The Good Guys Will Win Ha

11.27.2009

how long can the corporate media ignore climategate?

1. Obama's science czar John Holdren involved in unwinding "climategate" scandal

Lift up a rock and another snake comes slithering out from the ongoing University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU) scandal, now riding as “Climategate”.

Obama Science Czar John Holdren is directly involved in CRU’s unfolding Climategate scandal. In fact, according to files released by a CEU hacker or whistleblower, Holdren is involved in what Canada Free Press (CFP) columnist Canadian climatologist Dr. Tim Ball terms “a truculent and nasty manner that provides a brief demonstration of his lack of understanding, commitment on faith and willingness to ridicule and bully people”.

“The files contain so much material that it is going to take some time t o put it all in context,” says Ball. “However, enough is already known to underscore their explosive nature. It is already clear the entire claims and positions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are based on falsified manipulated material and is therefore completely compromised.

“The fallout will be extensive as material continues to emerge. Reputations of the scientists involved are already destroyed, however fringe players will continue to be identified and their reputations destroyed or sullied.”

While the mainstream media is bending into pretzels to keep the scandal under the rug, Climategate is already the biggest scientific scandal in history because of the global policy implications.

...Indeed, Holdren’s emails show how sincere scientists would be made into raw “entertainment”.

read more @ canada free press

2. John Holdren, Obama's science czar, says: forced abortions and mass sterilization needed to save the planet

Book he authored in 1977 advocates for extreme totalitarian measures to control the population

Forced abortions. Mass sterilization. A "Planetary Regime" with the power of life and death over American citizens.

The tyrannical fantasies of a madman? Or merely the opinions of the person now in control of science policy in the United States? Or both?

These ideas (among many other equally horrifying recommendations) were put forth by John Holdren, whom Barack Obama has recently appointed Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology -- informally known as the United States' Science Czar. In a book Holdren co-authored in 1977, the man now firmly in control of science policy in this country wrote that:

• Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;
• The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation's drinking water or in food;
• Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise;
• People who "contribute to social deterioration" (i.e. undesirables) "can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility" -- in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized.
• A transnational "Planetary Regime" should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans' lives -- using an armed international police force.

Impossible, you say? That must be an exaggeration or a hoax. No one in their right mind would say such things.

Well, I hate to break the news to you, but it is no hoax, no exaggeration. John Holdren really did say those things, and this report contains the proof. Below you will find photographs, scans, and transcriptions of pages in the book Ecoscience, co-authored in 1977 by John Holdren and his close colleagues Paul Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich. The scans and photos are provided to supply conclusive evidence that the words attributed to Holdren are unaltered and accurately transcribed.

read more @ zombietime.com

philippines - what kind of thinking concludes that killing 57 people can be covered up, in any way, even with a backhoe?

1. witness: we just followed orders

A man who says he was a witness to Monday’s massacre in the southern Philippines has told Al-Jazeera how he was ordered to kill members of a rival political clan—including women and children—and to make sure no evidence was left behind. The witness, who identified himself only as “Boy,” said he was among more than 100 armed men who held up a convoy of political campaigners and journalists before taking them to a remote mountainous area where they were then killed. Speaking to Al-Jazeera’s correspondent Marga Ortigas, “Boy” said the orders had come directly from Andal Ampatuan Jr., a local mayor and a member of a politically powerful clan with close ties to the Philippines president.

“Datu Andal himself said, he said to us: Anyone from the Mangudadatu clan—women or children—should be killed … We don’t ask why, we just followed orders.” At least 57 people died in the massacre, believed to be the worst ever politically related killings in the Philippines. “Boy,” who is now in hiding fearing his life is in danger, said all of the women in the group had been raped before being killed. Their bodies were then dumped in mass graves that had already been dug out in advance using an excavator. He said that Ampatuan Jr. had also ordered that the reporters accompanying the convoy should also be killed to cover-up what had happened.

Soldiers coming

“That too was ordered by Datu Andal … because they didn’t want any evidence left behind,” he said. “Boy” said the whole process had lasted little more than an hour before the gunmen had to abruptly abandon the scene following a warning that members of the military were nearby. “We didn’t get to finish, which is why the excavator was left there,” he said.“Someone called and said soldiers were on their way. I feel they have connections among the soldiers.”

‘Up to my conscience’

Speaking with his face covered to conceal his identity, “Boy” said he was supposed to have been an active participant in the massacre but did not actually kill any of the victims. He said he would have been shot if he had tried to intervene. “I was just standing there,” he said “I was all alone… I could only leave it up to my conscience.”

source: inquirer

2. ombudsman wants to know why a govt backhoe at massacre scene

MANILA, Philippines—What was a government-owned backhoe doing in that killing field?

The Office of the Ombudsman in Mindanao wants to know and is coordinating with the National Bureau and Investigation and other law enforcement agencies probing the massacre, Assistant Ombudsman Jose De Jesus said Wednesday when sought for comment.

Military and police investigators found a backhoe, owned by the Maguindanao provincial government, in the area where victims of the Maguindanao massacre were found. It was apparently used to dig the mass graves.

De Jesus, quoting the Ombudsman's Mindanao office, said: "We really want to find out exactly why a government property is there at the time of the massacre?"

The Ombudsman is tasked to probe and prosecute cases against government officials.

However, before it could step in, the agency had to confirm first that government officials were indeed involved in the brutal killings.

De Jesus said the deputy ombudsman in Mindanao was "aware of the situation."

He said the fact-finding investigators in Mindanao "are interested in this matter," especially in finding out why a piece of government property was found in the crime scene.

He said that if the police investigation would reveal that government officials were behind the massacre, the Ombudsman would mobilize a fact-finding investigation.

source: inquirer

11.25.2009

common denominators: minerals and psychopaths

1. Rwandan genocide militia has global support network

PARIS-- Military operations have failed to contain Rwandan-Hutu rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo and international action is needed to restrict their financing, said a new report by UN experts.

In a major report for the United Nations Security Council, unpublished but seen by AFP, researchers said Congolese, Rwandan and UN forces have tried to disarm the FDLR rebels, who still pose a potent threat to regional stability, but have failed to impose order in a region still wracked by faction fighting.

"This report concludes that military operations against the FDLR have failed to dismantle the organization's political and military structures on the ground in eastern DRC," the detailed 93-page document begins.

The report also alleges that the FDLR is managing to recruit fighters using profits from a corrupt international trade in minerals.

The militia sprang up in camps in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) housing mainly ethnic Hutu refugees who fled Rwanda after their leaders launched the 1994 genocide, which left some 800,000 people dead.

The campaign has been undermined by corruption and brutality within the official Congolese armed forces and by the FDLR's ability to fund its campaigns through the international mineral trade, it says.

Companies are buying minerals from jungle mines controlled and operated by Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) cadres, while middlemen are smuggling millions of dollars in gold to Dubai every year.

The document was researched on the ground in Congo and the region over six months by a five-strong stream of experts hired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in order to prepare a report for Security Council members.

It calls on international governments to step up measures to stifle the FDLR support network, which includes members of the Rwandan diaspora based in Europe and North America and foreign sympathizers in Catholic charities.

The experts also warn that since March an offensive against the militia by Congolese forces, some of whose officers have supplied weapons to the rebels, has made life even worse for the beleaguered civilian population.

"Scores of villages have been raided and pillaged, thousands of houses have been burnt and several hundred thousand people have been displaced in order to escape from the violence generated by these military operations," it says.

Official Congolese records show only a few kilos of gold exported legally every year, but the country's own senate estimates that in reality 40 tons a year -- worth 1.24 billion dollars -- gets out.

The UN report details how both the anti-Rwandan government FDLR and their enemies in pro-Kigali militias use the same ethnic Indian middlemen to smuggle gold to souks in the United Arab Emirates.

It also says the FDLR profits from the export of cassiterite.

In September, the British group AMC said it would stop buying Congolese cassiterite, insisting the trade was legal but complaining of "negative campaigning from advocacy groups and adverse coverage."

The UN experts also "collected information on individuals affiliated with the Catholic Church and other religious and charitable organizations ... who provide financial and material support to the FDLR."

This is said to include "regular financial, logistical and political support from individuals" linked to two Spanish organizations, including the Fundacio S'Olivar, which is funded by the government of the Balearic Islands.

The islands' regional parliament issued a statement defending the Fundacio, denying that it supports armed groups and insisting that it works "in defense of peace, justice and solidarity, always applying pacifist principles."

Meanwhile, FDLR leaders command their troops from the safety of Europe.

"Some of these supporters and leaders are suspected participants in the 1994 Rwandan genocide," the report says, going on to detail telephone traffic and cash transfers between exiled Rwandan politicians and militia warlords.

The experts tracked down 240 calls between German-based FDLR leader Ignance Murwanashyaka and militia commanders in Congo, while these commanders were in turn in touch with contacts in 25 countries in Europe and America.

The report was addressed to the chairman of the UN Security Council committee on September 9. It is not known when it will be published.

source: inquirer.net

2. Charles Taylor the man who "forgot" he killed thousands

Sitting at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Charles Ghankay Taylor still holds the charisma that once propelled him to become one of Africa’s most prominent warlords. Listening to his seductive tone, one almost feels sorry for the man accused as the initiator of a brutal 1991-2002 civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone, which left over 200,000 people dead.

Dressed in a flowing traditional virgin white Liberian gown and acing his prosecutors, Charles Taylor is often caught sporting an uneasy smile as he continually states that he “doesn’t recall” many of the key accusations brought up against him before the Court, including a claim that he had trained Sierra Leonean rebel fighters and supplied arms and ammunition to rebels from The Revolutionary United Front (RUF).

The first African Head of State to be tried before an international tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Charles Taylor appears to rely entirely on his ‘charming’ persona, considering his visibly lackadaisical defense, to convince the Courtroom that he tried to bring peace to the West African nation rather than fan the flames of war.

The accused former Liberian President, ironically known as ‘Ghankay,’ which means warrior in the Gio dialect, faces an 11-count indictment for acts of terrorism, unlawful killings, sexual violence, physical violence, use of child soldiers under the age of 15 years old, enslavement, and pillaging.

Charles Taylor has, however, denied all charges despite the testimony of about 90 witnesses who shared with the Court the cruel acts that he had ordered in the West African countries (Sierra Leone and Liberia). Rebels are believed to have indiscriminately cut off limbs, kidnapped and drugged children and burned down villages. The court also heard stories of cannibalism, as a way for Liberian rebels to show superiority over their enemies.

Indicted in June 2003, while on his first trip outside of Liberia and transferred to The Hague three years later, Charles Taylor is currently at the cross-examination stage of his trial, which is being conducted by the UN-backed Sierra Leone Tribunal, housed in Freetown.

guard down, sucker punch, soon they'll say "we told you so"

1. WHO studying A/H1N1 flu virus mutation "very carefully"

GENEVA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization said Tuesday that it was looking at a mutation of the A/H1N1 flu virus recently detected in several countries and regions "very carefully" to see whether it causes severe diseases.

So far, there was still no evidence suggesting the mutation, most recently found in Hong Kong of China and Norway, is associated with severe cases of infection, the WHO said.

"We really need to look at this very carefully to see whether it is in fact associated with severe cases," said WTO spokesman Thomas Abraham.

Abraham said investigations would be done through the WHO's collaborating network of laboratories and "through understanding more about clinical features associated with the infection of this particular form of the virus."

According Abraham, there was currently no evidence suggesting the mutated form of the A/H1N1 flu virus was spreading. The mutations appeared to occur sporadically and spontaneously.

read more @ chinaview

2.more concern of needle devices being used for H1N1 vaccine

There has been much speculation about microchips integrated in auto disable syringes specifically manufactured for use with the H1N1 vaccine. In a recent media briefing held by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Assistant Surgeon General, Anne Schuchat has admitted she is aware of needle devices that have been problematic for some providers unfamiliar with the mechanism.

Without some type of confirmation through a nano-laboratory that can properly examine embedded microchips in the needle devices, the evidence is still very speculative. However, one might ask why safety devices have suddenly appeared simultaneously in every nation for this specific flu vaccine?

...Meanwhile a soldier stationed at a military unit in Switzerland has stated that doctors at the base have explained that every swine flu jab has a special needle with a bar code.

The bar code is registered for every person who takes the jab and then sent to the Federal Ministry for Health, the Bundesamt für Gesundheit.

The military doctor said he didn’t know why a special needle was needed but there are many reports of a nanochip in the needle.

read more @ prevent disease

3. urgent appeal for flu truth seekers to heed dangers of mutated virus

The tides have now changed. It is imperative that we stop focusing on the pandemic hype promoted by the media and start concentrating on publicizing the upgraded viruses which are about to infect the west in the masses.

There are already projections of what could happen if the same virus that infected the Ukraine affects other countries. There are now close to 2 million people infected in the Ukraine from a virus that causes a much higher level of immune stress and cardiopulmonary failure. The deaths being reported there, now close to 400, are almost certainly a misrepresented number by the WHO. The actual number of deaths may be closer to 10,000 as reported by infectious disease experts, who have estimated a fatality rate of 0.5%.

Now, emerging evidence is suggesting that the lethal virus may now be infecting Norway and Eastern Europe. There are additional reports indicating that the same lethal virus may now be present in Canada and the U.S. The increasing number of deaths in Texas, Iowa and Ontario are elevating the concern that the virus is already in North America.

It is of the utmost importance to broadcast the crimes of geoengineering initiatives being used to accelerate the pandemic.

Kelley Bergman's recent article is an excellent interpretation of how the media is playing the alternative media's tune to sway listeners back to their pathetic messages of deceit. It won't work.

The media will now try and spin their stories on the H1N1 pandemic and call this a second wave of the swine flu based on spontaneous mutations. This falsity will attempt to convince the public that these mutations suddenly appeared when in fact the upgraded virus has been engineered from the start and conveniently released in incremental phases throughout the world.

read more @ prevent disease

4. flashback: April 2009: Dress Rehearsal

Before any scientist does anything drastic they always do a beta test. They are studying several different things such as how far it spreads and how fast. They are studying if it mutates. They are studying if they’ll get away with the crime.

read here

Blackwater in Pakistan

1. Blackwater allegedly running secret war in Pakistan

A new report has accused the US private security firm formerly known as Blackwater of operating a covert assassination and kidnapping program against suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda members in northwest Pakistan. In an article published on Monday, The Nation magazine said that the firm, now known as Xe, is also involved in running a US military drone bombing campaign out of Pakistan.

Jeremy Scahill, the investigative journalist who broke the story, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the program was so secretive that senior officials in the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, were likely unaware of it. "What I learned is that for years there has been a covert operation of the US military inside Pakistan's borders ... and that Blackwater operatives are at the centre of not only the drone bombing campaign but also planning snatch-and-grab operations of high value targets."

..."I've talked to my sources though, and they say that it's possible that officials within the military chain of command are simply not in what [they] called 'the circle of love' on this program." US officials have said that they believe northwest Pakistan is a hiding place for al-Qaeda fighters, including Osama Bin Laden. [PUT DOWN THE CRACK PIPE - ed.]

The northwest tribal region, and in particular Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), have borne the brunt of attacks perpetrated by the Taliban in recent weeks. The attacks are in apparent retaliation for a military offensive launched in the country's semi-autonomous tribal region of South Waziristan against members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, one of the main anti-government groups.

But a spokesman for the Taliban last week blamed Blackwater for at least two of the recent bombings. Azam Tariq posted a video statement on the internet, saying the Taliban attacks never aimed to target civilians and that the explosions were linked to Blackwater activities in the country. Xe has denied having any contracts in Pakistan.

read more @ al manar tv

2. Blackwater arms warehouse in Islamabad - October 20, 2009

ISLAMABAD – Kestral Logistics, a warehouse located in the industrial area of Sector I-9/3, and involved in arms trading, is working as the subcontractor of US security company, Xe Worldwide (Blackwater), TheNation has learnt.

The sources claimed that the company had arms deals with Blackwater and was importing heavy arms as well as ammunition for the US company for its ongoing illicit operations in Pakistan.
The sources said that Kestral Logistics was also involved in importing sensitive monitoring instruments for Blackwater, which had been installed at Sihala by the said security company to monitor activities of Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Kahuta, as well as to keep an eye on the nuclear assets of Pakistan.

It has been learnt that Col (Retd) Shahid Latif and Mujahid, who run Kestral Logistics, manage weapons and such type of sensitive instruments for Blackwater with the support of US Embassy.
This scribe visited the industrial area himself and the suspicious activities of the warehouse employees made it quite evident that the company was involved in some extra-legal business. The warehouse has high walls, barbed wires and no signboard outside the boundary wall, making the activities of the house more doubtful.

Heavy security of the building was also witnessed as scores of security guards were deployed inside and on the main gate of the building. It is pertinent to mention here that even the people working in plainclothes inside the building were equipped with sophisticated weapons.
When the warehouse in charge was asked what kind of business they were running inside the building, he refused to answer, saying “I am not authorised to answer such type of questions” The people of the area were ignorant of the activities of the company and were also curious to know that what type of business activities were being done inside the building?

It is surprising that when the local police was contacted to know that if they had any information about the business activities of the company, the police was also unaware about that.
Habit Khan, additional SHO of Industrial Area Police Station said that the police was already conducting a survey about the complete details of business activities of all the warehouses of that area but he had no information about such activities of any warehouse involved in weapons’ trading business so far.

source: dictatorship watch

3. 10/29/99 amazing coincidence - security concerns confirmed as terrorists attack almost as if on cue. how on earth do they get such timing hmm it's like they know like there's a mole or something in the State Department?

WASHINGTON - United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Pakistan to meet with government officials, civic leaders, businesspeople, and even leaders of the political opposition.

For security reasons, the State Department isn't giving details of Clinton's visit - not even a timetable, let alone the topics she's expected to discuss with Pakistan's civilian and military leaders.

The security concerns proved correct, as Clinton's arrival in the country coincided with a car bomb that tore through a market in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar early on October 28. At least 105 people were killed and more than 200 wounded.

Clinton was three hours' drive away in the capital, Islamabad, when the blast took place. In remarks carried live on Pakistani news channels, she said, "I want you to know that this fight is not Pakistan's alone. This is our struggle as well."

yes, i think we got that part. read more @ asia times

cybercrime verging on war - McAfee report

about the report:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Organized Internet-based crime has reached such intensity and scale that the distinction between cybercrime and cyberwar is being blurred, security giant McAfee said in its annual Virtual Criminology Report.

McAfee Inc., based in Santa Clara, Calif., is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. The report's findings come less than a month after the United States ran a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of cybercrime risks among individuals and businesses.

"Is the age of cyberwar at hand?" McAfee asked in the report, citing evidence that countries hostile to industrial democracies are involved in some of the more serious and sustained cybercrime. In response, McAfee said, "nation-states are arming themselves for the cyberspace battlefield."

The number of reports of cyberattacks and network infiltrations that appear to be linked to nation-states and political goals continues to increase, McAfee said.

"There is active debate as to when a cyberattack reaches the threshold of damage and disruption to warrant being categorized as cyberwarfare," said the report.

"With critical infrastructure as likely targets of cyberattacks, and private company ownership of many of the information systems in these sectors, private companies will likely be caught in the crossfire," the report warned.

McAfee CEO Dave DeWalt said, "Experts disagree about the use of the term 'cyberwar,' and our goal at McAfee is not to create hype or stoke unwarranted fear. But our research has shown that while there may be debate over the definition of cyberwar, there is little disagreement that there are increasing numbers of cyberattacks that more closely resemble political conflict than crime.

"We have also seen evidence that nations around the world are ramping up their capabilities in cyberspace, in what some have referred to as a cyber arms race.

"If cyberspace becomes the next battleground, what are the implications for the global economy and vital citizen services that rely upon the information infrastructure?" DeWalt asked. "What should those of us outside the military do to prepare for the next wave of cyberattacks?"

McAfee believes the private sector at large needs to prepare for cyberattacks, and "those businesses that can weather the storm better than their competitors could be in a position to gain considerable market share."

McAfee also called for greater transparency in current discussions on combating cybercrime. The report said, "Too much of the debate on policies related to cyberwar is happening behind closed doors."

Analysts said although the Obama administration rectified this by bringing the cybercrime debate into the open, many other countries in the industrialized world still insist on confidentiality over the issue.

Industry sources believe criminal organizations have built alliances with adversarial governments that seek to achieve military or political advantage over democracies in the West, Asia, Latin America and elsewhere.

So intense is the interaction between cybercriminality and hostile governments that the distinction between cybercrime and cyberwar is increasingly blurred.

"The line between cybercrime and cyberwar is blurred today in large part because some nation-states see criminal organizations as useful allies. Nation-states have demonstrated that they are willing to tolerate, encourage or event direct criminal organizations and private citizens to attack enemy targets."

In the case of the cyberattacks on Georgia, for example, civilians carried out the cyberattacks on targets while the Russian military invaded Georgia by land and air in August 2008. There is evidence that these civilians were aided and supported by Russian organized crime, as cited in a report by the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, an independent research institute.

Russia denied that its government or military provided any help to the attackers or communicated with them. Yet the same US-CCU report found that "the cyberattacks were so close in time to the corresponding military operations that there had to be close cooperation between people in the Russian military and the civilian cyberattackers," McAfee said.

In a sobering conclusion, McAfee said, "While experts may disagree on the definition of cyberwar, there is significant evidence that nations around the world are developing, testing and in some cases using or encouraging cyber means as a method of obtaining political gain."

Although much of that activity is shrouded in secrecy, "there is already a constant, low level of conflict occurring in cyberspace. Whether these attacks are labeled as cyber espionage, cyber activism, cyber conflict or cyberwar, they represent emerging threats in cyberspace that exist outside the realm of cybercrime."

The report said "international cyber conflict has reached the tipping point where it is no longer just a theory, but a significant threat that nations are already wrestling with behind closed doors. The impact of a cyberwar is almost certain to extend far beyond military networks and touch the globally connected information and communications technology infrastructure upon which so many facets of modern society rely.

"With so much at stake, it is time to open the debate on the many issues surrounding cyber warfare to the global community," said the report.

source

about US Cyber Consequences Unit -

http://www.usccu.us/index_noscript.htm

"scrupulously neutral" despite all their many connections to the establishment. mm hmm ok if you say so.

"The reason the US-CCU was set up as an independent, non-governmental organization was so it could rigorously protect the proprietary information of private sector corporations. This was necessary because corporations are extremely reluctant to reveal vulnerabilities to any government entity that might retain the information indefinitely, share it at some point with prosecutors or regulatory agencies, or release it under the Freedom of Information Act. By operating outside the government and under stringent legal safeguards, the US-CCU is able to avoid these problems. It insulates companies from the government."

funny or sad? ok it's funny.

1. Avigdor Lieberman wants meeting participants to take lie-detector test after leaks to Haaretz

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is demanding that all officials who attended Sunday's meeting of the security cabinet undergo a polygraph test, in the wake of a leak to Haaretz about details of the discussion.
Haaretz newspaper said Wednesday that Lieberman has asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shin Bet security service director Yuval Diskin to summon participants to a lie-detector examination.

The meeting discussed the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Lebanese part of the border village of Ghajar. It was held at the Israeli prime minister's office and was deemed highly confidential.

However, details of the meeting were reported by Haaretz on Monday.

Sources at the Israeli foreign ministry told the daily that Lieberman brought up the issue on Monday at his weekly meeting with senior ministry officials and appeared to be furious. They said he noted that he was late to the meeting because he was asking Netanyahu and Diskin to investigate the leak.

In addition to senior foreign ministry officials and the seven ministers in the security cabinet, the meeting was attended by senior figures from the defense ministry, national security council and the Israeli army.

Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Tuesday that nothing had been finalized with Lieberman on the issue. Diskin's office, as well as that of Lieberman, declined to comment.

source: naharnet news

2. Venezuelans show no signs of cutting back on plastic surgery

CARACAS: Unfazed by a recession and rampant inflation, image-conscious Venezuelans show no signs of cutting back on the facelifts, liposuction, and breast augmentation that have become beauty treatments. “There is never a question of not doing it, but of how you can do it. We all want to get everything done,” said Helen Patino, a 37-year-old former model who had her first breast augmentation when she was 21 and her third about three months ago.

Venezuela’s inflation is the highest in Latin America, up more than 20 percent in the first 10 months of this year and the South American nation is in recession after a five year boom.

Hard times may even encourage cosmetic procedures as people look for ways to lift their spirits, with many dipping into savings or taking on debt to get operations, surgeons say. “The financial crisis has spurred people to spend more on themselves ... to console themselves in this crisis. I have not seen demand diminishing,” said Peter Romer, a plastic surgeon in Caracas.

For Iris Delgado, a 57-year-old dental technician, a lack of funds was not an obstacle to getting a recent eyelid tuck.

“With the economy, one has to make sacrifices, because you don’t have the money. So, you get it from credit cards, from family and you pay for it,” said Delgado, who borrowed 7,000 bolivares—about $3,250 -- for the procedure, a move she saw as a hedge against inflation in plastic surgery prices. Like Delgado, many go into debt to finance cosmetic surgery, according to those in the industry. “It’s an investment that people make and they look for money everywhere,” said Romer, adding that one of his patients moved into a smaller apartment to get a makeover and another traded her car for a facelift.

source: the peninsula

11.24.2009

Philippine violence blamed on Muslim insurgency naturally

Something may be up as we approach the one year anniversary of the Mumbai attacks and the Thanksgiving holiday when many people are distracted. - ed.

1. Arroyo declares state of emergency

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday put parts of the troubled southern Philippines under emergency rule following a massacre of at least 24 people there, her spokesman said.

Spokesman Cerge Remonde said the proclamation covered the province of Maguindanao, where the massacre occurred on Monday, and two other neighbouring areas that together had a combined population of 1.54 million people.

"There is an urgent need to prevent and suppress the occurrence of several other incidents of lawless violence," [??? what "other" incidents??? - ed.] Arroyo said in the proclamation, according to Remonde.

"The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are hereby ordered to undertake such measures as allowed by the constitution and by law to prevent and suppress all incidents of lawless violence in the aforesaid areas."

The state of emergency authorizes the military to impose curfews, set up checkpoints and undertake searches of homes.

more here

2. Maguindanao death toll rises to 46 - so the killers took the time to bury the bodies??? that was nice of them.

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines—(UPDATE 6) Bullet-ridden bodies were pulled out from shallow graves on Tuesday as troops hunted down the gunmen who massacred, according to the Philippine National Police, at least 46 people in one of the Philippines' most brutal explosions of political violence.

Police on Mindanao island pulled bullet-ridden bodies from shallow graves in this remote farming area after gunmen allegedly employed by a local political chief abducted then shot dead a group of rival politicians and journalists.

“Some bodies were strewn on the ground. Most were recovered from under lumps of earth which were stained with blood,” said Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna, the regional police commander.

"They were piled on top of each other. It looked as if they were buried hurriedly," said Cataluna.

...Journalists on the scene said a mechanical digger was emblazoned with the name of the Maguindanao provincial governor, Andal Ampatuan, whose bodyguards had been blamed by the military as being behind the massacre.

The victims were among a group of more than 40 people abducted by gunmen Monday linked to Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan, head of a Muslim clan who is part of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's ruling coalition.

The abducted group was made up of relatives and associates of Esmael Mangudadatu, the head of a rival Muslim clan in Maguindanao, plus a group of journalists, the military and police said.

more here

OK so the vicious killers, after brutally murdering these people, bury some of them with a backhoe that has their leader's name emblazoned across it. hmm. - ed.

3. elite police units take control of Maguindanao

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine National Police on Tuesday took control of the entire Maguindanao to prevent a possible escalation of hostilities following Monday’s massacre of a group of local politicians, their supporters and journalists.

Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, PNP spokesman, said elite police units from the Regional Mobile Group, Special Action Force, Maritime Group and regional police offices of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and Central Mindanao were sent to augment police and military forces already in the area.

Espina said numerous police checkpoints and chokepoints were set up around the province to “control the egress and ingress there.”

He said the PNP might also implement a curfew in Maguindanao.

“The physical control (of Maguindanao) will allow us to run (after) the perpetrators as we still are in the stage of preliminary investigation,” he said in a press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

“We have to restore normalcy. Everybody entering the area is being checked,” Espina added.

more here

4. massacre exposes brutal underbelly of Philippine politics

MANILA, Philippines—The massacre of at least 22 people in Maguindanao has exposed a brutal culture of guns, greed and money that has poisoned the Philippine political system for decades, experts said Tuesday.

The murders in the southern province Monday are feared to be only the first of many killings ahead of next year's national elections, when posts from village chiefs to the president will be up for grabs.

"This explosion of violence arises whenever there is an election," said Samira Gutoc, one of the conveners of the Young Moro Professionals, a group helping the government in peace talks with armed Muslim groups in the south.

Indeed, dozens of people are killed each election season in this impoverished and often lawless Southeast Asian nation.

Local political warlords have for generations competed for political power and the accompanying business riches that government posts offer.

These clans are well known to control private armies, who carry out assassinations and counter-attacks against rivals.

The proliferation of over 1.1 million unlicensed firearms, most of them in the hands of rebel groups or paramilitaries, contribute to the general lawlessness in many remote areas, according to police.

...But while the problem plagues the entire country, experts say Maguindanao and other parts of the far southern island of Mindanao -- where a Muslim insurgency has waged for decades -- are particularly volatile.

"Politics in Mindanao is about ownership of power. Public office is perceived as a personal, clannish thing -- a birth right, and they would spill blood for it," Gutoc said.

more here

5. several police officials sacked after being implicated in massacre

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) Two senior police officers and three other policemen have been sacked after being linked to the massacre of at least 24 politicians and journalists in Maguindanao, the Philippine National Police said Tuesday.

Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay, the deputy provincial police chief of Maguindanao, and Maguindanao police provincial director Abusana Maguid have been relieved, said PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina.

He said Dicay was relieved "after being reportedly seen at the scene of the incident” with members of some members of the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit militia who are trained by the government to fight local insurgencies.

more here

11.23.2009

progression of the flu and the flu psyop

1. hold off on calling the pandemic overblown or a dud just yet

In the last few weeks, the mainstream media has really started to jump on the alternative media's bandwagon. They've highlighted wasted government investments in pandemic planning, mass vaccinations and even questioned a flu hype that never materialized. Something is going on, and it likely has to do with a strategy for what is coming in the next few weeks or months.

We're hearing it every day now. Major media outlets are starting to say things like "a wasted investment on vaccines", or "a pandemic that was a dud". I have a strong suspicion that the media is now starting to play on both sides of the fence. Why? Because they want to reestablish confidence in a growing skeptical public who has embraced alternative sources.

Most people are not aware of what is going in the Ukraine and Eastern Europe. An engineered or mutated virus has been growing in strength, infecting millions of people and likely killing thousands. However, the public has been left in the dark because the World Health Organization (WHO) has been telling a different story and downplaying fatalities and giving contradictory evidence.

...So the media's strategy right now is to play both sides until they decide it's time for the public to hear the actual numbers. Keep in mind that major media outlets revolve all their programming around a select few decision makers, people at the very top who know exactly what is going on in real-time.

More and more people are becoming conscious to the reality that the H1N1 swine flu has been nothing more than a mild flu across the world. It has "so far" caused a lower mortality rate than even the seasonal flu. So the media must now cater to this mindset until the real pandemic begins. Then they will change their tune and announce that public health officials were right all along. What will happen when the mutated virus reaches other parts of the world? Panic!

read more @ prevent disease

2. flu deaths toll in Ukraine continues to grow rapidly

KIEV, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - The number of deaths in Ukraine from flu viruses has risen to 315, with 16 passing away over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry has reported.

Ukraine's flu epidemic began at the end of October and over 1.4 million have fallen ill. At least 78,000 people have been hospitalized and over 300 patients are still kept in intensive care.

read more @ ria novosti

3. Uzbekistan closes border with Kazakhstan

ASTANA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Uzbekistan has closed its border with central Asian neighbour Kazakhstan to all but citizens of each nation returning home, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said on Nov. 23, as swine flu spreads in both countries.

Kazakh media and residents of the Uzbek capital Tashkent have connected the move to fears about an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus, but this has not been confirmed by the authorities there.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported last Friday that Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and parts of Afghanistan were reporting higher numbers of flu cases.

read more @ kyiv post

4. hemorrhagic pneumonia found in Iowa

Doctors in Iowa are observing hemorrhagic lungs in flu patients, but although the state has officially recorded 21 H1N1 deaths, actual cases may be higher as patient rights, laws prohibit the disclosure of specific numbers.

The county's medical examiner said he has performed autopsies on some residents who were never diagnosed with H1N1, but actually had it.

"In the autopsy, what we're seeing is very heavy, wet hemorrhagic lungs, lungs with a lot of blood in them," said Dr. Gregory Schmunk.

He said the official count of seven H1N1 deaths is inaccurate, but patient rights laws prohibit him from giving specific numbers.

...Schmunk said he's urging people to get the vaccine.

foot-stomping pearl-clutching and fainting-couch news

1. top advisor all set to blame climate skeptics, apparently undeterred despite the leaked emails showing that climate change scientists have been cooking the books

Climate change sceptics and fossil fuel companies that have lobbied against action on greenhouse gas emissions have squandered the world's chance to avoid dangerous global warming, a key adviser to the government has said.

Professor Bob Watson, chief scientist at the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, said a decade of inaction on climate change meant it was now virtually impossible to limit global temperature rise to 2C. He said the delay meant the world would now do well to stabilise warming between 3C and 4C.

southeast asia unrest

1. army takes a hard line with rebels - Thailand

PATTANI : The army has shot down a call to negotiate with insurgents to end conflicts in the restive South.

Army chief Anupong Paojinda said no talks would be held with separatist groups during his tenure, which ends in September next year.

...Since violence resurfaced in the region six years ago, it has claimed almost 4,000 lives.

The Internal Security Operations Command believes 8,000-10,000 insurgents are active in the deep South. The insurgents took shelter in more than 200 villages in the so-called red zone and used pondok schools as a base to carry out attacks against civilians and state officials, it said.

"The insurgents want to separate our land and set up an autonomous area," the army chief said.

...No other countries, including fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, had offered themselves as brokers in talks between the government and the separatist groups.

...He had told border officials to keep a close watch on people with dual Thai-Malaysian nationality as he believed many were involved in attacks in the deep South. Security experts believe militants with dual nationality carry out attacks there, then flee to neighbouring Malaysia to avoid being caught.

read more @ bangkok post

2. tensions in and on Thailand's borders - by Frank G. Anderson

Abhisit may have something there. It was during the administration of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that the now infamous dispute over the Phrea Vihear temple on the two countries’ border first boiled over into a tit-for-tat diplomat expulsion and a one-on-one word-for-word accusation contest began.

It is rumored, given no small amount of circumstantial evidence, that Thaksin had traded Thai sovereignty by, in part, obtaining oil concessions that benefitted himself while surrendering part of Thailand’s territory to Cambodia in a less-than-transparent Phreah Vihear quid pro quo. Both Cambodia and Thaksin deny any such oil deal was made, but experts are sifting through trails to establish conclusive connections. It won’t be an easy task.

Meanwhile the Thai government, responding to deep concerns in both countries about a possible border war, has stated that it has no plans to close the border – as it did recently with Malaysia in one area because of terrorism and drug threats.

...For ASEAN leaders, the game is officially to seek solidarity, independence and closer cooperation among the players. For the people living in ASEAN countries, however, the game means being further exposed to a well-organized and well-armed authoritarian style of rule that obfuscates the line between human rights and national security, always sacrificing one in favor of the other. That is, constantly sacrificing human and civil rights in favor of the interests of the state.

That kind of game can have only one eventual outcome: a police state. That in itself brings on another eventual outcome, revolution and bloodshed caused by a frustrated public and amalgam of intellectuals and activists who have had enough of state control.

read more @ upi asia

3. dozens killed in Philippines province of Maguindanao

TACURONG CITY, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines – (UPDATE 3) At around 10 a.m. on Monday, vice mayor Ishmael Mangudadatu of Buluan town in Maguindanao received a call from his wife that at least 100 armed men were holding her and 50 others, including 34 journalists.

Mangudadatu’s wife Genalyn even complained that one of the armed men, whom she identified as “Ampatuan’s men," slapped her.

That was the last time the vice mayor heard his wife’s voice. Late Monday afternoon, Genalyn’s body was among those found in the village of Masalay in Datu Abdullah Sangki town in Maguindanao.

...“I saw around 20 bodies scattered on the ground. The cadavers were riddled with bullets. Some women were obviously raped. The vehicles used were ransacked and all valuables were taken away,” the mayor, who went to Masalay on a helicopter, said.

...At least 34 journalists were with the group taken hostage by the armed men Monday morning.

The journalists were there to cover the filing of certificate of candidacy for gubernatorial position of Buluan Vice Mayor Ishmael "Toto" Mangudadatu.

The 34 journalists, aboard three vehicles, were part of the convoy led by vice mayor Eden Mangudadatu of Mangudadatu town in Maguindanao, who was tasked by his brother to file his COC with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office in Shariff Aguak town, Maguindanao.

Also taken hostage were the vice mayor’s youngest sister Bai Farina Mangudadatu, his two legal counsels Cynthia Joquindo and Connie Brizuela and about 30 other women supporters.

read more @ inquirer.net

4. information on the Province of Maguindanao

The Province of Maguindanao, a member of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao or ARMM, bordered by Lanao del Sur, Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat and literally means ” people of the flood plains” that occupies the Pulangi River. ...The Province of Maguindanao, its capital of Sharif Aguak, has 22 municipalities in its second district and Cotabato City as an individual component. Since most of the population are predominantly muslim, Maguindanao citizens follow Islamic beliefs and practices. ...Farming, fishing, mining are amongst the local way of living for Maguindanaons.

source

5. Philippine police search for US murder suspect

Philippine police searched for an American who escaped after allegedly killing a government official's son in a road-rage shooting _ the second homicide case against him, officials said Monday.

Jason Ivler, 28, from Hawaii, was identified by witnesses as a driver involved in a traffic accident in Manila on Wednesday. It led to a heated argument during which Ivler allegedly chased and shot to death another driver, Renato Victor Ebarle Jr., said police Chief Superintendent Elmo G. San Diego.

Ebarle's father, an official at the Office of President Gloria Mapacagal Arroyo, filed a murder complaint against Ivler. The prosecutor will review the complaint before filing formal charges.

At the time, Ivler was driving a car with diplomatic plates owned by his stepfather, Stephen Pollard, an executive at the Asian Development Bank, San Diego said.

Pollard's diplomatic immunity did not extend to his son, said national police chief Jesus Verzosa, adding Ivler's photograph and details were distributed to all ports and airports to prevent him from escaping. He was described as "armed and dangerous."

Even before the latest incident, police were looking for Ivler on a separate charge of "reckless imprudence resulting in homicide" in connection with a 2004 car crash that killed a senior official in the president's office, Verzosa said.

Ivler was arrested in 2004 while trying to flee to Malaysia but later jumped bail, Verzosa said.

Ivler's mother, Marlene Aguilar, sister of popular singer Freddy Aguilar, made a tearful TV appeal for her son to surrender to police.

source: taiwan news

6. opposing the Mindoro nickel project - opinion

WITH the Arroyo administration in an “ala berde” mode, many public officials and opportunistic businessmen are scrambling to get juicy contracts from the government and provide for their future in the last two minutes before it bows out of office. (“Ala berde” refers to the old practice of opening the doors of the movie house to the public for free in the last half-hour or so before the theater closes.) In the last few months left to the Arroyo administration, many government contracts get approved under mysterious circumstances.

There is usually a price for every approval secured from the government, and government agencies approve as many applications as possible before the new administration takes over and, in so doing, provide for a future when they would be jobless. Then they say that if there is something wrong with the permit, it is up to the next administration to implement it or not. The outgoing officials have collected their part of the loot anyway.

...The raging controversy now is the issuance of environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to foreign mining companies, in partnership with Filipino firms, to put up mining operations on the island of Mindoro. The DENR gave the ECC to a Norwegian mining company, Intex Resources, to extract nickel from 11,600 hectares of forested area in a watershed lying in parts of the two Mindoro provinces. An ever bigger area, six times bigger, was granted for another mining operation on 60,000 hectares in Abra de Ilog, in Mindoro Occidental.

world tour of leaders continues

1. top Chinese political advisor starts visit to Peru

LIMA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin arrived in Lima on Sunday, kicking off his official good-will visit to this South American country. ...The China-Peru relations entered a new phase of development when the two states established a strategic partnership in 2008, Jia said....Jia visited the Philippines and made a stopover at French Polynesia last week. He will also visit Ecuador and Brazil.

source: chinaview

2. China, French Polynesia pledge to boost cooperation

PAPEETE, French Polynesia, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor, Jia Qinglin, met with President of French Polynesia Oscar Temaru here Saturday and they pledged closer cooperation. ...Jia said French Polynesia is known as the "Pearl of the South Pacific" and has a long history of friendly contacts with China.

In as early as the 19th century, there were Chinese settling on Tahiti, the most famous island among the Polynesian islands, who integrated themselves into the local society and actively participated in local economic development. They have served as a bridge linking the friendly and cooperative ties between French Polynesia and China, Jia said....Jia went on to say that French Polynesia has unique geographical advantage and rich marine and tourism resources. China is willing to work with French Polynesia to boost cooperation in such fields as trade and tourism, in which there is great potential for cooperation.

For his part, Temaru said his government is willing to forge a candid, friendly and close relationship with China in the era of globalization.

source: chinaview

3. Ahmadinejad visits Brazil to build nuclear and business ties with Latin America powerhouse -- the spin being applied is that Ahmadinejad is "legitimizing" himself by sucking up to Lula, illuminati puppet. oh please.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — For Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Brazil provides some sorely needed political legitimacy for his increasingly isolated nation.

For Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, it is a chance for South America's largest nation to bask in its growing political clout.

Ahmadinejad's first ever visit to Brazil comes a day after Iran launched large-scale air defense war games aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from attack as an air force commander boasted the country could deter any military strike by Israel.

..."With Brazil he gets more bang for his buck in the sense you're getting legitimacy from a more mainstream player," said Daniel Brumberg, an Iran expert at the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace. "One would hope Brazil's diplomacy would be skillful enough to get certain types of messages across to the Iranians and not just give Ahmadinejad the red-carpet treatment."

read more @ sun sentinel

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