lawmakers will not be able to offer amendments to the plan that’s proposed. [...]"  

Commentary: "Slavery And The Eight Veils" [10/01/11] "Over the last several years I have evolved and discarded several theories in an attempt to explain why it is that most people cannot see truth -- even when it smacks them in the face. Those of us who can see “the conspiracy” have participated in countless conversations amongst ourselves that address the frustration of most peoples' inability to comprehend the extremely well-documented arguments which we use to describe the process of our collective enslavement and exploitation. The most common explanation to be arrived at is that most people just “don't want to see” what is really going on. Extremely evil men and women who make up the world's power-elite have cleverly cultivated a virtual pasture so grass green that few people seldom, if ever, bother to look up from where they are grazing long enough to notice the brightly colored tags stapled to their ears. [...]"  

Propaganda: "Obama Calls Awlaki Killing A 'Major Blow' Against ' Al Qaeda'" [10/01/11] "... Obama credited American intelligence operations and cooperation with the Yemeni government for the death of key Al Qaeda figure Anwar Awlaki on Friday, calling it a “major blow” to the terrorism network's most active operational affiliate and a sign of things to come. Aside from the fact that Al-Awlaki was a confirmed double agent, having dined at the Pentagon shortly after 9/11 despite being declared the spiritual leader of the hijackers, and going on to become chief patsy handler for intelligence agency entrapment operations, the hypocrisy here is staggering even by Obama’s standards. If Obama was so concerned about not providing safe havens to terrorists, then why has he just helped hand an entire country over to them in Libya? [...]"  Related: No More Pentagon Dinners: 'Al Qaeda' Leader Killed… Again" "According to a “senior US administration official”, Al Qaeda Boogie Man (and US citizen) Anwar al-Awlaki has been reported killed in an air strike in Yemen, which is the exact same way he died in 2009. The Yemeni defense ministry confirmed the claim, stating that the same counterterrorism unit that killed Osama bin Laden used a drone and jet strike in Yemen to kill al-Awlaki. Awlaki’s ' death' in 2009 was also reported by Fox News and Al Jazeera. [...]" | "CIA And Pentagon Asset Anwar Al Awlaki Dined At Pentagon Months After 9/11"   [1:51]    Note: See "Social Control and Theatrical Fabrications" link at the top of this panel for related stories.

Alex Jones Interviews:  "Webster Tarpley : Al-Qaeda Is The CIA Arab Legion" [09/30/11] Autoplay 3 Video clips "What we have learned in Libya is that Al-Qaeda is the CIA's Arab Legion it always have been so that's the CIA speaking through Al-Qaeda saying that it was not controlled demolition that brought down the World Trade center ,  [...]" 

Commentary: "U.S. Admits Mexican Cartels Control Parts Of Border" [09/30/11] "Janet Napolitano spent much of the spring sounding like a broken record ensuring that the U.S.-Mexico border is safe when the reality is that stretches are controlled by drug-trafficking organizations. A new federal report exposing the ugly truth about the southern border has left President Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary with egg on her face. Published by the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center, the document contradicts much of what Napolitano has preached in the last few months during highly publicized jaunts to the crime-infested region. [...]"  

MSM: "Judge Rules Part Of Patriot Act Unconstitutional" [09/28/11] "Two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended by the Patriot Act, "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment." Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said the agency was reviewing the decision, and he declined to comment further.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Nevada's Big Bet: Secret Shell Companies" [09/28/11] "Ten years ago, Nevada enacted some of America's loosest disclosure and liability laws for corporations, in a bid to spur the state economy. It protected corporate officers and directors from liability for breaches of duty, bad faith and self-dealing - acts that can be the basis of lawsuits in other states. Today, the business of registering companies in Nevada, many of them shells, is booming. Nevada has emerged as the state with the second-largest number of corporate entities registered per capita, after longtime leader Delaware. The state's business-filings unit generated revenue of $108 million in fiscal 2010, up from $43 million in 2002. At the same time, Nevada is attracting an outsize number of companies with shaky financial reporting, according to a study published in March by Michal Barzuza and David C. Smith of the University of Virginia. [...]"  

MSM: "Americans Express Historic Negativity Toward U.S. Government" [09/27/11] "A record-high 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is being governed, adding to negativity that has been building over the past 10 years. Majorities of Democrats (65%) and Republicans (92%) are dissatisfied with the nation's governance. This perhaps reflects the shared political power arrangement in the nation's capital, with Democrats controlling the White House and U.S. Senate, and Republicans controlling the House of Representatives. Partisans on both sides can thus find fault with government without necessarily blaming their own party. The findings are from Gallup's annual Governance survey, updated Sept. 8-11, 2011. The same poll shows record or near-record criticism of Congress, elected officials, government handling of domestic problems, the scope of government power, and government waste of tax dollars. [...]"  

US Politics: "Herman Cain Wins Florida Straw Poll In Stunning Victory; Rick Perry In Deep Trouble" [09/26/11] Note: They're both extremists ... they're still there to force a re-election of Obama .... another 'election' where people have to pick the lesser of two evils, which is NO ELECTION at all ... no real alternative to fascist whack.   Related: "Homosexuality Accusations Fly Within Cain Campaign" "Politico has an item up describing a crisis in Herman Cain's Iowa office, including the departure of a few key staffers. But this passage stands out: The [resignation of a top Iowa staffer], which shakes the campaign of the tea party favorite into turmoil in a state where he’s staking much of his 2012 hopes, comes after weeks of swirling rumors between Cain’s staff and volunteers in the Hawkeye State accusing each other of affairs, homosexuality and professional misconduct. “A lot of volunteers, who worked hard for five months, are all leaving the campaign,” said one Iowa volunteer. Is being gay now akin to professional misconduct, something that a person is accused of? When I asked Cain spokesman Ellen Carmichael about the reported "rumors," she charged that the Politico piece "lacked full information from an authoritative source -- the campaign itself." She added: "In regards to 'rumors,' they are just that -- rumors." I asked if it's considered acceptable in the Cain campaign for staffers to be gay. Carmichael emailed one line in response: "It is illegal to discriminate." Cain, for the record, said last month that he believes homosexuality is both "a sin" and "a choice." So if there are gay people on his staff, it's easy to imagine it might not be the most accepting work environment. [...]" | "The Hill: Perry To Drop Out, Ron Paul To Be Romney’s Rival"    Note: See "Election 2012" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories and updates.

MSM: "U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds to Buy, Sell Weapons During 'Fast and Furious,' Documents Show" [09/26/11] "Not only did U.S. officials approve, allow and assist in the sale of more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa cartel -- the federal government used taxpayer money to buy semi-automatic weapons, sold them to criminals and then watched as the guns disappeared. This disclosure, revealed in documents obtained by Fox News, could undermine the Department of Justice's previous defense that Operation Fast and Furious was a "botched" operation where agents simply "lost track" of weapons as they were transferred from one illegal buyer to another. Instead, it heightens the culpability of the federal government as Mexico, according to sources, has opened two criminal investigations into the operation that flooded their country with illegal weapons. [...]" Related: "Letter Implicates ATF In Committing Straw Purchases For Gunwalker" "A letter forwarded on Friday by a proven reliable source to Gun Rights Examiner and Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars documents Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives management authorizing the sale of firearms, which sources say were intended for delivery to cartel purchasers as part of the “Fast and Furious” / ”Gunwalker” scandal. [...]"

Commentary:  "9-11 Cop Breaks Silence" [09/26/11] "The New Jersey police officer responsible for capturing five Israelis who filmed and celebrated while the World Trade Center towers burned has broken his silence, agreeing to a Sept. 16 exclusive interview with AMERICAN FREE PRESS. As AFP readers are no doubt aware, these are the same Israelis who were working under the direction of Urban Moving Systems, a Mossad front company at the center of Israeli involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks. All five of the Israeli spies refused to exit their vehicle, so DeCarlo was forced to get physical. [...] We brought them over to the New Jersey State Police holding cells in the Meadowlands Stadium, and that’s the last I saw of them,” he said. Shortly after that, the FBI reportedly took over. The five Israelis were held for 10 weeks, but were eventually deported to Israel on charges of immigration violations. In November 2001, they appeared on an Israeli TV talk show discussing how they were in the U.S. “to document the event.” Sgt. DeCarlo asked AFP to request interested parties not to contact him."  Note: See "9/11" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories and updates.

Interview: "West After Libyan Oil, Riches" [09/25/11] [25:07] "An analyst says the Western military alliance in Libya has nothing to do with democracy and has merely launched cynical imperialist attacks to provide the West with Libya's oil and riches. Press TV has interviewed author and historian Dr. Webster Tarpley to get his views on the current situation in Libya.  [...]"  Note:  Transcript included.

Commentary: "Congress's 'Most Corrupt' Representatives" [09/24/11] "From lying on financial disclosure forms to receiving improper gifts to unreported conflicts of interest, it has been a busy year for lousy lawmakers. Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released its annual Most Corrupt Members of Congress report, which takes a bipartisan look at Washington’s worst. Fourteen members were named to the list, while five more garnered dishonorable mentions. A startling 14 of the 19 members on CREW’s list are new to it this year, and six are also new to Congress. “Congressional approval ratings are at an all-time low, and one look at this collection of Washington’s worst shows why,” said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan. “Neither political party has a monopoly on shady conduct. In fact, it’s the only thing that seems bipartisan these days.” Although CREW assigns no ranking system to the list, several members’ actions are particularly egregious.  [...]" Related: "US Republicans On CREW ‘Most Corrupt” List Call For Annexation Of West Bank If Palestinian UN Bid Goes Ahead" "A number of Republican members of the US Congress have submitted a bill saying that Israel should annex the occupied West Bank if Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas carries on with his bid for UN recognition of an independent Palestinian state. According to CNN, 30 members of congress, led by Republican Joe Walsh (Illinois), believe that Israel would be "within its rights" to annex "Judea and Samaria". Walsh's stand on this issue, reported by the Huffington Post, was made a couple of days after being named among "Congress's thirteen 'most corrupt' representatives by the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)". Palestinian news agency WAFA has reported the Republican governor of Texas Rick Perry's announcement that he will stand for the party's presidential primaries. Perry will lead a rally in New York against the recognition of a Palestinian state. In Washington, meanwhile, a number of Republican US Senators have urged Barack Obama "to issue a strongly-worded defence of Israel," said Radio Israel reported. In their letter to the President, the 14 senators highlighted Israel's crisis with Turkey and the Palestinian decision to bid for statehood at the United Nations. [...]"  Note: All of these Congressmen are despicable individuals ... all reincarnated retreads with a psychopathy.

MSM: "Federal Appeals Court Allows ACLU Challenge to Warrantless Wiretapping Law to Proceed" [09/23/11]   "In September 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the government’s request that all of the court’s judges rehear a lawsuit filed by the ACLU challenging the FISA Amendments Act (FAA), a law that gives the executive branch virtually unchecked power to collect Americans’ international emails and telephone calls. The denial of rehearing allows the ACLU’s lawsuit to proceed, upholding an unanimous March 2011 ruling by a three-judge panel that the plaintiffs have the right to challenge the constitutionality of the law.  [...]"  

MSM: "Al Jazeera Director Resigns Amidst ‘US Intelligence Links’ Row" [09/23/11] "The senior executive of the Middle East’s most recognizable news television network has resigned following revelations that he met with American intelligence officials and complied with their requests to alter the content of news reports. A brief news report posted today on the Al Jazeera website said that Wadah Khanfar, the news network’s Palestinian-born director, had announced his resignation, eight years after assuming the station’s leadership. In a public statement, Khanfar, whose brother is a Hamas activist in the Gaza Strip, said that Al Jazeera “stands as a mature organization” and that he is “confident that [the station] will continue to maintain its trailblazing path”. But he did not mention the incident that might have led to his resignation: namely the recent revelation that he was in constant contact with US intelligence officials during much of his executive career, and that he agreed to alter the content of some Al Jazeera news reports at their request. [...]" 

MSM: "TSA Official Charged In Fatal Stabbing Of Other TSA Worker" [09/23/11]   "One of the top federal Transportation Security Administration officials in the state of Mississippi has been arrested in connection with the killing of TSA worker Stacey Wright. On Sunday, D’Iberville police found Wright, 43, stabbed to death in her apartment there. Authorities said Ruben Orlando Benitez, 45, who serves as assistant federal security director for screening for the TSA in Mississippi, has been arrested. Bond has been set for $3 million by Justice Court Judge Albert Fountain. [...]"   Note: See "Social Control and Theatrical Fabrications" link at the top of this panel for related stories.

MSM: "Noonan: Perry Looked Like 'Cheap Buffoon' Giving Israel Speech" [09/23/11] "Former Ronald Reagan speechwriter and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan had only harsh words to share about Texas Gov. Rick Perry's speech on Israel Tuesday, saying he looked like a "cheap, base-playing buffoon." Noonan criticized the GOP presidential front-runner for undermining President Barack Obama when the United States was in a particularly tough spot at the United Nations, saying Perry shallowly tried to exploit the Palestinian statehood threat for personal political gain. Perry accused the Obama administration of "appeasement," a loaded word in international diplomacy, and of being "arrogant, misguided and dangerous." [...]"  Note: See "Election 2012" link at the top of this panel for related stories.

Commentary: "The BBC, The Science Of Psychopathy And The New World Order" Ron Logan [09/21/11] "I have been following the scientific research on psychopathy by Canada's Professor Robert Hare for some years given his seminal work on demonstrating that the common notions of psychopathy are grossly over-simplistic and one-dimensional. In their purest form Psychopaths literally are, as the title of one of Professor Hare's books suggests, "without conscience" but are not all like some Hannibal Lecter stereotype or likely to end up in prison or secure mental institution. Psychopaths are an aberrant minority or human sub-group that can be highly intelligent and able to assess and mimic normal human emotions and empathy so as to disguise their true nature from society, colleagues and even spouses. Intelligent psychopaths can in fact teach themselves to intellectually understand normal cooperative emotional human beings in considerable detail without sharing or feeling normal human emotions and sympathy - which are viewed by psychopaths as weaknesses and not the long-term communal human survival traits/strategies that they actually are. Professor Hare pointed out that psychopaths thrive in the fields of big-business and politics and can create mayhem therein. Intelligent psychopaths can be very charming and charismatic and find their way into various positions of leadership because of such outward characteristics that are combined with single-minded and determined ruthlessness. Unfortunately, such charisma and decisiveness has beguiling broad appeal to non-psychopaths who do not have the either the time or inclination to undertake or audit various leadership responsibilities themselves. Psychopaths seek to be in positions of power, crave malign thrills and enjoy manipulating others and derive a sense of superiority from such pursuits. Professor Hare coined the term "snakes in suits" to describe such individuals amongst the professional classes who are a major threat to wider humanity. Moreover, as Professor Hare postulated, there is increasing evidence of both a genetic predisposition and learned-behaviour component to psychopathy which is why it is often manifest within family dynasties and fostered by certain political, institutional and social regimes/environments. Researchers into criminal International Banking and Neo-Malthusian Eugenics will have little doubt that such psychopathy is a major factor within malign architects of of our rapidly assembling global 'New World Order'. Al Gore, whose pseudo-scientific claims on anthropogenic global warming were dismissed by the UK High Court, and Tony Blair, whose misrepresentations on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction led to war, have both for example been cited as exhibiting unrepentant psychopathic white-collar traits. [...]"  Related: Documentary: "Horizon (UK) - Are You Good Or Bad - What Makes A Psychopath" [09/15/11] [15:00]  Part 2 [15:00]| Part 3 [15:00]| Part 4 [13:48]| See also: Commentary: "20 Signs That You Are A Psychopath" [07/30/11] below  || "Bad To The Bone - Some Children Are Just Born Evil" "Are some children just born evil? Michelle Griffin reports. A mother sits in a playroom with her young son. The phone rings. When she picks it up, a researcher watching through a two-way mirror asks her to look into her son's eyes and ''show him, in the way that feels most natural for you, that you love him''. The mother is doing her best to connect, but this little boy won't return her gaze. He looks at her mouth, where the words are coming from, but it's as if he can't understand what she means. Mark Dadds says some children literally cannot see the love in their mother's eyes. Professor Dadds, a parenting expert from the University of New South Wales, has just published results of his work in the British Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology that suggest the ability to make eye contact is vital in learning how to love other people. For the past five years, he has been working with children referred to his Sydney clinic for sustained rages, continual aggression, calculated violence and, occasionally, cruelty to animals. [...]" Note: Budding psychopaths.

Explorations: "How Sen. Feinstein Helped Her Husband And China Dominate Rare Earth Metals" [09/21/11]  PDF "She pushed a new law that shutdown a California mine that was the biggest competition to China's industry - Her husband was representing the Chinese industry. [...]"  Related: "China Consolidates Grip on Rare Earths"   "By closing or nationalizing dozens of the producers of rare earth metals — which are used in energy-efficient bulbs and many other green-energy products — China is temporarily shutting down most of the industry and crimping the global supply of the vital resources. China produces nearly 95 percent of the world’s rare earth materials, and it is taking the steps to improve pollution controls in a notoriously toxic mining and processing industry. But the moves also have potential international trade implications and have started yet another round of price increases for rare earths [...]"  

Commentary:  "The Colossal Deceit Known As The Underwear Bomber Case" [09/20/11] "With jury selection set to begin in the Underwear Bomber Trial set to begin tomorrow, I've spent the evening reminiscing about Christmas Day 2009 and the 21 months since. The Underwear Bomber attack has fundamentally changed my life. Not in the way most would think, but it has destroyed any faith I've had in the U.S. Government, the media and this country as a whole. To say that I believe the government is corrupt and the media is complicit doesn't fully explain my beliefs. Not only have I come to those conclusions, but I've witnessed that an ordinary person who sees something important can be silenced despite his efforts to spread the truth. Such is the Underwear Bomber case. I can do nothing but laugh at the TSA's new policy of "If you see something say something." That is exactly what I did, and not only did the U.S. Government not want to hear what I had to say, but it actively lied about it, attempted to get me to change my story, and hid, by withholding (secret government) evidence or putting a protective order on the evidence and nearly everything that would support my eyewitness account. [...]" 

Commentary: "Why America Needs to Dismantle Its Security Apparatus: Real Security begins with Creating a Policy of Peace" [09/20/11] "... In today’s America, the search for absolute security has assumed hysterical proportions, with DHS officials everywhere checking up on everybody, “probable cause” be damned, at airports and bus terminals and train stations. It has made every citizen the object of Federal suspicion and denied to 100,000 the right to board an airplane. Communist Russia’s Nikolai Lenin would have cheered this invasion of individual privacy, as he once said, “It is true that liberty is precious—so precious that it must be rationed.” Under Communism, the rights of the individual were ever subordinated to the State, and that is increasingly true of America today. In today’s America, the Pentagon, which consumes 54 cents of every tax dollar, reigns supreme, making a mockery of President Truman’s words, “If there is one basic element in our Constitution, it is civilian control of the military.” Truman’s staff feared that concentrating all military offices under one roof might create an ogre and that nightmare has become reality. As James Carroll remarks in his “House of War”(Houghton Mifflin): “Secretary of War Henry Stimson, saw the new danger at once and warned of it, to no avail. After Stimson, dozens of others would sound alarms as the Pentagon usurped controls over the levers of the American economy and culture, over science, academia, and politics.” Or as the poet Robert Browning wrote, “A man in armor is his armor’s slave.”  Truman remains the tragic example of how the quest for military supremacy actually undermines a nation’s security, rather than strengthens it. By creating at Hiroshima an horrific precedent to use atomic warfare (to cut the Pacific war short by a few months) he triggered a nuclear arms race spanning more than a half century that has spread around the world so that all humanity now lives in the shadow of the nuclear terror. “We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount,” reflected America’s prescient World War Two General Omar Bradley. Truman’s decision to A-bomb Hiroshima haunts Americans who fear the nuclear weapon may now be used against their own cities. This is the same fear that haunts the populations of Pakistan and India and other peoples who see local disputes escalating into nuclear infernos. And the senseless manufacture of these weapons by the tens of thousands, weapons that are rotting uselessly in U.S. arsenals around the world, weapons whose very testing has poisoned the atmosphere, has cost American taxpayers many trillions of dollars that could have been far better spent in energizing the civilian economy. In the last analysis, America’s Soviet Cold War enemy was brought down not by the Pentagon but by a visionary Pope and a humble Polish labor leader. [...]"   Note: The nature of the United States, and how it operates, can be seen in the astrological chart. It's a Cancer country ... do as we say, not as we do. Nothing would have ever changed that.

Commentary: "Libya War Is CIA Op 30 Years In The Making" [09/18/11] "Alternative media activist David Icke, who has been warning about the false nature of the "Arab Spring" since it began over six months ago, has pointed out an astounding "flashback" regarding an August 3, 1981 Newsweek article titled, "A Plan to Overthrow Kaddafi." ‘The details of the plan were sketchy, but it seemed to be a classic CIA destabilization campaign. One element was a “disinformation” program designed to embarrass Kaddafi and his government. Another was the creation of a “counter government” to challenge his claim to national leadership. A third — potentially the most risky — was an escalating paramilitary campaign, probably by disaffected Libyan nationals, to blow up bridges, conduct small-scale guerrilla operations and demonstrate that Kaddafi was opposed by an indigenous political force."  Quite obviously this plan has been executed verbatim with the necessary addition of a NATO intervention to rescue the above stated "paramilitary" campaign from Libyan security forces - a contigency plan explicitly spelled out in another Wall Street-London subsidized, signed confession, Brookings Institution's "Which Path to Persia?"  [...]"  

Commentary: "Turkey Declares Rules Of Engagement With Israel: Warships 12 Miles Outside Israeli Territorial Waters Are To Be Engaged" [09/18/11] "In the ongoing dispute between Turkey which is a NATO country and Israel today, Turkey has declared it's official rules of engagement against Israel. According to this report from DebkaFile (Mossad): "As Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was set to start a visit to Egypt, Turkish naval sources reported: “If Turkish warships encounter an Israeli military ship outside Israel’s 12-mile territorial waters, they will advance up to 100 meters from the ship and disable its weapon system.”The threat bluntly applied to Israel’s naval enforcement of its UN-approved blockade of the Gaza Strip." This is clearly a direct challenge by Turkey to Israel over it's ongoing blockade of Gaza and according to earlier statements by Turkey in direct relation to the attack on the Gaza bound aid ship earlier this year. As Egypt and Israel have attempted to cool the crisis in relations sparked by last Friday's mob attack on the Israeli embassy, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan threatened Israel during his speech during his Monday visit, Sept. 12 - to Tahrir Square in an attempt to gain the popularity of the Arab street. Jerusalem and Washington are concerned that it will have the effect of stirring up anti-Israel riots in Egypt and Jordan, as well as encouraging the Palestinian organization Jihad Islami in Sinai to proceed with its threatened cross-border attack. On Sunday, Sept. 11, the military rulers of Egypt instructed the local media to tone down their coverage of the attack on the Israeli embassy Friday night. They announced that 130 rioters would be put on trial. Israel also made every effort to play the episode down by focusing attention on the "courageous stand" taken by the six security guards "only a door away from death" in order to distract attention from the absence of an Israeli ambassador in Cairo after thirty years of normal relations. According to the AP, Erdogan said Israel's raid on a Turkish flotilla last year was "cause for war," yet Turkey showed "patience" and did not take further action. The issue of the flotilla resurfaced after the United Nations issued a report that ruled the raid was legal, but that Israel used "excessive" force and so they should apologize. Israel has refused to apologize and Turkey still maintains the raid in international waters was illegal. NPR's Michele Kelemen explained the strained relations in a piece earlier this month. [...]"  

Lecture: "Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism" [09/17/11]   [14:54] Part 2 [14:32]| Part 3 [15:07]| Part 4 [15:08] "This is part one of a lecture titled Dying to Win delivered by Dr. Robert Pape (read more below) at Duke University on March 23, 2011. He is director of the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism,  [...]"  Note: All suicide terrorism around the world since 2000, some 1,800 cases, ONLY occur in areas that the US occupies around the world, such as Iraq, Pakistan, etc. This lecture underscores the phenomenon of 'blowback' ... repercussions for US hegemony and attempts to control other people.

Interview: "A Comprehensive Interview With Recep Tayyip Erdogan: "Turkey Will Face Up To Israeli Arrogance" [09/17/11] "When Recep Tayyip Erdogan talks everyone listens carefully, especially now that Turkey's Prime Minister has become the most outspoken, most credible and most respected amongst leaders in the Middle East and his government is a key regional player. He has a say in all important political issues to the extent that some Israeli papers have described him as the Gamal Abdul- Nasser of today. In this interview conducted with Erdogan in Ankara before he left for a tour of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, he talked about the issues and the changes in the Arab world. (1) On the day I arrived in Ankara, Israel's Maariv newspaper published an article headed "Age of weakness" by Nadav Eyal, in which he wrote about the "the political hurricane" facing the Zionist state. He said that the government in Ankara was challenging Israel, announcing to the world the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the downgrading of economic relations. Eyal said that Turkey is open about the possibility of a confrontation between the two countries over Israel's gas exploration in the Mediterranean, and does not hesitate to threaten Cyprus, a member of the European Union. When Israel is facing this sort of crisis in its relations with a senior member of NATO and a regional superpower, there have to be strategic changes highlighting Israeli weakness and erosion of status. [...]" Related: Commentary: "Turkey takes over the Arab Spring By Pepe Escobar" "With the whole Arab world glued to his every word, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan used his Arab Spring tour to articulate what the whole world, except Washington and Tel Aviv, knows in its collective heart over the recognition of a Palestinian state. Erdogan's tour is a realpolitik master class and leaves Israel up against a wall it hasn't faced since the 1978 Camp David accords." [...]"  

Trends: "Americas Infrastructure Is Crumbling" [09/15/11]   [2:49] "America is literally falling apart. From natural disasters, to massive power blackouts, to bridge collapses, U.S. infrastructure has shown that it is not up to standards. American investment in infrastructure is not keeping up with the rest of the world and could prove to be an economy killer. [...]"  

Commentary: "Lloyds Syndicate Sues Saudi Government for 9/11 Compensation" [09/15/11] "On Sept. 8, Lloyds Syndicate 3500, a Lloyds of London insurance portfolio, filed suit in the Federal District Court for Western Pennsylvania in Johnstown against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a number of Saudi government-run charities and two major Saudi banks, demanding at least $215 million in compensation for insurance payments the syndicate made to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. [...]"  Note: The real truth is their only real defense, since a parallel set of remotely controlled aircraft (that didn't even look like passenger aircraft) flew into the WTC towers previously wired to implode ...not aircraft with any Saudi hijackers ... WTC7, which held CIA offices, all the governments documents on Enron, and more, was also imploded.

Commentary: "A Microcosm of America’s Decline: Killer Pentagon Program Runs Amok" [09/14/11] "... The reality, of course, is that US political and military leaders did not prepare their soldiers, contractors or the American people for these long wars on terror or the cultures in which the wars would be conducted. As Zibigniew Brezezinski correctly pointed out, the American people and their leaders are stunningly ignorant of the world around them. The US Army Human Terrain System program has only made matters worse. [...] The US Army Human Terrain System (HTS) program directorate led by Dr. Steve Fondacaro (program manager), Dr. Montgomery McFate (senior social scientist and “creator”)–with oversight of Maxie McFarland of TRADOC G-2–used their deaths to advance HTS program growth/funding, and browbeat “liberal” academia for not embracing the new non-kinetic counterinsurgency program cobbled together with bits and pieces of doctrine dating back to Sun Tzu. They were supported in this effort by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (who just signed lucrative book deals with Knopf Doubleday) and former US Army General David Petraeus, now CIA director. [...] Witness today’s US civilian and military leaders. To them, American lives simply do not matter whether they are destroyed in battle in Iraq or Afghanistan, fired or laid off by states that are forced to cut budgets, jettisoned by businesses crushed by foreign competition, privatized in the mythical quest to save money, or cast-off as technology reduces the need for human labor. What becomes of those Americans? When pensions, Social Security and Medicaid are cut, what becomes of those no longer considered productive, or in assisted living? Can Logan’s Run be far behind for all Americans? HTS mirrors the erosion of American society and governance. The covenant between the leaders and the led has vanished. People really are fungible, as Donald Rumsfeld once said. The country is ideologically polarized, the two party system is one body with two heads, elections and voting are theater. The nation’s wealth is in the pockets of the rich as never before. According to the CIA, “Long-term problems include inadequate investment in deteriorating infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of wages in lower-income families…Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households.” War rages on and the civil-military divide has increased. “The war in March-April 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq, and the subsequent occupation of Iraq, required major shifts in national resources to the military,” says the CIA. Some argue that the USA is becoming a national security state. [...] 911 was remembered and celebrated with great fanfare this year. Many used the occasion to promote increases in military spending, global SWAT kill-capture operations and more domestic surveillance. Forgotten in the national frenzy over 911 are two events that reflect far more deeply the dysfunction and danger in state of the union: The non-response as Hurricane Katrina pummeled New Orleans—and the subsequent fall out–and the demise of Detroit, Michigan (lost 25 percent of its population). [...]" 

MSM: "TSA Officers Arrested On Drug Charges In Connecticut" [09/14/11] "Three federal Transportation Security Administration officers and two other law enforcement officers were arrested on charges of accepting cash or gift cards in exchange for permitting prescription drug dealers to move tens of thousands of highly addictive painkiller pills and cash proceeds from the illegal sales through airports and highways. The TSA officers, based at airports in Florida and New York, and a Westchester County, N.Y., police officer allowed the oxycodone through airport security, authorities said Tuesday. A Florida state trooper accepted cash and checks for ensuring dealers could freely transport the pills and cash proceeds by car through that state, prosecutors said.  [...]"   Note: See "Social Control and Theatrical Fabrications" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories

Corbett Report: "Everything 9/11 Conspiracy In 5 Minutes" [09/14/11] [4:56] Note: Very good encapsulation of the US myth about 9/11. 

Interview: "9/11 John O'Neill 2001 Interview " [09/13/11] [3:48] "Special Agent John O'Neill was Deputy Director of the FBI under Louis Freeh from 1997 to 1999. His specialty: Tracking al-Qaeda. In the months prior to 9/11 he sent evidence of the impending attacks (the parallel operation of patsies), along with important information about the suspects who were planning on carrying it out, up through the chain of command and was met with nothing but resistance and attempts to ruin his credibility. Frustrated with this, O'Neill had gone public, stating that he was ordered not to investigate Saudi/al-Qaeda connections because of the Enron pipeline deal. [Enron prosecution documents were kept in WTC 7, which was demolished after 9/11/01] O'Neill then left the FBI and began working as head of security at the World Trade Center, which reportedly offered him double [some reports say triple] his current FBI salary. His first day was September 11th, 2001. He was the man taking over for the complex's then security-head, Marvin Bush [the President's brother] whose company, Securacom [a.k.a. Stratesec], happened to be in charge of security for United Airlines, as well as the security detail at Dulles International Airport, from which American Airlines Flight 77 that allegedly hit the Pentagon had originated that morning. O'Neill was on the 34th floor of the North Tower when the first plane hit. He had evacuated the building and was last seen alive by fellow FBI agent Wesley Wong outside the South Tower about 15 minutes before it collapsed. His uncharred body would be found weeks later under a stairwell of that same building. John O'Neill --the Man who Knew--was dead at age 49. [...]"  Note: See "9/11" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories and updates on the continual unfolding of this dynamic.

MSM: "Court Pleadings Point to CIA Role in Alleged “Cartel” Immunity Deal" [09/13/11] "The fingerprints of the CIA have surfaced in a controversial federal criminal case pending in Chicago against Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla, an alleged kingpin in the Sinaloa “drug cartel.” US government prosecutors filed pleadings in the case late last week seeking to invoke the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), a measure designed to assure national security information does not surface in public court proceedings. “The government hereby requests that the Court conduct a pretrial conference … pursuant to CIPA … at which time, the government will be prepared to report to the Court and defendant [Zambada Niebla] regarding the approximate size of the universe of classified material that may possibly be implicated in the discovery and trial of this case,” states a motion filed on Friday, Sept. 9, by US prosecutors in the Zambada Niebla case. CIPA, enacted some 30 years ago, is designed to keep a lid on the public disclosure in criminal cases of classified materials, such as those associated with CIA operations. The rule requires that notice be given to the judge in advance of any move to introduce classified evidence in a case so that the judge can determine if it is admissible, or if another suitable substitution can be arranged that preserves the defendants right to a fair trial. “That is a very reasonable conclusion [that the CIA is likely involved in this case in some way],” says a former federal agent familiar with national security procedures. “Seeking CIPA protection, yup, there is hot stuff to hide.”  Zambada Niebla, extradited to the US in February 2010 and now facing narco- trafficking charges in federal court in Chicago, claims in pleadings in his case that the US government entered into a pact with the leadership of the Mexican Sinaloa narco- trafficking organization that supposedly provide its chief narcos with immunity in exchange for them providing US authorities with information that could be used to target other narco- trafficking organizations [...]"  Note: Interestingly, there also is a Guantanamo Bay connection in the Zambada Niebla case that might lead to some classified information surfacing in his case. Zambada Niebla, as the US government-described “logistics coordinator” for the Sinaloa organization, is linked to alleged Sinaloa organization money-launderer Pedro Alfonso Alatorre Damy via a Gulfstream II jet (tail number N987SA) that crashed in Mexico in late 2007 with some four tons of cocaine onboard. That aircraft was allegedly purchased with Sinaloa organization drug money laundered through Alatorre Damy’s casa de cambio business and a U.S. bank. And that same aircraft was reportedly suspected of being used previously as part of the CIA’s “terrorist” rendition program and allegedly made a number of trips to Guantanamo Bay between 2003 and 2005, according to media reports and an investigation spearheaded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In addition, the Gulfstream II was purchased less than two weeks before it crashed in Mexico by a duo that included a U.S. government operative who allegedly had done past contract work for a variety of US law enforcement and intelligence agencies, according to a known CIA asset (Baruch Vega) who is identified as such in public court records. The four tons of cocaine onboard of the Gulfstream II at the time of its crash landing, according Vega, was purchased in Colombia via a syndicate that included a Colombian narco-trafficker named Nelson Urrego, who, according to Panamanian press reports and Vega, is a U.S. government (CIA) asset.

MSM: "British PM Cameron Has Refused Russia's Call To Re-Establish Links Between The Two Countries' Intelligence Agencies" [09/12/11] "Speaking at a press conference together with President Dmitry Medvedev in his one-day visit to Moscow, Cameron flatly rejected Medvedev's call to “reconstitute the contacts not only between the law enforcement agencies but between the special services." Cameron insisted there would be no pause in Britain's demands for the extradition of the man who killed former agent of Russia's KGB in London. However, he said the two countries could recover their business and political binds even though the clash over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London has not yet resolved. "We haven't changed the arrangements between our security services, which were frozen after the Litvinenko issue. That is not being discussed as something that is going to change. "But I think that we can talk about how we co-operate in terms of combating criminality, and how our police services, our serious and organised crime (agencies) work together in the future."  [...]" 

Commentary: "Orwellian September 11 Commemoration Heralds New Wars" [09/12/11] "The tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks has given rise to a profusion of articles, documentaries and television programs that certify the Bush administration’s version of the events, while world opinion has become largely skeptical. For Thierry Meyssan, who sparked the global debate on the interpretation of the attacks, the overwhelming media campaign is the imperial system’s last attempt to preserve its apparent legitimacy and justify its future wars. [...] It is strange to observe how the Western press is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks: while the topic could be approached from a variety of different angles, a uniform mode set in or was imposed. Media were vying to obtain live interviews on the subject: "What were you doing on that day at that time?." This approach reflects the collective refusal to put things in perspective, to analyze the event and its consequences, focusing exclusively on the immediate emotional reactions; in short, to put on a big show instead of doing journalism. The commemoration was punctuated with Orwellian injunctions: "How dare you question the official version considering the suffering of the victims’ families?", or "Those who question the official version are negationists and the enemies of democracy!." And yet, respect for victims - not just those who died on that day in the United States, but also those who were killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere - requires precisely that we seek the truth instead of settling for outrageous lies. And how can democracy thrive if we fail to question official "truths" or, worse, if we substitute rational debate with verbal abuse?" [...]"  

Commentary: "Who Runs the World ? – Network Analysis Reveals ‘Super Entity’ of Global Corporate Control" [09/12/11] "In the first such analysis ever conducted, Swiss economic researchers have conducted a global network analysis of the most powerful transnational corporations (TNCs). Their results have revealed a core of 787 firms with control of 80% of this network, and a “super entity” comprised of 147 corporations that have a controlling interest in 40% of the network’s TNCs. When we hear conspiracy theorist talk about this or that powerful group (or alliance of said groups) “pulling strings” behind the scenes, we tend to dismiss or minimize such claims, even though, deep down, we may suspect that there’s some degree of truth to it, however distorted by the theorists’ slightly paranoid perception of the world. But perhaps our tendency to dismiss such claims as exaggerations (at best) comes from our inability to get even a slight grip on the complexity of global corporate ownership; it’s all too vast and complicated to get any clear sense of the reality. But now we have the results of a global network analysis (Vitali, Glattfelder, Battiston) that, for the first time, lays bare the “architecture” of the global ownership network. In the paper abstract, the authors state: “We present the first investigation of the architecture of the international ownership network, along with the computation of the control held by each global player. We find that transnational corporations form a giant bow-tie structure* and that a large portion of control flows to a small tightly-knit core of financial institutions. This core can be seen as an economic “super-entity” that raises new important issues both for researchers and policy makers.”  [...]"  

Online Book: "9/11 Synthetic Terror - Made In The USA" By Webster Tarpley, PhD, 2nd Edition, 2004  "Alternate Source - Scribd" [09/11/11]   "Bush's fraudulent "war on terrorism" is of course a war of civilizations directed against the 1 billion Arab and Moslem people in the world; it is more hypocritical than Hitlerism because it assiduously denies its own real content. In reality, the "war on terrorism" is a racist war against Arabs and Moslems today, with China and perhaps Russia as candidates for all-out attack at some later time. From time to time the real essence explodes to the surface, as in Bush's call for a crusade, or in General Boykin's comments on satanic Islam. Neocon radio talk show hosts like Michael Savage are more explicit every day, and it is they who service the belief structure of Bush's hard-core followers."  [...]"  Note: The 4th edition of Webster Tarpley's book is available on Amazon. The 5th edition has just been released as of September 2011 ($19.95) . If you already have the 4th edition or can't wait for the 5th edition, an 85-page booklet containing the new material from the 5th edition -- the drills chapter and the new preface -- is available from Lulu.com. Webster Griffin Tarpley was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1946. In 1966 he graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Turin, Italy. He later taught English at Cornell University and the University of Milan, Italy. From 1974 to 1984, he was a correspondent in central Europe, during which time he co-authored Chi ha ucciso Aldo Moro (Who Killed Aldo Moro, 1978) a study of international terrorism. In 1979-80, he appeared as commentator for Teleradiosole, a television station in Rome. From 1984 to 1996, he was a correspondent in Washington DC. Related: Lecture: "The Invisible Government & 9/11 Synthetic Terror" Webster Tarpley, PhD [66:19] "Author Webster Tarpley's June 24, 2006 profusely illustrated lecture on the history of the invisible government, its hidden hand in false flag and synthetic terror plots worldwide and who really controls it, was widely accepted as one of the most in-depth and engrossing presentations of the American Scholars Symposium conference. [...]" | Webster Tarpley on Rense:  "Suppressed But Crucial 9/11 Evidence: “Angel Is Next,” The Invisible Government’s Ultimatum to Bush to Launch the War of Civilizations" [09/10/11] Plus, "US State Department Giving Aid To Sadistic 'Al Qaeda' Butchers In Libya" Related: "The 46 Exercises and Drills of 9/11"   From the Fifth Edition of 9/11 Synthetic Terror. Note: See "9/11" big news link at the top of this panel for related stories and updates, including the fantastic Sabrosky interview.

Flashback: "The Next Decade" Webster Tarpley [12/12/10] Link Restored [61:45] "In this exclusive interview from December 2010, author Webster Tarpley goes into detail on a whole host of historical, financial and geopolitical issues in a bid to outline the major crises, revolutions and wars that will hit the globe over the next decade and shape the future of our world. Tarpley begins by discussing how the Neo-Malthusian ecological extremists in the Obama regime have a shared hatred for science, technology and industry and how they really are contemplating and initiating genocidal measures to thin the human surplus because of their deep-seated ideological impulse, shared by oligarchies throughout the ages, which is to suppress the progress and development of any societal underclass. Tarpley explains how throughout history elites have always claimed that the planet was overpopulated in a bid to justify their wars and brutality, and that this is no different today, with people like Prince Philip expressing their desire to come back as a virus in order to kill masses of humans. Moving on to how these elitists use the financial system to further their aims, Tarpley explains how the move towards a global currency and worldwide financial regulations is being advanced by the IMF, but how nations are now rejecting this "Washington Consensus," and instead adopting the "Beijing Consensus," which allows them to retain control over their own national sovereignty. Tarpley says that the dollar as the world reserve currency is toast and that it is set to be replaced by a synthetic imperialist global currency called the Bancor. Tarpley warns that the IMF dictatorship is now in the final stages of asset stripping the United States. Tarpley goes on to discuss how the Obama administration and its geopolitical guru Zbigniew Brzezinski are keen to manipulate a war between Iran and Russia or Iran and China, by engineering fake color revolutions which will then install parties hostile to the two Communist states. [...]"  Note: Webster Tarpley's commentary at the end of 2010 about 2011.

Commentary:  "Norm Finkelstein And Huwaida Arraf  Dissect Bogus UN Report Whitewashing Murderous Zionist Operation Against Gaza Flotilla" [09/10/11]   [12:47]   Part 2 [8:48] "Turkey has downgraded diplomatic ties with Israel and frozen military co-operation ahead of a long-awaited United Nations report on Israel's deadly attack on a Gaza-bound aid ship in 2010. The report accuses Israel of "excessive and unreasonable" force in its attack on the ship, Mavi Marmara — which killed nine people — and says Israel should issue a statement of regret and compensate the families of the dead as well as wounded passengers. But it also chides passengers aboard the Marmara and the other flotilla ships for what it calls a "reckless" attempt to breach Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. In a major development with broader implications, the U.N. report concludes that the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip is legal under international law. [...]"  

 Interview: "David Galland: The System Is Coming Unglued" [09/09/11] [13:13] "David: Well, all the elements for fascism are in place. We have a monetary system that is accountable to no one and that’s a very good start. If you think about it, the way that the monetary system is structured, the government at this point can literally spend money on anything. They talk about capping the federal deficits and all that, but they’ll get past that in no time at all. Probably by the time the viewers are watching this they will have announced a big deal, you know, that they have raised the debt cap. And you know, once you have – if you pin your money to nothing, if you have a monetary system that is based on nothing, then you can afford anything. You can afford all the wars you want, you can afford all the bureaucracy you want; and so they have. That’s a first step. [...]"  Note: Philosopher Stefan Molyneux has a conversation with Casey Research's Managing Director, David Galland about the state of the United States.

Commentary: "Wikileaks Exposes UN Eritrean Sanction Lies" Thomas C. Mountain [09/08/11] "The recently released and long awaited Wikileaks files on Ethiopia expose the lies used to justify UN 'Security' Council Sanctions in force against the little Horn of African country, Eritrea. It has been over four years since the USA and its vassals at the UN began bellowing charges that Eritrea was supporting “Al Qaeda linked Al Shabab” fighters in Somalia. At the same time, the US Ambassador to Ethiopia was saying, stamped “Top Secret”, that “The role Eritrea plays in Somalia, for instance is probably insignificant” (Wikileaks file “Ogaden; Counterinsurgency Operations Hitting a Wall, Part 2. sect. 7). For the UN Security Council to pass punitive sanctions against any country, especially such a small, underdeveloped country as Eritrea, one would think that some small modicum of truth would be presented in supporting evidence. Now, thanks to Wikileaks, the so called “evidence” claiming to document a link between Eritrea and terrorism in Somalia all turns out to be bunkum, at least according to the secret testimony of the US Ambassador to Ethiopia. From the voluminous charges made by the UN Eritrea Somalia Monitoring Group, to the US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, and including just about every western funded “think tank” ranging from the International Crisis Group to Chatham House, it was all bunkum. Or so says the empire’s senior man on the ground in the Horn of Africa, Ambassador to Ethiopia Donald Yamamoto. And that almost a year after all the bellowing began. Ethiopia has provided most of the muscle for what passes for US foreign policy in East Africa. As Columbia does for the USA in South America, as Israel does in the middle east, and Nigeria in West Africa, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his army and paramilitary death squads do the dirty work in East Africa so the USA and its western allies can hold up their hands and proclaim them clean for all the world to see. [...]"  

MSM: "Court Documents Say U.S. Knew About Cocaine" [09/08/11] "U.S. officials let the Sinaloa drug cartel smuggle tons of cocaine into the United States in exchange for intelligence about rival cartels, court documents say. The claim was made by attorneys in defense of Mexico's Vicente Zambada-Niebla, who was extradited to the United States to face drug-trafficking charges in Chicago, the El Paso (Texas) Times reported. If the claim is true, it could prove to be as damaging to federal investigators as the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm's "Operation Fast and Furious," that let U.S. weapons get into Mexico, the report said. Documents filed in U.S. federal court said the Sinaloa cartel was allowed to bring tons of cocaine into the United States in exchange for information about rival cartels, The Houston Chronicle reported. The documents also said Zambada-Niebla worked as an informant for the U.S. government while he was a known fugitive. Zambada-Niebla's legal team wants a U.S. judge to drop charges against their client because his alleged agreement with the government reportedly promised him immunity from prosecution. Federal prosecutors and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency declined to comment on the case. Zambada's lawyers said as recently as 2008 his client and a top cartel lawyer allegedly met at a Mexico City hotel with two DEA agents, where he was reportedly promised immunity. In "Fast and Furious," the ATF botched a sting to catch weapons traffickers by allowing a load of illegally purchased guns slip into Mexico. The shipment was lost and some of the guns turned up at crime scenes, including one where a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed. [...]"  

MSM: "War On Terror Profiteering Linked To The Downturn In The Economy?" [09/08/11] [15:10] Note: The booming "intelligence" industry since 2001.

MSM: "Ron Paul Highlights in 9/7/2011 Presidential Debate" [09/08/11] [13:20] See "Election 2012" above for related stories in this dynamic.

Explorations: "Corporate Brands Making a Killing on America’s Wars" [09/07/11] "Chances are, if you’ve ever sent a package overnight, bought a PC or a can of soda, you’ve paid your hard-earned money to a major Pentagon contractor. While large defense corporations that make fighter jets and armored vehicles garner the most attention, tens of thousands of “civilian” companies, from multi-national corporations hawking toothpaste and shampoo to big oil behemoths and even local restaurants scattered across the United States, all supply the Pentagon with the necessities used to carry on day-to-day operations and wage America’s wars. And they’ve made a killing doing it since 9/11. [...]" Related: Book: "The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives " "Now in paperback, a stunning breakdown of the modern military-industrial complex—an omnipresent, hidden-in-plain-sight system of systems that penetrates all our lives. From iPods to Starbucks to Oakley sunglasses, historian Nick Turse explores the Pentagon’s little-noticed contacts (and contracts) with the products and companies that now form the fabric of America. He investigates the remarkable range of military incursions into the civilian world: the Pentagon’s collaborations with Hollywood filmmakers; its outlandish schemes to weaponize the wild kingdom; its joint ventures with Marvel Comics and NASCAR. Similarly disturbing is the way in which the military, desperate for fresh recruits, has tapped into the "culture of cool" by making "friends" on MySpace. A striking vision of this brave new world of remote-controlled rats and super-soldiers who need no sleep, The Complex will change our understanding of the militarization of America. We are a long way from Eisenhower’s military-industrial complex: this is the essential book for understanding its twenty-first-century progeny. [...]" 

Exposé:  "Inside the Koch Brothers' Secret Seminar" [09/07/11] "We have Saddam Hussein," declared billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, apparently referring to President Barack Obama as he welcomed hundreds of wealthy guests to the latest of the secret fundraising and strategy seminars he and his brother host twice a year. The 2012 elections, he warned, will be "the mother of all wars." Charles Koch would probably not publicly compare the president of the United States to a murderous dictator. (As a general rule, he and his brother don't do much politicking or speechifying in public at all.) But Mother Jones has obtained exclusive audio recordings from the Koch seminar, a private event that took place in June at a resort near Vail, Colorado. [...]" Related: "List Of Million-Dollar Koch Group Donors Leaks" "The Koch brothers -- the super-wealthy longtime funders of Republican politicians and libertarian think tanks and big industry front groups and much of the rest of the regulation-gutting anti-labor economic arm of the conservative movement for the last couple of decades -- have a big retreat twice a year where they and their fellow wealthy donors to the cause coordinate their campaign strategy and congratulate themselves for loving Liberty so much. It is, obviously, all top-secret, and no one is supposed to know who attends or what they are doing. Except someone taped the conference this year and sent the tape to Mother Jones, so now we have a list of secret million-dollar donors to Koch-backed groups. [...]"  

Interview: "Paul Craig Roberts on the 9/11 10th Anniversary" [09/06/11] [60:00] "James Corbett (GRTV) talks to Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary Treasury, former editor of the Wall Street Journal, author and researcher, about the significance of 9/11 on the brink of the tenth anniversary of those events. We discuss the many points at which the official explanation of 9/11 do not mesh with the available evidence, the many experts who have raised their voices in dissent (and been silenced), and what our response to 9/11 teaches us about where we are heading as a society. [...]"  

MSM: "Iran Offers Full Supervision Of Nuclear Program In Return For Lifting Sanctions" [09/06/11] " Iran's nuclear chief on Monday proposed to allow the U.N. nuclear watchdog "full supervision" of its nuclear activities for five years provided that sanctions against Tehran are lifted, but the official did not give details of his offer. The United Nations has imposed four rounds of Security Council sanctions over Tehran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel or materials for an atomic bomb. Iran's nuclear program is already subject to routine IAEA inspections. IAEA cameras monitor Iran's nuclear activities. including its contentious uranium enrichment sites. Vice President Fereidoun Abbasi told the semiofficial ISNA news agency, "We proposed that the agency keep Iran's nuclear program and activities under full supervision for five years provided that sanctions against Iran are lifted." [...]"  

Commentary: "Ten Years Later: Surveillance in the "Homeland"" [09/06/11] "Ten years after the devastating attacks on New York and Washington, the fundamental promises of American democracy are hanging by a thin thread. Promoted by a culture of war and fear, the US government has steadily chipped away at those legal protections that enabled 'we the people' to rule ourselves. "Ten Years Later: Surveillance in the Homeland" charts the course of this shift, exposing the rapid advent of a technologically advanced surveillance state in the shadows of the Twin Towers. [...]"  

Commentary: "Lawlessness And Injustice Define America And Israel" [09/06/11] "Rogue state lawlessness and contempt for humanity define both nations. At home, America is plagued by police state laws, contempt for human and civil rights, out-of-control corruption, banker occupation, corporate control of Washington, record budget and national debt levels, as well as depression-sized unemployment, poverty, homelessness, hunger and despair. It's no better in Israel, a nation believing only Jews have rights, and increasingly less of them under neo-liberalized harshness, favoring the few at the expense of most others. [...]"  

MSM: "Leak Offers Look at Efforts by U.S. to Spy on Israel" [09/06/11] "When Shamai K. Leibowitz, an F.B.I. translator, was sentenced to 20 months in prison last year for leaking classified information to a blogger, prosecutors revealed little about the case. They identified the blogger in court papers only as “Recipient A.” After Mr. Leibowitz pleaded guilty, even the judge said he did not know exactly what Mr. Leibowitz had disclosed.  “All I know is that it’s a serious case,” Judge Alexander Williams Jr., of United States District Court in Maryland, said at the sentencing in May 2010. “I don’t know what was divulged other than some documents, and how it compromised things, I have no idea.” Now the reason for the extraordinary secrecy surrounding the Obama administration’s first prosecution for leaking information to the news media seems clear: Mr. Leibowitz, a contract Hebrew translator, passed on secret transcripts of conversations caught on F.B.I. wiretaps of the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Those overheard by the eavesdroppers included American supporters of Israel and at least one member of Congress, according to the blogger, Richard Silverstein. In his first interview about the case, Mr. Silverstein offered a rare glimpse of American spying on a close ally. He said he had burned the secret documents in his Seattle backyard after Mr. Leibowitz came under investigation in mid-2009, but he recalled that there were about 200 pages of verbatim records of telephone calls and what seemed to be embassy conversations. He said that in one transcript, Israeli officials discussed their worry that their exchanges might be monitored. Mr. Leibowitz, who declined to comment for this article, released the documents because of concerns about Israel’s aggressive efforts to influence Congress and public opinion, and fears that Israel might strike nuclear facilities in Iran, a move he saw as potentially disastrous, according to Mr. Silverstein. [...]" 

Commentary: "Destabilization and the Confiscation of Assets: After Libya: Is Venezuela Next?" [09/06/11] "It is widely expected that the approach the Empire put to work to destabilize Libya and Syria will in the foreseeable future be employed in Venezuela. The Pentagon, the US intelligence community, the US Department of State, and the corresponding agencies of Great Britain, Spain, Israel, Canada, and others certainly have the task of preventing the re-election of Chavez in 2012 written into their agendas… [...]"  

MSM: "Ex-MI5 Chief Censures 'War On Terror'" [09/05/11] "Former head of British Security Service (MI5), Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller, has deplored both UK and US governments for invading Iraq on the pretext of the war on terror. Speaking during her first lecture on the theme, Securing Freedom, the former head of MI5 said she believed London and Washington had not sufficiently understood the resentment that had been building up among Arab nations, which was only compounded by the invasion of Iraq, the Guardian reported. Lady Eliza also said the 9/11 attacks were "a crime, not an act of war, so I never felt it helpful to refer to a war on terror", Talking to an audience which included Theresa May, the home secretary, she said young Arabs had no opportunity to choose their own rulers. "For them an external enemy was a unifying way to address some of their frustrations. They were also united by the plight of Palestinians, as well as a view that the west was exploiting their oil and supporting dictators”, she said. "It was wrong to say all terrorists belonged to al-Qaida," added Manningham-Buller. The former boss of MI5 said terrorist campaigns - she mentioned Northern Ireland as an example - could not be solved militarily. She described the invasion of Iraq as a "distraction in the pursuit of al-Qaida". "Saddam Hussein was a ruthless dictator but neither he nor his regime had anything to do with 9/11." The invasion of Iraq, she said, "provided an arena for jihad", spurring on UK citizens to resort to terror. Manningham-Buller, who retired in 2007, attacked the invasion of Iraq in an interview with the Guardian in 2009. However, she has never before expressed such antipathy towards the prevailing policies and rhetoric of the government, which she had to endure when she was in office. [...]" 

MSM: " War on Terror Targets Political Dissent and Protest Bloggers" [09/05/11] "Associated Press announced their findings of an in depth investigation into worldwide terror arrests and convictions. Their study concluded that about 30% of arrests ended in convictions. However, the arrests of those who were indicted for actual terror events was remarkably low compared to those arrested for political dissent:  [...] The sheer volume of convictions, along with almost 120,000 arrests, shows how a keen global awareness of terrorism has seeped into societies, and how the war against it is shifting to the courts. But it also suggests that dozens of countries are using the fight against terrorism to curb dissent and throw political opponents in jail." 

Commentary: "Israeli Investors Made Huge Profits From 9/11 Event" [09/05/11]   "Between August 26 and September 11, 2001, a group of speculators, identified by the American Securities and Exchange Commission as Israeli citizens, sold “short” a list of 38 stocks that could reasonably be expected to fall in value as a result of the pending attacks. These speculators operated out of the Toronto, Canada and Frankfurt, Germany, stock exchanges and their profits were specifically stated to be “in the millions of dollars.” [...]" 

Commentary: "NWO Social Plans Exposed By Insider In 1969" [09/04/11] "This is a transcript of two out of three tapes on the "New World System." Tapes one and two were recorded in 1988 and are the recollections of Dr. Lawrence Dunegan regarding a lecture he attended on March 20, 1969 at a meeting of the Pittsburgh Paediatric Society. The lecturer at that gathering of paediatricians (identified in tape three recorded in 1991) was a Dr. Richard Day (who died in 1989). At the time, Dr. Day was Professor of Paediatrics at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York. Previously he had served as Medical Director of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Dr. Dunegan was formerly a student of Dr. Day at the University of Pittsburgh and was well acquainted with him, though not intimately. He describes Dr. Day as an insider of the "Order" and although Dr. Dunegan's memory was somewhat dimmed by the intervening years, he is able to provide enough details of the lecture to enable any enlightened person to discern the real purposes behind the trends of our time. This is a transcript of a loose, conversational monologue that makes for better listening than reading. [...]"  Note: If life would go on, this is the kind of world these sequential freaks would shoot for .... a world which is useless for simultaneous higher self experiences. Any of the line-items are subject to the variability inherent in real reality, not these peoples linear plans... entrenched religion, stupid people, etc., also ironically function as limitations to 'global' control. Regardless, its interesting to examine what they were thinking about ... if only to understand what that was, around 1969, and how many of the line-items didn't turn out as they planned. The best-laid plans of mice and men .... cannot match actual destiny.

Commentary: "China Legalises Secret Detention" [09/04/11] "... A draft amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code released on Tuesday has been sent to the National Peoples Congress (NPC) for approval by the end of September. All of this is supposedly to allow public discussion on an amendment to enhance the “human rights” of suspects and protect privacy. In reality, significant changes expanding the police power of “residential surveillance” are buried in the middle of the draft new Article 73. “Residential surveillance” is a form of house arrest, enforced by the police or other state security agencies. It has been a routine practice against human rights advocates, dissidents and social activists. Often detainees disappear for months to unknown locations and could be subject to torture and abuse. Strictly speaking, the practice of “forced disappearance” was banned under the current criminal procedural code, last revised in 1996.  In the draft amendment, Article 72 defines “residential surveillance” as restricting the freedom of suspects or defendants at their residence if the courts, prosecutors and police have decided that they meet the conditions for arrest. This, it is claimed, would be a more humane form of detention, allowing those who are seriously ill, or pregnant and breast-feeding women, to stay at home rather than in a detention centre.  While stipulating that “residential surveillance” would generally be the home of a suspect or defendant, the new Article 73 allows for exceptions. “For suspects involved in national security crimes, terrorist activities and major corruption, when staying at their residence will obstruct investigations, this can also be carried out at a specified residence, with approval from a superior Peoples Prosecutorate or Public Security authority.” In other words, for a broad range of offences, the police and courts will be allowed to detain suspects at other locations. National security crimes mainly refer to “subverting state power” or “inciting to subvert the state power”—the offence that is often used to charge organisers of protests or dissidents who publicly call for changes in the current political and social order. [...]" 

Commentary: "The 'Al Qaeda' Insurgency in Syria: Recruiting Jihadists to Wage NATO’s “Humanitarian Wars”" [09/04/11] "What triggered the crisis in Syria? It was not the result of internal political cleavages, but rather the consequence of a deliberate plan by the US-NATO alliance to trigger social chaos, to discredit the Syrian government of Bashar Al Assad and ultimately destabilize Syria as a Nation State. Since the middle of March 2011, Islamist armed groups covertly supported by Western and Israeli intelligence have conducted terrorist attacks on government buildings and acts of arson. Amply documented, trained gunmen and snipers have targeted the police, the armed forces as well as unarmed civilians. [...]"  Note: See the "Syria" link at the top of this panel for related stories in this dynamic.

MSM: "Homeland Security: The Decade’s Biggest Scam" [09/03/11] "The Los Angeles Times examines the staggering sums of money expended on patently absurd domestic “homeland security” projects: $75 billion per year for things such as a Zodiac boat with side-scan sonar to respond to a potential attack on a lake in tiny Keith County, Nebraska, and hundreds of “9-ton BearCat armored vehicles, complete with turret” to guard against things like an attack on DreamWorks in Los Angeles. All of that — which is independent of the exponentially greater sums spent on foreign wars, occupations, bombings, and the vast array of weaponry and private contractors to support it all — is in response to this mammoth, existential, the-single-greatest-challenge-of-our-generation 'threat':  “The number of people worldwide who are killed by Muslim-type terrorists, Al Qaeda wannabes, is maybe a few hundred outside of war zones. It’s basically the same number of people who die drowning in the bathtub each year,” said John Mueller, an Ohio State University professor who has written extensively about the balance between threat and expenditures in fighting terrorism. Last year, McClatchy characterized this threat in similar terms: “undoubtedly more American citizens died overseas from traffic accidents or intestinal illnesses than from terrorism.” The March, 2011, Harper’s Index expressed the point this way: “Number of American civilians who died worldwide in terrorist attacks last year: 8 — Minimum number who died after being struck by lightning: 29.” That’s the threat in the name of which a vast domestic Security State is constructed, wars and other attacks are and continue to be launched, and trillions of dollars are transferred to the private security and defense contracting industry at exactly the time that Americans — even as they face massive wealth inequality — are told that they must sacrifice basic economic security because of budgetary constraints. Despite these increasing economic insecurities — actually, precisely because of them — the sprawling domestic Security State continues unabated. [...]"  Related: "War On Terror Propaganda": "Homeland Security Chief Urges 'Heightened Vigilance' On Tenth Anniversary Of September 11 Attacks" "Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on Friday said that there was no specific evidence to suggest that a terrorist attack is imminent, but asked Americans to be on the alert with the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks just over one week away. "While there is no specific or credible intelligence that al-Qa'ida or its affiliates are plotting attacks in the United States to coincide with the ten year anniversary of 9/11, we remain at a heightened state of vigilance and security measures are in place to detect and prevent plots against the United States should they emerge," Napolitano wrote in a press release. [...]"  

MSM: "9/11 Was An Inside Job: 1 In 7 In US, UK" [09/03/11] "About one out of seven US and British citizens believe that the US government was behind the 9/11 attacks, according to a poll recently conducted in the United States and Britain. The survey interviewed 1,000 people on August 28, asking them, "It is generally accepted that these attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda. However some people have suggested there was a wider conspiracy that included the American government. Do you, yourself, believe that there was a wider conspiracy, or not?" The Daily Mail reported on Friday that 14 percent of British citizens and 15 percent of US citizens believe the George W. Bush administration actually staged the attacks, with the view most common among young people aged between 16 and 24, 24 percent of whom said they believed 9/11 was an inside job. Gordon Duff, the senior editor of Veterans Today, discussed the 9/11 issue during an interview with Press TV's US Desk on Tuesday. It is very distressing for US veterans to know that their own government was responsible for the disaster, and on September 11, 2011 "they are going to come out, parade around, and lie to us again,"  [...]" 

MSM: "Did CIA Rendition Flights Rely on Bogus State Dept. Letter?" [09/03/11] "As the Washington Post and others have reported today, an obscure court case in New York state has led to the disclosure of new details on CIA's extraordinary rendition program, in which the U.S. captured dozens of alleged terrorists and sent them to secret prisons overseas. About 1,700 pages of documents have been filed in the case, which involves a billing dispute between two charter companies who had been hired to carry out the secret flights. The records include flight itineraries for Khalid Sheik Mohammed and others. As the head of one of the companies testified, "We were transporting government personnel and their invitees." But what really caught our eye are potentially forged State Department letters authorizing the flights. The letters were sent to each air crew before flights, and signed by a State Department official who may not exist. [...]"  Related: See below.

MSM: "EU Slammed For Complicity In US Crimes" [09/02/11]   "EU human rights chief has severely lambasted European governments for collaborating with the US on committing “countless crimes” in the so-called war on terror over the past decade. "In attempting to combat crimes attributed to terrorists, countless further crimes have been committed in the course of the US-led 'global war on terror,'" said the Council of Europe's Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. "Many of those crimes have been carefully and deliberately covered up," he added. Hammarberg went on to say that European governments have been “deeply complicit” in Washington's counterterrorism methods, which have involved torture and other serious human rights violations. The 47-nation Council of Europe has criticized over a dozen European states for colluding in the CIA's rendition programs, in which suspects were secretly captured and dispatched to countries where torture is allowed.  “They permitted, protected and participated in CIA operations which violated fundamental tenets of our systems of justice and human rights protection," the EU human rights chief further explained, noting that these governments have obstructed the process of probing into rendition cases in line with Washington's wishes. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Contract With Atrocity: Flying With the Torture Profiteers" Chris Floyd [09/02/11] "Here's a story where it all comes together, where the guiding ethos of the age is exposed: torture turned to private profit, state terror as a business deal. The Guardian reports on a remarkable case uncovered by the legal rights charity Reprieve: private contractors who flew American Terror War captives to torture hellholes around the world coming to blows in court over a grubby dispute over expenses. The case reveals the inner workings of the infamous "rendition" program, where contractors charged U.S. taxpayers for wine and chocolate as they carried kidnap victims to "black sites" and proxy torturers across America's global gulag: [...]" Related: MSM: "N.Y. Billing Dispute Reveals Details Of Secret CIA Rendition Flights" [09/01/11] "On Aug. 12, 2003, a Gulfstream IV aircraft carrying six passengers took off from Dulles International Airport and flew to Bangkok with fueling stops in Cold Bay, Alaska, and Osaka, Japan. Before it returned four days later, the plane also touched down in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Ireland. As these unusual flights happened, U.S. officials took custody of an Indonesian terrorist, Riduan Isamuddin, who had been captured in Thailand and would spend the next three years being shuttled among secret prisons operated by the CIA. The Gulfstream IV’s itinerary, as well as the $339,228.05 price tag for the journey, are among the details of shadowy CIA flights that have emerged in a small Upstate New York courthouse in a billing dispute between contractors. The court documents offer a rare glimpse of the costs and operations of the controversial rendition program. For all the secrecy that once surrounded the CIA’s program, a significant part of its operation was entrusted to very small aviation companies whose previous experience involved flying sports teams across the country. [...]" || "US Firms Made Massive Profits From The Torture Of Innocent People"  

Commentary: "Globalists to Rebuild Libya" [09/02/11] "The war is far from over - in fact, Libya's rebels have yet to actually take Tripoli, with entire sections of the city still being contested. Furthermore, entire cities, including Sirte, Bani Waled, and Libya's entire interior still stand completely under the Libyan government's control and have repelled rebels continuously over the last two weeks even with brutal NATO bombings and the expressed desire to purposefully starve their populations into submission. Despite this, the corporate media has committed to an endless mantra of "the victorious rebels" and are focused, however unrealistically, on quickly "rebuilding Libya." Not surprisingly, this "rebuilding" will be done according to Wall Street and London's designs, not those of the Libyan people.  [...]"  

Commentary: "9/11: Chemical Engineer Verifies Nanothermite in World Trade Center Dust" [09/01/11] [13:52] "Professional chemical engineer Mark Basile discusses his analysis of WTC dust. Independently verifying previous findings he found evidence of nanothermite, a military grade explosive many scientists, physicists and engineers now believe may have been used to bring down the WTC 1, 2 and 7. [...]" 

World Politics: "UN Go Home': Israel Planning For Worst, Calling For War?" [08/31/11]   [2:37] "In September, Palestine will be expecting a UN vote to recognize it as a fully-fledged state. But Israel fears the decision may result in uprisings, and has reportedly started arming settlers and training them to face angry Palestinians. But as Paula Slier reports, by preparing for bloodshed, Israelis might actually be calling for it. [...]"  Related: Commentary: "Israel Sees Palestinian Statehood Bid A ‘Greater Threat’ Than Hamas" "The Palestinian campaign to secure full UN membership presents a greater threat to Israel than that posed by Hamas, the Israeli finance minister said on Wednesday. “This Palestinian initiative represents a more serious threat than that posed by Hamas,” Yuval Steinitz told Israel’s public radio, referring to Gaza’s Islamist rulers whose founding charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. If the Palestinians made good on their plans to seek United Nations membership, Israel would “respond,” he promised. [...]"  Note: Stupid reincarnated retreads with wind-up keys in their backs. 

Commentary:  "Establishment Prepares 9/11 Official Story Onslaught" Paul Joseph Watson [08/31/11] " ... But conspiracy hit pieces are not about evidence, they’re about strawman attacks, character assassination, and emotional manipulation. This only works as a tool of persuasion on people who have little or no capacity for critical thinking, or on those who are already fully invested in a belief system. Such individuals are of no consequence in the “infowar,” as Hillary Clinton herself termed it, that continues to be won by the “conspiracy theorists” no matter how many hit pieces are produced and endlessly repeated by television networks that have lost a great deal of credibility. [...]"  Related: "Propaganda": "ABC News "9/11 2011 Warning: Dangers Exposed " Note: Sept 2011 will be interesting. Notice that the ABC piece refers to the 9/11 Commission Report, which was itself disavowed by many commission members as being a problematic fabrication which was not true ....  

Commentary:  "The FBI Goes Rogue: Entrapment as Government Policy" [08/31/11] "Here is an important question: What single organization is responsible for more terror plots in the USA than any other? Possible answers: 'Al Qaida'. That would no doubt be the popular answer but it would be wrong. The KKK, way past their prime, so that is not it. The Jewish Defense League. Good guess, but still not it. So what is the correct answer? It is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, AKA the FBI. Don’t believe me? Well, just read Trevor Aaronson’s expose entitled "The Informants" published in the September/October 2011 issue of Mother Jones. Aaronson looked at over 500 terrorism related cases taken up by the FBI and found that over half of them involved the Bureau’s stable of 15,000 informants. Many of these are ex-felons and con men who are often paid well if their efforts result in an arrest and conviction. So what, you might say. Using informants to obtain information about criminal activity is an old and legitimate tactic. Yes, however, that approach to information gathering is not exactly how the FBI uses all of its informants. Indeed, the Bureau has a program, misnamed "prevention" which encourages its agents to get creative in the use of informants. How creative? Well, if they can’t find any terrorist activity going on, they have their informants instigate some. Where are they doing this? Mainly in our country’s Muslim communities. [...]" See the

Commentary:  "Decade's Biggest Scam: Exaggerating, Manipulating And Exploiting The Terrorist Threat For Profit And Power" Glenn Greenwald [08/30/11] "The Los Angeles Times examines ["Is Homeland Security Spending Paying Off?"] the staggering sums of money expended on patently absurd domestic "homeland security" projects: $75 billion per year for things such as a Zodiac boat with side-scan sonar to respond to a potential attack on a lake in tiny Keith County, Nebraska, and hundreds of "9-ton BearCat armored vehicles, complete with turret" to guard against things like an attack on DreamWorks in Los Angeles. All of that -- which is independent of the exponentially greater sums spent on foreign wars, occupations, bombings, and the vast array of weaponry and private contractors to support it all -- is in response to this mammoth, existential, the-single-greatest-challenge-of-our-generation threat: "The number of people worldwide who are killed by Muslim-type terrorists, Al Qaeda wannabes, is maybe a few hundred outside of war zones. It's basically the same number of people who die drowning in the bathtub each year," said John Mueller, an Ohio State University professor who has written extensively about the balance between threat and expenditures in fighting terrorism. [...]"  Note: Now we're waiting to see what the next "external threat" will be .... alien invasion, threat from space .... in order to force the civilization to totally capitulate to government-sponsored social terrorism .... to allegedly 'protect' society from 'external terrorism' and other deliberate fabrications in the same genre, allowing profit to be made from the suffering of others.  

Commentary: "Operation False Flag: A Modern Primer" [08/30/11] "Definition: When governments or organizations (usually connected to the former) stage highly sophisticated attacks on their own or foreign soil with the purpose of placing the blame on a desirable enemy foreign or domestic, one who has otherwise done no wrong. Essentially a setup, it provides the government entity with an excuse via fabricated evidence in complicity with media to fulfill its various agendas (i.e. war or law making). As false flag operations gain further ground and frequency, the better you know their history, the sooner you can recognize when they are about to happen or as they occur. It is a fact that essentially every single war since the Spanish-American War of 1898 has included the use of a false flag operation as an excuse to enter into conflict. The lies have become uncovered after the fact, too late to prevent mass death and destruction.  [...]" 

MSM: "Pentagon Medics Thought 9/11 Attack Was Part of a Drill" [08/30/11] "Extraordinary as this possibility may sound, it would not have been the first time the DTHC participated in such a drill. The clinic had been involved in at least two training exercises in the 12 months prior to 9/11, based around the scenario of an aircraft crashing into the Pentagon....in May 2001, the DTHC held an exercise along with the Air Force Flight Medicine Clinic and Arlington County Emergency Medical Services, which practiced for the scenario of an airplane with 35 passengers on board crashing into the Pentagon's west face--the same side as was impacted in the attack on 9/11.  [...]"   Related: Commentary: "The Norwegian Police Confirms Oslo Drill For Identical Scenario before the Attack" [08/29/11] [4:48] "Like in any terrorist attack on the last ten years each time there is a terrorist attack surprisingly there is a police drill hours before , co-incidence  ?  [...]" Note: See the "9/11" and "Norway" links at the top of this panel for related stories in these dynamics.

Interviews: "Corruption and Extremism Part of Libyan Rebels Culture (Which the US Supports)" [08/30/11]   [8:50] "...We went to Libya on the 28th July and we came back on the 7th August and we found a totally different situation because NATO was bombarding civilians. The bombings were not only carried out on military targets, but they also hit houses, hospitals, schools, television centers, and this was totally against the humanitarian reasons they said they were there for. I believe they were doing this to bring panic in the city. That's why they were bombing the things that people use daily, like places with food and essential utilities like hospitals. [...]" Related: Analysis: "Al-Qaeda" Kingpin Asset Is New Military Commander Of Tripoli"   [2:37] "Journalist Pepe Escobar told RT 'Al-Qaeda' is already effectively in power in the capital.  [...]" Flashback: "The CIA’s Libya Rebels: The Same Terrorists who Killed US, NATO Troops in Iraq" Webster G. Tarpley, Ph.D. [03/24/11] "... It turns out that there is, in the form of a December 2007 West Point study examining the background of foreign guerrilla fighters — jihadis or mujahedin, including suicide bombers — crossing the Syrian border into Iraq during the 2006-2007 timeframe, under the auspices of the international terrorist organization Al Qaeda. This study is based on a mass of about 600 Al Qaeda personnel files which were captured by US forces in the fall of 2007, and analyzed at West Point using a methodology which we will discuss after having presented the main findings. The resulting study1 permits us to make important findings about the mentality and belief structures of the northeastern Libyan population that is furnishing the basis for the rebellion, permitting important conclusions about the political nature of the anti-Qaddafi revolt in these areas. [...]"  Commentary: "Libya: The Greatest Betrayal" "In handing Libya to Al Qaeda, the line has been forever crossed [...]"   Note: Of course, those called "Al Qaeda" sprung from CIA assets. See the "Libya' link at the top of this panel for more related stories.

MSM: "A Key Sept. 11 Legacy: More Domestic Surveillance" [08/30/11] "In one of the biggest changes to American life since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the government now collects vast quantities of information about its citizens. Thanks to new laws and technologies, authorities track and eavesdrop on Americans as they never could before, hauling in billions of bank records, travel receipts and other information. In several cases, they have wiretapped conversations between lawyers and defendants, challenging the legal principle that attorney-client communication is inviolate. Advocates say the expanded surveillance has helped eliminate vulnerabilities identified after the Sept. 11 attacks. Some critics, unconvinced, say the snooping undermines privacy and civil liberties and leads inevitably to abuse. They argue that the new systems have weakened security by burying investigators in irrelevant information.[...]"  

Analysis: "Dancing Israelis: Further Evidence of Foreknowledge" [08/29/11] "Yet another "coincidence" corroborates the already strong evidence of 9/11 foreknowledge by the "dancing Israelis" and Dominik Suter and his wife Ornit Levinson Suter, sometimes known as Ornit Suter or Ornit Levinson. [...] September 7, 2001 was one week before Dominik Suter of "Urban Moving Systems Incorporated" fled the US for Israel. And it was four days before a group of Israelis, at least some of whom were Mossad agents, were arrested after tie-ins to the 9/11 attacks were found in their van such as maps of the city with certain places highlighted, and bomb-sniffing dogs reacted as if the van had traces of explosives, after the Israelis had parked their van and set up video cameras aimed at the Twin Towers, then danced and celebrated with high fives and cries of joy and mockery, even prior to the second impact as most onlookers still believed it had been a terrible accident rather than terrorism. And it was four days before another team of Israelis were caught attempting to blow up the George Washington Bridge with a truck packed with tons of explosives, and a "panel truck with a painting of a plane flying into the World Trade Center" was stopped, and found to contain yet another team of "ethnic Middle Eastern people" - i.e., Israelis. Isn't it just possible that, towards the end of the first week of September 2001, Dominik Suter and his wife Ornit had got some sort of clue that they might have to flee the US around the middle of the month?  [...] See here for a great list of the 9/11 anomalies. And see here for a list of over 300 improbable events; improbable, that is, if the official story were true. And see here for a calculation obtaining 1 in 589,824 as the chance that "Osama bin Laden" managed to enjoy a remarkable run of "luck", excluding additional perpetrator-friendly outcomes such as the total collapse of three steel-framed high-rises. And see here for a list of 22 improbable propositions required by the official theory. In that case, 0.1 was arbitrarily assigned as the probability for each proposition. But even if allowing a figure of 0.5, the probability of all 22 propositions being satisfied is only 1 in 4,194,304. [...]" Note: See the "9/11" link at the top of this panel for related stories in this dynamic.

Commentary: "Webster Tarpley : Syria Is Next On NATO List After Libya – August 27^th World Crisis Radio" Note: Select Aug 27th program. MP3 Note: See the "Libya" link at the top of this panel for interesting related stories in this dynamic. 

Commentary: "Fear Incorporated: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America" [08/28/11] "A new report reveals that seven foundations and wealthy donors have been behind the 10-year campaign to spread Islamophobia in the US. The 130 page report by the Center for American Progress (CAP) released on Friday, identified foundations that have provided more than USD 42 million to key individuals and organizations that have spearheaded the nationwide effort between 2001 and 2009. [...] Among the funders are organizations that have long been associated with the extreme right in the US, as well as several Jewish family foundations that have supported settler groups in Israel. Donors Capital Fund, Richard Melton Scaife foundations, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Newton D. & Rochelle F. Becker foundations and charitable trust, Russell Berrie Foundation, Anchorage Charitable Fund and William Rosenwald Family Fund, Fairbrook Foundation, are among the organizations funding anti Islam experts who promote Islamophobia. These experts are - among others - Frank Gaffney at the Center for Security Policy, David Yerushalmi at the Society of Americans for National Existence, Daniel Pipes at Middle East Forum, Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch and Stop Islamization of America, Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, These people spread the information through conservative organizations, politicians and news channels like Fox, the report says. The Donor Capital Fund was the single biggest contributor paying USD 18 million, to the Clarion Fund during the 2008 election which distributed 30 million anti-Muslim DVDs through local newspapers. " 

Lecture:  "Extreme Prejudice - CIA Whistle Blower Susan Lindauer" [08/28/11] [96:00] "Amazing testimony of ex CIA Asset Susan Lindauer. 5 years of legal troubles, 1 year in prison for daring to tell the truth. During the Bush era the top controllers of the governmental mechanics of Defense and national Security wanted to have a war with Iraq. They got their wish and anyone who got in the way were dealt with severely no matter if they violated a law or not. Not brought to trial she was jailed under the "Patriot Act" which amounted to summary punishment outside a Verdict in a court of law. She was punished in jail without a Trial at all This is part of her story that is just unfolding now. She has waited 10 years to tell this story. [...]"  Note:  Video has been advanced to where the talk begins. Related: Commentary: "9/11 After A Decade: Have We Learned Anything?" by Paul Craig Roberts "... One would think that if a handful of Arabs managed to outwit not merely the CIA and FBI but all 16 US intelligence agencies, all intelligence agencies of our allies, including Mossad, the National Security Council, the State Department, NORAD, airport security four times on one morning, air traffic control, etc., the President, Congress, and the media would be demanding to know how such an improbable event could occur. Instead, the White House put up a wall of resistance to finding out, and Congress and the media showed little interest. [...]"  

Commentary: "The Many Collapses of Keynesianism" Lew Rockwell [08/28/11] "It should be obvious to everyone but the most dedicated adherent of Keynesianism that the stimulus did not accomplish its end. The combination of outright spending by Congress, the desperate schemes to reflate the housing market, the attempt to transfuse bleeding firms with other people’s money, and the creation of trillions in artificial money, has not done a thing to lift the US economy. Actually, the reverse has been true. All these efforts have prevented the adjustment of economic forces to the post-boom world. And all the resources that the stimulus consumed were extracted from the private sector, for we must always remember that government has no resources of its own. Everything it does must come from the hides of private producers and the citizenry in general, in the future if not immediately. It’s tedious that we had to learn this lesson yet again, for it was only 38 years ago that we experienced yet another collapse of the Keynesian paradigm. The color of the theory was a bit different in those days. The fine-tuning operations of the government were supposed to operate according to a fixed model in which there was a tradeoff between inflation and recessionary unemployment. If unemployment got too high due to slow economic growth, their solution was said to be simple: reflate and deal with the costs. If unemployment then became too low in recovery – leading to an “overheating,” as the parlance of the time put it, the answer was to deflate. [...]" 

Commentary:  " Libya War is CIA Op 30 Years in the Making" [08/28/11] "Alternative media activist David Icke, who has been warning about the false nature of the “Arab Spring” since it began over six months ago, has pointed out an astounding “flashback” regarding an August 3, 1981 Newsweek article titled, “A Plan to Overthrow Kaddafi.” ‘The details of the plan were sketchy, but it seemed to be a classic CIA destabilization campaign. One element was a “disinformation” program designed to embarrass Kaddafi and his government. Another was the creation of a “counter government” to challenge his claim to national leadership. A third — potentially the most risky — was an escalating paramilitary campaign, probably by disaffected Libyan nationals, to blow up bridges, conduct small-scale guerrilla operations and demonstrate that Kaddafi was opposed by an indigenous political force.” Quite obviously this plan has been executed verbatim with the necessary addition of a NATO intervention to rescue the above stated “paramilitary” campaign from Libyan security forces – a contigency plan explicitly spelled out in another Wall Street-London subsidized, signed confession, Brookings Institution’s “Which Path to Persia?” Using Military Force to Assist Popular Revolutions, page 109-110 (page 122-123 of the PDF): ”Consequently, if the United States ever succeeds in sparking a revolt against the clerical regime, Washington may have to consider whether to provide it with some form of military support to prevent Tehran from crushing it.” ”This requirement means that a popular revolution in Iran does not seem to fit the model of the “velvet revolutions” that occurred elsewhere. The point is that the Iranian regime may not be willing to go gently into that good night; instead, and unlike so many Eastern European regimes, it may choose to fight to the death. In those circumstances, if there is not external military assistance to the revolutionaries, they might not just fail but be massacred. [...]" 

Commentary: "Question Authority: Always and Forever Hereafter" Bill Buppert [08/27/11] "Publishers Note: I published this almost two years ago and it still rings true. I was asked at the Freedom Summit in 2010 after my speech during questions what was the most important tool or consideration for surviving the coming bad times. Most expect me to expound on G3 (Gold, Guns and Groceries) but I responded that critical thinking was, first and foremost, the most important and vital weapon in the armory. Nothing even comes close. Much like the overweening importance of prioritizing skills over equipment, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Your lack of skepticism toward the powers that be is what enabled the very walls to be erected in these tax jurisdictions shaped like penitentiaries called nation-states. You live in a civilization whose entire rationalization is based on a few brutal misconceptions among which is that the state must have the power to fine, cage, maim and kill anyone it wishes at will and all your friends, family and neighbors are YOUR property. If that were not the case, how could the state possibly enable the massive theft of time, resources and property on a daily basis to feed the groaning leviathan that provides all those vital goods and services the government/media complex trumpets triumphantly about daily to include America’s largest export, killing recalcitrant brown people who refuse to submit? Through the proxy of the state, you have personally signed on to an evil compact that permits, nay compels , the government to act in the beastly and ghastly way it does every day. All of your socialist and neoconservative friends won’t admit it but you are THEIR property otherwise how would they fund the beasts in DC and its political subsidiaries in the states? They even have the wherewithal to commit you and your progeny to obligate to pay down future debt leveraged against their future; even though the dimmest economists know it will all collapse in the end (except Paul Krugman whose statist bloodlust knows no bounds). Accept nothing at face value and your life will be richer. This has nothing to do with formal education or a philosophy degree or allowing others to think for you because they are smarter than you. No one is smarter than you in your own world because they aren’t…you. Think outside the box and question all authority outside your family. Your life and the bright future of your children depends on your ability to do the intellectual heavy lifting and figure out that most everything you were taught in the government schools was a lie and that practically anything claimed by the government has one raison d’être: to compel your unquestioning obedience and servitude to the state and to ensure that its existence will always trump yours. -B [...] Question Authority: Always and Forever Hereafter: "For some time, I have been trying to figure out why the nation and we as individuals are in the fix we are in now. Many reasons manifest themselves. We labor under a government of such monstrous reach and epic incompetence that it makes the Soviets now look like a paragon of efficiency and probity. We suffer under a ruling class that has not simply been a gangster government under Obamunism but has been this way since the defeat of the original Constitution in 1865. With each illegitimate war since 1898, the power of the Federal government has increased exponentially. With each manufactured crisis, liberties and freedoms have withered and died. This is simply the latest and greatest improvement in the ongoing process of our overseers to find emerging ways to increase the output of our slavery. [...] "  Note: A good read.

Commentary:  "Inside 'The Order,' One Mormon Cult's Secret Empire" Jesse Hyde [08/27/11] "The two boys pulled into the driveway and shifted the green Honda into park. It was February in Salt Lake, cold and gray, and in the foothills above the city, a low fog hung over the mountains. They sat there for a moment, warming their hands against the sputtering heater. Then one of them exhaled slowly, his breath shuddering in the cold air. It was time. They were finally getting even. The well-kept yellow house sat on the corner of a tidy cul-de-sac called South Bonner Circle surrounded by a black wrought-iron fence. From the outside it seemed like a typical suburban home, offering few clues of the secrets that were contained inside. A passerby might catch a glimpse of children in the windows, but for the most part, the Young family kept to themselves. Their neighbors had no idea that the family were prominent members of the Kingston clan, the most powerful polygamist cult in America — and one of the most dangerous. [...] The clan, known privately as the Order, runs what prosecutors believe is one of the largest organized-crime operations in Utah, overseeing its far-flung empire from a string of secret locations and backrooms. On the surface, the operation is legit: From Salt Lake, the Order controls some 100 businesses spread out over the Western states, from a casino in California to a cattle ranch in Nevada to a factory that makes lifelike dolls in Utah. Over 75 years, the Kingstons have amassed a fortune worth an estimated $300 million, but the operation skirts the edges of the law. [...]"  

Update: "9/11, Psychological Warfare & the American Narrative: Part I" By Elizabeth Gould & Paul Fitzgerald [08/26/11] Part 2 Part 3 "According to the official narrative, 9/11 was an attack on everything American and in so doing changed everything about America. Like Kafkaesque characters who’d suddenly found themselves on the other side of a Cold War “Iron Curtain” mirror, Americans would now have to “watch what they say and watch what they do,” open up to questioning or face jail when prodded by squinty-eyed border guards and forsake any hope of privacy or dignity in a new world of electronic spies and full body scans. Former National Security Advisor, Admiral John Poindexter’s Total Information Awareness program would be enacted and a preexisting “Patriot Act” would be signed into law to clamp down on dissent and real or imagined domestic terrorism. Some careful observers like Anthony Lewis of the New York Times had already noticed the bizarre coup-like changes coming over Washington in the months leading up to the attack as the George W. Bush administration inaugurated radical shifts in domestic and foreign policy that seemed un-American and alien to anything that had gone before. But those concerns would soon be forgotten in the race for revenge.  [...]"  "  Note: See the "9/11' link at the top of this panel for more related stories.

Historical Research: "De-Classified Document Admits Lee Harvey Oswald Was CIA" [08/26/11]   "Back in 2004 a government document was de-classified that proves Lee Harvey Oswald was trained by the CIA. [...]"  

MSM: "Iran: "US Biggest State Sponsor Of Terrorism"" [08/25/11] "In its latest terrorism report released on August 18, the US Department accused Iran of continuing to fund, train, and provide weapons and ammunition to extremists in neighboring Iraq. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Washington's unconditional support for Israel is enough to make the US the most active state sponsor of terrorism in the world. The Iranian official added that investigating the formation of 'al-Qaeda', its ties with the US and years of Washington's support for this terrorist group prove that the United States has provided grounds for the expansion of terrorism in the world. Mehmanparast said Iran, as the biggest victim of terrorism in the world, has always cooperated with the international community on fighting terrorist groups. Iran has always stressed the necessity of fighting terrorism as a duty for all countries and an international commitment, Mehmanparast added. Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman said Tehran has always criticized the double standards adopted by the US and other Western nations with regards to counterterrorism efforts. [...]"  

Commentary: "FBI Organizes Almost All Terror Plots In The US" [08/24/11] "The Federal Bureau of Investigation employs upwards of 15,000 undercover agents today, ten times what they had on the roster back in 1975. If you think that’s a few spies too many — spies earning as much as $100,000 per assignment — one doesn’t have to go too deep into their track record to see their accomplishments. Those agents are responsible for an overwhelming amount of terrorist stings that have stopped major domestic catastrophes in the vein of 9/11 from happening on American soil. Another thing those agents are responsible for, however, is plotting those very schemes. The FBI has in recent years used trained informants not just to snitch on suspected terrorists, but to set them up from the get-go. A recent report put together by Mother Jones and the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California-Berkley analyses some striking statistics about the role of FBI informants in terrorism cases that the Bureau has targeted in the decade since the September 11 attacks. [...]" 

World Politics: "The Three Stooges of Politics" [08/24/11] "As a Farrelly Brothers remake – complete with Jersey Shore cast – nears screens and as the global economy is leakier than a colander, several political commentators have been lining up their triptychs of dangerously incompetent politicians who are less a comfort – more of a menace as the "Three Stooges Of Politics". I’ve decided I can do better than arbitrary pointing at problems, and will assemble my own crackpot-team – with judgment unclouded by administration, nation or political colour. [...] The first pick is a safe pick, a man that no political comedy troupe could be complete without. Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, fits the blueprint for what the rest of the world think is a stereotypical Englishman. The man, for whom ‘bumbling’ is not so much an adjective as it is a raison d’etre, managed to joke his way into holding the keys of one of the world’s leading global cities – all on the back of appearances hosting a satirical news quiz, Have I got News For You. His non-sequitirs and anarchic method of getting words out of his mouth translate to his speeches, which a farcical, yet have an absurdist, comedic beauty to them. [...]"  

Interview: "Retired NYPD Officer Frank Serpico: American Drug War is A Lie, Just Like 9/11" [08/23/11] [53:56] "On this Friday edition of the Alex Jones Show, Alex welcomes retired NYPD officer Frank Serpico to discuss police corruption and the drug war. Serpico's experiences as a police officer were dramatized in the 1973 film Serpico, which starred Al Pacino in the lead role. [...]"  

MSM: "Princess Diana Death: French Authorities May Arrest British Police, Conspiracy Re-ignited" [08/23/11] "French authorities may seek an international arrest warrant for two former police chiefs, who withheld a prophetic note in which Princess Diana seemingly predicted her assassination by car crash.[1] Something she stated on more than one occasion. Former Scotland Yard chief Lord Condon and former Assistant Commissioner of Specialist Operations Sir David Veness, have been ordered to attend an interview in Paris to address why the note was under lock and key for 3 years following Diana’s death. If they fail to attend they will be treated as suspects. The note remained hidden even when Lord Condon’s successor Lord Stevens took over as Metropolitan Police Commissioner, suggesting the orders may have came from a higher authority. The note was handed to the MET by Diana’s Lawyer Lord Mishcon shortly after the 1997 Paris tunnel crash, which also claimed the lives of Diana’s boyfriend Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul. It drew on a meeting between Diana and the law firm where she claimed her life was in danger; the record of the meeting in the form of a hand-written note says efforts would be made to get rid of her “…be it by some accident in her car such as pre-prepared brake failure or whatever.” Lord Condon and Sir Veness have publicly claimed that they made the decision not to release the document unless there was a suggestion that the crash was not an accident [2], but the French Judge Gerard Caddeo may see this as withholding the very evidence that does suggest it wasn’t an accident. Under French law, “removing or concealing” evidence, which could “facilitate the discovery of a crime”, is punishable by three to five years in jail or a fine. Coinciding with the release of controversial Keith Allen documentary “Unlawful Killing” that suggests Diana was assassinated, this re-ignition of the case may open a whole new can of worms, right when the British establishment is being rocked by the phone hacking scandal.  [...]" 

"Larouche Interview: The Week That Must Be" [08/22/11] [15:03] "Looking reality squarely in the eye, Lyndon LaRouche assesses the bleak reality we face. If you think he's too harsh, you're condemning future humanity to a dark age. [...]"  Note: Of course, he's correct.

Commentary:  "9/11/11 - 7 Reasons To Brace For Impact" Zen Gardner [08/22/11] "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it's not looking good for this 10th anniversary of 9/11. All the indicators are there to tell us they need a massive distraction and excuse to take this idiotic war on terror to horrific new levels and even more Orwellian internal controls and crackdowns. Why They'll Do It Now: 1. The illusion is wearing thin and ratings show it. Obama's 'house of corporate banking thugs' administration is tanking in public perception. The matrix-generated veil of lies is disintegrating as economic realities hit home. His and congress' ratings are at record lows. His political opponents have even announced publicly to watch out for a false flag. 2. They've done it before at similar times. Clinton did Waco then used it to justify Oklahoma City. Now there's an interesting precedent. Bush 2 was just a neocon nincompoop stooge, but his ratings were in the basement on 9/10 and soared on 9/11...another two-termer like the criminal Clinton shoed in by false flag catastrophe. 3. The demonization of all Americans as potential terrorists. As we've seen with the Norway patsy repeat, the enemy is now arch-anythings. Arch conservatives, activists, Christians, militia, military vets, religious whack jobs, disgruntled taxpayers, people who don't want to get X-rayed or fondled by the TSA, people with guns, cars with Ron Paul stickers, children selling lemonade without a license...it's beyond wrong.  4. Martial law is just a click away. Now, how would a leader (really cabal) in power possibly stay in power with an election he (the staged figurehead) appears bound to lose....WHILE the PTBs have this craving need to abolish the last vestiges of civil liberties in the name of "homeland security"? Got any ideas? Now don't give Obummer one iota of credit for anything except being a perfect patsy and mind control subject. He's a 'keeper' in those categories...which is why they'll wanna "keep" him in. Nothing's written in stone, but it sometimes gets close. I will be shocked if there are elections next year. It's way too easy to find a way around them in this climate. They're gonna declare martial law, and..maybe..call for a constitutional convention which is as close to a political oxymoron as you'll ever get. It's got to look "democratic" after all. Ha. Never mind "Homeland Security" antics, FEMA's activities and the militarization zones appearing around the country are a dead giveaway. This "global unrest" they're pointing to now as a precedent to prepare American police I'm not sure is organic at all. Yes, people are mad, but they're being instigated and herded into a form of expression that only spells more fascism worldwide. 5. 9/11 - Build on the emotional impact [...]"  

Commentary:"Confronting the Military-Industrial-Complex: The MIC at 50" [08/22/11]   "The majority of Americans oppose the U.S. government’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and believe that defense spending is the area that must be cut to reduce the federal deficit. However, many of us feel powerless to stop the ever-increasing bombings, invasions, and occupations of nations which pose no threat to us. Most of us have acquiesced to the “military-industrial complex” (a term coined by Dwight Eisenhower, who devoted his farewell address in 1961 to its “grave implications”). Having worked with abused people for more than 25 years, it does not surprise me to see that when we as individuals or as a society eat crap for too long, we become psychologically too weak to take action. [...]" 

Commentary: "Ron Paul: Who's In Charge" [08/22/11] [6:02] "Ron Paul calls out Neocons by Name and Speaks Of Israel's influence."  Note: Good Overview.

Commentary:  "30 Questions That Children Should Be Asking Their Parents About The U.S. Economy" [08/22/11] "There are a whole lot of things about the U.S. economy that don’t make any sense whatsoever. Sadly, most adults have been so programmed to accept the way that things are by years and years of relentless propaganda that they don’t even bother to question the status quo any longer. But little kids are different. Many little kids are not afraid to say the darnedest things or ask really embarrassing questions. Have you ever been in a situation where a child asks an obvious question that did not even occur to any of the adults? That happens so often because the minds of little kids have not been completely warped by the world we live in yet. They are able to see things with honesty and innocence and with fresh eyes. Well, perhaps all of us should start looking at our economy and our financial system through the eyes of little children. There are a lot of things that we have been programmed to accept that we really should be asking some hard questions about. Do you remember the fairy tale entitled “The Emperor’s New Clothes“? All of the adults were telling the emperor how wonderful his clothes looked as he strutted about. It took a little child to proclaim that the emperor was really running around naked. Well, things are very similar today. Our politicians, our media, the big corporations, the big Wall Street banks and our entire education system all tell us that everything is just fine. They promise that any downturns are just temporary and that things will soon be better than ever. But are they telling us the truth? Perhaps it is time for someone to step forward and point out that the emperor does not have any clothes on. The following are 30 questions that children should be asking their parents about the U.S. economy…. [...]"  Note: Yeah ... interesting and skewed set of priorities.

Election Fraud: "There is No Way for Them to be Tampered With': Mississippi Election Clerk Gets Approval to Remove Paper Trail Printers from Diebold Touch-Screens" [08/21/11] "The Jones County, Mississippi, slogan is "A Great Place to Live." While this may or may not be true, and I've never been there, it's clearly not a great place to vote. At least if voting in a way that is verifiably accurate for the citizenry is something one might care about. A remarkable statement by the county's Circuit Clerk, and a unanimous decision in support of it by the County's Board of Supervisors this week, has made that as clear as can be. The Jones County Board of Supervisors approved the removal of printers from the county’s voting machines at the request of Jones County Circuit Clerk Bart Gavin at Monday’s board meeting in Laurel. [...]"  BUT:  What has been seen .... cannot be unseen: Related: "Scientists Call Diebold Security Flaw 'Worst Ever'" [05/11/06] "Computer scientists say a security hole recently found in Diebold Election Systems' touch-screen voting machines is the "worst ever" in a voting system. Election officials from Iowa to Maryland have been rushing to limit the risk of vote fraud or disabled voting machines since the hole was reported Wednesday. Scientists, who have conferred with Diebold representatives, said Diebold programmers created the security hole intentionally as a means of quickly upgrading voting software on its electronic voting machines. The hole allows someone with a common computer component and knowledge of Diebold systems to load almost any software without a password or proof of authenticity and potentially without leaving telltale signs of the change. "I think it's the most serious thing I've heard to date," said Johns Hopkins University computer science professor Avi Rubin, who published the first security analysis of Diebold voting software in 2003. "Even describing why I think it's serious is dangerous. This is something that's so easy to do that if the public were to hear about it, it would raise the risk of someone doing it. ... This is the worst-case scenario, almost." Diebold representatives acknowledged the security hole to Pennsylvania elections officials in a May 1 memo but said the "probability for exploiting this vulnerability to install unauthorized software that could affect an election is considered low." [...]" | "FOX News Exposes Princeton / Diebold Vote-Reversal Story " [3:09] "Fox News exposes the Princeton report that confirms that Diebold machines cannot be trusted in elections [...]"  

MSM: "Ron Paul Responds To Questions About Detention Camps For Civil Unrest" [08/21/11] [1:45] "In a response to a question asked by Infowars correspondent Robert Wanek at Iowa State University during the recent Ames straw poll, Ron Paul said that the federal government was preparing for civil unrest and martial law in the United States. Paul was asked for his opinion on whether H.R. 645 (The National Emergency Centers Establishment Act) could lead to Americans being incarcerated in detention camps during a time of martial law. “Yeah, that’s their goal, they’re setting up the stage for violence in this country, no doubt about it,” responded Paul. The National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645, first introduced in January 2009, mandates the establishment of “national emergency centers” to be located on military installations for the purpose of providing “temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster,” according to the bill. The legislation also states that the camps will be used to “provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations”. Ominously, the bill also states that the camps can be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,” an open ended mandate which many fear could mean the forced detention of American citizens in the event of widespread rioting after a national emergency or total economic collapse. The legislation was referred to Committee and did not proceed any further, but it was not rejected in a vote and can be re-introduced at any time in a new session of Congress. [...]"  Related: "Ron Paul on FEMA Camps" [7:03] "Ron Paul was recently asked by an investigative blogger if he was concerned about legislation in Congress that would officially establish FEMA camps in America. Ron Paul responded in the affirmative.  [...]" 

Commentary: "A Prime Aim Of The Growing Surveillance State" [08/20/11] "... This is the point I emphasize whenever I talk about why topics such as the sprawling Surveillance State and the attempted criminalization of WikiLeaks and whistle blowing are so vital. The free flow of information and communications enabled by new technologies -- as protest movements in the Middle East and a wave of serious leaks over the last year have demonstrated -- is a uniquely potent weapon in challenging entrenched government power and other powerful factions. And that is precisely why those in power -- those devoted to preservation of the prevailing social order -- are so increasingly fixated on seizing control of it and snuffing out its potential for subverting that order: they are well aware of, and are petrified by, its power, and want to ensure that the ability to dictate how it is used, and toward what ends, remains exclusively in their hands. [...]"  

Commentary:  "New Oil Leaking from Deepwater Horizon Macondo Well" [08/20/11] "No, this isn’t a post from last year. Oil from the Macondo Well site is fouling the Gulf anew – and BP is scrambling to contain both the crude and the PR nightmare that waits in the wings. Reliable sources tell us that BP has hired 40 boats from Venice to Grand Isle to lay boom around the Deepwater Horizon site – located just 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. The fleet rushed to the scene late last week and worked through the weekend to contain what was becoming a massive slick at the site of the Macondo wellhead, which was officially “killed” back in September 2010. [...]"   Note: See the "Oil & Gas" link at the top of this panel for more related stories.

Commentary: "9/11, False Flag State Terrorism, The Transnational Shadow Government, And The Apocalypse To Come" [08/19/11] ""The “war on terrorism” is a classic simulacrum. A global political script written by secret elites is now running on automatic. Triggered by the events of 9/11, reenergized by periodic injections of media “poison” into the circulatory system of American public opinion, from anthrax scarces traceable to U.S. Army testing laboratories to Tom Clancy scenarios of nuclear weapons in suitcases delivered to New York City by viral terrorists, the simulacrum of the “war on terrorism” is already a new form of hyperreality, understandable only in relationship to its internal signifiers. A closed system of meaning, the war on terrorism declares war most of all on perception." - Arthur Kroker (1). [...]" Related: "9/11, Psychological Warfare & the American Narrative: Part I" By Elizabeth Gould & Paul Fitzgerald Part 2 "According to the official narrative, 9/11 was an attack on everything American and in so doing changed everything about America. Like Kafkaesque characters who’d suddenly found themselves on the other side of a Cold War “Iron Curtain” mirror, Americans would now have to “watch what they say and watch what they do,” open up to questioning or face jail when prodded by squinty-eyed border guards and forsake any hope of privacy or dignity in a new world of electronic spies and full body scans. Former National Security Advisor, Admiral John Poindexter’s Total Information Awareness program would be enacted and a preexisting “Patriot Act” would be signed into law to clamp down on dissent and real or imagined domestic terrorism. Some careful observers like Anthony Lewis of the New York Times had already noticed the bizarre coup-like changes coming over Washington in the months leading up to the attack as the George W. Bush administration inaugurated radical shifts in domestic and foreign policy that seemed un-American and alien to anything that had gone before. But those concerns would soon be forgotten in the race for revenge.  [...]"  Note: See the "9/11' link at the top of this panel for more related stories.

Commentary: "Inside The Gun Smuggling Scandal That Could Take Down Attorney General Eric Holder" [08/19/11] "Investigations into a gunrunning sting gone horribly wrong are creeping closer to the top of the U.S. Justice Department and its head, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. A congressional report released last month revealed that top DOJ officials knew about the sting, known as Operation Fast and Furious, in which U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) agents allowed more than 2,000 firearms to "walk" across the U.S. border to Mexico and into into the hands of Mexico’s brutal drug cartels. As many as 1,700 of those weapons have since been lost, and more than 100 have been found at bloody crime scenes on both sides of the border, including the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Arizona last December. In a letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times yesterday, Justice Department officials acknowledged that Fast and Furious weapons have been linked to at least 11 other crimes in the U.S.  The gunrunning operation is now the subject of a Congressional investigation, led by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), to identify who in the DOJ was responsible for or knew about the sting. Issa and Grassley have made it clear that Holder — a confidant of President Barack Obama — is a central focus of their probe. “I do have serious concerns that the attorney general should have known a lot more than he says he knew,” Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told the Washington Post. “In some ways, I’m more disappointed that he’s saying he didn’t know than if he says he was getting briefings and he didn’t understand.” So far, the DOJ has stonewalled the Issa/Grassley probe. But recent testimony from the embattled ATF director made the astounding claim that the cartel leaders targeted by Fast and Furious were allegedly paid informants for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI. If true, these allegations could taint the entire Justice Department. As the investigation widens, Holder will likely face some tough questions about how an ill-fated operation to actively arm — and perhaps pay — Mexico's brutal drug cartels could have happened under his watch, with or without his knowledge. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Author Details Pentagon’s Fake al-Qaeda" [08/19/11] "During an NPR interview of New York Times veteran reporter Thom Shanker, who co-authored "Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda", we learn that the Pentagon routinely pretends to be al-Qaeda: “What the American military intelligence can do is forge the watermarks or certification of official al-Qaida postings,” says Shanker. “American cyber technology is so advanced that they can have a near perfect re-creation of an al-Qaida message — and what they’re doing from time to time is going on jihadi websites and posting conflicting and contradictory orders, statements that raise doubt about who the jihadis should follow and who is really in charge … and the goal is to really disrupt the entire network by sowing dissent and confusion. We’ve been told they’ve had some great success at that.” In other words, we have no way of discerning between the “real” al-Qaeda and the facsimile created by the Pentagon and the CIA. Claims that al-Qaeda videos are fake and the discrepancy of “fat” and “Grecian formula” Osama bin Ladens are usually ignored by the corporate media or dismissed as conspiracy theories. Shanker’s report from the Pentagon lends credence to skeptics who insist al-Qaeda is not what the government says it is. This denial persisted even after the CIA admitted faking al-Qaeda videos and having its employees dress up and act like the dead Osama bin Laden. Not that it matters. For instance, the New Osama, Anwar al-Awlaki, dined at the Pentagon – a fact reported by Fox News – but this did not jive with the official Pentagon generated narrative, so it was ignored. This new information will either be ignored or the professional script-readers who pretend to be journalists will fail to connect the dots, as usual. The essence of Doublethink, after all, is the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct. Normally, such information creates cognitive dissonance – the uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously – but in the bizarro world that is the forever war of manufactured terror, this no longer applies. The Pentagon can now brazenly admit it creates terrorism and we are expected to assimilate this without question or further intellectual processing. If we point out the obvious, we are either ignored, dismissed as insane – a favorite tactic of neocons such as Newt Gingrich – or accused of aiding and abetting the enemies of freedom [...]"  

 Exposé: "Contribution Profile of Members of the Deficit 'Super Committee'" [08/19/11] "Top 10 Industry Contributors to Super Committee Members (PACs and Employees): Lawyers/Law Firms $31,529,149; Securities & Investment $11,221,416; Democratic/Liberal $9,647,264;Health Professionals $9,321,588;Real Estate $8,793,350; Education $8,568,460; Misc. Business $7,902,021; Business Services $6,563,524; Women's Issues $6,396,728; Insurance $5,693,595 [...]"  

 Exposé: "Super Committee Members are Major Recipients of Oil Company Contributions" [08/19/11] "Overall, the 12 members have received $2,147,533 from Big Oil during their careers. Of that $2.1 million dollars, more than $860,000 was given to super-committee members in the 2010 election cycle alone. [...]"  Related: "Special Interests Gave 'Super Committee' Members $3M" [08/14/11] "The 12 members of the new budget super committee have received more than $3 million over the past five years from special interests directly affected by potential cuts, an AP review finds. The money came from groups linked to defense contractors, labor unions, and health care providers, and buffered the lawmakers’ re-election campaigns. With Medicare and defense spending on the chopping block, the health care industry has donated $1 million to super committee members, while defense firms have handed them $700,000. The bipartisan co-chairs of the panel, Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, have both benefited from the support of lobbyists and political groups. “With the public already disgusted with Washington in the wake of the debt limit debacle, it's vital that people have confidence that super committee members are thinking about the nation's best interests, not positioning their party or worrying about how their decisions appear to donors,” says the head of an advocacy group. But the White House calls the concerns “silly criticism.” [...]"| Who bankrolls the Super Congress?"  "As with any group of senators and representatives, the members of the Super Congress bring to the table their own set of political activities. These include PAC contributions from special interests; the revolving door of staff in and out of the private sector; the lawmakers' own PACs that dole out donations to favored people running for office. [see the article] for individual profiles. [...]"  Note: See also below: "Reid Makes "Super Committee" Picks" [08/10/11] ; "Ron Paul and Judge Napolitano: Super Congress is Unconstitutional" Fox - Cavuto on Business [08/06/11] ;"Is 'Super Congress' Constitutional?" [08/02/11] with related stories.

UK: " The Stench of a Police State" [08/18/11] "The events of the last 12 days are a warning to the working class in Britain and internationally. The state repression and right-wing hysteria unleashed in response to youth rioting in London and other cities reveal the preparations of the ruling class for police-state forms of rule. The riots were triggered by the police execution of Mark Duggan, a black 29-year-old father of four, in Tottenham, north London on August 4, followed by an unprovoked police assault on a peaceful protest over his killing two days later. Almost a fortnight later, no officer has been identified, let alone charged, for these crimes. Instead, the political elites who sanctioned the looting of public funds to bail out the banks and the super-rich, and who covered up the illegal phone hacking of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, have sought to whip up a lynch mob atmosphere against the "criminality" and "immorality" of working class youth. Cheered on by the Labour Party, Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservative-Liberal Democrat government have organized vicious state repression, authorizing the use of water cannons and plastic bullets and the possible use of the army against further social unrest. Basic democratic rights have been thrown to the winds. The presumption of innocence has been jettisoned as police carry out mass arrests, with those detained subject to show trials presided over by courts acting directly at the behest of the 'authorities'. [...]"  

Commentary: "FBI Widens Its US Inquiry Into News Corp Beyond 9/11 Hacking" [08/18/11] "... It was reported this weekend that FBI investigators, who are checking damaging claims that reporters at the now-defunct Sunday tabloid asked a New York-based private detective to access the voicemails of those killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks, have so far found no evidence that attempts were made to eavesdrop on the messages. The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corp, said US agencies were now examining whether there were further claims of misconduct at the company's American subsidiaries that merit further investigation. The move comes as MPs in Westminster prepare to consider tomorrow the release of new documents related to hacking, which one former minister described as "dynamite".  [...]" 

MSM: "Iran Nuke Plant To Go Online In August" [08/18/11] "Iran's first nuclear power plant, built by Russia, will be connected to the national grid in late August, atomic chief Fereydoon Abbasi Davani told the Arabic-language network Al-Alam on Sunday. The test to reach 40 percent of the plant's power capacity has been done successfully... God willing, we will be able to commission the plant by the end of Ramadan with an initial production" of the same amount, Abbasi Davani said. He estimated that the plant would reach its "full capacity of 1,000 megawatts" in late November or early December. "We will then organise an official ceremony, for which it has been suggested that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev come to Iran," he said. The connection of the Bushehr plant in southern Iran to the national grid, originally scheduled for the end of 2010, has been been delayed several times because of technical problems. The plant was started up in November 2010 but repeated technical problems delayed its operation, leading to the removal of its fuel in March. [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "Smart Meters: No Federal Mandate" [08/16/11] "There is no federal security mandate for smart meters, according to George W. Arnold the national coordinator for smart-grid interoperability at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce is said not to be involved in regulations but is only tasked with promoting standards among industries. While both the 2005 and 2007 faux energy bills were codified into public laws, NO part of them creates a federal law pertaining to individual consumers or dictating that the public must be forced to comply with provisions of SMART Grid. Contrary to the bleating of manufacturers and utility talking heads, who claim there is no “opt out”, the fact is you, the consumer must be offered the meter, or request a meter and “OPT IN”. No one can be forced to comply with an unrevealed contract between private corporations, and to which you were never a party and had no knowledge of. [...]" Note: Very good overview of the back-story and the actual legal situation, with priceless links to related dynamics.

Concepts and Practices: "Terrorism? What Terrorism?" [08/16/11] "Since the fateful 9/11 events, the subject of terrorism has been ever present both in the mouths of the politicians and the mainstream press. Strong words come almost every day from the White House and the Hill condemning terrorist attacks all around the world and the killing of innocent civilians. Nevertheless, like in most things related to politics, there is more than meets the eye in the terrorism fad. First of all, everybody is talking about terrorism, but nobody seems to know, or even care about what terrorism is. Apparently, the definition most members of the U.S. government and the mainstream media have in mind is that terrorism is the result of acts committed by terrorists, and terrorists are the ones who commit terrorist acts — a typical circular definition. Moreover, it seems that the current definition of the term used by the American government, and repeated over and over by the sycophantic mainstream press, is that terrorism is any attack against the globalist Mafia that controls the U.S. government, while any attack by the same Mafia in defense of its interests is, by principle, not terrorism. [...]"  

Commentary: "Government Is A Death Cult" by Bill Buppert [08/15/11] "“Death solves all problems – no man, no problem.” - Joseph Stalin. Government is a death cult. It is the most profound mechanism outside of planetary extinction events to rid the globe of human beings. There have certainly been disease vectors like the plague in medieval times that wiped out significant parts of Europe but even that can be attributed to human volition to a certain extent. Since the first agricultural communities attracted the government predator’s eye thousands of years ago and led to the tax accountancy records Charles Adams first pointed out to us. Hunter gatherer communities were quite a bit more difficult to pin down and cage within the confines of a tax jurisdiction. Tax jurisdictions are the center of gravity for governments to germinate and expand their nefarious enterprises. Whether the murderous paroxysms of violence in the endless wars created by tax jurisdictions dressed in fancy bunting and flags in ancient times or today have more advanced killing machines, the mission is the same. Peter McCandless is fond of saying that a government will ultimately kill you for non-compliance of a seatbelt violation if your lack of obedience and insistence on resistance continues and escalates. [...]"  Note: Functionally, and experientially, this is what it has come to, for many groups of 'reincarnates' who think they're 'in charge', who exercise their predispositions for murder, mayhem and greed. Immature players in the galaxy game, who dig themselves deeper into the mire. Look to the their rudimentary astro charts that they have constructed, pitiful, lonely, dog-eat-dog life patterns with no hope of 'beating the hierarchy' of another group. It looks like they 'get away with' things ...but, then again ... does a child 'get away with' being a child? 

Commentary: "Aggression During G20 Rally ‘Perpetrated By Police,’ Judge Rules" [08/13/11] "A Toronto judge has ruled that “adrenalized” police officers acted as aggressors at a peaceful political rally that led to dozens of arrests during last year’s G20 summit. “The only organized or collective physical aggression at that location that evening was perpetrated by police each time they advanced on demonstrators,” Justice Melvyn Green ruled on Thursday. He was referring to a demonstration at Queen St. and Spadina Ave. on Saturday, June 26, 2010. Green stated police criminalized political demonstration, which is “vital” to maintain a “viable democracy.” [...]" 

Propaganda Theatre: "An Explosive New 9/11 Charge" [08/12/11] "With the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks only a month away, former CIA Director George Tenet and two former top aides are fighting back hard against allegations that they engaged in a massive cover-up in 2000 and 2001 to hide intelligence from the White House and the FBI that might have prevented the attacks. The source of the explosive, unproved allegations is a man who once considered Tenet a close friend: former White House counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, who makes the charges against Tenet and the CIA in an interview for a radio documentary timed to the 10th anniversary next month. Portions of the Clarke interview were made available to The Daily Beast by the producers of the documentary. [...]"  Note: This whole article talks about something that is a fabrication. This is STILL PART OF THE COVERUP ... the Operation consisted of several parallel operations. The actual 9/11 damage was caused by factions of the Mossad and CIA, with factions of other agencies involved, piggybacking on a setup operation using Arab patsies ... the government permitted, aided and abetted the 'attacks' ... so there's no agency of the US ever 'preventing' anything. Related: "Richard Clarke Says CIA Tried to Recruit 9/11 Terrorists"  

Interview: "Gerald Celente On Adam Vs. The Man" [08/11/11]   [6:00] "Gerald Celente : History already being reengineered. They're calling them pro- democracy movements. What happened over in the middle east and north Africa in the early winter that they call the Arab Spring , it has nothing to do with democracy it has to do with a lot of angry people that do not have a roof over their head cloths on their back and prices of food are sky rocketing and energy and they have nothing to put in their mouth , you have a lot of young people with university degrees in worthlessness that see no future in front of them and they are angry , they are angry because all of the money is at the top of the pyramid sort to speak , in the UK we just saw what happened in London and other cities around the UK , people taking to the streets of course what they are trying to do is making of a bunch of hooligans a racial issue , how about a lot of angry people who have nothing to lose and they are losing it  [...]"   Note: Gerald Celente, Publisher of the Trends Journal gives Adam an update on the first great war of this century. 

Commentary: "Senior Israeli Archaeologist Casts Doubt On Jewish Heritage Of Jerusalem" [08/10/11] Re-linked "A senior archaeologist at Tel Aviv University has cast doubt on the alleged Jewish heritage of Jerusalem. Israel Finkelstein's claims have been made in the face of official Israeli and biblical claims to the occupied city. Professor Finkelstein, who is known as "the father of biblical archaeology", told the Jerusalem Post that Jewish archaeologists have found no historical or archaeological evidence to back the biblical narrative on the Exodus, the Jews' wandering in Sinai or Joshua's conquest of Canaan. On the alleged Temple of Solomon, Finkelstein said that there is no archaeological evidence to prove it really existed. According to Finkelstein's university colleague, archaeology lecturer Rafi Greenberg, Israel is supposed to find something if it digs for a period of six weeks. But, Greenberg told the Jerusalem Post, Israelis have been excavating the so-called City of David in the occupied Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan for two years to no avail. Professor Yoni Mizrahi, an independent archaeologist who has worked with the International Atomic Energy Agency, agreed with Israel Finkelstein. He said that the right-wing Elad Association has not found anything "saying welcome to David's palace" although that was taken for granted by Elad, as if the group depended on scriptural texts to guide them in their work. original link [...]"  Note: Yeah, the whole thing is a fabrication. Related: "U.S. 'Deeply Concerned' By Israel's Approval Of East Jerusalem Construction Plans" "The United States said yesterday it is "deeply concerned" by Israel's approval of new housing in East Jerusalem. In its condemnation of Israel's action, the U.S. is joining the EU, the UN, Russia and Turkey, who made similar statements in recent days. A Foreign Ministry source in Jerusalem said that the U.S. Embassy in Israel contacted the Prime Minister's Bureau and the Foreign Ministry and stressed the seriousness of the American concern regarding the negative implications of the decision, which may make it impossible to block unilateral Palestinian efforts for recognition of statehood at the United Nations in September. [...]" 

MSM: "Reid Makes "Super Committee" Picks" [08/10/11] "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has selected Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) to serve as the co-chair of the bipartisan fiscal committee that will meet later this year. Charged with cutting $1.5 trillion from the federal deficit, Reid will also tap Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) for the "Super Committee." Congressional leaders have until August 16 to decide who will serve on the committee, which must report its recommendations to Congress by November 23. Reid said last week he would only appoint members who are not "locked-in" to any positions, adding he hopes for a compromise including substantial spending cuts, but including new revenues. [...]"  

Commentary: "Exclusive: “Last Man Out" Makes Shocking 9/11 Disclosure" [08/10/11]   "“There was a huge explosion in the basement—several seconds before the plane hit the tower!” William “Willy” Rodriguez is the 9/11 hero who helped save hundreds of lives, and the last person to escape alive from the World Trade Center (WTC) Towers. For his outstanding heroism during America’s desperate hour, William Rodriguez received a special commendation for valor from President George W. Bush at a special White House ceremony. And that is the extent of the official story as it pertains to William Rodriguez’s involvement relating to rescue efforts following the 9/11 attacks. But, as you shall see, his incredible heroism was but the tip of the 9/11 iceberg.[...]"  Note: See the "9/11" link at the top of this panel for other current stories.

Commentary: "Former First Lady Jackie Fingers Johnson and Texan Tycoons in JFK Assassination" [08/09/11] "In 2007, an ailing former CIA operative, E. Howard Hunt, said former president Lyndon Baines Johnson was directly connected to the JFK assassination and its cover-up. Others close to Johnson also indicated the Texan was complicit in the assassination of Kennedy. The former first Lady, the late Jackie Kennedy, also believed Johnson and cabal of Texas tycoons were involved in the assassination of her husband, according to a report posted on the Mail Online website. Secret tapes recorded by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., soon after the assassination reveal the widow’s belief that the vice president had colluded with Southern businessmen to kill Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was part of a larger conspiracy, she said. Following the murder, Kennedy married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. She ordered the tapes to be released 50 years after he death to protect the family, but her daughter, Caroline Kennedy, has agreed to release the tapes ahead of the deadline. Jackie Onassis died 17 years ago from cancer aged 64. It is said Caroline Kennedy agreed to release the tapes to ABC in exchange for the network dropping a drama series about her family. “Having Kennedy liquidated, thus elevating himself to the presidency without having to work for it himself, could have been a very tempting and logical move on Johnson’s part,” the late E. Howard Hunt wrote in his book, American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate & Beyond. “LBJ had the money and the connections to manipulate the scenario in Dallas and is on record as having convinced JFK to make the appearance in the first place.” In early 2007, Hunt’s son, Saint John Hunt, said he had received a tape recording from his father in which he revealed his role in the assassination. Johnson had “an almost maniacal urge to become president, he regarded JFK as an obstacle to achieving that,” Hunt said. [...]"  Related: "Jackie Kennedy Believed Lyndon B Johnson Killed JFK As Evidence Of Johnson’s Complicity Continues To Mount"  

Commentary: "Three Good Reasons To Liquidate Our Empire And Ten Steps to Take to Do So " By Chalmers Johnson [08/08/11] "According to the 2008 official Pentagon inventory of our military bases around the world, our empire consists of 865 facilities in more than 40 countries and overseas U.S. territories. We deploy over 190,000 troops in 46 countries and territories. In just one such country, Japan, at the end of March 2008, we still had 99,295 people connected to U.S. military forces living and working there -- 49,364 members of our armed services, 45,753 dependent family members, and 4,178 civilian employees. Some 13,975 of these were crowded into the small island of Okinawa, the largest concentration of foreign troops anywhere in Japan. These massive concentrations of American military power outside the United States are not needed for our defense. They are, if anything, a prime contributor to our numerous conflicts with other countries. They are also unimaginably expensive. According to Anita Dancs, an analyst for the website Foreign Policy in Focus, the United States spends approximately $250 billion each year maintaining its global military presence. The sole purpose of this is to give us hegemony -- that is, control or dominance -- over as many nations on the planet as possible. [...] Here are three basic reasons why we must liquidate our empire or else watch it liquidate us. [...]"  

MSM: "U.S. Special Forces Will Be Deployed in 120 Countries by End of 2011" [08/08/11] "Last year, Karen DeYoung and Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post reported that U.S. Special Operations forces were deployed in 75 countries, up from 60 at the end of the Bush presidency. By the end of this year, U.S. Special Operations Command spokesman Colonel Tim Nye told me, that number will likely reach 120. “We do a lot of traveling — a lot more than Afghanistan or Iraq,” he said recently. This global presence — in about 60% of the world’s nations and far larger than previously acknowledged — provides striking new evidence of a rising clandestine Pentagon power elite waging a secret war in all corners of the world. [...]"  

Commentary: "Israel’s Terror Has Been America’s Error: How Israel Bankrupted America" [08/07/11] Note: Paul J. Balles looks at how, by dragging the USA into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on false premises, Israel, the world’s first practitioner of terrorism, has almost bankrupted America.

Commentary: "The U.S. Is Actively Plotting To Grab Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons" [08/06/11] "American officials are actively forming and testing plans to "snatch" Pakistan's nuclear weapons, more than 100 in total, should the country devolve into chaos and Islamist militants stage an attack on one of its nuclear sites, as they have three times before, NBC News' Robert Windrem reports. Such an operation would probably be carried out by the U.S. Nuclear Emergency Search Team, profiled in a 2009 book by Jeffrey Richelson, in conjunction with the Joint Special Operations Command, which helped lead the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May. Windrem says that war games and military exercises to prepare for such an attack have probably already begun. The "snatch and grab" operation would carry much higher risks than the relatively small raid to kill bin Laden, however, and could even inadvertently lead to regional war, if Pakistan mistakenly thought India had taken the weapons. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told NBC News that an American attempt to seize the nukes would lead to all-out war between Pakistan and the United States. “These are assets which are the pride of Pakistan, assets which are dispersed and very secure in very secure places, guarded by a corps of 18,000 soldiers,” Musharaff told Windrem. “(This) is not an army which doesn't know how to fight. This is an army which has fought three wars. Please understand that.” [...]"  

Commentary: "American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Exposed" [08/06/11] "Never has the time been so right,” Louisiana State Representative Noble Ellington told conservative legislators gathered in Washington to plan the radical remaking of policies in the states. It was one month after the 2010 midterm elections. Republicans had grabbed 680 legislative seats and secured a power trifecta—control of both legislative chambers and the governorship—in twenty-one states. Ellington was speaking for hundreds of attendees at a “States and Nation Policy Summit,” featuring GOP stars like Texas Governor Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Convened by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)—“the nation’s largest, non-partisan, individual public-private membership association of state legislators,” as the spin-savvy group describes itself—the meeting did not intend to draw up an agenda for the upcoming legislative session. That had already been done by ALEC’s elite task forces of lawmakers and corporate representatives. The new legislators were there to grab their weapons: carefully crafted model bills seeking to impose a one-size-fits-all agenda on the states. Founded in 1973 by Paul Weyrich and other conservative activists frustrated by recent electoral setbacks, ALEC is a critical arm of the right-wing network of policy shops that, with infusions of corporate cash, has evolved to shape American politics. Inspired by Milton Friedman’s call for conservatives to “develop alternatives to existing policies [and] keep them alive and available,” ALEC’s model legislation reflects long-term goals: downsizing government, removing regulations on corporations and making it harder to hold the economically and politically powerful to account. Corporate donors retain veto power over the language, which is developed by the secretive task forces. The task forces cover issues from education to health policy. ALEC’s priorities for the 2011 session included bills to privatize education, break unions, deregulate major industries, pass voter ID laws and more. In states across the country they succeeded, with stacks of new laws signed by GOP governors like Ohio’s John Kasich and Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, both ALEC alums. The details of ALEC’s model bills have been available only to the group’s 2,000 legislative and 300 corporate members. But thanks to a leak to Aliya Rahman, an Ohio-based activist who helped organize protests at ALEC’s Spring Task Force meeting in Cincinnati, The Nation has obtained more than 800 documents representing decades of model legislation. Teaming up with the Center for Media and Democracy, The Nation asked policy experts to analyze this never-before-seen archive. The articles that follow are the first products of that examination. They provide an inside view of the priorities of ALEC’s corporate board and billionaire benefactors (including Tea Party funders Charles and David Koch). “Dozens of corporations are investing millions of dollars a year to write business-friendly legislation that is being made into law in statehouses coast to coast, with no regard for the public interest,” says Bob Edgar of Common Cause. “This is proof positive of the depth and scope of the corporate reach into our democratic processes.” The full archive of ALEC documents is available at a new website, alecexposed.org, thanks to the Center for Media and Democracy, which has provided powerful tools for progressives to turn this knowledge into power. The data tell us that the time has come to refocus on the battle to loosen the grip of corporate America and renew democracy in the states. [...]" Related: "The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor"   

Commentary: "Ron Paul and Judge Napolitano: Super Congress is Unconstitutional"  Fox - Cavuto on Business [08/06/11] [6:42] "Ron Paul and Judge Napolitano talk about super congress and how it gives all other members of Congress a demotion. [...]"  

Commentary: "Adam Vs. The Man – Super Congress Makes Oligarchy Official" [08/05/11] [30:10] "Tonight on Adam vs. the Man with Adam Kokesh: Today is the default day. So did the debt deal really save us from disaster? And, Stefan Molyneux, Host, Freedomain Radio, explains all the ways the U.S. government is already in debt. Plus, With a new super congress, is the U.S. more like a republic or oligarchy? Adam explains whether gold or guns are better for saving and as congress leaves Washington, the FAA shutdown continues. Plus, Investigative journalist Webster Tarpley talks about his recent trip to Libya.  [...]" 

MSM: "No One Wants To Be on Debt 'Super Committee'" [08/05/11] "Legislators aren't exactly jumping to volunteer for the 12-man "super committee" created by the debt ceiling deal, which promises to be a thankless and heavily lobbied job, the LA Times reports. “I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment,” says Jon Kyl. “This is going to take an odd kind of person.” Ben Nelson tells CBS he's not interested either, and Susan Collins says she’s “not a fan of creating a new committee”—not that the compromise-prone Collins would even be asked. “It’s going to be junkyard types,” says one budget expert, adding that “They’ll want people who understand they’re not free agents,” ruling out the likes of Tom Coburn or Rand Paul. Lawmakers facing reelection in 2012 are also off the hook. Whoever’s picked will, however, benefit from unprecedented pressure (read: campaign donations) from lobbyists. “The power of the entire Congress is being placed in the hand of just 12 members,” says one media consultant. “You’re going to see checks and requests for meetings flying furiously.” [...]"  Related: See "Is 'Super Congress' Constitutional?" [08/02/11] Below.

MSM: "Mexican Kingpin Says U.S. Protected Cartel" [08/05/11] "A Mexican man charged with smuggling tons of cocaine into the United States told a federal judge in Chicago that U.S. authorities protected his outfit, the powerful Sinaloa cartel, in exchange for information on rival gangs. The defendant, Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla, is the son of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, reputed right-hand man of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, and played an important role in the organization until his March 2009 arrest in Mexico City. Zambada Niebla was extradited to the United States in 2010 and will go on trial this week in Chicago. In legal pleadings submitted to U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo, Zambada Niebla said the collaboration between the Sinaloa cartel and U.S. law enforcement arose from the 1995 drug indictment of Mexican attorney Humberto Loya Castro, “a close confidante” of Chapo Guzman.  [...]"  Related: "Feds Allegedly Allowed Sinaloa Cartel To Move Cocaine Into U.S. For Information For Last 5 Years " [08/04/11] "U.S. federal agents allegedly allowed the Sinaloa drug cartel to traffic several tons of cocaine to the United States in exchange for information about rival cartels, according to court documents filed in a U.S. federal court. The allegations are part of the defense of Vicente Zambada-Niebla, a top lieutenant of drug kingpin Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, who was extradited to the United States to face drug-trafficking charges in Chicago. The case could prove to be a bombshell on par with the ATF’s “Operation Fast and Furious,” except that instead of U.S. guns being allowed to walk across the border, the Sinaloa cartel was allowed to bring drugs into the United States over a five-year period, the documents allege. [...]" | "Feds Caught Shipping Cocaine into U.S. " [9:51] "Federal agents in the U.S. okay'd tons of cocaine in exchange for info from drug cartel. [...]" |Commentary: "DEA Protecting the Most Dangerous and Powerful Mexican Drug Cartel" By Mario Andrade [08/05/11] "The Mexican drug war that began in 2004 was started by the Sinaloa Drug Cartel with the blessing and the protection of the DEA. The Sinaloa Drug Cartel reached an agreement with the DEA to provide information about drug cartel rivals. In exchange, the DEA would protect their drug shipments and their people. [...]" 

MSM: "More Than Half Of Mexico's Top Prosecutors Have Resigned En Masse" [08/03/11]   "In the latest upheaval of Mexico's battered criminal justice system, top prosecutors in 21 of the country's 31 states have abruptly resigned , the Los Angeles Times reports today. The departures included top federal prosecutors in some of Mexico's most violent states, where drug-related violence has left thousands dead. The top prosecutor from Mexico City also resigned. Officials gave no specific reasons for the collective departures, but the LAT notes that the resignations come amid a widening purge of Mexico's dysfunctional attorney general's office, which is responsible for investigating federal charges, including drug trafficking and organized crime. Attorney General Marisela Morales, who took office in April, has come under pressure after seeing several high-profile cases fell apart. [...]"  

\ MSM: "Israel’s Supreme Court Orders The Dismantling Of Illegal West Bank Settlement" [08/03/11] "Israel’s Supreme Court, for the first time, has formally demanded that an illegal settlement north of Jerusalem be disbanded.  [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "Is 'Super Congress' Constitutional?" [08/02/11] [4:09] Full Screen   "Judge Andrew Napolitano warns that the “Super Congress” was an assault on the authority the Constitution gives elected representatives. [...]"  Related: "Ron Paul Sounds Alarm On “Disturbing” Super Congress" "Congressman Ron Paul warns that the all-powerful new “Super Congress” created by the vote on the debt ceiling will be used to fast-track tax increases while concentrating more power over the nation’s purse strings in the hands of the Washington elite. [...] “Congress could not modify the committee’s recommendation,” reports CBS, an admission that powers ascribed to elected lawmakers that are enshrined in the Constitution are being completely gutted."  | "Super Congress Getting Even More Powers In Debt Deal" [07/31/11]   "In order to shore up GOP support for a debt-ceiling deal, Senate Democrats are exploring ways of giving the proposed Super Congress even greater super powers, according to multiple news reports and congressional aides with knowledge of the plan. Under the new proposal, if the new legislative body composed of 12 members of both parties doesn't come up with a bill that cuts at least $1.8 trillion by Thanksgiving, entitlement programs will automatically be slashed. The Super Congress will be made up of six Democrats and six Republicans from both chambers. Under the reported framework, legislation the new congressional committee writes would be fast-tracked through the regular Congress and could not be filibustered or amended. The parties are negotiating the outlines of the super panel's mandate, deciding roughly how much in cuts must come from defense spending, how much from seniors, how much from veterans, etc.[...] | "Congress May Attempt To Create New Legislative Body, As Rumors Of “Super Congress” Begin" [07/25/11] "With a startling headline that should send shock waves throughout America, The Huffington Post is reporting that two influential Senators have put forth a plan that would essentially create a new legislative body, a new super congress. “This “Super Congress,” composed of members of both chambers and both parties, isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Constitution, but would be granted extraordinary new powers,” wrote Ryan Grim. The plan, reportedly put forth by Mitch McConnell and Majority Leader Harry Reid, would create a new government body with six members from each party and would be used to pass unpopular debt ceiling legislation. [...]" | Note: Always a 'Council of 12+', isn't it? Obama is a potential 13th member, as is explained in some of the stories above.

Concepts and Practices: "Peaceful Anarchy: Imagine a Society without the State" [08/02/11]   "If we look at the record of mass murder, exploitation, and tyranny levied on society by governments over the ages, we need not be loath to abandon the Leviathan State and … try freedom.” ~ Murray N. Rothbard. Anarchy in its purest form is based on peaceful behavior and voluntarism in a stateless society, while government is based on aggression, theft, force, and deceit. These two systems are completely opposite. The only moral social system worth having has to adhere to the ideas of non-aggression, private property, free and voluntary exchange, and self-responsibility. This ideology is based entirely on the individual as sovereign.... [...]"  Note: On a level of society, this isn't a concept that could operate here in it's most idealistic form, because large groups need an infrastructure for support and a means of effectively dealing with each other, and societies develop hierarchical structures of power and control. No man is an island in a galaxy game. Of course, everyone wishes others to be reasonable, but all 'people' are not the same here, and you have astral influence and many other overlays in reality here. From a more advanced perspective, individuals could be considered to be 'sovereign' only on an upper level of reality, as individual Higher Selves on the 5th density ... their incarnations 'down here' are busy with a galaxy game experience ... while what they say is true about government, that is the framework that provides the experiences we need to mature ... it is supposed to be like this in the first place, here. Get over it. We're leaving soon, too, so it doesn't really matter at this point. We survive. The civilization doesn't.

Commentary: "Mystery Surrounds Loss Of Records, Art Of 9/11" [08/02/11] "Letters written by Helen Keller. Forty-thousand photographic negatives of John F. Kennedy taken by the president’s personal cameraman. Sculptures by Alexander Calder and Auguste Rodin. The 1921 agreement that created the agency that built the World Trade Center. Besides ending nearly 3,000 lives, destroying planes and reducing buildings to tons of rubble and ash, the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks destroyed tens of thousands of records, irreplaceable historical documents and art. In some cases, the inventories were destroyed along with the records. And the loss of human life at the time overshadowed the search for lost paper. A decade later, dozens of agencies and archivists say they’re still not completely sure what they lost or found, leaving them without much of a guide to piece together missing history. “You can’t get the picture back, because critical pieces are missing,” said Kathleen D. Roe, operations director at the New York State Archives and co-chairwoman of the World Trade Center Documentation Project. “And so you can’t know what the whole picture looks like.” [...]"   Note: See the "9/11" link at the top of this panel for related stories in this dynamic.

Commentary: "The Pentagon Rules America: Militarism And The Crisis Of The Civilian Economy" [07/31/11] "One reason the U.S. fell behind, Melman explained, is that “about 30 percent of the nation's engineers, scientists and technicians work directly or indirectly for the military. The loss to the civilian economy is incalculable.” Consumer electronics, he said, “declined dramatically while the Government employs thousands of electronic engineers in its military labs.” That was true when Melman spoke and it is true today. We have an army of death scientists toiling away in germ warfare labs ($50 billion wasted on this nauseating research alone since 9/11), in space warfare labs, in nuclear warfare labs, in electronic warfare labs, as well as in labs specializing in conventional ways to kill people. Melman said one reason for the continuing dominance of the MIC is that the U.S. “is now a military form of state capitalism in which top managers of the military forces and their economy have dominant power---economic, political and military.” [...]"  

Commentary: "The Globalist Imperial Network, As Explained by a Globalist" [07/31/11] "The mechanics of world empire, in particular the current corporate-financier oligarchy has been examined in great detail. The US State Department, supporting NGOs funded directly by both US taxpayers' money as well as funds from the Fortune 500 corporations they serve, alone constitute a global-spanning, incessantly meddling homogeneous network working to undermine both personal and national sovereignty while replacing national governments around the world. [...]"  

Commentary: "The Scapegoat in American Culture: From Lee Harvey Oswald To Osama bin Laden" [07/31/11] " Facts and evidence are powerless against myth and scapegoating. Washington has deliberately created a culture of brainwashing and unreality, of terror and trauma, of myth and pseudo knowledge. The world is held hostage to this dumbed-down and poisoned culture. But America’s collective psyche is not resistant to truth and reality. Millions of individuals in America and other Western countries are not submitting their minds to the false beliefs and prejudices of a dumb and blind herd that is being misled by an evil and ruthless power elite in Washington and Israel. [...]" 

Concepts and Practices: "7 Essential Rules Of Tyranny" [07/30/11] "As we look back on the horrors of the dictatorships and autocracies of the past, one particular question consistently arises; how was it possible for the common men of these eras to NOT notice what was happening around them? How could they have stood as statues unaware or uncaring as their cultures were overrun by fascism, communism, collectivism, and elitism? Of course, we have the advantage of hindsight, and are able to research and examine the misdeeds of the past at our leisure. Unfortunately, such hindsight does not necessarily shield us from the long cast shadow of tyranny in our own day. For that, the increasingly uncommon gift of foresight is required… At bottom, the success of despotic governments and Big Brother societies hinges upon a certain number of political, financial, and cultural developments. The first of which is an unwillingness in the general populace to secure and defend their own freedoms, making them completely reliant on corrupt establishment leadership. For totalitarianism to take hold, the masses must not only neglect the plight of their country, and the plight of others, but also be completely uninformed of the inherent indirect threats to their personal safety. They must abandon all responsibility for their destinies, and lose all respect for their own humanity. They must, indeed, become domesticated and mindless herd animals without regard for anything except their fleeting momentary desires for entertainment and short term survival. For a lumbering bloodthirsty behemoth to actually sneak up on you, you have to be pretty damnably oblivious.  [...] The prevalence of apathy and ignorance sets the stage for the slow and highly deliberate process of centralization. Once dishonest governments accomplish an atmosphere of inaction and condition a sense of frailty within the citizenry, the sky is truly the limit. However, a murderous power-monger’s day is never quite done. In my recent article ‘The Essential Rules of Liberty’ we explored the fundamentally unassailable actions and mental preparations required to ensure the continuance of a free society. In this article, let’s examine the frequently wielded tools of tyrants in their invariably insane quests for total control… [...] Rule #1: Keep Them Afraid [...] "  

Commentary: "20 Signs That You Are A Psychopath" [07/30/11] "We all know CEOs are charismatic, competitive, and work-obsessed, but are they also psychopathic? British journalist Jon Ronson says some fit the bill.  "I think my book offers really good evidence that the way that capitalism is structured really is a physical manifestation of the brain anomaly known as psychopathy," says Ronson, author of "The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry" in an interview with Forbes. "Basically, high-scoring psychopaths can be brilliant bosses but only ever for short term...they always want to make a killing and move on." Armed with psychologist Robert Hare's widely used psycho diagnostic tool, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), Ronson explored the world of mental health and criminal profiling to understand what makes some people psychopaths. About four percent of leaders with substantial decision-making power can be classified as psychopaths, according to Hare. Want to know where you fall on the list? Take the psychopathy test and find out. Each of the items in the test is scored on a three-point scale: A value of 0 is assigned if the item does not apply, 1 if it applies somewhat, and 2 if it fully applies. Keep track of the items that best describe you and read on for the results. [...]" 

Propaganda Theatre: "US Accuses Iran Of 'Secret Deal' With "Al-Qaeda" [07/29/11] "The Obama administration accused Iran on Thursday of entering into a "secret deal" with an al-Qaida offshoot that provides money and recruits for attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Treasury Department designated six members of the unit as terrorists subject to U.S. sanctions. The U.S. intelligence community has in the past disagreed about the extent of direct links between the Iranian government and al-Qaida. Thursday's allegations went further than what most analysts had previously said was a murky relationship with limited cooperation. [...]"  While at the same time: "US Recognizes 'Al-Qaeda War Criminals' As Libya's Official Government" "In an act of utter desperation as the brutal, though entirely ineffective Libyan rebels flounder in their NATO-backed offensives against Libya's ruling government in Tripoli, the US has now recognized the Libyan rebels as the country's "legitimate government" allowing the US to directly fund, arm, and support with US troops, the Al-Qaeda tied war criminals operating out of Benghazi. The recent farcical move indicates that France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppé has failed in his threats and posturing to get Libya's Qaddafi to stand down, and that the NATO-backed war of aggression is about to reach new heights of brutality most likely including the involvement of US, UK, and French troops on the ground. Operating out of the Libyan cities of Benghazi, Darna, and Tobruk, Libyan rebels themselves have admitted that many of their members are drawn from Al Qaeda. The London Telegraph has reported that Libyan rebel leader Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi had admitted many of his fighters had just returned from fighting US forces in Iraq. The Telegraph also reported that Hasidi himself had "earlier fought against "the foreign invasion" in Afghanistan, before being captured in 2002 in Peshwar, in Pakistan. He was later handed over to the US, and then held in Libya before being released in 2008." A United States Army West Point report confirms indeed that fighters drawn from the Libyan cities of Benghazi, Darna, and Tobruk were second only to Saudi Arabia in contributing forces to fight US troops in Iraq. [...]"  

Commentary: "Feds To Grab Land For Homeland Security" [07/28/11]   "... with respect to certain sections of the international border between the United States and Mexico and between the United States and Canada shall be considered to apply to all sections of the international land and maritime borders of the United States within 100 miles of the international land and maritime borders of the United States for the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security described in subsection (b), including the construction of infrastructure, to achieve the operational control described in subsection (a). [...]"  

Commentary: "After Oslo: Time to Crack Down On Mossad Terrorism" Wayne Madsen [07/27/11] "Israel's most secret and tried-and-true weapon is the "false flag" terrorist attack. State-sponsored terrorism is defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as the "systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective [and] is employed by governments -- or more often by factions within governments -- against that government's citizens, against factions within the government, or against foreign governments or groups." On July 22, a bomb, said to be an Oklahoma City-type explosive device, crafted with fertilizer and diesel fuel, blew up in downtown Oslo, Norway, in the heart of the government district. Shortly thereafter, a man dressed in a Norwegian police uniform opened fire on a Labor Party youth camp on the island of Utoya in Tyri fjord. Access to the island was by boat only. Over 100 people were killed in the twin terror attacks. Almost immediately, the world's corporate media began pushing the story that those who were responsible for the blast and mass shooting were associated with "Al Qaeda" and other radical Islamist groups. CNN's Washington, DC chief anchor Wolf Blitzer, a former spokesman for the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby and a correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, began his late afternoon program by pointing to "Al Qaeda" and radical Islamists as the chief culprits for the terrorist attacks in Norway. [...]"  Note: See the "Norway" link at the top of this panel for related stories in this dynamic.

Flashback: "Four MOSSAD Agents in World Trade Center Pre 9-11 "Doing Construction" [07/27/11] [5:05] "Four of the so-called "Art Students"- (Mossad Agents) - did an "art installation" IN THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE in 2001,before the attacks. In a radio interview, Jonathon Brown of "Core of Corruption" fame outlines his evidence and explains how his phone has been tapped since discovering this information. The students lived in the WTC for a month. More info. [...]"  

MSM: "NATO Forces Supplied Food, Water and Arms to Taliban Forces in Southern Afghanistan" [07/25/11] "A year-long military-led investigation has concluded that U.S. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the Taliban under a $2.16 billion transportation contract that the United States has funded in part to promote Afghan businesses. The unreleased investigation provides seemingly definitive evidence that corruption puts U.S. transportation money into enemy hands, a finding consistent with previous inquiries carried out by Congress, other federal agencies and the military. Yet U.S. and Afghan efforts to address the problem have been slow and ineffective, and all eight of the trucking firms involved in the work remain on U.S. payroll. In March, the Pentagon extended the contract for six months. According to a summary of the investigation results, compiled in May and reviewed by The Washington Post, the military found “documented, credible evidence of involvement in a criminal enterprise or support for the enemy” by four of the eight prime contractors. Investigators also cited cases of profiteering, money laundering and kickbacks to Afghan power brokers, government officials and police officers. Six of the companies were found to have been associated with “fraudulent paperwork and behavior.” [...]  A senior U.S. defense official said that a radically revised transport system, replacing the Host Nation Trucking contract when it expires in September, will be announced in a few weeks. Based on the findings of the investigation, the new contract will expand the number of companies from eight to at least 30 and change the security system for the truck convoys. It will require detailed information on all subcontractors and supervision by military units in the field rather than headquarters-based contracting officers. In the meantime, interim steps have been taken to improve oversight and accountability within the murky web of companies and individuals involved in the shipment of more than 70 percent of all U.S. military food, fuel, weapons and construction material within Afghanistan, said the official, who was authorized to discuss the issue only on the condition of anonymity."  

Legal Case: "British Police Concealed Evidence Princess Diana Was Targeted For Assassination" [07/24/11] "A French Judge is demanding British police explain why they are concealing evidence that Princess Diana was being targeted for assassination by means of a well orchestrated car accident. French Judge Gerard Caddeo is opening an investigation into why British police and the British Embassy in France concealed the exists of a note that would caused the original investigation into the death of Princess Diana to be treated as a murder investigation. The Judge said that the concealed note reported that the Princess had been “informed by sources worthy of her trust” that an attempt was being made to “eliminate her in an orchestrated automobile accident.” Princess Diana later died in a high speed car crash on August 31, 1997 in France while trying to evade the paparazzi. The original investigation into her untimely death was thought to be laid to rest after investigators concluded the crash occurred due to the car spinning out of control. But now Judge Caddeo is locked in a legal battle with British officials and is demanding an explanation of British officials concealed evidence about the existence of the note. British police and the British Embassy in France have so far have refused to answer questions or comply with the Judge’s orders to answer questions about the note. Judge Caddeo is now threatening to issue international arrest wants to get to the bottom of the matter. Under French law the crime of concealing evidence is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and the Judge has stated he will issue international arrest warrants if the British police do not comply. [...]"  

MSM: "United States Has Wasted Or Misspent USD 34 Billion On Contracting For Services In Iraq And Afghanistan" [07/24/11] "The three-year investigation comes from the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, which was established by Congress in 2008, the Wall Street Journal reports. The report, which is expected to be sent to Capitol Hill in the next few weeks, lays out in detail the failure of federal agencies in American wars. The draft report names several poorly managed projects, such as a USD 300 million spending on a US Agency for International Development of agriculture, a project with a "burn rate" of USD 1 million a day that paid Afghan farmers to work in their own fields. The US government's controversial use of private security contractors has been another focus of the report which is the biggest issue of the US wartime contracting. On September 16, 2007, private security firm Blackwater guards, now known as Xe Services, shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, a move which sparked a political and diplomatic crisis.  The report says that the inappropriate use of contract security has at times inadvertently undermined the aims of the US foreign policy. Senate investigators found last year that forces serving in private security agencies in Afghanistan often have ties to criminals, insurgents and local warlords.  [...]"  

"Power Downs, Evacuations, Strange Events in Weeks Before 9/11" [07/23/11] [5:17] "George Bushs younger brother, Marvin Bush, was the Director of Securacom, the company that provided electronic security for both the World Trade Center and Washington Dulles Airport (where Flight 77 took off) on 9/11. George Bushs cousin, Wirt D. Walker III, was CEO of this company from 1999 to 2002. Securacom had an $8.3 million contract from 1996-2002 to install a new security system. Scott Forbes, a Senior Database Administrator for Fiduciary Trust, reports unprecedented power-downs for the whole weekend prior to 9/11. William Rodriguez, the 9/11 Last Survivor, explains that the security doors were left wide open for anyone to go in or out, and the security cameras were turned off. People reported seeing men in overalls carrying huge toolboxes and long wheels of cables. The explanation was that internet cables were being upgraded. Ben Fountain, a financial analyst, reported numerous unusual evacuations in weeks before 9/11. What were they really doing? When the Towers were built, the steel beams were sprayed with fire-proof asbestos. Learning of the new health dangers, the asbestos was expected to be removed from every beam. This was almost undoable. Estimates for the cost of doing this were over a billion dollars. [...]"  Related:"9/11 WTC Employee Discusses Pre 9/11 Power Downs" [7:01] "Gary Corbett , World Trade Center employee discusses the power down at the WTC the weekend before 9/11. [...]" 

Commentary: "How The FBI Entraps US Citizens To Feign Success Against Terror" [07/22/11]   "The FBI, under considerable pressure to produce results, has resorted to unjust measures to create villains of domestic terror.  [...] The relaxation of criteria required to engage in investigative activity has been a recurrent feature of the post-9/11 world. Mukasey's Guidelines, for instance, allow the FBI to conduct preliminary "assessments" on the activities of individuals or organizations without any prior allegations indicating criminal activity or threats to national security. In these assessment stages that occur prior to preliminary investigations - which themselves can last up to six months! - FBI agents are also permitted to "assess individuals who may have value as human sources," effectively enabling the premeditated recruitment of informants. Crucially, the Guidelines refrain from imposing "supervisory approval requirements in assessments." Taking advantage of this dearth of checks and balances, the U.S. Department of Justice has heretofore brought charges against just over 400 individuals in "terrorism- related investigations," since 9/11. As noted by David Cole, a professor of law at Georgetown University, this figure is widely regarded as inflated in that it incorporates a vast number of cases that relate to minor offences, such as immigration fraud, rather than actual terrorism. [...] "  

Commentary: "HR Bill 1505 Allows For Outright Destruction Of Parts Of The U.S. If DHS Claims A "Security Risk" [07/21/11] " HR Bill 1505, the “National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act,” would force the Secretary of the Interior to cede authority of coastal public lands, as well as lands located along the borders of Canada and Mexico, to the Secretary of Homeland Security when the latter sees fit. It would give the Dept. of Homeland Security the ability to construct roads and fences, deploy patrol vehicles and set up “monitoring equipment” in the National Seashore with impunity. And it would waive the need for the Dept. of Homeland Security to comply with environmental laws in areas within 100 miles of a coastline or international border. The laws from which the Dept. of Homeland Security would be exempt include the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Clean Air Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and virtually every other piece of environmental legislation passed by Congress. The bill is not without opposition. Congressman William Keating , who also sits on the House committee for Homeland Security, is concerned about the language in the bill as it appears to allow for outright destruction of parts of the United States as long as the DHS claims that there is some sort of security risk. There are also massive  environmental and legislative problems to be taken into consideration as well. [...]" 

Commentary: "George Soros, Feds Seize Control of America’s Flooded Farmland" [07/21/11] "Amid the chaotic weather systems thus far in 2011, the federal government has twisted and exacerbated a natural catastrophe to victimize American farming families, while subsequently staging a land grab to further the UN’s Agenda 21 protocols, all at once. Despite record amounts of snowfall this past winter, the snowpack was measured and melted predictably. Yet the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers claimed to be surprised by the melt-water amounts. As a result, they planned to detonate the Birds Point levee in Missouri to prevent runoff water from devastating the town of Cairo, Ill. Bizarrely, the feds thought it more intelligent to flood 130,000 acres of rural farmland, and thus a necessary part of the food supply, than to affect an urban zone of 2,800 people, one-third of whom already live below the poverty level. Detonated levees might bring the Ninth Ward of New Orleans to mind, and one might suspect the federal government was attempting to avoid another accusation of racism, classism and inaction. However, commodities broker Ann Barnhardt has revealed another possible scheme at work. [...]"  

MSM: "CIA Veteran: Israel To Attack Iran In Fall" MJ Rosenberg [07/20/11] "A longtime CIA officer who spent 21 years in the Middle East is predicting that Israel will bomb Iran in the fall, dragging the United States into another major war and endangering US military and civilian personnel (and other interests) throughout the Middle East and beyond. Earlier this week, Robert Baer appeared on the provocative KPFK Los Angeles show Background Briefing, hosted by Ian Masters. It was there that he predicted that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is likely to ignite a war with Iran in the very near future. Robert Baer has had a storied career, including a stint in Iraq in the 1990s where he organised opposition to Saddam Hussein. (He was recalled after being accused of trying to organise Saddam's assassination.) Upon his retirement, he received a top decoration for meritorious service. Baer is no ordinary CIA operative. George Clooney won an Oscar for playing a character based on Baer in the film Syriana (Baer also wrote the book). He obviously won't name many of his sources in Israel, the United States, and elsewhere, but the few he has named are all Israeli security figures who have publically warned that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are hell-bent on war. Most former Mossad chiefs wary of Netanyahu: Baer was especially impressed by the unprecedented warning about Netanyahu's plans by former Mossad chief Meir Dagan. Dagan left the Israeli intelligence agency in September 2010. Two months ago, he predicted that Israel would attack and said that doing so would be "the stupidest thing" he could imagine.  [...]" Note: Israel has a penchant for announcing what they'd like to do ahead of time, just to see what people say and do ... it may well be what is meant to occur.

World Politics: "Iran Opens Oil Bourse: Harbinger of Trouble for New York and London?" [07/20/11] "The last three years of global recession have dealt a major blow to American capitalist ideas trumpeted throughout the world on the value of “free markets.” Wall St. has been revealed as a form of casino economy, with the bankster insiders gambling with other people’s, and eventually, the government’s money in the form of bailouts. As the Republicans in Congress, scenting victory in the 2012 presidential elections, hold a gun to the Obama administration’s head and rating agencies consider downgrading U.S. government bonds in light of Washington’s possible defaulting, many ideas around the world that previously seemed implausible because of the dominance of the U.S. economy are garnering renewed interest. Not surprisingly, many of these concepts originate in countries not enamored with Washington’s influence, perhaps none so more than “Axis of Evil” charter member Iran, which has seen its economy hammered by more than three decades of U.S.-led sanctions. Now Iran is working a program that, if it succeeds, could help undermine the dollar’s preeminence as the world’s reserve currency more effectively than a Republican filibuster. Iran’s sly weapon against the Great Satan’s currency? An oil bourse on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, which has now begun selling high-grade Iranian crude oil. [...]" 

MSM: "Gaza Under Attack From A Swarm Of Drones" [07/20/11] "The whole of Gaza City is under air attack with Israel Defense Force (IDF) drones and other aircraft roaming the skies firing rockets and dropping bombs on the Palestinian population. For Scoop, Julie Webb-Pullman reports that there are swarms of strike aircraft: “There was at least one explosion, then sirens. I can still hear drones , more sirens, lots of sirens, more explosions.” From one vantage point, she can see a lot of smoke emitting from near Gaza City's university. From her rooftop, Julie Webb-Pullman reports: “It looks like a massive airstrike - the city of Gaza is under a pall of acrid smoke. The drones still droning. I can't tell where the strikes were, but definitely in the middle of town, as well as further out.” [...]"  Related: Commentary: "Arrest Sought For Ex-CIA Lawyer Who Authorized Drone Strikes" [07/19/11] "The lawyer who signed off on CIA drone “hit lists” is now being sought after for strikes that have killed hundreds of people in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Human rights lawyers in the UK and Pakistan are seeking the arrest of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) former legal director, John A. Rizzo, who served as the acting general counsel for the agency, Al Jazeera reported today. “There has clearly been a crime committed here,” Clive Stafford Smith, a British human rights lawyer who represents British prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and is the leading voice against Rizzo. [...]"  

Commentary: "How Big Multinational Corporations Hire the CIA and NSA To Kill People and Nations" [07/20/11] "A former NSA agent reveals how big multinational corporations hired the CIA and the NSA to murder people and nations during the course of his career. John Perkins was initially recruited by the National Security Agency when he was still in business school in Boston. He had to undergo a very long set of interviews with lie detector tests and personality tests. In the interview they were able to draw the conclusion that he would make a good economic hit man which is basically a con-artist. Apparently the NSA found the three most common weaknesses in human beings which would be the best doors for them to enter and hook him up to do dirty jobs for them. These weaknesses are sex, power and money. Perkins was tested and interviewed and it came out that he had all the three weaknesses in him. That was how they got to him and hired him to do the dirty jobs for them. During the years of working for them, Perkins was close and well-known to organizations such as the CIA, National Security Agency, the World Bank and USAID. All the EHMs were well known to them but not to the general public. Perkins tells Lew Rockwell in a recent interview that the primary job of both the CIA and the National Security Agency is to serve multinational corporate interests for giant corporations that are not even US based anymore such as Halliburton. However the CIA and the NSA devoted tremendous amount of effort, money and energy to doing things that would help corporate interests abroad. These include making sure that the right countries have the resources that the corporations want, bribing them, making sure that they’re staying in position, and even arranging for them to be killed if they stand up against the corporations. [...]"  

Commentary: "Sinister Cyber Surveillance Plot Revealed In Fascinating Glimpse Into World Of Fascist Black Ops" [07/20/11] "A sinister cyber surveillance plot revealed in this rare fascinating look deep into the underground world of the fascist partnership of corporate and government black operations. I recently pointed out some of the shocking details of the cyber surveillance spy program unveiled by the Anonymous release of the HBGary Federal emails as discussed by the UK newspaper the Guardian. While those details revealed mounds of shocking information, such as top secret military black ops being ran in partnership with the likes of Google, Facebook and AT&T to spy on online activities to gather data for the government to run mass propaganda operations and manipulate the news, the reality is the email dump contains over 70,000 emails and only as the emails are further dug through and analyzed will the full extent of the operations be revealed. The latest update on the information contained in the emails reveal more sinister details of the cyber surveillance plot and give a rare look into the underground world of the fascist partnership of corporate and government black operations. [...]"  Related: "A Sinister Cyber-Surveillance Scheme Exposed" "Hacked emails from security contractor HBGary Federal reveal a disturbing public-private partnership to spy on web users [...]"  

Commentary: "The Military Industrial Complex: The Enemy from Within" [07/19/11] "If there is any absolute maxim by which the federal government seems to operate, it is that the American taxpayer always gets ripped off, and Americans would do well to keep that in mind as Congress and the White House debate whether or not to raise the debt ceiling from its current high of $14.3 trillion. For one thing, the grandstanding by both parties over health care costs and Social Security is nothing more than a convenient distraction from the glaring economic truth that at the end of the day, it’s not the sick, the elderly or the poor who are stealing us blind and pushing America towards bankruptcy. It’s the military industrial complex (the illicit merger of the armaments industry and the Pentagon) that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us against more than 50 years ago and which has come to represent perhaps the greatest threat to the nation’s fragile infrastructure today. Having been co-opted by greedy defense contractors, corrupt politicians and incompetent government officials, America’s expanding military empire is bleeding the country dry at a rate of more than $15 billion a month (or $20 million an hour)--and that’s just what the government spends on foreign wars. That does not include the cost of maintaining and staffing the 1000-plus U.S. military bases spread around the globe. Incredibly, although the U.S. constitutes only 5% of the world's population, America boasts almost 50% of the world's total military expenditure, spending more on the military than the next 19 biggest spending nations combined. In fact, the Pentagon spends more on war than all 50 states combined spend on health, education, welfare, and safety. War is not cheap. [...]"  

Commentary: "The Dark Truth About 9/11 Emerges From The Fog of Infowar" [07/18/11] "Once the summer ends, we will hear more talk about another world war as Israel’s delusional leaders begin to direct their brainwashed army towards Lebanon, Syria and Iran. Nuclear war is on the demented minds of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak. Peace was never an option for these two restless men whose minds are clouded by extreme hatred, and evil desires. They will do anything to stop a Palestinian state from coming into being, including starting world war three by bombing Iran. A world war will destroy modern civilization as we know it. Many people know the world is already in a state of global emergency. Truth is outlawed in America and the West. Believers of freedom, justice and honour are laughed out of the room as “conspiracy theorists,” and “nutjobs.” But there are millions of us who know better and will not be deterred by these psychological attacks. We know the infowar is not for the weak minded. We are not stupid and we are not cowards. We know who was really behind the 9/11 attacks. We know who is behind all this global chaos that has been visited upon a shell-shocked world since September 11, 2001. We know mankind is at the edge of the abyss. Our so-called democratic governments, media institutions, and political leaders have not only failed us; they have betrayed us. The real perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks will pay for what they have done in the name of America, freedom and democracy. Believe it. Justice will be done. Real change is not a failed hope just because that two-faced traitor Barack Obama has not brought the criminals behind the 9/11 attacks and the war on terror to justice. [...] Alan Sabrosky, a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and a 1986 graduate of the U.S. Army War College, is courageously raising public awareness about the truth of the 9/11 attacks. In an interview with Press TV on July 13, 2011, Mr. Sabrosky addressed the prejudiced notion that any alternative interpretation of the 9/11 attacks is simply a “conspiracy theory,” saying: Back in the early 80s, when I was in Washington at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, one of our visitors for a lunch and talk was a young gentlemen then named Francois Heisbourg. Heisbourg was the specialist assistant to French President Francois Mitterrand. I don’t know how the subject came up, but he said, “you know, Americans never see conspiracies anywhere.” “We French,” he said, “we see conspiracies everywhere. And both of us are wrong.” Sabrosky continued: This is not a conspiracy (referring to the view that Israel and high-ranking U.S. officials did 9/11) in the sense that the word is usually used, which is to denigrate an opposing argument. When someone in the United States says that “that’s a conspiracy,” or, “that’s a conspiracy theory,” by definition they mean it is irrational, illegitimate, and without proof. All I would suggest to people is that you look at the films of WTC 7, that third tower going down on September 11; you look and listen to the reports on September 11 with the secondary explosions. These are not fantasies. They happened. You look at the reports on September 12 of the apprehension of Israelis with vans of explosives and cameras filming the events on September 11. These are not fantasies. And you look at the people riddling the American government, all of the Middle East people in State, Defense, and the National Security Council; Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, who used to be a friend of mine, by the way, from Philadelphia. These people were all part of the neoconservative movement. Many of these people are dual U.S.-Israeli nationals. All of their primary allegiance is to Israel."  

Commentary: "CIA Bank Accounts Used To Funnel Oil Deal Money, Court Documents Claim" [07/18/11] "Court papers in a bizarre lawsuit involving $258 million in missing funds from an international oil deal, appear to show that the funds were channeled to dormant CIA bank accounts with the help of an Agency employee. The case is being ignored by US media, but has attracted attention in the Irish press, because an Irishman, Ed O’Neill, is the primary defendant in the lawsuit. O’Neil was the main consultant broker who helped facilitate a 2008 oil deal between involving NIB Petroleum of Venezuela and Russia’s Gazprom, both of which sold oil to Turkey’s UP Petroleum. Among O’Neil’s tasks was ensuring that six consulting companies were paid a total of $258 million for helping facilitate the complex deal. The Turkish company, UP, paid the funds to O’Neil, but they never arrived to the six companies. The latter are now suing O’Neil for the missing money. But Irish quality broadsheet The Independent, says it has seen copies of the court papers, filed in the US state of Illinois. According to the documents, O’Neil told his clients, who were awaiting the money, that he was having trouble wiring it to them, and that he had enlisted the assistance of a friend of his, by the name of Carlos Jesus Navarro, who was a CIA operative. According to the testimony of the plaintiffs, O’Neil told them that Navarro had access to several dormant CIA bank accounts, which could be used to wire the money around the world. [...]" 

MSM: "The G-8 Drill: Chicago Police Prep For Mass Arrests" [07/17/11] "Battle lines between protesters and the police are already being drawn for the NATO and G-8 summits that Chicago will host next spring. On Thursday, an anti-war organizer said he was scouting potential staging areas for crowds of protesters expected outside the summits in May. Meanwhile, police Supt. Garry McCarthy said he’s been planning for three weeks. And he put a deputy superintendent, Debra Kirby, in charge of preparing the Chicago Police Department’s response. “We have to train for mass arrests,” McCarthy said. “We have to train 13,000 police officers in arrest procedures and containment procedures. At the same time, we will not stop patrolling the city.” [...]"  The summits will be held from May 15-22, 2012 Chicago is the first U.S. city other than Washington to host a NATO meeting. The Group of Eight industrialized nations will meet here at the same time.

MSM: "Suicide Bomber Kills 4 at Karzai Memorial" [07/17/11] "A suicide bomber detonated today at a memorial for the slain half-brother of Hamid Karzai, killing four in an attack that comes as prominent Afghans rethink their own security in the wake of Ahmed Wali Karzai's assassination, allegedly at the hands of a close family associate. The Afghan president wasn't present at the service, but a number of high-level officials were and a noted cleric was among the dead, the LA Times reports. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.  [...]"  Related: "Karzai Assassin Was U.S. Ally" [07/16/11]   [0:39] | "Ahmad Karzai: From Dishwasher To Drug Kingpin" [07/13/11] "Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s younger half-brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, was killed in Kandahar on 12 July during a gathering in his house, according to Kandahar’s Canadian Governor Tooryali Wesa. He was shot in the head and chest with a AK-47 fired by Sardar Mohammad, a former bodyguard to another Karzai brother Qayyoum. The 50-year-old Ahmad, a restaurant worker in Chicago before catapulting to fame on Hamid’s shirt-tails, was appointed chairman of the Kandahar Provincial Council in 2005. A ruthless autocrat, he was widely despised, and escaped multiple assassination attempts in the past, but his death nonetheless comes as a major blow to President Karzai in the homeland of the Taliban, and will set off a vicious power struggle to fill Ahmad’s shoes. [...]" "Afghan President's Brother, Assassinated" [07/12/11] "President Hamid Karzai's half brother, the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan and a lightning rod for criticism of corruption in the government, was assassinated Tuesday by a close associate. His death leaves a dangerous power vacuum in the south just as the government has begun peace talks with insurgents ahead of a U.S. withdrawal. Ahmed Wali Karzai, the head of the Kandahar provincial council, was shot to death while receiving guests at his home in Kandahar, the capital of the province that was the birthplace of the Taliban movement and was the site of a recent U.S.-led offensive. Tooryalai Wesa, the provincial governor of Kandahar, identified the assassin as Sardar Mohammad and said he was a close, "trustworthy" person who had gone to Wali Karzai's house to get him to sign some papers. As Wali Karzai was signing the papers, the assassin "took out a pistol and shot him with two bullets – one in the forehead and one in the chest," Wesa said. [...]"  

Analysis: "Dr. Alan Sabrosky: Israel Behind 9/11, Part II" Mr. Friend's Blog [07/16/11] "Dr. Alan Sabrosky has written yet another brilliant article ["Demystifying 9/11: Israel and the Tactics of Mistake"] about a subject that I write frequently about here: the fact that the state of Israel and criminal elements in the U.S. government (many of whom are Jews with ties directly to Israel, all of whom are Zionist traitors) were behind the FALSE FLAG/INSIDE JOB 9/11 fraud. And I'm using the word "fraud" now to describe what happened on 9/11. I'm pretty convinced almost everything described by the media, by our political and military officials and others in the limelight, about what happened that day is a complete farce, including many of the passengers (see here and here), videos (see here and here), and airplanes. We've leave that discussion for another time. I want to focus on Dr. Sabrosky's article today.   [...]"  Note: See the "9/11" link at the top of this panel for Part 1 and related stories.

Commentary: "EU Failing On All Fronts" [07/16/11] "If the latest report by Debkafile is true, then the Libyan war is unofficially over, Obama has made Russia the peacemaker, and NATO has ended its air strikes. A reasonable layperson’s analysis of this report might be this: The EU has overextended itself politically, economically and militarily. –Politically: It has always been a de facto dictatorship. It was originally touted as a strictly economic scheme and the trusting nations of Europe bought it on that basis. Then, surprise, it started adding massive bureaucratic trappings, mostly of a political nature – a court of justice, a Constitution, a Parliament, a Commission, a ministry of foreign affairs, etc, whose functions went far beyond the economic realm and into the everyday lives of every European. Result: It now looks a lot like an empire, but without the usual sense of nationhood that has typically supported empires in the past. No one loves the European flag. Yet, oblivious to the fact that people can be controlled indefinitely only if they love their nation or have some traditional loyalties to it, the EU has threatened UK groups who refuse to fly the EU flag on Europe Day. They have also made and enforced laws favoring the Muslim minority but discriminating against the christian majority. Because of its strong-arm tactics and its contempt for the people the EU pretends to rule, euroskeptics are gathering strength everywhere and the popularity of the European central government is on the wane. UK citizens in a recent poll have said they want out. The analogies with the USSR are too numerous to mention. [...]" 

Commentary: "Top US And Chinese Generals Exchange Words Over South China Sea" [07/16/11]   "Tensions between the US and China over the South China Sea were on public display during a joint press conference in Beijing on Monday by the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, and his Chinese counterpart, General Chen Bingde. Mullen was in China on a four-day visit, supposedly to improve military relations between the two countries. Beijing had cut off defence ties in protest at the Obama administration’s decision to sell $6.4 billion in arms to Taiwan in January 2010. Relations resumed this year with a visit by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to China in January and a trip by General Chen to the US in May. At Monday’s press conference, the underlying differences quickly became evident. In his opening remarks, Chen directly questioned US intentions in the South China Sea—a strategic area close to the China mainland, through which China’s imports of energy from the Middle East and Africa pass. Over the past year the Obama administration has deliberately heightened tensions in the waters by encouraging South East Asian countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam to be more assertive in their maritime disputes with China. Chen objected in particular to the holding of US joint naval exercises in the South China Sea during Mullen’s visit. “On various occasions, the US has expressed that it does not intend to intervene in South China Sea disputes. However, we have observed the latest joint exercises between US and other countries—for example, Philippines and Vietnam... The timing of those joint exercises is inappropriate, as we see it.” There is no doubt that the exercises were a calculated US show of force. As Mullen was on his way to China, the US, Japan and Australia held their first-ever joint naval exercise in the South China Sea, in waters near Brunei. Last Friday, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia had an 11-day drill with American warships in the same area. [...]"  

Media and Culture: "Senior British Police Intelligence Analyst Speaks Out: '7/7 And 9/11 Were Inside Jobs'" [07/15/11] [18:00] Part 2 [17:50]| Part 3 [20:20]| "A Principal Intelligence Analyst for South Yorkshire Police has spoken out about the July 7th '05 London Bombings. Tony Farrell, who has served for the police since 1998, is convinced as he can be that the bombings were a false-flag attack carried out by intelligence agencies. In July 2010, he was asked to compile a threat assessment report for South Yorkshire Police. His own research led him to believe the major threat in the UK today is from an "internal tyranny" which the public are slowly finding out about.  [...]"  Related: "Police Intelligence Analyst Fired For Saying 9/11 And 7/7 Look Like Inside Jobs" "Tony Farrell had been employed for twelve years as ‘Principle Intelligence Analyst’ for South Yorkshire Police, 13th largest of the 44 police forces in the UK. His job involved producing a yearly ‘Strategic Threat Assessment Matrix’ to determine how the police force had to prioritise its activities. Assessed ‘threats’ ranged from ASBOs (anti-social behaviour orders) to the terrorist threat allegedly presented by Islamic extremists. Having a statistics degree, it was his job to translate the different ‘strategic threats’ into a ‘matrix’ of relative numerical weighted probabilities. [...]"  

Commentary: "Blackwater May Have Over-Billed Government $300 Million For Security Services In Iraq And Afghanistan" [07/15/11] "Two former Blackwater employees say they have new evidence that the company may have over-billed the federal government more than $300 million for security services in Iraq and Afghanistan. They cite a report from an outside auditor who says Blackwater executives and State Department officials withheld critical information from him - including allegations of bribing foreign officials. The former employees are suing the Moyock, N.C.-based company, now known as Xe Services, for alleged contract fraud. They filed papers in federal court in Alexandria this week citing an audit performed in 2008 for the State Department's inspector general. David Cotton, the accountant who oversaw the audit, is expected to testify in the fraud trial, which is scheduled to begin July 25. In a declaration filed with the court, Cotton said, "We determined that, due to significant deficiencies in Blackwater's internal accounting controls, it was not possible to conclude that the State Department was being correctly billed by Blackwater." He also said Blackwater executives and State Department officials withheld critical information from the audit team, including reports from Blackwater employees that the company was intentionally over-billing the government and bribing foreign officials. The company has been paid more than $1 billion for protecting U.S. diplomats in war zones. [...]"  

Commentary: "U.S. Government Builds First Law Enforcement Base in Puebla, Mexico" [07/14/11] "Earlier this year, in May, the governor of the Mexican State of Puebla, Rafael Moreno Valle, and the U.S. Coordinator for Plan Merida in Mexico, Keith W. Mines, held an inauguration ceremony for what they described as the most ‘sophisticated and modernized’ police academy in Mexico. The 54-acre facility will cost $22 million. It will have barracks for about 500 personnel, two conference auditoriums, two chow halls, a helicopter landing area, four watch towers, a gun range, a forensic lab, a training court room, as well as smoke and fire simulation buildings, according to Mexican journalist Raul Rodriguez Cortes. At first glimpse, to most Mexicans, it would seem logical to modernize the federal police; after all, there is an unprecedented crisis of violence and corruption throughout the country. Therefore, building a militarized police training base would seem like the best solution to tackle the problem . . . or so it seems. According to local activists in Puebla, the new ‘Ignacio Zaragoza Militarized Academy’ or AMIZ will serve as a covert U.S. Military base, where U.S. Special forces will train, rehearse, and launch black operations against Mexican drug cartels. Many Mexicans are in favor of this idea. However, there are many who oppose what they call a violation of their national sovereignty. Others accuse the Mexican Government and the United States Government of building ‘a school of the Americas on steroids,’ even if the facility was only going to serve as a police academy. Local Mexican Congressman from the ‘Convergence Party,’ José Juan Espinosa Torres is one of the biggest opponents of opening any military base in Puebla -whether Mexican or foreign. Also, a representative from the PRD Party, Enrique Alcántara Dzgaip has been organizing street protests against the construction of the base, calling it an ‘American intervention.’ The U.S. Coordinator for Plan Merida in Mexico, Keith W. Mines, the Governor of Puebla, and other pubic officials have admitted that many U.S. federal agents will serve as instructors at the base in order to ‘modernize’ the Mexican police force. Some U.S. Agencies will include the FBI, DEA, BATF and even NCIS, which is a military organization since it’s part of the U.S. Navy. Some of the street protesters in Puebla accuse the BATF (Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) of destabilizing Mexico because of the notorious ‘operation gunrunner’ or ‘fast and furious,’ where BATF agents sold weapons to the drug cartels. Using bullhorns in the streets of Puebla, the protesters are saying that the new ‘militarized police base’ will serve as a point of U.S. Government weapons distribution for the drug cartels.  [...]"  

Report: "States of Security" [07/14/11] [6:24] "Overview of the Small Arms Survey 2011: States of Security. The 2011 annual review of global small arms issues and themes has a focus on the private security sector, and includes case studies on Madagascar, Haiti, and Côte d'Ivoire. The Small Arms Survey is recognized as the principal international source of impartial and reliable information on all aspects of small arms. Its blend of information and analysis makes it an indispensable resource for policy-makers, government officials, and non-governmental organizations. [...]" 

Commentary: "9/11 And The Rise of The World Wolf State" [07/14/11] "It is an amazing fact of history that what passes for history in the West is factually untrue. The people get public mythologies and government lies instead of the facts, so what they know is not real. Currently, the State is the principal actor and recorder of history. And what it records is not the truth, but what is politically convenient for the corrupt oligarchs and various special interests who have captured the State’s myth-making powers. If we don’t know the real history of financial crises, terrorist attacks, and wars then we can’t claim to live in free societies. Today, the power to create and write history is in the dominion of the State. And the history it is writing is based on lies, deception, and propaganda. Since the end of World War II a slow and gradual political revolution has occurred in America, England, France, Canada, Australia, and other Western nations against the liberal democratic state. In its place has risen what William Ralph Inge called the “Wolf State” in his 1948 book, “The End of an Age.” Inge, a professor of divinity at Cambridge and Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, said the philosophy of the Wolf State was the bedrock of Nazi Germany, but it “did not begin with Hitler and will unfortunately survive him.” The Wolf State outlasted the madness of Hitler and Nazism to be worshipped anew by another set of madmen elsewhere in the world. In post-WWII America, new devils arose under the cover of the CIA and the National Security State as part of an American Wolf State. They exploited the American people’s fear and ignorance in the Cold War climate for the political and financial gain of a powerful few. America’s wolves were hungry and lethal. They worked up a big appetite in the 1950s after taking down a number of democratically elected governments, but that was not enough. The Big Get was America. With the private banksters calling the shots behind them, [...]"  

Commentary: "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Makes It A Crime For U.S. Companies To Participate In Bribery Abroad" [07/13/11] "News International Limited, the British arm of the Murdoch empire, is a subsidiary of News Corp., a publicly traded American company which also owns The Wall Street Journal and Fox News (not to mention the Sunday Times of London, The Times of London, and the British tabloid The Sun.) Because of this, experts say, News Corp. and all of its subsidiaries come under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a Watergate-era law which makes it a crime for U.S. companies to participate in bribery abroad. The scope and number of payments remains unclear. British press reports say more than $160,000 was paid by News of the World reporters to police officers. The issue came to light last week after News International turned over a trove of internal emails to authorities.  [...]"  

Commentary: "China’s Scramble For Europe" [07/13/11] "China is using its growing economic strength to buy up strategic assets in Europe, from companies to government debt and infrastructure contracts. A new brief published by ECFR – ‘The scramble for Europe’ – explores the extent and nature of China’s game-changing presence in Europe. China has moved on from buying African ports and building Saudi railways, taking advantage of its economic strength and European weakness to buy up Europe. Its acquisitions include infrastructure such as ports and motorways, symbolic car companies like Volvo and MG, and high tech firms. It has bought large quantities of debt in the EU’s troubled periphery and won government contracts while excluding European companies from bidding for Chinese contracts. [...]"  

Anomalies: "Nearly 3,000 Victims Of 9/11 Don’t Show Up As Dead In Social Security Records" [07/13/11]   "A New York congresswoman who represents Manhattan wants answers to why nearly 3,000 victims of the 9/11 terrorists attacks weren’t reported in the Social Security Administration’s official list of deceased Americans. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said her staff started making inquiries after the errors in the federal Death Master File (DMF) were detected by Scripps Howard News Service. The file is a public record intended to protect families of the deceased from identity theft and other types of fraud. “While nearly 3,000 individuals were killed on Sept. 11th, the list does not show an increase in numbers from the typical DMF daily average,” Maloney said. “A sampling of those names did not yield any matches in the DMF and confirms their apparent absence.” [...]" See "9/11" link at the top of this panel for related stories.

Media and Culture: "The Video BP Doesn't Want You To See" [07/12/11] [3:49] "The Daily will not remove clips of BP testimony despite judge's order. At BP’s urging, a federal judge ordered The Daily to take down exclusively obtained video clips of deposition testimony by former CEO Tony Hayward from its website — but The Daily is refusing to comply. Judge Sally Shushan issued the order on Tuesday, saying the release of the video may be in violation of a pretrial order stating that no “part of the video or audio record of a video deposition shall be released or made available to any member of the public unless authorized by the court.” Hayward gave three days of deposition testimony in a London law office last month as part of a federal lawsuit filed by several states and hundreds of plaintiffs against the oil giant for damages in last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. [...]" 

Corbett Report: "Drone Wars: US Ramping Up Unmanned Air Strikes and Domestic Surveillance " [07/11/11] [9:39]  "Unmanned aerial vehicles are once again grabbing headlines as the UK government was forced to admit last week that an RAF drone killed four Afghan civilians and injured two others in an air strike in Helmsland earlier this year. [...]"  Related: "Killer Drones Take the Place of War" "Killer drones are not primarily weapons of war, as usually defined, but instead are automated technologies designed for convenient, targeted killing or assassination outside of war zones. As mentioned, the usual targets are in countries we aren't at war with, far from usual areas of armed conflict. .And killer drones in these countries are not even operated by the US military, but rather by the CIA and its private contractors like Blackwater, acting covertly, without uniforms or legal code and beyond any accountability. The US military has its drones, too, of course, for surveillance and some bombing in Afghanistan, but the real show, now and in the future, is the covert use of killer drones for large-scale extrajudicial assassination and targeted killing, under the cover of a global war on terror. [...]"  

Commentary: "China Inflation: Getting Worse And Coming To A Wal-Mart Near You" [07/10/11] " ... Many economists predict that China will likely be forced to take stronger measures that could slow economic growth. Reuters reported China may increase the bank deposit reserve ratio to 23% from the current 19.5%, and the People's Bank of China (PBOC) is also expected to permit the yuan to rise further, according to a report by the State Information Centre under the National Development and Reform Commission. Japan’s Mizuho Research Institute predicted in December that China may raise interest rates up to six times by the end of 2011 (one rate hikes in Feb. 2011 so far). Regardless when or what China’s doing to rein in inflation, it no doubt will put a brake on one of the very few bright spots in the world. While China’s busy tightening and dealing with the once in 60-year mass drought, consumer price inflation, and diminishing margins will likely crop up pretty much everywhere from mass retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, to high tech products from companies such as Apple, Hewlett Packard, and Dell.  [...]"  Note: See the "China" link at the top of this panel for current information and related stories about this dynamic. 

MSM: "Israeli Warplanes Pound East Gaza" [07/10/11] "Israeli warplanes have attacked the eastern Gaza Strip in yet another use of excessive force against the Palestinian residents of the besieged territory. [...]"  Note: See the "Gaza" link at the top of this panel for current information and related stories about this dynamic.  

Commentary: "A 50,000-Foot View of the Global Crisis"  Paul Chefurka [07/09/11] "We are now well into a global crisis that may mark the end of this cycle of human civilization. In this note I present a summary of what’s going on as far as I can tell, as well as a scenario for how things might develop over the next 75 years or so. The issue is enormous, so an overview like this is inevitably going to be skimpy on details. This is, after all, not an academic journal. However, like every other fact in the known universe, those details are just a Google away... Because the global predicament manifests itself in some way in virtually every area of human endeavour, any useful approach to it must be massively cross-disciplinary. Fruitful areas for investigation include: [...] The situation is easier to understand if we look at it in three time frames: the Past, Present and Future. [...] "  Note: He logically concludes, essentially, that the prospect for survival of the civilization anyway is rather small, regardless of what happens with any kind of response to the current set of dynamics, never mind when a number of wild cards manifest themselves. As it is, the civilization does not have long to wait. We can all move on, soon, and leave the intractable immature freaks to play the game somewhere else.

Documentary: "What A Way To Go: Life At The End Of Empire" [07/09/11] [123:00] "A middle class white guy comes to grips with Peak Oil, Climate Change, Mass Extinction, Population Overshoot and the demise of the American Lifestyle [...]"  

Analysis: "On Flotillas and the Law" Dr. Lawrence Davidson [07/08/11] Part I – Civil Society Movements vs. Corrupt Politics "When it comes to the struggle against Israel’s policies of oppression there are two conflicting levels: that of government and that of civil society. The most recent example of this duality is the half dozen or so small ships held captive in the ports of Greece. The ships, loaded with humanitarian supplies for the one and half million people of the Gaza strip, are instruments of a civil society campaign against the inhumanity of the Israeli state. The forces that hold them back are the instruments of governments corrupted by special interest influence and political bribery. Most of us are unaware of the potential of organized civil society because we have resigned the public sphere to professional politicians and bureaucrats and retreated into a private sphere of everyday life which we see as separate from politics. This is a serious mistake. Politics shapes our lives whether we pay attention to it or not. By ignoring it we allow the power of the state to respond not so much to the citizenry as to special interests. Our indifference means that the politicians and government bureaucrats live their professional lives within systems largely uninterested in and sometimes incapable of acting in the public good because they are corrupted by lobby power. The ability to render justice is also often a casualty of the way things operate politically. The stymying of the latest flotilla due to the disproportionate influence of Zionist special interests on U.S. and European Middle East foreign policy is a good example of this situation.  [...] Part II – The Forum of International Law "The resulting struggle between the corrupt politics that keeps the West aligned with the oppressive and racist ideology that rules Israel and the civil society movement that seeks to liberate the victims of that ideology goes on worldwide and in many forums. One is the forum of international law. Presently, the debate revolves around the legality of Israel’s blockade of Gaza and the effort of the flotilla movement to defy it. Let us take a look at this aspect of the conflict. [...]"

"Landmark US-Mexico Trucking Agreement Resolves 15-Year Conflict" [07/07/11] "After years of wrangling, US and Mexican officials signed an agreement Wednesday that allows trucks from each nation to travel on the other country’s highways – a key provision of NAFTA – if Congress signs off. Some, who oppose any trucking accord allowing Mexican trucks to come north, continue to hammer at safety concerns. “Opening the border to dangerous trucks at a time of high unemployment and rampant drug violence is a shameful abandonment of the Department of Transportation’s duty to protect American citizens from harm and to spend American tax dollars responsibly,” said Jim Hoffa, general president of the Teamsters, in a statement. He said the accord “endangers American motorists.” Mexican trucks are already allowed to circulate in the US within 25 miles of the border. The new agreement will allow Mexican trucks to deliver goods into the US and to return goods to Mexico, but it bars the transport of goods between US destinations. Both sides in the debate over Mexican trucks are latching onto the issue of the day – jobs – to make their case for or against the agreement. [...]"  

 Exposé: "Israeli Document: Gaza Blockade Isn't About Security" [07/06/11] "As Israel ordered a slight easing of its blockade of the Gaza Strip Wednesday, McClatchy obtained an Israeli government document that describes the blockade not as a security measure but as "economic warfare" against the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory.Israel imposed severe restrictions on Gaza in June 2007, after Hamas won elections and took control of the coastal enclave after winning elections there the previous year, and the government has long said that the aim of the blockade is to stem the flow of weapons to militants in Gaza. ... in response to a lawsuit by Gisha, an Israeli human rights group, the Israeli government explained the blockade as an exercise of the right of economic warfare. "A country has the right to decide that it chooses not to engage in economic relations or to give economic assistance to the other party to the conflict, or that it wishes to operate using 'economic warfare,'" the government said. McClatchy obtained the government's written statement from Gisha, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, which sued the government for information about the blockade. The Israeli high court upheld the suit, and the government delivered its statement earlier this year. The Israeli government took an additional step Wednesday and said the economic warfare is intended to achieve a political goal. A government spokesman, who couldn't be named as a matter of policy, told McClatchy that authorities will continue to ease the blockade but "could not lift the embargo altogether as long as Hamas remains in control" of Gaza. [...]" Related: Commentary: "Sabotaging Flotilla II: Waging War Against Civil Society"  Note: See the "Gaza" link at the top of this panel for current information and related stories about this dynamic. 

Commentary: "Totalitopia: The New Man Fashioned From The Forge Of Brutality" By Michael Vail [07/05/11] "In the mind of every bureaucrat and ideologue exists the future society they wish to create for themselves. John F. Kennedy made speeches about building a new government for establishing his ‘city on the hill’. JFK’s administration was likened to Camelot, a romantic medieval utopia. We will discuss some of the characteristics of utopias and how they compare to our modern centralized governments. We may take a peek in to governments of the future as they attempt to carry out some of these ancient ideals.[...]"  Note: Rampant one-size-fits-all, top down hierarchical control and suppression of unique individuality, like any other planet in the galaxy, run by reincarnated retreads who are power and control freaks. They are NOT as advanced as incarnations from a higher self who has simultaneous incarnations through the time stream on Earth, not incarnations sequentially. Now, the planet is controlled by these sequentials .... which is why it's so much a clusterfuck.

Commentary: "Worldwide Nuclear Industry Woes Deepen" [07/04/11] "The year 2011 will go down for the nuclear industry worldwide as an annus horribilis. [...]" 

PressTV: "Israel manipulating Greece over Gaza" [07/03/11] [10:32] Part 2 [14:38] "The audacity of hope, the US boat in the Gaza freedom flotilla, makes a break for freedom out of the harbour in Athens. It's quickly intercepted by the Greek coastguard, and escorted into a naval base, where it's now trapped. The Greek government has officially made it clear that it's enforcing Israel's blockade, and has instructed its coastguard and navy to use all available means to prohibit flotilla boats from leaving its shores.  [...]"   See the "Gaza" link at the top of this panel for related stories ["US Captain Of Gaza Ship Held In "Shocking Conditions" | "The “Deplorable” Acts: The ‘Quartet’ Comments on Gaza"] previous stories, new stories and updates.

Commentary: "Why China’s Heading For A Hard Landing, Part 1" [07/03/11] | Pg 2  | Pg 3 | Pg 4 |  Pg 5 |  "Investor Gary Shilling is a China bear (like many others) and he just wrapped up a 5-part series for Bloomberg on why the country is zooming towards an inevitable hard landing. In it he takes a wide-ranging look at the country, examining its growth strategy, its demographic problems, and its failures in economic planing. Few countries are more important to the global economy than China. But its reputation as an unstoppable giant -- as a country with an unending supply of cheap labor and limitless capacity for growth -- masks some serious and worsening economic problems. China’s labor force is aging. Its consumers save too much and spend too little. Its political and economic policy tools remain crude. Its state bureaucracy seems likely to curb spending just as exports weaken, and thus risks deflation. As U.S. consumers retrench, and as the global commodity bubble begins to dissipate, these fundamental weaknesses will combine in a way that’s unlikely to end well for China -- or for the rest of the world. To start, China is much more vulnerable to an international slowdown than is generally understood.  [...]"   See the "China" link at the top of this panel for related stories.

Commentary: "U.N. Report Shreds Military’s Claim of Afghanistan Progress" [07/03/11] ""So this is what “fragile and reversible” progress looks like in Afghanistan: violence is up 51 percent since this time last year, thanks to a hurricane of insurgent suicide attacks, assassinations and bombs, undermining U.S. military claims that it’s breaking the momentum of the Taliban. The closest thing the war has to a report card comes in the form of a new quarterly report from the United Nations. And the American troop surge appears to be dangerously close to flunking. According to the U.N., not only is violence on the rise, but so are civilian casualties. Compared to the spring of 2010, civilian deaths and injuries are up 20 percent, with 1,090 dead and 1,860 wounded. Over 435,000 Afghans are displaced by the war, a 4 percent rise. The U.N. report directly contradicts an emerging talking point in the U.S. military. Lt. Gen. John Allen, the incoming war commander, told a Senate panel on Tuesday..." [...]"  

Commentary:   "9/11 And The Length of a Meme" [07/02/11] "... The Excavator is the project of an apparently young man called Saman Mohammadi, a "Truth Excavator" and the blog contains a number of lengthy articles exposing power elite manipulations. This article is of interest to us because Mohammadi analyzes the expansion of dominant social theme – "Muslims are terrorists," though he doesn't use our terminology. Most interesting to us, he concludes by explaining that many do not believe the official narrative of 9/11: Millions of individuals in America and millions more around the world have deleted the fictitious story of 9/11 from their mental software without the aid of the old media (newspapers, television, films, music), which is used as a cultural hardware system by a criminal transnational conspiracy to implant political and social beliefs into the public consciousness. This is an amazing social and political awakening that may lead to fundamental changes in how the world is structured, how people are governed, and how societies make decisions. What began as a movement to find out the truth of what happened on 9/11 has grown in a short decade into a global consciousness movement that is determined to redefine politics and government forever. This is a fascinating conclusion. Without using our vocabulary or frame of reference, Mohammadi sees what we see: That there is a larger human consciousness at work in these days that has made it increasingly difficult for the power elite to introduce and propagate their memes. Our efforts have centered on explaining how and why the Anglosphere elites – a tiny cluster of impossibly wealthy families and their corporatist and religious facilitators – produce dominant social themes. They do it, we believe, to advance the cause of a world government, which will inevitably have as its cynosure the City of London and its affiliates in Israel, Washington DC and Europe. The memes that the elites cultivate quite deliberately through such vast mind-control institutions as the Tavistock Institute and its affiliates are designed to frighten the Western middle classes into giving up power and wealth to a variety of globalist facilities specially prepared for that purpose. The same process is at work for the developing world. In the 20th century, this globalist manipulation worked extraordinarily well. As we have tried to document, an entirely false narrative of Western history was created and presented to the larger Western public, one that was even subscribed to by the West's intelligentsia. When the intelligentsia is properly promoted, then the meme itself is almost bound to be successful. It will be propagated endlessly and credibly. While the one-world conspiracy in its current format probably goes back at least 300 years, the past century was one that saw its penultimate realization. With seemingly total control over the media, the Anglosphere elites were able to create a narrative of stunning force and simplicity. While there were numerous dominant social themes and sub themes, the most important theme of all was simply that some were better than others and the wisest and wealthiest of all were deserving of command, control and additional prosperity. The idea of a command-and-control economy (directed by a few on behalf of all) was propagated endlessly via the memes of central banking, the United Nations and other excrescences of central power. In the early 21s century, however, something changed.  [...]"   See the "9/11" link at the top of this panel for related stories.

Commentary: "British Government Devised Propaganda Campaign To Downplay Fukushima" [07/02/11] "Just 48 hours after the onset of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the British government devised a propaganda campaign to downplay the severity of the crisis, a talking point that was hastily parroted by leading global warming alarmist George Monbiot. “Internal emails seen by the Guardian show how the business and energy departments worked closely behind the scenes with the multinational companies EDF Energy, Areva and Westinghouse to try to ensure the accident did not derail their plans for a new generation of nuclear stations in the UK,” reports Rob Edwards. “We need to ensure the anti-nuclear chaps and chapesses do not gain ground on this. We need to occupy the territory and hold it. We really need to show the safety of nuclear,” wrote one official at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith labeled the complicity between the government and the nuclear industry in downplaying the crisis “appalling,” while Greenpeace’s Louise Hutchins said the emails provided evidence of “scandalous collusion”. “Anti-nuclear people across Europe have wasted no time blurring this all into Chernobyl and the works,” said the BIS official in another email. “We need to quash any stories trying to compare this to Chernobyl.” While this PR blitz was being coordinated, we now know that the Japanese government was deliberately lying about the severity of the radiation release from Fukushima in an effort to conceal the fact that the crisis was already on a par with Chernobyl. Within just two weeks of the earthquake and tsunami that crippled the nuclear plant, the amount of radiation released from Fukushima already rivaled that of Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster up until that point. [...]" Related: "Google Report Reveals British Government Web Snooping "   

MSM: "'War On Terror' Set To Surpass Cost Of Second World War" [07/01/11]   "The total cost to America of its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus the related military operations in Pakistan, is set to exceed $4 trillion – more than three times the sum so far authorised by Congress in the decade since the 9/11 attacks. And even though the wars are now winding down, add in future military spending and above all the cost of looking after veterans, disabled and otherwise and the total bill will be somewhere between $3.7 trillion and $4.4 trillion. This staggering sum emerges from a new study by academics at the Ivy-league Brown University that reveals the $1.3 trillion officially appropriated on Capitol Hill is the tip of a spending iceberg. If other Pentagon outlays, interest payments on money borrowed to finance the wars, and the $400bn estimated to have been spent on the domestic "war on terror", the total cost is already somewhere between $2.3 and $2.7 trillion. [...]"  Note: All that money goes to contractors, corporations and the whole network of control freaks that developed before 9/11 was executed, who are all profiteering from fear mongering and terrorizing the population.

MSM: "Australian Green Party Leader Advocates For One-World Parliament" [07/01/11] "Green Party leader Bob Brown - whose party assumes sole balance of power in the Senate tomorrow - wants Australia to join an international push for a global parliament. This ''people's assembly'' would be based on one person, one vote, one value and was being vigorously promoted in Europe and the United Nations, he said yesterday. He admits that it won't come to pass in his lifetime but said if and when it does, ''it could be right here in Australia''. [...]"  Note:  Where a whole bunch of sequentials live.