RealityZone; A New Era ?

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari (L), Iran President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad (C) and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai (R) chat after a meeting in Istanbul on Dec. 23, 2010. (Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images)

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US intelligence suggests no Iranian nukes

2012-02-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

Cameron in plea to Scots to remain in UK

2012-02-16T16:52:00.001-07:00

Freedom for Scotland in 2014

The Archaeology News Network: 23 carved stone plaques found at Aztec Temple in Mexico

2012-02-16T16:14:00.001-07:00

The Archaeology News Network: 23 carved stone plaques found at Aztec Temple in Mexico:

One of the 23 prehispanic tombstones engraved with a snake that was found in front of Aztec main temple, Mexico City [Credit: INAH]

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How Citibank Dumped Lousy Mortgages on the Government - ProPublica

2012-02-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

How Citibank Dumped Lousy Mortgages on the Government - ProPublica:

'via Blog this'

Israel reaches $1B deal to buy 30 military training aircraft from Italy - The Washington Post

2012-02-16T15:28:00.002-07:00

Israel reaches $1B deal to buy 30 military training aircraft from Italy - The Washington Post:
Wonder if Israel sends the U.S. a thank you card for the 3 Billion annual aid our bought and paid for congress critters sends them every year?
Now let me guess.
These training jets are for defensive purposes.
NOT !

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While You Were Sleeping, Central Banks Flooded The World In Liquidity | ZeroHedge

2012-02-16T15:00:00.001-07:00

While You Were Sleeping, Central Banks Flooded The World In Liquidity | ZeroHedge:

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Cameron offers Scotland more powers if it votes no to independence | Politics | The Guardian

2012-02-16T14:50:00.003-07:00

Cameron offers Scotland more powers if it votes no to independence | Politics | The Guardian:

Is that you Tony?

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China cuts holdings of American debt again|China-US|chinadaily.com.cn

2012-02-16T14:17:00.001-07:00

China cuts holdings of American debt again|China-US|chinadaily.com.cn:

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Mosaic News - 02/15/12: Iran Unveils Advances in Uranium Enrichment

2012-02-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

The Mutt Romney Blues

2012-02-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

Jaffa - The Orange's Clockwork -Witness traces Jaffa's journey from Palestinian place name to Israeli brand name and finds an erased history of unity. Witness - Al Jazeera English

2012-02-16T11:51:00.001-07:00

Jaffa - The Orange's Clockwork - Witness - Al Jazeera English:

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Jeremy Scahill: US Has Ignited Islamist Uprising in Impoverished, Divided Yemen | Truthout

2012-02-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Scahill: US Has Ignited Islamist Uprising in Impoverished, Divided Yemen | Truthout:

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The Maghreb’s Modern Islamists - Moha Ennaji - Project Syndicate

2012-02-16T11:34:00.001-07:00

The Maghreb’s Modern Islamists - Moha Ennaji - Project Syndicate:

FEZ – Just over a year ago, the Arab Spring sparked dramatic change throughout the Arab world. Popular movements have brought a range of avowedly Islamist political parties to power, replacing the largely secular former regimes. What that will mean for these countries, and for the region, is one of today’s central geopolitical questions.

In North Africa, two Islamist parties have come fully to power via democratic elections: al-Nahda (Renaissance) in Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began, and the Justice and Development Party (PJD) in Morocco, both of which now lead new coalition governments.

Whereas a popular revolution produced regime change in Tunisia, Morocco underwent a peaceful transformation that left the monarchy in place. Last July, Moroccans voted overwhelmingly to approve a new constitution that shifts executive power from the king to the prime minister, who will now be fully responsible for the cabinet, the civil service, and the implementation of government policies.

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The Uptick’s Downside - Nouriel Roubini - Project Syndicate

2012-02-16T11:33:00.001-07:00

The Uptick’s Downside - Nouriel Roubini - Project Syndicate:

RIO DE JANEIRO – Since late last year, a series of positive developments has boosted investor confidence and led to a sharp rally in risky assets, starting with global equities and commodities. Macroeconomic data from the United States improved; blue-chip companies in advanced economies remained highly profitable; China and emerging markets slowed only moderately; and the risk of a disorderly default and/or exit by some members of the eurozone declined.

Moreover, under its new president, Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank appears willing to do anything necessary to reduce stress on the eurozone’s banking system and governments, as well as to lower interest rates. Central banks in both advanced and emerging economies have provided massive injections of liquidity. Volatility is down, confidence is up, and risk aversion is much lower – for now.

But at least four downside risks are likely to materialize this year, undermining global growth and eventually negatively affecting investor confidence and market valuations of risky assets.

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Washington's War in Yemen Backfires | The Nation

2012-02-16T11:28:00.001-07:00

Washington's War in Yemen Backfires | The Nation:

Soldiers with the 25th Mechanized Brigade near the front lines in Zinjibar Yemen. Image credit: Richard Rowley, Big Noise Films

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The NDAA and the Militarization of America by Carl Mirra -- Antiwar.com

2012-02-16T11:25:00.001-07:00

The NDAA and the Militarization of America by Carl Mirra -- Antiwar.com:

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The Invincible Military-Industrial Complex: Leon Panetta’s dream is Eisenhower’s nightmare. - Reason Magazine

2012-02-16T11:22:00.001-07:00

The Invincible Military-Industrial Complex - Reason Magazine:

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New Latin American Constitutionalism: Challenging Eurocentrism & the Decolonizing of History | Critical Legal Thinking

2012-02-16T11:17:00.001-07:00

New Latin American Constitutionalism: Challenging Eurocentrism & the Decolonizing of History | Critical Legal Thinking:

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The EU & Greece: A capitalism that has persuaded the world that capitalism is the world | Critical Legal Thinking

2012-02-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

The EU & Greece: A capitalism that has persuaded the world that capitalism is the world | Critical Legal Thinking:

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Prohibition Debate: The Far-Right Threat to Germany's Democracy - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

2012-02-16T11:06:00.001-07:00

Prohibition Debate: The Far-Right Threat to Germany's Democracy - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International:

DPA

The leaders of Germany's far-right NPD seek to project the party as mainstream and reasonable. In truth, however, the party is a melting pot for racists, Hitler worshippers and enemies of democracy. There are plenty of reasons to ban the party. But would it make the NPD more dangerous than ever? By SPIEGEL Staff

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Asia Times Online :: US want SWIFT war on Iran By Pepe Escobar

2012-02-16T10:47:00.001-07:00

Asia Times Online :: US want SWIFT war on Iran:

By Pepe Escobar

What was the parade of European poodles thinking - that Tehran would just roll over and absorb the European Union's oil embargo, scheduled to start on July 1?

No wonder Brussels was caught as a Gucci deer in the headlights when the news started to flow that Tehran would pre-empt the move and immediately slap its own embargo of crude oil exports to six European Union countries - deeply in crisis Club Med members Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain plus recession-hit France and the Netherlands.

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The renminbi will become a reserve currency within the next decade | vox - Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists

2012-02-16T10:25:00.001-07:00

The renminbi will become a reserve currency within the next decade | vox - Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists:

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Heart & Mind-O-Matic

2012-02-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

Austerity Policy Destroying Greek Society

2012-02-16T10:21:00.000-07:00

Transcending Boundaries, Embracing Others: Nationalism and Transnationalism in Modern and Contemporary Korea　　越境、他者の抱擁−−近現代コリアの国民主義と超国民主義 :: JapanFocus

2012-02-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Transcending Boundaries, Embracing Others: Nationalism and Transnationalism in Modern and Contemporary Korea　　越境、他者の抱擁−−近現代コリアの国民主義と超国民主義 :: JapanFocus:

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Dominion From Sea to Sea: America's Pacific Ascendancy :: JapanFocus

2012-02-15T19:18:00.001-07:00

Dominion From Sea to Sea: America's Pacific Ascendancy :: JapanFocus:

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21st-Century Yakuza: Recent Trends in Organized Crime in Japan ~ Part 2 ２１世紀のやくざ ―― 日本における組織犯罪の最近動向 :: JapanFocus

2012-02-15T19:10:00.002-07:00

21st-Century Yakuza: Recent Trends in Organized Crime in Japan ~ Part 2 ２１世紀のやくざ ―― 日本における組織犯罪の最近動向 :: JapanFocus:

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Is the Universe Infinite?

2012-02-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

The Trench: Egypt’s Interim Government Calls Out America

2012-02-15T18:24:00.001-07:00

The Trench: Egypt’s Interim Government Calls Out America:

'via Blog this'

Resource Rapture: Syria’s Untapped Assets Desired By Allies And Enemies Alike | StratRisks

2012-02-15T17:57:00.001-07:00

Resource Rapture: Syria’s Untapped Assets Desired By Allies And Enemies Alike | StratRisks:

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Clinton, Summers Leading Contenders for World Bank - Bloomberg

2012-02-15T17:39:00.002-07:00

Clinton, Summers Leading Contenders for World Bank - Bloomberg:
You can add Bubba to that list also.
They want to keep it all in the family.
The ones that helped bring about this re-de-pression will lead the world further into the abyss. The international banksters and the multinational corps have all their puppets in a row.

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China Signs $4.3B of Soybean Deals With U.S. - Bloomberg

2012-02-15T17:34:00.000-07:00

China Signs $4.3B of Soybean Deals With U.S. - Bloomberg:

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Pennies from heaven: How Mormon economics shape the G.O.P—By Chris Lehmann (Harper's Magazine)

2012-02-15T17:26:00.001-07:00

Pennies from heaven: How Mormon economics shape the G.O.P—By Chris Lehmann (Harper's Magazine):

By Chris Lehmann

Chris Lehmann is the author ofRich People Things (Haymarket, 2011), the editor of the Yahoo! News blogs, and an editor ofBookforum.

violet.blue (CC-BY

As the American media has copiously noted, the next year or so promises to be a breakout moment in the mainstreaming of the Mormon faith. There are already two Mormon contenders for the G.O.P. presidential nomination: former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Utah governor and diplomat Jon Huntsman. There’s the Tony-winning Broadway comedy The Book of Mormon, which has proved a runaway critical and commercial success. (Serving as recognizable fodder for parody certainly marks a cultural coming-of-age, and for the most part, Mormon leaders have taken the send-up in confident stride.) There are high-profile offerings from Mormon sources that bear no explicit spiritual agenda but abound with Mormon-friendly themes, such as Stephenie Meyer’s hugely successfulTwilight franchise of teen vampire novels. And thanks to the heroic promotional efforts of the country’s best-known Mormon convert, Glenn Beck, the work of a previously obscure Mormon polemicist and historian, W. Cleon Skousen, has attained both bestseller status and pride of place in the Tea Party movement. But for all the attention now lavished on how Mormonism fits in with the American experience, remarkably little is known about a key feature of Mormon belief: the organization of economic life. The omission is puzzling. Romney, after all, has staked his claim to the presidency largely on the basis of his business acumen. Amid a crippling recession, the former CEO of Bain Capital, with an estimated net worth of more than $200 million, presents himself as the assured corporate manager who can briskly lift America out of its long slough of despond. Surely, the conventional wisdom goes, Romney’s fiscal finesse should put him in the White House—and close the gap between Mormons and mainstream evangelicals, who have long regarded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a preserve of dangerous cultists. READ MORE

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The Story of How U.S. Special Forces Infiltrated Pakistan - Marc Ambinder & D.B. Grady - International - The Atlantic

2012-02-15T17:00:00.001-07:00

The Story of How U.S. Special Forces Infiltrated Pakistan - Marc Ambinder & D.B. Grady - International - The Atlantic:
Using special tracking technology and CIA oversight, teams have quietly crossed the border to challenge al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and their supporters in the Pakistani spy service.

U.S. special forces in Afghanistan / AP

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Iran Is Ready to Talk By Dennis Ross

2012-02-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

SPECULATION about an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities is rife, but there is little discussion about whether diplomacy can still succeed, precluding the need for military action.

Many experts doubt that Tehran would ever accept a deal that uses intrusive inspections and denies or limits uranium enrichment to halt any advances toward a nuclear weaponscapability, while still permitting the development of civilian nuclear power. But before we assume that diplomacy can’t work, it is worth considering that Iranians are now facing crippling pressure and that their leaders have in the past altered their behavior in response to such pressure. Notwithstanding all their bluster, there are signs that Tehran is now looking for a way out.

Much has changed in the last three years. In January 2009, Iran was spreading its influence throughout the Middle East, and Arab leaders were reluctant to criticize Iran in public lest they trigger a coercive Iranian reaction. Similarly, Iran’s government wasn’t facing significant economic pressures; Iranians had simply adjusted to the incremental sanctions they were then facing. READ MORE

Dennis Ross Shoots Down War With Iran | The Nation

2012-02-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

Dennis Ross Shoots Down War With Iran | The Nation:

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MarketWatch 666: there’s no tomorrow - an animated documentary about resource depletion and the impossibility of infinite growth on a finite planet…

2012-02-15T15:57:00.002-07:00

MarketWatch 666: there’s no tomorrow:

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The next World Bank president: Bill Clinton? | World news | guardian.co.uk

2012-02-15T15:37:00.001-07:00

The next World Bank president: Bill Clinton? | World news | guardian.co.uk:

Bill Clinton is being talked about as the next president of the World Bank. Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty

OH MY, OH MY.

THE HORROR - THE HORROR

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Air Force Buys Fewer Drones -- But Ups Drone Flights | Danger Room | Wired.com

2012-02-15T15:07:00.001-07:00

Air Force Buys Fewer Drones -- But Ups Drone Flights | Danger Room | Wired.com:

Photo: U.S. Air Force
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Is Western Democracy Real or a Facade? by Paul Craig Roberts

2012-02-15T14:34:00.001-07:00

The United States government and its NATO puppets have been killing Muslim men, women and children for a decade in the name of bringing them democracy. But is the West itself a democracy?

Skeptics point out that President George W. Bush was put in office by the Supreme Court and that a number of other elections have been decided by electronic voting machines that leave no paper trail. Others note that elected officials represent the special interests that fund their campaigns and not the voters. The bailout of the banks arranged by Bush’s Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs chairman, Henry Paulson, and Washington’s failure to indict any banksters for the fraud that contributed to the financial crisis, are evidence in support of the view that the US government represents money and not the voters.

When they speak of bringing democracy.

It is code speak for privatizing [corporatizing] that countries natural resources.

Our military acts as the strong man for the multinational corps. and banksters.

When will America wake up to the fact that we are slaves to these white collar gangsters?

US AFRICOM Reborn in Djibouti | Foreign Policy Journal

2012-02-15T14:23:00.001-07:00

US AFRICOM Reborn in Djibouti | Foreign Policy Journal:

Marines during an exercise at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.

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"The Sun's Astrosphere" --Did Moving Outside the Interstellar Boundary Cause Earth's Mass Extinctions?

2012-02-15T14:17:00.001-07:00

"The Sun's Astrosphere" --Did Moving Outside the Interstellar Boundary Cause Earth's Mass Extinctions?:

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From Argentina to Athens? - Mohamed A. El-Erian - Project Syndicate

2012-02-15T14:08:00.001-07:00

From Argentina to Athens? - Mohamed A. El-Erian - Project Syndicate:

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The Long March from Shanghai - Christopher R. Hill - Project Syndicate

2012-02-15T14:05:00.001-07:00

The Long March from Shanghai - Christopher R. Hill - Project Syndicate:

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Nixon Then, China Now - Minxin Pei - Project Syndicate

2012-02-15T14:04:00.001-07:00

Nixon Then, China Now - Minxin Pei - Project Syndicate:

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"A Catastrophic Year" as Hunger Crisis Looms over Sahel - IPS ipsnews.net

2012-02-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

"A Catastrophic Year" as Hunger Crisis Looms over Sahel - IPS ipsnews.net:

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Mosaic News - 02/14/12: Bahrain Blocks Return to Martyrs' Square on Revo...

2012-02-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

Sudan News: Famine being used as a weapon of war | GlobalPost

2012-02-15T13:49:00.001-07:00

Sudan News: Famine being used as a weapon of war | GlobalPost:

Two-year-old Dhoal's bones show as he sits in his mother's lap in a ward for children suffering from severe malnutririon at a local hospital in the southeast Sudanese town of Akobo on Apr. 10, 2010. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)

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BREAKING NEWS: Bain Capital Wanted to Lend GM and Chrysler Money For Their Managed Bankruptcies! | Angry Bear - Financial and Economic Commentary

2012-02-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS: Bain Capital Wanted to Lend GM and Chrysler Money For Their Managed Bankruptcies! | Angry Bear - Financial and Economic Commentary:

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U.S. could double its military aid to Tajikistan | Tajikistan News Agency, "Asia-Plus"

2012-02-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

U.S. could double its military aid to Tajikistan | Tajikistan News Agency, "Asia-Plus":

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Why Did Petraeus Fire the Auditor Charged With Stopping Flow of Pentagon Funds to Taliban? | Truthout

2012-02-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Why Did Petraeus Fire the Auditor Charged With Stopping Flow of Pentagon Funds to Taliban? | Truthout:

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Asia Times Online :: Balochistan abuses forced into spotlight

2012-02-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Asia Times Online :: Balochistan abuses forced into spotlight:

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Empire - The decline of the American empire

2012-02-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

The biggest problem with Qatada? He’s innocent | Luke Samuel | spiked

2012-02-15T11:29:00.001-07:00

The biggest problem with Qatada? He’s innocent | Luke Samuel | spiked:

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Can Obama avert war with Iran? By Gareth Porter

2012-02-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

Obama has been hesitant to publicly warn the Israeli prime minister against attacking Iran [GALLO/GETTY]
READ MORE

Will Israel Attack Iran? Not Before the U.S. Presidential Election by Mark Weisbrot

2012-02-15T11:16:00.004-07:00

by Mark Weisbrot

Last week the New York Times reported on an interesting telephone conversation in January between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the report, Obama tried to convince Netanyahu, with some success, that the time was not right for military action against Iran.

The Times report noted that “Senior Israeli officials, including the foreign minister and leader of the Mossad, have traveled to Washington in recent weeks to make the case” that Iran would very soon reach the point where bombing could no longer disrupt its nuclear program. The argument is that once Iran moves enough of its equipment and materials to impregnable underground facilities, these could no longer be destroyed with even the biggest bombs. So Israel must strike soon, perhaps as early as a few months from now, these officials argued.

For Brazilians or Americans who do not follow this issue closely, a process of mass brainwashing is taking place through the major media. Iran, which even the U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has acknowledged is not pursuing a nuclear weapon, is portrayed as hell-bent on getting one. And why? So they can nuke Israel and become the first nation on Earth to commit mass suicide, since Israel has enough nuclear weapons to kill every Iranian several times over. It all makes sense, if you assume that mass suicide is Iran’s deepest national aspiration. READ MORE

The Imperial Way American Decline in Perspective, Part 2 By Noam Chomsky

2012-02-15T11:13:00.001-07:00

In the years of conscious, self-inflicted decline at home, “losses” continued to mount elsewhere. In the past decade, for the first time in 500 years, South America has taken successful steps to free itself from western domination, another serious loss. The region has moved towards integration, and has begun to address some of the terrible internal problems of societies ruled by mostly Europeanized elites, tiny islands of extreme wealth in a sea of misery. They have also rid themselves of all U.S. military bases and of IMF controls. A newly formed organization, CELAC, includes all countries of the hemisphere apart from the U.S. and Canada. If it actually functions, that would be another step in American decline, in this case in what has always been regarded as “the backyard.”

Even more serious would be the loss of the MENA countries -- Middle East/North Africa -- which have been regarded by planners since the 1940s as “a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history.” Control of MENA energy reserves would yield “substantial control of the world,” in the words of the influential Roosevelt advisor A.A. Berle READ MORE

Why is Rocky Anderson Running for President?

2012-02-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Why are Israel and US on a Collison Course with Iran?

2012-02-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

450 Bases and It’s Not Over Yet The Pentagon’s Afghan Basing Plans for Prisons, Drones, and Black Ops By Nick Turse

2012-02-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

By Nick Turse
In late December, the lot was just a big blank: a few burgundy metal shipping containers sitting in an expanse of crushed eggshell-colored gravel inside a razor-wire-topped fence. The American military in Afghanistan doesn’t want to talk about it, but one day soon, it will be a new hub for the American drone war in the Greater Middle East.
Next year, that empty lot will be a two-story concrete intelligence facility for America’s drone war, brightly lit and filled with powerful computers kept in climate-controlled comfort in a country where most of the population has no access to electricity. It will boast almost 7,000 square feet of offices, briefing and conference rooms, and a large “processing, exploitation, and dissemination” operations center -- and, of course, it will be built with American tax dollars.
Nor is it an anomaly. Despite all the talk of drawdowns and withdrawals, there has been a years-long building boom in Afghanistan that shows little sign of abating. In early 2010, the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had nearly400 bases in Afghanistan. Today, Lieutenant Lauren Rago of ISAF public affairs tells TomDispatch, the number tops 450.

The hush-hush, high-tech, super-secure facility at the massive air base in Kandahar is just one of many building projects the U.S. military currently has planned or underway in Afghanistan. While some U.S. bases are indeed closing up shop or being transferred to the Afghan government, and there’s talk of combat operations slowing or ending next year, as well as a withdrawal of American combat forces from Afghanistan by 2014, the U.S. military is still preparing for a much longer haul at mega-bases like Kandahar and Bagram airfields. The same is true even of some smaller camps, forward operating bases (FOBs), and combat outposts (COPs) scattered through the country’s backlands. “Bagram is going through a significant transition during the next year to two years,” Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Gerdes of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Bagram Office recently toldFreedom Builder, a Corps of Engineers publication. “We’re transitioning... into a long-term, five-year, 10-year vision for the base.” READ MORE

Tomgram: Nick Turse, Prisons, Drones, and Black Ops in Afghanistan | TomDispatch

2012-02-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

Tomgram: Nick Turse, Prisons, Drones, and Black Ops in Afghanistan | TomDispatch:

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Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun - Live at Pompeii - Pink Floyd...

2012-02-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

Careful with That Axe, Eugene - Pink Floyd - Live At Pompeii - 1972 - HD

2012-02-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

2012-02-12T16:14:00.000-07:00

David Gilmour HD - Remember That Night (Full Concert, Royal Albert Hall ...

2012-02-12T14:31:00.001-07:00

Hit the [view full screen] on youtube.

Pink Floyd Reunion - Live 8 2005 - Full Length! - HD

2012-02-12T14:17:00.001-07:00

NO MORE EXCUSES

Us & Them Pink Floyd Music Video

2012-02-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

Pink Floyd - Sorrow

2012-02-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

Mount Hermon's pure snow can't hide Israel's dark past - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

2012-02-12T13:42:00.001-07:00

Mount Hermon's pure snow can't hide Israel's dark past - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News:

The entire Golan Heights is occupied exactly as the West Bank is.

By Gideon Levy

'via Blog this'

Israel panel okays bill calling for tax exemption to 'Zionist' donations - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

2012-02-12T13:37:00.001-07:00

Israel panel okays bill calling for tax exemption to 'Zionist' donations - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News:

Ministerial Committee on Legislation approves legislation sponsored by Likud's Zeev Elkin, Zion Pinyan that seeks to give %35 break to funds given to institutions that promote 'Zionism and settlement.'

By Jonathan Lis

'via Blog this'

Report: Israel's Mossad still using foreign passports in undercover operations - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

2012-02-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

Report: Israel's Mossad still using foreign passports in undercover operations - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News:

'via Blog this'

Arizona bill would fund militia

2012-02-12T12:58:00.001-07:00

Arizona bill would fund militia:
I am ashamed to admit that I live in Arizona.
Now they want to fund their own vigilante militia.

'via Blog this'

Replacing History With Fiction in Arizona | The Nation

2012-02-12T11:26:00.001-07:00

Replacing History With Fiction in Arizona | The Nation:

'via Blog this'

'US backs Al-Qaeda to mutually destroy Syria'

2012-02-12T10:57:00.000-07:00

Will AIPAC and Bibi get their war? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

2012-02-12T10:42:00.001-07:00

Will AIPAC and Bibi get their war? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English:

'via Blog this'

Robert Scheer: Elections Are for Suckers - Robert Scheer's Columns - Truthdig

2012-02-12T10:33:00.001-07:00

Robert Scheer: Elections Are for Suckers - Robert Scheer's Columns - Truthdig:

'via Blog this'

US OKs transfer of 2nd warship to Philippines - Yahoo! News

2012-02-12T10:08:00.001-07:00

US OKs transfer of 2nd warship to Philippines - Yahoo! News:

'via Blog this'

Afghanistan War: Lt.Col Daniel Davis's Report

2012-02-12T09:49:00.001-07:00

Afghanistan War: Lt.Col Daniel Davis's Report:

FULL ANALYSIS OF DAVIS REPORT HERE.

The improving picture NATO/ISAF keep telling us about.

'via Blog this'

Army Officer's Leaked Report Rips Afghan War Success Story By Gareth Porter*

2012-02-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

By Gareth Porter*

U.S. Army Pfc. Shawn Williams is evacuated after being injured by a roadside bomb in Kandahar Province on June 17, 2011.
Credit:DoD photo

WASHINGTON, Feb 11, 2012 (IPS) - An analysis by Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, which the U.S. Army has not approved for public release but has leaked to Rolling Stone magazine, provides the most authoritative refutation thus far of the official military narrative of success in the Afghanistan War since the troop surge began in early 2010.

In the 84-page unclassified report, Davis, who returned last fall after his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, attacks the credibility of claims by senior military leaders that the U.S.-NATO war strategy has succeeded in weakening the Taliban insurgent forces and in building Afghan security forces capable of taking primary responsibility for security in the future.

The report, which Davis had submitted to the Army in January for clearance to make it public, was posted on the website of Rolling Stone magazine by journalist Michael Hastings Friday. In a blog for the magazine, Hastings reported that "officials familiar with the situation" had said the Pentagon was "refusing" to release the report, but that it had been making the rounds within the U.S. government, including the White House.

Hastings wrote that he had obtained it from a U.S. government official.

Contacted by IPS Friday, Davis would not comment on the publication of the report or its contents.

Writing that he is "no Wikileaks guy Part II", Davis reveals no classified information in the report. But he has given a classified version of the report, which cites and quotes from dozens of classified documents, to several members of the House and Senate, including both Democrats and Republicans.

"If the public had access to the classified reports," Davis writes, "they would see the dramatic gulf between what is often said in public by our senior leaders and what is true behind the scenes." READ MORE

Noam Chomsky Q&A: "Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours"

2012-02-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

Ethnic Cleansing in a Zionist Fairyland

2012-02-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

Ethnic Cleansing in a Zionist Fairyland:

'via Blog this'

African Babies As Guinea Pigs? Malaria, Bill Gate$, Big Drug$ and Big Buck$ | Foreign Policy Journal

2012-02-11T17:44:00.001-07:00

African Babies As Guinea Pigs? Malaria, Bill Gate$, Big Drug$ and Big Buck$ | Foreign Policy Journal:

'via Blog this'

Inside the making of the Bali bombs | The Jakarta Post

2012-02-11T17:09:00.001-07:00

Inside the making of the Bali bombs | The Jakarta Post:

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Anonymous Message To The State of Israel

2012-02-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

China-Canada boost ties By Robert M Cutler

2012-02-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

By Robert M Cutler

MONTREAL - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Beijing this week signed with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao a declaration of intent for a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA), after 18 years of negotiations between the two countries. Separately, a US$1 billion fund will facilitate Chinese investment in Canadian resource companies. READ MORE

Bill Gates backs climate scientists lobbying for large-scale geoengineering - news - The Ecologist

2012-02-11T15:49:00.001-07:00

Bill Gates backs climate scientists lobbying for large-scale geoengineering - news - The Ecologist:

The billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates is backing a group of climate scientists lobbying for geoengineering experiment

'via Blog this'

China's Visible Solar Power Success - Caixin Online

2012-02-11T15:12:00.001-07:00

China's Visible Solar Power Success - Caixin Online:

Now accounting for about half of the world's solar panel and module production, China looks set to lead the world toward using real fossil fuel alternatives

'via Blog this'

Greenland: Economics and arctic exploration

2012-02-11T14:53:00.002-07:00

The battle for the French presidency

2012-02-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

The Trench: Egypt’s SCAF Double-Barrel Resistance

2012-02-11T13:57:00.001-07:00

The Trench: Egypt’s SCAF Double-Barrel Resistance:

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9/11 REVISITED Was Saudi Arabia involved? By Paul Church

2012-02-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

At 9:37 Eastern Daylight Time on September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the western side of the Pentagon, killing all 59 passengers and 125 others in the building. News of the crash went global within minutes; yet another symbol of American power was ablaze. For the few still struggling to believe that the United States was under attack, doubt evaporated like the bodies of the many dead.

Conspiracists have puzzled for a decade over the failure to intercept the aircraft - or indeed, take even the elementary step of phoning the Pentagon to warn them of the approach. But only recently has wider attention been paid to the failure of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA's) Bin Laden unit to tell anyone that "muscle" hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, were in the country.

The chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Thomas Keane, is now on record [1] as calling this "one of the most troubling aspects of our entire report". How is it that, despite having known for several months about al-Midhar and al-Hazmi, nobody at Alec Station saw fit to mention them to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the counter-terrorism policy board in Washington, Immigration or the Defense Department?

The Bin Laden Issue Station - codenamed Alec by insiders such as US Army Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer - was the CIA unit dedicated to reporting on al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and militants in Afghanistan. It was this unit that had called on authorities in Malaysia to monitor the Kuala Lumpur "terror summit" at which plans for 9/11 were probably finalized. Both al-Midhar and al-Hazmi were at that meeting.

Accounts differ as to exactly when the CIA became aware of the hijackers' presence in America. But specific orders were issued not to share the information: Doug Miller, an FBI agent loaned to the Bin Laden unit, was among those who received the instructions. In his book Pretext for War, author James Bamford quotes another FBI agent loaned to Alec: "[T]hey didn't want the bureau meddling in their business - that's why they didn't tell ...that's why September 11 happened."

Author Lawrence Wright has speculated that, so desperate was the CIA to get a source inside al-Qaeda, the agency shielded the aspiring terrorists while it tried to recruit them. In his book The Looming Tower, Wright also suggests a more serious possibility: lacking any domestic jurisdiction, the agency colluded with Saudi Arabian intelligence to keep their own fingerprints off events. According to Wright, this was the view of a team of FBI investigators known as Squad I-49.

In an interview for the documentary Who Is Richard Blee?, former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke was another insider to hint at possible Saudi involvement. Sensationally, Clarke also accused Central Intelligence Department head George Tenet of personally withholding evidence from Washington.

Filmmakers John Duffy and Ray Nowosielski managed to identify two key analysts involved in burying the evidence. Despite legal threats from the agency [2], the film is now available as a podcast.

Backtrack to January 2001: Prince Bandar bin Sultan is head of the Saudi Embassy in Washington. Bandar was the man at the center of the al-Yammah arms deal, a corruption scandal involving the exchange of arms for crude oil with Britain. A White House insider since he arrived in Washington nearly two decades before, Bandar's close ties with the Bush family are common knowledge. Less widely known is that in January 2001, the Saudi Prince sat with vice president Dick Cheney, defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers discussing US strategy for the invasion of Iraq.

In his book Plan of Attack, investigative journalist Bob Woodward claimed that when Bandar was handed a map labeled "Top Secret Noforn" in the vice president's office, not even the secretary of state had been informed that his country would be at war. Colin Powell has denied this, but the incident serves to illustrate the prince's extraordinary access to the inner workings of government.
All the more shocking, then, that between 1998 and 2002, up to US$73,000 in cashier cheques was funneled by Bandar, via his wife Haifa - who once described the elder Bushes as like "my mother and father" - to two Californian families known to have bankrolled al-Midhar and al-Hazmi. The very same would-be terrorists protected by the CIA.

Princess Haifa sent regular monthly payments of between $2,000 and $3,500 to Majeda Dweikat, wife of Osama Basnan, believed by various investigators to be a spy for the Saudi government. Many of the cheques were signed over to Manal Bajadr, wife of Omar al-Bayoumi, himself suspected of covertly working for the kingdom.

The Basnans, the al-Bayoumis and the two 9/11 hijackers once shared the same apartment block in San Diego. It was al-Bayoumi who greeted the killers when they first arrived in America, and provided them, among other assistance, with an apartment and social security cards. He even helped the men enroll at flight schools in Florida.

When al-Bayoumi moved to England just days before the attacks, his apartment was raided by Scotland Yard. Beneath the floorboards were discovered the phone numbers of several officials at the Saudi Embassy.

Bandar and his wife deny any links to terrorism, but both former co-chairs of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Shelby and Bob Graham, think otherwise. They claim the FBI refused to allow the committee to interview investigators who had followed the money from the embassy. Other sources allege that the 9/11 Commission similarly failed to fully investigate leads, partly because commissioner Phillip Zelikow removed or relegated to footnotes any findings which cast doubt on the Saudis. A 28-page section of the report exploring possible foreign government involvement remains classified.

Then there is the suppressed testimony of Special Agent Steven Butler, described by officials familiar with his account as "explosive". [3] Butler had been monitoring a flow of Saudi money to the would-be hijackers. After he testified, staff director for the 9/11 Committee Eleanor Hill sent a memo to the Justice Department detailing Butler's allegations. When reporters quizzed the Justice Department about the content of Butler's testimony, they were told it was classified.

If possible Saudi Arabian involvement in 9/11 raised eyebrows at the Justice Department, what would they have made of mysterious but little publicized meetings between the Saudi ambassador and George Tenet? In his book State of War, author James Risen recounts how Tenet "set the tone for the CIA's Saudi relationship by relying heavily on developing close relationships with top Saudi officials, including Prince Bandar bin Sultan ..."

Around once a month, Tenet would slip away to Bandar's estate in McLean, Virginia, for talks so secretive he refused to tell officers working under him what they were discussing. Colleagues would complain that it was difficult for them to tell what deals were being made with the Saudis. Were al-Midhar or al-Hazmi ever mentioned?

"Bandar and Tenet had a very close relationship," confirmed one CIA officer.

The frantic rush to get Saudi Arabian nationals - including members of the Bin Laden family - out of America in the days after the 2001 attacks led to public outrage, and was featured in Michael Moore's seminal but flawed documentary, Fahrenheit 911. Less was made of a return trip by Crown Prince Abdullah, then de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, in 2002. The Crown Prince, Prince Saud al-Faisal and Prince Bandar bin Sultan were scheduled to meet president George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell and national security advisor Condoleezza Rice at the president's ranch in Texas.

No fewer than eight airliners arrived from Saudi Arabia, and as the planes landed, US intelligence learned that two members of the royal entourage were on a terrorist watchlist. The next day, Osama Basnan reported his passport stolen to Houston police - proving he was in Texas the same day as the crown prince. Were the wanted men on the planes Basnan and al-Bayoumi?

According to the Wall Street Journal, the FBI planned to "storm the plane and pull those guys off" until, evidently fearing an international incident, the State Department intervened.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB11Ak03.html
Yes I am a 9/11 Truther

2012-02-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Analysis by Jim Lobe*

WASHINGTON, Feb 9, 2012 (IPS) - What with rumours from Israel of war on Iran, a major showdown with the Egyptian military over the indictments of government- funded U.S. activists in Cairo, and continuing political paralysis in Iraq, you would think President Barack Obama has enough Middle East crises to deal with.

But in the aftermath of last weekend's Russian and Chinese vetoes at the U.N. Security Council of an Arab League-sponsored resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down as part of a transition leading to elections, calls for Washington to take stronger action, including arming rebel forces, have grown much louder here.

So far, the administration has resisted the pressure, focusing instead on convening a "Friends of Syria" contact group of anti-Assad Western and Arab states to ensure that whatever support may be provided to the chronically fractious opposition is coordinated to the greatest possible extent.

Washington is particularly eager to coordinate policy with Turkey whose foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, arrived here Thursday.

Citing the precedent of last year's U.S. intervention in Libya, three of the Senate's most hawkish members said Wednesday sanctions and the creation of the contact group were not enough.

"In Libya, the threat of imminent atrocities in Benghazi mobilized the world to act," Sens. John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and Joe Lieberman, said in a joint statement. "Such atrocities are now a reality in Homs and other cities all across Syria. More than 6,000 lives have been lost, and there is no end in sight." READ MORE

India neglects US & EU sanctions on Iran

2012-02-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

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