The Secret State's Mad Scheme to Control the Internet As military-style command and control systems proliferate, supporting everything from "zero-tolerance" policing and urban surveillance, the deployment of packet-sniffing technologies will soon join CCTV cameras, license plate readers and "watchlists," thus setting the stage for the next phase of the secret state's securitization of daily life.
End the War in Afghanistan
By Ron Paul I firmly believe that there is enough waste in the military budget that we can both save money overall and at the same time make us safer.
Corralled for 4 hours, crowd dispersed by G20 police A tense and bizarre standoff between police and a crowd lingering in central Toronto following a weekend of G20 protests has ended after nearly four hours.
G-8 'fully believes' Israel will attack Iran, says Italy PM World leaders "believe absolutely" that Israel may decide to take military action against Iran to prevent the latter from acquiring nuclear weapons, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Saturday.
Know Your Toxins: Sodium Fluoride Just when you thought that the bone cancer and IQ reduction and hypothyroidism and other ill effects of sodium fluoride couldn't get any worse... you find out that sodium fluoride isn't sodium fluoride. Find out what they're really putting in the water with Dr. William Hirzy and Dr. Paul Connett on this week's edition of The Corbett Report.
U.S.: Cheonan sinking was not international terrorism The sinking of a South Korean warship widely blamed on North Korea was not an act of international terrorism and does not justify putting Pyongyang back on a U.S. blacklist, the State Department said on Monday.
'Genocidal' Israel will be put in its place - Chavez Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez described Israel on Saturday as a genocidal state that acted as an assassin for the United States, predicting the Middle East nation would one day be "put in its place."
Afghan detainees must be safeguarded against abuse, says high court The high court today imposed strict conditions on the transfer by British forces of suspected insurgents to Afghan detention centres, after hearing evidence of detainees' "horrible abuse" in breach of international law.
Lebanon arrests another Israeli 'spy' A top official at a state-owned mobile telecom firm, Alfa, in Lebanon has been arrested on charges of spying for Israel, security officials say.
'Ten big media lies' about Israel Michel Collon, a Belgian journalist and author, in his book "Israel, let's talk about it," has slammed European media over decades of "lying" to people in order to support Israel.
Feds won't charge Blackwater in Sudan sanctions case The security contractor Blackwater Worldwide tried for two years to secure lucrative defense business in Southern Sudan while the country was under U.S. economic sanctions, according to current and former U.S. officials and hundreds of pages of documents reviewed by McClatchy.
N.Korea rejects U.N. truce talks over ship sinking North Korea said on Sunday it was ready for direct military talk with South Korea to discuss the sinking of one of Seoul's warships, but only if the armistice commission overseeing the Korean War truce does not get involved.
U.S. officials say Karzai aides are derailing corruption cases involving elite Top officials in President Hamid Karzai's government have repeatedly derailed corruption investigations of politically connected Afghans, according to U.S. officials who have provided Afghanistan's authorities with wiretapping technology and other assistance in efforts to crack down on endemic graft.
Russia alarmed by CIA view of Iran's weapons Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday he was alarmed by U.S. assertions that Iran may have enough fuel for two nuclear weapons and warned that if confirmed the Islamic Republic may face new measures.
North Korea warns U.S. over "heavy weapons" at DMZ North Korea warned of military action against South Korea and the United States Monday, claiming the allied forces had brought "heavy weapons" into the DMZ truce village of Panmunjom.
Oil-hit Gulf on edge as Atlantic storm surges The first major storm of the Atlantic season was entering the Gulf of Mexico Monday, seeming set to avoid the BP oil spill but leaving residents jittery after causing 10 deaths.
Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militiamen slowly resurface After two years, ex-militiamen are being seen again in Baghdad neighborhoods. Officials fear the shadowy group could take advantage of Iraq's festering political crisis and U.S. troop withdrawals.
Conflicting reports on Iran ship Conflicting reports about whether or not Iran will be sending a ship with humanitarian aid to attempt to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip were given by officials from Teheran on Sunday.
Graft fears as massive cash sums fly out of Kabul: Report Kabul: More than USD 3 billion in cash has been flown out of Kabul in recent years amid fears that ill-gotten gains from corruption and narcotics are being stashed overseas, a report said on Monday.
EU to ban selling eggs by dozen Shoppers will be banned from buying bread rolls or eggs priced by the dozen under new food labelling regulations proposed by the European parliament.
Kyrgyz vote wins 90 percent support Kyrgyzstan has voted to create Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy, referendum results showed on Monday, prompting Russia to warn extremists could seize power after a wave of ethnic violence.
CIA clueless on Osama for 10 yrs. The CIA lost track of Osama bin Laden before the 9/11 attacks ever took place, and still has no good idea of where he is, the nation's spy chief admitted yesterday.
Turkey closes airspace to some Israeli flights
Turkey has closed its airspace to some Israeli military flights following a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, the Turkish prime minister and officials said Monday. An official said civilian commercial flights were not affected.
Report: Karzai holds secret talks with top militant Afghan President Hamid Karzai has held face-to-face talks with Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of a particularly brutal militant group with ties to al-Qaida, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday.
Iran is Surrounded by US Troops in 10 Countries Iran literally is surrounded by American troops, notes an oil market analyst, Energy and Capital editor Christian A. DeHaemer. There is no evidence of an imminent attack, but he connects a number of recent events and the presence of American soldiers to warn that oil prices might soar -- with or without a pre-emptive strike aimed at stopping Iran’s nuclear power ambitions.
Looking for exit, US scales back ambitions Nearly nine years into the Afghan war, the United States has begun scaling back its ambitions, searching for an acceptable way out that avoids defeat. Talk of routing the Taliban has been replaced by efforts to woo insurgents to lay down their arms, as pressure builds to find a formula that will open the door to an eventual exit, even as more American troops pour into the south.
CIA: Afghanistan Progress 'Slower' Than Anticipated In an EXCLUSIVE interview on “This Week,” CIA Director Leon Panetta said that making progress in Afghanistan is both “harder” and going more slowly than anticipated.
G20 adopts Canadian compromise on deficits, bank tax G20 leaders have accepted a Canadian compromise on post-recession economic policy that includes aggressive deficit-cutting targets but allows individual countries to devise their own approach to meeting those goals.
G20 police clamp down on protests a day after riots Police cracked down hard on G20 dissent Sunday in the wake of violent protests that saw downtown Toronto transformed into part police state, part riot zone over the weekend.
U.S. NEWS
Byrd's death leaves Dems short on key votes The death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., has left Senate Democrats grief stricken but also one more vote short of the 60 they need to pass a financial regulatory overhaul bill they had hoped to take up this week.
Justices Uphold Sarbanes-Oxley Act The first group established by Congress to regulate the accounting industry survived a constitutional challenge on Monday, emerging only with its members having a little less job security.
Chicago Mayor Daley Vows New Gun Ordinances As expected, Mayor Daley and Chicago's City Council are circling the wagons to defend against an unfavorable decision by the Supreme Court concerning the city's gun ban.
Thick oil soils Mississippi shore Gluey gobs of thick oil from BP Plc’s Gulf of Mexico spill washed ashore in Mississippi for the first time on Sunday as Russia called for a special levy on oil companies to finance a fund to help clean up environmental disasters like this one.
Robert Byrd, Longest Serving U.S. Senator, Dies at 92 Robert Byrd, the U.S. senator who set records for longevity in Congress while becoming known for his powerful oratory and mastery of legislative rules and traditions, has died. He was 92.
Obama says he's serious about tackling deficits President Barack Obama said on Sunday he would follow through on a pledge to rein in soaring U.S. budget deficits and said that would involve presenting Americans with "some very difficult choices" next year.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
U.K. Doctors call for total NHS ban on homoeopathy Hundreds of delegates to the British Medical Association's conference are expected to support seven motions all opposed to the use of public money to pay for remedies which they claim are, at best, scientifically unproven and, at worst, ineffective.
U.S. government panel now pushing "vaccinations for all!" No exceptions… An advisory panel to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that every person be vaccinated for the seasonal flu yearly, except in a few cases where the vaccine is known to be unsafe.
Supermarkets selling meat from animals fed GM crops Supermarkets across Britain are routinely selling food from animals reared on genetically modified crops without having to declare it on labelling, it can be disclosed.
Genetically Altered Salmon Get Closer to the Table The Food and Drug Administration is seriously considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered animal that people would eat — salmon that can grow at twice the normal rate.
Bill Gates now pushing genetically modified seeds in Africa The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation continues to throw its support behind risky genetically modified (GM) seeds as a means for feeding hungry Africans, ignoring safer and more reliable technologies that already exist.
WHO and the pandemic flu “conspiracies” Governments that took advice from WHO are unwinding their vaccine contracts, and billions of dollars’ worth of stockpiled oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza)—bought from health budgets already under tight constraints—lie unused in warehouses around the world.
BP oil spill costs hit $100 million/day BP said it had spent $300 million on its Gulf of Mexico oil spill response effort in the past three days, hitting the $100 million/day spend rate for the first time and bringing its total bill to $2.65 billion so far.
Korea’s future lies with China — economically South Korea's security future lies with the United States, but its economic future lies with China, therefore, it should forge an effective "two-track strategy" to balance between the two powers. However, that would be a delicate task, said an internationally noted expert on the relationship between politics and economics.
Chinese yuan likely tracking 15 currencies, Merrill says China is likely tracking more than a dozen currencies in addition to the U.S. dollar in setting the value of the yuan, though there's no guarantee it will pay much heed to fluctuations apart from those of the greenback in setting the value of its currency, analysts say.
Huge tent city takes root Pastor Joe Hunkin picked his way around rusted car axles, propane tanks and two-by-fours studded with bent nails to find a homeless encampment where people have been cooking and sleeping directly behind Waipahu High School, in an area that received unwanted national attention this month.
Gold expected at all-time high next week Gold futures ended close to a fresh record on the New York Mercantile Exchange, London, on Friday, on strong investor demand and jitters ahead of a gathering of world leaders.
Obama calls for bank tax as next step in reform President Barack Obama, fresh from a win on a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street regulations, on Saturday urged Congress to take up his proposal for a $90 billion, 10-year tax on banks as the next step in reform.
G20 countries to tame debt at their own pace World leaders moved away on Saturday from lockstep policy pledges to secure economic recovery, leaving countries leeway to chart their own courses in taming government debt and clamping down on banks to prevent another financial crisis.
Financial reform package wouldn't change Wall Street much The legislation leaves largely untouched some of the biggest concerns about the financial industry that grew out of the mortgage meltdown and the resulting credit crisis.
Lawmakers Reach Compromise on Financial Regulation The U.S. Congress is on pace to deliver a sweeping re-write of Wall Street’s rules to President Barack Obama by July 4, meeting the deadline lawmakers set for themselves.
Austerity will lead to economic collapse As Toronto prepares to play host to the world's leaders, the global financial crisis continues to rage. Economics are expected to be at the forefront of discussions at the G-20 summit, however, each country has different concerns. Michel Chossudovsky says that what works in Europe is unlikely to be effective in the US since the causes of the economic crisis in the US are well known: escalating military expenditures and the bank bailout.
Regulators close three banks, total now 86 Regulators on Friday closed three small banks, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said, bringing the tally of total U.S. bank failures so far this year to 86.
Greece shakes the markets again as Bank warns of eurozone shocks Fears that the Greek government may soon have to tap its €110bn eurozone/IMF rescue package sent the cost of insuring Greek government bonds against default soaring to record highs yesterday – and hit UK banks shares in London badly, thanks to the "contagion" factor.
Evans-Pritchard Announces Fed Contemplating $5 Trillion QE Expansion n his latest column, the Daily Telegraph's A. Evans-Pritchard does a good job of recapping all the various reasons why Bernanke has now completely cornered himself, and facing a newly collapsing economy, is left with just one recourse: the printing of more, more, more paper.
History Tells US The Euro Will Not Survive, Greece Will Get Worse, And There Will Be A Trade Shock With the PBoC’s currency announcement last Saturday and the surge (!) in the value of RMB on Monday (all very kindly timed to add zest to my meetings this week in Boston, New York, and Washington), you would assume that today’s entry would be all about the RMB and the effect of the PBoC announcement.
COMMENTARY
The New Ideological Divide
By Peter Schiff' Despite the apparent deficit-cutting solidarity that emerged from this weekend’s G-20 meeting in Toronto, it is clear that the great powers of the industrialized world have not been this philosophically estranged since the end of the Cold War.
Conspiracies and conspiracism
By Jim Fetzer A new study from Political Research Associates entitled Toxic To Democracy: Conspiracy Theories, Demonization, & Scapegoating, by Chip Berlet now proclaims that conspiracy theories are “toxic to democracy.”
Polycentric Law, a.k.a. Anarcho-Capitalism as No Big Deal I’ve been reading through this wonderful collection of anarcho-capitalist articles, and thinking that we need to get people to realize that polycentric law, or anarcho-capitalism, is just no big deal and we should get over it already. One of my favorites is this common sense article on Market Chosen Law by Edward Stringham. Stringham points out that universities, condominium associations, and shopping malls all act to some extent as private governments on a local basis already.
Explosive Evidence at WTC Cited by Former CDI Employee Having had the privilege of speaking with Tom Sullivan, an actual explosive-charge placement technician, we have some new insights to pass along as to how controlled demolition works, where it started, and the effect that 9/11 had on the demolition industry.
Loose-Lip McChrystal Did Obama a Huge Favor
By Alexander Cockburn Just when Barack Obama's presidency was drowning in BP's crude oil, a megalomaniacal US Army general called Stanley McChrystal, commander of the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, did him several huge favors.
How They Screw You How the central bank, and government use war to rob the people and feed themselves and select corporations with corporate welfare. Notice that the media basically ignores this as do schools, and yet it took only about 4 minutes to explain the whole thing.
Kenneth O’Keefe Says it All In the following videos you can watch a BBC presenter going out of her way to justify the Israeli hasbara murderous narrative. She is no doubt the devil's advocate but she fails. Sentence by sentence, Ken O’Keefe manages to teach her and us what kindness and humanity are all about.
Why the Taliban is winning in Afghanistan
By William Dalrymple As Washington and London struggle to prop up a puppet government over which Hamid Karzai has no control, they risk repeating the blood-soaked 19th-century history of Britain’s imperial defeat.
BP welcomes you to the apocalypse
By Mark Morford Please do not worry. Please do not fret about that one thing you always fret about, or that other thing, or even that third thing that might have something to do with erupting oil, dead pelicans and that sickening feeling in your gut that Something is Very Wrong Indeed.
Celente: The US is run by Wall Street While the White House is celebrating the new financial reform bill, Gerald Celente of the Trends Research Institute says that nothing has really changed. Banks are still divided into "too big to fail" or "too small to save;" people are still being encouraged to spend rather than save. Celente says that the only thing that keeps the US from putting in austerity measures as has been done in most of Europe is that the US can print more money.
Maywood, RIP: When Police Kill A City
By William N. Grigg Maywood's financial collapse suggests one ironically positive aspect of the ongoing depression: It is possible for a police state bubble to collapse, if only in a geographically limited sense.
A Failed President (or Two)
By Patrick J. Buchanan Perceived to have failed the country, the Bush Republicans were summarily dismissed in 2006 and 2008. Obama’s Democrats go to the wall in November. Republicans will inherit the windfall. Yet few harbor great hopes that the GOP has the cure for what ails America.
Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan?
Prof. David Ray Griffin The official rationale for our presence in Afghanistan is a lie. We are there for other reasons. Critics have offered various suggestions as to the most important of those reasons.110 Whatever be the answer to that question, however, we have not been there to apprehend the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
Illiterate Cop Arrests Nursing Mother Because He Couldn’t Read a Restraining Order When Amy Shroff’s ex-boyfriend violated a restraining order by blocking her exit from a police station parking lot with his pickup, the Denver woman thought officers would come to her defense. Instead, Officer Frank Spellman mistakenly arrested Shroff for violating the restraining order. She ended up spending a night in jail despite pleas that her 4-month-old needed breast milk due to a medical condition that prevented the baby from drinking formula.
Cop says he was 'kind' to victim The police officer caught on video in a baton beating thinks he showed "compassion" in only hitting a prone and unarmed suspect about 20 times, his lawyer said in closing statements yesterday.
How many Americans are targeted for assassination?
By Glen Greenwald Anyone who doubts that the Obama administration has adopted the core Terrorism policies of Bush/Cheney should listen to the concession -- or boast -- which Brennan himself made in his interview with Lake.
Obama administration poised to challenge Arizona immigration law A White House showdown with the state of Arizona over its tough new immigration law is likely to unfold next week, when the Obama administration is expected to file a lawsuit aimed at blocking the state's bid to curb illegal immigration on its own, according to people familiar with the administration's plans.
WHO to tax your internet usage to fund vaccines in third-world countries The United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO) is pushing hard to impose global consumer taxes to help fund its various programs, including a new proposal that would tax the internet in order to pay for vaccines and other pharmaceutical medicines for third-world countries.
US Navy Drills in Preparation For Iranian Strikes The armada of 10 US warships plus an Israeli and German battle vessel each, which transited the Suez Canal Friday, June 18, has reached the Persian Gulf, debkafile's military sources report.
Experts: BP Lowballing Size of Leaking Oil Reservoir The size of the reservoir is important for several reasons. Specifically, the more oil in the Macondo reservoir, the longer the oil leak will flow if the efforts to cap it fail.
FCC Moves to Regulate Internet The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted on Thursday to begin the formal process of bringing the Internet under greater federal control – a move sought by both President Barack Obama and FCC Chairnman Julius Genachowski--even though federal law calls for an Internet "unfettered by Federal or State regulation."
WikiLeaks Founder Has Massacre Video After several days underground, the founder of the secretive website WikiLeaks has gone public to disclose that he is preparing to release a classified Pentagon video of a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan last year that left as many as 140 civilians dead, most of them children and teenagers.
Internet 'kill switch' proposed for US TechAmerica, probably the largest US technology lobby group, said it was concerned about "unintended consequences that would result from the legislation's regulatory approach" and "the potential for absolute power".
UK Eugenicists: We need a global initiative for population reduction A growing number of scientists are going where politicians fear to tread by calling for a wider public debate on the sensitive issue of the global human population, which is set to rise from the present 6.8 billion to perhaps 9 billion by 2050.
Afghanistan Mineral Deposits Was “Economic Prize” All Along — Brzezinski News of the “Stunning discovery” of vast minerals in Afghanistan, first reported by James Risen in Sunday’s New York Times article, U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan, is rapidly spreading as “good news.” Well, unfortunately for mainstream media, this is old news and a well-documented motivation for the War in Afghanistan by the global elite.
Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency linked to Taliban Pakistani military intelligence not only funds and trains Taliban fighters in Afghanistan but is officially represented on the movement's leadership council, giving in significant influence over operations, a report said.
Could WikiLeaks secrets destroy US foreign relations A video released by the website WikiLeaks shows an American helicopter attack in Baghdad in 2007 that left 12 people dead, including two employees of the news agency Reuters. The video then shows the soldiers celebrating their exploits but now that the "whistleblower" has been arrested, it turns out there is a lot more that might be made public by WikiLeaks.
Daniel Ellsberg Says He Fears US Might Assassinate Wikileaks Founder Daniel Ellsberg, the former US military analyst who released the pentagon papers in 1971, appeared on MSNBC today with Dylan Ratigan. He said he fears for the safety of Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, who is reportedly on the verge of leaking secret State Department cables. The Daily Beast reports that Assange is currently being sought by the Pentagon, and Ellsberg advises him not to reveal his whereabouts.
Bilderberg 2010: Jim Tucker’s Final Report Bilderberg boys were so depressed as they gathered at the Dolce luxury hotel in Sitges, Spain June 3 that “many important people are not showing up,” because “they always find out and we get into trouble at home,” said one, echoing the sentiments of all.
U.S debt to rise to $19.6 trillion by 2015 The U.S. debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015, according to a Treasury Department report to Congress.
Helen Thomas resigned? Nothing surprising here She went out with a flash and a bang, kicking with her boots and, as Tun Dr. Mahathir remarked recently, essentially, we may have lost the skirmish, but we have won the battle on principle, and they have shown their true colors.
Brain scans ‘could be used to snoop on thoughts’ The use of brain scanners must be regulated in order to prevent them being used to invade privacy and threaten civil liberties, a legal expert has warned.
