News and Developments
M5 Readers: Keep in Mind That Political News, By Nature, May Reflect Sequential Agenda
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June  2010 

US police ‘out of control’ in spy case: Putin [06/30/10] "Russia bristled Tuesday at US claims that it had smashed a Cold War-style Russian spy ring as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expressed hope the scandal would not damage improving bilateral relations.  The US Justice Department said 10 "deep-cover" suspects, accused of infiltrating US policymaking for the Kremlin, had been detained on suspicion of seeking details of US nuclear weapons and foreign policy.  Former KGB spy Putin -- who by an odd coincidence was meeting former US president Bill Clinton in Moscow -- said he hoped the arrests would not impact the recent improvement in Russia-US ties.  "You came at the right time. Your police have let themselves go, and put people in prison," Putin told his American visitor in comments broadcast on state television, using his trademark earthy language. [...]"   

Olbermann: "Palin went to three colleges but still ‘is an idiot’"[06/30/10] "MSNBC's Keith Olbermann awarded his "worst person" award to former Alaska governor Sarah Palin for displaying sheer "stupidity" during a speech last Friday.  The frequent Palin detractor "gave 'Sister Sarah' the honor for her 'gaffefest' at Cal State Stanislaus over the weekend, during which, he said, 'she said, perhaps, 100 things that brand her as a phony," Huffington Post noted. "But none is more symbolic of her imbecility, her corner-cutting, her downright endorsement of stupidity instead of intelligence than this one," he said, introducing her false claim that Ronald Reagan attended "California's Eureka College."  "Eureka College is in Eureka, Illinois," Olbermann said. "Illinois, where Ronald Reagan was from. There is a town of Eureka in California, but it doesn't have a college. And Palin went to three different colleges and doesn't have an education. Well, that woman is an idiot."  Olbermann then mimicked Reagan's classic debate line "there you go again" to pay tribute to Palin winning the "worst person" distinction for the nth time on Countdown. On Saturday, RAW STORY reported, "A Fox affiliate television station is refusing to apologize for accidentally broadcasting a room full of reporters offering very frank assessments of a speech by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin." The slip-up happened Friday night as Fox40 in Sacramento was broadcasting live from California State University, Stanislaus. After the speech concluded, journalists and crew members behind the scenes offered some off-the-cuff assessment of her remarks, with one man saying he felt like he'd just stepped off a roller coaster. Another said he could understand why "the dumbness doesn't come through in sound-bytes." Yet another argued that she'd not used a complete sentence or even "made a statement."[...]"   

Oklahoma State University Fires Employee for Spending on "Extracurricular Items" [06/30/10] "The Oklahoma State University was shocked recently to learn that a university employee was able to use a university credit card to buy tens of thousands of dollars of lingerie, sex toys and other personal items. Cynthia Low, 44, allegedly used the taxpayer-funded card to buy an impressive amount of such items before being caught. While Low was making only $28,000 a year, she spent at least $806,000 on her university credit card [...]"  

Papers say Dell knew of computer problems [06/30/10] "Court papers show that U.S. computer giant Dell shipped 11.8 million computers from May 2003 through July 2005 equipped with faulty components. [...]"   

Kucinich: "We are losing our nation to lies about the necessity of war" [06/29/10] "Rep. Nita Lowey's declaration of principle was made in response to a Wall Street Journal report that claimed over $3 billion has been legally shipped through the airport in Kabul over just the last three years, leading investigators to believe much of it comes from U.S. aid dollars being diverted by corrupt officials. The Journal reported that "the cash – packed into suitcases, piled into pallets and loaded into airplanes – is declared and legal to move" through the airport. The paper added: "The officials believe [...] customers who have sent millions of dollars of their money abroad include high-ranking officials and their associates in President Hamid Karzai's administration, including Vice President Mohammed Fahim, and one of the president's brothers, Mahmood Karzai, an influential businessman (and drug dealers). "Where they allegedly get the money is one of the questions under investigation." [...] Speaking before Congress, Kucinich raised the specter of the $12 billion shipped in pallets from the United States to Iraq just after the Bush administration's "shock and awe" bombing campaign.  "Vanity Fair reported in 2004 that 'at least $9 billion' of the cash had 'gone missing, unaccounted for,'" he noted. "$9 billion."  Kucinich continued: " Last week, the BBC reported that 'the US military has been giving tens of millions of dollars to Afghan security firms who are funneling the money to warlords.' Add to that a corrupt Afghan government underwritten by the lives of our troops  ... And now reports indicate that Congress is preparing to attach $10 billion in state education funding to a $33 billion spending bill to keep the war going.  Back home, millions of Americans are out of work, losing their homes, losing their savings, their pensions and their retirement security.  "We are losing our nation to lies about the necessity of war. Bring our troops home. End the war. Secure our economy.[...]  "  Video [1:23]

Sinking Ship: Israel’s bleak future [06/29/10] "Israel’s botched raid against the Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla on May 31 is the latest sign that Israel is on a disastrous course that it seems incapable of reversing. The attack also highlights the extent to which Israel has become a strategic liability for the United States. This situation is likely to get worse over time, which will cause major problems for Americans who have a deep attachment to the Jewish "state". [...]"  Note: Will they attempt to take the world down with them?

Iraq signs multi-billion gas deal with Shell, Mitsubishi [06/29/10] "Iraq approved a multi-billion dollar deal with Royal Dutch Shell and Japan's Mitsubishi Corp on Tuesday that will provide much needed electricity from natural gas currently being wastefully burned off. State-owned South Gas and Basra Gas companies in southern Iraq will take a 51 percent stake in the contract, with Shell and Mitsubishi taking a 49 percent share, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement. Iraq produces a negligible quantity of gas compared with the size of its reserves, and currently flares off most of what comes out with its crude output as it lacks the capture technology needed to use the gas for power generation. The joint deal with Shell and Mitsubishi will exploit gas in the Rumaila, Zubair, West Qurna and Majnoon fields near Basra. The contract was rubber-stamped at a cabinet meeting in Baghdad, almost two years after it was initially agreed in September 2008. [...]"  

Australia: Mining giants dictate terms to new prime minister [06/29/10] "The major transnational mining corporations have delivered a blatant ultimatum to new Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard—unless their demands are satisfied on the government’s proposed Resource Super Profits Tax (RSPT) in the next few days, the campaign against the tax and against the government will resume and intensify. The threat follows a protracted destabilisation campaign mounted by the miners against former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, which helped create the conditions for last week’s conspiratorial coup orchestrated by a handful of shadowy Labor Party factional bosses.   Gillard is now beholden to the mining magnates and other powerful sections of the corporate elite that helped install her in office. Media reports emphasised that the mining CEOs would not accept any partial compromise that left important elements of the tax unresolved until after the next federal election.“There is no industry appetite for drawn-out negotiations on the mining super tax proposal,” Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Mitch Hooke told the Australian. “In the interests of the industry and the national economy, the mining super tax issue must be resolved quickly and categorically.” [...]"  Note: See the video about the Uranium mines in Australia for how ubiquitous the mining industry has interpenetrated Australian society. See Notable Videos panel. 

UK: Cameron asked to boast about his Jewish origins [06/29/10] "During a brief visit to Tel Aviv, Vivian Wineman, Chairman of the Board of Deputies of British Jews (a federation representing the principal British Jewish organisations), called attention to Israel's delegitimisation in the eyes of British public opinion and to the steadily increasing strength of the boycott. To reverse the tendency, he stated that his organisation would like to see the example of Israel solidarity coming from above. In this vein, the Board of Deputies of British Jews beseech new Prime Minister David Cameron to be more open about his Jewish origins. During his electoral campaign, Wineman had asked Cameron whether his origins could interfere with his impartiality when it came to the Middle East. Cameron denied it, while pridely announcing that Elia Levita (1469-1549), one of the first writers in the Yiddish language, was one of his ancestors.  [...]"  Note: Spoken like the sequential he is. Apparently, he's a loser in this incarnation, so he "needs" to pick up 'credits from the past' as a conceptual plan, which is course is complete bullshit. 

Congressman wants Attorney General to explain $12 million settlement for $100 million energy fraud [06/29/10] "A proposed anti-trust settlement between the U.S. Justice Department and a subsidiary of energy giant National Grid is under fire for allegedly being too lenient to the power company -- and critics say it's just another sign of a dysfunctional regulatory climate.  National Gird subsidiary Keyspan Energy has been accused of using Enron-style tactics to manipulate the New York State energy market between 2006 and 2008, a scheme which withdrew power capacity from the market, raising prices and increasing profits for the power distributor.  But now Congressman Dennis Kucinich has joined consumer groups and regulatory agencies to urge the Justice Department to reconsider the settlement that requires the company to pay $12 million penalty to the government while not refunding a single dime of the $100 million the market manipulation cost consumers.  “I want an explanation from the Attorney General as to why this settlement was made,” said Kucinich in an exclusive interview with Raw Story.  “I want to know why this company is getting a figurative slap on the wrist,” he said. “And why they’re getting away with keeping three times what they might have earned from this. [...]"

Haiti's population to rebound -- Census [06/29/10] "The U.S. Census Bureau projects the population of Haiti, where 230,000 people died in a January earthquake, will would grow by 40 percent in the next 40 years. [...]"  Note: Because all those minions know how to do is eat, sleep and reproduce. 

UK: Spies told to reveal instructions which 'turned blind eye to torture'  "MI5 and MI6 have been ordered by a High Court judge to release secret guidelines which human rights groups claim instructed spies to turn a blind eye to the torture of British terror suspects abroad. The guidelines will be released to six British former Guantánamo Bay detainees who are suing the Government for allegedly being complicit in their torture by the Americans.  The guidelines were issued to agents in 2002 and 2004. [...]"

Honduras military under spotlight over abuses [06/29/10] "Honduran military and other security forces are under a spotlight after a renewed round of condemnation of human rights abuses allegedly committed during the five months after a June 2009 coup that toppled President Jose Manuel Zelaya. [...]"   

Through the Wormhole: The Secret State's Mad Scheme to Control the Internet [06/29/10] "Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz once famously wrote that "war is the continuation of politics by other means." A century later, radical French philosopher Michel Foucault turned Clausewitz on his head and declared that "politics is the continuation of war by other means." In our topsy-turvy world where truth and lies coexist equally and sociopathic business elites reign supreme, it would hardly be a stretch to theorize that cyber war is the continuation of parapolitical crime by other means. [...]"  

Ten Alleged Russian Spy Ring Suspects Arrested in U.S. [06/29/10] "Ten people were arrested Sunday and charged with spying for the Russian Federation on "deep-cover" assignments in the United States. Eleven people - including the 10 arrested - were criminally charged with failing to register as Russian agents; nine were also charged with conspiring to launder money.  Accused Russian spies allegedly used Cold War tactics to send info to Moscow. The allegations are shocking: four couples living in the U.S. under assumed false identities while secretly working as covert Russian spies on long-term, "deep-cover" assignments to obtain information on nuclear weapons. They are part of a clandestine network that used a series of cold war tactics such as encrypted Morse code messages, brush passes and invisible writing to send intelligence back to the Russian government, the FBI said today as it announced the results of a multi-year investigation into the alleged spy ring. Charged are Richard and Cynthia Murphy of New Jersey, Donald Howard Heathfield and Tracey Lee Ann Foley of Boston , Massachusetts, Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills of Arlington, Virginia , and Juan Lazaro and Vicky Pelaez of Yonkers, New York. [...]"    

Chicago police guilty of lying about torturing suspects [06/29/10] "Burge was found guilty on all counts of an indictment charging him with perjury and obstruction of justice for lying in a 2003 civil case about his knowledge of the torture of suspects. Deliberations began Thursday following a five-week trial with testimony from five convicted felons, including two convicted of killing police officers. The accusers said they were subjected to beatings, suffocations and games of Russian roulette. Burge, 62, could be sentenced to as much as 45 years in prison. [...]"  Related: Jurors convict Burge of perjury, obstruction [06/29/10] "Jon Burge, the face of police torture allegations in Chicago for decades, was convicted today of lying under oath about torturing suspects at his Area 2 police headquarters. And it was a member of his inner-circle who broke the police code of silence to help make it happen, according to a juror who voted to convict to Burge. Burge was found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice — charges that stemmed from Burge’s testimony in 2003 civil case alleging torture. When the guilty-on-all-counts verdict was announced, Burge did not visibly react. He kept his hands folded in front of him. The courtroom had been warned against outbursts. But people standing outside the courtroom cheered — including attorney Flint Taylor, who has been pursuing justice against Burge for years. “We’re totally elated at the verdict,” he said. “It’s 30 years too late. We still have plenty to do to get people out of jail. He should have been convicted of torture not perjury — but this is a good day.” Burge, a decorated Vietnam vet who was fired from his police job in 1993 amid abuse allegations, was accused of beating mostly African-American criminal suspects while he worked at Area 2 in the 1970s and 1980s and then later denying it in the 2003 deposition. He faces up to 45 years in prison when sentenced in November. He remains free on bond.  [...]"  

Australia: Former ambassadors question silence on the 'excesses' of Israel [06/29/10] "A former Australian ambassador to Israel has accused the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, of being silent on the ''excesses'' of Israel and questioned why her partner has been given a job by a prominent Israel lobbyist. In a letter to the Herald, Ross Burns, who served as an ambassador between 2001 and 2003, said Ms Gillard has been ''remarkably taciturn on the excesses of Israeli actions in the past two years''. Ms Gillard has been part of the Australian delegation to the last two meetings of the Australia Israel Leadership Forum, founded by the Melbourne property developer Albert Dadon. [...]"  

Kagan: "It’s Fine If The Law Bans Books Because Government Won’t Really Enforce It" [06/29/10] [2:41]  "Kagan Argued Before Supreme Court: its Fine if The Law Bans Books Because Government Won't Really Enforce It [...]"   

 Kagan's acumen praised; thin record panned [06/28/10] "She has numerous talents and many good qualities," Sessions said in his opening comments, but "lacks real legal experience" because she hasn't practiced law, never tried a case before a jury and argued her first appellate case "just nine months ago."  He said her decision as a law school dean to temporarily bar military recruiters from visiting Harvard "demeaned our soldiers." He said she was the "point person" for the Clinton administration's effort to block restrictions on partial birth abortions.  The U.S. legal system must be a "check on (government) overreach, not a rubber stamp," Sessions said. A judge's role is "to fairly settle dispute of law, not set policy." [...]" Related:  Kagan faces US court questioning  "Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, is to begin her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. | Jeff Sessions Opening Statement Blasts Kagan [06/28/10] [9:59]  

US begins scaling back ambitions for Afghan occupation [06/28/10] "Nearly nine years into the Afghan war, the United States has begun scaling back its ambitions, searching for an acceptable way out that avoids defeat.  Talk of routing the Taliban has been replaced by efforts to woo insurgents to lay down their arms, as pressure builds to find a formula that will open the door to an eventual exit, even as more American troops pour in to the south. "What can the United States accept?," asked an essay on the war in the journal Foreign Affairs, a question that now preoccupies US policy makers. "The perfect is probably not achievable in Afghanistan -- but the acceptable can still be salvaged," the authors wrote. America's most revered military officer, General David Petraeus, is poised to take command of the NATO-led force at a time of high anxiety in President Barack Obama's White House over the course of the war. [...]"   

Italian PM: Israel ‘will probably react preemptively’ on Iran [06/28/10] "Has the leader of Italy's government revealed how the global community plans to handle Iran? That's entirely possible, according to a report from Israel which cites Silvio Berlusconi as telling reporters at the G8 summit in Toronto, "Iran is not guaranteeing a peaceful production of nuclear power, [so] the members of the G8 are worried and believe absolutely that Israel will probably react preemptively." He added that the G8 nations "absolutely believe" Israel will attack Iran, according to Haaretz. [...]   

Commentary: The Powers-That-Be Are Terrified of the Mass Awakening Taking Place Worldwide [06/28/10] "Our situation is admittedly dire.  Oligarchs are seizing more overt control in most countries in the world, the worldwide economy is on course for another - even bigger - train wreck, countries are cracking down on freedom and becoming more tyrannical, we are in a permanent state of war, and companies like BP are destroying our natural resources without any checks and balances. But as Andrew Gavin Marshall points out, the elites are actually terrified of the mass political awakening which is occurring worldwide. [...]"     

While America burns, Obama bin Golfin [06/28/10] Note:  Is he even any good at the game?

Trail of 'targeted killings,' repeated threats stir suspicions of Israeli hand in Arafat's death [06/28/10] "Yasser Arafat's removal was a triumph for Israel. It fulfilled demands for the election of anti-Intifada Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his associates who "work well with Israel and America," and whose commitment to disarm the Palestinians will enable Israeli land theft for settlements to continue without resistance or reprisal from undefended Palestinians. [...]"   

Report: US warships stationed off Iranian coast [06/27/10] "As unconfirmed reports of an imminent Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities pick up steam in the Middle Eastern media, a US-based strategic intelligence company has released a chart showing US naval carriers massing near Iranian waters. The chart, published by Stratfor and obtained by the Zero Hedge financial blog, shows that over the last few weeks a naval carrier -- the USS Harry S Truman -- has been positioned in the north Indian Ocean, not far from the Strait of Hormuz, which leads into the Persian Gulf. The carrier joins the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was already located in the area. The chart is dated June 23, 2010.  Reports of mass movements of Israeli and US naval warships have been circulating through the media for weeks. On June 19, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported that 12 US and Israeli warships were seen moving through the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.  And a report from the Associated Press published Saturday evening cited "unconfirmed" reports from Israeli and Iranian media that Saudi Arabia has allowed Israel to use its territory in preparation for an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.  "The allegation could not be independently confirmed, and the Saudis deny cooperating with the Israeli military," AP reported. [...]"  

CIA's Panetta: "Iran has enough uranium for 2 bombs" [06/27/10] "CIA Director Leon Panetta says Iran probably has enough low-enriched uranium for two nuclear weapons, but that it likely would take two years to build the bombs. [...]"  Note:  Building bombs takes highly enriched uranium, enriched to 90%. Iran has 20% medical and power level uranium; Panetta is lying, not realizing people can see through what he says.  The CIA and all the rest of the agencies are an anachronism. They will only tell you what it not true. Nice, try, Leon, you pathetic loser. Related: Panetta: “Not much choice’ but to use Blackwater "How can a company allegedly responsible for killing 17 unarmed civilians in Baghdad in 2007 continue to get State Department and CIA contracts? CIA Director Leon Panetta says there is "not much choice" because few companies have the capabilities of Blackwater. "Since I have become director, I have asked our agency to review every contract we have had with Blackwater and whatever their new name is now -- Xe -- to ensure first and foremost that we have no contract in which they are engaged in any CIA operations. We're doing our own operations. That's important that we not contract that out to anybody," Panetta told ABC's Jake Tapper Sunday. "But at the same time I have to tell you that in the war zone, we continue to have needs for security. You've got a lot of forward bases. You've got a lot of attacks on some of those bases. We've got to have security. Unfortunately, there are few companies that provide that kind of security," Panetta continued. [...] CIA director says 'at most' 50 to 100 Al Qaeda in Afghanistan"  Note: What an idiot. The preference for contractor services is what makes the Pentagon and Defense budget so outrageous. Such a loser. And he admits that "Al Qaeda" isn't a real reason justifying the presence in Afghanistan .. .it's the drugs and natural resources, or the prospect of controlling them.  U.S., Israel Differ on Iran Nuke Intel The Kind of Lies They're Telling the Public   "CIA Director Leon Panetta, in an exclusive “This Week” interview, alluded to the differences between American and Israeli perceptions of Iran’s nuclear intentions. “I think they feel more strongly that Iran has already made the decision to proceed with the bomb,” he said.  [...]"  Note: Panetta lies like a rug. 

McCain breaks with AZ governor: 'Most undocumented migrants not drug mules' [06/27/10] "In a recent debate, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said that most undocumented immigrants are coming to the US to bring drugs. During a debate with political opponent Matt Jette, Gov. Brewer said that the "majority" of undocumented immigrants "are not coming here to work. They are coming here and they’re bringing drugs. And they’re doing drop houses and they’re extorting people and they’re terrorizing the families. That is the truth, Matt. That is the truth."  [...] NBC's David Gregory asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) Sunday if he agreed. "No," McCain said. "I think that there’s a large number, and I think she's right in that the drug cartel's movement has dramatically increased. Twenty-three thousand Mexicans have been killed in the last three years in Mexico."  [...]"  Note: Politicians don't have a handle on the truth ... in politics, the scum rises to the top ... it's like watching a Pharma commercial and then you get to the warnings ... who would be so dumb ... the people who vote these clowns into office.

Admiral Mullen arrives in Tel Aviv [06/27/10] "The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, arrived on 27 June 2010 in Tel Aviv. He was welcomed by his Israeli counterpart, General Gabi Ashkenazi (photo), and is expected to meet with Defence Minister Ehud Barack. The purpose of these meetings has not been made public. The United States and Israel have jointly deployed several warships to the Indian Ocean, off the Iranian and Pakistani shores. The Israeli defence system is in disarray following the diplomatic brush with Turkey after 9 Turkish nationals were killed during the Israeli pirate attack against the humanitarian fleet in the Mediterranean. Israel has notified the UN Secretary-General that it would be prepared to use force to prevent the presence in Palestinian territorial waters of the humanitarian vessel that has been chartered by Lebanese women. The Middle East Quartet, which includes the United States, has called on Tel Aviv to exert moderation.  [...]"  Note:  See also: Adm. Mike Mullen: ‘National Debt Is Our Biggest Security Threat’ [06/25/10] (below)

 Commentary: Is Petraeus McChrystal’s Replacement or Obama’s? [06/27/10] "...The most telling aspect of the McChrystal-Obama contretemps is that it has caused no one in the US government, or media, to ask why the US is still killing women and children in Afghanistan after 9 years. The US government is prepared for everyone except itself to be tried at the War Crimes Tribunal.  Fred Branfman writing in AlterNet on June 22 reminds us that unnumbered Iraqis were killed, maimed, tortured and displaced by an American invasion based on lies told by the highest officials in the American government. Yet, no one has been held accountable.  But Gen. McChrystal is held accountable for letting off steam. Once the Roman senate, the legislative branch, collapsed, the caesars, the executive branch, became the captives of the military. Now with Gen. Petraeus once again moved to the fore as McChrystal’s replacement in Afghanistan, we have Obama elevating Petraeus to the Republican presidential nomination in the next election. Thus has Obama replaced himself with a man who will unify the military and executive branch... [...]"  Note: "I wish I cared." 

Canada’s chief spy: foreign powers control country’s politicians [06/26/10] "Canada’s chief spy has incensed Chinese-Canadians after he claimed that foreign powers control some of the country’s politicians.  The comments by Richard Fadden, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, in a television interview have been widely interpreted as a thinly-veiled attack on Beijing on the eve of a visit to Canada by the Chinese president Hu Jintao for the G20 summit. Mr Fadden told CBC that municipal officials and at least two cabinet ministers from two Canadian provinces were “agents of influence” who were secretly working on behalf of foreign interests. “We’re in fact a bit worried in a couple of provinces that we have an indication that there’s some political figures who have developed quite an attachment to foreign countries,” he said. “The individual becomes in a position to make decisions that affect the country or the province or a municipality. All of a sudden, decisions aren’t taken on the basis of the public good but on the basis of another country’s preoccupations.” [...]"  Canadian Spy Agency Hints at Israeli and Chinese Control of Canadian Cabinet Ministers  [06/26/10] [5:55] 

The Arab Flotilla To Gaza, Now Scheduled For Wednesday, June 30 [06/26/10] "Yasser Kashlak, a Syrian of Palestinian decent, businessman, and chairman of Lebanese Institute of International Studies heads the international group Free Palestine Movement that is organizing the trip. American delegation to join international humanitarian effort to break the siege of Gaza. Twenty-two American citizens will be among the more than two hundred persons who will be sailing aboard the Arab flotilla to Gaza, now scheduled for Wednesday, June 30. The flotilla of Arab ships are hoping to break the blockade on Gaza, despite the harsh Israeli reaction to an earlier flotilla from Turkey and other Mediterranean states killing nine peace activists, causing an international incident. [...]"  Note: This, together with the Turks canceling a 20-year water agreement with Israel, the Lebanese offshore gas field the Israelis want to take from them, and the fact that Israel has its eyes on the Litani river in Lebanon as a water source, together with astrological influences ... it will be interesting.

Australia: Top mental health adviser resigns [06/26/10] "The Labor government is under fire from a growing number of professionals for failing to address the worsening crisis in the public mental health system. [...]"    

Divided Koreas commemorate start of Korean War They're Still In  [06/26/10] "Tens of thousands of North Koreans rallied in their capital to condemn the United States and South Korea on the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, while Seoul told Pyongyang to admit responsibility for a deadly warship sinking. [...]"  Note:  How nuts is that?

Belarus threatens Russia (and Europe) over gas debt [06/26/10] "Belarus threatens to cut off Russian oil and gas supplies to Europe unless Moscow pays its debt amid a deepening energy row between the two countries. [...]"   

Senate confirms Pistole as TSA chief [06/26/10] Note:  Somehow, I don't see 'friendly' or 'normal' when I look at this guy. He has that sadistic look in his eyes.

Supreme Court Outs Gay Marriage Opponents [06/26/10] "It seems obvious, but If you publicly sign a petition seeking to ban gay marriage, your name can be made public. The 138,000 Washington state cowards who thought they could meddle in the relationships of their gay neighbors from the comfort of anonymity got a reality check from the Supreme Court on Thursday. [...] Lawyers for the group argued that the signers’ constitutional right to political free-speech under the First Amendment trumped the state’s public records law. [...] In the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court ruled that disclosure of referendum petitions generally does not violate any free-speech rights."   

US Supreme Court ruling favors convicted corporate swindlers [06/26/10] "The US Supreme Court has significantly restricted the ability of federal prosecutors to bring criminal charges against corrupt politicians and corporate CEOs who plunder their own companies. [...]"  Note: Then why would anyone ever invest in a company again? 

Israel faces new war crime headache [06/26/10] "The indictment defines Israel's deliberate targeting of places known to hold civilians as well as attacks on plantations and water systems, among other things, as war crimes committed during the 22-day offensive that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and left thousands more injured. [...]"  

Hunters Would Save Bison by Shooting Them [06/26/10] "Bison hunters claim the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is endangering the Canadian wood bison by keeping it on the endangered species list, which prevents hunters from getting "trophy import permits," which would encourage the hunters to preserve the animals so they could kill them. "The wood bison from Canada is listed as 'endangered,' and that listing is inhibiting its conservation," the groups claim in Federal Court. [...]"  Note: Only stupid sequentials think like this.  

American man threatens vuvuzela blower with an ax [06/26/10] "German police say an American got so fed up with the constant mosquito-like droning from his neighbors' vuvuzela plastic horns that he threatened to kill them with an ax. Police in the Bavarian city of Weiden said Friday the 45-year-old man confronted his neighbors during Thursday's Netherlands-Cameroon World Cup game wielding the ax. They said he was so sick of the constant buzzing and honking from the vuvuzelas since the tournament began that he screamed: "I will kill you," and then returned home. German authorities took the U.S. Army civilian employee into custody and turned him over to U.S. military police. The military says he has been released and the matter is in German hands. [...]"  Note:  So, the man was allowed to bring an axe into a sporting event ... some security they have. Next time they can leave the stupid horns out of the mix, too.

Torture memo author attacks Kagan for admiring Israeli judge ‘advancing democracy’ [06/26/10] "Former Justice Department attorney John Yoo, the author of controversial memos which attempted to justify torture during the Bush administration, is attacking Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan because of her admiration for an Israeli judge who believes in "advancing democracy."  "Robert Bork’s criticism of Elena Kagan—for her admiration of Chief Justice Aharon Barak of the Israeli Supreme Court—is well-founded," Yoo writes in a short blog at his American Enterprise Institute.  At Capital J, a nonpartisan news website for diaspora Jews, Ami Eden writes,  Robert Bork has taken center stage in the brewing fight over the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan. Ronald Reagan's failed court nominee is making hey over the fact that as Harvard Law School dean Kagan once introduced former Israeli Chief Justice Aharon Barak as "my judicial hero." (She proceeded to say he "is the judge who has best advanced democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and justice.”)  On a conference call this week, Bork told reporters, "It's typical of young lawyers going into constitutional law that they have inflated dreams of what constitutional law can do, what courts can do. That usually wears off as time passes and they get experience. But Ms. Kagan has not had time to develop a mature philosophy of judging. I would say her admiration for Barak, the Israeli justice, is a prime example. As I've said before, Barak might be the least competent judge on the planet." [...]"    

Commentary: McChrystal's Disdain: Symptom of a Mercenary Force With Few Ties to Civilian Leaders [06/26/10] "The Obama/McChrystal debacle is symptomatic of a wider divide -- the widening estrangement between our civilian elites and our military. McChrystal deserved to be fired and has been. But this event is a symptom of a bigger problem. General McChrystal's disdain for President Obama did not arise in a vacuum. The context is: 1) the disconnect between our "all-volunteer military" -- that is now really a professional mercenary force by another name -- and the civilian political leadership with less and less personal military service experience. And 2) the fact that the Republican Party has wrapped itself in the flag while the Democrats have had a harder time distancing themselves from some voices that have been perceived as offensively anti-military within their big tent. The real reason that Rolling Stone was able to quote so many highly placed military people's disdain for members of the Obama administration is because the military sees itself as more moral and better -- and certainly more conservative -- than the types who serve in civilian roles today, especially within a Democratic administration. [...]"  

Anti-virus is a Poor Substitute for Common Sense [06/26/10] "... f you’re depending on your anti-virus product to save you from an ill-advised decision — such as opening an attachment in an e-mail you weren’t expecting, installing random video codecs from third-party sites, or downloading executable files from peer-to-peer file sharing networks — you’re playing Russian Roulette with your computer. [...]"    

Adm. Mike Mullen: ‘National Debt Is Our Biggest Security Threat’ [06/25/10] "... Gallup reports that terrorism and federal government debt are tied as the most worrisome perceived threats to Americans, with healthcare costs ranking a close third. Only 26 percent of Americans polled deemed the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to be "extremely serious" threats to the future well-being of the U.S., compared with four in ten who ranked the national debt at that level. [...]"  Note: Yet it never dawns on Mullen that the Pentagon and it's multi-decade nefarious activities, along with the entire "military industrial-congressional-intelligence complex" is the source of the entire problem with the debt. This is how sequentials operate, oblivious to contextual 'clues' and how they relate to their behavioral predispositions. A king who wears no clothes.

West’s Afghan Debacle: Commander Dismissed As War Deaths Reach Record Level [06/25/10] "A graduate of the West Point Military Academy like McChrystal, Petraeus has been the subject of rumours – for at least three years – that he intends to run for the U.S. presidency and in fact has been deftly positioning himself for just that eventuality. [...]"     

Democracy Now:  3 US Soldiers Speak Out on McChrystal's Firing, Petraeus as Replacement, and the Unending War in Afghanistan [06/25/10] Video clip " Obama says the Afghan war will continue as planned despite his firing of General Stanley McChrystal over disparaging comments made by McChrystal and his aides about top US officials. Obama has named General David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command and architect of the surge in Iraq, as a successor. The firing of McChrystal comes at a perilous moment in the Afghan war, with June now the deadliest month for the NATO force since the 2001 invasion. We speak to three soldiers: Brock McIntosh, an Afghan war vet who has filed for conscientious objector status; Victor Agosto, who was jailed after refusing to deploy to Afghanistan after serving in Iraq; and Camilo Mejia, the first GI who served in Iraq to have publicly resisted the war. [includes rush transcript] [...]"    

Petraeus Expected to Tone Down Attempts to Avoid Civilian Deaths [06/25/10] "Gen. Petraeus is going to review the policy Gen. McChrystal called “courageous restraint,” a euphemism for a collection of orders deigned to reduce the number of civilians killed by US soldiers. But Gen. Petraeus’ “review” of the policies is nothing resembling an effort to make the restraint more effective. Rather, officials say he is looking to remove some of those restrictions, how many remains to be seen. In effect, he will making policy changes explicitly to put more Afghan civilians’ lives in jeopardy. [...]"  Note: A sick, narcissistic, dangerous individual ... another reincarnated dipshit power-and-control freak. Related: Obama Disavows July 2011 Afghan Drawdown Date  "The date was little but an excuse to convince opponents of the surge to withhold judgment on the war at any rate, but its new role as the “beginning of a transition phase” has downgraded it to complete irrelevance, as officials have been claiming for years that they have been encouraging the Afghan government to take “more and more responsibility” to no real effect. [...]"  

War bill could clear next week [06/25/10] "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday said she would try to pass the Afghanistan war spending bill before the July recess, a piece of legislation that may be split into two to ease passage. “The president is the commander in chief, and we all stand by him in the decision that he made in terms of who would be in command in Afghanistan,” she said. “So we’ve trusted him before, we trust him now; its just a question of where people stand on our involvement in Afghanistan.” [...]"  Note: What a mindless robot ... why don't these people ever have heart attacks out of the blue? It would be so exciting to see her out of the local loop ... to see what they would do. Nancy "we got to pass it so you can see what's in it" Pelosi, daughter of a mobster ... I hope she implodes tomorrow.

Israel:  Iran on war alert over "US and Israeli concentrations" in Azerbaijan  [06/25/10] ".... An update from the DebkaFile reports that Iran has declared a state of war in its northwest region: In a rare move, Iran has declared a state of war on its northwestern border, military and Iranian sources report. Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps men and equipment units are being massed in the Caspian Sea region against what Tehran claims are US and Israeli forces concentrated on army and air bases in Azerbaijan ready to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. The announcement came on Tuesday, June 22 from Brig.-Gen Mehdi Moini of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), commander of the forces tasked with “repelling” this American-Israeli offensive. He said: “The mobilization is due to the presence of American and Israeli forces on the western border,” adding, “Reinforcements are being dispatched to West Azerbaijan Province because some western countries are fueling ethnic conflicts to destabilize the situation in the region.” [...]"   

Lyndon LaRouche Keynote address, Diplomats Luncheon: Policy vs. Events in History  [06/25/10] Audio clip [40:00]  

 Discussion: Is Israel Blackmailing the United States? [06/25/10] "Israel, purportedly a US friend, has been spying on us all. And we're not talking about individual spooks like Jonathan Pollard, or small-time networks such as the 140 Israelis arrested by the FBI prior to 9/11, or the 60 arrested since (including 5 arrested who were cheering and celebrating as the World Trade Towers collapsed). [...]"  Related: Israeli Spying: The Mother of all Scandals "For two years, the FBI has suspected AIPAC of spying for a foreign country, and for those two years (and for decades before) that group suspected of spying for Israel has been reshaping the US Congress for the benefit of a foreign government. And THAT is the mother of all scandals.[...]"   

Senate Republicans Poised to Kill Jobless Aid Measure [06/24/10] "Republicans in the Senate appear likely to kill legislation to provide continued unemployment checks to millions of people and provide states with billions of dollars to avert layoffs. It would be a bitter defeat for President Obama and Capitol Hill Democrats, who have been trying to advance the measure for months as an insurance policy against a double-dip recession. [...]"  Note: For anyone in the Senate to not want to preserve the quality of life for those they represent is very telling.  In my opinion, there are a lot of people in prominent positions in society who are not justified in continuing what they're doing; there is no provision  to deal with, or remedy, mass abrogation of duty ... they don't care if the population lives or dies, so the only options left are not something they'll want to see happen, and it's something they caused all along but won't take responsibility for, because they're losers and cowards at heart. 

Germany refuses to drop Mossad prosecution, despite Israeli pressure [06/24/10] "German-Israeli relations sunk to a new low this week, after the German government rejected Israel’s call to drop a public investigation into the actions of a suspected Israeli spy. [...]"  

Australia Elects 'First Female' As Prime Minister [06/24/10] "Australia's Labor Party has elected Julia Gillard as the nation's first female prime minister, a party spokesman says. The announcement came moments after Kevin Rudd stepped down after a swift fall from popularity [...]Gillard said she would also pursue increasing taxes on mining companies, another issue that had stirred controversy and fierce opposition from the industry. "Australians are entitled to a fairer share of our inheritance of the mineral wealth that lies in our grounds," she said."  Israel: New Australian PM supportive of Israel  Note: Naturally. 

Institute for 'Creation Research' laughed out of court in Texas [06/24/10] ""overly verbose, disjointed, incoherent, maundering and full of irrelevant information." U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of Austin reasoning in throwing out the Dallas based Institute for Creation Research's lawsuit. Judge tosses creationists' effort to offer master's degrees [...]"  

Poll: 40% of Americans Think "Jesus Will Return by 2050" Are Completely Delusional and Out of Touch With Reality [06/24/10] "More than 40% of Americans believe Jesus will return to earth by the year 2050, according to a Pew Research Center poll. The poll also found that Americans are optimistic about the future, but less so than a decade ago: 64% expect a rosy future for themselves and their families, down from 81% in 1999. By 2050, 71% expect cancer to have been cured, and 66% say artificial limbs will work better than real ones. But besides expecting the Second Coming, plenty of Americans are also feeling apocalyptic about the environment, the Daily Telegraph reports: Almost three quarters expect a major global energy crisis by 2050, while two-thirds—48% of Republicans and 83% of Democrats—think the earth will get warmer. Among the under-30s, 68% predict a world war in the next 40 years. And almost a third of those polled think the earth will be hit by an asteroid by 2050.  [...]"   

WikiLeaks founder drops ‘mass spying’ hint [06/24/10] "WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has given his strongest indication yet about the next big leak from his whistleblower organisation. In an interview with the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent, Mr Assange said cryptically of WikiLeaks’ current project:  “I can give an analogy. If there had been mass spying that had affected many, many people and organisations and the details of that mass spying were released then that is something that would reveal that the interests of many people had been abused.” [...]"  

Mom says Jackson feared for his life [06/24/10] "Michael Jackson's mother Katherine says the U.S. pop singer told her before he died last June that people wanted him "gone." [...]"  Note:  Interesting that an Israeli manufactured anesthetic figured prominently in his death.   Related: Jackson's estate 'makes $1bn' since his death  "Michael Jackson's estate has made more than $1bn (£677m) since his death a year ago, according to estimates by trade paper Billboard. [...]"  | Jackson Five: 273 New Tracks Discovered" | Jackson was 'murdered for money' "LaToya Jackson has claimed her brother Michael was murdered because he was "worth so much more dead than alive" in a TV interview. [...]"  

Harry Reid’s Son Running for Governor of Nevada Drops His Last Name From Campaign Ad, Website, Logo… [06/24/10] "Nevada gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid (D) is on the air with his first campaign ad and it’s missing one thing: his last name. Reid, the son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), doesn’t say his name at any point during the ad, but it prominently features his campaign logo, “Rory 2010.” Observers noticed that throughout the gubernatorial primary, Rory Reid seemed to distance himself from his father, who faced high disapproval ratings from voters. …Rory Reid’s website also neglects to mention his last name on its main banner, which reads “Rory 2010.” The bio section also lacks Rory Reid’s last name. It’s titled “Meet Rory” and doesn’t mention his parents in the paragraph about his personal life.  [...]"  Note:  Would you want to describe you father this way: “Hey, my dad’s that asshole everyone hates?” So I guess I can’t blame him… 

MSM Lapdogs in Agreement, Obama was “Brilliant” Handling McChrystal Controversy… [06/24/10] " [...]"  Note: From what I can see, the whole thing was a staged sequence, beginning with the interview .... what kind of 'general' does that? They wanted to put Petraeus in charge quickly and/they needed 'Stan' somewhere else ... 2 Video clips

87 senators oppose U.N. flotilla inquiry [06/24/10] "Eighty-seven members of the U.S. Senate urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to oppose a U.N. resolution criticizing Israel's handling of an aid flotilla. [...]"  Note: In a 'normal world', these people would have been arrested and imprisoned for treason, and worse, by now. 

Amsterdam police may use 'decoy Jews' [06/24/10] "Amsterdam, Netherlands, which has used police decoys pretending to be elderly retirees and gays, is considering using officers disguised as Jews, officials say. [...]"  

MoveOn Scrubs “General Betray Us” Page From Website [06/24/10] "It was there the last time Google cache took a screen shot of it (June 18th), so it was scrubbed sometime between then and today.  The despicable ad was a crowning achievement for MoveOn.org, but their blind obedience to Hope-N-Change has trumped their dignity: View The Ad    MoveOn also scrubbed the page explaining their rationale behind the ad: Google cache link here as of June 19th. "   

Disgraced Lobbyist Jack Abramoff Working In Baltimore Pizza Shop [06/24/10] "Disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has landed a new job at a kosher pizzeria in Baltimore soon after his release from prison.  Abramoff began working Monday at Tov Pizza, Ron Rosenbluth, the restaurant's owner, said Tuesday. The former Washington power broker, whose activities led to the conviction of a congressman, is learning about the business and will eventually be helping with its marketing, Rosenbluth said. Abramoff was released from a minimum-security prison camp in western Maryland on June 8 after serving about 3 1/2 years for fraud, corruption and conspiracy. He reported to a halfway house in Baltimore and remains under the supervision of the Bureau of Prisons until his Dec. 4 release date. [...]"   

Viacom Loses To YouTube In Landmark Copyright Case [06/24/10] "A federal judge in New York sided with Google Inc. in a $1 billion copyright lawsuit filed by media company Viacom Inc. over YouTube videos, saying the service promptly removed illegal materials as required under federal law.  Wednesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton in the closely watched case further affirmed the protections offered to online service providers under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The 1998 law offers immunity when service providers promptly remove illegal materials submitted by users once they are notified of a violation. That safe harbor had helped persuade Google to buy YouTube for $1.76 billion in 2006, even though some of its own executives had earlier branded the video-sharing service as "a 'rogue enabler' of content theft," according to internal documents unearthed in the case. Although it's a major victory for Google and other Internet service providers, Wednesday's decision won't end a legal brawl that has already dragged on for more than three years. Viacom vowed to keep the case alive in appeals court, a process likely to last another year or two. [...]"   

Pelosi asks for donations to fend off potential GOP investigations [06/24/10] "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is asking supporters for contributions to help prevent the "subpoenas and investigations" that would result from a GOP majority. In a fundraising letter for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Pelosi says if Republicans take back the House, they'll initiate "endless investigations against President Obama" and "bring back the days of Ken Starr and the politics of personal destruction." [...]"   

US Politics: McConnell: Kagan not impartial [06/24/10] "U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he doesn't believe Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan can apply the law impartially. [...]"|Kagan Calls Israeli Activist Judge 'My Hero'  "New video of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan praising an activist Israeli Supreme court judge as "my judicial hero" has Republican senators and conservative groups doubting administration claims that the former Clinton aide has an open mind and isn't interested in changing the Constitution."

Commentary: Towards the Eighteenth Brumaire of General David Petraeus?  Webster G. Tarpley [06/23/10] "Prodded doubtless by forces above and behind the Oval Office, Obama has ousted General McChrystal in favor of General Petraeus, who now combines the post of CENTCOM theater commander with that of NATO commander in Afghanistan. This is a move deriving from the inherent fecklessness and incompetence of the Obama administration, especially from the imperialist point of view. Recent events have highlighted Obama’s total lack of executive ability, leaving him weakened as he faced the bizarre flap about some barrack-room gripes by McChrystal’s staff collected by a correspondent from Rolling Stone magazine. Because of Obama’s weakness, he felt obliged to react to the scuttlebutt peddled by Rolling Stone, when a stronger president could have dismissed it or ignored it. As Fletcher Pratt once wrote, Abraham Lincoln was capable of laughing an attempted coup d’état out of existence with an off-color joke. Obama is far too weak for that.   As for General McChrystal, he was critically weakened and made vulnerable to ouster by the total failure of his counterinsurgency strategy, with the Marja offensive faltering and the Kandahar offensive indefinitely delayed, even as NATO losses rise exponentially, President Karzai turns towards Tehran and Beijing, and many of the NATO coalition partners prepare to defect. One effect of the sacking of McChrystal is likely to be the accelerated breakup of the US-led Afghan invasion coalition, which was already in bad shape before this incident. The Netherlands and Canada are leaving, the British and the Poles want to join them, and the Turks can hardly be enthusiastic. Who else will join them in the race for the exit door? NATO Secretary General Rasmussen, anticipating such a result, spoke out yesterday in favor of keeping McChrystal, who works for him as well as for Obama. More countries may now announce their departure even before the November NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal. Another of McChrystal’s bosses, Afghan President Karzai, also made clear that he wanted McChrystal to stay. He will now use Obama’s flaunting of his wishes to accelerate his own playing of the China card in economic policy and the Iranian card in cultural and religious affairs. Afghanistan is likely to slip into the Chinese orbit. [...]"  Note:  The whole article is quite interesting and apropos, about what is happening now in US Politics ... Related: McChrystal out, Bilderberg In  

Security Updates for Firefox, Opera Browsers [06/23/10] "Mozilla has shipped a new version of Firefox that corrects a number of vulnerabilities in the browser. Separately, a new version of Opera is available that fixes at least five security flaws in the software. [...] Firefox version 3.6.4 addresses seven security holes ranging from lesser bugs to critical flaws. Mozilla says this latest version of Firefox also does a better job of handling plugin crashes, so that if a plugin causes problems when the user browses a site, Firefox will simply let the plugin crash instead of tying up the entire browser process. Firefox should auto-update (usually on your next restart of the browser), but you can force an update check by clicking “Help,” and then “Check for Updates” (when I did this, I noticed that in its place was the “Apply Downloaded Update Now,” option, indicating that Firefox had already fetched this upgrade."  Note:  Updating the Adobe Flash to the latest version is checked, as well.

Accused Mossad assassination attempt on Erdogan [06/23/10] "Jordanian newspaper reported that the Turkish security apparatus was able to thwart an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and noted that the lines of inquiry lead to the involvement of the Israeli intelligence agency "Mossad." [...]"  

Mine Disaster Company Sues Mine Safety Regulator For Allegedly Violating Its Constitutional Rights [06/23/10] "Massey Energy Co. sued the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and three of its officials Tuesday, arguing that the agency wouldn't approve ventilation practices in its mines that Massey says would have benefited the safety and health of miners. The company, which is being investigated by the MSHA following an April explosion that killed 29 miners at its Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, W.Va., said it couldn't challenge the MSHA's ventilation-plan requirements under federal mine law. Massey said that violated its constitutional rights. [...]"    

"Iran Will Break Treaties If Sanctions Are Imposed" [06/23/10] "....  Western leaders are concerned that Iran is developing capabilities to produce a nuclear warhead, which Tehran has denied. Salehi said Iran would abide by "all treaties that we have signed, unless they (Western leaders) want to take an approach against Iran's national interests, such as the U.N. Security Council resolutions" imposing economic sanctions. [...]"  Note:  "Iran produced 37 pounds of 20% uranium" is the title of the article. One needs 90% concentration and knowledge to build a device. There's no indication that's the case. The important part of the article is in quotes, and summed up in the the link title.

Israeli defense ministry announces spy satellite launch [06/23/10] "Israel on Tuesday launched a spy satellite from a base in the south of the country, the defence ministry said, with the device reportedly capable of monitoring arch-foe Iran. "A few minutes ago the State of Israel launched the Ofek-9 (Horizon-9) satellite from the Palmachim base," the ministry said. "The results of the launch are being examined by the technical team." It gave no details on the satellite, but public radio said it, like its predecessors in the Ofek series, were cable of taking high resolution pictures and aimed at monitoring Iran's nuclear programme. The radio said the satellite was developed by Israel Aircraft Industries and launched on a Shavit rocket. Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, regards Iran as its principal threat after repeated predictions by the Islamic republic's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Jewish state's demise. Along with the West, it suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme, a claim Tehran denies. With the launch of Ofek-9, Israel has six spy satellites in space. An attempt to launch an Ofek-6 in 2004 failed with the satellite crashing into the Mediterranean Sea after a technical malfunction with the launcher.[...]"    

Senior US lawmakers go after ‘libel tourism’ with journalist shield bill [06/23/10] "Senior US lawmakers unveiled legislation Tuesday to shield US journalists, authors and publishers from "libel tourists" who file suit in countries where they expect to get the most favorable ruling.  "England, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia and Singapore are just a few of the countries whose weak libel protections have attracted libel lawsuits against American journalists and authors," said Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy. "This threat to American free speech must end, and the time to act is now," Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said as he unveiled the bill with the panel's top Republican, Senator Jeff Sessions. The measure would prevent US federal courts from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment for defamation that is inconsistent with the first amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech. That cherished amendment, backed by a series of US Supreme Court decisions, makes it harder to win a libel suit in the United States relative to many other countries. [...]"   

The Rolling Stone Article: The Runaway General, Stanley McChrystal [06/23/10] Related:  White House summons US general to explain himself " A senior U.S. military official in Afghanistan tells The Associated Press that Gen. Stanley McChrystal doesn't know whether he'll keep his job when he appears at the White House on Wednesday. The official says the general has been given no indication that he'll be fired — but no assurance he won't be. McChrystal has apologized for a Rolling Stone magazine profile this week in which aides mock other administration officials. Obama summoned the general to Washington to explain the remarks.[...]" 11 Revelations From Rolling Stone’s McChrystal Profile

Russia pushing for control of fuel supplies to crucial US airbase [06/23/10] "Russia is pushing to impose a direct fuel supply deal on the US's airbase in Kyrgyzstan that would allow it to force a rapid closure of the base once it is no longer necessary to support Nato operations in Afghanistan. "Ultimately it's in the security interests of Russia for the US to be using this base for its operations in Afghanistan, but under a very, very strict mandate," said Ana Jelenkovic, Central Asia analyst at Eurasia Group. "If Russia is able to monitor the destination of the fuel, it limits the ability of the US to stay there in the base long-term. It makes the Americans staying there at Manas contingent always on some Russian support." [...]"   

Australia: No anti-virus software? No internet connection [06/23/10] "Australians would be forced to install anti-virus and firewall software on their computers before being allowed to connect to the internet under a new plan to fight cyber crime.  [...]"  Related: Australian Government To Force Internet Users To Install State-Approved Software  "The Australian government is set to intensify its war against Internet freedom by forcing web users to install state-approved anti-virus software. If they fail to do so, they will be denied an Internet connection, or if their computer is later infected, the user’s connection will be terminated.  “Australians would be forced to install anti-virus and firewall software on their computers before being allowed to connect to the internet under a new plan to fight cyber crime. And if their computer did get infected, internet service providers like Telstra and Optus could cut off their connection until the problem was resolved,” reports News.com.au. A 260-page report released by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications outlines a plan to mandate Internet users to install government-approved software before their Internet connection can be activated.  [...]"  

IDF strengthening ties with Chinese military [06/23/10] "In another sign of the growing importance Israel attributes to China in the battle against Iran’s nuclear program, OC Home Front Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan flew to Beijing Saturday night at the head of an Israeli military delegation, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Golan will hold talks with top Chinese military and defense officials on a wide range of issues pertaining to Israeli security, including the Iranian nuclear threat. Ties with China are a sensitive issue for the IDF. In 2005, a crisis erupted between the Defense Ministry and the Pentagon, which accused Israel of selling American military technology to China. [...]" Note: Just like they sold South Africa nukes.

“The kin of the dead can’t forget why they hate America” [06/23/10] "Paul J. Balles says the reason why so many people in the Arab and Muslim worlds hate the United States is not envy of American wealth or power but injustice and greed. And the solution is simple: "Stop occupying their countries. Stop controlling others' land, populations, governments and resources." [...]"  

Israel bars German minister from Gaza [06/23/10] "'Sometimes the Israeli government does not make it easy for its friends to explain why it behaves the way it does,' says aid minister Dirk Niebel. [...]"  Note:  Ya think?

Mexican Gangs Maintain Permanent Lookout Bases in Hills of Arizona [06/23/10] "Mexican drug cartels have set up shop on American soil, maintaining lookout bases in strategic locations in the hills of southern Arizona from which their scouts can monitor every move made by law enforcement officials, federal agents tell Fox News. The scouts are supplied by drivers who bring them food, water, batteries for radios -- all the items they need to stay in the wilderness for a long time. “Every night we’re getting beaten like a pinata at a birthday party by drug, alien smugglers," a second federal agent told Fox News by e-mail. "The danger is out there, with all the weapons being found coming northbound…. someone needs to know about this!” [...]"  

Time Is Running Out For Democrats to Pursue Charges Against Bush, Cheney [06/23/10] "Of all the disappointments that progressives have endured in recent years, one of the biggest is the Democrats' failure to pursue any charges of wrongdoing by George W. Bush or Dick Cheney. And now, with the mid-term elections only five months away, it's clear that the window of opportunity is closing, perhaps forever. [...]"  Note: The Democrats won't do it ... it's not like they're the 'opposite' of the Republicans ... they're screwed up in their own way ...  

GOP senator’s ‘women’s issues’ aide sliced girlfriend with knife and threatened to kill her [06/23/10] "Talk about troubles with women. David Vitter, the Louisiana Republican senator who just recently apologized for having sex with prostitutes, now has another "women's issue" on his hands: the discovery that his top aide for women's issues held his girlfriend against her will for 90 minutes, covered her mouth during a fight, and sliced her open. And he's still on the senator's payroll -- in charge of dealing with women's issues. "The aide, Brent Furer, has had repeated brushes with the law dating back to the 1990s, an ABC News investigation has found," the network wrote Wednesday. "Yet Furer has continued to receive his taxpayer-financed senate staff salary in Washington, even as court records show he remains wanted on an open warrant in Baton Rouge stemming from an unresolved misdemeanor DWI charge." [...]"  Note: If Vitter has to hire someone else to deal with the social results of his flawed character (instead of maturing), then Vitter essentially becomes responsible for what the loser Furer ('Fuehrer') does. 

Beirut warns Israel against ship attack [06/22/10] "As a Lebanese aid convoy is preparing to set sail for the Gaza Strip, Beirut says Tel Aviv would be held accountable for any attack against the vessel. [...]" 

Bail denied in diamond case [06/22/10] "Zimbabwe's high court has refused bail to a man accused of jeopardizing the country's ability to trade diamonds on the international market, prosecutors say. Farai Maguwu, who heads the non-governmental Centre for Research and Development Trust, is charged with creating false documents claiming police and the army engaged in human rights abuses at the Chiadzwa diamond fields, The Herald of Harare reported Tuesday. Maguwu is accused of giving the documents to an official of the Kimberly Process during a second fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe. [...]"   Note: 'Blood diamonds' .... 

Executive Orders Can Be Changed Secretly [06/22/10] "The United States was founded in rejection of royalist principles. It is a nation of laws, not of men. Yet, its much touted democracy has feet of clay. The U.S. Constitution and system of checks and balances are mere empty shells when the President, as was the case during the Bush Administration, has de facto the autocratic power of changing or ignoring his own laws at will. When Barack Obama took office, he pledged more transparency in regard to executive orders. What the next Censored Project study will have to report on this issue remains to be seen. [...]"  

MSNBC Host Admits To Parroting White House Talking Points on BP Disaster [06/22/10] "MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski admitted on air this morning that she was repeating White House talking points she had been advised to include in the channel’s news programming regarding the ongoing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. [...]"  Note: This is Zbigniew Brzezinski's daughter. That the networks would remain ignorant of the degree of public knowledge about Brzezinski, and make her a MSM shill, is amusing. So, the fact that the major networks exist ONLY to spout government propaganda becomes more transparent to the public each day, rendering the networks moot. Journalism left the room a long time ago.

US-led armada secretly drilled bombing Iranian targets, missile defense with Israel [06/22/10] "The armada of 10 US warships plus an Israeli and German battle vessel each, which transited the Suez Canal Friday, June 18, has reached the Persian Gulf, debkafile’s military sources report. But first, from June 6 through June 10, the USS Harry S. Truman carrier Strike Group was deployed 50 miles of the shore of southwestern Israel, secretly drilling the interception of incoming Iranian, Syrian and Hizballah missiles and rockets against US and Israeli targets in the Middle East. This was first revealed by DEBKA-Net-Weekly 449 on June 18.  The fleet let by the Truman then headed for the Persian Gulf through the Suez Canal accompanied by an Israeli missile ship (not identified) and the German missile frigate FGS Hessen F221. For five days and night, the Truman’s sixty F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter bombers took off on simulated bombing missions against targets set up by the Israeli Air Force at its firing range on the Nevatim Base-28, in the Negev desert southeast of Be’er Sheva – one of its three big air bases. [...]"     

Court overturns Monsanto seed ban [06/22/10] "The US Supreme Court has overturned a ruling barring Monsanto from selling genetically modified seeds until they can be tested. [...]"  

Flotilla Cover-up by the New York Times for Israel [06/22/10] "Are executives at the New York Times using their power to cover-up what really happened in Israel's Gaza Flotilla attack? Is it a conspiracy or blatantly sloppy journalism? Judge for yourself!  [...]" 

"Biblical Artifacts Declared Fakes: Arrests in Israel for Forgery" [06/22/10]  Note:  Biblical ANYTHING is 'fake', and Israel ... IsNotReal ... as a state, it's a forgery.

Iran out, but Russia eyes Turkey for S-300 [06/22/10] "Russia's arms export chief says Moscow hopes to sell Turkey the powerful S-300 air-defense missile system -- and possibly the more advanced S-400 -- after blocking delivery of the weapon to Iran. [...]" 

Iranian aid flotilla postponed [06/21/10] "The Iranian Red Crescent organization has decided to postpone the departure of its aid vessel to the Gaza Strip, a senior organization official said Monday. "The Iranian ship is humanitarian and is not carrying any weapons. Therefore, any aggression will be in violation of international law at sea," Jafarian was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency. The first Iranian ship, organized by a non-governmental organization called "the Iranian company for the protection of the Palestinian nation" has already set sail. It is unclear whether it will wait for the second vessel or continue towards the Suez Canal. [...]"  Note:  I would imagine so, with a US battle group and the Israelis waiting.

LaRouche: Oil Blowout Means Obama Administration is Now Finished [06/21/10] "An ominous report on the Gulf of Mexico oil blowout, which Lyndon LaRouche commented "has the hallmarks of accuracy," has been posted on the oil geologists' and engineers' blog, "The Oil Drum," reproduced on "Science Blogs" with the comment, "very knowledgeable," and finally posted on Mother Jones' website under the headline, "Is the BP Gusher Unstoppable?" The implications of this report, also echoed in a BP internal engineers' report discovered on Sunday by Rep. Edward Markey's committee, are, LaRouche emphasized, that the Obama Administration is now finished, for what it has done, and for what it has not done in this critical matter. LaRouche has said — most recently in a June 16 public statement — that the President should have been making preparations for the use of peaceful nuclear explosions (PNE) to stop the gusher if necessary, including getting an emergency exception to the Test Ban Treaty cleared with its signator nations. The engineers posting on "The Oil Drum" do not discuss using PNEs. But they chillingly forecast that everything else will fail because the substrate under the broken wellhead is filling with leaks and breaking up, and the blowout is "evolving" toward a monster geyser of 150-200,000 barrels a day which will cover the Gulf and soon the Atlantic, reaching the shores of Europe and Africa. And, they comment, both BP and the U.S. government know this, as shown by the shifts in BP's strategies in attempting to contain the oil.  [...]"   

NJ Naval base locked down due to ‘several simultaneous incidents’ [06/21/10] " [...]"  Note:  Update: Paper reports lockdown lifted, while authorities hunt for gunman who leaped a fence armed with .38. A developing story.

Wikileaks Soldier Reveals Orders for "360 Rotational Fire" Against Civilians in Iraq [06/21/10] "Ethan McCord, one of the soldiers seen in the now-famous Wikileaks video in which two American Apache helicopters fire upon a relaxed, unhurried gaggle of men in Baghdad, has stated in an interview with World Socialist Website that he witnessed numerous times the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians in Iraq after IED attacks...McCord said to reporter Bill Van Auken: "we had a pretty gung-ho commander, who decided that because we were getting hit by IEDs a lot, there would be a new battalion SOP [standard operating procedure].He goes, "If someone in your line gets hit with an IED, 360 rotational fire. You kill every motherf*cker on the street." Myself and Josh and a lot of other soldiers were just sitting there looking at each other like, "Are you kidding me? You want us to kill women and children on the street?" And you couldn't just disobey orders to shoot, because they could just make your life hell in Iraq. So like with myself, I would shoot up into the roof of a building instead of down on the ground toward civilians. But I've seen it many times, where people are just walking down the street and an IED goes off and the troops open fire and kill them." The deliberate killing of civilians is a war crime (Nanking 1937, Hankow 1938, German Invasion of Poland 1939.)... [...]"   

World Politics: German Minister: " Israel running out of time" [06/21/10] "A German minister, who was banned by Israel from entering the Gaza Strip, says Tel Aviv could exceed the limit of playing the political hardball any time. "Refusing a German development minister entry to the Gaza Strip is a great foreign policy mistake on the part of the Israeli government," the agency quoted him as telling the German daily Leipziger Volkszeitung.  Voicing his regret over the obstruction, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Berlin and the European Union awaited the removal of the siege of Gaza. The Israeli-imposed restrictions are into their fourth year of denying the nearly-1.5-million Gazans of food, fuel and other necessities. While the second staunchest advocate of Israel after the United States, Berlin fell slightly out with Tel Aviv after the Israeli forces bloodshed of at least 20 activists on board the international Gaza-bound relief mission, Freedom Flotilla. [...]"  Related: Israel sets out "changes" to Gaza " blockade curbs"  ( but Not Blockade of Gaza) "Israel gives details of how it is to ease the Gaza blockade, with all civilian goods now expected to be let into the territory, officials say. [...]Israel will allow items into Gaza unless they feature on a new list which specifies banned goods. The move will let in humanitarian aid, food and building supplies.  [...] Israel said it would maintain its naval blockade of Gaza. Mr Blair added that all goods destined for Gaza and sent by sea would be diverted via the Israeli port of Ashdod. But Israel also insisted that it would maintain its current "security regime" for Gaza, and said its troops would continue to work to stop the smuggling of weapons into and out of the territory. The decision to ease the blockade was made last week after two days of discussion by the country's security cabinet. There was no immediate reaction from Palestinians to Israel's decision, but the plan was dismissed by Palestinian groups last week as a "pointless gesture". They called for the blockade to be lifted completely. "    

CNN's Wolf Blitzer (an Israeli) Unhappy About Anti-Israel CNN Viewers [06/21/10] "Pay very careful attention to the tone Blitzer takes here when he is subject to listening to a plethora of anti-Israel comments voiced by CNN viewers: [...]"  Note: He's a Zionist, so it's not surprising. 

 US Politics: Sen. Al Franken Attacks Federalist Society and Roberts Court  [8:29]  

Israel: "More flotillas for Gaza, Lebanese army joins Hizballah war alert"  [06/20/10] "Debkafile's intelligence sources report the Lebanese army and Hizballah are pooling their military resources to be ready for any Israeli action against Lebanese ships heading for Gaza.  [...]"  Note: Debkafile, as an organization, propagandizes for the Israeli government.

US battleships cross Suez Canal [06/19/10] "Eleven American battleships and an Israeli one crossed the Suez Canal Friday en route to the Red Sea, the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper reported. According to the report, traffic in the canal was halted for several hours in order to allow US Navy vessels, which included an aircraft carrier and carried infantry troops, armored vehicles and ammunition, to pass from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. It was further reported that eyewitnesses detected an Israeli warship among the vessels. No confirmation has been received from Egyptian authorities. [...]"  US, Israel Warships in Suez May Be Prelude to Face-off with Iran

Germany rejects Israeli call to halt probe into Mossad role in Dubai killing [06/19/10] "The German government has said it will not intervene to stop an investigation into a suspected Mossad spy linked to the assassination of a Hamas official in Dubai, despite pressure from Israel, a German newspaper reported on Saturday. A German official told Der Spiegel his ministry was united in the belief that any investigation into Uri Brodsky should be "dealt with according to purely judicial considerations". [...]"  

Report:  "US Might ‘Assassinate’ Wikileaks Founder who ‘confirms’ it has new video of US massacre in Afghanistan" [06/19/10]   [10:52] "The whistleblower website that posted video of a US Army helicopter firing on unarmed civilians and killing two Reuters employees is ready to do it again, its founder says. [...]"   

 A Brooklyn-Israel "connection" suspiciously 'suicides'  "Obstfeld, 55, who traveled in powerful international circles and ran the Central Park South investment firm LH Financial, had a low profile - but a host of entanglements.  He made headlines in an ugly fight for control over a Brooklyn condo project. He was feuding with a powerful rabbi in a rent dispute. And his Austrian business partner landed in legal hot water just yesterday in a bribery scandal involving Israeli icon Ariel Sharon. Shady business pals: Billionaire Martin Schlaff, a business tycoon from Vienna whose tentacles reach from Russia to Cyprus to the Middle East, was recommended for indictment by Israeli cops on charges of slipping Sharon, then prime minister, a $3 million bribe in 2002. [...]"   Related: Shady, 'thuggish' mogul Solomon Obstfeld ran with powerful pals, no one's buying 'suicide' story [06/19/10] "A wealthy Brooklyn investor plunged to his death from the 19th floor of the posh Jumeirah Essex House - leaving behind a tangle of mysteries, murky business deals and an international bribery scandal. The medical examiner has ruled Solomon Obstfeld's June 9 death a suicide. But some associates of the highly religious Bobover Hasidic Jew insist the millionaire father of five never would have killed himself - certainly not without leaving a will. [...]"   Recent:  Israel's Leader Capital Markets CEO commits suicide [06/06/10] "Danny Barak, 48, jumped from his office on the 17th floor of one of Tel Aviv's most prominent office towers on Friday, the spokeswoman said.  Barak, who is survived by his wife and four children, did not leave a note explaining his suicide. "It is a mystery," the spokeswoman said. Barak, who founded Leader Capital Markets, was CEO since 2001. He held 15.5 percent of the company, which is a subsidiary of Leader Holdings & Investments. [...]" Analysis: Suicide attempts in Israel "In 2008, emergency treatment wards in local hospitals reported 4,510 suicide attempts, a 4 percent rise from 2007. On average the number of reported attempts between 2004-2008 stood at 4,300 per year, a 19 percent increase compared to the 1999-2002 year. Among males, a third of suicide attempts are by youths and young men up to the age of 24; among women who try to take their lives, half are up to the age of 24. The highest incidence of attempts involving men and women is among 19 year-olds [...] In the Arab community there has been a serious rise in suicide attempts in the past decade: a 40-percent increase among men, and 20-percent rise among women. In general the number of suicide attempts in the Jewish community is proportionately higher than in the Arab community, but the gap has narrowed; the former is now 20 percent higher than the latter. In terms of methods used, between 2005-2007, half of the suicides of males involved hanging (45 percent ), a quarter used firearms (24 percent ), and 11 percent jumped off a high place. Analysis over a decade suggests that the highest proportion of suicides occurs between May and July. For men, the highest figures are for the months of July, May, January and September; for women, January, May, September and August. [...]" "  Note:  Well, it certainly is that time of year, isn't it? 

Progressives Want “Direct Action” and a Disarmed Public  Paul Craig Roberts [06/19/10] "Progressive William Rivers Pitt has lost patience with the Obama regime and with British Petroleum (Enough of This Crap, June 15, Truthout). To break through the news blackout that BP maintains over the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill, he wants a hundred thousand Americans to “just show the hell up down there and demand access.” Pitt is correct that this “is the kind of direct action that has been missing from our national narrative, not just in the Gulf but all over.” Obama, he says correctly, is a “narcotic” for progressives. Apparently, for many progressives having a black man, or a 50% black man, in the White House is what is important, not the fact that he is a continuation of Bush/Cheney.  If a hundred thousand people marched on the Gulf Coast, “big things would happen.”  Pitt writes that “either the people would break through those unconscionable corporate barriers and show the world what is really going on in the Gulf, or the forces BP has arrayed against the truth would react with violence, which would tell us everything we need to know about what is happening, and would be enough to break that God damned criminal corporation finally and forever.” [...]"   

Texas: Alert Issued for 17 Afghan Military Members AWOL From U.S. Air Force Base [06/19/10] "A nationwide alert has been issued for 17 members of the Afghan military who have gone AWOL from an Air Force base in Texas where foreign military officers who are training to become pilots are taught English, FoxNews.com has learned. A senior law enforcement official said Friday that the Afghans’ disappearance was more of an immigration violation than a security threat, saying there are no “strong indications to any terrorism nexus or impending threat.” The official further said that an unspecified number of the 17 have been caught. “A number of these guys have already been located or accounted for by now,” the official said. “Some are in removal proceedings to be deported already. (Authorities) still need to locate the others, and that is why the bulletin went out.” [...]"   

Report: Egypt refuses to stop Iranian ships [06/19/10] "Egypt rejected Israel’s request not to assist the Iranian ships slated to sail to the Gaza Strip in the coming days, Kuwaiti paper al-Dar reported on Friday. The report was not confirmed by any official Egyptian elements. Facts regarding the Iranian flotilla to Gaza are vague and shrouded in mystery. As of yet, it is unclear whether the ships have already set sail, and the number of people on deck is unknown. At the start of the week Iranian state radio reported that the first ship has already set sail and that another ship was slated to leave this weekend. According to the Iranian Red Crescent, the ships are carrying humanitarian aid including gifts for the children of Gaza, baby cloths, toys and dolls. The Kuwaiti report, which cites Egyptian sources, said the officers of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak appealed to Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and asked he prevent the passage of Iranian ships through the Suez Canal. [...]"  

Iran responds to UNSC resolution [06/19/10] "Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has issued a declaration in response to a recent UN Security Council resolution against the country. The following is the full text of the declaration:  [...]"  

Al Franken Slams Supreme Court For Dismantling Legal Protections  [06/18/10] "Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) railed against the Supreme Court in a speech to progressive legal scholars Wednesday night, declaring that "the Roberts Court has systematically dismantled the legal protections that help ordinary people find justice when wronged by the economically powerful." Franken in particular decried the way conservative legal scholars have changed the popular perception of what Supreme Court justices do -- and what justice is. [...]"   

Senators Cut Medicare Deal For Doctors, Leave Unemployment Issue Unfinished [06/18/10] "Republican and Democratic Senate leaders cut a deal Friday to prevent a 21 percent pay cut for doctors who see Medicare patients, resolving one of the major sticking points from a stalled bill to reauthorize several expired domestic aid programs. "Sometimes the Senate can be terribly disconcerting, aggravating, but that's the way the Senate is," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on the Senate floor.  [...]"  Note:  Harry Reid, and the rest of the delusionary sequentials like him, will pass away ... they can continue the game while many of us move on.

Commentary:  Make These the 8 Days That Shook the World [06/18/10] "As Lyndon LaRouche emphasized on Tuesday, "We're looking at a general breakdown crisis, of trans-Atlantic economies, during the period of the end of this month, the latter half of June, and the beginning of July. As of now, such a collapse would seem almost inevitable, first of all, because the circumstances exist, and the conditions are approaching rapidly which will mean that. [...]"  Note:  Examine the astrological factors, and it's clear, as well. 

CNN: "Americans too dumb to understand Obama’s speech" [06/18/10] "In a story published on its Web site Thursday, CNN reported on an analysis from Paul J.J. Payack, who runs the Global Language Monitor. Payack's analysis determined that Obama's speech was at a 9.8-grade level, meaning at a level of English slightly below that expected of 10th-grade students. (Studies indicate that the average American reads at a level between 8th and 9th grade.) “The scores indicate that this was not Obama at his best, especially when attempting make an emotional connection to the American people,” Payack concludes in his analysis. [...]"  Note: The grade level of speech has NOTHING to do with the vacuous nature of Obama and his use of logical fallacies, lies and rhetoric in his speech. CNN has the gall to call anyone dumb.

Iran To Retaliate Any Ship Inspection In Open Seas [06/18/10] "Rapporteur of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Kazem Jalali said Thursday that Iran would retaliate to any possible inspecting of its ships in the high seas, its news agency IRNA reports. [.  

US Politics: Gates : "Iran Might Attack Europe With ‘Hundreds of Missiles’" [06/18/10] "In what must be among the wildest speculations of the Obama Administration, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sought to defend a massive US missile defense system in Europe by guessing that Iran might fire “scores or even hundreds of missiles” at Europe (for what reasons, only the liars know). [...]"  Note: Why doesn't someone take this guy to task? Because spook agencies have been blended with the military industrial complex and people who 'value their lives' don't say anything. It's clear that the guy is trying to bullshit people ... Gates needs to be committed to an institution other than the Pentagon.  Gates Demands Congress OK War Funds by July 4, Or Will "Have to do Stupid Things"  "Speaking during a Senate Appropriation Defense Subcommittee hearing today, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates demanded that the $33 billion war funding bill be approved by Independence Day.“We begin to have to do stupid things if the supplemental is not passed by July 4,” Gates warned. Exactly what these would be and how we would be able to tell the difference from ordinary Pentagon strategy was not clear."

Senate Candidate Who Embellished Military Record May Have Misled About Teaching Experience Too [06/18/10] "After Illinois Senate candidate Mark Kirk was caught "embellishing" several aspects of his military service record, people began looking into other claims Kirk has made about his history--and discovering some serious inconsistencies. On Wednesday, the New York Times published a story examining Kirk's teaching experience, which he has touted in campaign ads and on the House floor. Reporter Jeff Zeleny explains that Kirk has been less than forthcoming about how brief his teaching experience was, and had trouble confirming his alleged employment at a New York nursery school.  [...]"    Note: Is he really just a bum who cleans-up well?

Democrats 'Confront' Pentagon on Afghan War [06/18/10] "A schism deepened yesterday between US war leaders and Congress as top Democrats challenged Pentagon assertions that progress is picking up in Afghanistan. "I wouldn't call it eroding," Carl Levin said of support for the war. "But there's a lot of fair concern." That was especially evident in a hearing with Robert Gates and Mike Mullen yesterday, in which some Democrats questioned whether victory was even possible. "We've committed so many lives, so much money," said Patrick Leahy, "and we've neglected so many things" domestically. "We all have angst about this," Mullen acknowledged, but "we've put the resources in." In another hearing, David Petraeus urged lawmakers to ride out the ups and downs, as they did in Iraq. "This is a tough, tough business," he said. "Those who are living it have to keep their eye on the horizon." [...]"  

Mayor Admits NAFTA Super-highway Will Run Through Memphis [06/18/10] "... Mexico is the United States second largest trade partner. Wharton said when the I-69 International Highway is built from Canada to Mexico it will run through Memphis. “This could become the breaking point. The brains of the I-69 connection, that’s why Memphis is a logical place,” said Wharton.  [...]"   

More international flotillas headed for Gaza Strip [06/18/10] "Ships from several countries, including Iran and Lebanon, have reportedly left or are planning to leave for Hamas-controlled Gaza in defiance of an Israeli maritime blockade on that territory. [...]"   

Canada: B.C. town not given flood warning [06/18/10] "Canadian officials didn't warn the public of a flood threat even though they were notified of a dangerously eroding dam two days before it burst, observers say. [...]"   

US biotech firms line up for tax credits [06/18/10] "Application process begins for cash to beat the downturn. [...]"  

Gates Demands Congress OK War Funds by July 4 [06/17/10] "Speaking during a Senate Appropriation Defense Subcommittee hearing today, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates demanded that the $33 billion war funding bill be approved by Independence Day. “We begin to have to do stupid things if the supplemental is not passed by July 4,” Gates warned. Exactly what these would be and how we would be able to tell the difference from ordinary Pentagon strategy was not clear. [...]"  Note: Gates has no right to demand anything. The Pentagon is the most expensive, destructive man-made force on the planet, and it has an appetite -- the United States itself. 

US envoy vows solidarity with S.Korea over warship [06/17/10] "The United States Thursday pledged solidarity with South Korea in its bid to censure North Korea for the sinking of a warship, with a senior envoy urging the world to take a strong stance.  [...]"  Note:  They're lying. It's a South Korean-US false flag op.  

Barak: Israel needs 'daring initiative' to thwart international isolation [06/17/10] "Defense Minister Ehud Barak has stressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the forum of seven senior ministers that Israel must put forth a "daring and assertive political initiative" in the coming months to emerge from its international isolation of the past year.  [...]"  Note: What could that possibly mean? 

Judicial Watch Files Complaint with Office of Special Counsel Requesting Investigation of Obama White House "Bribery Scandals" [06/16/10] "Judicial Watch, the nonpartisan public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed an official complaint with the Office of Special Counsel requesting an investigation into violations of the Hatch Act by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina. Emanuel and Messina allegedly interfered with Senate elections in Pennsylvania and Colorado respectively by offering federal appointments to Rep Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff in order to persuade the Senate candidates to abandon their campaigns. According to the complaint, filed on June 15, 2010: As widely reported in the media, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, on behalf of the Obama Administration, have both used their position and influence as highly placed federal employees to affect the outcome of federal elections in direct violation of the Hatch Act, which states that an employee may not “use his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” [...]"  

US agencies still lack basic language skills, says new report [06/16/10] "A major US government audit into the performance of national security departments and agencies has once again criticized the substantial absence of skilled foreign-language speakers. [...]"  

Independent journalists dismantling Israel’s hold on media narrative [06/16/10] "The systematic attempt and very deliberate first priority for the Israeli soldiers as they came on the ships was to shut down the story, to confiscate all cameras, to shut down satellites, to smash the CCTV cameras that were on the Mavi Marmara, to make sure that nothing was going out. They were hellbent on controlling the story,” commented Australian journalist Paul McGeough, one of the hundreds of activists and reporters who witnessed the deadly morning attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla on 31 May (“Framing the Narrative: Israeli Commandos Seize Videotape and Equipment from Journalists After Deadly Raid,” Democracy Now, 9 June 2010). McGeough was one of at least 60 journalists aboard the flotilla who were detained and their footage confiscated. [...]"  

Egypt has accepted to issue visa for Iran MPs to visit Gaza [06/16/10] "An Iranian parliamentarian Mahmoud Ahmadi-Biqash said Egyptian government has accepted to issue visa for a number of Iranian parliament members to visit Gaza Strip. Following Zionist regime's deadly attack on an aid flotilla heading to Gaza Strip, a number of Iranian lawmakers have called for visiting Gaza Strip. [...]"   

Commentary: Obama’s Oval Office speech: A cowardly cover-up of BP’s crimes [06/16/10] "President Obama’s Oval Office speech Tuesday night on the Gulf oil disaster was a cowardly exercise in evasion and cover-up that could have been written by the publicity department of BP.  The 18-minute speech, coming on the 57th day of the worst environmental catastrophe in US history, provided no concrete assessment of the causes of the oil spill or the dimensions of the crisis—in terms of damage either to the ecosystem or the economy.  The speech represented a complete capitulation to BP and corporate power. Anyone who expected that Obama would use the occasion to provide the American people with an honest accounting of the disaster and the culpability of BP had to be sorely disappointed. [...]"  Obama Oval Office Speech On Gulf Oil Catastrophe pt.1 &2 [06/16/10] 2 Video clips  [20:00]  A vacuous blathering of ambivalent bullshit ... typical immature sequential display ...

Israel, Russia fail over drone deal [06/16/10] "Israel and Russia have failed to reach an agreement worth about $400 million over selling drones to Russia and setting up a factory in Moscow to produce them, a new report says. [...]"  Note: This is why the Russians, initially were not delivering the S-300 defense system to Iran. 

Human Rights Advocate Sentenced to Six Months in Federal Prison for Civil Disobedience at the School of the Americas [06/16/10] "The SOA/WHINSEC is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers. Its graduates are consistently involved in human rights atrocities and coups, including the El Mozote Massacre in El Salvador and last year's military coup in Honduras. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated the use of torture, extortion and execution. SOA Watch works to stand in solidarity with people of Latin America, to change oppressive US foreign policy, and to close the SOA/WHINSEC. In November 2010, thousands will return to the gates of Fort Benning to call for justice and accountability. [...]"   

Interviews:  Amy Goodman on Gaza attack, BP oil spill catastrophe and Obama’s wars [06/16/10] [8:56]  "RT’s Anastasia Churkina sits down for an exclusive interview with award-winning journalist, TV/radio host and author Amy Goodman to talk about all the latest stories the mainstream media has not been too truthful about." [...]"  Note: This is a very good interview.

Atlas Shrugged Movie Finally Filming [06/16/10] "Now we will get a $5 million movie directed by — and starring, as John Galt — a guy from the CW’s One Tree Hill. The screenplay is by Brian Patrick O’Toole, who did not write Braveheart, but who instead has written several direct-to-video horror movies with titles such as Evilution and Necropolitan. [...]"     

 Israel:  Poll: 65% of Jewish Israelis say U.S. Jews should criticize Obama's Mideast policy [06/16/10] "Sixty-five percent of Jewish Israelis believe U.S. Jews should criticize the Obama administration's policy toward Israel, according to a survey published in June that was conducted on behalf of the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem. [...]"  Note:  In other words, "help stop our Israeli government actions- it's nuts!'   

Israel to EU: "Stop your citizens from joining flotillas" [06/16/10] "srael asked EU countries to prevent flotilla vessels from leaving from their ports and to prevent their citizens from taking part, turning its attention to the diplomatic front as the wave of boats aiming for Gaza's shores continues to grow. [...]"   | Number of vessels sailing to Gaza unclear  "The recent deadly Navy raid on the Gaza-bound Marmara ship greatly damaged Israel's image in the world, the political echelon continues to insist that all flotillas attempting to reach the Strip must be stopped. Nonetheless, the preparations for the next Navy operation – which include an examination of different methods – are being held under conditions of uncertainty. Note: Israel allegedly has nuclear weapons targeted on EU countries, and makes no apologies for it.  Iranian Aid Ships Headed Towards Gaza Has US Worried 

 LaRouche: The President Shows He's a Liar--For the Queen [06/16/10] "President Obama's consistent lying on the case of BP's criminality in the Gulf, is nothing less than his service to his friend, the British Queen. At this point, it's not worth blaming BP; they're a known criminal entity. The blame belongs with the Queen, who heads the imperial enterprise of which BP is a part, and with the Queen's puppet, Barack Obama, stated Lyndon LaRouche today. There will be no solution until Obama is removed from his current position. [...]"   

U.S. Financial Aid To Israel: Figures, Facts, and Impact [06/16/10] "Since 1992, the U.S. has offered Israel an additional $2 billion annually in loan guarantees. Congressional researchers have disclosed that between 1974 and 1989, $16.4 billion in U.S. military loans were converted to grants and that this was the understanding from the beginning. [...]"  

Israel 'blocks' Jordan atomic bid [06/16/10] "King Abdullah accuses Israel of trying to block Jordan from developing a peaceful nuclear programme, claims Israel denies. [...]" |  'Israel against Jordan self-sufficiency' [06/16/10] "Jordan's King Abdullah II blasts Israel for trying to thwart Amman's nuclear projects, saying Tel Aviv is against the kingdom's economic self-sufficiency. [...]"     

Bush admin lawyer urges court to toss torture suit [06/16/10] "A senior Bush administration lawyer is urging a federal appeals court to dismiss a convicted terrorist's lawsuit over legal memos authorizing harsh interrogation tactics.  John Yoo wrote the memos as a Department of Justice lawyer. His lawyer argued Monday before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowing such lawsuits to proceed will open other presidential counsel to dangerous judicial second-guessing during wartime. [...]"  Note: Woo should have been imprisoned for his actions. 

Blago on Prosecutors:" They Wanted Shit on Obama" [06/15/10] [10:18]  "You Tube has this video in which Blagojevich makes a stunning accusation at a book signing. Go to the 6:44 marker of the video where Blago talks about the U.S. Attorney's office: " part of what they wanted was shit on Obama. They lock you up. They do this shock and awe bullshit. They arrest everybody ok, and then they sit you down and say heh you are a nice guy. We want to work with you. What can you tell us about Obama." [...]"  Note:  Video has been set to start at 6:40. If you wish to watch it from the beginning, click here.

Petraeus passes out briefly while answering question from McCain on Hill [06/15/10] "Petraeus slumped over in mid-sentence while answering a question from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz." General David Petraeus appeared to briefly pass out while giving testimony on Capitol Hill Tuesday," CBS News reports. [...]"  Note: This guy's death would be welcomed; many have died because of his actions. The guy is not sane. Another sequential on the 'battlefield of life.' McChrystal Faces "Iraq 2006 Moment" in Coming Months [06/15/10] "Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal confronts the spectre of a collapse of U.S. political support for the war in Afghanistan in coming months comparable to the one that occurred in the Iraq War in late 2006. [...]"  Note:  This guy's a real loon, too.

Investigations: Money Trail in Dubai Assassination Leads To Iowa [06/15/10] "An ongoing investigation by the Dubai Police Force into the assassination there of a high-level Hamas official (see April 2010 Washington Report, p. 12) has revealed the contours of Israel's massive and ever-expanding operations in the United States.  The Jan. 19 murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his room at the Al Bustan Rotana, a 275-room five-star luxury hotel, has been widely perceived to be a Mossad operation involving, by the most recent count, 27 suspects traveling on fraudulently obtained and falsified European or Australian passports. The plot thickened in late February and early March, when major U.S. news media outlet reports connected the crime and many of those involved in it to Israeli and U.S. corporations and revealed that, after leaving Dubai, some of the suspected assassins had entered the United States. [...] Despite the reported entry into the U.S. of at least two of the Dubai suspects using fraudulent, falsified passports, thus far there has been little to indicate that U.S. officials are seriously interested in investigating the funding of travel expenses and hotel accommodations of suspected Israeli assassins through U.S. corporations. The Departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security failed to respond to inquiries from this reporter. "    

Israeli Deputy FM: "75 al-Qaeda Mercenaries were on Aid Ship" [06/15/10] "Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon appeared on CNN’s “GPS” show today, and once again changed the official story related to the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara aid ship two weeks ago. Ayalon now claims that 75 al-Qaeda linked mercenaries were on board the ship, heavily armed, and that they ambushed the Israeli troops before their eventual capture.  Last week Israel’s official story was that 50 members of the Turkish military were on board the ship, armed with assault rifles. It is unclear if Ayalon’s 75 al-Qaeda are in addition to the 50 Turkish troops or not. The 50 troops were themselves a revision from the initial story that the crew attacked them with makeshift bats.  In either case Israel’s claims don’t hold up to even casual scrutiny, as neither the assault rifles nor the arms, nor the Turkish soldiers nor the al-Qaeda members, were found on board the ship.  In fact Israel has already released every single person who was on board the aid ship, and none was charged with a single crime. One would imagine Israel, which styles itself as the central front in the war on terror, would have had the presence of mind to detain 75 members of al-Qaeda if indeed their military had captured them.[...]"  Note:  The Israelis are clearly delusionary and psychopathic.

The 51st Police State: U.S. National Guard being used to ‘fight crime’ in Puerto Rico [06/15/10] "With Puerto Rico on the fast track to becoming a U.S. state, the U.S. National Guard has wasted no time in training its people that if and when they join the union, Posse Comitatus will not be offered as part of the package deal.  An AP article from June 13th, 2010 reveals that the National Guard is being used to help police the island territory and fight drug gangs there. According to the article, U.S. soldiers have been dispatched to the capital city of San Juan as well as to other cities and mountainous areas to assist police actions. They are also taking part in police checkpoints [...]"  

US wants South Korean boat’s sinking as they tell it but Russia and China don’t agree [06/15/10] "Christopher King questions the US-South Korean accusation that North Korea sank the South Korean corvette the Cheonan in March this year. He says the lack of evidence linking Pyongyang to the sinking, coupled with the history of US deceptions in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, makes it more likely that the Cheonan was sank by the US or South Koreans, accidentally or deliberately. [...]"  

Iranian aid ships head for Gaza [06/14/10] "Iran is sending aid ships to blockaded Gaza, state radio said on Monday -- a move likely to be considered provocative by Israel which accuses Tehran of arming the Palestinian enclave's Islamist rulers, Hamas.  One ship left port on Sunday and another will depart by Friday, loaded with food, construction material and toys, the report said. The boats would be part of international efforts to break Israel's isolation of the Gaza Strip. "Until the end of the Gaza blockade, Iran will continue to ship aid," said an official at Iran's Society for the Defence of the Palestinian Nation. [...]"   

Netanyahu: Gaza flotilla probe will show the world Israel acted lawfully [06/14/10]  Note: Israel cannot conduct a legitimate analysis of its own behavior and come out with anything credible. The whole planet (except Israel) knows this ... bunch of buffoons. To announce the results of a probe before a probe is conducted is rather transparent, as well. Related: Turkey dismisses Israeli probe into raid, warns it may revise ties  "Turkey strongly dismissed Monday a commission established by Israel to investigate the deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship and warned it may revise bilateral ties with Israel if a U.N.-led inquiry is not launched. [...]" Israel raid probe 'not impartial'  

Exposé: U.S. Military has Special Ops “Boots on the Ground” in Mexico [06/14/10] "A special operations task force under the command of the Pentagon is currently in place south of the border providing advice and training to the Mexican Army in gathering intelligence, infiltrating and, as needed, taking direct action against narco-trafficking organizations, claims a former CIA asset who has a long history in the covert operations theater.  The U.S. unit, dubbed Task Force 7, since early 2009 , according to the CIA operative, has helped to uncover a warehouse in Juarez packed with U.S. munitions and under the control of drug traffickers; provide critical intelligence that led to the raid of a Juarez sweatshop that was manufacturing phony Mexican military uniforms; worked with the Mexican military in uncovering a mass grave near Palomas, Mexico, just south of Columbus, New Mexico; and, behind the scenes, cooperated with the Mexican Navy in hunting down a major narco-trafficker, Arturo Beltran Leyva -- who was killed by Mexican Navy special forces last December during a raid on a luxury apartment complex in Cuernavaca, Mexico. [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: Thoughts on Military Conscription Daniel Webster [06/14/10] ""Where is it written in the Constitution, in what article or section is it contained, that you may take children from their parents and parents from their children, and compel them to fight the battles of any war in which the folly and wickedness of the government may engage itself? Under what concealment has this power lain hidden, which now for the first time comes forth, with a tremendous and baleful aspect, to trample down and destroy the dearest right of personal liberty? Who will show me any Constitutional injunction which makes it the duty of the American people to surrender everything valuable in life, and even life, itself, whenever the purposes of an ambitious and mischievous government may require it? ... A free government with an uncontrolled power of military conscription is the most ridiculous and abominable contradiction and nonsense that ever entered into the heads of men." -- Daniel Webster (1782--1852), US Senator Source: Speech in the House of Representatives, January 14, 1814 [...]" 

Democracy Now: Rolling Stone: How Obama Let the World’s Most Dangerous Oil Company Get Away with Murder [06/14/10]  Video clip "An extensive new investigation into the Obama administration’s handling of the BP oil spill disaster reveals that it was government mismanagement, delays and absence of oversight that allowed the crisis to spiral out of control. In the article "The Spill, the Scandal, and the President," Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson writes, "Though George W. Bush paved the way for the catastrophe, it was Obama who gave BP the green light to drill." Dickinson explores how Interior Secretary Ken Salazar kept in place the oil industry-friendly environmental guidelines that Bush had implemented and ultimately let BP, an oil company with the worst safety record, to get away with murder. [...]"  Note:  [includes rush transcript]

  Iraq: Multiple bomb blasts rock Baghdad [06/14/10] "At least 12 people have been killed and 40 others wounded after a series of bombs exploded in rapid succession across Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, the interior ministry has said. Security officials said that five bombs rocked the capital, the first of which happened around 11:50GMT on Sunday, with seven more following in the next 40 minutes. The bomb blasts came one day before the opening of the second parliament since the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003. [...]"  Related: Iraqi parliament to commence Monday  "The 325-seat Iraqi parliament will hold its first inaugural session on Monday under heavy security, after a three-month delay. [...]" |Terrorists besieged in Iraq bank, 24 dead  "An insurgent attack on Iraq's Central Bank in Baghdad Sunday by suicide bombers and uniformed gunmen left at least 24 people dead, authorities said. [...]"    

Los Alamos Plutonium could be missing from lab [06/13/10] "Enough plutonium to make dozens of nuclear bombs hasn't been accounted for at the UC-run Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and may be missing, an activist group says in a new report. There is no evidence that the weapons-grade plutonium has been stolen or diverted for illegal purposes, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research said. However, the amount of unaccounted-for plutonium, more than 600 pounds, and possibly several times that -- is so great that it raises "a vast security issue," the group said in a report to be made public today. [...]"  Related: Possible Western Pennsylvania link to Israeli nukes boosted  "A recently declassified federal report bolsters a long-simmering Cold War theory that uranium was illegally shipped from an Armstrong County plant in 1965 to Israel to support its nuclear arms efforts.  The once-secret report by the General Accounting Office reveals the FBI initially refused to investigate the disappearance of 206 pounds of weapons-grade uranium-235 from the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. -- known as NUMEC -- in Apollo. That refusal led to widespread speculation the uranium, enough to build five nuclear weapons, was diverted to Israel with covert U.S. government assistance, the report states. [...]"  Note:  Are they fueling atomic engines of a secret space fleet (ha) .... or is it being diverted to 'future enemies' ... or is it a criminal matter ... only the shadow knows...

Abbas is opposed to lifting the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip [06/13/10] "Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is opposed to lifting the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip because this would bolster (democratically elected) Hamas, according to what he told United States President Barack Obama during their meeting at the White House Wednesday. Egypt also supports this position. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once more put off announcing the creation of a committee of inquiry into the naval commando raid on the Gaza Strip flotilla, and the matter will not be brought before the cabinet for a vote this morning. [...] 

North Korea Sends Letter to UN Claiming U.S. False Flag on Ship Sinking [06/13/10] "North Korea has sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council rejecting accusations from South Korea that it was behind the sinking of one of its neighbor’s navy ships, saying it was the victim of a U.S.-led conspiracy.  The letter, addressed to the U.N. Security Council president from the North’s permanent representative to the body, followed the filing of a complaint by the South last week demanding action by the international community to deter further aggression. A team of international investigators led by South Korea’s military said in May that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the corvette Cheonan on March 26, snapping the vessel in half in a blast and killing 46 sailors. North Korea, through its official media, has already rejected the charge, saying it was a ploy by the South’s President Lee Myung-bak aimed at political gains for his conservative government. “With time it is becoming clearer through military and scientific analysis that the ‘investigation findings‘ by the U.S. and the South, which had been from their announcement subject to doubts and criticism, is nothing more than a conspiracy aimed at achieving U.S. political and military goals,” said the letter, signed by the North’s permanent representative to the U.N. Sin Son-ho and carried by the official KCNA news agency. [...]"  

BP seeks to limit liabilities in “truce” with White House [06/13/10] "In a White House meeting next week, BP will reportedly seek an agreement with the Obama administration that will limit liabilities in return for a temporary delay of a scheduled dividend. [...]"  Note: How crass and insane these people are. The fractured logic and lack of reason. The criminal complicity .... between corporations ...

Israel: strategic ally or liability for the USA? [06/13/10] "Stephen Sniegoski debunks the arguments that Israel is a strategic US asset, advanced by Israel lobbyists such as billionaire chief editor of US News & World Report Mort Zuckerman, and argues that Israel is in fact a significant political, military and strategic liability for the United States. [...]"  

Feinstein Calls for Inquiry Into Israeli Raid on Aid Flotilla [06/13/10] "In a significant departure from most of her colleagues, Sen. Dianne Feinstein called Tuesday for an “impartial inquiry” into the Israeli commando raid on a humanitarian flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza Strip that left nine activists dead, including one American. The California Democrat, one of Israel’s most dependable supporters on Capitol Hill, also urged Israel to “reassess” its “forced isolation” of the Gaza Strip and allow more humanitarian assistance and other materials to reach its beleaguered Palestinian population. The call by Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee and commands respect as a moderate voice on foreign and national security affairs, stands in sharp contrast to those of most other lawmakers....Feinstein’s call for an impartial inquiry into the incident and an easing of the Gaza blockade are far more in line with the approach favored by President Obama and his top foreign policy aides, who have made similar calls. [...]"  

Commentary: Obama As Moral Dupe – Will Turkey's Erdogan Blink? [06/13/10] "By standing tall against Israel’s murderous commando attack on the unarmed ship in international waters that was carrying aid to the besieged inhabitants of Gaza, and by promising to be on another ship trying to break the blockade, Erdogan has set an example that contrasts sharply with the latest generation of pusillanimous leaders in the United States. [...]"  

No sound cannons at G20 Toronto summit [06/13/10] "Toronto's police chief says his officers won't be using high-powered sound cannons against demonstrators at the upcoming Group of 20 summit. [...]"    

Commentary: Brits Freak Out About Anti-British Mass-Strike Ferment In U.S. [06/12/10] The British government and media are freaking out about the mounting rage in the United States against BP, and, as they well understand, against the British Empire in general. The Wall Street Journal wrote on Friday that "In a series of telephone calls BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward has lobbied the U.K. government to put more pressure on the U.S. government to dial back the aggressive rhetoric coming out of Washington. Mr. Osborne offered the first public sign of British government support for BP on Thursday amid heightened criticism in the U.S.... Mr. Cameron, who has been under pressure to bat for BP, spoke with BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, who had also earlier met with U.K. Treasury Chief George Osborne and other senior officials at Downing Street."  London Mayor Boris Johnson said the (anti-British) remarks are "slightly worrying. I do think that it starts to become a matter of national concern if a great British company is being continually beaten up on the international airwaves," he said. "Ultimately [BP] cannot be faulted because, I'm sorry, it was an accident that took place, and BP, I think, is paying a very, very heavy price indeed." Damian Reece of the London Telegraph tried to blame Obama's lame effort to cover his ass as "intemperate outbursts:" "Obama's increasingly intemperate outbursts against the company are sufficiently damaging as to prove counter-productive. He seems not to understand the power of his words, which for an occupant of the Oval Office is worrying. Let's ignore the interests of U.K. shareholders for the moment. Why is Obama so apparently keen to test to destruction a company 35% owned by his own citizens? Why is he willing to undermine his country's biggest domestic oil and gas producer?" " [...]"  Related:   Obama, British PM Cameron to discuss the trouble with BP 

Commission outlines $1 trillion in defense budget cuts [06/12/10] "A bipartisan commission of defense experts has released a plan that would reduce the US's defense spending by nearly $1 trillion over 10 years -- a plan sure to gather support from progressives and libertarians, but unlikely to pass through Congress. The commission's report comes at a time when public concern about the US's national debt has hit a fever pitch, and the claim that nearly $1 trillion can be saved from defense spending will certainly color future debates about what government services to cut. [...]"  

 Commentary: It's Not a "Defense" Department [06/11/10] "The U.S. military budget, and the add-on war budget, and the total of the two have all been headed upwards for years and have been headed upwards for the past year and a half. Yes, I know, all you hear about is the one airplane that the so-called Secretary of Defense doesn't want but that Congress insists on giving him anyway. But he and the President have twice asked for a larger overall budget and twice been given it. And almost none of it has anything to do with defense. [...]"  

Lewis Black’s 'spill solution': Declare war, invade BP [06/11/10]   Video clip  "Comedian Lewis Black has a solution for dealing with the oil company responsible for spilling millions of barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Black believes the U.S. should put the same effort into plugging the leak and cleaning up the spill that was put into attacking the oil-rich country of Iraq. "I have a theory I've been postulating and I think you'll like this," Black told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann Wednesday.   "We went into Iraq because there were supposedly these nuclear weapons there. Now -- and that we might get attacked. Might. Now, we have BP, which is a multinational corporation, and they act like countries. I mean they basically are countries," said Black.  "They, as far as I can tell, are attacking us with oil. And so I propose we declare war and invade them," Black suggested. "They've got no standing army. We take over their buildings. We put the workers, their folks in internment camps and we just get their checks and do what we can with the money to solve the problem down there," Black said. [...]"   

Iran to U.S.: Hand Over Missing Nuke Scientist [06/11/10] "Iran sent a note through the Swiss embassy asking the U.S. to return missing Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri. [...]" 

Commentary: Canada: Legitimizing Israeli Terrorism [06/11/10] "Beyond making Canada the world’s most pro-Israel country, the Harper government has strongly backed Israel’s onslaught against the 1.5 million people living in Gaza. Canada has refused to criticize the blockade. For example, Canada was the only country at the UN Human Rights Council to vote against a January 2008 resolution that called for “urgent international action to put an immediate end to the siege of the occupied Gaza Strip”. The motion was adopted with 30 votes in favour and 15 abstentions. [...]"   

Corbett Report: Neocons Find Osama, Iran Sanctions, G20 Billions - New World Next Week  [06/11/10] [10:36]  "Welcome to the 33rd episode of New World Next Week - the weekly video series from CorbettReport.com & MediaMonarchy.com that uncovers some of the most important developments in alternative news & open source intelligence.  [...]"  

Exposé:  US cruise missile parts found in Yemeni village where 52 died  [06/11/10] "A US cruise missile armed with cluster ammunition was used in an attack in Yemen in December which resulted in the deaths of 52 people, more than half of them women and children, according to a human rights watchdog. The Yemeni government insisted "their forces alone" carried out the strike... [...]"  

Idaho Legislator Sues State, Claiming It Cuts Unfair Tax Deals with the Rich [06/11/10] "A state legislator claims Idaho is losing millions of dollars in taxes every year because of an under-the-counter system in which its own tax commission favors wealthy people and corporations. House Representative Shirley Ringo sued the Legislature, and the Idaho State Tax Commission in Ida County Court. [...]"  

Chicago Police Torture Trial [06/11/10] "A former Chicago Police detective said Wednesday that decades ago he heard screams emanating from the old Area 2 headquarters shortly after the arrest of a man who later accused disgraced former Cmdr. Jon Burge of torturing him. The former detective also said he saw another one of Burge's alleged victims covered in footprints while in police custody in the early 1980s. [...]"  

UK troops join 'toxic' lawsuit [06/11/10] "Seven former British soldiers are suing an American defence firm, accusing it of exposing them to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals in Iraq. [...]"   

More than 114,000 Apple iPad users have email addresses exposed in massive hacking attack [06/10/10] "The email addresses of more than 114,000 Apple iPad users including celebrities and politicians have been exposed in a targeted hacking attack in the US. The massive security breach leaves all of those affected open to spam and malicious hacking. The vulnerability affected only iPad users who signed up for AT&T's 3G wireless internet service. [...]"  Note:  Fix found for iPad e-mail 'flaw' 

FBI: Mexican soldiers used rifles to chase off U.S. Border Patrol [06/10/10] "Pointing their rifles, Mexican security forces chased away U.S. authorities investigating the shooting of a 15-year-old Mexican by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on the banks of the Rio Grande, the FBI and witnesses told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The killing of the Mexican by U.S. authorities — the second in less than two weeks — has exposed the distrust between the two countries that lies just below the surface, and has enraged Mexicans who see the death of the boy on Mexican soil as an act of murder.  Shortly after the boy was shot, Mexican soldiers arrived at the scene and pointed their guns at the Border Patrol agents across the riverbank while bystanders screamed insults and hurled rocks and firecrackers, FBI spokeswoman Andrea Simmons said. She said the agents were forced to withdraw. “It pretty quickly got very intense over on the Mexican side,” she said, adding that FBI agents showed up later and resumed the investigation, even as Mexican authorities pointed guns at them from across the river. A relative of the dead boy who had been playing with him told the AP that the Mexicans — who he described as federal police, not soldiers — pointed their guns only when the Americans waded into the mud in an apparent attempt to cross into Mexico. The Mexican authorities accused the Americans of trying to recover evidence from Mexican soil and threatened to kill them if they crossed the border, prompting both sides to draw their guns, said the 16-year-old boy who asked not to be further identified for fear of reprisal. [...]"  

Israeli Official Threatens to Kill Turkish PM [06/10/10] "Uzi Dayan, former deputy Chief of General Staff in Israel, says the Jewish state should consider a possible Turkish military escort of Gaza aid ships an act of war. “If the Turkish prime minister joins such a flotilla,” Dayan told Israeli army radio, according to the Jerusalem Post, “we should make clear beforehand this would be an act of war, and we would not try to take over the ship he was on, but would sink it.”   It is unprecedented for a top level state official to threaten a head of another state with murder.  Israel has refused to cooperate with an independent investigation of the incident that resulted in the death of between nine and nineteen activists. The Turkish government remains unequivocal in its condemnation of the action taken by the Israeli Navy. Most of the victims were Turkish citizens.  On June 5, the Turkish PM, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said he is not only planning to dispatch the Navy on the next flotilla, but that he is considering accompanying them personally. Erdogan reportedly raised the idea in conversations with close associates and even informed the United States of his intention to ask the Turkish Navy to accompany another aid flotilla to Gaza. The Americans asked Erdogan to delay his plans because of tensions on the region, the Lebanese newspaper al-Mustaqbal reported on Saturday. Uzi Dayan is the nephew of Moshe Dayan, the fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Defense Minister and later Foreign Minister of Israel. [...]"    

Russia, Turkey denies Israel fuel due to “economic considerations” [06/10/10] "Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that they don’t plan to export natural gas to Israel via a new pipeline to Turkey. “There is no such thing on our agenda,” Erdogan said at a news conference with Putin in Istanbul when asked about the gas. Russia has held talks on shipping fuel to Israel from a pipeline under the Black Sea. OAO Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas export monopoly, is negotiating supplying the fuel, Gazprom chairman Viktor Zubkov said on March 22. Israel may not need the extra gas, which could be transported to Syria or Lebanon instead via the planned Blue Stream-2 pipe, Putin said. [...]"   

Senior Israeli Army Commander: Turkish Attempt To Break The Siege Would Be “Act of War” [06/10/10] "A senior commander in the the Israeli military has stated that he believes that action taken by the Turkish government in protecting an upcoming flotilla to Gaza would be considered an act of war. Major General (Res.) Uzi Dayan stated, whilst speaking with the army radio station that, "If he [Prime Minister Erdogan] comes here with Turkish warships there can be no doubt that it would amount to a declaration of war. We need to draw a clear line and say that whoever crosses it will not be boarded but sunk." [...]"  Related: Israeli request for more arms from US raises fears of regional violence "Israel has approached the United States for more bombs and asked Washington to increase an emergency arms cache stowed on Israeli soil by 50 per cent, according to the leading newspaper Ha'aretz. The approach, made by Defence Minister Ehud Barak during a recent visit to Washington, reflects the heightened tensions in recent months between the Jewish state and its neighbours that have given rise to widespread fears within Israel of an imminent regional conflict. [...]"  

Israel preparing for prolonged Middle East war [06/10/10] "Israel seems to be preparing for a prolonged war in the Middle East, demanding the United States for more military equipment and a boost of US-held arsenals in Israel.  The requests were brought up during recent visits to Washington by high-ranking Israeli defense officials, and in conversations with senior administration and Congress officials, Haaretz revealed in an article published on its website on Tuesday. Among the requested weapons are US bombs and precision guidance kits, such as Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) that add GPS/INS guidance to bombs. The JDAM kits have been increasingly used by the Israeli air force in recent offensives, including in the 2006 war against Lebanon and the 2008 Gaza war. The priority list is said to indicate that Israel is preparing for the prospects of a long war, which would necessitate an extensive use of the air  force to attack a large number of targets, along with ensuring enough spare parts and supplies. Israel is also seeking to increase the amount of gear held by the American army in their emergency stores in Israel by 50 percent — that is from $800 million to $1.2 billion.  [...]"  

Commentary: Pro-peace lobbying in US Congress conspicuous by its absence [06/10/10] "Sama Adnan argues that the failure of American pro-peace organizations to extend their work to lobbying in Congress has allowed the Israel lobby to control the US legislature as well as the state and defence departments because the Senate “through confirmation hearings for the president’s appointees, can confirm or deny the job to candidates deemed by AIPAC as ‘unsympathetic’ to Israel”. [...]"  

White House Pledges $400 Million to Palestinians [06/10/10] "A White House statement calls the $400 million aid package announced Wednesday “a down payment on the United States’ commitment to Palestinians in Gaza, who deserve a better life and expanded opportunities, and the chance to take part in building a viable, independent state of Palestine, together with those who live in the West Bank.” The commitment includes money for new schools, infrastructure and repairs throughout the Palestinian territories, but, as the Guardian points out, there’s no mention of how the U.S. plans to get banned construction materials past Israel and Egypt’s blockade of Gaza.  [...]"  

Navy hunts for missing underwater vehicles in Va [06/10/10] "The Navy is searching the waters of Hampton Roads for four missing Underwater Unmanned Vehicles (UUVs). The unmanned vehicles were being used by Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 1 on Sunday when communication was lost with four out of 13 UUVs operating in the Thimble Shoals Channel. The Thimble Shoals Channel runs between the Hampton Roads Bridge Channel and Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.  The Navy says search and recovery operations began immediately, and continue utilizing small craft, shore based teams, marine mammal systems and air assets coordinated to search and locate based on Meteorological and Oceanographic (METOC) predicted models. The Coast Guard and local officials are also assisting. The vehicles, identified as Remote Environmental Monitoring Units (REMUS) 100 Swordfish Underwater Unmanned Vehicles, are 7.5 inches in diameter, 62 inches long, and weigh around 80 pounds. The underwater vehicles were being used to conduct search, classify and map missions in support of exercise Frontier Sentinel 2010. [...]"   

Mexico Claims U.S. Firms Helped Steal $300 Million from Gas Field [06/10/10] "BASF and other U.S. energy companies "directly assisted and encouraged" organized criminals to steal hundreds of millions of dollars worth of natural gas condensate and smuggle it into the United States, Pemex, Mexico's national oil company, claims in Federal Court. "At times the stolen quantity has approached 40 percent of the entire production of condensate from the Burgos Field," a giant production region on the Texas border, Pemex says. [...]"  |  Mexico anger as teenager shot dead by US border agent "Mexico has demanded a full inquiry after a Mexican teenager died after a US border patrol agent opened fire from the US side of the border.  The youth, believed to be 14 or 15, was found on the Mexican side under a bridge linking Ciudad Juarez with El Paso. US authorities said the agent was defending himself and colleagues after they came under attack from people throwing stones and rocks. [...]"   

 Commentary: Helen Thomas: Human Sacrifice For A Dying "Free" Media [06/10/10] "I have been asked to comment on the Helen Thomas issue that seems to be all over the press these days. It seems that this saga came at just the right time to divert American media sources away from their inadequate and inept coverage of the murder of Humanitarian workers by their cherished state of Israel. Here is my take: Helen Thomas spoke the truth, and she was made a sacrificial lamb and scapegoat for speaking that truth. Many are now aware of her short video response where she said that Israel should get the hell out of Palestine. Well, guess what... She is absolutely correct. [...]"  

Commentary: Present Free Trade Agreements are Destroying The U.S. and 16 Senators are Pushing for More [06/10/10] "Thanks to "free trade" agreements like NAFTA and the WTO, the United States is facing economic disaster on a scale few nations have ever experienced. The idea that any of our leaders would continue on this reckless path of economic destruction should make us question who these people are working for. It is clear that America is losing a major economic war by relinquishing management and control of the economy through the effects of our failed "free trade" agreements. Now we have no choice but to conform our laws, regulation and administrative procedures to the will of countries we signed these agreements with, instead of to our own Constitution. A group of 16 Republican Senators, led by Sen. Orrin Hatch (Seq.- UT), sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to move forward with a trio of stalled free trade agreements leftover from the Bush administration. Proposed NAFTA-style free trade agreements with Columbia, South Korea and Panama have stalled in Congress for several years now as lawmakers increasingly oppose the policies that some believe contributed to the near-collapse of the economy. Critics of free trade had hoped that inaction on the trade pacts signaled their defeat. But, Hatch and his 15 cohorts are trying to revive the once-dead trade pacts. "Ratification by the Congress of the Korean, Colombian and Panamanian FTAs (free trade agreements) would be the catalyst for significant economic growth and job creation in the United States," they wrote Obama in a letter. According to the letter, the Korean free trade agreement could grow the economy by as much as $11.9 billion annually and Columbia by $2.5 billion. The Senators asked the president to provide Columbia, South Korea and Panama with a list of the outstanding issues that must be resolved before the agreements can be passed. They also told the president that it would be helpful to implement a timeline for the passage of the trade deals.  [...]"   Note: More sequential morons ... 

ZeuS Trojan Attack Spoofs IRS, Twitter, Youtube [06/09/10] "Criminals have launched an major e-mail campaign to deploy the infamous ZeuS Trojan, blasting out spam messages variously disguised as fraud alerts from the Internal Revenue Service, Twitter account hijack warnings, and salacious Youtube.com videos. [...]"   

Videos deepen mystery over Iran nuclear scientist Amiri [06/09/10] "The Iranian government says it has evidence that one of its nuclear scientists was abducted and is being held in the US against his will. Shahram Amiri disappeared a year ago while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. A video broadcast by Iranian TV purports to show Mr Amiri saying he was kidnapped and is living in Arizona. Hours later, another video posted on YouTube appeared to show the scientist saying he was happy in America. The US denied abducting him. [...]"  

Turkey accused of 'behaving like Iran' by Israel [06/09/10] "The Turkish ruling party AKP was savagely attacked by an unrepentant Israeli government last night, which said it was behaving like Iran and was "wholly to blame" for the deterioration in relations between the two countries. [...]"   

$500M Has Gone Into Gitmo Money Pit [06/08/10] "The US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay may have drawn opprobrium from all over the world, but it's also sucked up a stunning amount of funding since 9/11, with construction and renovation projects totaling more than $500 million, the Washington Post reports. That doesn't even count operating costs—twice as high as a comparable facility stateside—which the Post estimates would put the total close to $2 billion. Besides making it one of the most secure facilities in the world, the Pentagon spending seems to have been devoted to making it fun—for military personnel. The Post lists costs of lavish and often empty sports facilities—go-cart track, outdoor roller hockey rink, and batting cages, and more—as well as a KFC/Taco Bell, and housing for housing for lawyers and journalists during trials. The bill to pave an 8-mile stretch of road along the border with Cuba that had annoying potholes: $26 million.That's twice as much as the $13 million spent to build a courthouse complex customized for the trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. And spending actually accelerated over the years, the Post notes, even as the prison population dwindled from 680 to 181.  [...]"  

Power and Water Problems Loom for Florida as Oil Threat Lurks Off Shore by Wayne Madsen [06/08/10] "Informed emergency planning sources in Florida have informed WMR that the state faces severe fresh water shortages and power blackouts if the thick crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster clogs sea water intakes at the largest seawater desalinisation plant in the United States -- the Tampa Bay Seawater Desalinisation Plant at Apollo Beach in Tampa, Florida. The plant, which uses seawater reverse osmosis to turn seawater into 16 to 19 million gallons of drinking water daily for residents of the Tampa Bay area, faces the threat of filtration membranes becoming clogged if oil from the Gulf of Mexico enters its intake pipes. Such an event would render the plant unable to process seawater, resulting in a major fresh water shortage for the Tampa Bay. Similarly, oil clogging the water cooling intakes at the Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant on the Gulf of Mexico coast, some 80 miles north of Tampa, could force the shutdown of the Unit 3 pressurized water nuclear reactor. Such an event would result in power shutdowns in the Florida areas served by the power plant. The Obama administration has taken a page from the government of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Chernobyl in censoring the bad news from the Gulf oil mega-disaster. The Chernobyl cover-up largely resulted in the hastening of glasnost and the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union. [...]"  Note: For this and related developments, see Oil & Environment link on Special Articles panel.

Israel:  Lieberman heads to US to explain Israel's position on flotilla [06/08/10] "Foreign Minister (and former nightclub bouncer) Avigdor Lieberman was set to leave for North America Sunday night to meet with Israeli diplomats, as well as with Jewish communities in the US and Canada, to explain the Israeli government's position on the Gaza flotilla affair. Lieberman and his deputy Danny Ayalon will speak before the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and meet Israeli Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren, UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev, Ambassador to Canada Miriam Ziv and consul generals stationed throughout the US. [...]" Ambassador Says Israel Will Do 'Whatever It Takes' to Uphold Blockade "Without elaborating on what actions would be taken in the face of a potential Iranian Revolutionary Guard escort of ships to break through the blockade of Gaza Ambassador Michael Oren said the country needed to defend itself. [...]"  

Canada: "In Defense of Helen Thomas" [06/08/10] "... What Thomas clearly did say she was talking about was Jews that had come from Germany, Poland and America. Now it's likely that most of the Jewish refugees that came to Palestine from Europe just after the War, did so not because they "belong to the land of Israel", but due to fact that the American, Canadian and British governments wouldn't drop their anti-Jewish quotas even after the horrors of the genocide were fully exposed (let's talk about some real anti-Semites). I don't know of any opinion polls taken at the time, but if those refugees had a real choice to go to some impoverished potentially war-filled land in the Middle East or join the Jewish community in New York, I know what I would have chosen.  [...]"   

Helen Thomas said "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine"  [06/07/10] [0:32]  "Helen Thomas is an American news service reporter, a Hearst Newspapers columnist, member of the White House Press Corps and author. She served for fifty-seven years as a correspondent and, later, White House bureau chief for United Press International (UPI). Thomas has covered every President of the United States since the later years of the Eisenhower administration, coming to the forefront with John F. Kennedy. She was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents Association. [...]"  Related: White House press icon Helen Thomas, 89, apologizes for saying Jews should 'get out of Palestine | "ADL Says Helen Thomas Apology Insufficient "Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director, issued the following statement: [...]"   Helen Thomas, ' Jew-Bashing Old Lady Press Staple', Dropped by Agency and On the Ropes  "A storm has been brewing in the White House press room since 89-year-old spitfire Helen Thomas voiced some controversial opinions on the state of Israel, offering that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" during an interview with RabbiLive.com at the Jewish Heritage Celebration last week. [...]

'A View From the Bottom' - Race and Ethnicity [06/07/10] "Nothing brings out the worst in xenophobic America like the color of a person’s skin. Oh yeah.  America has a tried and troubling history of genocidal ethnic cleansing of ‘colored’ people. For our power-point presentation, let us review the treatment of Native Americans. America’s “First Nations” that are now, well, nowhere to be seen. Well, except maybe on “reservations” or back alley dark places where that aforementioned ‘native’ is passed out from a serious overdose of alcohol. See Gallup, New Mexico for further illustration.  Once America had driven the ‘red man’ to a final solution, it was on to the ‘yellow menace’. See California gold rushes, railroad construction, and of course San Francisco’s ‘yellow ghettos’. The treatment of “Chinese” migrants might be construed as worse than today’s treatment of migrants but realistically, not by so much. Then one could fly to World War II era treatment of “interned” Japanese. California sort of set the bar pretty high when it comes to treatment for the “color” of a person’s skin. Why, even in “our modern times” the color of a person’s skin will segregate one into enclaves and ghettos that riddle the California stateside like perky little Gazas here and there.  Irish migrants have felt that “great white furor” over coming to America. Jews have felt the furor, Germans too, and just about any migrant that wasn’t of the proper shading of ‘white’. Well, and aristocratic affiliation. [...]"  

Commentary: Yet Another Government Conspiracy Theory [06/07/10]  Note:   "So the feds arrest two Americans they have been spying on, and egging on, for years, for the crime of trying to leave the country allegedly to do bad things overseas, where the US has all authority, of course. The agents provocateur, experts in tricking people for the police state, did get one man to say: “I leave this time. God willing, I never come back. Only way I would come back here is if I was in the land of jihad and the leader ordered me to come back here and do something here. Ah, I love that.” So, as a result, they both face life in solitary punishment in some “supermax” prison, though they have actually done nothing wrong. [...]" Lew Rockwell

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard offers to escort future Gaza aid vessels [06/06/10] "Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to provide a military escort to cargo ships trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday.  "Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys to Gaza with all their powers and capabilities," Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's representative inside the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency. Any intervention by the Iranian military would be considered highly provocative by Israel which accuses Iran of supplying weapons to Hamas, the Islamist movement which rules Gaza.  Iran does not recognize the Israeli state and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has often predicted its imminent demise. Israel and its ally the United States decline to rule out military action against Iran if it looks like acquiring nuclear arms capability, something Israel sees as a threat to its survival. [...]"   Related: Iran’s navy offers to escort Gaza ships "Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to provide a military escort to cargo ships trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday. “Iran’s Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys to Gaza with all their powers and capabilities,” Ali Shirazi, Khamenei’s representative inside the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency. Any intervention by the Iranian military would be considered highly provocative by Israel which accuses Iran of supplying weapons to Hamas, the Islamist movement which rules Gaza. [...]"  Note:  That would take the cake. Get prepared for the astrological rollercoaster ... SFor this and related developments, see Gaza link on Special Articles panel.

Corbett Report: Sunday Update  [06/06/10] [7:51]  "Qaeda Killed (Again), Bilderberg Updates, WHO's to Blame "

BP And Halliburton Build Legal Teams Attempt To Buy Off Government Officials - British Petroleum Oil Disaster in Gulf of Mexico [06/06/10] "Facing possible jail time for their roles in the largest oil spill in American history, BP and Halliburton are building high-powered legal teams with "deep Department of Justice and White House ties." But the companies are pursuing other means to defend themselves as well.  Halliburton's campaign donations have spiked as it tries to curry favor with key members of Congress investigating the disaster. The company donated $17,000 in May, making it "the busiest donation month for Halliburton's PAC since September 2008," Politico reports. Thirteen of the 14 contributions from May went to Republicans, while seven went to members of Congress who are "on committees with oversight of the oil spill and its aftermath": [...]"  The story was also featured at a more mainstream site.   Note:  For this and related developments, see Oil & Environment link on Special Articles panel.

Egypt to strip men married to Israelis of citizenship [06/06/10] "A Cairo court on Saturday upheld a ruling to strip Egyptian men married to Israeli women of their citizenship in a case that has highlighted national sentiment towards Israel. Judge Mohammed al-Husseini, sitting on the Supreme Administrative Court, said the interior ministry must ask the cabinet to take the necessary steps to strip Egyptian men married to Israeli women, and their children, of their citizenship. The court said that each case should be considered separately, in a ruling that cannot be appealed. The ruling reflects Egyptian sentiment towards Israel, more than 30 years after Egypt signed an unpopular peace deal with the Jewish state. Before reading the verdict, Husseini said the case would not apply to Egyptian men married to Arab Israeli women. [...]"    

Erdogan may try to break blockade himself, Arab paper says [06/06/10] "Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is considering arriving in Gaza himself to break the blockade of the Strip, Lebanese newspaper Al-Mustaqbal reported Saturday. [...]" |Turkish prosecutors go after Israeli politicians "Israel’s prime minister, defense minister and chief of General Staff are among the prime suspects in an investigation initiated by the İstanbul Bakırköy Prosecutor’s Office into Monday’s military operation against a Gaza-bound civilian aid flotilla that left nine peace activists, all of whom were Turkish citizens, dead. [...]"  'Erdogan has no plans to sail to Gaza' "Turkey's prime minister will not accompany an aid convoy bound for Gaza, says Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, voicing concern over the use of force against Turkish citizens. [...]"   

Threat of Federal Enforcement Helps Uncover Widespread Financial Malfeasance, Researchers Find [06/06/10] "The need to "fix" or restate financial statements is an admission by corporate management that these reports (prior to their being corrected) to the government and the investing public misrepresented the corporations' financial positions, Texas A&M University sociology professor Harland Prechel reports in a research paper published in the June 2010 issue of the American Sociological Review. [...]"   

U.S. airport security officers targeted in ID theft [06/06/10] "A Massachusetts couple has been charged with stealing the identities of dozens of Transportation Security Administration officers, who screen passengers and baggage at U.S. airports. A federal grand jury accused Michael Derring, 48, and Tina White, 47, on Wednesday of conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, alleging they stole personal information including the Social Security numbers of dozens of TSA workers at Boston’s Logan International Airport. [...]"  

Lee: No 'full-scale war' between Koreas [06/06/10] "There will be no war in the Korean peninsula despite the sinking by a North Korean torpedo of a South Korean naval ship, President Lee Myung-bak said Saturday. [...]"   Related: U.S. weighing new options over North Korea   "The United States said on Saturday it was weighing new options beyond the United Nations to punish North Korea, which South Korea blames for the sinking of a warship that has escalated tensions on the peninsula. [...]"  Note:  The US is sliding behind the power curve on this ... failing to notice that the false flag as already been discovered ... and now that South Korea has said 'no war' ... the tension should calm down ... the US doesn't like that. It 'needs' the 'distraction.' 

AP Enterprise: Sub attack was near US-SKorea drill [06/06/10] "On the night a torpedo-armed North Korean submarine allegedly sank a South Korean patrol ship, the U.S. and South Korea were engaged in joint anti-submarine warfare exercises just 75 miles away, military officials told The Associated Press. .... Two months after the sinking, U.S. officials for the first time disclosed details of the joint naval exercise held the same day as the attack on the Cheonan. Forty-six South Korean sailors died on the warship, which was not involved in the exercise. It was on routine patrol near disputed waters. [...]"  Related:  Flashback: TIP – (March 26, 2010) Military Source: U.S. Sub Fired on South Korean Ship   "Anonymous – Military Source stated: U.S. sub attacked and fired on the South Korean ship that was sunk today, March 26, 2010. The source also stated that it could have been a provocation. The Intel Hub will be confirming if this is the case and documenting any future updated information on this subject. [...]"  |Defense conference in Singapore: China refuses to entertain US theory that N.Korea sank sub  "In a clear challenge to China, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Asian nations cannot stand by in the face of North Korea’s alleged sinking of a South Korean warship. The attack, which killed 46 South Korean sailors in March, was part of a reckless pattern of aggression by North Korea, Gates charged Saturday.In a tense exchange during the defense conference in Singapore, Gates dismissed suggestions by a Chinese general that Washington was being hypocritical in criticizing North Korea but not Israel for its commando raid on an aid flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea this week. “There is a wide gap in the U.S. attitude and policy to the two instances,” said Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu of China’s National Defense University. He did not endorse the U.S.-backed international finding that the North sunk the warship Cheonan with a torpedo. [...]"  

Arab FMs Threaten: No More Normalization or Peace Talks [06/06/10] "Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo this week to discuss the clash between Israeli troops and terrorist activists on board a Turkish ship headed for Gaza in defiance of the Israeli blockade. The ministers decided to “break the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza.” The blockade should be ended “in any legitimate way,” including “resistance,” the ministers said. “Resistance” is often used as a code word for violence or terrorism. [...]"   

Commentary: Israel's 'Operation Make The World Hate Us' Enters Bold New Phase [06/06/10] "Israel does not need enemies: it has itself. Or more precisely: it has its government" writes The New Republic's Leon Wieseltier in a bitingly titled column, Operation Make the World Hate Us: The assault on the 'Mavi Marmara' was wrong, and a gift to Israel's enemies. Two notable organizational patrons of Glick's video are the Center For Security Policy and Christians United For Israel. Glick's industrial-strength polemics include claims that there is a "totalitarian jihadist ideology which is ascendant throughout the Islamic world." According to the Jewish organization Jews on First, Glick has advocated the unilateral bombing of Iran. [...]"   

US "turns up heat on Iran". Magnifies 'threat'; Ignores Brazil-Turkey-Iran Deal [06/05/10] "The Obama administration, backed by the US media, is exploiting the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report—released to member states on Monday—to turn up the heat on Iran over its nuclear programs. Amid overblown press reports that Iran is building a nuclear weapon, the US and its European allies are pushing for the finalisation of a new round of sanctions against Tehran in the UN Security Council this month. [...]  The IAEA report conveniently provided ammunition for a series of distorted articles designed to heighten fears that Iran is about to acquire a nuclear arsenal. The report will be officially released only after the IAEA Board of Governors meets on June 7. But, as in the past, it has been widely leaked to the media, which in turn seized on isolated comments torn out of context as the basis for its stories. The full report has been posted on several web sites, and is available here. The New York Times, for instance, headlined its article “UN says Iran has fuel for 2 nuclear weapons,” glossing over the fact that the so-called “fuel” is the low-enriched uranium that Tehran has been producing for the past four years. Only later in the article did it observe that the uranium would require further enrichment—from 5 percent to 90 percent—before it could be used as the basis for a bomb. The IAEA report contains no evidence that Iran has produced any highly enriched uranium. The New York Times neglected to point out that much of the IAEA report is a repetition of previous ones. One of the report’s tasks is to provide a technical assessment of Iran’s nuclear program, including a physical inventory verification of the amounts of enriched uranium produced and the levels of enrichment. As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran allows regular inspections of its nuclear facilities, where the IAEA also has installed cameras and various monitoring devices to ensure that enriched uranium is not diverted to other purposes. Other articles went further, with one in the Philadelphia Inquirer, headlined “Iran on the brink of a nuclear bomb,” claiming that Tehran was just “a short step away” from making bomb-grade enriched uranium. Likewise the Wall Street Journal, without any serious examination of the IAEA report, declared that Iran was just “months … from reaching nuclear breakout capability” and berated the Obama administration for lacking “any ideas, much less a serious strategy, to stop it. [...] ” Related: Iran: NAM backs Tehran declaration  "Iran says the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) has reiterated its support for the country's trilateral nuclear fuel swap declaration signed with Brazil and Turkey. [...]"   

Paul Craig Roberts – AIPAC Controls Congress, Government [06/05/10] [4:47]  Note:  Also includes links to other interviews with the former Reagan official.

Republicans accuse White House of 'Chicago-style politics' [06/05/10] "The Republican party accused the Obama administration of engaging in "Chicago-style politics" yesterday after an apparent White House attempt to buy off an unwelcome candidate in a US Senate race. [...]"  Related: LaRouche:  Maybe Chicago Will Liberate Us from Obama "Reliable sources report that there is growing support for the proposal made by Robert Reich to put British Petroleum into receivership, but that this proposal has invoked a "cold" response from the White House. Lyndon LaRouche, who himself has proposed the urgent expropriation of BP and Royal Dutch Shell, responded: "The White House is cold because it is dead. It is cold to ideas, to reality. Obama has the trial of his friends on his mind. Will they go to jail, or will they tell the truth about him? Maybe Chicago will liberate us from Obama. They owe it to us." [...]"   

German trial for Somali 'pirates' [06/05/10] "A Dutch court agrees to the extradition of 10 suspected Somali pirates to stand trial for hijacking in Germany. [...]"    

Sheriff Arpaio Sues His Bosses Again [06/05/10] "Sheriff Joe Arpaio has sued his bosses again, claiming the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors blocked his access to funds after Arpaio refused to hand over financial documents. It's the ninth time Arpaio has sued his bosses in the past 2 years. [...]"  

S Korea, U.S. to delay joint military drills [06/05/10] "South Korea and the United States have decided to put off their joint military drills in tense waters off the west coast of the Korean peninsula due to lack of preparation, local media reported Friday, citing a defense ministry official.  The two allies were originally scheduled to stage a four-day drill early next week, as part of the response to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s alleged sinking of a South Korean warship in late March that killed 46 sailors. The naval exercise will be put on hold until mid-June, and a separate anti-submarine drill will also be held at the end of the month or in early July, Seoul’s Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the deputy defense minister Chang Kawng-il. [...]"  Note: Timing of provocations is being assessed ...

Reliable Sources Indicate that the Conclusion that North Korea Sank the South Korean Naval Vessel Is False [06/05/10] "Lyndon LaRouche reported that credible sources, drawing on a Chinese investigation into the evidence surrounding the sinking of the South Korean naval frigate Cheonan, suggest that the conclusion of the "international investigation" which blamed North Korea, based on circumstancial evidence, is false. [...]"   

FBI Crime Stats Show an Armed Public Is a Safer Public [06/05/10] "Data from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation show that America has been on a firearms buying spree since the end of 2005. Meanwhile, the FBI recently released preliminary 2009 crime data indicating that violent crime has been dropping at an accelerating rate since the end of 2006. [...]"  

War on the World: Obama's Surge in State Terror [06/05/10] "Most sentient beings have long recognized that murdering civilians in foreign countries -- especially through the cowardly methods of "secret war" -- is entirely counterproductive ... if your actual aim is to enhance America's national security by reducing violent extremism and hatred for the United States, that is. However, if your aim is to perpetuate and expand a militarist empire and the bloated, brutal, corrupt, war-profiteering system that supports it, why then, secret war and civilian slaughter are perfectly logical and remarkably effective methods. And that is why our highly intelligent and cool, pragmatic president is now vastly expanding the use of secret war, subversion, sabotage and murder into even more countries around the world, and giving America's secret, unaccountable death squads and covert operators even more power to carry out their lawless operations. As one Pentagon mandarin gushed, Obama is allowing "things that the previous administration did not."  That quote comes from a remarkably candid story in the Washington Post on Obama's "surge" in America's secret war on the world, which now encompasses no fewer than 75 countries.  [...]"  Related: U.S. 'secret war' expands globally as Special Operations forces take larger role  "Beneath its commitment to soft-spoken diplomacy and beyond the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Obama administration has significantly expanded a largely secret U.S. war against al-Qaeda and other radical groups, according to senior military and administration officials. Special Operations forces have grown both in number and budget, and are deployed in 75 countries, compared with about 60 at the beginning of last year. In addition to units that have spent years in the Philippines and Colombia, teams are operating in Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. ...  The surge in Special Operations deployments, along with intensified CIA drone attacks in western Pakistan, is the other side of the national security doctrine of global engagement and domestic values President Obama released last week. [...]"   

Workers assemble a statue of Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, at Denver International Airport [06/04/10] "As if a 30-foot tall blue horse with glowing red eyes wasn’t startling enough, travelers at Denver International Airport are now being greeted by a new Behemoth. On Wednesday, workers erected a 26-foot tall, seven-ton replica of Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, adjacent to the main terminal. The statue is here to promote the upcoming King Tut exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. According to one web site, Anubis is the “jackal-god of mummification,” and “assisted in the rites by which a dead man was admitted to the underworld.” While art enthusiasts are excited about the statue, some air travelers aren’t sure if they feel more or less secure with Anubis looking in. “If it’s the god of death, I wouldn’t exactly be putting it in front of the airport,” said passenger Keith Mears. [...]"  Note: Includes local news video report. An interesting second video report.

Bush's Glib Waterboarding Admission Sparks Outrage [06/04/10] "George W. Bush's casual acknowledgment Wednesday that he had Khalid Sheikh Mohammed waterboarded -- and would do it again -- has horrified some former military and intelligence officials who argue that the former president doesn't seem to understand the gravity of what he is admitting. Waterboarding, a form of controlled drowning, is "unequivocably torture", said retired Brigadier General David R. Irvine, a former strategic intelligence officer who taught prisoner of war interrogation and military law for 18 years. "As a nation, we have historically prosecuted it as such, going back to the time of the Spanish-American War," Irvine said. "Moreover, it cannot be demonstrated that any use of waterboarding by U.S. personnel in recent years has saved a single American life." [...]"  Note:  Bush is a sadistic little twit.

Video: When Insiders Expose the Ugly Side of the Entertainment Industry [06/04/10] 9 Video clips "This article documents some of today’s well-known artists who have gone on record and spoken about the dark side of the entertainment industry. Some of the industry’s biggest stars, including Dave Chappelle, Michael Jackson and Bob Dylan, have hinted at the true nature of the business in their own words. Here are some of my findings. [...]"   

Israel From 10,000 Feet [06/04/10] "The government of Israel is supposedly run by the Jewish state’s toughest and most ardent defenders, but so far they have inflicted worse damage on its security and its future than its enemies ever could. By treating a Gaza-bound aid flotilla as a military threat, killing nine civilians and imprisoning hundreds more, that government achieved the only foreseeable outcome: another episode of international isolation and internal demoralization.  [...]"   

Israel rejects international investigation of raid [06/04/10] "Israel on Thursday rejected calls from the United Nations and others for an international investigation of its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla but left the door open to foreign involvement. Foreign Minister (former nightclub bouncer) Avigdor Lieberman, however, proposed attaching international observers to an internal Israeli probe. [...]"  Netanyahu Condemns 'International Hypocrisy' "Benjamin Netanyahu rejected international criticism of a deadly raid against a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, saying today that the blockade of the Palestinian territory is needed to prevent missile attacks against Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. "Israel is facing an attack of international hypocrisy," Netanyahu said in a statement broadcast from his office.  [...]"  Note:  Netanyahu is absolutely nuts. 

Turkish Prime Minister To Israel: International Community Is "Sick Of Your Lies" [06/04/10] "Today in a speech to the Turkish parliament, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Israel out on the carpet over its recent murder of at least 9 peace activists. Erdoğan told Turkish parliamentarians that Israel had "massacred the innocent" and the fact that it treats civilians like terrorists shows that "it knows no boundaries". He said that since the Israeli government uses lying as state policy, the international community should conduct its own inquiry and lawfully punish those responsible. In a clear swipe at the 62-year-old Jewish state, Erdoğan said "Turkey is not a young and rootless country" and that no one should test its patience. He said that the Free Gaza flotilla was carrying "the conscience of humanity" and Israel's actions of "pouring blood and massacring was obviously state terrorism". [...]"  Related: Turkish Premier: "Israel Tries To Justify Itself By Exploiting Anti-Semitism"   ""After recent developments, everyone has seen the fact that Israeli government's hostile attitude terrorizing the region, posed a serious threat against peace and stability in the region. Those hostile policies will not yield any useful results. Israel should scrutinize its policies as soon as possible. We do not have a problem with Jewish people. But the humanity and we have a problem with Israeli administration. I think that Israeli people should give a message to their ruling parties which jeopardized their security and destroyed interests of the country with its reckless policies," he said. [...]" Israel Can't Get Away With the "Holocaust Victim" Routine Anymore  "Israel is coming under increasingly broad attack for its killing of unarmed civilians attempting to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The reality is that the Israeli "We can do what we want because we were holocaust victims" operation is a thing of the past. They can't get away with it any more. Everyone can see that the Israelis are committing the same kind of crimes against Palestinians, that were carried out against them. [...]" 

Irish government expected to expel Israeli diplomat involved in passport forgery [06/04/10] "Top Government officials and the Irish Police have advised the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin, to expel an Israeli diplomat that they suspect was involved in forging Irish passports for a Mossad hit squad. [...]"     

Commentary:  “Mad dog” diplomacy: a cornered Israel is baring its teeth [06/04/10] "Jonathan Cook argues that Israel is responding to growing domestic scrutiny of its human rights abuses and increasing international isolation, and to the erosion of its deterrence, by introducing new repressive laws and by branding its critics as supporters of terrorism. [...]"  

Sea blockade of Gaza was “temporary” – 15 years ago [06/04/10] "Stuart Littlewood views a little-mentioned blockade of Gaza: an interim, five-year agreement signed by the Palestinian Authority in 1995 – probably under duress – but still in force, allowing the Israelis “to weave a tangled web of security zoning in Gaza's coastal waters” and leaving them in charge offshore, where there is a massive gas field. [...]" 

Anti-Israeli rallies continue worldwide [06/04/10] "Demonstrators across the world continue to hold protests condemning Israel's fatal attack on a Gaza-bound aid convoy that left several peace activists dead. [...]"   

Texas: Desperate need for oversight as sexual assault is carried out in immigration detention [06/04/10] "Despite repeated promises of detention reform from John Morton at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the immigration detention system is under fire once again. A guard at the T. Don Hutto detention facility in Taylor, Texas, has been accused of sexually assaulting female detainees on their way to being deported. [...]"   

Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Soy Diet for Illinois Prisoners [06/04/10] "When Rod Blagojevich was elected governor of Illinois in 2002, he immediately made a change in the prison diets. Beginning in January 2003, inmates began receiving a diet largely based on processed soy protein, with very little meat. In most meals, small amounts of meat or meat by-products are mixed with 60-70 percent soy protein; fake soy cheese has replaced real cheese; and soy flour or soy protein is now added to most of the baked goods. Early in 2007, the Weston A. Price Foundation began hearing from inmates who were suffering from a myriad of serious health problems due to the large amounts of soy in the diet. These prisoners had found us through the Soy Alert! section of our website. Complaints include chronic and painful constipation alternating with debilitating diarrhea, vomiting after eating, sharp pains in the digestive tract, especially after consuming soy, passing out, heart palpitations, rashes, acne, insomnia, panic attacks, insomnia, depression and symptoms of hypothyroidism, such as low body temperature (feeling cold all the time), brain fog, fatigue, weight gain, frequent infections and enlarged thyroid gland. Since soy contains anti-fertility compounds, many young prisoners may be unable to father children after their release. The Weston A. Price Foundation has hired an attorney to represent several inmates incarcerated in the Illinois Department of Corrections system. The Foundation's attorney has entered his appearance on behalf of three inmates, has had contacts with several other inmates, has served several subpoenas upon the wardens of several facilities for documents and other information, and has informed the Court that additional inmates will soon be named in an amended complaint. The lead case is captioned Harris et al. v. Brown, et al., Case No. 3:07-cv-03225, and is currently pending before the Honorable Harold Baker in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois. The Foundation has until May 30th to file its amended complaint and the Defendants have 30 days after the complaint is filed to file their respective answers. The suit seeks an injunction putting a halt to the use of a soy-laden diet in the prison system.[...]"   

China renews call for dialogue on Iran [06/04/10] "China says any action taken by the UN Security Council should be aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear program. [...]"  Note:  China and Iran have business relationships and other ties.

'UNSC to vote on Iran next week' [06/04/10] "The White House says the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a US-proposed resolution that calls for tougher Iran sanction. [...]"   

Exposé:  Why is a Yemeni Student in Guantanamo, Cleared on Three Occasions, Still Imprisoned? [06/04/10] "On the evening of March 28, 2002, Mohammed Hassen (also identified as Mohammed Hassan Odaini), an 18-year old Yemeni student at Salafia University in Faisalabad, Pakistan, made a decision that was to change his life forever. He had been visiting fellow students in another house connected with the university, had stayed for dinner, and had decided to stay the night rather than traveling back to his own accommodation. Within hours, however, Hassen, along with 15 other people living in the house, was seized in a raid by Pakistani police, transferred to US custody and sent to Guantánamo, where he remains to this day.  In all, 15 men were seized in this house — victims of a mistaken belief on the part of Pakistani and US intelligence that there was a meaningful connection between the house and the supposed “high-value detainee” Abu Zubaydah. Seized on the same night in another house in Faisalabad, Abu Zubaydah then became the first official victim of a torture program approved for use by the CIA and initiated at the highest levels of the Bush administration, even though it has been revealed in the years since that he was not even a member of al-Qaeda, and was, instead, a mentally damaged gatekeeper for a training camp that was closed down by the Taliban because its leader, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (another victim of CIA-directed torture), refused to cooperate with al-Qaeda. Publicly, neither the Bush administration nor the Obama administration has conceded that those staying at the house were seized by mistake, and that Mohammed Hassen was particularly unfortunate.  [...]"   

U.S. Politics:  New Mary Cheney group appears to circumvent Nevada judge’s ruling [06/04/10] "A Republican political group called "Send Harry Packing" has just been launched in Nevada to run attack ads against Democratic Senator Harry Reid. The leading participant is Mary Cheney, a political consultant and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.  The group's first thirty-second ad strings together some of Reid's more controversial past remarks, including his statement in 2007 that the Iraq War could not be won militarily and his 2008 quip that in Nevada's summer heat and humidity "you could literally smell the tourists" visiting the state Capitol.  The timing of the new group's launch appears to connect its formation with this week's ruling by a Nevada judge against another group headed by Cheney, the Alliance for America's Future. The judge ruled on Wednesday that the Alliance could not run ads supporting a candidate who is running for the Republican nomination for governor because it is not registered in Nevada as a political action committee.  With Nevada's primary season coming to an end next week, Cheney appears to be seeking a fresh start in the general election. Reid's reelection campaign has been in trouble for months, but he has recently gained ground and is now tied with or narrowly trailing his most likely Republican opponents. The Alliance for America's Future is frequently described in newspaper accounts as "secretive." According to one description of the Nevada case, "The Alliance, a Virginia-based nonprofit, has refused to register and disclose who its contributors are, claiming that would violate its First Amendment rights to free speech. A spokesman said Tuesday there are also fears of retaliation against some of the contributors." [...]"  Note: Yes, of course, anyone with a modicum of sense would seek to displace the corrupt traitor Harry Reid ... it won't matter, of course.  

Corbett Report:  Israeli Piracy, Puppets Resign, Estulin in Brussels [06/03/10] [11:00] "Another important episode of New World Next Week. This week:  Worldwide Condemnation of Israel Attack on Gaza Aid Ship ; German & Japanese Presidents Resign Over US Military Adventurism ; Secret Society' Investigation Revealed to European Parliament " [...]"   

Western intelligence agency ordered photos of secret Syrian site [06/03/10] "Which Western intelligence agency requested satellite photographs of secret Syrian military installations near the border with Lebanon over the past two years?  A small patch of territory in northwest Syria has been photographed on at least 16 occasions. The images were procured by satellite imaging service DigitalGlobe, which the Western company hired. The company received more orders for photographs over the past year, including two in January. All the photos, the dates they were taken and their precise locations are available online via Google Earth.  The 200-square-kilometer area in question is 30 kilometers north of Syria’s northernmost border with Lebanon. The nearest town is Masyaf, which has 35,000 residents and is in the Hama district. Official Syrian government websites say the town and its environs are an agricultural and tourist region.  The images depict at least five guarded installations whose purpose is unclear. In the center is a new residential complex with at least 40 multistory buildings whose shape and structure are distinct from the architecture in the rest of the town. [...]"   

Ex-Florida GOP Chairman Indicted on Charges of Grand Theft, Money Laundering; Arrested [06/03/10] "Jim Greer, the former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida who has been under criminal investigation for his financial handling of the organization, was indicted on six charges including money laundering and grand theft, state officials announced. Greer was arrested by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents at his Oviedo home and booked into the Seminole County jail about 45 minutes later. [...]"    

Al Qaeda Official 'Killed' THREE Times [06/03/10] [1:18] "As a follow-up to my post of yesterday (the U.S. government’s announced killing of alleged Al Qaeda leader Abu Mustafa al-Yazid) please note the 5/31/2010 news report, as well as the Wired.com article of 10/22/2009, wherein this apparently same man had, as of that date, already been killed twice! [...]"    

U.S. to Join South Korean Military Exercise Off North Korea Coast [06/03/10] "The U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington will participate in a joint naval exercise with South Korea next week in the Yellow Sea, the same waters west of the Korean peninsula where North Korea is accused of sinking a South Korean warship last March, ABC News has learned. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns N. Korea to “halt provocative actions.” [...]"  Note:  The U.S. action is provocative, as well.  

America's Complicity in 'Evil' by Paul Craig Roberts [06/02/10] "As I write at 5pm on Monday, May 31, all day has passed since the early morning reports of the Israeli commando attack on the unarmed ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, and there has been no response from President Obama except to say that he needed to learn "all the facts about this morning's tragic events" and that Israeli prime minister Netanyahu had canceled his plans to meet with him at the White House. Thus has Obama made America complicit once again in Israel's barbaric war crimes. Just as the US Congress voted to deep-six Judge Goldstone's report on Israel's war crimes committed in Israel's January 2009 invasion of Gaza, Obama has deep-sixed Israel'No one in the world will believe that Israel attacked ships in international waters carrying Israeli citizens, a Nobel Laureate, elected politicians, and noted humanitarians bringing medicines and building materials to Palestinians in Gaza, who have been living in the rubble of their homes without repairs or medicines since January 2009, without first clearing the crime with its American protector. Without America's protection, Israel, a totally artificial state, could not exist. No one in the world will believe that America's spy apparatus did not detect the movement of the Israeli attack force toward the aid ships in international waters in an act of piracy, killing 20, wounding 50, and kidnapping the rest. Obama's pretense at ignorance confirms his complicity.  Once again the US government has permitted the Israeli state to murder good people known for their moral conscience. The Israeli state has declared that anyone with a moral conscience is an enemy of Israel, and every American president except Eisenhower and Carter has agreed. Obama's 12-hour silence in the face of extreme barbarity is his signal to the controlled corporate media to remain on the sidelines until Israeli propaganda sets the story. [...]   

Source: Hillary asking foreign leaders to `dial down' criticism of Israel [06/02/10] "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been privately asking foreign leaders to "dial down" criticism of Israel until all the facts of the flotilla attack are known, according to a source who personally discussed the matter with her. "She says she's been working the phones for last 24 hours trying to get people to cool off a little bit, to see what the facts are," the source tells me, adding that she said she was trying to "dial down some of the rhetoric of the international community."  "It's difficult," the source adds. "She says people are furious." [...]"  Note: Traitorous sequential cunts. Related:  Pelosi: ‘I Don’t Want To Go Into A Discussion Of The Blockade Of Gaza’ "Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) held a conference call with bloggers, where she received questions — including from ThinkProgress — about Israel’s raid of the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists bound for Gaza. Pelosi refused to speak directly about whether Israel’s blockade is causing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. [...]"   

Israel Knows No Limits: "Enemies of Humanity" Expose Themselves Again [06/02/10] "... The evidence that the operational planners did not anticipate that the Turkish ship was equipped with a direct satellite link to broadcast the attack for all to see derives from the basic fact, that perpetrators do not relish their crimes broadcast in real time, coupled with the fact that the live broadcast came through. Apparently, there were no applicable jamming attempts, nor were the Israeli operatives monitoring the Turkish television media to get a clue that their terror event was being broadcast live on air. The natural consequence was emotional outrage and almost immediate mass demonstrations in Turkey followed later in other major cities such as Athens, Paris, and London, where many people are surely also aware, at some level, that the current economic crisis affecting them is a consequence of blatant misdeeds by eight prominent and powerful Zionist Jews in America (Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Larry Summers, Robert Rubin, Timothy Geithner, Maurice Greenberg, Lloyd Blankfein, and Richard Fuld). That is to say, public outrage is accumulating amidst a discernible pattern of the usual suspects displaying contemptible hubris toward the general population. Video cameras, held by reporters or amateurs, installed at hotels and airports, or inside mobile phones, tend to be ubiquitous nowadays. Earlier this year, during the course of a Mossad assassination operation at a luxury hotel in Dubai, images of the Israeli perpetrators were eventually broadcast around the world, though not in real time. The planners of this operation must have assumed in that case, that their victims were simply too stupid to discover, much less reconstruct the phases of, their conspiratorial plot. Similarly, the planners of the Israeli military operation of destruction in southern Lebanon must have assumed that Hezbollah was too disorganized and unsophisticated to have deployed fiber optic cables for their communications network, not subject to eavesdropping or jamming measures. This miscalculation ultimately gave the Hezbollah defenders the tactical edge on the battlefield that forced an Israeli retreat. [...]" 

Twisted U.S. Congressmen Cheer Aid Ship Massacre [06/02/10] "...Rep. Gary Ackerman, the House Foreign Affairs chair, praised the raid, saying he supported Israel’s decision to attack the ship and the decision of the commandos to use deadly force against the aid workers, who he said were “brutally attacking” them. He added that the whole matter was secretly Hamas’ fault. Several of the Congressmen singled out the United Nations for condemnation, claiming that criticizing the massacre was a “double standard” and demanding that President Obama use veto power to prevent any action being taken against Israel for it. President Obama has called for an Israeli-led “investigation” into the lead up to the massacre, but has stopped short of criticizing the killings in any specific way. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton advised people to be “careful” in their responses. [...]"   

No weapons on stormed Turkish ship: Report [06/02/10] "A Turkish customs official on Monday denied Israeli allegations that activists aboard a Turkish aid ship for Gaza stormed by Israeli forces possessed weapons, the Anatolia news agency reported. "Allegations that there were weapons aboard the Turkish ship are baseless," Fevzi Gulcan, the head of customs at the Mediterranean port city of Antalya, told Anatolia. [...]"  Related: Israeli lawmaker: No arms on Flotilla [06/02/10] "A member of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) who was onboard the Gaza-destined aid convoy when it came under Israeli fire dismisses allegations that the Freedom Flotilla was carrying weapons. [...]"  Note: So, there were was even a member of the Israeli government IN the flotilla .... 

Japanese PM Quits Over Okinawa Base [06/02/10] "Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is stepping down after just 8 months in office. Hatoyama—whose plunging approval ratings ahead of an election expected to be held in July put him under intense pressure from his Democratic Party of Japan to step down—said he was quitting because of a broken campaign promise to move a US Marine base off the island of Okinawa, Reuters reports.  Analysts say Hatoyama's failure to rein in government spending as expected left him badly weakened even before the Okinawa issue caused one of his party's coalition partners to depart. Naoto Kan, Japan's fiscally conservative deputy prime minister and finance minister, is widely expected to succeed Hatoyama in a leadership contest the party says it plans to hold within days, the Wall Street Journal reports.  [...]" 

Mossad chief says, Israel is a burden to US [06/02/10] "... Mossad Chief Meir Dagan said on Tuesday that Israel is progressively becoming a burden on the United States. "Israel is gradually turning from an asset to the United States to a burden," said Dagan, speaking before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. [...]"  Note:  No shit.

Marchers: France exploits Africa resources [06/01/10] "Hundreds of French protesters marched from Nice to Paris denouncing the relationship between France and its former African colonies, activists said. [...]"   

Israeli nuclear espionage: the art of keeping America at risk for fun and profit [06/01/10] Note: Gordon Duff views how Israel and its US spies have been stealing, reverse-engineering and peddling American military secrets and technology. 

Palestinian children held in Israeli custody have been subjected to sexual abuse [06/01/10] "An international children's rights charity has said it has evidence that Palestinian children held in Israeli custody have been subjected to sexual abuse in an effort to extract 'confessions' from them. [...]" 

The Shadow Congress: More Than 170 Lawmakers Turned Lobbyists [06/01/10] "It's not exactly breaking news that Washington is stuffed to the gills with lobbyists. One good government group recently tallied 8 lobbyists for every member of Congress during the health-care reform debate. But what doesn't get as much attention is that, over the last few decades, a vast army of what might be called uber-lobbyists has taken shape in the capital, made up of retiring lawmakers eager to cash in on K Street after a lifetime of making do with public sector salaries. We've compiled a close-to-comprehensive list of former members of Congress currently working on behalf of private interests in Washington's influence-peddling industry. We count 172 of them -- almost one-third the number of current members of Congress.  [...]"  Note: It SHOULD have been made illegal for current or former government workers, including Congressmen, to lobby government, for at least ten years after leaving service.

US Blocks Flight From Paris, Passenger Busted [06/01/10] "A passenger wanted in the US was arrested after a flight from Paris en route to Mexico was denied access to American airspace and diverted to Canada. The Aero Mexico flight landed in Montreal, where the man was removed and placed under arrest. The remaining passengers were re-screened and allowed to continue on the trip. American officials did not release the man's name, nor the nature of the warrant against him, reports AP.  [...]"   

Google Bans Microsoft Windows [06/01/10] "According to the Financial Times, Google is beginning to phase out the use of Microsoft Windows within the company due to security concerns. "We're not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort," the FT quoted one employee as explaining.  [...]"   

'First' Neanderthal tool evidence [06/01/10] "Archaeologists have found what they say is the earliest evidence of Neanderthals living in Britain."  Note:  If you go to any major British news website, you'll see the latest evidence of Neanderthals living in Britain.

Israeli Yahoos Have Run Out of Options [06/01/10] "In Jonathan Swift's classic, Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver, in his fourth voyage, encounters the Yahoos, a race of vile and savage creatures, filthy and with unpleasant habits, who, unfortunately bear an absolute physical likeness to human men and women. The Yahoos are promiscuous, sadistic, cowardly, treacherous, and they have an absolute love of war. [...]"   

Supreme Court rules suspects must speak to remain silent [06/01/10] "According to a Village Voice blog, today's Supreme Court decision should be forever nicknamed "Miranda Schmiranda: Put Up or Shut Up, But If You Shut Up, Tell Us That You're Shutting Up." Easily the most exciting decision today! In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court decided that in order to invoke your Miranda Rights, or specifically, the right to remain silent under interrogation, you actually have to make a point of noting that you're invoking your Miranda Rights. This guy, Van Chester Thompkins, was interrogated and stayed (mostly) silent through the interrogation. He was convicted for murder. Here's the problem: [...]"   

Former Vice President Al Gore to separate from wife Tipper after 40 years of marriage [06/01/10] Note:  Even she can't live with that disingenuous figment