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Article 24
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Article 23
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Article 22
| SPIEGEL ONLINE | INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER |
| Compiled on June 21, 2013, 05:28 PM CET |
| TRAPPED IN APULIA Europe's Deepening Refugee Crisis A young Liberian refugee arrives in Italy, where he is left to fend for himself and winds up homeless in a filthy slum. When he flees to Germany, the government there invokes EU asylum law and sends him back. It is a cycle of degradation faced by thousands of African refugees living in Europe today. |
| TUMULT IN ATHENS Greek Government Wobbles as Coalition Splits The government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras lost a coalition partner on Friday after a week of late night negotiations over the future of state broadcaster ERT. Samaras is left with but a razor-thin majority in parliament, threatening his reform drive. |
| ERDOGAN AND THE PROTESTS Turkey's Stubborn Man on the Bosphorus Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on the way to becoming the most successful leader of his country since Atatürk. But he has reacted to recent protests as a tone-deaf despot. It is a tragedy for him and his country. |
| GERMAN-TURKISH SPAT Berlin Summons Turkish Ambassador over Merkel Criticism Germany's foreign minister is irritated by the reaction of Turkey's leading European affairs official to remarks by Chancellor Angela Merkel about the excessive use of force against protesters. Guido Westerwelle believes the rhetoric is "anything but European." |
| PUNISHING THE NEEDY Russian NGO Law Hurts Nazi Victims Many Russians who survived World War II, Nazi concentration camps, forced labor and postwar persecution depend on aid from foreign NGOs. Vladimir Putin's new law labelling such groups as "foreign agents" could strip them of needed help. |
| US-TALIBAN TALKS IN DOHA The West's Capitulation in Afghanistan After 12 years of war and thousands of deaths on both sides, the US and the Taliban are finally ready to talk peace. While the West hopes to smooth its withdrawal, human rights organizations forecast the return of dark times for women and minorities. |
| LIGHTNING, FLOODS, DEBRIS Thunderstorms Hammer Germany The Old Testament-like weather that has surged through Germany over the past weeks showed no signs of abating Thursday night. Lightening, thunder, heavy rain and hail pelted much of the country, as emergency crews worked through the night to minimize the damage. |
| TALKING WITH A LEGEND The Man Behind Bayern Munich's Success Jupp Heynckes is leaving football after star-studded career as a player and coach, capped with Bayern Munich's most successful season ever. In a SPIEGEL interview, he discusses victories and disappointments, his friend Uli Hoeness, his successor Pep Guardiola and his new desire for peace and quiet. |
| PICTURE THIS Whale Watching |
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Article 21
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From the you-wouldn't-like-me-when-I'm-
jfruh writes "We've learned many lessons in the fallout from Edward Snowden's whistleblowing and flight to Hong Kong, but here's an important one: Never make your sysadmin mad. Even if your organization isn't running a secret, civil-rights...
jfruh writes "We've learned many lessons in the fallout from Edward Snowden's whistleblowing and flight to Hong Kong, but here's an important one: Never make your sysadmin mad. Even if your organization isn't running a secret, civil-rights...
From the it's-how-they-send-messages department
jones_supa writes "I would like to raise some discussion about a hardware issue that has increasingly started to bug me: backlight flicker, from which many LED-backlit monitors suffer. As you might know, the backlight and its dimming is driven by...
jones_supa writes "I would like to raise some discussion about a hardware issue that has increasingly started to bug me: backlight flicker, from which many LED-backlit monitors suffer. As you might know, the backlight and its dimming is driven by...
From the firing-the-cancer-gun department
gurps_npc writes "Two radical pro-Israel terrorists were caught in upstate NY when they tried to solicit money from various honorable Jewish organizations to build a truck based x-ray weapon. They intended to drive the truck around and then turn...
gurps_npc writes "Two radical pro-Israel terrorists were caught in upstate NY when they tried to solicit money from various honorable Jewish organizations to build a truck based x-ray weapon. They intended to drive the truck around and then turn...
From the not-as-simple-as-md5-sum department
oever writes "Software freedom is an interesting concept, but being able to study the source code is useless unless you are certain that the binary you are running corresponds to the alleged source code. It should be possible to recreate the exact...
oever writes "Software freedom is an interesting concept, but being able to study the source code is useless unless you are certain that the binary you are running corresponds to the alleged source code. It should be possible to recreate the exact...
From the someone-out-there-must-care department
Nerval's Lobster writes "Now that Microsoft and Sony have unveiled their respective next-generation gaming consoles, the two companies have cheerfully resorted to firing broadsides at each other. Whether the current brouhaha has any effect on...
Nerval's Lobster writes "Now that Microsoft and Sony have unveiled their respective next-generation gaming consoles, the two companies have cheerfully resorted to firing broadsides at each other. Whether the current brouhaha has any effect on...
From the best-of-brand department
sfcrazy writes "A top Monsanto executive has won the prestigious World Food Prize. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the award where Robert T. Fraley, the executive vice president and CTO of Monsanto, won the prize along with two other...
sfcrazy writes "A top Monsanto executive has won the prestigious World Food Prize. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the award where Robert T. Fraley, the executive vice president and CTO of Monsanto, won the prize along with two other...
From the live-tweet-hardly-seems-the-
Koreantoast writes "In another interesting example of the increasing use and sophistication of social media by non-governmental organizations, the Somali-based Islamic insurgency al-Shabab live tweeted their latest attack, a suicide assault...
Koreantoast writes "In another interesting example of the increasing use and sophistication of social media by non-governmental organizations, the Somali-based Islamic insurgency al-Shabab live tweeted their latest attack, a suicide assault...
From the didn't-you-see-how-michael-
An anonymous reader writes "Gottfrid Swartholm Warg — known also as Anakata — was on June 20th sentenced to two years imprisonment for data breaches and aggravated fraud by the District Court of Nacka in his native Sweden. It is...
An anonymous reader writes "Gottfrid Swartholm Warg — known also as Anakata — was on June 20th sentenced to two years imprisonment for data breaches and aggravated fraud by the District Court of Nacka in his native Sweden. It is...
From the market-is-a-harsh-mistress department
recoiledsnake writes "Following up on our previous discussion of Microsoft selling discounted SurfaceRT tablets to schools (which fueled speculation about the future of Surface RT), Bloomberg is now reporting that Microsoft is fast at work on the...
recoiledsnake writes "Following up on our previous discussion of Microsoft selling discounted SurfaceRT tablets to schools (which fueled speculation about the future of Surface RT), Bloomberg is now reporting that Microsoft is fast at work on the...
From the wrong-folks-to-micromanage department
netbuzz writes "The National Association of Attorneys General met in Boston this week and one panel focused on the 'safe harbor' provision of 1996 Communications Decency Act. Within that broader discussion, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood...
netbuzz writes "The National Association of Attorneys General met in Boston this week and one panel focused on the 'safe harbor' provision of 1996 Communications Decency Act. Within that broader discussion, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood...
From the malice-would-be-a-good-place-
An anonymous reader writes "Two U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bill that would prevent the Department of Justice from prosecuting people for violating terms of service for Web-based products, website notices or employment agreements under the...
An anonymous reader writes "Two U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bill that would prevent the Department of Justice from prosecuting people for violating terms of service for Web-based products, website notices or employment agreements under the...
From the will-you-stop-following-me department
Lucas123 writes "Lawmakers this week filed bipartisan legislation that would give car owners control over data collected in black box-style recorders that may be required in all models as soon as next year. The move follows a separate proposal...
Lucas123 writes "Lawmakers this week filed bipartisan legislation that would give car owners control over data collected in black box-style recorders that may be required in all models as soon as next year. The move follows a separate proposal...
From the hanging-out-the-window-with-a-
sciencehabit writes "The next time you hear extended applause for a performance you didn't think was that great, don't feel like a snob. A new study reveals that audience response has more to do with the people in the seats than those up on stage....
sciencehabit writes "The next time you hear extended applause for a performance you didn't think was that great, don't feel like a snob. A new study reveals that audience response has more to do with the people in the seats than those up on stage....
From the need-a-better-cone-of-silence department
First time accepted submitter benonemusic writes "Researchers have devised a means of making sound transmit easily through rigid surfaces, including walls. The process relies on creating small holes on a wall, and covering them on one side with a...
First time accepted submitter benonemusic writes "Researchers have devised a means of making sound transmit easily through rigid surfaces, including walls. The process relies on creating small holes on a wall, and covering them on one side with a...
From the out-in-the-open department
An anonymous reader writes "The LA Times mentions that after visiting well known sites such as ADP, Verizon Wireless, Scottrade, Geico, Equifax, PayPal and Allstate, sensitive data remains in the browser disk cache despite those sites using SSL....
An anonymous reader writes "The LA Times mentions that after visiting well known sites such as ADP, Verizon Wireless, Scottrade, Geico, Equifax, PayPal and Allstate, sensitive data remains in the browser disk cache despite those sites using SSL....
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Article 20
Diário do Rio de Janeiro |
- 20/06/13, um dia que entrará na história do Rio de Janeiro
- Eduardo Paes: Agressivo, pragmático e sem ideal
- Barra Music fechado
- De onde tirar os R$ 200 milhões?
Posted: 20 Jun 2013 07:59 PM PDT  Mais de um milhão, uma Presidente Vargas cheia de cariocas desejando mudanças, desejando respeito, sabendo que o Brasil pode muito mais. É mentira que eles não sabem o que querem, sabem sim, que como está não dá para continuar.Hoje deu orgulho de ser carioca, de ver que não é só no Carnaval que o carioca enche a rua, que não é apenas com futebol que vai às ruas. Nem vai mais aceitar um prefeito jogando para o povo pagar suas politicagens. Houve violência, incêndio, cenas tristes, lamentáveis. Mas são cenas que representam apenas uma parte deste movimento que toma conta do país. Afinal ali se mistura tudo, pessoas que vão para reclamar, para se manifestar e quem vai apenas para soltar sua violência no anonimato que dá a multidão. O que acreditei ser o ponto mais baixo de tudo foi a atuação da Polícia Militar, totalmente despreparada para agir em eventos assim. Agiu certo ao dispersar alguns vândalos que se juntaram na frente da Prefeitura do Rio mas depois disso parece que terminou o comando e continuaram, continuaram e continuaram com suas bombas, balas de borracha e raiva. Na Cinelândia, onde havia gente mas nenhum ato de vandalismo jogaram gás lacrimogênio, na Lapa as pessoas que bebiam também foram tratadas como vândalos. No Circo Voador a mesma coisa, um fotógrafo levou uma bala de borracha no queixo. Foi interessante que eu li, algumas pessoas dizendo que tem mais de bater em quem vaia a ação da polícia. Não é assim, se não estão preparados para esse tipo de reação em uma manifestação como hoje, que fique em casa, que nem seja colocado na rua. Em Laranjeiras a mesma coisa, a PM jogando suas bombas de efeito moral, mesmo sem nenhuma confusão. Será que o camarada ficar xingando de covarde (ou apenas falando a verdade) é motivo para o que acontece no vídeo abaixo? Isso é só um exemplo de como a polícia de Sergio Cabral está agindo. Um amigo morador de Laranjeiras relata assim: E aí, os manifestantes começam a chegar no Palácio Guanabara (vulgo, quase a porta de casa).Dia 21/6 tem vários marcados pela cidade, como na Barra, e outra na Cinelândia no dia 24. E a cada manifestação os Governos municipal, estadual e federal jogam mais lenha na fogueira. Author informationConfira o artigo no Diário do Rio 20/06/13, um dia que entrará na história do Rio de Janeiro |
Posted: 20 Jun 2013 02:10 PM PDT  A revista Época desta semana trouxe uma matéria especial sobre o prefeito do Rio, Eduardo Paes (PMDB), é incrível a total falta de noção do prefeito sobre algumas questões e olha que foi dada antes das manifestações no Rio de Janeiro.Acho que faltou ao prefeito Eduardo Paes um filtro entre o cérebro e a boca. Leia alguns trechos: VereadoresAndo nesta van e sempre chamo vereadores. Você acha que o cara vai fazer oposição a mim, batendo papo comigo, tomando um guaraná, ouvindo um samba, a gente falando besteira?Agressões“Está desafinado”, disse a professora de violão que o acompanhava. Recomeçaram, ela voltou a reclamar. “Se você reclamar de novo, vou jogar esse microfone em você”, disse Paes a ela, segundo suas próprias palavras (aqui, já livres do baixo calão). A professora parou novamente. “Aí peguei o microfone, joguei em cima dela e saí do palco. Ali se encerrou minha carreira artística.” (…) “Ele já me atirou um grampeador”, diz Pedro Paulo Carvalho Teixeira, o secretário da Casa Civil. “Em mim, ele jogou um cinzeiro”, afirma Alexander Costa, o secretário de Ordem Pública. “Mas não é por mal”, dizem ambos. “Logo depois, ele faz as pazes.” (…) Estavam no escritório da vereadora Andréa Gouveia Vieira, então no PSDB, como Paes. Andréa o criticou, por não ter apoiado a candidatura de Denise Frossard, mas a de Cabral. Paes não gostou. Ela reafirmou, ele impacientou-se e, de repente, explodiu. “Vagabunda!”, gritou, estabanado, entre outros impropérios. Abalada, aturdida e sem conseguir silenciá-lo, Andréa mandou que Paes saísse. Guaraná o levou.Negócios, Sólidos, e… LíquidosA Vitznau International Corporation e a Conval Corporation são propriedade de Valmar Souza Paes (pai de Eduardo), Consuelo da Costa Paes (mãe) e Letícia da Costa Paes (irmã). Foram registradas no dia 18 de junho de 2008 no paraíso fiscal da República do Panamá. Ao ser questionado sobre as duas empresas, Paes responde: “Nenhum problema. Estão declaradas no Imposto de Renda deles”. Ele não autorizou ÉPOCA a falar com seus familiares. “Do ponto de vista da ética, não existe nada de sólido contra mim”, diz.AcusaçãoO economista Marcello Faulhaber, com mestrado em Londres, conheceu Eduardo Paes quando ele era secretário do Meio Ambiente de César Maia. Ficaram amigos. (…) Paes eleito, ele ocupou a subsecretária da Casa Civil. Participou da elaboração dos 40 decretos com que Paes inaugurou sua gestão e da montagem de equipe de executivos advindos, como ele, da iniciativa privada. Em setembro do ano passado, quando a campanha à prefeitura do Rio pegava fogo – Paes era candidato à reeleição -, Faulhaber escreveu um e-mail e o enviou à ex-vereadora Andréa Gouvea Vieira (…) É um e-mail de 60 linhas. Eis alguns trechos:“…É um péssimo ser humano. Eduardo não é um ótimo prefeito porque quer o melhor para o Rio de Janeiro. Ele o é por causa da sua ambição e vaidade desmedida. O que há é puro pragmatismo, a serviço da ambição e da vaidade”. “E é na sua hipocrisia, na sua ação política ditatorial, desprovida de escrúpulos e sem nenhum respeito às instituições, que podemos perceber esse pragmatismo ‘escrete’, a política sem ideal. Estamos criando um monstro no Rio… Ele acredita de verdade que qualquer um pode ser comprado, qualquer um, pastores, lideranças comunitárias, jornalistas, políticos, partidos, juízes, desembargadores, enfim todos”. Não sei onde isso vai parar.”Ao ser informado sobre o conteúdo do e-mail de Faulhaber, Paes cessa os elogios. “Mandei o Marcello embora porque ele foi conivente com um esquema de corrupção que descobri e abortei”, afirma ele, na confortável poltrona de uma das salas da casa da Gávea Pequena. Faulhaber ouviu a versão de Paes e negou. “Não tem o menor cabimento”, diz ele, “e o desafio a provar.” CervejaO bar próximo à piscina (da casa da Gávea Pequena) é o lugar preferido em seus poucos momentos de descanso. “Aqui, pode faltar leite para as crianças, mas cerveja para o prefeito não falta”, diz ele animado, mosAuthor informationConfira o artigo no Diário do Rio Eduardo Paes: Agressivo, pragmático e sem ideal |
Posted: 20 Jun 2013 12:00 PM PDT  Pre-pa-ra que o Barra Music será fechado, a casa de shows no Gardênia Azul (sim, devia se chamar Gardênia Azul Music), a predileta dos jogadores de futebol e das Marias Chuteiras está fechada, teve seu alvará suspenso pela Prefeitura do Rio, ou melhor, terá a partir de quinta-feira. A razão o trânsito, como se ninguém soubesse que isso pudesse acontecer, em 2011, ao falar sobre o que viria a ser o Barra Music, já tinha comentado sobre o problema no trânsito.No show da Anita não foram poucas as pessoas reclamando do trânsito na Barra da Tijuca, chegando a demorar mais de uma hora para fazer um caminho de poucos quilômetros. Sem levar em conta os outros eventos que acontecem no local e junta milhares de pessoas. O Barra Music cancelou um evento que aconteceria nesta quinta-feira, o Red Bull Funk-se Tour, e adiou para uma nova data ainda a ser definida. Eles agora devem fazer obras para que os eventos tenham um impacto menor no trânsito da região. Que obras? Não tenho ideia.. Author informationConfira o artigo no Diário do Rio Barra Music fechado |
Posted: 20 Jun 2013 08:08 AM PDT  A verdade é que Eduardo Paes (PMDB) não entendeu as manifestações, ontem ao declarar a “suspensão” do aumento disse que teria de diminuir os investimentos da Prefeitura em R$ 200 milhões, podendo chegar em R$ 500 milhões. Normalmente esse tipo de retórica é usada para jogar nas lideranças o ônus da decisão, isso antigamente, como não há líder o ônus volta para Eduardo Paes. Afinal, não é suspensão se a Prefeitura do Rio terá de subsidiar as empresas de ônibus, o Jan Krueger do Caos Carioca explicou bem neste vídeo:E Jan inclui em seu post: Até ontem, de acordo com o blog de Berenice Seara, apenas 9 vereadores tinham assinado a CPI dos Ônibus, das 17 necessárias. O líder do governo, Guaraná, está fazendo pressão para que vereadores não apoiem a investigação, inclusive fazendo com que a vereadora Verônica Costa (PR) retirasse a sua assinatura. Veja quem já assinou:
Mas a Prefeitura não deve subsidiar as empresas de ônibus com o nosso dinheiro. Um grande amigo meu, completamente conservador e contra as manifestações, acabou se virando contra Eduardo Paes nesta decisão dele. E deu uma belíssima declaração: Estes políticos são muito burros…. Dizer que os donos das empresas de ônibus não podem, tadinhos, sofrer com o recuo da tarifa, e que o estado vai ter que pagar a diferença, é de uma burrice e falta de diplomacia tamanha que quase apoiei esta bobagem toda…. Ora, eles tem coragem de dizer uma asneira dessas?.. É muito medo de perder a caixinha que recebem das empresas…. As empresas de ônibus que se virem, que se f*, que mudem de negócio e vão vender cachorro quente… Isso é absurdo, é claro que a margem das empresas é muito superior a 5%…. Se for o caso, cancele-se as concessões… O estado não deveria sustentar empresa NENHUMA.Então, de onde tirar os R$ 200 milhões? Ora Eduardo Paes, das próprias empresas de ônibus! Subsídio não! Author informationConfira o artigo no Diário do Rio De onde tirar os R$ 200 milhões? |
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Article 19
5 New Messages
Digest #4730
1
Striking Eagles: Albanian-U.S. Military Advisor Team Trains Afghan A by "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
2
Naval Striking Forces NATO: Command Exercise For Multiple Carrier St by "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
3
NATO Signs Major Interceptor Missile Deal With Raytheon by "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
4
Audio: Nobody Too Gruesome For U.S., NATO To Arm, Train by "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
5
MEADS Missile System Successfully Networks With NATO System by "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
Messages
Thu Jun 20, 2013 11:25 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.aco.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
June 20, 2013
Albania-US Team mentors Afghan Army
Story by Albanian Army Lt. Zamir Sadikaj, NTM-A Public Affairs
"If they fail, it's because of us!”
Such is the unofficial slogan of the Albanian-U.S. Military Advisor Team "Striking Eagles-3,” which currently provides mentorship and advice to an Afghan combat support battalion at Camp Blackhorse in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The team mentors and advises the Afghan 4th Battalion 2nd Brigade 111th Division in the planning and execution of a detailed yearly training and exercise plan, while also training battalion staff and companies in how to conduct operational-
"We are following Afghan doctrine and respecting their military tradition, while sharing the best of our experiences,” said the Striking Eagles-3 commander, Albanian Army Col. Isuf Hamati...
The team is training and tracking the execution of a wide variety of special courses and concepts like troop leading procedures, map reading, vehicle maintenance, computer operations, tactical communication, lifesaving skills and effective and safe weapons use.
...
"I have found a hard working counterpart; we have found a way to solve problems together. The biggest challenge is finding the parts for repairing vehicles,” said Albanian Army 1st Lt. Mirel Ziu. He has served as a logistics officer for six years and is the current maintenance platoon mentor for Striking Eagles-3...
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
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Stop NATO website and articles:
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============
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
June 20, 2013
Albania-US Team mentors Afghan Army
Story by Albanian Army Lt. Zamir Sadikaj, NTM-A Public Affairs
"If they fail, it's because of us!”
Such is the unofficial slogan of the Albanian-U.S. Military Advisor Team "Striking Eagles-3,” which currently provides mentorship and advice to an Afghan combat support battalion at Camp Blackhorse in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The team mentors and advises the Afghan 4th Battalion 2nd Brigade 111th Division in the planning and execution of a detailed yearly training and exercise plan, while also training battalion staff and companies in how to conduct operational-
"We are following Afghan doctrine and respecting their military tradition, while sharing the best of our experiences,” said the Striking Eagles-3 commander, Albanian Army Col. Isuf Hamati...
The team is training and tracking the execution of a wide variety of special courses and concepts like troop leading procedures, map reading, vehicle maintenance, computer operations, tactical communication, lifesaving skills and effective and safe weapons use.
...
"I have found a hard working counterpart; we have found a way to solve problems together. The biggest challenge is finding the parts for repairing vehicles,” said Albanian Army 1st Lt. Mirel Ziu. He has served as a logistics officer for six years and is the current maintenance platoon mentor for Striking Eagles-3...
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
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============
Thu Jun 20, 2013 11:25 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.aco.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
June 20, 2013
STRIKFORNATO Participates in U.S. Naval Exercise
Oeiras, Portugal: STRIKFORNATO will participate in the U.S. Fleet Synthetic Training-Joint 2013/2 (FST-J 13-2) Exercise as the Combined Force Maritime Component Headquarters on board USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) later this month.
FST-J 13-2 is a key event in STRIKFORNATO’s training programme this year, sharpening its skills to plan and execute the command and control of multiple carrier strike groups in the delivery of joint effects into multiple domains – including land, maritime, air, cyberspace, and space – from the sea. In order to maximize the training benefit, STRIKFORNATO will deploy from Lisbon onto the USS Mount Whitney, STRIKFORNATO’s designated command and control platform. The move will exercise the headquarters in maintaining the skills required for a quick, seamless transition to a deployed Headquarters afloat.
FST-J 13-2 is a certification exercise for the HARRY S TRUMAN Carrier Strike Group aimed at determining their ability to integrate into joint operations. "By participating into this U.S. Navy exercise, STRIKFORNATO will refresh its ability to integrate US maritime forces into Alliance operations, the key role of STRIKFORNATO,” said Rear Admiral Lowe, STRIKFORNATO’s Deputy Commander.
STRIKFORNATO is NATO’s immediate response, deployable Maritime Battle-staff and the Alliance’s primary link for integrating US Maritime Forces into NATO operations. Managed by a Memorandum of Understanding comprising 11 Nations, STRIKFORNATO is a rapidly deployable, Maritime Headquarters that provides scalable command and control across the full spectrum of Alliance fundamental security tasks. ============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
June 20, 2013
STRIKFORNATO Participates in U.S. Naval Exercise
Oeiras, Portugal: STRIKFORNATO will participate in the U.S. Fleet Synthetic Training-Joint 2013/2 (FST-J 13-2) Exercise as the Combined Force Maritime Component Headquarters on board USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) later this month.
FST-J 13-2 is a key event in STRIKFORNATO’s training programme this year, sharpening its skills to plan and execute the command and control of multiple carrier strike groups in the delivery of joint effects into multiple domains – including land, maritime, air, cyberspace, and space – from the sea. In order to maximize the training benefit, STRIKFORNATO will deploy from Lisbon onto the USS Mount Whitney, STRIKFORNATO’s designated command and control platform. The move will exercise the headquarters in maintaining the skills required for a quick, seamless transition to a deployed Headquarters afloat.
FST-J 13-2 is a certification exercise for the HARRY S TRUMAN Carrier Strike Group aimed at determining their ability to integrate into joint operations. "By participating into this U.S. Navy exercise, STRIKFORNATO will refresh its ability to integrate US maritime forces into Alliance operations, the key role of STRIKFORNATO,” said Rear Admiral Lowe, STRIKFORNATO’s Deputy Commander.
STRIKFORNATO is NATO’s immediate response, deployable Maritime Battle-staff and the Alliance’s primary link for integrating US Maritime Forces into NATO operations. Managed by a Memorandum of Understanding comprising 11 Nations, STRIKFORNATO is a rapidly deployable, Maritime Headquarters that provides scalable command and control across the full spectrum of Alliance fundamental security tasks. ============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Thu Jun 20, 2013 1:31 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://rickrozoff.
NATO Communications and Information
June 20, 2013
NATO contracts major missile defence upgrade
On 20 June, the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency signed with ThalesRaytheonSyste
By bringing new capabilities to NATO’s Air Command and Control System (ACCS), the upgrade will strengthen and expand NATO’s existing theatre missile defence command and control system, which allows the Alliance to link national sensors and interceptors to defend against short and medium range ballistic missile threats. The upgrade also improves the capacity of NATO’s Air Command in Ramstein to plan and execute a missile defence battle.
“The execution of this contract will be a major technical milestone forward for NATO’s theatre missile defence,” said Patrick Auroy, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment, “This contract links two of NATO’s largest common funded investments – air and missile defence – paving the way for an integrated approach. What is important now is its timely execution.”
NCI Agency General Manager Koen Gijsbers and ThalesRaytheonSyste
The contract is NATO’s largest common-funded security investment in 2013.
Increased capacity
The contract, called ACCS Theatre Missile Defence 1, will bring new capabilities to NATO’s Air Command and Control System for receiving and processing ballistic missile tracks, including integration of additional radar and satellite feeds, major enhancement to data communication capacity and improved correlation features.
The upgrade is expected to be completed by 2015.
The NCI Agency is responsible for executing and managing NATO’s priority technology projects, including cyber, air and missile defence.
============
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http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
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NATO Communications and Information
June 20, 2013
NATO contracts major missile defence upgrade
On 20 June, the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency signed with ThalesRaytheonSyste
By bringing new capabilities to NATO’s Air Command and Control System (ACCS), the upgrade will strengthen and expand NATO’s existing theatre missile defence command and control system, which allows the Alliance to link national sensors and interceptors to defend against short and medium range ballistic missile threats. The upgrade also improves the capacity of NATO’s Air Command in Ramstein to plan and execute a missile defence battle.
“The execution of this contract will be a major technical milestone forward for NATO’s theatre missile defence,” said Patrick Auroy, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment, “This contract links two of NATO’s largest common funded investments – air and missile defence – paving the way for an integrated approach. What is important now is its timely execution.”
NCI Agency General Manager Koen Gijsbers and ThalesRaytheonSyste
The contract is NATO’s largest common-funded security investment in 2013.
Increased capacity
The contract, called ACCS Theatre Missile Defence 1, will bring new capabilities to NATO’s Air Command and Control System for receiving and processing ballistic missile tracks, including integration of additional radar and satellite feeds, major enhancement to data communication capacity and improved correlation features.
The upgrade is expected to be completed by 2015.
The NCI Agency is responsible for executing and managing NATO’s priority technology projects, including cyber, air and missile defence.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:31 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://english.
Voice of Russia
June 21, 2013
Will Syrian “rebels” swear they’re not going to eat someone’s organs? - Rozoff
Recorded on June 10, 2013
Audio at URL above
The US and its NATO allies are backing what can only be described as murderous cannibalistic savages in Syria but according to Voice of Russia regular contributor Rick Rozoff: “Apparently, nobody is too gruesome, too ghoulish, too fiendish for the US and its NATO allies not to portray them as freedom fighters, fund them, arm them, train them and bomb the country they're attacking on their behalf.”
Hello, this is John Robles. I'm speaking with Rick Rozoff, the owner of the Stop NATO website and international mailing list.
Robles: Advance planning for after these invasions and stuff: they don't do that anymore, do they? They just go in, take out the leader and who cares what happens afterwards, right?
Rozoff: Yes, you know, after me the deluge (Après moi, le déluge) or after me the catastrophe, and that’s in fact, that’s a good description of it John. That’s what the Balkans look like, that’s what Iraq looks like, Afghanistan and now Libya, and should the West have its way that’s what Syria would look like in short order; you’d have gangs like Al Nusra and others running rampant, running riot, throughout the country and throwing it into complete chaos and pandemonium.
Robles: I'm glad you mentioned Syria. Before we began recording, you mentioned something about President Vladimir Putin and something he said, which I think reflects really well on the situation that the West is promoting in Syria.
Rozoff: Yes, I didn’t get to read the entirety of it but on Interfax today Russian President Vladimir Putin, in discussing the upcoming Geneva meeting on Syria, the one negotiated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and American Secretary of State John Kerry, made the comment, I don’t know off the cuff or quite directly perhaps, that he hopes that the Western-backed opposition forces don't include in their numbers any cannibals.
And that was clearly an allusion to a videotape that has been making the rounds for the last month or so, where a commander of a so-called rebel outfit in Syria (I assume it was a corpse at the time they got started on it) carved up the body of a Syrian soldier, identified it and condemned the victim as having been a member of another branch of Islam, Alawite, and apparently thought he was eating the heart, I mean he needs some remedial anatomy lessons, but the people who watched the video (I’ve seen it and it it is enough to sicken one) but people watching suggest he actually cut out part of a lung and ate it, red and steaming.
Robles: Oh my God!!
Rozoff: And from what I’ve read subsequent to that, somebody interviewed this very same person about it and he defended that action and suggested in so many words that the Alawite religious minority in Syria as a whole could face such a fate.
Robles: And these are...? I just want to underline this. These are the same “opposition freedom fighters” quote unquote, that the US wants to arm to the teeth and deliver weapons to?
Rozoff: That’s it, exactly. When the US Senator John McCain, self-appointed ambassador of war around the world...
Robles: Didn't McCain say that they'll make sure the weapons are only going to the hands of those...what word did he use? The...?
Rozoff: Moderates or responsible forces?
What do they do? Take the Scouts Pledge? I mean, they put their hand in the air and swear that they are not fanatics and they are not going to ingest and eat somebody’s internal organs? How does he know who's going to receive the weapons.
I think they obviously know who's going to receive the weapons. But again, if the lessons of Libya or Kosovo or Afghanistan tell us anything, it is that the US not only cannot and will not prevent weapons going into the hands of the most extreme and brutal elements, it will exactly select those elements for the lion’s share of the weapons, as it did with the likes of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and others in Afghanistan in 1980s, as it did with Hashim Thaçi and Ramush Haradinaj and creatures like that in Kosovo in the late 1990s and since.
So, this is not to be taken seriously. But the fact is, yes, these are exactly the elements that would likely be the beneficiary of US and European arms, with the European Union also dropping the ban on weapons for opposition forces within Syria, a move that has been condemned rightly by Russia amongst other nations.
In the “proud” tradition of the Afghan Mujahidin supported by the US in the 80s that skinned Soviet conscripts alive and threw acid in the face of female teachers while being funded to the tune of billions by the US government.
Or the organ-harvesting and sex-slaving and drug-smuggling Kosovo Liberation Army in the Balkans.
And now we are seeing something quite similar in Syria.
Apparently, nobody is too gruesome, too ghoulish, too fiendish for the US and its NATO allies not to portray them as freedom fighters, fund them, arm them, train them and bomb the country they're attacking on their behalf.
Robles: My goodness!
John Kerry, he's made some pretty reasonable sounding statements regarding Syria. He also made some pretty harsh statements to Israel which I found refreshing, I might say.
Rozoff: Yes, he could hardly not appear to be comparatively better coming on the heels of Hillary Clinton. You know, the devil incarnate, if he were to succeed Clinton, would probably have the world’s sympathy for a short period of time only because of how horrendous his predecessor would have been.
And we have to keep in mind this is Hilary Clinton who roundly condemned Russia and China, saying not long ago – a year ago – that Russia and China would have to "pay a price", that’s a quote from her, vis-a-vis Syria.
Who condemned the Russian federal elections in December of 2011 as "being neither free, nor fair”. This is somebody who was on a rampage almost every week ordering some head of state to step down, from Ivory Coast to Yemen, from Libya to Syria, so that any modicum of moderation or civility, as Kerry, I agree with you, is exhibiting currently, appears all that is much better and contrast to what came before him.
I'm a little bit upset about the statement, however, that the US has now entered late and perhaps so belatedly as to be ineffectual in the process of reaching a political decision in Syria, because that certainly leaves open the prospect that as no diplomatic solution of the crisis inside the country is possible, the US may reserve a military option and intervene in some other manner. But I think you're absolutely correct that those comments were at least an indirect jibe at his predecessor Hillary Clinton, who instead of demanding a regime change and taking the most hostile and uncompromising and recalcitrant position on the issue, had she even gone through the motions of suggesting genuine diplomatic measures, including at the UN...
Robles: Oh no, she constantly went on and on about the “forceful removal”…. And that's all she wanted to talk about.
Rozoff: That's true. And even if that was the US objective, and clearly it was and remains so, there are certain diplomatic protocols one can abide by in civilized nations, where you don't make it so overtly obvious and you don’t insult other people in the way that she did Russia and China.
I mean truthfully in my life, I’m 60 years of age, and I can remember Secretaries of State going back to the Kennedy administration and perhaps the Eisenhower one, and I can’t remember anyone making statements quite as insulting and uncompromising, and just gratuitously hostile, as Clinton, the one I just cited about “Russia and China would have to pay a price.”
Robles: Oh yes! Well, that was one of the more I think moderate ones coming from her.
Rozoff: Yes, this is the same person who, you know, the day after she had gone to Tripoli to order the hit on Muammar Gaddafi, who was in hiding and the following day was killed in a very brutal and appalling manner, and she was shown the picture of his battered and mutilated corpse, and her first comment was: “Wow!” You know, as though you are talking about some 11-year-old girl seeing a new dance step or something. And shortly thereafter she was shown something else on a cell phone and her exact comment was: “We came, we saw, he's dead”.
Robles: This was the one she did I think with Barbara Walters, where she was giggling and seemed to be beside herself with joy, right?
Rozoff: That’s it. You know, some pretty adolescent girl on her first date or something, but you are talking about the gruesome murder of a head of state and a man who was almost 70 years of age. This is the sort of person we are talking about.
We also have to recall that Kerry was the Democratic Party nominee for the Presidency in 2004. He lost. And Clinton, I think it’s no secret, is the front runner for the democratic nomination three years from now for the presidency. And there may be a certain amount of professional rivalry or resentment on the behalf of Kerry towards Clinton.
He certainly cannot appreciate coming into the State Department and inheriting a good deal of what Ms. Clinton I’m sure has left him. Not that the world, unfortunately, really holds Foggy Bottom to account the way it ought to and Hillary Clinton still has celebrity status around the world for reasons that really defy my imagination.
But, yes, I agree that Kerry's statement seemed to be in some manner an admission that the US diplomacy had been dismally unsuccessful on the question of Syria and that perhaps it's too late to really do much diplomatically. But I don't think it's the best statement to say ahead of the Geneva meeting that was agreed upon by him and by the Russian foreign minister. I think holding out some optimism might not be a bad idea.
Robles: Coming into this Geneva conference, the Foreign Minister of France made statements that he had “no doubt” that chemical weapons” were used” in Syria.
Gennady Gatilov, he's the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, said he doubted the likelihood that there were chemical weapons used in Syria, so far these have been mostly media reports. He's also shed doubts on reports that chemical weapons were intercepted in Turkey that were supposed to have gone to the Syrian opposition.
What do you make of all this chemical weapons talk right before the summit? Mr. Gatilov said all that stuff should be put on a back burner and we should concentrate on convening this summit.
Rozoff: It may be an effort of sabotage the meeting, in fact. And we have to recall two things: President Barack Obama several months ago talked about the use of chemical weapons by the government forces. He said nothing about the opposition ones.
In Syria, his expression, "a red line" that would have been crossed by the government in Damascus with the unavoidable conclusion, that weapons of mass destruction or chemical weapons argument, exactly, is an integral part, and really the major justification of the US attack on and the invasion of Iraq ten years ago.
And we are not talking about people who are terribly imaginative or innovative, they are going to use the same casus belli, the same excuse they used last time for a war, if they can do it.
And the accusation of the sarin gas or some other chemical weapon is being used by Syrian government forces would provide as close an approximation to the excuse of a rationale used to the attack on Iraq ten years ago as any I can think of.
And then, moreover, as it’s already been identified, as you’ve mentioned, by the Secretary of State and by the President of the United States as being the so-called red line that cannot be crossed, a line on the sand, which would then I suppose permit the United States to circumvent traditional alleys or avenues of resolution like the United Nations and perhaps just plunge in militarily claiming, it was such an emergency situation they had no choice but to act unilaterally. So, it is fraught with dangers certainly.
You were listening to an interview in progress with Rick Rozoff, the owner of the Stop NATO website and international mailing list.
Visit our website in the near future for the continuation of this interview with Rick Rozoff.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Voice of Russia
June 21, 2013
Will Syrian “rebels” swear they’re not going to eat someone’s organs? - Rozoff
Recorded on June 10, 2013
Audio at URL above
The US and its NATO allies are backing what can only be described as murderous cannibalistic savages in Syria but according to Voice of Russia regular contributor Rick Rozoff: “Apparently, nobody is too gruesome, too ghoulish, too fiendish for the US and its NATO allies not to portray them as freedom fighters, fund them, arm them, train them and bomb the country they're attacking on their behalf.”
Hello, this is John Robles. I'm speaking with Rick Rozoff, the owner of the Stop NATO website and international mailing list.
Robles: Advance planning for after these invasions and stuff: they don't do that anymore, do they? They just go in, take out the leader and who cares what happens afterwards, right?
Rozoff: Yes, you know, after me the deluge (Après moi, le déluge) or after me the catastrophe, and that’s in fact, that’s a good description of it John. That’s what the Balkans look like, that’s what Iraq looks like, Afghanistan and now Libya, and should the West have its way that’s what Syria would look like in short order; you’d have gangs like Al Nusra and others running rampant, running riot, throughout the country and throwing it into complete chaos and pandemonium.
Robles: I'm glad you mentioned Syria. Before we began recording, you mentioned something about President Vladimir Putin and something he said, which I think reflects really well on the situation that the West is promoting in Syria.
Rozoff: Yes, I didn’t get to read the entirety of it but on Interfax today Russian President Vladimir Putin, in discussing the upcoming Geneva meeting on Syria, the one negotiated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and American Secretary of State John Kerry, made the comment, I don’t know off the cuff or quite directly perhaps, that he hopes that the Western-backed opposition forces don't include in their numbers any cannibals.
And that was clearly an allusion to a videotape that has been making the rounds for the last month or so, where a commander of a so-called rebel outfit in Syria (I assume it was a corpse at the time they got started on it) carved up the body of a Syrian soldier, identified it and condemned the victim as having been a member of another branch of Islam, Alawite, and apparently thought he was eating the heart, I mean he needs some remedial anatomy lessons, but the people who watched the video (I’ve seen it and it it is enough to sicken one) but people watching suggest he actually cut out part of a lung and ate it, red and steaming.
Robles: Oh my God!!
Rozoff: And from what I’ve read subsequent to that, somebody interviewed this very same person about it and he defended that action and suggested in so many words that the Alawite religious minority in Syria as a whole could face such a fate.
Robles: And these are...? I just want to underline this. These are the same “opposition freedom fighters” quote unquote, that the US wants to arm to the teeth and deliver weapons to?
Rozoff: That’s it, exactly. When the US Senator John McCain, self-appointed ambassador of war around the world...
Robles: Didn't McCain say that they'll make sure the weapons are only going to the hands of those...what word did he use? The...?
Rozoff: Moderates or responsible forces?
What do they do? Take the Scouts Pledge? I mean, they put their hand in the air and swear that they are not fanatics and they are not going to ingest and eat somebody’s internal organs? How does he know who's going to receive the weapons.
I think they obviously know who's going to receive the weapons. But again, if the lessons of Libya or Kosovo or Afghanistan tell us anything, it is that the US not only cannot and will not prevent weapons going into the hands of the most extreme and brutal elements, it will exactly select those elements for the lion’s share of the weapons, as it did with the likes of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and others in Afghanistan in 1980s, as it did with Hashim Thaçi and Ramush Haradinaj and creatures like that in Kosovo in the late 1990s and since.
So, this is not to be taken seriously. But the fact is, yes, these are exactly the elements that would likely be the beneficiary of US and European arms, with the European Union also dropping the ban on weapons for opposition forces within Syria, a move that has been condemned rightly by Russia amongst other nations.
In the “proud” tradition of the Afghan Mujahidin supported by the US in the 80s that skinned Soviet conscripts alive and threw acid in the face of female teachers while being funded to the tune of billions by the US government.
Or the organ-harvesting and sex-slaving and drug-smuggling Kosovo Liberation Army in the Balkans.
And now we are seeing something quite similar in Syria.
Apparently, nobody is too gruesome, too ghoulish, too fiendish for the US and its NATO allies not to portray them as freedom fighters, fund them, arm them, train them and bomb the country they're attacking on their behalf.
Robles: My goodness!
John Kerry, he's made some pretty reasonable sounding statements regarding Syria. He also made some pretty harsh statements to Israel which I found refreshing, I might say.
Rozoff: Yes, he could hardly not appear to be comparatively better coming on the heels of Hillary Clinton. You know, the devil incarnate, if he were to succeed Clinton, would probably have the world’s sympathy for a short period of time only because of how horrendous his predecessor would have been.
And we have to keep in mind this is Hilary Clinton who roundly condemned Russia and China, saying not long ago – a year ago – that Russia and China would have to "pay a price", that’s a quote from her, vis-a-vis Syria.
Who condemned the Russian federal elections in December of 2011 as "being neither free, nor fair”. This is somebody who was on a rampage almost every week ordering some head of state to step down, from Ivory Coast to Yemen, from Libya to Syria, so that any modicum of moderation or civility, as Kerry, I agree with you, is exhibiting currently, appears all that is much better and contrast to what came before him.
I'm a little bit upset about the statement, however, that the US has now entered late and perhaps so belatedly as to be ineffectual in the process of reaching a political decision in Syria, because that certainly leaves open the prospect that as no diplomatic solution of the crisis inside the country is possible, the US may reserve a military option and intervene in some other manner. But I think you're absolutely correct that those comments were at least an indirect jibe at his predecessor Hillary Clinton, who instead of demanding a regime change and taking the most hostile and uncompromising and recalcitrant position on the issue, had she even gone through the motions of suggesting genuine diplomatic measures, including at the UN...
Robles: Oh no, she constantly went on and on about the “forceful removal”…. And that's all she wanted to talk about.
Rozoff: That's true. And even if that was the US objective, and clearly it was and remains so, there are certain diplomatic protocols one can abide by in civilized nations, where you don't make it so overtly obvious and you don’t insult other people in the way that she did Russia and China.
I mean truthfully in my life, I’m 60 years of age, and I can remember Secretaries of State going back to the Kennedy administration and perhaps the Eisenhower one, and I can’t remember anyone making statements quite as insulting and uncompromising, and just gratuitously hostile, as Clinton, the one I just cited about “Russia and China would have to pay a price.”
Robles: Oh yes! Well, that was one of the more I think moderate ones coming from her.
Rozoff: Yes, this is the same person who, you know, the day after she had gone to Tripoli to order the hit on Muammar Gaddafi, who was in hiding and the following day was killed in a very brutal and appalling manner, and she was shown the picture of his battered and mutilated corpse, and her first comment was: “Wow!” You know, as though you are talking about some 11-year-old girl seeing a new dance step or something. And shortly thereafter she was shown something else on a cell phone and her exact comment was: “We came, we saw, he's dead”.
Robles: This was the one she did I think with Barbara Walters, where she was giggling and seemed to be beside herself with joy, right?
Rozoff: That’s it. You know, some pretty adolescent girl on her first date or something, but you are talking about the gruesome murder of a head of state and a man who was almost 70 years of age. This is the sort of person we are talking about.
We also have to recall that Kerry was the Democratic Party nominee for the Presidency in 2004. He lost. And Clinton, I think it’s no secret, is the front runner for the democratic nomination three years from now for the presidency. And there may be a certain amount of professional rivalry or resentment on the behalf of Kerry towards Clinton.
He certainly cannot appreciate coming into the State Department and inheriting a good deal of what Ms. Clinton I’m sure has left him. Not that the world, unfortunately, really holds Foggy Bottom to account the way it ought to and Hillary Clinton still has celebrity status around the world for reasons that really defy my imagination.
But, yes, I agree that Kerry's statement seemed to be in some manner an admission that the US diplomacy had been dismally unsuccessful on the question of Syria and that perhaps it's too late to really do much diplomatically. But I don't think it's the best statement to say ahead of the Geneva meeting that was agreed upon by him and by the Russian foreign minister. I think holding out some optimism might not be a bad idea.
Robles: Coming into this Geneva conference, the Foreign Minister of France made statements that he had “no doubt” that chemical weapons” were used” in Syria.
Gennady Gatilov, he's the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, said he doubted the likelihood that there were chemical weapons used in Syria, so far these have been mostly media reports. He's also shed doubts on reports that chemical weapons were intercepted in Turkey that were supposed to have gone to the Syrian opposition.
What do you make of all this chemical weapons talk right before the summit? Mr. Gatilov said all that stuff should be put on a back burner and we should concentrate on convening this summit.
Rozoff: It may be an effort of sabotage the meeting, in fact. And we have to recall two things: President Barack Obama several months ago talked about the use of chemical weapons by the government forces. He said nothing about the opposition ones.
In Syria, his expression, "a red line" that would have been crossed by the government in Damascus with the unavoidable conclusion, that weapons of mass destruction or chemical weapons argument, exactly, is an integral part, and really the major justification of the US attack on and the invasion of Iraq ten years ago.
And we are not talking about people who are terribly imaginative or innovative, they are going to use the same casus belli, the same excuse they used last time for a war, if they can do it.
And the accusation of the sarin gas or some other chemical weapon is being used by Syrian government forces would provide as close an approximation to the excuse of a rationale used to the attack on Iraq ten years ago as any I can think of.
And then, moreover, as it’s already been identified, as you’ve mentioned, by the Secretary of State and by the President of the United States as being the so-called red line that cannot be crossed, a line on the sand, which would then I suppose permit the United States to circumvent traditional alleys or avenues of resolution like the United Nations and perhaps just plunge in militarily claiming, it was such an emergency situation they had no choice but to act unilaterally. So, it is fraught with dangers certainly.
You were listening to an interview in progress with Rick Rozoff, the owner of the Stop NATO website and international mailing list.
Visit our website in the near future for the continuation of this interview with Rick Rozoff.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:31 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.al.
Al.com
June 20, 2013
MEADS demonstrates ability to successfully network with NATO systems
By Leada Gore
The Medium Extended Air Defense Systems, or MEADS, successfully demonstrated the ability to network with NATO systems during Joint Project Optic Windmill exercises held in May and June.
MEADS tactical battle command, control, communications, computers and intelligence software connected to a NATO test site in the Netherlands using a transportable air defense test bed at the German Air Force Air Defense Center at Fort Bliss, Texas.
MEADS demonstrated its ability to receive and process Link 16 messages, as well as other elements of threat engagements and target intercept.
"The MEADS battle management software combined with its netted-distributed architecture and plug-and-fight network are extraordinary advancements over the stovepipe systems in use today. In addition to implementing 360-degree coverage to protect our citizens, forces and assets, MEADS provides an integrated air picture taking advantage of organic and external sensor data," MEADS International Executive Vice President Volker Weidemann said.
During a November 2012 test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., MEADS demonstrated its 360-degree..
MEADS International, a multinational joint venture headquartered in Orlando, Fla., is the prime contractor for the MEADS system. Major subcontractors and joint venture partners are MBDA in Italy and Germany, and Lockheed Martin in the United States. The MEADS program management agency NAMEADSMA is located in Huntsville.
Al.com
June 20, 2013
MEADS demonstrates ability to successfully network with NATO systems
By Leada Gore
The Medium Extended Air Defense Systems, or MEADS, successfully demonstrated the ability to network with NATO systems during Joint Project Optic Windmill exercises held in May and June.
MEADS tactical battle command, control, communications, computers and intelligence software connected to a NATO test site in the Netherlands using a transportable air defense test bed at the German Air Force Air Defense Center at Fort Bliss, Texas.
MEADS demonstrated its ability to receive and process Link 16 messages, as well as other elements of threat engagements and target intercept.
"The MEADS battle management software combined with its netted-distributed architecture and plug-and-fight network are extraordinary advancements over the stovepipe systems in use today. In addition to implementing 360-degree coverage to protect our citizens, forces and assets, MEADS provides an integrated air picture taking advantage of organic and external sensor data," MEADS International Executive Vice President Volker Weidemann said.
During a November 2012 test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., MEADS demonstrated its 360-degree..
MEADS International, a multinational joint venture headquartered in Orlando, Fla., is the prime contractor for the MEADS system. Major subcontractors and joint venture partners are MBDA in Italy and Germany, and Lockheed Martin in the United States. The MEADS program management agency NAMEADSMA is located in Huntsville.
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Article 18
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| Share this action alert on your Facebook page or your Twitter account! Justice for Honduras - End U.S. Military Aid and Training SOA graduate involved in criminalization of Indigenous leader Berta Caceres On Friday, May 24, Berta Caceres, the General Coordinator of the Indigenous Lenca organization COPINH,  and Tomas Gomez of COPINH’s community radio station, were traveling on rural dirt roads to reach the Indigenous Lenca community of Rio Blanco when they were stopped by 15-20 soldiers. The whole area had been militarized just two weeks before in response to the area-wide mobilization against a hydroelectric dam being illegally built in the Indigenous Lenca community of Rio Blanco. The First Battalion of Engineers, commanded by an SOA graduate, occupied the area to protect the interests of the company and enable dam construction to continue in direct violation of ILO Convention 169 and the will of the communities in the area.Despite the military’s presence, evictions, sabotage to COPINH’s vehicle, death threats against community leaders, and intimidation, the resistance to the dam continued to grow as the Rio Blanco community neared 2 months of blocking the dam entrance. When Berta and Tomas drove the winding dirt roads to Rio Blanco on May 24, as they had many times before in COPINH’s now well-recognized vehicle, the military was waiting for them. They were on an isolated dirt road, where anything that occurred would be the word of at least 15 soldiers against that of Berta and Tomas. The COPINH leaders were ordered to stop and get out of the car. The soldiers proceeded to search their vehicle in detail, even poking their fingers in the engine, and found nothing. However, that did not matter in their pre-planned operation to criminalize Berta and weaken the struggle against the Agua Zarca dam: they simply claimed to have found a gun and then called the police, who took Berta and Tomas to jail. Berta was arrested and kept in jail overnight, finally being conditionally released after dozens of international phone calls inquiring for her safety. But first, she was charged with “illegally carrying weapons,” a charge that can result in time in prison. Subsequently, she was also charged with attempting against the internal security of the state of Honduras. Two-time SOA graduate Col. Milton Amaya, the Commander of the First Battalion of Engineers, made accusations about Berta Caceres to the press, resulting in several news articles that claim the well-known social movement leader was illegally armed. This is part of a broader strategy by the military and Honduran oligarchy to criminalize and defame social movements by painting them as armed or operating outside the law. Click here to continue reading. November 22-24, 2013 at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia Mobilize your community for the November Vigil Year after year, Honduras continues sending more and more soldiers to be trained at the School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC) in Fort Benning, Georgia.  As the ongoing repression by Honduran military forces against the Honduran people show, it is more important than ever to close the SOA/ WHINSEC and demand a change in US foreign policy.Click here for more information about the organizing for the November Vigil at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia!Stay tuned for an email about local organizing to close the SOA and to resist U.S. militarization, that you can carry out in your community! |
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Brazilian oligarchies are in breakdown since the economic crisis and they are blaming government for that. Brazilian corrupted State/government reacts with its usual demagogy. No demonstration has ever solved any problem. No repression too.
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Riots in Brazil Continue - 300,000 Protesters Clash with Police in Rio
CONTRIBUTOR: Hispanically Speaking News. A small group of protesters confronted police during a huge demonstration that brought 300,000 people into the streets in central Rio de Janeiro to demand better public services in Brazil. Police used tear gas to disperse a small group of masked men who were allegedly trying to break into the...
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Chinese Banks Go Bust As Bubble Bursts (video)
CONTRIBUTOR: Live Free or Die. This breaking Friday morning story comes to us from Zero Hedge and Pivotfarm who warns us that China's bubble has popped and it's quickly approaching 'dive and take cover' time for the rest of the world. Could 'falsification' of economic data by the Chinese government have something to do with.................................
Everything Is Being Sold - Market Crash Warning
CURATOR: John Rolls. Chris Martenson * Peak Prosperity Global financial markets are now in a very perilous state, and there is a much higher than normal chance of a crash. Bernanke's recent statement revealed just how large a role speculation had played in the prices of nearly everything, and now there is.................................
Team Arpaio: We Have Two 1961 Hawaii Birth Certificates That List Negro Not African
CONTRIBUTOR: BirtherReport.com. Team Arpaio: We Have Two 1961 Hawaii Birth Certificates That List Negro Not African AUDIO ONE: ( Audio via BTR - mp3 ) AUDIO TWO: ( Audio via BTR - mp3 ) PODCAST: - Where's Obama's Birth Certificate - WATCH: Raw Video Archive: Sheriff Arpaio Obama ID Fraud Presentation Live.................................
Bombshell! Now We Know Why No One Will touch birth certificate issue?
CONTRIBUTOR: PPSIMMONS. FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds and Tice agreed that such wide-ranging surveillance of officials could provide the intelligence agencies with unthinkable power to blackmail their opponents. BUSH-Era NSA Whistleblower Makes Most Explosive Allegations Yet About Extent of Gov't Surveillance — and You Won't Believe Who He Says They Spied On.................................
From Karen Silkwood to Michael Hastings, something is wrong
CONTRIBUTOR: Northeast Intelligence Network. By Douglas J. Hagmann 21 June 2013: Just a few short years ago, I would have likely considered the death of Rolling Stone Reporter Michael Hastings an “open and shut” tragedy after a cursory review of the open source evidence associated with this event. Based on a number of things...
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'Allah-u-Akbar!': State Department unclassifies photos from Benghazi
CONTRIBUTOR: PPSIMMONS. Read more:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/..............................
DHS Insider Warns: “It’s Already Begun. You’re Seeing It Now.”
CONTRIBUTOR: Mac. (SHTF Plan Editor’s Note – Full Report Below) In December of 2012 we published a report from the Northeast Intelligence Network detailing a possible set of scenarios and timelines. In the report, Doug Hagmann interviewed an anonymous DHS Insider with information that was mind blowing. The Insider claimed that in...
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Civil Defense Radiation Meters- Things You NEED To Know
CONTRIBUTOR: Tin Hat Ranch. You have probably seen them on various surplus sites, ebay, or you may even own one. Those big yellow boxes with an analog gauge on the front. The image has become ubiquitous with a nuclear disaster. These meters are still used by various government agencies to this day in some.................................
NSA Whistleblower: NSA Spying On – and Blackmailing – Top Government Officials and Military Officers
CONTRIBUTOR: Washington's Blog. Whistleblower Says Spy Agency Targeting Top American Leaders NSA whistleblower Russel Tice told Peter B. Collins on Boiling Frog Post News (the website of high-level FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds): Tice: Okay. They went after–and I know this because I had my hands literally on the paperwork for these sort of...
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Doomsday Weapons To Syria: Putin (video)
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Article 16
 | Pure Spam: What Are Google Penalties & What to Do to Recover June 21, 2013 - Manual spam penalties of any type are difficult to recover from – especially if they are severe. These suggestions will give you places you can start to look, and things to do, to help lift 10 possible manual actions applied by Google. Kristine Schachinger | Print version |
 | AdWords Flexible Bid Strategies: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back June 21, 2013 - The idea of flexible bid strategies is interesting on paper and has potentially useful implications in the long term. For now it is simply a perplexing addition in the midst of Google AdWords' massive upheaval with enhanced campaigns. John Lee | Print version |
 | Bringing Together Paid, Owned, and Earned Media June 21, 2013 - Without clear strategies internally, it's really hard for any brand to know what's actually working across all areas of paid, earned, and owned media. Here's how to intertwine paid, owned and earned media to create an integrated marketing approach. Amman Badlani | Print version |
 | Bing Boards: New Search Experiment Highlights 'Inspiring Content' June 21, 2013 - With Bing Boards, which resembles a sort of inline image slide show, Bing is experimenting with putting Pinterest-like boutique content front-and-center in search results, or at least complementing them from a sidebar next to search results. Thom Craver | Print version |
 | Twitter Buys Spindle, Targeting Local Businesses June 21, 2013 - Twitter has bought local discovery app Spindle. Spindle, available on iOS in the U.S., describes itself as a "news feed for your neighborhood", collating Twitter and Facebook posts from local businesses into a stream of local events and offers. Michael Passingham | Print version |
 | Facebook Reveals a New Way to Share 15 Second Videos on Instagram June 20, 2013 - Today, Facebook and Instagram announced video on Instagram for iPhone and Android. Now, users can record and share 15 seconds of mobile video with basic editing features, including 13 new visual filters exclusively to video. Jessica Lee | Print version |
 | New in AdWords: Add Descriptions to Sitelinks June 20, 2013 - Google now lets advertisers specify, or nominate, the specific text they would like to appear for their sitelink descriptions. This allows advertisers to be specific about what text they would like to appear on their enhanced advertisements. Jennifer Slegg | Print version |
 | Google: Improve Your Site's Rank by Building High-Quality Sites, Not Links June 20, 2013 - Google has updated their rankings help article to state that you can improve your rankings by "creating high-quality sites." Google previously said the key to higher rankings was "increasing the number of high-quality sites" linking to your site. Jennifer Slegg | Print version |
 | Blekko Brings Izik Search to iPhone, Android With New 'What's Nearby' Feature June 20, 2013 - Blekko released the Izik search app for tablets earlier this year and now follows up with the smartphone version that aims to give important information to mobile users in the results "without clicking through multiple tiny blue links." Jessica Lee | Print version |
![No. 1 Position in Google Gets 33% of Search Traffic [Study]](http://cms.searchenginewatch.com/IMG/542/261542/percentage-of-traffic-by-google-results-position-chitika-320x198.png) | No. 1 Position in Google Gets 33% of Search Traffic [Study] June 20, 2013 - New data from online ad network Chitika looks at organic search rankings relative to traffic, and shows the importance of being on top in order to get the most clicks. This is the latest study to demonstrate the huge power of Page 1, Position 1. Jessica Lee | Print version |
 | Seize The Data: 5 Ways To Leverage Big Data for Social Media & Search June 20, 2013 - Brands must proactively participate in the creation of, and interaction with, data (social, video, photos, etc.). Those who fail to use data to connect with target audiences face an uphill battle. Here's how you can leverage data sources today. Rebecca Murtagh | Print version |
 | SEO Game Change: Are You Setting the Right Expectations? June 20, 2013 - In SEO, like sports, there will be wins and losses, stagnation and growth. If you've had success with bad SEO practices, then you've been playing on borrowed time. Now you need the right expectations about how you look at what constitutes a win. Jennifer Van Iderstyne | Print version |
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Article 15
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Summary of DEBKA Exclusives, June 21, 2013 | |
 June 13, 2013 Briefs:No US intervention against Assad’s decisive Aleppo operationDEBKAfile Special Report  13 June. The eagerly-awaited White House statement on President Barack Obama’s decision to extend military support to the Syrian rebels was seen by DEBKAfile as his final rejection of the proposals put before him to intervene militarily in Syria - despite the urgency of action to thwart the Syrian-Hizballah offensive to capture Aleppo. The US president also turned down a limited no-fly zone plan which would have entailed no more than 20 US and Turkish fighter bombers for depriving the Syrian Aleppo offensive of air support. Our military sources say the fall of Aleppo and Idlib would make Bashar Assad the winner of the 28-month Syrian civil war, just when its death toll nears 100,000 according to official figures.June 14, 2013 Briefs:
June 15, 2013 Briefs:
Hizballah units near Golan. Some armed with limited-use chemicals DEBKAfile Special Report  15 June. The Obama administration and Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on a visit to Washington backed away Friday, June 14, from any effective response to the Syrian ruler’s proven use of chemical weapons against rebel forces. American sources claimed Saturday, June 15, that the “military support” the Obama administration promised the Syrian opposition Friday consisted of automatic weapons, mortars and recoilless rocket grenades (RPGs) for delivery within three weeks through Turkey.Those items, say DEBKAfile’s military sources, are no more than a mockery of the rebels’ needs, especially when every few hours Russian and Iranian air transports deliver military equipment to cover the ongoing war requirements of the Syrian army and Hizballah. Those sources meanwhile report Hizballah and Syrian army movements were detected heading toward the Golan and the Jordanian border from the military concentrations building up in the last two weeks around the nearby town of Deraa. They also reported that Hizballah has been awarded “limited-use” chemical weapons. Guards will fight Iran’s new president on nuclear issueDEBKAfile Special Report  15 June. Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei views Hassan Rouhani’s election as president as the opening for a more flexible approach on Iran’s nuclear controversy with the West. DEBKAfile: Rouhani’s first task will be to draft a detailed plan setting boundaries for Iranian concessions to obtain the partial lifting of sanctions and restore the flow of oil revenues to the country’s empty coffers. This will bring the president-elect head on head with the Revolutionary Guards, who are already rumored in Tehran to be plotting his removal by a military putsch.June 16, 2013 Briefs:
June 17, 2013 Briefs:
| Putin will address G8 summit as head of winning Syrian war campDEBKAfile Special Report 17 June. The conditions Vladimir Putin will lay down for a G8 consensus on Syria are that Bashar Assad remains in power in any political solution and Iran is part of that solution. He will address the summit opening Monday in Northern Ireland in the interests of his allies, Bashar Assad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hassan Nasrallah and demand that the summit acknowledge them as winners of the war. Putin will block any attempt by Barak Obama to use the election of Hassan Rouhani as Iran’s president to counter those successes. June 18, 2013 Briefs:
Deep freeze on Syria in Obama-Putin meeting  Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin ended their meeting at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland Monday night with grudging courtesy. Obama said the meeting was “very useful.” But both side agreed that they were at odds on the key issues, such as whether Assad should step down and arms supplies to the rebels. Putin agreed they would both try and push the warring parties to the negotiating table, but they failed to agree on the make-up of a conference.Lavrov: Iran agrees to halt 20-percent uranium enrichmentDEBKAfile Special Report  18 June. Iran confirms it is prepared to halt enrichment of 20-percent uranium, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported Tuesday, June 18. He urged Western nations to reciprocate by lifting sanctions. DEBKAfile: It was not clear whether this is a temporary or absolute stoppage - or a dodge for getting sanctions eased to help the new Iranian president find his economic feet. Jerusalem was not convinced by Lavrov’s positive slant on this development because Iran has already accumulated enough low-grade 5.3 percent uranium for rapid conversion to 20 percent.First European and NATO heavy arms for Syrian rebelsDEBKAfile Exclusive Report  18 June. DEBKAfile exclusive: In the last 48 hours, two European and NATO have airlifted to the Syrian rebels shipments of the long-demanded anti-air and tank missiles as well as recoilless 120 mm cannons mounted on jeeps. They landed in Turkey and Jordan and were transferred to southern Syria and Aleppo, where Syrian rebels are poised to fend off a major Syrian army offensive backed by 2,000 Hizballah troops. Accordingly, the Obama-Putin meeting went badly at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland. Widely expected Russian reprisals portend a longer Syrian war.June 19, 2013 Briefs:
Russian marine and air power head for SyriaDEBKAfile Special Report  19 June. Just one day after Western leaders at the G8 summit failed to ram past Vladimir Putin a resolution mandating President Bashar Assad’s ouster, Moscow announced Wednesday June 19, that two warships carrying 600 Russian marines were heading for Syria "to protect the Russian citizens there." Russian Deputy Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Gradusov said an air force umbrella would be provided if needed. DEBKAfile: Moscow’s pretext thinly disguises the flexing of Russian muscle against continuing Western arms supplies to the Syrian rebels. Incoming Russian air power will impede the imposition of a no-fly zone over Syria.June 20, 2013 Briefs:
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Article 14
Bold and Daring: The Way Progressive News Should Be |
| If you have a problem reading this email, please click here to see the web page version You received this email because you signed up for it at OpEdNews. Unsubscribe instructions are at the bottom of this email. The more I learn about cluster B personalities, the more I believe we need a national, even world-wide project to identify and deal with them. I'm not saying to round them up, but these are dangerous, hurtful people without consciences, empathy or compassion. So, I will continue with more more coverage on Psychopaths and Sociopaths. Here are two new podcasts, aired yesterday, downloadable today. Support Opednews. Make a tax deductible donation to make OEN Strong.  Daily HeadlinesAs the Fed is committed to saving the banks "too big to fail," it is likely that the banks know of the Fed's announcements in advance. With inside information, the banks know precisely when to short the stock, bond, and bullion markets. The banks make billions from the inside information. As the meme goes, the chief villains responsible for the high cost of American healthcare are waste, overtreatment, fee-for-service medicine, unaccountable hospitals, and paying for treatments that don't work. Obamacare fixes reflect that meme. But are the accepted villains really the central villains, or just the easiest ones to target? I interview business researcher Clive Boddy, discussing the effects of corporate psychopaths. Orwell understood what many Americans, caught up in their partisan flag-waving, are still struggling to come to terms with: that there is no such thing as a government organized for the good of the people--even the best intentions among those in government inevitably give way to the desire to maintain power and control at all costs. By Bob Burnett America's Second Civil War On April 12, 1861, Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, launching the first Civil War. America's second Civil War will start in late September when conservatives block raising the debt-limit ceiling and the US goes into default. But our new Civil War actually began in November of 2010 when Tea-Party conservatives seized control of the Republican Party and many states. WikiLeaks may publish further revelations promised by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, Julian Assange hinted during a conference call with journalists. He reiterated that his legal team is helping Snowden in his quest for asylum in Iceland. "We don't speak about investigations or upcoming publications," Assange repeated several times, but hinted that "significant material will be published in coming weeks." 70% of the faculty is contract faculty that teaches the lion's share of the classes.In the case of full-time contract faculty,it also designs and implements curricula and takes part in committee work yet has absolutely no representation on the Faculty Senate the governing arm of the university. This is significant, much like the kind of voting situation that pertained in Great Britain before the voting reform laws were passed President Barack Obama's unprecedented initiative, known as the Insider Threat Program, is sweeping in its reach. It has received scant public attention even though it extends beyond the U.S. national security bureaucracies to most federal departments and agencies nationwide, including the Peace Corps, the Social Security Administration and the Education and Agriculture departments. It emphasizes leaks of classified material, but catchall definitions of "insider threat" give agencies latitude to pursue and penalize a range of other conduct. The Fisa court plays no role in the selection of individuals, nor does it monitor who is selected by the NSA. The NSA's ability to collect and retain the communications of people in the US, even without a warrant, has fueled congressional demands for an estimate of how many Americans have been caught up in surveillance. Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked her colleagues to oppose Michael Froman, Pres Obama's pick for US Trade Representative, charging that he is not committed to giving the American public information about theTrans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, which would affect everything from intellectual property rights, to product safety standards, to financial regulations. Many lawmakers criticized the secrecy surrounding the deal; certain members of Congress can see the proposed text of the deal, but the public cannot. Warren has called on the office of the US Trade Representative to release the full text of the TPP deal to the public. But in a floor speech Wednesday, she said Froman has made clear he would not release the text. Nick discusses the emerging peer to peer economy, it's disruptive effects on existing systems and economics, and how top down forces are resisting these bottom up aspects of progress. Cleveland county prosecutor Aaron Brockler was fired earlier this week after creating a fake Facebook account and posting as the fictitious former girlfriend of an alleged killer in an aggravated murder case he was prosecuting. Brockler claims that he specifically created the account in order to cast doubt on the alibi of 29-year-old Damon Dunn, the man accused of committing murder at a Cleveland car wash during May 2012. Possibly in romantic relationships with Dunn, two women were ready to provide an alibi for Dunn that would place him somewhere other than the car wash where the murder took place. "The U.K.'s top privacy watchdog has decided that Google won't be hit with any fines over its collection of Street View data." By Madelyn Hoffman Ask Your Mayor to Support U.S. Conference of Mayors Resolution To "Move the Money" from Military to Communities  This piece describes a resolution coming to a vote at the upcoming Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting and asks that people contact their mayor to support this resolution, before, during or after the Annual Meeting. By Rev. Dan Vojir Who's Sorry Now? Exodus International Closes Doors On Its Failed Ex-Gay Ministry... And Apologizes. Really.  Exodus International closes after a tearful apology by leader Alan Chambers for all the harm it did to the LGBT community with its reparative therapy and its insistence that homosexuals could "change." The Doce Fire which started on Tuesday morning, and is located approximately 7 miles NW of Prescott, AZ, is now 10% contained. Here is a resource paper/technology summary on the top ten basic attributes/reasons why LFTRs (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors) should be pursued. This is a very easy to use resource to have handy when you are talking to a legislator or talking to a friend, neighbor, or family member. While Thorium's use in a LFTR has many benefits we feel these top ten are the easiest to convey to someone knowing little about the technology in order to peak their interest. TPP--Perhaps the MOST Important Secret Assault on Our Freedoms TPP--PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT SECRET ASSAULT ON OUR FREEDOMS By Shirley Wilcher The Fisher Conundrum: Class vs. Race in Higher Education Admissions This opinion editorial argues that class or socioeconomic status should not replace race as a factor in higher education admissions. Race-based affirmative action is still necessary in 2013. House GOP pushes the "Smarter Solutions Act", a cynical bill that simply differs the profits lenders are expecting from the doubling of student loan interest rates starting in July. There are very critical issues missing from news reports about the U.S. government's protection of so called classified information and its pursuit of that data's leakors. By Elizabeth Woodworth Obama's Humanitarianism as Window-Dressing for the US "Deep State" Agenda: The Case of Syria  If we look at the origins of the NSA super-surveillance program, which is generally believed to have begun right after 9/11 as a provision of the Patriot Act, we will see that in fact it began in February, 2001, within weeks after the swearing in of the Bush administration. In essence, what I'm maintaining here is that this "War on Terror" is a propaganda tool used by the United States to provide justification for external and internal decisions by our government to achieve total subjugation of the American people. By David Swanson Prisons Full of Innocents There are probably more innocent men and women in prison in the United States now than there were people in prison here total -- innocent and guilty -- 30 years ago, or than there are total people in prison (proportionately or as an absolute number) in most nations on earth. Mohammad Naji Allaw says, "Over 90 of 166 Guantanamo prisoners are from Yemen. Most of them, 56 to be exact, have already been cleared by the US government for release but the US government still won't send them back." How does the health of a society relate to low wages, emotional disconnection, and a shrinking middle class? A terrible formula has taken hold: warfare state + corporate digital power = surveillance state. By Zin Linn Burma: Government reaches an 8-point agreement with Karenni rebels Burma's Union Peace-Making Committee and the KNPP have taken part in a settlement promising to move forward with a national ceasefire accord. The Peace-Making Committee and KNPP held negotiations on 19 and 20 June in Loikaw. The talks was convened with Minister Aung Min on the government side and deputy chairman Khun Oo Reh on the KNPP side plus military chief General Bee Htoo. How long did it take those early American revolutionaries to defeat the British and draft the philosophical ideals that are the framework of our nation? Ideals that guarantee our protection from intrusive governmental practices that would threaten our liberty, security, and civil rights? By Dave Lindorff Who knew? The government snoops have been keeping us safe? : Cranking Up the Washington Lie Machine  The lies are piling on lies as the government, fearful of the truth and of the people, builds a fascist spying system and goes after the truth-tellers with a vengeance, says TCBH! journalist Dave Lindorff Latest ArticlesWhy hasn't there been an update on the Sandy Hook School shooting investigation? Their sons, husbands, fathers and brothers are simply pawns in the US game of politics where one party is always trying to "out hawk" the other, where concern about winning the next election far eclipses any respect for the rights of the prisoners. Most Americans have become so consumed by fear after 9/11 that they think that holding these prisoners in Guantanamo indefinitely somehow makes them safer. We raise our voices in opposition to John McCain's attempts to steer our beleaguered nation once more into a needless and unwinnable war. We have one last request for our aged and belligerent hero: Please, John, retire. Take your liberal pension. Go home, sit on the veranda of one of your multi-million dollar mansions, and SHUT THE HELL UP! More GOP Mythmaking on the Border GOP House Speaker John Boehner recently called border security "laughable." Boehner was not being funny. That sentiment could have a major blowback effect in the House on the deal that the four GOP Senators crafted to take the issue of border security off the contentious table and move the immigration bill to final passage.  Best News Links from the Web"Instead, three justices, Alito, Kennedy and Chief Justice Roberts, found that Salinas's challenge to his conviction failed because he did not expressly invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege. The plurality relied on prior decisions holding that to ensure that the Fifth Amendment was not being asserted too broadly and to allow the government to challenge an assertion or overcome it by granting immunity, a witness must expressly invoke the right to obtain its benefits. The plurality reasoned that there could be many explanations for silence in the face of questioning, and if the witness's reason was the Fifth Amendment, he was obligated to say so. The plurality's view carried the day because two other justices, Scalia and Thomas, took an even narrower view of the protections of the Fifth Amendment." "Mayoral hopeful [Anthony Weiner] apologized Thursday after an elderly woman he met while campaigning described his openly gay opponent Christine Quinn as a "dyke." "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 2,000-mile (3,200-km) boundary between the United States and Mexico would have enough border patrol agents to station one guard every 1,000 feet, under a compromise measure being considered by the U.S. Senate as part of an effort to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill." Insurers Inflating Books, New York Regulator Says - by MARY WILLIAMS WALSH NYTimes.com "New York State regulators are calling for a nationwide moratorium on transactions that life insurers are using to alter their books by billions of dollars, saying that the deals put policyholders at risk and could lead to another taxpayer bailout. nsurers' use of the secretive transactions has become widespread, nearly doubling over the last five years. The deals now affect life insurance policies worth trillions of dollars, according to an analysis done for The New York Times by SNL Financial, a research and data firm.These complex private deals allow the companies to describe themselves as richer and stronger than they otherwise could in their communications with regulators, stockholders, the ratings agencies and customers, who often rely on ratings to buy insurance." A United Nations report detailed the hapless condition of Palestinian children tortured and used as human shields by the Israeli Forces. According to the United Nations human rights body, "Palestinian children arrested by Israeli military and police are systematically subject to degrading treatment, and often to acts of torture, are interrogated in Hebrew, a language they did not understand, and sign confessions in Hebrew in order to be released." Russia Right to Dismiss Obama Nuke Fakery Moreover, this vague commitment to reduce tactical weapons is flatly contradicted by fact. Only last month, the Obama administration announced that it was embarking on a $10 billion upgrade of its tactical nuclear arsenal in Europe over the next 10 years. Part of this revamp is the fitting of gravity-dropped B61 bombs in Europe with new precision-guided tail systems that will increase the overall strike capacity of the American nuclear arsenal. Economies do change over time, and sometimes in fundamental ways. So what's really different about America in the 21st century? The most significant answer, I'd suggest, is the growing importance of monopoly rents: profits that don't represent returns on investment, but instead reflect the value of market dominance. Sometimes that dominance seems deserved, sometimes not; but, either way, the growing importance of rents is producing a new disconnect between profits and production and may be a factor prolonging the slump. An obituary in The New York Times has sounded a discordant note amid the rest of the encomiums. And now Hastings' widow, Elise Jordan, is firing back at Times brass. Jordan did not take kindly to the Times' remembrance, and in an email to Times' editor Jill Abramson, asked the paper correct its report before printing it in the morning paper. Abramson sent the note to Bill McDonald, obituaries editor, who rejected the request. The private company responsible for vetting Edward Snowden for a security clearance is under criminal investigation for systemic failure to adequately conduct background checks. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., announced at a Senate hearing Thursday that USIS, a government contractor headquartered in Falls Church, Va., conducted a background check for Snowden in 2011. The 29-year-old systems administrator's clearance gave him access to classified documents he later leaked to the media, revealing secret surveillance by the National Security Agency. This article from Global Research provides a compelling argument that before the events of 9/11/01, the real powers behind the U.S. government already planned to effect regime change in five oil rich or strategic middle eastern and North African countries for the purpose of controlling crude oil and other resources in that area. With fracking operations using between 1 and 9 million gallons of water daily, and there being an estimated 500,000 such wells in the United States how long can we expect clean water for growing crops and drinking? One must be reminded that life can exist without oil and gas, but will die without water. Are today's profits for a few worth death for millions in the future? Unfortunately, some think it is. Université Laval researchers have developed a highly effective method for converting CO2 into methanol, which can be used as a low-emissions fuel for vehicles. The team led by Professor Frédéric-Georges Fontaine presents the details of this discovery in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have found an effective solution for collecting sunlight for artificial photosynthesis. By combining self-assembling DNA molecules with simple dye molecules, the researchers have created a system that resembles nature's own antenna system. Almost half of the mobile apps running on Apple's iOS operating system access the unique identifier of the devices where they're downloaded, computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have found. In addition, more than 13 percent access the devices' location and more than 6 percent the address book. The researchers developed a new app that detects what data the other apps running on an iOS device are trying to access. You won't see this battery in your cell phone -- instead, its low cost and common materials would make it ideal to store huge amounts of energy at once, such as solar energy at a power plant. The House of Representatives on Thursday overcame last-minute lobbying from the Drug Enforcement Administration to pass a farm bill amendment that would legalize the growing of hemp for research purposes. The 225-200 vote came after a flurry of opposition from the DEA, which argued that it would be too difficult for the agency to differentiate legal hemp from illegal marijuana, both varieties of the cannabis plant. The House amendment, proposed by Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), is far more modest than a Senate effort by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to fully legalize growing hemp for industrial purposes. McConnell had hoped to have his measure inserted into the underlying farm bill or approved on a simple voice vote, but neither path proved open. |
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Article 13
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Balle d'occasione per 'spiegare' manifestazioni di un'oligarchia compradoro-predatoria di uno starello brasileiro che affonda nella corruzione, nella disorganizzazione, nell'ignoranza, nel protezionismo per coprire l'inefficienza e nell'assenza di qualunque industria d'avanguardia, con salari cinesi e prezzi più alti che gli europei. Il sistema giudiziario brasileiro è già sotto il ferreo controllo delle Polizie Segrete militari ed altre. Le proteste sono parte delle patologie brasiliche, non la soluzione di alcunché!
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Article 11
RFE/RL CAUCASUS REPORT 21.06.2013 A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the countries of the South Caucasus and Russia's North Caucasus region.For more stories on the Caucasus, please visit and bookmark our Caucasus page . |
 Aliyev: We Have No Political Prisoners Speaking in Brussels on June 21, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said reports about restrictions on freedom of speech or media, or the jailing of political opponents in his country, were false.More  Is Television A Human Right? Vano Merabishvili, the jailed former prime minister of Georgia, this week staged a brief hunger strike, successfully demanding, among other things, that prison officials install a television set in the cell where he is being held pending trial for abuse of office. The demand might seem frivolous. But it’s not the first time that access to television has been defended as a basic human right.More  Aliyev Meets With EU Officials In Brussels Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has met with European Council President Herman van Rompuy for talks focusing on energy security, human rights, and the Nagorno-Karabakh territorial dispute. More  How Many Chechens Are Fighting In Syria? It is almost a year since the first reports surfaced that some Chechens, together with fighters from elsewhere in the Russian Federation, had joined the ranks of the armed opposition to Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. While their numbers remain unclear, it seems that by no means all of them traveled to Syria directly from Chechnya. More  Baku's Changing Face Photographer Giuseppe Cacace visited the Azerbaijani capital to record some of the developments that are changing the face of that city, which is experiencing an often controversial construction boom fueled by an oil-rich economy. More  Mysterious 'Taliban' Video Unleashes Political Storm In Georgia Ten Georgian servicemen have been killed in Afghanistan in the last month. The appearance of a purported Taliban video threatening “jihad” against Georgia ignited a firestorm of political accusations among supporters of President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. More  Eurasian Deterioration 'Troubling' Countries in Central Europe and Central Asia are increasingly being ruled by autocratic governments with little regard for democracy, according to the 2013 "Nations In Transit" report by democracy watchdog Freedom House. More Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian spoke with RFE/RL Armenian Service Director Harry Tamrazian about the country's options for greater integration with the Eurasian Economic Community, saying such cooperation would not hinder closer ties to the EU. More  Arms Caches Linked To Saakashvili Georgian investigators say they have found several caches filled with weapons, explosives, drugs, and documents targeting opponents of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's party. More  After Years Of Secret Tapes, Georgia Mulls How To Destroy Them Georgia's Interior Ministry has pledged to destroy a secret archive of illegally obtained video and phone recordings used by the administration of President Mikheil Saakashvili to blackmail journalists, politicians, and activists. But getting rid of dirty laundry is not as easy as it seems. More  Disgraced Daghestani Official Denies Reported Suicide Attempt Makhachkala's mayor denied media reports that he was hospitalized after slashing his veins in an apparent suicide attempt. More |
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Brazil Burning: The Story of an Illusion Gone Sour by Pepe EscobarBrazil remained one the most (deadly) unequal nations in the world, peppered with retrograde landowning oligarchies and some of the most rapacious, arrogant and ignorant elites on the planet.
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Ben Swann 'Ben Swann Full Disclosure' is asking the questions the rest of the media is ignoring. Even by the overreaching standards of the Patriot Act, Ben Swann demonstrates how the NSA's Prism program is clearly illegal.benswann.com 2013-06-21 11:25:00
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Glenn Greenwald Guardian 2013-06-20 10:01:00
Fisa court submissions show broad scope of procedures governing NSA's surveillance of Americans' communication - Document one: procedures used by NSA to target non-US persons - Document two: procedures used by NSA to minimise data collected from US persons Top secret documents submitted to the court that oversees surveillance by US intelligence agencies show the judges have signed off on broad orders which allow the NSA to make use of information "inadvertently" collected from domestic US communications without a warrant. The Guardian is publishing in full two documents submitted to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (known as the Fisa court), signed by Attorney General Eric Holder and stamped 29 July 2009. They detail the procedures the NSA is required to follow to target "non-US persons" under its foreign intelligence powers and what the agency does to minimize data collected on US citizens and residents in the course of that surveillance. The documents show that even under authorities governing the collection of foreign intelligence from foreign targets, US communications can still be collected, retained and used. The procedures cover only part of the NSA's surveillance of domestic US communications. The bulk collection of domestic call records, as first revealed by the Guardian earlier this month, takes place under rolling court orders issued on the basis of a legal interpretation of a different authority, section 215 of the Patriot Act. | |
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Andrew Harris Bloomberg 2006-06-30 09:57:00
The U.S. National Security Agency asked AT&T Inc. to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, lawyers claimed June 23 in court papers filed in New York federal court. The allegation is part of a court filing adding AT&T, the nation's largest telephone company, as a defendant in a breach of privacy case filed earlier this month on behalf of Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. customers. The suit alleges that the three carriers, the NSA and President George W. Bush violated the Telecommunications Act of 1934 and the U.S. Constitution, and seeks money damages. ''The Bush Administration asserted this became necessary after 9/11,'' plaintiff's lawyer Carl Mayer said in a telephone interview. ''This undermines that assertion.'' The lawsuit is related to an alleged NSA program to record and store data on calls placed by subscribers. More than 30 suits have been filed over claims that the carriers, the three biggest U.S. telephone companies, violated the privacy rights of their customers by cooperating with the NSA in an effort to track alleged terrorists. | |
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Peter Eisler and Susan Page USA Today 2013-06-16 09:43:00
In a roundtable discussion, a trio of former National Security Agency whistle-blowers tell USA TODAY that Edward Snowden succeeded where they failed. When a National Security Agency contractor revealed top-secret details this month on the government's collection of Americans' phone and Internet records, one select group of intelligence veterans breathed a sigh of relief. Thomas Drake, William Binney and J. Kirk Wiebe belong to a select fraternity: the NSA officials who paved the way. For years, the three whistle-blowers had told anyone who would listen that the NSA collects huge swaths of communications data from U.S. citizens. They had spent decades in the top ranks of the agency, designing and managing the very data-collection systems they say have been turned against Americans. When they became convinced that fundamental constitutional rights were being violated, they complained first to their superiors, then to federal investigators, congressional oversight committees and, finally, to the news media. To the intelligence community, the trio are villains who compromised what the government classifies as some of its most secret, crucial and successful initiatives. They have been investigated as criminals and forced to give up careers, reputations and friendships built over a lifetime. Today, they feel vindicated. | |
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Mark Hosenball Reuters 2013-06-12 09:38:00
U.S. government investigators began an urgent search for Edward Snowden several days before the first media reports were published on the government's secret surveillance programs, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Snowden, who has admitted to providing details of the top-secret programs, had worked on assignment at a Hawaii facility run by the National Security Agency for about four weeks before he said he was ill and requested leave without pay, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. When Snowden failed to return, that prompted a hunt for the contractor, first by his employer Booz Allen Hamilton and then by the U.S. government, they said. Snowden, 29, was known among colleagues as a very gifted "geek," according to one of the sources, who added, "This guy's really good with his fingers on the keyboard. He's really good." | |
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Irin Carmon Salon 2013-06-10 09:28:00
Exclusive: Laura Poitras tells Salon about getting contacted by Edward Snowden, and reveals more footage is coming Shortly after Salon's biographical sketch on Laura Poitras went live, the award-winning documentary filmmaker agreed to a phone interview, her first since she helped reveal the scope of the National Security Agency's digital surveillance. "I feel a certain need to be cautious about not wanting to do the work for the government," she told Salon, but agreed to clarify some parts of her role in the story. Poitras is still in Hong Kong, where she is filming the story behind the story - including her co-author on the Guardian story and former Salon columnist Glenn Greenwald - for her forthcoming documentary on whistle-blowers and leaks. In a wide-ranging interview, she explained how she first made contact with Snowden, her reaction to the possible future investigation into his leaks, and why Snowden didn't go to the New York Times. What follows is a lightly edited transcript. So how did this all begin? I was originally contacted in January, anonymously. By Edward Snowden? Well, I didn't know who it was. What was the format? Via email. It said, I want to get your encryption key and let's get on a secure channel. And he didn't say what it was about? He just said - that was the first, and the second was, I have some information in the intelligence community, and it won't be a waste of your time. Do you get a lot of those kinds of requests? No, I don't. | |
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Paul B. Farrell Market Watch 2013-06-06 09:24:00
In "Stocks for the Long Run," economist Jeremy Siegel researched all the "big market moves" between 1801 and 2001. Bottom line: 75% of the time, there is no rationale for "big moves." No one can predict them. Maybe technicians and traders can pick short-term moves the next second. Maybe tomorrow. But the long-term "big market moves?" No way. Now why predict an "87%" chance of another meltdown in 2013? Because in the real world of statistical probabilities, historical facts and expert opinions danger signals are flashing wild. In mid-2008 we summarized the predictions of 20 experts over several years. Predicted a meltdown in a few years - markets crashed two months later. Fast. In retrospect, it was inevitable, thanks in part to the hype, arrogance and incompetence of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson who failed to prepare America. The warnings are again accelerating. And so is the happy talk from Wall Street casino insiders, about rallies, housing recoveries, perpetual cheap money. Don't listen. The next crash will happen by year-end. Yes, there's a 13% chance the next Fed chairman will keep printing cheap money into 2014. But on New Years Eve our aging bull will be 4½ years old, well past Bill O'Neill's "average" 3.75 years for putting this bull out to pasture. So unless you're shorting, all bets on Wall Street casinos for 2014 are megarisk, like 2008. Like a Stephen King horror film, you feel it coming. Could happen anytime, even tomorrow, says Siegel's research, or the unpredictable logic in Nassim Taleb's "Black Swan." - | |
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foxnews.com 2013-06-18 09:06:00
President Obama's trip this month to Africa, with the first family tagging along, is projected to cost taxpayers as much as $100 million, sparking criticism as the federal government scrimps along during sequester-related budget cuts. Among the related costs will be fighter jets; hundreds of Secret Service agents; a Navy ship with a full trauma center; and military cargo planes to bring 56 vehicles including 14 limousines and three trucks loaded with sheets of bulletproof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the first family will stay. The details were reported by The Washington Post, based on a confidential planning document. The trip to sub-Sahara Africa runs from June 26 to July 3. The president and first lady have cancelled plans to go on a safari that would have included the additional expense of a sharp-shooting team, responsible for putting down a cheetah, lion or any other wild animal that became a threat. Figuring out the exact cost of the overall trip is difficult because the information is classified for the purpose of national security. However, a Government Accountability Office report shows President Clinton's 1998 trip to six African nations cost at least $42.7 million - not including Secret Service expenses. Obama's trip could cost the federal government $60 million to $100 million based on the costs of similar African trips in recent years, a person familiar with the Obama journey but not authorized to speak for attribution told The Post. The trip comes as agencies across the federal government try to find cost-saving measures to deal with the massive, across-the-board budget cuts known as sequester, which kicked in this year after Washington lawmakers failed to agree on a more measured approach. The Secret Service, for example, pushed to cancel public White House tours to save thousands in weekly overtime expenses. "For the cost of this trip to Africa, you could have 1,350 weeks of White House tours," Rep. George Holding, a North Carolina Republican, said last week. "It is no secret that we need to rein in government spending, and the Obama administration has regularly and repeatedly shown a lack of judgment for when and where to make cuts. ... The American people have had enough of the frivolous and careless spending." The White House had defended the trip cost saying the Secret Service plan determines the security cost and that first family's trip will result in long-term goodwill. "The infrastructure that accompanies the president's travels is beyond our control," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. "When you travel to regions like Africa that don't get a lot of presidential attention, you tend to have very long-standing and long-running impact from the visit." | |
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Stefan Steinberg In a document released at the end of May, the American banking and investment giant JP Morgan Chase calls for the overturning of the bourgeois democratic constitutions established in a series of European countries after the Second World War and the installation of authoritarian regimes.RINF 2013-06-17 08:56:00 The 16-page document was produced by the Europe Economic Research group of JP Morgan and titled "The Euro Area Adjustment - About Half-Way There." The document begins by noting that the crisis in the euro zone has two dimensions.
First, the paper argues, financial measures are necessary to ensure that major investment houses such as JP Morgan can continue to reap huge profits from their speculative activities in Europe. Second, the authors maintain, it is necessary to impose "political reforms" aimed at suppressing opposition to the massively unpopular austerity measures being carried out at the behest of the banks. The report expresses satisfaction with the implementation of a number of financial mechanisms by the European Union to secure banking interests. In this respect, the study maintains, reform of the euro area is about halfway there. The report does, however, call for more action by the European Central Bank (ECB). | |
Comment: "Political systems around the periphery typically display several of the following features: weak executives; weak central states relative to regions; constitutional protection of labour rights; consensus-building systems which foster political clientalism; and the right to protest if unwelcome changes are made to the political status quo. The shortcomings of this political legacy have been revealed by the crisis. "Unbelievable! So, according to JP Morgan, the problem is not that they have the power to destroy the economies of the world in order to enrich the already obscenely rich members of the financial elite. The problem, you see, is that the masses still have a few rights here and there to protest the theft. Thus is the thinking of psychopaths. We wonder what this 'Let them eat cake' attitude will bring to the likes of JP Morgan. If history serves as an indicator, it might not be pretty. Then again, it is perhaps their fear of Madame Guillotine that encourages them to seek absolute power over the rest of us. | |
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BBC Stand-up comedian, columnist and actor Russell Brand on the BBC's Question Time debate, June 2013.2013-06-21 07:35:00
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WND 2013-06-21 06:43:00
Seventeen years after the Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 blew up off the coast of Long Island, producers Tom Stalcup and Kristina Borjesson have released a new documentary - simply titled "TWA Flight 800" - that has the very real potential to re-open the investigation into the plane's destruction. Kudos, in particular, to Stalcup. A Ph.D. physicist by background, he has dedicated the last 16 years of his life to exposing what is arguably the most flagrant government cover-up in American peacetime history. Borjesson has likewise been involved from the beginning. As a producer at CBS in 1996 when TWA 800 was destroyed, she sacrificed her future at CBS to get at the truth. Together, they have produced a documentary that is compelling, convincing and, finally, deeply moving. Jack Cashill and James Sanders exposed the corrupt TWA 800 investigation in their book "First Strike" - get it now at WND's Superstore The producers made two strategic moves to force the media to look seriously at their conclusions. One was to rely heavily on the testimony of a half-dozen highly credible whistleblowers from within the investigation. The second was to avoid politics. When James Sanders and I produced the video documentary "Silenced" on this subject 12 years ago and the book "First Strike" two years after that, we made the marketing mistake of identifying the logic of the cover-up. That logic led to the White House. Sixteen years ago, in the home stretch of a difficult re-election campaign, Bill Clinton faced a problem very similar to one that Barack Obama would face in 2012. This is something the media did not want to know, let alone share. An event took place that threatened the "peace and prosperity" theme of his campaign - specifically, the shoot-down of this doomed airliner with 230 people on board 12 minutes out of JFK. Although the word was not used back then, the Clinton White House, with the help of a complicit media, rewrote the event's "narrative" to assure re-election. Again, as with Benghazi, that narrative was clumsily improvised almost on a daily basis. Knowing the media had his back, Clinton responded much as Obama did: deny, obfuscate and kick the investigatory can down the road until after the election. One central figure appeared in each drama: Hillary Clinton. She stood by Obama's side in the Rose Garden on Sept. 12 as he spun reality into confection. Throughout that long night of July 17, 1996, she holed up with Bill and Sandy Berger in the White House family quarters, assessing their narrative options much as Obama did on Sept. 11, 2012. By removing politics from the equation, Stalcup, who appeared in "Silenced," and Borjesson have attracted a fair share of major media attention. In their well-researched recreation of the plane's final minutes, they wisely refrain from saying who pulled the trigger. But the evidence that someone fired missiles at the plane overwhelms the dispassionate observer. | |
Comment: Cassiopaean session 23rh Nov. 1996 Q: (T) About Flight 800. Pierre Salinger claims that the info floating around on the internet is accurate. He says that the Navy downed the flight. A: Close. Pierre Salinger is an impeccable journalist and not one to "fly off the handle." Q: (T) Very true. And that is why I am amazed that the rest of the journalism community is attacking him. A: Why should you be amazed? They are "bought and paid for." Q: (T) What did happen to flight 800? A: This was the result of an experiment gone awry. So was KAL "007" in 1983. Q: (L) What was the nature of the experiment? A: Testing of secret impulse guidance system using civilian airliner as an arbitrary "bounce" guidance target. Instead, it became the "homing" target, and a different aircraft became the bouncer. This was because the programmers did not anticipate the lower than expected altitude of the 747. Warning: this must stay in this room for the present!!!!!!!!!! The facts will eventually be discussed by others. At that time, the danger is lifted. Now, about KAL 007... that one is not dangerous to know. The plane was deliberately instructed to fly off course in order to trigger the Soviet's Pacific air defense system, to "see what they were made of" in that area. The plane was lost, but the experiment worked. They did not expect them to shoot down a civilian airliner. Now, all moving targets create electronic impuses. These can be "read" by the proper extremely high tech equipment. Older radar guided systems are subject to malfunctions in weather conditions that are severe, as one example. Also, the impulse system is an offshoot of the electromagnetic pulse experiments being carried out at Montauk, Brookings and elsewhere as part of the HAARP project! In connection with Pentagon missile tests, HAARP has many interesting tie-ins, not the least of which is your cell phone towers. Now, the homing target can be any moving object. It can be whatever is entered on the computer. It can be a squirrel in a tree, a jogger on the beach, a building, whatever you want. The system looks for any moving target in order to establish recognition to the computer, in order to establish recognition of match pattern of pulse. TWA 800 was flying at the exact same altitude that was supposed to be designated for the "drone" craft. The drone plane was fartehr out at sea. The "bounce" target was to be any moving object in the air within 400 square miles. Q: (L) So, TWA 800, through a series of problems, happened to find itself at the right altitude, a restricted altitude, within the parameters of the experiment. Anything further on this? A: Not for now. | |
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Paul Craig Roberts In the 21st century the two hundred year-old propaganda that the American people control their government has been completely shattered. Both the Bush and Obama regimes have made it unmistakenly clear that the American people don't even influence, much less control, the government. As far as Washington is concerned, the people are nothing but chaff in the wind.Institute for Political Economy 2013-06-17 22:19:00 Polls demonstrate that 65% of the US population opposes US intervention in Syria. Despite this clear indication of the people's will, the Obama regime is ramping up a propaganda case for more arming of Washington's mercenaries sent to overthrow the secular Syrian government and for a "no-fly zone" over Syria, which, if Libya is the example, means US or NATO aircraft attacking the Syrian army on the ground, thus serving as the air force of Washington's imported mercenaries, euphemistically called "the Syrian rebels." Washington declared some time ago that the "red line" that would bring Syria under Washington's military attack was the Assad government's use of chemical weapons of mass destruction against Washington's mercenaries. Once this announcement was made, everyone with a brain immediately knew that Washington would fabricate false intelligence that Assad had used chemical weapons, just as Washington presented to the United Nations the intentional lie via Secretary of State Colin Powell that Saddam Hussein in Iraq had dangerous weapons of mass destruction. Remember National Security Advisor Condi Rice's image of a "mushroom cloud over American cities?" Propagandistic lies were Washington's orders of the day. And they still are. Now Washington has fabricated the false intelligence, and president obama has announced it with a straight face, that Syria's Assad has used sarin gas on several occasions and that between 100 and 150 "of his own people," a euphemism for the US supplied foreign mercenaries, have been killed by the weapon of mass destruction. Think about that for a minute. As unfortunate as is any death from war, is 100-150 deaths "mass destruction?" According to low-ball estimates, the US-sponsored foreign mercenary invasion of Syria has cost 93,000 lives, of which 150 deaths amounts to 0.0016 or sixteen hundredths of one percent. In other words, 92,850 of the deaths did not cross the "red line." But 150 did, allegedly. Yes, I know. Washington's position makes no sense. But when has it ever made any sense? |
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RT 2013-06-20 22:02:00
It's standard operating procedure for the FBI to conduct an internal investigation when an agent shoots a suspect. Questions are being raised, though, after a report found that every single intentional shooting in the past 20 years was deemed 'justified.' Between 1993 and early 2011 FBI agents fatally shot 70 people and wounded approximately 80 others. In no incident, including one that led to a $1.3 million payout for a victim wrongfully identified as a bank robber, was an agent wrong to fire their weapon. The records were obtained by The New York Times through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. "The FBI takes very seriously any shooting incidents involving our agents, and as such we have an effective, time-tested process for addressing them internally," an FBI spokesman said, adding that there have been no improper intentional shootings since 2011. The FBI investigation into the death of Ibragim Todashev a Chechen man connected to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, is still ongoing. Todashev was fatally shot during an interview with FBI agents. Since the May 22 incident, unnamed agents have told media outlets Todashev threatened them with a knife, broomstick or metal pipe before the bureau admitted he was unarmed after all. Tim Murphy, a former deputy director of the FBI, told the Times that agents are generally older with more experience than the average police officer. He said officials plan to go into a situation with an "overwhelming presence," which may help cut down on the number of shots fired. | |
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RT.com 2013-06-19 20:24:00
An alternative search engine DuckDuckGo has enjoyed a record surge in traffic as NSA scandals spark fears and frighten away Internet users from the more popular Google or Yahoo!. Over the previous week DuckDuckGo, a private search engine, which claims not to collect users' searches or create any personal user profile, has increased its traffic by 26 per cent and passed 3.1 million of direct queries. | |
Comment: In spite of the so-called anonymous search engines, there is really no such thing as anonymity on the Internet. For an in-depth discussion on NSA PRISM, listen to Sott Talk Radio's latest show: NSA PRISM: Neither Privacy Nor Security | |
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| Society's Child |
haaretz.com New UN human rights agency report claims Israeli forces arbitrarily arrest Palestinian children in Gaza and West Bank, subject them to degrading treatment, exploit them to scope out potentially dangerous buildings and use them as shields to deter stone throwers.2013-06-21 14:26:00 A United Nations human rights body accused Israeli forces on Thursday of mistreating Palestinian children, including by torturing those in custody and using others as human shields. Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, are routinely denied registration of their birth and access to health care, decent schools and clean water, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said. "Palestinian children arrested by (Israeli) military and police are systematically subject to degrading treatment, and often to acts of torture, are interrogated in Hebrew, a language they did not understand, and sign confessions in Hebrew in order to be released," it said in a report. The Foreign Ministry said it had responded to a report by the UN children's agency UNICEF in March on ill-treatment of Palestinian minors and questioned whether the UN committee's investigation covered new ground. "If someone simply wants to magnify their political bias and political bashing of Israel not based on a new report, on work on the ground, but simply recycling old stuff, there is no importance in that," spokesman Yigal Palmor said. The report by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child acknowledged Israel's national security concerns and noted that children on both sides of the conflict continue to be killed and wounded, but that more casualties are Palestinian. Most Palestinian children arrested are accused of having thrown stones, an offense which can carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, the committee said. soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces had testified to the often arbitrary nature of the arrests, it said. The watchdog's 18 independent experts examined Israel's record of compliance with a 1990 treaty as part of its regular review of a pact signed by all nations except Somalia and the United States. An Israeli delegation attended the session. The UN committee regretted Israel's "persistent refusal" to respond to requests for information on children in the Palestinian territories and occupied Syrian Golan Heights since the last review in 2002. |
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Monya Baker Nature 2013-06-20 13:54:00
Three in ten women worldwide have been punched, shoved, dragged, threatened with weapons, raped, or subjected to other violence from a current or former partner. Close to one in ten have been sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner. Of women who are murdered, more than one in three were killed by an intimate partner. These grim statistics come from the first global, systematic estimates of violence against women. Linked papers published today in The Lancet and Science assess, respectively, how often people are killed by their partners1 and how many women experience violence from them2. And an associated report and guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Swizerland, along with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the South African Medical Research Council in Pretoria, estimates how often women suffer sexual violence from someone other than a partner, gauge the impact of partner and non-partner violence on women's health and advise health-care providers on how to support the victims. "These numbers should be a wake-up call. We want to highlight that this is a problem that occurs in all regions and it's unacceptably high," says Claudia García-Moreno, a physician at WHO who coordinates research on gender violence and worked on all the publications. | |
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Daily Mail UK Euphoric basketball fans spilled onto the streets of Miami for an impromptu party after the Heat claimed their second consecutive NBA title last night. But this picture suggests that celebrations turned sour in at least one corner of the city.2013-06-21 10:44:00 It reveals a woman apparently being pushed to the ground by police officers as they attempted to clear the streets of jubilant Miami Heat fans. One picture shows the woman tumbling onto the concrete, while another shows a police officer apparently trying to haul her to her feet by grasping her t-shirt.
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The Extinction Protocol Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, and key ministers are to hold an emergency meeting on Friday following a night of protests that saw Rio de Janeiro and dozens of other cities echo with percussion grenades and swirl with teargas as riot police scattered the biggest demonstrations in more than two decades. The protests were sparked last week by opposition to rising bus fares, but they have spread rapidly to encompass a range of grievances, as was evident from the placards. "Stop corruption. Change Brazil;" "Halt evictions;" "Come to the street. It's the only place we don't pay taxes; "Government failure to understand education will lead to revolution." A vast crowd - estimated by the authorities at 300,000 and more than a million by participants - filled Rio's streets, one of a wave of huge nationwide marches against corruption, police brutality, poor public services and excess spending on the World Cup.2013-06-21 09:17:00
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rt.com 2013-06-19 06:45:00
The Russian Ministry of Finance plans to raise tax on tobacco by 50% to bring it closer to European levels. The World Health Organization has suggested Russia needs a seven-fold increase by 2020. The draft legislation is to be presented to the government on June 20, Izvestia daily reports. Excise duty on filter cigarettes will be raised to 820 roubles ($25) per thousand cigarettes from 550 roubles ($17). The hike will increase the retail price of cigarettes by 50% to an average $3 per pack, the paper calculates. The excise tax on alcoholic beverages also will increase, the paper reports. It will go up from 9% to 25% on spirits, 14% on wine, and 4% on champagne. The duties will be raised to equalize taxation of tobacco products with other European countries, the paper reports. The fight against smoking is the second reason for the increase. If the price is increased, children, adolescents and the poor will either smoke less or move to low-quality tobacco, the paper reports. | |
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Reuters 2013-06-20 10:09:00
Violent clashes have erupted in the northern city of Fortaleza in the hours leading to a Confederations Cup match with Mexico. Dozens were hurt as riot police unleashed tear gas and barrage of rubber bullets at a crowd of some 30,000 Brazilian protesters. Images and video of the demonstration just outside of the north-eastern city depicted throngs of protesters marching down a road towards the stadium hosting Wednesday's match. One person was reported to have suffered an eye injury and another was taken away on a stretcher. The protesters were marching against government spending on the World Cup and the Olympics. During the Fortaleza protest, demonstrators carried banners reading "a teacher is worth more than Neymar," a reference to one of Brazil's star players slated to appear in Wednesday's game | |
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| Science & Technology |
Mike Adams Natural News 2013-06-20 00:33:00
Most people don't know about the existence of quantum computers. Almost no one understands how they work, but theories include bizarre-sounding explanations like, "they reach into alternate universes to derive the correct answers to highly complex computational problems." Quantum computers are not made of simple transistors and logic gates like the CPU on your PC. They don't even function in ways that seem rational to a typical computing engineer. Almost magically, quantum computers take logarithmic problems and transform them into "flat" computations whose answers seem to appear from an alternate dimension. For example, a mathematical problem that might have 2 to the power of n possible solutions -- where n is a large number like 1024 -- might take a traditional computer longer than the age of the universe to solve. A quantum computer, on the other hand, might solve the same problem in mere minutes because it quite literally operates across multiple dimensions simultaneously. | |
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Ker Than National Geographic 2013-06-19 21:41:00
A newly discovered crack in the Earth's crust could pull North America and Europe together and cause the Atlantic Ocean to vanish in about 220 million years, scientists say. A new map of the seafloor off the coast of Iberia - the region of Europe that includes Portugal and Spain - has revealed what could be the birth of a new subduction zone. Subduction zones happen when tectonic plates - the large rock slabs that make up the Earth's crust - crash into one another. The edge of the heavier plate slides, or subducts, below the lighter plate. It then melts back into the Earth's mantle - the layer just below the crust. The discovery of this new subduction zone, published on June 6 in the journal Geology, could signal the start of an extended cycle that fuses continents together into a single landmass - or "supercontinent" - and closes our oceans. This breakup and reformation of supercontinents has happened at least three times during Earth's approximately four-billion-year history. In the far future, Earth's continents could "look very much like the Pangea," said study first author João Duarte, referring to a supercontinent that existed about 200 million years ago. | |
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Mara Hvistendahl and Martin Enserink ScienceNow 2013-06-20 17:15:00
A mysterious group of viruses known for their circular genome has been detected in patients with severe disease on two continents. In papers published independently this week, researchers report the discovery of agents called cycloviruses in Vietnam and in Malawi. The studies suggest that the viruses - one of which also widely circulates in animals in Vietnam - could be involved in brain inflammation and paraplegia, but further studies are needed to confirm a causative link. The discovery in Vietnam grew out of a frustrating lack of information about the causes of some central nervous system (CNS) infections such as encephalitis and meningitis, which can be fatal or leave lasting damage. "There are a lot of severe cases in the hospitals here, and very often we can't come to a diagnosis," says H. Rogier van Doorn, a clinical virologist with the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City. Extensive diagnostic tests turn up pathogens in only about half of patients with such infections, he says. Van Doorn and colleagues in Vietnam and at the University of Amsterdam's Academic Medical Center hoped that they might uncover new pathogens using a powerful new technique called next-generation sequencing. The group sequenced all the genetic material in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples taken from more than 100 patients with undiagnosed CNS infections. One sample batch returned a promising lead: a viral sequence belonging to the Circoviridae family. Probing the original patient samples, the scientists ferreted out the sequence in two of the samples - one from an adult and one from a child. Next, they expanded their search, testing samples from an additional 642 patients with CNS infections using a sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test developed to specifically target the detected sequence. Roughly 4% of the samples tested positive, the team reported in mBio on Tuesday. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed that the virus, which the scientists have dubbed CyCV-VN, for cyclovirus-Vietnam, is novel; it belongs to a genus within the Circoviridae family called cycloviruses. | |
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National Science Foundation 2013-06-20 18:10:00
Bacterial DNA may integrate into the human genome more readily in tumors than in normal human tissue, scientists have found. The researchers, affiliated with the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Institute for Genome Sciences, analyzed genomic sequencing data available from the Human Genome Project, the 1,000 Genomes Project and The Cancer Genome Atlas. They considered the phenomenon of lateral gene transfer (LGT), the transmission of genetic material between organisms in a manner other than than traditional reproduction. Scientists have already shown that bacteria can transfer DNA to the genome of an animal. The researchers found evidence that lateral gene transfer is possible from bacteria to the cells of the human body, known as human somatic cells. They found that bacterial DNA was more likely to integrate in the genome in tumor samples than in normal, healthy somatic cells. The phenomenon might play a role in cancer and other diseases associated with DNA damage. "Advances in genomic and computational sciences are revealing the vast ways in which humans interact with an ever-present and endlessly diverse planet of microbes," says Matt Kane, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Environmental Biology in its Directorate for Biological Sciences, which funded the research. | |
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| Earth Changes |
David Bailey Severe storms producing wind gusts up to 85 mph, heavy rain and lightning strikes in Minnesota and Wisconsin early on Friday, knocked down trees and power lines and at one point left more than 176,000 customers without power.Reuters 2013-06-21 14:44:00 An area stretching from the Dakotas through Wisconsin was bracing for more storms, some severe, later on Friday and possible flooding after reports of three to four inches of rain fell in some communities already, the National Weather Service said. "The weather pattern is pretty much going to be stationary tonight and through the weekend so we are concerned about the severe weather and also the potential for flooding," said Jacob Beitlich, a weather service meteorologist in the Twin Cities. The storms developed in the Dakotas and powered southeast through Minnesota into Wisconsin, bringing heavy straight-line wind damage with a gust of 85 mph at the heart of it northwest of the Twin Cities, he said. The weather service also has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for parts of eastern Iowa stretching across northwest Illinois to just west of Chicago. |
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Tim Becker KOIN 6 News 2013-06-19 22:31:00
Experts are investigating why 25,000 bees were found dead or dying in a parking lot at a Target store in Wilsonville. The strange sight first caught shoppers' eyes a few days ago. It's still there Wednesday, clustered under blooming European Linden trees. "I've never seen an incident on this scale," said Pollinator Conservation Program Director Mace Vaughan. Experts believe this could be a poisonous species of the tree that caused them to die, or they may have been poisoned by insecticides. Conservationists Vaughan and Rich Hatfield were in Wilsonville Wednesday,filling test tubes with samples to take back to a lab. There they'll try to confirm either theory for the bees sudden deaths. | |
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US Geological Survey 2013-06-21 11:22:00
Event Time: 2013-06-21 10:33:59 UTC 2013-06-21 12:33:59 UTC+02:00 at epicenter Location: 44.222°N 10.113°E depth=10.3km (6.4mi) Nearby Cities: 2km (1mi) SSW of Fivizzano, Italy 11km (7mi) E of Aulla, Italy 17km (11mi) NE of Sarzana, Italy 18km (11mi) NNE of Carrara, Italy 189km (117mi) W of San Marino, San Marino Technical Data | |
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Philip Pullella Reuters 2013-06-21 11:19:00
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake was felt across central and northern Italy on Friday, causing some minor damage in rural areas but there were no immediate reports of injuries. The epicentre of the quake, which hit at about 12:33 p.m. (6.33 a.m. EDT) was between the towns of Massa and Lucca in Tuscany and La Spezia in the Liguria region, the national geophysics institute said. The tremor was felt in Milan, the largest city in northern Italy, and as far north as the Friuli region near the border with Slovenia. The mayor of Casola in Lunigiana, a small town in the Tuscan countryside, told Italian television the quake had caused cracks in some old buildings and minor collapses but there were no reports of injuries. Aftershocks continued to rock the area, some as strong as magnitude 4.0, officials said, adding that residents in some rural areas were advised to stay out of their homes for the time being. | |
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GabeHashTV Youtube 2013-06-20 10:07:00
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Fiona Govan The Telegraph, UK 2013-06-11 09:57:00
Authorities in Castile-La Mancha have declared a state of high alert and ordered the compulsory vaccination of all dogs and cats within a 18 mile radius of where the attacks took place. The owner of the dog has been arrested for several counts of criminal negligence resulting in injury and for failing to have the correct license for a dangerous breed. It is thought he deliberately doctored veterinary records of the pit bull-cross after bringing it into Spain from Morocco. The dog bit three children, aged two, six and twelve, as well as a 17-year old male in the village of Arges, near Toledo, early this month. It was immediately destroyed and was confirmed to have been rabid following tests on Monday. All were discharged after being given rabies innoculations, apart from the two-year-old who was kept in hospital after being bitten in the face. The regional government has ordered all cats, dogs and ferrets in the danger zone to be vaccinated against the disease within fifteen days. Some 60,000 dogs in 56 villages are thought to be at risk. "We have also forbidden dogs to be allowed off the lead in public spaces until the danger has passed," confirmed Tirso Yuste, head of the regional Agriculture department. At least seven dogs have already been identified as having high levels of rabies and have been put in quarantine for one month. Mainland Spain was officially declared rabies free in 1975 after successful campaigns to stamp out the disease. There have been occasional examples recorded in Spain's North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, cities on Morocco's Mediterranean coast. It is understood that the rabid pit bull cross was bred in Spain but spent four months in Morocco, only returning within the last month. | |
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youtube.com 2013-06-18 08:24:00
An Arlington Minnesota couple discovered a strange rock in one of their corn fields. Source: KSTP TV Twin Cities | |
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Ottawa Citizen In B.C., flood watches have been issued for rivers and creeks in the province's west and east Kootenay region and smaller waterways in the upper and lower Columbia regions2013-06-20 22:07:00
Torrential rains and widespread flooding throughout southern Alberta on Thursday washed out roads and bridges, sent residents scurrying for safety, and delivered up surreal scenes of cars, couches and refrigerators just floating away. The RCMP put out a call for help to the Canadian Armed Forces, which sent in two helicopters and a Hercules aircraft to help extract people stranded by water. Officials with the City of Calgary said as many as 100,000 people in low-lying neighbourhoods could be forced from their homes due to heavy flooding, an evacuation that would take place in stages over the next few days. Bruce Burrell, director of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, said water levels on the Bow River aren't expected to subside until Saturday afternoon. "Depending on the extent of flooding we experience overnight, there may be areas of the city where people are not going to be able to get into until the weekend," he told a news conference. | |
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Maseeh Rahman The Guardian 2013-06-20 00:00:00
Hindu pilgrims visiting shrines in Uttarakhand state are left stranded days after floods killed more than 100 As many as 4,000 people are believed trapped by landslides in a valley near a Hindu shrine in the Indian Himalayas, days after floods killed more than 100 people. Helicopters have ferried rescue workers and doctors along with equipment, food and medicine to Kedarnath in the state of Uttarakhand, the nearest town. Most of those stranded are Hindu pilgrims who were visiting four shrines. Amit Chandola, a state spokesman, said authorities had so far been unable to reach eight villages feared washed away by the weekend floods in the worst-hit districts of Rudraprayag and Chamoli. | |||
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Ron Plants WGRZ.com 2013-06-20 16:37:00
We're hearing about more sinkholes developing on some streets in Buffalo and that could be much more of a problem for property owners. That is especially the case if the city determines it's caused by leaking or broken water pipes which undermine the street. City Council Majority Leader Richard Fontana estimates the repairs could run up to three or four thousand dollars or more in repairs if the city makes the ruling that a property owner's pipes are leaking or broken. He says much of the problem is tied to the age of the pipes. People on Duerstein Street off of Seneca Street in South Buffalo recently sent us pictures of a deep sinkhole which opened up this past weekend. The city feels the homeowner is responsible but in this case the city will make a repair according to City Spokesman Mike DeGeorge. It is in the middle of the street near the sewer line. | |
Comment: This excuse that all underground pipes in the U.S. suddenly became too old is growing a little 'old' itself. In fact an incredible number of sink-holes have been appearing world-wide. Take a look at these: Sinkholes - A Sign of the Times? | |
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WTAETV A giant sink-hole forces West View road to shut down.2013-06-19 00:00:00
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Chris Carrington The Activist Post 2013-06-19 00:00:00
On a dark winter's night in January 1700 a tsunami struck Japan. It flooded fields, swept away villages for miles inland and cost many lives. Even as far back as 1700 the Japanese had made the connection between earthquakes and Tsunami, but this time there was no earthquake, no warning to allow the people time to evacuate to higher ground. The tsunami was called the 'orphan tsunami' because it had no 'parent' earthquake. For more than 300 years the origin of the orphan tsunami remained a mystery. In the 1980s Hiroo Kanamori and Tom Heaton published a paper that said the 1700 tsunami was caused by a massive rupture of the Cascadia fault line that runs off the west coast of the United States from California to Vancouver. In 1987 Brian Atwater studied soil samples far inland across the length of the fault and discovered that the United States had also suffered a tsunami at the same time as the Japanese. He concluded that Kanamori and Heaton were correct, a massive earthquake had sent a tsunami out from the source of the quake inundating the coasts on both sides of the Pacific. Recent studies by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania has concurred on the findings of previous studies. | |
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RT news 2013-06-20 18:12:00
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| Fire in the Sky |
BBC 2013-06-17 07:00:00
"Loud explosions" heard across the east of England were caused by a sonic boom when a jet broke the sound barrier. The noise, at 11:30 BST, caused shaking and smashed windows and prompted calls to police in Cambridgeshire, Essex and Hertfordshire. The Ministry of Defence said a Typhoon jet from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire was launched when communication was lost with a Heathrow-bound plane. It is understood the plane, travelling from the USA, landed without incident. Air traffic controllers had become concerned but communication was re-established with the passenger airliner and there were no problems on board. | |
Comment: A sonic boom from a fighter jet does not 'smash windows' or cause 'whole houses' to shake... | |
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PAP 2013-06-21 06:11:00
A huge fireball as bright as a Quarter Moon crossed the sky over Poland just before midnight on Thursday, reports the Polish Fireball Network (PKiM). It was seen as a falling green ball with a red tail, as reported by a witness from the town of Piaseczno, near Warsaw. At 23.55 pm local time, Thomas Lewandowski, a member of the PKiM, saw a huge fireball that swept low over the horizon and ended with spectacular flashes. It was seen in the northwest part of the sky when observed from a location near Warsaw. This observation was quickly confirmed by Paul Zareba who runs a Polish Fireball Network station equipped with four cameras. One of the cameras recorded the phenomenon in all its glory. The fireball was also picked up on radio waves. Stayed tuned for more information. | |
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Lauren Leamanczyk CBS Boston 2013-06-14 22:29:00
Amesbury - Phil Green wasn't quite sure what he had, when he noticed the unusual rock on the banks of the Merrimack River. His yard backs up to the river and he was on one of his frequent walks, looking for arrowheads. The tide was low, leaving behind exposed mud and smooth granite. And then he noticed something that just didn't look right. "There she was just sitting there, sticking up like that, and I said heck what is this," recalls as he holds a large greenish colored rock. "It just didn't belong." The rock was covered in mud when Phil found it. It was hard to see the burn marks on the side. At first he thought it was a rock used to make arrowheads. Then he suspected it might be meteorite. He used a metal detector to check and found it wasn't metallic. | ||
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| Health & Wellness |
Strangely like Fiction: Sponsored academics admit falsely claiming dairy hormone safety endorsements Jonathan Latham, PhD & Allison Wilson, PhD Independent Science News 2013-06-17 14:51:00
The fight over rbGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) continues, even under new ownership. After acquiring rbGH from Monsanto, Elanco (part of Eli Lilly) has stepped up efforts to convince milk processors and the wider food industry that milk from rbGH-injected cows is safe. Central to their new campaign is a paper, commissioned through PR company Porter-Novelli, from eight prominent experts and academics in medicine and dairy science (Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST): a safety assessment). The authors are Richard Raymond, former undersecretary for Food Safety at USDA, Connie Bales of Duke University Medical Centre, Dale Bauman of Cornell University, David Clemmons of the University of North Carolina, Ronald Kleinman of Harvard Medical school, Dante Lanna of the University of Sao Paolo, Stephen Nickerson of the University of Georgia, and Kristen Sejrsen of Aarhus University, Denmark. The new paper was not peer-reviewed but it was presented at the July 2009 joint annual meeting of the American Dairy Science Association, the Canadian Society of Animal Science and the American Society of Animal Science in Montreal, Canada. It argues strongly for the benefits and safety of rbGH milk and has been widely distributed by Elanco. According to a rebuttal circulated by a number of consumer advocacy organisations, however, the paper misrepresents the position of various medical bodies (1). The paper claims, for instance, that the safety of rbGH is endorsed by the American Medical Association (AMA). Through their Campaign for Safe Food, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility (Oregon PSR), has pointed out that the AMA has no policy on rbGH and offers no such endorsement. Instead, they note the April 2008 AMA newsletter cites past president Ron Davis saying "Hospitals should......use milk produced without recombinant bovine growth hormone". | |
Comment: Learn more about the 'corrupt science' behind rBGH (Bovine Growth Hormone): Your Milk on Drugs: The Dangers of rBGH in Dairy Products Is Eli Lilly Milking Cancer by Promoting and Treating It? The Tale of rBGH, Milk, Monsanto and the Organic Backlash An FDA Ban On Genetically-Engineered Milk Is 20 Years Overdue Banned in 27 Countries, Monsanto's rBGH Inhabits Many U.S. Dairy Products Dr. Samuel Epstein's 20 Year Fight Against Biotech, Cancer-Causing Milk Case Study in Corporatocracy: Monsanto, Big Pharma, and the FDA Used Key Players to Approve rBGH Fox News Continues Persecution of Reporters Who Exposed Network Lies on Monsanto's rBGH | |
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Michael Snyder Activist Post 2013-06-20 14:20:00
If you could get 70 percent of Americans addicted to your drugs and rake in $280 billion a year in the process, would you do it? If you could come up with a "pill for every problem" and charge Americans twice as much for those pills as people in other countries pay, would you do it? If you could make more money than you ever dreamed possible by turning the American people into the most doped up people in the history of the planet, would you do it? In America today, the number of people hooked on legal drugs absolutely dwarfs the number of people hooked on illegal drugs. And, sadly, the number of people killed by legal drugs absolutely dwarfs the number of people killed by illegal drugs. But most Americans assume that if a drug is "legal" that it must be safe. After all, the big pharmaceutical companies and the federal government would never allow us to take anything that would hurt us, right? Sadly, the truth is that they don't really care about us. They don't really care that prescription painkillers are some of the most addictive drugs on the entire planet and that they kill more Americans each year than heroin and cocaine combined. They don't care that antidepressants are turning tens of millions of Americans into zombies and can significantly increase the chance of suicide (just look at the warning label). All the big pharmaceutical companies really care about is making as much money as they possibly can. The following are 20 signs that the pharmaceutical companies are running a $280 billion money making scam... | |
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Mark Sisson Huffington Post 2013-06-20 10:17:00
I find that grain bashing makes for a tasty, but ultimately unsatisfying meal. You all know how much I love doing it, though. But no matter how often I sit down to dine on the stuff (and I've done it with great gusto in the past), I always leave the table feeling like I left something behind. Like maybe I wasn't harsh enough about the danger of gluten, or I failed to really convey just how much I hated lectins. If I didn't know better, I'd think the mere mention of grains was eliciting a crazy insulin-esque response and throwing my satiety hormones all out of whack. I was filling up on anti-grain talk, but I just couldn't fill that void for long. Well, I've got the hunger today, and this time I aim to stuff myself to the point of perpetual sickness. I don't ever want to have to look at another anti-grain argument again (yeah, right). If things get a little disjointed, or if I descend into bullet points and sentence fragments, it's only because the hunger has taken over and I've decided to dispense with the pleasantries in order to lay it all out at once. So please, bear with me. Apart from maintaining social conventions in certain situations and obtaining cheap sugar calories, there is absolutely no reason to eat grains. Believe me -- I've searched far and wide and asked everyone I can for just one good reason to eat cereal grains, but no one can do it. They may have answers, but they just aren't good enough. For fun, though, let's see take a look at some of the assertions: | |
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Charlie Cooper The Independent 2013-06-17 19:45:00
The majority of doctors, nurses and front line health workers were not vaccinated against flu last winter, official figures have revealed. Health officials said they were "very disappointed" with the figures, which mean that, despite drives to improve uptake, only 45.6 per cent of health care workers were vaccinated against seasonal influenza - only slightly more than the previous year. Of more than one million health care workers involved in direct patient care, 466,600 were vaccinated. Forty five per cent of doctors were vaccinated and only 41 per cent of qualified nurses. Professor Nick Phin, a flu expert at Public Health England (PHE), said: "We are very disappointed to see that fewer than half of frontline healthcare workers received protection against flu last winter, and that the number is only slightly more than the previous year. "Few healthcare workers will need reminding of the potential impact of flu during winter. Apart from reducing their chances of a miserable illness, vaccination is the only way to protect those patients who are at high risk of the complications of flu. PHE strongly recommends that all frontline health and social care staff take up the offer of vaccination before next winter, and that they encourage their professional colleagues to do the same." | |
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| Science of the Spirit |
Consumer 360 2013-06-05 18:07:00
Malcolm Gladwell has good news for underdogs: There probably is a way to win. But it's definitely not the easy way. "Most people who are running a weak team would rather do the easy thing and lose than do the hard thing and win," Gladwell said Wednesday at Nielsen's Consumer 360 conference in Phoenix. The author gave a preview of the themes from his upcoming book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants - in which he finds that advantages in life aren't always ... advantageous. Case in point: A successful tech executive named Vivek who, in coaching his 12-year-old daughter's basketball team, had several things going against him. First, he was coaching a team of girls who were far from top athletes. And more importantly, he knew nothing about basketball, having grown up in Mumbai. But Vivek's outsider status made him see basketball in a way most people didn't. "He decided the way Americans play basketball is completely mindless," Gladwell said. | |
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| High Strangeness |
The Hindu Residents of Mogappair claimed to have sighted an unidentified flying object (UFO) on Thursday night.2013-06-20 18:02:00 Around 8.55 p.m. on Thursday, V.S. Ragunathan, a bank officer, saw five specks of bright orange light moving from the south to the north in the sky. "The spots appeared in batches of five and disappeared after a few seconds," said Mr. Ragunathan. His wife and daughter and some of their neighbours too witnessed the spectacle. "There was no sound at all and the bright object was flying higher than an aeroplane. Some of our neighbours too saw it," said Jayalakshmi, Ragunathan's wife. According to P. Iyamperumal, executive director, Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre, the bright objects could be a result of meteor showers. "But the season for meteor showers is usually in November and December," he said. The air traffic control officials at Chennai Airport said they did not receive any reports of foreign flying objects. |
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| Don't Panic! Lighten Up! |
Marc Lallanilla Life's Little Mysteries 2013-06-20 10:37:00
If you suffer from ophidiophobia - an irrational fear of snakes - you may want to think twice before watching the above video. And if you assume that the albino Burmese python opened a closed door purely by accident, know this: Snakes and other reptiles are surprisingly clever. A 2011 study published in the Journal of the Royal Society: Biology Letters found that lizards are smart enough to solve puzzles to help them find food, and could quickly adapt to changes in those puzzles, meaning they're as smart as some other vertebrates. These findings upended previous assumptions about how higher intelligence is limited to social species with varied daily diets. Most reptiles are solitary creatures, and many will eat only occasionally, not every day. Perhaps it's time to deadbolt your doors - and hide the key in a snake-proof container. |
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Article 7
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Article 6
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China Now Has 100 Million More 3G Subscribers Than The U.S.Mobile Insights is a daily newsletter from BI Intelligence delivered first thing every morning exclusively to BI Intelligence subscribers. Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today.China Now Has Over 300 Million 3G Subscribers (Tech In Asia)That's up from 175 million a year ago. While it's not a direct measure of smartphone penetration, it gives a pretty good indicator of where the Chinese smartphone market currently stands, and where global growth is heading. According to GSMA Intelligence, the U.S. only has 208 million 3G connections. Read >  Instagram Now Has Video (Instagram Blog)Users can now take 15 seconds videos with the choice of 13 filters. It also has a camera stabilizer built in to cut down on wobbling. The product is essentially like Twitter's Vine service, but with longer videos and filters. Another difference is that the Instagram videos don't loop as Vines do. Read > Chetan Sharma Releases U.S. Mobile Market Update For 2012Data revenues are growing in the U.S. but the mobile market is showing its maturity with a scant few million new connections, a 60% decline over the number added in the fourth quarter of 2012. It was the lowest number of new adds for a fourth quarter in U.S. mobile history, according to Sharma. Read > Google Is Building Brick And Mortar Stores To Promote Android In India (The Economic Times) Called Android Nation, the stores will arrive in cities across the country to promote and sell Android tablets and smartphones. It will also operate as an "experience center," allowing consumers to get hands-on demonstrations. Google had previously only opened Android Nation stores in Indonesia. Read > Why The Smartphone Camera Changed Photography Forever (The Verge)An interesting essay from professional commercial photographer James Bareham. He says that the gap between phone cameras and digital cameras is closing not just because phone cameras are getting better, but because we are viewing more photography on smartphones and tablets with lower pixel resolution. Read > WhatsApp Surpasses 250 Million Active Users (Wall Street Journal)The popularity of the mobile messaging apps poses challenges to a host of companies in the mobile ecosystem, as we wrote in a recent report. Read > | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Article 5
LA RICHIESTA A HONG LONG E LE RIVELAZIONI DEL «GUARDIAN»
Gli Usa chiedono l'arresto di Snowden
Datagate, accuse alla Gran Bretagna
Procuratori federali della Virginia hanno formalizzato alle autorità di Hong Kong la richiesta di arresto dell'ex tecnico della Cia. Da cui arrivano nuovi documenti contro Londra: «Intercetta le chiamate via fibra ottica»
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