treating people like dogs

if they think you're gonna zig, you better zag. - ed.

by Peter Chamberlain

excerpt:

The bastardization of Prof. Seligman’s work has given military planners either a faulty understanding of the concept of “learned helplessness,” or mistaken notions of turning a form of temporary insanity into a useable weapon. Bringing together two virtual reality engineers from India, Dr. Alok R. Chaturvedi (an early developer of the sims program) and Shailendra Raj Mehta, with an Israeli psychologist Daniel Kahneman, an expert in behavioral economics, to adapt computer-modeling to the weaponized theories of Seligman, the result was SEAS, (synthetic environment for anlaysis and simulation).

The SEAS program is a hopelessness predictor. Running scenarios for the military, determining probabilities, it theorizes the outcomes of psychological warfare operations, predicting when people would be ready to break-down emotionally and when they were just borderline unstable.

The Sentient World Simulation (SWS) is a “synthetic mirror of the real world with automated continuous calibration with respect to current real-world information.” The SWS computer simulation allows military leaders to:

“develop and test multiple courses of action to anticipate and shape behaviors of adversaries, neutrals, and partners. By applying theories of economics and human psychology, its developers believe they can predict how individuals and mobs will respond to various stressors.”

Homeland Security and the Defense Department are already using it to simulate crises. They try to anticipate how stressed-out populations can be manipulated by increasing the fear and anxiety-induced helplessness, through the introduction of panic-causing events, like earthquakes, tsunamis and terrorist attacks. Sound familiar, to anyone? Sounds like the fear-mongering basis of the whole “war on terror,” doesn’t it?

“The intent is to ‘…test multiple courses of action to anticipate and shape behaviors of adversaries, neutrals, and partners. By applying theories of economics and human psychology, its developers believe they can predict how individuals and mobs will respond to various stressors…” They try to anticipate how stressed-out populations can be manipulated by increasing the fear and anxiety-induced helplessness, through the introduction of panic-causing events.

read more @ information clearinghouse

Must Read: James' blog at Winter Patriot: How people who challenge the system can defend themselves

The other day, McJ put up a link to a story of a New Zealand journalist, Clare Swinney, who was incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital against her will for 11 days. She had written about the truth of 9/11 and had sent DVDs to television station personnel showing this truth. She also accused these people of lying about this truth. I felt very disturbed after reading this story because it brought to mind experiences of my own and of friends of mine who have fought for justice for themselves and others. The experiences don't match exactly Clare Swinney's, of course, but they are similar in that the weight of the State/Medical/Judicial/Police/Criminal complex has been brought down on me and my friends who are victims, supporters and/or whistle blowers. The results to varying degrees have included severe psychological stress and burnout; severe physical assaults and injuries and the loss of careers, health, money and freedom.

I mention the above experiences because I will be making some recommendations to people who are challenging the system (or may in the future) and some of these recommendations may sound risky or even dangerous. But I want to show that I am aware of the consequences of these actions and I don't recommend them lightly. They come from experience and I believe them to be, in fact, the safest way to handle “unwanted attention from the authorities”. These encounters are always scary. Don't kid yourself otherwise. But by preparing a strategy beforehand and adopting the attitude that in the immortal words of Jason Bourne, “this isn't just some story in a newspaper. This is real”, you will give yourself the best chance of maintaining the maximum level of power over your circumstances possible.

Clare Swinney repeated some of the mistakes that I have made and some that my friends have made in other situations. So I will use her story to illustrate what I am talking about. Of course, it would make it easier to follow my arguments and recommendations if you have read Clare's story beforehand. It, too, is rather long I'm afraid, so take a cut lunch with you but save a sandwich for when you get back here!

I am going to use Clare's testimony of her reactions and behaviours as examples of what not to do. There will be a few “shoulds” in my advice. I do not mean this in any way as a criticism of Clare. We all learn the hard way most of the time. I certainly have. Clare has published this account of hers, so I assume she wants others to use it and benefit. And full marks to her for doing so! This takes courage. Though this scenario deals with a psychiatric committal, the tactics and advice can be generalised to many other threatening situations. Whether you agree with my points or not, I hope you will have benefited from thinking through this situation in advance.
So on to Clare's story then:-

read more @ James' blog

Must Read: Irish4Palestine: ILLEGAL ORGAN TRADING - It's Israel's fault, not Sweden's

Israel’s Self Inflicted Dilemma

The story of 19 year old Bilal Achmed Ghanan has brought more scrutiny onto Israel's illegal organ trade operation. We now know that Israel's blakc market organ trading stretches outside of the US state of New Jersey and directly into Palestine.

The recent article on Israeli Organ Stealing from dead or captured Palestinians published in a Swedish newspaper has sent the Zionists into a “freak-out frenzy” which, I am finding quite comical. For all of the Zionist huffing and puffing and self righteous pontificating, calling for Sweden to “condemn” the printing of said article, but no matter, the real problem is not the fault of this article being published, for the problem is with Israel, not Sweden.

Here’s why. Israel is not seen as an honest entity, and that is not the fault of Sweden or any article written about Israel. Israel has created its own reality, the world has seen Israel’s refusal to admit to any of the atrocities it has clearly committed, many of which have been witnessed by millions of the worlds people. We all saw the genocide in Gaza, the white phosphorous, the DIME missiles, the tanks, the destruction of homes, hospitals, mosques, UN schools, and the death toll of over a thousand civilians and 400 children.

But as always, poor Israel is the victim and the whole world is suffering from Anti-Semitism. I wrote about this organ harvesting the other day and immediately had a visit from one of the many outraged Zionist propaganda filth spreaders who made this comment:

read more @ irish4palestine

dangerous development: Iran discovers vast new oil reserves

Iran has discovered more than 8.8 billion barrels of oil in four layers of reserves in the country's southwestern Susangerd oil field.

"These reserves were discovered after drilling through all the new layers of reserves, to a depth of 5,026 meters (16,489.5 ft), and the expected and possible amount of reserves in this field is over 8.83 billion barrels," Iran's Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari said in a statement on Monday.

The minister described the field as the most significant discovery in the past 5 years. "The development of this field can play an effective role in raising the crude oil production in the country," he said in the statement.

read more @ press tv

6 jewish companies own 96% of world media

excerpt:

These are the facts of Jewish media control in America. Anyone willing to spend several hours in a large library can verify their accuracy. I hope that these facts are disturbing to you, to say the least. Should any minority be allowed to wield such awesome power? Certainly, not and allowing a people with beliefs such as expressed in the Talmud, to determine what we get to read or watch in effect gives this small minority the power to mold our minds to suit their own Talmudic interests, interests which as we have demonstrated are diametrically opposed to the interests of our people. By permitting the Jews to control our news and entertainment media, we are doing more than merely giving them a decisive influence on our political system and virtual control of our government; we also are giving them control of the minds and souls of our children, whose attitudes and ideas are shaped more by Jewish television and Jewish films than by their parents, their schools, or any other influence.

read more @ pak alert press

bureau of prisons denies Madoff has cancer

The Federal Bureau of Prisons said Monday that the convicted swindler Bernard L. Madoff had not been diagnosed with cancer and was not terminally ill.

The bureau directly contradicted a report in The New York Post on Monday that said Mr. Madoff was dying of cancer, citing only unidentified sources.

After receiving numerous queries about the report, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons, Traci Billingsley, released the following statement:

“While the N.Y. Post story is full of inaccuracies, and we can’t specifically address all of them, we can tell you that Bernie Madoff is not terminally ill, and has not been diagnosed with cancer.”

Mr. Madoff, the architect of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, is serving a 150-year term at the federal prison in Butner, N.C.

from NYT

Obama to nominate Bernanke to second term

OAK BLUFFS, Mass. -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, widely credited with taking aggressive action to avert an economic catastrophe after the financial meltdown last fall, will be nominated by President Barack Obama for a second term, The Associated Press learned Monday night. Obama plans to make the announcement on Tuesday during a break from his vacation on Martha's Vineyard. A senior administration official discussed the nomination on the condition of anonymity because it was not yet public.

read more @ kirotv

more fear mongering on swine flu, plus some rallying round the flag

The epidemic, it said, "could cause between 30,000 and 90,000 deaths in the United States, concentrated among children and young adults," it said.

That compares with 30,000 to 40,000 deaths from seasonal flu each year, mainly among people over age 65.

The report said the epidemic poses "especially high risks" for people with pre-existing conditions such as pregnant women and patients with neurological disorders, respiratory impairment, diabetes or severe obesity.

It also mentioned Native Americans as being at risk from the swine flu. [WTF ???]

...

Overall, the PCAST gave the administration positive reviews for its preparation.

"The Federal Government's response has been truly impressive and we've all been pleased to see the high level of cooperation among the many departments and agencies that are gearing up for the expected fall resurgence of H1N1 flu," said PCAST co-chair Harold Varmus.

"This virus has pulled us all together in common cause," said another PCAST co-chair, Eric Lander. "The preparations are the best ever for an influenza pandemic," he said.

Over 20 pharmaceutical companies around the world are racing to test, produce and distribute more than a billion doses of the vaccines in anticipation of the second wave of infection.

read more @ afp

Ellen Brown interview on the collapse of debt money

excerpt:

Daily Bell: Can you tell us your book's thesis in a nutshell?

Brown: Our money is an illusion. Except for coins, which compose only one ten-thousandth of the money supply, all of our money today consists of debt to private banks. Banks always take back more money in principal and interest than they put into the money supply as principal, making the system basically a pyramid scheme. After 300 years, this scheme has spread around the world and has now reached its mathematical limits. The whole world has been captured in the debt trap of a private international banking monopoly.

read more @ daily bell

Endgame: recession accelerates 'aliyah'

buh bye!! - ed.

For six years, Laurie Turnof worked long hours as an assistant vice president at Lehman Brothers; her career was her top priority.

But after the company's meltdown last year, Turnof decided she needed a change of direction. First she went on a six-month tour of southeast Asia that took her to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Now, back from her travels, the 28-year-old New Yorker is planning to move to Israel.

"I go there about every other year and I've always enjoyed it," Turnof told JTA. "So now I have this opportunity and I said, well maybe I'll go."

Turnof, a native of Holmdel, N.J., plans to fly to Israel in December to look for a job in micro-finance and then immigrate. She's thinking about moving to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, where she has friends.

Turnof is among a number of American Jews who are experiencing the recession as a catalyst for aliyah, or immigration to the Jewish state.

read more @ SOTT

Madoff dying of cancer

hmm wonder how he got that? something in his toothpaste?

plausible deniability - ed.

NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Bernard Madoff, convicted of swindling $65 billion through the biggest-ever Ponzi scheme, has told fellow prison inmates that he is dying of cancer, the New York Post reported on Monday, citing unnamed prison sources.

Madoff, 71, who since June has been serving a 150-year sentence at a North Carolina federal prison, has been telling fellow inmates he does not have much longer to live, the Post said, citing the unofficial and unusual sources.

The Post said there had been speculation that Madoff was suffering from pancreatic cancer earlier this year. Inmates said Madoff was taking "about 20 pills a day" and "not doing very well."

The Post said Madoff's lawyer did not return messages Sunday and had previously declined to answer questions about whether Madoff had cancer. Reuters could not reach Madoff lawyer Ira Sorkin immediately for comment.

The tabloid also reported Madoff has engaged in a number of surprising new activities with some unexpected social circles.

A shirtless Madoff has joined weekly "Native American religious purification ceremonies" that involve prayers, heated rocks to induce sweat and smoking from a ceremonial pipe, the paper said.

The paper also reported that various "gangs" at the prison are trying to recruit Madoff while some inmates regularly cook "sandwich wraps" for him at their cells. (Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone, editing by Maureen Bavdek)

via reuters

The Hasbara Handbook

The Israel Project's 2009 Global Language Dictionary (pdf)
Dr. Frank Luntz


access it via there are no sunglasses

bring.a.bucket.

body snatchers are back

another great article, this one by Israel Shamir - ed.

excerpts:

This lack of moral inhibitions allowed a leading Khabbad rabbi, Yitzhak Ginzburg, to give his religious permission to a Jew to take a liver from a goy even without his consent. He said that “a Jew is entitled to extract the liver from a goy if he needs it, for the life of a Jew is more valuable than the life of a goy, likewise the life of a goy is more valuable than the life of an animal.”

Modern Israelis have forgotten their faith, but have retained this lack of inhibition. An Israeli business newspaper, The Marker, has published an opinion piece by an Israeli lawyer justifying the trade in body organs, for “organs are just commodity, and so they can be bought and sold like any commodity in an open market”.

...

Could it be that the useful-for-Israel fear of anti-Semitism does not work like a charm anymore? This is possible. The Cairo speech of Obama apparently has had no direct consequences; Obama tried to apply pressure to Israel in order to freeze the settlements, but in vain. Did he fail? It is too early to judge, as Chou En Lai was wont to say. Such changes rarely occur by the wave of a magic wand … they take time. Recent publications on the Jewish criminal gang in New Jersey, attacks on Goldman Sachs, medals for Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu, an award to Felicia Langer, the collapse of the pro-Jewish socialist party and the appearance of an anti-zionist party in France, the Boström article in Aftonbladet – all are small and separate incidents, but together they imply that the change is coming. Swedes, French, Germans and even New Jerseyans are no longer afraid of Washington coming at them like sixteen tons in defence of Zionists, as would have been the case in the days of George W. Bush. Obama even refused to appoint a new anti-anti-semitic commissar.

This thought frightens the Tel Aviv government more than anything. If today they let the Swedes get away with it, tomorrow there will be somebody else, and then the fear of the Jews will be assigned to the category of unmanly unrealistic fears, like fear of mice.

Second Ending

More importantly, Israeli outrage is a proof that - despite approval for it by radical Cabbalists and neoliberals - transplantation of human organs is an immoral dreadful thing, too close to cannibalism, and we all know that. Yes, it is awful if Israeli soldiers tear kidneys out of Palestinians and kill them afterwards. But it is equally awful, if a kind doctor removes a kidney out of a Detroit mechanic whose house was repossessed by a gentle banker, or out of a Ukrainian worker who was sacked by a polite oligarch, or out of an Indian farmer who has to pay his debt to Monsanto. Every poor man on the planet is a Palestinian – though the means of his dispossession may vary. This kind of thing should be stopped. The human body is sacred. These operations are too expensive and can’t be justified. Mankind should overcome its fear of death. We live and we die. There is no reason to waste thousands of dollars prolonging a life by expensive operations if this money can be used for feeding the starving. More about this later...

read more @ the truth seeker

the body snatchers of israel

Independently of the recently published article of the Swedish journalist Donald Boström about the Israelis murdering Palestinians in order to harvesting of organs for sale, and independently of the hysteric screeching and denials by the Israelis, I want to present my readers what I witnessed, saw, observed and heard during my 22 years of journalistic work under the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. My personal experience confirms what Mr. Boström wrote: while I do not know the particular case which he describes, it is typical for what the Israelis do in Palestine all the time, what is “normal” since the early seventies.

The Israeli military occupation started in the early 1970s to capture and keep the bodies of the Palestinians who they murdered. Since the early seventies, thousands of Palestinians have been buried in secret and number graves of the Israeli military. Since the early seventies, thousands of Palestinian victims of the occupation were “autopsied”, and many of their bodies kept in military numbered graves. Most members of the resistance who were killed were taken for “autopsy”, and also those who were wounded were abducted from the hospital by the Israelis. This practice became somewhat less widespread only when the PA came to power, meaning that people murdered in areas controlled by the PA were not “autopsied” any more, but this would still happen to people murdered or wounded in areas controlled by the Israelis.

The Israeli military leadership, the Central Command and the so-called “defense” Ministry cannot hide these well- and widely known facts: the Israeli military murders people all the time, and most if not all of the murdered are taken for “autopsy”, many of them are buried in Israeli military cemeteries in numbered and secret graves. These facts cannot be hidden by the fancy statements issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, by the deranged terrorist and war criminal Ehud Barak and the corrupt extremist Benjamin Netanyahu.

In many cases, the so-called “civil administration”, military commanders and officers were returning to their families the bodies of Palestinians who they had murdered after the middle of the night, and after a few days “detention” of the bodies. The military officers would call the families of the victim after the middle of the night (usually at 1-3 in the morning), demanding that a few relatives, “not more than 10”, wait on the street for burying the body.

The first condition of the military “civil” administration was that the burial should take place immediately after receiving the body, in the dark of the night, for “security reasons”, the second condition of the Israelis was that women should not participate in the secret funeral, also for “security reasons” (actually they wanted to avoid that the screams of grieving mothers, sisters, daughters of the victim would be heard, so alerting the neighbourhood to the crime). The Israeli officers always used “security reasons” to justify and cover up their criminal activities!

outstanding article. read more @ atheo news

thousands of israelis petition to boycott IKEA

because after all, assuaging the hurt feelings of israelis takes precedence over finding out the truth about illegal organ trafficking... - ed.


Thousands of Israelis have signed an online petition to boycott the Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, in the wake of a controversial article published in the Swedish daily Aftonbladet that suggested that Israeli soldiers "harvested" the organs of Palestinians.

The signatories were also dismayed at the refusal of the Stockholm government to denounce the allegations under the banner of press freedom.

"In the wake of the anti-Semitic publication of a Medieval-type blood libel against IDF soldiers, and the ongoing silence of the Swedish government on the matter, it is unacceptable that we continue to support the Swedish retailer IKEA," the petition read. "Please, don't just sign the petition, we need real action!"

more at haaretz
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1109478.html

H1N1 october surprise prevention

The core essence of "Greater Things" is that there is always a better way to do things -- anything -- whether it be religion, politics, science, academia -- anything. To the extent that we get institutionalized and codified in a set belief system, is the extent that we inhibit the ability to grow and learn new and better ways. - Dr. Andrew Moulden.


A growing number of doctors, other health professionals and citizens are attempting to prevent the humanitarian disaster planned for this October when the new H1N1 vaccine is to be deployed in a grand scale, military, war on terror manoeuvre .

"Primum non nocere" ("First do no harm"), medical ethics standard attributed to Hippocrates that became obligatory for physicians prior to practicing medicine in the 4th century AD is still upheld by some doctors who oppose the worldwide October plan including what Global Research Director, Michel Chossudovsky warns is a military operation leading to global militarization control of individuals.

An under-reported first International Swine Flu Conference being held in Washington DC this weekend includes sessions on “conducting morgue operations,” “mass fatality planning” and “unwillingness to follow government orders,” and “training teachers to screen for symptoms …and “transport ill students.”(Jesse Woodrow, They have planned to take kids from schools for Mass Vaccinations and Quarantines WAKE UP!) (video)

read more @ global research

swine flu conference in DC predicts the end of the USA as a result of the pandemic

Every day the mainstream media in the US and around the world hypes the threat of the so-called swine flu and spends acres of words on every alleged fatality. And yet not one mainstream media outlet has covered the first INTERNATIONAL Swine Flu Conference, which finishes today 21st August in Washington DC.

The conference prepares for a catastrophe in the USA, for mass evacuations, economic collapse and the death or illness of 40 per cent of the workforce. Why, if people are to be given the "swine flu" shot and the shot is allegedly so effective?

The conference covers mass fatality management, the protection (by the police and army presumably) of he "emergency response management center", which will ultimately controlled by WHO and the UN from which orders will be sent to pandemic deployment teams. They will be sent out to conduct forced innoculations as allowed by law in many states (undertaking mass vaccinations effectively) and impose quarantines.

The conference covers evacuation and mass transport. Mass transport to where? To the FEMA camps?

This conference foresees 30 to 40 percent of the emergency responders dropping out from operations. Why? If they are to get the innoculation first, and this is allegedly so effective?

Why does the mainstream media not cover a conference that predicts total economic and social collapse, and the end of the USA as it has been in existence since its foundation, attended by 700 experts from more than 30 countrie?

Check out this video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEzj2CATQ1o

and the swine flu programme here: http://www.cesa.net/DOCS/08192009.PDF


good questions, Jane.
read more @ swine flu case

mainstream belgium newspaper talks about "rumors of global genocide under the pretext of a pandemic"

A leading Belgium newspaper has reported on the criminal charges filed in Austria by myself and subsequently in France, Ireland, the UK, the Netherland and Sweden by others, over the WHO and Baxtrer swine flu pandemic hoax.

The newspaper refers to "foolish rumours" circulating on the internet that there is an ambition to trigger a "global genocide under cover of a pandemic."

The newspaper omits to mention that the Austrian police are investigating the "charges filed in Austria" over Baxter's contamination of 72 kilos of vaccine material with live bird flu virus provided by WHO, which nearly triggered a global pandemic.

In view of the fact that Baxter uses biosafely level 3 regulations in its biomedical facilities in Orth an der Donau, the contamination and distribution of such material strongly suggests criminal intent.

read more @ the flu case

exposed: swine flu hoax

The alarm has been sounded. Politicians, pharmaceutical executives and media conglomerates would have us believe that a 1918-style pandemic is a real threat. The 1918 pandemic, however, evolved out of conditions unique to World War I, for four specific reasons.

Why 2009 is Not 1918

First, World War I was characterized by millions of troops living in waterlogged trenches along the Western Front. This war zone became fertile ground for an opportunistic virus, as medical literature reveals:

"…a landscape that was contaminated with respiratory irritants such as chlorine and phosgene, and characterized by stress and overcrowding, the partial starvation in civilians, and the opportunity for rapid ‘passage’ of influenza in young soldiers would have provided the opportunity for multiple but small mutational charges throughout the viral genome." (1)

Second, the war witnessed the growth of industrial-scale military camps and embarkation ports, such as Etaples in France, enabling the flu virus to enter into another phase of accelerated mutation. On any given day, Etaples was a makeshift city of 100,000 troops from around the British Empire and its former dominions. These soldiers concentrated into unsanitary barracks, tents and mess halls.

read more @ CLG

are empire and democracy compatible?

The status quo claims Empire "supports" democracy. But what if Empire is intrinsically incompatible with democracy?

Let's take a quick look at the American Empire.

I use the word "Empire" because to avoid it would be artifice. What word other than Empire describes a nation with a commercial, diplomatic and military presence in most of the planet's nations?

I use the term without ideological spin: for the purposes of this analysis, it is not a structure to deny, deplore or glorify but one which must be carefully described as a unique and thus key context of all global issues, even those which on the surface appear to have little connection to military matters.

It is important to preface any discussion of Empire by noting that those serving their nation honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces are not always well-served by their civilian leadership. The reason citizens serve is to defend the nation, which is the Constitutionally mandated, legitimate purpose of the Armed Forces.

read more @ charles hugh smith

FEMA's new administrator

September 2009
By Amanda Ripley
The Atlantic Monthly

Craig Fugate, the new head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Barack Obama, is an unusual choice for the job, historically speaking. Unlike many of his predecessors, most famously Michael “Heckuva Job” Brown under President George W. Bush, Fugate (pronounced few-gate) has experience in the relevant subject matter. A former firefighter, Fugate managed disasters for 20 years in Florida, the fiasco capital of America. Even more bizarrely for FEMA, often a dumping ground for friends of the powerful, Fugate has no political connections to Obama. Instead, he got his job the old-fashioned way—when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was looking for candidates, people kept mentioning his name. He has a reputation for telling it like it is—in a field where “it” is usually bad. And what Fugate has to say may come as strong medicine for his fellow citizens, 9 out of 10 of whom now live in a place at significant risk for some kind of disaster.

read more here

a bedtime story

The bad pirates were making trouble in the Gulf of Aden.

The Russians sent some ships there to escort commercial vessels. Lots of countries sent ships because the pirates are bad. So bad.

"The warships from the Pacific Fleet have successfully escorted over 100 Russian and foreign commercial ships since January 2009. They have thwarted several attacks by pirates," the official said.

Around 35 warships from the navies of 16 countries are currently deployed off Somalia's coast to counter frequent pirate attacks on key trade routes.

Pirate attacks on commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden and off the east coast of Somalia have amounted to 130 since the beginning of the year, with 44 ships captured and at least 270 people held as hostages.

But while the Russian ships were busy in the Gulf of Aden protecting commercial vessels from the bad pirates, Georgia was playing pirates in the Black Sea! In Russia's back yard! Bad Georgia.

The Georgian government yesterday confirmed to the Agence-France Presse that it had captured two cargo ships in the Black Sea, which it accused of attempted to break their naval blockade by visiting the Republic of Abkhazia.

Abkhazia, predictably, was none to pleased with the capture of the ships: one a Turkish tanker delivering fuel and the other a Cambodian ship with a Syrian crew which was delivering scrap metal, and threatened a “proportionate response” against Georgia for the blockade.

Then...the Arctic Sea went missing for two weeks, and it's all very mysterious, but the Russian navy found it, phew, and not a single shot was fired. And nobody really knows what's going on it's like watching Chinese Olympic ping pong.

The Finnish owner of the Arctic Sea ship, which was missing in the Atlantic for more than two weeks until it was found on Monday, wants reliable information on the crew, the Solchart company said on Friday.

The Maltese-flagged cargo vessel was found off Cape Verde on Monday with 15 Russian crewmembers and eight suspected hijackers on board. The ship was freed by the Russian Ladny missile frigate without a single shot being fired.

"We are appealing to all officials with a request to show humanity and provide Solchart with any reliable information on the crew and the vessel," Viktor Matveyev, managing director of the Finnish company, said.

He said the company had made inquiries to various organizations about the vessel and its crew, and on who was taking the ship to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and for what reason, but had received no reply.

The ship's 11 crew members and all eight of the alleged hijackers were flown to Russia on Thursday. The other four crew members of the Arctic Sea, including the captain, remain on board.

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said the ship was heading to Novorossiysk, where the investigation would be continued.

The head of an Arkhangelsk-based trade union of seamen said earlier the Arctic Sea crew had been unable to contact their relatives since they were freed. However, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office dismissed reports on Friday that the crew's rights and freedom of movement were restricted.

Four Estonians, two Latvians and two Russians arrested on board the vessel on suspicion of hijacking are currently being questioned in Russia.

A Moscow court on Friday gave approval for all the eight men accused of hijacking the cargo vessel to be held in custody.

Weird, huh? And right in the middle of that happening the Swedish newspaper went and published that wicked story about the IOF stealing organs from Palestinians. And the Arctic Sea went missing off the coast of Sweden, an area where piracy is unheard of, so...weird.

And now, actually, we hear that the bad pirates who hijacked the Arctic Sea were only trying to help Israel by stopping evil weapons from reaching Iran. !!! So....um, pirates are not bad after all? I guess these are the "good" kind of pirates, the Robin Hood kind of pirates, helping the down-trodden Israelis protect themselves from the evil Iranians.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1249418669031&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Pirates recently gained control over a Russian ship off the shores of Sweden in order to prevent weapons smuggling to Iran on Israel's behalf, according to a report by Russian newspaper Nuvia Gueta.

According to Saturday's report, which Army Radio cited, the Russian ship was carrying a load of X-55 cruise missiles intended for Teheran. Several days after the pirates seized the ship, Russian navy forces gained control over the vessel off the coast of West Africa.

Army Radio said Russian authorities denied the report, saying "the allegations are baseless."

Dmitri Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO, said the report was fantastical and absurd.

Oh wait! Turns out they weren't pirates they were Mossad!!! Which Is Totally Different!!!

A Russian newspaper claimed Friday that suspected pirates who boarded the freighter Arctic Sea were actually agents of the Israeli secret service trying to stop it from smuggling arms into Iran.

According to Russian media, the Arctic Sea may have been carrying illegal X-55 cruise missiles destined for Iran hidden among its cargo of lumber.

Men acting on behalf of the Israeli Mossad secret service commandeered the ship to divert the weapons away from Israel’s regional enemy, the daily Novaya Gazeta said.

Citing Moscow publicist Yulia Latynina, the daily pointed to the surprise visit of Israeli President Shimon Peres Aug 18, a day after the Arctic Sea, which had been missing for three weeks, had been tracked down and liberated by Russian forces off West Africa.

During his visit, Peres, who according to Latynina had no other business in Russia, requested Moscow refrain from supplying weapons or missile defence systems to Iran. [that sounds so diplomatic shalom - ed.]

The deployment at great expense of Russian Black Sea fleet to liberate the hijacked ship was undertaken for the sake of the 15 Russian seamen on board and not supposed weapons, Rogozin said.

Russian authorities in Moscow late Friday formally charged the eight alleged hijackers with kidnapping and piracy, the Interfax news agency reported.

The suspects include a Lithuanian, a Russian, three stateless people, and a Spaniard, the report said, adding that the citizenship of the two remaining suspects had yet to be clarified.

According to official reports, the Arctic Sea was liberated from pirates Monday off the coast of West Africa. According to the Russian sources, pirates seized the freighter July 24 off the coast of Sweden.

Victor Matveev, director of Solchart Management, the shipping company that owns the Arctic Sea freighter stated Friday that his company “still has not received any official information” about the ship or its crew.

So all that's left is to flash the Memory Eraser at the crew and I'm sure this is all going to make perfect sense by the end of the day tomorrow.

Israel wages game theory warfare

excerpt:

To provoke that invasion required the displacement of an inconvenient truth (Iraq played no role in 911) with what lawmakers and the public could be deceived to believe. The emotionally wrenching nature of that incident was essential in order to induce Americans to abandon rational analysis and to facilitate their reliance on false intelligence.

Americans were (predictably) provoked by that mass murder. The foreseeable reaction—shock, grief and outrage—made it easier for them to believe that an infamous Iraqi Evil Doer was to blame. The displacement of facts with beliefs lies at heart of how Israel, the world’s leading authority in game theory, induces other nations to wage their wars.

False but Plausible

To displace facts with credible fiction requires a period of “preparing the minds” so that the mark will believe a pre-staged storyline. Thus the essential role of a complicit media to promote: (a) a plausible present danger (Iraqi weapons of mass destruction), (b) a plausible villain (a former ally re-branded as an Evil Doer), and (c) a plausible post-Cold War threat to national security (The Clash of Civilizations and “Islamo-fascism”).

Reports from inside Israeli intelligence suggest that the war-planners who induced the 2003 invasion of Iraq began their psyops campaign no later than 1986 when an Israeli Mossad operation (Operation Trojan) made it appear that the Libyan leadership was transmitting terrorist directives from Tripoli to their embassies worldwide. Soon thereafter, two U.S. soldiers were killed by a terrorist attack in a Berlin discotheque. Ten days later, U.S., British and German aircraft dropped 60 tons of bombs on Libya.

read more @ there are no sunglasses

how Israel wages war in plain sight

It’s now well known that Israelis and pro-Israelis “fixed” the intelligence that induced the U.S. invasion of Iraq. What’s not yet widely known is how. If peace-seeking nations hope never again to see deceit operate on such a scale, those deceived must learn this lesson before these same operatives induce a war with Iran.To “wage war by way of deception” (the motto of Mossad) requires the capacity to operate in plain sight yet without detection. To detect this duplicity in real time requires a grasp of how Israeli strategists rely on three key categories of operatives: agents, assets and sayanim (Hebrew for helpers or volunteers).

read more @ snippets and snappets

hints of Iranian flexibility on (imaginary) nuclear issue

What's this?? Is someone trying to wriggle out of WW III? - Ed.

CAIRO — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has settled on a strategy of trying to consolidate power by surrounding himself with loyalists at home while appearing to signal to the international community a readiness to address the nuclear issue, political commentators, diplomats and scientists said on Thursday.

While much attention has been focused on Mr. Ahmadinejad’s decision to try to pack his cabinet with loyalists, his choice of a well-respected physicist, Ali Akbar Salehi, as a vice president and the head of Iran’s nuclear agency has been greeted in the diplomatic and scientific community as signaling a possibly less dogmatic, more pragmatic nuclear policy.

Two other recent developments have added to that perception. The first, according to diplomats and scientists, is recent indications that Iran may be prepared to be more cooperative with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. The second was Mr. Ahmadinejad’s decision to retain the foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, and not to move a more conservative ally into that position.

read more @ nyt

the Middle East "peace industry"

Upon finding out that I am Palestinian, many people I meet at college in the United States are eager to inform me of various activities that they have participated in that promote “coexistence” and “dialogue” between both sides of the “conflict,” no doubt expecting me to give a nod of approval. However, these efforts are harmful and undermine the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel — the only way of pressuring Israel to cease its violations of Palestinians’ rights.

When I was a high school student in Ramallah, one of the better known “people-to-people” initiatives, Seeds of Peace, often visited my school, asking students to join their program. Almost every year, they would send a few of my classmates to a summer camp in the US with a similar group of Israeli students. According to the Seeds of Peace website, at the camp they are taught “to develop empathy, respect, and confidence as well as leadership, communication and negotiation skills — all critical components that will facilitate peaceful coexistence for the next generation.” They paint quite a rosy picture, and most people in college are very surprised to hear that I think such activities are misguided at best, and immoral, at worst. Why on earth would I be against “coexistence,” they invariably ask?

During the last few years, there have been growing calls to bring to an end Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people through an international movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). One of the commonly-held objections to the boycott is that it is counter-productive, and that “dialogue” and “fostering coexistence” is much more constructive than boycotts.

With the beginning of the Oslo accords in 1993, there has been an entire industry that works toward bringing Israelis and Palestinians together in these “dialogue” groups. The stated purpose of such groups is the creating of understanding between “both sides of the conflict,” in order to “build bridges” and “overcome barriers.” However, the assumption that such activities will help facilitate peace is not only incorrect, but is actually morally lacking.

read more @ atheo news

psychopaths in charge of the asylum

Following a link from the ever excellent Smoking Mirrors (and trust me, you need to read this man's thoughts), I read this extraordinary article about the psychopaths among us.

When viewed in this light, the world makes perfect sense.

Israelis dropping napalm on children, banks being bailed out by the very people who caused the problems in the first place, and the cattle public of Wooton Basset lining up to honour child killers all seems suddenly entirely logical, whereas before it struck me as essentially complete and utter madness.

But not if the world is actually run by psychopaths.

Of course it is. How could it ever have been otherwise. The article makes clear that psychopaths have an advantage over us handicapped non psychopaths. They feel no pity, remorse or empathy for a start. On a level field, they are already ahead on the score board.

read more @ suraci

Homeopathy not a cure says WHO

IF HOMEOPATHY REALLY CAUSED UNNECESSARY DEATHS, YOU CAN BE SURE THE WHO WOULD ADVOCATE IT. -ED

People with conditions such as HIV, TB and malaria should not rely on homeopathic treatments, the World Health Organization has warned.

It was responding to calls from young researchers who fear the promotion of homeopathy in the developing world could put people's lives at risk.

The group Voice of Young Science Network has written to health ministers to set out the WHO view.

However practitioners said there were areas where homeopathy could help.

In a letter to the WHO in June, the medics from the UK and Africa said: "We are calling on the WHO to condemn the promotion of homeopathy for treating TB, infant diarrhoea, influenza, malaria and HIV.

"Homeopathy does not protect people from, or treat, these diseases.

"Those of us working with the most rural and impoverished people of the world already struggle to deliver the medical help that is needed.

"When homeopathy stands in place of effective treatment, lives are lost."

Dr Robert Hagan is a researcher in biomolecular science at the University of St Andrews and a member of Voice of Young Science Network, which is part of the charity Sense About Science campaigning for "evidence-based" care.

He said: "We need governments around the world to recognise the dangers of promoting homeopathy for life-threatening illnesses.

"We hope that by raising awareness of the WHO's position on homeopathy we will be supporting those people who are taking a stand against these potentially disastrous practices."

read more @ bbc

Falling in love

Excerpt:

Just look at the emphasis we place on having a 'formal education.' This sickness continues for at least a full-third of too many lives that could have

been spent in the love affair of a profession of their own choosing: had there ever been any real choice available. Ironically the really excellent professions actually choose us, and not the other way round. Music calls to the true musician, just as architecture or engineering calls out to those so gifted; It's the same with writing or painting or anything that requires creative skill and mental agility to even begin to work at their individual craft: Today most are content if they can just get a job-any job-just so that they can stay alive. Except that this is NOT living it's just an existence that is spent completing tasks that are nothing more than the footnotes in other people's dreams. Most do not make the time to ponder this, or much of anything else because we are too busy trying to obtain all the things that we've been taught about-things that will somehow make everything better; but nothing could be further from the truth.

read more @ rense

War games in Eastern Mediterranean

Reliant Mermaid military exercise to be conducted by Turkey, Israel and the USA begins today. Though press in Turkey slides around the matter, the exercise annoys all the countries in the regions.

Ron Ben Yishai, military commentator for Israel’s Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot had said this about the Reliant mermaid exercise: “When the two strongest armies in the Middle East…are focused on achieving an unwritten military alliance, and when the world’s only superpower grants this process its support, other countries in the region have cause for concern.”

The “Reliant Mermaid” one of the “joint search and rescue exercises” by the Israeli, Turkish and United States Naval and Air Forces takes start today; Turkey will be hosting the exercise. The live part of the exercise will begin on 19th August and end on 21st August.

read more @ there are no sunglasses

Georgia seizes Turkish ship

Georgian officials seized a Turkish ship carrying oil to Abkhazia.

On Friday, a Turkish oil tanker, Buket, which was shipping oil bought from TÜPRAŞ to Abkhazia, was seized by Georgian authorities. Georgia is imposing an implicit blockade to Abkhazia and South Ossetia which declared their independence after the war in August, last year.

Communication with the oil tanker dropped on Saturday night around 03:00. DENSA Tanker Isletmeciligi Ltd. Sti. officers informed the search and rescue officials and Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday morning stating that they are not receiveing signals from the ship Buket, which is under their management.

The explanation made by Ministry of Foreign Affairs to DENSA stated that the ship was seized by Georgia and was taken to the Poti Port by Georgian officials.

DENSA Chairman Hüseyin Avni Şen claimed that Georgian officials shut down AIS equipments by force and these are forbidden to be shut down according to the IMO rules. Şen said, “Ship personnel were put into a room and the ship was taken to the Poti Port. Our Captain Mehmet Coşkun Öztürk was arrested after being brought to a court, because of frontier infringement. Other personnel, including the trainee captain Özlem Akıncı Balca are under custody in the ship”.
(soL – News Desk)

from there are no sunglasses

Arctic Sea was in Russia port for two weeks getting retrofitted for a big cargo

The official version of events was questioned by Yulia Latynina, a leading Russian opposition journalist and commentator.

“The Arctic Sea was carrying something, not timber and not from Finland, that necessitated some major work on the ship,” she wrote in the Moscow Times newspaper on Wednesday.

During two weeks of repair works in the Russian port of Kaliningrad just before the voyage, the ship’s bulkhead was dismantled so something very large could be loaded, she wrote.

“To put it plainly: The Arctic Sea was carrying some sort of anti-aircraft or nuclear contraption intended for a nice, peaceful country like Syria, and they were caught with it,” she said.

read more @ cryptogon

Finland involved in rescue of Arctic Sea

excerpt:

The Maritime Authority in Malta, where the ship is registered, said in a statement late Tuesday that "The movements of the MV Arctic Sea were always known for several days, notwithstanding reports that the ship had 'disappeared.'"

Authorities in Finland, Malta and Sweden had agreed "not to disclose any sensitive information in order to not jeopardize the life and safety of the persons on board and the integrity of the ship," the statement said.

and the cargo on the ship...? - ed.

read more @ chinaview

Organ selling story is major Israeli PR problem

Check out the comment section. - ed.

In the photo, The IDF's Chief Rabbi, OC Chaplaincy Brig. Gen. Avichai Ronzki and OC Medical Corps Brig. Gen. Nachman Ash both signed up for an organ donation card during a ceremony in the Kirya Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv. One wonders if they are aware that, if the claims are true, their very own IDF has at least on several occasions been involved in obtaining younger organs from Palestinians they have killed, returned to their families after five days and had buried in a regime of a night-time blackout under Israeli-enforced Palestinian curfew.

There is an old Jewish joke that tells the story of a dying Jewish merchant who calls his son to his sickbed just before he perishes. He tells him, “Listen to me Moisha’le, life is not just about money… you can also do gold and diamonds.”

Monitoring Israeli and Jewish news reveals a devastating fact, it is not ‘just’ about money. It may also be about human organs. A few weeks ago we learned about a ring of American Rabbis who had been arrested in New Jersey upon suspicion of human organs trafficking (amongst many other crimes). Rabbi Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, we read, enticed “vulnerable people to give up a kidney for $10,000 which he would turn around and sell for $160,000." Not too bad, I thought to myself then. We are living in hard times, financial melt down, credit crunch, Wall Street is licking its wounds, the car industry is evaporating. Seemingly, kidney trafficking is still booming.

read more @ palestine think tank

links between H1N1, Baxter, DynCorp

Fear intimidation & media disinfo in UK re: mass graves for swine flu

An official UK government report --quoted extensively in Britain's tabloid media-- is warning the British public that there will be countless deaths in the case of a swine flu pandemic. According to the WHO, a Worlwide public health emergency situation will take place in the Fall.

A high death toll is predicted without corroborating evidence.

The official report confirms government plans to set up mass graves for the victims of the swine flu pandemic:

"Plans for mass graves have been drawn up to cope with a second wave of swine flu this Autumn. The chilling proposals are spelled out in a Home Office document discussed at a meeting of Whitehall officials and council leaders last month.

It warns emergency plans may be needed in areas where there are not enough graves to cope.

The 59-page document talks about using "a grave that is for a number of unrelated persons, excavated mechanically in advance and designed for efficient preparation and use". (The Sun, Augsut 19, 2009)

The mass graves, according to the report, "are being planned to deal with the rising death toll from swine flu if the pandemic escalates":

read more @ global research

More Americans figure out that Afghan war is bad idea

A majority of Americans now see the war in Afghanistan as not worth fighting, and just a quarter say more U.S. troops should be sent to the country, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Most have confidence in the ability of the United States to meet its primary goals of defeating the Taliban, facilitating economic development, and molding an honest and effective Afghan government, but few say Thursday's elections there are likely to produce such a government.

When it comes to the baseline question, 42 percent of Americans say the United States is winning in Afghanistan; about as many, 36 percent, say it is losing.

read more @ washington post

FBI agents' role is transformed by terror fight

Excerpt:

For an F.B.I. team here that vets tips and threats about possible terrorist activity, it was yet another false alarm in a job largely defined by hoaxes and bogus leads that must still be run to ground.

yeah. read more @ nyt

FBI: Arm Boston Police with assault rifles, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG??

Sheeple still confused, 54% think this is a good idea, 41% say no, a few still not sure. Obviously many people still have no idea who the real terrorists are... FBI agent Bamford "baffled" by opposition to his plan, maybe he hasn't heard about all the innocent people killed by the non-lethal tasers? - ed.

BOSTON -- An FBI official said Boston police officers should be armed with assault rifles to make the city more prepared for a terrorist attack.

Warren Bamford, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Boston, said Tuesday that he is baffled by opposition to a proposal to give some neighborhood police officers the semiautomatic weapons. In May, Boston Mayor Tom Menino criticized a proposal to arm up to 200 officers with M-16s that the police department had ordered from the U.S. military. Menino said only specially trained units should have the guns. Bamford said he believes more officers should have access to the guns in the event Boston becomes the target of a terrorist attack like the one that killed 166 people in Mumbai, India in November.

source

Dr Blaylock's solutions to help those forced to take an A/H1N1 vaccine stay healthy

By Clare Swinney

This report provides practical information on how to protect yourself if you are unlucky enough to be forced to take an A/H1N1 vaccine.

Dr Russell L. Blaylock, a highly-respected neurosurgeon, who has authored three books on nutrition and wellness, including Health And Nutrition Secrets That Can Save Your Life, recently spoke with Dr Bill Deagle, MD of The Nutrimedical Report about some proven natural, readily accessible solutions that may help deal with the toxic effects of A/H1N1 vaccines. The excellent hour-long interview can be downloaded from HERE at 0731091 and a transcript of the interview is posted at Dr Deagle’s site at this link here.

Dr Blaylock’s List of suggestions on How to Reduce the Toxic Effects of the A/H1N1 Vaccine, is as follows:

1. Number one on the list says Dr Blaylock, is to bring a cold pack with you and place it on the site of the injection as soon as you can, as this will block the immune reaction. Once you get home, continue using a cold pack throughout the day. If you continue to have immune reactions the following day, have cold showers and continue with the cold press.

read more @ claire swinney

US slashes swine flu vaccine estimate

Some kind of adjustment going on here in the NWO planning department...? I seriously doubt they're having manufacturing and packaging delays, that sounds like a crock.... - ed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Monday said they had slashed their estimate of how many swine flu vaccine doses will be available for the start of a mass vaccination campaign in the fall.

Citing delays in manufacturing and packaging the vaccines, the Department of Health and Human Services said only 45 million doses of the new H1N1 vaccine would be on hand in mid-October, instead of the 120 million previously forecast.

The revised delivery guidelines would push back a U.S. government estimate that all those requiring vaccinations be immunized by the first week of December.

"Our latest information from the manufacturers tells us that we now expect to have about 45 million doses by October 15 with approximately 20 million doses being delivered each week thereafter, up to the 195 million doses that we have purchased," Bill Hall, an HHS spokesman, said in an e-mail.

read more @ reuters

50 top US war criminals with instructions

Compiled below, in hopes that it may be of some assistance to Eric Holder, John Conyers, Patrick Leahy, active citizens, foreign courts, the International Criminal Court, law firms preparing civil suits, and local or state prosecutors with decency and nerve is a list of 50 top living U.S. war criminals. These are men and women who helped to launch wars of aggression or who have been complicit in lesser war crimes. These are not the lowest-ranking employees or troops who managed to stray from official criminal policies. These are the makers of those policies.

The occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan have seen the United States target civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, use antipersonnel weapons including cluster bombs in densely settled urban areas, use white phosphorous as a weapon, use depleted uranium weapons, employ a new version of napalm found in Mark 77 firebombs, engage in collective punishment of Iraqi civilian populations — including by blocking roads, cutting electricity and water, destroying fuel stations, planting bombs in farm fields, demolishing houses, and plowing down orchards — detain people without charge or legal process without the rights of prisoners of war, imprison children, torture, and murder.

read more @ public record

multiple levels of psyops in missing tanker story

From AP, notorious psyops delivery system, news that officials ADMIT they knew all along where the ship was and were just fucking with people's minds by keeping quiet, *in order to save lives* of course, therefore it's ok. Who can even parse this nonsense? Is it even worth trying? - Ed.

MOSCOW – For more than two weeks, the freighter Arctic Sea seemed to have vanished in the Atlantic Ocean's vastness, but officials said Tuesday they knew where it was all along and were just staying mum in order to bring a dangerous hijacking drama to a bloodless end.

read more @ yahoo

they make the missiles, *and* they make the anti-missiles

Raytheon eyes new anti-missile system for Israel

By Jim Wolf

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama, Aug. 18 (Reuters) - Raytheon Co, the world's biggest missile maker, said it was developing a new system that, if deployed, could boost Israel's defenses against Iran as soon as 2013 and beef up anti-missile bulwarks worldwide.

The system could also help resolve a U.S.-Russian deadlock over Bush-era plans to extend into Europe the U.S. shield against ballistic missiles.

The plan is to create a land-based version of Raytheon's existing Standard Missile-3, a mainstay of U.S. missile defense from the sea. It also would use a long-range Raytheon radar already deployed in Israel and Japan as part of yet another U.S. defense system.

read more @ reuters

Is it really anti-semitic or is it JUST TRUE?

Top Sweden newspaper says IDF kills Palestinians for their organs

18/08/2009 - A leading Swedish newspaper reported this week that Israeli occupation soldiers are abducting Palestinians in order to steal their organs, a report that prompted furious condemnation and accusations of anti-Semitic blood libel from a rival publication.

“They plunder the organs of our sons,” read the headline in Sweden’s largest daily newspaper, the left-leaning Aftonbladet, which devoted a double spread in its cultural section to the article.

The report quotes Palestinian says that young men from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip had been seized by the Israeli occupation army, and their bodies returned to the families with missing organs.

read more @ atheo news

The truth is that Israel does not want peace

Quiet slicing of the West Bank makes abstract prayers for peace obscene
by Slavoj Zizek

On 2 August 2009, after cordoning off part of the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem, Israeli police evicted two Palestinian families (more than 50 people) from their homes; Jewish settlers immediately moved into the emptied houses. Although Israeli police cited a ruling by the country's supreme court, the evicted Arab families had been living there for more than 50 years. The event – which, rather exceptionally, did attract the attention of the world media – is part of a much larger and mostly ignored ongoing process.

Five months earlier, on 1 March, it had been reported that the Israeli government had drafted plans to build more than 70,000 new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank; if implemented, the plans could increase the number of settlers in the Palestinian territories by about 300,000 Such a move would not only severely undermine the chances of a viable Palestinian state, but also hamper the everyday life of Palestinians.

read more @ guardian

Peter Chamberlain: Are we really cattle?

Have we really become “We the sheeple,” or are we still human beings? The planet is dying under the thrall of a small minority of men who think of the rest of the human race as “cattle,” livestock for them to buy and sell.

The ruling class behaves much like a spoiled child, if they don’t get to have everything their way all of the time, they throw this massive temper tantrum and threaten to upset the whole game. They have gotten their way in everything for so long that they have fallen under the spell of their own propaganda. They believe that we are sub-human animals, who should be herded into the best outcome possible. But, have the rest of us begun to accept this as well?

As members of the human herd, most of us recoil at the “bovinian” suggestion, but consider just how much we do behave like a herd. We willingly accept being treated like a herd, trusting our lives to politicians because we appreciate not having to make hard decisions for ourselves, being contented as cows, as our leaders and their hired hands drive us down a path to destruction, for the sake of them making a few dollars more in profit.

read more @ there are no sunglasses

Ellen Brown: The secret of China's miracle economy

“The banks -- hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. They frankly own the place.”

-- U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, Democratic Party Whip, April 30, 2009

While the U.S. spends trillions of dollars to bail out its banking system, leaving its economy to languish, China is being called a “miracle economy” that has decoupled from the rest of the world. As the rest of the world sinks into the worst recession since the 1930s, China has maintained a phenomenal 8% annual growth rate. Those are the reports, but commentators are dubious. They ask how that growth is possible, when other countries relying heavily on exports have suffered major downturns and remain in the doldrums. Economist Richard Wolff skeptically observes:

read more @ web of debt

mubarak to visit obama

Something has to be up here. We pay Egypt big bucks so that Mubarak will look the other way re: Israel. - ed.

Mr Mubarak has praised President Barack Obama, who made a key speech in Cairo in June outlining his Mid-East plans.

He is expected to tell Mr Obama Arab states are willing to do their bit for peace if Israel freezes settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

Israel has so far refused to take that step, despite repeated US calls.

On Monday, Mr Mubarak repeated his insistence in an Egyptian newspaper interview that Arab states would normalise relations with Israel, but only once a comprehensive peace was achieved.

BBC Diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the Obama administration has sought to press the reset button with Egypt.

...Talks between Mr Mubarak and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took place on Monday night. In addition to Israel and the Palestinians, talks covered Iran, which both nations fear is building nuclear weapons.

read more @ bbc news

the travails of small business doom the economy

Over time, the travails of small business will doom the U.S. economy. One of the recurring themes here is the largely zero-coverage-by-the-MSM erosion of small business in the U.S. via hamhanded over-regulation and over-taxation. Correspondent Robert D. provided this first-hand account of why businesses either never get off the ground or fail shortly after opening.

You often mention the excessive burdens placed on small business by our friends in City Hall, the various State Capitals and D.C. I thought I might add my anecdote to the mess. A few years ago my wife, 2 kids, 3 dogs, 1 cat, 2 gerbils and I moved to a picturesque small town on the Pacific Coast with a large historic district where my wife had a job offer at the local hospital. I found work as a chef at the population center 1 hour+ commute each way by car, ferry and shoe. After a couple of years of 10-12 hour days plus the commute I was getting burned out. So when the new owner of a local boutique hotel asked for proposals for a restaurant to replace the failing "Gifte Shoppe" in his ground floor commercial space, I jumped on it. We shook hands on a sweetheart deal lease-wise as long as he did not have to contribute to any build-out costs. That's when the fun began.

read more @ charles hugh smith

"global warming" issues: journalists show their bias

Read these quotes:

“As scientific evidence has accumulated that the planet is warming and that humans are behind it, many previous skeptics have been won over. There remains a vocal cadre of critics, however, at least some of whose arguments have shifted over the last several years from outright denial that the earth is warming to insisting it's unrelated to human activity — and even if it is, likely nothing much to worry about."

"Some of the most vocal skeptics have done relatively little recent peer-reviewed scientific research on the topic, and some have had their voices amplified via financial support from industries opposed to any government regulation or taxation of greenhouse gas emissions."

"Others do have training and experience, at least in some aspects of the wide-ranging issue, and are not bankrolled by industry. But overall, their number represents a distinctly minority position in the ongoing and normal colloquy among scientists about the evidence of climate change and its likely impacts."

The paragraphs above are taken from the website of the Society of Environmental Journalists section on “Skeptics and Contrarians."

Their choice of words and the structure of these comments disclose their preference and prejudices of the global warming issues. They also show a remarkable [ignorance] of what science is and how it proceeds. These are the self-appointed journalists who view themselves as final arbiters and reporters of what science is. They haven’t a clue.

What is remarkable is that a society of Journalists, allegedly intending to honestly discuss complex issues, has forfeited their professed dispassionate indifference to the global warming issues in exchange for naked advocacy.

read more @ atheo news

classification of corporate psychopaths

Toxic managers is just a politically correct term for corporate psychopaths, really dangerous predators of corporate jungles in general and IT jungles in particular. Psychopaths cannot be understood in terms of antisocial rearing or development. They are the "monsters" of the corporate world not that different from ordinary criminals or, to be more precise, are "criminals without crime". Psychopath is first of all the failure to recognize, much less to empathize with, the personal human dignity and rights of others. In a deep sense of this word they can be considered insane.

"Sanity" does not mean perfection; it merely means sufficient engagement with the real world and society to allow us to survive both day-by-day and in the long term – thus “sane” individuals usually tend to obey traffic laws, learn from their mistakes and practical experience and, in the case of moral sanity, they recognize in others their worth and their capacity for joy and suffering. Furthermore, sanity implies an ability of introspection: capacity to critically evaluate one’s experience, to distinguish fact from fiction, and to tune behavior, to adapt to the real world. Insanity, by implication, suggests a significant level of detachment from reality. For example, a psychopath can not recognize the human worth and the capacity for pleasure and pain in others. In this sense he/she is living in an "unreal" world. It can also be combined with other psychological disorders like paranoia.

read more @ softpanorama

ex-staffer at Dimona nuclear reactor says made to drink uranium

Workers at the nuclear reactor facility in Dimona were made to volunteer to drink uranium in 1998 as part of an experiment, according to a lawsuit filed four months ago in the Be'er Sheva Labor Tribunal by a former worker at the facility.

The experiment was allegedly carried out without obtaining written consent from the workers or warning them of risks or side effects, as required by the Declaration of Helsinki on human experimentation.

The Israel Atomic Energy Commission said in a statement that the Dimona facility "has the safety and health of its workers as its highest priority."

added that the amount of uranium the Dimona staffers drank in the experiment (100 micrograms) was less than the amount Be'er Sheva residents drink from their taps in one month.

The worker who submitted the lawsuit, Julius Malick, recently retired after he said he was threatened by the former director of the facility, Yitzhak Gurevich, and the director of human resources, Gary Amal, that if he did not retire he would be fired.

read more @ sos

medical experts: Palin "too stupid to live"

BALTIMORE -- A team of doctors and cognitive researchers issued a joint statement Thursday detailing “pressing concerns” regarding recently retired Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s health, claiming the Republican starlet “may be too stupid to live much longer.”

At a press conference in johns Hopkins Medical Center, neurologist Rajib L. Shaktakarian spoke for the group as he listed off a number of observed symptoms, including aphasia, memory loss, delusions, and “general idiocy,” which “seem to be worsening by the day,” judging by recent public statements.

“Normally,” said Dr. Shaktakarian, “these symptoms might indicate a stroke or series of strokes, but judging by her apparent bodily health, and the lack of facial drooping or motor-neuron impairment, we have concluded that Palin is suffering from a severe case of clinical stupidity, which we fear may be terminal.”

Shannon Barkley, a professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology at Johns Hopkins, warned Palin’s condition could become dire in the very near future. “Given the nearly random, disjointed nature of her speech patterns, and her astounding misunderstandings of the basic facts of life and reality, it’s really only a matter of time before she forgets how to breathe or pump blood to her vital organs,” said Barkley. “Frankly, I’m amazed she’s still alive today.”

read more @ goon squad

suraci: mirror the bigot

I like to play a little game called Mirror the Bigot. I know many bigots unfortunately, not because I move among unusually ignorant and ill informed people, but because in Britain today most of the public are routinely bigoted, and in a socially acceptable way.

The target of the new acceptable bigotry is Muslims.

The game I play is simple, and is very amusing at times. Every time I hear an anti-Muslim slogan repeated parrot like from one of the media's mind slaves, drenched in a a constant downpour of covert hate and bigotry against the Zionist's premier target, I simply substitute the word "Muslim", with "Jew".

So for instance, in casual conversation with a bigot who knows nothing about politics or the real world save what that nice Mr Rupert Murdoch tells them, or any of the controlled mainstream propaganda outlets like the BBC, I wait for the inevitable invective spat out and aimed at Muslims. It can come in many forms, but an example is, "Bloody Muslims, terrorists the lot of them". I simply reply with, "Bloody Jews, terrorists the lot of them."

The sudden look of surprise can be very amusing.

read more @ suraci

MI-5 and the British far right

Someone asked me naively/defensively/almost accusative to prove the links between MI-5 and British far-right groups and agitators. In normal social interactions and conversations “proving” all your assertions is not necessary….its merely a perspective, an opinion on an issue……whether believed or otherwise. Conversation would be very stale if we had to reference all our points of view.

It is taken as given for those who belong to the activist progressive class, and who are sufficiently informed that there are clear linkages between MI-5 and the far right in the UK.

Identifying this linkage is very important in understanding the dynamics of British politics…….and the underlying motivations around such extremist events which recently took place in Birmingham.

read more @ mostaque ali

Eva Golinger: US to attack Venezuela

Not a word breathed about Israel in this video... - Ed.

more corporate media jokes: bad Rahm. bad bad bad Rahm.

As the Obama administration presses Israel to cease settlement expansion as part of a renewed push for a Middle East peace deal—a course of action that many Israelis have interpreted as evidence of the president’s favoritism towards Palestinians—Israelis have increasingly focused their disappointment not on Obama, but rather on his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

An observant Jew with deep ties to Israel, Emanuel is viewed as something of a native son, his rise through the ranks of American politics celebrated by Israelis who reveled in details such as his childhood summers spent in Israel and his volunteer stint during the first Gulf War in an Israeli military program for civilians.

read more @ politico

corporate media jokes

The lede on an ABC News story about hurricane season:

It is as if someone flicked the "on" switch this weekend. For ten weeks we had a hurricane season with no hurricanes.

...Claudette was a classic "popup storm," simply appearing out of nowhere. Eighteen hours after popping up in the Gulf of Mexico, Claudette made landfall early Monday morning.

OH, MAYBE THEY *DID* SWITCH THE "ON" SWITCH, hmmm??!!?? (wink wink wink) - ed.

source:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=8342919&page=1

Uranium weapons: does anyone care about our planet?

We have seen governments and military refuse to accept that uranium based weapons have been used in all the theatres of war. Only when independent tests and conclusive evidence is provided do these authorities back down. We have seen this in the Balkans, Kuwait, and Iraq. We now have good evidence from Afghanistan, with further news of a leaked German document. Now we only have three more to go, Lebanon, Gaza and Pakistan. We already know what the final outcome will be but it takes time for such authorities to admit to their cover-ups and lies.

Once the cat is out of the bag we see a rush of activity by those governments to apply pressure to the UNEP and WHO to go out into the field to check the levels of contamination (as if they don't know already). The respective teams return to their headquarter and in conjunction with the governments, ICRP and IAEA prepare a well worded document declaring that there were no significant findings and that the levels found met with normal background radiation. They then repeat that the traces of depleted uranium or enriched uranium found were insignificant and all fall within permitted levels and do not pose any risk to troops or the civilian population. What they don't tell you is that the figures are all unrealistic and that their methodology of using the ICRP model is totally flawed and outdated when dealing with DU or Low Level Radiation (LLR), especially when it has been inhaled.

read more @ uruknet

Reforming the global financial system

excerpt:

Although governments have inherent authority to create their own money, they foolishly borrow it from central banks, with interest. A central bank fabricates fiat notes (paper money) and credit by “lending” them into existence, in return for treasury bonds of the host government ~ taxpayer IOUs. This “money” has no pre-existing substance in reality and is conjured up through accounting entries. It is literally created out of nothing. The central bank first lends these accounting entries to its private owners and then to its downline commercial banks with interest. The commercial banks are permitted to lend nine times the amount of their borrowed accounting entries held “in reserve”. This nine-fold multiplication of borrowed accounting entries is described as “fractional reserve banking.” When borrowers accept these accounting entry loans they create massive inflation of the money supply which devalues the currency. These accounting entry loans must be “paid back” with compound interest that multiplies exponentially. More money must then be fabricated to pay this interest. Thus, all “money” that enters circulation is actually debt contrived by fictitious accounting entries. Every fiat dollar is an IOU from a borrower to a lender. A debt-based monetary system can never achieve equilibrium because compound interest always overwhelms the escalating money supply and eventually causes systemic collapse.

read more @ information clearinghouse

Why are smart people so ignorant when it comes to health, vaccines and vitamin d?

excerpt:

Getting back to the question at the top of this article, the truth is that even really smart people are mind slaves, too, because you don't get through the world of academia by asking lots of questions. You survive academia by conforming. You get through medical school by swallowing whatever you're told and shutting down that part of your brain that used to ask skeptical questions. People who ask too many questions get flunked out.

read more @ natural news

Who owns the ship and what is on board?

excerpt:

Ownership of the Arctic Sea is hidden behind a complex web of companies in Malta and Finland.

Its owners – thought to be three Finnish-based Russian businessmen – only filed unaudited accounts earlier this month after initial news emerged of the vessel’s hijacking.

read more @ daily mail

Scientific data "privileged"

Global Warming ate my data

We've lost the numbers: CRU responds to FOIA requests

By Andrew Orlowski • August 13, 2009

The world's source for global temperature record admits it's lost or destroyed all the original data that would allow a third party to construct a global temperature record. The destruction (or loss) of the data comes at a convenient time for the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) in East Anglia - permitting it to snub FoIA requests to see the data.

The CRU has refused to release the raw weather station data and its processing methods for inspection - except to hand-picked academics - for several years. Instead, it releases a processed version, in gridded form. NASA maintains its own (GISSTEMP), but the CRU Global Climate Dataset, is the most cited surface temperature record by the UN IPCC. So any errors in CRU cascade around the world, and become part of "the science".

Professor Phil Jones, the activist-scientist who maintains the data set, has cited various reasons for refusing to release the raw data. Most famously, Jones told an Australian climate scientist in 2004:

Even if WMO agrees, I will still not pass on the data. We have 25 or so years invested in the work. Why should I make the data available to you, when your aim is to try and find something wrong with it.

[UM, THERE *IS* SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT. THAT'S WHY PEOPLE WANT TO SEE IT. - ed.]

read more @ atheo news

Adrian Salbuchi videos: What To Do?