FBI ‘lured dimwits’ into terror plot
ON the steps of New York city hall on Friday, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor, praised the police officers and federal agents who helped disrupt an apparent terrorist plot to blow up a synagogue and shoot down military aircraft.
USA Buys Enough Guns in 3 Months to Outfit the Entire Chinese and Indian Army
Law abiding US citizens bought on average 3,177,256 guns every 3 months in 2008. You also bought 1,529,635,000 rounds of ammunition in just the month of December 2008. Yeah that is right, that is Billion with a “B”. This number takes no accounting of reloading or reloaded ammunition.
'Extremism' report 'tip of the iceberg'
A lawyer pursuing a lawsuit against Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano over an "extremist" report her agency issued that linked 2nd Amendment supporters, pro-life activists and others with terror says he's concerned by Napolitano's promise to "reword" the report.
The Obama Dystopia
By Andrew Hughes
"Cyberterrorism" is being used as a pretext to bring government regulation to the the last stronghold of unbiased information. Washington has realized that it's getting harder to get away with their Fascist agenda and are moving to control the field. The populace are beginning to realize just what kind of "Change" Obama intended to deliver.
History of CIA Torture: Unraveling the Web of Deceit, Part III
Four-part series of articles which will strive to correct misperceptions arising from the erroneous blending of military and CIA torture. This task has become especially relevant now that the Justice Department's the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), the very section which had issued the torture memos, tasked by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey with investigating itself, has now released a recommendation that none of the authors of the torture memos be prosecuted. This recommendation stands in stark contrast to our nation's post-World War II decision to prosecute German judges for war crimes at Nuremberg.
Did Bibi Box Obama In?
By Patrick J. Buchanan
By setting a six-month deadline, Obama has given an incentive to Israel, AIPAC, the neocons and even al-Qaida, which wants Shia Iran bombed back to the stone age, to provoke collisions with Iran, until December, then demand that Obama keep his word, suspend talks, impose severe sanctions and start us on the escalator to war.
Obama: We are broke. Well, Duh!
am utterly amazed at the continued arrogance of the Obama administration, which has managed to make the Bush administration look to be prudent, which is a major accomplishment. Obama tells C-SPAN that "We are out of money," but then claims that this is because the government had not taken over healthcare. (I'd hate to see our medical system when government actually does completely control it, given that it pretty much is a government-run system now.)
New road cameras 'unregulated'
There are already thousands of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras that can read and log registration plates, but soon police forces in England, Wales and Scotland will be able to share the information in one central computer.
Pakistan troops battle for key city in Swat Valley
The battle for the crucial Swat Valley city of Mingora began Saturday as Pakistani troops waged fierce street combat with Taliban militants and began the most difficult test yet in the monthlong offensive to regain much of northwest Pakistan from insurgents.
How the President of the United States Can Control the Internet
By John 'J' Trinckes
As if the government doesn't control enough in our lives, a new bill was introduced in the Senate on April 1, 2009 that basically gives full control of the Internet to the President of the United States. As of this writing, the bill is currently in the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
Obamacare Health: Dependency you can count on
Drip by painful drip, the details of the Democratic health-care-reform plan
have been leaking out. And from what we can see so far, it looks like bad
news for American taxpayers, health-care providers, and, most important,
patients.
Israel used depleted uranium in offensive on Gaza -- NGOs
Action of Citizens for the total Dismantling of Nukes (ACDN) said Saturday that it has just produced a 33-page report concluding that the presence of as much as 75 tons of depleted uranium in Gaza soil is highly probable to the Israeli "Operation Cast Lead" offensive.
DOJ, to Newspaper: Shape Up, or Ship Out
The DOJ is currently pursuing litigation against two West Virginia newspapers, who have been operating for decades under a joint operating agreement. The DOJ wants to dissolve the agreement because it is dissatisfied with the editorial quality of one of the papers.
Industrial Farming is Giving us Less Nutritious Food
The commercially grown vegetables, fruits and grains that we are eating today are significantly less nutritious than these foods were 100 years ago, or even just 30 years ago.
Zelikow Caught in a Whopper; Made False Statements to Author about Criminal Referral for NORAD, FAA
Documents recently found in the National Archives cast doubt on the integrity of the 9/11 Commission’s Executive Director Philip Zelikow. In an e-mail exchange with author Philip Shenon, Zelikow claimed that he first learned of a dispute on the commission over the investigation of false statements made by NORAD and FAA officials after it had been “percolating for a while” and was not involved in the initial stages of the argument. However, an e-mail chain (scroll down) found in the Archives by History Commons contributor paxvector shows that Zelikow had been involved in the issue from very near the beginning.
Concern mounts over US Predator covert killings
The CIA is said to have carried out at least 16 Predator strikes in Pakistan during the first four months of this year Tom Baldwin Washington America has stepped up the covert targeted killing policy in Pakistan and Afghanistan despite the concern of security experts about its effectiveness and complaints by human rights groups about civilian casualties.
Credit Default Swaps - The Poison in the System
By Mike Whitney
In a little more than a decade, Credit Default Swaps (CDS) trading ballooned into a lucrative multi-billion dollar industry which has changed the fundamental character of the financial system and increased systemic risk by many orders of magnitude.
Ex-SKorean leader Roh leaps to death over scandal
Former President Roh Moo-hyun, embroiled in a penetrating corruption investigation, leaped to his death Saturday — a shocking end for a man whose rags-to-riches rise took him from rural poverty to Seoul's presidential Blue House. He was 62.
Obama’s Betrayals
By Sheldon Richman
After President Obama announced he would fight the release of photographs showing American soldiers abusing “war on terror” detainees, Richard Haass, president of the quintessentially mainstream Council on Foreign Relations, said that Obama had learned the difference between campaigning and governing. He wasn’t being ironic.
Obama orders Gates to update plan for Iran strike
American defense secretary tells NBC television president has instructed him to refresh plans for military action against Tehran prepared during Bush era. 'Presidents always ask their military to have a range of contingency plans available to them,' he says
Peter Schiff The Schiff Report Video Blog May 21 2009
Major change in markets -- bonds and dollar both fall with stocks --flight to quality now means flight from dollar and treasuries. This may well be the start of the next leg of the economic collapse --stay tuned.
Governor plans to completely eliminate welfare for families
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to completely eliminate the state’s welfare program for families, medical insurance for low-income children and Cal Grants cash assistance to college and university students.
'Israel won't yield to U.S. demands, won't halt settlement construction'
Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon spoke to Channel 2 on Saturday about the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama, held earlier this week, saying that Israel's government will not allow the U.S. to dictate its policy, and that "settlement construction will not be halted."
Two Illinois Banks Seized, Bringing U.S. Tally This Year to 36
Two Illinois banks with combined assets of almost $1 billion were closed by regulators, pushing the toll of failed U.S. lenders to 36 this year amid the longest recession since the 1930s.
Japanese firms line up for U.S. auto bailout
More Japanese suppliers to General Motors Corp (GM.N) and Chrysler LLC have applied to a U.S. government program to guarantee the debts of the two ailing auto giants as the chances of GM following Chrysler into bankruptcy keeps rising, the Nikkei business daily said.
Momentum Builds For Ron Paul's "Fed Transparency" Act
For years, Ron Paul has been a lone voice in Congress, questioning the wisdom of the Federal Reserve -- both its various chairmans and the institution itself.
FDIC Assesses Levy; Looks for More?
Regulators agreed to levy a special fee on the banking industry to bolster the fund that insures consumer deposits, and signaled they likely would ask for more before year end.
The move to collect an estimated $5.6 billion from banks to reload the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s deposit-insurance fund highlights the reality for regulators: the fallout from the financial crisis is far from over.
Darpa’s Simple Plan to Track Targets Everywhere
Darpa’s 2009 strategic plan offers a fascinating overview of the different approaches the agency is taking to better track and identify these elusive targets. Some of these, like the Forester foliage- penetrating radar, tackle a specific problem: detecting enemy troops moving under the cover of dense jungle canopy. But another program, called NetTrack, would provide more persistent reconnaissance by linking together and comparing information from different sensors to track a target, even if it moves behind a solid obstruction.
Revolution in the air
The government is failing, as war and economic catastrophe are dealt with in increasingly unconvincing fashion by second-rate public servants. There is, for the first time in a generation, a sense of revolution brewing.
This is not today's Britain. It is England in 1381, the year that witnessed one of the greatest popular risings in our history: the Peasants' Revolt.
Morley Safer Doesn’t Trust Citizen Journalism
If Safer is really concerned with responsibility, he ought not to lash out indiscriminately at online journalism. If he wants to cast a net around “every nut with a keyboard,” and label them all journalists, then I should be able to do the same with his medium and every nut with a microphone.
The Climate-Industrial Complex
By Bjorn Lomborg
Some business leaders are cozying up with politicians and scientists to demand swift, drastic action on global warming. This is a new twist on a very old practice: companies using public policy to line their own pockets.
Israel destroying Gaza's farmlands
On the morning of 4 May 2009, Israeli troops set fire to Palestinian crops along Gaza's eastern border with Israel. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) reported that 200,000 square meters of crops were destroyed, including wheat and barley ready for harvest, as well as vegetables, olive and pomegranate trees.
Loud Paradigm Shift Rumblings
By Jim Willie CB
Numerous events have taken place of global importance. Alone, each story seems of some significance. Together, they paint a mosaic of extreme change in a very dangerous sequence of events that fit together. The greater aggregate story is that a tremendous paradigm shift is underway, with early steps and major moves by global players in clear view.
Gerald Celente: The New Bubble Is the Biggest Ever (With Video)
As the Federal Reserve throws more and more money at the economic crisis and holds interest rates down at historic lows, it could be inflating a devastating ‘bailout bubble,’ Gerald Celente, director of Trends Research Institute, told CNBC.
OBAMA INHERITS CHENEY'S ARMY OF ASSASSINS
By Justin Raimondo
As the story of Bush administration's war crimes comes out in fits and starts, it appears that torture is only one aspect – and not the worst, by any means – of this horrific history. In an interview in mid-March, Seymour Hersh let slip the following:
"After 9/11 – I haven't written about this yet – but the Central Intelligence Agency was very deeply involved in domestic activities against people they thought to be enemies of the state. Without any legal authority for it. They haven't been called on it yet. That does happen."
Well, yes, that's hardly surprising. The PATRIOT Act and other legislation passed by Congress gives the government the legal "right" to spy on American citizens and, in the case of Jose Padilla, lock them up without a trial and throw away the key. But, as Hersh reveals, it gets worse.
Obama Expands the American Warfare State
By Sherwood Ross
Not even the prospect of a $3.1 trillion combined budget deficit for this year and next deters him. Let them chop the budget for black colleges and police officer death benefits, the Pentagon and its contractors continue to feast at the champagne-and-caviar table.
FBI Agent on Synagogue Case Has Questionable Record
The FBI agent with a high-profile role in yesterday's arrests of four men for plotting a terror attack in New York has a pretty interesting -- and controversial -- track record.
Trouble Ahead: Millions of Mortgages Will Ratchet Upward Soon
Zacks Research analyst Dirk van Dijk warns that another major mortgage crisis lies ahead as huge numbers of homeowners who have been making only minimum payments on their “pick a payment” mortgages have to start paying in full.
Rachel Maddow: Indefinite detention? Prolonged Detention - Shame on you... President Obama Can you imagine living in a society where the government has technology to monitor it's citizens thoughts and claims it has a right to do so in order to prevent future crimes? They want to be able to detain people in prison just because the government alleges they committed a thought crime. A Microchipped society, here we come!
Obama's Detention Plans Face Scrutiny
The Obama administration's efforts to craft what it calls a "preventive detention" plan for suspected terrorists will face constitutional challenges similar to those raised against the Bush administration's policies.
One is a petty criminal who spent a day in 2002 snatching purses and shooting at people with a BB gun from an SUV. His lawyer calls him "intellectually challenged.
The informer was to have helped the plotters build the bomb and supply the fake powder, but the plan was called off by an F. B. I. supervisor who had other ideas about how the informer, Emad Salem, should be used, the informer said.
Conservative Shock Jock Mancow Submits to Waterboarding, Says It's Torture (With Video)
Chicago radio “shock jock” Erich “Mancow” Muller took his listeners’ advice and voluntarily underwent waterboarding on May 22 and reluctantly concluded it was “torture.” Mancow had earlier pooh-poohed the conclusion that waterboarding was torture (though the U.S. government prosecuted as war criminals some Japanese soldiers who had conducted waterboarding against U.S. soldiers, and even court-martialed a U.S. soldier who had engaged in it in Vietnam).
U.S. to Steer GM Toward Bankruptcy
The Obama administration is preparing to send General Motors into bankruptcy as early as the end of next week under a plan that would give the automaker tens of billions of dollars more in public financing as the company seeks to shrink and reemerge as a global competitor, sources familiar with the discussions said.
Pew Research Center Poll: 39% of US residents identify as independents
On May 21, the Pew Research Center released this public opinion poll on political values. It is an extensive survey, in twelve sections, and used a sample of 3,013 respondents. Among many other findings, the poll shows that 39% of U.S. residents identify themselves as independents, 33% as Democrats, 22% as Republicans, and 6% no opinion or “other”.
Dollar hits new multimonth low vs euro, pound, yen
The dollar kept falling Friday, notching fresh multimonth lows against the euro, pound and yen as a warning that Britain's debt level may result in its credit rating being cut ricocheted into worries about the massive U.S. deficit.
GM's Turn on Obama's Chopping Block
By Shamus Cooke
The Obama administration has made no secret about its plans for GM: the Chrysler bankruptcy was the “test case,” and now Obama’s Wall Street buddies inside the Auto Task Force plan to replicate it.
Geithner Vows to Cut U.S. Deficit on Rating Concern
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner committed to cutting the budget deficit as concern about deteriorating U.S. creditworthiness deepened, and ascribed a sell-off in Treasuries to prospects for an economic recovery.
Parade of Lies
We are talking about the operation of the modern American propaganda apparatus. A couple of examples of big lies are that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, assassinated President John F. Kennedy and that Timothy McVeigh masterminded the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Have you heard 'the Hum'?
For decades, hundreds of people worldwide have been plagued by an elusive buzzing noise known as "the Hum". Some have blamed gas pipes or power lines, others think their ears are faulty. A few even think sinister forces could be at work.
Facts and myths about Obama's preventive detention proposal
By Glenn Greenwald
Far more significant, "preventive detention" allows indefinite imprisonment not based on proven crimes or past violations of law, but of those deemed generally "dangerous" by the Government for various reasons (such as, as Obama put it yesterday, they "expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden" or "otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans"). That's what "preventive" means: imprisoning people because the Government claims they are likely to engage in violent acts in the future because they are alleged to be "combatants."
Humanity Under Siege
By Jim Kirwan
The DNA of humanity is under siege by faceless sociopaths that see the human herds in the world today as nothing more than useless eaters that are preventing them from having the luxury of the total control they seek over the entire planet.
In Bronx Bomb Case, Missteps Caught on Tape
They bought cellphones, the authorities said; they bought a camera in a Wal-Mart to take photographs of the synagogues in New York City that they wanted to blow up. When their attempt to buy guns in Newburgh, N.Y., fell through — their gun dealer told them she had sold out — they drove downstate, buying a $700 pistol from a Bloods gang leader in Brooklyn.
How MI5 blackmails British Muslims
Five Muslim community workers have accused MI5 of waging a campaign of blackmail and harassment in an attempt to recruit them as informants.
Bilderberg Group orders destruction of US Dollar?
A new Kremlin report on the shadowy Bilderberg Group, who this past week held their annual meeting in Greece, states that the West’s financial, political and corporate elite emerged from their conclave after coming to an agreement that in order to continue their drive towards a New World Order dominated by the Western Powers, the US Dollar has to be “totally” destroyed.
TARP Warrant Sale Shows Banks May Reap ‘Ruthless Bargain’
Banks negotiating to reclaim stock warrants they granted in return for Troubled Asset Relief Program money may shortchange taxpayers by almost $10 billion if Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s first sale sets the pace, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Rogue Economics Undermines World Justice
The fall of the Berlin Wall kick-started the return of rogue economics. This is not a new phenomenon; on the contrary, it is part of our history. It is a force constantly lurking in the background of progress, kept at bay by politics, a force that comes out at times of great transformation: when governments lose control of economics, economics falls into the hands of ruthless rogue entrepreneurs.
From Russia With No Love
By Judi McLeod
Pravda, former official voice of the Soviet Union in the days of former President Mikhail Gorbachev, is cheering the Death of America under the leadership of “Marxist” Barack Hussein Obama.
Mexico: Dangerous Prisoners Flee As Guards 'Stand By'
About a dozen of the prisoners are drug cartel suspects and several have been jailed for kidnapping, said Ricardo Najera, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office. The inmates stole 23 guns from a prison storage room before escaping, Mr Najera said. He also revealed that 51 people will face investigations into their possible involvement, including the prison director and all 44 guards on duty at the time.
Neocon Group Calls for Military Strikes
By Jeremy Scahill
A new report for a leading neoconservative group which pushes a belligerent “Israel first” agenda of conquest in the Middle East suggests that in future wars the US should make censorship of media official policy and advocates “military attacks on the partisan media.”
US keeps nuclear "don't ask, don't tell" -Israel aide
The U.S. administration of President Barack Obama will not force Israel to state publicly whether it has nuclear weapons, an Israeli official said on Thursday.
Sept. 11 Commission official selected to head US National Intelligence Council
Christopher Kojm will chair the National Intelligence Council, which oversees the analysis and production of interagency intelligence reports. That includes national intelligence estimates, documents that feature the consensus of analysis on critical national security issues.
41 U.S. Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Agency Veterans Challenge the Official Account of 9/11
Following in the footsteps of well over 1,000 scientists and other professional groups who have already gone on record questioning the official theory, more than 40 U.S. Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Agency veterans have come forward to challenge the Government’s rendition of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Their behind-the-scenes knowledge and experience of sensitive and classified issues places them in a uniquely authoritative position and their critical stance is particulary damning for the government
Bilderberg Agenda Exposed
Bilderberg boys are a bunch of grumpy old men but remain fiercely dedicated to usurping sovereignty in the United States and throughout the world. Patriots can celebrate their setbacks but never let up: Bilderberg still threatens the sovereignty of all nations while fighting for world government.
Senate passes $91.3B war funding bill
The Senate has passed a $91.3 billion war spending bill that would fund stepped-up military operations in Afghanistan but deny President Obama money to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Spy Satellite Photos Used To Fight Drug Smugglers
"The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, part of the Department of Defense, is using satellites to track the activities of drug cartels operating along the US-Mexican border.
Bilderberg: the meeting of the mediocre minds
By Hans Vogel
Practically no one has been reporting on the 2009 meeting of the Bilderberg group in a fancy seaside resort near Athens. The Greek newspaper To Vima, however, published a list of the 150-odd participants at the conference.
DNA-collection bill signed into law
Area legislators hailed Thursday’s passage of Colorado’s version of Katie’s Law as a means of protecting the public and exonerating the innocent.
Despite Torture Video, U.S. and Emirates Sign Key Pact
The United States signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday to help develop its civil nuclear program, despite an outcry over a video depicting the torture of an Afghan man by a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, one of the emirates.
German firm plans 'Gold-to-Go' ATMs to sell tiny, pricey gold bars
A German asset management company plans to set up 500 "Gold-to-Go" ATMs in Germany, Switzerland and Austria this year. A gold-dispensing automatic teller machine (ATM) was on display at Frankfurt's main railway station for a one-day marketing test yesterday
US, Israel together in 'dismantling Iran'
As the US and Israel apparently diverge, the Israeli foreign minister says Washington and Tel Aviv share a full understanding on strategic issues including Iran.
Cheney's speech contained omissions, misstatements
Former Vice President Dick Cheney's defense Thursday of the Bush administration's policies for interrogating suspected terrorists contained omissions, exaggerations and misstatements.
Obama and Cheney Deliver Dueling Speeches on National Security
President Obama and former vice president Richard B. Cheney yesterday gave the country the national security debate it never had during last year's campaign, with the two outlining starkly divergent views of American power and the presidency in the fight against terrorism.
PM Netanyahu vows Jerusalem will remain Israel's capital 'forever'
Right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Thursday that Jerusalem would remain Israel's capital "forever" as the Jewish state marked the 42nd anniversary of the annexation of the city's mainly Arab sector.
U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve. Federal Reserve holding over $2 trillion in the Darkest Balance Sheet in Financial History
The U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve have arguably two of the least transparent balance sheets known to humankind. This wouldn’t be such a big issue if the amount of money funneled into these organizations was small. That is not the case. The Federal Reserve since October of 2008 has held on its balance sheet over $2 trillion in reserve bank credit and also, Federal Reserve Holdings of U.S. Treasuries. This of course is the biggest bait in switch in history because in exchange for U.S. Treasuries, banks can offload practically any collateral (i.e., mortgages, auto loans, credit card loans, etc). The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve are creating the biggest put option in the history of the world and the American taxpayer stands to lose big.
World Economies Plummet
Steep declines in the economies of three of the U.S.'s biggest trading partners -- Mexico, Japan and Germany -- underscored the severity of the global recession and put pressure on major industrialized nations to revive moribund global trade talks.
California already looking at CAFE 2016+
In the immediate wake of President Obama’s announcement of more stringent mileage standards by 2016, California air czar Mary Nichols told Reuters yesterday that, “California will be immediately getting to work on what the standards should be for beyond 2016,” and that she expects, “a much more stringent standard.”
Florida bank collapses - firms swoop in
$13 billion BankUnited closed in biggest failure of year. Florida thrift bought by Wilbur Ross, Carlyle Investment, Blackstone Capital and other private firms.
U.S. Insurer of Pensions Sees Flood of Red Ink
The deficit at the federal agency that guarantees pensions for 44 million Americans tripled in the last six months to a record high, reaching $33.5 billion, largely as a result of surging bankruptcies among companies whose pensions it expects it will soon need to take over.
United Arab Emirates exit leaves Gulf currency plan on brink of failure
A project to establish a common currency for the Gulf has been dealt a near-fatal blow with the decision by the United Arab Emirates to abandon monetary union after disagreement with Saudi Arabia over the location of a future central bank.
An awesome warning
Japan's brutal economic decline has been brought about by circumstances very similar to those now emerging in Britain.
Computer virus strikes US Marshals, FBI affected
Law enforcement computers were struck by a Mystery computer virus Thursday, forcing the FBI and the U.S. Marshals to shut down part of their networks as a precaution.
Housing's Big Picture Isn't Pretty
By Peter Schiff
While economists and real estate investors "celebrate" the slight deceleration in the pace of home price declines in the recent data, a quick look at home price trajectories over the past 100 and 50 years reveals little to cheer about and much to be feared.
Obama: from anti-war law professor to neocon hawk in 100 days
By Alexander Cockburn
How long does it take a mild-mannered, anti-war, black professor of constitutional law, trained as a community organiser on the South Side of Chicago, to become an enthusiastic sponsor of targeted assassinations, 'decapitation' strategies and remote-control bombing of mud houses at the far end of the globe?
