Would You Like Freedom Fries With That?

NSA 'planned to discredit radicals over web-porn use'

BBC News - NSA 'planned to discredit radicals over web-porn use': 
"Privacy International said: "This is not the first time we've seen States use intimate and private information of an individual who holds views the government doesn't agree with, and exploit this information to undermine an individual's message."
The report came shortly after a group of United Nations experts adopted a "right to privacy" resolution.
The UN's Human Rights Committee said it was "deeply concerned at the negative impact" the interception of data "including extraterritorial surveillance" could have "`in particular when carried out on a mass scale"."

US planes challenge China air zone

BBC News - US planes challenge China air zone:
 "China set up its "air defence identification zone" on Saturday.
A US colonel said the two planes had followed "normal procedures, which include not filing flight plans, not radioing ahead".
The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are a source of rising tension between the two nations.
China is insisting that aircraft entering its air defence zone must obey its rules or face "emergency defensive measures".
"We have conducted operations in the area of the Senkakus," said US Colonel Steve Warren, adding that so far there had been no response from China."

CIA remains behind most drone strikes, despite effort to shift campaign to Defense - The Washington Post

CIA remains behind most drone strikes, despite effort to shift campaign to Defense - The Washington Post: 
"The emerging plan is likely to allow the CIA to maintain its drone fleet and stay deeply involved in targeted killing operations, even if the final step in any strike sequence is eventually handled by someone wearing a U.S. military uniform, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
U.S. officials said the discussions between the CIA and the Pentagon have involved CIA Director John Brennan; his deputy, Avril Haines; and Michael G. Vickers, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, who previously worked at the CIA."

£1,430,000,000,000: Britain's personal debt timebomb

£1,430,000,000,000 (that's £1.43 trillion): Britain's personal debt timebomb - Loans & Credit - Money - The Independent: 
"Privately, ministers are worried that, while interest rates have been held at a record low of 0.5 per cent, less personal debt has been repaid in the UK than countries like the United States. The Bank of England will consider raising rates when unemployment falls from its current 7.6 per cent rate to 7 per cent, triggering a rise in mortgage rates for millions of home-buyers.
The CSJ said more than 26,000 UK households have been classed as “homeless” by local authorities in the past five years, and warned that the number could increase if interest rates rises. Some 3.9m families do not have enough savings to cover their rent or mortgage for more than a month.
Another timebomb is the number of people retiring before they have paid off their mortgage.  About 40,000 interest-only mortgages are due to mature each year between 2017 and 2032 where the householder will be over 65. Between now and 2020, a third of the shortfalls on endowment mortgages will amount to more than £50,000."

Iran agrees to curb nuclear activity at Geneva talks

BBC News - Iran agrees to curb nuclear activity at Geneva talks:
"President Barack Obama welcomed the deal, saying it included "substantial limitations which will help prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon".
Iran agreed to give better access to inspectors and halt some of its work on uranium enrichment.
President Rouhani said the interim deal recognised Iran's nuclear "rights".
But he repeated, in a nationwide broadcast, that his country would never seek a nuclear weapon.
Tehran denies repeated claims by Western governments that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. It insists it must be allowed to enrich uranium to use in power stations.
The deal will last for six months allowing time for the negotiation of a more permanent agreement."

Largest cosmic explosion ever recorded

'Monster' cosmic explosion capable of destroying Earth captured in distant galaxy - Science - News - The Independent:

"This burst was a once-in-a-century cosmic event," Nasa astrophysics chief Paul Hertz said at a news conference Thursday.
A gamma ray burst happens when a massive star dies, collapses into a black hole, explodes in what's called a supernova and ejects energetic radiation. A planet caught in one of these bursts would lose its atmosphere instantly and be left a burnt cinder, scientists say.

Afghanistan - Karzai To Delay US Deal

40,000 NATO troops to stage massive European war games

40,000 NATO troops to stage massive European war games — RT News: 
"The Western alliance claims this is to test the members’ capability and teamwork, mainly for reasons of matching America’s commitment to the alliance, as well as keeping their edge after the Afghan mission is over.
The exercises, set to start in 2015, will involve 40,000 troops deployed in Spain and Portugal. NATO land forces commander U.S. Army Lieutenant-General Frederick Hodges told Reuters that "this kind of exercise, this sort of complexity, is going to be the norm," so the exercises are just the first in a series.
The major reason given by NATO is that troops need to stay sharp and practice their interoperability, especially after Afghanistan, in times of military inactivity. "

Walmart requests donations for employees in need

Is Walmart's request of associates to help provide Thanksgiving dinner for co-workers proof of low wages? | cleveland.com: --
The storage containers are attractively displayed at the Walmart on Atlantic Boulevard in Canton. The bins are lined up in alternating colors of purple and orange. Some sit on tables covered with golden yellow tablecloths. Others peer out from under the tables. This isn't a merchandise display. It's a food drive - not for the community, but for needy workers. "Please Donate Food Items Here, so Associates in Need Can Enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner," read signs affixed to the tablecloths.

The food drive tables are tucked away in an employees-only area. They are another element in the backdrop of the public debate about salaries for cashiers, stock clerks and other low-wage positions at Walmart, as workers in Cincinnati and Dayton are scheduled to go on strike Monday.

Norma Mills of Canton, who lives near the store, saw the photo circulating showing the food drive bins, and felt both "outrage" and "anger." "Then I went through the emotion of compassion for the employees, working for the largest food chain in America, making low wages, and who can't afford to provide their families with a good Thanksgiving holiday," said Mills, an organizer with Stand Up for Ohio, which is active in foreclosure issues in Canton. "That Walmart would have the audacity to ask low-wage workers to donate food to other low-wage workers -- to me, it is a moral outrage."

The bloody disaster of Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan is laid bare

The bloody disaster of Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan is laid bare | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | theguardian.com:
"In each case – Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan – it was easy to see evil in the prevailing regime. These are bad guys that we need to go after, said the Americans. Yet the removal of law and order from a nation is devastating, however cruel that order may have been. Iraqis today repeat that, whatever the ills of Saddam Hussein, under his rule most ordinary citizens and their families could walk the streets at night without fear of murder or kidnap. Religious differences were tolerated. Iraq should have been an oil-rich modern state. Even the Kurds, scourged by Saddam in the past, enjoyed autonomy and relative peace."

Sun Set To 'Flip Upside Down' Within Weeks

Sun Set To 'Flip Upside Down' Within Weeks:
"Todd Hoeksema, a scientist at Stanford University's Wilcox Solar Observatory, said the polar reversal takes place as the Sun's magnetic field moves north or south from the equator, eroding the existing pole as it does so.
"It's kind of like a tide coming in or going out," he said. "Each little wave brings a little more water in, and eventually you get to the full reversal."
Latest measurements show the Sun technically has two south poles, caused by its two hemispheres being out of sync.
Phil Scherrer, who works with Mr Hoeksema at the observatory, said: "The north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up.
"Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of solar max will be under way.""

General strikes in Libya over armed militias, deaths of protesters

General strikes in Libya over armed militias, deaths of protesters - Times LIVE:
Protesters, including journalists, gunned down in 'liberated' Tripoli by western backed regime. Another story the neo-liberal media won't be covering.
"The city’s Local Council called for the three-day strike “in mourning for Libya’s sons” killed in the violence that began Friday, the state-run LANA news agency reported.
The council, in a statement Saturday, said it “urges everyone to be calm and exercise self-restraint... to preserve national unity and prevent sedition.”  The Interior Ministry said 43 people were killed and some 400 injured when gunmen opened fire on protesters in Tripoli Friday.
Fighting among rival militias in the suburb of Tajoura, claimed at least six lives and left dozens injured, media reports said."

American soldier charged in Iraq killings of deaf, unarmed teens

American soldier charged in Iraq killings of deaf, unarmed teens - Stripes - Independent U.S. military news from Iraq, Afghanistan and bases worldwide:
"The killing of the two Iraqi youths were the subject of a special Trib investigative report, “Rules of Engagement,” published in December. The eight-page special section, which won a national Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and other honors, can be found online at TribLIVE.com along with an interactive map at: http://triblive.com/investigative/specialprojects/rulesofengagement/ .
Barbera was a small-kill team leader in Charlie Troop, 5th Squadron of the 73rd Airborne Reconnaissance Regiment out of Fort Bragg, N.C., engaged in counterinsurgency operations in Iraq's restive Diyala province when the killings occurred. Several of the cavalry scouts on the mission said Barbera killed the brothers and then lied to his commanders about how the boys died, a moral wound of war that they could not accept."

JFK Assassination Marked 'Age of Suspicion'

3.5 Billion Year Old Fossil Is Oldest Ever Example of Life

The minuscule remains were found inside a lump of sandstone rock in Western Australia by scientists from OId Dominium University in the US and are thought to be 300 million years older than the previous oldest example of life on Earth. 

Experts believe this basic microbe existed in a kind of cluster, with each cell hosting individual life but effectively living, working, and communicating as a single entity. 

The bundle has been compared to a small human society. MORE

Untold Story Of US War in Afghanistan

This is Part 1. Parts 2 and 3 HERE

Drones - Plumbing The Depths

Care To Join The Military? All This Could be Yours

U.S. Aid To Egypt Irreplaceable, Obama Administration Official Says

U.S. Aid To Egypt Irreplaceable, Obama Administration Official Says:
 "A senior Obama administration official has downplayed concerns over the Kremlin’s encroachment into Egypt as Russia’s foreign and defense ministers get set to visit the country this week with officials from their state arms exporter in tow.
Egyptian leaders have appeared to embrace eagerness by Russia, Egypt’s Cold War-era patron, to step in and make up for some of the U.S. disengagement seen since the military ousted former president Mohamed Morsi this summer — namely, its withholding of part of an annual $1.3 billion aid package."

Reality Zone Blog

RZ is back in America. Somewhere out there on the desert roads, among the pine forests, along the wide Atlantic horizons. Perhaps a cool Pacific breeze is blowing him back home. Normal service should resume soon.

Threat of Peace Terrifies Netanyahu

  Breaking News

Devil Eyes - Tim Buckley

Searching For The Central Super-Massive Black Hole

"Expecting to find a black hole in every galaxy is sort of like expecting to find a pit inside a peach," explains astronomer Tod Lauer of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson. "With this Hubble observation, we cut into the biggest peach and we can't find the pit. We don't know for sure that the black hole is not there, but Hubble shows that there's no concentration of stars in the core." MORE