A satellite image of Iran’s military complex at Parchin. The IAEA is investigating Tehran’s past nuclear activities and current aspirations. Photograph: DigitalGlobe – Institute for Science and International Security
Israel is suspected of carrying out a series of leaks implicating Iran in nuclear weapons experiments in an attempt to raise international pressure on Tehran and halt its program.
Western diplomats believe the leaks may have backfired, compromising a UN-sanctioned investigation into Iran’s past nuclear activities and current aspirations.
The latest leak, published by the Associated Press (AP), purported to be an Iranian diagram showing the physics of a nuclear blast, but scientists quickly pointed out an elementary mistake that cast doubt on its significance and authenticity. An article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists declared: “This diagram does nothing more than indicate either slipshod analysis or an amateurish hoax.”
The leaked diagram raised questions about an investigation being carried out by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors after it emerged that it formed part of a file of intelligence on alleged Iranian nuclear weapons work held by the agency.
The IAEA’s publication of a summary of the file in November 2011 helped trigger a new round of punitive EU and US sanctions.
Western officials say they have reasons to suspect Israel of being behind the most recent leak and a series of previous disclosures from the IAEA investigation, pointing to Israel’s impatience at what it sees as international complacency over Iranian nuclear activity.
The leaks are part of an intensifying shadow war over Iran’s atomic program being played out in Vienna, home to the IAEA’s headquarters.
The Israeli spy agency, the Mossad, is highly active in the Austrian capital, as is Iran and most of the world’s major intelligence agencies, leading to frequent comparisons with its earlier incarnation as a battleground for spies in the early years of the cold war.
The Israeli government did not reply to a request for comment and AP described the source of the latest leak only as “officials from a country critical of Iran’s atomic program”.
The hackers claim to have seized “highly sensitive” nuclear data and satellite imagery from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and threaten to publish the confidential information if the IAEA does not investigate Israel’s unofficially acknowledged nuclear program.
The group, called Parastoo (Farsi for bird), declared that it obtained documents from the IAEA’s internal “nuclear data section”—including ” Confidential ‘SafeGuard’ Documents, Satellite Images, Official letters, [and] Presentations”—and published a couple of satellite images, screenshots of the IAEA’s internal system, an internal IAEA letter as well as the names and emails of IAEA judges and IAEA auditors.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran could soon sign a deal on the UN agency investigating suspected weapons activities connected to the country’s nuclear programme.
Yukiya Amano, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, said on Tuesday that he reached an agreement with Iran’s government after talks in Tehran, but failed to seal the deal because of “remaining, unspecified differences”.
Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan reports from Tehran, Iran.
BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) — China on Monday voiced its opposition to a defense spending bill passed last week by the U.S. House of Representatives that pushed for sales of F-16 jets to Taiwan.
“We have taken note of the bill,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei at a news briefing, adding that China firmly opposes U.S. lawmakers’ exaggeration of China’s military development and push for arms sales to Taiwan.
The House of Representatives voted Friday to require the United States to sell F-16 C/D fighter-jets to Taiwan.
“China sticks to the path of peaceful development,” said the spokesman, adding it is baseless and irresponsible for anyone to play up the “China threat theory.”
“To push for weapons sales to Taiwan severely violates the one-China policy and the three joint communiques between China and the United States, which severely interferes with China’s internal affairs,” Hong said.
During the briefing, Hong urged “some U.S. lawmakers” to get rid of their Cold War mentality and stop pushing for arms sales to Taiwan and all wrongdoings of interfering with China’s internal affairs.
“(They should) do more to help China-U.S. relations and the mutual trust between the two nations, not the contrary,” he added.
Europe’s food safety agency EFSA on Monday rejected the grounds for a temporary French ban on a genetically modified strain of maize made by US company Monsanto.
“Based on the documentation submitted by France, there is no specific scientific evidence, in terms of risk to human and animal health or the environment,” EFSA said in a scientific opinion issued on its website.
A spokesman for Europe’s health commissioner John Dalli said the EU executive “will consider how to follow up on this ruling, though technically we could ask France to raise its ban” on MON 810.
“The commission will wait for the conclusions of the next environment ministers’ meeting June 11 in Luxembourg and hopes for a positive outcome to its proposals for cultivation, which have been blocked for almost two years by France and others,” spokesman Frederic Vincent told AFP.
Paris had asked Brussels in February to suspend the cultivation of MON 810 on the basis of new scientific evidence after France’s top administrative court in November overturned a government order banning the planting of genetically modified crops from Monsanto.
The court said that in a November 2008 ban, the government had failed to prove that Monsanto crops “present a particularly elevated level of risk to either human health or the environment”.
Monsanto markets MON 810 maize — which has been modified at a genetic level to include DNA from a bacteria — under the trade name YieldGuard as being resistant to insect pests that can threaten harvests.
But some governments believe it could pose a danger to plants and animals.
France in February pointed to a recent study by EFSA that raised concerns over another form of GM crop, BT11, that it said could also be applied to MON 810.
The European Commission at the time requested EFSA’s opinion on France’s request, but said it would not take any steps in the meantime.
Monsanto said in January that it had no intention of selling GM maize in France as it felt the market was not ready.
Egyptian presidential candidate, Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh, waves to his supporters in front of Egyptian presidency logo ” falcon” during television interview at MISR University for Science and Technology in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
An Islamist who believes that the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States were an American conspiracy is the front-runner in Egypt’s presidential race, a new poll shows.
“It was too big an operation …. They [the United States] didn’t bring this crime before the U.S. justice system until now. Why? Because it’s part of a conspiracy.”
Egyptians will vote Wednesday and Thursday in their first presidential election since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak last year. If none of the candidates wins a majority, the two top vote-getters will compete in a runoff next month.
Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group has agreed to buy AMC Entertainment for 2.6 billion dollars (USD), including debt, making it the biggest theater operator in the United States.
The deal, the largest overseas acquisition by a privately held Chinese company, reflects the warming ties between the U.S. and Chinese movie industries after China agreed in February to open its cinemas to more American films.
The purchase will mark Wanda’s first investment outside of China and its first foray into the United States and Canada, the world’s biggest film market with ticket sales of more than 10 billion.
Lucas Shaw, a media reporter for the online entertainment site, The Wrap described this purchase as giving the Dalian Wanda conglomerate a lot more power in the U.S. market.
“It is already a huge theater owner in China, but in the U.S. market, by acquiring the second biggest, it gives them a foothold in these two different markets. China has rapidly become the second biggest box office market behind the U.S., still far behind the U.S., but still the second biggest. So, it gives them a lot of negotiating power with the studios and distributors, as the biggest exhibitor in the world.”
Wanda, which has interests in commercial properties, luxury hotels, tourism and department stores, holds 35 billion in assets, with annual revenue reaching 16.7 billion.
Shaw expects Wanda to provide a cash infusion into the existing AMC theaters in an effort to provide consumers with a better theater experience.
“The key to all this is to make sure that consumers have a reason to leave there home to watch movies,” said Shaw, adding that he doesn’t believe ticket prices should be impacted. “With all the different offerings you have at home, whether it is on-demand, netflicks there is a growing reluctance by the consumer to go out and pay 12 or 15 dollars to see a movie. Theaters need to do everything they can to keep them coming.”
The deal also highlights the rising partnership between China and Hollywood.
“The speed is somewhat surprising,” said Shaw. “In the last year or two, you have seem a number of large co-productions, investments, Disney is opening a large theme park in China, there is a large production facility opening in China. But, I don’t think it is surprising if you look at the trend at the box office where overseas in worth way more than domestic.”
AMC’s management team at its Kansas City, Missouri headquarters and the company’s 18,500 employees will not be affected by the deal. The movie chain is owned by an investment group that includes Bain Capital, CCMP Capital Advisors and Spectrum Equity Capital.
http://www.euronews.com/ China is reportedly to speed up approvals for spending on infrastructure in response to a slowdown in the economy.
A state-backed newspaper says the government has asked for project proposals by the end of June, even for those initially due for the end of the year.
China is heading for a sixth straight quarter of slowing growth and investment in roads, bridges and property is at its weakest in nearly a decade.
Citing government sources, the newspaper article in China Securities Journal, said Beijing did not rule out bringing forward next year’s projects, if it thought more investments would be needed to stimulate the economy.
The newspaper also cited media reports saying the central government will speed up budget allocations to various construction projects, including highway construction.
News of Beijing’s latest efforts to bolster growth lifted stock markets. Australian shares rose 1.2 percent and Britain’s FTSE 100 gained as investors bought mining companies on the prospects of more sales to China.
Chinese infrastructure stocks outperformed, while benchmark copper prices rose to a one-week high.
The five top movers on the China Enterprises Index of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong were all infrastructure related; China Communications Construction, China Railway Construction Group, China Railway Group, Anhui Conch Cement and Zoomlion Heavy Industry.
http://www.euronews.com/ Annual inflation in Britain fell to its lowest in more than two years in April. It dropped to 3.0 percent from March’s 3.5 percent.
That makes it more likely the UK central bank will be able to introduce extra stimulus – that is essentially printing more money – to support the economy.
Core inflation, which excludes food and fuel costs, fell to 2.1 percent, the lowest since November 2009.
Economists had been expecting a sizeable fall in inflation due to a spike in some prices in April 2011 not being repeated this year.
The Office for National Statistics said the fall was driven by lower inflation for air and sea transport, clothing and alcohol.
Inflation has now been above the Bank of England’s 2.0 percent target for almost two and a half years and Tuesday’s data come a week after the central bank’s economists predicted it would say there for at least another year before falling to 1.6 percent by mid-2014.
Until April, British inflation had fallen more slowly than the BoE expected this year – a factor which many economists said lay behind its decision not to expand its 325 billion pound quantitative easing programme this month, despite the UK economy having fallen back into recession.
The eurozone financial crisis could threaten the global economy, according to Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation.
The 17-nation eurozone will see its economies shrink by 0.1 per cent, before rebounding to 0.9 per cent next year, the Paris-based organisation said in its latest report released on Tuesday.
Nick Spicer reports from Berlin.
As critics lay siege to Facebook, Zuckerberg is MIA
Mark Zuckerberg had a high profile as Facebook’s IPO began on Friday. Since then he’s been hard to find.
By Matthew J. Belvedere, CNBC.com
Aside from the weekend wedding pic, the last time investors saw the social network icon was on Friday morning — just before the rocky debut of his company’s stock. Zuckerberg was high-fiving Nasdaq Chief Executive Bob Greifeld and ringing the opening bell remotely from Facebook’s sprawling headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.
But since then, a lot’s gone wrong including the Nasdaq’s botched opening of the stock; its precipitous slide since Friday to levels well below the $38 a share offering price; and allegations that lead underwriter Morgan Stanley shared negative news about Facebook with institutional investors before the IPO.
Through it all, Zuckerberg’s been MIA.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a senior dean at the Yale School of Management, thinks Zuckerberg is making a mistake by not publicly addressing the problems. “It’s important now to actually show the execution, show the plan, show the new vision,” Sonnenfeld told CNBC’s “Street Signs” on Tuesday.
While Washington’s rhetoric has focused recently on the coming end to the war in Afghanistan, its spending on the conflict is not at all waning.
Between this year and next, the federal government plans to spend nearly $200 billion on the war. If it does so, the U.S. will have spent about $642 billion since 2001 on fighting the Taliban, al-Qaeda and allied groups, local militias and warlords in Afghanistan.
One think tank, the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), characterized the spending commitment for 2012 and 2013 as “incredible” given the lack of controls, plans, auditing and effectiveness employed by the Obama administration to win the war.
In its new report, the CSIS added that Washington’s “end effect has been to sharply raise the threshold of corruption in Afghanistan, to make transition planning far more difficult, and raise the risk that sudden funding cuts will undermine the Afghan government’s ability to maintain a viable economy and effective security forces.”
Meanwhile, support among Americans for the war effort has continued to shrink. Only 27% of respondents to a new Associated Press-GfK poll said they back the war, while 66% oppose it.
However there appears to be a major disconnect between the public and their leaders. On Thursday the House of Representatives voted 303-113 against an amendment that would have hastened the exit of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan by limiting funding to the “safe and orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops and military contractors.” There are currently 88,000 American troops in Afghanistan.
Deadly suicide attack on Yemeni capital leaves 90 soldiers dead, two Lebanese killed in heavy clashes as Syrian conflict spills over, NATO agrees to hand over security lead to Afghan troops by mid-2013, and more.
Today’s headlines in full:
Deadly suicide attack on Yemeni capital leaves 90 soldiers dead
Al Jazeera, Qatar
Two Lebanese killed in heavy clashes as Syrian conflict spills over
Dubai TV, UAE
NATO agrees to hand over security lead to Afghan troops by mid-2013
BBC Arabic, UK
Syria: Thirteen killed in Homs, Hama, Daraa clashes
BBC Arabic, UK
Bahraini security forces attack protestors as crackdown continues
Al-Alam, Iran
NATO urges Pakistan to reopen supply route
Press TV, Iran
IAEA chief in Iran to press for nuclear cooperation
Press TV, Iran
New video shows Jewish settlers shooting Palestinians as Israeli soldiers stand idle
Press TV, Iran
Tourism, African migrants are main focus of Jerusalem Day Israeli Cabinet session
IBA, Israel
Palestine Heritage Museum reopens in Jerusalem
Palestine TV, Ramallah
Image: A boy holds a candle during a protest to show solidarity with a Yemeni journalist jailed over alleged links with al-Qaeda and to condemn a suicide attack that killed over 90 soldiers in Sanaa May 21, 2012: REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi
Mosaic is a Peabody Award-winning daily compilation of television news reports from the Middle East, including Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, the Palestinian Authority, Iraq and Iran. Watch more Mosaic at http://www.linktv.org/mosaic
UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, May 21, 2012. Ladsous on Monday warned here of the presence of terrorist groups in Syria, who are trying to capitalize on the current unrest to achieve certain gains. (Xinhua/Hazim)
DAMASCUS, May 21 (Xinhua) — The visiting UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous on Monday warned here of the presence of terrorist groups in Syria, who are trying to capitalize on the current unrest to achieve certain gains.
“We know that there are … a third party, terrorist groups, who are trying to gain advantage for themselves… but we have to see this as an issue within Syria, between the Syrians,” he said during a press conference in Damascus.
“These people are not committed to the cause of the Syrian people… They are committed to their own agenda… So we have to keep a watchful eye but what we are dealing with and what we must deal with is the issue between the Syrians themselves,” he said.
“We do know that there had been terrorist attacks and bombings and that is something to be taken very seriously,” he added. “Any further militarization of the crisis is not to be accepted… it’s a crisis between the Syrians and there is no justification in fueling the fire.”
Ladsous said that main objective of his visit to Syria is to examine the deployment of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria, adding that he has been “very pleased by the rapidity by which they have been deployed.”
He noted that the number of UN military observers is now 270, adding that they are now deployed in six cities and soon they will be deployed in 10 cities.
“I am not saying that the violence ceased altogether but clearly it diminished,” he said, adding that he had met with the government and the opposition in Syria.
He said the job of the UN observers aims also to work on the issue of the detainees and to gain access to the prisons. “We simply do not know how many people are detained.”
Ladsous said there are still some unresolved issues, stressing, however, that the Syrian government has confirmed its commitment to Annan’s six-point plan.
“I think it’s necessary to talk to all those who are involved, about how to get further towards a peaceful solution and how to stop violence,” he said.
For his part, head of the UN observer mission Maj-Gen Robert Mood said He is sending Ladsous back to New York “with a different understanding of what Syria is about.”
We’ll speak with two men who were held at gun point by the Chicago police for live streaming. Then, in one of the most watched antiwar protests in decades, dozens of Veterans tossed their medals into the streets. And it’s Monday Hangover, so we’ll talk about why the Obama campaign is going after Mitt Romney’s time at Bain Capital when Private Equity donations favor Obama.
BP Coverup, Coverup
Bio
Greg Palast is a BBC investigative reporter and author of Vultures’ Picnic. Palast turned his skills to journalism after two decades as a top investigator of corporate fraud. Palast directed the U.S. governmentʼs largest racketeering case in history– winning a $4.3 billion jury award. He also conducted the investigation of fraud charges in the Exxon Valdez grounding.
Transcript
PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I’m Paul Jay in Washington.
The BP gulf oil disaster has been the subject of a lot of examination, and recent examination shows that there’s more of a coverup then perhaps we have known. One of the people who’s done a lot of work on this is investigative journalist Greg Palast. And he now joins us from New York City. Greg’s a BBC investigative reporter, author of Vultures’ Picnic, and author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Armed Madhouse and many other pieces of investigative work. Thanks very much for joining us, Greg.GREG PALAST, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: Glad to be with you, Paul.JAY: So, first of all, what is the—I mean, people know the basic story of what happened, but what is the real essence of the coverup here?PALAST: Yeah, they don’t know the real story, not in the U.S. press. For British television, I investigated what really happened. Actually, right after Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, 2010, I get a message from a witness, an insider from the Caspian Sea, which is, you know, the other side of the planet, in Asia, saying, I know exactly what happened here, ’cause the exact same thing happened in the Caspian Sea two years earlier: there was another BP rig—another BP rig blew out, just like the Deepwater Horizon. And BP covered it up. BP hid it because it occurred offshore off the nation of Azerbaijan, which is what I call—in my book Vulture’s Picnic I call it the Islamic Republic of BP. They own that place. They bought it—bribery.JAY: Now, the point here is that the cause of the Caspian Sea blowout, you’re saying, is essentially the same as what happened in the Gulf.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has gone through many changes since it came to be in 1978, but some of the most recent changes to FISA give the US government permission to eavesdrop on Americans’ electronic communications without a warrant. President Obama has argued that wiretapping programs may not be challenged in court, but should they be? Amie Stepanovich, associate litigation counsel for EPIC, joins us with more on the FISA.
NGOs take issue with UN take on sustainable development Rio De Janeiro (AFP) May 21, 2012 – A month before a UN meeting on sustainable development, civil society is taking issue with the gathering’s approach.The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20, takes place in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro June 20-22. In parallel, NGOs will gather for the People’s Summit for Social and Environmental Justice.”The discussions focus on a set of fake proposals called ‘Green economy,’” organizers of the alternate event said on their website. “The ‘Green economy,’ contrary to what its name suggests, is one more stage of capitalistic accumulation.”The document — titled “What is at stake at Rio+20″ — also alleges that the negotiation strategy at the upcoming conference favors rich governments and threatens the rights of indigenous people.At least 116 government officials and 50,000 participants are expected to take part in Rio+20, including heads of companies and representatives of social movements.
The People’s Summit will take place June 15-23.
Food shortages have worsened in North Korea, even in the southwestern rice belt where some residents have starved to death, a Seoul-based online newspaper said Monday.
“Because of worsening food shortages this year there were reports of people starving to death even in South and North Hwanghae provinces,” a Daily NK reporter told AFP, referring to the country’s agricultural heartland.
Six people — children or the elderly — died in just one village in Shingye county after the authorities released an emergency supply of only one or two kilograms (2.2-4.4 pounds) of corn to each household, the paper said.
It quoted another source as saying that about 10 people had died of starvation on each collective farm in and around the coastal city of Haeju by April, following shortages in late winter.
Good Friends, a Seoul-based aid group, also said on its website that starvation continued to claim victims throughout South Hwanghae. At Hwanghae Steelworks some workers had died because food rations stopped, it said.
The South’s unification ministry, which handles cross-border affairs, said it had no information.
Daily NK said North and South Hwanghae saw rice production fall last year due to flooding, and most of the autumn harvest was diverted to military stores or for citizens of Pyongyang.
In South Hwanghae shortages were aggravated by restrictions on market trading and travel during the 100-day mourning period for leader Kim Jong-Il, who died on December 17, it said.
Near the border with the South soldiers were mobilised for farming because many farm workers left to seek help from relatives in other areas, it said.
The North’s official food distribution system, part of its state-directed economy, largely collapsed during the famine years of the mid to-late 1990s.
Severe food shortages have persisted. But donations to UN programmes have dwindled due to international irritation at the North’s missile and nuclear programmes.
The United States suspended a plan to deliver 240,000 tonnes of food after the North’s latest rocket launch on April 13.
On Monday the North’s official Korean Central News Agency expressed concern about drought in western areas, which it said had received little rainfall in the past few weeks.
Water levels in the country’s major irrigation reservoirs stood at just over 55 percent of normal because of unusually high temperatures, which were expected to last until early June, it said.
The European Commission is set to launch a substantial review of rules governing personal documents with the aim of making electronic identities take off across the EU. But the proposal faces likely opposition from civil rights groups and member states where identity cards do not exist.
Neelie Kroes, the EU’s Digital Agenda Commissioner, will present by the beginning of June a new legislative proposal which aims “to facilitate cross-border electronic transactions” through the adoption of harmonised e-signatures, e-identities and electronic authentication services (eIAS) across EU member states, according to an internal document seen by EurActiv.
“A clear regulatory environment for eIAS would boost user convenience, trust and confidence in the digital world,” reads the paper. “This will increase the availability of cross-border and cross-sector eIAS and stimulate the take up of cross-border electronic transactions in all sectors.”
Brussels has long been trying to facilitate the emergence of a parallel system of electronic identification, on top of the the real-world existing documents. This has mainly been linked to the struggle for establishing a truly functioning single market, rather than on security grounds.
A directive was adopted in 1999 establishing a common framework for electronic signatures. The rationale for the legal text is that if EU citizens feel comfortable in signing documents online, they will increasingly move to the immaterial world of the e-commerce to do business and shopping, regardless of national borders.
Resistance expected at national level
Despite the EU’s efforts to increase the security of e-signatures and the confidence in the emergence of virtual identities, citizens and governments have been slow to adopt electronic IDs.
Indeed, e-signatures are still confined to a few sectors, such as universities, while most EU nations have not yet introduced electronic identity cards.
Even if chip-embedded passports are becoming the norm across Europe, e-ID cards have been adopted in only in a handful of countries – Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. But there is no common system of mutual recognition among states using electronic IDs.
Perhaps more frustrating for the European Commission is that some member states like the United Kingdom do not even have paper identity cards, and the idea of adopting them causes widespread public opposition.
The UK briefly introduced ID cards during the second world war but abolished them afterwards. The use that the Nazi regime made of identity documents to single out Jewish people and send them into concentration camps has been a powerful argument against introducing ID documents across the Channel.
When Tony Blair’s Labour government discussed the idea of ID cards, a citizen movement sprang up overnight to block the plans.
ID cards are also not used in Denmark and Ireland.
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]
Obama administration, including his czars and his closest Progressive supporters, are planning a manufactured insurgency against America. Using the media to garner both sympathy and support for his unfinished goals
The planned re-election of Obama, revolutionary style
It was not the proverbial 3:00 a.m. phone call, but close enough. And it was not made to the White House, but to my house, which is not white, nor is it in DC. It was about 2:30 a.m. on 25 April 2012, and the call itself was somewhat unexpected. I had anticipated the telephone call from my DHS insider much earlier the previous day, but our schedules didn’t synch up. I was traveling on an investigative assignment, while my source was in meetings all day. I had just fallen asleep, and was slumbering no more than 20 minutes when the phone rang.
In most households, a ringing phone at that time of night causes concern for everyone who hears it. In my household, it seems to surprise only my surly, 140 pound light-sleeping German Shepherd. He let out an objective grunt as I stepped over him to take the call in another room. It was “Rosebud,” the code name given my insider source.
About Rosebud
Just a little bit here about my source and his “super-secret code name.” I’ve known this government insider since 1979, when he first became a municipal patrol officer. He took a job in a bigger city and had a very successful run as a cop. Before retirement and after the events of 9/11, he was tapped by the feds, where he worked in various capacities under the umbrella of DHS. He worked his way up, and suddenly found himself in what he terms the inner sanctum of the “TEC” building. TEC, he explains, is an acronym for what he calls “The Estrogen Challenged,” which houses the upper echelon of the Department of Homeland Security. I’ll leave it at that.
As far as his code name, it originates from an incident that occurred at the end of the disco era. It is something that we both privately laugh about, but rarely ever talk about. His “code name” is known to him, me, and at the time, a young woman who has since vanished amid the glitter of disco balls and constant replays of the Bee Gees in a dark nightclub some 32 years ago, and has no “cloak and dagger” origins.
But he is real, his position serious, and his knowledge vast. Unfortunately, that’s what makes the whole situation frightening and deadly serious.
The information
It began on Wednesday, 2 May 2012 with a 45-minute interview on TruNews with Rick Wiles when I first disclosed the information I received the previous week from my source. The information I relayed “went viral,” as they say, across the internet.
To support the statements I made during that interview, I am showing my handwritten notes taken contemporaneously during our conversation. My notes consist of two pages and are, at various points, admittedly difficult to decipher. I ask that points not be deducted for my penmanship given the time of the morning which they were taken.
According to my source, there is talk among the highest levels of the uppermost echelon of the Department of Homeland Security, which he describes as effectively under the control of Barack Hussein Obama. During this call, he said that the DHS is actively preparing for massive social unrest inside the United States. He then corrected himself, stating that “a civil war” is the more appropriate term. Certain elements of the government are not only expecting and preparing for it, they are actually facilitating it,” stated my source.
“The DHS takes their marching orders from the Obama administration, from Obama himself, but mostly from his un-appointed czars. And Jarrett, especially Valerie Jarrett. Don’t think for a minute that the administration is doing anything to stabilize events in the U.S. They are revolutionaries, and revolutionaries thrive on chaos,” he added.
My source stated that he has not seen things this bad since he began working within DHS. “It’s like they [DHS agency heads] don’t care about what the American people see or feel about what the DHS agencies are doing. They figure that if the average American will put up with being “sexually groped and nuked” just to fly, they’ll accept almost anything. “That’s why their actions are becoming more overt. “It’s in your face and the brass actually chuckle about it” said my source.
New Information
Astounded by the information my source provided “going viral,” I spoke to him again early Sunday morning. This was a scheduled telephone call (as noted on page 2 of my notes) based on a high level meeting of DHS personnel that was scheduled for and took place in Chantilly, Virginia, on Saturday, 5 May 2012. He hoped to provide me with more information to supplement that which he already given. Although he was not personally present, his source was. While he would not say who was at the meeting on Saturday or give its precise location, he said that the many of the names would be recognizable. He spoke to his source late Saturday night.
I contacted him on his cellular phone early Sunday morning to get the promised update.
“Geez, nice job on getting the word out about what’s really going on at DHS and in this administration,” were the first words out of his mouth, followed by “thanks a lot.” I asked him why he would be thanking me. “I just wanna’ tell you that I’m going to have to hire someone to start my car, and I’m surely not going for any rides in small planes in the immediate future,” he said with a bit of nervous laughter. “I hope no one finds out who I am or it’s going to be more than my pension I’ll have to worry about.”
“I can tell you word is getting out that people are starting to wake up, which is causing a lot of ‘pissed off brass.’ I can’t tell if they are more desperate or upset about the exposure, but the tone is starting to become a lot more tense. I hope that we’re having something to do with that,” he added.
With that, he provided me with additional information to supplement that which he already given me on 25 April. For clarity purposes, I have combined the information together from both contacts. The following information includes the updated information provided to me Sunday morning.
Four reasons Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign had a bad week
Yahoo! News
View PhotoREUTERS – U.S.President Barack Obama speaks about the economy while at the SUNY-Albany Nano-Fab Extension Building in Albany, New York May 8, 2012. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES – Tags: POL …more
If you don’t believe rigid mathematical formulas can tell you who will win a presidential election—and I don’t—you should be even more dubious about hunches divined from a stray incident or two.
So why do I have the feeling that just such an incident—OK, make it four—made last week a very bad one for President Barack Obama’s re-election prospects?
Because they connect to much bigger problems that go to the heart of the Obama campaign’s arguments for a second term. Moreover, the time to repair these problems is rapidly running out.
Let’s take the first event, which on the surface may seem ludicrous: the Empty Seats in Columbus.
Obama semiofficially launched his re-election campaign—as opposed to the hundreds of “nonpolitical” appearances he has made over the past three years—at a rally Saturday at Ohio State University. Some 14,000 supporters filled the arena—or rather, did not fill the arena. Coverage of the event focused heavily on the 4,000 empty seats, and Obama’s senior campaign adviser David Axelrod was pressed by ABC’s Jake Tapper about whether the turnout demonstrated a lack of “enthusiasm” for the president.
If that were the beginning and the end of the story, I’d be ashamed to be writing about it. Yes, advance teams try to fill halls. The founding father of such work, Jerry Bruno, always booked smaller halls so that the press would have to write that a candidate spoke to “an overflow crowd.” And yes, the press blow logistical mistakes out of all proportion. In 1988, ABC’s Sam Donaldson reported that a faulty sound system “called into question the competence of the Dukakis campaign.” (On the other hand, given that campaign, he may have been onto something.) By itself, the turnout for Obama was no big deal.
What makes those empty seats mean more are other, more substantive matters: The jobs picture for young people is especially bleak; the April unemployment rate for workers under 25 was 16.4 percent—double the overall national rate; as many as half of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed; younger workers have fared worse than any other age group in terms of recovering from the hammer blows of 2008.
If the president is to be re-elected, he is going to have to come reasonably close to his success with younger voters four years ago, when he won 66 percent of the vote among people between the ages of 18 and 29. It was that margin, along with a respectable (though not spectacular) turnout, that made the difference in close states like Florida and North Carolina. If the jobs outlook for new college graduates and younger workers continues to be bleak, the problem won’t be filling seats in an arena, but filling the polls in November.
Or consider the dust-up when Vice President Joe Biden, on “Meet the Press,” declared himself “absolutely comfortable” with gay marriage—a position echoed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan a day later.
Political Tumult in Greece After Uncertain Elections
Kostas Tsironis/Associated Press
Alexis Tsipras, of Syriza, the left-wing, anti-austerity party that came in second, said Monday in Athens that he would try to form a coalition of leftist groups opposing terms of Greece’s bailout.
ATHENS — Greece teetered on the verge of political chaos on Monday, with few signs that any party could form a governing coalition and the prospect of the nation leaving the euro zone looming increasingly large.
Thanassis Stavrakis/Associated Press
Greece’s conservative leader of New Democracy’s Antonis Samaras arrived at the headquarters of his party in Athens on Monday, May 7, 2012.
Just a day after coming in a weak first in its worst showing ever in national elections, the center-right New Democracy party quickly announced on Monday that it had failed to form a governing majority. While a left-wing, anti-austerity party that placed second will now have a chance to form a coalition, many analysts say Greece is unlikely to emerge from its current crisis with a government either capable or willing to carry out the strict budget-cutting mandates of its foreign lenders.
The Greek election and ensuing political tumult showed that “it’s not clear how they can survive within the euro over the longer term,” said Kenneth S. Rogoff, a professor of economics at Harvard and a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. That could have grave implications for the rest of Europe.
“A Greek exit,” Mr. Rogoff said, “would underscore that there’s no realistic long-term plan for Europe, and it would lead to a chaotic endgame for the rest of the euro zone.”
On Sunday, the traditionally dominant parties, New Democracy and the Socialists, which both backed Greece’s latest loan agreement with its foreign creditors, failed to get enough votes for a majority in Parliament. Several smaller parties, whose fortunes rose on a rich harvest of protest votes, refused to join in a coalition with the larger parties.
“We did everything we could but it just wasn’t possible,” the leader of New Democracy, Antonis Samaras, said in a televised statement after failing to secure support from other political parties. Greek law gives the front-runner three days to form a government before the baton is passed to the runner-up.
Angela Merkel’s party faces ouster in German state vote
Social Democratic candidate Torsten Albig speaks to party fellows after first exit polls for the federal state elections of Germany’s northern state of Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel on Sunday.
FABIAN BIMMER/REUTERS
BERLIN—Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives were in danger of being ousted from power in another German state on Sunday after the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) said they wanted to form a three-way coalition with two smaller centre-left parties.
The Christian Democrats’ (CDU) vote fell to 31 per cent, their worst result in the state since 1950, but they were still just the largest party in the rural region between the Baltic and North Seas, a projection by Germany’s ARD TV network showed.
The SPD, which won 29.9 per cent in the northernmost state, said it wanted to form a coalition with the Greens and South Schleswig Party (SSW) that represents the Danish majority. The three parties would have 35 seats in the 69-seat state assembly.
Merkel’s conservatives have been voted out of power in three states in the last two years. If knocked out in the traditionally conservative region of Schleswig-Holstein the CDU would rule just seven of Germany’s 16 states ahead of the 2013 federal election, when Merkel is seeking a third term.
“She’ll probably lose another state premier and this will make things harder for her re-election campaign,” said Gero Neugebauer, political scientist at Berlin’s Free University. “She can’t be satisfied about the performance of her centre-right coalition.”
The chancellor’s resolute stance through the drama of the euro-zone crisis has left her personal popularity intact. But her national centre-right coalition has looked in jeopardy after a slump support for her junior coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP).
The new jobs numbers are out and the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in April 115,000 non-farm jobs were added, but at the same time 342,000 people left the labor force. In February the unemployment rate was 8.3 percent. At this rate will the US ever climb out of the jobs crisis? Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, joins us to take a closer look at the numbers.
Low student loan interest rates in limbo after Democrats’ bill stalls in Senate
By Daniel Strauss and Alexander Bolton
The Senate on Tuesday rejected a motion to advance legislation that would prevent student loans from doubling, sparking a fresh round of partisan finger-pointing.
President Obama and congressional Democrats accused Republicans of obstructing the bill, which was blocked along party lines. Republicans countered by noting the House recently acted on similar legislation, and said Democrats are needlessly politicizing the issue.
Democratic leaders called on presumptive 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to become more engaged in the debate.
“Mitt Romney says he supports what we’re trying to do. I would suggest he pick up the phone and call Sen. [Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] and tell him he favors what we’re trying to do,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
While both parties agree on the merits of the bill, they are miles apart on how to pay for its $6 billion price tag.
Romney has not embraced a specific proposal, but has said he does not want student loan rates to increase this year.
Sixty votes were needed to move to a debate on the legislation, but Democrats and Republicans were unable to reach a deal to prevent a GOP filibuster.
The failure leaves the Senate with an unclear path going forward on keeping the interest rates from doubling. If Congress does not act, the rate on federal student loans would rise from 3.4 percent to 6.8 on July 1.
Obama has sought to turn the issue of student loans against Republicans, but the Senate’s failure to pass its own bill will make that more challenging.
The House late last month approved legislation that would keep the interest rate stable, though Obama has threatened to veto that measure. Obama supports extending the low interest loans but opposes the House GOP offset, which would cut from a preventive healthcare fund set up by the 2010 healthcare reform law.
We’ve seen around the world what an ailing economy can do to a country, from France to Greece people are growing tired of their countries’ financial troubles and have ousted their leaders over the matter. In a recent study, approximately one fourth of Fortune 500 companies paid less than 10 percent income tax, so will that affect President Obama’s chances for the 2012 election? Liz Wahl tells us more.
In this April 17, 2012 file photo, Abu Qatada is driven away after being refused bail at a hearing at London’s Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which handles deportation and security cases, in London. (AP)
By REUTERS
Published: May 9, 2012 20:49 Updated: May 9, 2012 23:11
LONDON: A radical preacher accused of giving inspiration to one of the 9/11 hijackers lost a legal bid in the European courts yesterday to challenge Britain’s long-running attempts to deport him to Jordan to stand trial on terrorism charges.
Abu Qatada, once described by a Spanish judge as “Osama Bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe,” had asked the European Court of Human Rights to refer his case to a panel of its most senior judges. The court said it turned down his request, paving the way for Britain to send him back to Jordan after a decade of legal wrangling over his fate. It gave no reasons for its refusal.
Qatada’s lawyers had argued that he risked being tortured in Jordan or being convicted using evidence extracted from others using torture. Britain reached an agreement with Jordan in 2005 to try to ensure Qatada is not mistreated if he is returned to Jordan.
“I am pleased by the European court’s decision,” said British Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May. “The Qatada case will now go through the British courts. “I am confident the assurances we have from Jordan mean we can put Qatada on a plane and get him out of Britain.”
However, in an embarrassment for the British government, the judges confirmed that Qatada had lodged his appeal request in time, contradicting May’s original claims that he had been too late.
His case has been a headache for successive British governments, accused by critics of not doing enough to deport Qatada.
Twice convicted in his absence in Jordan of involvement in terrorism plots, the preacher is still a national security risk, Britain says, and should be deported before London hosts the Olympic Games in July and August.
Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, has been in and out of jail since he was first detained without charge under British anti-terrorism laws in 2002. Britain says videotapes of his sermons were found in a German apartment used by three of the people who carried out Al-Qaeda’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
http://www.euronews.com/ German exports and imports both leapt to record monthly levels in March.
Exports were up by 0.9 percent – adjusted for seasonal factors – and imports rose 1.2 percent.
That bolsters hopes that Europe’s largest economy has escaped recession.
Coming on the heels of strong German industrial output and orders figures that highlights the country’s resilience to the eurozone’s deepening debt crisis.
Economists said the jump in imports also provided crumbs of comfort to Germany’s struggling peers in the euro zone.
Trade figures from France, the euro zone’s second biggest economy, showed its exports to Germany and other northern European countries increasing in March even as its sales to the crisis-stricken Mediterranean region tumbled.
The competitive German economy is profiting from the revival of global trade after a soft patch at the end of 2011.
Today’s figures support our forecast that the German economy has grown slightly at the start of the year,” said Ulrich Rondorf, an analyst at Commerzbank.
This would enable Germany to avoid a technical recession – defined as two successive quarters of contraction – as its economy shrank by 0.2 percent in October-December 2011.
Germany’s eight leading economic institutes have revised upwards their 2012 growth forecast to 0.9 percent. The government is sticking to its forecast of 0.7 percent.
Outcry Against Banking Practices with Michael Tellinger
(www.abndigital.com)
Author, researcher and scientist, Michael Tellinger has just filed his 1,100 page notice of motion against Standard Bank in the Constitutional Court, accusing the bank of “unlawful and unconstitutional activity”. He also served the notice on the Reserve Bank and the Minister of Finance. Michael Tellinger joins ABN’s Samantha Loring in studio to give us more details.
Investors hedge against losses as Europe fears resurface
By Angela Moon and Doris Frankel
(Reuters) – The resurgence of the euro zone’s debt woes as a dominant force in the U.S. equity market has sparked a flurry of cautious bets in the options market as investors brace for more uncertainty.
The S&P 500 may have lost only a little over 1 percent for the week, but markets have become noticeably more volatile following elections in Greece and France that changed expectations for how the euro zone will deal with long-standing debt problems.
“People are scrambling for portfolio insurance and are picking up puts and selling stock as they prepare for a further breakdown in the U.S. stock market. At this point, investors are indifferent about the health of the U.S. economy with a clear focus on the fate of Greece,” said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co Inc in New York.
The CBOE Volatility index (MXP:^VIX), Wall Street’s so-called fear gauge, rose to its highest in over two months at 21.59 earlier on Wednesday. The VIX, a 30-day risk forecast of stock market volatility conveyed by S&P 500 options, has come off its highs to 20.25, up 6.3 percent on Wednesday afternoon.
Bearish sentiment this week can be seen in the CBOE equity put-to-call ratio, which hit its most extreme level since August 2011, said Jason Goepfert, president of SentimenTrader.com in a report.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell for the fifth day in six on Wednesday as investors kept their focus on the turmoil in Europe, but news that Greece will receive its latest debt bailout payment helped cut losses late in the session.
In the afternoon the Nasdaq briefly turned positive and the S&P rose to break-even after news that Greece will get 5.2 billion euros in emergency aid.
The turmoil in Europe has driven Wall Street’s slide and more investors were hedging against potential further losses. The Dow fell for a sixth straight day and the S&P touched a two-month low before cutting losses.
“It’s a very difficult market to trade in. I’m advising my clients to just hedge out all the way into July because we are going to see some heightened volatility like today for awhile,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.
Home Prices Rise in Half of U.S. Cities as Markets Stabilize
By Prashant Gopal
Prices for single-family homes climbed in half of U.S. cities in the first quarter as real estate markets stabilized.
The median sales price increased from a year earlier in 74 of 146 metropolitan areas measured, the National Association of Realtors said in a report today. In the fourth quarter, only 29 areas had gains.
A development in Oswego, Illinois. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
May 7 (Bloomberg) — Michelle Meyer, a senior economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, talks about the U.S. economy and real estate market. She speaks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television’s “Surveillance Midday.” (Source: Bloomberg)
The U.S. housing market is showing signs of bottoming as improving employment and record-low mortgage rates boost demand while inventories of available properties tighten. At the end of March, 2.37 million previously owned homes were available for sale, 22 percent fewer than a year earlier, the Realtors said.
“The housing market is still depressed but it had a good quarter,” Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, said in a telephone interview today. “We’re on the mend but it’s still something that will take two or three years before we’re back to normal.”
The national median existing single-family home price was $158,100 in the first quarter, down 0.4 percent from the first three months of 2011, according to the Realtors group.
The best-performing metro area was Cape Coral, Florida, where prices increased 28.1 percent from a year earlier. Prices rose 19 percent in Grand Rapids, Michigan; 16.9 percent in Palm Bay, Florida; and 16.6 percent in Erie, Pennsylvania.
PABLO GORONDI, Associated PressHome Prices Rise in Half of U.S. Cities as Markets Stabilize
Updated 06:59 a.m., Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Oil fell to near $97 a barrel Tuesday, extending nearly a week of losses as signs of sluggish economic growth in the U.S. and Europe foreshadowed tepid demand for crude.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for June delivery was down 87 cents to $97.07 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract settled down 55 cents at $97.94 in New York on Monday after trading as low as $95.34 per barrel — its cheapest level this year.
In London, Brent crude was down 93 cents at $112.23 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Crude has dropped from $106 last week as indicators from major developed economies show they continue to struggle. Last week, the U.S. said factory orders fell in March while the economy added fewer jobs than expected in April. Spain said its economy slipped into recession last quarter as the unemployment rate reached 24 percent.
“While it is easy to malign the European recovery, the latest round of U.S. macroeconomic data is troubling in itself,” energy trader and consultant The Schork Group said in a report.
If the fall in oil prices continues, the cost of crude products such as gasoline should also drop, providing a potential boost for consumer spending.
Last fall, some U.S. economic data began to come in weak, and the stock market sold off. This prompted many economists and analysts to begin talking about the possibility of a new recession.
Well, the U.S. economy did not tip back into recession. In fact, the data started coming in better-than-expected again, and the country experienced modest growth in Q4 and Q1.
http://www.euronews.com/ Spain is stepped up it efforts to save the country’s troubled banks with a plan to make them recognise the huge losses from the bursting of the property bubble.
The government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is expected to reveal full details on Friday, but financial sources said the lenders will be told to put aside another 35 billion euros to cover bad loans.
That is on top of the 54 billion euro financial cushion already demanded in reforms announced in February.
Spain’s banks have close to 300 billion euros in total exposure to the building sector, including property seized as collateral. That is equivalent to around 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Repayment is unlikely of at least 184 billion euros worth of those loans.
Meanwhile shares in Spain’s fourth largest lender, Bankia, fell further on Wednesday ahead of the expected announcement of a 10 billion euro government bailout for the bank. It holds 10 percent of the Spanish banking system’s deposits and is the most exposed to toxic assets.
Previously Prime Minister Rajoy had said he would not put more public money into rescuing the banks but he has had to do a U-turn.
Uncertainty over the final cost of a rescue meant Spanish government bond yields broke through the psychologically important six percent level, which is considered unaffordable over the long term.
Investors have yet to be convinced as this will be the fourth banking sector overhaul in three years.
As some Spanish lenders are unlikely to be able to find the extra funds without public help, there is an increased probability that the Madrid government may have to issue more debt to bail them out.
Ben Levett, analyst at consultancy 4Cast said: “It depends what’s announced, but right now it feels like smoke and mirrors and not the cathartic moment that Spain needs. It looks more like the government has panicked and pushed something out.”
A trader monitors stocks at a Saudi bank in Dammam. (Reuters)
By KHALIL HANWARE | ARAB NEWS STAFF
Published: May 10, 2012 00:18 Updated: May 10, 2012 00:18
JEDDAH: The Kingdom’s stock exchange made its largest one-day drop in three weeks yesterday as global market jitters and volatile oil prices spurred investors to reduce their risk exposure.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) dropped 2 percent to close at 7,221.5 points, its biggest one-day loss since April 15. The market is still up 12.52 percent so far this year.
The TASI fell along with stock markets around the world owing to heightening concern about the prospects for the euro zone, said Paul Gamble, chief economist and head of research at Jadwa Investment.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and Al-Rajhi Bank fell 1 percent each.
The insurance stocks were the worst hit yesterday as the index dropped 5.2 percent.
The value of traded shares reached SR7.87 billion.
“The ongoing failure of Greek political parties to form a new government has raised prospects of a new election and brought closer the possibility of a Greek exit from the euro zone,” Gamble added.
Jarmo T. Kotilaine, chief economist at the National Commercial Bank, said: “The swing of the European political mood away from austerity, as reflected by the anti-incumbent vote in France and Greece, has clearly intensified market perceptions of uncertainty and risk. In particular, the political stalemate in Greece and the growing frustration of especially with this, is beginning to raise existential questions about the euro zone.”
He said the possibility of a Greek exit from the euro was being openly discussed in Greece and outside.
Such a possibility in turn is heightening speculation about contagion, potentially even into major economies such as Spain and Italy, said Kotilaine.
“Should the euro zone indeed unravel, even just partially, the market disruptions would be potentially enormous even though important preventive steps have been taken to contain potential damage,” he said.
Basil Al-Ghalayini, CEO of BMG Financial Group, commented: “With the market concern at Greek instability, the Spanish government’s bail out of the third largest bank and the unknown outcome of the newly elected French leadership, the euro zone is in crisis. Considering the correlation of the Saudi market with those of major market zones, this decline is expected.”
Farouk Miah, head of equity research at NCB Capital, said: “I think its a combination of heightened worries in Europe due to the outcome of the French and Greek elections. Investors are selling out before the summer lull, as well as profit-taking from the very good Q1, 2012 performance.”
He added: “It is not surprising that speculative names are falling the most, given the lack of any fundamental story in many of those names. We continue to prefer quality names which are locally driven and defensive such as Savola and Mobily.”
Published: May 10, 2012 00:18 Updated: May 10, 2012 00:18
NEW YORK: Gold dropped below $1,600 an ounce in heavy trading on Wednesday, nearly wiping out gains for 2012 as political uncertainty in Greece and Spanish bank worries prompted investors to sell bullion for a third straight daily decline.
The precious metal was down more than 3.5 percent so far this week on European debt fears due to a change in the French presidency, the frail state of Spanish banks and political
gridlock in Greece.
This week’s turmoil in Europe prompted investors to unwind long positions in gold built on optimism that followed a 130-billion euro bailout deal between the EU, the IMF and Greece.
“With the fate of the euro once again hanging in the balance, investors may have also soured on gold, perhaps questioning whether they are now going to be seeing sufficient
amounts of ‘bail-out euros’ that could potentially help the precious metal find a bid,” said Edward Meir, metals analyst at INTL FCStone.
Spot gold bounced off session lows and was down 0.7 percent on the day at $1,593.81 an ounce 11:42 a.m. (1542 GMT) Bullion hit a four-month low of $1,579.30, its lowest since Jan. 3.
US gold futures for June delivery fell $10.40 to $1,594.10 an ounce, with trading volume surpassing its 30-day average for a second straight day.
The gold price has been in decline for most of the past two months, since US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave no signal that the central bank would start a third round of government bond buying, or quantitative easing.
Gold’s 2012 gains totaled 14 percent in late February, but now it is up less than 2 percent on the year to date.
Gold this year had tended to trade in tandem with riskier assets such as equities and crude oil. But this week’s losses have the precious metal underperforming 2012 gains of about 9 percent in the S&P 500 stock index and nearly 6.5 percent in crude oil.
Nic Brown, Natixis’ head of commodity research, said a lack of inverse correlation between gold and perceived risky assets such as the euro suggested the metal was not attracting demand from jittery European investors.
Other precious metals were down but off their session lows. Silver fell 0.5 percent to $29.28 an ounce.
Palladium slightly outperformed gold and silver following the release of Chinese data that showed robust year-on-year growth in car sales in the world’s largest auto market.
Palladium was last down 0.1 percent on the day at $614.47 an ounce, while platinum edged down 0.5 percent at $1,496.24 an ounce.
Published: May 10, 2012 00:18 Updated: May 10, 2012 00:18
AMMAN: Jordan has no plans to revalue its dinar currency or sever the currency’s peg to the US dollar and will maintain a tight monetary policy to preserve the attractiveness of dinar-denominated assets at a time of regional uncertainty, the central bank deputy governor said on Wednesday.
“I think that the peg to the dollar has served the country well for many many years and we don’t see at this point that we need to change the regime or change the level of the Jordanian currency vis-a-vis the US dollar,” Maher Sheikh Hasan told a conference.
The dollar peg has provided stability in a period of regional instability to an aid-dependent economy hurt by a drop in capital inflows and remittances as Jordan is still struggling to recover from the global downturn of 2008-2009.
Jordan is expected to manage 2.8 percent growth this year, a slight pick-up from last year’s 2.5 percent and almost half the levels it attained during a boom period before the financial crisis.
“One thing one has to keep in mind in the Arab spring, we are facing a lot of nominal shocks where a fixed exchange regime plays a positive role in absorbing such shocks,” Sheikh Hasan added.
Sheikh Hasan also said last February’s rise in benchmark rates that went counter to a global rate trend was prompted by potential inflationary risks and to encourage savings in dinar-denominated assets at a time of regional political uncertainty.
“We recognized the level of concern … to maintain such attractiveness (of dinar-denominated assets), and to compensate investors for the relatively high risk premium it was appropriate to raise interest rates,” he added.
Bankers said the tightening of monetary policy had now the priority of encouraging dinar-denominated savings by widening the differential between the dinar and the dollar to over 3 percent to stem capital flight
Some bankers have said recent months have seen modest transfers to the dollar as a safe haven.
Sheikh Hasan said a freeze on gasoline prices had helped to keep inflation under control. So far this year it has averaged 3.6 percent, compared to 4.4 percent in the same period last year, the central bank official said. However, it is forecast to rise to almost 6 percent in 2012.
But inflation was expected to rise with plans to raise electricity prices and rationalize a costly subsidy system that has added to the kingdom’s fiscal pressures, Sheikh Hasan said.
Officials say reforming a universal system of fuel subsidies was crucial to reduce the budget deficit to around 5 percent of GDP this year from 6 percent in 2011. Economists say the deficit could reach as high as 8 percent without aid from Western donors and Saudi Arabia.
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi speaks during Singapore International Energy Week on Monday. (Reuters)
By REUTERS
Published: May 10, 2012 00:18 Updated: May 10, 2012 01:09
TOKYO: Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi said oil markets would remain well supplied even after fresh international sanctions against Iran take effect, as global crude oversupply is already as much as 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd).
“There is a surplus oil in the market. There is surplus supply,” he told reporters in Tokyo after holding talks with Japanese officials about energy supplies.
US and European Union sanctions on Iran’s oil exports take effect in June and July.
When asked if he saw oil supplies tightening in coming months as global sanctions against Iran come into effect, Al-Naimi said: “Absolutely not.”
He said: “There is today about 1.3 to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of extra supply over demand.”
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped about 1.3 million barrels per day above its output target in March, according to the group’s monthly report in April.
Saudi Arabia is pumping around 10 million barrels per day (bpd) and is storing 80 million barrels to meet any sudden disruption in supplies, Al-Naimi said on Tuesday.
Worries of a supply disruption from the Middle East due to escalating tensions between the West and Iran pushed benchmark Brent crude prices over $128 in March, a gain of over 20 percent from the start of the year.
Prices have since eased but have stayed well above $100, keeping global fuel costs high and threatening to derail the fragile global economic recovery.
The US, Britain and France have discussed a release from oil reserves to help prevent fuel prices choking economic growth in a US election year.
Al-Naimi said it was up to developed nations to decide whether to release oil from their strategic reserves.
Tehran, May 8 (Xinhua-ANI): Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast reiterated on Tuesday his country’s concerns over the security pact recently signed between the United States and Afghanistan.
The Islamic republic has informed the Afghani officials about its concerns over the agreement, said Mehmanparast in his weekly press briefing.
Peace, stability and security in Afghanistan is highly important for Iran, and Afghanistan’s security is intertwined with the security of the whole region and Iran. Any instability or insecurity can leave its impact on the Islamic republic, said the Iranian spokesman.
“We believe the presence of foreign forces, including the U.S. forces and its allies is the root cause of insecurity and instability in the regional countries and especially in Afghanistan,” said Mehmanparast.
He stressed that the regional countries can assist the establishment of security in Afghanistan.
On Sunday, Mehmanparast said that the unclear roles defined for U.S. forces and their military bases, in the strategic partnership agreement between the United States and Afghanistan, are major sources of concerns for Iran and other regional countries.
The pact cannot resolve Afghanistan’s security problems; instead, it will further destabilize the country and increase insecurity, Mehmanparast said.
Iran believes a complete withdrawal of foreign forces and closure of their military bases is the only way to solve Afghanistan’s problems and to bring peace and security to the country, he added.
Afghanistani President Hamid Karzai last Thursday assured the country’s neighbors that signing strategic partnership with the United States does not pose any threat to them. “There is no threat from Afghanistan soil to our neighbors,” Karzai told journalists at a press conference one day after inking the pact with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama.
Obama paid a surprise visit to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, last Tuesday night. During his tour, Obama inked the strategic pact with Karzai and visited main U.S. military facilities in Bagram.
Karzai said that under the pact, the United States needs to support Afghanistan in all fields including economy and security.
According to Karzai, Afghanistan wants to further enhance relations with both Pakistan and Iran. He added that the U. S.-led coalition forces should pursue terrorists hiding in sanctuaries outside the Afghan borders, instead of fighting them in Afghan villages. (Xinhua-ANI)
Iran threat overblown? Israel split over possible attack
Israel’s politicians have avoided the need for early elections, after the ruling coalition announced it’s struck a surprise deal with the opposition Kadima party. But the country’s military leadership still isn’t seeing eye to eye with lawmakers, accusing them of being hysterical over the perceived threat from Iran. RT’s Paula Slier looks at the growing rift.
Published: May 9, 2012 22:37 Updated: May 9, 2012 22:37
VIENNA: A US security institute says commercial satellite imagery shows new activity at an Iranian military site which raises concern that the country may be “washing” a building the United Nations’ nuclear agency wants to inspect.
The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suspects nuclear weapons-related research may have taken place at the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran.
Iran has dismissed the allegations but has yet to allow the agency to visit the facility, despite repeated requests.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said last week that the agency had recently noticed some “activities” there. He gave no details but Western diplomats suspect Iran may be cleaning the site before any inspection. Tehran denies this. The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a Washington-based think-tank specializing on nuclear proliferation, said it had acquired commercial satellite imagery from April 9 which back up the IAEA’s concern.
“The new activity seen in the satellite image occurred outside a building suspected to contain an explosive chamber used to carry out nuclear weapons related experiments,” it said on its website in a May 8 report including the satellite image.
Iran’s mission to the IAEA was not immediately available for comment. It has previously dismissed allegations aired about Parchin as “childish” and “ridiculous.”
The images showed items lined up outside a building and what appeared to be a stream of water, ISIS said.
“The items visible outside the building could be associated with the removal of equipment from the building or with cleansing it,” it said. “The stream of water that appears to emanate from the building raises concerns that Iran may have been washing inside the building, or perhaps washing the items outside the building,” ISIS said.
Previous satellite images from recent months did not show any similar activity at the building, indicating it is not a regular occurrence, it added.
The IAEA has said that gaining access to Parchin is a priority when it holds a new round of talks with Iran in Vienna next week after two previous meetings in Tehran failed to make any notable progress.
Western powers suspect Iran is seeking to develop the capability to make nuclear bombs. Iran, one of the world’s largest oil producers, says its program is peaceful.
An IAEA report late last year revealed a trove of intelligence pointing to research activities in Iran of use in developing the means and technologies needed to assemble nuclear weapons, should it decide to do so.
One finding in the report was information that Iran had built a large containment chamber at Parchin in which to conduct high-explosives tests that the IAEA said are “strong indicators of possible weapon development.”
A senior US official said on Tuesday that Iran must cooperate with the IAEA’s investigation and provide access to relevant sites, personnel and documents.
“Iran continues to delay and obstruct that process,” Thomas Countryman, assistant secretary for international security and nonproliferation, told a meeting in Vienna.
Published: May 2, 2012 01:04 Updated: May 3, 2012 15:30
THE HAGUE/TRIPOLI: Libya fired the latest salvo in a legal battle over the trial of Muammar Qaddafi’s son, officially asking world war crimes court judges to quash a surrender request and throw out the case.
“The Libyan government requests the Chamber to declare the case inadmissible and quash the surrender request,” Libya’s lawyers said in a document, filed before the International Criminal Court.
Tripoli and the ICC have been at loggerheads since Seif Al-Islam’s capture in November last year over where he should be tried, with Libya arguing it could put him in the dock before a local court.
But the ICC had issued an arrest warrant in late June last year against Seif and ex-Libyan security boss Abdullah Al-Senussi and it wants to see them tried in The Hague. A third warrant for the late Libyan strongman was nullified after Qaddafi was killed by rebel forces in October 2011.The new Libyan government said earlier it would file official papers by April 30 before the ICC to spell out reasons why Seif should be tried at home.
“Denying the Libyan state and its people the opportunity to carry out national proceedings, in accordance… with the Libyan law, would likely mean no state emerging from conflict could ever benefit from the complementary principle,” Libya’s lawyers said in the document.
Libya is referring to the ICC’s jurisdiction that is complementary to that of national courts, enabling it to act only when member states were unwilling or unable to do so.
Tripoli’s stance also got support Monday from the Arab League which said in a statement in Cairo: “The Libyan government has repeatedly assured that all conditions … would be met to organize a fair and impartial trial on its territory.”
Separately, Nuri Abbar, head of the Libyan electoral committee, told AFP
that it has opened voter and candidate registration centers, in another step towards its goal of holding elections for a constituent assembly in June. “Registration for voters and candidates opened today.”
The vote will mark the first nationwide poll after decades of dictatorship under Qaddafi, who was toppled and killed in an uprising last year.
Abbar said there are 1,350 voter registration centers across Libya, including 220 in the capital Tripoli. Another 13 centers are tasked with registering candidates. Libya, with a population of 6 million, has 3.4 million eligible voters, he said.
The ruling National Transitional Council, which took power last August, has pledged to hold elections for a constituent assembly in June.
The 200-member assembly is to appoint a panel of experts to draft a constitution which will then be put to a referendum.
TEHRAN, Iran— A United Nations nuclear inspector from South Korea was killed Tuesday and a colleague was injured in a car crash near a reactor site in central Iran, news reports said. There were no immediate indications of foul play. But the crash is likely to undergo intense scrutiny. The official Islamic Republic News Agency said the International Atomic Energy Agency inspector died when the car overturned around a heavy-water reactor being built in Khondab, about 150 miles southwest of Tehran. Iran says the reactor, part of the Arak complex, will be used to produce isotopes for peaceful medical and industrial uses. But the U.S. and others fear that spent fuel from the reactors could be reprocessed into plutonium for a warhead. Iran denies it seeks nuclear weapons. IRNA identified the fatally injured inspector as Seo Ok-Seok. Another news agency, ISNA, said an inspector from Slovakia was injured in the crash and taken to a hospital. The Vienna-based IAEA had no immediate comment on the reports. The incident comes ahead of a new round of technical discussions between Tehran and the IAEA to be held in Vienna beginning Sunday. Higher-level negotiations also are planned later this month in Baghdad between envoys from Iran and six world powers including the U.S. Inspectors from the U.N nuclear watchdog regularly visit Iran’s nuclear facilities, which include a Russian-built energy reactor and uranium-enrichment laboratories. The stops often receive far less attention than the high-level IAEA teams sent to Iran to discuss access to other sites, such as the Parchin military base near Tehran, where the U.N. suspects nuclear-related work has taken place. Iran says Parchin is a conventional military base.
Now A Witness To Breitbart’s Death Disappears
A private investigator has been unable to find the only eyewitness to the sudden death of media innovator and conservative activist Andrew Breitbart.
The apparent disappearance of Christopher Lasseter, who says he saw Breitbart drop to the sidewalk in front of a restaurant, adds to the mystery surrounding Breitbart’s March 1 death.
On the day the Los Angeles County coroner released Breitbart’s autopsy report, a photographic technician at the corner’s office died suddenly of suspicious causes.
In addition, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., just three weeks before Breitbart’s death – where he promised to unveil “damning” new video evidence of Barack Obama’s radical past that would change the election – Breitbart gave WND details of his upcoming revelations.
He claimed to WND that he had a video showing radical Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers and Barack Obama at Harvard planning revolution in the United States. But the video, aired just after he died, was of Obama introducing a radical Harvard professor, and the general response was flat.
Filmmaker Steve Bannon, appointed executive chairman of the Breitbart News Network after Breitbart’s death, has insisted to WND that the media mogul died of natural causes and to suggest anything else is irresponsible.
“Breitbart had an enlarged heart,” Bannon told WND. “He had been hospitalized for the problem last year and told to lose weight that he did not lose.”
Bannon, formerly a Breitbart News Network board member, told WND that for months prior to his death, Breitbart had been working overtime to finalize a refinancing of his news agency.
“He died of natural causes,” Bannon said. “The family wants the matter put to rest, and WND is beginning to irritate me suspecting foul play.”
Whistleblower makes damning case in video interview
The global banking giant HSBC is a “criminal” operation, charges a former officer for the company’s southern New York region in a video interview with WND.
John Cruz, a former vice president and relationship manager, has turned over to WND more than 1,000 pages of documents, including customer account ledgers for dozens of companies through which, he charges, the financial institution was laundering money each month.
Cruz told WND that as a relationship manager, it was his responsibility to look up various accounts in the HSBC computer system and visit the account holders in person to offer additional banking products and services.
“I pulled these documents because I thought they were evidence of suspicious activity taking place,” Cruz affirmed when presented by WND with various HSBC computer ledgers of customer accounts. “These same documents I brought to bank security and my managers in the bank.”
To his surprise, HSBC management and security did not welcome his reports of suspicious activity.
“My managers told me I was crazy and I didn’t know what I was talking about,” he said. “They told me it was none of my business what goes on in transactions. But that’s my job.”
WND showed Cruz the HSBC account ledger for a business named United Express, as seen redacted in Exhibit 1 below:
The Security and Exchange Commission today charged the former mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick with secretly exchanging lavish gifts to peddle his influence over the investment process of the city’s pension funds.
The SEC also charged Jeffrey W. Beasley, the former city treasurer and investment adviser to the pension funds along with Kilpatrick.
The complaint alleges Kilpatrick and Beasley, who were trustees of the pension funds, solicited and received $125,000 worth of private jet travel and other perks paid for by MayfieldGentry Realty Advisors LLC, an investment adviser whose CEO, Chauncey Mayfield, was recommending to the trustees that the pension funds invest approximately $117 million in a real estate investment trust controlled by the firm.
The 2012 election has often been described as the most pivotal since 1860. This statement is not hyperbole. If Barack Obama is re-elected the United States will never be the same, nor will it be able to re-capture its once lofty status as the most dominant nation in the history of mankind.
The overwhelming majority of Americans do not understand that Obama’s first term was dedicated to putting in place executive power to enable him and the administration to fulfill the campaign promise of “transforming America” in his second term regardless of which political party controls Congress. That is why his re-election team is virtually ignoring the plight of incumbent or prospective Democratic Party office holders.
The most significant accomplishment of Obama’s first term is to make Congress irrelevant. Under the myopic and blindly loyal leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats have succeeded in creating an imperial and, in a second term, a potential dictatorial presidency.
During the first two years of the Obama administration when the Democrats overwhelming controlled both Houses of Congress and the media was in an Obama worshipping stupor, a myriad of laws were passed and actions taken which transferred virtually unlimited power to the executive branch.
The birth of multi-thousand page laws was not an aberration. This tactic was adopted so the bureaucracy controlled by Obama appointees would have sole discretion in interpreting vaguely written laws and enforcing thousands of pages of regulations they and not Congress would subsequently write.
For example, in the 2,700 pages of ObamaCare there are more than 2,500 references to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There are more than 700 instances when he or she is instructed that they “shall” do something and more than 200 times when they “may” take at their sole discretion some form of regulatory action. On 139 occasions, the law mentions that the “Secretary determines.” In essence one person, appointed by and reporting to the president, will be in charge of the health care of 310 million Americans once ObamaCare is fully operational in 2014.
The same is true in the 2,319 pages of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act which confers nearly unlimited power on various agencies to control by fiat the nation’s financial, banking and investment sectors. The bill also creates new agencies, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, not subject to any oversight by Congress. This overall process was repeated numerous times with other legislation all with the intent of granting unfettered power to the executive branch controlled Barack Obama and his radical associates.
A Russian jet with 50 people on board has disappeared from the radars during a demonstration flight for potential buyers in the Indonesian capital. Hijacking and a high-altitude crash into a mountain have not been ruled out. Due to low visibility and fog the helicopters had to stop the search and return to base. The rescue operation is now restricted to a ground search. The search will continue throughout the night.
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]
Mayor’s office buys 8,513 more face shields for NATO summit
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration is buying 8,513 more face shields for Chicago Police officers at a cost of $757,657 — and demanding delivery in time for the May 20-21 NATO summit — to give every officer on the street a shield that fits over a gas mask and prevents them from being blinded by liquids thrown by protesters.
The supplemental purchase from Colorado-based Super Seer Corp. brings to $954,118 the amount of money spent to purchase 11,570 face shields twice as thick as the old ones with a larger surface and air-tight seal to keep liquids out.
The new contract was piggybacked onto an existing Fairfax County, Va. award with a third-distributor to expedite delivery. It makes it clear the Chicago Police Department is not scaling back its protest preparations even though President Barack Obama has shifted the G-8 summit from Chicago to Camp David.
“It’s an urgent thing. They want ’em by May 15th. Their intent is to outfit all of the officers Chicago Police have with the new face shield for the NATO summit,” said Super Seer President Steve Smith, who is hiring a dozen employees to “ramp up” production.
March 23, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Have certain parts of the Constitution become irrelevant, as a former Republican leader once told me at a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing? At the time, I was told that demanding a Congressional declaration of war before invading Iraq, as Article I Section 8 of the Constitution requires, was unnecessary and anachronistic. Congress and the president then proceeded without a Constitutional declaration and the disastrous Iraq invasion was the result.
Last week, Obama administration officials made it clear that even the fig leaf of Congressional participation provided by the 2003 “authorization” to use force in Iraq was to be ignored as well. In a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stated clearly and repeatedly that the administration felt it was legally justified to use military force against Syria solely with “international permission”. Such “international permission” could come by way of the United Nations, NATO, or some other international body. Secretary Panetta then told Senator Sessions that depending on the situation, the administration would consider informing Congress of its decision and might even seek authorization after the fact.
While Senator Sessions expressed surprise at the casual audacity of Panetta in making this statement, in reality his was just a bluntly stated explanation of what has been, de facto, the case for many years. When President Obama committed the US military to a pre-emptive war against Libya last year, for example, Congress was kept completely out of the process. Likewise, military action in Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and so on, proceed without a Congressional declaration. In fact, we haven’t had a proper, constitutional declaration of war since 1942, yet the US military has been engaged in Korea, Lebanon, Iraq, Bosnia, Liberia, Haiti, and Libya with only UN resolutions as the authority. Congress’s only role has been authorizing funds, which it always does without question, because one must “support the troops”.
March 23, 2012 “The Nation” — Conservatives love to rail against “big government.” But the surge of cynicism engulfing the nation isn’t about government’s size. It flows from a growing perception that government doesn’t work for average people but for big business, Wall Street and the very rich—who, in effect, have bought it. In a recent Pew poll, 77 percent of respondents said too much power is in the hands of a few rich people and corporations.
That view is understandable. Wall Street got bailed out by taxpayers, but one out of every three homeowners with a mortgage is underwater, caught in the tsunami caused by the Street’s excesses. The bailout wasn’t conditioned on the banks helping these homeowners, and subsequent help has been meager. The recent settlement of claims against the banks is tiny compared with how much homeowners have lost. Millions of people are losing their homes or simply walking away from mortgage payments they can no longer afford.
Homeowners can’t use bankruptcy to reorganize their mortgage loans because the banks have engineered laws to prohibit this. Banks have also made it extremely difficult for young people to use bankruptcy to reorganize their student loans. Yet corporations routinely use bankruptcy to renege on contracts. American Airlines, which is in bankruptcy, plans to fire 13,000 people— 16 percent of its workforce—while cutting back health benefits for current employees. It also intended to terminate its underfunded pension plans, until the government agency charged with picking up the tab screamed so loudly that American backed off and proposed to freeze the plans.
March 24, 2012 “The Nation” –“Promoting the natural rights and the inherent dignity of the individual must be the central focus of all government.”
That’s what Congressman Paul Ryan wrote earlier this month in an exclusive commentary for Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity. This week, he revealed exactly where his laser-like focus on dignity would lead this nation. He released his budget proposal, as clear a statement of one’s principles and priorities as there is in politics.
Here are the results, and they’re not pretty. Nation readers with young children should probably ask them to leave the room before reading onward.
Mr. Ryan’s focus on dignity… means a cut in food stamps of $133 billion over ten years, even though 76 percent of participating households include a child, senior or disabled person, nearly half of all recipients are children and 40 percent of single mothers use food stamps to help feed their families. It translates to as many as 2.2 trillion meals lost for low-income people, more kids at risk of being underweight or developmentally delayed, worse educational outcomes and more stressed-out parents.
The congressman would also block-grant the program so it would no longer be able to respond to rising need during times like these—in 2010 alone food stamps kept 3.9 million people out of poverty. If you liked the cash assistance for poor families (TANF) block grant—which resulted in a free-fall from 68 of every 100 poor families receiving help to 27 of every 100—then you will absolutely love the Don’t Worry Ryan Will Feed You block grant.
French President Sarkozy Sees Opportunity for Censorship, Seizes It
In the wake of a horrific rampage, in which Mohamed Merah (now dead after a 32-hour standoff with police) reportedly murdered three French soldiers, three young Jewish schoolchildren, and a rabbi, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has begun calling for criminal penalties for citizens who visit web sites that advocate for terror or hate. “From now on, any person who habitually consults Web sites that advocate terrorism or that call for hatred and violence will be criminally punished,” Sarkozy was reported as saying.
Apart from the obvious flaws in Sarkozy’s plan–users, can, of course, use anonymizing tools to view the material or simply access it from a variety of locations to avoid appearing as “habitual” viewers–there are numerous other reasons to be concerned about criminalizing access to information.
Earlier this month, Spain began “rocking” the EU boat by telling the EU it wasn’t going to meet the new EU fiscal requirements.
Spain’s sovereign thunderclap and the end of Merkel’s Europe
As many readers will already have seen, Premier Mariano Rajoy has refused point blank to comply with the austerity demands of the European Commission and the European Council (hijacked by Merkozy).
Taking what he called a “sovereign decision”, he simply announced that he intends to ignore the EU deficit target of 4.4pc of GDP for this year, setting his own target of 5.8pc instead (down from 8.5pc in 2011)……
Bank of America Getting Into the Landlord Business
Bank of America, the nation’s second-largest lender, is launching a pilot program this week that will offer a limited number of customers behind on their mortgages to transition from owner to renter.
The bank, which was saddled with thousands of delinquent loans when it took over mortgage giant Countrywide, says that beginning this week “in targeted hard-hit markets,” it will offer a limited number of mortgage customers who are facing foreclosure an opportunity to remain in their homes, and transition to tenant status. The program is called “Mortgage to Lease.”
“This pilot will help determine whether conversion from homeownership to rental is something our customers, the community and investors will support,” said Ron Sturzenegger, Legacy Asset Servicing executive at Bank of America in a statement. “This program may have the potential to further round out the broad set of solutions we offer our customers in need of assistance.”…….
JOSEPH KONY, AMERICA’S PRETEXT TO INVADE AFRICA: US Marines Dispatched to Five African Countries
by Michel Chossudovsky
The hidden agenda in Uganda, Central Africa and the Horn of Africa is the conquest of oil and strategic mineral resources. Going after Joseph Kony and protecting Ugandan children is a cynical smokescreen, a pretext for a “humanitarian intervention” in a region where US sponsored “civil wars” (Sudan, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia) have in the course of the last 20 years resulted in more than eight million deaths:
“Through AFRICOM, the United States is seeking a foothold in the incredibly resource rich central African block in a further maneuver to aggregate regional hegemony over China. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the world’s largest regions without an effectively functioning government. It contains vast deposits of diamonds, cobalt, copper, uranium, magnesium, and tin while producing over $1 billion in gold each year. It is entirely feasible that the US can considerably increase its presence in the DRC under the pretext of capturing Joseph Kony.” (Nile Bowie, Merchandising and Branding Support for US Military Intervention in Central Africa, Global research, March 14, 2012)
In a recent decision, the Pentagon confirms the sending in of Marine Special Forces to train Ugandan troops in the fight not only against Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) but also against Al Shabab in Somalia. Joseph Kony is being used as a pretext for outright military intervention in five African countries.
Massive EU Weapons Sales to Saudi Arabia Contribute to Fuelling International Aggression and Terrorism in the Middle East
By Julie Lévesque
According to the German magazine Der Spiegel, the European Union is the most important weapons exporter to Saudi Arabia. Of all EU member states, France comes first with Euro2168.6 million of exports in 2010. Italy is in second place with Euro435.3 million, before Great Britain, with Euro328.8 million.
By arming the Saudi kingdom, the member states of the European Union are breaking prevailing EU rules regulating the exports of weapons, notes Der Spiegel. The magazine quotes the relevant section of the legislation on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament titled Security-related export controls II – Military equipment, which states:…….
Former Mossad chief: Israel will know before Iran begins producing nuclear weapons
Nuclear talks between Iran, Western powers to begin next month; officials in Jerusalem estimate Israel will allow at least three months for discussions, until oil embargo on Iran comes into full effect in July.
By Barak Ravid, Natasha Mozgovaya and Haim Handwerker
Discussions between Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program will begin on April 13, senior U.S. and EU officials informed Israel on Tuesday. The talks are likely to take place in Geneva.
Officials in Jerusalem estimate that Israel will allow at least three months for discussions, until the oil embargo on Iran comes into full effect in the beginning of July……
Japan Prepares to Intercept Possibly Errant N. Korean Missile
The Japanese parliament has approved a resolution condemning North Korea’s planned missile launch, and the country is also preparing contingencies should the missile veer off course and pose a threat to Japan.
Speaking in Tokyo Friday, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said the Japanese military will be prepared for any eventuality.
Tanaka says he is ordering officials to prepare deployment of PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles and Aegis destroyers carrying a state-of-the-art anti-missile system that could attempt to shoot down the rocket…..
Hanaa Shalabi, a Palestinian prisoner under Administrative Detention without charge or trial enters 36th day of her hunger strike
====
After more than a month on hunger strike, Hanaa Shalabi is in “immediate
mortal danger” and at “risk of coma” according to a Physicians for Human Rights doctor. Shalabi’s strike came at the heels of another high profile campaign by Khader Adnan who survived a 66 day hunger strike before the Israeli authorities decided to release him. Both were arrested under Administrative Detention, a military order that allows Israeli authorities to arrest anyone and hold them indefinitely, without charge or trial. The Real News’ Lia Tarachansky met with the families of the two prisoners and spoke to lawyers Shawan Jabarin for Al Haq and Sahar Francis of Addameer about the mass imprisonment of Palestinians
Inside Story – A coup underway in the West African state of Mali
Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on Mar 23, 2012
Rebel soldiers in the West African state of Mali claim to control the country, ousted the president and suspended the constitution. How powerful are they and can the government sustain its grip on power? Guests: Akli Sh’kka, Baz Lecocq, Adam Thiam.
Terror Management: ‘US losing last credibility in Syria’
Uploaded by RussiaToday on Mar 23, 2012
The EU continues to pursue its strategy of pressure on the Syrian regime to force it out of power. Foreign ministers have agreed to impose a travel ban and asset freeze on the British-born wife of the country’s leader. Asma al-Assad is among 12 officials or family members to be added to a number of figures, including the president, who are already subject to sanctions.
Washington has also threatened to tighten the screws on the Syrian government and isolate it even more if President Assad doesn’t comply with the UN statement appealing for a ceasefire. With violence still raging in the country, the opposition has dismissed international calls on both sides to implement Kofi Annan’s peace plan – as not meeting the needs of the people.
Government consultant Christoph Hoerstel, who’s recently returned from Syria, says he’s deeply concerned that the sanctions may have been a response to recently leaked emails between the Assad family.
Worrisome Security Council Presidential Statement on Syria
By Stephen Lendman
March 23, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — After months of internal wrangling, Security Council members unanimously endorsed efforts to end Syrian violence. Or did they? More on that below.
Presidential statements are non-binding. However, with vague language, they risk potential slippery slope trouble. More on that below as well.
Media reports called unanimity a setback for Assad. The statement’s also characterized as “Western.”
Hillary Clinton called it “a positive step. The council has now spoken with one voice.” She also said Washington is working with Syria’s opposition “to strengthen its preparation to participate in the Syrian-led transition process that the Council has endorsed.” By any other name, she means regime change.
Israel and US Disagree on Timetable for Iran Attack
By Associated Press
March 24, 2012 “Washington Post” — JERUSALEM — Israel and the U.S. disagree on what would be a realistic timetable for stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, Israel’s defense minister said Thursday, but he stopped short of threatening unilateral Israeli action.
Ehud Barak reiterated concerns that Iran is trying to make its suspected nuclear weapons program immune from attack before taking a decision on assembling atomic bombs, and said Israel “cannot afford” to wait in such a situation.
However, Barak told Israel Radio that the Jewish state could hold off for several more months to allow sanctions and negotiations to work. During this period, it would become clear “if the Iranians intend or don’t intend to stop their nuclear weapons program.”
In the interview, Barak argued that superior U.S. military capabilities and Washington’s position as a world power account for its different stance toward perceived Iranian nuclear threats. The U.S. has urged Israel to give sanctions time to work.
Special Report – Intel Shows Iran Not Nuclear “Threat”
By Reuters
March 23, 2012 “Reuters” – The United States, European allies and even Israel generally agree on three things about Iran’s nuclear program: Tehran does not have a bomb, has not decided to build one, and is probably years away from having a deliverable nuclear warhead.
Those conclusions, drawn from extensive interviews with current and former U.S. and European officials with access to intelligence on Iran, contrast starkly with the heated debate surrounding a possible Israeli strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
“They’re keeping the soup warm but they are not cooking it,” a U.S. administration official said.
Reuters has learned that in late 2006 or early 2007, U.S. intelligence intercepted telephone and email communications in which Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a leading figure in Iran’s nuclear program, and other scientists complained that the weaponization program had been stopped.
That led to a bombshell conclusion in a controversial 2007 National Intelligence Estimate: American spy agencies had “high confidence” that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003.
Current and former U.S. officials say they are confident that Iran has no secret uranium-enrichment site outside the purview of U.N. nuclear inspections.
Nuclear Watchdog Chief Accused of Pro-western Bias Over Iran
Former officials warn of parallels between IAEA approach to Iran and mistakes over Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction
By Julian Borger
March 23, 2012 “The Guardian” – -The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watchdog at the heart of the growing Iranian crisis, has been accused by several former senior officials of pro-western bias, over-reliance on unverified intelligence and of sidelining sceptics.
Yukiya Amano, a veteran Japanese diplomat, took command of the IAEA in July 2009. Since then, the west’s confrontation with Iran over its nuclear programme has deepened and threats of military action by Israel and the US have become more frequent.
At the same time, the IAEA’s reports on Iranian behaviour have become steadily more critical. In November, it published an unprecedented volume of intelligence pointing towards past Iranian work on developing a nuclear weapon, deeming it credible.
However, some former IAEA officials are saying that the agency has gone too far. Robert Kelley, a former US weapons scientists who ran the IAEA action team on Iraq at the time of the US-led invasion, said there were worrying parallels between the west’s mistakes over Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction then and the IAEA’s assessment of Iran now.
(Reuters) – Turkish Kurd militants threatened on Thursday to turn all Kurdish populated areas into a “war zone” if Turkish troops entered Syria, a sign the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has allies in Syria may be taking sides in the conflict there.
A renewed alliance between Damascus and the PKK would anger Turkey and could prompt it to take an even stronger line against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over his brutal repression of anti-government protesters.
PKK field commander Murat Karayilan said Turkey was preparing the ground for an intervention in Syria.
“The Turkish state is planning an intervention against our people,” the Europe-based Firat news agency, close to the militants, quoted him as saying.
“Let me state clearly, if the Turkish state intervenes against our people in western Kurdistan, all of Kurdistan will turn into a war zone,” he said.
Western Kurdistan is the term Kurdish nationalists use to describe Kurdish areas of northeast Syria, while by Kurdistan they mean the Kurdish areas of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said last week that setting up a “safe zone” or a “buffer zone” along the border with Syria to protect civilians from Assad’s forces was among the options being considered should the stream of refugees turn into a flood.
Monsanto ‘Biotechnology Book for Kids’ Caught Brainwashing Children
By Anthony Gucciardi
BlacklistedNews.com
Facing direct opposition from the public, biotechnology giants like Monsanto and Dow are now making a disturbing attempt to brainwash developing minds into accepting their genetically modified foods using blatant lies and propaganda.
In a last ditch effort to potentially sway public opinion, the Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) has launched the “Biotechnology Basics Activity Book” for kids.
With the intent to be used by ‘agriculture and science teachers’, the activity book spreads absurd lies about GMO crops — even going as far as to say that they ‘improve our health’ and ‘help the environment’.
The book can be seen on the organization’s website, and makes it extremely apparent that it is full of misinformation and propaganda that completely ignores scientific research surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
In fact, let’s examine some claims made by this book that serves as an ‘educational’ tool to be used by teachers.
Trapped In The Grid: How Net-Centric Devices And Appliances Provide Voluminous Information To Intelligence Agencies And Their Business Partners
“The patent discusses the technology to analyze the background noise during your phone call and serve up ads for you based on the environmental conditions Google picks up on. Yeah, that’s creepy.” –Google wants to serve you ads based on the background noise of your phone calls…..
In addition to this patent including the background noises of phone calls, it also talks about the backgrounds of photos and videos you’ve taken as well. So if you took a picture in the snow, you might be shown ads for snow shovels.”–Google wants to serve you ads based on the background noise of your phone calls……
Petraeus allowed that these household spy devices “change our notions of secrecy” and prompt a rethink of “our notions of identity and secrecy.” All of which is true — if convenient for a CIA director.”–CIA Chief: We’ll Spy on You Through Your Dishwasher…….
U.S. intelligence agencies monitoring China’s Internet say that from March 14 to Wednesday bloggers circulated alarming reports of tanks ent
ering Beijing and shots being fired in the city as part of what is said to have been a high-level political battle among party leaders – and even a possible military coup.
The Internet discussions included photos posted online of tanks and other military vehicles moving around Beijing.
The reports followed the ouster last week of senior Politburo member and Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai, who was linked to corruption, but who is said to remain close to China’s increasingly nationalistic military.
Chinese microblogging sites Sina Weibo, QQ Weibo, and the bulletin board of the search engine Baidu all reported “abnormalities” in Beijing on the night of March 19.
Activist Outrage Causes Major Supermarkets to Drop ‘Pink Slime’ Meat
Activist Post
We have been reporting on the staggering amount of “pink slime” used in the U.S. food industry over the last few months. Pink slime is a meat filler made from “ammoniated boneless lean beef trimmings or similar products, which are considered unfit for human consumption until ammonia has been added.”
In early March, it was reported by ABC that a shocking 70% of ground beef at supermarkets contained this pink slime. Since this disgusting food additive has been exposed, natural health activists rallied to demand its removal from McDonald’s and school lunches. Now major grocery chains are falling to the pressure of activism.
Escobar on Fukushima email leak: ‘Deleting data a cover-up’
Uploaded by RussiaToday on Mar 23, 2012
It’s emerged that at the height of Japan’s nuclear crisis last March, the authorities in Fukushima concealed radiation data vital to safely evacuate people from that area. Japan has a computer system designed to predict the spread of radioactive releases. But local media reports say the prefecture’s government deleted the e-mails detailing it. RT talks to Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar.
Psy – Ops
Scientists Warn of Ethical Battle Concerning Military Mind Control
Advances in neuroscience are closer than ever to becoming a reality, but scientists are warning the military – along with their peers – that with great power comes great responsibility
A future of brain-controlled tanks, automated attack drones and mind-reading interrogation techniques may arrive sooner than later, but advances in neuroscience that will usher in a new era of combat come with tough ethical implications for both the military and scientists responsible for the technology, according to one of the country’s leading bioethicists.
“Everybody agrees that conflict will be changed as new technologies are coming on,” says Jonathan Moreno, author of Mind Wars: Brain Science and the Military in the 21st Century. “But nobody knows where that technology is going.”
French Terror Attack: All the Hallmarks of an Intelligence Psy-op and False Flag
by Kurt Nimmo
Mohammed Merah, the suspect in the killing of seven people outside a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, fits the pattern of an al-Qaeda intelligence asset. According to the BBC, he was on the radar of French authorities because of visits he made to Afghanistan and the “militant stronghold” of Waziristan in Pakistan.
More specifically, Merah was handled by France’s DCRI intelligence service “for years,” according to Claude Gueant, the interior minister.
Merah, a French citizen of Algerian origin, was arrested on December 19, 2007, and was sentenced to three years in jail for planting bombs in the southern province of Kandahar in Afghanistan.
In April of 2011, the United States admitted it has operated secret military prisons in Afghanistan where suspected terrorists are held and interrogated without charges.
The notorious Bagram airbase detention center is operated by the Joint Special Operations Command and the DIA’s Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center (DCHC)………
Eyal Press, News Analysis: “What’s worse: to be persecuted and indicted for trying to expose an act of wrongdoing — or to be ignored for doing so? Whistleblowers have been under intense scrutiny in Washington lately, at least when it comes to the national security state.”
By Jordy Yager
Native American tribes are questioning the ethics of government watchdog groups that have partnered with Jack Abramoff since his release from prison.
Have you ever wondered why the vast majority of hard working people on this planet does not make enough earnings to have a reasonable standard of living without being in debt? Our personal debt is modern version of slavery*.
Goldman Secret Greece Loan Shows Two Sinners as Client Unravels
Greece’s secret loan from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was a costly mistake from the start.
On the day the 2001 deal was struck, the government owed the bank about 600 million euros ($793 million) more than the 2.8 billion euros it borrowed, said Spyros Papanicolaou, who took over the country’s debt-management agency in 2005. By then, the price of the transaction, a derivative that disguised the loan and that Goldman Sachs persuaded Greece not to test with competitors, had almost doubled to 5.1 billion euros, he said.
ECB Blows Up Europe? Creates ‘Super-Immune’ Elite Bonds … Throws Credit Market into Disarray
Investors call on ECB to play fair in sovereign credit … Resentment at the European Central Bank’s immunity from losses on Greek debt has left fund firms wondering about the strength of their creditor rights and whether they should blacklist bonds purchased during emergency sprees by the lender of last resort. By sidestepping markdowns on Greek bonds, the ECB has effectively robbed fellow senior creditors of their top rank status, investors say, forcing each to forgive a greater proportion of the debt than they might otherwise have needed to. “I think many investors believed that as they were holding the same bond as the ECB, they should therefore be considered in the same boat as the ECB,” said Michael Krautzberger, head of the Euro fixed income business at BlackRock. – Reuters
Dominant Social Theme: What central banks do is “legal.” What YOU do is something else again.
Free-Market Analysis: We have often written the goal of the Anglospherepower elite is to create a worldwide depression on the way to one-world government. They are seemingly well on their way to doing that using the power of monopoly central banking, which they certainly seem to control.
15 Potentially Massive Threats To The U.S. Economy Over The Next 12 Months
We live in a world that is becoming increasingly unstable, and the potential for an event that could cause “sudden change” to the U.S. economy is greater than ever. There are dozens of potentially massive threats that could easily push the U.S. economy over the edge during the next 12 months. A war in the Middle East, a financial collapse in Europe, a major derivatives crisis or a horrific natural disaster could all change our economic situation very rapidly. Most of the time I write about the long-term economic trends that are slowly but surely ripping the U.S. economy to pieces, but the truth is that just a single really bad “black swan event” over the next 12 months could accelerate our economic problems dramatically.
06 Mar 2012 The UK government has acknowledged that it has provided an extra GBP 2 million to the Western-backed rebels fighting the popular government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Prime Minister David Cameron told a hearing at the House of Commons Liaison Committee on Tuesday afternoon that his government provided cash and equipment to foreign-backed rebels in Syria under such names as ‘aid agencies’ operating on the ground to help deliver emergency medical supplies and food. The acknowledgement is yet another proof that the rebellion in the Middle Eastern Arab country has its root somewhere in Britain and France.
06 Mar 2012 Syria’s president defied mounting international pressure to end the year-old crackdown on an [Western-backed] uprising against him and said Tuesday he was determined to go on fighting what he called [and is] “foreign-backed terrorism.” After a powerful American senator called for airstrikes on Syria, President Barack Obama said unilateral U.S. military action against President Bashar Assad’s government would be a mistake. The United States said it is proposing a new United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an end to violence in Syria, first by government forces and then by opposition fighters. Russia and China, powerful allies that have blocked a Security Council resolution against Syria, made clear they were still standing by the government in Damascus.
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Tribal leaders and militia commanders declared oil-rich eastern Libya a semiautonomous state on Tuesday, a unilateral move that the interim head of state called a “dangerous” conspiracy by Arab nations to tear the country apart six months after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi.
Economic Warfare and Strangling Sanctions: Punishing Iran for its “Defiance” of the United States
The economic sanctions imposed upon Iran are having the desired effect of punishing the population through hunger and economic strangulation, making life miserable for the many. As tensions increase between the “international community” (the West) and Iran, talk of war is in the air. For years, sanctions have been imposed upon Iran in an attempt to devastate its dependence upon the oil industry for 80% of its revenues. The West seeks ‘regime change,’ and we hear a never-ending proliferation of proclamations from Western leaders about respecting democratic rights and freedom for Iranians, in lambasting the Iranian government for its human rights record, portraying it as a state sponsor of terrorism, and, of course, that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons with a stated goal of wanting to ‘wipe Israel off the map.’
With the time counting down to the next United Nations conference on “sustainable development,” a new report recently published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) clearly indicates that the UN’s approach to the entire topic is to expand the power of government to regulate and control all levels of economic development throughout the world.
Antonia Juhasz, Op-Ed: “On March 2, the first agreement in the historic trial against BP and all of the companies responsible for the largest maritime oil spill in world history was announced. The settlement proposal between BP and some 120,000 individuals and businesses includes key provisions long sought by those most economically and physically devastated by the gulf oil disaster. It also entails a number of critical unknowns, with vital details under negotiation for up to forty-five days.”
06 Mar 2012 Top members of the computer hacker group “Anonymous” and its offshoots were arrested and charged Tuesday after a wide-ranging investigation used the help of a group leader who was working as a secret government informant. Five of the suspects, considered by investigators among the “most sophisticated hackers in the world,” were arrested in the United States and Europe and charged in a Manhattan federal court over their alleged role in high-profile cyberattacks against government agencies and large companies, according to an indictment. A sixth man, Hector Xavier Monsegur, a notorious hacker known as “Sabu,” pleaded guilty in August to computer hacking and other crimes.
Monsegur, aka Sabu, turned by FBI last June –’We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec’ 07 Mar 2012 Police on two continents swooped on top members of computer hacking group LulzSec early today, and acting largely on evidence gathered by the organisation’s leader – who sources say has been secretly working for the government for months – arrested three and charged two more with conspiracy. Charges against four of the five were based on a conspiracy case filed in New York federal court. An indictment charging the suspects, who include two men from Great Britain, two from Ireland and an American from Chicago, is expected to be unsealed today in the Southern District of New York. “This is devastating to the organisation,” an FBI official involved with the investigation said. “We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.” [We'll see.]
The accepted culture at Stratfor includes sharing advice about how to take control of informants ‘by means of financial, sexual or psychological control’.
07 Mar 2012 Julian Assange has worn an electronic manacle for 454 days. Every day for 454 days he has signed in at a police station. Every night for 454 nights Serco has ensured he is home by 10pm, monitoring him in a fixed location for a required 10 hours, an equivalent of 225 days in prison. These bail conditions are maintained in the absence of any charge being laid against him – or even a decision to prosecute. They were set after an Interpol Red Notice was issued for Assange’s arrest. Gaddafi attracted an orange notice around the same time. The emails about Assange and Wikileaks are vicious; one little charmer refers to “switching him off”, that is, murder. Others lament when Assange is not killed in a car accident and joke, “Screw the terrorist. He’ll be eating cat food forever… Assange is going to make a nice bride in prison”. Their language and suggestions are sadistic and their strategy reads like spooky prophecy because Stratfor’s advice is being taken.
‘Secret negotiations not the American way’ 06 Mar 1012 Republican congressman Darrell Issa of California has published the full text of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), saying that the public has a right to know what their governments have been hiding from them. “ACTA represents as great a threat to an open Internet as SOPA and PIPA and was drafted with even less transparency and input from digital citizens,” Issa said in a statement.
Negotiations on ACTA started under President [sic] Bush the Younger, and have been carried on by the current administration. [Of course they have. Obusha hasn't deviated much from the previous regime, and in most situations (NDAA, killer drone attacks) has moved farther to the right than Bush. For some reason, he gets a 'pass.' --LRP]
[Press TV needs to *return the favor.*] 06 Mar 2012 A recent cyber attack launched by US and Israeli hackers against the website of Iran’s 24-hour English-language news channel, Press TV, has failed to take down the website. According to the Press TV report, the attack against the website took place from 14:00 on March 5 to 04:00 local time on March 6. However, the effective security countermeasures taken by the Press TV technical team foiled the cyber attack on the website. This is not the first cyber attack on Press TV. A similar attack was launched on the website on February 18, from 07:50 to 10:05 local time, which also failed.
Attacking The Hacker Hydra: Why FBI’s LulzSec Takedown May Backfire
from the top-down-approach-to-a-bottom-up-threat dept
Interesting timing. Just about the same time that we had our story concerning how LulzSec kept its own site from getting hacked, the news was breaking that the key leaders of LulzSec were being arrested, in large part because the “leader” of the group had become an FBI informant after they tracked him down last year. Of the various hacking efforts out there, LulzSec has definitely been the most brazen, so it’s not a huge surprise that it would be targeted by the FBI. Also, unlike “Anonymous,” LulzSec was pretty clearly an effort by a few key individuals, rather than a loose collective of folks joining and leaving at will.
The nations of the world are increasingly recognizing the authority of international law. We now have the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization and the World Court just to name a few. We have a World Court to adjudicate the international laws of the emerging world government. –Irvin Baxter
Lilly Fowler, News Analysis: “As a warehouse worker in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the nation’s biggest distribution hub for consumer goods, Jorge Soto handles shipments for retail giant Walmart every day. But Soto, who works for a subcontractor, claims that, along with routine jobs such as unloading trucks, he also has been ordered to perform an illegal task: falsifying employees’ time sheets to cheat them out of getting the minimum wage.”
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Social Democratic candidate Torsten Albig speaks to party fellows after first exit polls for the federal state elections of Germany’s northern state of Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel on Sunday.
