NICK SCHIFRIN
ABC News
In one of the most significant attacks in Afghanistan in the past few years, insurgents have hit a landmark Kabul hotel popular with foreigners and Afghan officials with as many as 6 suicide bombers and gunmen, according to police.
At least one suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the Intercontinental Hotel, and the attack is still ongoing. At least four explosions have been heard and gunfire continues. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Afghan officials, including provincial governors, were staying at the Intercontinental because of a conference on transition that begins tomorrow. Afghan forces are scheduled to take charge of security in some areas of the country starting in July.
A police official says there are at least 3 attackers, but the number could be double that. An Afghan news agency is reporting that at least 10 people have died, but that figure has not been independently confirmed.
Full story here.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Cancer Surges in Body Scanners; TSA Cover-Up, June 28 2011
FOIA documents reveal how “large number of workers have been falling victim to cancer, strokes and heart disease”
Paul Joseph WatsonPrison Planet.com
Fearful of provoking further public resistance to naked airport body scanners, the TSA has been caught covering up a surge in cases of TSA workers developing cancer as a result of their close proximity to radiation-firing devices, perhaps the most shocking revelation to emerge from the latest FOIA documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
After Union representatives in Boston discovered a “cancer cluster” amongst TSA workers linked with radiation from the body scanners, the TSA sought to downplay the matter and refused to issue employees with dosimeters to measure levels of exposure.
The documents indicate how, “A large number of workers have been falling victim to cancer, strokes and heart disease.”
“The Department, rather than acting on it, or explaining its position seems to have just dismissed. I don’t think that’s the way most other agencies would have acted in a similar situation if they were confronted with that question,” EPIC’s Marc Rotenberg said.
In an email sent to Heather Callahan (PDF), deputy federal security director at Boston Logan International Airport, union representatives express their concern about “TSA Boston’s growing number of TSOs working here that have thus far been diagnosed with cancer.”
Of course, if TSA workers who are merely standing near the scanners are already developing cancer, frequent flyers are also putting themselves in harm’s way by standing directly inside the radiation-firing machines.
As we reported yesterday, newly released internal government documents, obtained via the Freedom Of Information Act by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, reveal that the TSA, and specifically the head of the Department of Homeland Security, “publicly mischaracterized” the findings of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in stating that NIST had positively confirmed the safety of full body scanners in tests.
In erroneously citing both NIST and the Johns Hopkins school of medicine to claim that the body scanners are safe, the TSA has also deliberately misled the public on the dangers posed by the devices.
Documents obtained by EPIC show that, far from affirming their safety, NIST warned that airport screeners should avoid standing next to full body scanners in order to keep exposure to harmful radiation “as low as reasonably achievable.”
Further documents illustrate how a Johns Hopkins study actually revealed that radiation zones around body scanners could exceed the “General Public Dose Limit,” contradicting repeated claims by the TSA that Johns Hopkins had validated the safety of the devices.
At the time we pointed out that Dr Michael Love, who runs an X-ray lab at the department of biophysics and biophysical chemistry at the Johns Hopkins school of medicine had publicly stated two days previously that “statistically someone is going to get skin cancer from these X-rays”.
TSA workers complained about the radiation dangers of the scanners back in December, saying they were being kept in the dark by their employers, despite repeated requests for information.
“We don’t think the agency is sharing enough information,” said Milly Rodriguez, occupational health and safety specialist at the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents TSA workers.
A study conducted last year by Dr David Brenner, head of Columbia University’s center for radiological research, found that the body scanners are likely to lead to an increase in a common type of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma, which affects the head and neck.
Following the study, Brenner urged medical authorities to look at his work, pointing to the dangerous notion of mass scanning millions of people without proper oversight.
“There really is no other technology around where we’re planning to X-ray such an enormous number of individuals. It’s really unprecedented in the radiation world,” said Brenner.
Similar concerns to those explored in the Columbia University study were voiced in February 2010 by the influential Inter-Agency Committee on Radiation Safety, who warned in a report that the scanners increase the risk of cancer and birth defects and should not be used on pregnant women or children.
Despite governments claiming that backscatter x-ray systems produce radiation too low to pose a threat, the organization concluded in their report that governments must justify the use of the scanners and that a more accurate assessment of the health risks is needed.
Pregnant women and children should not be subject to scanning, according to the report, adding that governments should consider “other techniques to achieve the same end without the use of ionizing radiation.”
“The Committee cited the IAEA’s 1996 Basic Safety Standards agreement, drafted over three decades, that protects people from radiation. Frequent exposure to low doses of radiation can lead to cancer and birth defects, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” reported Bloomberg.
In a recent letter to President Obama’s Science Advisor, several University of California professors also complained of how, “There is still no rigorous, hard, data for the safety of x-ray airport passenger scanners.”
The scientists noted how the safety tests for the scanners were carried out exclusively by manufacturers, and recommended an immediate moratorium on use of the devices until the health risks can be independently studied.
Paul Joseph WatsonPrison Planet.com
Fearful of provoking further public resistance to naked airport body scanners, the TSA has been caught covering up a surge in cases of TSA workers developing cancer as a result of their close proximity to radiation-firing devices, perhaps the most shocking revelation to emerge from the latest FOIA documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
After Union representatives in Boston discovered a “cancer cluster” amongst TSA workers linked with radiation from the body scanners, the TSA sought to downplay the matter and refused to issue employees with dosimeters to measure levels of exposure.
The documents indicate how, “A large number of workers have been falling victim to cancer, strokes and heart disease.”
“The Department, rather than acting on it, or explaining its position seems to have just dismissed. I don’t think that’s the way most other agencies would have acted in a similar situation if they were confronted with that question,” EPIC’s Marc Rotenberg said.
In an email sent to Heather Callahan (PDF), deputy federal security director at Boston Logan International Airport, union representatives express their concern about “TSA Boston’s growing number of TSOs working here that have thus far been diagnosed with cancer.”
Of course, if TSA workers who are merely standing near the scanners are already developing cancer, frequent flyers are also putting themselves in harm’s way by standing directly inside the radiation-firing machines.
As we reported yesterday, newly released internal government documents, obtained via the Freedom Of Information Act by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, reveal that the TSA, and specifically the head of the Department of Homeland Security, “publicly mischaracterized” the findings of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in stating that NIST had positively confirmed the safety of full body scanners in tests.
In erroneously citing both NIST and the Johns Hopkins school of medicine to claim that the body scanners are safe, the TSA has also deliberately misled the public on the dangers posed by the devices.
Documents obtained by EPIC show that, far from affirming their safety, NIST warned that airport screeners should avoid standing next to full body scanners in order to keep exposure to harmful radiation “as low as reasonably achievable.”
Further documents illustrate how a Johns Hopkins study actually revealed that radiation zones around body scanners could exceed the “General Public Dose Limit,” contradicting repeated claims by the TSA that Johns Hopkins had validated the safety of the devices.
At the time we pointed out that Dr Michael Love, who runs an X-ray lab at the department of biophysics and biophysical chemistry at the Johns Hopkins school of medicine had publicly stated two days previously that “statistically someone is going to get skin cancer from these X-rays”.
TSA workers complained about the radiation dangers of the scanners back in December, saying they were being kept in the dark by their employers, despite repeated requests for information.
“We don’t think the agency is sharing enough information,” said Milly Rodriguez, occupational health and safety specialist at the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents TSA workers.
A study conducted last year by Dr David Brenner, head of Columbia University’s center for radiological research, found that the body scanners are likely to lead to an increase in a common type of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma, which affects the head and neck.
Following the study, Brenner urged medical authorities to look at his work, pointing to the dangerous notion of mass scanning millions of people without proper oversight.
“There really is no other technology around where we’re planning to X-ray such an enormous number of individuals. It’s really unprecedented in the radiation world,” said Brenner.
Similar concerns to those explored in the Columbia University study were voiced in February 2010 by the influential Inter-Agency Committee on Radiation Safety, who warned in a report that the scanners increase the risk of cancer and birth defects and should not be used on pregnant women or children.
Despite governments claiming that backscatter x-ray systems produce radiation too low to pose a threat, the organization concluded in their report that governments must justify the use of the scanners and that a more accurate assessment of the health risks is needed.
Pregnant women and children should not be subject to scanning, according to the report, adding that governments should consider “other techniques to achieve the same end without the use of ionizing radiation.”
“The Committee cited the IAEA’s 1996 Basic Safety Standards agreement, drafted over three decades, that protects people from radiation. Frequent exposure to low doses of radiation can lead to cancer and birth defects, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” reported Bloomberg.
In a recent letter to President Obama’s Science Advisor, several University of California professors also complained of how, “There is still no rigorous, hard, data for the safety of x-ray airport passenger scanners.”
The scientists noted how the safety tests for the scanners were carried out exclusively by manufacturers, and recommended an immediate moratorium on use of the devices until the health risks can be independently studied.
Calls for TSA Chief's Head, June 28 2011
Agency says it followed correct procedure
Steve WatsonPrisonplanet.com
In comments betraying a new found freedom to express his real opinions once again, Keith Olbermann of all people is leading a charge to have TSA head John Pistole fired in the wake of a series of shocking incidents culminating in an elderly cancer sufferer being forced to remove an adult diaper by agents as part of security check.
Naming John Pistole his “worst person in the world”, on his Monday Countdown show on Current, Olbermann relayed his thoughts on the incident:
“She is in a wheelchair and after the TSA agents pat Ms. Reppert down and insist her daughter remove her mother’s adult diaper, which was used, the mother is stoic and cooperative.” Olbermann stated.
“The daughter bursts into tears. So now the TSA agents have to frisk her, too, because her conduct is now deemed unusual. The daughter misses the flight and her 95-year-old mother has to travel alone.”
“The TSA’s response? ‘We’re terribly sorry we went too far?’” Olbermann retorted. “Uh-uh. ‘In no instance would our officers ask a passenger to remove an adult diaper.’ The daughter says that’s a lie. The TSA still is refusing to acknowledge it did anything wrong. ‘We have reviewed the circumstances involved in the screening and determined that our officers acted professionally and according to proper procedure.”
“Translation: Screw you, public, we can do whatever the hell we want,” Olbermann continued.
“That attitude has only been growing in the last year since the feel-ups began at the airports and if it’s not going to change – the agency is really going to defend abusing 95-year-old leukemia patients on the incomprehensible premise that they might be suicide bombers, then this John Pistole, head of the TSA – he needs to be fired and we need to get a human being in there to do his job.” Olbermann concluded.
Watch the video:
After it had defended the actions of the agents involved, noting that wheelchairs often spur pat-downs, the TSA subsequently claimed that security personnel “did not require this passenger to remove an adult diaper.”
According to the Boston Globe, the TSA said this was something not made clear in the initial statement provided to CNN on Sunday.
Mrs Weber maintains that the agents did indeed forced her to remove her mother’s adult diaper, noting that they “said they found something suspicious.”
In further comments to the media, Mrs Weber stated:
“If this is your procedure — which I do understand — I also feel that your procedure needs to be changed… My mother is very ill, she has a form of leukemia. She had a blood transfusion the week before, just to bolster up her strength for this travel.”
“It’s something I couldn’t imagine happening on American soil,” Weber said. “Here is my mother, 95 years old, 105 pounds, barely able to stand, and then this.”
Welcome to America, where everyone is a potential terrorist bomber, especially if they are wearing a diaper.
Florida state Rep. Ritch Workman has vowed to look into the incident after state’s-rights group The Florida 10th Amendment Center brought it to his attention.
Workman, who sponsored a 10th Amendment resolution at the 2010 Legislature, said, “I see the need for federal agencies to control access to interstate air traffic, although the TSA seems to have expanded its role without authorization.”
——————————————————————
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.
Steve WatsonPrisonplanet.com
In comments betraying a new found freedom to express his real opinions once again, Keith Olbermann of all people is leading a charge to have TSA head John Pistole fired in the wake of a series of shocking incidents culminating in an elderly cancer sufferer being forced to remove an adult diaper by agents as part of security check.
Naming John Pistole his “worst person in the world”, on his Monday Countdown show on Current, Olbermann relayed his thoughts on the incident:
“She is in a wheelchair and after the TSA agents pat Ms. Reppert down and insist her daughter remove her mother’s adult diaper, which was used, the mother is stoic and cooperative.” Olbermann stated.
“The daughter bursts into tears. So now the TSA agents have to frisk her, too, because her conduct is now deemed unusual. The daughter misses the flight and her 95-year-old mother has to travel alone.”
“The TSA’s response? ‘We’re terribly sorry we went too far?’” Olbermann retorted. “Uh-uh. ‘In no instance would our officers ask a passenger to remove an adult diaper.’ The daughter says that’s a lie. The TSA still is refusing to acknowledge it did anything wrong. ‘We have reviewed the circumstances involved in the screening and determined that our officers acted professionally and according to proper procedure.”
“Translation: Screw you, public, we can do whatever the hell we want,” Olbermann continued.
“That attitude has only been growing in the last year since the feel-ups began at the airports and if it’s not going to change – the agency is really going to defend abusing 95-year-old leukemia patients on the incomprehensible premise that they might be suicide bombers, then this John Pistole, head of the TSA – he needs to be fired and we need to get a human being in there to do his job.” Olbermann concluded.
Watch the video:
After it had defended the actions of the agents involved, noting that wheelchairs often spur pat-downs, the TSA subsequently claimed that security personnel “did not require this passenger to remove an adult diaper.”
According to the Boston Globe, the TSA said this was something not made clear in the initial statement provided to CNN on Sunday.
Mrs Weber maintains that the agents did indeed forced her to remove her mother’s adult diaper, noting that they “said they found something suspicious.”
In further comments to the media, Mrs Weber stated:
“If this is your procedure — which I do understand — I also feel that your procedure needs to be changed… My mother is very ill, she has a form of leukemia. She had a blood transfusion the week before, just to bolster up her strength for this travel.”
“It’s something I couldn’t imagine happening on American soil,” Weber said. “Here is my mother, 95 years old, 105 pounds, barely able to stand, and then this.”
Welcome to America, where everyone is a potential terrorist bomber, especially if they are wearing a diaper.
Florida state Rep. Ritch Workman has vowed to look into the incident after state’s-rights group The Florida 10th Amendment Center brought it to his attention.
Workman, who sponsored a 10th Amendment resolution at the 2010 Legislature, said, “I see the need for federal agencies to control access to interstate air traffic, although the TSA seems to have expanded its role without authorization.”
——————————————————————
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.
Fukushima in Nebraska, June 28 2011
Kurt NimmoPrison Planet.com
Once again, the corporate media is ignoring a potentially deadly nuclear situation, this time right here in the United States.
The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant in Nebraska is now inundated with flood water from the Missouri River. A berm protecting the plant collapsed on Sunday. Prior to the failure of the berm, there was a fire at the facility. The official story was that the fire was contained in an electrical switchgear room.
Corporate media ignoring dangerous potential of Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant.
The plant serves as the storage site for 20 years worth of spent fuel rods from plants in the state in addition to one third of the rods that were removed during a recent refueling. In 2006, the site began storing spent fuel rods above ground in mausoleum-like concrete structures outside the nuclear plant. Omaha Public Power says the spent fuels rods will be stored on-site forever.
In addition, in 2009, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant was considered an alternative fuel rod storage site to Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In 2010, Congress failed to fund Yucca Mountain after more than $9 billion was squandered building concrete tunnels and chambers designed to keep waste safe for at least a million years.
Officials at the Nebraska plant insist the fuels rods are safe. “There is no water inside the plant. The reactor is covered with borated water. The spent fuel is covered with borated water, which we want it to be. That’s intentional. That’s where it should be. The floodwaters are outside Fort Calhoun, not inside,” Gary Gates, CEO of the Fort Calhoun plant, told CNN.
Gates did not address the very distinct possibility that the plant may soon be completely overwhelmed by water from the Missouri River. Due to an unprecedented amount of flood water, the failure of an upstream dam at Fort Peck Dam could lead to a domino-like collapse of five earthen downstream dams, swamp the nuclear power plant, and knock out the generators now used to cool the fuel rods.
“The Fort Peck Dam is built with a flawed design that has suffered a well-known fate for this type of dam — liquefaction — in which saturated soil loses its stability,” Bernard Shanks wrote on June 7. “Hydraulic-fill dams are prone to almost instant collapse from stress or earthquakes. California required all hydraulic-fill dams be torn out or rebuilt — and no other large dams have been built this way since.”
Can we trust nuclear power officials to tell us the truth? The Fukushima disaster was worsened considerably by the cover-ups and lies of government and industry officials. Should we expect the same here in the United States?
Garrison Dam releases into the Missouri River with a flow of 115,000 cubic feet per second on June 5, 2011.
June 14: Arnie Gundersen — Nebraska Nuclear Plant: Emergency Level 4 & getting worse.
Once again, the corporate media is ignoring a potentially deadly nuclear situation, this time right here in the United States.
The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant in Nebraska is now inundated with flood water from the Missouri River. A berm protecting the plant collapsed on Sunday. Prior to the failure of the berm, there was a fire at the facility. The official story was that the fire was contained in an electrical switchgear room.
Corporate media ignoring dangerous potential of Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant.
The plant serves as the storage site for 20 years worth of spent fuel rods from plants in the state in addition to one third of the rods that were removed during a recent refueling. In 2006, the site began storing spent fuel rods above ground in mausoleum-like concrete structures outside the nuclear plant. Omaha Public Power says the spent fuels rods will be stored on-site forever.
In addition, in 2009, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant was considered an alternative fuel rod storage site to Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In 2010, Congress failed to fund Yucca Mountain after more than $9 billion was squandered building concrete tunnels and chambers designed to keep waste safe for at least a million years.
Officials at the Nebraska plant insist the fuels rods are safe. “There is no water inside the plant. The reactor is covered with borated water. The spent fuel is covered with borated water, which we want it to be. That’s intentional. That’s where it should be. The floodwaters are outside Fort Calhoun, not inside,” Gary Gates, CEO of the Fort Calhoun plant, told CNN.
Gates did not address the very distinct possibility that the plant may soon be completely overwhelmed by water from the Missouri River. Due to an unprecedented amount of flood water, the failure of an upstream dam at Fort Peck Dam could lead to a domino-like collapse of five earthen downstream dams, swamp the nuclear power plant, and knock out the generators now used to cool the fuel rods.
“The Fort Peck Dam is built with a flawed design that has suffered a well-known fate for this type of dam — liquefaction — in which saturated soil loses its stability,” Bernard Shanks wrote on June 7. “Hydraulic-fill dams are prone to almost instant collapse from stress or earthquakes. California required all hydraulic-fill dams be torn out or rebuilt — and no other large dams have been built this way since.”
Can we trust nuclear power officials to tell us the truth? The Fukushima disaster was worsened considerably by the cover-ups and lies of government and industry officials. Should we expect the same here in the United States?
Garrison Dam releases into the Missouri River with a flow of 115,000 cubic feet per second on June 5, 2011.
June 14: Arnie Gundersen — Nebraska Nuclear Plant: Emergency Level 4 & getting worse.
Greek PM: Austerity is Patriotic Duty, June 28 2011
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has told his fellow countrymen it is their patriotic duty to accept the austerity plan cooked up by the IMF and the EU. If not accepted, Greece will not get the fifth installment of an international bailout, he warned.
“I’m not asking you to listen to outside pressures, I ask that you listen to your soul and your internal patriotic conscience,” Papandreou said.
Greek opposition parties have rejected demands by EU leaders for national unity on the prospect of unemployment, a lower standard of living, and a massive giveaway of national resources.
“You cannot terrorize your MPs by referring to patriotism because if there is something we should be proud of today it’s that Greeks have risen up from their indifference and are defending, as is their duty, patriotism by the presence in the streets,” said Alexis Tsipras, leader of the leftist party SYRIZA.
Opinion polls indicate three quarters of Greeks oppose tax rises, spending cuts, globalist privatization, and the selling off of national treasures.
On Tuesday, Greek unions shut down government services, brought public transport to a standstill and grounded flights. Unions began their fourth general strike of the year at midnight.
Greece’s biggest union, the General Confederation of Greek Workers, has characterized the austerity measures as a “mafia-style rescue.”
“This proposed austerity package will only make things worse. It will mean we are pushed deeper into recession and will never pay back our debts,”Zoe Lanara, the union’s international relations secretary, told The Independent.
As former Wall Street economist Michael Hudson notes, the so-called bailout will not help the Greek people, it will enrich the banks at the expense of the people.
“The Greek economy will not end up with the proceeds of any ECB ’bailout.’ The banks will get the money.
They would like to turn around and lend it out afresh to the buyers of the land, monopolies and other properties that Greece is being told to privatize,” he writes. “Is this not like military tribute? … The bankers are trying to get a windfall by using the debt hammer to achieve what warfare did in times past.”
Papandreou and the political elite expect the Greek people to acquiesce to what amount to a military attack on the country by the financial elite. Instead, unions and thousands of protesters will close down the country and continue to resist eurozone enslavement and the theft of their heritage by international finance.
Infowars.com
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has told his fellow countrymen it is their patriotic duty to accept the austerity plan cooked up by the IMF and the EU. If not accepted, Greece will not get the fifth installment of an international bailout, he warned.
“I’m not asking you to listen to outside pressures, I ask that you listen to your soul and your internal patriotic conscience,” Papandreou said.
Greek opposition parties have rejected demands by EU leaders for national unity on the prospect of unemployment, a lower standard of living, and a massive giveaway of national resources.
“You cannot terrorize your MPs by referring to patriotism because if there is something we should be proud of today it’s that Greeks have risen up from their indifference and are defending, as is their duty, patriotism by the presence in the streets,” said Alexis Tsipras, leader of the leftist party SYRIZA.
Opinion polls indicate three quarters of Greeks oppose tax rises, spending cuts, globalist privatization, and the selling off of national treasures.
On Tuesday, Greek unions shut down government services, brought public transport to a standstill and grounded flights. Unions began their fourth general strike of the year at midnight.
Greece’s biggest union, the General Confederation of Greek Workers, has characterized the austerity measures as a “mafia-style rescue.”
“This proposed austerity package will only make things worse. It will mean we are pushed deeper into recession and will never pay back our debts,”Zoe Lanara, the union’s international relations secretary, told The Independent.
As former Wall Street economist Michael Hudson notes, the so-called bailout will not help the Greek people, it will enrich the banks at the expense of the people.
“The Greek economy will not end up with the proceeds of any ECB ’bailout.’ The banks will get the money.
They would like to turn around and lend it out afresh to the buyers of the land, monopolies and other properties that Greece is being told to privatize,” he writes. “Is this not like military tribute? … The bankers are trying to get a windfall by using the debt hammer to achieve what warfare did in times past.”
Papandreou and the political elite expect the Greek people to acquiesce to what amount to a military attack on the country by the financial elite. Instead, unions and thousands of protesters will close down the country and continue to resist eurozone enslavement and the theft of their heritage by international finance.
Greece: Possibility of Military Coup?, June 28 2011
cryptogon.com
Via: CityWire:
While the IMF stalls on its rescue package for Greece, many in the market are beginning to question whether the country would not in fact be better off out of the euro altogether.
But for Steven Cordell, manager of Cazenove’s Pan Europe fund, that is a scenario that should be avoided at all costs.
‘Unless the Greeks are turkeys voting for Christmas then I don’t see an exit for them out of the Euro.’
‘The Greek state employs something like two thirds of the population so the number of losers would be massive.’
He says the reaction of the military is also a significant factor to consider when discussing any potential break away from the Euro for Greece.
‘Spending on the Greek army is amongst the highest per capita in the whole of the EU, so if a plan didn’t materialise you could see a military coup. We’re talking controlled order here and it has happened before in ‘74.’
Cordell says at the moment much of the diplomacy is currently focusing on huge austerity plans, this he thinks is missing a key point. ‘All the talk is about cut, cuts, cuts, “do as you’re told you naughty boy” type thing, but there has been no incentive for the Greeks to create a better future for themselves.’
Via: CityWire:
While the IMF stalls on its rescue package for Greece, many in the market are beginning to question whether the country would not in fact be better off out of the euro altogether.
But for Steven Cordell, manager of Cazenove’s Pan Europe fund, that is a scenario that should be avoided at all costs.
‘Unless the Greeks are turkeys voting for Christmas then I don’t see an exit for them out of the Euro.’
‘The Greek state employs something like two thirds of the population so the number of losers would be massive.’
He says the reaction of the military is also a significant factor to consider when discussing any potential break away from the Euro for Greece.
‘Spending on the Greek army is amongst the highest per capita in the whole of the EU, so if a plan didn’t materialise you could see a military coup. We’re talking controlled order here and it has happened before in ‘74.’
Cordell says at the moment much of the diplomacy is currently focusing on huge austerity plans, this he thinks is missing a key point. ‘All the talk is about cut, cuts, cuts, “do as you’re told you naughty boy” type thing, but there has been no incentive for the Greeks to create a better future for themselves.’
Radioactive Water Leaks From Japan's Damaged Plant, June 28 2011
Reuters
Tons of radioactive water were discovered on Tuesday to have leaked into the ground from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, the latest in a series of leaks at the plant damaged in a March earthquake and tsunami, the country’s nuclear watchdog said.
More than three months after the disaster, authorities are struggling to bring under control damaged reactors at the power plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
About 15 metric tons of water with a low level of radiation leaked from a storage tank at the plant on the Pacific coast, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said it was investigating the cause of the leak which was later repaired.
Full article here
Tons of radioactive water were discovered on Tuesday to have leaked into the ground from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, the latest in a series of leaks at the plant damaged in a March earthquake and tsunami, the country’s nuclear watchdog said.
More than three months after the disaster, authorities are struggling to bring under control damaged reactors at the power plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
About 15 metric tons of water with a low level of radiation leaked from a storage tank at the plant on the Pacific coast, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said it was investigating the cause of the leak which was later repaired.
Full article here
Paul Forecasts Important Message, June 28 2011
JAMES Q. LYNCH,
Lee-Gazette Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES — The revolution is “is alive and well and growing,” especially in Iowa, where U.S. Rep. Ron Paul hopes to send a message.
The Iowa GOP Straw Poll in Ames Aug. 13 will be that platform for that message, the Texas congressman told 150 people Monday in Des Moines.
“We’re in Iowa for a very precise reason,” said Paul, who joked he visits so often just to meet everyone. “Iowa is a bellwether. It can send signals. That’s what we’re really looking for – a signal.”
And the Ames straw poll will send a “very, very important message,” he predicted. Paul’s campaign just spent $31,000 to claim the top spot outside the Hilton Coliseum at Iowa State University where the straw poll will be held. Paul outbid rivals for the prime real estate.
Full article here
Lee-Gazette Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES — The revolution is “is alive and well and growing,” especially in Iowa, where U.S. Rep. Ron Paul hopes to send a message.
The Iowa GOP Straw Poll in Ames Aug. 13 will be that platform for that message, the Texas congressman told 150 people Monday in Des Moines.
“We’re in Iowa for a very precise reason,” said Paul, who joked he visits so often just to meet everyone. “Iowa is a bellwether. It can send signals. That’s what we’re really looking for – a signal.”
And the Ames straw poll will send a “very, very important message,” he predicted. Paul’s campaign just spent $31,000 to claim the top spot outside the Hilton Coliseum at Iowa State University where the straw poll will be held. Paul outbid rivals for the prime real estate.
Full article here
Final Senate Version of TSA Bill Authorizes Groping, June 28 2011
TSA agents could meet “reasonable suspicion” mandate if travelers set off metal detector or refuse naked body scan
Paul Joseph WatsonPrison Planet.com
Despite Texas lawmakers claiming otherwise, the final Senate version of a bill that purports to criminalize invasive pat downs actually authorizes the TSA to continue groping travelers, mandating only that they need “reasonable suspicion” to indicate that the person may be carrying a prohibited object, which could easily be claimed if the person sets off a metal detector or refuses to undergo a full body scan.
Essentially, after weeks of federal threats and deliberate sabotage, the legislation passed by the Senate last night gives the TSA carte blanche to continue business as usual, because the language of the bill is completely toothless.
An even weaker version of the bill was passed the House yesterday as protesters, led by Austin-based radio host Alex Jones, chanted “treason” and “traitors” outside the chambers of both the House and Senate. The House will today hear the final Senate version of the bill.
The amended text of the Senate version (read it here) states that an invasive pat down is only criminal, “without reasonable suspicion of the presence of an unknown, unlawful, or prohibited object.”
The term “reasonable suspicion” replaces the previous and far stronger language of “probable cause”. Of course, the TSA will now merely claim that “reasonable suspicion” is met when a person either sets off a metal detector or refuses to undergo a naked body scan. In other words, this would mandate no change in current TSA policy.
On his Facebook page, the bill’s sponsor Senator Dan Patrick calls the legislation the “Best version (of) any of the previous bills,” before demanding that the House pass his incarnation when they meet today after 2pm.
The TSA Tyranny lobbying group, who previously withdrew support for the Senate version of the bill, applauded Patrick for his efforts.
“This is language that we can support – while not perfect, and not as strong as “probable cause”, the additional qualifiers limit the breadth of reason to grant authority to “search,” the group announced on their Facebook page.
Patrick calls the legislation a “good bill” and a “huge win for liberty,” yet there will be many skeptics who merely view this as an authorization for the TSA to continue current policy, and nothing like a condemnation of their egregious behavior, characterized most recently by a case in which a sick 95-year-old grandmother was forced to remove her adult diaper during screening at Northwest Florida Regional Airport.
Although Patrick claims the Senate version is significantly stronger than the House version, the key provisions of each bill are almost identical.
Another indication that the bill passed yesterday by the House is a compromise too far is the fact that both Speaker of the House Joe Straus and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst immediately issued statements praising the legislation. As we have documented, Straus and Dewhurst have been instrumental in sabotaging the bill from the very beginning, gutting it of any real power.
The fact that Straus is now “satisfied” with a bill that just days ago he labeled an “ill-advised publicity stunt,” betrays just how meaningless the legislation has been rendered by the actions of these two apologists for big government.
Alex Jones is prolonging the fight to get a real bill passed that genuinely criminalizes invasive TSA groping. He is calling on all Texans to continue aggressively lobbying their representatives in a bid to mandate Rick Perry to create a new special session, by maintaining a presence at the Capitol to force lawmakers into following the will of the people.
*********************
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show.
Paul Joseph WatsonPrison Planet.com
Despite Texas lawmakers claiming otherwise, the final Senate version of a bill that purports to criminalize invasive pat downs actually authorizes the TSA to continue groping travelers, mandating only that they need “reasonable suspicion” to indicate that the person may be carrying a prohibited object, which could easily be claimed if the person sets off a metal detector or refuses to undergo a full body scan.
In this interview, Alex Jones discusses how the TSA bill was gutted to make it completely ineffective.
Essentially, after weeks of federal threats and deliberate sabotage, the legislation passed by the Senate last night gives the TSA carte blanche to continue business as usual, because the language of the bill is completely toothless.An even weaker version of the bill was passed the House yesterday as protesters, led by Austin-based radio host Alex Jones, chanted “treason” and “traitors” outside the chambers of both the House and Senate. The House will today hear the final Senate version of the bill.
The amended text of the Senate version (read it here) states that an invasive pat down is only criminal, “without reasonable suspicion of the presence of an unknown, unlawful, or prohibited object.”
The term “reasonable suspicion” replaces the previous and far stronger language of “probable cause”. Of course, the TSA will now merely claim that “reasonable suspicion” is met when a person either sets off a metal detector or refuses to undergo a naked body scan. In other words, this would mandate no change in current TSA policy.
On his Facebook page, the bill’s sponsor Senator Dan Patrick calls the legislation the “Best version (of) any of the previous bills,” before demanding that the House pass his incarnation when they meet today after 2pm.
The TSA Tyranny lobbying group, who previously withdrew support for the Senate version of the bill, applauded Patrick for his efforts.
“This is language that we can support – while not perfect, and not as strong as “probable cause”, the additional qualifiers limit the breadth of reason to grant authority to “search,” the group announced on their Facebook page.
Patrick calls the legislation a “good bill” and a “huge win for liberty,” yet there will be many skeptics who merely view this as an authorization for the TSA to continue current policy, and nothing like a condemnation of their egregious behavior, characterized most recently by a case in which a sick 95-year-old grandmother was forced to remove her adult diaper during screening at Northwest Florida Regional Airport.
Although Patrick claims the Senate version is significantly stronger than the House version, the key provisions of each bill are almost identical.
Another indication that the bill passed yesterday by the House is a compromise too far is the fact that both Speaker of the House Joe Straus and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst immediately issued statements praising the legislation. As we have documented, Straus and Dewhurst have been instrumental in sabotaging the bill from the very beginning, gutting it of any real power.
The fact that Straus is now “satisfied” with a bill that just days ago he labeled an “ill-advised publicity stunt,” betrays just how meaningless the legislation has been rendered by the actions of these two apologists for big government.
Alex Jones is prolonging the fight to get a real bill passed that genuinely criminalizes invasive TSA groping. He is calling on all Texans to continue aggressively lobbying their representatives in a bid to mandate Rick Perry to create a new special session, by maintaining a presence at the Capitol to force lawmakers into following the will of the people.
*********************
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show.
Can the Fed Stop Quantitative Easing?, June 28 2011
Paul Craig Roberts
Prisonplanet.com
If the Fed stops QE, confidence in the US dollar would rise. Money would flow into US investments, both supporting the US stock market and helping to finance the large US budget deficit. Gold and silver prices would decline. Negative dollar expectations would be squeezed out of oil and grain prices, although drought, flood, and supply factors would continue to impact grain prices and the administration’s wars can impact oil prices.
If a halt to QE coincided with more European sovereign debt problems, the dollar might regain a lot of the ground that it has lost.
Looked at from this perspective, the Fed should halt its bond purchases, and people should bail out of their bullion investments and commodity speculations.
But there are other factors in play–the economy and continuing solvency worries about financial institutions. At a June 22 news conference, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said: “Some of the headwinds that have been concerning us, like the weakness in the financial sector, problems in the housing sector, balance sheet and deleveraging issues, may be stronger and more persistent than we thought.”
Despite the fiscal stimulus of the large federal budget deficit and Obama’s $700 billion stimulus program, the economy’s growth and employment performance is not up to expectations. Indeed, as John Williams says, if inflation were fully measured, the economy’s growth could be negative, and if unemployment were correctly reported, the current rate would be over 22%.
An economy this weak offers no support to US-derived corporate profits or to the outlook for financial organizations. US corporations have made large investments abroad in the production of goods and services to sell to US consumers who have neither the income nor borrowing capacity to purchase. People without jobs and those with the low paid jobs provided by domestic service, such as hospital orderlies, bartenders, and waitresses, cannot afford to buy a house even at the depressed current prices. To the extent that financial institutions’ books remain filled with real estate paper, the financial crisis is not over.
Moreover, it is unlikely that the Dow Jones average can be sustained without growth in employment and GDP.
Can the Fed afford to sacrifice recovery, employment, and Obama’s reelection to save the dollar and price stability? This is the unasked and unanswered question.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is the father of Reaganomics and the former head of policy at the Department of Treasury. He is a columnist and was previously an editor for the Wall Street Journal. His latest book, “How the Economy Was Lost: The War of the Worlds,” details why America is disintegrating.
Prisonplanet.com
If the Fed stops QE, confidence in the US dollar would rise. Money would flow into US investments, both supporting the US stock market and helping to finance the large US budget deficit. Gold and silver prices would decline. Negative dollar expectations would be squeezed out of oil and grain prices, although drought, flood, and supply factors would continue to impact grain prices and the administration’s wars can impact oil prices.
If a halt to QE coincided with more European sovereign debt problems, the dollar might regain a lot of the ground that it has lost.
Looked at from this perspective, the Fed should halt its bond purchases, and people should bail out of their bullion investments and commodity speculations.
But there are other factors in play–the economy and continuing solvency worries about financial institutions. At a June 22 news conference, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said: “Some of the headwinds that have been concerning us, like the weakness in the financial sector, problems in the housing sector, balance sheet and deleveraging issues, may be stronger and more persistent than we thought.”
Despite the fiscal stimulus of the large federal budget deficit and Obama’s $700 billion stimulus program, the economy’s growth and employment performance is not up to expectations. Indeed, as John Williams says, if inflation were fully measured, the economy’s growth could be negative, and if unemployment were correctly reported, the current rate would be over 22%.
An economy this weak offers no support to US-derived corporate profits or to the outlook for financial organizations. US corporations have made large investments abroad in the production of goods and services to sell to US consumers who have neither the income nor borrowing capacity to purchase. People without jobs and those with the low paid jobs provided by domestic service, such as hospital orderlies, bartenders, and waitresses, cannot afford to buy a house even at the depressed current prices. To the extent that financial institutions’ books remain filled with real estate paper, the financial crisis is not over.
Moreover, it is unlikely that the Dow Jones average can be sustained without growth in employment and GDP.
Can the Fed afford to sacrifice recovery, employment, and Obama’s reelection to save the dollar and price stability? This is the unasked and unanswered question.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is the father of Reaganomics and the former head of policy at the Department of Treasury. He is a columnist and was previously an editor for the Wall Street Journal. His latest book, “How the Economy Was Lost: The War of the Worlds,” details why America is disintegrating.
NATO Warns: Bombs May Hit Any Time, June 28 2011
RT
Libya’s justice minister says Tripoli is refusing to recognise the arrest warrant for Colonel Gaddafi, issued by the International Criminal Court at the Hague. Gaddafi and his closest allies are accused of ordering war crimes to be carried out against their own people. But Tripoli says the actions by the ICC are just a cover for continued NATO bombings. RT’s Maria Finoshina went to see the effects of the airstrikes on the Libyan people.
Libya’s justice minister says Tripoli is refusing to recognise the arrest warrant for Colonel Gaddafi, issued by the International Criminal Court at the Hague. Gaddafi and his closest allies are accused of ordering war crimes to be carried out against their own people. But Tripoli says the actions by the ICC are just a cover for continued NATO bombings. RT’s Maria Finoshina went to see the effects of the airstrikes on the Libyan people.
Congressman Kucinich to Visit Syria, June 28 2011
AFP
A US lawmaker strongly opposed to US military involvement in Afghanistan and the Libyan conflict is on a “fact-finding” visit to Syria and Lebanon, his office said Monday.
Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich was expected to meet with Presidents Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Michel Sleiman of Lebanon during the visit, his office said in a statement.
“Peace is not just the absence of war,” Kucinich said in the statement.
Full article here
A US lawmaker strongly opposed to US military involvement in Afghanistan and the Libyan conflict is on a “fact-finding” visit to Syria and Lebanon, his office said Monday.
Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich was expected to meet with Presidents Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Michel Sleiman of Lebanon during the visit, his office said in a statement.
“Peace is not just the absence of war,” Kucinich said in the statement.
Full article here
Iran Fires Medium-Range Missiles in War Game, June 28 2011
AFP
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards fired 14 missiles in an exercise Tuesday, one of them a medium-range weapon capable of striking Israel or US targets in the Gulf, state media said.
The Guards’ aerospace commander, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, insisted Iran’s missile programme posed no threat to European nations but was merely intended to provide defence against Israel and US forces in the Gulf.
“Today, on the second day of the exercise, we fired Zelzals (Quake), Shahabs (Meteors) 1 and 2, and the Ghadr (Power),” a medium-range missile which is a modified version of the Shahab-3, Hajizadeh told state television.
He said the missiles were not a threat to European nations.
“Iran’s missiles have a maximum range of 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) and are designed to reach US targets in the region and the Zionist regime,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Full article here
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards fired 14 missiles in an exercise Tuesday, one of them a medium-range weapon capable of striking Israel or US targets in the Gulf, state media said.
The Guards’ aerospace commander, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, insisted Iran’s missile programme posed no threat to European nations but was merely intended to provide defence against Israel and US forces in the Gulf.
“Today, on the second day of the exercise, we fired Zelzals (Quake), Shahabs (Meteors) 1 and 2, and the Ghadr (Power),” a medium-range missile which is a modified version of the Shahab-3, Hajizadeh told state television.
He said the missiles were not a threat to European nations.
“Iran’s missiles have a maximum range of 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) and are designed to reach US targets in the region and the Zionist regime,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Full article here
War Between Syria & Turkey?, June 28 2011
The American Dream
In recent days, there have been persistent rumors that we could potentially be on the verge of a military conflict between Syria and Turkey. As impossible as such a thing may have seemed just a few months ago, it is now a very real possibility. Over the past several months, we have seen the same kind of “pro-democracy” protests erupt in Syria that we have seen in many of the other countries in the Middle East. The Syrian government has no intention of being toppled by a bunch of protesters and has cracked down on these gatherings harshly. There are reports in the mainstream media that say that over 1,300 people have been killed and more than 10,000 people have been arrested since the protests began. Just like with Libya, the United States and the EU are strongly condemning the actions that the Syrian government has taken to break up these protests. The violence in Syria has been particularly heavy in the northern sections of the country, and thousands upon thousands of refugees have poured across the border into neighboring Turkey. Syria has sent large numbers of troops to the border area to keep more citizens from escaping. Turkey has responded by reinforcing its own troops along the border. Tension between Turkey and Syria is now at an all-time high. So could we actually see a war between Syria and Turkey?
FULL STORY
In recent days, there have been persistent rumors that we could potentially be on the verge of a military conflict between Syria and Turkey. As impossible as such a thing may have seemed just a few months ago, it is now a very real possibility. Over the past several months, we have seen the same kind of “pro-democracy” protests erupt in Syria that we have seen in many of the other countries in the Middle East. The Syrian government has no intention of being toppled by a bunch of protesters and has cracked down on these gatherings harshly. There are reports in the mainstream media that say that over 1,300 people have been killed and more than 10,000 people have been arrested since the protests began. Just like with Libya, the United States and the EU are strongly condemning the actions that the Syrian government has taken to break up these protests. The violence in Syria has been particularly heavy in the northern sections of the country, and thousands upon thousands of refugees have poured across the border into neighboring Turkey. Syria has sent large numbers of troops to the border area to keep more citizens from escaping. Turkey has responded by reinforcing its own troops along the border. Tension between Turkey and Syria is now at an all-time high. So could we actually see a war between Syria and Turkey?
FULL STORY
Greece Signs 48-Hour General Strike, June 28 2011
Barry Neild
London Guardian
Greece is facing major disruption on Tuesday as unions begin a 48-hour general strike before a parliamentary vote on harsh austerity measures demanded in return for international rescue loans.
Protest rallies in Athens are due to converge on parliament as industrial action called in protest against tax hikes was expected to disrupt or halt most public services.
More than 5,000 police have been deployed to guard central Athens where anti-austerity demonstrations earlier this month ended in scenes of violence as protesters clashed with riot officers.
“We expect a dynamic and massive participation in the strike and the march to the centre of Athens. We will have 48 hours of working people, unemployed, young people in the streets,” Spyros Papaspyros, leader of public sector union ADEDY, told Reuters.
Full article here
London Guardian
Greece is facing major disruption on Tuesday as unions begin a 48-hour general strike before a parliamentary vote on harsh austerity measures demanded in return for international rescue loans.
Protest rallies in Athens are due to converge on parliament as industrial action called in protest against tax hikes was expected to disrupt or halt most public services.
More than 5,000 police have been deployed to guard central Athens where anti-austerity demonstrations earlier this month ended in scenes of violence as protesters clashed with riot officers.
“We expect a dynamic and massive participation in the strike and the march to the centre of Athens. We will have 48 hours of working people, unemployed, young people in the streets,” Spyros Papaspyros, leader of public sector union ADEDY, told Reuters.
Full article here
State Department on Quest for Regime Change, June 28 2011
RT
While Americans are struggling with economic hardships at home, the Department of State is generously offering money to dissidents across the globe. A new project is seeking ideas how to change regimes in a number of countries. Gayane Chichikyan reports on the story.
While Americans are struggling with economic hardships at home, the Department of State is generously offering money to dissidents across the globe. A new project is seeking ideas how to change regimes in a number of countries. Gayane Chichikyan reports on the story.
Engdahl: Libya Intervention Absurd; NATO Criminal, June 28 2011
RT
For more on attempts by the International criminal court to prosecute Colonel Gaddafi RT is joined by William Engdahl, author of Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order.
For more on attempts by the International criminal court to prosecute Colonel Gaddafi RT is joined by William Engdahl, author of Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order.
Bomb Blasts Kill Civilians in Afghanistan, June 28 2011
Press TV
Two separate bomb blasts have killed at least seven civilians and wounded several others in Afghanistan as security situation continues to deteriorate in the country.
The Interior Ministry says the first explosion took place when a roadside bomb struck a vehicle in Ghazni Province.
Four people including two children were killed in the blast.
Three other people lost their lives in a separate explosion in the same province.
“It strongly condemns these acts of the enemies of peace and stability and expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the victims,” the ministry said in a statement.
According to a UN report, more than 360 civilians were killed across Afghanistan in May alone.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in US-led operations or Taliban attacks in various parts of Afghanistan over the past few months, with Afghans becoming more outraged over the seemingly endless number of deadly assaults.
The security situation continues to deteriorate in Afghanistan despite the presence of some 150,000 foreign troops in the country.
Two separate bomb blasts have killed at least seven civilians and wounded several others in Afghanistan as security situation continues to deteriorate in the country.
The Interior Ministry says the first explosion took place when a roadside bomb struck a vehicle in Ghazni Province.
Four people including two children were killed in the blast.
Three other people lost their lives in a separate explosion in the same province.
“It strongly condemns these acts of the enemies of peace and stability and expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the victims,” the ministry said in a statement.
According to a UN report, more than 360 civilians were killed across Afghanistan in May alone.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in US-led operations or Taliban attacks in various parts of Afghanistan over the past few months, with Afghans becoming more outraged over the seemingly endless number of deadly assaults.
The security situation continues to deteriorate in Afghanistan despite the presence of some 150,000 foreign troops in the country.
Canadian Cops Used Agents Provacateurs, June 28 2011
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
Following the police state spectacular at the G20 last June, the cops were accused of infiltrating so-called black-bloc anarchists, who engaged in all sorts of pointless mayhem, including trashing a Starbucks and burning police cars (see video below). The corporate media had a field day covering these circus sideshow distractions while ignoring the larger issue of the globalists meeting behind closed doors and plotting to sell the national sovereignty of millions down the river.
It was necessary for the state to arrange this sort of meaningless property destruction in order to offer a public rationalization for spending nearly a billion dollars on police state “crowd control” equipment (including L-RAD sound cannons) for the globalist summit. The Canadian state also granted the cops special police state powers by expanding the jurisdiction of the existing Public Works Act to apply to high-security areas of the summit site.
It is now an indisputable fact the cops engaged in massive infiltration. According to newly released G8/G20 summit documents, the RCMP dispatched poseurs and agents provocateurs to infiltrate the ranks of anti-war, anti-globalization and anarchist groups.
In 2007, Canadian cops were caught red-handed posing as anarchists during a North American Union summit in Montebello, Quebec. “Protesters are accusing police of using undercover agents to provoke violent confrontations at the North American leaders’ summit,” the Toronto Star reported. “Such accusations have been made before after similar demonstrations but this time the alleged ‘agents provocateurs’ have been caught on camera.”
Photographs released showed the supposed “anarchists” wearing the same boots as the police arresting them. “Protest organizers on Wednesday played the video for the media at a news conference in Ottawa. One of the organizers, union leader Dave Coles, explained that one reason protesters knew the men’s true identities was because they were wearing the same boots as other police officers,” CBC News reported on August 23, 2007.
Reports filed by the Joint Intelligence Group formed by the RCMP-led ISU (Integrated Security Unit) reveal that various police services contributed at least 12 undercover officers to take part in covert surveillance of potential “criminal extremists” in a bid to “detect… and disrupt” any threats, according to CBC News.
In other words, the RCMP was assigned the task of discrediting the larger anti-war and anti-globalization movement and making the public believe they are bomb-wielding anarchist criminals.
“There’s a lot of stuff that isn’t in there, that’s been redacted, or isn’t spelled out. But it says these undercover operations were going on, that there were 12 officers,” investigative journalist Tim Groves, who requested and obtained the reports through an access to information request, told the CBC. “The problem is that, looking at these documents, police expected criminal extremism everywhere.”
The same mindset and illegal police state activity operates in the United States. Since the FBI’s use of CLOINTELPRO tactics to neutralize political opposition to the state in the 1960s and early 70s, such practices have been uniformly codified and are now widespread and routine in the so-called war on terrorism.
According to the CBC, RCMP records indicate:
“It is hopeful that in the days, weeks and months to come government and police will be forced to admit (under similar circumstances as in Montebello, Quebec in 2007) that much of the vandalism and fire-setting was undertaken by those encouraged, directly or indirectly, by agents provocateurs,” Canadian activist Ghada Chehade wrote following the summit.
Unfortunately, it took more than a few weeks for the truth to come out. It took exactly a year.
Infowars.com
Following the police state spectacular at the G20 last June, the cops were accused of infiltrating so-called black-bloc anarchists, who engaged in all sorts of pointless mayhem, including trashing a Starbucks and burning police cars (see video below). The corporate media had a field day covering these circus sideshow distractions while ignoring the larger issue of the globalists meeting behind closed doors and plotting to sell the national sovereignty of millions down the river.
It was necessary for the state to arrange this sort of meaningless property destruction in order to offer a public rationalization for spending nearly a billion dollars on police state “crowd control” equipment (including L-RAD sound cannons) for the globalist summit. The Canadian state also granted the cops special police state powers by expanding the jurisdiction of the existing Public Works Act to apply to high-security areas of the summit site.
It is now an indisputable fact the cops engaged in massive infiltration. According to newly released G8/G20 summit documents, the RCMP dispatched poseurs and agents provocateurs to infiltrate the ranks of anti-war, anti-globalization and anarchist groups.
In 2007, Canadian cops were caught red-handed posing as anarchists during a North American Union summit in Montebello, Quebec. “Protesters are accusing police of using undercover agents to provoke violent confrontations at the North American leaders’ summit,” the Toronto Star reported. “Such accusations have been made before after similar demonstrations but this time the alleged ‘agents provocateurs’ have been caught on camera.”
Photographs released showed the supposed “anarchists” wearing the same boots as the police arresting them. “Protest organizers on Wednesday played the video for the media at a news conference in Ottawa. One of the organizers, union leader Dave Coles, explained that one reason protesters knew the men’s true identities was because they were wearing the same boots as other police officers,” CBC News reported on August 23, 2007.
Reports filed by the Joint Intelligence Group formed by the RCMP-led ISU (Integrated Security Unit) reveal that various police services contributed at least 12 undercover officers to take part in covert surveillance of potential “criminal extremists” in a bid to “detect… and disrupt” any threats, according to CBC News.
In other words, the RCMP was assigned the task of discrediting the larger anti-war and anti-globalization movement and making the public believe they are bomb-wielding anarchist criminals.
“There’s a lot of stuff that isn’t in there, that’s been redacted, or isn’t spelled out. But it says these undercover operations were going on, that there were 12 officers,” investigative journalist Tim Groves, who requested and obtained the reports through an access to information request, told the CBC. “The problem is that, looking at these documents, police expected criminal extremism everywhere.”
The same mindset and illegal police state activity operates in the United States. Since the FBI’s use of CLOINTELPRO tactics to neutralize political opposition to the state in the 1960s and early 70s, such practices have been uniformly codified and are now widespread and routine in the so-called war on terrorism.
According to the CBC, RCMP records indicate:
- The RCMP set up a Joint Intelligence Group in January 2009, which in turn assigned a dozen officers to a covert PIIT (Primary Intelligence Investigative Team) expressly for monitoring and infiltrating suspected extremist networks.Following the June summit in Toronto, a number of so-called black-bloc anarchists were outed as police agents provocateurs. Such reports were covered by the alternative media and generally ignored by the corporate media that had characterized the demonstrations as lawless behavior by a handful of crazed extremists.
- The joint-forces PITT had a mandate to use undercover officers and informants from within the ranks of protest networks, not just to monitor potential criminal activity by organizers, but also to “deter, prevent, investigate and/or disrupt” threats to the summit.
- The investigative team created and shared files on a long list of individuals, color coding them according to perceived risk level as red (suspect), orange (person of interest) and yellow (associate).
“It is hopeful that in the days, weeks and months to come government and police will be forced to admit (under similar circumstances as in Montebello, Quebec in 2007) that much of the vandalism and fire-setting was undertaken by those encouraged, directly or indirectly, by agents provocateurs,” Canadian activist Ghada Chehade wrote following the summit.
Unfortunately, it took more than a few weeks for the truth to come out. It took exactly a year.
TSA "respectful and sensitive", June 28 2011
RT
TSA allegedly forces a 95-year-old woman to take off her adult diaper at a security checkpoint. As usual, TSA denies the claims.
TX state raises cash by theft and resale
TSA allegedly forces a 95-year-old woman to take off her adult diaper at a security checkpoint. As usual, TSA denies the claims.
TX state raises cash by theft and resale
What the Fukushima is Going on in Omaha?, June 28 2011
Marvin Wolf
LOCAL TALK NEWS
In the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japanese officials assured everyone that everything was alright; everything was under control, that the problem was limited and controllable. It took a few days for that lie to fall apart.
This time, it may be our turn. Something bad is happening in Nebraska. A state of emergency was declared for two counties where two nuclear plants are located – one at the Fort Calhoun nuclear facility and one at the Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownsville. Due to flooding from the Missouri River, some kind of emergency event is happening or about to happen there. The government is telling us not to worry, that there are just some precautionary measures going on to prevent a disaster from happening because of the flooding.
Makeshift barriers have been erected at the Fort Calhoun plant because the current river level is two feet above the ground level of the plant. At the Cooper facility, another three inches of water and the facility will be closed. There were two tornadoes in the area a few days ago with winds of 85 mph.
Without the barriers, the plants would be, as we call it, under water, which is part of what caused the problem at Fukushima. Water plus radioactivity creates radioactive water, or radioactive steam, which radiation can turn into hydrogen and oxygen which have a habit of, as we call it, exploding.
The government is telling us not to panic. All is under control, just like in Japan. But here are a few troubling inconsistencies. One, the Red Cross shelter next to the Fort Calhoun plant has been closed. They claim it was due to “decreased need.” During a flood? Now there is a no-fly zone around the plant. Then there is the disturbing news that the spent fuel rod pool was so full that they store the surplus fuel rods in a dry storage area outside the safety of the pool. How long will that area stay dry and what happens if it gets wet? One reporter claims the dry storage bunker is now half-submerged. One of the intake structures is prone to flooding that could affect the water pumps. Non-functional water pumps? Does that sound familiar?
Full article here
LOCAL TALK NEWS
In the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japanese officials assured everyone that everything was alright; everything was under control, that the problem was limited and controllable. It took a few days for that lie to fall apart.
This time, it may be our turn. Something bad is happening in Nebraska. A state of emergency was declared for two counties where two nuclear plants are located – one at the Fort Calhoun nuclear facility and one at the Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownsville. Due to flooding from the Missouri River, some kind of emergency event is happening or about to happen there. The government is telling us not to worry, that there are just some precautionary measures going on to prevent a disaster from happening because of the flooding.
Makeshift barriers have been erected at the Fort Calhoun plant because the current river level is two feet above the ground level of the plant. At the Cooper facility, another three inches of water and the facility will be closed. There were two tornadoes in the area a few days ago with winds of 85 mph.
Without the barriers, the plants would be, as we call it, under water, which is part of what caused the problem at Fukushima. Water plus radioactivity creates radioactive water, or radioactive steam, which radiation can turn into hydrogen and oxygen which have a habit of, as we call it, exploding.
The government is telling us not to panic. All is under control, just like in Japan. But here are a few troubling inconsistencies. One, the Red Cross shelter next to the Fort Calhoun plant has been closed. They claim it was due to “decreased need.” During a flood? Now there is a no-fly zone around the plant. Then there is the disturbing news that the spent fuel rod pool was so full that they store the surplus fuel rods in a dry storage area outside the safety of the pool. How long will that area stay dry and what happens if it gets wet? One reporter claims the dry storage bunker is now half-submerged. One of the intake structures is prone to flooding that could affect the water pumps. Non-functional water pumps? Does that sound familiar?
Full article here
the Psychosis of Exceptionalism, June 28 2011
CHRIS FLOYD
Empire Burlesque
I wanted to write about Barack Obama’s recent speech announcing the alleged partial withdrawal of some of the tens of thousands of troops he has added to the decade-long American occupation of Afghanistan during his three Bush-like “surges” of that conflict. Events – and a deep reluctance to “waste my beautiful mind” on such a self-evident assemblage of murderous mendacity – stayed my hand. But this was, as it turned out, all good, as the saying goes, for now I find that Arthur Silber has, to paraphrase the Bard, named my very deed of rage. You should read the whole piece – and the links which provide historical context to the president’s long-tortured relationship with truth – but here’s a snippet to wet your whistle:
I must note that in the speech this evening, Obama offered a brief passage containing nothing but fall-on-the-floor whoppers. Here you go:
We are a nation that brings our enemies to justice while adhering to the rule of law, and respecting the rights of all our citizens. We protect our own freedom and prosperity by extending it to others. We stand not for empire, but for self-determination.
I love “while adhering to the rule of law.” And, “We stand not for empire…” Those three sentences in their entirety are gold-plated comedy material.
Couldn’t you just die? You might.
Before Obama’s speech, I wanted to write about the extraordinary outburst of imperial spleen from Obama’s imperial satrap in Bactria, Karl Eikenberry. The satrap, you may recall, pitched a hissy fit when the Empire’s local hireling, Hamid Karzai, got above his raising, as he is wont to do, and voiced a few criticisms of the occupying force’s self-serving agenda of greed and domination, and its unfortunate propensity for killing Afghan civilians in large numbers.
But here too I find that in another post, Silber has got thar the fastest with the moistest (to quote, or possibly misquote, one of the many insurgent extremists hugely celebrated in our highly moral land). His apt title, “The Fragile Vanity of the War Criminal,” sums up the matter well. Again, Silber marshals a range of facts and past insights to frame Eikenberry’s remarkable outburst. (Remarkable not for its monstrous sentiments, of course, which are de rigueur for our ruling class, but for their frankness, the lack of PR polish in which these ugly attitudes are usually cast.)
Eikenberry said Americans feel wounded by any aspersions cast on their pure hearts and noble motives by the grubby, ignorant natives. Such black ingratitude makes it impossible for him to “give a comforting reply” to the families of American soldiers when they ask him why in the name of God Almighty their loved ones are being killed and maimed in this endless, pointless imperial adventure, says poor, pouting Karl. Silber limns the pathology behind this imperial poltroonery.
I referred above to “the symptoms of severe neurosis” which result from a dedicated reliance on the delusions supporting American exceptionalism. Eikenberry’s comments show how that severe neurosis begins to veer ever closer to psychosis, if we use “psychosis” to indicate a condition representing an irreparable break with reality. I emphasize again that it is not simply that U.S. leaders ignore the murderous, bloody consequences of the U.S. government’s actions. That would be more than sufficiently evil by itself, but U.S. leaders and functionaries like Eikenberry go much further. They transform evil into a positive good. And they go further still: they demand that others acknowledge their nobility and goodness — and thank them for it.
Yes, this is indeed where the ankle-chain rubs rawest, isn’t it? It’s not enough to give way to brute force, bow your head, bare your back and take the lash: you have to sing hallelujah while Massa strikes, then kiss his foot when he’s finished. As Silber notes astutely earlier in the post:
Our national delusions, and our national neurosis, compel us to invert every moral value and principle. This is a world in which evil becomes good, and death becomes life.
And sinister poltroons become presidents and satraps, with the arbitrary power of life and death over millions of innocent people. Hallelujah!
Empire Burlesque
I wanted to write about Barack Obama’s recent speech announcing the alleged partial withdrawal of some of the tens of thousands of troops he has added to the decade-long American occupation of Afghanistan during his three Bush-like “surges” of that conflict. Events – and a deep reluctance to “waste my beautiful mind” on such a self-evident assemblage of murderous mendacity – stayed my hand. But this was, as it turned out, all good, as the saying goes, for now I find that Arthur Silber has, to paraphrase the Bard, named my very deed of rage. You should read the whole piece – and the links which provide historical context to the president’s long-tortured relationship with truth – but here’s a snippet to wet your whistle:
I must note that in the speech this evening, Obama offered a brief passage containing nothing but fall-on-the-floor whoppers. Here you go:
We are a nation that brings our enemies to justice while adhering to the rule of law, and respecting the rights of all our citizens. We protect our own freedom and prosperity by extending it to others. We stand not for empire, but for self-determination.
I love “while adhering to the rule of law.” And, “We stand not for empire…” Those three sentences in their entirety are gold-plated comedy material.
Couldn’t you just die? You might.
Before Obama’s speech, I wanted to write about the extraordinary outburst of imperial spleen from Obama’s imperial satrap in Bactria, Karl Eikenberry. The satrap, you may recall, pitched a hissy fit when the Empire’s local hireling, Hamid Karzai, got above his raising, as he is wont to do, and voiced a few criticisms of the occupying force’s self-serving agenda of greed and domination, and its unfortunate propensity for killing Afghan civilians in large numbers.
But here too I find that in another post, Silber has got thar the fastest with the moistest (to quote, or possibly misquote, one of the many insurgent extremists hugely celebrated in our highly moral land). His apt title, “The Fragile Vanity of the War Criminal,” sums up the matter well. Again, Silber marshals a range of facts and past insights to frame Eikenberry’s remarkable outburst. (Remarkable not for its monstrous sentiments, of course, which are de rigueur for our ruling class, but for their frankness, the lack of PR polish in which these ugly attitudes are usually cast.)
Eikenberry said Americans feel wounded by any aspersions cast on their pure hearts and noble motives by the grubby, ignorant natives. Such black ingratitude makes it impossible for him to “give a comforting reply” to the families of American soldiers when they ask him why in the name of God Almighty their loved ones are being killed and maimed in this endless, pointless imperial adventure, says poor, pouting Karl. Silber limns the pathology behind this imperial poltroonery.
I referred above to “the symptoms of severe neurosis” which result from a dedicated reliance on the delusions supporting American exceptionalism. Eikenberry’s comments show how that severe neurosis begins to veer ever closer to psychosis, if we use “psychosis” to indicate a condition representing an irreparable break with reality. I emphasize again that it is not simply that U.S. leaders ignore the murderous, bloody consequences of the U.S. government’s actions. That would be more than sufficiently evil by itself, but U.S. leaders and functionaries like Eikenberry go much further. They transform evil into a positive good. And they go further still: they demand that others acknowledge their nobility and goodness — and thank them for it.
Yes, this is indeed where the ankle-chain rubs rawest, isn’t it? It’s not enough to give way to brute force, bow your head, bare your back and take the lash: you have to sing hallelujah while Massa strikes, then kiss his foot when he’s finished. As Silber notes astutely earlier in the post:
Our national delusions, and our national neurosis, compel us to invert every moral value and principle. This is a world in which evil becomes good, and death becomes life.
And sinister poltroons become presidents and satraps, with the arbitrary power of life and death over millions of innocent people. Hallelujah!
Arab Spring Brings Corporate Locusts, June 28 2011
Egypt’s next step to “freedom.”
Tony CartalucciPrisonplanet.com
As terrifying as any Biblical plague, the very corporations that funded the think-tanks and media organizations that crafted and sold the entirely engineered “Arab Spring” hoax to the world, have finally swarmed into Egypt to settle in and strip its lands clean.
US Senator John McCain recently led a delegation representing his true constituency, Fortune 500 corporations, to Egypt and Tunisia to promote “private sector growth.” Traveling with McCain was a collection of corporate parasites from General Electric, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Bechtel, ExxonMobil, Marriot, and Dow who surveyed Cairo like conquering despots.
Tony CartalucciPrisonplanet.com
As terrifying as any Biblical plague, the very corporations that funded the think-tanks and media organizations that crafted and sold the entirely engineered “Arab Spring” hoax to the world, have finally swarmed into Egypt to settle in and strip its lands clean.
US Senator John McCain recently led a delegation representing his true constituency, Fortune 500 corporations, to Egypt and Tunisia to promote “private sector growth.” Traveling with McCain was a collection of corporate parasites from General Electric, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Bechtel, ExxonMobil, Marriot, and Dow who surveyed Cairo like conquering despots.
McCain’s corporate leash holders’ faces beam with joy as they savor the lush green fields they are now fully poised to devour. This is the fate that awaits all nations seeking US NED-funded “freedom.”
….
The New York Times reported of the trip, “Senator McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, who were visiting Egypt with an American business delegation, said it was in the interest of the United States’ national security to see Egypt become a free and democratic country.” McCain would also say, “We also suggested ways to have more economic cooperation, further assistance to Egypt’s military and hastening the legislation of proposed aid to Congress.” While many labor under the corporate-media fueled delusion that the United States was caught off guard by the “Arab Spring” and has shifted into reactionary or opportunistic mode, an earlier New York Times article titled, “U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings,” reveals that the United States government had been funding, training, and preparing for the Mideast unrest since as early as 2008.
….
The New York Times reported of the trip, “Senator McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, who were visiting Egypt with an American business delegation, said it was in the interest of the United States’ national security to see Egypt become a free and democratic country.” McCain would also say, “We also suggested ways to have more economic cooperation, further assistance to Egypt’s military and hastening the legislation of proposed aid to Congress.” While many labor under the corporate-media fueled delusion that the United States was caught off guard by the “Arab Spring” and has shifted into reactionary or opportunistic mode, an earlier New York Times article titled, “U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings,” reveals that the United States government had been funding, training, and preparing for the Mideast unrest since as early as 2008.
Such funding, training, and preparation was done through organizations such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) which in turn funds the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and Freedom House. Understanding that John McCain is chairman of the IRI which helped unseat the governments in the very countries he is now touring with big-business by his side, illustrates a complete picture, start to finish, of modern imperialism in action.
….Considering that many of John McCain’s fellow meddlers throughout NED, IRI, NDI, and Freedom House are generally war mongers, bankers, oilmen, and corporate-funded foundation representatives, it should be no surprise that the next step on Egypt and Tunisia’s “journey to freedom” is the complete economic liberalization of their economies and their full integration into the Wall Street-London centric unipolar “international order.”
After the corporate-funded revolution, the corporate feast.
John McCain’s tour is but a single feature of the overall plan for post-Mubarak Egypt. As early as February, 2011 the US was already preparing a package to assist Egypt’s “opposition groups” to, as TIME magazine put it, “help with constitutional reform, democratic development and election organizing.” It would also come out that billionaire banker George Soros, through his vast network of disingenuous “civil society”
organizations, was funding the drafting a of a new constitution for Egypt. By March, a sum of $150 million had been committed by the US State Department for “quickly” building up Egypt’s “democracy.” The money would be used by the same organizations who organized, trained, and channeled funds to the activists that overthrew Hosni Mubarak’s government in the first place, including McCain’s IRI and the NDI.
Building up a suitable puppet government, presumably run by globalist-stooge Mohamed ElBaradei, to populate an equally suitable political system made to America’s specifications, with American money, through American-funded organizations will now be coupled with an economic “fund” aimed at manipulating and reordering Egypt’s economy. The Kerry, McCain, Lieberman S.618 bill claims that Tunisian-American and Egyptian-American Enterprise Funds will assist the people of Egypt and Tunisia in forming a “political and economic system that respects universal values” and of course makes “the investment environment more attractive to domestic and international investors.” These “universal values” are determined by the current Wall Street-London hegemony and their contrived international institutions, not the Egyptian people, thus negating the possibility of any genuine progress made amidst 6 months of misguided, foreign-funded struggle and bloodshed.
The “Funds” will be managed by 4 private citizens of the US, and 3 of each respective country, appointed by the President of the United States who will select people who “have had successful business careers and demonstrated experience and expertise in international and particularly emerging markets investment activities.” In other words, these “Funds” are designed to help fold Egypt into the “international order” economically, while the US State Department’s NED-funded organizations fold Egypt into the “international order” politically.
The “international order,” in turn, is not some altruistic progressive paragon of equality and brotherhood amongst nations, but rather as degenerate globalist policy wonk Robert Kagan puts it, a world order that “serves the needs of the United States and its allies, which constructed it.” With that in mind, it makes perfect sense as to why Hosni Mubarak refused to become part of it, and why, despite managing a fairly reliable client-state in the service of the West, it was inevitable that he would have to be removed in order to implement Egypt’s full integration into this “international order.”
Indeed this is the end game in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Libya, Thailand, Myanmar, and eventually China and Russia – to form a homogeneous, centrally controlled, one world government where megalomaniacs arbitrarily contrive the rules by which the rest of humanity is made to live. As seen in Libya, such arbitrary rules, and the contrived institutions that enforce them, can just as easily be cast aside when the self-serving, unaccountable agenda of the global corporate-financier elite decides. Such is the danger of absolute, centralized power and why boycotting and replacing entirely these corporations that are now parading around Egypt’s Cairo must be foremost on our agenda.
McCain (left) and Kerry (right) gesticulate as they explain their paymaster’s agenda within the confines of an Egyptian Coca-Cola factory. This is part of their latest trip surveying the effects of their US-funded opposition overthrowing Hosni Mubarak’s government.
….
After the corporate-funded revolution, the corporate feast.
John McCain’s tour is but a single feature of the overall plan for post-Mubarak Egypt. As early as February, 2011 the US was already preparing a package to assist Egypt’s “opposition groups” to, as TIME magazine put it, “help with constitutional reform, democratic development and election organizing.” It would also come out that billionaire banker George Soros, through his vast network of disingenuous “civil society”
organizations, was funding the drafting a of a new constitution for Egypt. By March, a sum of $150 million had been committed by the US State Department for “quickly” building up Egypt’s “democracy.” The money would be used by the same organizations who organized, trained, and channeled funds to the activists that overthrew Hosni Mubarak’s government in the first place, including McCain’s IRI and the NDI.
Building up a suitable puppet government, presumably run by globalist-stooge Mohamed ElBaradei, to populate an equally suitable political system made to America’s specifications, with American money, through American-funded organizations will now be coupled with an economic “fund” aimed at manipulating and reordering Egypt’s economy. The Kerry, McCain, Lieberman S.618 bill claims that Tunisian-American and Egyptian-American Enterprise Funds will assist the people of Egypt and Tunisia in forming a “political and economic system that respects universal values” and of course makes “the investment environment more attractive to domestic and international investors.” These “universal values” are determined by the current Wall Street-London hegemony and their contrived international institutions, not the Egyptian people, thus negating the possibility of any genuine progress made amidst 6 months of misguided, foreign-funded struggle and bloodshed.
The “Funds” will be managed by 4 private citizens of the US, and 3 of each respective country, appointed by the President of the United States who will select people who “have had successful business careers and demonstrated experience and expertise in international and particularly emerging markets investment activities.” In other words, these “Funds” are designed to help fold Egypt into the “international order” economically, while the US State Department’s NED-funded organizations fold Egypt into the “international order” politically.
The “international order,” in turn, is not some altruistic progressive paragon of equality and brotherhood amongst nations, but rather as degenerate globalist policy wonk Robert Kagan puts it, a world order that “serves the needs of the United States and its allies, which constructed it.” With that in mind, it makes perfect sense as to why Hosni Mubarak refused to become part of it, and why, despite managing a fairly reliable client-state in the service of the West, it was inevitable that he would have to be removed in order to implement Egypt’s full integration into this “international order.”
Indeed this is the end game in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Libya, Thailand, Myanmar, and eventually China and Russia – to form a homogeneous, centrally controlled, one world government where megalomaniacs arbitrarily contrive the rules by which the rest of humanity is made to live. As seen in Libya, such arbitrary rules, and the contrived institutions that enforce them, can just as easily be cast aside when the self-serving, unaccountable agenda of the global corporate-financier elite decides. Such is the danger of absolute, centralized power and why boycotting and replacing entirely these corporations that are now parading around Egypt’s Cairo must be foremost on our agenda.
To read the entire Kerry, McCain, Lieberman bill S.618 see here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s618is/pdf/BILLS-112s618is.pdf
Ron Paul Reality Check, June 28 2011
TIME
Should the U.S. sell off its gold reserves to pay down debt? That’s the latest idea being tossed around by gold bug Ron Paul. Not only would selling Old Yeller help the U.S. pay its bills, says libertarian Paul, but it would put more gold in the hands of the American people and pull back the reins on the Federal Reserve, which is printing money like mad and debasing the value of our currency.
So insistent is Paul about this strategy that he challenged the government to a gold audit to make sure its stash of bullion at Fort Knox is really all there. (According to the Treasury’s inspector general, it is.) So is selling it a good strategy, or is Paul just a crazy kook?
When it comes to the concept of gold, it can be hard to tell. With the price of gold up 24% in the past year, the gold bulls are everywhere. And our country has a long history of obsessing over gold, which Thomas Frank describes quite well in the latest issue of Harper’s Magazine: I do not mean to scoff at gold bugs – or not much, anyway.
Money cranks are part of a long tradition in American life, and just as there was an attractive democratic subtext to the free-silver agitation of the 1890s, so there is an attractive moral idea behind the hard-money mania of the present day. It’s the old story of hubris, of man getting above himself and crashing inevitably back to earth. Even if the central bankers’ intentions are good, reasons the metalhead, they are still bound to screw things up.
Full article here
Should the U.S. sell off its gold reserves to pay down debt? That’s the latest idea being tossed around by gold bug Ron Paul. Not only would selling Old Yeller help the U.S. pay its bills, says libertarian Paul, but it would put more gold in the hands of the American people and pull back the reins on the Federal Reserve, which is printing money like mad and debasing the value of our currency.
So insistent is Paul about this strategy that he challenged the government to a gold audit to make sure its stash of bullion at Fort Knox is really all there. (According to the Treasury’s inspector general, it is.) So is selling it a good strategy, or is Paul just a crazy kook?
When it comes to the concept of gold, it can be hard to tell. With the price of gold up 24% in the past year, the gold bulls are everywhere. And our country has a long history of obsessing over gold, which Thomas Frank describes quite well in the latest issue of Harper’s Magazine: I do not mean to scoff at gold bugs – or not much, anyway.
Money cranks are part of a long tradition in American life, and just as there was an attractive democratic subtext to the free-silver agitation of the 1890s, so there is an attractive moral idea behind the hard-money mania of the present day. It’s the old story of hubris, of man getting above himself and crashing inevitably back to earth. Even if the central bankers’ intentions are good, reasons the metalhead, they are still bound to screw things up.
Full article here
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