Tag Archive: Corruption


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By Desert Rose

Here we  have  evidence  of the  ruthless  and depraved deeds of a  government  driven  by  greed and  power.  The  psychological process  used  to  turn the  citizens of  a  country against fellow  countrymen/women.  To demonize and criminalize innocents  for their  own  ends.  The  rationalization behind the process is  twofold. 

First it is  an  efficient and effective  way  to  eliminate  a group of  people  that  pose a  threat  to  your  ultimate  plans  of  control .  By  ensuring that  the  citizenry  at  large  are indoctrinated to  believe  that  these  Falun Gong  practitioners posed  a threat  to the nation and it’s people.  Labeling them  as  extremists,  suicidal ,  dangerous  and  deranged.  Thereby  enlisting the   uninformed citizenry to participate  in the persecution and  ultimately  the execution of a people  who meant  harm to  no one, save  those who  could not  afford independent  thought……The Government.

Top Officials Implicated in Organ Harvesting in China

Police chief’s research exemplifies regime’s guilt

Before he kicked off the biggest political storm in recent Chinese communist history last February after attempting to defect at a U.S. Consulate in southwestern China, police chief Wang Lijun supervised the cutting of thousands of organs from the bodies of prisoners of conscience—while they were still alive.

Wang was merely a mid-ranking officer in a dark conspiracy that reached to the top of the Chinese Communist Party.

In Jinzhou City in Liaoning Province in northeastern China, Wang Lijun ran a research laboratory in the same building as the security bureau he headed. His research focused on live, human organ extraction and transplantation.

He was working under the watch of Bo Xilai, the recently disgraced official who was head of Liaoning Province when Wang began his research.

The facts about Wang were revealed in 2006 when, three years after becoming director of the public security bureau, he was given an award—but not one for fighting crime. Wang’s team had done pioneering research on how best to transplant organs taken from prisoners—who were possibly still alive when their organs were removed—and surgeons acting at his direction had honed new techniques over “thousands” of on-site trials.

“As we all know, the so-called ‘on the scene research’ is the result of several thousand intensive on-site transplants,” he said in his acceptance speech for the award.

He talked up his research: “For a veteran policeman, to see someone being executed and to see this person’s organs being transplanted to several other persons’ bodies, it was profoundly stirring.”

Read Full Article Here

Secondly,  this  process being used to  indoctrinate  the  masses to  view those  who are  different  as  evil and  dangerous.  Thereby  providing  not only  a successful cover  for the governments evil purposes but  acceptance even encouragement to  punish these people.  For the  greater  good  of  course.

A Regime Makes War Against the Peaceful Falun Gong Practice

The Chinese Communist Party began its campaign to crush Falun Gong with an avalanche of propaganda depicting people who often meditate in parks as suicidal revolutionaries bent on destroying China.

Few Chinese believed the narrative, despite it being repeated hundreds of times. Up to 400 articles were published by each of the major newspapers within the first 30 days of the campaign.

Falun Gong was well-established, with over 28,000 practice sites across China. It was comfortably familiar to many, and public sympathy was with the group.

Then-Party chief Jiang Zemin began efforts to suppress Falun Gong in 1996, but the regime’s efforts met with sit-ins and peaceful acts of civil disobedience that Chinese people hadn’t seen since the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Jiang, who rose to power through supporting the crackdown on the student democracy movement, was both jealous and threatened by the fact that Falun Gong had attracted more adherents than the CCP had members. There were roughly 60 million Party members and up to 100 million Falun Gong practitioners.

He also wanted to wipe out the resurgence of Chinese traditional belief that Falun Gong represented, and in the persecution—which would demand that everyone in China take sides—he saw an opportunity to solidify his power.

As he said in a letter that made the case for persecution, he could not tolerate that Falun Gong adherents believed in something beyond the materialism and atheism of Chinese communism.

For three years, the security forces had harassed Falun Gong practitioners. Following the publication in the city of Tianjin, just down the road from Beijing, of an article attacking the practice, adherents gathered asking the article be withdrawn. Police arrested 45 of them, and in response to pleas for their release, told the practitioners to ask Beijing.

Ten thousand Falun Gong adherents gathered at the appeals office in Beijing on April 25, 1999. It was a crowd so large police arranged them on the sidewalks around Zhongnanhai, the communist leadership compound.

That night Jiang wrote to members of the Politburo Standing Committee that “behind the scenes” Falun Gong masterminds were making a move against the regime. He called it “the most serious incident since the political turbulence in 1989.”

Practitioners had merely gone to appeal against mistreatment, asking the central government to uphold its own laws.

Jiang wrote that Falun Gong was competing with the Party for the masses. “We must understand this issue as a political one, as one that involves the very existence of the Party and the nation. We must thoroughly investigate it and show zero tolerance!”

Read Full Article Here

One  would  ponder the use of  this process in  another  country,  say  one that  is  not   communist or  at  least  not  yet.  Comparing the process of the  criminalization of  Falun Gong practitioners to  oh  let’s  say Americans  who  question the  status  quo.  People  who  question  government  and  their  motives.  People  who have questioned  the  loss  of  liberties, the  more and  more  prevalent terror  attacks on  American  soil.  Those  who so  distrust  the  motives  of the  government   that they question everything including the  incessant  need   to  nullify the  Constitution and the Bill of   Rights.  Unlawful wars,  lies  to the  American People,  subterfuge at every turn.  All to  undermine and  demoralize the people.  Labeled  as  conspiracy  nuts,  non  conformists, anti-government radicals, Christians, Conservatives, Struggling  Middle Class, Constitutionalists, Libertarians, veterans and  gun  owners have  all been lumped  together  to  be labeled in this manner.  Listed  as possible terrorists we  are  placed on   watch  lists  and  no  fly  lists by the   Department  of Homeland Security. 

Terrorist watch listDHS’s new terrorist database rankles privacy groups

Published 15 August 2011

A new DHS plan to create its own version of the FBI’s terrorist watch list that is exempt from the Privacy Act has privacy groups concerned; under the proposed plan, DHS would create the Watchlist Service which would bring the FBI’s suspected terrorist list in-house and expand on it

DHS plans a Privacy Act-exempt watch list // Source: dariknews.bg

A new DHS plan to create its own version of the FBI’s terrorist watch list that is exempt from the Privacy Act has privacy groups concerned.

Under the proposed plan, DHS would create the Watchlist Service which would bring the FBI’s suspected terrorist list in-house and expand on it. The list would contain names, dates of birth, biometric data, photos, passport information, driver’s licenses, and other critical information. The goal, according to DHS’s 6 July proposal, is to increase employee access to the FBI and Justice Department’s list “in order to automate and simplify the current method for transmitting” the data to DHS component agencies including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).”

TSA currently uses the watch list for its Secure Flight program, which is aimed at preventing suspected terrorists from boarding planes by allowing the agency to instantly check ticketed airline passengers’ names against the database.

Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in July, David Heyman, the assistant Homeland Security secretary for policy, explained that DHS had identified screening gaps in its review of the suspected terrorist database.

To address these security gaps, DHS “has transitioned the Secure Flight program to use all terrorist watch list records containing a full name and a full date of birth and designates matches to those records as selectees subject to enhanced physical screening prior to boarding a flight,” he said.

What concerns privacy advocates though, is a particular provision in DHS’s proposal that states the department will “exempt portions of the system of records from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil and administrative enforcement requirements.”

The proposed provision has led privacy advocates like the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the American Library Association’s Washington office, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, and the Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights to issue a joint letter to DHS demanding that the department reconsider its proposal.

The groups’ main concern is that these exemptions would remove critical safe guards put in place to protect the rights of citizens. Their letter stated, “secretive government lists without any meaningful safeguards present a very real risk of ‘mission creep,’ in which a system is pressed into unintended or unauthorized uses. Under this proposal, the agency would have the right to maintain and rely upon information it does not know to be accurate, relevant, timely, or complete without recourse — the right to subject citizens to arbitrary decisions.”

Read Full Article Here

Anyone  who criticizes, anyone  who complains  of the  abuse of  power  that  is  taking place  is  labeled.  The indoctrinated   and  conditioned  masses follow  suit  and   play their   roles  to the   T- baggers, Conspiracy  nuts, wingnuts, racists,zombies, lymbic  brained, tin foil  brigade……so many more   epitaphs   used to  describe  those  who  question and  do  not  follow   quietly  the  disturbing path that  is  being  set  before  this  nation.  You  say    Pffffft  that  can’t  happen  here this is  not   China, this is  not Russia, this is  not the  Middle  East.  We  have  freedom ,  we  have  rights,  we  are American!! 

Janeane Garofalo calls teabaggers “racist rednecks”

Tea Party Racism??

Ann Coulter: Occupy Wall Street Protesters Are Getting in Touch With Demonic Side

MSNBC on NYPD Police Brutality during Occupy Wall Street Lawrence O’donnell with “The Last Word”

Severe police action as thousands of Occupy protesters fill Times Square

Look around  folks  and  take a  real hard  look  at  what  is  happening  around  you.  How  many  of  you are  questioning the  rationalization  behind   the  events  that are  taking  place and  how  they are  being  utilized to  fulfill an  agenda?
  What  agenda you  may  ask?  Well let’s  take a  look  shall  we?  The constant and  common  denominator  between  all these  events  and  the  agenda  that  they will ultimately   fulfill can  all be pinpointed  to one event   in the  history  of  this Nation.  On  September  11th  2001  there  became  evident to  anyone  who  wanted to see  a deadly  agenda that  marked  the  decent of this  once  great  nation.  The  mentality  that  has  gone  on to become the  battle  cry  of  not only  the  administration but of   State  and local   governments as  well.  “Never let a  good  crisis go to waste”, a statement  made  infamous   by  Rahm Emmanuel  and parroted  many  times over  by   different  figures  within the  government  apparatus. 

  Dianne Feinstein Not letting a good crisis go to waste.

Obama Gun Control Press Conference afte Sandy Hook Shooting

Incredible Speech on Gun Violence

Never Let A Good Crisis Go To Waste : Nanny Bloomberg Brings Us Protection Not Only From Our Bad Choices and Lack Of Control in Food Choices, But In Our Ownership Of Guns and Now In Our Freedoms and Constitution….For Our Own Good Of Course !

The   WTC  attack was  used  not only  to  usher in  an  illegal war ( which  we  now  have proof of having  been  planned years before  they were  able to  implement it) , it  was  the  beginning  of the  end of the   Constitution and  the  American  way  of  life.  How was it the  end?  Very  simply  it  helped to  usher in the  implementation of  the  Patriot  Act. 

Sept. 20, 2001 – Bush Declares War on Terror

Bill Cooper predicts 9/11 attack on the twin towers

  Judge Andrew Napolitano Natural Rights and The Patriot Act part 1 of 3

So many, so  very many called  for the  government to  do  something  and  protect  us from the   big  bad  terrorists and they  complied.  The Patriot  act  was  enacted  and  those   cowards who could only think of  being  protected  not  caring  how,  convinced themselves  that  more  government  was  better  and that the  government  knew  best.  Did they  once  stop to think  what they  were  asking  for ?  Did  they  stop  to think  what  the  end  result  would  be? Did they  once  stop and   remember   all this  government and  others  like it  had  done  when afforded unchecked  power?   The  answer  to all these  questions , unfortunately   is  NO…….All they  could  think  about  was  their  fear  and  their  need  to be protected  at  all costs.  Their  response to those  who  did  think and  remember was quite amusing and devastatingly  sad…….”If you have  nothing to hide, then you have  nothing to  fear”.  This  has  become  the  cry of the  conformists and  apologists.  They have  opted for the head in the  sand  approach.  If  the government  says it is  for  my  own  good then  it  must  be true.  Anyone denying  me and mine the  safety being  offered  by the  government is wrong and therefore  dangerous.  The  demoralization and alienation  campaign  had  begun.  George  Bush  gave a  speech and  in it  I can  remember the  use of  the   word  terrorist over  and over  again ,  culminating in this one  statement  that  said  it  all and  frankly labeled everyone in one  way  or  another……”If you are  not  with us  , the you are  with the  terrorists!”  That is  how  we  as  Americans  have  lived our  lives  everyday  since whether  we  are aware of it  or  not.  We are blackmailed and threatened  on a  daily  basis.  Oh not  in a  confrontational in  your  face  kind of  way  ,  no of  course  not .  It is  more subtle than  that .  A  quite   sophisticated  mind  game that   is  molding  the  majority  of  Americans  into the  hive mind citizens they  strive  for .  The useful  idiots  that Yuri  Bezmenov  the   Ex- KGB  Officer  that  explains the steps  necessary  to  undermine a nation. 

Ideological Subversion of Western Society

  Soviet Subversion of the Free World Press, 1984 – Complete

For those of  you  who  are   beginning to have  doubts  and  are   opening  your  eyes  to the  possibility  of  something   not  being   quite  right I say this……The  devil is  in the details and in  order  for you to see the  truth   you  must look at the  whole  picture not  just the  frame that  is before  you at  any one  given  moment  in time.  You  must pull back and  look at  it  as  a  whole.  See History  as  it  has  unfolded  before  your  eyes not in  the  way  they  have  chosen to  present it  to you.  Understand that  the orchestration of this  play has  been a  very  long time in the making  ,but  who is  behind it is  not  as  important  as  where we  will be  as a  nation   if they  accomplish what  they  have  set  out to do. 

US-Canada Claim Iran-Al Qaeda Ties Despite US Funding Al Qaeda in Iran for Years

April 23, 2013 (LD) – As the FBI reels from what now appears to be revelations it was directly involved in the Boston Marathon bombings, a deluge of FBI “success” stories have been “serendipitously” splashed across Western headlines. Among them was an allegedly “foiled” terror attack in Canada, reported to be the work of terrorists supported by “Al-Qaeda operatives in Iran.” The Globe and Mail, in its report, “Canada joins U.S. in alleging al-Qaeda has operatives based in Iran,” states:

“To many, it came as a surprise that the RCMP is alleging that two terror suspects arrested in Canada on Monday were supported by al-Qaeda operatives in Iran.

The Sunni-based al-Qaeda and Shia Iran belong to different branches of Islam that have been at odds historically. But in recent years U.S. officials have formally alleged that Iran has allowed al-Qaeda members to operate out of its territory.”

Both at face value and upon deeper examination, this assertion is utterly absurd, divorced from reality, and indicative of the absolute contempt within which the Western establishment holds the global public. In reality, the West, the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel in particular, have propped up and perpetuated Al Qaeda for the very purpose of either undermining or overthrowing the governments of Iran, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Algeria, Libya,  Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and beyond. Regarding Iran in particular, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh in his 2007 New Yorker piece titled, “The Redirection: Is the Administration’s new policy benefiting our enemies in the war on terrorism?” would state:

To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.

In a follow up, Hersh in his 2008 New Yorker piece titled, “Preparing the Battlefield: The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran,” spelled out a damning indictment of US involvement in bolstering, arming, and funding terror organizations, not linked to, but described as actually being Al Qaeda.Read Full Article Here

To conform and  go with the  flow  at this point  in time is  tantamount to  suicide as  a nation.  You  must  open  your  eyes  and  view the  events  as  a puzzle  that  must  be  deciphered.  It’s  true intent exposed so that  you may  see how  it   has  developed  and  what it’s ultimate  intent entails.  To do  so  requires discipline,  time  and  courage.  There  are  many  who  would  sooner  shoot  you  down and label  you  crazy  than allow  you  to  go  down this  road.  Which you  choose is  entirely up to you ,  however,  if you are  reading this  and  you  choose to  do  nothing, to  say  nothing then you are  as  responsible  as  the  criminals  perpetrating these crimes  against  our  people.  Your  silence and  lack of  resolve  making you  complicit  in the  crimes  that  will be  heaped  upon  the  American   people when the  time to   unveil the final  agenda arrives.  Truly  look at  what  is  presented  and  try to  understand  where it is  going and  what   the  ultimate  result   could be.  That is  all anyone  can  ask  of  you  That is  all  any of  us  would require.  We  need  you to  wake  up  and understand  what  is  being  done…….

Former diplomat wistleblower talks about US government secrets and corruption

  FBI Fake Terror Plot History: Judge Napolitano

Patriot  Act  NDAA, Indefinite  Detention  Of  American Citizens,  Presidential Kill List, Fusion Centers, CISPA, SOPA, PIPA, Gun Control, Executive Orders, Unamanned  Drones, TSA, Lockdowns,  Door to Door Illegal Searches, Warantless  Surveillance, Personal Data Sharing, Militarization of  local  police, Legitimization of  Police  Brutality, Veterans – Christians-Constitutionalists-Libertarians-Gun Owners- Activists being  labeled  as  potential  terrorists and the list   goes on and  on

FBI knew of PLOT TO KILL Occupy Wall Street activists; stayed silent, potential SNIPER ASSASINATIONS

FBI & DHS Under Obama Declared Occupy Wall Street Protesters TERRORIST To Protect Big Business

Occupy Wall Street

  FOX News Attacks Occupy Wall Street Protests

On Fox News, Tea Party Good, Occupy Wall Street Bad

 

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Occupy tries to help Columbine survivor keep his home

“THIS Is Where Occupy Is Going” – MOC #188


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Ron Paul: What if the People Wake Up?


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What Really Happened to Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence? Was an Innocent Man Barbecued at Big Bear?

credit: KADN Fox 15

Ruth Hull
Activist Post

Usually when someone is executed, there is an arrest, an arraignment, a Grand Jury indictment or preliminary hearing information, a second arraignment, jury selection, a trial, a conviction, a sentencing hearing, appeals and a last meal. Law enforcement in California has found a new approach to criminal justice. It is the barbecue-them-in-the-cabin technique.

In California’s new criminal justice program, a lot of money is theoretically saved by not having to worry about investigations paperwork, discovery, hearings, the cost of a jury, judicial salaries, clerks’ salaries, reporters’ salaries, executioner’s salaries and so forth. Given that nobody has been executed in CA in years, the barbecue technique is the most certain and fastest way to the particular goal of terminating a California resident with prejudice – in theory. So now, we can forget about irrelevant details like the Constitutions of the United States and the State of California, the California Penal Code, and the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard.

At this point, it probably doesn’t make any sense to ask who really killed Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence. After all, with the execution over and done with, why should anyone care what happened to these individuals? It’s not my problem or yours. The media is busy making money off the uncorroborated and unsupported official story. But if you are crazy like me and still think that that two-and-a-quarter-century-old document called the Constitution matters, you might be interested in finding out what really happened to these two lovebirds.

Under the official story, at 9:10 P.M on February 3, 2013 a couple, walking through the upper floor (roof level) of the parking garage at 2100 Scholarship, Irvine CA, spotted a man and woman slumped over inside a car that reportedly belonged to Keith Lawrence.
None of the reports mention any bullet holes in the vehicle, just the slumped over bodies. The car was parked in a “guest” parking space 269 or 271, according to an informant. (see photograph).

(parking space close-up)

This is a security garage. To get in through either the car gates or the pedestrian entrance, a remote control or a code is required. This means, in all likelihood, someone let the assailant into the garage. This writer got in, but this writer is not a big Black guy in a million dollar area of one of the most racist counties in America. While there may not have been much in the way of cameras, there were lights including one right where Keith parked.

(walk-through security gate)
( drive-through security gate)

Keith was a Fullerton Police Officer. Police officers continue to carry their guns with them when they are off duty. Monica had grown up in a police family and would have been trained from childhood to be on alert too. Unless invited, Chris would have been out of place in that garage and Keith likely would have gone for his gun, instinctively – unless he trusted Chris Dorner. Unless Chris were a friend, he would not have known which parking space Keith would take, a necessary bit of information for hiding out and lying in wait. It is unlikely that Chris could have shot both Keith and Monica without one of the two getting off a counter-shot. So you have an assailant who is let into the parking structure and allowed to approach the car of his armed victims prior to their deaths. If Chris Dorner were on some kind of vendetta against Monica’s father, is it likely she and her fiancé Keith would have allowed him into the parking garage and close to the vehicle­­­?

Another interesting fact is that no shots were heard by any of the tenants. Unless Arlen Specter wants to return from the dead and present another miracle bullet theory, there would have been at least two shots. The coroner’s report stated there were multiple gunshot wounds. (Source)

Read Full Article Here

Published on Feb 14, 2013

The personal is political, the politcal is personal. When you see the big picture, you see how everything is connected.

ADDRESSING SUGGESTIONS ON SAVING THIS COUNTRY

Published on Feb 14, 2013

The personal is political, the politcal is personal. When you see the big picture, you see how everything is connected.

Published on May 31, 2012 by

Hip-hop artist Immortal Technique is a self-described social guerrilla. Felipe Coronel is the real name of the Peruvian-born, Harlem-raised political activist who raps about politics, religion and racism. Since the genesis of the OWS movement, Tech has been an active voice for the cause, and on July 10 a documentary will be released showing his everyday life. He now joins us with more on his beliefs and his work.

Politics and Legislation

Deputy PM denies Kremlin cover-up of multi-millions in offshore deals

The Russian Prosecutor’s Office has denied that the earnings of deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov are related to his job in government. ­The accusations came from several international business dailies that disclosed details of multi-million-dollar transactions involving Shuvalov. They said Shuvalov’s offshore company, registered in his wife’s name, has earned millions investing in the projects of Russia’s most powerful enterprises, among them Gazprom, during the last twelve years – while he has been a deputy prime minister. Journalists believe that it was Shuvalov’s post that allowed him access to the best possible deals…..

http://rt.com/news/prime-time/shuvalov-assets-offshore-corruption-692/

Open mic catches Obama asking Russian president for space on missile defense head

Posted by: CNN White House Correspondent Brianna Keilar In a private conversation about the planned U.S.-led NATO missile defense system in Europe, President Obama asked outgoing Russian President Dmitri Medvedev for space on the issue. “On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space,” Obama told Medvedev. “Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space,” Medvedev replied. “This is my last election,” Obama said. “After my election I have more flexibility.” “I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir,” Medvedev said, referring to incoming President Vladimir Putin……

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=world/2012/03/26/dnt-keilar-obama-asks-for-space-on-missile-defense.cnn   http://whitehouse.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/26/open-mic-catches-obama-asking-russian-president-for-space-on-missile-defense/

Children ‘forced to shout Long Live Sarkozy!’ when French president visited their school

By Peter Allen The French president has caused an outcry after dozens of infant school children were forced to chant ‘Long Live Sarkozy!’ when he visited their school. Parents complained about the youngsters being used as ‘propaganda tools’ after they were made to treat Nicolas Sarkozy as a hero, waving Tricolour flags and constantly shouting his name. Some were even kissed by Mr Sarkozy, who is hugely unpopular and widely expected to lose the presidential election being held in France in the Spring…..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2101337/Children-forced-shout-Long-Live-Sarkozy-French-president-visited-school.html#ixzz1qRhEm135

38 House Members Filtered Government Money to Relatives and Their Employers

Nearly 40 members of the House of Representatives earmarked $150 million to organizations affiliated with themselves and their family members from 2008 to 2010, according to a government watchdog organization. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) reported that although 24 of the earmarkers were Democrats and only 14 Republicans, the top five representatives who earmarked to organizations affiliated with them or their family members were all Republicans: Kay Granger (R-Texas) earmarked $28.3 million to her son’s project. J.D. Granger is the executive director of the Trinity River Vision Authority. Jerry Lewis (R-California) who earmarked a combined $25.5 million to three relatives’ organizations. Bill Young (R-Florida) earmarked a combined $16.6 million to two sons’ employers. In 2008 he herded $4.4 million to defense contractor SAIC’s facility in St. Petersburg, Florida, where son Patrick is a security administrator. Another $8.5 million went to the National Forensic Science Technology Center, where son Billy is a senior consultant. John Mica (R-Florida) earmarked $13 million to his daughter’s client. Mica has five relatives who work as lobbyists, two brothers, a son and a nephew. His daughter, D’Anne, ran a public relations firm whose client, the Central Commuter Rail, received the $13 million. Michael Simpson (R-Idaho) earmarked $12.5 million to his wife’s employer, the Idaho National Laboratory…….

http://www.allgov.com/Where_is_the_Money_Going/ViewNews/38_House_Members_Filtered_Government_Money_to_Relatives_and_Their_Employers_120326

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Economy

British firm discovers oil in Kenya

A British company has announced it has struck oil in Kenya for the first time, beating rivals including China in the race to strike crude. President Mwai Kibaki said it was “the first time Kenya has made such a discovery” and called it a “major breakthrough”. Tullow Oil dug more than 3,000ft into the sand and rock of the country’s northern Turkana region, hitting viable “light crude” samples that suggest Kenya’s oil is of a similar geological provenance as Uganda’s. That country found large deposits, also identified first by Tullow, in 2006 and is expected to begin refining and exports soon. The discovery in Kenya follows more than a decade of exploration across the inhospitable north stretching from the Somali border in the east to the lands around Lake Turkana in the west, where some of the oldest bones of early hominids were found. British, Chinese, Italian and French companies are understood to have been in the race to strike crude first. Tullow Oil was the most recent operator to join the search…..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/kenya/9167381/British-firm-discovers-oil-in-Kenya.html

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Wars and Rumors of War

US approves $1.3 billion in military aid to Egyptian military dictatorship By Madison Ruppert So much for revolution, and so much for the United States being absolutely and completely broke. Since I wrote the article “Egypt: what revolution?” in July of last year, very little progress has been made. United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the United States will be giving military aid to Egypt even though there are “concerns that Cairo was not meeting goals in its democratic transition,” according to Azerbaijan’s Trend News Agency. I believe that this is a bit of an understatement, seeing as the democratic transition has yet to occur and, like Libya, the people of Egypt are in many ways worse off than they were before. Instead of addressing the fact that Egypt is being ruled by a military dictatorship, Clinton waived all of the conditions placed by Congress on the $1.3 billion in aid…..

http://EndtheLie.com/2012/03/24/us-approves-1-3-billion-in-military-aid-to-egyptian-military-dictatorship/#ixzz1qRYKkwHI

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Environmental

BP oil spill continues to kill

A can is seen coated with oil that washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in Waveland, Mississippi (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP) The infamous oil spoil which gushed for 86 days in the Gulf of Mexico continues to have a rippling effect on the ecosystem. The spill caused by the London based oil giant British Petroleum, is responsible for the deaths of 11 workers aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig which was approximately 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and is now being blamed by scientist for the slow death of a brightly colored deep-sea coral community. The laboratory reports which have taken several months have resulted in scientist pointing the finger at one of the most catastrophic oil spills in history. The brown and dull coral which has been left in a state of ruin continues to sway in the gulf which had more than 70,000 barrels of oil pouring into it per day……

http://rt.com/usa/news/bp-oil-spill-contines-612/

Green Climate Fund Wants Immunity from Any Kind of Prosecution

Activist Post

Fox News is reporting that the Green Climate Fund, created by the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is seeking full diplomatic immunity from “any kind of legal process, including civil and criminal prosecution, in the countries where it operates.” The U.N. enacted the legal framework for the private-public fund at the Copenhagen Accord in 2009, but it was ratified last year during COP-17 in Durban, South Africa. The fund, controlled by a 24-nation board of trustees, received $30 billion in start-up money from U.N. member nations. The function of the Green Climate Fund is to be the facilitator of money between countries. According to Wikipedia they will act “as a mechanism to transfer money from the developed to the developing world, in order to assist the developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.” In other words, they are the group that decides where the money gets distributed. Clearly an outfit like this handling such large sums of money would be ripe for corruption. And perhaps that’s why they seek this broad immunity before the wealth transfers begin in earnest. Why else would any organization request immunity if they weren’t anticipating injustices in the actions they take? Their stated objective is to mobilize $100 billion in annual funds. They admit, however, that there’s “a lot of uncertainty where this money would have to come from.” Yet, they have outlined several potential sources of funding that further blends an already dubious relationship between governance and big business….

http://www.activistpost.com/2012/03/green-climate-fund-wants-immunity-from.html

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Whistle Blowers

US needs Assange under arrest ‘while seeking Manning link’ Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, faces an uncertain future. Pr. Marcello Ferrada-Noli told RT why he thinks it’s convenient for the US to have Assange under arrest in Sweden. ­Even considering the particularities of the Swedish legal system, there is the possibility of questioning Assange by various means, by phone, for instance, noted Ferrada-Noli, a Senior Advisor at Stockholm University. But, he added, there is a political reason why Assange is kept under arrest – and why several players are falling into place to let America get its hands on WikiLeaks’ founder. “In the US, the preparations for the trial [over Assange] are seeking a connection between WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning, trying to make Assange accountable. For that they need time, they need to prepare this material. For that, of course, it’s highly convenient to keep him under arrest.” The professor also mentions the biased image of Assange the media has been carefully drawing.

http://rt.com/news/us-assange-sweden-wikileaks-617/

New Whistleblower Emerges at JPMorgan Chase.

The Rumor Mill News Reading Room

New Whistleblower Emerges at JPMorgan Chase.
Posted By: Lion [Send E-Mail]
Date: Monday, 26-Mar-2012 07:54:05

——————
Source: Alcin Bramerton

http://alcuinbramerton.blogspot.com/

New whistleblower emerges at JPMorgan Chase.
JPMC actively involved in manipulation of LIBOR and precious metals futures.
JPMC hid client assets from MF Global. Greece holds hidden derivatives in excess of $1 trillion to which JPMC is a substantial counterparty.
Cascading global credit event imminent.
The following letter was originally posted on the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission website in the public comments section.

Read Letter Here 

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Activism

Bakers Green Acres vs. Michigan DNR – Family Farm Under Attack

Uploaded by Kyle Miron on Mar 21, 2012 A family farm in rural Michigan may be shut down by a Government Entity who has passed a law stating that the breed of hogs they are raising are a threat to neighboring croplands. In truth, the Big Pork Industry has been planning this campaign to take down all family farms with hopes to eventually siege complete control of the American Food Supply. This short-film was created with hopes to inspire the public to take action. The Baker Family website is http://www.bakersgreenacres.com and their battle has just begun. Please join in their fight.

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Radiation

Tokyo Soil – Blanketed With Fukushima Radiation – Would Be Considered “Radioactive Waste” In the United States

Tokyo Slammed with Radiation We noted in August that some parts of Tokyo have more radiation than existed in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zones. And see this and this. There are indications that radiation levels are increasing in Tokyo. Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen took 5 random soil samples in Tokyo recently, and found that all 5 were so radioactive that they would be considered radioactive waste in the United States, which would have to be specially disposed of at a facility in Texas: ……

Tokyo Soil Samples Would Be Considered Nuclear Waste In The US from Fairewinds Energy Education on Vimeo.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/03/tokyo-soil-hit-with-fukushima-radiation-would-be-considered-radioactive-waste-in-the-united-states.html

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Psy – Ops

WESTERN PSY-OPS AGAINST SYRIA: When Mrs Assad’s “Shopping” Becomes a “Crime Against Humanity”

by Finian Cunningham

Michelle Obama, the fashion style icon wife of US President Obama, is to have travel sanctions imposed on her by member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, including Russia, China and SCO associate state Iran. Mrs Obama’s annual six-figure budget for designer clothes and accessories is seen as an affront to moral decency at a time when her husband is overseeing foreign wars of aggression, mass murder in several territories using aerial drones, and ordering the assassination of individuals such as nuclear scientists in Iran. The equally fashionista-conscious wives of British and French premiers, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy, are also reportedly lined up for sanctions in several Middle East and Central Asian countries owing to these leaders supporting the illegal and murderous US-led NATO bombing campaign on Libya. By now, the reader will have spotted the above “report” to be a spoof. However, when it comes to the real world, the European Union is applying such unprecedented measures against the wife of Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad. “EU slaps Sanctions on Assad’s Wife,” read several newspaper headlines after Europe’s foreign ministers banned British born Asma Assad from traveling to EU states, and ordered the freezing of her personal assets. Describing the 36-year-old Syrian First Lady as stylish, glamorous, even sexy, the combined lurid portrayal was aimed at presenting Mrs Assad as an insensitive bimbo in the face of her country’s ongoing violence and misery….. http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29993 The CIA’s War On Human Consciousness The T.V. Kills Your Brain With The CIA’s Mass Mind Control Gun. “From 1950 to 1962, the C.I.A. ran a massive research project, a veritable Manhattan Project of the mind, spending over $1 billion a year to crack the code of human consciousness, from both mass persuasion and the use of coercion in individual interrogation.” – Professor Alfred McCoy, author of “A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror.” This quote is from Prof. McCoy’s interview with Democracy Now on February 17, 2006. “Our brain is domineering when it comes to coping with reality. We sometimes see things not as they really are, sometimes invent categories that do not exist and sometimes fail to see things that are really there. There are people who have never seen or heard of an aircraft and will not be able to imagine it and a real airplane overhead will be distorted in their minds, creating alternative realities. To recognize that what we call reality is only a consensus reality (only what we have agreed to call reality) is to recognize that we can perceive only what we can conceive. Captain Cook’s ship was invisible to the Tahitians because they could not conceive of such a vessel. Joseph Pearce explains this best: “Man’s mind mirrors a universe that mirrors man’s mind.”" – Bharati Sarkar, “Consciousness – Our third eye.” “Remember: those who are at the top of the heap will always take whatever steps are necessary to maintain the status quo. It is obvious that they cannot completely control the propagation of the information……

http://disquietreservations.blogspot.com/2012/03/cias-war-on-human-consciousness.html

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Articles of Interest

Black Panther who posted bounty for Martin’s killer arrested

The New Black Panther Party member behind the call for vigilante justice against Trayvon Martin’s killer has been arrested. ­On Monday Hashim Nzinga was imprisoned for an unrelated weapons charge. According to a Dekalb County Sheriff’s arrest warrant, Nzinga had a FN Herstal 5.7 x 28 handgun which was pawned. Over the weekend Nzinga announced to the media that anyone who was able to capture Zimmerman, “dead or alive” would be handed a reward of $10,000. The New Black Panther Party’s campaign to track and hunt down Martin’s killer was widely promoted with flyers and press conferences all across Sanford, Florida, the location of the black teen’s death. The radical group’s national chief of staff was arrested during a visit to a probation office by his probation officer….. http://rt.com/usa/news/arrest-panther-zimmerman-new-688/ Citing Potential “Hate,” Feds and Race Profiteers Descend on Florida As race-hatred profiteers like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson whip up a frenzy of hysteria over a hypothetical racial element to the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida last month, the Obama administration’s Justice Department is reportedly investigating whether or not shooter George Zimmerman can be federally prosecuted for a “hate crime.” And experts fear the situation is spiraling quickly out of control. Some observers are even worried a “race war” may erupt as a group of racist blacks — the New Black Panther Party — offered a “bounty” for the “capture” of Zimmerman, who has not been charged with a crime. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” said New Black Panther leader Mikhail Muhammad during a rally in Florida, leading a group of followers chanting “black power.” “It’s time for us, as black men, to take justice in our own hands. If you won’t give us justice, we will have to take justice,” Muhammad told the crowd. “An eye for an eye. A life for a life.” Local officials and law enforcement condemned the incitement to violence and warned that “vigilante justice” could result in criminal charges. But the anti-Semitic black supremacist group has repeatedly called for violence against whites, Jews, and law enforcement. And during the 2008 election, members of the party were caught on film carrying weapons and intimidating voters at polling places….. Post Pic here http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/11310-citing-potential-hate-feds-and-race-profiteers-descend-on-florida 14 defining characteristics of fascism: The U.S. in 2012 Gregory Patin BlacklistedNews.com When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross. — Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here. (1935) In the spring of 2003, ex-corporate executive and political scientist Lawrence W. Britt published an essay in Free Inquiry magazine entitled “Fascism Anyone?” In his work, Britt examined the traits of the two governments that formed the original historical model for fascism, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and five other protofascist regimes that imitated that model, Franco’s Spain, Salazar’s Portugal, Papadopoulos’s Greece, Pinochet’s Chile, and Suharto’s Indonesia. He identified 14 characteristics that were common to all of them. These traits have since been widely accepted as the 14 defining characteristics of fascism. Nearly three generations removed from the horrors of Nazi Germany, all of these regimes have been overthrown, but fascism’s principles can still be found in many nations. History tends to repeat itself because many leaders and nations fail to learn from history, or they draw the wrong conclusions. Sadly, historical amnesia is the norm in the world today….. http://www.blacklistednews.com/14_defining_characteristics_of_fascism%3A_The_U.S._in_2012/18642/0/0/0/Y/M.html TSA bars security guru from perv scanner testimony Last minute excuse blocks Bruce Schneier By Iain Thomson in San Francisco • Get more from this author Posted in Security, 26th March 2012 21:03 GMT Security expert Bruce Schneier was been banned at the last minute from testifying in front of congress on the efficacy – or otherwise – of the US Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) much-maligned perv scanners. Schneier is a long-time critic of the TSA’s policies for screening travelers, and was formally invited to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearings. However, the TSA objected to his presence because he is currently involved in a legal case over the use of said scanners in US airports. “I was looking forward to sitting next to a TSA person and challenging some of their statements. That would have been interesting,” Schneier told The Register. “The request to appear came from the committee itself, because they’d been reading my stuff on this and thought it would be interesting.”….. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/26/tsa_schneier_congress_block/ THE PENTAGON’S SECRET NUCLEAR AGENDA: “Privatizing Nuclear War” By Sherwood Ross BlacklistedNews.com U.S. corporations that reap billions from making nuclear weapons have “a direct voice” as to “their use and deployment,” according to professor Michel Chossudovsky in a recently released book. What’s more, he says, if nuclear weapons are integrated with conventional armaments, a decision to use nuclear weapons could be made by battlefield generals. On August 6, 2003, on Hiroshima Day, (August 6 1945), a secret meeting was held at U.S. Strategic Command headquarters at the Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Neb., that brought together more than 150 “senior executives from the nuclear industry and military-industrial complex,” writes Michel Chossudovsky, Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) in Montreal. “This mingling of defense contractors, scientists and policy-makers was not intended to commemorate Hiroshima”. According to a leaked draft of the agenda, the secret session included discussions on “mini-nukes” and “bunker-buster” bombs with nuclear warheads “for possible use against rogue states,” Chossudovsky writes in his new book, ” The meeting was intended to set the stage for the creation of a new generation of “smaller,” “safer,” and “more usable” nukes for use, in America’s 21st Century “in-theater nuclear wars”, Chossudovsky writes. No members of Congress representing the public were in attendance. Barely a week prior to this meeting, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) disbanded the advisory committee that had “independent oversight” over the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the testing and/or use of new nuclear devices…..

http://www.blacklistednews.com/THE_PENTAGON%27S_SECRET_NUCLEAR_AGENDA%3A_%22Privatizing_Nuclear_War%22/18665/0/0/0/Y/M.html

Dominique Strauss-Kahn charged in French prostitution case

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn faced preliminary charges Monday of aggravated pimping, or illegal procurement of prostitutes, in France.

Strauss-Kahn was summoned for eight hours of questioning Monday by French judges investigating an illegal prostitution ring operating out of the northern French city of Lille. The former IMF chief was notified that he was being placed under formal investigation, but allowed to leave after paying 100,000 Euros in bail, and agreeing not to talk to others being investigated in the case, or travel without consulting a judge, the Associated Press reported.

French prosecutors in Lille have been investigating an illegal prostitution ring that is alleged to have brought prostitutes from Belgium to luxury hotels in France and to parties in Washington, D.C., and New York attended by VIP clients, France’s Radio France International reported in October. Eight people have been charged in the case so far, including a police officer in Lille and three directors with the city’s Carlton Hotel, the New York Times reported………

Read More  Here

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MF Global: A New Hope In The Effort To Send A Wall Street Big Shot To Jail

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MF Global exec tied to money transfers clams up

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An MF Global executive, who has emerged as a central figure in the desperate shifting of funds before the brokerage’s collapse, refused to answer questions on Wednesday, frustrating lawmakers probing why more than $1 billion in customer money is missing.

Assistant Treasurer Edith O’Brien and other mid-level MF Global (MFGLQ.PK) executives, people who had operational control over money transfers at the brokerage, were called to testify before the investigations panel of the House Financial Services Committee.

O’Brien, a demure-appearing brunette dressed in a somber black dress suit, was excused after refusing to answer questions. The others remained to take scathing questions from the lawmakers who likened the missing customer funds to a grand heist.

The executives were unable to say why the money is missing, and who was responsible for it, keeping open the mystery nearly five months after MF Global filed for bankruptcy and former Chief Executive Jon Corzine resigned from the firm…..

Read  Full Article Here

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Faulty generator blamed for fatal poisoning of wealthy banker and his wife in remote Estonian forest

  • 55-year-old worked as analyst at shady Moscow investment firm

By Matt Blake

A wealthy British banker and his wife died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a ‘tragic accident’ at their holiday home in Estonia, an inquest has heard.

Philip Townsend, 55, worked for a mysterious Moscow investment company, where he was an analyst in the lucrative but murky Russian telecoms industry.

But he and his wife MaryAnne, 52, were found dead at the converted barn near the town of Valga on February 24.

They are believed to have been killed by fumes from a faulty generator.

Police at the time said they couldn’t work out if the deaths were suspicious or not.

Four years ago another wealthy British-based tycoon involved in the Russian telecoms industry vanished from his opulent holiday villa in Latvia.
Read Full Article Here

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Soros Loses Case Against French Insider-Trading Conviction

Billionaire investor George Soros lost a challenge to his 2002 insider trading conviction, with the European Court of Human Rights saying French market regulations were clear enough to hold him responsible.

France didn’t violate Soros’s rights in punishing him criminally for trading on inside information about Societe Generale SA in spite of the market regulator’s conclusion that its rules were unclear, the Strasbourg, France-based court said.

“Soros was a famous institutional investor, well-known to the business community and a participant in major financial projects,” the court said in a statement about its ruling. “As a result of his status and experience, he could not have been unaware that his decision to invest” risked violating insider- trading laws, and given “there had been no comparable precedent, he should have been particularly prudent.”

Soros, 81, was convicted in 2002 of insider trading and ordered to repay 2.2 million euros ($2.9 million) he’d made from the share purchase and subsequent sale after a Paris court found he’d acted with the knowledge that the bank might be a takeover target. While prosecutors filed criminal charges, French stock market regulators didn’t pursue Soros, saying insider-trading laws were too vague to determine whether he’d broken them…..

Read Full Article Here

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Soros Criminal Conviction Exposes “Human Rights” Scam

Soros leverages “human rights” for personal gain – as does his global NGO empire.

Tony Cartalucci, Contributor
Activist Post 

Bloomberg’s report, “Soros Loses Case Against French Insider-Trading Conviction,” indicates that an appeal based on a “human rights” violation against Wall Street speculator George Soros has been rejected by the “European Court of Human Rights.” Soros, who was convicted and fined for insider trading in 2002 regarding French bank Société Générale shares he bought in 1988, has built an empire out of obfuscating global criminal activity with the cause of “human rights.”
The court’s decision in rejecting the appeal was based on Soros being “a famous institutional investor, well-known to the business community and a participant in major financial projects,” and thus should have been “particularly prudent” regarding insider-trading laws. The contents of Soros’ appeal, based on “human rights” was not heard, and the details of the appeal not yet made public, however, it is an illustrative example of how Soros and global elitists like him leverage the legitimate cause of human rights and freedom as a means to execute and defend both individual and institutional criminal behavior……

Read Full Article Here

URGENT WARNING FROM GENERAL BERT!

(Major General Albert N. Stubblebine III ;U.S. Army, Retired)

(http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?page_id=299)

“The new White House Executive Order of March 16, 2012, the so-called ‘National Defense Resources Preparedness Order’ is a clear blueprint for total government control over the civilian economy, under the guise of ‘national defense.’ This latest outrage against the Constitution reminds me of the totalitarian world of Orwell’s 1984, where a few Ministries controlled everything. Below is our Counsel Ralph Fucetola JD’s analysis of this Executive Order.”

Push Back here: http://tinyurl.com/PushBackFree

From Counsel Ralph:  The White House has set in motion the regulatory basis for an American version of Lenin’s “War Communism” whereby the entire civilian economy is militarized and marshaled as the Leader directs through five specific Federal Departments. Notice which Department now has control over which aspects of your lives.
 
This section quoted below provides for the take over of the means of production. It says that the Five Department heads can override private contracts and commandeer all the resources of all the people. This Executive Order, if allowed to stand, sets the legal basis for total government control over, as it says below, “food… energy… health… civil transportation… water… and all other materials, services and facilities…”

Read the entire Order here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/16/executive-order-national-defense-resources-preparedness

Sec. 201Priorities and Allocations Authorities.  (a)  The authority of the President conferred by section 101 of the Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 2071, to require acceptance and priority performance of contracts or orders (other than contracts of employment) to promote the national defense over performance of any other contracts or orders, and to allocate materials, services, and facilities as deemed necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense, is delegated to the following agency heads:

(1)  the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to food resources, food resource facilities, livestock resources, veterinary resources, plant health resources, and the domestic distribution of farm equipment and commercial fertilizer;

(2)  the Secretary of Energy with respect to all forms of energy;

(3)  the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to health resources;

(4)  the Secretary of Transportation with respect to all forms of civil transportation;

(5)  the Secretary of Defense with respect to water resources; and

(6)  the Secretary of Commerce with respect to all other materials, services, and facilities, including construction materials.

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Here is a video I stumbled across that discusses the executive order in question

Alert! Obama Declares/Updates MARTIAL LAW Implementation – Executive Order Explained

An  excerpt  from  March 20, 2012

The Executive Order Controversy

By Joe Herring

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/03/the_executive_order_controversy.html#ixzz1psYvJNM1

The Executive order issued by Obama on 3/16 is largely a restatement of the 1994 Clinton order with a few functional changes.  It moves the authority for implementing the provisions of the DPA from the director of FEMA to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not exist at the time of Clinton’s presidency.  There have been pedestrian additions of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, to the purview of the secretary of energy (as well as a curiously specific redefinition of bottled water as a “food resource” rather than a water resource), but nothing is particularly out of step with the order Obama’s EO supersedes.

So what is the problem?  Well, considering that the authority of the DPA has never been meaningfully exercised, and that the pre-emption of authority claimed by the Clinton-era EO 12919 has been similarly dormant, why would the Obama administration choose this particular time to update an obscure and unused authority?  It is this question many believe must be asked and answered, and sooner rather than later.

In an attempt to provide that answer, allow me to don an appropriately stylish tinfoil hat before I present a plausible scenario.

1) In early March 2012, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it is the position of this administration that international organizations such as NATO or the United Nations have at least as much, if not more authority to deploy U.S. troops, with or without congressional notice or permission.

2) A week later, the NAACP petitioned the U.N. Human Rights Council to involve themselves in our election process — specifically our November presidential election, in order to monitor the vote for instances of voter suppression.  It is the fantasy of the NAACP that laws requiring presentation of a photo ID to cast a ballot are in actuality thinly veiled efforts to keep the poor, elderly, and non-white populations from voting, presumably for Obama.

3) Attorney General Eric Holder has spent his tenure creating a hair-trigger system of race-conscious prosecutions, most notably in reference to cases involving voter fraud.  His previous employee, J. Christian Adams, has built a second career from simply exposing the injustice of Holder’s Department of Justice.

4) Most recently, Holder struck another blow against the concept of verifiable voting by forestalling Texas’s proposed Voter ID law, saying it “goes against the arc of history.”  Aside from the attorney general basing his decisions on perceived “historical arcs” rather than clear and established law, the end result is the same: the creation of an air of uncertainty surrounding the upcoming election.

Now (as I adjust my tinfoil hat to a jauntier angle), let me tie these points together.

By employing repetitive reporting of “uncertainty about the reliability of the presidential election tally” by the major media, compounded by expressions of the same uncertainty by administration officials, the left could install that narrative amongst the segments of the population that  pay little or no attention to the day-to-day practice of politics.

Could the NAACP then, with support from the Department of Justice and the administration, make the case to the U.N. that the election was in fact tainted, and subsequently persuade the member nations of the U.N. to declare the election invalid?  It is possible, and such a declaration is certain to bring chaos to the streets of every major city in our country, as well as a great deal of smaller ones.  To restore order, the president might need to deploy troops.  Should the Congress resist the move, the administration might simply appeal to the U.N., which could request/order the deployment of troops by a willing and complicit Secretary Panetta.

And of course, President Obama would simply continue in office, for the sake of stability, until this could all be sorted out.

Perhaps it now makes sense for the administration to have updated an unused executive order, preparing their legal argument and framework for the imposition of peacetime martial law.  Liberty, once lost, is seldom regained.

Yes, it is far-fetched, but it is also distressingly possible.  The sad fact in America today is that we have a president so disdainful of our foundational law and freedoms as to make the far-fetched seem queasily reasonable.

The timing of this executive order is jarring, even if the specific changes to the order are not.  The power it conveys is staggering and cannot be safely entrusted to a single branch of government, much less to a single man.  The Congress needs to reassert control over the exercise and implementation of the Defense Production Act before it can be utilized by a power-hungry cabal of leftists eager to fundamentally transform America.  There is a door no one has locked, and our home is not secure.  Close the door, lock it, and throw away that key.

The author writes from Omaha, NE and welcomes visitors to his website at http://www.readmorejoe.com.

Politics

 

The Hill: Specter says Obama ditched him after he provided 60th vote to pass health law

By Alexander Bolton

Former Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) writes in a new book that President Obama ditched him in the 2010 election after he helped Obama win the biggest legislative victory of his term by passing healthcare reform.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/215379-specter-says-obama-ditched-him-after-he-provided-60th-vote-to-pass-health-law

The Hill: Opinion: Moderation out of fashion on Capitol Hill

By Juan Williams

Even as more Americans identify themselves as independents — not Democrats or Republicans — there is a painfully sharp decline in moderate and independent voices in both houses of Congress.

http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/juan-williams/215377-moderation-out-of-fashion-on-capitol-hill

 

The Hill: Tea Party groups pressure House GOP leaders to rev up Fast and Furious probe

By Jordy Yager

Local Tea Party activists are pressing House Republican leaders to pursue their investigation into the Operation Fast and Furious gun-tracking effort more aggressively.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/215363-tea-party-steps-up-heat-on-house-gop-leaders-over-fast-and-furious-probe

 

The Wall Street Journal: GOP loses sure grip on some Senate seats

By Janet Hook

Republicans’ campaign to win control of the Senate this year— once seen as an smooth drive down a broad path—has hit some unexpected speed bumps.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304537904577275650654864484.html?mod=ITP_pageone_2

 

The New York Times: Health care act offers Roberts a signature case

By Adam Liptak

Considered likely to join the Supreme Court majority either way the case is decided, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. may never encounter a more important ruling.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/us/health-care-act-offers-roberts-a-signature-case.html?_r=1&ref=politics

 

Russia Boots out Biggest NGO – Paper

Russian Justice Initiative (RJI), Russia’s largest foreign non-governmental organization providing legal assistance to Russians in the European Court of Human Rights, was excluded from the list of authorized NGOs, the Kommersant daily said on Monday.
Since 2001, Russian Justice Initiative won about 10 million euros (almost $13 million) in Strasbourg Court actions on complaints from residents of Chechnya. In late 2010, it won a record lawsuit of 1.72 million euros (about $2.3 mln) against Russia over the killing of at least 24 Chechen villagers in an operation against militants in 2000.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120312/172109488.html

 

Economy

 

How Public Sector Layoffs Are Holding Back the Recovery

Heather Boushey, ThinkProgress:

“The current economic recovery is going well if one looks at private sector job creation. The pace of private sector job creation is slower than in the recovery from the early 1990s recession … Since early 2009, governments at all levels have shed nearly 700,000 jobs, most of them at the state and local level. Since August of 2008 state and local governments have shed a total of 647,000 workers, of which 64 percent were women workers.”

http://www.truth-out.org/how-public-sector-layoffs-are-holding-back-recovery/1331475605

Canadian Government Targeting Opponents of New Oil Sands

Lisa Song, InsideClimate News:

“As US environmental groups renew their battle against the resurrected Keystone XL oil pipeline, their counterparts in Canada are facing a deeper problem – a government campaign to limit their influence over Canada’s Northern Gateway pipeline…. As environmental groups have stepped up their campaigns against the project, key figures in the Harper administration have publicly denounced them as extremists, and a federal finance committee has announced plans to audit all of Canada’s charities.”

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120301/northern-gateway-pipeline-canada-harper-tar-oil-sands-forestethics-first-nations-charities-nonprofits-keystone-xl?page=2

 

The Hill: Dodd-Frank panel faces pushback on rules for naming vital Wall Street firms

By Peter Schroeder

Federal regulators are facing opposition from business groups as they try to develop a system to ensure that large institutions do not cause another financial crisis.

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/banking-financial-institutions/215373-dodd-frank-panel-faces-pushback-on-rules-for-naming-vital-wall-street-firms

 

Wars and Rumors of War

The Washington Post: Amid anger over Afghan killings, U.S. faces growing public weariness on war

By Craig Whitlock and Jon Cohen

The massacre of at least 16 Afghan civilians, apparently by an American soldier, forced the Obama administration Sunday to confront yet another nightmare from the war zone and fresh evidence that patience back home is increasingly wearing thin.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/amid-anger-over-afghan-killings-us-faces-growing-public-weariness-about-war/2012/03/11/gIQAtDQ25R_story.html

Obama is also a problem

The blame for the situation in Syria does not lie with Russia alone; one of the biggest problems is also the Obama administration, which has squandered a golden opportunity to get rid of a significant obstacle to security in the region — and by extension US national security, Bashar Al-Assad.

However, it is clear that Obama is not concerned with the security of the region — even though it impacts upon international security as a whole, especially with the chaos in Syria overlooking the Mediterranean — rather Obama is preoccupied with his re-election bid.

http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article586289.ece

 

Environmental

Environmental Protection Agency Puts Greenhouse Gas Rules for Oil Refineries on Backburner

Elizabeth McGowan, InsideClimate News:

“Election-year politics, $4-a-gallon gasoline and an anti-regulatory fervor on Capitol Hill have aligned to thwart EPA’s vow to issue final carbon emissions standards for oil refineries this year…. The pullback on refineries – combined with an earlier and separate delay on regulating greenhouse gases from fossil fuel power plants – means EPA has yet to control emissions from a pair of sizable industrial sources.”

http://www.truth-out.org/epa-puts-greenhouse-gas-rules-oil-refineries-backburner/1331479260

 

One year after catastrophe, Fukushima remains a threat

While the Japanese authorities promise to get residents of Fukushima prefecture home “as soon as possible”, the crippled nuclear plant remains a danger zone. Two specialists tell FRANCE 24 why it could still explode.

http://www.france24.com/en/20120306-one-year-later-fukushima-still-threat-radiation-explosion-tepco-residents-corium

 

Misc

 

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says President Barack Obama’s birth certificate is not authentic

Uploaded by FederalJacktube6 on Mar 8, 2012

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said President Barack Obama’s birth certificate is not authentic.

Arpaio revealed the findings of a investigation into the president’s birth certificate at a 1 hour and 20 minute news conference Thursday, calling the certificate “suspect.”

Arpaio’s team of investigators said they found that the long-form birth certificate was created electronically and never existed in paper form.

The president’s Selective Service card was also questioned.

Arpaio’s investigators claimed the document has “failed every test we put it through.”

At Thursday’s news conference, investigators said they will request a criminal investigation. They also said they have identified a person of interest in the forgery of the birth certificate.

Arpaio said he is not accusing the president of the crime. He said they will investigate who is behind the “possible forgery and fraud.”

“I haven’t decided where to go with this yet,” Arpaio said. “I just wanted to get the facts of this situation. We haven’t accused anyone of anything.”

The controversy over the certificate has been widely debunked, but it remains alive in the eyes of some conservatives, namely members of the Tea Party who urged Arpaio to look into the matter.

For the past six months, Arpaio’s “Cold Case Posse” has been investigating the authenticity of those documents to see if there’s been any fraud or forgery involved.

“We conducted a very professional investigation; we have come up with I feel some probable cause, some evidence,” Arpaio said Wednesday.

Arpaio said the investigation was done at no cost to taxpayers.

“Just let me say the results may be interesting without using the word ‘shocked,’” Arpaio said prior to the conference. “I think it will reveal some information no one else has really developed in a professional law enforcement manner.”

The Cold Case Posse comprises volunteers who are former police officers and lawyers.

Arpaio is facing problems of his own, including a federal grand jury probe over alleged abuse of power and Justice Department accusations of racial profiling.

Rather than seek cover, Arpaio is moving into the spotlight in a fashion that has helped boost his career as a nationally-known law officer. http://www.kpho.com/story/17053035/arpaio-to-reveal-results-of-birther-probe

MCSO: Obama Eligibility Cold Case Investigation (Full Press Conference) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6Qm7Idz3OY8

PROOF!!! Obama Birth Certificate Fraud http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g30VCl_cgk&feature=player_embedded

Trailblazing Journalist Mysteriously Dies Before Releasing Damaging Obama Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IldGbAWwD-I&feature=share

The Obama Deception HQ Full length version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw

Thanks to http://www.youtube.com/user/NWONEWS666 for the video

 

Politics and Legislation

Virginia State Senate Passes Bill Forbidding Indefinite Detention of Americans

After Virginia legislators pass a law forbidding infinite detention of US Citizens, worries arise Governor McDonnell could try to sabotage the anti-NDAA law

CNN Reports On California’s Eugenics History & How They Assisted The Nazis Eugenics Program

Bill would create partnership between NSA and U.S. corporations

Speaking at a policy debate Wednesday at The Heritage Foundation, a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) warned that a bill currently being considered by the House Select Committee on Intelligence would intertwine the National Security Agency (NSA) with corporate America, exposing vast amounts of private civilian data to unprecedented levels of monitoring, all in the name of “cybersecurity.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/07/bill-would-create-partnership-between-nsa-and-u-s-corporations/

 

The Hill: ACLU warns of expanded spying powers in new GOP cybersecurity legislation

By Brendan Sasso

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is warning that a cybersecurity bill from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and other Republicans would give spy agencies unprecedented powers to snoop through people’s personal information.

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/215323-aclu-warns-of-expanded-spy-powers-in-gop-cybersecurity-bill

 

Los Angeles Times: Labor unions rethinking their role in politics

By Matea Gold and Melanie Mason

The influential AFL-CIO almost certainly will endorse Obama for reelection, but many unions are increasingly financing their own efforts instead of writing large checks to the Democratic Party and its candidates.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-labor-endorse-20120311,0,374934.story

 

Economy

 

20 Economic Statistics To Use To Wake Sheeple Up From Their Entertainment-Induced Comas

Just like during the Great Depression, Wall Street is having one of the greatest bull runs in history at the expense of the masses and here are the statistics to prove it.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/20-economic-statistics-to-use-to-wake-sheeple-up-from-their-entertainment-induced-comas

 

No Jobs For Americans

By Paul Craig Roberts

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that 227,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs were created by the economy during February. Is the government’s claim true?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30780.htm

 

“The banks and the governments are simply zombies only interested in survival.”

Source: Gold Seek

The government is preparing to package and sell foreclosed homes. We do not know what discount to the current market there will be but you can guess it will be 20% or more. This event will cause home prices to trend lower dependent on whether the houses are put up for sale or rented. These homes will only be available to big buyers such as hedge funds and others with enormous amounts of capital. It is expected that the homes will be sold in lots of 5,000 to 10,000 and the minimum bid would be $1 billion.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/%E2%80%9CThe_banks_and_the_governments_are_simply_zombies_only_interested_in_survival.%E2%80%9D/18406/0/38/38/Y/M.html

 

Wars and Rumors of War

 

US state department – we have no intention of leaving Uganda

Posted by Phantom Report

US military interest in central Africa, much like US military interests in various areas around the world, is multi-faceted. Uganda, for example, has played an increasingly central role in US counter-terrorism efforts, particularly in the United States’ attempts to destroy the Somali militant group Al Shabab. In June of last year, the Pentagon approved plans to send $45m worth of military equipment to Uganda and Burundi.

On Wednesday, Angelo Izama, an award-winning Ugandan journalist who specializes in security issues in central Africa, said the US is running a “multi-country intervention with a small number of troops” with a mission that isn’t entirely humanitarian in nature.

http://www.phantomreport.com/us-state-department-we-have-no-intention-of-leaving-uganda

 

Israeli Weapons Found In Syria Among Rebels

 

Evidence of War Lies Public Pre-War This Time

Source: Washingtons Blog

By leading anti-war activist David Swanson, author of Day Break and War Is A Lie, who runs the websites DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org (formerly AfterDowningStreet.org)

When President George W. Bush was pretending to want to avoid a war on Iraq while constantly pushing laughably bad propaganda to get that war going, we had a feeling he was lying. After all, he was a Republican. But it was after the war was raging away that we came upon things like the Downing Street Minutes and the White House Memo.

Now President Barack Obama is pretending to want to avoid a war on Iran and to want Israel not to start one, while constantly pushing laughably bad propaganda to get that war going. We might suspect a lack of sincerity, given the insistence that Iran put an end to a program that the U.S. government simultaneously says there is no evidence exists, given the increase in free weapons for Israel to $3.1 billion next year, given the ongoing protection of Israel at the U.N. from any accountability for crimes, given the embrace of sanctions highly unlikely to lead to anything other than greater prospects of war, and given Obama’s refusal to take openly illegal war “off the table.” We might suspect that peace was not the ultimate goal, except of course that Obama is a Democrat.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/Evidence_of_War_Lies_Public_Pre-War_This_Time/18386/0/38/38/Y/M.html

 

The Hill: US soldier detained after shootings of Afghan civilians

By Meghashyam Mali

A U.S. soldier was detained in Afghanistan under suspicion of opening fire on Afghan civilians on Sunday, an incident that could inflame anti-American anger in the country.

http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/operations/215329-us-soldier-detained-after-opening-fire-on-afghan-civilians

 

Annan ‘optimistic’ after talks with Syrian president:

Annan says he remains optimistic following a second round of talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Annan said the talks had resulted in “concrete proposals”.

http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201203/3450783.htm

 

Attack on Iran? ‘Doubts Israel capable of launching war’

RT talks to Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on whether Israel’s threats will turn into action and what could be the implications of it.

Uploaded by RussiaToday on Mar 11, 2012

With tensions between Iran and Israel intensifying RT talks to Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on whether Israel’s threats will turn into action and what could be the implications of it.

 

US, Allies Begin Talk of Potential Military Intervention in Syria

A move to intervene militarily has no legal basis and could potentially escalate the conflict

http://news.antiwar.com/2012/03/10/us-allies-begin-talk-of-potential-military-intervention-in-syria/

 

Environmental

 

New Los Angeles radiation tests Highest Radiation Levels Since Fukushima Disaster Recorded in Los Angeles

By Alex Thomas
IntelHub

A March 6th test of a HEPA filter recorded radiation levels 668% or 6.68 times the normal background radiation levels. This test took place 43 days after initial tests and shows a 130% increase since January 22nd.

“The California Highway Patrol considers anything over three times background, 300% of background above, a trigger level to a hazardous materials situation,” reported the EnviroReporter.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/New_Los_Angeles_radiation_tests_Highest_Radiation_Levels_Since_Fukushima_Disaster_Recorded_in_Los_Angeles/18397/0/38/38/Y/M.html

 

Japanese leaders silent on meltdown

Just four hours after a tsunami swept into the Fukushima nuclear power plant a year ago, Japan’s leaders knew the damage was so severe that the reactors could melt down, but they kept their knowledge secret for months.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10791214

 

Are honey bees headed towards extinction?

We have all heard about several animal species becoming extinct, even in the modern world, humans have seen whole generations of some animals disappear. Will bees become one of them?

Some experts believe that the bees could be about to die and at least one third of our food depends on pollination of flowering plants. Einstein once said: “If the bees disappear, mankind would have only 4 more years of life”.

Over 3 million colonies of bees have died in the USA since 2006 and over a thousand millions of bees have died in this period in the world.

http://www.newspakistan.pk/2012/03/12/Are-honey-bees-headed-towards-extinction/

 

Misc

 

Why you should avoid filling up your gas tank with ethanol-laced fuel

By Jonathan Benson,

(NaturalNews) New guidelines recently put forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for automobile fuel could spell disaster for your car’s engine. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) reports that the EPA is set to approve E15 automobile fuel, or fuel that contains up to 15 percent ethanol, which is so damaging to car engines that many car manufacturers have put out warnings that using it will void car warranties. For many years now, the federal government has been incrementally…

http://www.naturalnews.com/035205_ethanol_gasoline_engines.html

 

FBI in the process of creating a system for monitoring all conversations on social networking sites

By J. D. Heyes,

(NaturalNews) If you’re a regular reader of NaturalNews, you’re already well aware of the fact that government, the courts and private industry have all essentially disregarded the intent and meaning of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment privacy protections in the age of information technology. It seems that you give up your right to be “secure” in your “persons, houses, papers, and effects” if you dare to use a social media network or virtually any other information exchange system. The…

http://www.naturalnews.com/035207_FBI_surveillance_social_networking.html

 

65-year-old California ‘milk man’ subjected to extreme torture, hypothermia, raw sewage in LA County jail

By Mike Adams,

(NaturalNews) NaturalNews exclusive report, please credit with link. NaturalNews can now report that 65-year-old senior citizen James Stewart, a raw milk farmer with no criminal history, was nearly tortured to death in the LA County jail this past week. He survived a “week of torturous Hell” at the hands of LA County jail keepers who subjected him to starvation, sleep deprivation, hypothermia, loss of blood circulation to extremities, verbal intimidation, involuntary medical testing and even subjected…

http://www.naturalnews.com/035208_James_Stewart_torture_county_jail.html

 

The British 2012 Olympic Warzone

There are more British troops being deployed to the 2012 Olympic Games than have been deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.

 

John Nichols | Tens of Thousands Rally in Wisconsin for Labor Rights and Democracy

John Nichols, Op-Ed:

As the state prepares for a recall election that could remove Walker from the governorship — along with his lieutenant governor and four Republican state senators — tens of thousands of union activists and their supporters rallied once more Saturday at the state Capitol in Madison. It was an epic turnout, estimated by Governor Walker’s Department of Administration at 35,000 and by organizers at closer to 60,000.

http://www.nationofchange.org/tens-thousands-rally-wisconsin-labor-rights-and-democracy-1331484460

 

The War On WikiLeaks Is Now Trial By Media In Sweden

By John Pilger

Like the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, attacks on Iran and Syria require a steady drip-effect on readers’ and viewers’ consciousness. This is the essence of a propaganda that rarely speaks its name.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30770.htm

 

US military unveils non-lethal heat ray weapon

Two styles of US Marine Corps trucks are seen carrying the Active Denial System, March 9th, 2012, at the US Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. The non-lethal weapon projects a strong electromagnetic beam up to 1000-meters. The beam creates heat so uncomfortable the natural response is to flee

A sensation of unbearable, sudden heat seems to come out of nowhere — this wave, a strong electromagnetic beam, is the latest non-lethal weapon unveiled by the US military this week.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-military-unveils-non-lethal-ray-weapon.html

Politics and Legislation

 

We Take Care of Our Own: Eric Holder and the End of Rights

Historians of the future, if they are not imprisoned for saying so, will trace the end of America’s democratic experiment to the fearful days immediately after 9/11, what Bruce Springsteen called the days of the empty sky, when frightened, small men named Bush and Cheney made the first decisions to abandon the Constitution in the name of freedom and created a new version of the security state with the Patriot Act, Guantanamo, secret prisons and sanctioned torture by the U.S. government. They proceeded carefully, making sure that lawyers in their employ sanctioned each dark act, much as kings in old Europe used the church to justify their own actions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-van-buren/anwar-al-awlaki-killing_b_1322528.html

 

Politicians Won’t Return Ponzi Payoffs

Michael Winship, Moyers & Co.:

“On Tuesday, Texas financier Robert Allen Stanford was convicted in a Houston federal court on 13 out of 14 criminal counts of fraud…. But what most of this week’s stories failed to mention was the large amount of his clients’ cash that was spent on campaign contributions, greasing the corrupt nexus of money and politics for personal gain. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were given to candidates,  Barack Obama, John McCain, John Boehner and Harry Reid; including Ponzi Payoffs; as well as national fundraising committees for the Republican and Democratic parties.”

http://www.truth-out.org/politicians-wont-return-ponzi-payoffs/1331400527

 

Confusion Surrounds Federal Review of Southern Leg of Keystone XL

Lisa Song, InsideClimate News:

“TransCanada’s decision last week to build the southern half of the rejected Keystone XL has raised a tricky question about who will regulate the project review … The process could be stickier at the federal level. The U.S. State Department was the lead agency on the original Keystone XL because it crossed an international boundary. But so far, no agency has stepped forward to take responsibility for the Gulf Coast Project.”

http://www.truth-out.org/confusion-surrounds-federal-review-southern-leg-keystone-xl/1331398833

 

A Field of Hawks

Eugene Robinson, Washington Post Writers Group:

“Unless Ron Paul somehow wins the nomination, it looks as if a vote for the Republican presidential candidate this fall will be a vote for war with Iran. No other conclusion can be drawn from parsing the candidates’ public remarks. Paul, of course, is basically an isolationist who believes it is none of our business if Iran wants to build nuclear weapons…. But Paul has about as much chance of winning the GOP nomination as I do.”

http://www.truth-out.org/field-hawks/1331398935

 

No Apocalypse Yet
Will Putin do what the oligarchs fear?

By ISRAEL SHAMIR

If he wants to survive politically, he will have to implement the national agenda, confront the oligarchs, curb the creative class, provide support to those who supported him.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30776.htm

 

Obama Signs Anti-protest Trespass Bill

By RT

US President Barack Obama signed his name to H.R. 347 on Thursday, officially making it a federal offense to cause a disturbance at certain political events – essentially criminalizing protest in the States.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30774.htm

 

‘War on Terror is War on Liberty’
Farage demands that the UK break treaty with US

By Nigel Farage: EU MP

“No British court has ever been allowed to examine the evidence against Mr Tappin and I believe this Treaty, signed in the wake of the September 11 attacks, needs to be amended and the British government needs to stand up for its own people.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30764.htm

 

Economy

Not So Fast On That Whole Economic Recovery Thing

Not so fast. Those that are publicly declaring that an economic recovery has arrived are ignoring a whole host of numbers that indicate that the U.S. economy is in absolutely horrendous shape. The truth is that the health of an economy should not be measured by how well the stock market is doing. Rather, the truth health of an economy should be evaluated by looking at numbers for things like jobs, housing, poverty and debt. Some of the latest economic statistics indicate that unemployment is getting a little bit worse, that the housing market continues to deteriorate, that poverty in America continues to soar and that our debt problem is worse than ever.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/not-so-fast-on-that-whole-economic-recovery-thing

 

TEXT-Moody’s: Greek sovereign credit rating remains at C

Moody’s Investors Service says that it considers Greece

to have defaulted per Moody’s default definitions further to the conclusion of an exchange of EUR177 billion of Greece’s debt that is governed by Greek law for bonds issued by the Greek government, GDP-linked securities, European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) notes. Foreign-law bonds are eligible for the same offer, and Moody’s expects a similar debt exchange to proceed with these bondholders, as well as the holders of state-owned enterprise debt that has been guaranteed by the state, in the coming weeks. The respective securities will enter our default statistics at the tender expiration date, which is was Thursday 8 March for the Greek law bonds and is currently expected to be 23 March for foreign law bonds. Greece’s government bond rating remains unchanged at C, the lowest rating on Moody’s rating scale.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/09/idUSWNA217120120309

 

Security: UK ‘must plan for euro collapse’

Ministers should draw up plans to deal with a break-up of the eurozone “as a matter of urgency”, a committee of MPs and peers has warned.

The joint committee on the government’s National Security Strategy (NSS) said the full or partial collapse of the single currency was “plausible”.

It said political unrest and a rise in economic migrant numbers could result.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17295461

 

Wall Street up on jobs data, brushes off Greek default

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks advanced on Friday as investors brushed off the technical default by Greece and focused instead on another strong monthly jobs report.

Trading was choppy in late afternoon trade after the International Swaps and Derivatives Association said Greece has triggered an insurance payment on credit default contracts.

Investors took the Greek news largely in stride because the event was widely expected. Still, it is a declaration of default following the biggest sovereign debt-restructuring deal in history, and the specter of trouble in other euro-zone countries remains.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-futures-edge-lower-focus-092318186.html;_ylt=Ar1tpMPx1ZCXLOapElzdCaqiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTNyMnNyMmVwBG1pdANGUCBUb3AgU3RvcnkgTGVmdARwa2cDNGYxODJlZGQtM2NlOC0zZDJlLThlY2MtMTUxYWU5NzcwZTQ4BHBvcwMxBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzI3OTQ0YjMwLTZhMzAtMTFlMS1hZmZmLTEzMTljMGYwZTE4NA–;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

 

Bernanke Is Giving Us the Recovery He Wants, Not the Recovery We Need

With the latest round of monetary stimulus, the Federal Reserve is boldly going where it has already been. Big, big news from the Federal Reserve. They are considering doing something they are already doing, but calling it something else.

This “new” operation, carried out under the rather gross-sounding moniker of “sterilized quantitative easing,” is just another way to reduce long-term interest rates. The specifics aren’t terribly important — although if you want all the gory details about bond-buying and reverse repos, check out Jon Hilsenrath — but the result should be identical to the so-called “Operation Twist” the Fed did last fall.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bernanke-giving-us-recovery-wants-170846352.html;_ylt=AnYAn2zURi8MrFLRZ_Hep_SiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTRiOGw4a3B0BG1pdANGUCBDb21tZW50YXJ5IGFuZCBBbmFseXNpcwRwa2cDMmQ2YTVlYjMtZGYwYy0zZGU0LWFmNjktMjFkN2EwODU4NTBiBHBvcwMzBHNlYwNNZWRpYVNlY3Rpb25MaXN0BHZlcgNmNmIyODFiMC02OTQxLTExZTEtYmZmYy01NTAxNmVjYTk3MGQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

 

UPDATE 6-Oil up on jobs data even as dollar rallies

By Robert Gibbons

NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) – Oil prices rose a third straight day on Friday as data showing rising U.S. employment countered any pressure from a stronger dollar and faded euphoria after Greece’s debt swap deal.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 227,000 in February, above expectations and marking the third straight month that gains topped 200,000, though the unemployment rate held at a three-year low of 8.3 percent.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/6-oil-jobs-data-even-170225610.html;_ylt=ArtF491iXjMK0Eqas1EzJrWiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTN0bGRlZWpmBG1pdANOZXdzIFRvcGljIDIEcGtnAzBlMGE5M2UyLTAwMDEtMzJmMy05M2ExLTA1NDk4MDM2ZDllMwRwb3MDMgRzZWMDTWVkaWFTZWN0aW9uTGlzdAR2ZXIDZTA2MzljYTAtNmEwOS0xMWUxLWFlZmYtYjcyZGRjMWIwZDU2;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

 

PRECIOUS-Gold turns higher on US jobs data, oil gains

By Frank Tang and Amanda Cooper

NEW YORK/LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) – Gold rose above
$1,700 an ounce in heavy trade on Friday, reversing early sharp losses as the metal took heart from gains in crude oil and U.S. equities’ after an encouraging U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.
Bullion, which has taken to following riskier assets, rose in the face of a dollar rally and fading hopes of further U.S. monetary stimulus after U.S. employment grew strongly for a third straight month.
Also lifting the metal was Greece’s averting an immediate default after its bond swap offer to private creditors. Technical buying also helped after prices rebounded off its key 200-day moving average.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/precious-gold-turns-higher-us-165030879.html;_ylt=AmeSDy3YM97ycn01LvBnaVaiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTN0OTRtMzFzBG1pdANOZXdzIFRvcGljIDIEcGtnA2EzYTkxNGFlLTdjMGMtM2ZmOS04ZDE2LTJjYmQ4ZWQwMzI2YgRwb3MDMwRzZWMDTWVkaWFTZWN0aW9uTGlzdAR2ZXIDYTczNjQ0YTAtNmExMy0xMWUxLWI5ZmYtYjAxMDViZmYwZjJj;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

 

Public-Sector Banks: From Black Sheep to Global Leaders

Once the black sheep of high finance, government owned banks can reassure depositors about the safety of their savings and can help maintain a focus on productive investment in a world in which effective financial regulation remains more of an aspiration than a reality.

http://www.truth-out.org/public-sector-banks-black-sheep-global-leaders/1331147316

 

Welcome to the One Percent Recovery

Mike Konczal, New Deal 2.0:

“As the one percent reap 93 percent of the income gains from the recovery, we’re rapidly returning to pre-New Deal levels of inequality … It’s important to remember that a series of choices were made during the New Deal to react to runaway inequality, including changes to progressive taxation, financial regulation, monetary policy, labor unionization, and the provisioning of public goods and guaranteed social insurance. A battle will be fought over the next decade on all these fronts.”

http://www.truth-out.org/welcome-1-percent-recovery/1331396893

 

Jeffrey Sachs’ Reform Candidacy for World Bank President

Staff, Center for Economic and Policy Research:

“Economist and health expert Jeffrey Sachs’ reported candidacy for World Bank president is welcome news for the two-and-a-half billion people around the world living in poverty, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Co-Director Mark Weisbrot said today. ‘If Sachs were to get the job, he would be the first World Bank president with this kind of experience and knowledge of economic development … All of the others have been bankers, politicians, or political appointees.’”

http://www.truth-out.org/mark-weisbrot-jeffrey-sachs-reform-candidacy-world-bank-president/1331311919

 

China posts Feb. trade deficit

For the first time in a year, China recorded a trade deficit of 31.48 billion U.S. dollars in February, as import growth far outpaced exports.

Exports rose 18.4 percent from a year earlier to 114.47 billion U.S. dollars in February, while imports were up 39.6 percent to 145.96 billion U.S. dollars, customs data showed Saturday.

The fast trade expansion was fueled by the lower comparative base for last February, when the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday cut working days from the month and skewed trade data, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said. The week-long holiday fell in January this year.

After seasonal adjustments, the annual growth of exports slowed to 4 percent in February while that of imports was cut down to 9.4 percent.

http://www.china.org.cn/business/2012-03/10/content_24859840.htm

Life in America on Two Dollars a Day
Or Why American Poverty Will Soon Match That of the Third World

By CanSpeccy

The latest poverty statistics that show the number of American families with an income of less than two dollars per person per day more than doubled between 1996 and 201.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30765.htm

 

China to export yuan to BRICS:

China is reportedly to begin extending loans in yuan to BRICS countries in another step towards internationalizing the national currency and diversifying from the US dollar.

http://rt.com/business/news/china-us-dollar-currency-129/

 

Iceland calls its former PM to account for financial crash:

Geir Haarde, whose trial began this week, could face up to two years in jail if convicted over country’s 2008 economic collapse

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/09/iceland-former-pm-financial-crash

 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Set to Default on $5.27 Million GO Bond Payments:

The city, carrying a debt load of more than five times its general-fund budget, will miss $5.27 million in bond payments due March 15 on $51.5 million of bonds issued in 1997.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-09/harrisburg-pennsylvania-set-to-default-on-5-27-million-go-bond-payments.html

 

Wars and Rumors of War

 

The Kazakhstan Massacre: Killing Hope to Benefit US Geopolitical Interests

Steve Horn and Allen Ruff, Truthout: “December 16, 2011, should have been, at minimum, a fairly bright day for the people of Kazakhstan marking the country’s Independence Day and 20th birthday. But rather than being a moment of celebration, it became a day of brutal repression and death, a bloody scene in the regional center of Zhanaozen paralleling those that occurred at the hands of US-supported dictatorial regimes during the uprisings now commonly referred to as the Arab Spring.”

http://www.truth-out.org/kazakhstan-massacre-killing-hope-benefit-us-geopolitical-interests/1331142602

 

Russia says 15,000 foreign “terrorists” in Syria

(Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is battling al Qaeda-backed “terrorists” including at least 15,000 foreign fighters who will seize towns across Syria if government troops withdraw, a Russian diplomat said on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/08/us-syria-russia-idUSBRE82714E20120308

 

After a Decade, Afghan Forces Don’t Trust Americans

Jon Stephenson and Ali Safi, McClatchy Newspapers:

“Afghan soldiers and police say the recent burning of Qurans by U.S. personnel has seriously undermined their trust in their American counterparts, suggesting that the decade-long campaign to win hearts and minds has not only failed but also threatens the Obama administration’s exit strategy. ‘We are tired of the Americans here,’ said Mohammad Aziz, 20, a Kabul police officer. ‘We don’t want them to stay because they keep insulting our religion.’”

http://www.truth-out.org/after-decade-afghan-forces-dont-trust-americans/1331392048

 

Fresh barrage of Gaza rockets strike Israel’s south

Iron Dome intercepts a number of rockets over Be’er Sheva on Saturday morning; 12 Palestinians reportedly killed in IAF strikes in Gaza since Friday.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/fresh-barrage-of-gaza-rockets-strike-israel-s-south-1.417622

 

Obama has partially left his delusions about Iran: Leader

TEHRAN – Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says that U.S. President Barack Obama has partially left his delusions about Iran.

The Leader made the remarks during a meeting with the members of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran on Thursday.

“Two days ago, we heard that the U.S. president said, ‘We do not think of war against Iran.’ Well, this is good. This is a logical remark. This is an exit from delusion. In addition, he said, ‘We will bring the Iranian people to their knees through sanctions.’ This is a delusion. The exit from delusion in the first part is good, but remaining in delusion in the second part will harm them. When one’s calculations are based on delusion, it is obvious that the planning he makes based on those calculations will end in failure,” Ayatollah Khamenei stated.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/politics/96228-obama-has-partially-left-his-delusions-about-iran-leader

 

The Bloody Road to Damascus
The Triple Alliance’s War on a Sovereign State

By James Petras

There is clear and overwhelming evidence that the uprising to overthrow President Assad of Syria is a violent, power grab led by foreign-supported fighters.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30769.htm

 

10 Myths about Iran Driving the Insane Push for War
And Why They’re Dead Wrong

By Jasmin Ramsey

Israeli officials and GOP candidates spout nonsense about Iran. Here’s the truth.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30772.htm

 

Weapons Financed By US Kill Unarmed Palestinians and U.S. Citizens.

By David Elkins

“U.S. weapons provided to Israel at taxpayer expense make the U.S. complicit in Israel’s human rights abuses of Palestinians living under Israel’s 44-year military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30767.htm

 

Kofi Annan’s calls for talks spark anger:

Syrian opposition activists have angrily rejected calls by Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, for dialogue with the government.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17312040

 

Assad Tells Kofi Annan He’s Open To ‘Honest Effort To Find Solution’:

 

Assad warned the envoy that dialogue was unlikely to succeed while “armed terrorist groups” remained.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/10/syria-crisis-assad-annan-kofi-homs-idlib-_n_1336534.html?ref=uk

 

Russia threatens to veto U.S. resolution on Syria:

Russia will not support a new U.S.-drafted resolution on Syria because it fails to urge both the government and the rebels to halt violence, said a top Russian diplomat.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2978397.ece

 

No military solution in Syria: EU ministers:

As Qatar called in Cairo for the dispatch of Arab and international peacekeeping troops to Syria, Juppe joined his counterparts in saying that for the EU “military action is not on the agenda.”

http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/syria-politics.fml

 

US officials: Loyal army, inner circle back Assad:

Despite the Obama administration’s predictions that the Syrian government’s days are numbered, recent U.S. intelligence reports suggest President Bashar Assad commands a formidable army that is unlikely to turn on him, an inner circle that has stayed loyal and an elite class that still supports his rule.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20145482/us-officials-syrian-regime-holding-under-fire

 

Controversy surrounds CNN footage from Syrian activist:

Video footage broadcast by CNN purporting to depict Syrian government violence was staged by the journalist reporting on camera, recent reports have claimed.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/controversy-surrounds-cnn-footage-from-syrian-activist-.aspx?pageID=238&nid=15628&NewsCatID=359

 

If Iran attacked it will launch 11,000 missiles at Israel, US: envoy:

Tehran’s ambassador to Lebanon says Iran has prepared itself to launch about 11,000 missiles at Israel and U.S. bases in the region if they do a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Lebanese media reported.

http://www.mehrnews.com/en/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1556104

 

Environmental

 

The Problem With the Environment Is Not Too Many People

Eleanor J. Bader, Truthout:

“We’ve all heard the claim repeatedly: humans pollute, so if we just reduce the number of people – both the number being born and the number immigrating from point A to point B – the despoiling will cease and Eden will be restored. If only it could be so simple…. ‘Too Many People?’ is a clear and convincing challenge to the idea of population control as political necessity.”

http://www.truth-out.org/problem-environment-not-too-many-people/1331163575

 

Fracking Likely Caused Series of Ohio Quakes, Officials Say

Michael Muskal and Neela Banerjee , News Report:

Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources issued new regulations for transporting and disposing of brine wastewater, a fracking byproduct, making for the nation’s toughest disposal regulations, state officials said. Though the quake damage was minor – the largest was a 4.0 magnitude – environmental groups questioned whether the state’s safety rules were strong enough to protect the area from disasters they attributed to hydraulic fracturing.

http://www.nationofchange.org/fracking-likely-caused-series-ohio-quakes-officials-say-1331394148

 

Misc

 

New York Times CEO Robinson’s Exit Compensation Package Tops $23 Million

Janet Robinson, the New York Times Co. chief executive officer who was pushed out in December, received an exit package, including stock options and retirement benefits, of $23.7 million.

Robinson gets pension and supplemental retirement income valued at $11.4 million, performance awards of $5.39 million, restricted stock units worth $1.07 million and stock options worth $694,164, according to the company’s proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission today. She will also earn $4.5 million in consulting fees for this year.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-09/new-york-times-s-robinson-s-exit-package-tops-23-million.html

 

NSA whistle-blower: Obama “worse than Bush”

Thomas Drake on life inside the National Security Agency and the price of truth telling

Thomas Drake, the whistle-blower whom the Obama administration tried and failed to prosecute for leaking information about waste, fraud and abuse at the National Security Agency, now works at an Apple store in Maryland. In an interview with Salon, Drake laughed about the time he confronted Attorney General Eric Holder at his store while Holder perused the gadgetry on display with his security detail around him. When Drake started asking Holder questions about his case, America’s chief law enforcement officer turned and fled the store.

http://www.salon.com/2012/03/07/nsa_whistle_blower_obama_worse_than_bush/singleton/

 

Mass pro-democracy protest rocks Bahrain

(Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Bahrainis demonstrated on Friday to demand democratic reforms, stepping up pressure on the U.S.-allied government with the biggest protest yet in a year of unrest.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/09/us-bahrain-protest-idUSBRE8280TI20120309

 

Three Ways to Beat Corporate Giants

Jim Shultz, Op-Ed:

From insurance companies lording over our health care to global conglomerates taking control of our water, corporate giants wield more and more influence over our lives and our environment. So how do we fight back? How do we take on corporate power and actually win? The Democracy Center recently published a new citizen’s resource that looks up close at the strategies that people and communities are using worldwide to successfully tackle corporate giants.

http://www.nationofchange.org/three-ways-beat-corporate-giants-1331390970

 

Don’t Look Away from Bahrain’s Revolution

By Ala’a Shehabi

Over the past year, as cameras turned away, the Bahraini regime carried out some of the worst atrocities in its history.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30773.htm

 

Bahraini forces kill 21-year-old protester in capital Manama:

Activists say the protester, named Fadhel Mirza, was killed on Saturday when regime forces attacked a group of demonstrators struggling to reach Pearl Square.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/230916.html

 

CyberSpace

 

Stratfor: Blood On Their Hands
And it gets worse.

By Khadija Sharife

With their emails, Stratfor appears to advocate for a world where polluters and murderers, circumvent accountability by obtaining information to pre-empt – and in the process destroy – their opposition.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30777.htm

 

The Crime of Truth:
Obama’s Persecution of the Peacemaker

By Chris Floyd

Bradley Manning will spend the rest of his life in a federal prison for the unforgiveable crime of telling the truth to people who don’t want to hear it.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30771.htm

 

The Dirty War on WikiLeaks

By John Pilger

Media smears suggest Swedish complicity in a Washington-driven push to punish Julian Assange.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30770.htm

 

Politics and legislation

Obama Admin Cites ‘Int’l Permission,’ Not Congress, As ‘Legal Basis’ For Action In Syria

Uploaded by SenatorSessions on Mar 7, 2012

WASHINGTON, March 7—Under question from Sen. Sessions at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey indicated that “international permission,” rather than Congressional approval, provided a ‘legal basis’ for military action by the United States.

FBI director: Have to check whether targeted killing rule is outside US only

FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday said he would have to go back and check with the Department of Justice whether Attorney General Eric Holder’s “three criteria” for the targeted killing of Americans also applied to Americans inside the U.S.

Pressed by House lawmakers about a recent speech in which Holder described the legal justification for assassination, Mueller, who was attending a hearing on his agency’s budget, did not say without qualification that the three criteria could not be applied inside the U.S.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/07/mueller-have-to-check-with-holder-whether-targeted-killing-rule-is-outside-us/#ixzz1ofCPdMO8

Second House panel clears bill to repeal Medicare board

A second House committee agreed by voice vote Thursday to repeal a key cost-cutting board in President Obama’s healthcare law.

The Ways and Means Committee voted to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a 15-member panel tasked with cutting Medicare payments. The Energy and Commerce Committee passed the same repeal bill earlier this week.

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/214935-ways-and-means-clears-bill-to-ax-health-laws-cost-cutting-board

Judge Bars Voter ID in Wisconsin
Sandra Khalifa, News Analysis:

“Voter ID laws have been sweeping the country state by state in the last year, deliberately barring many progressive-voting citizens from access to the polls. Although it’s less likely to commit voter fraud than be struck by lightning, conservatives in state government have been using voter fraud as an excuse to disfranchise people without specific photo identification. The people affected range from students, seniors, low-income communities, the disabled, transgender individuals, and communities of color.”

http://www.nationofchange.org/judge-bars-voter-id-wisconsin-1331218357

Student Loan Forgiveness Act Introduced in Congress
Sandra Khalifa, Video Report:

“Yesterday Representative Hansen Clarke (D-MI) released HR4170, the Student Loan Forgiveness Act. The bill aims to stimulate the economy and protect those struggling with their student loan payments. Clark announced, ‘It’s time for Congress to stand for the rights of student loan borrowers. It’s time to forgive these student loan debts.’ The bill provides that if a student loan borrower makes payments equal to 10% of their discretionary income for a period of 10 yrs, the balance of their federal student loan debt will be forgiven.”

http://www.nationofchange.org/student-loan-forgiveness-act-introduced-congress-1331318490

China to elect lawmakers on equal ratio of rural, urban representation

BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) — China will elect deputies to its top legislature next year based on the same population ratio in rural and urban areas, if a draft decision on lawmaker election tabled for deliberation on Thursday is approved.

For the first time, the quota of 2,000 deputies to the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) will be given to urban and rural residents based on the same population ratio.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-03/08/c_131454226.htm

Economy

Huge Spike in Repeat Foreclosures

Thousands of foreclosures that were stuck in process due to delays over the so-called “Robo-signing” paperwork scandal are working their way through a revamped banking system and heading toward final bank repossession.

Foreclosure starts surged 28 percent in January from December, according to a new report from Lender Processing Services. More than 230,000 loans began the foreclosure process in January.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46641784

Claims for jobless aid up; low 4-week average also rise

WASHINGTON (AP) – Slightly more people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. But the overall level stayed low enough to suggest the job market is strengthening.
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications increased by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 362,000.

The four-week average, which smooths week-to-week fluctuations, remained at roughly 355,000. That’s essentially unchanged from last week’s level, which was the lowest in four years.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-03-08/unemployment-benefits-claims-0303/53410434/1

Consumer borrowing nearly at pre-recession levels

WASHINGTON – Americans stepped up borrowing in January to buy more cars and attend school.

Consumer borrowing rose by $17.8 billion in January, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. That followed similar gains in December and November.

The gains for those three months were the largest in a decade and helped consumer borrowing climb to a seasonally adjusted $2.5 trillion. That nearly matches the pre-recession borrowing level.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-03-07/january-consumer-borrowing/53401334/1

Why Job Growth Might Mean High Unemployment

Payroll processing firm ADP reported Wednesday that private employment grew by 216,000 last month, a bump of 43,000 jobs over January’s figure. ADP’s numbers suggest improvement in even the economy’s weakest areas: construction has sustained five consecutive months of job growth, and there have also been seven consecutive months of growth in financial services. Both of those industries sustained heavy job losses as a result of the housing and financial crises. Manufacturing, which had seen more than a decade of decline before the recession, also added 21,000 jobs.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-job-growth-might-mean-160233717.html;_ylt=An.BIhHr4C91JO.0FOl4_zyiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTRiY2hwMm9sBG1pdANGUCBDb21tZW50YXJ5IGFuZCBBbmFseXNpcwRwa2cDNDI5OGI5NTEtZTZjZi0zMzViLTg4MWQtYjY4YjRmNDU4NTA4BHBvcwM0BHNlYwNNZWRpYVNlY3Rpb25MaXN0BHZlcgM3MTFjYjFiMC02ODZmLTExZTEtYWQzZC0yZWIzMTlmNDQ0NTc-;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

Switzerland Wants Its Gold Back From The New York Fed

Earlier today, we reported that Germans are increasingly concerned that their gold, at over 3,400 tons a majority of which is likely stored in the vault 80 feet below street level of 33 Liberty (recently purchased by the Fed with freshly printed money at far higher than prevailing commercial real estate rates for the Downtown NY area), may be in jeopardy,and will likely soon formally inquire just how much of said gold is really held by the Fed. As it turns out, Germany is not alone: as part of the “Rettet Unser Schweizer Gold”, or the “Gold Initiative”: A Swiss Initiative to Secure the Swiss National Bank’s Gold Reserves initiative, launched recently by four members of the Swiss parliament, the Swiss people should have a right to vote on 3 simple things: i) keeping the Swiss gold physically in Switzerland; ii) forbidding the SNB from selling any more of its gold reserves, and iii) the SNB has to hold at least 20% of its assets in gold.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/switzerland-wants-its-gold-back-new-york-fed

Critical Mass: The Mispricing of Derivatives Risk & How the Financial World Ends

CURATOR: JOHN ROLLS. Jim Sinclair does a good job of explaining the difference between the notional and real value of derivatives, and how that real value comes to bear on the financial system in the event of a default. You can read this…

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1870/061/NL/

Obama touts jobs report as evidence of manufacturing success

By Jonathan Easley

President Obama tied Friday’s positive jobs report to his administration’s success in rebuilding the manufacturing industry during a visit to a Rolls-Royce plant in Virginia.

“Manufacturing is adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s,” the president said. “We just had another good month last month in terms of adding manufacturing jobs, and this facility is part of the evidence of what’s going on.”

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/215235-obama-touts-jobs-report-as-evidence-of-his-manufacturing-agenda

IT’S OFFICIAL: ISDA TRIGGERS GREEK CREDIT EVENT IN UNANIMOUS DECISION

It’s for real this time.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association determined today that Greece’s bond swap has triggered a credit event.

That will lead to payouts of credit default swaps—essentially, insurance contracts on holdings of Greek bonds under Greek law—that investors purchased to hedge against the risk of holding Greek sovereign debt.

http://www.businessinsider.com/its-official-isda-triggers-greek-cds-2012-3#ixzz1ogPxivz7

Greek Debt Swap Sees 95.7% Participation With Clauses

March 9 (Bloomberg) — The Greek government said it reached its target in the biggest sovereign restructuring in history, with a 95.7 percent participation rate among investors after it received approval to activate collective action clauses.

Bondholders tendered 152 billion euros of Greek-law bonds, or 85.8 percent, after the government offered to swap their holdings for new securities under the debt exchange. Twenty billion euros of foreign-law bonds were also tendered, according to an emailed statement from the Greek Finance Ministry.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/03/08/bloomberg_articlesM0LT3D6S972801-M0LV0.DTL#ixzz1ogRa9zJh

Wars and Rumors of War

Libya’s Big-Oil PM Rolls Over for Western Masters

Libya’s Prime Minister, and British Petroleum, Total, and Shell-funded Petroleum Institute chairman Abdurrahim el-Keib, flatly denied allegations by Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin that Libya was directly funding, training, and arming militants in Syria. El-Keib’s denial stands in direct contradiction of reports like the London Telegraph’s “Leading Libyan Islamist met Syrian Army Opposition Group,” where it was revealed that “the new Libyan authorities had offered money and weapons to the growing insurgency against Bashar al-Assad.”

http://www.blacklistednews.com/Libya%27s_Big-Oil_PM_Rolls_Over_for_Western_Masters/18359/0/38/38/Y/M.html

62 dead in Syria as diplomatic efforts continue

(CNN) — At least 62 people were killed Thursday in Syria as former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan cautioned against outside military intervention, saying it could worsen an already precarious situation.

But, Annan told the Arab League summit in Cairo, “the violence and killings must stop immediately.”

Annan, the joint special envoy to Syria for the United Nations and the Arab League, began a visit to the region in Cairo on Wednesday. The U.N. said he will visit Damascus on Saturday “to seek an urgent end to all violence and human rights violations and to initiate efforts to promote a peaceful solution.”

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/08/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?eref=igoogledmn_topstories

US State Department Hands Terror-Cult US Base in Iraq

In an unbelievable act of high treason and overt criminality, the US State Department, headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has finalized arrangements to move the US State Department-listed foreign terror organization, Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), into the former US military base “Camp Liberty’ in Iraq.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/US_State_Department_Hands_Terror-Cult_US_Base_in_Iraq/18358/0/38/38/Y/M.html

US offered Israel advanced weaponry in exchange for delaying Iran attack: report

WASHINGTON — The US offered to give Israel advanced weaponry — including bunker-busting bombs and refueling planes — in exchange for Israel’s agreement not to attack Iranian nuclear sites, Israeli newspaper Maariv reported Thursday.

President Obama reportedly made the offer during Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week.

Under the proposed deal, Israel would not attack Iran until 2013, after US elections in November this year. The newspaper cited unnamed Western diplomatic and intelligence sources.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/attack_offered_israel_advanced_weaponry_vJzadL8Qw5XoQ7akSRO9yK

Netanyahu: Strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities possible within months

An attack on Iran could take place within a matter of months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a series of television interviews on Thursday. “We’re not standing with a stopwatch in hand,” he said. “It’s not a matter of days or weeks, but also not of years. The result must be removal of the threat of nuclear weapons in Iran’s hands.” Netanyahu gave separate interviews to all three Israeli television stations, the first he has given since his return from Washington earlier this week.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-strike-on-iran-s-nuclear-facilities-possible-within-months-1.417417

Israel asks U.S. for arms that could aid Iran strike

Israel has asked the United States for advanced “bunker-buster” bombs and refueling planes that could improve its ability to attack Iran’s underground nuclear sites, an Israeli official said on Thursday. “Such a request was made” around the time of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week, the official said, confirming media reports. But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue, played down as “unrealistic” Israeli reports that the United States would condition supplying the hardware on Israel promising not to attack Iran this year.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46673712/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/#.T1qM67QycdQ

Panetta: U.S. Has Potential Military Plans for Iran

The Pentagon is preparing an array of military options for striking Iran if hard-hitting diplomatic and economic sanctions fail to persuade Tehran to drop its nuclear ambitions, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told National Journal in an interview on Thursday. Panetta said such planning had been under way “for a long time,” a reflection of the Obama administration’s mounting concern over Iran’s [alleged] continued progress towards a nuclear weapon. Panetta said in the interview that a unilateral Israeli strike against Iran would be less effective than one conducted by the U.S., which has a significantly larger air force and an array of advanced weapons more powerful than any possessed by Israel.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/panetta-u-s-has-potential-military-plans-for-iran-20120308

Obama asks Pentagon for military plans on Syria: Gen. Dempsey

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey says President Barack Obama has requested from the Pentagon military options against the Syrian government. According to a Wednesday report by The New York Times, Dempsey declared in a US Senate committee hearing in Washington that the Department of Defense was preparing military alternatives with regards to the existing situation in Syria for Obama’s review. The top American military chief made the remarks during a Wednesday hearing of US Senate’s Armed Services Committee. Dempsey added that potential measures considered by the American military ranged from “aerial surveillance of the Syrian military, the establishment of a no-fly zone, naval monitoring and humanitarian [sic] airlifts.”

http://presstv.com/detail/230546.html

CNN attempts to counter scandal over “Syria Danny” propaganda

Anderson Cooper attempted, and miserably failed, to mitigate the damage from the discovery that one of the poster boys for foreign intervention in Syria was manufacturing complete propaganda for Western consumption.

The video below is the original video exposing “Danny” as a vicious propagandist actively working against the interests of the Syrian people.

This is just more exploitation of the good intentions of people around the world for nefarious ends.

http://EndtheLie.com/2012/03/07/cnn-attempts-to-counter-scandal-over-syria-danny-propaganda/#ixzz1ofxXGwnU

Deal or No Deal? U.S. Denies Obama-Netanyahu ‘Package Deal’

White House denies the reports that Obama offered Netanyahu missiles if Israel agreed not to attack Iran during 2012.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153582#.T1rSx7QyegZ

Environmental

Fukushima Disaster Anniversary Finds U.S. Nuclear Regulation Debate Still Raging
Corbin Hiar, News Report:

“One year ago on Sunday, an earthquake off the coast of Japan and the resulting tsunami triggered a month-long partial meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. In the days leading up to the anniversary of the crisis, advocates and opponents of nuclear power are squaring off in a fight over the lessons U.S. regulators should learn from the disaster.”

http://www.nationofchange.org/fukushima-disaster-anniversary-finds-us-nuclear-regulation-debate-still-raging-1331219767

Misc

Daniel Ellsberg Arrested Protesting the ‘American Nuclear Doomsday Machine’
Jane Ayers, News Analysis:

“In the wee hours of Saturday, February 25th, nuclear expert (and Pentagon Papers whistleblower) Daniel Ellsberg, along with David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), Cindy Sheehan, Fr. Louis Vitale, four members of CodePink, and six other concerned citizens, were all arrested for trespassing on military property while conducting an act of civil disobedience at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, California.”

http://www.nationofchange.org/daniel-ellsberg-arrested-protesting-american-nuclear-doomsday-machine-1331224456

US assassination drone crashes in Somalia’s Hobyo seaport

Another US assassination drone has crashed in Mudug region near Somalia’s seaport city of Hobyo, Press TV reports. A Somali official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the US spy drone had flown from the nearby USS Taylor warship. Recently, the US is using a new kind of drone, called a kamikaze drone, in Somalia. It functions both as a missile and an intelligence-gathering reconnaissance aircraft.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/230501.html

Afghanistan, U.S. to sign prison transfer deal: officials –Agreement will be the framework for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan beyond 2014

The United States and Afghanistan are expected to sign a deal on the transfer of U.S.-run detention centers to Afghan authorities on Friday, two Afghan officials said, improving the prospects of a strategic partnership allowing long-term U.S. involvement in the country. The Foreign Ministry later said Afghan Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak and Gen. John Allen, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, would sign an MOU. The Strategic Partnership Agreement, which Washington and Kabul have been discussing for over a year, will be the framework for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan beyond 2014, when the last foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/09/us-afghanistan-usa-prisoners-idUSBRE8280BU20120309

U.S. firm linked to civilian deaths hired to train Canadian soldiers –Military has had relationship with Blackwater/Xe for years – documents

An American mercenary firm whose employees have been implicated in the killing of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan was paid nearly $2.4 million to train Canadian soldiers last year. Documents tabled in the House of Commons show Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater, was providing select troops specialized training in precision shooting and defensive driving at the company’s North Carolina facilities. Other soldiers were trained in bodyguard and close-quarter combat skills.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/firm+linked+civilian+deaths+hired+train+Canadian+soldiers/6266933/story.html

Navy Submariner( MoD Official) Accused Of Leaking Secrets

A Ministry of Defence official is due to appear in court today charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act, Scotland Yard has said. Edward Devenney, 29, is accused of communicating information which could be deemed to be useful to an enemy of the state. He was arrested by officers in Plymouth on Tuesday morning before being charged last night, the Metropolitan Police said. A Met spokesman said a number of searches had been completed in connection with the arrest.

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16184600

Obama to Simulate Cyber Attack on New York Power to Lobby Senate

The Obama regime will simulate a cyber attack crippling New York City’s electric supply during a summer heat wave to drum up support for cybersecurity legislation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency and Justice Department are among agencies in Washington involved today in a Senate briefing on the New York scenario, said Vincent Morris, a spokesman for Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism adviser, are taking part.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-07/at-t-joins-comcast-favoring-incentives-over-cybersecurity-rules.html

White Powder Mailed to New England Schools, Including 3 In Connecticut

FBI investigating incidents 08 Mar 2012 Schools throughout New England, including three in Connecticut, have been targeted by someone mailing envelopes containing white powder. The envelopes arrived at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Enfield on Monday, and at Anna Reynolds School in Newington and Island Avenue School in Madison on Wednesday. In each case, the envelopes disrupted the school day and prompted responses by police and firefighters.

http://www.courant.com/community/newington/hc-madison-school-powder-0308-20120307,0,7211112.story

Cyber Space

LulzSec’s Sabu: ‘ask me about the CIA’

When the Guardian spoke to the hacker last year, he was keen to discuss claims he worked for the authorities By James Ball

[Sabu] asked me to join him in an off-the-record internet chat – a conversation that happened seven weeks after Sabu, now unmasked as Hector Xavier Monsegur, had already been picked up by the FBI. Given the latest revelations about Sabu’s activities, that he worked as an informer from after his arrest on 7 June until just a few days ago, I think it is appropriate to publish a few extracts from our conversation. Sabu – and we cannot even be sure that our correspondent was the real Monsegur and not a US agent – was not representing himself accurately to the newspaper. If anything, he was testing the Guardian out, openly flirting with the notion that he worked for the CIA – and then inviting me to knock him down.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/mar/07/lulzsec-sabu-informer

Elite hacker arrested in NY cooperated from Day 1

In his Twitter postings, the elite computer hacker known as “Sabu” urged followers to resist the U.S. government and its agents. But court papers made public Thursday reveal that Hector Xavier Monsegur put up no such fight when FBI agents first knocked on his door on June 7. From almost that first moment, he began talking, naming names and helping investigators pick apart the international community of Internet saboteurs [heroes]. He was arrested at 10:15 p.m. By the next day, federal prosecutors had told a judge that Monsegur had given them detailed information on other hackers suspected of breaking into the computer systems at several big corporations.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j0Mbvu9DeKoYrZTzliPdqz9HbCZg

Irish police free student accused of breaking into top cybercop’s email, US-UK security call –FBI affidavits

Student is Internet infiltrator responsible for recording and posting online Jan. 17 trans-Atlantic conference call between American and British anti-hacking detectives 07 Mar 2012 An Irish computer hacker accused of breaking into the email account of Ireland’s top cybersecurity cop, then using its contents to eavesdrop on American and British anti-hacking detectives, was released without charges Wednesday. Irish police said they were preparing a new evidence file for state prosecutors to use against Donncha O Cearbhaill. He’s been arrested and released once before over alleged hacking attacks in Ireland last year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/hackers-hit-spanish-firm-panda-security-claiming-revenge-for-fbi-arrests/2012/03/07/gIQA415hwR_story.html

Monsanto

Monsanto’s Blatant Corruption and Disregard for Health (video)

CONTRIBUTOR: ACTIVISTPOST. It is well known that Monsanto’s GMO crops provide a very real threat to both public health and the environment as a whole, but the depth of Monsanto’s corruption is often a less covered topic. It has been…

It is well known that Monsanto’s GMO crops provide a very real threat to both public health and the environment as a whole, but the depth of Monsanto’s corruption is often a less covered topic. It has been revealed by WikiLeaks that Monsanto not only has key figureheads stationed in powerful government positions inside the United States, but also has many — if not all — U.S. diplomats on their payroll.

Monsanto’s Corruption Exposed (2/4)

Monsanto’s Corruption Exposed (3/4)

Monsanto’s Corruption Exposed (4/4)

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