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L'Autre Monde 23 septembre 2010: Totalitarisme made in USA, effondrement de l'économie et Irak
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L'Autre Monde 23 septembre 2010: Totalitarisme made in USA, effondrement de l'économie et Irak
Pour écouter, ou pour télécharger, simplement cliquer sur le lien ici:
L'Autre Monde 23 septembre 2010
90 min / Radio de l'UQAM, CHOQ FM
 | Diffusion en direct : Jeudi à 11:00h
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Au programme cette semaine, 23 septembre 2010:
Toutes les nouvelles les plus importantes de l'actualité mondiale: BP, économie, bref regard sur l'Irak, état policier et totalitarisme, surveillance/Big Brother.
Soyez de la partie les jeudis dès 11h sur les ondes de CHOQ FM, la radio officielle de l'UQÀM, l'alternative à Montréal et dans le monde!
Économie:
US Government 'hiding true amount of debt'
THE actual figure of the US' national debt is much higher than the official sum of $US13.4 trillion ($14.3 trillion) given by the Congressional Budget Office, according to analysts cited on Sunday by the New York Post.
"The Government is lying about the amount of debt. It is engaging in Enron accounting," said Laurence Kotlikoff, an economist at Boston University and co-author of The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future.
"The problem is we're seeing an explosion in spending," added Andrew Moylan, director of government affairs for the National Taxpayers Union.
Mr Kotlikoff and Mr Moylan agree US national debt is much more than the official $US13.4 trillion number, but they disagree over how to add up the exact number.
Mr Kotlikoff says the debt is actually $US200 trillion.
Mr Moylan says the number is likely about $US60 trillion.
That is close to the figure quoted by David Walker, the US Comptroller General from 1998 to 2008.
Bank Repossessions Hit Record High in August: RealtyTrac
The number of homes taken back by lenders hit a new record high last month, according to RealtyTrac. In all, banks repossessed 95,364 properties last month, up 3 percent from July and an increase of 25 percent from August 2009, RealtyTrac said.
August REO activity increased 3 percent from the previous month and was up 25 percent compared to August 2009. It’s the ninth straight month in which REOs have increased on a year-over-year basis.
Based on RealtyTrac’s market analysis, overall foreclosure activity – including default notices, scheduled auctions, and REO bank repossessions – jumped 4 percent in August compared to the month prior, but was down 5 percent from a year earlier.
US home repossessions spike in August to highest level since start of mortgage crisis.
Webmaster's Commentary:
With numbers like this, no matter bovine excrement the White House and Congress members try to throw at the American electorate before the mid-terms in November, we are not in any kind of economic recovery: we are in a depression, period, end of discussion.
Wall Street Banks Committing Widespread Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud
3 different cases finding Wall Street bankers committing mortgage foreclosure fraud in the last month. Among the culprits U.S bank, GMAC, JPMorgan, Chase and WAMU.
US Courts across the nation have begun cracking down on Wall Street banks committing widespread mortgage foreclosure fraud through the use of "foreclosure mills".
Amazing... Everyone of these banks held out their hands for TAXPAYER bailout money.
Now that the tables are turned they are all committing fraud to foreclose on people's homes.
…
More than 2.3 million homes have been repossessed by lenders since the recession began in December 2007, according to RealtyTrac. The firm estimates more than 1 million American households are likely to lose their homes to foreclosure this year.
In all, 338,836 properties received a foreclosure-related warning in August, up 4 percent from July, but down 5 percent from the same month last year, RealtyTrac said. That translates to one in 381 U.S. homes.
…
Rounding out the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rate in August were: Florida, Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois and Hawaii.
2010 list of failed banks
LAST month, a federal district judge approved a deal to allow Barclays, the British bank, to pay a $298 million fine for conducting transactions with Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar and Sudan in violation of United States trade sanctions. Barclays was discovered to have systematically disguised the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars through wire transfers that were stripped of the critical information required by law that would have enabled the world to know that for more than 10 years the bank was moving huge sums of money for enemy governments. Yet all federal prosecutors wanted to settle the problem was a small piece of the action.
When Judge Emmet Sullivan of federal district court in Washington, who ultimately approved the deal with Barclays, asked the obvious question, “Why isn’t the government getting rough with these banks?” the remarkable response was that the government had investigated but couldn’t find anyone responsible.
How preposterous. Banks can commit crimes only through the acts of their employees. Federal law enforcement agencies are simply failing to systematically gather the intelligence they need to effectively monitor the crime.
The Barclays deal was just one in a long line of wrist slaps that big banks have recently received from the United States. Last May, when ABN Amro Bank (now largely part of the Royal Bank of Scotland) was caught funneling money for the benefit of Iran, Libya and Sudan, it was fined $500 million, and no one went to jail. Last December, Credit Suisse Group agreed to pay a $536 million fine for doing the same. In recent years, Union Bank of California, American Express Bank International, BankAtlantic and Wachovia have all been caught moving huge sums of drug money, but no one went to jail. The banks just admitted to criminal conduct and paid the government a cut of their profits.
Wachovia alone had moved more than $400 billion for account holders in Mexico, $14 billion of which was in bulk currency that had been driven in armored cars or flown to the United States. Just who in Mexico did anyone think had that kind of cash? Of course, the government did a thorough investigation but could find no individuals responsible.
Bankers are escaping prosecution because law enforcement is failing to expose the evidence that some bankers market dirty money. Years after the transactions occur, any effort to prove what was known at the time is practically impossible. The bankers simply say they didn’t know where the money came from. Naturally, prosecutors look for ways to get around trying to prosecute those sorts of cases, and instead make deals.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Unflipping believable.
Ellen Brown: Basel III -- Tightening the Noose on Credit
The BIS has now become the apex of the system as Dr. Quigley foresaw, dictating rules that strengthen an international banking empire at the expense of smaller rivals and economies generally. The big global bankers are one step closer to global dominance, steered by the invisible hand of their captains at the BIS. In a game that has been played by bankers for centuries, tightening credit in the ebbs of the "business cycle" creates waves of bankruptcies and foreclosures, allowing property to be snatched up at fire sale prices by financiers who not only saw the wave coming but actually precipitated it.
For smaller commercial banks and public sector banks (government-owned banks popular in Europe), the credit-constraining effects of Basel III are a serious problem. But larger banks, said Keller and Jordans, "were quick to praise the agreement and insisted they would meet the required reserves in time." The larger banks were not worried, because "The largest U.S. banks are already in compliance with the higher capital standards demanded by Basel III, meaning their customers won't be directly affected." Their customers, of course, are mainly large corporations. "Small businesses that rely on borrowing from community banks," on the other hand, "may be more affected... They will try to make up for the higher capital requirements by lending at higher rates and stiffer terms."
If the big banks that brought you the current credit crisis can already meet the new requirements, what exactly does Basel III achieve, beyond shaking down their smaller competitors? As David Daven remarked in a September 13 article called "Biggest Banks Already Qualify Under Basel III Reforms": "Indeed, on the day Lehman Brothers collapsed, they would have been in compliance with the Basel III standards."
The smaller local banks neither triggered the crisis nor got the bailout money. Yet it is they that will be affected by the new rules, and that effect could cripple local lending. Raising the capital requirements of the smaller banks seems so counterproductive that suspicious observers might wonder if something else is going on. Professor Carroll Quigley, an insider groomed by the international bankers, wrote in Tragedy and Hope in 1966 of the pivotal role played by the BIS in the grand scheme of his mentors:
[T]he powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations.
The BIS has now become the apex of the system as Dr. Quigley foresaw, dictating rules that strengthen an international banking empire at the expense of smaller rivals and economies generally. The big global bankers are one step closer to global dominance, steered by the invisible hand of their captains at the BIS. In a game that has been played by bankers for centuries, tightening credit in the ebbs of the "business cycle" creates waves of bankruptcies and foreclosures, allowing property to be snatched up at fire sale prices by financiers who not only saw the wave coming but actually precipitated it.
FDIC: Regulators Close NJ Bank; 120th US Bank Failure This Year
Regulators closed a New Jersey bank Friday, bringing the total of U.S. failures this year to 120.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said ISN Bank, of Cherry Hill, was closed by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance.
The FDIC said New Century Bank, of Phoenixville, Pa., will assume the deposits of ISN Bank.
Year's tally of U.S. bank failures reaches 124
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Three bank failures in Georgia and one in Ohio has brought 2010's tally to 124, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday. The banks closed by regulators include Bramble Savings Bank in Milford, Ohio; the Bank of Ellijay in Ellijay, Ga.; First Commerce Community Bank in Douglasville, Ga.; and the Peoples Bank in Winder, Ga. The four failures will cost the deposit-insurance fund about $240.1 million, the FDIC said. Earlier in the day, the agency reported the failure of ISN Bank in Cherry Hill, N.J.
Infrastructure, you say? Ask the city of San Bruno why we need it
- The ruptured main belongs to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)
- The pipe that ruptured was installed in 1948
- Residents in the area had smelled gas for 3 weeks. When it was reported, some were told to shut their garage doors; others were told not to worry about it. (note: those tweets were people reacting in real time to TV reports and interviews)
- People are still missing. Expect the death toll to rise.
- The force of the explosion also stopped the water supply, making it much more difficult to fight the fire.
- PG&E's president was interviewed, but managed to cover himself and duck any hard questions in the process about whether reports of a gas leak had not received priority attention.
- At the time of this writing, it is reported that 45 homes have been lost with hundreds more damaged.
PG&E releases list of 100 highest-risk sites
Bowing to public pressure, PG&E released a long-awaited list Monday of its "Top 100" riskiest natural gas pipeline segments and their locations along its 6,700 miles of gas transmission lines.
Eleven of the segments are in Silicon Valley, with one -- located near Highway 237 and Ranch Drive by the San Jose-Milpitas border -- ranked seventh among the 100.
Webmaster's Commentary:
PG&E was awarded a rate increase specifically to repair the failing gas lines, yet never did the actual work. The residents of San Bruno reported smelling leaking gas three weeks ahead of the blast, and PG&Es only response was to advise them to keep their home well ventilated to avoid a gas buildup.
The real scandal of this explosion and this list is that the national infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate in order to fund the war machine, and that means every single neighborhood in America with a gas main running underneath it is at risk of the same kind of explosion that destroyed those homes in San Bruno!
CHART OF THE DAY: 43.6 Million Americans Living In Poverty Is The Highest Number Ever Recorded
This was expected, but it still hits you in the gut. Poverty in America has hit the highest level the Census has ever recorded, according to a new report out today.
Money for Prisons, Not for Social Services by Haider Rizvi
Many of those who have lost their jobs and homes in the United States due to the lingering economic recession are ending up in jail, according to a new study released by an independent think tank Thursday.
There is a strong link between poverty and incarceration in the United states, according to the report, "Money Well Spent: How positive social investments will reduce incarceration rates", by the Justice Policy Institute (JPI).
The report's findings on the relationship between poverty and the justice system suggests that more and more people from poor and low-income communities are being arrested and jailed, even though nationwide, crime rates have fallen.
Webmaster's Commentary:
And let's not forget who makes big money from convict labor in the US!
As reported on March 10, 2009 at:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8289
"The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners' work lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself," says a study by the Progressive Labor Party, which accuses the prison industry of being "an imitation of Nazi Germany with respect to forced slave labor and concentration camps."
Who is investing? At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations that mount their operations inside state prisons. The list of such companies contains the cream of U.S. corporate society: IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more. All of these businesses are excited about the economic boom generation by prison labor. Just between 1980 and 1994, profits went up from $392 million to $1.31 billion. Inmates in state penitentiaries generally receive the minimum wage for their work, but not all; in Colorado, they get about $2 per hour, well under the minimum. And in privately-run prisons, they receive as little as 17 cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day, the equivalent of $20 per month."
"Thanks to prison labor, the United States is once again an attractive location for investment in work that was designed for Third World labor markets. A company that operated a maquiladora (assembly plant in Mexico near the border) closed down its operations there and relocated to San Quentin State Prison in California. In Texas, a factory fired its 150 workers and contracted the services of prisoner-workers from the private Lockhart Texas prison, where circuit boards are assembled for companies like IBM and Compaq."
Israel OKs US ‘Gift’ of Billions of Dollars in Warplanes
Israeli government officials confirmed today that they will go ahead with plans to “buy” a number of F-35 stealth fighter jets from US military contractor Lockheed Martin. Reports suggest the deal will be worth $2.75 billion, making it one of the largest single arms purchases ever.
The entire cost will be covered by the US government in the form of military aid, meaning the US will be paying Lockheed directly and delivering the warplnes to Israel for free.
Webmaster's Commentary:
So, let me get this straight: 2.75 billion dollars in military aid will be given to Israel, while homeless Veterans sleep in our streets, and our infrastructure crumbles?!?
What's wrong with this picture?!? Everything!
The Saudi Arms Deal: The U.S. Stirs Persian Gulf Waters
Pending congressional approval, the Obama administration plans to sell $60 billion in advanced aircraft and sophisticated weaponry to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . Add $30 billion in proposed enhancements to the country’s navy and ballistic missile-defense systems, and the result is one huge jobs program, further deterioration in Saudi-Iranian relations and heightened tension in the Persian Gulf —all calculated endpoints.
The massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia is just one more step toward war, one more step toward death in the Persian Gulf .
Webmaster's Commentary:
The pieces are moving into place for an Israeli-US led war against Iran.
There is, however, one glaring problem with this calculus: the US government has been unable to "sell" the necessity of such a war to the American people.
One has to wonder if there is some kind of an horrendous"false flag" in the offing to attempt to blame on Iran as the pretext for the next war.
The problem with this, however, is that even the most doltish of Americans now realize that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were fabricated on an absolute pack of lies which has left many of our fine young American military personnel dead, or maimed for life; dead or maimed because of lies the US government told its people.
Saudi king meets top US, Canadian counter-terror officials
AFP
Saudi King Abdullah and security czar Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz have held talks with top intelligence and counter-terror officials from the United States and Canada, the SPA news agency reported.
Central Banks Cut Holdings of U.S. Agency Debt by 7% This Week
Bloomberg Businessweek
Central banks outside the U.S. are among investors that cut holdings of debt from government- related companies including Fannie Mae and their mortgage bonds by $57 billion in a week, according to Federal Reserve data.
Globalists Push World Transaction Tax At UN Summit
Globalists representing 60 nations will meet at the UN this coming week to push a tax on world financial transactions in the name of solving poverty and climate change, formally launching a massive program to bankrupt the middle class and enrich the coffers of global government.
UK Proposes All Paychecks Go to the State First
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39265847
The UK’s tax collection agency is putting forth a proposal that all employers send employee paychecks to the government, after which the government would deduct what it deems as the appropriate tax and pay the employees by bank transfer.
The proposal by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) stresses the need for employers to provide real-time information to the government so that it can monitor all payments and make a better assessment of whether the correct tax is being paid.
US toys with sanctions over China's undervalued currency
American critics say China has kept the yuan artificially undervalued to save its exports and is thus destroying jobs and delaying recovery in the US.
But for manager Zhang it is a totally different story, one of tight-fisted middlemen squeezing every last cent and Western consumers brainwashed into thinking they are entitled to a limitless supply of cheap goods.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Blaming China for the US's financial woes is missing the problem entirely.
The US government has been on an horrendous spending binge, particularly when it comes to funding illegal and immoral wars without end.
These have been publicly funded wars, ultimately, for private profit.
All of these are not China's problems: they are problems the US government has created for itself and its citizens by really, catastrophically bad policy decisions.
Sanctioning China will do nothing to fix this: the citizens of the US have to get angry enough to say with one voice to the government of this country, "Enough!! We have had enough of this insanity, thank you very much, and will tolerate no more nonsense."
Faux lingots d'or en circulation avec un coeur de tungstène!
.
Une autre fraude ayant des proportions énormes! Combien de personnes pensent détenir de l'or en banque alors que ce n'est pas le cas, ou bien si ce l'est, est-ce vraiment de l'or?
How High Will Gold Go This Fall?
Jeff Clark
Casey's Gold & Resource Report
Senior Editor
The gold price has been hitting ever-new records over the past couple weeks, now closing in on the $1,300 mark. Some gold followers are saying this is extremely bullish for the near-term price since it broke so decisively through its June 28th high of $1,261. If they're right, how high might this particular surge go?
A survey of 29 analysts by Bloomberg a couple weeks ago reported they see gold averaging $1,500 in 2011 – and most analysts tend to make conservative projections.
Note that there were always small pullbacks in the time periods I looked at; it was never a straight line. So the recent minor drawdown was typical of what occurred during these surges. Also, there were always corrections or at least periods of consolidation after the surge and before the next big upswing.
Regardless of what gold does over the next few months, I think 20%+ surges will continue throughout this bull market, with the occasional 30% punch. And a doubling of the gold price in a matter of months is also likely in our future, a sure sign of the Mania phase. Gold surged 128.5% from October 8, 1979, to January 21, 1980. A similar vault today would have the price jumping from, say, $2,400, to $5,484 in less than four months. Yes, I think that's entirely possible and perhaps probable.
How high will gold ultimately go? I look at it this way. The sovereign debt crisis in Europe isn't over. The sovereign debt crisis in the U.S. hasn't started. We will almost certainly see more quantitative easing (i.e., money printing). We have artificially low interest rates. The U.S. dollar is basically at the same level it was two years ago. We have no official inflation and certainly no big inflation. Less than 5% of U.S. citizens own any form of gold. Central banks are widely expected to be net buyers of gold again this year. Investment demand for gold is still only 32% of all uses of gold, a far cry from the 54% level reached in 1979. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Global Gold & Silver Markets Set To Explode?
The September 20, 2010 Max Keiser interview with guest Jim Willie from GoldenJackass is about to send shockwaves around the Gold & Silver World Markets.
Max Keiser, who has a popular radio talk show and YouTube Channel – MaxKeiserTV talked with Jim Willie who has an online site called GoldenJackass and who also publishes The Hat Trick Newsletter.
According to Jim Willie in his interview on Max Keiser’s show On the Edge:
Essentially, what this WORLD GOLD CRISIS means is that individuals in the Gold and Silver markets are waking up to the probable fact that a Fractional Selling Scheme exists today in the Gold & Silver Markets and the BIG BUYERS who own enormous quantities of Gold and Silver are CASHING IN.
The calling in of Allocated Gold and Silver Contracts will surely be the demise of the perpetrators of this scheme in a short time. In terms of the quantity that is required to completely destroy this Fractional Speculation, it is approximately equal to the percentage of the Fractional Selling Fraud. That basically means that, as reported by Jim Willie, the Gold Fractional Market is at a rate of 45 to 1 even up to 100 to 1.
The entire Fractional Scheme will be destroyed if 1% to 2% of the Gold Contracts take physical delivery.
Likewise, and even more significantly, the Silver Fractional Market is leveraged at 100 to 1 according to Jim Willie. Recent statements made at CFTC meetings by GATA explain what has been going on for some time. A Physical Demand by 1% of the Silver Allocated Funds might result in the Silver Fractional Scheme coming to an abrupt and disastrous end for many speculators who will never see anything due to the 100 to 1 leveraging.
The leveraging of silver contracts to physical silver on deposit is estimated to be 100 to 1. That means simply that 99% of the investors in the market who demand delivery potentially may get nothing. The Sellers most likely don’t have the silver in their possession, according to recent statements by GATA.
The Curious Case For $936 Ounce Silver.
The age of Mass killings and Corporations - video
We are in an age of mass killings, also we are in an age of corporate power. Until we can pull in the corporations, the mass killings will probably continue. 9/11, 7/7, Oklahoma, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, India (Monsanto induced suicides) etc. etc.
Monsanto is singled out as a particularly vulgar entity, responsible for over a hundred thousand deaths in India, for countless thousands or millions of Vietnamese from Agent Orange, and a ruthless agenda to monopolize the world's food supply.
Lawrence Summers to leave White House post, return to Harvard
Webmaster's Commentary:
Another rat deserts the sinking ship!
KingofthePaupers: Stephen Colbert duped by Niall Ferguson on piggy banking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsk4An54bmQ
The more one understands money and how it is created, the more one understands what John Turmel is trying to point out.
KingofthePaupers: #2/2 Bientot chacun creera sa proper monnaie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWxgDVXuKVc
BP:
Feds threaten man on oiled Florida beach: "ILLEGAL TO DIG" -- NO SAND CASTLES
Former oil clean-up worker Candi Warren says… the tide and surf buried oil overnight. But they were forbidden to dig it up. … She said she was told to only clean the surface of the sand, that this is all cosmetic. …
«...et un article sur la présidente de BP Canada. La raison pour laquelle je t'envoi cela, à part le fait que BP fait du forage en mer au Canada, c'est le n-o-m de la présidente. Drinkwater...
Tu te souviens du plan de sauvetage aux É-U en 2008, le type qui collectait l'argent s'appelait Kashkarry,,, Cash Carry...»
Une coincidence de plus j'imagine...."
Je ne t'avais pas répondu à ce sujet, mais je dois dire que je trouve la "coïncidence" très frappante!!! Kashkarry et Drinkwater!!! WTF!!! Est-ce une nouvelle technique de suggestion subliminale??? Ha ha ha! BP Drinkwater et Bailout Kashkarry!!!
Federal government CONFISCATING SAMPLES and PREVENTING RESEARCH all over Gulf
5 instances where the federal government has been caught working for BP. There is no denying it.
1) Bipartisan Obama Oil Spill Commission INTIMIDATING SCIENTISTS — Investigating whether they ILLEGALLY SAMPLED GULF without permits… MORE (VIDEO)
2) Feds try CONFISCATING more samples from Gulf — “Agent in an unmarked car” (VIDEO)
3) Professor says HOMELAND SECURITY confiscated samples and NOTES with insider information on dispersant — “IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL SECURITY” (VIDEO)
Obama Oil Spill Commission INTIMIDATING scientists -- ILLEGAL TO SAMPLE
Webmaster's Commentary:
This is America's Chernobyl. Obama tried to lie his way out of this disaster created by his own willingness to accept BP's campaign donations and then allow the MMS to shirk its oversight function and now we are down to the idea that scientists need a government permit to take a sample.
Feds: "You can't come out here and do your own investigation if you're looking for oil"
Webmaster's Commentary:
I am not looking for oil. I'm, I'm ... ahhhhh, I'm looking for Atlantis. No, wait, that isn't it. Hoffa. I am looking for Jimmy Hoffa! Yeah yeah, sure sure. Hoffa. No? Judge Crater? Amelia Earhart? Pete Conrad's car keys?
Does Anyone Believe Kenneth Feinberg?
Feinberg, the Executor Of BP Relief Fund, has made his career as a cover up agent to minimize costs to corporations and the government for their criminal activities.
Besides 9/11, other compensation 'events' that Feinberg resided over were the shootings at Virginia Tech, Hurricane Katrina, the original Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination, the Holocaust slave labor litigation, Agent Orange litigation, human radiation experiments, catastrophic nuclear accidents and was the 'Special Master' for TARP executive compensation.
New Orleans man was paid by U.S. to rate news coverage of oil spill cleanup
The federal government hired a New Orleans man for $18,000 to appraise whether news stories about the government's actions in the Gulf oil spill were positive or negative for the Obama administration, which was keenly sensitive to comparisons between its response and former President George W. Bush's much-maligned reaction to Hurricane Katrina.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Forget Katrina; it's Chernobyl this is being compared to!
BP and the government decided that millions of gallons of dispersants should be dumped into the Gulf to sink and hide the oil.
They succeeded in sinking it. As ABC, CBS and NPR note, huge quantities of oil are blanketing the ocean floor, killing virtually all of the sealife which lives there.
And giant new underwater plumes have been found in the water column itself.
But officials don't want to hear about them. As one member of the oil spill recovery team said:
“My biggest concern is there’s [a plume of oil] five miles by 30 miles out there that was reported and no one responded. The Coast Guard said for days that they wanted to run tests, and if they don’t test it when it’s called in, they’ll never find it”
Where's the oil? On the Gulf floor, scientists say
The Associated Press
This undated handout photo provided by Samantha Joye, UGA Department of Marine Sciences, shows a layer of oil on a sediment core. Researchers are finding oil dripping "all over the place" on the Gulf of Mexico sea floor, some as much as two inches thick. A University of Georgia scientific cruise is collecting at least ten instances of what appears to be fresh oil on the sea floor emanating out from the site of BP oil rig disaster. (AP Photo/Samantha Joye)
"I expected to find oil on the sea floor," Joye said Monday morning in a ship-to-shore telephone interview. "I did not expect to find this much. I didn't expect to find layers two inches thick. It's weird the stuff we found last night. Some of it was really dense and thick."
Joye said 10 of her 14 samples showed visible oil, including all the ones taken north of the busted well. She found oil on the sea floor as far as 80 miles away from the site of the spill.
Is Gulf Oil Sitting on the Ocean Floor? MUST WATCH VIDEO
Scientists contradict government reports that 75 percent of oil had disappeared.
Florida cleanup worker finds "SHELF of oil" -- Further EAST "it is ABSOLUTELY COVERED"
Unidentified member of oil spill recovery team:
“(I feel) helpless, like my hands are tied. Future generations are gonna have water that they can’t fish in,” he said. “My biggest concern is there’s five miles by 30 miles out there that was reported and no one responded. The Coast Guard said for days that they wanted to run tests, and if they don’t test it when it’s called in, they’ll never find it.”
"WORST CASE SCENARIO": "Oil may be emerging on to the west Florida shelf" via Desoto Canyon
West Beach Pass, Gulf Shores- BP Oil is underwater.
Homeland Security works for the oil companies
According to recently leaked documents, the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security has been using high-tech tracking of anti-gas drilling groups and their meetings.
It has then sent bulletins to gas companies drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
The status that Homeland Security is giving the anti-drilling movement is somewhat strange. The bulletin also includes information on anarchists, "black power radicals," Ramadan, the "Jewish High Holiday season" and anti-war activists.
He confirmed to the local press that "someone" was monitoring the web traffic of the anti-drilling groups.
The protesters point out that the only thing Homeland Security has not given the oil companies is a "An enemies-of-gas-drilling" compiled by the government so that police can keep an eye on them.
They are calling for the government to investigate why public money was being used to spy for private companies.
Thousands Of Dead Fish Wash Up On New Jersey Beaches (again)
How is the federal government able to pretend that these fish kills are normal?
BP is using toxic dispersant what else could they possibly expect? BP has poisoned the Gulf beyond repair.
A collection of videos.
Australian Mainstream News Reports Gulf Diaster Truth, Police State Action in the Gulf
Wilma Subra, an environmental activist and patriot has documented thousands of cases of sick people in the Gulf. While the corporate news has continually refused to report the truth, people like Wilma and Project Gulf Impact have done everything in their power to document the horrors caused by the toxic combination of oil and dispersantt.
BP, with the help of the federal government, has hired goon squads to terrorize independent journalists in an attempt to silence free speech.
Independent lab tests reveal toxic dispersant in Gulf waters
James Fox – We spoke with government officials on September 15, 2010. They maintain that Gulf waters and beaches are safe and that there is no evidence to suggest the contrary. We then met with an independent lab and locals: what we found was not consistent with the governments position.
Bacteria in the gulf mostly digested gas, not oil, study finds
The discovery tempers hopes that microorganisms have eaten up most of the spilled oil in the gulf, as other scientists had recently suggested, the lead author says.
Bacteria that attacked the plumes of oil and gas resulting from the Deepwater Horizon gusher in the Gulf of Mexico mainly digested natural gas spewing from the wellhead — propane, ethane and butane — rather than oil, according to a study published in the journal Science.
The paper doesn't rule out the possibility that bacteria also are consuming oil from the spill, the authors said. Instead, it suggests that natural gas primed the growth of bacteria that may have gone on to digest "more complex hydrocarbons" — oil — as the spill aged and propane and ethane were depleted.
Natural Gas From Ruptured Gulf Well Remained Trapped in Deep Waters
Perhaps it should have been called the Gulf of Mexico gas spill.
In June, while the well resisted control, scientists led by David Valentine, a microbial geochemist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, took several hundred samples of natural gas at 31 sites in a large circle around Macondo, extending to a maximum of 8 miles from the spill's epicenter. Data from their cruise, sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation, amount to the first independent snapshot of the immediate, short-term response triggered underwater by an onslaught of gas.
The majority of the methane, they found, remained dissolved more than 2,600 feet underwater, and the gas likely accounted for two-thirds of all the microbial activity in the undersea plumes. Based on government and BP data, some 206,000 metric tons of methane, 35,700 tons of ethane and 28,400 tons of propane snaked out into the subsurface, they estimated.
"This suggests that most all of the microbial degradation that is happening there is just the natural gas being utilized, which suggests that there is proportionately less microbial degradation of the oil itself," Camilli said.
"This is where [this spill] is really unique," Camilli added. "For most oil spills, it's just oil, it's not natural gas, but there is so much natural gas that came out of this leak. It appears as though the microbes are just interested in the natural gas. So it suggests that the oil may persist longer than we would like."
Ouf! Apparemment que LE puits a bel été COLMATÉ pour de bon! Circulez, il n’y a plus rien à voir!
- After five months Gulf well finally declared ‘dead’
AFP – WASHINGTON (AFP) – US officials finally declared BP’s broken well in the Gulf of Mexico « dead » on Sunday, five months after the explosion that set off one of the costliest and largest environmental disasters ever.
BP: The Unfinished Crimes and Plunder of Anglo-American Imperialism
In the light of British Petroleum’s grotesque crime, as yet unfinished, against humanity in the Gulf of Mexico, it is well to recall briefly BP’s no less hideous crime perpetrated in its earlier incarnation as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) and, later, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC).
BP and the Gulf of Mexico: The Truth Is out There
BP has gone into overdrive, claiming the well is effectively killed and there is no more oil on the beaches. We know that's not the case, but how do you prove that to a brainwashed population? I have collected more than a hundred links and videos written and filmed over the last thirty days that document the reality behind the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe. Please send these links far and wide. People need to know the truth. This is not over - though life may be over for the human race if we do not find a solution to this.
BP claims the well is effectively killed. BP effectively lies because the vast majority of the population believes their propaganda. I am not even sure what to do or say anymore. I cannot believe the willful ignorance on the part of the majority of humans who live on this planet. I cannot believe that BP and the US government are able to keep the lid on these stories, but a quick perusal of the comments under "BP Well "Effectively Dead" indicates a deep hatred of BP (save for the shills posting on behalf of BP), but almost no one mentions that this well is not dead and it still gushes oil. The US is just hoping to hide the severity until after the elections. The well is not killed. It has been leaking and then gushing non-stop since February 13th.
This is a random list of news stories over the last month taken from Florida Oil Spill Law, Alexander Higgins Blog, the IntelHub and a few others. I cannot add anything new to the discussions, but hopefully a few people reading this will comprehend the severity and take precautions to move their families away from the Gulf States. Please spread this information far and wide.
Has COREXIT collapsed the North Atlantic current and triggered the next "Little Ice Age?"
Video Gulf Stream dying is making extreme weather - Lord Stirling
PROOF -- BP Deepwater Horizon Drilled TWO Wells That Blew Out on FEB 13 and APR 20
BP's Blown Well Illusion Veil Is Now Being Pierced
Feds Talk Of 'Extreme Fragility' Of Pipe In Well
Weather Modification EM Grid Systems in the Gulf
Whistleblower Group PEER Sues Feds For Covering Up Size Of BP Gulf Oil Spill
Gulf Evacuees Flee For Health And Safety
Flashback: 'Seep' admitted. Methane. Crime against humanity cover-up
Dr. Riki Ott: Are oil-eating microbes affecting humans?
Mobile, AL man says dispersants harmed “central nervous systems” and “internal organs”
Multiple Blood Tests Confirm PAHs and Hydrocarbons In The Air From BP Gulf Oil Spill Are Making
BP And Partners Say Most Victims Not Yet Entitled to Sue
Blood tests on Gulf residents show ethylbenzene and other hydrocarbons
‘Blue Flu’ cases spreading around Gulf
Gulf Residents Show More And More Toxicity
Gulf Residents Test Positive For Oil In Blood
Project Gulf Impact Explains The Bloodtests, “People Have Been Poisoned”
No Safe Harbor on Gulf Coast; Human Blood Tests Show Dangerous Levels of Toxic Exposure
BP Investigation Blocked By Senate
Raw Footage: Dispersant is STILL being sprayed,plumes in Florida and Alabama
BP Workers Orderded Not To Clean Up Oil; Dispersants Sprayed At Night To Sink Oil Instead
Dahr Jamail - Diary Of BP Dispersant Damage
Large Oil-Corexit Plumes, Fish Kill Coverup and Wackenhut(Photos)
Could Corexit Morph Bacteria Into Pandemic Forms?
All Gulf Coast Harbors Are Now Toxic
Feds threaten reporter on oiled Florida beach: “ILLEGAL TO DIG” without permit — NO SAND CASTLES
Researcher reports fisherman finding “crabs filled with oil” just over a week ago at Gulfport pier
Inspector: “OIL starts BUBBLING to the surface” when SAND heats up — Secreting “black and brown oil”
HELPLESS, TEARS: Dealer says load of crab "contaminated with oil" -- STATE TRYING TO COVER IT UP
Mississippi officials find 80 to 90 PERCENT of OYSTERS DEAD — claim NO EVIDENCE OIL CONTRIBUTED
Chemist: Oysters contain 1.25% (12,500 ppm) hydrocarbons near MS River Delta
Scientists monitor crucial seaweed for tar
The Corexit Experiment - Oil Spill Law
Biogeochemist: “Marine Snow” may be caused by dispersants
EPA reveals high levels of cancer-causing heavy metal near area of massive fishkill —
GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION CONCERNS
BP cleanup worker: "EVERY shovel full was LIQUID OIL" while "actually IN the water" in Pensacola, FL
Compilation: Federal government CONFISCATING SAMPLES and PREVENTING RESEARCH all over Gulf
Feds: You can’t dig “IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR OIL”, “Sounds like they got something to hide” —
Tarballs encountered while building SAND CASTLE
Feds try CONFISCATING more samples from Gulf — “Agent in an unmarked car”
Federal government CONFISCATING SAMPLES and PREVENTING RESEARCH all over Gulf
National Security Used As Pretext to Confiscate Samples and Notes On Dispersant, Homeland
Mystery Boat Used to Spray Dispersant? The Toxic Saga Continues
LOCKDOWN: Bipartisan Obama Oil Spill Commission INTIMIDATING SCIENTISTS —
Investigating whether they ILLEGALLY SAMPLED GULF without permits
Despite "All Clear," Mississippi Sound Tests Positive for Oil
Fascism in America, Government Complicit in Covert Spraying of the Gulf
Fed-funded Gulf researcher: Bacteria activated by oil can “release the toxic metals” — “SOLID
ARSENIC can be dissolved” then “transferred up the food chain” to humans
Natural Gas From Ruptured Gulf Well Remained Trapped in Deep Waters
University Group Raises Concerns About BP Oil Spill Contaminants in Livestock Feed
Up to 40 million gallons of dispersant used in Gulf according to independent scientific estimates
Independent lab tests reveal toxic dispersant in Gulf waters
Oil on seafloor “seems to be precipitating out and COATING FAIRLY LARGE PART OF THE
GULF of Mexico” — “It’s undoubtedly 100 percent sure BP oil”
Evidence Mounts of BP Spraying Toxic Dispersants
“Worst Case Scenario” happening? Upwelling “bringing oil from the deep waters up to shallow” near
FLORIDA coast — “It is disturbing”
61.6 ppm of Corexit 9527A marker found in sediment near Florida border — Neurotoxin 2-butoxyethanol
NEW FISHKILL YESTERDAY: Covers 1/4 SQUARE MILE with stingray, catfish, trout, redfish —
JUST HOURS AFTER OIL WAS REPORTED
Thousands of marine animals still in danger from hidden oil in Gulf
Seafood dealer says load of crab “contaminated with oil” — State Biologist PREVENTED BY BOSS
With new oil sightings, concerns about response manpower continue
Australian Mainstream News Reports Gulf Diaster Truth, Police State Action in the Gulf
Orange Beach pulling EMS staff from BP sites because ‘BP won’t pay their bills,’ mayor says
Oil and Corexit in the Water Near Ocean Springs Mississippi
Bacteria in the gulf mostly digested gas, not oil, study finds
Where's the oil? On the Gulf floor, scientists say
Whistleblower: Oil 30 miles by 5 miles reported and Feds won't respond, "wanted to run tests"
Congressman: BP "Openly Blackmailing the American Government"
Scientists investigating oil disaster unsettled by calls from federal commission
BP Gulf Oil Spill as seen outside the USA
BP-funded scientist admits oiled areas treated with DISPERSANTS HAVE STILL NOT
RECOVERED AFTER 30 YEARS – Untreated areas OK in FIVE YEARS
West Beach Pass, Gulf Shores- BP Oil is underwater
"WORST CASE SCENARIO": "Oil may be emerging on to the west Florida shelf" via Desoto Canyon
Kindra New Report On Toxic Gulf
Homeland Security works for the oil companies
Six-part interview with Matt Simmons filmed shortly before his death
Wellhead is BENT (not just a tilting BOP) — “It did not pop straight back up”
Now Naples-area water testing shows “chemical compounds that can only come from Corexit 9527?
New Reports Of Damaging Rains - Dispersants?
BP: The Unfinished Crimes and Plunder of Anglo-American Imperialism
Life in Louisiana after the oil disaster
BP Cleanup Worker, 48, Dies Of 'Natural Causes'
BP Yanks 13 Live Vid Feeds - Just 4 Left
Irak:
Thousands held without trial in Iraq: Amnesty
Tens of thousands of detainees are being held without trial in Iraqi prisons and face violent and psychological abuse as well as other forms of mistreatment, Amnesty International said on Monday. The London-based human rights watchdog estimates 30,000 people are held in Iraqi jails, noting several are known to have died in custody, while cataloguing physical and psychological abuses against others.
However, the deputy justice minister dismissed the report as "baseless" and a US military spokesman insisted Iraqi detention facilities met international standards.
Iraq’s child mortality rate has increased by 150 percent since 1990, when U.N. sanctions were first imposed. By 2008, only 50 percent of primary school-age children were attending class, down from 80 percent in 2005, and approximately 1,500 children were known to be held in detention facilities.
OPERATION NEW DAWN: Same War Different Name
In the week or so since the much publicized [mainstream media spin] withdrawal of “combat” troops from Iraq, and President Obama’s speech last week, it has become more evident that the Iraq War continues under a new name: “Operation New Dawn.”
ROBERT L. HANAFIN, Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired, GS-14, U.S. Civil Service-Retired, Veterans Today News Network
According to Voters for Peace, the first confusion over Operation New Dawn came from the Department of Defense. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said shortly after the “end” of the war, “I don’t think anybody has declared the end of the war as far as I know. Counter-terrorism will still be part of their mission.” He said the more than 50,000 remaining troops will be well armed and that among their responsibilities will be counter-terrorism which will mean taking on Islamist militants in combat situations. The former head of the Central Command who had been in charge of military operations in Iraq echoed the Pentagon sentiments when Petraeus told CBS News, “We’re not leaving” Iraq and that the troops remaining behind will have “an enormous capability.”
To make matters worse, General Ray Odierno said it was possible that U.S. combat troops would return to Iraq if the security situation worsened. Odierno also said that he was certain the U.S. would consider staying in Iraq after 2011 if invited. There is more talk of the U.S. staying beyond the 2011 deadline for withdrawal of all troops. Iraq’s top military officer said last week that American forces may be needed for another decade, something to which Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says the U.S. is open.
And sadly, the war’s “end” does not mean an end to deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. An American soldier was killed in a rocket attack in southern Iraq on Sunday, the U.S. military said, marking the first American fatality since the last “combat” unit in Iraq pulled out of the country. The military did not provide a lot of information on what the soldier was doing but said he was conducting operations in Iraq’s southern province of Basra.
Despite formal combat end, US joins Baghdad battle
Days after the U.S. officially ended combat operations and touted Iraq's ability to defend itself, American troops found themselves battling heavily armed militants assaulting an Iraqi military headquarters in the center of Baghdad on Sunday. The fighting killed 12 people and wounded dozens.
Bomb kills 54 in Pakistan, Taliban threatens U.S.
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber struck a rally in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, killing at least 54 people in the second major attack this week and piling pressure on a U.S.-backed government overwhelmed by a flood crisis.
Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast and said it would launch attacks in the United States and Europe "very soon" -- repeating a threat to strike Western targets in response to drone attacks that have targeted its leadership.
In Washington, the White House condemned the Quetta attack on a Shi'ite rally expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people, saying it was "even more reprehensible" because it came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as Pakistan reels from disastrous flooding.
A U.S. counterterrorism official said the threat by the al Qaeda-linked Taliban against the United States and Europe could not be discounted.
The attack came just two days after Washington added the Pakistani Taliban to its list of "foreign terrorist organizations" and charged its leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, with plotting a bombing that killed seven CIA agents at a U.S. base in Afghanistan last December.
The United States has stepped up missile strikes by pilotless drone aircraft against militant targets in Pakistan's Pashtun tribal lands since the start of 2010.
On Friday, U.S. drones fired missiles at two targets in the North Waziristan tribal region, killing seven militants, including two foreigners, intelligence officials said.
Pakistan's Taliban has responded to drone attacks by saying it would strike Western targets.
"We will launch attacks in America and Europe very soon," Mehsud told Reuters by telephone on Friday from an undisclosed location.
The group claimed responsibility for a failed bomb plot in New York's Times Square in May and, in December 2009, a Spanish court jailed 10 Pakistanis and an Indian for attempted suicide bombings on Barcelona's metro in 2008, saying they were inspired by the Pakistan Taliban's then leader.
More War Lies
Lies aren't used just to start wars, but also to escalate them, continue them, and even reduce or end them. And we got a pile of war lies from the president Tuesday evening.
U.S. participants in this crime are heroes, always and everywhere. That's sacred. The troops' mission has involved protecting the Iraqi people, and by golly they've done a superb job, as long as we don't mention the complete devastation of Iraq, the million dead, the millions of refugees, and the intense resentment of those remaining toward our country for what we've done to theirs.
The Iraqi people now (dead, in exile, in a ruined nation) have a chance that they supposedly didn't have before we destroyed their country, a country that was actually a better place to live in in every way in 2003 than it is now, and in 1989 than in 2003. To hear President Obama, this war has been for the benefit of the Iraqi people, and these wars have been about al Qaeda and 9-11.
Afghanistan:
85% des Canadiens en faveur de la fin de la mission en 2011
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/dossiers/le-canada-en-afghanistan/201009/12/01-4314940-85-des-canadiens-en-faveur-de-la-fin-de-la-mission-en-2011.php
Quatre Canadiens sur cinq sont en faveur du retrait des troupes militaires de l'Afghanistan à la date butoir fixée par le gouvernement fédéral. Une étude commandée par le ministère de la Défense, que La Presse a obtenue, démontre que 85% des citoyens souhaitent la fin de la mission en Afghanistan en juillet 2011.
Les résultats du sondage mené l'hiver dernier par la firme Ipsos Reid indiquent qu'une forte majorité de Canadiens estime (80%) que le pays a fait plus que sa part en Afghanistan. Par ailleurs, 74% des gens sondés sont fiers du rôle joué par les Forces armées canadiennes lors de cette mission.
Des données recueillies au sein de groupes de discussion dans le cadre de l'étude révèlent toutefois que la confusion subsiste toujours quant aux objectifs précis de cette mission qui aura duré près d'une décennie. Un répondant sur quatre indique même qu'elle n'a pas d'objectif.
Vétérans
Rappelons que ce week-end, l'ombudsman des anciens combattants, Pat Stogran, a dénoncé dans les pages de La Presse le fait que le Canada refusait de reconnaître comme vétérans à part entière les soldats qui reviennent d'Afghanistan avec des blessures de guerre. Depuis l'adoption de la nouvelle Charte des anciens combattants en 2006, les soldats blessés reçoivent une indemnité pouvant atteindre un maximum de 276 000?$ au lieu d'une rente mensuelle à vie.
US sergeant charged with murdering Afghan civilians kept body parts
New documents released by the US Army say a staff sergeant charged in a conspiracy to murder civilians kept Afghan body parts and threatened subordinates.
US soldiers 'killed Afghan civilians for sport and collected fingers as trophies'
Soldiers face charges over secret 'kill team' which allegedly murdered at random and collected fingers as trophies of war
CIA used 'illegal, inaccurate code to target kill drones'
The CIA is implicated in a court case in which it's claimed it used an illegal, inaccurate software "hack" to direct secret assassination drones in central Asia.
The target of the court action is Netezza, the data warehousing firm that IBM bid $1.7bn for on Monday. The case raises serious questions about the conduct of Netezza executives, and the conduct of CIA's clandestine war against senior jihadis in Afganistan and Pakistan.
The dispute surrounds a location analysis software package - "Geospatial" - developed by a small company called Intelligent Integration Systems (IISi), which like Netezza is based in Massachusetts. IISi alleges that Netezza misled the CIA by saying that it could deliver the software on its new hardware, to a tight deadline.
When the software firm then refused to rush the job, it's claimed, Netezza illegally and hastily reverse-engineered IISi's code to deliver a version that produced locations inaccurate by up to 13 metres. Despite knowing about the miscalculations, the CIA accepted the software, court submissions indicate.
'They want to kill people with software that doesn't work'
US slaughter intensifies in Afghanistan
In eastern Laghman Province, ISAF reported that a US-led air assault killed at least 30 in an “engagement with enemy fighters” in the Alishing district. The report claimed that there were no injuries to civilians in the area.
On Saturday, however, several hundred Afghans demonstrated in the streets of Mihtarlam, the provincial capital, to protest the slaughter of unarmed civilians in the raid. The protesters chanted slogans condemning the US-led occupation.
Webmaster's Commentary:
If creating further death, destruction, and throwing those left standing into the waiting embrace of the insurgency is the desired US/NATO policy outcome, one can well say, "mission accomplished" here.
More Than 70 Taliban, Civilians Killed in 2 Airstrikes
NATO denied that any civilians had been killed in either while protesters said that most or all of the victims of the Laghman strike were actually innocent civilians. Taliban spokespeople denied having any forces in the area as well, suggesting civilian deaths.
The other strike in Khost Province targeted people trying to cross the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The identities of these people aren’t known either, but while NATO said they killed 42 “suspects” in the strike, the provincial police chief said NATO had actually killed as many as 200.
Since Gen. David Petraeus took over in Afghanistan the number of air strikes has been increasing, and so have the number of civilian deaths.
British & Canadian Military Running Heroin Smuggling Operation Claims British Newspaper
Probe into Afghanistan troops' heroin trafficking claims
Military police are investigating claims that British soldiers may have been involved in heroin trafficking in Afghanistan.
Webmaster's Commentary:
British troops investigated for heroin smuggling
Military police are investigating claims that British soldiers may have trafficked heroin from Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defence said they were aware of "unsubstantiated" claims that troops were using military aircraft to ship the drug out of the country.
The inquiry is focusing on British and Canadian service personnel at airports in Camp Bastion and Kandahar.
The Beginning of the End? The Dwindling of Afghanistan's Coalition of the Willing
The British government’s decision to withdraw troops from Sangin in Helmand province marks a watershed in the relentless conflict in Afghanistan. The military mission has been very costly for the United Kingdom, with a third of the total casualties sustained in one district alone. More than a hundred lives of soldiers lost and many more wounded coming home is a sign of how difficult the mission has been. In a classic display of guerrilla tactics of asymmetrical warfare, the armed opposition has refused to fight a modern army equipped with high-tech weaponry on its enemy’s terms. Instead, the insurgents have fought on their terms, using rudimentary explosive devices and small weapons with devastating effect. Reaction of Afghans in Sangin will shock many in Britain.
U.S. to spend $100 million on Afghan bases
The Pentagon says it plans to spend $100 million on air base expansions in Afghanistan with construction efforts continuing into at least 2011.
Despite growing disaffection with the war and President Obama's pledge to begin withdrawing U.S. troops in July 2011, many of the projected installations have extended completion deadlines, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
U.S. Expanding Bases In Afghanistan For Permanent Presence
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21119
Of late, the United States planned to expand the Bagram, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Shairf air bases in Afghanistan with an allocation of 300 million US dollars. The expansion of U.S. military bases in Afghanistan is obviously running counter to the commitment to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2011; the United States is aiming to build permanent military bases in the "post-antiterrorism era" and to consolidate its global military network and to guard against the possible future global volatile situations.
Webmaster's Commentary:
If you thought that Obama's "hope and change" agenda had anything to do with complete withdrawal in Afghanistan, you had better think again.
It becomes crystal clear that there was never any intention on the part of this President for the US to leave Afghanistan, ever.
Petraeus promotes civil war in Afghanistan
President Obama and his military team recognize that it is less damaging at home, where there is almost no support for this endless occupation, to foment civil war in Afghanistan and pay desperate Afghans to slaughter each other as a means of reducing U.S. casualties.
U.S. taxpayers who are experiencing devastating cuts in state and local budgets, layoffs of municipal workers, soaring tuition hikes in public colleges—all because of budget shortfalls—will see billions of their tax dollars go to fund the occupation of Afghanistan and pay the salaries of poor Afghans so that they can shoot other poor Afghans.
Webmaster's Commentary:
This is so sickly immoral, I just don't know where to start.
This war in Afghanistan has absolutely nothing to do with the safety and security of this country; it has everything to do with potential private profit from the installation of pipelines with which to control Eurasian oil, from the drug trade, and from unexploited mineral deposits.
Petraeus: Afghan War Could Take Another Decade
Security in Afghanistan Crumbles as Counterinsurgency Fails
All of these reports are clear indications that the massive influx of troops into Afghanistan under Obama failed to improve the situation in that country and very likely made it worse. The president should seize on any of the numerous signs of policy failure--from the massively corrupt Kabulbank fiasco to the collapse of security across the country--and use this strategy review to create a plan that begins immediate U.S. troop withdrawals.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Unfortunately, Obama has too much pride and emotion attached to the "surge" he ordered to do the logical thing, and immediately withdraw US troops.
That means that many, many more Americans and Afghanis will die before we finally get out of this quagmire.
Petraeus Spin on Afghan War Belied by Soaring Casualties
Gen. David Petraeus claimed limited success this week in the war within a war over the Taliban’s planting of roadside bombs, but official Pentagon data shows the Taliban clearly winning that war by planting more bombs and killing many more U.S. and NATO troops since the troop surge began in early 2010.
In the Journal interview, Petraeus said that the data on violent incidents in Afghanistan indicate a slowly improving security situation.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Forgive me, but has this man gone absolutely barking mad to characterize the situation on the ground in Afghanistan "...a slowly improving security situation."?!?!?!?
If Petraeus is characterizing what is happening in Afghanistan as "success", what the hell is "failure" supposed to look like?!?
Petraeus: Reconciliation With Taliban is ‘Ultimate Goal’
Speaking today to Fox News, US Commander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus insisted that the “ultimate goal” of the nearly nine year long war is to enable the “reconciliation”of the Karzai government with the Taliban.
And while such talks have actually taken place (mostly with official US ambivalence), Gen. Petraeus says the war must continue until it “creates conditions” for a more favorable reconciliation.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Why must this war "...continue until it 'creates conditions' for a more favorable reconciliation"?!?
More "favorable" to whom?!? Western oil corporations? The drug dealers who are making a killing, literally and figuratively?!? The huge defense contractors, also making a killing literally and figuratively?!?
To make these statements is to telegraph to Afghanistan and the world that the US and NATO are losing this war, big-time. The only question is, when does that "Saigon moment" come to pass, when the US and NATO have to accept that this 9 year war was never winnable militarily, and leave?
Petraeus Spin on Afghan War Belied by Soaring Casualties
Gen. David Petraeus claimed limited success this week in the war within a war over the Taliban’s planting of roadside bombs, but official Pentagon data shows the Taliban clearly winning that war by planting more bombs and killing many more U.S. and NATO troops since the troop surge began in early 2010.
In the Journal interview, Petraeus said that the data on violent incidents in Afghanistan indicate a slowly improving security situation.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Forgive me, but has this man gone absolutely barking mad to characterize the situation on the ground in Afghanistan "...a slowly improving security situation."?!?!?!?
If Petraeus is characterizing what is happening in Afghanistan as "success", what the hell is "failure" supposed to look like?!?
US expects to subsidize Afghan training for years
WASHINGTON — The United States expects to spend about $6 billion a year training and supporting Afghan troops and police after it begins pulling out its own combat troops in 2011, The Associated Press has learned.
The previously undisclosed estimates of U.S. spending through 2015, detailed in a NATO training mission document, are an acknowledgment that Afghanistan will remain largely dependent on the United States for its security.
Holbrooke: War cannot be won militarily
Before a July 20th donors conference in Kabul, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, announces the Afghan war cannot be won militarily.
"As you said, Mr. Chairman, there is no military solution here, so as General Petraeus and General McChrystal said, you cannot win this war by killing every member of Taliban," Holbrooke, told US senators on Wednesday, Press TV reported.
Afghan war unwinnable quagmire, ex-CIA man says
The war in Afghanistan is an unwinnable quagmire and poor US intelligence is leading to the deaths of Australian soldiers, a visiting former CIA officer says.
Robert Baer, a decorated CIA field officer of two decades experience who had spent years in the Middle East, said any chances the US and its allies had of defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan had already been squandered. The Coalition was fighting an unwinnable war, he said, and this was the case because victory required reliable intelligence.
US army heat-ray gun in Afghanistan
A newly-developed heat-ray gun that burns the skin but doesn't cause permanent injury is now with US troops in Afghanistan.
The Active Denial System (ADS) is a non-lethal weapon designed to disperse violent crowds and repel enemies.
Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a US military spokesperson, says the kit is now in Afghanistan but no decision has yet been made on its use.
There's been much talk about the need to keep civilian casualties in Afghanistan to a minimum. The heat-ray gun could help.
Research is continuing to make the system smaller, lighter and less expensive, says the Pentagon's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program.
Webmaster's Commentary:
"There's been much talk about the need to keep civilian casualties in Afghanistan to a minimum. The heat-ray gun could help."
Why, what a wonderful device this pain ray is: it could even prevent civilian deaths!
Wouldn't you just love to have one of these units used on you as you participated in a peaceful protest, because it "might prevent civilian deaths"?!?
Look for one of these devices coming to a city near you in the not too distant future, particularly if you happen to live in a densely packed urban environment.
U.S. Troops Fire On Thousands Of Protesters Outside Bagram Base Wednesday, August 25
US troops fired on thousands of Afghan civilians as they protested outside the massive US military base at Bagram on Monday.
A provincial police official said that at least one civilian was killed in the incident, but Nato asserted that no civilians had been killed or injured.
The Western military alliance claimed that soldiers had only fired "warning shots" to disperse residents after they surrounded a military patrol and attacked vehicles outside the sprawling facility with rocks and iron bars.
But Parwan province deputy police chief General Faqir Ahmad was adamant that one civilian had been killed - although he said he could not be sure who fired the fatal bullet.
Gates Visits Furious Karzai After NATO Planes Kill 10 Campaign Workers
Just two days ago Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was publicly condemning the killing of five election workers by militants in the Herat Province, insisting that the security of such workers must be assured at all cost in the name of a “democratic future.” She insisted that those responsible “must be brought to justice.”
The attitude from the US was quite a bit different today, when NATO warplanes in the northern Takhar Province attacked a convoy of aid workers themselves, killing 10 of them and wounding a parliamentary candidate.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Apparently, NATO is pathologically incapable of not assassinating innocent Afghans!
Wayne Madsen: Petraeus is Neocons favorite general
How many civilians are going to have to be openly murdered before the anti war left realizes that Obama is not their savior?
Ten Afghan civilians were killed Thursday in a NATO air strike on three vehicles carrying civilians, President Hamid Karzai said in a statement
UK to boost aid to Afghanistan - minister
Britain plans to increase aid to Afghanistan by as much as 40 percent, International Development Minister Andrew Mitchell said.
Afghanistan bomb attacks kill twenty-one US soldiers in 48 hours
Twenty-one American troops have been killed in Afghanistan since Friday in one of the bloodiest periods of the summer.
A series of bomb attacks have badly hit US troops in eastern and southern Afghanistan in the past 48 hours.
The death toll among in the Nato-led coalition has reached 484 this year and is predicted to far surpass 2009’s total of 521.
Deaths have risen consistently each year since 2001. Afghan police and civilians have suffered far higher casualties.
NATO Kills Six Children in Afghanistan Air Strike
In the wake of an attack on an apparent Taliban attack on a police station in the Kunar Province, NATO warplanes bombed a group of small children between the ages of 6-12, killing six of them and wounding one other.
The children were collecting scrap metal on a nearby mountain. There were apparently no Taliban at the site of the attack, according to local police. NATO said it was “aware” of the reports and is investigating.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Looks as though NATO is "winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people" by assassinating their children, I see.
US airstrikes 'kill Afghan civilians'
One of the attacks left at least 30 people dead and injured. The other strike, which hit a funeral procession in a separate area, killed 13 civilians including two children.
Webmaster's Commentary:
"We needed to make sure he was dead, dammit!" -- Official White Horse Souse
Afghan president says airstrike killed civilians
Webmaster's Commentary:
Another notch on Obama';s Peace Prize!
Kabul: US-led raid killed 39 civilians
President Hamid Karzai's office said late on Wednesday the inquiry shows 39 civilians -- all women and children -- were killed in the attack.
NATO Strikes Kill Three Afghan Civilians, Three Police
Top NATO officials are constantly warning that the most important part of their long term war strategy in Afghanistan must include avoiding killing civilians and building up the nation’s police force, but they appear to have failed on both counts yesterday, launching a pair of attacks that killed three police and three civilians.
Afghanistan to expel US security firms
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is set to call on Washington and its allies to shut down their private security companies in the violence-stricken country.
President Karzai will announce the details of his demand late Saturday during a press conference in Kabul, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Informed sources in the presidential office said the Afghan leader was set to impose a ban on Western-backed security firms and announce his new policy on the fight against corruption.
Afghan government gives private security firms 4 months to disband
Afghanistan's president is setting a four-month deadline for private security companies to cease operations in the country, a spokesman said Monday.
The Interior Ministry has 52 security firms licensed, but some older contracts are still being completed by unlicensed firms, according to the U.S. military. There are about 26,000 private security contractors working for the U.S. government in Afghanistan, 19,000 of them with the military, officials said.
A spokesman for the U.S. military said the United States supports Karzai's goal of eliminating private security firms but would not comment on whether it would be possible to meet the deadline.
Webmaster's Commentary:
I'll believe this when I see it. And my bet is, we won't see it; the US and NATO troop strength is far too stressed to replace all the private contractors currently working in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan says finds 1.8 billion barrel oilfield
Afghanistan said on Sunday it had discovered an oilfield with an estimated 1.8 billion barrels in the north of the war-ravaged country, where U.S. and other foreign forces are trying to tame a Taliban-led insurgency.
Ex-Pakistan spy chief: Afghanistan war 'lost cause'
The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan is a "lost cause," said a former Pakistani intelligence chief, and the United States needs to negotiate peace with Taliban leader Mullah Omar. "You have to talk to him, and I'm sure it will work out very well," Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in an interview to air Sunday.
U.S. intelligence documents published last week by WikiLeaks cited Gul and implicated Pakistani intelligence as supporting al Qaeda. Gul has denied the allegations. "I'm quite a convenient scapegoat," he said. "I don't support any one faction in Afghanistan. I support the Afghan nation."
Webmaster's Commentary:
What this man is saying is painfully logical, which means that the US will dismiss this notion about a negotiated settlement with the Taliban out of hand.
Support for Afghan War plummets from 48% to 36% for Obama- Election 2010
Public support for President Obama’s Afghanistan war policy has plummeted amid a rising U.S. death toll and the unauthorized release of classified military documents, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows. Support for Obama’s management of the war fell to 36%, down from 48% in a February poll. Now, a record 43% also say it was a mistake to go to war there after the terrorist attacks in 2001.
Clinton Condemns Slaying Of Aid Workers
In her statement, Clinton called the killings a "despicable act of wanton violence" that demonstrates the brutality of the Taliban. She said she was heartbroken by the loss of the aid workers...
Webmaster's Commentary:
Someone refresh my memory; did Clinton have equally harsh words when Israel attacked and murdered aid workers in international waters, including an American lying helpless on the dead when the IDF pumped bullets into his skull?
Actualité:
Network news loses 739,000 viewers
The ratings are in the for just-completed 2009-2010 network evening news season. And when compared to 2008-2009 season, "NBC Nightly News" ABC's "World News" and the "CBS Evening News" have lost a combined 739,000 Total Viewers and a combined 338,000 A25-54 viewers.
Nearly 300 U.S. pilots have attempted suicide
At least 292 American pilots have attempted suicide in the past three years.
Another fifteen U.S. pilots have been diagnosed with, or been treated for, schizophrenia.
The shock figures have been revealed by the Boston Herald, quoting figures from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The news follows a serious incident at Boston's Logan International Airport in May when a distraught JetBlue pilot threatened to “harm himself in spectacular fashion” an hour before takeoff.
The Herald's Jessica Heslam's review of FAA medical records for 2008, 2009 and 2010, found that 2,700 pilots have been treated for alcohol abuse, and that nearly half of these have been diagnosed as alcoholics.
A similar number, 1,377 pilots, were found to be abusing drugs, while another ninety four were diagnosed as being drug-dependent.
More than half-a-million pilots are certified medically fit to fly in the United States. “The FAA is committed to making sure our nation’s commercial and general aviation pilots are medically fit to fly,” FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown was quoted by the Boston Herald as saying.
Webmaster's Commentary:
But the passengers have to go through a security screening to get on board!
All passengers will be required to have Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) in their reservation at least 72 hours prior to departure
As a result of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) mandate, beginning November 1, all passengers will be required to have Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) in their reservation at least 72 hours prior to departure.
Webmaster's Commentary:
"Your papers please. Are your papers in order? You may not travel unless your papers are all in order!"
The spur-of-the-moment weekend getaway just became illegal. You now need the government's permission to travel.
Artists Make More Money in File-Sharing Age Than Before It
An extensive study into the effect of digitalization on the music industry in Norway has shed an interesting light on the position of artists today, compared to 1999. While the music industry often talks about artists being on the brink of bankruptcy due to illicit file-sharing, the study found that the number of artists as well as their average income has seen a major increase in the last decade.
Global ‘internet treaty’ proposed
The Telegraph
The proposal was presented at the Internet Governance Forum in Lithuania last week, and outlined 12 “principles of internet governance”, including a commitment from countries to sustain the technological foundations that underpin the web’s infrastructure.
The draft law has been likened to the Space Treaty, signed in 1967, which stated that space exploration should be carried out for the benefit of all nations, and guaranteed “free access to all areas of celestial bodies”.
Under the proposed terms of the law, there would be cross-border co-operation between countries to identify and address security vulnerability and protect the network from possible cyber attacks or cyber terrorism.
It would also uphold rights to freedom of expression and association, and the principle of net neutrality, in which all internet traffic is treated equally across the network.
Thebes said...
Sounds ok on paper, but this will just be used to censor portions of the internet. They are chomping at the bit to do it.
Watch for a bunch of corporo-fascist copyright crap get added mandating state level censorship by all signatories.
Healthy 28-Yr-Old Tasered By Cops Has Heart Attack — When Will Police Stop Using This Lethal Weapon?
A mentally ill man diagnosed with a bipolar disorder was tasered by two Minneapolis Police officers at a YMCA on Friday. The man was not armed but was struggling with police who had been called to the scene. The taser caused his heart to go into cardiac arrest. He is now in a Minneapolis hospital in critical condition after his heart stopped and he had to resuscitated at least twice:
EXCLUSIVE: After a Year of Setbacks, U.N. Looks to Take Charge of World’s Agenda
After a year of humiliating setbacks, United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and about 60 of his top lieutenants — the top brass of the entire U.N. system — spent their Labor Day weekend at a remote Austrian Alpine retreat, discussing ways to put their sprawling organization in charge of the world’s agenda.
Details concerning the two-day, closed-door sessions in the comfortable village of Alpbach were closely guarded. Nonetheless, position papers for the meeting obtained by Fox News indicate that the topics included:
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