This forest [Russian Taiga] is the last and greatest of Earth’s wildernesses. It stretches from the furthest tip of Russia’s arctic regions as far south as Mongolia, and east from the Urals to the Pacific: five million square miles of nothingness, with a population, outside a handful of towns, that amounts to only a few thousand people.

…

Thus it was in the remote south of the forest in the summer of 1978. A helicopter sent to find a safe spot to land a party of geologists was skimming the treeline a hundred or so miles from the Mongolian border when it dropped into the thickly wooded valley of an unnamed tributary of the Abakan, a seething ribbon of water rushing through dangerous terrain. The valley walls were narrow, with sides that were close to vertical in places, and the skinny pine and birch trees swaying in the rotors’ downdraft were so thickly clustered that there was no chance of finding a spot to set the aircraft down. But, peering intently through his windscreen in search of a landing place, the pilot saw something that should not have been there. It was a clearing, 6,000 feet up a mountainside, wedged between the pine and larch and scored with what looked like long, dark furrows. The baffled helicopter crew made several passes before reluctantly concluding that this was evidence of human habitation–a garden that, from the size and shape of the clearing, must have been there for a long time.

It was an astounding discovery. The mountain was more than 150 miles from the nearest settlement, in a spot that had never been explored. The Soviet authorities had no records of anyone living in the district.

…

As the intruders scrambled up the mountain, heading for the spot pinpointed by their pilots, they began to come across signs of human activity: a rough path, a staff, a log laid across a stream, and finally a small shed filled with birch-bark containers of cut-up dried potatoes.

…

The sight that greeted the geologists as they entered the cabin was like something from the middle ages. Jerry-built from whatever materials came to hand, the dwelling was not much more than a burrow–”a low, soot-blackened log kennel that was as cold as a cellar,” with a floor consisting of potato peel and pine-nut shells. Looking around in the dim light, the visitors saw that it consisted of a single room. It was cramped, musty and indescribably filthy, propped up by sagging joists–and, astonishingly, home to a family of five.

The Lykovs lived in this hand-built log cabin, lit by a single window “the size of a backpack pocket” and warmed by a smoky wood-fired stove.

Led by Pismenskaya, the scientists backed hurriedly out of the hut and retreated to a spot a few yards away, where they took out some provisions and began to eat. After about half an hour, the door of the cabin creaked open, and the old man and his two daughters emerged–no longer hysterical and, though still obviously frightened, “frankly curious.” Warily, the three strange figures approached and sat down with their visitors, rejecting everything that they were offered–jam, tea, bread–with a muttered, “We are not allowed that!” When Pismenskaya asked, “Have you ever eaten bread?” the old man answered: “I have. But they have not. They have never seen it.” At least he was intelligible. The daughters spoke a language distorted by a lifetime of isolation. “When the sisters talked to each other, it sounded like a slow, blurred cooing.”

…

Slowly, over several visits, the full story of the family emerged. The old man’s name was Karp Lykov, and he was an Old Believer–a member of a fundamentalist Russian Orthodox sect, worshiping in a style unchanged since the 17th century. Old Believers had been persecuted since the days of Peter the Great, and Lykov talked about it as though it had happened only yesterday; for him, Peter was a personal enemy and “the anti-Christ in human form”–a point he insisted had been amply proved by Tsar’s campaign to modernize Russia by forcibly “chopping off the beards of Christians.” But these centuries-old hatreds were conflated with more recent grievances; Karp was prone to complain in the same breath about a merchant who had refused to make a gift of 26poods [940 pounds] of potatoes to the Old Believers sometime around 1900.

Things had only got worse for the Lykov family when the atheist Bolsheviks took power. Under the Soviets, isolated Old Believer communities that had fled to Siberia to escape persecution began to retreat ever further from civilization. During the purges of the 1930s, with Christianity itself under assault, a Communist patrol had shot Lykov’s brother on the outskirts of their village while Lykov knelt working beside him. He had responded by scooping up his family and bolting into forest.

…

That was in 1936, and there were only four Lykovs then–Karp; his wife, Akulina; a son named Savin, 9 years old, and Natalia, a daughter who was only 2. Taking their possessions and some seeds, they had retreated ever deeper into the taiga, building themselves a succession of crude dwelling places, until at last they had fetched up in this desolate spot. Two more children had been born in the wild–Dmitry in 1940 and Agafia in 1943–and neither of the youngest Lykov children had ever seen a human being who was not a member of their family. All that Agafia and Dmitry knew of the outside world they learned entirely from their parents’ stories. The family’s principal entertainment, the Russian journalist Vasily Peskov noted, “was for everyone to recount their dreams.”

The Lykov children knew there were places called cities where humans lived crammed together in tall buildings. They had heard there were countries other than Russia. But such concepts were no more than abstractions to them. Their only reading matter was prayer books and an ancient family Bible. Akulina had used the gospels to teach her children to read and write, using sharpened birch sticks dipped into honeysuckle juice as pen and ink.

Dmitry (left) and Savin in the Siberian summer

Agafia Lykova (left) with her sister, Natalia.

Isolation made survival in the wilderness close to impossible. Dependent solely on their own resources, the Lykovs struggled to replace the few things they had brought into the taiga with them. They fashioned birch-bark galoshes in place of shoes. Clothes were patched and repatched until they fell apart, then replaced with hemp cloth grown from seed.

…

The Lykovs had carried a crude spinning wheel and, incredibly, the components of a loom into the taiga with them–moving these from place to place as they gradually went further into the wilderness must have required many long and arduous journeys–but they had no technology for replacing metal. A couple of kettles served them well for many years, but when rust finally overcame them, the only replacements they could fashion came from birch bark. Since these could not be placed in a fire, it became far harder to cook. By the time the Lykovs were discovered, their staple diet was potato patties mixed with ground rye and hemp seeds.

In some respects, Peskov makes clear, the taiga did offer some abundance: “Beside the dwelling ran a clear, cold stream. Stands of larch, spruce, pine and birch yielded all that anyone could take…. Bilberries and raspberries were close to hand, firewood as well, and pine nuts fell right on the roof.”

The Lykovs’ homestead seen from a Soviet reconnaissance plane, 1980.

Yet the Lykovs lived permanently on the edge of famine. It was not until the late 1950s, when Dmitry reached manhood, that they first trapped animals for their meat and skins. Lacking guns and even bows, they could hunt only by digging traps or pursuing prey across the mountains until the animals collapsed from exhaustion. Dmitry built up astonishing endurance, and could hunt barefoot in winter, sometimes returning to the hut after several days, having slept in the open in 40 degrees of frost, a young elk across his shoulders. More often than not, though, there was no meat, and their diet gradually became more monotonous. Wild animals destroyed their crop of carrots, and Agafia recalled the late 1950s as “the hungry years.” “We ate the rowanberry leaf,” she said,

roots, grass, mushrooms, potato tops, and bark, We were hungry all the time. Every year we held a council to decide whether to eat everything up or leave some for seed.

Famine was an ever-present danger in these circumstances, and in 1961 it snowed in June. The hard frost killed everything growing in their garden, and by spring the family had been reduced to eating shoes and bark. Akulina chose to see her children fed, and that year she died of starvation. The rest of the family were saved by what they regarded as a miracle: a single grain of rye sprouted in their pea patch. The Lykovs put up a fence around the shoot and guarded it zealously night and day to keep off mice and squirrels. At harvest time, the solitary spike yielded 18 grains, and from this they painstakingly rebuilt their rye crop.

…

Perhaps the saddest aspect of the Lykovs’ strange story was the rapidity with which the family went into decline after they re-established contact with the outside world. In the fall of 1981, three of the four children followed their mother to the grave within a few days of one another. According to Peskov, their deaths were not, as might have been expected, the result of exposure to diseases to which they had no immunity. Both Savin and Natalia suffered from kidney failure, most likely a result of their harsh diet. But Dmitry died of pneumonia, which might have begun as an infection he acquired from his new friends.

His death shook the geologists, who tried desperately to save him. They offered to call in a helicopter and have him evacuated to a hospital. But Dmitry, in extremis, would abandon neither his family nor the religion he had practiced all his life. “We are not allowed that,” he whispered just before he died. “A man lives for howsoever God grants.”

When all three Lykovs had been buried, the geologists attempted to talk Karp and Agafia into leaving the forest and returning to be with relatives who had survived the persecutions of the purge years, and who still lived on in the same old villages. But neither of the survivors would hear of it. They rebuilt their old cabin, but stayed close to their old home.

Source: These excerpts have been made available by The Smithsonian Institution and shared for the increase and diffusion of knowledge

This forest [Russian Taiga] is the last and greatest of Earth’s wildernesses. It stretches from the furthest tip of Russia’s arctic regions as far south as Mongolia, and east from the Urals to the Pacific: five million square miles of nothingness, with a population, outside a handful of towns, that amounts to only a few thousand people.

…

Thus it was in the remote south of the forest in the summer of 1978. A helicopter sent to find a safe spot to land a party of geologists was skimming the treeline a hundred or so miles from the Mongolian border when it dropped into the thickly wooded valley of an unnamed tributary of the Abakan, a seething ribbon of water rushing through dangerous terrain. The valley walls were narrow, with sides that were close to vertical in places, and the skinny pine and birch trees swaying in the rotors’ downdraft were so thickly clustered that there was no chance of finding a spot to set the aircraft down. But, peering intently through his windscreen in search of a landing place, the pilot saw something that should not have been there. It was a clearing, 6,000 feet up a mountainside, wedged between the pine and larch and scored with what looked like long, dark furrows. The baffled helicopter crew made several passes before reluctantly concluding that this was evidence of human habitation–a garden that, from the size and shape of the clearing, must have been there for a long time.

It was an astounding discovery. The mountain was more than 150 miles from the nearest settlement, in a spot that had never been explored. The Soviet authorities had no records of anyone living in the district.

…

As the intruders scrambled up the mountain, heading for the spot pinpointed by their pilots, they began to come across signs of human activity: a rough path, a staff, a log laid across a stream, and finally a small shed filled with birch-bark containers of cut-up dried potatoes.

…

The sight that greeted the geologists as they entered the cabin was like something from the middle ages. Jerry-built from whatever materials came to hand, the dwelling was not much more than a burrow–”a low, soot-blackened log kennel that was as cold as a cellar,” with a floor consisting of potato peel and pine-nut shells. Looking around in the dim light, the visitors saw that it consisted of a single room. It was cramped, musty and indescribably filthy, propped up by sagging joists–and, astonishingly, home to a family of five.

The Lykovs lived in this hand-built log cabin, lit by a single window “the size of a backpack pocket” and warmed by a smoky wood-fired stove.

Led by Pismenskaya, the scientists backed hurriedly out of the hut and retreated to a spot a few yards away, where they took out some provisions and began to eat. After about half an hour, the door of the cabin creaked open, and the old man and his two daughters emerged–no longer hysterical and, though still obviously frightened, “frankly curious.” Warily, the three strange figures approached and sat down with their visitors, rejecting everything that they were offered–jam, tea, bread–with a muttered, “We are not allowed that!” When Pismenskaya asked, “Have you ever eaten bread?” the old man answered: “I have. But they have not. They have never seen it.” At least he was intelligible. The daughters spoke a language distorted by a lifetime of isolation. “When the sisters talked to each other, it sounded like a slow, blurred cooing.”

…

Slowly, over several visits, the full story of the family emerged. The old man’s name was Karp Lykov, and he was an Old Believer–a member of a fundamentalist Russian Orthodox sect, worshiping in a style unchanged since the 17th century. Old Believers had been persecuted since the days of Peter the Great, and Lykov talked about it as though it had happened only yesterday; for him, Peter was a personal enemy and “the anti-Christ in human form”–a point he insisted had been amply proved by Tsar’s campaign to modernize Russia by forcibly “chopping off the beards of Christians.” But these centuries-old hatreds were conflated with more recent grievances; Karp was prone to complain in the same breath about a merchant who had refused to make a gift of 26poods [940 pounds] of potatoes to the Old Believers sometime around 1900.

Things had only got worse for the Lykov family when the atheist Bolsheviks took power. Under the Soviets, isolated Old Believer communities that had fled to Siberia to escape persecution began to retreat ever further from civilization. During the purges of the 1930s, with Christianity itself under assault, a Communist patrol had shot Lykov’s brother on the outskirts of their village while Lykov knelt working beside him. He had responded by scooping up his family and bolting into forest.

…

That was in 1936, and there were only four Lykovs then–Karp; his wife, Akulina; a son named Savin, 9 years old, and Natalia, a daughter who was only 2. Taking their possessions and some seeds, they had retreated ever deeper into the taiga, building themselves a succession of crude dwelling places, until at last they had fetched up in this desolate spot. Two more children had been born in the wild–Dmitry in 1940 and Agafia in 1943–and neither of the youngest Lykov children had ever seen a human being who was not a member of their family. All that Agafia and Dmitry knew of the outside world they learned entirely from their parents’ stories. The family’s principal entertainment, the Russian journalist Vasily Peskov noted, “was for everyone to recount their dreams.”

The Lykov children knew there were places called cities where humans lived crammed together in tall buildings. They had heard there were countries other than Russia. But such concepts were no more than abstractions to them. Their only reading matter was prayer books and an ancient family Bible. Akulina had used the gospels to teach her children to read and write, using sharpened birch sticks dipped into honeysuckle juice as pen and ink.

Dmitry (left) and Savin in the Siberian summer

Agafia Lykova (left) with her sister, Natalia.

Isolation made survival in the wilderness close to impossible. Dependent solely on their own resources, the Lykovs struggled to replace the few things they had brought into the taiga with them. They fashioned birch-bark galoshes in place of shoes. Clothes were patched and repatched until they fell apart, then replaced with hemp cloth grown from seed.

…

The Lykovs had carried a crude spinning wheel and, incredibly, the components of a loom into the taiga with them–moving these from place to place as they gradually went further into the wilderness must have required many long and arduous journeys–but they had no technology for replacing metal. A couple of kettles served them well for many years, but when rust finally overcame them, the only replacements they could fashion came from birch bark. Since these could not be placed in a fire, it became far harder to cook. By the time the Lykovs were discovered, their staple diet was potato patties mixed with ground rye and hemp seeds.

In some respects, Peskov makes clear, the taiga did offer some abundance: “Beside the dwelling ran a clear, cold stream. Stands of larch, spruce, pine and birch yielded all that anyone could take…. Bilberries and raspberries were close to hand, firewood as well, and pine nuts fell right on the roof.”

The Lykovs’ homestead seen from a Soviet reconnaissance plane, 1980.

Yet the Lykovs lived permanently on the edge of famine. It was not until the late 1950s, when Dmitry reached manhood, that they first trapped animals for their meat and skins. Lacking guns and even bows, they could hunt only by digging traps or pursuing prey across the mountains until the animals collapsed from exhaustion. Dmitry built up astonishing endurance, and could hunt barefoot in winter, sometimes returning to the hut after several days, having slept in the open in 40 degrees of frost, a young elk across his shoulders. More often than not, though, there was no meat, and their diet gradually became more monotonous. Wild animals destroyed their crop of carrots, and Agafia recalled the late 1950s as “the hungry years.” “We ate the rowanberry leaf,” she said,

roots, grass, mushrooms, potato tops, and bark, We were hungry all the time. Every year we held a council to decide whether to eat everything up or leave some for seed.

Famine was an ever-present danger in these circumstances, and in 1961 it snowed in June. The hard frost killed everything growing in their garden, and by spring the family had been reduced to eating shoes and bark. Akulina chose to see her children fed, and that year she died of starvation. The rest of the family were saved by what they regarded as a miracle: a single grain of rye sprouted in their pea patch. The Lykovs put up a fence around the shoot and guarded it zealously night and day to keep off mice and squirrels. At harvest time, the solitary spike yielded 18 grains, and from this they painstakingly rebuilt their rye crop.

…

Perhaps the saddest aspect of the Lykovs’ strange story was the rapidity with which the family went into decline after they re-established contact with the outside world. In the fall of 1981, three of the four children followed their mother to the grave within a few days of one another. According to Peskov, their deaths were not, as might have been expected, the result of exposure to diseases to which they had no immunity. Both Savin and Natalia suffered from kidney failure, most likely a result of their harsh diet. But Dmitry died of pneumonia, which might have begun as an infection he acquired from his new friends.

His death shook the geologists, who tried desperately to save him. They offered to call in a helicopter and have him evacuated to a hospital. But Dmitry, in extremis, would abandon neither his family nor the religion he had practiced all his life. “We are not allowed that,” he whispered just before he died. “A man lives for howsoever God grants.”

When all three Lykovs had been buried, the geologists attempted to talk Karp and Agafia into leaving the forest and returning to be with relatives who had survived the persecutions of the purge years, and who still lived on in the same old villages. But neither of the survivors would hear of it. They rebuilt their old cabin, but stayed close to their old home.

Source: These excerpts have been made available by The Smithsonian Institution and shared for the increase and diffusion of knowledge

NATO says it will continue to install a missile system in Europe despite Russia’s opposition.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made the announcement on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

“We have made clear from the outset that NATO has made the decision to establish a NATO missile defense system because it’s our obligation to ensure effective defense of our populations… Having said that, we have invited Russia to cooperate and… now it’s up to Russia to engage in that,” Rasmussen said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that the missile program was reminiscent of the Cold War.

“Officially, we have abandoned the mindset of the Cold War,” Lavrov said.

On January 27, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he saw “no flexibility” in the ongoing dispute.

“If we talk about the subject itself, it is extremely difficult. And so far we don’t see any flexibility… There is no flexibility,” Medvedev added.

NT/HGL

A high-ranking Iranian military commander has lauded the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) for its cybernetics capabilities and stated that Iran is now one of the major cyber powers of the world.

Speaking in Arak in central Iran on Saturday, Brigadier General Mohammad Hossein Sepehr said the IRGC has managed to access state-of-the-art technology, despite all the pressure and sanctions imposed on Iran, particularly in the defense sector.

The IRGC has made outstanding achievements and has become a thorn in the enemies’ side, he noted.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, given its effective deterrence capabilities, is fully surveilling US and Israeli interests in the region,” Sepehr said.

On December 5, 2012, the IRGC issued a statement announcing that it had fully extracted the data of a US ScanEagle drone captured over the Persian Gulf after it intruded into Iranian airspace.

“Yes, we have fully extracted the drone’s data,” the IRGC Public Relations Department statement added.

The ScanEagle drone is a long-endurance aircraft, built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.

MP/HGL

February 2, 2013  |  

Editor’s note: There are more than one million homeless people in America and 138 million people who live paycheck to paycheck. Many more are struggling, wondering how they’ll make rent or get enough food. Those numbers are astounding. This is America. Many proudly think our society is fair, but the evidence overwhelmingly shows that fairness in America is a myth. In the weeks and months ahead, AlterNet will shine more light on America’s economic injustice in an ongoing series, Hard Times USA. Since many have chosen to look aside, or think the traditional ways of doing politics will fix things, there is still much to learn about how this problem will be solved, or not solved.

We are launching our ongoing series with two articles today: Part 1, below, looks at how America punishes poor people living on the street, part of a larger pattern of dealing with poverty through criminalization rather than social and policy fixes that have been shown to work better. Part 2  addresses the growing apathy toward the plight of the poor, after decades of conservative demonization. As the gap between the wealthy and the poor keeps growing, there is a sense that more and more people don’t want to deal with the poor. Is that how you want our society to be? What’s your role? It’s time to rethink poverty. Part 3 in our series, running on Wednesday, looks at copper theft as a means of survival in California’s poorest city. Part 4 will look into the psychology of how people react when they encounter street homeless. Much more to come. — Don Hazen, executive editor of AlterNet

In 2008, Atlanta police orchestrated an unusual sting: officers shed their uniforms to go undercover as tourists and office workers, a stunt designed to entrap beggars in the city’s tourist areas. Forty-four people were arrested for panhandling in one month. The best part about the sting, police officials said at the time, according to the  Atlanta Journal Constitution, was that while actual tourists rarely bothered to come back to testify about their terrible abuse at the hands of the city’s beggars, the undercover cops would make for enthusiastic witnesses. At the time, Atlanta had banned panhandling within 15 feet of an ATM, bus stop, taxi stand, payphone, public toilet — and anywhere after dark. 

Laws that restrict panhandling are designed to target poor people living on the street. Other examples of laws that apply almost exclusively to the unhoused include bans on sitting or lying down on the sidewalk, eating in public, setting up camp or sleeping in a park or other public places. Advocates say these laws are used as a tool to drive the homeless out of sight. 

Take the case of Gary Williams. Williams just spent 30 days in jail, because on two occasions a San Francisco police officer found him slumped over, asleep, on a milk crate. He did not have any camping gear with him — not even a blanket — yet he found himself charged with public nuisance, unauthorized lodging, and obstructing the sidewalk, his lawyer, Andrea Lindsay, tells AlterNet. The first two are misdemeanors, which carry up to a year of jail time each. On Monday, Williams pled guilty to one count of unauthorized lodging after the judge warned him that he could end up in jail for two years. The plea deal Williams opted for means he’s banned from the two blocks where he used to reside and will be on probation for three years. 

“This is a dude who ended up in jail for the heinous crime of sitting,” Paul Boden, organizing director for the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) tells AlterNet. “When poor people stand for their rights, they sit in jail.” 

February 2, 2013  |  

Editor’s note: There are more than one million homeless people in America and 138 million people who live paycheck to paycheck. Many more are struggling, wondering how they’ll make rent or get enough food. Those numbers are astounding. This is America. Many proudly think our society is fair, but the evidence overwhelmingly shows that fairness in America is a myth. In the weeks and months ahead, AlterNet will shine more light on America’s economic injustice in an ongoing series, Hard Times USA. Since many have chosen to look aside, or think the traditional ways of doing politics will fix things, there is still much to learn about how this problem will be solved, or not solved.

We are launching our ongoing series with two articles today: Part 1, below, looks at how America punishes poor people living on the street, part of a larger pattern of dealing with poverty through criminalization rather than social and policy fixes that have been shown to work better. Part 2  addresses the growing apathy toward the plight of the poor, after decades of conservative demonization. As the gap between the wealthy and the poor keeps growing, there is a sense that more and more people don’t want to deal with the poor. Is that how you want our society to be? What’s your role? It’s time to rethink poverty. Part 3 in our series, running on Wednesday, looks at copper theft as a means of survival in California’s poorest city. Part 4 will look into the psychology of how people react when they encounter street homeless. Much more to come. — Don Hazen, executive editor of AlterNet

In 2008, Atlanta police orchestrated an unusual sting: officers shed their uniforms to go undercover as tourists and office workers, a stunt designed to entrap beggars in the city’s tourist areas. Forty-four people were arrested for panhandling in one month. The best part about the sting, police officials said at the time, according to the  Atlanta Journal Constitution, was that while actual tourists rarely bothered to come back to testify about their terrible abuse at the hands of the city’s beggars, the undercover cops would make for enthusiastic witnesses. At the time, Atlanta had banned panhandling within 15 feet of an ATM, bus stop, taxi stand, payphone, public toilet — and anywhere after dark. 

Laws that restrict panhandling are designed to target poor people living on the street. Other examples of laws that apply almost exclusively to the unhoused include bans on sitting or lying down on the sidewalk, eating in public, setting up camp or sleeping in a park or other public places. Advocates say these laws are used as a tool to drive the homeless out of sight. 

Take the case of Gary Williams. Williams just spent 30 days in jail, because on two occasions a San Francisco police officer found him slumped over, asleep, on a milk crate. He did not have any camping gear with him — not even a blanket — yet he found himself charged with public nuisance, unauthorized lodging, and obstructing the sidewalk, his lawyer, Andrea Lindsay, tells AlterNet. The first two are misdemeanors, which carry up to a year of jail time each. On Monday, Williams pled guilty to one count of unauthorized lodging after the judge warned him that he could end up in jail for two years. The plea deal Williams opted for means he’s banned from the two blocks where he used to reside and will be on probation for three years. 

“This is a dude who ended up in jail for the heinous crime of sitting,” Paul Boden, organizing director for the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) tells AlterNet. “When poor people stand for their rights, they sit in jail.” 

Marxist Group Claims It Bombed U.S. Embassy in Turkey

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Posted on Feb 2, 2013

AP/NTV

In this image taken from video footage, emergency personnel stand in front of a side entrance to the U.S. Embassy after a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the entryway of the building in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Friday.

A Marxist group called the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front claimed responsibility Saturday for a suicide bombing the previous day at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey. An embassy guard was killed in the blast along with the attacker, who has been identified by Turkish authorities as 40-year-old Alisan Sanli.

In a statement released Saturday by the organization, the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front condemned the United States as “the murderer of the peoples of the world.”

–Posted by Kasia Anderson.

The New York Times:

The statement, which also denounced American foreign policy, was released by the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, and a translation was distributed by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors the communications of extremist groups. The message, which was posted on a Web site that has previously carried statements from the group, condemned Turkey for its cooperation with the United States and for its policy of supporting Syrian rebels fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

[…] The attack, coming in the wake of the attack on an American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, by Islamic extremists in September, initially raised fears that it was the work of jihadists. That the bomber has ties to a relatively minor Marxist group is likely to challenge assumptions about the nature of international terrorism and the risks to American interests abroad. American officials, however, have not confirmed the identity of the attacker or a motive, and the United States plans to investigate.

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The Syrian Army says it has inflicted heavy losses on foreign-backed militants who are fighting against the government in different parts of the country.

Syrian soldiers killed a number of militants in the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Harasta, Erbeen, and Beit Sahem, the army stated on Saturday.

Automatic rifles, machine guns, RPG rounds, and ammunition were seized in Douma and Harasta.

In the west, government forces inflicted heavy losses on armed groups in the Hula area of Homs province, while the army continues clearing operations in the southwestern city of Dara’a.

Syrian troops also killed and injured a number of armed men in operations that targeted militant hideouts and gatherings in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor and the city of Aleppo in the north.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Several international human rights organizations say the foreign-sponsored militants have committed war crimes.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.

MRS/HGL

France’s President Francois Hollande (C) and France’s Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius (L) stand as Mali’s interim president Dioncounda Traore (R) speaks to a crowd at Independence Plaza in Bamako, Mali February 2, 2013.(Reuters / Joe Penney)

(3.9Mb) embed video

French president Francois Hollande has been given a baby camel by government of Mali as token of gratitude for the French military helping rid the north of the country of Islamist rebels.

Hollande was also given a whip to master the animal. The President noted the symbolism of the gift and promised the French would continue to fight tyranny.

“Terrorism has been pushed back, it has been chased away, but it has not been defeated yet,” stressing that France was not there to oppress the local population. “France will stay by your side as long as necessary, as long as it takes for Africans themselves… to replace us,” he told a large crowd in the capital, Bamako, at a monument commemorating Mali’s independence from France.

In three weeks of field operations which started on January 11, French and Malian troops have recaptured most of the territory held by Islamist extremists who took over a number of key cities in the north of the country last year.

Russians have held a ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Hundreds of war veterans attended a parade held in Volgograd, whose old name, Stalingrad, was readopted for a few hours on Saturday.

“I saw cities in Europe that were practically untouched by the war, countries that capitulated to the more powerful enemies even before war was declared,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in a speech at the parade.

“But we are not like that. Our grandfathers, our fathers, our older generation, our great leaders, fought here for each building, for each street,” Rogozin added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend the parade but flew to the city, 900 kilometers (600 miles) south of Moscow.

“Using this example, we have to consolidate our society and our country. And we will do information technology… Historical knowledge is very essential from the point of view of preserving our statehood… Patriotism is the love for the motherland. Without it, this love will just melt as a piece of sugar in this tea,” Putin told veterans and young activists at a war museum in Volgograd.

The Battle of Stalingrad, which took place between August 23, 1942 and February 2, 1943, was one of the decisive battles of World War II.

The Germans attacked the strategically important city, known as Stalingrad from 1925 until 1961, because its capture would have enabled them to occupy the south of Russia and take control of the Caucasus oilfields.

However, after nearly six months of fighting, Soviets troops won the Battle of Stalingrad, which was one of the bloodiest battles in modern history. At least 1.2 million people died in the battle according to most sources, although some historians put the death toll at between 1.4 and 1.5 million.

NT/HGL

British police have launched an investigation into allegations that members of an organized paedophile ring have been abusing vulnerable underage boys in council care for years.

The organized criminal ring included former ministers, senior lawmakers, top police officers, judges, bishops, members of the royal family, and show-business celebrities. They are all alleged to have indecently assaulted vulnerable, under-age males between 1979 and 1982.

According to reports, the inquiry will focus on boys who were living at Grafton Close children’s home in Richmond, South-West London, in the 1980s.

It is claimed the boys were taken from Grafton Close to Elm Guest House in Rocks Lane, a suburban street in nearby Barnes where they were subjected to appalling sexual abuse.

One source is said to have suggested that Anthony Blunt, former Keeper of the Queen’s Pictures and an exposed Soviet spy, used to go to sordid parties at the guest house. Others are said to have spoken of two High Court judges and a Foreign Office official attending.

Detectives launched the probe, codenamed Operation Fernbridge, after they obtained a list of ‘prominent people’ who allegedly stayed at the guest house in the 1980s.

At these parties, young boys, specially brought over from several children’s homes would be plied with drugs and alcohol.

A party at the Elm Guest House was raided by police in 1982, following which 12 boys gave evidence that they had been abused by men.
German born Carole Kasir was convicted for running a gay brothel disorderly house.

Following the sudden death of 47-year-old Kasir in 1990 from an insulin overdose, two social worker friends of her gave some worrying evidence to the inquest. Mary Moss and Christopher Fay made allegations of the sexual abuse of children at the Elm Guest House. However, the allegations of sexual abuse against children by the rich and powerful were not pursued.

The claims are now being re-investigated by the Metropolitan Police, decades after they were first made. Attempts have been made by care workers to lay bare the secrets of Rocks Lane but to no avail.

Operation Fairbank is a police investigation into alleged sexual abuse, predominantly the abuse of children, by British politicians in the 1980s.

The investigation, led by the Metropolitan Police Service, started in late 2012. The investigation is currently a “scoping exercise” aimed at a “preliminary assessment of the evidence rather than a formal inquiry”. The existence of the operation was confirmed on 12 December 2012, after operating in secret for several weeks. Five officers are currently working on the inquiry.

Operation Fairbank was set up following claims by Labour Party politician Tom Watson in the House of Commons that the police should look afresh at claims of a “powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and No 10?.

Watson raised the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions on 24 October 2012. He suggested that such a network may have existed in the past at a high level, protected by connections to Parliament and involving a close aide to a former Prime Minister; neither the aide nor the former Prime Minister were named.

Watson referred to Peter Righton, a former consultant to the National Children’s Bureau, who was convicted of importing and possessing illegal homosexual pornographic material in 1992.

Watson said that files on Peter Righton contained “clear intelligence of a widespread paedophile ring…One of its members boasts of a link to a senior aide of a former Prime Minister, who says he could smuggle indecent images of children from abroad.”

Nine officers raided the North London home of former child protection worker Mary Moss after she initially declined to co-operate with the investigation.

Documents and a laptop were seized. Ms Moss later handed over a further 19 files she had hidden in a neighbour’s shed.

The papers include a list of men who went to sex parties in the 80s at the Elm Guest House, Barnes, South West London.

Among the names are two former Conservative Cabinet ministers and four other senior Tories.

There is also a Labour MP, a prominent Irish republican and a leading National Front member.

Others on the handwritten note are two members of the royal household – one a former Buckingham Palace employee – plus the owner of a multinational company and two pop stars.

One of those is a best-selling musician, but like some others on the list he is not suspected of being involved in the child abuse.

The list was taken at meetings in 1988 between the guest house’s manager Carole Kasir and child protection officials.

Other documents seized are believed to identify 16 boys who were allegedly trafficked to the guest house from local care homes. Police have asked Richmond Council for a full list of children in care at the time.

Officers will also be examining copies of cash receipts and ­the guest house’s visitor records.
Operation Fernbridge is investigating claims that boys who were in council care were brought to the Elm to be sexually abused by bigwigs and VIPs.

Police have allegedly taken boxes of documents from the London home of Mary Moss, who worked as an advocate for abused children at the now defunct National Association for Young People in Care.

Mary Moss said the documents contained evidence that senior figures from a number of political parties had abused children at Elm Guest House and elsewhere.

The documents allegedly identify: Carol Kazir as guest house owner, “X” a top person in charge of MI5, “Y” MI5 officer; Two former Conservative cabinet ministers; 7 Further MPs – four Other Tories, two Labour, one Liberal Democrat; Several figures with links to the right wing Conservative Monday Club; A leading figure in the National Front, who is now dead; A Sinn Fein member; two Buckingham Palace Officials; two Pop Stars, and Anthony Blunt said to have used the name ‘Antony Goldstein’.

Rocks Lane is a conspiracy theorist’s dream, taking in allegations of the grooming of young boys in care for sex, elaborate gay parties involving senior public figures including members of the Conservative Party, charges of a police cover-up and even the suggestion of murder.

The police believe that in the context of the Jimmy Savile scandal and renewed claims over the treatment of boys in care in North Wales, there is every reason to look again at an extremely murky saga.

What is known is that in the late 1970s, the Elm Guest House on Rocks Lane was a safe, unthreatening meeting place for homosexual men free from the stigma of a sexual orientation legalised barely a decade earlier.

According to a former friend of Carole Kasir, the guest house’s German-born manager, she initially regarded herself as offering gay men an opportunity to “be themselves” without fear.

Rocks Lane, which overlooks a playing field, was known to homosexual men as it is close to Barnes Common, itself popular with gay men for cruising.

But Elm Guest House’s willingness to accommodate a small industry (“It became a convenient place for rent boys to take their clients,” says one person familiar with the place), began to attract the attentions of the local police force.

One neighbour remembers a months-long police stakeout: “They were there all the time. Police hiding behind the trees to look at the property was a running joke with the neighbours.”

In 1982, the police learned that one of the guest house’s parties was to take place, and the Met’s notorious Special Patrol Group, the precursor of the Territorial Support Group, duly raided the property, resulting in a number of charges being brought against Kasir. The fact that two police officers were in the house at the time of the raid has fed the speculation.

The IoS has established that, according to an officer closely involved at the time, two officers were embedded as guests in the property for two or three days, one even pretending to have a broken arm, hiding a police radio in a plaster cast to make secret recordings.

As many as 12 boys gave evidence to the police to the effect that they had been abused by men at the house, The IoS has established, but the only conviction was the comparatively minor one of running a disorderly house (ie, a brothel).

“Abused boys do not always make the most impressive of witnesses once they get into the witness box,” someone involved in the case said. “The real unlawful activity was underage sex. The police should have been able to make the other charges stick, but the boys were only ever interviewed with a view to them being witnesses against Carole, not as kids who were abused themselves.”

Chris Fay, a social worker who worked for a small charity, the National Association for Young People in Care (Naypic), has alleged that a terrified Kasir had shown him about 20 photographs of middle-aged men with young boys, taken at what he said were kings and queens fancy-dress parties, attended by a number of powerful and well-known people.

One, Mr Fay alleged, featured a well-known public figure wearing nothing but a French maid’s apron alongside a young boy nude apart from a tiara.

In 1990, at the age of 47, Kasir was found dead in her flat. The coroner’s inquest concluded that, a diabetic, she had suffered an insulin overdose. Two Naypic employees told the coroner they believed that because she seemingly had not had an insulin injection for three days, she had been murdered, the victim of powerful people who feared she knew too much. Nonetheless, she was found to have committed suicide, worn down by an eight-year battle to have her son, who was taken into care after her conviction, returned to her.

The alleged presence of household names adds to the intrigue, but in a celeb-obsessed age, there is a danger that, should such names not materialise, Rocks Lane will be seen as “just another” child abuse case. Yet police sources fear that dozens of boys were either taken or on the run from care homes to be abused. By any standards, that should be a big story.

Peter Hatton-Bornshin killed himself six days after his 28th birthday. He had taken an overdose of codeine and choked to death. ‘The tragic end to a tragic life,’ is how the coroner summed up the stark facts presented to the inquest.

And who at the time would disagree? Peter was only a baby when his father died in an accident. He was orphaned at 13 when his mother threw herself in front of a train. His stepfather then handed Peter and his older brother to social services.

And that is how Peter ended up at the Grafton Close Children’s Home, which was run by Richmond borough council in South-West London. Truly, he was a lost soul.

When his life finally came to an end in a Kingston-upon-Thames bedsit, he left a note which explained that he feared he would be unable to control his violent fantasies against women if he remained alive.

This personality disorder had caused him briefly to be a patient at Broadmoor mental hospital. His case worker said that while he did not consider Peter to be a danger to society, his mental problems were partly a result of the abuse he had suffered while in local authority care. One line in his suicide note seemed to refer to this. It read: ‘I will get those bastards.’

But while it was the ‘tragic end to a tragic life’, his story does not finish there.

Eighteen years after his death, the police are again looking at the Peter Hatton-Bornshin case, as part of a wider investigation, launched last month, into allegations that in the early Eighties a paedophile ring of VIPs preyed on boys from the Grafton Close Children’s Home

If the historic allegations at the heart of Operation Fernbridge are proved, they would represent one of the more sensational and disturbing Establishment sex scandals of the modern era.

Cyril Smith, the late Liberal MP for Rochdale, has already been named as a regular at the guest house, where he allegedly met teenage rent boys when the homosexual age of consent was 21.

The guest house has also been linked to a now-defunct Tory fringe group that promoted homosexual rights.

Operation Fernbridge detectives are also believed to be on the trail of almost two dozen photographs that are supposed to have been taken by the guest-house owner – which place a number of these figures from the worlds of politics, show-business and national security at her establishment.

Some pictures are said to show these men in the company of under-age boys.

New police interest in the Elm Guest House allegations stems from October last year, when the campaigning Labour MP Tom Watson called for an investigation into the political links of one Peter Righton, a notorious paedophile who had first been exposed 20 years before.

In September 1992, Righton pleaded guilty to three charges of importing or possessing obscene material – paedophile gay porn – after customs officers at Dover intercepted two packages addressed to him.

It was a squalid case that in other circumstances might have warranted only local interest.

But Righton, then aged 66, was no ordinary child sex offender. He had been a very senior and respected figure in the field of residential child care, and a former consultant to the charity the National Children’s Bureau, whose patrons included the then Health Minister, Virginia Bottomley.

After his conviction, it emerged that Righton was a founder member of the Paedophile Information Exchange – a contact group for men interested in sex with children. He is now believed to be dead.

Westminster sources say that following his intervention in the House, Mr Watson received more than 200 phone calls, many of them from alleged victims of paedophile abuse by public figures unconnected with Righton. The MP passed the information on to the police.

Righton’s links to figures in the Thatcher government are still being assessed by detectives.

The Mail understands that no formal decision has been taken yet on whether Watson’s allegations will be formally probed.
However, one person who contacted Watson had specific information about boys from Grafton Close Children’s Home being abused at the Elm Guest House.

Run by Indian-born Haroon Kasir and his German wife Carole, the guest house was openly advertised in the gay press of the time as nothing more sinister than a place where homosexual men could meet.

MOL/HE

Photo Credit: Martha Rosenberg

Why does the suicide rate among military personnel continue to climb–even among those who never saw combat? This week the Pentagon announced there were more suicides among active-duty members of the armed services in 2012 than combat deaths–a staggering 349. Eighty-five percent had not even seen combat, reported Bloomberg.

The  suicide rate rose similarly last year and also included troops who had not faced combat. There were 38 Army suicides in July of 2012 compared with 32 suicides in July of 2011. In a 2010 Army report called Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention Report, 36 percent of the troops who killed themselves had never even deployed. The suicide rate increased by more than 150 percent in the Army and more than 50 percent in the Marine Corps between 2001 to 2009, reported Military Times in a series of in-depth articles.

One in six service members was on a psychoactive drug in 2010 and “many troops are taking more than one kind, mixing several pills in daily ‘cocktails’ for example, an antidepressant with an antipsychotic to prevent nightmares, plus an anti-epileptic to reduce headaches–despite minimal clinical research testing such combinations,” said Military Times.

The pills and pill cocktails many troops are prescribed are clearly linked to suicidal thoughts and behavior. Antidepressants like Prozac and Paxil, antipsychotics like Seroquel and Zyprexa and anti-seizure drugs like Lyrica and Neurontin all carry clear suicide warnings and all are widely used in the military. Almost 5,000 newspaper reports link antidepressants to suicide, homicide and bizarre behavior on the website SSRIstories.com. The malaria drug Lariam is also highly correlated with suicide and its use actually increased in the Navy and Marine Corps in 2011, according to the Associated Press.

Eighty-nine percent of troops with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are now given psychoactive drugs and between 2005 and 2009, half of all TRICARE (the military health plan) prescriptions for people between 18 and 34 were for antidepressants. During the same time period, epilepsy drugs like Topamax and Neurontin, increasingly given off-label for mental conditions, increased 56 percent, reports Military Times. In 2008 , 578,000 epilepsy pills and 89,000 antipsychotics were prescribed to deploying troops.

Both the increase in the overall suicide rate in the US (rising to 36,000 a year after falling in the 1990s according to USA Today) and in the military coincide with the debut of direct-to-consumer drug advertising in the late 1990s. They are also correlated with the FDA’s approval of many drugs with suicide links and a population that is increasingly taking psychoactive drugs for minor problems and symptoms. Several powerful military psychiatrists and administrators are also consultants to Big Pharma who shamelessly enroll veterans in drug studies and promote the pills that drug companies pay them to promote. Who can say conflict of interest?

When concerns about the rise in the general suicide rate in the US surfaced last fall, US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin announced federal grants for suicide hotlines, more mental health workers, better depression screening and Facebook tracking of suicidal messages. Nowhere, did she mention examining the role of suicide-linked drugs on, ahem, suicide. The Pentagon is apparently in similar denial.

More information about overmedication of troops and suicide-linked drugs is found in Martha Rosenberg’s recently publishedBorn With a Junk Food Deficiency: How Flaks, Quacks and Hacks Pimp The Public Health.

Businessman Kevin Michael McGeever.(Screenshot from YouTube user allbitsofegg)

An Irish real estate tycoon suddenly released after eight months being held hostage has accused Russian mafia and the IRA of kidnapping, torturing and carving “thief” on his forehead over the debts he owes to the criminals.

­Kevin McGeever appeared to have the word “thief” carved into his forehead. During interviews with the police, the 68-year-old revealed that he was seized and kept in a “darkened container” because of his debt to Russian gangsters and the IRA.

Mr McGeever told the detectives that he was kidnapped from the garden of his £2.5million mansion by three masked men. The abductors had demanded a ransom but he did not know if it was delivered. 

McGeever also told the officers that his captors gave him a mobile phone when he was freed and told him to keep it with him at all times.

The KMM Properties developer was found by a couple in Ballinamore, on a remote country road on Tuesday night with serious injury to his forehead and in a malnourished state. He was wrapped in a plastic bag and wasn’t wearing shoes.

Catherine Vallely, who found him told the Daily Mail, that the developer was “skin and bones” with three-inch finger nails and a long beard.

McGeever went missing in June 2012. Prior to his disappearance, he had been involved in a property development company dealing primarily with real estate in Dubai. During the economic boom, he sold luxury homes to wealthy Irish and British clients.

Police are looking into the debt claims related to property transactions, including some in Dubai. So far, law enforcement is yet to confirm any of Mr McGeever’s claims.

 “It may be some time before a clearer picture emerges but we are sceptical that this was the work of foreign-based criminals,” a police source has revealed to the Irish Herald. 

McGeever is being guarded at Mulligar Hospital where he is receiving treatment for malnutrition and dehydration.

The Islamic Republic of Iran will be unveiling upgraded versions of two domestically designed and manufactured battle tanks this week.

The Zolfaqar and Samsam tanks will be put on display on Monday as part of the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations commemorating the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The commander of the Iranian Army, Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, and a number of other high-ranking military officials will be attending the unveiling ceremony.

On January 15, Pourdastan said that the fire control system and the stabilizer of the new version of the Zolfaqar tank have been upgraded, adding that the tank will be mass-produced after receiving the approval of the office of the chief of the general staff of the armed forces.

Iran’s Zolfaqar tank has a distinctive box-shaped, steel-welded turret and is operated by a crew of three.

The tank is armed with a 125mm smoothbore 2A46 gun, which is fitted with a fume extractor. Its secondary armament consists of a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and a 12.7mm machine gun.

The Samsam tank is said to be an upgrade of the M-60A1 battle tank.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems.

Tehran has repeatedly assured other nations that its military might poses no threat to other countries, saying that the Islamic Republic’s defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence.

MP/HGL

February 2, 2013  |  

This Sunday’s Super Bowl will be punctuated by dozens of ads featuring everything from adorable puppies to kids in Star Wars outfits. But one commercial you won’t see is a provocative ad by the carbonated beverage company SodaStream – an Israeli company that is no stranger to controversy – that takes on soda giants Coca Cola and Pepsi.

That’s because the ad has been pulled after pressure from the mammoth corporations led Super Bowl host CBS to take it down from its programming. Reportedly, Coke and Pepsi were upset with the commercials’ implied criticism of the soda industry’s use of plastic bottles and the subsequent harmful effects on the environment:

CBS rejected the ad, reportedly because of its direct assault on the big two carbonated-beverage makers (CBS didn’t return calls for comment). As the music from the movie Deliverance trills, deliverymen from Coke and Pepsi show up at a supermarket and rush to deliver their products. But the bottles pop and disappear, creating a mess. The ad then pans to a shot of a guy using SodaStream. The implication is that SodaStream will make bottled sodas irrelevant. […]

Like many upstarts, SodaStream has taken an in-your-face, hyperbolic approach to marketing. The company doesn’t just suggest that SodaStream is a money-saving artisanal device. Rather, it suggests that some of the world’s popular brands (and biggest advertisers) are effectively evil forces. Why? They promote the production of polluting bottles and cans.

“SodaStream empowers consumers to make their own fresh soda at home in seconds, without the devastating environmental impact of plastic soda bottles and cans, which litter our parks and oceans,” said Daniel Birnbaum, the chief executive officer of SodaStream International, in a statement. “ Our ad confronts the beverage industry and its arguably out-dated business model by showing people that there exists a smarter way to enjoy soft drinks. One day we will look back on plastic soda bottles the way we now view cigarettes; as a dangerous vice, not as an easily-accepted feature of everyday life.”

Watch the ad here:

Americans throw away enough trash every year to cover the state of Texas – twice. And this isn’t the first time that beverage giants have found themselves in hot water over public health issues. Just last month, Coca Cola launched a deceptive new ad campaign attempting to mask the harmful effects of calorie-laden sodas on America’s obesity and diabetes epidemics.

An Israeli border police officer throws a tear gas canister during clashes with stone throwing Palestinians protesting against a nearby Jewish settlement in the West Bank village of Burin, south of Nablus February 2, 2013.(Reuters / Ammar Awad)

Israeli soldiers have used tear-gas and stun grenades against a group of rock-throwing Palestinians trying prevent the dismantlement of a Palestinian camp in the disputed West bank territories. Both sides sustained injuries as the IDF managed to remove do

­The violence initially erupted after Palestinian protesters erected a new camp called “Al Manatir” in the village of Burin, some 70 kilometers away from Jerusalem. The camp consisted of four tents and five metal shacks.

The Israeli army claimed that five Palestinians were arrested after the soldiers of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) entered the village and began firing tear gas and live ammunition into the air. According to other estimates, eight people were detained. An Israeli military spokeswoman said troops only used non-lethal riot dispersal means after Palestinians started throwing stones at them.

The spokesperson added that the protest in the village included some 150 people and was illegal.

Palestinians activists claimed Israeli soldiers slightly wounded a 16-year old, who was taken to the hospital in Nablus, and reportedly a mosque was set alight by a tear-gas canister.

Locals accused the IDF of uprooting 100 olive trees.

A large IDF force deployed to the area surrounded the protest camp and closed off the eastern entrance to the village, preventing more activists and supporters from arriving.

An Israeli border police officer uses pepper spray to disperse Palestinian activists after the group set up tents and makeshift structures in protest against a nearby Jewish settlement in the West Bank village of Burin, south of Nablus February 2, 2013.(Reuters / Mohamad Torokman)

­There have also been reports suggesting that confrontation was provoked by nearby Jewish settlers who arrived at the scene with the IDF soldiers. The village of Burin has reportedly come under frequent attack by Israelis who live in settlements scattered throughout the West Bank and around east Jerusalem.

The “Al Manatir” camp was a part of a larger movement started early January when Palestinian activists set up the Bab al Shams (Gate of the Sun) outpost in the area known as the E1 settlement site to protest Israel’s plans to build settlements there.

The E1 sector remains a highly disputed area between of the West bank located just outside East Jerusalem. Palestinians demand the area for an independent Palestinian state, while Israelis see it as land for its future settlements. 

The violence in Burin comes hours after the Civil Administration in the West Bank ordered an evacuation of another Palestinian protest camp set up over the weekend near the village of Beit Iksa, northwest of Jerusalem.

The building of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank has been fiercely criticized by many international powers which say the move undermines prospects for securing a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Direct peace talks between Israel and Palestine broke down in 2010.

Israel froze building in E1 for many years, after coming under pressure from then US President George W. Bush.

However, Netanyahu announced the resumption of settlement building after the Palestinians won de-facto state recognition at the UN General Assembly last year. Those plans involve building around 4,000 housing units in the area.

Around 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

A Palestinian activist walks through teargas after Israeli police broke up a protest against a nearby Jewish settlement in the West Bank village of Burin, south of Nablus February 2, 2013.(Reuters / Mohamad Torokman)

Israeli border police detain a Palestinian man after a group of activists set up tents and makeshift structures in protest against a nearby Jewish settlement in the West Bank village of Burin, south of Nablus February 2, 2013.(Reuters / Mohamad Torokman)

A Palestinian activist runs from teargas after Israeli police broke up a protest against a nearby Jewish settlement in the West Bank village of Burin, south of Nablus February 2, 2013.(Reuters / Mohamad Torokman)

Israeli border police detain a Palestinian man after a group of activists set up tents and makeshift structures in protest against a nearby Jewish settlement in the West Bank village of Burin, south of Nablus February 2, 2013.(Reuters / Mohamad Torokman)

An obsession with the largest economic players distracts us from the smaller companies that should drive our future economy.

Both Richard Fisher, the president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, and Alan Blinder, arch-economist and former vice-chair of the Federal Reserve Board, had fascinating commentaries last week on “too big to fail,” the big banks, and financial stability. Fisher’s was a reform proposal; Blinder’s a set of lessons to remember. Both dealt explicitly or implicitly with our cult of scale. 

The business, popular, political, think tank, and NGO cultures of America are all infatuated with big enterprise and its leaders. As a society, we pay ritual and theoretical attention to small business and entrepreneurs, but with a very few exceptions we court big company CEOs almost exclusively. Every presidential economic statement or study has its requisite CEO centerpiece. When presidents (of all political persuasions) want to show that they are really, really serious about the economy, they have pictures taken of themselves with big company CEOs. The most frequently quoted business organization, the one whose policy pronouncements are taken as the last word in economic wisdom, is the Business Roundtable — the insiders club for big business CEOs. The big news talk shows always have big business CEOs as their private sector representatives. The lobbyists whom congresses and governments pay attention to are from the biggest businesses. The same set of CEOs are always invited to presidential state dinners for visiting heads of state. The board development committees of think tanks, NGOs, and foundations covet the same set of CEOs. 

Why? 

Certainly not because big businesses play an actual dominant and dynamic role in our economy. Essentially 100 percent of all new jobs in America are created by new medium and small businesses. Even though large companies dominate R&D spending, revolutionary breakthroughs come almost exclusively from small entrepreneurial companies. If you look back just at the business history of the last 20 years, the pathbreaking innovations were always driven by small and medium companies — never by the giant incumbents of an industry. 

So what benefits does scale bring us? Richard Fisher raises this question dramatically in the case of banking. Banks with less than $10 billion in assets — 98 percent of all banks — held only 12 percent of total bank assets in America but they made 51 percent of all small and medium business loans. Banks with less than $10 billion in assets continued lending to these businesses during the financial debacle; the big banks stopped. Lending, I’ll remind you, is basically what banks are supposed to do.

And of course big banks are the riskiest and most costly part of the banking sector. Their failures or near failures nearly cratered our economy, they received the vast bulk of the bailout money, and they continue to hold the riskiest assets. The five largest banks in America hold $4 trillion in non-deposit liabilities, 26 percent of U.S. GDP. Among other problems posed by these liabilities — for example, that virtually no one understands them — they are the reason for the excess leverage of the big banks.

Blinder usefully underlines 10 commandments for avoiding the next financial crisis. They all make sense. But when you look closely at his commandments, at least eight out of 10 are directly linked to unavoidable problems of scale and complexity. Consider this: the five biggest banks operated through over 19,000 subsidiaries in a minimum of 50 countries each. The simple fact is that Blinder’s very intelligent commandments can’t work in this world. I begin with a prejudice: compared to the directors of the five giants (and these are highly sought after and highly compensated directorships), directors of America’s smaller community banks are every bit as smart,  know more about the banks they direct, hold the CEOs of their banks in far less awe, are much more likely to discipline their management effectively, and are closer to the customers. None of this is just a role of the dice. According to Richard Fisher, J.P.Morgan Chase has about 5,000 subsidiaries. I’ll grant that many of these are meaningless. But no set of directors on earth can really understand or guide well an entity with thousands of subsidiaries. In these circumstances, the amount of arbitrary, mostly unchecked authority given to senior management and the CEO is enormous. A single director is rarely going to risk either losing his or her directorship or simply being humiliated in the club by challenging the CEO on anything.

Which gets me back to the general problems of mega scale in business. While the biggest banks pose particular problems and the biggest dangers, all the evidence seems to say that as businesses get very, very big, four developments are inevitable. The businesses become sclerotic and bureaucratic. The businesses lose the creativity and dynamism that initially drove them. The businesses become extraordinarily complex. The businesses become less market-driven and more dominated by CEOs with a fair amount of arbitrary power. Some businesses and some extraordinary leaders — Steve Jobs — delay all of this, but the trends are inevitable. 

So once again, why the fascination with big companies and their chiefs? Awe, power, and money. The heads of the biggest companies are the real masters of our universe. They are treated like heads of sovereign states. A lot of them think of themselves that way and, in fact, a heck of a lot of big company CEOs have more actual power than the heads of government of all but 30 to 50 countries. And within a range the power is fairly arbitrary. The biggest companies have the widest range of choices about products, locations, suppliers, public and community relations money, and foundation money. There is lots of economic “rent” buried among all those choices and everyone wants a little bit of it. I think the resources most big companies allocate through these choices mostly do an enormous amount of good and have a significant function in our strange society, but that’s not the same thing as believing these companies are the future of our economy.

To be clear, big companies play big, real, valuable roles in our economy. We need a mix. But the balance has gone too far in our infatuation with bigness. The true path to the Next American Economy does not go in that direction. We will not grow as fast as we must with an increasingly big company economy. Equity and social mobility won’t increase that way. We will need more breakthrough innovation, more new companies creating good jobs, more highly specialized value-added products and services, and more diversity and localization of businesses. The dream should be an economy driven by thousands of companies growing from dozens of very different urban platforms, not by a few dozen giants. But achieving that dream will be much harder if our political and intellectual culture is perpetually fascinated and seduced by the non-economic glamor of the wrong part of the private sector.

A company which supplies Halal meat to prisons has had its contract suspended, after traces of pork DNA were found in pies and pasties.

The Ministry of Justice said it had withdrawn the products immediately, while justice minister Jeremy Wright said the Prison Service was investigating “as a matter of urgency”.

It comes after traces of horsemeat were found in burgers sold by some UK supermarkets , including Tesco.

“All prisons have been informed about this very regrettable incident and we reported this issue to the Food Standards Agency immediately,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said.

“We are taking immediate steps to suspend the contract with the relevant sub-contractor.”

Justice minister Jeremy Wright said: “This is an absolutely unacceptable situation and one which we regret greatly.

“This must be distressing for those affected and they can be reassured we are doing everything we can to resolve the situation. The Prison Service is investigating this as a matter of urgency.”

The company involved has not been named and it is not known where the firm is based.

Islamic law forbids the consumption of pork and prison rules dictate that Halal meat must be offered to inmates.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “This lapse will have offended and distressed high numbers of Muslim prisoners and their families so apologising, suspending the supplier and investigating the incident are the right steps for the Ministry of Justice to take.”

A spokesman for the Food Standards Agency said a local authority investigation would look into the cause of the contamination and determine where the products had been sent.

It is due to meet with retailers and suppliers to remind them of their responsibilities surrounding food labelling after the recent horsemeat scandal.

Burger King has dropped the Irish food processing plant which supplied the contaminated burgers.

The Silvercrest plant in Co Monaghan, which is part of the ABP Food Group, has also lost contracts with Tesco, Aldi and the Co-operative Group.

A sample of Tesco’s Everyday Value Beef Burgers was found to contain 29% horsemeat.

Artists and creative people have always used culture as a tool for social change. On this edition, excerpts from a panel on racial justice, culture and politics featuring some of today’s most insightful and outspoken artists. “Culture Trumps Politics: or Does It?” took place at the Facing Race conference in November 2012 and was moderated by Applied Research Center’s Rinku Sen.

On the panel are Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas, comedian Negin Farsad, recently named one of the 50 funniest women by the Huffington Post; Lolis Eric Elie, a documentary filmmaker and writer for the HBO show Treme; and Jeff Chang, award-winning author of Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation.

Special thanks to Applied Research Center, Colorlines and the Facing Race Conference 2012.

Featuring:

Rinku Sen, Applied Research Center executive director; Jose Antonio Vargas, Define American founder; Negin Farsad, comedian; Jeff Chang, Writer; Lolis Eric Elie, writer and documentary filmmaker.

United Natural Foods Incorporated, the largest wholesale distributor of organic and “natural” foods in the US, is currently under investigation for 45 violations of federal labor law.

This article was published in partnership with GlobalPossibilities.org.

“The union is like having herpes. It doesn’t kill you, but it’s unpleasant and inconvenient, and it stops a lot of people from becoming your lover.” — John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market (WFM) CEO John Mackey has done a brilliant job of creating the illusion that his empire is all about abundance, bounty and the good life. But there’s nothing bountiful or good about the way the second-largest non-unionized food retailer exploits workers.

United Natural Foods Incorporated (UNFI), the largest multi-billion dollar wholesale distributor of organic and “natural” foods in the U.S., is currently under investigation for 45 violations of federal labor law, including physically threatening immigrant workers in California who were trying to form a union.

The company recently fired its underpaid and overworked unionized workers at its Auburn, Wash., distribution center for going on strike, and illegally hired non-union replacement workers.

What happens when companies like WFM and UNFI, which have carefully cultivated their public progressive images, start acting like Walmart? When union-busting and labor exploitation are accepted as “business-as-usual” in the green economy, it makes us all look bad. It discredits organics and Fair Trade by creating the impression that consumers don’t really care how their healthy organic food was produced. That the entire industry cares only about profits. Ethics and workers be damned.

When flagship organic companies take a Walmart approach to workers’ rights, it sends negative and conflicting signals to core organic consumers, making it look like leaders in the organic community are concerned about the plight of endangered species and Third World coffee growers or cacao producers, but oblivious to the economic pain and stresses of working class Americans or hardworking immigrants who plant and harvest our organic fruits and vegetables and then pack and deliver them to our neighborhood co-ops and natural food markets.

Isn’t it time we ask the same of WFM and UNFI that we demand of ourselves: that they walk their talk, prioritize organic food and products, practice Fair Trade and social justice, and wake up to the fact that “business as usual” is a bitter recipe for injustice?

The demand for organic and fairly traded food, apparel and body care products has grown exponentially over the past two decades. Millions of consumers are demanding products that not only are organic and healthy, but also embody Fair Trade principles, whereby the workers involved in producing these products are treated fairly and paid equitably.

Under the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP), organic products are certified by third-party certifiers and regulated under federal law. But no such federal standards exist for Fair Trade labor practices, including the right of workers, especially in large businesses, to form trade unions and engage in collective bargaining with their employers. As a consequence many consumers look for the “Fair Trade” label on imported goods, but pay little attention to the domestic supply chain. Here in the U.S., most consumers naively believe that organics and Fair Trade practices go hand in hand. They are surprised to learn that most family farmers and farm workers, as well as many supply chain workers, struggle to make a living. But the truth is, labor exploitation is rampant in the fields, factories and warehouses where organic products are grown, processed and housed. And this is especially true when small, alternative businesses are bought out by corporate investors.

WFM is one of the biggest offenders in the U.S. The company’s Whole Trade Guarantee, through a third-party verified program, supposedly ensures that producers and laborers in developing countries get an equitable price for their goods in a safe and healthy working environment. But here in the U.S., WFM. the second largest union-free food retailer behind Walmart,  has taken the position that unions are not valid. The company even gives its workers a pamphlet titled “Beyond Unions.” In the company’s 27-year history, only one of its stores, in Madison, Wis., successfully unionized. The chain has also fended off unionizing attempts in Berkeley, Calif.; St. Paul, Minn.; and Falls Church, Va.

As for UNFI, the company’s recent record on workers’ rights is abysmal. The National Labor Relations Board investigation includes allegations that UNFI engaged in worker surveillance, intimidation and retaliation; that it refused to bargain in good faith; and that it illegally reassigned bargaining unit work. UNFI workers and drivers at UNFI’s Auburn, Wash., distribution center went on strike for better pay and better working conditions Dec. 10, after rejecting UNFI’s latest contract offer. In retaliation UNFI fired them and illegally hired non-union replacement workers.

WFM and UNFI like to brag about how their workers are part of their “family,” and how well management treats them. But what about the thousands of non-unionized and exploited farm workers in California, Texas, Florida, Mexico, Latin America and Asia who supply many of their premium-priced products? What about the immigrant feedlot workers across the country? What about the truck drivers, food processing workers and warehouse staff who are threatened and intimidated whenever they try to organize themselves for collective bargaining? Are we all one family?

It’s time for WFM and UNFI to publicly acknowledge that Fair Trade principles and practices need to be implemented as part of their entire US/North American/global supply chain for food and organic and natural products, not just for the minority of products produced overseas and certified as Fair Trade. And of course, supporting domestic Fair Trade means that WFM and UNFI must stop their union busting and start recognizing the rights of workers, especially workers in large for-profit corporations, to freely organize themselves into unions for collective bargaining.

Until they do, as conscientious consumers we have to pressure UNFI and its largest customer, WFM. In response to UNFI’s actions in Washington State, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has called for a boycott of UNFI’s brand name products, Woodstock Foods and Blue Marble, until the company rehires its fired workers in Auburn, stops harassing and intimidating workers and drivers who want to form a union, and sits down to sign a fair contract. We’re also asking organic food stores to look for alternative wholesalers to supply their stores, as a number of coops in Seattle and Olympia Washington, have already begun to do.  

In addition to boycotting UNFI’s Woodstock Foods and Blue Marble products, we encourage consumers to:

• Sign the online petition in support of the striking workers at UNFI.
• Call UNFI Manager Hank Heatherly at (253) 333-6769. Tell him to rehire the fired workers and return to the bargaining table immediately.
• If you live in Washington State, and are willing to join in informational leafleting at Whole Foods Markets, sign up here.

A suspect device has been discovered at a Catholic church in Co Antrim.

The bomb disposal team was sent to the scene at St Mary’s Star of the Sea on the Shore Road in Newtownabbey.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland was also at the scene.

The Shore Road has been closed at Doagh Road and at the main Shore Road roundabout.

Tax breaks for married couples will not be part of next month’s Budget, a senior Government source has said.

The news is likely to upset many Conservative backbenchers who have suggested the change should be included in Chancellor George Osborne’s next Budget in return for their supporting plans to introduce gay marriage.

The Conservative general election manifesto pledged to introduce a marriage tax break, and the commitment was included in the coalition agreement.

It is expected that one member of a married couple or civil partnership would be allowed to transfer £750 of their tax-free personal allowance to their partner, reducing their tax bill. This would be worth around £150 a year to basic-rate taxpayers.

But the senior Government source flatly rejected the idea of a “quid pro quo” deal, and ruled out a marriage tax break featuring in the Budget.

“It won’t be in the Budget but it will be in this Parliament,” the source said. “This Budget obviously, with all that has happened in recent weeks and months, will be very much focused on growth in the economy”.

Mr Cameron views the introduction of same-sex marriage – which is expected to split his MPs when it is put to a Commons vote next week – as the “Conservative Party delivering the promise it made”.

“This is a difficult issue for some in the Conservative Party and he understands the strong feelings that people have, and of course it’s a free vote,” the source said.

“He is proud of the fact that it’s a coalition Government with strong Conservative participation that is bringing forward a modern and progressive change.

“It is good to encourage people to come together and stay together.”

The source also said Mr Osborne had the “full confidence” of the Prime Minister – insisting he will still be Chancellor at the 2015 general election.

It came as some MPs are said to be circulating a letter demanding that Mr Osborne is replaced as the economy continues to falter.

“He is an extremely successful Chancellor. He is battling very difficult economic circumstances,” the source said.

“George Osborne will be Chancellor at the next general election.”

The issue of gay marriage is causing Conservative party members to quit in significant numbers, according to The Times.

Backbenchers insist the issue has sparked “serious unrest” among the party’s rank and file and are claiming some constituencies have lost as many as 100 card-carrying Tories each.

Conservative headquarters, however, does not hold up-to-date membership records, the newspaper said.

Tory MP David Burrowes told The Times: “There’s serious unrest in the grassroots. You cannot avoid the fact that the troops are unhappy. People are drifting away.”

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde attends a session of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEF) on January 26, 2013 at the Swiss resort of Davos.(AFP Photo / Johannes Eisele)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued Argentina with a ‘declaration of censure’ for providing inaccurate inflation and GDP data and has given it until September 29th to amend the problems or will impose sanctions.

The IMF Friday called on Argentina to fix its statistics “without further delay”

“The fund has issued a declaration of censure against Argentina in connection with its breach of obligation to the fund,” The IMF said in a statement.

The IMF said it would review Argentina’s progress in November and warned that if the problems are not sorted then it could impose sanctions on the country. This would bar one of South America’s biggest economies from voting on IMF policies and accessing financing.

Relations between the South American country and the IMF have been steadily deteriorating since Argentina’s 2001-2002 debt crisis, which many in Buenos Aires blame on IMF policies.

Argentina’s Economy Ministry slammed the IMF for unfair treatment and accused them of double standards.

The Friday declaration was “not only a new IMF error but a clear example of unequal treatment and the double standards with which this organization treats certain members. This is the same fund that showed itself to be complacent about the inexact data and failed policies that led to the global financial crisis,” the statement said.

The ministry pointed out the IMF hailed Argentinian economic policies of the 1990’s as a success, the same policies that resulted in Argentina’s economic meltdown and debt default. The ministry also asked for an extraordinary meeting of the IMF board to discuss the lender’s decisions and policy.

Christine Lagarde, the IMF Managing Director, warned Argentina in September last year that it could be penalized unless it sorted out its data problems. Previous IMF chiefs, including Dominque Strauss-Khan and Rodrigo Rato, unsuccessfully tried to mend ties with Argentina, while other officials have avoided commenting on the country.

Economic analysts have accused the government in Buenos Aires of underreporting inflation since 2007 in order to reduce payments on inflation indexed debt and for political gain.

Inflation in Argentina is estimated by private economists to be at 25% a year and rising but the government reported it at 11% or less for last year, according to the Financial Times.

“This is a very serious step by the IMF, the situation in Argentina is deteriorating very quickly…and there is no sign that the government has any interest or willingness to even try to address some of the basic concerns of the fund,” Biorden Roett, director of Western Hemisphere Studies at John Hopkins’ Paul H Bitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington told Reuters.

Chancellor George Osborne wants any fine paid by the Royal Bank of Scotland over the Libor scandal to come out of its bankers’ bonuses.

RBS, which is majority-owned by the taxpayer, is expected to agree a fine of £400-500m next week with US and British authorities.

It is accused of attempting to rig benchmark interest rates.

Sky’s City Editor Mark Kleinman said: “A Treasury source has told Sky News that the money that the US regulators will fine RBS will have to come out of the bank’s bonus pot.

“It’s very important politically, I think, for the Chancellor to be able to say that the taxpayer is not bearing the financial cost of misconduct by bankers who work for a company that is majority-owned by the taxpayer.

“The Treasury is obviously playing hardball on this, and we’ll find out exactly how much RBS is going to be paying in fines in the coming days.”

The Treasury expects the fines to be paid not just from the bonus pot for 2012 — likely to be around £250m — but money from future years’ bonus pots as well.

RBS – which is 81% owned by taxpayers – is also looking to claw back up to £100m from pay deals previously awarded to executives in its investment bank.

The bank’s remuneration committee, which is chaired by Penny Hughes, a non-executive director, is assessing plans for a “flat tax” on the pay packets of hundreds of directors and managing directors in its markets business.

The idea would involve about 15% of prior-year pay awards to the relevant individuals being clawed back, netting a total of as much as £100m.

Barclays was fined £300m last year for its role in the scandal.

BANZAI7 NEWS–When the Brother From Another Ponzi Planet mentioned last week that he had picked up a new hobby – skeet shooting at Camp Indebted – it was a surprising disclosure by a TOTUS whose main identification with guns these days is his effort to ban assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.

To some, the Debt Brother’s newfound enthusiasm for blasting clay pigeons – he said in an interview that he did it “all the time” at his retreat in the Maryland mountains – also seemed a bit suspicious.

So on Saturday, the White House tried to silence the skeptics by officially releasing photos of Debt Brother’s shooting retreat on the range at Camp Indebted in August.

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Meanwhile…

Youth in Revolt

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Posted on Feb 2, 2013

Paradigm Publishers

This following is the introduction to Henry A. Giroux’s new book, “Youth in Revolt” (Paradigm Publishers, 2012). It is reprinted here with permission from the author.

Military-style command and control systems are now be­ing established to support “zero tolerance” policing and urban surveillance practices designed to exclude failed consumers or undesirable persons from the new enclaves of urban consumption and leisure.
–Stephen Graham

Young people are demonstrating all over the world against a variety of issues ranging from economic injustice and massive inequality to drastic cuts in education and public services.[1] In the fall of 2011, on the tenth anniversary of September 11, as the United States revisited the tragic loss and celebrated the courage displayed on that torturous day, another kind of commemoration took place. The Occupy movement shone out like flame in the darkness–a beacon of the irrepressible spirit of democracy and a humane desire for justice. Unfortunately, the peacefully organized protests across America have often been met with derogatory commentaries in the mainstream media and, increasingly, state-sanctioned violence. The war against society has become a war against youthful protesters and in­creasingly bears a striking resemblance to the violence waged against Occupy movement protesters and the violence associ­ated with the contemporary war zone.[2] Missing from both the dominant media and state and national politics is an attempt to critically engage the issues the protesters are raising, not to mention any attempt to dialogue with them over their strate­gies, tactics, and political concerns. That many young people have become “a new class of stateless individuals … cast into a threatening and faceless mass whose identities collapse into the language of debt, survival, and disposability” appears to have escaped the attention of the mainstream media.[3] Matters of justice, human dignity, and social responsibility have given way to a double gesture that seeks to undercut democratic public spheres through the criminalization of dissent while also resorting to crude and violent forms of punishment as the only mediating tools to use with young people who are at­tempting to open a new conversation about politics, inequality, and social justice.

In the United States, the state monopoly on the use of violence has intensified since the 1980s and in the process has been di­rected disproportionately against young people, poor minorities, immigrants, women, and the elderly. Guided by the notion that unregulated, market-driven values and relations should shape every domain of human life, a business model of governance has eviscerated any viable notion of social responsibility and conscience, thereby furthering the dismissal of social problems and expanding cutbacks in basic social services.[4] The examples are endless, but one in particular stands out. In March 2012, Texas governor Rick Perry joined eight other states in passing legislation to ban funding for clinics, including Planned Parent­hood facilities, affiliated with abortion services for women.[5] As a result, the federal government has stopped funding the Texas Women’s Health Program. Unfortunately, this attempt by Perry to punish all women because of his antiabortion stance means that more than 130,000 women in Texas will not have access to vital services ranging from mammograms to health care for their children. There is more at work here than a resurgent war on women and their children or “an insane bout of mass misogyny.”[6] There is also a deep-seated religious and political authoritarianism that has become one of the fundamental pil­lars of what I call a neoliberal culture of cruelty. As the welfare state is hollowed out. a culture of compassion is replaced by a culture of violence, cruelty, waste, and disposability.[7] Banks, hedge funds, and finance capital as the contemporary registers of class power have a new visibility, and their spokespersons are unabashedly blunt in supporting a corporate culture in which “ruthlessness is prized and money is the ultimate measure.”[8] Collective insurance policies and social protections have given way to the forces of economic deregulation, the transformation of the welfare state into punitive workfare programs, the privatiza­tion of public goods, and an appeal to individual culpability as a substitute for civic responsibility. At the same time, violence–or what Anne-Marie Cusac calls “American punishment”–travels from our prisons and schools to various aspects of our daily lives, “becoming omnipresent … [from] the shows we watch on television, [to] the way many of us treat children [to] some influential religious practices.”[9]

David Harvey has argued that neoliberalism is “a political proj­ect to re-establish the conditions for capital accumulation and to restore the power of economic elites” through the implementation of “an institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free markets, and free trade.”[10] Neoliberalism is also a pedagogical project designed to create particular subjects, desires, and values defined largely by market considerations. National destiny becomes linked to a market-driven logic in which freedom is stripped down to freedom from government regulation, freedom to consume, and freedom to say anything one wants, regardless of how racist or toxic the consequences might be. This neoliberal notion of freedom is abstracted from any sense of civic responsibility or social cost. In fact, “neoliberalism is grounded in the idea of the ‘free, possessive individual,’” with the state cast “as tyrannical and oppressive.”[11] The welfare state, in particular, becomes the archenemy of freedom. As Stuart Hall points out, according to apostles of free-market fundamentalism, ‘The state must never govern society, dictate to free individuals how to dispose of their private property, regulate a free-market economy or interfere with the God-given right to make profits and amass personal wealth.”[12]

Paradoxically, neoliberalism severely proscribes any vestige of social and civic agency through the figure of the isolated automaton for whom choice is reduced to the practice of end­less shopping, fleeing from any sense of civic obligation, and safeguarding a radically individualized existence. Neoliberal governance translates into a state that attempts to substitute individual security for social welfare but in doing so offers only the protection of gated communities for the privileged and incarceration for those considered flawed consumers or threats to the mythic ideal of a white Christian nation. Neoliberalism refuses to recognize how private troubles are connected to broader systemic issues, legitimating instead an ode to self-reliance in which the experience of personal misfortune becomes merely the just desserts delivered by the righteous hand of the free market–not a pernicious outcome of the social order being hijacked by an antisocial ruling elite and forced to serve a narrow set of interests. Critical thought and human agency are rendered impotent as neoliberal rationality “substitutes emotional and personal vocabularies for political ones in formulating solutions to political problems.”[13] Within such a depoliticized discourse, youths are told that there is no dream of the collective, no viable social bonds, only the ac­tions of autonomous individuals who must rely on their own resources and who bear sole responsibility for the effects of larger systemic political and economic problems.

Under the regime of neoliberalism, no claims are recognized that call for compassion, justice, and social responsibility. No claims are recognized that demand youths have a future better than the present, and no claims are recognized in which young people assert the need to narrate themselves as part of a broader struggle for global justice and radical democracy. Parading as a species of democracy, neoliberal economics and ideology cancel out democracy “as the incommensurable sharing of existence that makes the political possible.”[14] Symptoms of ethical, politi­cal, and economic impoverishment are all around us. And, as if that were not enough, at the current moment in history we are witnessing the merging of violence and governance along with a systemic disinvestment in and breakdown of institutions and public spheres that have provided the minimal conditions for democracy and the principles of communal responsibil­ity. Young people are particularly vulnerable. As Jean-Marie Durand points out, “Youth is no longer considered the world’s future, but as a threat to its present. [For] youth, there is no longer any political discourse except for a disciplinary one.”[15]

As young people make diverse claims on the promise of a radical democracy in the streets, on campuses, and at other occupied sites, articulating what a fair and just world might be, they are treated as criminal populations–rogue groups incapable of toeing the line, “prone to irrational, intemperate and unpredictable” behavior.[16] Moreover, they are increasingly subjected to orchestrated modes of control and containment, if not police violence. Such youths are now viewed as the enemy by the political and corporate establishment because they make visible the repressed images of the common good and the impor­tance of democratic public spheres, public services, the social state, and a society shaped by democratic values rather than market values. Youthful protesters and others are reclaiming the repressed memories of the Good Society and a social state that once, as Zygmunt Bauman has pointed out, “endorsed collective insurance against individual misfortune and its consequences.”[17] Bauman explains that such a state “lifts members of society to the status of citizens–that is, makes them stake-holders in addition to being stock-holders, beneficiaries but also actors responsible for the benefits’ creation and availability, individuals with acute interest in the common good understood as the shared institutions that can be trusted to assure solidity and reliability of the state-issued ‘collective insurance policy.’”[18] In an attempt to excavate the repressed memories of the welfare state, David Theo Goldberg spells out in detail the specific mechanisms and policies it produced in the name of the general welfare between the 1930s and 1970s in the United States. He writes,

From the 1930s through the 1970s, the liberal democratic state had offered a more or less robust set of institutional appara­tuses concerned in principle at least to advance the welfare of its citizens. This was the period of advancing social security, welfare safety nets, various forms of national health system, the expansion of and investment in public education, including higher education, in some states to the exclusion of private and religiously sponsored educational institutions. It saw the emer­gence of state bureaucracies as major employers especially in later years of historically excluded groups. And all this, in turn, offered optimism among a growing proportion of the populace for access to middle-class amenities, including those previously racially excluded within the state and new immigrants from the global south.[19]

Young people today are protesting against a strengthening global capitalist project that erases the benefits of the welfare state and the possibility of a radical notion of democracy. They are protesting against a neoliberal project of accumulation, dispossession, deregulation, privatization, and commodification that leaves them out of any viable notion of the future. They are rejecting and resisting a form of casino capitalism that has ushered in a permanent revolution marked by a massive project of depoliticization, on the one hand, and an aggressive, if not savage, practice of distributing upward wealth, income, and op­portunity for the 1 percent on the other. Under neoliberalism, every moment, space, practice, and social relation offers the possibility of financial investment, or what Ernst Bloch once called the “swindle of fulfillment.”[20] Goods, services, and targeted human beings are ingested into its waste machine and dismissed and disposed of as excess. Flawed consumers are now assigned the status of damaged and defective human beings. Resistance to such oppressive policies and practices does not come easily, and many young people are paying a price for such resistance. According to OccupyArrests.com, “there have been at least 6705 arrests in over 112 different cities as of March 6, 2012.”[21]

Occupy movement protests and state-sponsored violence “have become a mirror”–and I would add a defining feature–“of the contemporary state.”[22] Abandoned by the existing political system, young people in Oakland, California, New York City, and numerous other cities have placed their bodies on the line, protesting peacefully while trying to produce a new language, politics, and “community that manifests the values of equality and mutual respect that they see missing in a world that is structured by neoliberal principles.”[23] Well aware that the spaces, sites, and spheres for the representation of their voices, desires, and concerns have collapsed, they have occupied a number of spaces ranging from public parks to college campuses in an effort to create a public forum where they can narrate themselves and their visions of the future while representing the misfortunes, suffering, and hopes of the unemployed, poor, incarcerated, and marginalized. This movement is not simply about reclaiming space but also about producing new ideas, generating a new conversation, and introducing a new political language.

Rejecting the notion that democracy and markets are the same, young people are calling for the termination of corporate control over the commanding institutions of politics, culture, and economics, an end to the suppression of dissent, and a shutting down of the permanent warfare state. Richard Lichtman is right to insist that the Occupy movement should be praised for its embrace of communal democracy as well as an emerging set of shared concerns, principles, and values articulated “by a demand for equality, or, at the very least, for a significant lessening of the horrid extent of inequality; for a working democracy; for the elimination of the moneyed foun­dation of politics; for the abolition of political domination by a dehumanized plutocracy; for the replacement of ubiquitous commodification by the reciprocal recognition of humanity in the actions of its agents.”[24] As Arundhati Roy points out, what connects the protests in the United States to resistance move­ments all over the globe is that young people “know that their being excluded from the obscene amassing of wealth of U.S. corporations is part of the same system of the exclusion and war that is being waged by these corporations in places like India, Africa, and the Middle East.”[25] Of course, Lichtman, Roy, and others believe that this is just the beginning of a movement and that much needs to be done, as Staughton Lynd argues, to build new strategies, a vast network of new institutions and public spheres, a community of trust, and political organiza­tion that invites poor people into its ranks.[26] Stanley Aronowitz goes further and insists that the Occupy movement needs to bring together the fight for economic equality and security with the task of reshaping American institutions along genuinely democratic lines.[27]

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If you’ve seen the movie Zero Dark Thirty, you know why it has triggered a new debate over our government’s use of torture after 9/11.

The movie’s up for an Oscar as best motion picture. We’ll know later this month if it wins. Some people leave the theater claiming the film endorses and even glorifies the use of torture to obtain information that finally led to finding and killing Osama bin Laden. Not true, say the filmmakers, but others argue the world is better off without bin Laden in it, no matter how we had to get him. What’s more, they say, there hasn’t been a major terrorist attack on American soil since 9/1 – if we have to use an otherwise immoral practice to defend ourselves against such atrocities, we’re okay with it. Or so the argument goes.

The story of bin Laden’s death is just one aspect of the international manhunt the United States has pursued, a worldwide dragnet of detention and death that has raised troubling questions and fervent debate over the fight against terrorism. What about the undermining of civil liberties here at home? The rights of suspects? The secret surveillance of American citizens? The swollen executive powers first claimed by George W. Bush and now by Barack Obama? 

Soon after he succeeded Bush, President Obama announced he would not permit torture and would close down the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. He also said:

“The orders that I sign today should send an unmistakable signal that our actions in defense of liberty will be just as our cause. And that we the people will uphold our fundamental values as vigilantly as we protect our security. Once again, America’s moral example must be the bedrock and the beacon of our global leadership”

Four years later, Guantanamo remains open. In fact, just a few days ago, the State Department announced it was eliminating the office assigned to close the prison and move its detainees.

Because of logjams in the process of military justice, alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others have yet to come to trial. And there’s continuing controversy about the lack of oversight and transparency surrounding the detention and interrogation of suspects both here and abroad.

Meanwhile, President Obama has stepped up the use of unmanned drones against suspected terrorists abroad, not only in Afghanistan but in countries where we’re not at war, including Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. As the Brookings Institution’s Peter Singer wrote in The New York Times a year ago, “… A new technology is short-circuiting the decision-making process for what used to be the most important choice a democracy could make. Something that would have previously been viewed as a war is simply not being treated like a war.”

Just last week, as reports came of more deaths by drone – including three attacks in Yemen, with 13 dead – the United Nations announced an investigation into the legality of drones and their deadly toll on the innocent. According to UN special rapporteur Ben Emmerson:

“The central objective of the investigation… is to look at the evidence that drone strikes and other forms of remote targeted killing have caused disproportionate civilian casualties in some instances… It’s both right as a matter of principle, and inevitable as a matter of political reality, that the international community should now be focusing attention on the standards applicable to this technological development.”

Since Barack Obama took office, the aerial assaults also have killed three U.S. citizens, raising additional arguments as to whether the president has the right to order the death of Americans suspected of terrorism without due process of law. One of those controversial drone attacks involved the killing of Anwar al-Awalki, an American citizen and radical Muslim cleric who had moved to Yemen with his family. He was said to be the brains behind repeated attempts to attack the U.S., including the Christmas day underwear bomber plot in 2009 that would have blown up a passenger jet over Detroit. Also dead was American citizen Samir Khan, editor of “Inspire,” al Qaeda ‘s online propaganda magazine, and two weeks later, in a separate drone attack, al-Awalki’s 16-year-old son, born in Denver.

A key player in our government’s current drone program is John Brennan, who during the Bush presidency was a senior official at the Central Intelligence Agency and head of the National Counterterrorism Center. Reportedly, Barack Obama considered offering him the top job at the CIA in 2008, but public opposition – in reaction to the charges that the Bush White House had approved torture – caused Brennan to withdraw his name from consideration. Nonetheless, Obama kept him on as an adviser, and now, despite Brennan’s past notoriety, Obama officially has chosen him to head the CIA. This time, there’s been little criticism of the decision.

We hope Brennan’s upcoming confirmation hearings on February 7 will offer Congressional critics the chance to press him on drone attacks and whether the Obama administration in its fight against terror is functioning within the rule of law – or abusing presidential power when there has been no formal declaration of war.

AFP Photo / Bill Pugliano

A man has shot dead his wife and two children before turning the gun on himself in Erwin, Tennessee, the local police chief said.

Police received a phone call after 2:00 a.m. on Saturday and dispatched police to the apartment complex in the town. The call came from a“wounded person,” News Channel 11 reports.

Erwin Police Chief Reagan Tilson said it appeared to be “a domestic related incident.”

“There will be no further release from this agency as to the identities of those involved until all next of kin can be notified,” Tilson continued. “Any inquiries about this case should be directed to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.”

From Jeff Thomas Of International Man

The Disappearing Gold

During the Cold War, Germany moved much of its gold to New York in case the USSR invaded Germany. It was assumed at that time that the US would be a safer storage location, and of course, they could always ask to have it returned if they wished.

But German citizens have become increasingly worried about the security of the 1,536 tonnes of German gold reputedly held at the Federal Reserve in New York. This has resulted in the Bundesbank pursuing repatriation of the gold, beginning with a request to view it in the basement of the Federal Reserve Building, where it is claimed to reside.

Of course, the German government had received periodic assurances from the Fed that the gold is there; however, the issue began to get a bit sticky recently, when the Fed refused a request for inspection.

The world then raised a collective eyebrow, and, whilst not panicking over this development just yet, closer attention has come to bear, not only on the Fed, but on any institution that is entrusted with the storage of gold for other parties.

Concern spread to Austria, where a question arose in Parliament as to where Austria’s gold is stored. The answer provided was that 80% of it (224.4 tonnes) is in the UK. (It was claimed that the reason for this is that, if a crisis of some kind were to occur, it could be more easily traded from London than from Vienna.)

Seems reasonable enough, except that the return of the gold to Austria, if it were requested, may be a bit difficult, as the gold seems to have been leased out by the UK.

To many, a second eyebrow might go up at this point. Lease out the wealth of another nation? Isn’t this a bit… irresponsible?

The New Gold Shuffle

Not to worry, it’s done all the time. In fact, the practice has been endorsed by none other than Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Fed. The gold is leased to a bullion bank, which typically pays one percent interest to the Fed, with a promise to return it on a specified date. The bullion bank then sells the gold on the open market and uses the proceeds to buy Treasury bonds, which will net a three to four percent return.

The nicest thing about such an arrangement is that the lessor continues to claim it on his balance sheet as a line item: “gold and gold receivables.” After all, an asset that we have leased out is still an asset, even if it has now been sold by the lessee.

In effect, this means that, if you bought a gold bar today, it is possible that it is a bar that was shipped from the Bundesbank to the Federal Reserve decades ago and is presently listed by the Fed on its balance sheet as “gold and gold receivables.”

Both you and the Fed are claiming to possess the same gold bar. The fly in the ointment, of course, is that only one bar can be the actual bar. The other is a receivable and therefore is an asset on paper only. This, of course, means that there is less gold in the world than has been claimed. How much less? That’s anyone’s guess.

The New Risks

But even if it became generally known that the Fed (and others) are holding paper, rather than physical gold, couldn’t we carry on as before? What could go wrong? Here are some immediate possibilities:

• If there were a dramatic rise in the price of gold and the lessor were to call in the return of the gold by the bullion bank, the bullion bank could easily lose far more than the small two to three percent margin it had been enjoying.

• If there were a crash in the bond market and hyperinflation set in, the bonds that the bullion bank had purchased could become worthless.

• If the nations who shipped their gold to London and New York for safekeeping were to request their return, the storage banks could only deliver if they were to purchase gold at the current rate. If that rate were significantly above the rate at which the gold had been leased to the bullion banks, the storage banks would sustain a significant, possibly unsustainable, loss.

That’s quite a bit of risk.

In the present market, there are any number of possible triggers that could cause the people of Germany, Austria, or a host of other nations to demand that their gold be returned home. Indeed, pressure is on the increase. The governments who have shipped out their gold for “safekeeping” would have a lot of explaining to do to their constituents, if the storage banks are not forthcoming.

So, is it time for the odiferous effluvium to hit the fan? Not quite yet. Before that occurs, there will still be some dancing around by the Fed and others.

The Fed has already stated, in so many words, “We’re sorry, but we can’t let you have all your gold at one time, but we’d be prepared to send it to you over a period of years.”

For many observers, the present situation should be well beyond the point of the raised eyebrow. It should be glaringly apparent that the amount of gold presently claimed to be in storage in the world’s banks is, to a greater or lesser extent, overstated.

Continuing the Charade

The Bundesbank should, of course, now say, “I’m afraid that’s not good enough. It’s our gold. We’ve advised you how much of it we want back now, and we must insist that you produce it immediately.”

If they were to take this perfectly logical step and the Fed refused, there could be a run on the banks, and, very possibly, within as short a period as twenty-four hours, a worldwide bank holiday might be declared with regard to gold.

However, this is not what will transpire. Neither logic nor sound banking practices are the object here. The object is to maintain the charade that exists within the banking community. The Bundesbank is just as fearful of a run as the Fed and will be only too willing to accept the Fed’s terms.

What must be borne in mind is the root cause of the request. It was not the Bundesbank itself that originally wanted the transfer to take place; it was the German people who, quite rightly, have become distrustful of the fact that their gold has been in New York for so long and want to see it repatriated. It is not the banks who wish to correct the situation. Not one bank wishes to expose the inappropriate practices of any other bank. Their loyalty is to each other and not to their depositors.

So, is that it? Have we heard the last of this issue? I think not. The cat is out of the bag at this point, and the depositors’ distrust and uncertainty will not be quelled by the counter-offer. Tension will continue to mount amongst depositors, and, at some point, the situation will reach an impasse.

All those who presently have gold in a banking institution would be prudent to keep an eye on the present situation. We might consider taking delivery of any gold we have in a bank, wherever it may be. Regardless of what form it is in, from ETFs to allocated gold, we would do well to assess the degree to which we feel our gold is at risk. In doing so, we may determine that a gold account is more at risk in, say, a New York or London bank than a Swiss bank. (Not all banks will be equal in terms of risk.)

If we do resolve to divest ourselves of bank-related precious metal holdings, it would be prudent to take action soon. (Clearly, those who attempt to remove their wealth the day after a run has occurred tend to do less well than those who attempt to remove their wealth the day before the run.)

We might also consider whether a possible run may become systemic, causing a bank holiday on all the bank’s activities, thus freezing any currency that we may have on deposit. We may conclude that it is prudent to only retain in our bank enough money to allow cheques to clear — an amount sufficient to cover a few months’ expenses.

In the near future, we may well find that a significant amount of gold that is claimed to exist in the world will “disappear.” Whilst we cannot control this eventuality, we may be able to save the gold that is being held in our names from disappearing.

Aleksandr Tretiakov (RIA Novosti / Vasily Ponomarev)

Vancouver bronze medalist Aleksandr Tretiakov has won the world skeleton championships in Switzerland’s St. Moritz, claiming the first-ever gold for Russia in the sport’s history.

The 27 year old was 0.46 seconds ahead of two-time defending champion Martins Dukurs after three runs but a poor final attempt almost cost him the gold as he edged the Latvian by only 0.03 seconds.

Another Russian Sergey Chudinov came third trailing the winner by more than 2 seconds, which was enough though to claim his first world championship medal.

Reigning Olympic champion Jon Montgomery of Canada finished seventh, trailing by more than three seconds.

Friday saw the women’s event where Britain’s Shelley Rudman dominated throughout to win gold. She held off a challenge from Noelle Pikus-Pace of the United States and Sarah Reid of Canada.

Misbehaving banks could be forcibly broken up, George Osborne is expected to warn the industry, in a move that will pave the way for a further fundamental shake-up of Britain’s banking sector.

I understand that the Chancellor is preparing to back a call by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards for regulators to have powers to split so-called universal banks such as Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) into their separate retail and investment banking components.

An announcement by Mr Osborne, which could come as soon as next week, will lay the foundations for arguably the most radical overhaul ever of British banking.

It would potentially go much further than a plan currently passing through legislation for a ring-fence to artificially separate retail and investment banks but allow both to exist within the same corporate entity.

A senior Treasury source has told me that Mr Osborne and Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, agreed in recent weeks that the Government should back the Parliamentary Commission’s blueprint for ‘electrifying’ the ring-fence. Mr Cable is also expected to publicly support the move next week.

The news will delight Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Parliamentary Commission, which was set up last summer by Mr Osborne and David Cameron in the wake of Barclays’ £290m fine for rigging Libor benchmark interest rates.

The Chancellor is expected to outline his views in the same week that RBS settles with regulators for its role in the Libor scandal. RBS, which is 82 per cent-owned by the taxpayer, is likely to pay more than £400m in fines and is fighting to avoid a criminal prosecution by the US Department of Justice.

In the last few days, the industry’s reputation has again been dragged through the mire when the City regulator ruled there had been widespread mis-selling of products designed to help small businesses manage the financial impact of sharp rises in interest rates.

“The Coalition is totally joined-up on this,” one source said.

The precise detail of how Mr Osborne would want the new reserve powers to operate was unclear on Saturday.

However, he is likely to back the judgement of Mr Tyrie and his colleagues on the Commission that the industry regulator should have the ability to identify individual banks which are abusing the ring-fencing framework and pursue — subject to a veto from the Treasury — full separation of that banking group’s high street and investment (or “casino”, as Mr Cable has dubbed it) divisions.

The Chancellor is also expected to endorse the idea put forward by Mr Tyrie that there should be periodic reviews of the effectiveness of the ring-fence across the banking industry, with the first independent review taking place four years after the new structure is in operation.

Mr Osborne has already set in process far-reaching reforms of bank regulation. The Financial Services Authority, which was created by Gordon Brown in 1997, is to be abolished, and its powers are to be divided between two new bodies: The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulatory Authority, which will sit within the Bank of England.

In its interim report last month, the Parliamentary Commission warned that banks were likely to attempt to manipulate the ring-fencing system for their own benefit. Mr Tyrie said the current banking reform proposals “fall well short of what is required”.

“Over time, the ring-fence will be tested and challenged by the banks. Politicians, too, could succumb to lobbying from banks and others, adding to pressure to put holes in the ring-fence,” he said when the report was published in December.

“For the ring-fence to succeed, banks need to be discouraged from gaming the rules. All history tells us they will do this unless incentivised not to. That’s why we recommend electrification. The legislation needs to set out a reserve power for separation – the regulator needs to know he can use it. Furthermore, we need periodic reviews of the sector to reassure us that the ring-fence as a whole is working.”

The banking industry has lobbied furiously against the electrification move, claiming that the existence of such reserve powers to break them up will deter big City investors from buying their equity and debt.

A powerful City lobbying group, the Association of British Insurers, recently published a report on the investment case for the major UK banks in which it argued that regulatory uncertainty was among a number of factors preventing investors from being able to commit their money to the industry confident that they would secure a commercial return.

That message will have sting in the tail for Mr Osborne, who is responsible for tens of billions of pounds-worth of taxpayers’ investments in Lloyds Banking Group and RBS. If the investor groups are correct, and the electrification proposal exacerbates that uncertainty, it risks permanently impairing the value of those shareholdings and denting the chances of ever recovering the money injected during the 2008 financial crisis.

Whitehall insiders said that the endorsement of the Parliamentary Commission’s report by Sir John Vickers, whose Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) came up with the ring-fencing proposals in 2011, had “tipped the argument in favour of backing Tyrie”.

Mr Osborne’s move will contain a silver lining for the big banks in that he will not be endorsing the most Draconian approach to policing the industry, which would have meant implementing full and immediate separation of each group’s retail and investment banking operations.

The Treasury declined to comment on Saturday.

Misbehaving banks could be forcibly broken up, George Osborne is expected to warn the industry, in a move that will pave the way for a further fundamental shake-up of Britain’s banking sector.

I understand that the Chancellor is preparing to back a call by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards for regulators to have powers to split so-called universal banks such as Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) into their separate retail and investment banking components.

An announcement by Mr Osborne, which could come as soon as next week, will lay the foundations for arguably the most radical overhaul ever of British banking.

It would potentially go much further than a plan currently passing through legislation for a ring-fence to artificially separate retail and investment banks but allow both to exist within the same corporate entity.

A senior Treasury source has told me that Mr Osborne and Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, agreed in recent weeks that the Government should back the Parliamentary Commission’s blueprint for ‘electrifying’ the ring-fence. Mr Cable is also expected to publicly support the move next week.

The news will delight Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Parliamentary Commission, which was set up last summer by Mr Osborne and David Cameron in the wake of Barclays’ £290m fine for rigging Libor benchmark interest rates.

The Chancellor is expected to outline his views in the same week that RBS settles with regulators for its role in the Libor scandal. RBS, which is 82 per cent-owned by the taxpayer, is likely to pay more than £400m in fines and is fighting to avoid a criminal prosecution by the US Department of Justice.

In the last few days, the industry’s reputation has again been dragged through the mire when the City regulator ruled there had been widespread mis-selling of products designed to help small businesses manage the financial impact of sharp rises in interest rates.

“The Coalition is totally joined-up on this,” one source said.

The precise detail of how Mr Osborne would want the new reserve powers to operate was unclear on Saturday.

However, he is likely to back the judgement of Mr Tyrie and his colleagues on the Commission that the industry regulator should have the ability to identify individual banks which are abusing the ring-fencing framework and pursue — subject to a veto from the Treasury — full separation of that banking group’s high street and investment (or “casino”, as Mr Cable has dubbed it) divisions.

The Chancellor is also expected to endorse the idea put forward by Mr Tyrie that there should be periodic reviews of the effectiveness of the ring-fence across the banking industry, with the first independent review taking place four years after the new structure is in operation.

Mr Osborne has already set in process far-reaching reforms of bank regulation. The Financial Services Authority, which was created by Gordon Brown in 1997, is to be abolished, and its powers are to be divided between two new bodies: The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulatory Authority, which will sit within the Bank of England.

In its interim report last month, the Parliamentary Commission warned that banks were likely to attempt to manipulate the ring-fencing system for their own benefit. Mr Tyrie said the current banking reform proposals “fall well short of what is required”.

“Over time, the ring-fence will be tested and challenged by the banks. Politicians, too, could succumb to lobbying from banks and others, adding to pressure to put holes in the ring-fence,” he said when the report was published in December.

“For the ring-fence to succeed, banks need to be discouraged from gaming the rules. All history tells us they will do this unless incentivised not to. That’s why we recommend electrification. The legislation needs to set out a reserve power for separation – the regulator needs to know he can use it. Furthermore, we need periodic reviews of the sector to reassure us that the ring-fence as a whole is working.”

The banking industry has lobbied furiously against the electrification move, claiming that the existence of such reserve powers to break them up will deter big City investors from buying their equity and debt.

A powerful City lobbying group, the Association of British Insurers, recently published a report on the investment case for the major UK banks in which it argued that regulatory uncertainty was among a number of factors preventing investors from being able to commit their money to the industry confident that they would secure a commercial return.

That message will have sting in the tail for Mr Osborne, who is responsible for tens of billions of pounds-worth of taxpayers’ investments in Lloyds Banking Group and RBS. If the investor groups are correct, and the electrification proposal exacerbates that uncertainty, it risks permanently impairing the value of those shareholdings and denting the chances of ever recovering the money injected during the 2008 financial crisis.

Whitehall insiders said that the endorsement of the Parliamentary Commission’s report by Sir John Vickers, whose Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) came up with the ring-fencing proposals in 2011, had “tipped the argument in favour of backing Tyrie”.

Mr Osborne’s move will contain a silver lining for the big banks in that he will not be endorsing the most Draconian approach to policing the industry, which would have meant implementing full and immediate separation of each group’s retail and investment banking operations.

The Treasury declined to comment on Saturday.

Misbehaving banks could be forcibly broken up, George Osborne is expected to warn the industry, in a move that will pave the way for a further fundamental shake-up of Britain’s banking sector.

I understand that the Chancellor is preparing to back a call by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards for regulators to have powers to split so-called universal banks such as Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) into their separate retail and investment banking components.

An announcement by Mr Osborne, which could come as soon as next week, will lay the foundations for arguably the most radical overhaul ever of British banking.

It would potentially go much further than a plan currently passing through legislation for a ring-fence to artificially separate retail and investment banks but allow both to exist within the same corporate entity.

A senior Treasury source has told me that Mr Osborne and Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, agreed in recent weeks that the Government should back the Parliamentary Commission’s blueprint for ‘electrifying’ the ring-fence. Mr Cable is also expected to publicly support the move next week.

The news will delight Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Parliamentary Commission, which was set up last summer by Mr Osborne and David Cameron in the wake of Barclays’ £290m fine for rigging Libor benchmark interest rates.

The Chancellor is expected to outline his views in the same week that RBS settles with regulators for its role in the Libor scandal. RBS, which is 82 per cent-owned by the taxpayer, is likely to pay more than £400m in fines and is fighting to avoid a criminal prosecution by the US Department of Justice.

In the last few days, the industry’s reputation has again been dragged through the mire when the City regulator ruled there had been widespread mis-selling of products designed to help small businesses manage the financial impact of sharp rises in interest rates.

“The Coalition is totally joined-up on this,” one source said.

The precise detail of how Mr Osborne would want the new reserve powers to operate was unclear on Saturday.

However, he is likely to back the judgement of Mr Tyrie and his colleagues on the Commission that the industry regulator should have the ability to identify individual banks which are abusing the ring-fencing framework and pursue — subject to a veto from the Treasury — full separation of that banking group’s high street and investment (or “casino”, as Mr Cable has dubbed it) divisions.

The Chancellor is also expected to endorse the idea put forward by Mr Tyrie that there should be periodic reviews of the effectiveness of the ring-fence across the banking industry, with the first independent review taking place four years after the new structure is in operation.

Mr Osborne has already set in process far-reaching reforms of bank regulation. The Financial Services Authority, which was created by Gordon Brown in 1997, is to be abolished, and its powers are to be divided between two new bodies: The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulatory Authority, which will sit within the Bank of England.

In its interim report last month, the Parliamentary Commission warned that banks were likely to attempt to manipulate the ring-fencing system for their own benefit. Mr Tyrie said the current banking reform proposals “fall well short of what is required”.

“Over time, the ring-fence will be tested and challenged by the banks. Politicians, too, could succumb to lobbying from banks and others, adding to pressure to put holes in the ring-fence,” he said when the report was published in December.

“For the ring-fence to succeed, banks need to be discouraged from gaming the rules. All history tells us they will do this unless incentivised not to. That’s why we recommend electrification. The legislation needs to set out a reserve power for separation – the regulator needs to know he can use it. Furthermore, we need periodic reviews of the sector to reassure us that the ring-fence as a whole is working.”

The banking industry has lobbied furiously against the electrification move, claiming that the existence of such reserve powers to break them up will deter big City investors from buying their equity and debt.

A powerful City lobbying group, the Association of British Insurers, recently published a report on the investment case for the major UK banks in which it argued that regulatory uncertainty was among a number of factors preventing investors from being able to commit their money to the industry confident that they would secure a commercial return.

That message will have sting in the tail for Mr Osborne, who is responsible for tens of billions of pounds-worth of taxpayers’ investments in Lloyds Banking Group and RBS. If the investor groups are correct, and the electrification proposal exacerbates that uncertainty, it risks permanently impairing the value of those shareholdings and denting the chances of ever recovering the money injected during the 2008 financial crisis.

Whitehall insiders said that the endorsement of the Parliamentary Commission’s report by Sir John Vickers, whose Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) came up with the ring-fencing proposals in 2011, had “tipped the argument in favour of backing Tyrie”.

Mr Osborne’s move will contain a silver lining for the big banks in that he will not be endorsing the most Draconian approach to policing the industry, which would have meant implementing full and immediate separation of each group’s retail and investment banking operations.

The Treasury declined to comment on Saturday.

Climate Action ‘Could Halve Energy Firms’ Worth’

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Posted on Feb 2, 2013

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By Alex Kirby, Climate News Network

This piece originally appeared at Climate News Network.

LONDON–Oil and gas multinationals could lose up to 60% of their market value if the world cuts its carbon emissions to limit climate change, according to the world’s second-largest bank.

This is the first time the financial sector has been warned by one of its own that shares could plummet if the necessary action is taken to prevent disaster.

The study, Oil and Carbon revisited: Value at risk from ‘unburnable’ reserves, is published by HSBC Global Research.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its 2012 World Energy Outlook that in order to have a 50% chance of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 2°C, only a third of current fossil fuel reserves can be burned before 2050.

Staying within the 2°C limit would mean keeping carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere to 450 parts per million (ppm). They are already at 390 ppm, and are increasing by about 2 ppm a year.

To stop them crossing the 450 ppm boundary, scientists say the world can emit only around 1,440 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon between now and mid-century. It has already emitted 400 Gt, leaving only around 1,000 Gt in the budget — one-third of current proven oil and gas reserves.

The 2°C target has been the goal of many policymakers for years, although there is a growing scientific consensus that it is already out of reach.

The World Bank has said that the Earth may warm by as much as 4°C, and some predictions suggest that even a 6°C rise is possible — a prospect whose impacts would be devastating.

The HSBC study says the economic impact on parts of the hydrocarbon industry of exploiting only a third of fossil fuel reserves would also be devastating.

The Norwegian company Statoil would be hardest hit, with 17% of its reserves unburnable. The study says about 6% of BP’s reserves are at risk, 5% of Total’s and 2% of Shell’s.

But it says a bigger risk is that reduced demand for fossil fuels could force down oil and gas prices, meaning that between 40 and 60% of leading fossil fuel firms’ current market capitalisation — essentially their net worth — could be at risk.

The study’s authors say: “We believe that investors have yet to price in such a risk, perhaps because it seems so long-term.

“And we accept that our scenario probably exaggerates the risk as we assume a low-carbon world today rather than beyond 2020.”

They advise investors to focus on companies with low-cost projects, and say they think capital intensive, high-cost projects like heavy oil and oil sands will be the riskiest.

The HSBC authors’ argument that much of the world’s fossil fuel reserves cannot be used if climate change is to be tackled seriously is not new: it has been advanced by scientists and conservationists for years.

What is striking is that this appears to be the first time the argument has been made by the financial sector itself. James Leaton of the NGO Carbon Tracker told the Climate News Network: “The question this raises for investors is this: is this investment compatible with a 2°C world?”

Andrew Simms, a fellow of the new economics foundation, said: “I wonder whether this will wake us up from the strange spellbound state that has persisted since the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009?

“We haven’t forgotten climate change, but we have forgotten that we have to do something about it.”

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In today’s On the News segment: The Obama administration is on track to deport more than 2 million undocumented immigrants by 2014;New Jersey Governor Chris Christie continues to screw over working people in his state; 234 college campuses around the US have taken up the fossil fuel divestment campaign; and more.

TRANSCRIPT:

Jim Javinsky here – in for Thom Hartmann — on the news…

You need to know this. New jobs numbers show the economy added 157,000 jobs in January, but the unemployment rate still ticked up to 7.9% as more people entered the workforce. Today’s jobs report came in slightly below expectations — and follows a GDP report this week showing that our economy contracted .1% in the fourth quarter of 2012, thanks in large part to government austerity. However, revised jobs numbers from last year show the economy did better than previously thought, with an average of 181,000 jobs created each month. But, with trillions of dollars in spending cuts looming, and the same sort of austerity that’s plaguing Europe set to soon take hold here in the United States, 2013 may not be nearly as rosy of a year for jobs. Buckle up for a bumpy ride.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie continues to screw over working people in his state. Earlier this week — he vetoed legislation to increase the minimum wage to $8.50 an hour. But, that’s not the only way Christie has denied help to the middle class. He also vetoed two key housing assistance bills, which would have brought much needed relief to struggling homeowners. One bill would give the state authority to purchase foreclosed homes, and transform them into affordable housing for people who lost their homes in the Bush Great Recession. The other bill would have provided assistance to unemployed, and underemployed, homeowners to make mortgage payments. In 2012, New Jersey outpaced every other state in the nation, when it came to homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments — meaning while the housing situation may be slowly improving around the nation — it’s getting worse in New Jersey. And in just one week, Governor Christie has slammed the door on millions of residents in his state, who could have used higher wages, and a little help staying in their homes.

In the best of the rest of the news…

One way to stop Big Oil from running roughshod over our economy, is to just stop investing in them. That’s the goal of a national divestment campaign, launched by organizations like 350.org, that is trying to fight off global warming by encouraging schools and cities to shift their investments away from fossil fuels. Already, over 234 college campuses around the nation have taken up this divestment campaign — and the city of Seattle is poised to become the first city in the nation to divest of fossil fuels, too. Right now, the city’s public worker retirement system holds huge investments in oil giants, like ExxonMobil and Chevron, but the city’s mayor, Mike McGinn, wants to change that. In a letter, McGinn wrote, “Climate change is one of the most important challenges we currently face, as a city and as a society…I believe that Seattle ought to discourage these companies from extracting that fossil fuel, and divesting the pension funds from these companies is one way we can do that.”

Congress kicked the can down the road again on Thursday — passing a three-month extension to the debt ceiling. That means this fight will resume again in the three months. Meanwhile, Congress now turns its attention to another can that was kicked down the road last month — the “sequester” of $1.2 trillion in spending cuts, that Congress pushed backward a few months at the beginning of the year. It’s difficult to run a government effectively when you’re constantly up against 3-month deadlines — and it might be one reason why Congress has seen its lowest approval rating ever, since Republicans took control of the House in 2010.

Congress will soon take up immigration reform — but President Obama is on track to hit an ominous milestone when it comes to deportations. A new report out of the University of California-Merced, shows that the Obama administration is on track to deport more than 2 million undocumented immigrants by 2014. That would be more deportations under President Obama than occurred under all the Presidents, from 1892 to 1997 combined! This strict deportation policy is breaking up families, and condemning thousands of American children to life in foster care. This is why comprehensive immigration reform is desperately needed.

And finally…today is the 10th anniversary of the break-up of the space shuttle Columbia, as it re-entered the atmosphere. And a former NASA flight director has come forward, stating that personnel on the ground knew the shuttle, and crew, would not survive re-entry, yet decided to not inform them. According to Wayne Hale, personnel knew the shuttles heat shield sustained significant damage on takeoff, that would likely lead to a disaster upon re-entry. But rather than informing the crew, Hale claims NASA personnel made the decision to allow the shuttle to come back to Earth, instead of orbiting in space indefinitely until the crew ran out of oxygen. Hale’s revelations were published in his blog on Thursday. Children of the deceased astronauts will be commemorated in a ceremony today, to recognize the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.

And that’s the way it is today — Friday, February 1st, 2013. I’m Jim Javinsky – in for Thom Hartmann — on the news.

Wow. When was the last time you heard anyone applaud like that for their boss? Hillary Clinton said goodbye to the men and women of the State Department yesterday, stressing that gender equality can change the world for the better:

Then there’s human rights and our support for democracy and the rule of law, levers of power and values we cannot afford to ignore. In the last century, the United States led the world in recognizing that universal rights exist and that governments are obligated to protect them. Now we have placed ourselves at the frontlines of today’s emerging battles, like the fight to defend the human rights of the LGBT communities around the world and religious minorities wherever and whoever they are. But it’s not a coincidence that virtually every country that threatens regional and global peace is a place where human rights are in peril or the rule of law is weak.

More specifically, places where women and girls are treated as second-class, marginal human beings. Just ask young Malala from Pakistan. Ask the women of northern Mali who live in fear and can no longer go to school. Ask the women of the Eastern Congo who endure rape as a weapon of war.

And that is the final lever that I want to highlight briefly. Because the jury is in, the evidence is absolutely indisputable: If women and girls everywhere were treated as equal to men in rights, dignity, and opportunity, we would see political and economic progress everywhere. So this is not only a moral issue, which, of course, it is. It is an economic issue and a security issue, and it is the unfinished business of the 21st century. It therefore must be central to U.S. foreign policy.

One of the first things I did as Secretary was to elevate the Office of Global Women’s Issues under the first Ambassador-at-Large, Melanne Verveer. And I’m very pleased that yesterday, the President signed a memorandum making that office permanent.

In the past four years, we’ve made — (applause) — thank you. In the past four years, we’ve made a major push at the United Nations to integrate women in peace and security-building worldwide, and we’ve seen successes in places like Liberia. We’ve urged leaders in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya to recognize women as equal citizens with important contributions to make. We are supporting women entrepreneurs around the world who are creating jobs and driving growth.

So technology, development, human rights, women. Now, I know that a lot of pundits hear that list and they say: Isn’t that all a bit soft? What about the hard stuff? Well, that is a false choice. We need both, and no one should think otherwise.

Sadly, we’ve seen the erosion of women’s equality right here in the United States, thanks to the warped priorities of the Republican party. Maybe we can do something about that.

(Photo: Jonathan Hinkle / Flickr)Twenty years ago, in a letter to The Washington Post, Gun Owners of America Director Larry Pratt made the argument that the only thing separating Americans from the oppressed peoples of China and the Baltic States was their access to weapons. “When the police have all the guns,” he wrote,”brutal attacks against defenseless citizens will become as common here as in other oppressed regimes. This is why gun owners oppose the banning of so-called assault rifles.”    Does this sound familiar? It should. The same argument is being made today by that organization and other pro-gun groups. The only way to prevent a police state, which many people claim is in the works — in secret, is to allow the wide and unregulated distribution of all sorts of weapons.

This logic, which assumes that any regulation is the first step toward confiscation, represents the paranoid and individualist mentality that for decades has dominated debate about gun violence in the US. We are free, the argument goes, only as long as we can defend ourselves with guns not only against criminals but also against the law and the State.

A related argument is that the federal government should not be allowed to regulate guns; this is a matter best left to states. And if a state wants to do nothing, perhaps because the gun lobby can defeat candidates who back even modern reforms, or because the crime rate isn’t soaring or no mass shootings have recently occurred, people in neighboring states must simply spend more money to crack down on crime and violence. It’s simply the price of freedom.

Such arguments are based on the notion that government should not meddle in the affairs of individuals. Guns are not the problem, opponents add, it’s people — in other words, human nature. But most homicides in the US are committed with guns; in other words, people with guns kill more people than those without them. There are 270 million privately owned firearms in this country. Use by children has increased in recent years, as has the stockpiling of exotic weapons by extreme groups and criminal organizations.

Considering this context, it seems reasonable to ask what is more threatening to freedom and security, unrestrained gun ownership or some government oversight? The arguments against regulation tend to fall into three categories: 1) the right to bear arms is constitutionally protected, 2) gun control won’t reduce violence in society, and 3) gun laws are a serious threat to freedom.

Do these assertions hold up to scrutiny?

Arms and the Law

The roots of US ideas about the relationship between weapons and society go back to the Florentine political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, who noted that military service should be the responsibility of every citizen, but soldiering the professional of none. Basing his ideas on the Roman suspicion of professional soldiers, he concluded that military force should only be used to assure the common good. This idea of citizens bearing arms in defense of the State, to avoid the potential tyranny of a standing army, was translated by the authors of the Bill of Rights into the Second Amendments and helps to explain its unusual wording:

“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

Many libertarians have interpreted this sentence to mean that individuals are guaranteed the right to possess firearms for their personal defense or for any other use they choose. What this fails to acknowledge is the meaning of citizenship as it was understood two centuries ago. In the 18th century, citizenship directly involved militia service for men, which was part of the commitment to the greater public good. An armed citizenry did not mean an armed population. In fact, even then it was clearly understood that access to weapons was a communal rather than an individual right.

This dynamic was made clear in various declarations of rights predating the Bill of Rights. For example, Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, adopted on June 12, 1776, said that a well-regulated militia, trained to arm, was the safe defense of a free State. That and subsequent variations adopted by other states made it clear that the idea was trained citizens, organized in militias, providing for a common defense. The word “people” refers to this collective role, contrasting a militia to a standing army.

Article 17 of Vermont’s Declaration of Rights, adopted in 1777, followed this logic by proclaiming:

“That the people have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and the State; and as standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; and that the military ought to be kept under strict subordination to and governed by the civil power.”

Vermont’s Article 9, which dealt with the matter of conscientious objection to military service, made it clear that “bearing arms” meant military service. It said that no one could be compelled to carry or use a gun, even though rights also involved personal service. The solution was that those who chose not to serve would pay an appropriate sum on money. Bearing arms was directly linked to the collective responsibility for defense.

Several states specifically said that criminals or people involved in rebellion could be disarmed. In other words, the security of society took precedence over an individual’s right to have weapons. Thus, when early Americans spoke or an armed citizenry’s role in preserving freedom, they were talking about a militia linked to the classical idea of citizenship. There is no record of anyone arguing, during the passage of the Bill of Rights, that individuals had a right to bear arms outside the ranks of a militia. On the contrary, that provoked fear for the stability of the new Republic.

The great constitutional commentator of the period, Justice Joseph Story, noted that what the Second Amendment actually guaranteed was a “well-regulated militia.” The fear was that without one the country might be vulnerable to invasion, domestic insurrection, or a military takeover by some ruler. We needed a militia, Story said, because it was impractical to keep people armed without some organization.

The fear of a militarized society or a federal government monopoly on force is not, by definition, a form of paranoia. On the other hand, it is an overreach to claim that individuals have a fundamental right to protect themselves by stockpiling weapons. For those who want a counter-force to our national military, the direction to look is greater autonomy of organized local or state militias, not the right of people to become self-appointed guardians or vigilantes.

Legal Precedents

Despite the endless repetition of claims that individuals have a constitutional right to be armed, this is not consistent with the weight of legal opinion. In fact, a series of US Supreme Court cases have made the situation quite clear. In U.S. v. Cruikshank (1876), the Court ruled that the right “of bearing arms for a lawful purpose is not a right granted by the Constitution.” Ten years later, inPresser v. Illinois, the Court noted that although states have the right to form militias, they are also free to regulate the circumstances under which citizens can carry weapons. This view was upheld in an 1894 case, Miller v. Texas.

In 1939, federal gun regulations established by the National Firearms Act of 1934 were challenged. The decision in that case was unanimous. The federal government has the right, the Court ruled, to regulate the transportation and possession of firearms, and individuals only have a right to be armed in connection with military service. In 1980, Justice Harry Blackmun commented that this case represented the Courts’ basic thinking on gun control.

On June 8, 1981, the Village of Morton Grove, Illinois passed an ordinance banning the possession of handguns, except by police, prison officials, members of the military, recognized collectors and those who needed them for their work. Predictably, the National Rifle Association challenged the law. Both the Federal District Court and a Federal Appeals Court rejected their argument, saying that there is no individual right to bear arms, the ordinance was reasonable, and the right to have weapons applies only to well-regulated militias.

The US Supreme Court refused to even hear the case.

Guns and Crime

Sentiment in favor on some form of gun control fluctuates, but has tended to grow for decades. In 1968 71 percent were in favor, peaking at more than 90 percent in 1981. In one Gallop Poll the Brady Bill won 95 percent support. Most people obviously see some connection between the availability of firearms and the rate of crimes involving guns, and a variety of studies support these views. Nevertheless, opponents insist that stronger laws won’t have an impact.

Interstate trafficking of weapons is an enormous problem, undercutting the argument sometimes heard that the only reason for gun control is a high murder rate in a specific state. This provincial argument ignores interdependence, our responsibility to our neighbors, and basic facts. The only effective way to control the black market for guns, through gun shows and private sales, is a national registry of all purchasers, along with tracing and prosecution of the interstate traffickers. This does not involve rounding up handguns, but it does mean acknowledging that the situation is out of control and that saving lives takes priority over protecting a form of free enterprise that has turned monstrous.

Leaving the matter in the hands of individual communities or states may sound appropriately populous. But it avoids the issue. In 2011 guns were involved in more than 32,000 US deaths, 11,100 of them murders, as well as thousands of rapes, hundreds of thousands of robberies, and about a half million assaults. The vast majority of people convicted of violent crimes obtained their weapons either at a gun shows or on the black market. That suggests, of course, that background checks alone will not make a huge dent in the problem. But a reduction of twenty percent would significant; perhaps one less child killed every day and fewer rapes and murders.

Many crimes involving guns are impulsive, suggesting that a waiting period could help in some cases. Of course, the underlying causes of violence and crime must also be addressed. But for those among the 20 percent who might be saved by modest reforms that would be more meaningful than any statistic or slogan.

The NRA is fond of saying that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” It’s a tidy little argument but let’s get real: people with guns can kill people far more effortlessly than people with knives, deadly fighting skills or poison. The FBI has assembled evidence on whether stricter laws make a difference. For example, after Massachusetts passed a law requiring a mandatory jail sentence for carrying a handgun without a license murders involving handguns dropped by almost 50 percent. Robberies went down 35 percent. After South Carolina tightened its handgun purchase requirement in the 1990s, the murder rate dropped 28 percent.

Registration and background checks are no panacea. However, they do keep weapons out of the hands of some criminals, addicts and kids. They can also reduce the number of murder and suicides that result from being able to buy a gun in state of rage or depression. Drivers licenses and automobile registration do not prevent all auto accidents — but they help. To drive a car, a potentially dangerous vehicle, we agree that people need to be properly trained and meet minimum standards. Similar requirements, in the form of gun safety programs and practical tests for the owners of lethal weapons, would be a step toward national sanity.

Weapons and freedom

No freedom is absolute. Even in the most decentralized and self-managed society, people must accept some social responsibilities and limits in exchange for liberty.

Ideally, in a free society citizens participate directly in making the rules governing their social contract.But even Michael Bakunin, an anarchist philosopher who took the practice of liberty to a place some might consider extreme, did not ignore than importance of social responsibility. Human beings can only fulfill their free individuality by complementing it through all the individuals around them, he argued. Bakunin was contemptuous of the type of individualism that asserts the well-being on one person or group to the detriment of others.

“Total isolation is intellectual, moral and material death.” he wrote.

When a disturbed teenager or disgruntled adult commits mass murder it has nothing to do with liberty. People obviously do not have the right to abuse or destroy the lives and liberties of others. Yet, when the issue is guns, many Americans essentially argue that the freedom to be armed is more important that the right to be safe. Actually, many say that being armed is the only way to be safe, and therefore any restriction on the access to weapons is a profound threat to freedom.

Allowing the government to take any step, argue the opponents of gun regulation, is the beginning of tyranny. From this vantage point government is the enemy. It would be naive to argument that the government always uses its power wisely. The political system cries out for change, if not transformation, if we are ever to have a society that promotes real equality, justice, respect for diversity, and self-management. Yet achieving this, empowering people and making step-by-step progress, requires an appeal to hope rather than fear. Arguing that the only way to be free is to oppose and resist government, in other words knee-jerk rejection, plays into the hands of the most reactionary forces in society.

Suspicion of centralized power was clearly a concern of those who created the country. It is still justified and relevant. But the form that most threatens freedom in the 21st century is the power of powerful, unaccountable institutions, most of them private, that can influence elections and shaped government policies. Many of these same interests aggressively argue that freedom means “freedom from government.” Such appeals are a convenient way to prevent intrusions into the private “right” to profit and pollute at the expense of the general health and well-being — to exploit in the name of freedom.

In the 1970s a Trilateral Commission study candidly concluded that a central objective of corporate planning in the coming era would be to lower expectations. People needed to be convinced to expect less, to accept a reduced standard of living and stop demanding that government solve all their problems. Reagan was not a Trilateralist, but he was an effective spokesman for the same position. The Clinton administration, although committed rhetorically to “activist” government, embraced a similar social and economic agenda.

The bottom line is this: Effective regulation, combined with a comprehensive national database and a training program for gun users, would establish over time that less access to guns leads to less violent crime. This has been the case in Europe and some US states. Success would help shatter the myth that government is the problem, and that people are better off armed to the teeth and on their own.

The debate over guns is not about restricting rights. That’s the cover story, an assumption promoted by the gun lobby to shape public perceptions. It’s not even about “control,” any more than the fight for affordable housing is secretly a fight for rent control. The goal is security, freedom from the fear and anxiety sweeping across this over-armed society.

A well-regulated militia is a altruistic idea, certainly preferable to the military-industrial complex. But almost 300 million guns in private hands is —pardon the expression — overkill.

In Switzerland, most adult between 20 and 30 males become members of a militia. They receive training, rifles and ammunition from the government that are kept in homes. However, handguns are tightly controlled and anyone who wants one must have a background check and obtain a permit.

In 2010 there were 40 Swiss homicides involving firearms, for a rate of 0.70 per 100,000. The US rate was 3.6, or five times as high.

Secretary of Iran Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili says the Islamic Republic will help Syria to stand against plots by global arrogance.

Addressing reporters in Syria’s capital, Damascus, on Saturday, Jalili said Iran would continue supporting the Syrian government.

The Iranian official added that Muslim and Arab countries should do everything in their power to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people as Syria is the front line in the fight against Israel.

Jalili arrived in Damascus on Saturday to hold talks with the senior Syrian officials regarding recent developments in the Arab country.

Condemning Tel Aviv’s recent attack on the Arab country, Jalili said, “Israel tried to exact revenge on people who have stood against aggressors by [launching] aerial attack on Syria.”

On Wednesday, the Syrian army said in a statement that two people were killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a research center in Jamraya, near the capital, Damascus. Israel declined to comment on the issue.

Following the assault, Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi warned of an international plot in Syria and urged a serious reaction to Israel’s strike.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.

MYA/SS

A political analyst says the recent Israeli aerial assault on Syria reveals Tel Aviv’s agenda to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad for being against Israeli interests in the Middle East.

“Well, I think the Israelis want to see Assad out of power because it doesn’t benefit Israel to have Assad’s regime in place…,” New York-based freelance journalist and blogger Michael Santomauro said in an interview with Press TV.

Commenting on US support for the Israeli assault, the analyst said that the Israeli lobby in Washington has become so strong that maintaining support for Tel Aviv’s aggressions is a “domestic issue, it has nothing to do with foreign policy interests for the United States.”

“Sixty percent of the fund-raising for the Democratic Party, the Obama administration got their monies from Jewish pact organizations and that’s decisive decisions making that happen in the United States. It’s been happening that way since the 1960s,” he added.

Santomauro called on Washington to condemn Israel’s aggression on Syria for being against international law.

On Wednesday, the Syrian army said two people were killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a research center in Jamraya, near the capital, Damascus. Israel declined to comment on the issue.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.

PG/HGH/SL

British activists have staged a protest outside the London headquarters of security company G4S over its complicity in the illegal detention and torture of Palestinian children in the Israeli regime’s prisons.

Pro-Palestine activists took park in the demonstration on Friday, which was organized by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) and Inminds, to condemn the private company’s provision of expertise and security systems to Israeli jails.

A big placard written “Free All Palestinian Political Prisoners” was hanging from the wall outside the G4S office in London and some protesters were hanging posters on their neck reading “G4S Complicit Israeli Torture of Palestinian children”.

Shireen Issawi, a former prisoner, whose brother Samer has rejected food for more than six months, said, “Deliver the voice of the oppressed prisoners and hold this company G4S accountable for its responsibility towards these prisoners and its partnership to the occupation in its inhumane practices.”

The protest was also in solidarity with Palestinians on hunger strike. Ayman Sharawna and Samer Issawi have both been without food for over six months whilst Yousef Yassin, Jafar Azzidine and Tarek Qa’adan have each been without food and liquid nutrients for more than two months.

G4S has been heavily criticized for its cooperation with the Israeli regime, including providing equipment and services to Israeli checkpoints, illegal settlements, the apartheid wall and jails where Palestinian political prisoners, including children, are held in violation of international law and subjected to mistreatment and torture.

SSM/HGH/HE

A senior Iranian lawmaker says the decision about direct negotiations between Iran and the US over Tehran’s nuclear energy program should be made by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).

“Iran Supreme National Security Council is responsible for the decision about direct negotiations with the US over the nuclear issue, but the Islamic Republic will definitely decide on this issue based on its national interests,” Chairman of Iran Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Saturday.

US Vice President Joe Biden said earlier on Saturday that Washington is ready to hold direct talks with Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program.

Boroujerdi said Iran and the US have already held several rounds of talks over issues such as crisis in Iraq, adding that, “However, this issue (nuclear energy program) is different from general negotiations over bilateral ties.”

The Iranian lawmaker said one of the reasons that Tehran never welcomed the US proposal for direct talks was Washington’s lack of honesty.

“The US vice president’s proposal for direct talks with Iran comes at a time when the US Congress seeks to impose more sanctions [on Iran] and these two approaches are not compatible,” Boroujerdi added.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Over the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran refutes the allegation and argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

MYA/SS

A 6.9-magnitude earthquake has hit the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, the US Geological Service reports. Two nuclear power plants are in the affected area.

­The quake that occurred at 11:17 pm (14:17 GMT) was marked 5 upper at JMA Seismic Intensity in several places in Hokkaido.
According to the USGC, the epicenter of the earthquake was located at a depth of 120 kilometers.

­Shaking could be felt near Hokkaido’s capital Sapporo as well as in some regions of Tokyo, which is located down the island.  

No tsunami warning has been issued, and no damage or injuries have been reported.

Local public broadcaster NHK said nearby nuclear plants, Tomari and Higashidori, were not observing any abnormalities.

Seismic activity in the region has increased in the past few days, and several smaller quakes have rattled the region.

Back in December a powerful 7.3-magnitude undersea quake off the northeast coast of Japan triggered a one-metre-high tsunami, but it caused no major damage.

One of the most devastating earthquakes and tsunamis in history hit Japan in March 2011 when 19,000 people died or were reported missing. The disaster damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant leading to the world’s worst atomic incident for 25 years.

Because humor is always the best and only cure to pervasive central planning that has made a mockery of traditional investing and capital allocation, and because nobody delivers unlimited sheer, unadulterated humor quite as well as one James J. Cramer when he is “recommending” stocks, here is the full text of Jim Cramer’s “The Winners of the New World” speech delivered in February 2000. Because it really never is different this time.

James J. Cramer is the keynote speaker at the 6th Annual Internet and Electronic Commerce Conference and Exposition, held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. From TheStreet.com

February 29, 2000

The Winners of the New World

You want winners? You want me to put my Cramer Berkowitz hedge fund hat on and just discuss what my fund is buying today to try to make money tomorrow and the next day and the next? You want my top 10 stocks for who is going to make it in the New World? You know what? I am going to give them to you. Right here. Right now.

OK. Here goes. Write them down — no handouts here!: 724 Solutions, Ariba, Digital Island, Exodus, InfoSpace.com, Inktomi, Mercury Interactive, Sonera, VeriSign and Veritas Software.

 We are buying some of every one of these this morning as I give this speech. We buy them every day, particularly if they are down, which, no surprise given what they do, is very rare. And we will keep doing so until this period is over — and it is very far from ending. Heck, people are just learning these stories on Wall Street, and the more they come to learn, the more they love and own! Most of these companies don’t even have earnings per share, so we won’t have to be constrained by that methodology for quarters to come.

There, now that that’s done with, can we talk about the methodology that produced those top 10 so that you can understand how, in a universe of a gazillion stocks, we arrived at those, so you too can figure it out? I hope we can because I have another 10 and still another 10 and another. They all do the same thing: They make the Web faster, cheaper, better and easier to access anywhere, anytime. They allow you to get on the Web securely anywhere in the world. They make the Web economy the only economy that matters. That’s all they do.

We try to own every one of them. Every single one. And if I had my druthers, I wouldn’t own any other stocks in the year 2000. Because these are the only ones worth owning right now in this extremely difficult, extremely narrow stock market. They are the only ones that are going higher consistently in good days and bad. I love every one of them, just as I loathe the rest of the stock universe.

How did this stock market get like this, to where the only people who can make a dime in it are the people who are interested in the most arcane subject, the moving of data from one space to another, via strange new machines and software? How did it get to the point where nothing else matters, most particularly the 90% of the stock market I have studied for the last 20 years? How did all of that knowledge become totally irrelevant and the only stocks that work are the stocks of companies that didn’t exist five years ago and came public in the last two or three years?

Let’s start with the world in the early 21st century, a world where capital is abundant for a chosen few and nonexistent for just about everybody else. It is a world where the whole of Wall Street and Silicon Valley is at your fingertips if you are creating the infrastructure for the New Economy, and a world where neither Wall Street nor Silicon Valley could give a darn about you if you are using that infrastructure.

Or in other words, we don’t care if General Motors (GM_) and Ford (F_) are going with Oracle (ORCL_) or with i2 (ITWO_) for their new parts procurement process. We don’t want to own GM or Ford on any occasion. In fact, we would rather own the loser in that tech bake-off than the winner in nontech, because in this new world, there is so much business to be done for the i2s and the Oracles that the capital will remain plentiful for them, win or lose a particular piece of business.

Just yesterday I found myself wishing I had bought i2 when it lost out to Oracle for the giant business-to-business contract for the Big Three automakers. Others had the same idea because i2, the loser Friday, was up much more Monday than GM and Ford could be this year. i2 can own the world because the company with the access to cheap capital always wins. And the companies with no access have to lose.

Or, closer to home. We in the stock market don’t care that The Street.com Inc., a company I helped create, has built a compelling new brand, has more than 100,000 paid subscribers and has $100 million in the bank. We just want to know which companies TheStreet.com employs to publish each day. We want to know who the host is, which publishing tool works best, which wireless strategy TheStreet.com is adopting and how does it automate its email? (By the way, the answers are Exodus, Vignette, Motorola and Kana — all at or near their 52-week highs as TheStreet.com languishes at its 52-week low, a triumph of the arms merchants over the combatants if there ever were one.)

How did this bizarro world where nine-tenths of the companies I have followed as a stock picker for the last 20 years are losers and one-tenth are winners? To answer that question, you have to throw out all of the matrices and formulas and texts that existed before the Web. You have to throw them away because they can’t make money for you anymore, and that is all that matters. We don’t use price-to-earnings multiples anymore at Cramer Berkowitz. If we talk about price-to-book, we have already gone astray. If we use any of what Graham and Dodd teach us, we wouldn’t have a dime under management.

So how do we sort through which stocks get bought and which stocks get assigned to the waste bin?

We have a phrase on Wall Street. It’s called raising the bar. If you can raise the bar, or brighten the outlook for your company, if you can see your growth accelerating, your stock will go higher and you will be given the currency to expand, acquire and do whatever you want. That’s the secret of the quintessential New Economy stock: Cisco (CSCO_). This giant networker has the ability to control its own destiny. It can, as my colleague Adam Lashinsky says at TSC, buy any company it wants to. It can pay any price. Because it has a currency that it better than U.S. dollars: It has Cisco stock. It can do that because it raises the bar every quarter!

But what about the Old Economy stocks? Can Merck raise the bar? Can Pfizer? Can U.S. Steel? Or Phelps Dodge? Union Pacific? No, no, no, no, no and no. So what happens to them? Despite the billions in buybacks and the plethora of strong buys that the Street has put out about these companies, their stocks have no traction. They just stumble along, rising and falling haphazardly with every whim and quizzical speech of the Federal Reserve chairman that still controls their destiny. If Greenspan indicates that there is more tightening ahead, these traditional companies, the ones that you measure with traditional matrices, get pole-axed as we worry about where the capital will ultimately come from if credit gets choked off, while the arms merchants in the Web war, with capital to burn, just go higher.

It is no secret that the Dow, made up principally of companies that can’t raise the bar, is down 12% while the Nasdaq, which is made up of companies that can raise the bar, is up 12%. And in the self-fulfilling jungle that is Wall Street, only growth can maintain growth!

So how do we find what are the great growth companies, knowing that growth and not cheapness of stock to company is what matters? We have to look for the fastest-growing industries and then select the companies that can make the infrastructure happen the fastest and the cheapest in those industries. The growth must be positively organic, if not viral. There must be heavy technological barriers to entry. And there must be an ability to scale without any thought to human cost. These companies must be able to dominate their businesses or be willing to become part of a larger institution that dominates.

So, whom does that eliminate? First, any company that is a commodity producer simply can’t be owned, no matter what. The New Economy makes those be simply a function of low-cost producer with no ability ever to raise price. This, of course, is the crying shame of the way the Fed is trying to break the economy because the only place that could stand for a little inflation is in the deflationary commodity industries. But their inflation revolves around the ability to build inventory to anticipate future price hikes and the Fed is taking short rates to a height that makes it uneconomic to stockpile.

Second, it eliminates any bricks-and-mortar company that doesn’t embrace the Net. To not embrace the Net is to give a cost edge to a competitor who does. It does so because the Net removes the middleman that was a product of the regional economy. There is $4 trillion worth of wholesaling that gets instantly eliminated by the Net. Before only the largest orders could be processed by the biggest companies because it was too expensive otherwise. Now all orders can be processed by the biggest companies through the Web. There is no need for the jobber or the wholesaler. Obviously, if you are still using that old distribution network, you can’t compete against those who do.

Third, it eliminates any industry that does not have a proprietary brand. This is one of those weird features of the Web that people haven’t woken up to yet, but it will seem obvious a few months from now. In the New World’s economy, the desire to “name your own price” is too great to squelch. An outfit like priceline will change the very nature of brands in this country. It won’t destroy the premium brand, but it will force everyone else out of the market. Why? Because the way priceline works is that we are trying to buy the premium brand for the price of the off-price brand. That means the off-price brands, whether they be Colgate or Dial or Hunt’s or Ralston, are simply doomed by the Web. Why would you ever buy the second- or third-best when you can get the best via priceline for the same price as the lower tier? Ahh, that’s a real killer. It leaves only the top brands to vie for supermarket space. The others won’t be worth carrying. They won’t move! Oh yeah, same goes for the airlines and the hotels and just about everybody else.

Fourth, it just destroys retail as we know it. Why? Because the companies that embrace the Web more vigorously will eventually be pitted against other companies that embrace the Web more vigorously, creating a virtual constant price war, the kind of war that Marx, of all, actually predicted would happen to capitalism. It will happen to retail once everyone realizes that Amazon recreated Wal-Mart online because it will forever have access to cheap capital. Why do I say forever? Because at a certain point, it will be done with its buildout and will effectively be able to cherry-pick whomever it wants to destroy while having it be subsidized by other areas. It will be Home Depot vs. Wal-Mart vs. Amazon in the end. Nobody else. And that’s only if Home Depot figures out it better get on the Web and fast.

Fifth, it wipes out everybody who straddles the Old and New Worlds. Let’s take the brokerage industry. If you are trying to preserve a price point, because you need those margins, you can’t and you become roadkill. Same with journalism. If you are free online and cost offline, you will eventually not be able to charge offline. Why not? Because the Hewlett-Packards and Intels and Ciscos are bent on making the online version far superior to the offline version. And they will do it. They, too, have the access to capital to make it happen.

I can tell you from TheStreet.com that we have substantial cost advantages over our printed cousins. We can come out around the clock. We don’t require paper, ink, delivery people or trucks. In that sense, we are much more like television, personal television, which is why we were wrong initially to think we could charge for basic news, and right to think we can charge a huge amount for proprietary analysis that can make you money.

The struggle between the offliners and the onliners in banking will also pan out just like these other industries, with huge wins for those with a fresh online culture and hideous losses for those who don’t see it coming or are slow to adjust. If you have to preserve your giant branch network and the costs that come with it while someone else perfects secure wireless Internet transactions, you can forget about it. You can’t afford to compete. How can Bank of America compete with Nokia as a way to bank? How can Goldman Sachs compete with Yahoo! as a way to invest? Isn’t Nokia, with its wireless machine that goes everywhere a better bank than one that needs branches? Isn’t Yahoo!, with its access to all of the information and quotes in the financial world a better place to buy stocks than Goldman?

Of course they are.

So, if you can’t own the retailers, and you can’t own transports, and you can’t own banks and brokers and financials and you can’t own commodity makers and you can’t own the newspapers, and you can’t own the machinery stocks, what can you own?

A-ha, that just leaves us with tech. That’s why we keep coming back to it. That’s why, despite the 80% increase in the Nasdaq last year, we are looking at another record year now. It is by that process of elimination that I have picked my top 10. And my next 10 and my next 10 after. Only those companies are worth owning. The rest?

You can have them.

Thank you.

Because humor is always the best and only cure to pervasive central planning that has made a mockery of traditional investing and capital allocation, and because nobody delivers unlimited sheer, unadulterated humor quite as well as one James J. Cramer when he is “recommending” stocks, here is the full text of Jim Cramer’s “The Winners of the New World” speech delivered in February 2000. Because it really never is different this time.

James J. Cramer is the keynote speaker at the 6th Annual Internet and Electronic Commerce Conference and Exposition, held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. From TheStreet.com

February 29, 2000

The Winners of the New World

You want winners? You want me to put my Cramer Berkowitz hedge fund hat on and just discuss what my fund is buying today to try to make money tomorrow and the next day and the next? You want my top 10 stocks for who is going to make it in the New World? You know what? I am going to give them to you. Right here. Right now.

OK. Here goes. Write them down — no handouts here!: 724 Solutions, Ariba, Digital Island, Exodus, InfoSpace.com, Inktomi, Mercury Interactive, Sonera, VeriSign and Veritas Software.

 We are buying some of every one of these this morning as I give this speech. We buy them every day, particularly if they are down, which, no surprise given what they do, is very rare. And we will keep doing so until this period is over — and it is very far from ending. Heck, people are just learning these stories on Wall Street, and the more they come to learn, the more they love and own! Most of these companies don’t even have earnings per share, so we won’t have to be constrained by that methodology for quarters to come.

There, now that that’s done with, can we talk about the methodology that produced those top 10 so that you can understand how, in a universe of a gazillion stocks, we arrived at those, so you too can figure it out? I hope we can because I have another 10 and still another 10 and another. They all do the same thing: They make the Web faster, cheaper, better and easier to access anywhere, anytime. They allow you to get on the Web securely anywhere in the world. They make the Web economy the only economy that matters. That’s all they do.

We try to own every one of them. Every single one. And if I had my druthers, I wouldn’t own any other stocks in the year 2000. Because these are the only ones worth owning right now in this extremely difficult, extremely narrow stock market. They are the only ones that are going higher consistently in good days and bad. I love every one of them, just as I loathe the rest of the stock universe.

How did this stock market get like this, to where the only people who can make a dime in it are the people who are interested in the most arcane subject, the moving of data from one space to another, via strange new machines and software? How did it get to the point where nothing else matters, most particularly the 90% of the stock market I have studied for the last 20 years? How did all of that knowledge become totally irrelevant and the only stocks that work are the stocks of companies that didn’t exist five years ago and came public in the last two or three years?

Let’s start with the world in the early 21st century, a world where capital is abundant for a chosen few and nonexistent for just about everybody else. It is a world where the whole of Wall Street and Silicon Valley is at your fingertips if you are creating the infrastructure for the New Economy, and a world where neither Wall Street nor Silicon Valley could give a darn about you if you are using that infrastructure.

Or in other words, we don’t care if General Motors (GM_) and Ford (F_) are going with Oracle (ORCL_) or with i2 (ITWO_) for their new parts procurement process. We don’t want to own GM or Ford on any occasion. In fact, we would rather own the loser in that tech bake-off than the winner in nontech, because in this new world, there is so much business to be done for the i2s and the Oracles that the capital will remain plentiful for them, win or lose a particular piece of business.

Just yesterday I found myself wishing I had bought i2 when it lost out to Oracle for the giant business-to-business contract for the Big Three automakers. Others had the same idea because i2, the loser Friday, was up much more Monday than GM and Ford could be this year. i2 can own the world because the company with the access to cheap capital always wins. And the companies with no access have to lose.

Or, closer to home. We in the stock market don’t care that The Street.com Inc., a company I helped create, has built a compelling new brand, has more than 100,000 paid subscribers and has $100 million in the bank. We just want to know which companies TheStreet.com employs to publish each day. We want to know who the host is, which publishing tool works best, which wireless strategy TheStreet.com is adopting and how does it automate its email? (By the way, the answers are Exodus, Vignette, Motorola and Kana — all at or near their 52-week highs as TheStreet.com languishes at its 52-week low, a triumph of the arms merchants over the combatants if there ever were one.)

How did this bizarro world where nine-tenths of the companies I have followed as a stock picker for the last 20 years are losers and one-tenth are winners? To answer that question, you have to throw out all of the matrices and formulas and texts that existed before the Web. You have to throw them away because they can’t make money for you anymore, and that is all that matters. We don’t use price-to-earnings multiples anymore at Cramer Berkowitz. If we talk about price-to-book, we have already gone astray. If we use any of what Graham and Dodd teach us, we wouldn’t have a dime under management.

So how do we sort through which stocks get bought and which stocks get assigned to the waste bin?

We have a phrase on Wall Street. It’s called raising the bar. If you can raise the bar, or brighten the outlook for your company, if you can see your growth accelerating, your stock will go higher and you will be given the currency to expand, acquire and do whatever you want. That’s the secret of the quintessential New Economy stock: Cisco (CSCO_). This giant networker has the ability to control its own destiny. It can, as my colleague Adam Lashinsky says at TSC, buy any company it wants to. It can pay any price. Because it has a currency that it better than U.S. dollars: It has Cisco stock. It can do that because it raises the bar every quarter!

But what about the Old Economy stocks? Can Merck raise the bar? Can Pfizer? Can U.S. Steel? Or Phelps Dodge? Union Pacific? No, no, no, no, no and no. So what happens to them? Despite the billions in buybacks and the plethora of strong buys that the Street has put out about these companies, their stocks have no traction. They just stumble along, rising and falling haphazardly with every whim and quizzical speech of the Federal Reserve chairman that still controls their destiny. If Greenspan indicates that there is more tightening ahead, these traditional companies, the ones that you measure with traditional matrices, get pole-axed as we worry about where the capital will ultimately come from if credit gets choked off, while the arms merchants in the Web war, with capital to burn, just go higher.

It is no secret that the Dow, made up principally of companies that can’t raise the bar, is down 12% while the Nasdaq, which is made up of companies that can raise the bar, is up 12%. And in the self-fulfilling jungle that is Wall Street, only growth can maintain growth!

So how do we find what are the great growth companies, knowing that growth and not cheapness of stock to company is what matters? We have to look for the fastest-growing industries and then select the companies that can make the infrastructure happen the fastest and the cheapest in those industries. The growth must be positively organic, if not viral. There must be heavy technological barriers to entry. And there must be an ability to scale without any thought to human cost. These companies must be able to dominate their businesses or be willing to become part of a larger institution that dominates.

So, whom does that eliminate? First, any company that is a commodity producer simply can’t be owned, no matter what. The New Economy makes those be simply a function of low-cost producer with no ability ever to raise price. This, of course, is the crying shame of the way the Fed is trying to break the economy because the only place that could stand for a little inflation is in the deflationary commodity industries. But their inflation revolves around the ability to build inventory to anticipate future price hikes and the Fed is taking short rates to a height that makes it uneconomic to stockpile.

Second, it eliminates any bricks-and-mortar company that doesn’t embrace the Net. To not embrace the Net is to give a cost edge to a competitor who does. It does so because the Net removes the middleman that was a product of the regional economy. There is $4 trillion worth of wholesaling that gets instantly eliminated by the Net. Before only the largest orders could be processed by the biggest companies because it was too expensive otherwise. Now all orders can be processed by the biggest companies through the Web. There is no need for the jobber or the wholesaler. Obviously, if you are still using that old distribution network, you can’t compete against those who do.

Third, it eliminates any industry that does not have a proprietary brand. This is one of those weird features of the Web that people haven’t woken up to yet, but it will seem obvious a few months from now. In the New World’s economy, the desire to “name your own price” is too great to squelch. An outfit like priceline will change the very nature of brands in this country. It won’t destroy the premium brand, but it will force everyone else out of the market. Why? Because the way priceline works is that we are trying to buy the premium brand for the price of the off-price brand. That means the off-price brands, whether they be Colgate or Dial or Hunt’s or Ralston, are simply doomed by the Web. Why would you ever buy the second- or third-best when you can get the best via priceline for the same price as the lower tier? Ahh, that’s a real killer. It leaves only the top brands to vie for supermarket space. The others won’t be worth carrying. They won’t move! Oh yeah, same goes for the airlines and the hotels and just about everybody else.

Fourth, it just destroys retail as we know it. Why? Because the companies that embrace the Web more vigorously will eventually be pitted against other companies that embrace the Web more vigorously, creating a virtual constant price war, the kind of war that Marx, of all, actually predicted would happen to capitalism. It will happen to retail once everyone realizes that Amazon recreated Wal-Mart online because it will forever have access to cheap capital. Why do I say forever? Because at a certain point, it will be done with its buildout and will effectively be able to cherry-pick whomever it wants to destroy while having it be subsidized by other areas. It will be Home Depot vs. Wal-Mart vs. Amazon in the end. Nobody else. And that’s only if Home Depot figures out it better get on the Web and fast.

Fifth, it wipes out everybody who straddles the Old and New Worlds. Let’s take the brokerage industry. If you are trying to preserve a price point, because you need those margins, you can’t and you become roadkill. Same with journalism. If you are free online and cost offline, you will eventually not be able to charge offline. Why not? Because the Hewlett-Packards and Intels and Ciscos are bent on making the online version far superior to the offline version. And they will do it. They, too, have the access to capital to make it happen.

I can tell you from TheStreet.com that we have substantial cost advantages over our printed cousins. We can come out around the clock. We don’t require paper, ink, delivery people or trucks. In that sense, we are much more like television, personal television, which is why we were wrong initially to think we could charge for basic news, and right to think we can charge a huge amount for proprietary analysis that can make you money.

The struggle between the offliners and the onliners in banking will also pan out just like these other industries, with huge wins for those with a fresh online culture and hideous losses for those who don’t see it coming or are slow to adjust. If you have to preserve your giant branch network and the costs that come with it while someone else perfects secure wireless Internet transactions, you can forget about it. You can’t afford to compete. How can Bank of America compete with Nokia as a way to bank? How can Goldman Sachs compete with Yahoo! as a way to invest? Isn’t Nokia, with its wireless machine that goes everywhere a better bank than one that needs branches? Isn’t Yahoo!, with its access to all of the information and quotes in the financial world a better place to buy stocks than Goldman?

Of course they are.

So, if you can’t own the retailers, and you can’t own transports, and you can’t own banks and brokers and financials and you can’t own commodity makers and you can’t own the newspapers, and you can’t own the machinery stocks, what can you own?

A-ha, that just leaves us with tech. That’s why we keep coming back to it. That’s why, despite the 80% increase in the Nasdaq last year, we are looking at another record year now. It is by that process of elimination that I have picked my top 10. And my next 10 and my next 10 after. Only those companies are worth owning. The rest?

You can have them.

Thank you.

A 16-year-old girl whose body was found burning in an alley was stabbed to death, a post-mortem examination has found.

Sasha Marsden’s body was set on fire after she had died from stab wounds to the head and face, police said.

Police cordoned off the area in South Shore, Blackpool, after her body was discovered at 9pm on Thursday.

A 22-year-old man was arrested nearby and police have been granted a further 36 hours to question him.

A woman aged 20 was also held but later released without charge.

A police spokesman said: “Following the death of Sasha Marsden, a Home Office post-mortem examination has been carried out and has found that Sasha died as a result of receiving significant stab wounds to the head and face.

“It also showed that attempts were made to set the body on fire and this was after Sasha had died.

“The results have been shared with the family, and specially trained officers are continuing to support them.”

On Friday, specialist crime scene investigators carried out forensic searches of the alley behind Kirby Road and at the Grafton House bed-and-breakfast hotel on the same road, which is a few streets off the Promenade.

Carl Evans, owner of the nearby Kimber Guest House, told Sky News he spotted the fire when he walked out into his back garden on Thursday evening.

“I heard the alarms going and saw the smoke, but I thought it was just someone burning rubbish,” he said.

He added that some residents had attempted to put out the flames before realising it was a body on fire.

“The lass two doors up said someone seemed to have put something out – like a mannequin – but it turned out to be the body of a 16-year-old girl.”

Sasha was in the first year of a childcare course at Blackpool and The Fylde College and lived with her parents in Staining, near Blackpool.

In a tribute to her, Mandy Pritchard, head of the college’s school for society, health and childhood, said she was “a friendly, considerate individual who cared about her fellow students”.

Numerous tributes were paid to the youngster on a Facebook page set up in her memory.

A 16-year-old girl whose body was found burning in an alley was stabbed to death, a post-mortem examination has found.

Sasha Marsden’s body was set on fire after she had died from stab wounds to the head and face, police said.

Police cordoned off the area in South Shore, Blackpool, after her body was discovered at 9pm on Thursday.

A 22-year-old man was arrested nearby and police have been granted a further 36 hours to question him.

A woman aged 20 was also held but later released without charge.

A police spokesman said: “Following the death of Sasha Marsden, a Home Office post-mortem examination has been carried out and has found that Sasha died as a result of receiving significant stab wounds to the head and face.

“It also showed that attempts were made to set the body on fire and this was after Sasha had died.

“The results have been shared with the family, and specially trained officers are continuing to support them.”

On Friday, specialist crime scene investigators carried out forensic searches of the alley behind Kirby Road and at the Grafton House bed-and-breakfast hotel on the same road, which is a few streets off the Promenade.

Carl Evans, owner of the nearby Kimber Guest House, told Sky News he spotted the fire when he walked out into his back garden on Thursday evening.

“I heard the alarms going and saw the smoke, but I thought it was just someone burning rubbish,” he said.

He added that some residents had attempted to put out the flames before realising it was a body on fire.

“The lass two doors up said someone seemed to have put something out – like a mannequin – but it turned out to be the body of a 16-year-old girl.”

Sasha was in the first year of a childcare course at Blackpool and The Fylde College and lived with her parents in Staining, near Blackpool.

In a tribute to her, Mandy Pritchard, head of the college’s school for society, health and childhood, said she was “a friendly, considerate individual who cared about her fellow students”.

Numerous tributes were paid to the youngster on a Facebook page set up in her memory.

A 16-year-old girl whose body was found burning in an alley was stabbed to death, a post-mortem examination has found.

Sasha Marsden’s body was set on fire after she had died from stab wounds to the head and face, police said.

Police cordoned off the area in South Shore, Blackpool, after her body was discovered at 9pm on Thursday.

A 22-year-old man was arrested nearby and police have been granted a further 36 hours to question him.

A woman aged 20 was also held but later released without charge.

A police spokesman said: “Following the death of Sasha Marsden, a Home Office post-mortem examination has been carried out and has found that Sasha died as a result of receiving significant stab wounds to the head and face.

“It also showed that attempts were made to set the body on fire and this was after Sasha had died.

“The results have been shared with the family, and specially trained officers are continuing to support them.”

On Friday, specialist crime scene investigators carried out forensic searches of the alley behind Kirby Road and at the Grafton House bed-and-breakfast hotel on the same road, which is a few streets off the Promenade.

Carl Evans, owner of the nearby Kimber Guest House, told Sky News he spotted the fire when he walked out into his back garden on Thursday evening.

“I heard the alarms going and saw the smoke, but I thought it was just someone burning rubbish,” he said.

He added that some residents had attempted to put out the flames before realising it was a body on fire.

“The lass two doors up said someone seemed to have put something out – like a mannequin – but it turned out to be the body of a 16-year-old girl.”

Sasha was in the first year of a childcare course at Blackpool and The Fylde College and lived with her parents in Staining, near Blackpool.

In a tribute to her, Mandy Pritchard, head of the college’s school for society, health and childhood, said she was “a friendly, considerate individual who cared about her fellow students”.

Numerous tributes were paid to the youngster on a Facebook page set up in her memory.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy denies media claims that he and other leaders of the ruling Popular Party received secret payments for years.

Rajoy said Saturday that the allegations were “false,” vowing not to resign despite the publication of documents showing secret payments to him.

“I have never received nor distributed undeclared money,” the PM said, adding he would publish on the Internet “statements of income, patrimony and any information necessary” to prove the claims false.

Center-left newspaper El Pais on Thursday published account ledgers showing donations were channeled into secret payments to Rajoy and other party leaders.

The newspaper claimed the premier received 25,200 euros a year between 1997 and 2008. It also said that the fund was collected mostly from construction firms, adding that such payments would be legal if they were fully declared to the taxman.

The allegations sparked anger among people who have been asked to accept harsh austerity measures as the government tried to prevent an international bailout.

Protesters gathered outside the ruling party headquarters on Saturday while Rajoy was speaking at an emergency party meeting, asking him to step down.

Protesters blamed the politicians for the country’s economic crisis, and yelled “thieves” while demonstrating outside the building.

“My sister is on the verge of being evicted and I didn’t get my Christmas bonus, while those ladies and gentlemen not only got their Christmas bonuses but have also been robbing our money,” said Maxi Sanchez Pizarro, who was among the protesters.

“They are shameless crooks and thieves. I hope they have the honor to resign and call an election,” he added.

Battered by the global financial downturn, the Spanish economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008, taking millions of jobs with it.

SAB/HGH/SL

While the initial response to last week’s YHOO earnings was afterhours euphoria all of which fizzled in the first hours of trading, sentiment on the firm which has yet to do more than merely promise may sour in the coming days even more following news late on Friday that the company’s formerly staunchest advocate, Third Point’s Dan Loeb sold some 15% of his stake, or 11 million of 73 million shares on Thursday and Friday at a price between $19.68 and $19.70. The remaining stake is now 62 million shares, which means Third Point is now longer the firm’s largest institutional holder with a 6.17% stake, but drops to 4th place behind Capital Group and above Vanguard, who own 67 and 48.9 million shares respectively. The reason given for these opportunistic sales is that they were “motivated by Third Point`s desire to maintain a roughly consistent percentage holding of Yahoo`s outstanding shares as the company pursues its $5 billion buy-back authorization.” Of course considering the $1.5 billion in shares that YHOO has actually bought back represent some 6.5% of the outstanding, one is a little confused how a 15% stake reduction is hedged relative to an actual buyback that is some 60% smaller. Does this mean another 15% stake cut in Q1 when YHOO, supposedly, buys back another $1.5 billion?

But even that question pales in comparison to that other one: why on earth would Dan Loeb want to sell shares in a company that none other than Jim Cramer had this to say about as recently as 2000:

How can Goldman Sachs compete with Yahoo! as a way to invest? Isn’t Nokia, with its wireless machine that goes everywhere a better bank than one that needs branches? Isn’t Yahoo!, with its access to all of the information and quotes in the financial world a better place to buy stocks than Goldman?

Of course they are.

Why whatever is Third Point thinking.

While the initial response to last week’s YHOO earnings was afterhours euphoria all of which fizzled in the first hours of trading, sentiment on the firm which has yet to do more than merely promise may sour in the coming days even more following news late on Friday that the company’s formerly staunchest advocate, Third Point’s Dan Loeb sold some 15% of his stake, or 11 million of 73 million shares on Thursday and Friday at a price between $19.68 and $19.70. The remaining stake is now 62 million shares, which means Third Point is now longer the firm’s largest institutional holder with a 6.17% stake, but drops to 4th place behind Capital Group and above Vanguard, who own 67 and 48.9 million shares respectively. The reason given for these opportunistic sales is that they were “motivated by Third Point`s desire to maintain a roughly consistent percentage holding of Yahoo`s outstanding shares as the company pursues its $5 billion buy-back authorization.” Of course considering the $1.5 billion in shares that YHOO has actually bought back represent some 6.5% of the outstanding, one is a little confused how a 15% stake reduction is hedged relative to an actual buyback that is some 60% smaller. Does this mean another 15% stake cut in Q1 when YHOO, supposedly, buys back another $1.5 billion?

But even that question pales in comparison to that other one: why on earth would Dan Loeb want to sell shares in a company that none other than Jim Cramer had this to say about as recently as 2000:

How can Goldman Sachs compete with Yahoo! as a way to invest? Isn’t Nokia, with its wireless machine that goes everywhere a better bank than one that needs branches? Isn’t Yahoo!, with its access to all of the information and quotes in the financial world a better place to buy stocks than Goldman?

Of course they are.

Why whatever is Third Point thinking.

The French National Assembly has approved the most important article in a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, despite huge protests earlier in the month that saw hundreds of thousands of people mass in Paris to oppose the measure.

Deputies voted 249-97 in favor of redefining marriage as an agreement between two people, rather than between a man and a woman. The measure was backed by President Françoise Hollande’s socialist party and their left-wing supporters, and was opposed by the UMP — the party of former President Nicholas Sarkozy — and many centrists MPs.

The draft bill is one of the biggest social reforms proposed in France since the abolition of the death penalty in 1982, and also includes provisions on gay adoption. The proposal has created a storm of protest both for and against gay marriage for months, with opinion polls suggesting that about 60 percent of France supports it, though only half support gay adoption.

The debate is expected to last two weeks, as more than 5,000 amendments have been proposed to the reform. Originally, a clause was included on assisted reproduction techniques for lesbians, but it was scrapped for being too controversial, as it threatened to derail the wider issue of marriage reform.

People take part in a demonstration for the legalisation of gay marriage and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) parenting, in Paris on January 27, 2013 (AFP Photo / Thomas Samson)

‘Anarchists of love’

While opponents to the bill may be in the minority, they have been vocal about their feelings on the issue. According to police, some 340,000 people marched through Paris last month in opposition to gay marriage, in what because known as the ‘manif pour tous’ movement.

Those against the law have run a media-savvy campaign with no formal links to politicians or the church, in an effort not to be seen as homophobic bigots.

Their spokesperson is 50-year old Frigide Barjot, who describes herself as an “anarchist of love,” and argues that her views are not directed against gay people but against the way the proposed law is framed.

She claims that the law proposed by Hollande will “de-structure” society by “destroying the concept in law of a mother and a father.” However, “If what was on offer were a law that further enshrined rights for gay couples, and got rid of the discriminations and injustices that undoubtedly still exist — then I would support it,” she said.

Those against the legislation have also argued that giving gay couples the right to adopt will remove the fundamental right of a child to have a mother and a father.

Another reason for the fierce debate on the issue, and why those in opposition have been able to garner such a broad base of support, is the nature of French institutions. In France, couples who marry must first do so in a civil ceremony; only then may they have a religious wedding. In most other countries, a wedding conducted in church, synagogue or mosque is formally recognized by law.

In Spain and Portugal, which have recently adopted gay marriage legislation, while the state is duty-bound to marry homosexual partners, the church is not obliged to do so, meaning that many people opposed to the idea of gay marriage can still be content that a ‘proper’ marriage in a church protects traditional values.

However, a study by the liberal French think tank the Thomas Moore Foundation, found that in France there is no such separation and a feeling persists that the proposed change in the law will affect everyone, regardless of their views.

But the simple fact remains that gay marriage is supported by the majority of the French.

‘The family today is not the same as the family yesterday’

Supporters of gay marriage have staged their own demonstrations, 125,000 took to the Paris streets last weekend.

“When I see the people who protest against gay marriage, I am so disappointed for France. They talk about family first, but they should see that society has changed. The family today is not the same as the family yesterday. We have to rethink the whole concept of family,” one of the demonstrators, who called herself Magali, told the BBC.

Hollande was clear in his election manifesto last May that the legislation would go through, and political pundits have said that he has pushed hard for it as a way of reaffirming his progressive left-wing credentials.

Meanwhile, in the UK, it was reported by the Times that Prime Minster David Cameron is facing a revolt by members of his Conservative party over his plans to allow gay marriages in church in Britain.

British MPs will vote on it on Tuesday in a free, cross-party vote; even in the event of a Tory rebellion, Cameron can rely on getting it through the house with support from the Liberal Democrats and Labor.

A man holds a placard reading “A father and a mother, nothing it’s better for a child !” as he takes part in a rally to protest against same-sex marriage on February 02, 2013 in Paris (AFP Photo / Francois Guillot)

Hi folks,

Some have probably heard that the Dutch Govt took over the 4th largest bank, SNS, for euro 3.7 billion. Nu.nl reports that DNB has what amounts to a cap gun at its disposal to intervene in certain situations. Lex Hoogduin asks if DNB reported this to Min Fin to ask for further powers. Then they could have intervened last summer when they first found out about the troubles. The question was if the MinFin was informed and what did he do. Maybe he was away at a meeting and missed the message, noone seems to know. Since the bank is brought under in a holding company, DNB was powerless. The cap gun was issued after the events of 2008. Or something like that.

http://www.nu.nl/economie/3081259/interventiewet-slechts-klappertjespist…

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-02/sns-nationalized-in-netherlands…

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-01/dutch-deficit-to-widen-0-6-poin…

Hi folks,

Some have probably heard that the Dutch Govt took over the 4th largest bank, SNS, for euro 3.7 billion. Nu.nl reports that DNB has what amounts to a cap gun at its disposal to intervene in certain situations. Lex Hoogduin asks if DNB reported this to Min Fin to ask for further powers. Then they could have intervened last summer when they first found out about the troubles. The question was if the MinFin was informed and what did he do. Maybe he was away at a meeting and missed the message, noone seems to know. Since the bank is brought under in a holding company, DNB was powerless. The cap gun was issued after the events of 2008. Or something like that.

http://www.nu.nl/economie/3081259/interventiewet-slechts-klappertjespist…

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-02/sns-nationalized-in-netherlands…

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-01/dutch-deficit-to-widen-0-6-poin…

A senior Iranian lawmaker says cooperation between Tehran and Ankara plays a major role in promoting peace and security and resolving crises in the Middle East.

Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel made the remark in a meeting with the Turkish Ambassador to Iran Umit Yardim on Saturday.

“Political, economic and cultural relations between Tehran and Ankara are at the highest level at the moment and the resolve of the two countries’ officials for the promotion and development of mutual ties is strong,” he added.

Haddad-Adel went on to say that Iran and Turkey as two important countries in the region have worked side by side on the basis of mutual respect as well as cultural and religious commonalities.

The Iranian lawmaker also stressed the importance and crucial role of the two countries’ legislative bodies, adding that continued consultations between the two countries’ parliaments will further strengthen the friendly ties between Tehran and Ankara.

Yardim, for his part, described the relations between Iran and Turkey as good and developing, saying that the Turkish officials are determined to promote ties with the Islamic Republic in all areas.

The Turkish envoy also pointed out that Iran is a major player in the region adding that economic, political and cultural cooperation between Tehran and Ankara will lay the ground for strengthening ties between the two nations.

TNP/SS

Three people have been airlifted to hospital after being caught up in an avalanche in the Scottish mountains, police said.

The avalanche happened shortly before 11.30am in the Coire an t-Sneachda area of the Cairngorms.

Northern Constabulary said the three were taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness by air.

They are not believed to have suffered serious injuries. It is not thought that anyone else was caught up in the avalanche.

Police who responded to the incident said they were assisted by members of Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, an RAF helicopter and a Strathclyde Police mountain rescue team, who were carrying out training in the area.

Details of the casualties’ injuries have not yet been revealed. Police have yet to reveal whether the three were male or female.

The incident comes two weeks after a killer avalanche claimed four lives in the Highlands.

Three people have been airlifted to hospital after being caught up in an avalanche in the Scottish mountains, police said.

The avalanche happened shortly before 11.30am in the Coire an t-Sneachda area of the Cairngorms.

Northern Constabulary said the three were taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness by air.

They are not believed to have suffered serious injuries. It is not thought that anyone else was caught up in the avalanche.

Police who responded to the incident said they were assisted by members of Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, an RAF helicopter and a Strathclyde Police mountain rescue team, who were carrying out training in the area.

Details of the casualties’ injuries have not yet been revealed. Police have yet to reveal whether the three were male or female.

The incident comes two weeks after a killer avalanche claimed four lives in the Highlands.

Three people have been airlifted to hospital after being caught up in an avalanche in the Scottish mountains, police said.

The avalanche happened shortly before 11.30am in the Coire an t-Sneachda area of the Cairngorms.

Northern Constabulary said the three were taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness by air.

They are not believed to have suffered serious injuries. It is not thought that anyone else was caught up in the avalanche.

Police who responded to the incident said they were assisted by members of Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, an RAF helicopter and a Strathclyde Police mountain rescue team, who were carrying out training in the area.

Details of the casualties’ injuries have not yet been revealed. Police have yet to reveal whether the three were male or female.

The incident comes two weeks after a killer avalanche claimed four lives in the Highlands.

Images of an Egyptian protester who was stripped naked, dragged through the street and beaten with batons by helmeted riot police have inflamed passions in a country already at the boiling point.

­Over a dozen police officers can be seen swarming around Hamada Saber, 50, as the battered protester is violently dragged to an armored vehicle not far from the Presidential Palace in Cairo.

In the pictures, Saber was then placed prostrate on the ground before being flipped over and pummeled by a half-dozen baton-wielding police officers. He is currently undergoing treatment in a police hospital in Cairo.

Footage of the incident was broadcast live on television during Friday night protests against Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, sending shockwaves throughout a country already beleaguered by mounting unrest.

Riot police were deployed around the Presidential Palace on Saturday as Egyptian authorities anticipated violence would flare up in the wake of the incendiary footage.

On Saturday, protesters lobbed stones and bottles at a motorcade carrying Prime Minister Hisham Qandil as he attempted to enter Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

The office of President Morsi condemned the “inhumane” beating in a statement released on Saturday: “The presidency was pained by the shocking footage of some policemen treating a protester in a manner that does not accord with human dignity and human rights,” Al Arabiya quoted the statement as saying.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim has ordered an investigation to “hold accountable” the officers involved, whose conduct he described as “regrettable” and “unacceptable.”

The opposition National Salvation Front (NSF) were not placated by Ibrahim’s response, and demanded that he step down.

“The horrible and degrading images showing the central security officers and police beating and dragging a naked man near the presidential palace should lead to the interior minister’s immediate resignation,” said Khalid Dawoud, spokesperson for the National Salvation Front (NSF), according to Gulf News.

Such a case “cannot be resolved by a simple apology from the minister,” Dawoud added.

Morsi, who had previously warned that security forces would handle violent protesters with “utmost decisiveness,” blamed the demonstrators for inciting the violent response by attempting to level the palace gates and scale its walls.

Another protester was shot dead on Friday and more than 100 were injured, many seriously, amid running street battles between police and demonstrators, who attacked the presidential palace with Molotov cocktails.

The image of the prone man being beaten have particular resonance with Egyptians, as it bore a painful resemblance to the ‘girl in the blue bra’ beating in December 20011.

The veil-covered woman had her hands raised above her head as three soldiers subdued her and opened her black abaya cloak, stomping on her naked torso. The images came to epitomize the battle between pro-democracy protesters and the doomed regime of former President Hosni Mubarak. 

The recent disturbances in Egypt followed the second anniversary of the January 25 revolution that ousted Mubarak. Dozens have been killed and hundreds injured in eight days of violence.

Jon Stewart had a field day with the clown show that was the Senate’s hearing on gun violence this week. Whether it was NRA head Wayne LaPierre opining that background checks won’t work because criminals won’t submit to them, the fact that he’s done a complete 180 on his stance in 1999 — or Lindsey Graham and his fearmongering that people are going to be running wild in the streets, looting and raping.

He also gave the IWF’s Gayle Trotter the treatment she deserves for her ridiculous fairy tale about mothers needing to fend off hoards of intruders with AR-15’s and then telling Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse she couldn’t remember what type of gun the woman in the real life case she was citing as an example actually used.

Here’s more from Raw Story on Stewart’s take down of LaPierre: Jon Stewart mocks NRA chief: Lets only pass laws that criminals will follow:

At a Senate hearing on gun violence, LaPierre explained that citizens of the United States needed high-power firearms to both defend themselves from an overbearing government and protect themselves from being abandoned by the government.

“I’m lost,” Stewart remarked.

LaPierre also argued that requiring universal background checks for gun purchases was a flawed policy because criminals didn’t follow the law. The argument is one often used by gun advocates.

“Good point,” Stewart mockingly retorted. “Let’s pass laws that only criminals will obey. Let’s do that. Hey, what’s this ‘thou shalt not kill,’ you know, murders are just going to bypass that. They’ll find a way around it.”

 The BRussells Tribunal and several partner organisations have organised a peace prize, the “BRussells Awards for Resistance and Solidarity”.

The prize for resistance goes to Uday al Zaidi, a leading organizer of the Arab spring in Iraq, and the prize for solidarity to Ayse Berktay, one of the pivotal founders of the World Tribunal on Iraq . See the newsletter underneath for more info. You can greatly contribute to the success of this event, by helping us turning it into an instrument for action! We call upon all of you!

* Please, send or e-mail a letter to the Turkish ambassador in your country (you can add our press release in one of the five languages of our newsletter — a Turkish translation will be on our website soon!) with the request to set Ayse free so see can come and collect the prize (is not impossible as professor Ersanli and published Ragip Zarakolu were released — but still on trial). Please do it now. You can also make a local petition and hand it over to the ambassador. But an open letter that you publish is a good option too. You can do it as an organisation or even as an individual. If ambassadors of all the countries receive the request it will make an impression, be sure. Please cc us, so we can keep track and document it on our website!

* In your letter you can refer to the fact that the award has gotten some attention already in the Turkish press. Here are the links:

http://www.imc-tv.com/haber-politik-mahpus-ayse-berktaya-brussells-dayanisma-odulu-verildi-6573.html

and http://www.bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/143931-ayse-berktaya-dayanisma-odulu,

(please check our website for updates on this).

* Send photo’s of Ayse Berktay speaking at your session of the WTI or another activity, with place and date if possible, so we can make an album on our website. But it is more than just a family album, as her travels are held against her as illegal activities. It is also a protest against the complete ridicule of this accusation.

* Post us a message we can can post on our website and/or read during the ceremony on March 19 th. With felicitations, or a memory of Ayse, some we might already post on the website.

* Send her a letter to congratulate her, and send us a copy. It will make her so happy and give her courage to face her ordeal. She is one of us, and she is now almost one year and a half in jail.

Ayse Hacımirzaoglu

Bakirkoy Kadin Kapali Cezaevi

Kogus B-5

Zuhuratbaba, Bakirkoy

Istanbul/Turkey

* For Uday Al Zaidi, our other award winner, who was arrested on January 21 and set free again — the events have to be monitored (check our website for updates!). Of course here also photos and felicitations we can read or post on the website are more than welcome.

* If your organisation wants to be listed as an endorser, please send us a logo (see list of endorser logo‘s under this letter — don’t forget to cc Ward Treunen, our coordinator).

* Contribute what you can spare, as an organisation or as an individual. The events commemorating the 10 anniversary of the invasion (for the program see on our website) will cost us a lot, and we are extremely poor (as an organisation I mean). You can support the BRussells Award via a bank transfer to the BRussells Tribunal. Our account number is: 132-5251479-37 (IBAN: BE35 1325 2514 7937 — BIC: BNAGBEBB) Reference: “the BRussells Awards”. You can also contribute via paypal. Just click here — Reference: “the BRussells Awards”

Thank you very much!

In solidarity

Lieven De Cauter

Ward Treunen

Dirk Adriaensens

For the BRussells Tribunal

by Farid Marjai and Mehrnaz Shahabi

“Iranian Mothers for Peace,” in an open letter of January 2013 to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, and Dr. Margaret Chan, the Director General of the World Heath Organization, have alerted the responsible world bodies and human rights organizations to the critical shortage of vital medication due to the US/EU-led sanctions on Iran and their deadly impact on the lives and health of the Iranian population.

“Iranian Mothers for Peace” is a non-profit forum, well known and respected in Iran’s civil society. In 2006 a number of social activists came together to form this forum. “Mothers for Peace” is not a political party and organizationally it has a flexible structure. “Mothers for Peace” takes pride that its 700 participants come from very diverse political backgrounds and different social classes. It affirmatively celebrates diversity which it considers a reflection of the tolerance the group espouses.

With the ideal of peace in mind, “Mothers for Peace” is open to all participants who take a stand against any form of violence, poverty, and oppression.

“In our campaigns to protect the environment, we encourage measures that reduce the impact of human violence against it. We take solid steps to eliminate and mitigate gender inequality. Over the years, our projects have focused on welfare of addicts and prisoners, and publicizing their rights.

The scope of our vision and work is to achieve social security and permanent peace. Hence, this non-profit institution has a wider definition of the concept of ‘peace’; it refutes the narrow perspective of ‘peace’ as mere absence of external military violence and confrontation. And it is precisely in this context that we view the Western-imposed crippling sanctions on the people of Iran as a form of structural violence – a silent, yet a predatory war.

The everyday reality we observe on the ground in Iran has convinced us that the draconian sanctions are victimizing the very fabric of the society we intend to strengthen.

Presently, a number of the core group members of ‘Mothers for Peace’ are suffering from cancer. Sadly, they are having a difficult time obtaining the medicines needed for their treatment, and like many of their compatriots they suffer from unnecessary additional anxiety that might further deteriorates their precarious health condition.”

Below is the text of the open letter (published at mothersofpeace-iran.com/?p=1049) in English.

January, 26, 20013

Dr. Margaret Chan
Director General
World Health Organization
Avenue Appia 20
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland

Dear Dr. Margaret Chan

As you know, the illegal and inhumane actions led by the US and the EU, targeting the country and the population of Iran, with the stated intention to put pressure on the government of Iran, have intensified in the past two years and increasingly harsher sanctions are imposed almost on a monthly basis. The regulations governing these inhumane and arbitrary sanctions are executed with such strict inflexibility that Iran is now excluded from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) and the sanctions on banking transactions are preventing Iran from even purchasing its needed medical supplies and instruments. On the other hand, to avoid suspicion for dealing with Iran, the European banks are fearful not to engage in any kind of financial transactions with Iran and, therefore, in practice, refuse any transfer of payment for medical and health-related items and raw materials needed for the production of domestic pharmaceutical drugs, even payment for well-recognized drugs for the treatment of Special Diseases, which are not of dual use.

Madam Director,

Are you aware that while American and European soldiers’ lives in Afghanistan are being saved by Iranian anti-snake venom potions and medication, Iranian hemophilic children, cancer patients, and those suffering diabetes, under the pretext of the execution of ‘smart sanctions’, are being deprived of their lifeline medication and face death or irreversible disability? We ask you: What could possibly be the intended target of the wealthy and powerful US and European statesmen’s ‘targeted’ and ‘smart’ sanctions but to destroy the physical and psychological health of the population through the increase of disease and disability?

Madam Director,

We respectfully request from you and from all the relevant international bodies, specially, the World Health Organization and human rights organizations, to act according to their humanitarian and legal responsibilities, and demand the American and European countries leading sanctions on Iran to urgently create the necessary mechanism for opening financial transactions and letters of credit to facilitate the purchase of medicine for Iranian patients.

The right to health and access to medical treatment and medication is one of the fundamental human rights anywhere in the world. Please do not allow the killing of our sick children, beloved families, and fellow Iranians from the lack of medicine, caught in instrumental policies of coercion and power.

Iranian Mothers for Peace

Farid Marjai is a writer and activist. Mehrnaz Shahabi is an anti-war activist and independent researcher.

Dylan Grice may no longer work at SocGen, and, as we reported previously, has finally put his mouth where his money is and opted to replace his desk at a government subsidized, undercapitalized French megabank with a hedge fund invested 60% in precious metals, but his wisdom remains. And while we are confident that we have covered all of his prior reports over the years, we now provide one handy, 244-page compendium covering the bulk of Grice’s work over the past 4 years. Covering the financial gamut: from Valuation, to the Euro Crisis, to Japan, to Asia, to Gold and commodities, all the way to the Philosophically arcane, we are confident that the attached presentation will provide countless hours of reading pleasure for all.

Chancellor George Osborne wants any fine paid by the Royal Bank of Scotland over the Libor scandal to come out of its bankers’ bonuses.

RBS, which is majority-owned by the taxpayer, is expected to agree a fine of £400-500m next week with US and British authorities.

It is accused of attempting to rig benchmark interest rates.

Sky’s City Editor Mark Kleinman said: “A Treasury source has told Sky News that the money that the US regulators will fine RBS will have to come out of the bank’s bonus pot.

“It’s very important politically, I think, for the Chancellor to be able to say that the taxpayer is not bearing the financial cost of misconduct by bankers who work for a company that is majority-owned by the taxpayer.

“The Treasury is obviously playing hardball on this, and we’ll find out exactly how much RBS is going to be paying in fines in the coming days.”

The Treasury expects the fines to be paid not just from the bonus pot for 2012 — likely to be around £250m — but money from future years’ bonus pots as well.

RBS – which is 81% owned by taxpayers – is also looking to claw back up to £100m from pay deals previously awarded to executives in its investment bank.

The bank’s remuneration committee, which is chaired by Penny Hughes, a non-executive director, is assessing plans for a “flat tax” on the pay packets of hundreds of directors and managing directors in its markets business.

The idea would involve about 15% of prior-year pay awards to the relevant individuals being clawed back, netting a total of as much as £100m.

Barclays was fined £300m last year for its role in the scandal.

The single most important issue for Europe today remains Germany on both an economic and political front.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has walked a tightrope over the last few years of keeping the EU together without infuriating the German populace to the point of having to abandon ship.

To do this, Merkel has maintained a firm stance of “we’ll write the check provided conditions are met” much as a parent would give a child his or her allowance provided the child performed its chores satisfactorily. In the case of German, the “chores” are required conditions of austerity measures and budgetary requirements in exchange for bailout funds.

By doing this, Merkel is able to play hardball on an economic front (having failed to meet its German-required financial targets Greece had to wait an additional six months to receive another installment of its Second bailout) without appear too hard-nosed on a political front (she continually pushes to keep the Euro together, expressing a willingness to help other nations… as long as they meet her budgetary requirements).

The policy has thus far been a success with Merkel’s approval rating soaring to its highest level since 2009 (before her re-election bid). However, the latest state election in Germany might upset this situation.

Germany’s center-left opposition won a wafer-thin victory over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition in a major state election Sunday, dealing a setback as she seeks a third term at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy later this year.

The opposition Social Democrats and Greens won a single-seat majority in the state legislature in Lower Saxony, ousting the coalition of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union and the pro-market Free Democrats that has run the northwestern region for 10 years. The same parties form the national government.

The 58-year-old Merkel will seek another four-year term in a national parliamentary election expected in September. She and her party are riding high in national polls, but the opposition hoped the Lower Saxony vote would show she is vulnerable.

The outcome could boost what so far has been a sputtering campaign by Merkel’s Social Democratic challenger, Peer Steinbrueck.

“This evening gives us real tailwind for the national election,” said Katrin Goering-Eckardt, a leader of Steinbrueck’s allies, the Greens. “We can and will manage to replace the (center-right) coalition.”

However, the close outcome also underscores the possibility of a messy result in September, with no clear winner.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/merkel-risks-election-year-setback-state-vote

To understand the significance of this, you need to understand a key difference between the US and Europe. In the US, the economy often drives politics (often but not always). In Europe, politics drives everything.

You will never hear a discussion of “how involved should the Government be in the economy?” in most of Europe; it is just assumed that the Government should always be involved to a significant degree. The question is whether it should be a lot (the public sector accounts for 30% of jobs in Germany) or almost entirely (the public sector accounts for 56% of jobs in France).

With that in mind, Merkel is up for re-election in the fall of this year (likely in September). Her bid for re-election will be a major issue for the future of the EU and the Euro in 2013.

The other two candidates for the job are Peer Steinbrück, former Finance Minister to Merkel who has been extremely critical of Merkel’s handling of the EU Crisis and Rainer Brüderle who believes that Greece leaving the EU would not be a “calamity.”

Obviously whoever wins this election will change the political landscape for Europe significantly. As a result, the run up to this election will have a significant impact on the markets for 2013, much as the Obama-Romney Presidential campaigns had significant impacts on the US markets in 2012.

An important issue for this campaign will be the German economy. Germany is the second largest exporter of goods in the world behind China. And the German economy is getting slammed due to:

1. The EU economy collapsing.
2. The ECB’s interventions have pushed the Euro higher hurting export profits.

By most counts Europe is an economic disaster. Southern countries such as Spain and Greece have begun to resemble third world countries with commensurate poverty and malnutrition. However, even when we include stronger economies such as Germany, the EU as a whole is back in recession as of September 2012. With 71% of German exports going to the EU, this is a real problem for the German economy.

Regarding #2, every tick higher in the Euro means less profits for Germany. And the Euro has been rising dramatically since July when the ECB first hinted at providing unlimited bond buying to backstop the EU banking system.

As a result of this, the German economy is estimated to have shrunken 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2012. If things continue to worsen here, Germany’s population will grow increasingly unhappy with the prospect of more EU bailouts. And with Merkel battling for re-election this year, this could potentially upset her high wire act of balancing German voter sentiment with a pro-EU agenda.

With that in mind, the recent state election loss is a bad omen for Merkel. True, the loss occurred by a razor thin margin. But as we mentioned before, politics is everything in Europe. The more energy Merkel has to devote to wooing German voters the less energy she will have to focus on maintaining her “we’ll backstop the EU” policy.

This will make for a very volatile year in European markets as the markets will be hinging on German officials’ statements throughout the campaign trail. With that in mind, the German economy will be an absolutely critical issue both for the German Federal elections and the solidarity of the EU as a whole in 2013.

We have produced a FREE Special Report available to all investors titled What Europe’s Collapse Means For You and Your Savings.

This report features ten pages of material outlining our independent analysis real debt situation in Europe (numbers far worse than is publicly admitted), the true nature of the EU banking system, and the systemic risks Europe poses to investors around the world.

It also outlines a number of investments to profit from this; investments that anyone can use to take advantage of the European Debt Crisis.

Best of all, this report is 100% FREE. You can pick up a copy today at:

http://gainspainscapital.com/eu-report/

Best

Phoenix Capital Research

By Theodoric Meyer, ProPublica

When CBS News reported in 2011 that members of Congress weren’t prohibited from insider trading, Congress moved swiftly.President Obama signed a law banning it within six months of the broadcast.

But Congress is still exempt from portions of a number of federal laws, including provisions that protect workers in the private sector but don’t apply to the legislative branch’s approximately 30,000 employees.

Here’s our rundown of measures Congress exempts itself from:

• Whistleblower Protections: Congress passed the Whistleblower Protection Act in 1989, which protects workers in the executive branch from retaliation for reporting waste, mismanagement or lawbreaking. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act gives similar protections to private-sectors workers. But legislative-branch workers – a category that includes congressional staffers as well as employees of the Library of Congress, the Architect of the Capitol and other offices –don’t get the same protections.
• Subpoenas for Health and Safety Probes:  The Occupational Health and Safety Act empowers the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate health and safety violations in private-sector workplaces. If an employer doesn’t cooperate, the agency can subpoena the records it needs. The Office of Compliance, the independent agency that investigates such violations in the legislative branch, doesn’t have the power to issue those subpoenas.
• Keeping Workplace Records: A number of workplace-rights laws – the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and others – require employers to retain personnel records for a certain period of time. But as a recent report on the congressional workplace notes, “Congress has exempted itself from all of these requirements.” Congress is also exempt from keeping records of injuries and illness the way private-sector employers are.
• Prosecution for Retaliating Against Employees: If a private-sector employer retaliates against a worker for reporting health or safety hazards, the Department of Labor can investigate and, if necessary, sue the employer. Congress’ Office of Compliance doesn’t have that power – legislative-branch employees must file suit personally and pay their own legal fees.
• Posting Notices of Workers’ Rights: Workplace-rights laws require employers to post notices of those rights, which often appear in office lunchrooms. Congress is exempt from this requirement, though this has little real-world impact. The Office of Compliance sends legislative employees the same information each year, formatted “in a manner suitable for posting.”
• Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Retaliation Training: The No Fear Act requires agencies in the executive branch to provide such training to employees, but the legislative branch is exempt.
• The Freedom of Information Act: The public can request information from federal agencies, but Congress, the federal courts and some parts of the Executive Office of the President are exempt.

In addition to sparing itself from complying with measures it has made mandatory for others, Congress is violating of some of the laws that do apply to it, according to a recent report from the Office of Compliance. (The pint-sized agency, created by Congress in 1995, is responsible for enforcing a number of workplace-rights laws in the legislative branch.) The sidewalks surrounding the three House office buildings, the report noted, don’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Neither do the restrooms in the House and Senate office buildings and the Library of Congress’ James Madison Building.

The Office of Compliance cites certain congressional exemptions as particularly problematic. The agency’s inability to subpoena information regarding some legislative workers’ complaints about health and safety often means the office must negotiate with congressional offices to gather the facts it needs.  

“It can tie our hands sometimes,” said Barbara J. Sapin, the office’s executive director.

The Office of Compliance has urged Congress to apply the laws listed above to itself – except the Freedom of Information Act – with little result. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting delegate who represents the District of Columbia, introduced a bill in 2011 to do this, but it died in committee.

The number of complaints of discrimination and harassment filed by legislative-branch workers with the Office of Compliance has nearly doubled in the last two years, from 102 in the 2009 fiscal year to 196 in the 2011 fiscal year. Workers’ complaints about retaliation or intimidation have risen even more sharply, from 36 in fiscal year 2009 to 108 in fiscal year 2011.

Even so, Debra Katz, a Washington lawyer who specializes in workplace-rights law, said some Capitol Hill employees might be holding back from filing complaints. House and Senate staffers, she said, are often reluctant to speak up about harassment or discrimination for fear of jeopardizing their careers.

“People are very loath to burn bridges by filing a complaint or going to the Office of Compliance,” she said. “They don’t want to go forward with bringing a claim, even when it’s covered under the law.”

Four people, including a French citizen, have been killed during clashes between suspected separatist rebels and security forces in southern Senegal, military sources say.

MKA/SS

This is an update to our first three Facebook forensic analyses, two of which released before the actual Facebook IPO (search the :downloads section for the first two documents). The updated valuation for Facebook (which has actually has an increase in terms of value now that we have more information to deal with) is available to download for all paying subscribers (FB Q4-2012 Analysis & Valuation Note – update with per share valuation). I’m available to discuss this with professional and institutional subscribers via phone or Google+. Click here to subscribe or upgrade.

As of the writing of this addendum, Facebook is trading at $31.10, not even a year after debuting at $38.This utter disappointment and gutting of the Muppets is exactly what our research has anticipated. Facebook has fell as low as $17.xx, and is now on the rebound towards its IPO price. Notwithstanding the massive capital losses suffered by those who bought into the over hyped IPO against my admonitions, or the losses suffered by those who bought in the Sell Side powered private offerings which was actually valued higher than the majority of trading time as a public company, the argument is being made that Facebook has finally got the mobile thing and can’t be valued using conventional metrics due to its status as a high growth company.

Wait a minute! Facebook as a high growth company is actually growing revenue SLOWER than its biggest and better capitalized competitor — Google! Considerably slower! While it’s perfectly prudent for the management of a high growth company challenged for market share in a fast moving industry undergoing a paradigm shift, results must result from said efforts. Google is out Facebooking Facebook. Reference I Don’t Think Facebook Investors Will “Like” This!!! Google Has Already Caught Up In Terms Of Active Users…

In my previous warnings of Facebook euphoria, I brought up the topic of growth many times, particularly active user growth. Reference The World’s First Phenomenally Forensic Facebook Analysis – This Is What You Need Before You Invest, Pt 1, while remaining cognizant that this was written exactly 1 year ago:

Thus, it is highly unlikely one can legitimately factor in the type of growth needed to justify the current Goldman $50B valuation – particularly when you consider that Facebook’s growth is already slowing!

Well, let’s see if I had a valid point now that we have clear and convincing historical evidence from which to base our analysis… (click any of these graphics to enlarge to print quality size)c

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At this point, I can’t help myself. I MUST point out the literal rippoff that Goldman Sachs pushed as a once in a life time investment a year and a half ago. As excerpted from Facebook Registers The WHOLE WORLD! Or At Least They Would Have To In Order To Justify Goldman’s Pricing: Here’s What $2 Billion Or So Worth Of Goldman HNW Clients Probably Wish They Read This Time Last Week! while remaining cognizant that this was written exactly 1 year ago:

Goldman warns, ‘We’re probably going to dump this load, but we may also need you to remain behind to hold the bag!’

In its offer for the $1.5bn stock sale of privately held social-networking company Facebook,Goldman Sachs disclosed that it might sell or hedge its own $375m investment without warning clients. Under the deal, private wealth-management clients would be subject to “significant restrictions” limiting their ability to sell stakes while Goldman Sachs own holding can be sold or hedged at any time, and without warning. One would hope that astute clients and investors would be put on guard by such conflicting and restrictive liquidity measures! In addition, it appears as if Goldman Sachs failed to disclose its clients that it had offered Facebook shares to its internal investment group, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, headed by one of its star fund managers, Richard A. Friedman.

So, this begs the question, “Has the easy money already been made Facebook???” Well, let’s take an empirical look now that we have some hard data to steer us throught that sell side fog, that very same fog that people pay me to clear…. (click to enlarge to printer size)

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I’m available to discuss this in detail with all professional and institutional subscribers via Google+, or phone.

It’s official, the mainstream media has turned on those “doing God’s work” and come to the side of BoomBustBlog.

I must admit, I was shocked when I first read this headline and saw the accompanying cover. After all, Bloomberg was the organization that published a story lavishing adulation upon a young Goldman analyst that had a 38% win rate throughout the credit crisis and (faux) recovery. I see those results as mediocre at best, and downright horrible from a realistic perspective. To make matters even worse, I believe I ran circles not only around that analyst, but the entire firm, see Did Reggie Middleton, a Blogger at BoomBustBlog, Best Wall Streets Best of the Best?

Violations are “interrelated.” They comprise “part of an overall pattern of breaches.”

They’re “characterized principally by the denial of the right to self-determination and systemic discrimination against the Palestinian people which occur on a daily basis.”

“Since 1967, Israeli governments have openly led, directly participated in, and had full control of the planning, construction, development, consolidation and encouragement of settlements.”

Christine Chanet headed the UN mission. She’s a consummate French government insider. From 1992 — 1996, she was Paris Court of Appeals advocate-general.

Since 1996, she’s been a Court of Cassation judge. It’s France’s civil/criminal court of last resort. It’s the equivalent of America’s Supreme Court.

She represents the UN Human Rights Committee. She’s held various other government positions.

They include Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature junior magistrate (1970), Ministry of Justice Central Administration magistrate (1970), Secretariat of State for Women’s Affairs technical advisor and special assistant (1974), and Secretary of State for Culture special assistant (1976).

They also include Ministry of External Affairs Legal Affairs Directorate special assistant (1981), French Foreign Affairs Ministry International Civil and Criminal Affairs and Human Rights Department head (1983), and French Office of Minister of Justice technical advisor (1988).

Since 1996, she served on the UN Human Rights Committee. Twice she was chairperson.

She was a member of the UN Committee against Torture (1988 — 1990). She’s Personal Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Cuba.

In 2003, she was elected a member of the International Commission of Jurists.

She chairs the committee in charge of reviewing criminal law decisions following European Court of Human Rights criminal law decisions.

She’s a French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights member.

Her UN Mission findings cited Fourth Geneva’s Article 49.

It prohibits “Individuals or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not….regardless of their motive.”

They said “Israel must cease all settlement activities without preconditions.” They benefit Jews exclusively. They institutionalize racist segregation. Military occupation enforces policies contrary to international law.

Mission member Asma Jahangir “call(ed) on the government of Israel to ensure full accountability for all violations.” She said it must “put an end to the policy of impunity and to ensure justice for all victims.”

Mission member Unity Dow added:

“The magnitude of violations relating to Israel’s policies of dispossessions, evictions, demolitions and displacements from land shows the widespread nature of these breaches of human rights.”

“The motivation behind violence and intimidation against the Palestinians and their properties is to drive the local populations away from their lands, allowing the settlements to expand.”

Mission members interviews dozens of people. They testified about confiscated land, damaged property, and lost livelihoods, as well as security force and settler violence.

The report describes “creeping annexation that prevents the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state and undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”

It covers Israel’s colonization history. It discusses restrictions on Palestinian free movement, expression, assembly, religious rights, living standards, access to water and other resources, institutionalized inequality, discrimination, and intimidation, dispossession, and overall Israeli lawlessness.

It said “facts brought to the attention of the Mission indicate that the State of Israel has had full control of the settlements in the OPT since 1967 and continues to promote and sustain them through infrastructure and security measures.”

 ”The Mission notes that despite all the pertinent United Nations resolutions declaring that the existence of the settlements is illegal and calling for their cessation, the planning and growth of the settlements continues both of existing as well as new structures.”

It wants settlement activities halted without preconditions. It calls for “immediately initiat(ing) a process of withdrawal of all settlers from the OPT.”

It wants companies and governments to “assess the human rights impact of their activities.” It wants them to “cease all connections to settlements.”

It wants them to consider economic and political sanctions.

PLO member Hanan Ashrawi called the report “principled,” “candid,” and “incredible.”

PA spokesperson Nour Adeh said it “confirms and deepens the application of international law and shows that the law applies to all, and no one is above it.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the report. It called it “one-sided, biased, counterproductive and unfortunate.”

Former Foreign Minister/convicted felon Avigdor Lieberman called for severing Israeli/UN Human Rights Council relations. Israel boycotted it deliberations. It refused cooperation when asked.

Haaretz called the report the UN’s “harshest condemnation of Israeli policy in the West Bank since 1967.” It’s the first UN report calling for economic and political sanctions.

Haaretz discussed the findings in detail. It provided a link to the full report. It deserves careful reading and discussion.

 A Final Comment

From January 21 — February 1, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) held its 15th session Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group.

On January 29, Israel’s assessment was scheduled. It was its first since December 2008. It failed to show up. It boycotted the session. Doing so was unprecedented.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemned Israel’s refusal to participate.

It said its boycott reflects “another demonstration of its contempt for international human rights norms, and is made possible by the complacency of the international community.”

 ”The failure to hold Israel to account for its violations of international human rights and humanitarian law has further deepened the culture of impunity which allows such violations to occur.”

Fifteen Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations called on HRC “to take a firm stand consistent with the seriousness of Israel’s obstructive actions to date.”

They warned that Israel’s unprecedented move is “one that could be followed by other States refusing to engage with the UN in order to avoid critical appraisals.”

They added that Israel’s “move to suspend cooperation with the Council and the OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) must be viewed within the context of its ongoing refusal to respect the decisions, resolutions and mechanisms of the UN.”

 ”Consecutive Israeli governments have refused to recognize the State’s obligations under international human rights law with regard to the Palestinian population of the occupied Palestinian territory, obligations repeatedly reaffirmed in statements by UN treaty bodies.”

UNC postponed its review until October. Last year, Israel reduced relations with the organization. It did so following its decision to investigate settlement activities. It threatens severing relations entirely. Rogue states operate that way. Israel’s one of the worst.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

Egyptian police have been deployed near President Mohamed Morsi’s palace in the capital, Cairo, following overnight clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces.

MKA/SS

The Second-in-Command of the Iranian Army Brigadier General Abdolrahim Mousavi says the Islamic Republic’s military might is not a threat to other countries.

“Iran’s military power and capability is not a threat to any country except to aggressor countries,” Mousavi said on Saturday.

The commander added that by relying on valuable experiences gained during past three decades, particularly during the war with Iraq, the Islamic Republic’s armed forces are ready to defend the country against the aggressors with all their might.

In recent years, Iran has broken great grounds in defense sector and gained self-sufficiency in essential military hardware and defense systems.

Earlier on Saturday, Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled the country’s new domestically-designed and developed fighter jet, Qaher-313 (Conqueror-313).

The newly-unveiled Iranian military aircraft is said to be similar to the US-built F/A-18, although its appearance is like F-5E/F Tiger II.

Iran’s Defense Ministry plans to unveil a number of military achievements during the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations which mark the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Tehran has repeatedly announced that its military might poses no threat to other countries, insisting that the Islamic Republic’s defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence.

MYA/SS

People stand outside the entrance of the US Embassy in Ankara just after a blast killed two security guards and wounded several other people on February 1, 2013 (AFP Photo / Yavuz Ozden / Milliyet Newspaper)

The suicide bomber who struck the US embassy in Ankara, killing himself and one security guard, had previously spent five years in prison on terrorism charges. He was later released after being diagnosed with a hunger-strike-induced brain disorder.

The bomber, identified as leftist militant Ecevit Sanli, used six kilograms of TNT and also detonated a hand grenade during his attack on the highly-fortified embassy in the Turkish capital on Friday.

Along with the guard who was killed while manning a checkpoint, Turkish TV journalist Didem Tuncay received serious head wounds and remains in critical condition. Two other guards suffered less serious injuries in the blast. The motives for the attack remain unknown.

Sanli, formerly a member of the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), was arrested in 1997 on suspicions of being involved in an assault on a police headquarters and military guesthouse in Istanbul, the Associated Press reports. He was subsequently charged with being a member of an illegal group.

While awaiting trial, Sanli took part in a mass hunger strike protesting the prison’s conditions, resulting in the death of dozens of inmates.

Sanli was then released in 2002 after being diagnosed with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a malnutrition-related brain illness that causes vision changes, impairs memory, affects muscle coordination and can cause hallucinations. Sanli fled Turkey upon his release and was convicted in absentia the same year.

While the Turkish Prime Minister blamed the DHKP-C hours after the attack, it is yet to be proven that Sanli was operating on their behalf.

Turkey launched a nationwide crackdown on the DHKP-C after the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed a police officer in Istanbul on September 11.

The Marxist group is virulently anti-US and anti-NATO, and strongly opposes the Turkish government. The group, which was responsible for a string of assassinations and bombings since its inception in the 1970s, has been far less active in recent years.

Security forces have de-prioritized the DHKP-C following the ascendence of Al-Qaeda as the primary terrorist threat.

Friday’s attack was summarily condemned by Turkey, the US and other NATO allies. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the bombing demonstrated “a reckless disregard for human life and for the inviolability of diplomatic staff.”

Similar attacks endangering the 70,000 diplomats currently operating in Turkey have happened sporadically in recent years. In July 2008, three gunmen and three Turkish policemen were killed in a brazen assault outside the US consulate in Istanbul.

In November 2003, several suicide car bombings targeted the British consulate, as well as two synagogues and a branch of UK bank HSBC. Sixty-three people, including Britain’s consul general, were killed. An Al-Qaeda cell claimed responsibility for the attack.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the nominal end of the Cold War some twenty years back, rather than reducing the size of its mammoth defense spending, the US Congress and all US Presidents have enormously expanded spending for new weapons systems, increased permanent military bases around the world and expansion of NATO not only to former Warsaw Pact countries on Russia’s immediate periphery; it also has expanded NATO and US military presence deep into Asia on the perimeters of China through its conduct of the Afghan war and related campaigns.

Part I The Pentagon Targets China

On the basis of simple dollar outlays for military spending, the US Pentagon combined budget, leaving aside the huge budgets for such national security and defense-related agencies of US Government as the Department of Energy and US Treasury and other agencies, the US Department of Defense spent some $739 billion in 2011 on its military requirements. Were all other spending that is tied to US defense and national security included, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates an annual military spending of over $1 trillion by the United States. That is an amount greater than the total defense-related spending of the next 42 nations combined, and more than the Gross Domestic Product of most nations.

China officially spent barely 10% of the US outlay on its defense, some $90 billions, or, if certain defense-related arms import and other costs are included, perhaps $111 billion a year. Even if the Chinese authorities do not publish complete data on such sensitive areas, it is clear China spends a mere fraction of the USA and is starting from a military-technology base far behind the USA.

China today, because of its dynamic economic growth and its determination to pursue sovereign Chinese national interests, merely because China exists, is becoming the Pentagon new “enemy image,” now replacing the earlier “enemy image” of Islam used after September 2001 by the Bush-Cheney Administration to justify the Pentagon’s global power pursuit, or that of Soviet Communism during the Cold War. The new US military posture against China has nothing to do with any aggressive threat from the side of China. The Pentagon has decided to escalate its aggressive military posture to China merely because China has become a strong vibrant independent pole in world economics and geopolitics. Only vassal states need apply to Washington’s globalized world.

Obama Doctrine: China is the new ‘enemy image’

After almost two decades of neglect of its interests in East Asia, in 2011, the Obama Administration announced that the US would make “a strategic pivot” in its foreign policy to focus its military and political attention on the Asia-Pacific, particularly Southeast Asia, that is, China. The term “strategic pivot” is a page out of the classic textbook from the father of British geopolitics, Sir Halford Mackinder, who spoke at various times of Russia and later China as “pivot powers” whose geographical and geopolitical position posed unique challenges toAnglo-Saxon and after 1945, to American hegemony.

During the final months of 2011 the Obama Administration clearly defined a new public military threat doctrine for US military readiness in the wake of the US military failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. During a Presidential trip to the Far East, while in Australia, the US President unveiled what is being termed the Obama Doctrine.[1]

Obama told the Australians then:

With most of the world’s nuclear power and some half of humanity, Asia will largely define whether the century ahead will be marked by conflict or cooperation…As President, I have, therefore, made a deliberate and strategic decision – as a Pacific nation, the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future…I have directed my national security team to make our presence and mission in the Asia Pacific a top priority…As we plan and budget for the future, we will allocate the resources necessary to maintain our strong military presence in this region. We will preserve our unique ability to project power and deter threats to peace…Our enduring interests in the region demand our enduring presence in the region.

The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay. Indeed, we are already modernizing America’s defense posture across the Asia Pacific. It will be more broadly distributed – maintaining our strong presence in Japan and the Korean Peninsula, while enhancing our presence in Southeast Asia. Our posture will be more flexible – with new capabilities to ensure that our forces can operate freely .. I believe we can address shared challenges, such as proliferation and maritime security, including cooperation in the South China Sea.[2]

The centerpiece of Obama’s visit was the announcement that at least 2,500 elite US Marines will be stationed in Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory. In addition, in a series of significant parallel agreements, discussions with Washington were underway to fly long-range American surveillance drones from the remote Cocos Islands – an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. Also the US will gain greater use of Australian Air Force bases for American aircraft and increased ship and submarine visits to the Indian Ocean through a naval base outside Perth, on the country’s west coast.

The Pentagon’s target is China.

To make the point clear to European members of NATO, in remarks to fellow NATO members in Washington in July 2012, Phillip Hammond, the UK Secretary of State for Defense declared explicitly that the new US defense shift to the Asia-Pacific region was aimed squarely at China. Hammond said that, “the rising strategic importance of the Asia-Pacific region requires all countries, but particularly the United States, to reflect in their strategic posture the emergence of China as a global power. Far from being concerned about the tilt to Asia-Pacific, the European NATO powers should welcome the fact that the US is willing to engage in this new strategic challenge on behalf of the alliance.” [3]

As with many of its operations, the Pentagon deployment is far deeper than the relatively small number of 2,500 new US soldiers might suggest.

In August 2011 the Pentagon presented its annual report on China’s military. It stated that China had closed key technological gaps. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia, Michael Schiffer, said that the pace and scope of China’s military investments had “allowed China to pursue capabilities that we believe are potentially destabilizing to regional military balances, increase the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation and may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties.” [4] He cited Chinese refurbishing of a Soviet-era aircraft carrier and China’s development of its J20 Stealth Fighter as indications of the new capability requiring a more active US military response. Schiffer also cited China’s space and cyber operations, saying it was “developing a multi-dimensional program to improve its capabilities to limit or prevent the use of space-based assets by adversaries during times of crisis or conflict.” [5]

Part II: Pentagon’s ‘Air-Sea Battle’

The Pentagon strategy to defeat China in a coming war, details of which have filtered into the US press, is called “Air-Sea Battle.” This calls for an aggressive coordinated US attack. US stealth bombers and submarines would knock out China’s long-range surveillance radar and precision missile systems deep inside the country. This initial “blinding campaign” would be followed by a larger air and naval assault on China itself.[6] Crucial to the advanced pentagon strategy, deployment of which has already quietly begun, is US military navy and air presence in Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam and across the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. Australian troop and naval deployment is aimed at accessing the strategic Chinese South China Sea as well as the Indian Ocean. The stated motive is to “protect freedom of navigation” in the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea. In reality it is to be positioned to cut China’s strategic oil routes in event of full conflict.

Air-Sea Battle’s goal is to help US forces withstand an initial Chinese assault and counterattack to destroy sophisticated Chinese radar and missile systems built to keep US ships away from China’s coastline.[7]

US ‘Air-Sea Battle’ against China

In addition to the stationing of the US Marines in the north of Australia, Washington plans to fly long-range American surveillance drones from the remote Cocos Islands – an Australian territory in the strategically vital Indian Ocean. Also it will have use of Australian Air Force bases for American military aircraft and increased ship and submarine visits to the Indian Ocean through a naval base outside Perth, on Australia’s west coast.[8]

The architect of the Pentagon anti-China strategy of Air-Sea battle is Andrew Marshall, the man who has shaped Pentagon advanced warfare strategy for more than 40 years and among whose pupils were Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. [9] Since the 1980s Marshall has been a promoter of an idea first posited in 1982 by Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov, then chief of the Soviet general staff, called RMA, or ‘Revolution in Military Affairs.’ Marshall, today at the ripe age of 91, still holds his desk and evidently very much influence inside the Pentagon.

The best definition of RMA was the one provided by Marshall himself: “A Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) is a major change in the nature of warfare brought about by the innovative application of new technologies which, combined with dramatic changes in military doctrine and operational and organizational concepts, fundamentally alters the character and conduct of military operations.” [10]

It was also Andrew Marshall who convinced US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his successor Robert Gates to deploy the Ballistic Missile “defense” Shield in Poland, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Japan as a strategy to minimize any potential nuclear threat from Russia and, in the case of Japan’s BMD, any potential nuclear threat from China.

PART III: ‘String of Pearls’ Strategy of Pentagon

In January 2005, Andrew Marshall issued a classified internal report to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld titled “Energy Futures in Asia.” The Marshall report, which was leaked in full to a Washington newspaper, invented the term “string of pearls” strategy to describe what it called the growing Chinese military threat to “US strategic interests” in the Asian space.[11]

The internal Pentagon report claimed that “China is building strategic relationships along the sea lanes from the Middle East to the South China Sea in ways that suggest defensive and offensive positioning to protect China’s energy interests, but also to serve broad security objectives.”

In the Pentagon Andrew Marshall report, the term China’s “String of Pearls” Strategy was used for the first time. It is a Pentagon term and not a Chinese term.

The report stated that China was adopting a “string of pearls” strategy of bases and diplomatic ties stretching from the Middle East to southern China that includes a new naval base under construction at the Pakistani port of Gwadar. It claimed that “Beijing already has set up electronic eavesdropping posts at Gwadar in the country’s southwest corner, the part nearest the Persian Gulf. The post is monitoring ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea.” [12]

The Marshall internal report went on to warn of other “pearls” in the sea-lane strategy of China:

– Bangladesh: China is strengthening its ties to the government and building a container port facility at Chittagong. The Chinese are “seeking much more extensive naval and commercial access” in Bangladesh.

– Burma: China has developed close ties to the military regime in Rangoon and turned a nation wary of China into a “satellite” of Beijing close to the Strait of Malacca, through which 80 percent of China’s imported oil passes. China is building naval bases in Burma and has electronic intelligence gathering facilities on islands in the Bay of Bengal and near the Strait of Malacca. Beijing also supplied Burma with “billions of dollars in military assistance to support a de facto military alliance,” the report said.

– Cambodia: China signed a military agreement in November 2003 to provide training and equipment. Cambodia is helping Beijing build a railway line from southern China to the sea.

– South China Sea: Chinese activities in the region are less about territorial claims than “protecting or denying the transit of tankers through the South China Sea,” the report said. China also is building up its military forces in the region to be able to “project air and sea power” from the mainland and Hainan Island. China recently upgraded a military airstrip on Woody Island and increased its presence through oil drilling platforms and ocean survey ships.

– Thailand: China is considering funding construction of a $20 billion canal across the Kra Isthmus that would allow ships to bypass the Strait of Malacca. The canal project would give China port facilities, warehouses and other infrastructure in Thailand aimed at enhancing Chinese influence in the region, the report said… The U.S. military’s Southern Command produced a similar classified report in the late 1990s that warned that China was seeking to use commercial port facilities around the world to control strategic “chokepoints.” [13]

Breaking the String of Pearls

Significant Pentagon and US actions since that 2005 report have been aimed to counter China’s attempts to defend its energy security via that “String of Pearls.” The US interventions since 2007 into Burma/Myanmar have had two phases.

The first was the so-called Saffron Revolution, a US State Department and CIA-backed destabilization in 2007 aimed at putting the international spotlight on the Myanmar military dictatorship’s human rights practices. The aim was to further isolate the strategically located country internationally from all economic relations, aside from China. The background to the US actions was China’s construction of oil and gas pipelines from Kunming in China’s southwest Yunnan Province, across the old Burma Road across Myanmar to the Bay of Bengal across from India and Bangladesh in the northern Indian Ocean.

Forcing Burma’s military leaders into tighter dependency on China was one of the factors triggering the decision of the Myanmar military to open up economically to the West. They declared that the tightening of US economic sanctions had done the country great harm and President Thein Sein made his major liberalization opening, as well as allowing US-backed dissident, Aung San Suu Kyi, to be free and to run for elective office with her party, in return for promises from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of US investment in the country and possible easing of US economic sanctions. [14]

The US corporations approaching Burma are hand-picked by Washington to introduce the most destructive “free market” reforms that will open Myanmar to instability. The United States will not allow investment in entities owned by Myanmar’s armed forces or its Ministry of Defense. It also is able to place sanctions on “those who undermine the reform process, engage in human rights abuses, contribute to ethnic conflict or participate in military trade with North Korea.” The United States will block businesses or individuals from making transactions with any “specially designated nationals” or businesses that they control – allowing Washington, for example, to stop money from flowing to groups “disrupting the reform process.” It’s the classic “carrot and stick” approach, dangling the carrot of untold riches if Burma opens its economy to US corporations and punishing those who try to resist the takeover of the country’s prize assets. Oil and gas, vital to China, will be a special target of US intervention. American companies and people will be allowed to invest in the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise.[15]

Obama also created a new power for the government to impose “blocking sanctions” on any individual threatening peace in Myanmar. Businesses with more than $500,000 in investment in the country will need to file an annual report with the State Department, with details on workers’ rights, land acquisitions and any payments of more than $10,000 to government entities, including Myanmar’s state-owned enterprises.

American companies and people will be allowed to invest in the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, but any investors will need to notify the State Department within 60 days.

As well, US “human rights” NGOs, many closely associated with or believed to be associated with US State Department geopolitical designs, including Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Institute for Asian Democracy, Open Society Foundations, Physicians for Human Rights, U.S. Campaign for Burma, United to End Genocide– will now be allowed to operate inside Myanmar according to a decision by State Secretary Clinton in April 2012.[16]

Thailand, another key in China’s defensive String of Pearl Strategy has also been subject of intense destabilization over the past several years. Now with the sister of a corrupt former Prime Minister in office, US-Thai relations have significantly improved.

After months of bloody clashes, the US-backed billionaire, Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra , managed to buy the way to put his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra in as Prime Minister, with him reportedly pulling the policy strings from abroad. Thaksin himself was enjoying comfortable status in the US as of this writing, in summer 2012.

US relations with Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, are moving in direct fulfillment of the Obama “strategic pivot” to focus on the “China threat.” In June 2012, General Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, after returning from a visit this month to Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore stated: “We want to be out there partnered with nations and have a rotational presence that would allow us to build up common capabilities for common interests.” This is precisely key beads in what the Pentagon calls the String of Pearls.

The Pentagon is now quietly negotiating to return to bases abandoned after the Vietnam War. It is negotiating with the Thai government to create a new “disaster relief” hub at the Royal Thai Navy Air Field at U-Tapao, 90 miles south of Bangkok.

The US military built the two mile long runway there, one of Asia’s longest, in the 1960s as a major staging and refueling base during the Vietnam War.

The Pentagon is also working to secure more rights to US Navy visits to Thai ports and joint surveillance flights to monitor trade routes and military movements. The US Navy will soon base four of its newest warships – Littoral Combat Ships – in Singapore and would rotate them periodically to Thailand and other southeast Asian countries. The Navy is pursuing options to conduct joint airborne surveillance missions from Thailand.[17]

In addition, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter went to Thailand in July 2012 and the Thai government has invited Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who met with the Thai minister of defense at a conference in Singapore in June.[18]

In 2014, the US Navy is scheduled to begin deploying new P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance and anti-submarine aircraft to the Pacific, replacing the P-3C Orion surveillance planes. The Navy is also preparing to deploy new high-altitude surveillance drones to the Asia-Pacific region around the same time. [19]

PART IV: India-US Defense ‘Look East Policy’

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was in India in June of this year where he proclaimed that defence cooperation with India is the lynchpin of US security strategy in Asia. He pledged to help develop India’s military capabilities and to engage with India in joint production of defence “articles” of high technology. Panetta was thr fifth Obama Cabinet secretary to visit India this year. The message that they have all brought is that, for the US, India will be the major relationship of the 21st century. The reason is China’s emergence. [20]

Several years ago during the Bush Administration, Washington made a major move to lock India in as a military ally of the US against the emerging Chinese presence in Asia. India calls it India’s “Look East Policy.” In reality, despite all claims to the contrary, it is a “look at China” military policy.

In comments in August 2012, Deputy Secretary of defense Ashton Carter stated, “India is also key part of our rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, and, we believe, to the broader security and prosperity of the 21st century. The US-India relationship is global in scope, like the reach and influence of both countries.” [21] In 2011, the US military conducted more than 50 significant military activities with India.

Carter continued in remarks following a trip to New Delhi, “Our security interests converge: on maritime security, across the Indian Ocean region; in Afghanistan, where India has done so much for economic development and the Afghan security forces; and on broader regional issues, where we share long-term interests. I went to India at the request of Secretary Panetta and with a high-level delegation of U S technical and policy experts.” [22]

Indian Ocean

The Pentagon “String of pearls” strategy against China in effect is not one of beautiful pearls, but a hangman’s noose around the perimeter of China, designed in the event of major conflict to completely cut China off from its access to vital raw materials, most especially oil from the Persian Gulf and Africa.

Former Pentagon adviser Robert D. Kaplan, now with Stratfor, has noted that the Indian Ocean is becoming the world’s “strategic center of gravity” and who controls that center, controls Eurasia, including China. The Ocean is the vital waterway passage for energy and trade flows between the Middle East and China and Far Eastern countries. More strategically, it is the heart of a developing south-south economic axis between China and Africa and Latin America.

Since 1997 trade between China and Africa has risen more than twenty-fold and trade with Latin America, including Brazil, has risen fourteen fold in only ten years. This dynamic, if allowed to continue, will eclipse the economic size of the European Union as well as the declining North American industrial economies in less than a decade. That is a development that Washington circles and Wall Street are determined to prevent at all costs.

Straddled by the Islamic Arch—which stretches from Somalia to Indonesia, passing through the countries of the Gulf and Central Asia— the region surrounding the Indian Ocean has certainly become the world’s new strategic center of gravity.[23]

No rival economic bloc can be allowed to challenge American hegemony. Former Obama geopolitical adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, a student of Mackinder geopolitics and still today along with Henry Kissinger one of the most influential persons in the US power establishment, summed up the position as seen from Washington in his 1997 book, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and It’s Geostrategic Imperatives:

It is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus of also challenging America. The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geo-strategy is therefore the purpose of this book. [24]

For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia…. America’s global primacy is directly dependent on how long and how effectively its preponderance on the Eurasian continent is sustained. [25]

In that context, how America ‘manages’ Eurasia is critical. Eurasia is the globe’s largest continent and is geopolitically axial. A power that dominates Eurasia would control two of the world’s three most advanced and economically productive regions. A mere glance at the map also suggests that control over Eurasia would almost automatically entail Africa’s subordination, rendering the Western Hemisphere and Oceania geopolitically peripheral to the world’s central continent. About 75 per cent of the world’s people live in Eurasia, and most of the world’s physical wealth is there as well, both in its enterprises and underneath its soil. Eurasia accounts for 60 per cent of the world’s GNP and about three-fourths of the world’s known energy resources. [26]

The Indian Ocean is crowned by what some call an Islamic Arch of countries stretching from East Africa to Indonesia by way of the Persian Gulf countries and Central Asia. The emergence of China and other much smaller Asian powers over the past two decades since the end of the Cold war has challenged US hegemony over the Indian Ocean for the first time since the beginning of the Cold War. Especially in the past years as American economic influence has precipitously declined globally and that of China has risen spectacularly, the Pentagon has begun to rethink its strategic presence in the Indian Ocean. The Obama ‘Asian Pivot’ is centered on asserting decisive Pentagon control over the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean and the waters of the South China Sea.

The US military base at Okinawa, Japan is being rebuilt as a major center to project US military power towards China. As of 2010 there were over 35,000 US military personnel stationed in Japan and another 5,500 American civilians employed there by the United States Department of Defense. The United States Seventh Fleet is based in Yokosuka. The 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa. 130 USAF fighters are stationed in the Misawa Air Base and Kadena Air Base.

The Japanese government in 2011 began an armament program designed to counter the perceived growing Chinese threat. The Japanese command has urged their leaders to petition the United States to allow the sale of F-22A Raptor fighter jets, currently illegal under U.S law. South Korean and American military have deepened their strategic alliance and over 45,000 American soldiers are now stationed in South Korea. The South Koreans and Americans claim this is due to the North Korean military’s modernization. China and North Korea denounce it as needlessly provocative.[27]

Under the cover of the US war on Terrorism, the US has developed major military agreements with the Philippines as well as with Indonesia’s army.

The military base on Diego Garcia is the lynchpin of US control over the Indian Ocean. In 1971 the US military depopulated the citizens of Diego Garcia to build a major military installation there to carry out missions against Iraq and Afghanistan.

China has two Achilles heels–the Straits of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Malacca near Singapore. Some 20% of China oil passes through the Straits of Hormuz. And some 80% of Chinese oil imports pass through the Strait of Malacca as well as major freight trade.

To prevent China from emerging successfully as the major economic competitor of the United States in the world, Washington launched the so-called Arab Spring in late 2010. While the aspirations of millions of ordinary Arab citizens in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and elsewhere for freedom and democracy was real, they were in effect used as unwitting cannon fodder to unleash a US strategy of chaos and intra-islamic wars and conflicts across the entire oil-rich Islamic world from Libya in North Africa across to Syria and ultimately Iran in the Middle East. [28]

The US strategy within the Islamic Arch countries straddling the Indian Ocean is, as Mohamed Hassan, a strategic analyst put it thus:

The US is…seeking to control these resources to prevent them reaching China. This was a major objective of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but these have turned into a fiasco. The US destroyed these countries in order to set up governments there which would be docile, but they have failed. The icing on the cake is that the new Iraqi and Afghan government trade with China! Beijing has therefore not needed to spend billions of dollars on an illegal war in order to get its hands on Iraq’s black gold: Chinese companies simply bought up oil concessions at auction totally within the rules.

[T]he USA’s…strategy has failed all along the line. There is nevertheless one option still open to the US: maintaining chaos in order to prevent these countries from attaining stability for the benefit of China. This means continuing the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and extending it to countries such as Iran, Yemen or Somalia.[29]

PART V: South China Sea

The completion of the Pentagon “String of Pearls” hangman’s noose around China to cut off vital energy and other imports in event of war by 2012 was centered around the increased US manipulation of events in the South China Sea. The Ministry of Geological Resources and Mining of the People’s Republic of China estimated that the South China Sea may contain 18 billion tons of crude oil (compared to Kuwait with 13 billion tons). The most optimistic estimate suggested that potential oil resources (not proved reserves) of the Spratly and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea could be as high as 105 billion barrels of oil, and that the total for the South China Sea could be as high as 213 billion barrels. [30]

The presence of such vast energy reserves has not surprisingly become a major energy security issue for China. Washington has made a calculated intervention in the past several years to sabotage those Chinese interests, using especially Vietnam as a wedge against Chinese oil exploration there. In July 2012 the National Assembly of Vietnam passed a law demarcating Vietnamese sea borders to include the Spratly and Paracel islands. US influence in Vietnam since the country opened to economic liberalization has become decisive.

In 2011 the US military began cooperation with Vietnam, including joint “peaceful” military exercises. Washington has backed both The Philippines and Vietnam in their territorial claims over Chinese-claimed territories in the South China Sea, emboldening those small countries not to seek a diplomatic resolution.[31]

In 2010 US and UK oil majors entered the bidding for exploration in the South China Sea. The bid by Chevron and BP added to the presence of US-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in the region. That move is essential to give Washington the pretext to “defend us oil interests” in the area. [32]

In April 2012, the Philippine warship Gregorio del Pilar was involved in a standoff with two Chinese surveillance vessels in the Scarborough Shoal, an area claimed by both nations. The Philippine navy had been trying to arrest Chinese fishermen who were allegedly taking government-protected marine species from the area, but the surveillance boats prevented them. On April 14, 2012, U.S. and the Philippines held their yearly exercises in Palawan, Philippines. On May 7, 2012, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying called a meeting with Alex Chua, Charge D’affaires of the Philippine Embassy in China, to make a serious representation over the incident at the Scarborough Shoal.

From South Korea to Philippines to Vietnam, the Pentagon and US State Department is fanning the clash over rights to the South China Sea to stealthily insert US military presence there to “defend” Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean or Philippine interests. The military hangman’s noose around China is being slowly drawn tighter.

While China’s access to vast resources of offshore conventional oil and gas were being restricted, Washington was actively trying to lure China into massive pursuit of exploitation of shale gas inside China. The reasons had nothing to do with US goodwill towards China. It was in fact another major weapon in the destruction of China, now through a form of environmental warfare.

F. William Engdahl author of, Es klebt Blut an Euren Händen  (FinanzBuchVerlag)

Notes:

[1] President Barack Obama, Remarks By President Obama to the Australian Parliament, November 17, 2011, accessed in
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/17/remarks-president-obama-australian-parliament.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Otto Kreisher, UK Defense Chief to NATO: Pull Your Weight in Europe While US Handles China, July 22, 2012, accessed in
http://defense.aol.com/2012/07/19/uk-defense-chief-to-nato-pull-your-weight-in-europe-while-us-ha/?icid=related4 .

[4] BBC, China military ‘closing key gaps’, says Pentagon, 25 August 2011, accessed in http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14661027 .

[5] Ibid.

[6] Greg Jaffe , US Model for a Future War Fans Tensions with China and inside Pentagon, Washington Post, August 2, 2012, accessed in
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/139681/us-model-for-a-future-war-fans-tensions-with-china-and-inside-pentagon.html.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Matt Siegel, As Part of Pact, U.S. Marines Arrive in Australia, in China’s Strategic Backyard, The New York Times,

April 4, 2012, accessed in http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/world/asia/us-marines-arrive-darwin-australia.html.

[9] Greg Jaffe, op. cit.

[10] F. William Engdahl, Full Spectrum Dominance: Totallitarian democracy in the New World Order, Wiesbaden, 2009, edition.engdahl, p. 190.

[11] The Washington Times, China Builds up Strategic Sea Lanes, January 17, 2005, accessed in http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/jan/17/20050117-115550-1929r/?page=all#pagebreak

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Wall Street Journal, An Opening in Burma: The regime’s tentative liberalization is worth testing for sincerity,

Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2011, accessed in
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204443404577049964259425018.html

[15] Radio Free Asia, US to Invest in Burma’s Oil, 7 November, 2011, accessed in
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/burma/sanctions-07112012185817.html

[16] Shaun Tandon, US eases Myanmar restrictions for NGOs, AFP, April 17, 2012, accessed in
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jmwmJ3e0yIjyD-7N52GAFISnweAA?docId=CNG.a8c1c3e2edf92a30cc1b3c9bd5ed11c1.131

[17] Craig Whitlock, U.S. eyes return to some Southeast Asia military bases, Washington Post, June 23, 2012, accessed in
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-seeks-return-to-se-asian-bases/2012/06/22/gJQAKP83vV_story.html

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Premvir Das, Taking US-India defence links to the next level, June 18, 2012, accessed in http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-taking-us-india-defence-links-to-the-next-level/20120618.htm

[21] Zeenews, US-India ties are global in scope: Pentagon, August 02, 2012, accessed in
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/us-india-ties-are-global-in-scope-pentagon_791212.html

[22] Ibid.

[23] Gregoire Lalieu, Michael Collon, Is the Fate of the World Being Decided Today in the Indian Ocean?, November 3, 2010, accessed in
http://www.michelcollon.info/Is-the-fate-of-the-world-being.html?lang=fr

[24] Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy And It’s Geostrategic Imperatives, 1997, Basic Books, p. xiv.

[25] Ibid., p. 30.

[26] Ibid., p. 31.

[27] Cas Group, Background on the South China Sea Crisis, accessed in
http://casgroup.fiu.edu/pages/docs/3907/1326143354_South_China_Sea_Guide.pdf

[28] Gregoire Lalieu,, et al, op. cit.

[29] Ibid.

[30] GlobalSecurity.org, South China Sea Oil and Natural Gas, accessed in
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/spratly-oil.htm

[31] Agence France Presse, US, Vietnam Start Military Relationship, August 1, 2011, accessed in
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20110801/DEFSECT03/108010307/U-S-Vietnam-Start-Military-Relationship

[32] Zacks Equity Research, Oil Majors Eye South China Sea, June 24, 2010, accessed in www.zacks.com/stock/news/36056/Oil+Majors+Eye+South…

On 12 October 2012, the UN Security Council voted unanimously in favour of a French-drafted resolution asking Mali’s government to draw up plans for a military mission to re-establish control over the northern part of Mali, an area of the Sahara bigger than France. Known as Azawad by local Tuareg people, northern Mali has been under the control of Islamist extremists following a Tuareg rebellion at the beginning of the year. For several months, the international media have been referring to northern Mali as ‘Africa’s Afghanistan’, with calls for international military intervention becoming inexorable.

While the media have provided abundant descriptive coverage of the course of events and atrocities committed in Azawad since the outbreak in January of what was ostensibly just another Tuareg rebellion, some pretty basic questions have not been addressed. No journalist has asked, or at least answered satisfactorily, how this latest Tuareg rebellion was hijacked, almost as soon as it started, by a few hundred Islamist extremists.

In short, the world’s media have failed to explain the situation in Azawad. That is because the real story of what has been going on there borders on the incredible, taking us deep into the murky reaches of Western intelligence and its hook-up with Algeria’s secret service.

The real story of what has been going on borders on the incredible, taking us deep into the murky reaches of Western intelligence

Azawad’s current nightmare is generally explained as the unintended outcome of the overthrow of Libya’s Muammar al-Qadafi. That is true in so far as his downfall precipitated the return to the Sahel (Niger and Mali) of thousands of angry, disillusioned and well-armed Tuareg fighters who had gone to seek their metaphorical fortunes by serving the Qadafi regime. But this was merely the last straw in a decade of increasing exploitation, repression and marginalization that has underpinned an ongoing cycle of Tuareg protest, unrest and rebellion. In that respect, Libya was the catalyst for the Azawad rebellion, not its underlying cause. Rather, the catastrophe now being played out in Mali is the inevitable outcome of the way in which the Global War On Terror has been inserted into the Sahara-Sahel by the US, in concert with Algerian intelligence operatives, since 2002.

Why Algeria and the US needed terrorism

When Abdelaziz Bouteflika took over as Algeria’s President in 1999, the country was faced with two major problems. One was its standing in the world. The role of the army and the DRS (the Algerian intelligence service, see box Algeria’s ‘state terrorism’) in the ‘Dirty War’ had made Algeria a pariah state. The other was that the army, the core institution of the state, was lacking modern high-tech weaponry as a result of international sanctions and arms embargoes.

The solution to both these problems lay in Washington. During the Clinton era, relations between the US and Algeria had fallen to a particularly low level. However, with a Republican victory in the November 2000 election, Algeria’s President Bouteflika, an experienced former Foreign Minister, quickly made his sentiments known to the new US administration and was invited in July 2001 to a summit meeting in Washington with President Bush. Bush listened sympathetically to Bouteflika’s account of how his country had dealt with the fight against terrorists and to his request for specific military equipment that would enable his army to maintain peace, security and stability in Algeria.

At that moment, Algeria had a greater need for US support than vice-versa. But that was soon to change. The 9/11 terrorist attacks precipitated a whole new era in US-Algerian relations. Over the next four years, Bush and Bouteflika met six more times to develop a largely covert and highly duplicitous alliance.

My first book on the Global War On Terror in the Sahara, The Dark Sahara (Pluto 2009), described and explained the development of this extraordinary relationship. It revealed why it was that the Bush administration and the regime in Algiers both needed a ‘little more terrorism’ in the region. The Algerians wanted more terrorism to legitimize their need for more high-tech and up-to-date weaponry. The Bush administration, meanwhile, saw the development of such terrorism as providing the justification for launching a new Saharan front in the Global War On Terror. Such a ‘second front’ would legitimize America’s increased militarization of Africa so as better to secure the continent’s natural resources, notably oil. This, in turn, was soon to lead to the creation in 2008 of a new US combat command for Africa — AFRICOM.

The first US-Algerian ‘false flag’ terrorist operation in the Sahara-Sahel was undertaken in 2003 when a group led by an ‘infiltrated’ DRS agent, Amari Saifi (aka Abderrazak Lamari and ‘El Para’), took 32 European tourists hostage in the Algerian Sahara. The Bush administration immediately branded El Para as ‘Osama bin Laden’s man in the Sahara’.

Rumsfeld’s Cuban blueprint

The US government has a long history of using false flag incidents to justify military intervention. The thinking behind the El Para operation in 2003 can actually be traced directly to a similar plan conceived by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff 40 years earlier.

In the wake of the 1961 Bay of Pigs disaster — when a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles, supported by US armed forces, attempted unsuccessfully to invade Cuba and overthrow the government of Fidel Castro — the US Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up plans, codenamed Operation Northwoods, to justify a US military invasion of Cuba. The plan was presented to President John F Kennedy’s Defense Secretary, Robert McNamara, on 13 March 1962. Entitled ‘Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba (Top Secret),’ the Northwoods Operation proposed launching a secret and bloody war of terrorism against their own country in order to trick the American public into supporting an ill-conceived war that the Joint Chiefs of Staff intended to launch against Cuba. It called on the CIA and other operatives to undertake a range of atrocities. As US investigative journalist James Bamford described it: ‘Innocent civilians were to be shot on American streets; boats carrying refugees fleeing Cuba were to be sunk on the high seas; a wave of violent terrorism was to be launched in Washington DC, Miami and elsewhere. People would be framed for bombings they did not commit; planes would be hijacked. Using phony evidence, all of it would be blamed on Castro, thus giving Lemnitzer [Chair of US Joint Chiefs of Staff] and his cabal the excuse, as well as the public and international backing, they needed to launch their war against Fidel Castro’s Cuba.’

The first US-Algerian ‘false flag’ terrorist operation in the Sahara-Sahel was undertaken in 2003

The plan was ultimately rejected by President Kennedy. Operation Northwoods remained ‘classified’ and unknown to the American public until declassified by the National Security Archive and revealed by Bamford in April 2001. In 2002, a not dissimilar plan was presented to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld by his Defense Science Board. Excerpts from its ‘Summer Study on Special Operations and Joint Forces in Support of Countering Terrorism’ were revealed on 16 August 2002, with Pamela Hess, William Arkin and David Isenberg, amongst others, publishing further details and analysis of the plan. The plan recommended the creation of a ‘Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group’ (P20G as it became known), a covert organization that would carry out secret missions to ‘stimulate reactions’ among terrorist groups by provoking them into undertaking violent acts that would expose them to ‘counter-attack’ by US forces.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

My new book on the Global War On Terror in the Sahara (The Dying Sahara, Pluto 2013) will present strong evidence that the El Para operation was the first ‘test run’ of Rumsfeld’s decision, made in 2002, to operationalize the P20G plan. In his recent investigation of false flag operations, Nafeez Ahmed states that the US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh was told by a Pentagon advisor that the Algerian [El Para] operation was a pilot for the new Pentagon covert P20G programme.

The Sahara-Sahel front is not the only case of such fabricated incidents in the Global War On Terror. In May 2008, President George W Bush requested some $400 million in covert funding for terrorist groups across much of the Middle East-Afghanistan region in a covert offensive directed ultimately against the Iranian regime. An initial outlay of $300 million was approved by Congress.

Since the El Para operation, Algeria’s DRS, with the complicity of the US and the knowledge of other Western intelligence agencies, has used Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, through the almost complete infiltration of its leadership, to create a terrorist scenario. Much of the terrorist landscape that Algeria and its Western allies have painted in the Sahara-Sahel region is completely false.

The Dying Sahara analyzes every supposed ‘terrorism’ incident in the region over this last, terrible decade. It shows that a few are genuine, but that the vast majority were fabricated or orchestrated by the DRS. Some incidents, such as the widely reported Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb attack on Algeria’s Djanet airport in 2007, simply didn’t happen. What actually transpired was that a demonstration against the Algerian administration over unemployment by local Tuareg youths ended with the youths firing shots at the airport. It was nothing to do with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Much of the terrorist landscape that Algeria and its Western allies have painted in the Sahara-Sahel region is completely false

In order to justify or increase what I have called their ‘terrorism rents’ from Washington, the governments of Mali, Niger and Algeria have been responsible on at least five occasions since 2004 for provoking Tuareg into taking up arms, as in 2004 (Niger), 2005 (Tamanrasset, Algeria), 2006 (Mali), 2007-09 (Niger and Mali). In July 2005, for example, Tuareg youths rioted in the southern Algerian city of Tamanrasset, setting ablaze some 40 government and commercial buildings. It was finally proven in court that the riots and arson attacks had been led by Algeria’s police as agents provocateurs. The matter was hushed up and some 80 youths freed and compensated. But the object of the exercise had been achieved: the DRS’s allies in Washington were able to talk of ‘putative terrorism’ among the Tuareg of Tamanrasset, thus lending more justification to George Bush’s Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Initiative and the Pentagon’s almost concurrent ‘Operation Flintlock’ military exercise across the Sahara.

Around the time of the El Para operation, the Pentagon produced a series of maps of Africa, depicting most of the Sahara-Sahel region as a ‘Terror Zone’ or ‘Terror Corridor’. That has now become a self-fulfilled prophecy. In addition, the region has also become one of the world’s main drug conduits. In the last few years, cocaine trafficking from South America through Azawad to Europe, under the protection of the region’s political and military élites, notably Mali’s former president and security forces and Algeria’s DRS, has burgeoned. The UN Office of Drugs Control recently estimated that 60 per cent of Europe’s cocaine passed through the region. It put its value, at Paris street prices, at some $11 billion, with an estimated $2 billion remaining in the region.

The impact of Washington’s machinations on the peoples of the Sahara-Sahel has been devastating, not least for the regional economy. More than 60 kidnappings of Westerners have led to the collapse of the tourism industry through which Tuareg communities in Mali, Niger and Algeria previously acquired much of their cash income. For example, the killing of four French tourists in Mauritania, in addition to subsequent kidnappings, resulted in only 173 tourists visiting Mauritania in 2011, compared with 72,500 in 2007. The loss of tourism has deprived the region of tens of millions of dollars and forced more and more Tuareg (and others), especially young men, into the ‘criminality’ of banditry and drug trafficking.

Mali’s current mess

While it will be clear from all this that Mali’s latest Tuareg rebellion had a complex background, the rebellion that began in January 2012 was different from all previous Tuareg rebellions in that there was a very real likelihood that it would succeed, at least in taking control of the whole of northern Mali. The creation of the rebel MNLA in October 2011 (see box below) was therefore not only a potentially serious threat to Algeria, but one which appears to have taken the Algerian regime by surprise. Algeria has always been a little fearful of the Tuareg, both domestically and in the neighbouring Sahel countries. The distinct possibility of a militarily successful Tuareg nationalist movement in northern Mali, which Algeria has always regarded as its own backyard, could not be countenanced.

The impact of Washington’s machinations on the peoples of the Sahara-Sahel has been devastating

The Algerian intelligence agency’s strategy to remove this threat was to use its control of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to weaken and then destroy the credibility and political effectiveness of the MNLA. This is precisely what we have seen happening in northern Mali over the last nine months.

Although the Algerian government has denied doing so, it sent some 200 Special Forces into Azawad on 20 December 2011. Their purpose appears to have been to:

• protect Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which had moved from its training base(s) in southern Algeria into northern Mali around 2008
• assess the strengths and intentions of the MNLA, and
• help establish two ‘new’ salafist-jihadist terrorist groups in the region — Ansar al-Din and MUJAO.

The leaders of these new groups — Ansar al-Din’s Iyad ag Ghaly, and MUJAO’s Sultan Ould Badi — are both closely associated with the Algerian intelligence agency, the DRS. Although Ansar al-Din and MUJAO both started out as few in number, they were immediately supported with personpower in the form of seasoned, well-trained killers from the DRS’s Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb brigades. This explains why the Islamists were able to expand so quickly and dominate the MNLA both politically and militarily.

Although Algeria’s strategy has been effective, at least so far, in achieving its object of weakening and discrediting the MNLA, it has already turned the region into a human catastrophe. Foreign military intervention now looks increasingly likely. That is something to which Algeria has always been strongly opposed in that it regards itself, not France, as the hegemonic power in the Sahel. The UN Security Council’s 12 October Resolution effectively gave Algeria a last window of opportunity to ‘rein in its dogs’ and engineer a peaceful political solution. But, as anger against the Islamists mounts and the desire for revenge from Mali’s civil society grows ever stronger, a peaceful solution is looking increasingly unlikely.

I have warned on numerous occasions in the past decade that the way in which terrorism was being fabricated and orchestrated in the Sahara-Sahel by the Algerian DRS, with the knowledge of the US and other Western powers, would inevitably result in a catastrophic outcome, quite possibly in the form of region-wide conflagration. Unless something fairly miraculous can be achieved by around the turn of the year, northern Mali looks like becoming the site for the start of just such a conflagration.

Having said that, there is the prospect of one appalling scenario that is being raised by some of the local, mostly Tuareg, militia commanders. They are postulating as to whether Algeria’s DRS and its Western allies have been using the Azawad situation to encourage the concentration of ‘salafist-jihadists’ into the region — in the form of the long-talked about ‘Saharan emirate’ — before ‘eradicating’ them. In that instance, Algeria’s DRS would pluck out its ‘agents’ and leave the foot-soldiers — the Islamist fanatics — to face the bombardment.

But whatever dire scenario develops in Mali, when you hear the news stories related to it, do not by any means think: ‘oh, just another war in Africa’. Remember this murky, squalid background and how Washington’s Global War On Terror has come home to roost for the peoples of the Sahara.

Notes

Secretary of Iran Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili says the Islamic Republic will help Syria to stand against plots hatched by global arrogance.

MYA/SS

Iran Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani will visit Pakistan later this month to attend a meeting of parliament speakers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), a senior advisor says.

Hossein Sheikholeslam, Larijani’s adviser on international affairs, said on Saturday that the meeting will explore ways of establishing an inter-parliamentary forum of ECO member states.

He added that Larijani’s three-day official visit will begin on February 11 at the invitation of the Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly Fahmida Mirza.

Sheikholeslam stated that during his stay in Pakistan, Larijani will hold talks with his counterparts from other ECO member states.

He further noted that Iranian lawmaker Mehdi Sanaei has already attended preliminary meeting as the Islamic Republic’s representative.

ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among member states.

The organization was expanded in 1992 to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

ECO provides its members with a platform to discuss ways of improving economic development, and promoting trade and investment opportunities.

AR/SS

Sergei Lavrov (L) and Joe Biden (Reuters / Michael Dalder)

(15.0Mb) embed video

Military intervention in Syria is unacceptable even if it aims to create an air-protected humanitarian corridor, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov has said. Syria is one of most hotly debated topics at an annual Security Conference taking place in Germany.

­”Russia does not support the idea of a humanitarian corridor in Syria. Any use of military power is unacceptable, and not just because we still remember what it lead to in Libya,” Lavrov said while addressing the Munich Security Conference. “We need to see the world the way it is. We need to recognize that military operations bring more chaos into the international matters and can send off waves of instability that will be impossible to hide from in any of what we may think as an island of security.”

Lavrov confirmed that the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal is under full control of the country’s government, and poses no danger as long as it does not fall into the hands of the rebels. Such an event would be a “red line” nobody wishes to see crossed, he said.

Despite the worsening situation in the region, peace is still within reach, Lavrov explained: “The war in Syria could be over if all sides stuck honestly and loyally to the principles of the June 30 Geneva conference.”

A Free Syrian Army fighter walks in a building destroyed during clashes in the Haresta neighbourhood of Damascus February 1, 2013 (Reuters / Goran Tomasevic)

But US Vice President Joe Biden expressed a different view of how peace could be brought to Syria. “President Assad, a tyrant hellbent on clinging to power, is not longer fit to lead the Syrian people and must go,” Biden said in his Munich speech.

Lavrov, however, expressed doubts about the right of the US to decide the legitimacy of the Syrian government: “We have many questions as to the policies of our western colleagues. Can you justify terror methods for the purposes of regime change? Can you fight same enemies in one conflict if you ally with them in another? How do you make sure the illegally supplied weapons don’t turn against yourself?”

“Who of the leaders are legitimate, who is not?” Lavrov said. “When you can cooperate with the authoritarian regimes, whether secular or not, or when you can sponsor fights against them? In which cases do you recognize democratic choices of a nation or cut all ties with them? What criteria or standards do you use for that?”

Lavrov also said that countries involved in brokering peace in the troubled region “could agree to support democratic reforms in countries on the path for changes, but not impose on them a whatever scale of values, accepting there exist multiple models for development.”

The Syrian conflict has wracked the country since March of 2011, when thousands took to the streets to demand the resignation of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, whose family has been in power for decades. The country is currently embroiled in a full-scale civil war, with rebels and the army fighting for control of every town and refugees spilling across the country’s borders. Assad has refused to step down, and said he is a legitimate leader who is fighting against a well-armed insurgency sponsored from abroad.

The Munich Security Conference is an annual gathering of top security officials that focuses on issues surrounding European-Atlantic security, the situation in Syria and Mali, as well as non-proliferation and arms control.

Good morning, campers! Bring your bowl of cereal up to the monitor, just like when you watched cartoons as a kid!

First Draft has a nomination for Worst Performance.

Vox Verax reminds us that governments are not households.

Channel Surfing looks at New Jersey’s deep GOP bench.

Bonus track: Welcome Back to Pottersville watches Erick Erickson float away.

Round-up by Tengrain of Mock, Paper, Scissors who also blogs at Dependable Renegade. Send tips to: mbru@crooksandliars.com

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi says Iran’s new domestically-designed and developed fighter jet, Qaher-313 (Conqueror-313), is ‘super advanced’ and capable of ‘evading radars.’

Speaking on the sidelines of its unveiling ceremony on Saturday, Vahidi said the aircraft had a “very low radar cross section” and was capable of conducting operations at low altitudes.

The Iranian defense minister noted that highly-advanced materials and electro-ionic systems had been used in the structure of Qaher-313, adding that the aircraft was capable of carrying advanced armaments.

Qaher-313 can take off and land on short runways and it has easy maintenance, Vahidi said.

The newly-unveiled Iranian military aircraft is said to be similar to the US-built F/A-18, although its appearance is like F-5E/F Tiger II.

The new single-seat bomber has been manufactured based on state-of-the-art technologies and modern defense achievements.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and gained self-sufficiency in essential military hardware and defense systems.

Azarakhsh (Lightning) is Iran’s first domestically-manufactured combat jet.

Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) fighter jet is a follow-up aircraft, derived from Azarakhsh. Iran unveiled its first squadron of Saeqeh fighter bombers in an air show in September 2010.

ASH/HSN/MA

SKA players celebrate a goal scored in the Kontinental Hockey League regular season match between HC SKA St. Petersburg and HC Dynamo Moscow (RIA Novosti / Alexey Danichev)

SKA St. Petersburg has become KHL’s regular-season champions with three games left before the playoffs after beating reigning Gagarin Cup holders Dynamo Moscow, 3-1.

SKA is the first team from the Western Conference to lift the so-called Continental Cup. But the prestigious award hasn’t helped its holders so far, as regular champions have never reached the playoff final in the KHL history — a trend which the league’s richest team will try to reverse this year.

No stranger to the playoffs, Dynamo Moscow and Lokomotiv Yaroslav will try to prevent them from doing it, as well as this year’s conference runner-up CSKA Moscow.

With Slovan Bratislava and Severstal Cherepovets also having their playoff tickets booked, there are only two lucky slots remaining in the West.

Settling scores eastwards will be five superpowers: Avangard Omsk, Ak Bars Kazan, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Traktor Chelyabinsk. Joining them are Barys Astana and Sibir Novosibirsk, with the last remaining playoff slot still vacant.

The regular season concludes on February 17, leaving space for a knockout round to be played in a traditional best-of-seven format.

Qaher-313 (‘Conqueror’), image from image from http://www.kaskus.co.id

(3.2Mb) embed video

Iran has presented its first domestically designed defense fighter-bomber jet with limited stealth capabilities. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed that the plane was designed for defense purposes, and will not be used for aggression.

Codenamed Qaher-313 (‘Conqueror’), the jet is an advanced single-seat single-engine military plane. It is reportedly capable of engaging targets on the ground, as well as achieving air superiority in dogfights.

According to photos published by Fars news agency, the jet boasts impressive technical specifications, with a ‘stealth’ design similar to that of the US F-22 and Russian T-50. The large wingspan and inclined outward tail fins resembles the F-35, as well as the unusual-looking wings and modern seamless canopy. The jet may have been constructed using composite materials.

image from image from http://www.kaskus.co.id

Iranian engineers have claimed that the Qaher is capable of short take-offs and landings, and can be repaired easily.

Video of the jet suggests that is already undergoing flight tests, and Iranian pilots have reportedly said they are fully satisfied with the new aircraft.

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the Qaher is a “fully indigenous” aircraft, designed and constructed solely by Iranian aerospace experts.

“This advanced fighter jet with unique physical characteristics has a very low radar cross section and therefore is capable of operating at low altitudes,” Vahidi told Mehr news agency

image from image from http://www.kaskus.co.id

The presentation of the fighter jet coincided with Iran’s ‘Ten-Day Dawn’ celebrations commemorating the 39th anniversary of the end of country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The ceremony was attended by Iran’s top brass and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who claimed the Qaher is one of the most advanced aircraft in the world, and insisted that the jet is intended for defensive deterrence.

In his speech, Ahmadinejad reiterated that “Iran’s defense might does not serve purposes of expansionism and aggression against other countries,” Press-TV quoted him as saying.

“This project carries the message of brotherhood, peace, and security and it doesn’t pose any threat to anyone. There is no intention to interfere in any other country’s affairs.”

AFP Photo / Mehr News / Younes Khani

Ahmadinejad also boasted that the Qaher is a vivid example of Iran’s growing technological self-sufficiency.

“Now the speed of Iran’s development in science and technology does not depend on circumstances, it depends on our will,” Ahmadinejad said on state television on Saturday. “We should set higher targets. We see that it is possible, we have the capabilities.”

Iran unveiled its first domestically manufactured fighter jet Azarakhsh (‘Lightning’) in 2007. An advanced version of the jet, Saeqeh (‘Thunder’), was presented in 2010.

Iran desperately needs new military fighter jets due to an international arms embargo imposed on the country immediately after the 1979 revolution; the country’s air force is composed mostly of outdated US and Russian jets. Many foreign-made aircraft in Iran’s possession are inoperable due to the impossibility of buying spare parts.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad walks to talk with the pilot of the domestically designed and built Qaher (Conqueror) F-313 fighter jet during a ceremony to unveil it in a warehouse in Tehran on February 2, 2013 (AFP Photo / ISNA / Amir Pourmand)

image from http://www.gandul.info

Public fears in the UK over mass immigration by Eastern Europeans has prompted a peculiar response from Romania: One newspaper published a series of ads playing on British cultural stereotypes, and saying why people should move to Romania instead.

­“Our draft beer is less expensive than your bottled water,” one of the ads proudly states, hinting at the high costs of living in the UK. Another ad made fun of British cuisine: “We serve more food groups than pies, sausage, fish and chips.”

Other ads touched upon politics, weather and even women: “Half of our women look like Kate. The other half, like her sister.”

The ‘Why don`t you come over?’ ad campaign was designed by the online Romanian newspaper Gandul and GMP Advertising firm in response to numerous reports in the British media about a possible government initiative to launch a negative ad campaign discouraging Romanians and Bulgarians from coming to work in Britain.

“I wouldn’t say we were deeply offended by the British initiative, but we felt it deserved an answer that tackles this ridiculous fear of us invading the UK. The solution was to turn this [false] problem on its head and invite the British to invade us instead,” said Mihai Gongu, Creative Director at GMP Advertising.

Gandul added that the campaign is also a sincere call for British people to visit Romania and to see that “Romania is a much better country and Romanians a more decent people than the negative image painted by some recent stories in British and international media.”

image from http://www.gandul.info

Romanians welcomed the ads with widespread enthusiasm, and quickly began to design their own posters with a special application launched by the newspaper.

Gandul’s prank campaign comes amid hype in the British media predicting that hundreds of thousands of Romanians and Bulgarians will come to the UK for work after immigration restrictions are lifted at the end of the year. Some of the government measures circulated by the media included an advertising campaign painting a negative portrait of the island in order to decrease the number of immigrants.

The UK has also recently introduced changes to the citizenship test. The ‘Life in the United Kingdom’ test and handbook are aimed at immigrants who want to settle permanently in the UK. The test will now include many cultural questions, while overlooking a lot of practical issues.

image from http://www.gandul.info

image from http://www.gandul.info (Autor: Lee Jackson)

Where to start with this tangled skein of media spin, mis­rep­res­ent­a­tion and out­right hypocrisy?

Last week the Sam Adams Asso­ci­ates for Integ­rity in Intel­li­gence presen­ted this year’s award to Dr Tom Fin­gar at a cere­mony jointly hos­ted by the pres­ti­gi­ous Oxford Union Soci­ety.

Dr Fin­gar, cur­rently a vis­it­ing lec­turer at Oxford, had in 2007 co-ordinated the pro­duc­tion of the US National Intel­li­gence Estim­ate – the com­bined ana­lysis of all 16 of America’s intel­li­gence agen­cies – which assessed that the Ira­nian nuc­lear weapon­isa­tion pro­gramme had ceased in 2003. This con­sidered and author­it­at­ive Estim­ate dir­ectly thwarted the 2008 US drive towards war against Iran, and has been reaf­firmed every year since then.

By the very fact of doing his job of provid­ing dis­pas­sion­ate and object­ive assess­ments and res­ist­ing any pres­sure to politi­cise the intel­li­gence (à la Down­ing Street Memo), Dr Fingar’s work is out­stand­ing and he is the win­ner of Sam Adams Award, 2012. This may say some­thing about the par­lous state of our intel­li­gence agen­cies gen­er­ally, but don’t get me star­ted on that…

Any­way, as I said, the award cere­mony was co-hosted by the Oxford Union Soci­ety last week, and many Sam Adams Asso­ci­ates atten­ded, often trav­el­ling long dis­tances to do so. Former win­ners were asked to speak at the cere­mony, such as FBI Coleen Row­ley, GCHQ Kath­er­ine Gun, NSA Thomas Drake, and former UK Ambas­sador Craig Mur­ray. Other asso­ci­ates, includ­ing CIA Ray McGov­ern, dip­lo­mats Ann Wright and Brady Kiesling and myself also said a few words. As former insiders and whis­tleblowers, we recog­nised the vitally import­ant work that Dr Fin­gar had done and all spoke about the import­ance of integ­rity in intelligence.

One other pre­vi­ous win­ner of the Sam Adams Award was also invited to speak – Julian Assange of Wikileaks. He spoke elo­quently about the need for integ­rity and was gra­cious in prais­ing the work of Dr Fingar.

All the national and inter­na­tional media were invited to attend what was an his­toric gath­er­ing of inter­na­tional whis­lteblowers and cover an award given to someone who, by doing their job with integ­rity, pre­ven­ted yet fur­ther ruin­ous war and blood­shed in the Middle East.

Few atten­ded, still fewer repor­ted on the event, and the prom­ised live stream­ing on You­tube was blocked by shad­owy powers at the very last minute – an irony con­sid­er­ing the Oxford Union is renowned as a free speech society.

But worse was to come. The next day The Guard­ian news­pa­per, which his­tor­ic­ally fell out with Wikileaks, pub­lished a myopic hit-piece about the event. No men­tion of all the whis­tleblowers who atten­ded and what they said, no men­tion of the award to Dr Fin­gar, no men­tion of the fact that his work saved the Ira­nian people from need­less war.

Oh no, the entire piece focused on the taw­dry alleg­a­tions eman­at­ing from Sweden about Julian Assange’s extra­di­tion case. Dis­count­ing the 450 stu­dents who applauded all the speeches, dis­count­ing all the ser­i­ous points raised by Julian Assange dur­ing his present­a­tion, and dis­count­ing the speeches of all the other inter­na­tion­ally renowned whis­tleblowers present that even­ing, The Guardian’s reporter, Amelia Hill, focused on the small demo out­side the event and the only three attendees she could appar­ently find to cri­ti­cise the fact that a plat­form, any plat­form, had been given to Assange from his polit­ical asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy.

So this is where we arrive at the deep, really deep, hypo­crisy of the even­ing. Amelia Hill is, I’m assum­ing, the same Guard­ian journ­al­ist who was threatened in 2011 with pro­sec­u­tion under the Offi­cial Secrets Act. She had allegedly been receiv­ing leaks from the Met­ro­pol­itan Police about the on-going invest­ig­a­tion into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

At the time Fleet Street was up in arms – how dare the police threaten one of their own with pro­sec­u­tion under the OSA for expos­ing insti­tu­tional cor­rup­tion? Shades of the Shayler case were used in her defence. As I wrote at the time, it’s a shame the UK media could not have been more con­sist­ently robust in con­demning the chilling effects of the OSA on the free-flow of inform­a­tion and pro­tect all the Poor Bloody Whis­tleblowers, and not just come out fight­ing when it is one of their own being threatened. Such is the way of the world.…

But really, Ms Hill – if you are indeed the same reporter who was threatened with pro­sec­u­tion in 2011 under the OSA – exam­ine your conscience.

How can you write a hit-piece focus­ing purely on Assange – a man who has designed a pub­lish­ing sys­tem to pro­tect poten­tial whis­tleblowers from pre­cisely such dra­conian secrecy laws as you were hyper­bol­ic­ally threatened with? And how could you, at the same time, air­brush out of his­tory the testi­mony of so many whis­tleblowers gathered together, many of whom have indeed been arres­ted and have faced pro­sec­u­tion under the terms of the OSA or US secrecy legislation?

Have you no shame? You know how fright­en­ing it is to be faced with such a prosecution.

Your hypo­crisy is breath-taking.

The offence was com­poun­ded when the Sam Adams Asso­ci­ates all wrote a let­ter to The Guard­ian to set the record straight. The ori­ginal let­ter is repro­duced below, and this is what was pub­lished. Of course, The Guard­ian has a per­fect right under its Terms and Con­di­tions to edit the let­ter, but I would like every­one to see how this can be used and abused.

And the old media won­ders why it is in decline?

Let­ter to The Guard­ian, 29 Janu­ary 2013:

Dear Sir

With regard to the 24 Janu­ary art­icle in The Guard­ian entitled “Julian Assange Finds No Allies and Tough Quer­ies in Oxford Uni­ver­sity Talk,” we ques­tion whether the newspaper’s reporter was actu­ally present at the event, since the account con­tains so many false and mis­lead­ing statements.

If The Guard­ian could “find no allies” of Mr. Assange, it did not look very hard! They could be found among the appre­ci­at­ive audi­ence of the packed Oxford Union Debate Hall, and – in case you missed us – in the group seated right at the front of the Hall: the Sam Adams Asso­ci­ates for Integ­rity in Intelligence.

Many in our group – which, you might be inter­ested to know co-sponsored the event with Oxford Union – had traveled con­sid­er­able dis­tances at our own expense to con­fer the 10th annual Sam Adams award to Dr. Thomas Fin­gar for his work on over­see­ing the 2007 National Intel­li­gence Estim­ate that revealed the lack of an Ira­nian nuc­lear weapon­iz­a­tion program.

Many of us spoke in turn about the need for integ­rity in intel­li­gence, describ­ing the ter­rible eth­ical dilemma that con­fronts gov­ern­ment employ­ees who wit­ness illegal activ­ity includ­ing ser­i­ous threats to pub­lic safety and fraud, waste and abuse.

But none of this made it into what was sup­posed to pass for a news art­icle; neither did any aspect of the accept­ance speech delivered by Dr. Fin­gar. Also, why did The Guard­ian fail to provide even one sali­ent quote from Mr Assange’s sub­stan­tial twenty-minute address?

By cen­sor­ing the con­tri­bu­tions of the Sam Adams Asso­ci­ates and the speeches by Dr. Fin­gar and Mr. Assange, and by focus­ing exclus­ively on taw­dry and unproven alleg­a­tions against Mr. Assange, rather than on the import­ance of expos­ing war crimes and main­tain­ing integ­rity in intel­li­gence pro­cesses, The Guard­ian has suc­ceeded in dimin­ish­ing none but itself.

Sin­cerely,

The Sam Adams Asso­ci­ates for Integ­rity in Intelligence:

Ann Wright (retired Army Col­onel and For­eign Ser­vice Officer of US State Depart­ment), Ray McGov­ern (retired CIA ana­lyst), Eliza­beth Mur­ray (retired CIA ana­lyst), Coleen Row­ley (retired FBI agent), Annie Machon (former MI5 intel­li­gence officer), Thomas Drake (former NSA offi­cial), Craig Mur­ray (former Brit­ish Ambas­sador), David MacMi­chael (retired CIA ana­lyst), Brady Kiesling (former For­eign Ser­vice Officer of US State Depart­ment), and Todd Pierce (retired U.S. Army Major, Judge Advoc­ate, Guantanamo Defense Counsel).

­Annie Machon for RT

­Annie Machon is a former intelligence officer for MI5, the UK Security Service, who resigned in 1996 to blow the whistle on the spies’ incompetence and crimes. Drawing on her varied experiences, she is now a media pundit, author, journalist, international tour and event organiser, political campaigner, and PR consultant.

The article was first published at anniemachon.ch

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

Around 250,000 Twitter users may have had their accounts compromised by computer hackers.

The social networking site said usernames, email addresses and encrypted passwords may have been taken during an “extremely sophisticated” attack on its systems.

It said one attack was shut down moments after it was detected, adding that the passwords of users who may have been affected had been reset.

In a blog postin g , Bob Lord, director of information security at Twitter, said there had been “a recent uptick in large-scale security attacks aimed at US technology and media companies”, with the New York Times among those targeted.

He said: “Our investigation has indicated the attackers may have had access to limited user information – usernames, email addresses, session tokens and encrypted/salted versions of passwords – for approximately 250,000 users.

“As a precautionary security measure, we have reset passwords and revoked session tokens for these accounts.”

“This attack was not the work of amateurs and we do not believe it was an isolated incident,” he added. “The attackers were extremely sophisticated and we believe other companies and organisations have also been recently similarly attacked.”

One expert said the hackers may have gained access through an employee’s home or work computer by exploiting vulnerabilities in Java, a widely-used computing language.

Ashkan Soltani, an independent privacy and security researcher, said such a move would give attackers “a toehold” in Twitter’s internal network, potentially allowing them to track user information as it travelled across the company’s systems or break into specific areas, such as the authentication servers that process users’ passwords.

Although the hackers are unlikely to have gained any confidential information, Mr Soltani said the stolen credentials could be used to access other services for which a person has signed up using the same username and password.

Mr Lord said that although “only a very small percentage” of users were potentially affected, everyone who uses the site should ensure their password is secure.

He said passwords should be at least 10 characters long, contain upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols, and be different to passwords used for other online accounts.

Around 250,000 Twitter users may have had their accounts compromised by computer hackers.

The social networking site said usernames, email addresses and encrypted passwords may have been taken during an “extremely sophisticated” attack on its systems.

It said one attack was shut down moments after it was detected, adding that the passwords of users who may have been affected had been reset.

In a blog postin g , Bob Lord, director of information security at Twitter, said there had been “a recent uptick in large-scale security attacks aimed at US technology and media companies”, with the New York Times among those targeted.

He said: “Our investigation has indicated the attackers may have had access to limited user information – usernames, email addresses, session tokens and encrypted/salted versions of passwords – for approximately 250,000 users.

“As a precautionary security measure, we have reset passwords and revoked session tokens for these accounts.”

“This attack was not the work of amateurs and we do not believe it was an isolated incident,” he added. “The attackers were extremely sophisticated and we believe other companies and organisations have also been recently similarly attacked.”

One expert said the hackers may have gained access through an employee’s home or work computer by exploiting vulnerabilities in Java, a widely-used computing language.

Ashkan Soltani, an independent privacy and security researcher, said such a move would give attackers “a toehold” in Twitter’s internal network, potentially allowing them to track user information as it travelled across the company’s systems or break into specific areas, such as the authentication servers that process users’ passwords.

Although the hackers are unlikely to have gained any confidential information, Mr Soltani said the stolen credentials could be used to access other services for which a person has signed up using the same username and password.

Mr Lord said that although “only a very small percentage” of users were potentially affected, everyone who uses the site should ensure their password is secure.

He said passwords should be at least 10 characters long, contain upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols, and be different to passwords used for other online accounts.

David Cameron is facing further pressure from Tory backbenchers after it was confirmed that marriage tax breaks will not be included in next month’s Budget.

It had been planned that one member of a married couple or civil partnership would be allowed to transfer £750 of their tax-free personal allowance to their partner, reducing their tax bill. This would be worth around £150 a year to basic-rate taxpayers.

There had been speculation that the Government was planning to introduce the tax break in an attempt to appease backbenchers angry over same-sex marriage legislation.

In 2010, the Conservative general election manifesto pledged to introduce the marriage tax break, and the commitment was also included in the coalition agreement with the Lib Dems.

But the government is yet to bring in the tax break, angering sections on the right of the party.

Senior Government sources have also had to dismiss calls for George Osborne to be sacked – instead insisting Osborne will remain as Chancellor through to the 2015 general election.

Amid fevered speculation over plots against the Prime Minister – currently in Liberia ahead of a UN meeting – there have been rumours that rebels have set a deadline of summer 2014 for the party’s electoral fortunes to turn around.

Cameron stood by his close friend and Chancellor Osborne this week

A number of backbenchers have suggested the change should be included in Osborne’s Budget next month in return for their supporting controversial plans to introduce gay marriage.

However, a senior Government source flatly rejected the idea of a “quid pro quo” deal, and ruled out a marriage tax break featuring in this Budget.

“It won’t be in the Budget but it will be in this Parliament,” the source told the Press Association. “This Budget obviously, with all that has happened in recent weeks and months, will be very much focused on growth in the economy.”

The source also made clear that Osborne had the “full confidence” of the Prime Minister.

“He is an extremely successful Chancellor. He is battling very difficult economic circumstances,” the source said.

“George Osborne will be Chancellor at the next general election.”

According to the Times, the issue of gay marriage is causing Conservative members to leave the party in significant numbers.

The newspaper claimed that as many as 100 members had revoked their affiliation in some constituencies.

Tory MP David Burrowes is quoted as saying: “There’s serious unrest in the grassroots. You cannot avoid the fact that the troops are unhappy. People are drifting away.”

READ MORE:

• David Cameron Jokes British Children Just Want To Be ‘Pop Stars And Footballers’
• David Cameron Told Off For ‘Misleading’ Debt Claim
• Poland Willing To ‘Accommodate’ Some Of Cameron’s EU Renegotiation Demands, Says Ambassador

Earlier on HuffPost:

The danger of posting personal information online is being taught to children as part of a pilot project to keep them safe from criminals.

Pupils at a primary school in Shropshire and a high school in Cambridge have been taking part in the trial launched by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, said: “I think the danger is of jigsaw identification. You can put little bits of information out there and somebody can piece it all together.

“So the name of the game with the primary school kids is to explain to them how the online world works and how there are organisations who make money by getting a hold of your information and selling it on to someone else.”

Between January and October 2012, 35 million pieces of personal information were illegally traded online – up from 19 million during the whole of 2011.

As much as 90% of that trade was in the form of login and password details.

It helps to explain why 24% of UK residents have been the victim of identity fraud.

And the need to teach children early in life became even more evident after an expert at the London School of Economics recently estimated a million nine to 12-year-olds already use Facebook, despite the fact they are meant to be 13 before becoming members.

Mark Neighbour has been leading the pilot project at St Bede’s School in Cambridge with year nine pupils.

He said: “We want them to think about what type of information could be used by a third party … Why do they need to know their age for instance? Why do they need to know where they live? Why do they need to know where they shop?

“What we want them to do is question themselves before they put pen to paper or finger to a keyboard because once the information is gone, once they hit return, it’s out there and anyone can get to it and use it.”

Many children are also unaware that what may be quickly posted on the internet can potentially still be seen by universities or employers checking up on candidates years later.

Melissa, 14, was one of the pupils who attended the lessons.

“The internet is really scary and you should think twice before you start posting things. What you tweet, talk about on Facebook, pictures, things like that … it’s out there forever.”

Rebecca, who is 13, thinks all pupils would benefit from the classes.

“It’s actually helped everyone understand what we need to be aware of using the internet and what people can do.”

Schools already warn children about online safety as part of the IT curriculum but these lessons are said to go into more detail about the importance of protecting personal data on the internet and in everyday life.

If the pilot proves a success, it will be rolled out in schools nationwide.

At least one person has been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces outside Egypt’s presidential palace, as President Mohamed Morsi vows “decisive” police action.

Medics say the 23-year-old died of a gunshot wound in Cairo late on Friday after police fired birdshot at the protesters, who are seeking to overthrow the president.

The police said they arrested 20 protesters, while the Interior Ministry said five of its men were wounded by birdshot.

Clashes erupted outside the presidential palace on Friday after demonstrators attacked the premises with stones and petrol bombs.

Security forces have blocked off most of the roads with concrete walls to prevent protesters from approaching government offices.

Earlier, the presidency said security forces would deal with violent protests with “utmost decisiveness” and that it would hold opposition groups found to have incited the clashes “politically accountable.”

Morsi said protesters had tried to break down the Presidential Palace gates and scale its walls and demanded that opposition groups denounce the violence and call on their followers to withdraw.

On Friday, there were also demonstrations in several other major Egyptian cities, with protesters accusing Morsi of monopolizing power and betraying the ideals of the 2011 revolution that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The protesters in Port Said are angry that people from their city were found guilty of murdering 74 people, who were killed in a riot that broke out in their town after Port Said-based Al-Masry defeated Cairo’s Al-Ahly 3-1 in a football match.

On January 27, a judge sentenced 21 local people to death for their roles in the February 1, 2012 riot, in which 1,000 people were also injured.

Officials say more than 50 people have been injured across the country, mostly in Cairo.

PG/HGL

AFP Photo / Lionel Bonaventure

Twitter has become the latest target of a sophisticated cyber attack, with around 250,000 accounts exposed. The breach appears to be the latest in a string of attacks on news content sites that’s being blamed on Chinese hackers.

­In its blog, Twitter has announced that it has detected “unusual access” patterns to user’s data and one live attack, which the company has successfully disabled. However, the company states that quarter of a million users have had their information hacked.

“This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident. The attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked,” statement explained.

As a precautionary security measure, Twitter has reset passwords and revoked session tokens for those accounts it believes were compromised. The company also warns of increased cyber-attack activity throughout the internet and encourages strengthening one’s account passwords.

The social media giant, which arguably revolutionized the news world with immediate access to information, concurs with the recent US Department of Homeland Security warning to disable Java on internet browsers. The company is also “helping government and federal law enforcement in their effort to find and prosecute these attackers to make the Internet safer for all users.”

Twitter fell short of accusing anyone of the attack, but indirectly indicated that it followed a pattern previously reported by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

On Wednesday, the NYT have announced that passwords and accounts of their staff have been infiltrated for four months by hackers from China.

The timing of the attacks coincided with an investigative report into the wealth of Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister. 

The Times hired an expert to determine the source of the attack who concluded that “the attacks started from the same university computers used by the Chinese military to attack United States military contractors in the past.”

China’s Ministry of National Defense responded to the accusations “Chinese laws prohibit any action including hacking that damages Internet security.” It added that “to accuse the Chinese military of launching cyberattacks without solid proof is unprofessional and baseless,” NYT quotes.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal made similar accusations, “Chinese hackers believed to have government links have been conducting wide-ranging electronic surveillance of media companies including The Wall Street Journal.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was quoted by the WSJ as saying “Cyber-attacks are transnational and anonymous. It’s very hard to track the source of attack,” he said. “To presume the source of a hacking attack based on speculation is irresponsible and unprofessional.” He added that “Chinese authorities make serious efforts in fighting cyber-attacks.”

Also on Thursday, Bloomberg announced that unsuccessful attempts had been made to access its system.

The Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) say they have killed dozens of al-Shabab militants in an airstrike on the militia’s logistical base in southern Somalia.

According to the KDF, two vehicles and three trucks loaded with ammunition were also destroyed on Thursday during an airstrike that targeted the militants’ base in the Garbaharey area.

“Among the dead include the al-Shabaab Buurdub Region Commander Sheikh Nuur Dhere. It is believed that Nuur Dhere had been behind most of the IED [improvised explosive device] attacks in the region,” KDF spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna said on Friday.

The KDF, which has supplied troops to the UN-backed AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) assisting the Somali National Army (SNA), regularly carries out airstrikes in the northern, central, and southern regions.

“Several members of the militia groups perished with many others injured,” Oguna added.

Kenya has beefed up security along its border with Somalia since it dispatched soldiers into the country in October 2012 to chase al-Shabab militants, who it accuses of being behind the kidnapping of several foreigners in Kenyan territory. However, al-Shabab has denied involvement in the kidnappings.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

The weak Western-backed transitional government in Mogadishu has been battling al-Shabab for the past five years and is propped up by a 10,000-strong African Union force from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, and Djibouti.

PG/HGL

An Irish property developer has been found wandering along a country road in a confused state eight months after he went missing – apparently with an insult scrawled across his head.

Multimillionaire Kevin McGeever, 68, was injured, had a long beard, long fingernails and had lost a lot of weight when he was picked up near Ballinamore, on the border of County Leitrim and County Cavan.

He had been reported missing in June last year from County Galway in the west of Ireland, about 100 miles from where he was found.

Catherine Vallely – who claims to have found Mr McGeever – told Irish newspapers that she initially thought he was a traffic cone when she and her husband came across him in the dark because he was wearing red trousers.

She described him as “very well educated, well-spoken and polite”.

Mrs Vallely told the Irish Examiner: “I was surprised. I thought he might have Alzheimer’s or something like that. The man said his name was Kevin and he didn’t realise he was in Co Leitrim. He didn’t even know the month, the day or the time.”

As well as his dishevelled clothing, he was wearing no shoes.

They say they took him to a local police station where he was given tea and biscuits.

Mr McGeever has been interviewed and given a statement to officers, claiming that he was kidnapped at gunpoint. His attackers also reportedly wrote insults on his face.

Irish police have said there is no question that Mr McGeever was held for an extended period of months based on his appearance.

He was treated for dehydration and malnutrition at hospital, where he is still recovering.

Before the economic downturn, Mr McGeever sold luxury homes to expats in Dubai.

He made a fortune building houses, first in his native county and then further afield, before making big investments abroad. He fronted a company called KMM Commercial Properties.

The developer lives in a gated mansion outside the village of Craughwell near Galway city, built on the back of his fortune.

Martin Kenny, a Sinn Fein councillor who knows the couple who claim to have found Mr McGeever, told Sky News: “He was quite a high flying businessman, in international business and it’s quite unusual that he would go missing but there didn’t seem to be a huge scale search for him or anything like that.

“The only thing he did tell them was that a number of men had dropped him off there along the road and that he had been taken quite a long way.”

Police have confirmed they are investigating whether he had been abducted, but refused to comment further about his condition.

A Garda spokesman said: “We are investigating reports that an injured man, in his late 60s, was found at the side of the road at 9.45pm on January 29.

“He was taken to Mullingar Hospital for treatment. We are investigating allegations that he was abducted from Craughwell.”

Thousands of tourists with a head for heights have scaled one of Europe’s tallest skyscrapers for the first time.

Among the visitors to The View from The Shard on its opening day were James Episcopou, who proposed to his girlfriend Laura Taylor more than 240m above the ground.

The 22-year-old got down on one knee moments after the Mayor of London officially opened the panoramic viewing platform on level 72 of the 310m (1,016ft) tower.

He said he had “no idea” Boris Johnson – and a host of journalists and photographers – would be there to share the moment.

“I’ve had it planned since July last year,” he said. “When tickets first came out I thought I had to buy them. It’s the perfect place to propose.

“Laura means everything to me and I wanted to make her feel on top of the world.

“We had no idea the media were going to be there, but when we arrived we saw Boris Johnson and there were cameras everywhere.

“When people plan a proposal they think ‘how can I make it special?’ I managed to do quite a good job.”

Mr Johnson described The Shard’s observation deck as “a most amazing place”.

He said: “I don’t think there’s anything in London like this. It’s the closest thing to being in an aeroplane and looking down on London.

“You can see all the bends in the river, you can see my office, you can see Buckingham Palace, you can see the whole (city) for 40 miles around.”

Some 4,800 people visited The Shard on its opening day, paying up to £24.95 for a ticket.

On a clear day, visitors are promised spectacular views of the capital – but visibility has been hampered by wet and cloudy weather so far.

Foreign-backed opposition in Syria has stopped short of throwing its weight behind the Syrian government’s possible retaliation for the Israeli airstrike on a research center near the capital Damascus.

On Friday, the opposition contented itself with promising the Syrians to use political and diplomatic means to bring a halt to such attacks by the Israeli regime.

In a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that “Israel and those who protect it at the [UN] Security Council are fully responsible for the repercussions of this aggression.”

According to a statement issued by the Syrian Army on Wednesday, Israeli fighter jets “carried out a direct strike” on the research center in Jamraya in the early hours of the day, killing two people and injuring five others.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali said on Thursday that his country had the option to respond to the Israeli airstrike.

He said Damascus was likely to take “a surprise decision to respond to the aggression of the Israeli warplanes.”

Also on Thursday, Syria called on the Security Council to issue a “clear condemnation of the flagrant Israeli attack on the territories of a sovereign state and the Israeli violation of the UN Charter, the international law, the [Agreement on] Disengagement… in 1974 and the relevant UNSC resolutions.”

KA/MHB

Brian De Palma (AFP Photo / Gabriel Bouys)

(84.1Mb) embed video

Film director Brian de Palma has become an expert in voicing people’s frustration with the shortcomings of the US government. RT caught up with the celebrated Hollywood filmmaker and screenwriter to ask him political and apolitical questions.

­Known best for his suspense and crime thriller movies, such as Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission: Impossible, de Palma has also made a number of films that challenge the political establishment such as Casualties of War.

In his 2007 picture, Redacted, de Palma tells a story of a US soldier in the Iraq War trying to shoot an amateur documentary. Through the eyes of this soldier de Palma exposes what he considers to be the hypocrisy inherent in the US war machine.

“I think our foreign policy is incorrect” the director told RT’s Valeria Paikova, “we should have not been in Iraq at all. We have all been lied to by our government.”

The reason behind making Redacted and Casualties of War de Palma claimed was because “these wars make no sense.”

It was profit driven US foreign policy with the largest military spending and export in the world, screewriter argues, that was responsible for the deaths around the globe and even on the domestic front.

“Why do we have guns all over the place? We are slaughtering children and people think-well-oh- maybe we need more policemen in the schoolrooms. It’s crazy but guns are big business. They like to sell guns.”

But on a lighter note, Brian de Palma shared his affection for the opposite sex, “I like women. I have worked with women my whole life,” he said, yet he revealed he was comfortable being in“large groups of women.”

“I love to shoot women. I love to dress them up. I want to make them look beautiful. I want to follow them around with cameras because they’re appealing to my eye,” the director concluded. 

The NRA Has an Enemies List and It’s Really Long

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Posted on Feb 1, 2013

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

George Clooney is among those on the NRA’s list.

The National Rifle Association sure has a lot of enemies, according to a recent “National Organizations With Anti-Gun Policies” list posted by the powerful gun lobby’s political arm. The list, available on the NRA’s website, seeks to expose those who have “have lent monetary, grassroots or some other type of direct support to anti-gun organizations” and “have officially endorsed anti-gun positions.”

There are 506 organizations and people named, which, as Wonkette points out, means that “it’s virtually impossible not to find something on that list that represents you or something you believe in.”

The Week:

The rogues’ gallery includes some unsurprising entries, such as the American Civil Liberties Union. But it seems almost no organization or person has escaped the NRA’s gaze, including the AARP, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the National Association of Public Hospitals, and the Police Foundation.

Then there are the “individuals and celebrities,” which include Boyz II Men, Sean Connery, Geraldo Rivera, Doug Flutie, Barry Manilow, and Sting. There is a long list of Americans who are members of the Brady Campaign’s National Committee, as well as journalists who “editorialize in favor of gun control laws.”

The companies listed, with addresses included, feature the Kansas City Chiefs, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Hallmark, Sprint, and Time Warner. Publication and media outlets that “have assisted in the attack on Second Amendment rights” include pretty much every mainstream media outlet, with the notable exceptions of Fox News and The Wall Street Journal.

Read more

–Posted by Tracy Bloom.

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David Cay Johnston on how sports are used as a tool to steal from taxpayers.

Even if you like football (I don’t — as far as I’m concerned, this week’s game should be called the Concussion Bowl), you have to wonder why the owners get to make obscene amounts of money while taxpayers foot the bill for their cash-cow stadiums. Professional sports are the perfect illustration of the “socialize losses, privatize gains” principle so beloved of corporatists!

The tenth Super Bowl played in New Orleans, and the first since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005, will kickoff in a stadium that has received more than $470 million in public support since the storm, as taxpayers have footed the bill for renovations and upgrades in the face of threats from ownership and the National Football League to move the team to another city.

In the aftermath of Katrina, New Orleans was desperate to keep the Saints from skipping town. The NFL and Saints owner Tom Benson seem to have taken advantage of that desperation, leveraging it into hundreds of millions of dollars in public support – from the city, state, and federal governments – for renovations to the decimated Superdome, which housed Katrina refugees during and after the storm. In 2009, the state committed $85 million more to keep the Saints in town and attempt to woo another Super Bowl, all while signing a lease worth $153 million in a nearby building owned by Benson.

While investors and Benson have profited from the deals, taxpayers haven’t been as lucky, Bloomberg reports:

Talks headed by then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue led to a plan to fix and renovate the Superdome with $121 million from the state, $44 million from the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, which oversees the facility, $156 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $15 million from the league. Blanco said a rushed bond deal followed.

Ultimately, the financing cost the district more than three times its $44 million commitment, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from state documents and interviews. […]In April 2009, Louisiana negotiated a new lease to secure Benson’s promise to keep the team in New Orleans through 2025. The state made $85 million in fresh Superdome improvements, adding luxury seating and moving the press box. A company owned by Benson, Zelia LLC, bought the 26-story tower next to the stadium that had stood mostly vacant since Katrina and renovated it. At the time, Benson put the total cost at about $85 million. The state then signed a $153 million, 20-year lease for office space in the building, which now houses 51 state agencies, according to the Louisiana Administration Division.

[…]“A lot of folks in New York made a ton of money,” [former state Treasurer John] Kennedy said.
“Louisiana taxpayers didn’t do so well.”

The Superdome certainly needed renovations following Katrina. But its original construction was financed solely by taxpayers, and Benson, who is worth roughly $1.6 billion, didn’t contribute and repeatedly hinted that the Saints would move to San Antonio, Los Angeles, or another city unless taxpayers ponied up. Kennedy, the state treasurer, told Bloomberg he went into negotiations with the NFL and Benson “with a gun against my head.”

Benson isn’t alone. Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wylf used the threat of relocation to helpsecure public funding for a new stadium, and owners across the NFL are doing the same. Owners of the Miami Dolphins are using the promise of future Super Bowls (even though the event rarely provides the promised economic boost) to lure more money from taxpayers who are already on the hook for the city’s new baseball stadium.

‘Left, Right & Center’: Blah Jobs, Grilling Hagel and Immigration Reform

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Posted on Feb 1, 2013

kcrw.com

Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and the other “Left, Right & Center” panelists discuss the unemployment rates stalling at 7.9 percent while the economy added 335,000 more jobs than originally estimated. Also, Senate Republicans come down hard on Chuck Hagel, defense secretary nominee and former colleague.

They criticized Hagel for positions he had taken on Israel, the Iraq War and the nuclear threat from Iran. Is he too liberal for the Republicans? Obama pledges to put an immigration bill before lawmakers if they don’t come up with one themselves. Will immigration reform finally happen?

Joining Scheer and host Matt Miller is the Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein on the right.

–Adapted from KCRW by Alexander Reed Kelly.

KCRW:

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February 1, 2013  |  

If you go to the “clubs” page on the JuniorShooters.net Web site, the first thing you’ll see is a striking young woman with sandy blonde hair, bright blue eyes, manicured nails and a fashionable jacket peering through the scope of a futuristic-looking Anschutz 8002 air rifle, costing $2,500. She easily could be the envy of other young teens.  

That is exactly the hope of America’s gun manufacturers, which have underwritten a litany of youth shooting initiatives across the country in recent years to entice a new generation of gun buyers by turning to the strongest forces in teenage lives–peer pressure and a desire to act like a grownup.

But the sleek descendants of old-fashioned, single-shot rifles are not the only weapons being put into young hands to cultivate America’s next generation of gun users and buyers. On Junior Shooters’ “Cool Stuff” page are videos, starting with one of another pony-tailed girl hoisting and firing a military-style rifle from the back of a moving pickup truck in an early stage of a firearms obstacle-course contest.

“You got a lot of gun there for a little girl,” an unseen person next to the cameraman blurts out as the truck speeds away. “Ah–yup,” replies a voice.

The girl is seen breaking down doors, shooting at moving targets with handguns and rifles, pulling two guns from holsters on her legs, and jumping from a tower and firing away as she rides a cable and sling carrying her for 50 yards. As she finishes the gauntlet, a small crowd of middle-aged men clap and cheer.

These vistas are windows into a frontline in America’s gun culture that is not before Congress–even as it begins its debate on banning the military-style weapons used in the Sandy Hook school shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six adults. In Congress, one hears the gun lobby’s same talking points that have killed or watered down bills for decades. But inside America’s gun culture, where manufacturers know that young people’s interest in guns is waning (as confirmed by their polling), new and eyebrow-raising efforts are being made to market guns to young teens and children.

“In a saturated market of durable goods, how do you get more buyers?” asked Joan Burbick, author of Gun Show Nation: Gun Culture and American Democracy, stating the industry’s quandry. “This new emphasis, which really started around 2007, to go rather aggressively after young people, pre-18-year-olds, is something new. They have all these problems with their demographics going down, the popularity of sport shooting going down, so where is the next generation going to come from?”

The answer, of course, is to try to make shooting more attractive to young people. But what’s different today is the range of sophisticated weaponry being put in young hands. While the rhetoric of teaching “responsibility, citizenship, marksmanship” is akin to what pro-gun groups like the Boy Scouts espoused for decades, what’s gone mostly unnoticed outside of gun circles is that kids today are not being taught with their dad’s old .22 rifle. Indeed, the Newtown shooter used a mix of handguns and modern rifles, not very different from guns in the videos on JuniorShooters.net’s Cool Stuff page. 

“They are using children to introduce them to a range of weapons as a potential future customer,” said Burbick. “They really have operated as if they have no restraints in the domestic market.”

Beyond the Reach of Law

If you only listened to the National Rifle Association, you would think the gun world was among the most heavily regulated industries. But the opposite is true. Gun makers have not been regulated by any federal agency, consumer or law enforcement, for decades.

A Successor to David Attenborough?

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Posted on Feb 1, 2013

AP/Dan Peled

Sir David Attenborough.

The impending retirement of longtime BBC science personality David Attenborough is prompting discussion over who could replace him in presenting the mysteries and delights of the natural world to the public.

Attenborough nominated fellow Brit and physics professor turned presenter Brian Cox, who declared himself “lost for words” at the compliment. Other suggested candidates include naturalist and photographer Chris Packham, documentary cameraman Simon King, wildlife filmmaker Gordon Buchanan and entomologist and author George McGavin.

TV producer and naturalist Stephen Moss credits the nature of broadcasting during the early decades of Attenborough’s career with making possible a rounded and respected personality like the one he became.

–Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

The Guardian:

“In my view it’s very simple,” says the TV producer and naturalist Stephen Moss. “There’s no successor to David Attenborough, because it’s impossible. When he started there was one channel, and for most of his career there were only three. So you could be ‘David Attenborough’, and command huge audiences. He’s the last survivor of that.”

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Brazilian authorities have closed over 150 unsafe social venues after 236 people died in a nightclub in the southern city of Santa Maria.

On Friday, the lower house of parliament announced plans to set minimum safety standards for nightclubs, restaurants and bars across the country.

Local governments have temporarily shutdown establishments in the capital Brasilia as well as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, the country’s two biggest cities in the southwest.

The death toll from the fire, which occurred in Santa Maria’s Kiss nightclub on Sunday, has risen to 236 with the latest victim being a 20 year-old-man who died in hospital on Friday.

Authorities in Rio de Janeiro found 199 venues with irregularities and closed 127 of them. Police gave club owners 30 days to meet safety standards.

Sixteen nightclubs in Brasilia have also been closed over invalid licenses.

Other Latin American countries, including Venezuela, Nicaragua and Mexico, have followed Brazil’s example, carrying out safety checks on their nightclubs.

Brazil intends to strengthen safety regulations in time for next year’s World Cup that is to be hosted in 12 Brazilian cities.

GVN/MHB

The UN refugee agency says nearly 45,000 displaced Syrians are living in “appalling” conditions in an area of the north of the country held by foreign-backed militants.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday that the displaced people were battling subzero temperatures in makeshift camps in the Azaz area, which is located between the northern city of Aleppo and the border with Turkey.

The agency added that it had delivered 15,000 blankets and 3,000 tents to the displaced Syrians earlier this week within the framework of the “first delivery of winter emergency relief.”

“It is increasingly difficult for people to live in that area because of the low temperatures — winter is very severe,” the BBC quoted UNHCR Director for the Middle East and North Africa Yacoub el-Hillo as saying.

Hillo noted that the delivery of tents and blankets “could not have happened without the Syrian government.”

On January 11, the UNHCR said 100,000 Syrians had left the country over the previous 30 days, and the total number of refugees had topped the 600,000 mark.

It added that a total of 612,134 Syrians had been registered or were in the process of being registered as refugees in neighboring countries and North Africa.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.

And several international human rights organizations say the foreign-sponsored militants have committed war crimes.

KA/HGL

Published in Philadelphia in early 1942, this ‘Outline of (the) Post-War New World Map’, created by Maurice Gomberg, shows a proposal to re-arrange the world after an Allied victory against the Axis forces. Its title refers to a ‘New World Order’, a vague concept, its many definitions often contradicting each other.

At the core of the NWO, however, is always the notion that a small group of powerful individuals, institutions, industries and/or nations must lead the world in the right direction (i.e. towards ‘unification’). This may be against the world’s own will (and therefore done covertly, at least in some versions of the NWO-story), but ultimately it is for its own good.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articlePictures/map1942world1600.jpg

http://strangemaps. files.wordpress. com/2008/ 06/1942world1600 .jpg

One of the most recent references to the NWO by a major political figure was made by US president George Bush (Sr), who explicitly used the NWO to refer to US objectives in a Post-Cold War world. The term has a pedigree much older than the Cold War, or even both World Wars. Some might even say — and now we’re straying somewhat prematurely into the field of conspiracy theory — that it goes all the way back to Roman times, as is attested by the (modified) quote of the Roman poet Virgil on the revers of the US Great Seal and (significantly or not, since 1935) on the back of the dollar bill: Novus Ordo Seclorum — literally: ‘A New Order for the Ages’.

In a modern context, it was the British imperialist Cecil Rhodes (who gave his name to Rhodesia) who first proposed a federal world government to be imposed by the US and the British Empire. US President Woodrow Wilson was inspired by a similar concept to draw up his plans for a League of Nations in the aftermath of World War I. Most fascist regimes in the 20s, 30s and 40s of the twentieth century also proposed some sort of NWO — in fact, most styled themselves to be a ‘New Order’. H.G. Wells — he of ‘War of the Worlds’ — wrote ‘The Open Conspiracy’ (1928) in which he describes his efforts to get intellectuals to back the idea of a World Social Democracy and ‘The New World Order’ (1940), in which he details how a generation of struggle will be necessary to overcome the opponents of such a global government.

The footer of the above map reads as follows:

-The United States of America (USA): the US, Canada, all Central American and Carribean states, most Atlantic islands (including Greenland and Iceland), most Pacific islands, Taiwan, Hainan, the Philippines and several now Indonesian islands, including Sulawesi. This was to be the dominant power in the world, military and otherwise.

-The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR): the Soviets were to be rewarded with Persia (Iran), Mongolia, Manchuria, Finland, and all of Eastern Europe, which subsequently would form part of the Eastern Bloc (excluding Albania, but including the real-life maverick state of Yugoslavia, socialist but anti-Soviet) . All of theses states were simply to become member-states of the USSR. Austria and most of Germany, although ‘quarantained’ are shown within the Soviet sphere.

-The United States of South America (USSA): including all South American states, with the three Guianas as a single constituent state and the Falkland Islands part of the USSA.

-The Union of African Republics (UAR): All of Africa as a federation of republics.

-The Arabian Federated Republics (AFR): covering Saudi and all other states now occupying the Arabian Peninsula, plus present-day Iraq and Syria.

-The Federated Republics of India (FRI): Present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Birma (Myanmar).

-The United Republics of China (URC): A federation including all parts of present-day China, Korea, the erstwhile French colony of Indochina (now Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), Thailand and Malaya.

-The United States of Scandinavia (USS): Norway, Sweden, Denmark.

-The United States of Europe (USE): the Benelux countries, the German Rhineland, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Italy.

-And finally the British Commonwealth of Nations (BCN), including Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and most of Indonesia.

Smaller entities include Eire (the whole of Ireland), Greece (including Albania), Turkey (excluding European Turkey), Hebrewland (the Holy Land plus Jordan) and Japan. The three axis states (Germany, Italy and Japan) were to be ‘quarantained’ until they could be readmitted in the family of nations.

Mr Gomberg possibly took his cue for this map from US president Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose speech about Four Freedoms and a Moral Order (from his State of the Union to the 77-th Congress) he quotes, before outlining his own vision (at the bottom of the map):

“As the USA with the cooperation of the Democracies of Latin-America, the British Commonwealth of Nations and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, assumes world leadership for the establishment of a New World Moral Order for permanent peace, justice, security and world reconstruction.”

“OUR POLICY SHALL BE THIS:

1. We, the U.S.A., in cooperation with our allies, for reasons of our national safety and in the interests of international morality, are determined to crush and completely destroy the military power of the Axis aggressors, and their satellites regardless of cost, effort and time necessary to accomplish this task.

2. The old world order of colonial oppression, exploitation of dominions, rival imperialism and mercenary balance of power diplomacy; of majesties, dictators, privileged minorities, plutocratic monopolists and similar social parasites; the corrupted order responsible for the present world cataclysm, endangering our national safety and peaceful process, shall never rise again.

3. A New World Moral Order for permanent peace and freedom shall be established at the successful conclusion of the present war.

4. For reasons of history, economic structure, favorable geography and the welfare of mankind, the U.S.A. must, altruistically, assume the leadership of the newly established, democratic world order.

5. To reduce the burden and criminal waste of armaments expenditures everywhere in the world, the U.S.A., with the cooperation of Latin-America, the British Commonwealth of Nations, and the U.S.S.R. shall undertake to guarantee peace to the nations which will be permanently disarmed and demilitarized after the conclusion of the present war.

6. In order to be able, in the fulfillment of our obligations, to effectively prevent the possibility of a recurrence of another world cataclysm, the invincibility of the U.S.A. as a military, naval and air power, shall be the major prerequisite.

7. For realistic considerations of strategy and our invulnerability, it is imperative that the U.S.A. shall obtain relinquishment of controls of their possessions from all foreign Powers in the entire Western Hemisphere, it’s surrounding waters and strategic island outposts as outlined on accompanying map.

8. For considerations of hemispheric defense and in the spirit and tradition of the new Monroe Doctrine of hemispheric solidarity and the “Good Neighbor” policy, the U.S.A. with the consent of the Latin-American Republics, shall obtain control and protectorate rights of the relinquished territories.

9. To strengthen our position in the Caribbean area which is of obvious importance to hemispheric defense, all possible inducements shall be offered to our neighbors of Central America and the West Indies to facilitate their entrance as equal states of the U.S.A. as outlined on map.

10. To fortify the politico-economic unity of the Western Hemisphere, the U.S.A. shall promote and assist the unification of South America into a well organized, democratic, federated “United States of South America.”

11. The liberated British, French and Netherlands Guiana shall be reorganized as one state of the U.S.S.A.

12. All Powers shall relinquish their controls of their colonial, mandate and strategic island possessions everywhere in the world.

13. The British Commonwealth of Nations, the second military and naval Power of importance cooperating in a binding compact with the U.S.A. as a Power for freedom, shall retain and acquire control such territories, peace-security bases and strategic islands outposts essential for the maintenance of world peace and freedom as outlines on the map.

14. The U.S.S.R., the third military Power of importance cooperating with the U.S.A. as a Power for freedom and the maintenance of world peace, shall acquire control of the liberated, disorganized adjacent areas and those of Germany-Austria to be re-educated and eventually incorporated as equal republics of the U.S.S.R., as approximately outlined on map.

15. A world League of Nationalities with arbitration and supervision powers shall be organized.

16. A World Court with punitive powers of absolute boycott, quarantine, blockade and occupation by international police, against lawbreakers of international morality shall be organized.

17. The U.S.A. with the close cooperation of the United States of South America, the British Commonwealth of Nations, the U.S.S.R. and the World League of Nationalities, shall promote and assist in the unification of the relinquished territories and the areas at present unsoundly divided into well organized democratic and absolutely demilitarized republics as approximately on the map.

18. The areas known as Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, the island of Corsica, and eventually Italy and the islands of Sardinia and Sicily shall be unified as a demilitarized, federated “United States of Europe.”

19. The areas known as Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Spitsbergen islands shall be unified as a demilitarized, federated “United States of Scandinavia.”

20. The continent of Africa shall be reorganized and unified as a demilitarized, federated “Union of African Republics.”

21. The areas of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Hejas, Aden and Oman, shall be unified as a demilitarized union of “Arabian Federated Republics.”

22. The areas known as India, including Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Burma shall be unified as a demilitarized “federated Republics of India.”

23. The areas known as China, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Thailand, Malaya, Indo-China and Korea, shall be unified as a demilitarized, federated “United Republics of China.”

24. The areas known as Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Crete, Dodecanese and adjacent islands in the Aegean sea shall be unified as a demilitarized “Federal Republic of Greece.”

25. The areas known as Eire and Northern Ireland shall be unified as a demilitarized independent republic of “Eire.”

26. The area of the Holy Land of the ancient Hebrews, at present known as Palestine and Trans-Jordan, and the adjacent requisite regions as outlined on map, for considerations of history and the imperative necessity to alleviate a post war refugee problem, shall be unified as a demilitarized republic of “Hebrewland.”

27. The area known as European Turkey, adjacent to the Dardanelles, sea of Marmora and Bosporus, for considerations of realistic peace strategy shall be placed under joint control of the U.S.S.R. and Turkey.

28. The area known as Turkey shall be a demilitarized independent republic of “Turkey.”

29. All problems of exchange, transfer and repatriation of populations shall be administered by the World League of Nationalities.

30. The criminal perpetrators and their partners in guilt of this hideous war shall be brought to justice and unforgettable punishment administered.

31. All subjects of Japan and all persons of Japanese origin of doubtful loyalty shall be expelled from the entire Western Hemisphere, U.S.A. protectorates and strategic island outposts and their property confiscated for post-war reconstruction needs.

32. All subjects of Germany and Italy and all persons of German and Italian origin known as active supporters of Nazi and fascist ideologies shall be treated similarly.

33. German, Italian, Japanese immigration to the Western Hemisphere, its protectorates and island outposts shall be indefinitely stopped.

34. All persons of German origin in East Prussia and the Rhineland shall be transferred to inner Germany and the regions permanently de-Prussianized.

35. All persons of German, Italian and Japanese origin shall be permanently expelled from their now conquered territories and their property confiscated for post-war construction needs.

36. To cleanse the populations of the defeated Axis aggressors of the intoxication of military chauvinism; to effectuate the removal and destruction of their potential military establishments; to recover the accumulated loot and to re-educate them for their eventual membership in the Family of Nations, the areas of Germany-Austria, Italy and Japan shall be hermetically and indefinitely quarantined and administered by appointed Governors subject to supervision by the world League of Nationalities.

37. All resources, industrial and labor capacity of quarantined areas shall be employed for the post war restoration and reconstruction needs.

38. To reduce the numerical power of the aggressor nations, as a potential military advantage, a Population Control Policy shall be elaborated and applied in the quarantined area.

39. In the New World Moral Order which we seek to establish, besides the essential political freedoms, the following fundamental economic changes are imperative:

(a) Nationalization of all natural resources and equitable distribution of same to all nations…everywhere in the world;

(b) Nationalization of international banking, foreign investments, railroads and power plants….everywhere in the world;

(c) Nationalization of all armaments producing establishments by all military powers;

(d) Federal control of foreign commerce and shipping;

(e) The establishment of a world common monetary system;

(f) World wide limitations of interest rates to a maximum of two percent;

40. To retain the victory and leadership of our united democratic effort….the aim of which is not vengeance or exploitation, but freedom and security to all nations for peaceful progress….the unified “Supreme War Command of the United Nations” at the conclusion of the present war, shall be recognized and transformed into a permanent “Supreme Military and Economic Council” collaborating with the World League of Nationalities in post war construction and to enforce world peace.

41. The “Supreme Military and Economic Council” shall appoint the Governors to administer the quarantined areas until their eventual parole.

For this purposeful beginning we must fight until absolute victory.”

from:
http://strangemaps. wordpress. com/2008/ 06/06/286- the-new-world- moral-map/
1941 Map predicted future …
http://forum. prisonplanet. com/index. php?topic= 57864.msg289305# msg289305

Compare the 1942 Map to the US Commands, which reflect America’s deployment of military might and wars of conquest (Editor of Global Research)

If incorporating personal details into an RFID (radio-frequency identification) chip implanted into a passport or driver’s license may sound like a “smart” alternative to endless lines at the airport and intrusive questioning by securocrats, think again.

Since the late 1990s, corporate grifters have touted the “benefits” of the devilish transmitters as a “convenient” and “cheap” way to tag individual commodities, one that would “revolutionize” inventory management and theft prevention. Indeed, everything from paper towels to shoes, pets to underwear have been “tagged” with the chips. “Savings” would be “passed on” to the consumer. Call it the Wal-Martization of everyday life.

RFID tags are small computer chips connected to miniature antennae that can be fixed to or implanted within physical objects, including human beings. The RFID chip itself contains an Electronic Product Code that can be “read” when a RFID reader emits a radio signal. The chips are divided into two categories, passive or active. A “passive” tag doesn’t contain a battery and its “read” range is variable, from less than an inch to twenty or thirty feet. An “active” tag on the other hand, is self-powered and has a much longer range. The data from an “active” tag can be sent directly to a computer system involved in inventory control—or surveillance.

But as Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) state in a joint position paper, “RFID has the potential to jeopardize consumer privacy, reduce or eliminate purchasing anonymity, and threaten civil liberties.” As these organizations noted:

While there are beneficial uses of RFID, some attributes of the technology could be deployed in ways that threaten privacy and civil liberties:

* Hidden placement of tags. RFID tags can be embedded into/onto objects and documents without the knowledge of the individual who obtains those items. As radio waves travel easily and silently through fabric, plastic, and other materials, it is possible to read RFID tags sewn into clothing or affixed to objects contained in purses, shopping bags, suitcases, and more.

* Unique identifiers for all objects worldwide. The Electronic Product Code potentially enables every object on earth to have its own unique ID. The use of unique ID numbers could lead to the creation of a global item registration system in which every physical object is identified and linked to its purchaser or owner at the point of sale or transfer.

* Massive data aggregation. RFID deployment requires the creation of massive databases containing unique tag data. These records could be linked with personal identifying data, especially as computer memory and processing capacities expand.

* Hidden readers. Tags can be read from a distance, not restricted to line of sight, by readers that can be incorporated invisibly into nearly any environment where human beings or items congregate. RFID readers have already been experimentally embedded into floor tiles, woven into carpeting and floor mats, hidden in doorways, and seamlessly incorporated into retail shelving and counters, making it virtually impossible for a consumer to know when or if he or she was being “scanned.”

* Individual tracking and profiling. If personal identity were linked with unique RFID tag numbers, individuals could be profiled and tracked without their knowledge or consent. For example, a tag embedded in a shoe could serve as a de facto identifier for the person wearing it. Even if item-level information remains generic, identifying items people wear or carry could associate them with, for example, particular events like political rallies. (“Position Statement on the Use of RFID on Consumer Products,” Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, November 14, 2003)

RFID under the skin

As the corporatist police state unfurls its murderous tentacles here in the United States, it should come as no surprise that securocrats breathlessly tout the “benefits” of RFID in the area of “homeland security.” When linked to massive commercial databases as well as those compiled by the 16 separate agencies of the “intelligence community,” such as the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) that feeds the federal government’s surveillance Leviathan with the names of suspected “terrorists,” it doesn’t take a genius to conclude that the architecture for a vast totalitarian enterprise is off the drawing board and onto the streets.

As last week’s mass repression of peaceful protest at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul amply demonstrated, the Bush regime’s “preemptive war” strategy has been rolled out in the heimat. As the World Socialist Web Site reports,

On Wednesday eight members of the anarchist protest group the Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee (RNCWC) were charged under provisions of the Minnesota state version of the Patriot Act with “Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism.”

The eight charged are all young, and could face up to seven-and-a-half years in prison under a provision that allows the enhancement of charges related to terrorism by 50 percent. …

Among other things, the youth, who were arrested last weekend even prior to the start of the convention, are charged with plotting to kidnap delegates to the RNC, assault police officers and attack airports. Almost all of the charges listed are based upon the testimony of police infiltrators, one an officer, the other a paid informant. (Tom Eley, “RNC in Twin Cities: Eight protesters charged with terrorism under Patriot Act,” World Socialist Web Site, 6 September 2008)

As the ACLU pointed out, “These charges are an effort to equate publicly stated plans to blockade traffic and disrupt the RNC as being the same as acts of terrorism. This both trivializes real violence and attempts to place the stated political views of the defendants on trial,” said Bruce Nestor, president of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. “The charges represent an abuse of the criminal justice system and seek to intimidate any person organizing large scale public demonstrations potentially involving civil disobedience,” he said.

An affidavit filed by the cops in order to allow the preemptive police raid and subsequent arrests declared that the RNCWC is a “criminal enterprise” strongly implying that the group of anarchist youth were members of a “terrorist organization.”

Which, as we have learned over these last seven and a half years of darkness, is precisely the point: keep ‘em scared and passive. And when they’re neither scared nor passive, resort to police state tactics of mass repression. While the cops beat and arrested demonstrators and journalists outside the Xcel Energy Center, neanderthal-like Republican mobs chanted “USA! USA!” while the execrable theocratic fascist, Sarah Palin, basked in the limelight. But I digress…

Likened to barcodes that scan items at the grocery store check-out line, what industry flacks such as the Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility (AIM) fail to mention in their propaganda about RFID is that the information stored on a passport or driver’s license is readily stolen by anyone with a reader device—marketers, security agents, criminals or stalkers—without the card holder even being remotely aware that they are being tracked and their allegedly “secure” information plundered. According to a blurb on the AIM website,

Automatic Identification and Mobility (AIM) technologies are a diverse family of technologies that share the common purpose of identifying, tracking, recording, storing and communicating essential business, personal, or product data. In most cases, AIM technologies serve as the front end of enterprise software systems, providing fast and accurate collection and entry of data. (“Technologies,” Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility, no date)

Among the “diverse family of technologies” touted by AIM, many are rife with “dual-use” potential, that is, the same technology that can keep track of a pallet of soft drinks can also keep track of human beings.

Indeed, the Association touts biometric identification as “an automated method of recognizing a person based on a physiological or behavioral characteristic.” This is especially important since “the need” for biometrics “can be found in federal, state and local governments, in the military, and in commercial applications.” When used as a stand-alone or in conjunction with RFID-chipped “smart cards” biometrics, according to the industry “are set to pervade nearly all aspects of the economy and our daily lives.”

Some “revolution.”

The industry received a powerful incentive from the state when the Government Services Administration (GSA), a Bushist satrapy, issued a 2004 memo that urged the heads of all federal agencies “to consider action that can be taken to advance the [RFID] industry.”

An example of capitalist “ingenuity” or another insidious invasion of our right to privacy? In 2006, IBM obtained a patent that will be used for tracking and profiling consumers as they move around a store, even if access to commercial databases are strictly limited.

And when it comes tracking and profiling human beings, say for mass extermination at the behest of crazed Nazi ideologues, IBM stands alone. In his groundbreaking 2001 exploration of the enabling technologies for the mass murder of Jews, communists, Roma and gays and lesbians, investigative journalist Edwin Black described in IBM and the Holocaust how, beginning in 1933, IBM and their subsidiaries created technological “solutions” that streamlined the identification of “undesirables” for quick and efficient asset confiscation, deportation, slave labor and eventual annihilation.

In an eerie echo of polices being enacted today against Muslims and left-wing “extremists” by the corrupt Bush regime in their quixotic quest to “keep America safe” in furtherance of capitalist and imperialist goals of global domination, Black writes:

In the upside-down world of the Holocaust, dignified professionals were Hitler’s advance troops. Police officials disregarded their duty in favor of protecting villains and persecuting victims. Lawyers perverted concepts of justice to create anti-Jewish laws. Doctors defiled the art of medicine to perpetrate ghastly experiments and even choose who was healthy enough to be worked to death—and who could be cost-effectively sent to the gas chamber. Scientists and engineers debased their higher calling to devise the instruments and rationales of destruction. And statisticians used their little known but powerful discipline to identify the victims, project and rationalize the benefits of their destruction, organize their persecution, and even audit the efficiency of genocide. Enter IBM and its overseas subsidiaries. (IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation, New York: Crown Publishers, 2001, pp. 7-8)

As security and privacy analyst Katherine Albrecht writes describing IBM’s patented “Identification and Tracking of Persons Using RFID-Tagged Items in Store Environments,”

…chillingly details RFID’s potential for surveillance in a world where networked RFID readers called “person tracking units” would be incorporated virtually everywhere people go—in “shopping malls, airports, train stations, bus stations, elevators, trains, airplanes, restrooms, sports arenas, libraries, theaters, [and] museums”—to closely monitor people’s movements. (“How RFID Tags Could Be Used to Track Unsuspecting People,” Scientific American, August 21, 2008)

According to the patent cited by Albrecht, as an individual moves around a store, or a city center, an “RFID tag scanner located [in the desired tracking location]… scans the RFID tags on [a] person…. As that person moves around the store, different RFID tag scanners located throughout the store can pick up radio signals from the RFID tags carried on that person and the movement of that person is tracked based on these detections…. The person tracking unit may keep records of different locations where the person has visited, as well as the visitation times.”

Even if no personal data are stored in the RFID tag, this doesn’t present a problem IBM explains, because “the personal information will be obtained when the person uses his or her credit card, bank card, shopper card or the like.” As Albrecht avers, the link between the unique RFID number and a person’s identity “needs to be made only once for the card to serve as a proxy for the person thereafter.” With the wholesale introduction of RFID chipped passports and driver’s licenses, the capitalist panoptic state is quickly—and quietly—falling into place.

If America’s main trading partner and sometime geopolitical rival in the looting of world resources, China, is any indication of the direction near future surveillance technologies are being driven by the “miracle of the market,” the curtain on privacy and individual rights is rapidly drawing to a close. Albrecht writes,

China’s national ID cards, for instance, are encoded with what most people would consider a shocking amount of personal information, including health and reproductive history, employment status, religion, ethnicity and even the name and phone number of each cardholder’s landlord. More ominous still, the cards are part of a larger project to blanket Chinese cities with state-of-the-art surveillance technologies. Michael Lin, a vice president for China Public Security Technology, a private company providing the RFID cards for the program, unflinchingly described them to the New York Times as “a way for the government to control the population in the future.” And even if other governments do not take advantage of the surveillance potential inherent in the new ID cards, ample evidence suggests that data-hungry corporations will.

I would disagree with Albrecht on one salient point: governments, particularly the crazed, corporate-controlled grifters holding down the fort in Washington, most certainly will take advantage of RFID’s surveillance potential.

In 2005 for example, the Senate Republican High Tech Task force praised RFID applications as “exciting new technologies” with “tremendous promise for our economy.” In this spirit, they vowed to “protect” RFID from regulation and legislation. Needless to say, the track record of timid Democrats is hardly any better when it comes to defending privacy rights or something as “quaint” as the Constitution.

Under conditions of a looming economic meltdown, rising unemployment, staggering debt, the collapse of financial markets and continuing wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. imperialism, in order to shore up its crumbling empire, will continue to import totalitarian methods of rule employed in its “global war on terror” onto the home front.

The introduction of RFID-chipped passports and driver’s licenses for the mass surveillance and political repression of the American people arises within this context.

Tom Burghardt is a researcher and activist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to publishing in Covert Action Quarterly, Love & Rage and Antifa Forum, he is the editor of Police State America: U.S. Military “Civil Disturbance” Planning, distributed by AK Press.

[h/t David at VideoCafe]

On Wednesday, Gayle Trotter of the Independent Women’s Forum gave some bizarre testimony about how young moms just love AR-15s because they’re scary and serve a great purpose when five or six gunmen burst in the house with malevolent intentions.

As it turns out, Trotter has made other statements since the Newtown massacre as well, mostly in support of the NRA’s contention that more guards in schools will somehow magically solve the problem.

Her editorial for Fox News chides people for having any objection to armed guards in schools. “Gun-rights opponents have begun scoffing at the notion of armed guards in our children’s schools,” she writes, and then goes on to say that “doesn’t prevent the gun-rights opponent-in-chief from relying on a government-provided security detail to protect his own children.”

Yes, well. This is all very easy for Trotter to say, because she doesn’t send her six children to public school. No, her children go to to Beauvoir School in Washington DC, where tuition is $31,250 per year, per child. (I hope there’s a group discount.) One of the “perks” of attending Beauvoir School? Armed guards patrolling the grounds, evidently.

Ms. Trotter really chose an unfortunate cause to champion alongside her hero, Wayne LaPierre, because that particular school had a terrible experience with an armed guard who was responsible for guarding that school and others in the area. This shooting did not happen on school grounds, but it does remind us that an armed guard isn’t any more mentally and emotionally stable than anyone else.

A police standoff involving an armed man and a hostage, who was a teacher at the Beauvoir School in the District and apparently his estranged girlfriend, ended with the two of them fatally shot in her Montgomery Village home this weekend, Montgomery County police said yesterday.

[…]The assailant was identified as Michael K. Wilson of Hagerstown, a private security guard employed by Washington National Cathedral in Northwest Washington. The woman, who had recently purchased the house on Vineyard Haven, was identified as Catherine Brown, a first-grade teacher at the Beauvoir School, an elementary school on the cathedral grounds. Brown was to have begun her second year at the school tomorrow.

Beauvoir was one of the facilities Wilson patrolled, according to cathedral officials, along with St. Albans School for Boys and the National Cathedral School for Girls.

“He’s been a highly regarded employee of our police department for about four years,” said Kathleen Cullen, spokeswoman for the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation. “This is a shock for everybody.”

Tragic. And as we’ve seen again and again, guns (and the people who carry them) often cause more problems than they prevent.

February 1, 2013  |  

The divorce rate is high. Internet dating has killed romance. And we are all going to die alone.

But it might not have to be that way, says Oxford ethicist Brian Earp and colleagues Anders Sandberg and Julian Savulescu. Not if couples start taking ecstasy, that is. So-called love-inducing drugs like oxytocin and MDMA could be the answer to a commitment-averse culture, Earp tells Ross Andersen at the Atlantic:

If you look at this in the context of evolutionary biology, you realize that in order to maximize the survival of their genes, parents need to have emotional systems that keep them together until their children are sufficiently grown… [but] since we now outlive our ancestors by decades, the evolved pair-bonding instincts upon which modern relationships are built often break down or dissolve long before “death do us part.”

We see this in the high divorce rates and long term relationship break up rates in countries where both partners enjoy freedom – especially economic freedom. We are simply not built to pull off decades-long relationships in the modern world.

If a lasting, drug-induced commitment to a lackluster partner doesn’t sound personally appealing, do it for the kids, Earp argues. Despite ample evidence that suggests couples who separate amicably can go on to raise healthy, happy kids in single-parent households, Earp still favors the two-parent model:

Imagine a couple that is thinking about breaking up or getting a divorce, but they have young children who would likely be harmed by their parents’ separation. In this situation, there are vulnerable third parties involved, and we have argued that parents have a responsibility – all else being equal – to preserve and enhance their relationships for the sake of their children, at least until the children have matured and can take care of themselves…

If love drugs ever become safely and cheaply available; if they could be shown to improve love, commitment, and marital well-being – and thereby lessen the chance (or the need) for divorce; if other interventions had been tried and failed; and if side-effects or other complications could be minimized, then we think that some couples might have an obligation to give them a try.

And if propping up an otherwise failing relationship through pharmacology sounds ethically dubious to you, Earp has an answer ready. He is an ethicist, after all:

As it is the parent taking the drug, voluntarily and under conditions of informed consent, and so long as this drug-based treatment had a reasonable chance of improving her ability to care for her own offspring, there would seem to be little to worry about in terms of ethics. Some people might be concerned that this drug-induced “love” would be inauthentic in some way — but it depends on what you take as your baseline. Perhaps the authentic situation is the one in which feelings of love and contentment occur naturally between the parent and the child, and it is only a disordered biochemical state that brought about the apathy actually felt by the mother…

It’s often said that you don’t have an obligation to love someone, usually based on the idea that it is impossible to voluntarily control our emotions. But if love drugs make such control more possible, then there might be some loves that should be felt.

February 1, 2013  |  

“The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013,”  by the World Economic Forum, is t he latest annual ranking of 144 countries, on a wide range of factors related to global economic competitiveness .

On each of their many rankings, #1 represents the best nation, and #144 represents the worst nation.

Gross Domestic Product is the only factor where the U.S. ranks as #1, which we do both on “GDP” and on “GDP as a Share of World GDP.”

Health Care has the U.S. ranking #34 on “Life Expectancy,” and #41 on “Infant Mortality.”

Education in the U.S. is also mediocre. On “Quality of Primary Education,” we are #38. On “Primary Education Enrollment Rate,” we are #58. On “Quality of the Educational System,” we are #28. On “Quality of Math and Science Education,” we are #47. On “Quality of Scientific Research Institutions,” we are #6. On “PCT [Patent Cooperation Treaty] Patent Applications [per-capita],” we are #12. On “Firm-Level Technology Absorption” (which is an indicator of business-acceptance of inventions), we are #14.

Trust is likewise only moderately high in the U.S. We rank #10 on “Willingness to Delegate Authority,” #42 on “Cooperation in Labor-Management Relations,” and #18 in “Degree of Customer Orientation” of firms.

Corruption is apparently a rather pervasive problem in the U.S.

On “Diversion of Public Funds [due to corruption],” the U.S. ranks #34. On “Public Trust in Politicians,” we are #54. On “Irregular Payments and Bribes,” we are #42. On “Judicial Independence,” we are #38. On “Favoritism in Decisions of Government Officials” (otherwise known as governmental cronyism), we are #59.

On “Organized Crime,” we are #87. On “Ethical Behavior of Firms,” we are #29. On “Reliability of Police Services,” we are #30. On “Transparency of Governmental Policymaking,” we are #56. On “Efficiency of Legal Framework in Challenging Regulations,” we are #37. On “Efficiency of Legal Framework in Settling Disputes,” we are #35. On “Burden of Government Regulation,” we are #76. On “Wastefulness of Government Spending,” we are also #76. On “Property Rights” protection (the basic law-and-order measure), we are #42.

Investors find somewhat shaky ground in the U.S.

On “Strength of Investor Protection,” we are #5. On “Protection of Minority Shareholders’ Interests,” we are #33. On “Efficacy of Corporate Boards,” we are #23. On “Reliance on Professional Management,” we are #19. On “Strength of Auditing and Reporting Standards,” we are #37. On “Venture Capital Availability,” we are #10. On “Intellectual Property Protection,” we are #29. On “Soundness of Banks,” we are #80. On “Regulation of Securities Exchanges,” we are #39. On “Country Credit Rating,” we are #11. On “Government Debt [as a % of GDP],” we are #136. On “Effectiveness of Anti-Monopoly Policy,” we are #17. On “Extent of Market Dominance,” we are #9.

Technology is moderately good here. The U.S. ranks #14 on “Availability of Latest Technologies,” #24 on “Internet Access in Schools,” #20 on “Internet Users [%],” #33 on “Internet Bandwidth [per user],” and #8 on “Mobile Broadband Subscriptions [%].”

Infrastructure is fairly good in the U.S. We rank #25 on “Quality of Overall Infrastructure,” #33 on “Quality of Electricity Supply,” #30 on “Quality of Air Transport Infrastructure,” #19 on “Quality of Port Infrastructure,” and #20 on “Quality of Roads.”

Taxes also definitely don’t qualify as being good in the U.S. We rank #69 on “Extent and Effect of Taxation,” in which the “Effect” that’s considered is reducing the “incentives to work or invest.” We are #103 on “Total Tax Rate,” #47 on “Number of Procedures Required to Start a Business” (which is an indirect tax), and #50 on “Prevalence of Trade Barriers” (both tariff and non-tariff).

February 1, 2013  |  

“The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013,”  by the World Economic Forum, is t he latest annual ranking of 144 countries, on a wide range of factors related to global economic competitiveness .

On each of their many rankings, #1 represents the best nation, and #144 represents the worst nation.

Gross Domestic Product is the only factor where the U.S. ranks as #1, which we do both on “GDP” and on “GDP as a Share of World GDP.”

Health Care has the U.S. ranking #34 on “Life Expectancy,” and #41 on “Infant Mortality.”

Education in the U.S. is also mediocre. On “Quality of Primary Education,” we are #38. On “Primary Education Enrollment Rate,” we are #58. On “Quality of the Educational System,” we are #28. On “Quality of Math and Science Education,” we are #47. On “Quality of Scientific Research Institutions,” we are #6. On “PCT [Patent Cooperation Treaty] Patent Applications [per-capita],” we are #12. On “Firm-Level Technology Absorption” (which is an indicator of business-acceptance of inventions), we are #14.

Trust is likewise only moderately high in the U.S. We rank #10 on “Willingness to Delegate Authority,” #42 on “Cooperation in Labor-Management Relations,” and #18 in “Degree of Customer Orientation” of firms.

Corruption is apparently a rather pervasive problem in the U.S.

On “Diversion of Public Funds [due to corruption],” the U.S. ranks #34. On “Public Trust in Politicians,” we are #54. On “Irregular Payments and Bribes,” we are #42. On “Judicial Independence,” we are #38. On “Favoritism in Decisions of Government Officials” (otherwise known as governmental cronyism), we are #59.

On “Organized Crime,” we are #87. On “Ethical Behavior of Firms,” we are #29. On “Reliability of Police Services,” we are #30. On “Transparency of Governmental Policymaking,” we are #56. On “Efficiency of Legal Framework in Challenging Regulations,” we are #37. On “Efficiency of Legal Framework in Settling Disputes,” we are #35. On “Burden of Government Regulation,” we are #76. On “Wastefulness of Government Spending,” we are also #76. On “Property Rights” protection (the basic law-and-order measure), we are #42.

Investors find somewhat shaky ground in the U.S.

On “Strength of Investor Protection,” we are #5. On “Protection of Minority Shareholders’ Interests,” we are #33. On “Efficacy of Corporate Boards,” we are #23. On “Reliance on Professional Management,” we are #19. On “Strength of Auditing and Reporting Standards,” we are #37. On “Venture Capital Availability,” we are #10. On “Intellectual Property Protection,” we are #29. On “Soundness of Banks,” we are #80. On “Regulation of Securities Exchanges,” we are #39. On “Country Credit Rating,” we are #11. On “Government Debt [as a % of GDP],” we are #136. On “Effectiveness of Anti-Monopoly Policy,” we are #17. On “Extent of Market Dominance,” we are #9.

Technology is moderately good here. The U.S. ranks #14 on “Availability of Latest Technologies,” #24 on “Internet Access in Schools,” #20 on “Internet Users [%],” #33 on “Internet Bandwidth [per user],” and #8 on “Mobile Broadband Subscriptions [%].”

Infrastructure is fairly good in the U.S. We rank #25 on “Quality of Overall Infrastructure,” #33 on “Quality of Electricity Supply,” #30 on “Quality of Air Transport Infrastructure,” #19 on “Quality of Port Infrastructure,” and #20 on “Quality of Roads.”

Taxes also definitely don’t qualify as being good in the U.S. We rank #69 on “Extent and Effect of Taxation,” in which the “Effect” that’s considered is reducing the “incentives to work or invest.” We are #103 on “Total Tax Rate,” #47 on “Number of Procedures Required to Start a Business” (which is an indirect tax), and #50 on “Prevalence of Trade Barriers” (both tariff and non-tariff).

Submitted by John W. Traphagan via The Diplomat,

Japan is faced with an unprecedented population challenge that will have social, economic, and political consequences for years to come.

Last August, I wrote an article for The Diplomat  that discussed some of the issues Japan is facing in relation to population decline. As I noted, the population has dropped for three years in a row. Recently, the Japanese government announced that the population decrease for 2012 is expected to be 212,000–a new record–while the number of births is expected to have fallen by 18,000 to 1,033,000–also a record low. Projections by the Japanese government indicate that if the current trend continues, the population of Japan will decline from its current 127.5 million to 116.6 million in 2030, and 97 million in 2050. This is truly astonishing and puts Japan at the forefront of uncharted demographic territory; but it is territory that many other industrial countries also are beginning to enter as well. 

Predicting the consequences of Japan’s demographic shift is difficult.  And it is important to remember that these are projections; it seems to me unlikely that this trend will continue for the next century without some sort of intervening political, cultural, or economic factors that generate increased immigration or more robust fertility rates. Indeed, there have been modest–very modest–increases in the number of foreign residents in Japan over the past twenty years, with a little over twice the number today (2,134,151) as compared to 1990 (1,075,317). Many towns have developed international centers where opportunities are developed and supported, creating contexts for interactions between local residents and foreigners such as a monthly English dinner hosted in the town where I have done fieldwork for several years. 

Government officials have often explained to me that one of the goals of these initiatives is to create contexts in which Japanese people can interact, and thus become more comfortable with, foreigners. The widespread presence of foreign English teachers supported through the JET program and other English language programs has also meant that, unlike forty for fifty years ago, most younger Japanese have grown up regularly interacting with individuals from other countries.  At the same time, there has been some immigration of women from other Asian countries, such as the Philippines, into rural parts of Japan for the purpose of marrying men who otherwise would have had difficulties finding a wife among the native population. These developments may allow for increased openness to immigration in the future, although for the most part, the Japanese government has remained lukewarm, at best, when it comes to allowing any significant increase in the number of permanent residents or immigrants. Naturalized Japanese citizenship remains difficult to obtain. 

While predicting the future of these demographic trends is difficult, the causes are at least somewhat decipherable.  The proximate cause of population decline in Japan are fairly clear: a low fertility combined with increased life expectancy has led to a population structure that is increasingly weighted towards older members of society. Currently there are significantly fewer people under 30 than there are between the ages of 30 and 60. As the population of middle-aged individuals grows older and dies, there will be far fewer people remaining behind.  In other words, the current middle-aged generation of Japanese has failed to replace itself. The question, of course, is why?

Various studies of demographic change in Japan have linked declining fertility to other changing social factors such as increased education, delayed marriage age, more economic opportunities for women, and the expense of raising children in modern, urban societies.  All of these have played a role in reducing fertility over the past few decades. In addition, beyond delayed marriage many Japanese have chosen not to marry and, as a result, not have children. According to the 2010 census, 30% of all households in Japan were single, representing the largest category of household composition in the country. A significant portion of these households were widows over the age of 65. At the same time, a not insignificant portion were women and men in both early adulthood and middle-age who have simply chosen to not get married. In a society like Japan where child-birth out of wedlock is stigmatized, the decision not to marry also normally means that one has chosen not to have children.

Indeed, there are many women in Japan today in their forties and fifties who have opted for a career over marriage and child-rearing. In Japan, social pressures make it difficult for women to manage a career while also raising a family. Furthermore, recent trends suggest that both men and women are increasingly uncertain about the value of marriage and having a family. A government survey of people between the ages of 18 and 34 in 2011 showed that over 61% of unmarried men among those surveyed lacked a girlfriend and 49.5% unmarried women had no boyfriend, the latter being a new record. Forty percent of respondents indicated that there was no need to marry and 45% of men showed no interest in These results, which represented significant increases over the same type of survey conducted in previous years, have raised concerns that the population problem Japan is facing will not change in the foreseeable future. 

The consequences of changing attitudes about marriage and gender roles and associated low fertility are considerable. One problem that has arisen is that many single women are living on very low incomes and have joined the ranks of the poor. Recent research has shown that 1 in 3 single women of working age in Japan qualify as poor and that the number of poor women in Japan is likely to increase; by 2030 it is projected that 1 in 5 women in Japan will be single. Many of these women may well be living in some level of poverty. 

Another problem Japan faces is that the general low fertility rate means there are not enough younger people paying into the national pension program, and this will cause increasing strain on government coffers as the proportion of elderly (currently about 23% of the population is over 65) continues to grow. 

Finally, the decline of the population over the next few decades, and the shortage of young people in particular, will have a significant impact on the Japanese labor force. Questions related to how to maintain economic growth–an issue that has been at the forefront of thinking about the country for the past twenty years, due to a generally sluggish economy–with a decreasing population are both complex and on the minds of policymakers. One obvious solution to this would be for Japan to relax immigration policies and allow for more workers, particularly healthcare workers, to enter the country. As noted above, to date this has not been a particularly palatable solution, but this may well change as younger Japanese, with regular experience and interactions with foreigners, move into positions of power and guide policy.

An alternative to this social-centered solution of increased immigration has been raised in recent years.  Rather than relaxing immigration laws, some have proposed increasing investment in robotics as a means of addressing the conflict of a shortfall of labor with the need for workers. This idea has been raised particularly in relation to elder care, where demand for workers has increased rapidly with the promulgation of the longer term care insurance program in 2001 and the continued growth of the elderly population. It may well be that a technological solution to Japan’s population problem will be seen as preferable to other possible solutions.

Obviously, only time will tell. But Japan is faced with an unprecedented population challenge that will have social, economic, and political consequences over the next century–consequences that will not only affect Japan, but also influence Japan’s trading partners as well as its political and military allies. 

There is, perhaps, no single variable in the complex web of East Asian politics more uncertain in terms of how it may influence future relations throughout the region than the fate of Japan’s population, because the manner in which that population changes over the next several decades is both difficult to predict and likely to have a profound influence in shaping the regional role Japan is able to play as a political, cultural, and economic power.

Screenshot from YouTube user DannyAyalon

A tourism advertisement produced by the Israeli Foreign Ministry was banned before it could be released, as it showed the CGI destruction of the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim holy site.

­The video features Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon speaking in front of the mosque, when it collapses — and from its ruins rises King Solomon’s Temple, meant to postulate the presence of Judaism in the region before Islam.

The ad was aimed to promote tourism in Jerusalem, which Israel considers to be its capital despite international near-consensus that the country’s capital is Tel Aviv. In the clip, Ayalon describes the Jewish history of the city and shows off its cultural sights.

It is the fourth in a series of films publicized by the deputy foreign minister and the Foreign Ministry’s public outreach department.

In the original version, Ayalon attempts to show Jerusalem’s ancient Jewish roots by placing a virtual temple atop the crumbling mosque, the Times of Israel reports.

Foreign Ministry officials decided to replace the scene with a dissolving rather than destroyed mosque, expressing fears that a depiction of the mosque’s destruction could cause discontent among Muslims.

The film was banned from official release and was uploaded only onto Ayalon’s Youtube Channel.

However, the film was denounced as part of the Israeli government’s agenda of destroying the Arab-Islamic identity of Jerusalem.

Ikrima Sabri, the head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem, said in a press statement that the ad is “a part of the [Israeli] occupation plans to reveal its hostile intentions towards the holy shrine,” Al Arabiya reports. 

According to Sabri, “the ad film shows that targeting the shrine is no longer limited to the extremist Jewish groups and that it is now vulnerable to many threats.”

It’s not the first time Palestinians have voiced concerns about about Israel’s policy towards Muslim cultural heritage in Jerusalem.

The Dome of the Rock is a highly revered shrine for Muslims, among whom it is also known Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary. Located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, Muslims believe it commemorates the Prophet Mohammed’s miraculous night journey into heaven.

It was constructed on the site of the First Temple built under Solomon, King of the Israelites, which was replaced by the Second Temple, destroyed during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. Jewish eschatology includes a belief that the Second Temple will in turn be replaced by a future Third Temple.

Previously there have been other scandals connected with the mosque. There were allegations during the Israeli elections earlier in the year that Knesset candidate Jeremy Gimpel publicly called for the destruction of the Dome of the Rock.

The Dome of the Rock (screenshot from YouTube user DannyAyalon)

King Solomon’s Temple (screenshot from YouTube user DannyAyalon)

One person has been killed and dozens injured during clashes between police and protesters in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

Egypt’s health ministry said a 23-year-old man died after being shot in the chest and forehead on Friday. Some 53 people were wounded in protests that took place across the country, mainly in Cairo.

Demonstrators are demanding the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

Youths threw petrol bombs and shot fireworks at the outer wall of President Morsi’s Cairo presidential compound as night fell.

Police responded by firing water cannon and tear gas leading to skirmishes in the surrounding streets.

The president has warned his security forces will act with “utmost decisiveness” to protect state buildings following the clashes outside the presidential palace.

The trouble there follows anger on the streets of Port Said where thousands protested to mark the first anniversary of a football stadium riot that left 74 people dead.

The renewed violence brought an end to a few days of calm after the deadliest week of Mr Morsi’s seven months in power.

Protests marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak have killed nearly 60 people since January 25, prompting the head of the army to warn this week that the state was on the verge of collapse.

There were also scuffles earlier near Cairo’s central Tahrir Square, where police fired tear gas at stone-throwing youths. In Alexandria, protesters blocked roads, staged a sit-in on the railway and tried to break into the TV and radio building.

The protesters accuse President Morsi of betraying the spirit of the revolution by concentrating too much power in his own hands and those of his Muslim Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood accuses the opposition of trying to overthrow the first democratically elected leader in Egypt’s 5,000-year history.

We previously explained the obvious similarities (with stocks, bonds, and leveraged positions) with the current period in the market and the end of 2010 and start of 2011 period. Much is once again being made of the ‘flows’ as $18.8bn (the 3rd largest on record – since 1992) pushed into equities. Retail also bought long-only equities for the fourth straight week ($2.7bn), and $12.2bn was added via ETFs, but the significance of the flows has triggered a “sell” signal for the traders at BofAML. The last time such a sell-signal was triggered was, ironically, late January 2011 – which was followed by an 8% correction. Their Global Flow Trading Rule (based on flows breaking 0.5% of AUM) on average has led to a 5% correction in global stocks over the subsequent 4-5 weeks. Different, this time?

Photo by Russian Geographical Society (www.rgo.ru)

Russian researchers have reached the bottom of Labynkyr, one of the coldest lakes on Earth, popularly known as the Russian Loch Ness for the legend of it being inhabited by a cryptozoological monster. Guinness World Records took note of unique dive.

­-71 Celsius (-96 F) is how low temperatures can get in the Siberian village of Oymyakon in Yakutia, home to lake Labynkyr. Located in a ‘Pole of Cold’, one of three places on Earth with the coldest air temperatures, it welcomed the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society with a relatively ‘mild’ -45 C (-49 F).

One of the crew of ten, Viktor Ozarenko, optimistically noted in his FB: “It’s warm in Oymyakon, just -45 C, can’t wait to swim”.

The man who actually carried out the historic plunge was, however, the leader of the group, Dmitry Shiller. The diving pioneer gave his reasons for wanting to go: “By now almost all the land on earth has been studied, but terra firma is only 30% of the planet! I’m sure there are a lot of secrets under water, so that’s where all of the science will go in the near future”.

Photo by Russian Geographical Society (www.rgo.ru)

Labynkyr has long been a research attraction for its anomalies. It freezes much slower than other lakes nearby and it has a huge crack at the bottom, where the lake’s average depth of 52 meters increases to 75-80.

That’s where Dmitry eventually went. Water in the lake was -2 C (-28 F), much warmer than -45 C of the air, which was nevertheless little relief to the diver, who also had to carry out some scientific work under water.

Dmitry managed to take footage of the lake bottom, took samples of water, flora and fauna, something no one has ever done there before. Previous attempts to explore Labynkyr were only made with the help of robots or echo sounders.

There’s also a mysterious side to the lake. Popular legend says it’s inhabited by a monster nicknamed ‘the Labynkyr devil’. The 1953 Soviet expedition to Oymyakon contributed to the myth of Nessie’s Russian brother, after Viktor Tverdokhlebov, the head of the Siberia geological unit of the USSR’s Academy of Science, said he saw the creature. He described the episode in his diary: “…There was some kind of an animal….

As it approached, I grew overwhelmed by a strange consternation, freezing me inside. A dark grey oval bulk was seen in the water. On it were two symmetrical white spots, looking like eyes of an animal, and something like a stick poked out of it… Maybe a fin? We only saw a little part of the animal, but could guess a huge solid body under water. No doubt, that was a predator, one of the strongest in the world”. 

Researchers of the Russian Geographical Society did not encounter the legendary monster though. But still what they did see was unique, and according to the expedition supervisor Tatiana Nefyodova, the Guinness World Records is interested. Evidence for registering “the first ever winter aqualung dive in a cold pole natural body of water (Oymyakon, Yakutia)” is now being gathered.

Photo by Russian Geographical Society (www.rgo.ru)

Photo by Russian Geographical Society (www.rgo.ru)

Photo by Russian Geographical Society (www.rgo.ru)

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has expressed hope that new US Secretary of State John Kerry would contribute to softening Washington’s policies towards Iran.

“I hope that … he (Kerry) would at least rectify part of the US government’s anti-Iranian stance and policies,” Salehi said on Friday.

The Iranian minister also called on Kerry to “reform oppressive, incorrect and costly approaches by the US government” in a bid to “contribute to reducing human and financial costs inflicted by the US foreign policy on the American and regional nations.”

Salehi noted that Kerry is a veteran US politician with a good knowledge of the Middle East region.

“I wish he would understand the facts and realities [about Iran] in his new responsibility,” the Iranian minister said.

On Tuesday, the US Senate approved John Kerry as the next secretary of state by a wide majority.

Kerry, who assumed office on Friday, had represented Massachusetts in the US Senate since 1985 after being elected to five terms.

Kerry, who is a Vietnam War veteran, has been a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 28 years and chaired it for four years.

On January 25, he said diplomacy remained a viable option with the Islamic Republic.

He promised to give diplomacy every effort to settle the ongoing dispute over Iran’s peaceful nuclear energy program.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that the Iranian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

KA/MHB

Ed Koch’s ‘Last Word’

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Posted on Feb 1, 2013

Screenshot via The New York Times

Former New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch, who has been referred to as “the quintessential New Yorker,” died of congestive heart failure early Friday morning at a Manhattan hospital. He was 88.

The New York Times:

His political odyssey took him from independent-minded liberal to pragmatic conservative, from street-corner hustings with a little band of reform Democrats in Greenwich Village to the pinnacle of power as the city’s 105th mayor from Jan. 1, 1978, to Dec. 31, 1989. Along the way, he put an end to the career of the Tammany boss Carmine G. De Sapio and served two years as a councilman and nine more in Congress representing, with distinction, the East Side of Manhattan.

With his trademark – “How’m I doin’?” – Mr. Koch stood at subway entrances on countless mornings wringing the hands and votes of constituents, who elected him 21 times in 26 years, with only three defeats: a forgettable 1962 state Assembly race; a memorable 1982 primary in a race for governor won by Mario Cuomo; and a last Koch hurrah, a Democratic primary in 1989 won by David Dinkins, who would be his one-term successor.

Read more

After Koch’s death, The New York Times released a candid interview conducted in 2007 that was “not meant to be made public” until he died. In the interview, the three-term mayor discussed his life, his political career and how he hoped to be remembered.

Among the topics Koch talked about was the ugly 1977 mayoral campaign between himself and Mario Cuomo. Koch, who ultimately won the race, said he had never forgiven his political rival for posters featuring the slogan, “Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo,” which were put up all along Queens Boulevard.

In fact, 30 years after the fact Koch still had some pretty harsh words for Cuomo. “Even though social relationships when we meet in public are good, underneath, he knows that I know what I’m thinking–‘you prick,’ ” Koch told The New York Times. 

–Posted by Tracy Bloom.

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February 1, 2013  |  

The Anti-Defamation League bills itself, and is typically seen by many in the mainstream Jewish community and beyond, as the “nation’s premier civil rights/human relations agency.”[1] In fact, the ADL’s conduct over the years is at odds with this one-dimensional view of the group as a long-time champion of civil liberties. The ADL mission statement, for instance, describes it as a group that “fights all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all.”[2] Yet, a record going back decades shows something very different, including a shift “from civil rights monitoring to espionage and intelligence gathering.”[3] Mistrust of the ADL among those concerned about civil and human rights has deep roots.

In the 1970s, the ADL, which had been tracking neo-Nazis and other right-wing U.S. groups, began to also focus on critics of Israeli policies.[4] Since the 1970s, the ADL and its chapters have issued numerous publications to expose alleged “Arab propaganda” on university campuses and to silence and intimidate Arab Americans and others who did not share their perspective on Israel.[5] Branding any criticism of Israel as “anti-Semitism,” ADL publications like Pro-Arab Propaganda in America: Vehicles and Voices, a Handbook (1983) effectively developed a “ blacklist” of faculty, staff, and campus groups.[6] The Middle East Studies Association singled out “the New England Regional Office of the ADL for circulating a document on college campuses ‘listing factually inaccurate and unsubstantiated assertions that defame specific students, teachers, and researchers as ‘pro Arab propagandists.’”[7]

Front-page investigative reports in the San Francisco Examiner during the winter and spring of 1993 revealed that the ADL had been carrying out surveillance of almost 10,000 people and 950 organizations.[8] The Examiner reported that the ADL particularly targeted Arab Americans and Arab American organizations and also spied on such groups as the ACLU, ACT UP, Artists Against Apartheid, Americans for Peace Now, Asian Law Caucus, Greenpeace, NAACP, New Jewish Agenda, and the United Farm Workers, as well as three current or past members of Congress.[9] The FBI had also found that the ADL had been sending surveillance information on U.S. anti-apartheid groups to South Africa (which was an ally of Israel).[10]

The San Francisco Examiner exposé revealed that the ADL’s domestic spying involved a San Francisco police officer and a “full-time salaried undercover investigator,” who had been working for the ADL for 32 years.[11] Running “a public/private spying ring,” the ADL received aid from local police and federal agencies.[12] The Examiner reported that “FBI documents released through the Freedom of Information Act show that special agents in charge of FBI field offices throughout the nation were explicitly ordered by Bureau headquarters in Washington, D.C. during the 1980s to cooperate with the ADL.”[13] Six years after the filing of a class action suit coordinated by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the ADL was fined in 1999 and “under the permanent injunction issued by Federal Judge Richard Paez . . . [was] permanently enjoined from engaging in any further illegal spying against Arab-American and other civil rights groups.”[14] As Nabeel Abraham has written in “Anti-Arab Racism and Violence in the United States,” “The overall effect of the ADL’s practices is to reinforce the image of Arabs as terrorists and security threats, thereby creating a climate of fear, suspicion, and hostility toward Arab-Americans and others who espouse critical views of Israel, possibly leading to death threats and bodily harm.”[15]

*****

The ADL’s anti-Arab, staunchly pro-Israel mindset, which was behind decades of illegal spying, enabled it to easily incorporate an anti-Muslim worldview that has become increasingly pervasive after 9/11.[16] This has been a period of growing popularity for the “clash of civilizations theory,” which characterizes the causes of conflict in the post-Cold War world as fundamental “cultural” differences between Islamic and Western civilizations, rather than history, politics, imperialism, neo-colonialism, struggles over natural resources, or other factors.[17] Further, the Islamophobic belief that all Muslims were responsible for the 9/11 attacks and that all Muslims, as well as Arabs and South Asians, should be targeted provides a dominant U.S. narrative that brands all members of these groups as “terrorists,” “potential terrorists,” or “terrorist-sympathizers.”[18] Like others within and outside the Jewish community, the ADL views the U.S. focus on the domestic and global “war on terror” as integral to ensuring Israeli security and maintaining the United States’ “special” relationship with Israel.

French soldiers patrol outside Djinguereber mosque after Friday prayers in the centre of Timbuktu February 1, 2013.(Reuters / Benoit Tessier)

Three suspected Jihadists who were arrested in the liberation of Timbuktu have said they were tortured by Malian soldiers who used a method similar to waterboarding. There are also reports of child soldiers being used by the Malian army.

­The three suspected militants were being held in an earthen cell in the remains of a military camp in Timbuktu, according to journalists from AP who spoke to the men.

Timbuktu was freed last weekend by Malian and French soldiers after 10 months under the rule of radical Islamists, who had imposed Sharia law in the town.

The men, tied together in the cell with one handcuff and a turban, all admitted to the journalists to having been members of Ansar Dine, which has links to Al-Qaeda.

“To force me to talk they poured 40 liters of water in my mouth and over my nostrils, which made it so that I could not breathe anymore. For a moment I thought I was actually going to die,” said one of the men who said he was from the central Malian town of Niono.

The other two soldiers spoke of similar treatment, although their account could not be independently verified.

A Malian army colonel, Mamary Camara, told reporters that Malian forces arrested the men in the town of Lere and that one of them was from Libya and had been wearing a foreign military uniform and said he had a wristwatch with a memory card that he allegedly used to communicate with other jihadists.

The Islamist who was allegedly from Libya gave AP contradictory information about his origin. First he said he was born in Mali but was of Libyan dissent and then said he was from Tripoli but had lived in Mali for years. He also initially denied being part of Ansar Dine, but then admitted to belonging to the movement. He was visibly frightened; cowering in his cell, according to AP.

There are also reports emerging from Mali of child soldiers being used by the army. A freelance journalist in Mali, Gonzalo Wancha, told RT that in the town of Diabli many of the military forces were heavily armed child soldiers.

“My brother was attacked by a group of militants. There were children among them. One of the children fired at him. My brother fell and was riddled with bullets,” Mohamed Kandanku, a local, told Wancha.

The exact number of underage youths or their exact age could not be verified.

Both allegations come as both Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International issued reports Friday of misconduct against the Islamists by the Malian army.

Wancha said that civilians had been killed by the Malian army in Sevare, in the center of the country, and had dumped their bodies in a well.

Human Rights Watch also reported that witnesses had seen Malian soldiers interrogate passengers at a bus station in Sevare, who they suspected of having links with Islamic extremist groups.

“Before the soldiers marched them off, many of the detained men frantically tried to find someone in the crowd who could vouch for them and verify their identity. They were driven or marched to a nearby field, where they were shot and their bodies dumped into one of four wells,” the HRW report said.

The Friday reports also stated that human rights abuses have been committed by the Islamists, who reportedly executed at least seven Malian soldiers, five of whom were wounded during the battle for the town of Konna.

France has said that it wants to hand over responsibility for the mission to the Malian army and the armies of other West African countries.

The Malian government has promised to investigate allegations of torture and other human rights abuses by its military.

As you shuffle from cocktail party to cocktail party and reminisce on holding NFLX all month and being short AAPL, perhaps the following ‘simple’ table should be tucked in your pocket. Since everyone is now a genius stock-picking market guru, sometimes seeing the forest for the trees in macro land is useful… note, red is bad…

Source: Barclays

Santa Clausifying Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Posted on Feb 1, 2013

Kelly Branan

By David Sirota

Every year, right around the time between Martin Luther King Day and the beginning of Black History Month, the effort to distort Dr. King’s life and legacy seems to intensify. Some years, we see conservatives preposterously assert that if Dr. King were alive today, he would join today’s neo-confederate Republican Party. Other years, it is deception via omission–we see replays of Dr. King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, but do not see any of his speeches about war and poverty.
 
Princeton professor Cornel West accurately labels all this the “Santa Clausification” of Dr. King, and if you have ever heard or read a snippet of King’s 1967 Riverside Church speech, you will understand how apt the label is. You will also understand why this year’s most grotesque attempt to Santa Clausify Dr. King’s life is at once abhorrent and yet somewhat encouraging.
 
As The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald first reported, the United States Air Force’s Global Strike Command last week posted an online essay saying that Dr. King would cheer on soldiers “ensuring the most powerful weapons in the U.S. arsenal remain the credible bedrock of our national defense.” Further, claimed the Air Force, “maintaining our commitment to our Global Strike team … is a fitting tribute to Dr. King.”
 
At the same time, the U.S. Marines commemorated Martin Luther King Day by tweeting out a famous King line–“a man who won’t die for something is not fit to live”–in a not-so-subtle attempt to depict him as a war supporter. That was a follow-up to a 2011 article posted on the Defense Department’s website with the headline: “King Might Understand Today’s Wars, Pentagon Lawyer Says.”
 
That gets us to the special relevance of the Riverside Church speech–the one that the Santa Clausifying Pentagon so obviously wants suppressed.
 
In that oratory, America’s most famous preacher of nonviolence deplored “a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” He argued that militarism is not the way to protect America and decried “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today–my own government.” And he insisted that “there is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war.”
 
Comparing the Pentagon’s historical revisionism with King’s words, Greenwald says: “The U.S. military is actually publicly claiming that the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner and steadfast critic of U.S. imperialism would be an admirer of its massive stockpile of nuclear weapons, its global assassination programs and its covert use of violence in multiple countries around the world, including where no wars are declared. Merely to describe this agitprop is to illustrate its repulsiveness.”
 
He’s absolutely right, but in that repulsiveness there is a promising revelation from a political system in which lies signal desperation.
 
In this particular case, the Pentagon’s willingness to so boldly lie about Dr. King betrays its desperation to reverse accelerating public opinion trends. Specifically, Pentagon spinmeisters seem to realize that, according to polls, more Americans are raising King-like questions about our government’s profligate defense spending and its attempts to preference militarism over other priorities.
 
This suggests that for all the propaganda attempting to Santa Clausify Dr. King and make us forget what he was all about, we may, in fact, be starting to honor Dr. King’s legacy.
 
That’s no excuse for the propaganda, of course–but it is a promising sign that we may actually be closer than ever to realizing Dr. King’s dream.

David Sirota is the best-selling author of the books “Hostile Takeover,” “The Uprising” and “Back to Our Future.” Email him at ds@davidsirota.com, follow him on Twitter @davidsirota or visit his website at www.davidsirota.com.

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Cardinal Roger Mahony leads Christmas mass at The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.(AFP Photo / Eric Thayer)

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez has relieved his predecessor, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, from any and all public duties as a result of his mishandling of the decades-long clergy sex abuse that victimized 10,000 children since the early 1950s.

Mahony served as the LA Archbishop from 1985-2011, after which he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75. In response to a court order, Gomez on Thursday released files documenting the abuses that happened decades ago, naming 14 of the Catholic priests who sexually abused children — mostly boys — for decades. Around 200 priests were tied to allegations of sexual abuse in the state of California in 2007, resulting in a $660 million settlement to 500 victims who claimed they were abused.

“I find these files to be brutal and painful reading,” Gomez said in a statement, describing the 12,000 pages of documents that were unsealed as part of the case. “The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil.”

But beyond describing the actions of the abusive priests, the files also indicate that Mahony made attempts to cover up the sexual abuse that he knew was happening, mainly during the 1980s.

As a result of Mahony’s cover-up attempts, he is now barred from speaking publicly or exercising any responsibilities normally reserved for a bishop — including administering confirmations.

“My predecessor, retired Cardinal Roger Mahony, has expressed his sorrow for his failure to fully protect young people entrusted to his care,” Gomez wrote in a statement announcing his decision. “Effective immediately, I have informed Cardinal Mahony that he will no longer have any administrative or public duties.”

This unprecedented action is an unusual punishment that demonstrates the severity of Mahony’s past actions.

“To tell a cardinal he can’t do confirmations, can’t do things in public, that’s extraordinary,” Jesuit scholar the Reverend Thomas Reese told the LA Times.

But Gomez is also coming under scrutiny for making the decision too late. The Archbishop had access to the files for years and did not relieve his predecessor of his duties until after the court forced him to publicize the findings this week.

“There’s nothing that Archbishop Gomez knew today that he did not know when he took office or two weeks ago,” lawyer Anthony DeMarco told the New York Times. “They are doing this to try to control their image, but none of this would have happened without the courage of the victims coming forward and the immense public pressure.”

Peacemaking on Birth Control

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Posted on Feb 1, 2013

Flickr/UC Irvine

By E.J. Dionne, Jr.

WASHINGTON–America’s Big Religious War ended Friday. Or at least it ought to.

A little more than a year ago, the Obama administration set off a bitter and unnecessary clash with the Roman Catholic Church over rules mandating broad contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The Department of Health and Human Services’ announcement of new regulations is a clear statement that President Obama never wanted this fight.

The decision ought to be taken by the nation’s Catholic bishops as a victory, because it is. Many in their ranks, including some of the country’s most prominent prelates, are inclined to do just that–even if the most conservative bishops seem to want to keep the battle raging.

But more importantly, the final HHS rules are the product of a genuine and heartfelt struggle over the meaning of religious liberty in a pluralistic society. The contraception dispute was difficult because legitimate claims and interests were in conflict.

The vast majority of Americans believe that health insurance should cover contraception. At the same time, the Catholic Church has a theological objection to contraception, even if most Catholics (including regular churchgoers) disagree with its position. The church insisted that its vast array of charitable, educational and medical institutions should be exempt from the contraception requirement.

The church made a mistake in arguing its case on the grounds of “religious liberty.” By inflating their legitimate desire for accommodation into a liberty claim, the bishops implied that the freedom not to pay for birth control rose to the same level, as say, the freedoms to worship or to preach the faith. This led to wild rhetorical excesses, including a comparison of Obama to Hitler and Stalin by one bishop, and an analogy between the president’s approach and the Soviet constitution by another.

But the church had good reason to object to the narrowness of the HHS’ original definition of what constituted a religious organization entitled to exemptions from the contraception requirement. If a religious organization did not have “the inculcation of religious values” as its purpose and did not primarily employ or serve those who shared the faith, it got no exclusion at all.

The problem is that the vast charitable work done by religious organizations to help millions, regardless of their faith, is manifestly inspired by religion. The church could not abide the implicit reduction of its role merely to private expressions of faith. Don’t most Americans devoutly wish that religious people will be moved by their beliefs to works of charity and justice?

The HHS rules announced Friday scrapped this offensive definition in favor of long-established language in the IRS code. In an interview, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius showed a becoming humility, and it would be nice if this encouraged the same among her critics. However defensible the original rules might have been, she said, “they really caused more anxiety and conflict than was appropriate.”

“What we’ve learned,” she said, “is that there are issues to balance in this area. There were issues of religious freedom on two sides of the ledger”–the freedom of the religious institutions and the freedom of their employees who might not share their objections to contraception.

This is where the other accommodation kicked in: Many Catholic institutions self-insure. While the administration wants hospital workers, teachers and others to have full access to contraception, it also seeks to keep religious organizations from having “to contract, arrange, pay or refer for any contraception coverage to which they object on religious grounds.”

Under the new rules, employees who want it will be able to get stand-alone coverage from a third party. Some of the costs will be covered by small offsets in the fees insurers will have to pay to participate in the new exchanges where their policies will be on sale. It’s an elegant fix.

There are two reasons for hope here, particularly for Catholic progressives. First, the administration recognized the problem it had created and resolved it. Vice President Biden, among others, kept lines of communication with the church open.

Second, many bishops have come to realize that the appearance of a state of war with Obama not only troubled many of the faithful–Obama, after all, narrowly carried the Catholic vote–but also threatened to cast a church with strong commitments to immigrants, social justice and nonviolence as a partisan, even right-wing organization.

This war has been bad for everyone involved. Obama has moved to end it. Here’s a prayer the bishops will also be instruments of peace.

E.J. Dionne’s e-mail address is ejdionne(at)washpost.com.
 
© 2013, Washington Post Writers Group

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There were two quite notable pieces of information in today’s Committment of Traders weekly update: on one hand, the net non-commercial spec position in VIX futures just plunged by 16,222 contracts to 104,284. This was just shy of the all time low net VIX spec position hit in early December, and means bets that the VIX will continue plunging lower will likely set a new record next week. It could also mean that courtesy of the reflexivity of the market, in which the underlying is driven by its synthetic derivative (for a detailed explanation of how that works just ask Bruno Iskil and how massively mispriced various IG credits were thanks to his whale trade in IG9), the VIX itself is being pushed around by the VIX futures itself. That the dramatic move lower in the VIX futures began with the appointment of Simon Potter as head of the NY Fed’s trading desk is perhaps not surprising.

The other notable point of data is that net non-commercial specs in the Russell 2000 Mini contract just hit an all time high. Using comedy financial channel logic this means they can only go much higher.

Source: CTFC

The Latest Jobs Report and Why the Recovery Has Stalled

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Posted on Feb 1, 2013

Flickr / edEx

By Robert Reich

This post originally ran on Robert Reich’s Web page, www.robertreich.org

We are in the most anemic recovery in modern history, yet our political leaders in Washington aren’t doing squat about it.

In fact, apart from the Fed — which continues to hold interest rates down in the quixotic hope that banks will begin lending again to average people — the government is heading in exactly the wrong direction: raising taxes on the middle class, and cutting spending.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that American employers added only 157,000 jobs in January. That’s fewer than they added in December (196,000 jobs, as revised by the Bureau of Labor Statistics). The overall unemployment rate remains stuck at 7.9 percent, just about where it’s been since September.

The share of people of working age either who are working or looking for jobs also remains dismal — close to a 30-year low. (Yes, older boomers are retiring, but the major cause for this near-record low is simply the lack of jobs.)

And the long-term unemployed, about 40 percent of all jobless workers, remain trapped. Most have few if any job prospects, and their unemployment benefits have run out, or will run out shortly.

Close to 20 million Americans remain unemployed or underemployed.

It would be one thing if we didn’t know what to do about all this. But we do know. It’s not rocket science.

The only reason for employers to hire more workers is if they have more customers. But American employers have not had enough customers to justify much new hiring.

There are essentially two sources of customers: individual consumers and the government. (Forget exports for now; Europe is contracting, Japan is a basket case, China is slowing, and the rest of the world is in economic limbo.)

American consumers — whose purchases constitute about 70 percent of all economic activity — still can’t buy much, and their purchasing power is declining. The median wage continues to drop, adjusted for inflation. Most can’t borrow because they don’t have a credit record sufficient to allow them to borrow much.

And now their Social Security taxes have increased, leaving the typical worker with about $1,000 less this year than last.

The Conference Board reported last Tuesday consumer confidence in January fell its lowest level in more than a year. The last time consumers were this glum was October 2011, when there was widespread talk of a double-dip recession.

The only people doing well are at the top — but they save a large part of what they earn instead of spending it.

Overall personal income soared by 8 percent in the final three months of 2012 compared to an increase of just over 2 percent in the third quarter, but this income didn’t go into the pockets of the middle class. It went into the pockets of people at the top.

Wages and salaries grew a measly six-tenths of one percent.

Most of the rise in personal income in the last quarter was from companies rushing to pay dividends before taxes were hiked in 2013, and from an upturn in personal interest income. Both these sources of income went mostly to the well-to-do.

This explains why consumer spending is dropping. The Commerce Department said Thursday consumers’ spending rose 0.2 percent last month. That’s slower than the 0.4 percent increase in November.

So if we can’t rely on consumers to stoke the economy, what about government? No chance. Government spending is dropping, too.

The major reason the economy contracted between the start of October and end of December 2012 was a major reduction in government spending in the fourth quarter.

Government spending has declined in nine of the last ten quarters, but it took a precipitous drop in the last quarter. This was mainly because military spending fell 22.2 percent. That’s the largest fall-off since 1972 (mainly due to reduced spending on the war in Afghanistan, and worries by military contractors about further pending cuts). State and local spending also continued to fall.

Personally, I’m glad we’re spending less on the military. It’s the most bloated part of the government. Major cuts are long overdue. But the military is America’s only major jobs program. Cutting the military without increasing spending on roads, bridges, schools, and everything else we need to do simply means fewer jobs.

What’s ahead? More of the same. So what possible reason do we have to suspect the recovery will pick up speed? None.

Don’t count on consumer spending. Wages and benefits continue to drop for most people, adjusted for inflation. States are hiking sales taxes, which will hit the middle class and the poor hardest. Deficit hawks in Washington are contemplating additional tax hikes on the middle class.

Housing prices are stabilizing, thankfully. But one out of five homeowners is still underwater, and the ranks of people renting rather than owning are rising. Health-care costs are also rising for most people in the form of higher co-payments, deductibles, and premiums.

Don’t count on government, either. Government spending continues to head downward. The White House has already agreed to major spending cuts, some to go into effect this year. Coming showdowns over the next fiscal cliff, appropriations to fund government operations, and the debt ceiling will likely result in more cuts.

More jobs and faster growth should be the most important objectives now. With them, everything else will be easier to achieve — protection against climate change, immigration reform, long-term budget reform. Without them, everything will be harder.

Yet we’re moving in the opposite direction – following Europe’s sorry example of failed austerity economics.

Robert B. Reich, chancellor’s professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, was secretary of labor in the Clinton administration. Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective Cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written 13 books, including the best-sellers “Aftershock” and “The Work of Nations.” His latest, “Beyond Outrage,” is now out in paperback. He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.

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The March 23 movement (M23) rebels say they plan to sign a peace deal with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo by the end of February, ending their 10-month revolt.

“We still have a lot of business to cover, but if we keep this speed, I think it’s possible by end of February we’ll have finished talks and signed an agreement,” M23 spokesperson Bertrand Bisimwa said on Friday.

However, the Congolese government is less optimistic about the outcome of the peace talks, which are being held in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

“We were hoping to have things finished by the end of February but M23 have made lots of capricious extra demands, which is slowing down the process,” government spokesman Lambert Mende said.

Peace talks between the DRC government and the M23 rebels were suspended on December 21, nearly two weeks after they began.

Both sides, however, agreed to resume negotiations in January on a wide range of economic, political, and security issues dividing the two sides, including amnesty for “war and insurgency acts,” the release of political prisoners, and war reparations.

The M23 rebels defected from the Congolese army in April in protest over alleged mistreatment in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC). They had previously been integrated into the Congolese army under a peace deal signed in 2009.

Since early May, over 900,000 people have fled their homes in the eastern Congo. Most of them have resettled in Congo, but tens of thousands have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.

Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.5 million people dead.

PG/HGL

Two people have been arrested after the body of a 16-year-old girl was found burning in an alley in Blackpool.

Police have cordoned off the alley off Kirby Road, South Shore where the body was found and specialist forensic officers are searching a nearby hotel.

A 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were arrested nearby and are now being questioned by police.

Lancashire Police said the victim was believed to be Sasha Marsden, a student at Blackpool and Fylde College who lived in the Staining area with her parents.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Andy Murphy from the Force Major Investigation Team said: “This is an incredibly difficult and complex enquiry and we are working to try and build up a picture of what happened.

“From examining the body, it appears to us that someone has attempted to set fire to Sasha and this is a line of enquiry that we are looking into.

“This is an incredibly difficult time for the family and we are keeping them informed of our investigation. Our officers will be supporting them as they attempt to come to terms with what has happened.”

A port mortem is planned for Friday evening.

Carl Evans, owner of the Kimber Guest House told Sky News he spotted the fire when he walked out into his back garden on Thursday evening.

“I heard the alarms going and saw the smoke, but I thought it was just someone burning rubbish,” he said.

He added that some residents had attempted to put out the flames before realising it was a body on fire.

“The lass two doors up said someone seemed to have put something out – like a mannequin – but it turned out to be the body of a 16-year-old girl.”

Friends paid tribute to the victim on a Facebook page called RIP Sasha Marsden.

Jordan Silkstone wrote: “Way too young, what this town coming too.. R.I.p huni x.”

Emma James wrote: “R.I.P Sasha. I didn’t know you very long but you was such a good mate.

“I will miss our little facebook chats. You always knew how to cheer me up when I was down. I hope the people who did this to you get what they deserve. Miss you always beautiful. Xxx.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Major Incident Room at Blackpool on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

It was the deep of winter… CNBC was talking about “animal spirits”, had just touted “the best January in 14 years“, was quoting Raymond James’ Jeff Saut as saying that “The market “is amazingly resilient, and is no longer overbought” and desperately doing everything it could to get retail back into stocks, and was succeeding: retail inflows into stocks were surging and seemed unstoppable… The Chicago PMI had just printed at its highest level in decades… the VIX was dropping fast… Stocks were soaring… Bonds were sliding… NYSE margin debt had just risen to the highest level since 2008… A few brief months earlier the Fed had unleased a new, massive round of unsterilized bond buying… Bank of America was blaring about the “great rotation” for stocks, and yes – just shortly prior “global currency warfare” had broken out. Name the year?

If you said 2013, you would be right. And wrong.

Because the right answer is… 2011.

That’s right: with institutional and trader memories so short, everyone has (again) forgotten that it truly is deja vu, all over again.

To wit:

Stock performance in the winter of 2011 and the winter of 2013:

Bond performance in the winter of 2011 and the winter of 2013:

NYSE margin debt – euphoria and leverage upon leverage was contagious… in January 2011 and January 2013:

Fund Flows into equities were unstoppable. Yes – that was 7 consecutive weeks of major equity inflows into stocks… back in January 2011.

CNBC: Monday 31, 2011:

Stocks End Up; Dow’s Best January in 14 Years

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 68.23 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at about 11891.93, after falling 1.4 percent on Friday. For the month, the Dow gained 314.42 points or 2.72 percent, its best January performance since 1997 and its first January gain in four years.

The market “is amazingly resilient,” Jeffrey Saut, chief market strategist at Raymond James, told CNBC.com. “After what happened on Friday you would have expected a second shoe to fall.”

But, Saut said, the markets had been due for a correction for sometime, and had been indicating one was on the way. After the sell-off, however, the market is no longer “overbought,” he said.

Saut remains bullish and one of his favored sectors are banks, which he had not bought for 10 years until last November. Since then, banks, as measured by the Financial Select SPDR Fund , have risen more than the S&P 500 on a relative basis.

“I think that is extraordinarily positive for the equity markets and the economy,” he said.

The great rotation was rotating… and rotating… and rotating:

Currency war had just broken out… in late 2010

“An “international currency war” has broken out, according to Guido Mantega, Brazil’s finance minister, as governments around the globe compete to lower their exchange rates to boost competitiveness.” Welcome to the new frontline. It is being played out at every 500x levered FX trade station. No prisoners are taken as those wounded are immediately shot. And the incursions have now entered stocks and bonds. Trading any assets is now retaliation against a central bank somewhere (most typically at Liberty 33 or at the Marriner Eccles building) which is engaged in open warfare against the world’s middle class. And yes, the Brazil Central Bank earlier announced that it was heading unto the breach, buying yet more dollars for 1.7094 reais at auction, and has bought as much as $1 billion USD each day for the past two weeks, putting the Japanese intervention from two weeks ago to shame.

The economy was “recovering” and yet the Fed just announced it would inject $75 billion into the market each month:

To promote a stronger pace of economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to expand its holdings of securities. The Committee will maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its securities holdings. In addition, the Committee intends to purchase a further $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of the second quarter of 2011, a pace of about $75 billion per month. The Committee will regularly review the pace of its securities purchases and the overall size of the asset-purchase program in light of incoming information and will adjust the program as needed to best foster maximum employment and price stability.

So why is 2013 nothing but a verbatim, carbon copy of 2011?

Simple: between the Fed, the propaganda of “great rotations” and “massive” inflows into stocks, despite the endless decoupling of fundamentals with the market, all that the status quo was desperate to accomplish was to push the responsibility of keeping the market afloat away from the Fed and on the shoulders of retail investors.

What the Fed did not realize then, and does not realize now, is that the US consumer no longer has the disposable cash to push stocks any higher because while to some 1% of the economy the wealth is indeed tied to stocks, for the balance unless the economy, the jobs, the wages and all those other conventional things that determine inbound cash pick up as well, which they did not in 2011 and they certainly have not in 2013, the US consumer simply will not be able to pick up where the Fed leave off.

Which is why the Fed failed in 2011. It will fail again this time. But yes, the market is higher now than it was in 2011, why? Here’s why.

Finally, how did the market close in 2011? Flat.

All this talk about “stimulus packages” and “bailouts”…

A billion dollars…

A hundred billion dollars…

Eight hundred billion dollars…

One TRILLION dollars…

What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats, so I thought I’d take Google Sketchup out for a test drive and try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like.

We’ll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slighty fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2″ thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet…

And $1 BILLION dollars… now we’re really getting somewhere…

Next we’ll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we’ve been hearing so much about. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it’s a million million. It’s a thousand billion. It’s a one followed by 12 zeros.

You ready for this?

It’s pretty surprising.

Go ahead…

Scroll down…

Ladies and gentlemen… I give you $1 trillion dollars…

(And notice those pallets are double stacked.)

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase “trillion dollars”… that’s what they’re talking about

Alois Bell.(Screenshot from YouTube user hjh1972)

The American chain restaurant Applebee’s has fired a waitress who posted a note on the Internet from a pastor that refused to tip her, which said “I give God 10%, why do you get 18?”

The waitress posted the receipt on the social news and entertainment website Reddit, where it quickly went viral in the atheist section of the site.

“My mistake sir, I’m sure Jesus will pay for my rent and groceries,” the waitress, Chelsea Welch, wrote in the headline of her post. The Applebee’s receipt indicated that an 18 percent gratuity had been added to the check, since the dinner party included eight or more people.

But the angry customer scratched out the $6.29 top and wrote “0” instead, arguing that she should not tip the waitress more than she pays God.

“I originally posted the note as a lighthearted joke,” Welch told The Consumerist. “I thought the note was insulting, but it was also comical. I posted it to Reddit because I thought other users would find it entertaining.”

Photo from thesmokinggun.com

Welch said she did her best to conceal any identifying information and even gave an inaccurate description of the pastor. The picture she posted did not include the pastor’s name or the restaurant’s information and the signature at the bottom of the receipt did not appear to be legible. But due to the popularity of the post on Reddit, which acquired more than 4,000 comments in just three days, Internet users quickly worked to determine the identity of the pastor.

By the time Welch posted a version of the receipt that did not contain a signature, it was too late to stop the flurry of attempts.

“I had already started receiving messages containing Facebook profile links and blogs and websites, asking me to confirm the identity of the customer,” she said. “I refused to confirm any of them, and all of them were incorrect. I worked with the website moderators to remove any personal information. I wanted to protect the identity of both my fellow server and the customer. I had no intention of starting a witch hunt or hurting anyone — I just wanted to share a picture I found interesting.”

But once the pastor, 37-year-old Alois Bell, caught wind of the viral receipt, she called Applebee’s and demanded that everyone — including the waitress and the managers — be fired. Shortly thereafter, Welch lost her job — despite allegedly being one of their most beloved waitresses.

“When I posted this, I didn’t represent Applebee’s in a bad light. In fact, I didn’t represent them at all. I did my best to protect the identity of all parties involved. I didn’t break any specific guidelines in the company handbook — I checked,” Welch said. “But because this person got embarrassed that their selfishness was made public, Applebee’s has made it clear that they would rather lose a dedicated employee than lose an angry customer. That’s a policy I can’t understand.”

When questioned by the New York Daily News, Applebee’s spokesman Dan Smith confirmed that an employee had been terminated, but declined to specify which one.

The Smoking Gun also tracked down the pastor, who said her note was a “lapse in my character and judgment” and that it “has been blown out of proportion.”

“My heart is really broken,” she said. “I’ve brought embarrassment to my church and ministry.”

While the close was not exactly bullish (just look at HY credit, volatility, and homebuilders), the only thing that matters is – Dow 14,000. The highest close since 10/12/2007. Since that time, 10Y Treasury yields have dropped from 4.68% to today’s 2.03% – the first close above 2.00% since early April 2012. Risk-assets spent the day catching up to equity’s early lead and recoupled into the close. Some modest after-hours weakness to the shine off an otherwise exuberant day as Treasuries snapped lower in yield on NFP and spent the rest of the day surging higher in yield to end the week +6 to 8bps. Silver gained 2% on the week – beating stocks, as the USD dropped 0.7% (almost equal to Gold’s gain). With stocks unch from Oct 07, perhaps it is worth reflecting on Gas prices being up 58% since then… but that would spoil the party…

A little context for today’s exuberance – cross-asset class performance from 10/12/2007…Bonds +28.5%, Stocks Unch.

Since October 2007…’wealth’ has changed…

Gold

Gasoline…

and the rest…

and today…

and the sectors…(homebuilders ugly but Utes winning?)

Now that was a crazy day in Treasuries!!!

Stocks led the risk-off move as the rest of risk-assets in general did not play along initially – but mysteriously perfectly recoupled into the close…

Gold and Silver had a good week – outperforming stocks – as the USD lost 0.7%…

Source: Bloomberg and Capital Context

Capital Context (@CapitalContext) LLC is the leader in integrating credit-market data to actively trade equity markets. From our world-renowned intraday ‘CONTEXT’ and ‘SPY Arb’ models to the daily long-short equity portfolio, sector-weight updates and tactical asset-allocation strategies, Capital Context offers sophisticated hedge-fund strategies to the active trading community.

WASHINGTON – February 1 – ROBERT PARRY, [email]
Parry is editor of Consortiumnews.com and his most recent book is America’s Stolen Narrative. He recently wrote the piece “The Iraq War ‘Surge’ Myth Returns,” which states: “At confirmation hearings for Defense Secretary-designate Chuck Hagel, Official Washington will reprise one of its favorite myths, the story of the ‘successful surge’ in Iraq. Politicians and pundits have made clear that the Senate Armed Services Committee should hector Hagel over his opposition to President George W. Bush’s 2007 ‘surge’ of 30,000 troops into that failed war. …

“Any serious analysis of what happened in Iraq in 2007-08 would trace the decline in Iraqi sectarian violence mostly to strategies that predated the ‘surge’ and were implemented by the U.S. commanding generals in 2006, George Casey and John Abizaid, who wanted as small a U.S. ‘footprint’ as possible to tamp down Iraqi nationalism. …

“The hard truth is that this bloody folly was not ‘salvaged’ by the ‘surge’ despite what the likes of Michael O’Hanlon, George F. Will and John McCain claim. The “surge” simply extended the killing for a few more years and bought Bush and Cheney their ‘decent interval.’” Hagel was indeed forcefully questioned about the “surge” by Sen. John McCain.

PHILIP WEISS, [email]
Late Thursday, Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post tweeted: “At Hagel hearing, 136 mentions of Israel and 135 of Iran. Only 27 refs to Afghanistan. 2 for Al Qaida. 1 for Mali.”

Weiss is co-editor of MondoWeiss.net, and just wrote the piece “Hagel Offers Himself as Secretary of Israel’s Defense,” which states: “The most urgent questions were about Israel, and many came from liberal Democrats insisting that Hagel is pledged to going to war against Iran if it acquires a nuclear weapon.

“Hagel was suitably craven. ‘I’ve said that I’m a strong supporter of Israel. .. I’ve said that we have a special relationship with Israel. … I’ve never voted against Israel in my career. … I’ve been to Israel many times,’ he told Jack Reed of Rhode Island.

“While Kirsten Gillibrand of New York made no bones about ‘the most urgent issues – Israel and Israel’s security issues. … We are fundamentally tied to [Israel].” Then Gillibrand demanded that if there has to be a continuing resolution in the event of a budget crunch, Hagel’s Pentagon will take pains to keep money going to Israel for its Iron Dome missile defense.

“Does she believe this or is this just now the religion of Washington?

“Hagel repeatedly asserted that he regards Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Revolutionary Guard of Iran as terrorist organizations. He abandoned every bold stand he has taken on Israel. …

“But the most revealing part of the spectacle was watching Hagel stand up to John McCain when McCain said he had been wrong to oppose the Iraq surge in 2007 and the Afghanistan surge in 2009 – and then watching Hagel fold pathetically when Lindsey Graham asked him to condemn Israeli settlements.”

Also yesterday, Reuters reported: “U.N. human rights investigators called on Israel on Thursday to halt settlement expansion and withdraw all half a million Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank, saying that its practices could be subject to prosecution as possible war crimes.”

WASHINGTON – February 1 – ROBERT PARRY, [email]
Parry is editor of Consortiumnews.com and his most recent book is America’s Stolen Narrative. He recently wrote the piece “The Iraq War ‘Surge’ Myth Returns,” which states: “At confirmation hearings for Defense Secretary-designate Chuck Hagel, Official Washington will reprise one of its favorite myths, the story of the ‘successful surge’ in Iraq. Politicians and pundits have made clear that the Senate Armed Services Committee should hector Hagel over his opposition to President George W. Bush’s 2007 ‘surge’ of 30,000 troops into that failed war. …

“Any serious analysis of what happened in Iraq in 2007-08 would trace the decline in Iraqi sectarian violence mostly to strategies that predated the ‘surge’ and were implemented by the U.S. commanding generals in 2006, George Casey and John Abizaid, who wanted as small a U.S. ‘footprint’ as possible to tamp down Iraqi nationalism. …

“The hard truth is that this bloody folly was not ‘salvaged’ by the ‘surge’ despite what the likes of Michael O’Hanlon, George F. Will and John McCain claim. The “surge” simply extended the killing for a few more years and bought Bush and Cheney their ‘decent interval.’” Hagel was indeed forcefully questioned about the “surge” by Sen. John McCain.

PHILIP WEISS, [email]
Late Thursday, Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post tweeted: “At Hagel hearing, 136 mentions of Israel and 135 of Iran. Only 27 refs to Afghanistan. 2 for Al Qaida. 1 for Mali.”

Weiss is co-editor of MondoWeiss.net, and just wrote the piece “Hagel Offers Himself as Secretary of Israel’s Defense,” which states: “The most urgent questions were about Israel, and many came from liberal Democrats insisting that Hagel is pledged to going to war against Iran if it acquires a nuclear weapon.

“Hagel was suitably craven. ‘I’ve said that I’m a strong supporter of Israel. .. I’ve said that we have a special relationship with Israel. … I’ve never voted against Israel in my career. … I’ve been to Israel many times,’ he told Jack Reed of Rhode Island.

“While Kirsten Gillibrand of New York made no bones about ‘the most urgent issues – Israel and Israel’s security issues. … We are fundamentally tied to [Israel].” Then Gillibrand demanded that if there has to be a continuing resolution in the event of a budget crunch, Hagel’s Pentagon will take pains to keep money going to Israel for its Iron Dome missile defense.

“Does she believe this or is this just now the religion of Washington?

“Hagel repeatedly asserted that he regards Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Revolutionary Guard of Iran as terrorist organizations. He abandoned every bold stand he has taken on Israel. …

“But the most revealing part of the spectacle was watching Hagel stand up to John McCain when McCain said he had been wrong to oppose the Iraq surge in 2007 and the Afghanistan surge in 2009 – and then watching Hagel fold pathetically when Lindsey Graham asked him to condemn Israeli settlements.”

Also yesterday, Reuters reported: “U.N. human rights investigators called on Israel on Thursday to halt settlement expansion and withdraw all half a million Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank, saying that its practices could be subject to prosecution as possible war crimes.”

WASHINGTON – February 1 – The Obama administration’s proposed rule on access to birth control for employees at religious institutions appears to preserve women’s access to contraception while bending over backward to address religious objections to the prior rules, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“Birth control is a fact of modern life,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “This proposed rule acknowledges that reality while going out of its way to accommodate religious groups. This should more than satisfy religiously affiliated institutions that have objected to the birth control mandate.”

“The rule strikes a balance between guaranteeing access for birth control consistent with a woman’s conscience and the objection of some religious providers,” Lynn continued. “It aims to ensure that Americans can get access to the birth control they need and want yet shields religiously affiliated institutions from paying for it directly or indirectly.”

The proposed rule, issued today, is intended to cover employees at religiously affiliated institutions such as church colleges, hospitals and charities.

Lynn said the proposed accommodation goes beyond what the Constitution requires and Americans United looks forward to commenting on the proposed regulations in more detail in the coming weeks.

WASHINGTON – February 1 – The Obama administration’s proposed rule on access to birth control for employees at religious institutions appears to preserve women’s access to contraception while bending over backward to address religious objections to the prior rules, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“Birth control is a fact of modern life,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “This proposed rule acknowledges that reality while going out of its way to accommodate religious groups. This should more than satisfy religiously affiliated institutions that have objected to the birth control mandate.”

“The rule strikes a balance between guaranteeing access for birth control consistent with a woman’s conscience and the objection of some religious providers,” Lynn continued. “It aims to ensure that Americans can get access to the birth control they need and want yet shields religiously affiliated institutions from paying for it directly or indirectly.”

The proposed rule, issued today, is intended to cover employees at religiously affiliated institutions such as church colleges, hospitals and charities.

Lynn said the proposed accommodation goes beyond what the Constitution requires and Americans United looks forward to commenting on the proposed regulations in more detail in the coming weeks.

WASHINGTON – February 1 – A coalition of civil rights organizations welcomed Michigan Secretary of State’s decision today to drop an unlawful policy that prevented young immigrants brought to the country as children — commonly known as DREAMers — from receiving driver’s licenses and identification cards in the state.

The coalition, which includes the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Law Center, filed a federal lawsuit in December asking a court to rule that recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are legally authorized to be in the United States and, therefore, are eligible for licenses. Today’s decision comes just two weeks after the federal government issued guidance confirming that DREAMers are authorized to live and work in the country.

Miriam Aukerman, staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan, said: “Today’s announcement is a tremendous victory for the thousands of young people who may not have been born here, however have only known this country to be home. They have the same dreams as other young Americans — contribute to their communities and make a difference in the world. Last June, the federal government gave them a chance to fulfill these dreams. Today, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson is helping to make their dreams a reality. We look forward to dismissing our lawsuit and turning the page to a more welcoming and inclusive Michigan.”

Michael Tan, staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, said: “We’re thrilled that DREAMers in Michigan will now be able to get driver’s licenses, so they can continue going to classes, keep their jobs and help their families. The small fraction of states that are still considering banning DREAMers from the roads should do the same. Our national leaders have acknowledged the need to enact a common-sense, humane immigration plan, and what better way for states to move in that direction than by passing policies that welcome, rather than marginalize, our hard-working immigrant youth.”

Tanya Broder, senior attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, said: “Michigan today reached a decision that is legally and morally sound. Their decision provides DREAMers with deferred action the opportunity to contribute more fully to their communities and to their families. Arizona and Nebraska, which continue to deny driver’s licenses to DREAMers, should take note: they are among a dwindling number of states that stand on the wrong side of history and the law.”

The ACLU, NILC and other partners have also filed a lawsuit against Arizona’s unlawful policy prohibiting youth from getting driver’s licenses. While the vast majority of states are issuing licenses to DREAMers, Arizona and Nebraska have barred DACA recipients from obtaining licenses. In addition to Michigan, Iowa recently agreed that DACA recipients are eligible for licenses, and Illinois made licenses available to all residents regardless of immigration status. The Attorney General of North Carolina has also clarified that DACA recipients are eligible for driver’s licenses, but DMV officials in that state have yet to confirm that they will be making licenses available.

An estimated 1.76 million youth in the United States are eligible for the DACA program, including about 15,000 in Michigan.

To read more about the Michigan case, go to: www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/one-michigan-v-ruth-johnson

To read more about the Arizona case, go to: www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/arizona-dream-act-coalition-et-al-v-brewer

Israeli soldiers have shot and injured two Palestinian teenagers in northern Gaza Strip, in another violation of a truce signed in November 2012.

Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said both teenagers were shot in the leg on Friday as they were walking towards a security fence in the northern town of Jabaliya.

The injured Palestinians were taken to a hospital in Beit Lahiya for treatment, the ministry spokesman added.

Friday’s shooting brings to 51 the total number of Palestinians injured since the 2012 truce.

At least four Palestinians have also been killed since then.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian teenager was injured by Israeli soldiers near the city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza Strip.

The victim was reportedly collecting old metal scraps when he came under Israeli gunfire.

The November ceasefire came into effect following an eight-day Israeli offensive that killed more than 170 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Under the truce agreement, Israel is required to allow Palestinians to enter what it had previously declared as a 300-meter deep no-go zone on the Gaza side of the border.

Farmers have been allowed to move up to 100 meters from the border, but Israeli troops open fire at the Palestinians they claim have gone further than that.

KA/MHB

There is no hell quite like living with a crazy, menacing neighbor. Maybe the most sensible thing we can do about this type of gun threat is to allow something like a grand jury panel to assess confidential complaints and testimony, and render a decision whether someone has forfeited the right to their weapons. (Here in Philly, they can take your car if you’re driving without insurance. You think people are emotionally attached to their guns? Watch what happens when you take their wheels!) Of course, the hard part is getting them to give up their guns, but better to have the cops and a mental health team deal with a volatile situation than the neighbors.

I mean, look at this guy. He beat a dog to death with a pipe? He shot at his neighbors over a speed bump? Clearly out of control. There needs to be a more timely solution than a distant court hearing. There should be at least an interim surrender of weapons for anyone charged with violence or a gun crime. Maybe this school bus driver would be alive right now:

The retired Alabama trucker who shot a school bus driver and is now holding a kindergarten student in an underground bunker was scheduled to be in court Wednesday to answer for allegedly shooting at his neighbors in a dispute over a damaged speed bump.

Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, has been holed up in a 6 by 8 foot bunker 4 feet underground with a 5-year-old autistic boy named Ethan since Tuesday, when he boarded a school bus and asked for two 6 to 8 year old boys. School bus driver Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was shot several times by Dykes, and died trying to protect the children.

Police said that they do not think that Dykes had any connection to Ethan, and that SWAT teams and police are negotiating with Dykes.

“I could tell you that negotiators continue to communicate with the suspect and that there’s no reason to believe the child has been harmed,” Sheriff Wally Olson said late Thursday.

Dykes’ neighbor Claudia Davis told The Associated Press that he had yelled at her and fired his gun at her, her son James Davis, Jr. and her baby grandson after he claimed their truck caused damage to a speed bump in the dirt road near his property. No one was hurt, but Davis, Jr. told the AP that he believes the shooting and kidnapping are connected to the scheduled court hearing.

“I believe he thought I was going to be in court and he was going to get more charges than the menacing, which he deserved, and he had a bunch of stuff to hide and that’s why he did it,” he said.

This was not Dykes’ only run-in with people in the neighborhood, where he had come to be known as a menacing figure. Neighbor Ronda Wilbur told the AP that Dykes beat her 120-pound dog with a lead pipe when it entered the side of the dirt rode his trailer sits on. Wilbur said her dog died a week later.

Early last year, two pit bulls belonging to neighbors Mike and Patricia Smith escaped and got into his yard. Patricia Smith said that Dykes threatened to shoot her children when they went to retrieve them.

From Rodrigo Serrano of Rational Capitalist Speculator,

This objective report concisely summarizes important macro events over the past week. It is not geared to push an agenda. Impartiality is necessary to avoid costly psychological traps, which all investors are prone to, such as confirmation, conservatism, and endowment biases.

Bull

U.S. Economic Activity is beginning to reaccelerate:

• Manufacturing reports this week show an improving picture.  The ISM Index increases from 50.7 to 53.1 in January.  New Orders and Employment subindicies are in solid positive territory.  Meanwhile Markit’s PMI Index rises from 54 to 55.8.  Both notch their best readings in 9 months.  Regionally, the Chicago and Dallas Feds report that activity is picking up steam.  Furthermore, Durable Goods Orders are pointing to a stabilization in demand with business investment increasing for the third consecutive month. Manufacturers are becoming more confident in future demand.
• Upward revisions in November, from 161K to 247K, and December, from 155K to 196K, together totaling +127K, accompany a positive BLS jobs report for January (+157K).  Meanwhile ADP reports that companies hired at the fastest pace in almost a year.  Challenger, Gray, & Christmas announces that job cuts for January are the third lowest since 1993.  Firms do not see deteriorating conditions in the months ahead and are maintaining their headcount.  The job market continues to heal.   
• Light Motor Vehicle Sales start off strong in 2013.  Consumption growth continues and will support the economy.  
• Overall, Consumer confidence is stabilizing.  While we’ve seen some indicators point to souring prospects, other surveys, such as Gallup’s Poll of Consumer Confidence and University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumer Sentiment point to reduced concern over upcoming negotiations in Congress.  
• Rising home prices remain a positive for consumer psychology.  Prices are set to climb throughout 2013, partly counterbalancing worries over higher taxes.  Meanwhile Detroit is seeing a revival –(told you so!).  

+  The global economy is set to reaccelerate in the coming months according to JP Morgan’s Global Manufacturing PMI, led by a reacceleration in China (due to domestic demand) and firming U.S. activity.  Improvement in these countries is spilling over into Europe…

+  …Germany’s Markit Manufacturing PMI is now just a smidgen below 50, which delineates between contraction and expansion, at 49.8 (an 11-month high).  Furthermore, Consumer climate, reported by the Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (Gfk) group, reveals an improving state of confidence.  Perhaps this is due to a recovering job market.  Meanwhile, while still contracting, the majority of country-specific PMIs (Spain, Italy, Hungary, and Czech Republic) indicate the worse is over of the region’s recession.  The improvement in the global economy can also be seen in Brazil, where the unemployment rate has fallen to a record low.

(Source: Markit Economics) 

Bear

– Investors have piled into bullish bets (but earnings have flatlined since Q2 2011), economists all agree that the economy is poised to expand, the VIX is at 2007 levels before the crisis struck, and the bears are capitulating.  All are signs of extreme complacency in the face of festering bearish macro trends……  

(Weekly Readings –– Solid Line = 32-week average)

– …..and why are investors giddy?  Because stocks keep on rising.  But smart investors know to use REAL, not Nominal gains to correctly value wealth.  “Zimbabwe’s stock market was the best performer this decade – but your entire portfolio now buys you 3 eggs.” – Kyle Bass

– The U.S. Economy is extremely vulnerable and is on the cusp of recession: 

• Bull are doused with a bucket of cold water as 4th quarter U.S. GDPprints negative for the first time since Q2 2009.  The negative print is a crystal clear indication of how weak and vulnerable this recovery is.  Curtailing government expenditures, higher taxes, and rising gas prices as the summer approaches will be too much for the economy to bear.
• U.S. Consumer confidence, as per the Conference Board Consumer Confidence survey, plunges again in January, erasing all of 2012’s gains.  Furthermore, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index falls for the fourth straight week.  Weekly sales metrics, such as Goldman ICSCand Redbook, reveal weakening consumption trends.  This ongoing trend casts a cloud over the direction of consumer spending as worries over reduced incomes due to the expiring 2-yr payroll tax holiday ferment.
• The Household Survey, embedded beneath the widely touted headline jobs number this morning, has not confirmed the improving job market for the third successive month.  
• The FOMC meeting reveals that Fed officials are worried about a stalling economy (confirmed by Q4 numbers) as well as creeping disinflation.  Monetary policy is powerless to arrest continued sluggish in the economy; worse, as investors appreciate the negative impact of reduced consumer incomes, there will be a crisis of confidence.  ”Don’t Fight the Fed” will be a maxim of the past.  

– Europe’s troubles lurk in the background, receiving very little press.  The budget scandal in Spain is quietly picking steam and Retail Sales in the country fell for the 30th consecutive month in December.  Spanish 10-yr borrowing costs advance roughly 5% this week.  Looking at a 3-month view, we now see a higher high.  Meanwhile, car sales throughout the periphery remain in a distinguishable downtrend and retail sales throughout the region signal consumer retrenchment.  Moreover, Italian Consumer Confidence slumps to a 17-yr low and Business Confidence unexpectedly falls.

– If China has really bottomed and is on the brink of a sustainable recovery, try telling that to the Australians.  Straya’s mining-based economy is signaling a red flag for global recovery enthusiasts.

US Senator Robert Menendez.(AFP Photo / Saul Loeb)

A letter allegedly written by a Dominican woman claims that Sen. Bob Menendez had sexual relations with prostitutes, attended sex parties, and may have even slept with minors.

In an e-mail written nine months ago but published Jan. 31 by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a young Dominican woman claims she slept with 59-year-old Menendez at a number of sex parties organized in the Dominican Republic by his campaign donor, Dr. Salomon Melgen. She claims she had sex with the senator “three times at least” in 2009.

“The first one in February, and then in May and June. I recall his visit in June so well because that month was my 17th birthday,” allegedly wrote the prostitute.

“That senator also likes the youngest and newest girls,” the woman added. “In the beginning he seemed so serious, because he never spoke to anyone, but he is just like the others and has just about the same tastes as the doctor, very refined. I think they were taking us more often to get us checked [medically] because of him.”

Those who translated the letter from Spanish to English say the writing indicates that the woman could be very young and unsophisticated and may indeed have been a minor when she started engaging in sexual intercourse with Menendez.

Since November, Menendez has been suspected of soliciting prostitutes, but the letter from the Dominican girl presents the most detailed allegations so far. The senator on Thursday denied the allegations against him, despite the new evidence. The FBI on Thursday raided the office of Melgen, who also denies the claims.

The Dominican prostitute claims the senator and Dr. Melgen took numerous trips to the Dominican Republic by private plane and then paid multiple prostitutes to attend their organized sex parties. The girl provided detailed descriptions of the pimp and the houses where she slept with the guests. But she also expressed fear of revealing herself.

“The thing that worries me the most is that if they know that I spoke with someone they will find me,” she wrote. CREW released her name, but most media outlets citing the letter have decided to withhold it, since she may have been a minor at the time of her relations with Menendez.

Prostitution is legal in the Dominican Republic, but Menendez has heavily condemned the Cuban government for creating economic conditions that led to widespread prostitution.

In a 2009 Senate floor speech — the same year he allegedly slept with the Dominican prostitute — he denounced the Cuban government for failing to address poverty in a country where the average worker was living on an income of less than $1 a day.

“The widespread desperation of families has forced far too many young girls and boys into becoming sex workers, even though defenders of the Revolution constantly cite the elimination of prostitution as one of its supposed accomplishments,” Menendez said. In a separate speech, he criticized a congressman for trying to lift travel restrictions to Cuba, claiming that foreign tourists would take advantage of Cuban women.

But that’s exactly what Menendez may have done himself — except in the Dominican Republic instead of Cuba. The Daily Caller on Friday discovered that Menendez wrote Melgen a check on Jan. 4 to cover the cost of private jet travel to the Dominican Republic. Melgen had long been suspected of providing the senator with free trips, but the senator reimbursed him this month with a $58,500 check for two trips that were taken in 2010. The checks confirm that Mendendez took trips to the Dominican Republic, but may also protect him from legal trouble.

The Senate Ethics Committee only allows senators to accept job-related perks or gifts, including free travel, if they are reported to the committee and approved. Menendez’s check to his campaign donor was written two years after the trips, indicating that recent media coverage about the scandal may have prompted him to do so to prevent legal problems regarding his finances, since he did not report his travels to the committee.

But in wake of a flurry of evidence against him, the senator continues to deny all allegations. After speaking at a New Jersey Chamber of Commerce dinner on Thursday, Menendez ignored reporters who tried to question him after the event.

Menendez and his ex-wife, whom he has two children with, divorced in 2005 — four years before he allegedly began to attend the sex parties.

The North Dakota legislature only meets every other year, so in its “on” year it has a lot of business to accomplish. Sadly, it looks like the major focus this year will be banning abortion any way they can.The last clinic in North Dakota that provides abortions. (NRL News.)

With just one clinic left–the Red River Women’s Clinic has recently become the face of abortion limits in this post-Casey world of abortion restrictions–any new law meant to interfere with a woman’s right to access an abortion can be devastating. Now, with four different laws being proposed, limited access may quickly turn into no access at all.

State Concurrent Resolution 4009 would add a “Human Life Amendment” to the state constitution, an action that anti-choice advocates have been trying to do nationally since Roe v. Wade was decided 40 years ago. Ballot initiatives to eliminate access to safe abortion care in the state have been a series of failures in the Dakotas, but with a cheap media market pursue a campaign through, anti-choice activists can’t seem to take no for an answer.

But at least an amendment would be up for a vote. SB 2302 would enact a so-called “personhood” bill banning abortions, stem-cell research, and possibly birth control and IVF, depending on what the state decides is or is not birth control that “kills a person.”

Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit the sale, use, prescription, or
administration of a contraceptive measure, drug, or chemical. Only birth control
that can be clinically proven to kill a person shall be affected by this section. In
the interest of protecting the health and safety of the people of North Dakota, the
state department of health shall provide a list of birth control products along with
their clinically proven effects upon women and preborn human beings at every
stage of development.

Also clearly stated in the ban? No abortions allowed for victims of sexual assault. “The state of North Dakota does not punish the crime of sexual assault with the
death penalty, and neither shall persons conceived through a sexual assault be
punished with the loss of life.”

SB 2303 reiterates much of the “fertilized eggs are people” legalese presented in SB 2302, but clarifies more how IVF would be affected. Once an embryo is created, the family and doctor have 36 hours to discard of it, or it must either be implanted or kept frozen, unless a doctor is willing to certify that after testing the embryo would not progress to a live birth if it were implanted. Criminal penalties for destroying a fertilized egg do not apply to:

The screening, collecting, preparing, transferring, or cryopreserving of a human
being created through in vitro fertilization for the purpose of being transferred to a
human uterus.
c. The disposal or destruction of a fertilized human ovum, zygote, or embryo,
created through in vitro fertilization, which has been subject to medical testing
and analysis, and in the reasonable judgment of a medical professional, if
transferred to a human uterus, would not produce a live birth.
d. The disposal or destruction of a fertilized human ovum, zygote, or embryo,
created through in vitro fertilization which has not progressed in development for
thirty – six hours in culture .

After that 36 hours, however, it looks like your options are implant it somewhere, or keep it frozen indefinitely.

As if the multiple attempts to ban abortion all together weren’t enough, the state will also take a swing at closing down the sole clinic by introducing the same TRAP law that has now put Jackson Women’s Health Organization in jeopardy. A combination of admitting privileges to a local hospital and a requirement that the doctor performing the abortion be a board certified OB-Gyn is likely expected to have the same effect for Red River as it is currently having down south. Even more daunting for the North Dakota clinic, however, is the fact that for many women in the state, if that clinic closes their next nearest option is the Planned Parenthood Clinic in South Dakota, which may have a 72-hour waiting period and potentially a mandatory crisis pregnancy center counseling session in effect as well.

Even without actually closing down the clinic or giving fertilized eggs legal rights, the legislature still has a backup plan to eliminate almost all abortions–a heartbeat ban. If all other bills fail, the state may still just eliminate abortions as soon as a heartbeat can be detected, sometimes less than 28 days post conception. Not a coincidence is this language, which makes it a crime to perform an abortion without first checking for a heartbeat.

Except when a medical emergency exists that prevents compliance with this subsection, an individual may not perform an abortion on a pregnant woman before determining, in accordance with standard medical practice, if the unborn child the pregnant woman is carrying has a detectable heartbeat. Any individual who performs an abortion on a pregnant woman based on the exception in this subsection shall note in the pregnant woman’s medical records that a medical emergency necessitating the abortion existed.

Red River Clinic states that they have no equipment to listen for a heartbeat at this time.

“Anti-choice politicians in North Dakota have undertaken an all-out assault on women’s constitutionally protected rights, introducing not one, but five bills that would end safe and legal abortion in the state,” Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights said via email statement. The CRR is representing Red River Clinic in a lawsuit over a 2011 medication abortion restriction bill.

“Whether through tactics that outright ban abortion or backdoor efforts to block women’s access to reproductive health care providers, the end result is the same: women will be gravely harmed,” continued Northup. “We strongly urge the members of these legislative committees to support women’s access to basic health care and reject these extreme measures that are both unconstitutional and dangerous for North Dakota women.”

All of the bills were heatedly debated in testemony at the state capital, where opponents of abortion called it murder, and said that TRAP laws that could close the only clinic were “safety” issues that no one could oppose “except those with a vested financial interest,” according to the Bismark Tribune.

Also testifying, a woman who noted that with the new limits of “personhood” that would be put in place on invitro fertilization, her own existence never would have occurred. “I strongly believe my parents and the doctors are not abortionists, but rather miracle workers who brought life when there was none,” said Alexis Grabinger, High School senior and daughter of state Senator James Grabiner.

© 2012 RH Reality Check

Robin Marty is Senior Political Reporter for RH Reality Check

The North Dakota legislature only meets every other year, so in its “on” year it has a lot of business to accomplish. Sadly, it looks like the major focus this year will be banning abortion any way they can.The last clinic in North Dakota that provides abortions. (NRL News.)

With just one clinic left–the Red River Women’s Clinic has recently become the face of abortion limits in this post-Casey world of abortion restrictions–any new law meant to interfere with a woman’s right to access an abortion can be devastating. Now, with four different laws being proposed, limited access may quickly turn into no access at all.

State Concurrent Resolution 4009 would add a “Human Life Amendment” to the state constitution, an action that anti-choice advocates have been trying to do nationally since Roe v. Wade was decided 40 years ago. Ballot initiatives to eliminate access to safe abortion care in the state have been a series of failures in the Dakotas, but with a cheap media market pursue a campaign through, anti-choice activists can’t seem to take no for an answer.

But at least an amendment would be up for a vote. SB 2302 would enact a so-called “personhood” bill banning abortions, stem-cell research, and possibly birth control and IVF, depending on what the state decides is or is not birth control that “kills a person.”

Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit the sale, use, prescription, or
administration of a contraceptive measure, drug, or chemical. Only birth control
that can be clinically proven to kill a person shall be affected by this section. In
the interest of protecting the health and safety of the people of North Dakota, the
state department of health shall provide a list of birth control products along with
their clinically proven effects upon women and preborn human beings at every
stage of development.

Also clearly stated in the ban? No abortions allowed for victims of sexual assault. “The state of North Dakota does not punish the crime of sexual assault with the
death penalty, and neither shall persons conceived through a sexual assault be
punished with the loss of life.”

SB 2303 reiterates much of the “fertilized eggs are people” legalese presented in SB 2302, but clarifies more how IVF would be affected. Once an embryo is created, the family and doctor have 36 hours to discard of it, or it must either be implanted or kept frozen, unless a doctor is willing to certify that after testing the embryo would not progress to a live birth if it were implanted. Criminal penalties for destroying a fertilized egg do not apply to:

The screening, collecting, preparing, transferring, or cryopreserving of a human
being created through in vitro fertilization for the purpose of being transferred to a
human uterus.
c. The disposal or destruction of a fertilized human ovum, zygote, or embryo,
created through in vitro fertilization, which has been subject to medical testing
and analysis, and in the reasonable judgment of a medical professional, if
transferred to a human uterus, would not produce a live birth.
d. The disposal or destruction of a fertilized human ovum, zygote, or embryo,
created through in vitro fertilization which has not progressed in development for
thirty – six hours in culture .

After that 36 hours, however, it looks like your options are implant it somewhere, or keep it frozen indefinitely.

As if the multiple attempts to ban abortion all together weren’t enough, the state will also take a swing at closing down the sole clinic by introducing the same TRAP law that has now put Jackson Women’s Health Organization in jeopardy. A combination of admitting privileges to a local hospital and a requirement that the doctor performing the abortion be a board certified OB-Gyn is likely expected to have the same effect for Red River as it is currently having down south. Even more daunting for the North Dakota clinic, however, is the fact that for many women in the state, if that clinic closes their next nearest option is the Planned Parenthood Clinic in South Dakota, which may have a 72-hour waiting period and potentially a mandatory crisis pregnancy center counseling session in effect as well.

Even without actually closing down the clinic or giving fertilized eggs legal rights, the legislature still has a backup plan to eliminate almost all abortions–a heartbeat ban. If all other bills fail, the state may still just eliminate abortions as soon as a heartbeat can be detected, sometimes less than 28 days post conception. Not a coincidence is this language, which makes it a crime to perform an abortion without first checking for a heartbeat.

Except when a medical emergency exists that prevents compliance with this subsection, an individual may not perform an abortion on a pregnant woman before determining, in accordance with standard medical practice, if the unborn child the pregnant woman is carrying has a detectable heartbeat. Any individual who performs an abortion on a pregnant woman based on the exception in this subsection shall note in the pregnant woman’s medical records that a medical emergency necessitating the abortion existed.

Red River Clinic states that they have no equipment to listen for a heartbeat at this time.

“Anti-choice politicians in North Dakota have undertaken an all-out assault on women’s constitutionally protected rights, introducing not one, but five bills that would end safe and legal abortion in the state,” Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights said via email statement. The CRR is representing Red River Clinic in a lawsuit over a 2011 medication abortion restriction bill.

“Whether through tactics that outright ban abortion or backdoor efforts to block women’s access to reproductive health care providers, the end result is the same: women will be gravely harmed,” continued Northup. “We strongly urge the members of these legislative committees to support women’s access to basic health care and reject these extreme measures that are both unconstitutional and dangerous for North Dakota women.”

All of the bills were heatedly debated in testemony at the state capital, where opponents of abortion called it murder, and said that TRAP laws that could close the only clinic were “safety” issues that no one could oppose “except those with a vested financial interest,” according to the Bismark Tribune.

Also testifying, a woman who noted that with the new limits of “personhood” that would be put in place on invitro fertilization, her own existence never would have occurred. “I strongly believe my parents and the doctors are not abortionists, but rather miracle workers who brought life when there was none,” said Alexis Grabinger, High School senior and daughter of state Senator James Grabiner.

© 2012 RH Reality Check

Robin Marty is Senior Political Reporter for RH Reality Check

With Dow at 14,000 and rates rising, those that need to take commissions and get their ratings up are seeing the ‘conventional wisdom’ seemingly proved right. However, Rick Santelli does not see it quite as clearly. Bianco Research’s James Bianco joins Santelli for what they call ‘mythbusting’ as the two skeptics rightfully expose the unreality of the ‘fiscal cliff’ fears, the untruth that is the ‘Great Rotation’ due to tax concerns ahead of the fiscal cliff, and dismal performance of the Fed’s failed forecast ranges. As extreme monetary policy continues (crisis-mode) – seemingly in absolute opposition to what the talking heads will say about jobs and the economy – Santelli and Bianco conclude that “right now the market is not bothered by [the Fed setting rates], but at some point it might be, Trust Capitalism” as they reiterate the need for Market Forces to be allowed to act. 3 minutes well spent.

Anzhi’s rookie, Willian of Brazil (RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov)

The transfer of Shakhtar Donetsk attacking midfielder Willian to Anzhi Makhachkala has become the third most expensive in the history of Russian football.

­According to Sport-Express newspaper, Anzhi have parted with €35 million to lure Willian away from the Ukrainian champions.

The Brazilian has signed a four-year deal with the side from Russia’s republic of Dagestan with a salary of €2.5 million per season.

Shakhtar’s coach, Mircea Lucescu, informed the press that English giants Chelsea were also interested in Willian’s services, but he “chose money” by opting for Anzhi.

The 24-year-old arrived in Donetsk in 2007 from Brazilian side, Corinthians, scoring 20 goals in 140 games for the Miners since then.

The player, who has two caps for the Brazilian national team, has contributed to Shakhatr winning four Ukrainian champion’s titles and the UEFA Cup 2008-09.

Willian is expected to arrive at Anzhi’s training camp in Marbella, Spain on Saturday.   

Meanwhile, the two the most expensive players in Russia compete for Zenit Saint Petersburg, who paid €100mln for Porto’s Hulk and Axel Witsel of Benfica last autumn.

From left: Arsenal’s midfielder Emmanuel Eboue against Shakhtar Donetsk’s midfielders Willian and Douglas Costa in the UEFA Champions League’s group stage match.(RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov)

Should Taxpayers Be Funding Private Schools That Teach Creationism?

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Posted on Feb 1, 2013

John Scalzi (CC BY 2.0)

Part of an exhibit at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky.

By Zack Kopplin

According to so-called education reform advocates like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his Foundation for Excellence in Education, school vouchers, which allow parents to direct state money to private schools of their choice, are essential because “families need the financial freedom to attend schools that meet their needs.” From Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, to Newark, N.J.’s Democratic Mayor Cory Booker, these programs are backed by politicians on both sides of the aisle, and they enjoy the support of powerful interest groups such as the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and the American Federation for Children.

Voucher programs have been established in 12 states and the District of Columbia, and they are spreading as Texas and Tennessee attempt to create ones of their own. As the use of vouchers has expanded across the country in recent years, new questions have arisen that extend beyond concerns about their appropriateness and legality. We’ve pushed standards, testing and accountability for public schools, so why shouldn’t private institutions receiving vouchers have to meet those same requirements? Should private institutions be allowed to ignore state science standards and teach their students creationism while receiving taxpayer money? Does learning about biblical creation, rather than evolution, really help to meet students’ needs?

I first investigated the relationship between creationism and voucher programs after reading an AlterNet article in June about Eternity Christian Academy in Louisiana. Now removed from the state’s voucher program, the school was using the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum to teach students that the mythical Loch Ness Monster existed and somehow disproved evolution. As I looked further into Louisiana’s program, I found that there wasn’t just one school but at least 20 private ones getting vouchers and thus receiving millions of taxpayer dollars. After reviewing my research, New Orleans Times-Picayune columnist James Gill wrote that “vouchers have turned out to be the answer to a creationist’s prayer.”

This isn’t just a Louisiana problem. It seems clear that the U.S. is facing a national creationism epidemic. In an exposé I wrote posted by MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry, I identified hundreds of additional voucher schools in nine states and the District of Columbia using dozens of different creationist curriculums. These schools are receiving tens of millions of dollars, and maybe even hundreds of millions, to teach religious beliefs in violation of state science standards. With 164 such campuses, Florida’s John M. McKay Scholarships for Students With Disabilities Program contained the highest concentration of creationist voucher schools I was able to uncover. Indiana, which has been marketed as the “gold standard” for voucher accountability, has at least 37 such schools teaching creationism. A couple of its campuses proudly advertise that their students are taken to the Creation Museum on field trips. So far, I’ve discovered 311 creationist voucher schools across the country.

Those 311 schools are not the only taxpayer funded institutions teaching creationism. There are likely hundreds more. Although many are difficult to find, either because they don’t have websites or don’t advertise their creationist curriculum, lots of voucher schools fit the profile of creationist campuses that are already known. On top of this, two states, Arizona and Mississippi, have voucher programs but don’t release the names of participating schools. Officials with the Arizona Department of Education confirmed to me that every private school in the state is eligible to participate in the program, and since I’ve identified private creationist schools there that could be involved, there is little doubt that Arizona is funding some of them. I believe it’s a safe bet that every school voucher program in the country is financing creationism.

These campuses would be shut if they were subject to the same standards as public institutions. The courts have shot down the teaching of creationism and intelligent design with public money over and over again, so why are we letting taxpayer funded private voucher schools teach them? The scientists and educators who devised both state science standards and the national common core standards knew creationism was pseudo-science that would not help American students get the education they need to succeed in a global, 21st century economy. That’s why we don’t teach creationism in public schools. Taxpayers should be outraged that their hard-earned dollars are enabling the mis-education of private school students.

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Sally Quinn: First of all Scott brown is a hunk. And I think that the fact that he posed semi-nude in a magazine gave him a huge advantage in terms of public recognition.

Sally Quinn made these statements when Brown got the teabaggers upset with his vote on the Financial Reform bill. Even BillO laughed at Quinn’s description of Brown, but apparently he is stroke material for Republicans. This was back in 2010 when Scott was the flavor of the tea party.

Flashing back to the present, Scott Brown will not run for John Kerry’s seat.

Former Massachusetts Republican senator Scott Brown announced Friday that he will not run in the special election for outgoing Democratic Sen. John Kerry’s seat. Brown’s decision means Kerry’s seat is likely to remain in Democratic hands.

“…I was not at all certain that a third Senate campaign in less than four years, and the prospect of returning to a Congress even more partisan than the one I left, was really the best way for me to continue in public service at this time,” Brown said in a statement.

“And I know it’s not the only way for me to advance the ideals and causes that matter most to me.“That is why I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate for the United States Senate in the upcoming special election.”

That’s another Republican pin-up gone. Good riddance to you. sir. Does he have eyes on running for governor? We shall see, but this is excellent news for Democrats and Ed Markley. Anti-choice conservaDem Steve Lynch is now running for the job and Howie has some info on him.

The almost universal favorite for the Democratic nomination, with endorsements from the DSCC and from Kerry, is progressive champion Ed Markey, the dean of the Massachusetts delegation, who has a stupendous record in the House, not just as a dependable voter but as a leader on some of the most important issues facing the country, particularly around Climate Change and the environment. His lifetime ProgressivePunch crucial issues score is 94.70, a fraction better than Jerry Nadler and Barbara Lee and a just bit below fellow Massachusetts Reps Jim McGovern and John Tierney.

But Markey isn’t the only congressman looking for the promotion to the Senate. Way down at the other end of the political spectrum, conservative Democrat– and anti-Choice fanatic– Stephen Lynch would also like to run. His lifetime Progressive Punch crucial vote score is a dismal 78.72. (This session Markey has a 100 rating so far and Lynch has a 33.33 rating, one of the lowest of any Democrat in Congress.) This afternoon, at Iron Worker’s Hall in Boston, Lynch announced he would challenge Markey for the nomination (after campaigning at diners in Springfield and Worcester all morning). The primary is set for April 30 and the general election will be June 25. Markey has around $3,000,000 on hand for the challenge, while Lynch has something like $800,000 in his campaign warchest.

As a state legislator Lynch had a 100 percent voting record from Massachusetts Citizens for Life, a group usually associated with Republicans.

We’ve added Ed Markey to our Blue America page so please donate if you can. He’s a real progressive and we need more of them in Congress.

While Q4 earnings are sagging notably (as we pointed out here – 8% lower than pre-earnings-season expectations), the incessant ratcheting down of the expectations as the season progresses enables an ever-more-desperate sell-side to opine on the eventual ‘beat’ that evolves from a lower and lower bar. As Morgan Stanley’s Adam Parker notes, however, the results have been massively top-heavy as the largest 10 earnings beats have contributed over 90% of the S&P 500 uspide in aggregate earnings. MSFT and JPM alone account for 50% of that beat. But with guidance plunging, Parker sees 2013 consensus estimates of $112 massively out of line with reality.

The head of the police watchdog has written to Hillsborough survivors and relatives to reassure them it well get to the bottom of allegations of a cover up.

It follows a scathing report by the Home Affairs Select Committee, which described the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) as “woefully under-equipped and hamstrung”, and lacking the public’s confidence.

The IPCC is investigating claims there was a coordinated cover up by South Yorkshire police to blame the Liverpool supporters for the tragedy in 1989, which left 96 people dead.

The IPCC has described the probe as its biggest test, yet questions are already being asked about whether it is up to the job.

The report by MPs found the body does not have the power or resources to get to the truth, has a backlog of appeals and often fails to take immediate control of a potential crime scene during the crucial “golden hours” of an investigation.

The MPs also found it may not be independent enough as it has so many former police officers working for it.

IPCC chair Dame Anne Owers admits it is stretched. “We do not have the resources and the powers to do all the things that the public expect of us, and and in some cases that the public needs us to be able to do. And I think this report reinforces that,” she said.

One family that feels let down by the IPCC is that of Olaseni Lewis, 23.

The post-graduate student returned home to Croydon from a night out feeling agitated and unwell in August 2010.

His parents persuaded him to go to A and E to get checked out. Within hours he was on life support having been restrained by up to 11 police officers, but the circumstances are still unclear.

His father, Conrad Lewis, says the memory haunts him: “You wake up in the morning, it hits you, you read the news item about another kid or you talk to somebody.

“You wonder where did you go wrong, what did I do wrong, shouldn’t I have taken him to the hospital? You know, you beat up yourself.”

The IPCC admitted “confusion” and “oversights” in its initial investigation, which it is now reviewing. It has meant the inquest into his death has been delayed, which distresses Olaseni’s mother, Ajibola.

“He was a gentle giant. He stood up for people. He hated injustice. He didn’t like bullies, and I don’t know.. we just don’t know until we have the inquest the exact facts, so we’re just waiting,” she said.

For the relatives of the Hillsborough victims, and the survivors, there is also an anxious wait. Ms Owers has emailed them to tell them extra funding has been promised by the Home Office for its inquiry.

Lord Falconer, who is acting as an adviser to the Hillsborough Families Support Group, says it is crucial the IPCC gets the investigation right.

“To see a state body mess up again would be absolutely appalling,” he said. “And to entrust an investigation of this difficulty and this intenstiy to an organisation that has performed so badly in the past seems to us to be a big mistake.”

Chinese auto giant Geely bought financially troubled Manganese Bronze Holdings (MBH), manufacturer of the iconic London Black Taxi. The cost of the deal is 11.04 million British pounds ($ 17.44 million).

­British company hasn’t seen a profit since 2007. The company, which used to have a monopoly in its business niche, has faced tough competition with German Mercedes and Japanese Nissan on London streets. In the past year MB’s shares fell 70 percent to 10 pounds, valuing it at 3 million pounds. Five years ago, they were trading at more than 800 pounds each.

Last October the Coventry carmaker, which has been producing cars since 1948, had to recall 400 cars because of defective Chinese-built steering boxes. The incident almost finished the respected company and it was forced to go into administration, PricewaterhouseCoopers took over the running of the firm in order to protect its creditors.

Geely, which was Manganese’s largest lender, now owns 80 percent of the company including plant, property, trade-marks and stock of unsold vehicles. It has also received MBH’s 48 percent stake in the joint venture manufacturing company in Shanghai.

In its press release the Chinese company says it plans to continue to assemble the famous TX 4 taxicabs in Coventry.

“We are determined to restore the fortunes of this totemic marque which is known, recognized and admired all around the world,” said Li Shufu, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group chairman. “We will use our extensive knowledge and experience in the automotive sector to maximize synergies and develop commercial opportunities for the London taxi.”

Asian automotive companies have purchased famous British car manufacturers before. In 2008 Indian Tata Motors acquired Jaguar Land Rover. Chinese Nanjing Automobile Group bought MG. In 2010 Geely acquired premium Swedish carmaker Volvo.

February 1, 2013  |  

An incarcerated member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot has been hospitalized for illnesses related to prison work , reports the Associated Press . Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has reportedly been suffering severe headaches since last spring, when the 23-year-old began serving her two-year sentence on hooliganism charges.

Fellow band member Yekaterina Samutsevich, who was released on appeal in October, told the independent Russian news service Rain TV, “They don’t allow [Tolokonnikova] to have any rest; she works nearly round the clock … She said she feels tired, extremely tired.”

In November, a haunting, six-minute video showing prison guards mercilessly beating an inmate went viral, giving many outsiders a look into the kinds of abuse Russian prisoners face everyday. The Guardian reports that the video took off shortly after hundreds of prisoners in Kopeysk protested torture and horrible conditions in their jail.

Russian women face especially harrowing conditions, as documented by several Russian sociologists in the recent book, Before and After Prison: Women’s Stories . The report on women’s prison colonies, gathered from 35 interviews, reveals a horrible lack of privacy and wretched treatment for inmates. One notable section describes women being punished for menstruating onto their bed sheets.

Russia has the world’s third largest prison population with nearly 800,000 inmates. But before Americans denounce Russian authoritarianism, they may want to take a look in their own backyard. The United States, with less five percent of the world’s population, imprisons almost a quarter of the world’s prison population–the majority of inmates being racial or ethnic minorities. And while U.S. prisons aren’t mandatory work camps, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the overcrowded conditions inside California’s prison system constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

Both countries, meanwhile, have a penchant for incarcerating activists, and Russia’s crackdown on dissenters continues to draw attention from international human rights groups. Human Rights Watch latest report, released Thursday, says Russia’s record under Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has reached its worst level since the Soviet Union.

“Since Putin’s return … not only has the tentative shift towards liberalisation of the Medvedev era been totally reversed, but also authoritarianism in Russia has reached a level unknown in recent history,” Rachel Denber, deputy director of the group’s Europe and Central Asia Division, told Reuters .

Since the group’s arrest in October, Pussy Riot has become an international symbol for Russia’s horrid human rights record. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich, and Maria Alekhina defied Putin’s regime when they performed a “punk protest” at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in St. Petersburg–a performance that landed all three in prison. (Samutsevich was subsequently released)

The treatment of Tolokonnikova is disturbing enough, but it’s certainly worst for prisoners who don’t have the privilege of fame.

The Ministry of Justice is suspending one of the suppliers of meat to prisons after it discovered that Halal pies and pasties sourced from a properly Halal certificated supplier may contain traces of non-Halal meat, it said.

The products concerned have been withdrawn immediately, a spokesman said.

He added: “All prisons have been informed about this very regrettable incident and we reported this issue to the Food Standards Agency immediately.

“We are taking immediate steps to suspend the contract with the relevant subcontractor.”

Justice minister Jeremy Wright said: “This is an absolutely unacceptable situation and one which we regret greatly. Clearly this must be distressing for those affected and they can be reassured we are doing everything we can to resolve the situation. The Prison Service is investigating this as a matter of urgency.”

US Energy Secretary Steven Chu has offered his resignation to President Barack Obama, becoming the latest member of the cabinet to leave office.

“While I will always remain dedicated to the missions of the Department, I informed the president of my decision a few days after the election,” the Nobel prize-winning scientist wrote in his resignation letter.

“I would like to return to an academic life of teaching and research, but will still work to advance the missions that we have been working on together for the last four years.”

Obama issued a statement on Chu’s resignation on Friday, praising him for “his dedicated service on behalf of the American people.”

Chu who has served under president Obama since 2009, is the latest of the president’s cabinet members to resign, after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Last week, Obama named his former principal deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough as his new White House chief of staff, widely viewed as the closest advisor to the US president and “the gatekeeper to the Oval Office.”

On Tuesday, the US Senate approved Senator John Kerry as the next secretary of state by a wide majority. Former Republican Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel has also been nominated to replace Leon Panetta as the next US Defense Secretary.

TE/HMV

The devastated family of a schoolboy murdered in a bungled Mafia-style hit have said they did not want revenge for his death.

Iqbal and Parveen Siddiqi said they were content to see “justice done” as the men responsible for hacking down their son were found guilty.

Ben Hope and Jason Richards displayed no emotion as the verdict was read out at Swansea Crown Court. Both were found guilty of murdering 17-year-old Aamir Siddiqi and attempting to murder his parents when they intervened. Aamir’s family let out a small whoop of joy as the guilty verdicts were read out.

Hope and Richards will be jailed for life at the same court next Friday when judge Mr Justice Royce will set the “substantial” minimum term they will serve.

The attack, which happened when the men went to the wrong address, took place on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Roath, Cardiff, South Wales, in April 2010.

Balaclava-clad Hope, 39, and Richards, 38, both from Cardiff, were each paid £1,000 in “blood money” to murder a middle-aged family man, who owed money to a shady businessman. But the hitmen murdered the teenager instead when they visited the wrong address. The intended target escaped with his life as a result.

“I think that they have done something very sinister,” Mr Siddiqi said. “Since these verdicts we feel that justice has been done. We do not want revenge, or to feel bad towards anybody, but when someone has done something so bad they should be punished.”

Mr Siddiqi added: “With his departure life has become very empty and somewhat meaningless. Aamir was everything in my life.”

His wife Parveen Siddiqi said: “Aamir was a boy that everybody thought well of. He was bright and polite. The day Aamir was murdered he had just asked if I wanted tea.”

Umbareen Siddiqi, 33, the teenager’s sister, paid tribute to her brother outside court, describing the attack on him as “callous and vicious”. She said: “Today’s guilty verdict is the right one and as a family we are both delighted and relieved.”

Esquire’s Charles Pierce hit the nail on the head with his assessment of this Thursday’s confirmation hearing of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense — and you can watch part of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s petulant display during the hearing in the clip above.

Today In Hagel Bashing:

It was a bizarre, devotional exercise. Hagel was not being asked for his qualifications to lead the Department Of Defense – which, it should be noted, is largely an administrative one when it comes to the country’s foreign relations. He was being asked to engage in a vague kind of theological debate. He was not being asked to profess his faith to Israel so much as to recant his heresies against the policies of the United States that were produced by adherents of a certain sect. He wasn’t being asked to endorse Bibi Netanyahu so much as he was being asked to recant his unorthodox opinions as regarding the good works of Bill Kristol or John McCain. He was being asked, en ensemble, by Republicans old and young, essentially the same question John McCain spent six minutes hollering into the wind.

Please admit that we were right.

No. You were wrong. You were wrong in 2003 and you were wrong in 2006 and the Iraq war was a murderous cock-up from start to finish and Hagel, at least, figured that out in midstream.

The whole hearing was nothing more than a show, and we all know that the easiest shows to sell are revivals. The Republican opposition decided to re-litigate the failures of the Bush administration in the context of the world view of Dean Acheson. It was a weird performance.

It was like watching Rent performed on the set of Show Boat. And very little of it had anything to do with Hagel’s qualifications to be Secretary Of Defense. Most of the questioning would seem to have been more suited to the hearings earlier this week, when John Kerry sailed through the confirmation process to become Secretary Of State. Hagel’s not running to be a diplomat and, frankly, given our experience with that steaming hunk of neocon man-meat, Don Rumsfeld, I’d just as soon not have the Defense Secretary involved in the formulation of foreign policy as much as he is in making sure the grunts who have to carry it out have sufficient body armor.

That, by all accounts, is what Hagel sees the job as being about. What some mullah may have mumbled about him may echo loudly among the stalagmites in Jim Inhofe’s brain, but it has absolutely no relevance to the rest of us as far as Hagel’s ability to run a Defense department. There is some criticism rising that Hagel was not properly prepared for his testimony. I’m not sure anybody could have been. How could anyone be properly prepared for Jim Inhofe and Ted Cruz in the same day? Those kind of mushrooms are still illegal.

Amen to that. More there, so go read the rest. I’m with Charlie. What a disgusting display we were treated to during this hearing yesterday. Sadly, I’m sure this performance and the others will be rewarded by the lot of them being handed a microphone on Sunday to spew more bile.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi says his administration will take “decisive” measures to protect state buildings as opposition protesters clash with security forces outside government offices.

Security forces will “act with utmost decisiveness” to protect state buildings, Morsi said in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Friday.

The presidency will hold “politically accountable” opposition groups behind the violence, the statement added.

Morsi said protesters had tried to break down the Presidential Palace gates and scale its walls, and demanded that opposition groups denounce the violence and call on their followers to withdraw.

The opposition National Salvation Front, which called for mass rallies on Friday, denied any connection with “the trouble that erupted suddenly in front of the Presidential Palace.”

The group condemned all acts of violence and urged security forces to exercise “utmost restraint” with the protesters.

MRS/HMV

Cardinal Relieved of Duties Amid Catholic Church Scandal Exposure

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Posted on Feb 1, 2013

AP/Reed Saxon

Cardinal Roger Mahony in 2007.

Finally, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has removed Cardinal Roger Mahony, a top clergyman linked to efforts to conceal child abuse, “as it released thousands [of] files [on] priests accused of molesting children,” The Guardian reports.

The 12,000 pages of files were made public more than a week after church records pertaining to 14 priests were released as part of another civil suit revealing that church officials worked to hide the abuse from law enforcement as late as 1987.

“I find these files to be brutal and painful reading,” Archbishop Jose Gomez said after relieving Mahony, his predecessor, of all public and administrative duties. “The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil,” Gomez said in a statement.

“There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children. The priests involved had the duty to be their spiritual fathers and they failed,” he said.

Mahony’s former top aide, Thomas Curry, stepped down from his position as bishop of Santa Barbara as well.

–Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

The Guardian:

The documents showed that Mahony, 76, and Curry, 70, both worked to send priests accused of abuse out of the state to shield them from scrutiny.

A spokesman for a victims’ support group said that the removal of Mahony and Curry was long overdue and a small step after the church spent years fighting to protect them.

“Hand-slapping Mahony is a nearly meaningless gesture,” said David Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. “When he had real power, and abused it horribly, he should have been demoted or disciplined by the church hierarchy, in Rome and in the US. But not a single Catholic cleric anywhere had the courage to even denounce him. Shame on them,” he said.

Mahony and Curry also tried to keep priests sent away to a church-run paedophile treatment centre from later revealing their misconduct to private therapists who would be obliged to report the crimes to police, the documents showed.

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Two hitmen who managed to kill the wrong person have been found guilty of murder.

Ben Hope, 39, and Jason Richards, 38, were convicted of the murder of talented student Aamir Siddiqi.

Aamir, 17, was savagely stabbed to death by the pair after opening the door of his family home in Roath, Cardiff.

Prosecutors said drug users Hope and Richards had been paid £1,000 each to kill a local businessman who was involved in a property dispute.

They planned to carry out the “hit” at lunchtime on Sunday, April 11, 2010 and went to the house they believed belonged to the businessman.

Their intended target lived on Shirley Road in an affluent part of the city, instead they went to Ninian Road – the adjacent street. 

As he was expecting his Koran teacher to call Aamir opened the door of his parents’ home. Within seconds the masked men started attacking him with a knife.

They said nothing during the attack and the court heard how they made strange “howling noises”.

Aamir’s parents rushed to the front door and desperately tried to pull the men off their son.

Both parents were injured in the attack but they could not save their son, who had suffered fatal injuries.

Shortly after the killing both defendants went shopping with their blood money.

Richards bought a new pair of trainers and a laptop computer.

Outside the court, Aamir’s sister Miriam read a statement from her family.

“We are pleased today that justice has finally been done and we can finally start to deal with the reality of losing Aamir,” she said.

South Wales Police scoured an enormous amount of CCTV in their murder investigation.

If officers had viewed every frame they collected it would have taken eight years to watch.

A man who is still wanted in connection with the investigation is still waiting to be extradited from India.

The British security firm G4S is set to rake in massive profits thanks to crises in Mali, Libya and Algeria. Recognized as the world’s biggest security firm, the group’s brand plummeted during the London Olympics last year due to its failure to satisfy conditions of a government contract. But with growing unrest in North and West Africa, G4S is expected to make a speedy recovery.French legionnaires in Mali, which used to be part of France’s African empire. (Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images)

The January 16th hostage crisis at Algeria’s Ain Amenas gas plant, where 38 hostages were killed, ushered in the return of al-Qaeda not as extremists on the run, but as well-prepared militants with the ability to strike deeply into enemy territories and cause serious damage. For G4S and other security firms, this also translates into growing demands. “The British group (..) is seeing a rise in work ranging from electronic surveillance to protecting travelers,” the company’s regional president for Africa told Reuters. “Demand has been very high across Africa,” Andy Baker said. “The nature of our business is such that in high-risk environments the need for our services increases.”

If Algeria’s deadly encounter with al-Qaeda was enough to add then north African country to private security companies emerging African market, Libya must be a private security firm paradise. Following NATO’s toppling of the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his brutal assassination in Sirte on October 20, 2011, numerous militias sprung up throughout Libya, some armed with heavy weapons, courtesy of western countries. Initially, such disturbing scenes of armed militias setting up checkpoints at every corner were dismissed as an inevitable post-revolution reality. However, when westerners became targets themselves, ‘security’ in Libya finally became high on the agenda.

Many private security firms already operate in Libya; some were even present in the country before the former Libyan government was officially overthrown. Some of these firms were virtually unknown before the war, including a small private British firm, Blue Mountain Group. The latter was responsible for guarding the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, which was torched on Sep 11 last year. It later emerged that the attack on the embassy was preplanned and well-coordinated, resulting in the death of four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. It remains unclear why the State Department opted to hire Blue Mountain Group, as opposed to a larger security firm as is usually the case with other western embassies and large companies that now vie to reconstruct the very country that their governments conspired to destroy.

The lucrative business of destroying, rebuilding and securing has been witnessed in other wars and conflicts spurred on by western interventions. Private security firms are the middlemen that keep local irritants from getting in the way of post-war ‘diplomacy’ and the work business giants.

When a country eventually collapses under the pressure of bunker busters and other advanced weapons, security firms move in to secure the realm as western diplomats start their bargaining with the emerging local elites over the future of the country’s wealth. In Libya, those who contributed the biggest guns were the ones that received the largest contracts. Of course, while the destroyed country is being robbed blind, it is the local population that suffers the consequences of having brute foreigners with guns watching their neighborhoods in the name of security.

It must be said that the new Libyan government has specifically rejected Blackwater-style armed contractors — as in having boots on the ground — fearing provocations similar to those that occurred in Baghdad’s Nisour Square and similar killing throughout Afghanistan. The aim in Libya is to allow smooth business transactions without occasional protests provoked by trigger-happy foreigners. But considering the deteriorating security in Libya which has been created by the systematic destruction of the central government and its entire military apparatus, a solution to the security vacuum remains a major topic of discussion.

Private security firms are essentially mercenaries who offer services to spare western governments the political cost of incurring too many casualties. While they are often based in western cities, many of their employees come from so-called Third World countries. For all involved, it’s much safer this way, for when Asian, African or Arab security personnel are wounded or killed on duty, the matter tends to register, if ever, as a mere news item, with little political consequence, Senate hearings or government enquiries.

Mali, a west African country that is suffering multiple crises — military coups, civil war, famine and finally an all-out French-led war — is the likely next victim or opportunity for the deadly trio: western governments, large corporations and of course, private security firms.

In fact, Mali is the perfect ground for such opportunists, who will spare no effort to exploit its massive economic potential and strategic location. For years, the west African country has fallen under political and military western influences. The year 2012 represented a text-book scenario that ultimately and predictably lead to western intervention that finally took place on January 11, when France launched a military operation supposedly aimed at ousting armed Islamic extremists. The military operations will last “as long as necessary,” declared French President Francois Hollande, echoing the same logic of the Bush administration when it first declared its ‘war on terror.’

But as inviting as the Malian setting may seem, it is equally intricate and unpredictable. No linear timeline can possibly unravel in simple terms the crisis at hand. However, all arrows point to large caches of weapons that made their way from Libya to Mali following the NATO war. A new balance of power took hold, empowering the ever-oppressed Tuareg and flooding the country with desert-hardened militants belonging to various Islamic groups. Two symmetrical lines of upheavals developed at the same time in both the north and south parts of the country. On one hand, Tuareg’s National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) declared independence in the north and was quickly joined by Ansar Dine, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA). On the other hand, US-trained army captain Amadou Haya Sanogo made his move in the southern part of the country in March, overthrowing President Amadou Toumani Touré.

The Malian storyline developed so rapidly, giving the impression that there was no other option but imminent confrontation between the south and the north. France, Mali’s old colonial master, was quick to wave the military card and worked diligently to enlist west African countries in its war efforts. The plan was for the intervention to appear as if it’s purely an African effort, with mere logistical support and political backing by their western benefactors. Indeed, on Dec 21, the UN Security Council approved the sending in of an African-led force (of 3,000 soldiers) from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to chase after northern militants in the vast Malian desert.

That war was scheduled for Sep. 2013, however, to allow France to form a united western front and to train fragmented Malian forces. But the militants’ capture of the town of Konna, close to the capital Bamako, has reportedly forced France’s hand to intervene in Mali and without UN consent. The war which was waged in the name of human rights and Mali’s territorial integrity, has already sparked outcries from major human rights organizations regarding crimes committed by foreign forces and their Malian army partners. However, what seems thus far as an easy French conquest has left other western powers licking their chops over the potential of having access to Mali, which is unlikely to have a strong central government anytime soon.

On Jan 25, the African Press Agency’s page on Mali was filled with news items about eager western involvement in solidarity with the French war buildup. It ranged from “Italy to send aircraft to help transport troops to Mali” to “Germany pledge aid to Africa for Mali intervention.” All calls for political dialogue, especially as ethnic strife is likely to devastate the country for years to come, seem to fall on deaf ears. Meanwhile, according to APA, the UK is offering help to Mali in finding a ‘political roadmap’ aimed at security the ‘political future of the West African country.’

As France, the US and EU countries determine the future of Mali through military efforts and political roadmaps, the country itself is so weakened and politically disfigured beyond any possibility of confronting outside designs. For G4S and other security firms, Mali now tops the list in Africa’s emerging security market. Nigeria and Kenya follow closely, with possibilities emerging elsewhere.

From Libya to Mali a typical story is forming, coupled with lucrative contracts and massive opportunities of all sorts. When private security firms speak of an emerging market in Africa, one is to safely assume that the continent is once more falling prey to growing military ambitions and unfair business conduct. While G4S is likely to polish its tarnished brand, hundreds of thousands of African refugees (800,000 in Mali alone) will continue their endless journeys into unfamiliar borders and unforgiving deserts. Their security matters to no one, for private security firms have no room for penniless refugees.

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers, journals and anthologies around the world. His is the author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle (Pluto Press, London). His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto Press, London).