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Heather Callaghan
Activist Post 2015-05-26 00:00:00
Who would throw out a perfectly good Gary Null interview? Gary Null has been a popular, longtime radio host with the longest running health talk show which airs on Progressive Radio Network. He has authored and directed dozens upon dozens of books and documentaries. A few weeks ago, he was asked as an honored guest on Bonnie Faulkner's show, Guns and Butter which talks about the politics of economics and airs on Pacifica KPFA public radio stations. In the spirit of truth, Bonnie wanted listeners to hear the other side of the vaccine talk, not the "case closed" version. What you're not being told about vaccines.And specifically SB277, the California bill to mandate vaccines for virtually all Californian school children. Who better to ask then Null, an alternative health expert, medical activist and Pacifica veteran? When it came time to air, however, they were told they weren't allowed - or rather, they were outright censored and the show was cut - the first time for Guns and Butter in over 11 years. But Bonnie could not let this breach of truth rest... | |
Comment: The tyranny is spreading, the battle lines are being drawn, listen to the above radio program to see how this war of information on vaccines is being further fought, and why. See also how the war is being fought, and won - at least for now - on the local legislative level:
Senator explodes when questioned about his Vaccine Bill | |
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John Pilger
JohnPilger.com 2015-04-22 00:00:00
Australia has again declared war on its Indigenous people, reminiscent of the brutality that brought universal condemnation on apartheid South Africa. Aboriginal people are to be driven from homelands where their communities have lived for thousands of years. In Western Australia, where mining companies make billion dollar profits exploiting Aboriginal land, the state government says it can no longer afford to "support" the homelands. Vulnerable populations, already denied the basic services most Australians take for granted, are on notice of dispossession without consultation, and eviction at gunpoint. Yet again, Aboriginal leaders have warned of "a new generation of displaced people" and "cultural genocide". Genocide is a word Australians hate to hear. Genocide happens in other countries, not the "lucky" society that per capita is the second richest on earth. When "act of genocide" was used in the 1997 landmark report 'Bringing Them Home', which revealed that thousands of Indigenous children had been stolen from their communities by white institutions and systematically abused, a campaign of denial was launched by a far-right clique around the then prime minister John Howard. It included those who called themselves the Galatians Group, then Quadrant, then the Bennelong Society; the Murdoch press was their voice. | |
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Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge 2015-05-25 20:41:00
Whereas over the past year, ever since the outbreak of the hostilities over the fate of Ukraine following the Victoria Nuland orchestrated presidential coup, relations between Russia and NATO have devolved to a Cold War 2.0 state as manifested by countless interceptions of Russian warplanes by NATO jets and vice versa as depicted in the following infographic...
... at least China was mercifully allowed to stay out of the fray between the Cold War enemies. This all changed this month when first the Pentagon's annual report to Congress this month cast China as a threat to regional and international peace and stability, followed several weeks ago when, with China aggressively encroaching into territories in the South China Sea claimed by US allies in the region such as Philippines, Vietnam and Japan, the US decided to get involved in yet another regional spat that does not directly involve it, and started making loud noises about China's territorial expansion over the commodity-reach area. China promptly relatiated by threatening a US spy plane during a routine overflight, while immediately thereafter the US retaliated at China's escalation, and warned that building sea "sandcastles" could "lead to conflict." | ||
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South Front
2015-05-26 20:41:00
The Yemeni army, backed by popular committee forces, has destroyed four Saudi battle tanks after storming a base in Saudi Arabia's southwestern city of Jizan. Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network reported the development late on Monday. It also reported that the Yemeni army targeted three Saudi vehicles in the southwestern Saudi city of Najran, which is located near the border with Yemen, with rockets and artillery shells. Meanwhile, at least six people were killed and a woman sustained injuries in the US-backed Saudi airstrikes on a village in the district of Harad in Yemen's western province of Hajjah early on Tuesday. We remember, Saudi Arabia is continuing its US-backed military aggression against Yemen since March 26, 2015. The Syrian army has launched a major offensive against the ISIL Takfiri terrorists who recently overran the city of Palmyra in central Homs province. According to the military sources, the air force struck more than 160 Islamic State's targets, killing and wounding terrorists and destroying weapons and vehicles equipped with machine-guns. Moreover, various military operations are also being carried out in the areas around the al-Suknah, the Arak, and al-Hail gas fields and all the roads leading to Palmyra. Over 50 ISIS militants have been killed during the offensive aimed at regaining the city from terrorists' control, the Syrian state television reported.
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Sputnik News
2015-05-26 18:58:00
A visit of Japanese FM Fumio Kishida to Moscow could be considered a stage of preparation for the visit of Vladimir Putin to Tokyo. Moscow and Tokyo are discussing Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan, but dates have not been set yet, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said Tuesday. "Already last year we agreed on a schedule of political contacts, which includes the visit of Japanese Foreign Minister [Fumio] Kishida for a meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission, and for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov," Morgulov told RIA Novosti. According to the politician, "this schedule has not yet been implemented, and this is not our fault." Russia adheres to the agreements and waits for Kishida to visit Moscow, he said. "And of course this visit could be considered a stage of preparation for the visit of the Russian president to Japan, which has been discussed between the parties, but the dates for which have not been set so far," Morgulov added. Comment: One issue speculated to be on the table is the disputed Kuril Islands. Russia and Japan do not have a permanent peace treaty for the four islands in the Sea of Okhotsk - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai (Russia: Southern Kurils, Japan: Northern Territories). The status of the Southern Kuril Islands was set in the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty that handed over control of the islands to Russia. In February, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to reclaim the islands. Russia has been their caretaker but Japan still lays claim to them. So far Putin has not changed his position, but is apparently open to dialogue. Also on the agenda will be ways to expand economic cooperation. Lavrov and Kishida are now scheduled for a November 2 meeting. | |
Comment: According to analysts, Putin is working on closer ties to Japan through developing energy resources and trade opportunities. Some say this is to counter China's rising military power - but perhaps it also complicates the US/Japan/China mix as well!
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RT
2015-05-26 20:19:00
A number of Russian MPs have suggested altering the current legislation and introducing criminal responsibility for illegal trade in GMO products. The idea is to mete out prison terms of up to two years for repeated offenders. The bill tightening the rules for selling genetically modified products has been prepared by lawmakers representing the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, known for its nationalist stance. The draft has already been forwarded to the government and Supreme Court for assessment, and it will then be submitted to parliament. If passed the bill would amend the existing article of the criminal code that orders punishment for concealing any information about potential hazards for human life and health. It would include violation of the rules for marking goods containing GMO material. Those found guilty would face fines of up to 300,000 rubles (about $6000), or up to two years in prison or penal labor. The bill specifies that, depending on the crime's circumstances, the punishment could be applied to the head of the company and the workers involved in the violations. | |
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Xinhua News Agency
2015-05-26 20:10:00
Turkey and the United States have started a program for training and equipping Syrian rebels in Kirsehir province of central Turkey, local daily HaberTurk reported on Tuesday. "We have started the train-equip program with a small number (of Syrians). The reason of delay was logistics, it was about personnel and equipment transferred from the U.S.. Our soldiers and the U.S. soldiers are providing the training," the report quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying. The program has been delayed several times since Turkey and the U.S. signed the agreement in February. The program aims to train a total of 15,000 Syrian opposition fighters during a three-year period, 5,000 of whom will be trained at Hirfanli military base in Kirsehir. | |
Comment: Apparently the fact that the Syrian government was democratically elected is of no matter to the U.S. They want to control Syria and if they can't do it covertly, they'll just openly create an army to takeover the country. You can bet that there will be plenty of civilian casualties in whatever actions this army takes in Syria too.
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Glenn Greenwald
The Intercept 2015-05-21 19:55:00
Colonel Ian Henderson was a British official dubbed "the Butcher of Bahrain" because of atrocities he repeatedly committed during the 30 years he served as chief security official of that Middle Eastern country. His reign of terror began in 1966 when Bahrain was a British "protectorate" and continued when the post-"independence" Bahraini King retained him in the same position. In 1996, The Independent described him as "the most feared of all secret policemen" in Bahrain, and cited "consistent and compelling evidence that severe beatings and even sexual assaults have been carried out against prisoners under Henderson's responsibility for well over a decade." A 2002 Guardian article reported that "during this time his men allegedly detained and tortured thousands of anti-government activists"; his official acts "included the ransacking of villages, sadistic sexual abuse and using power drills to maim prisoners"; and "on many occasions they are said to have detained children without informing their parents, only to return them months later in body bags." Needless to say, Col. Henderson was never punished in any way: "although Scotland Yard launched an inquiry into the allegations in 2000, the investigation was dropped the following year." He was showered with high honors from the U.K.-supported tyrants who ran Bahrain. Prior to the massacres and rapes over which he presided in Bahrain, Henderson played a leading role in brutally suppressing the Mau Mau insurgency in another British colony, Kenya. In the wake of his Kenya atrocities, he twice won the George Medal, "the 2nd highest, to the George Cross, gallantry medal that a civilian can win." His brutality against Kenyan insurgents fighting for independence is what led the U.K. government to put him in charge of internal security in Bahrain. | |
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RT
2015-05-26 19:32:00
Nations openly chastised by the US for dismal human rights records donated billions to the Clinton Foundation, while gaining clearance for weapons deals approved by the Hillary Clinton-led US State Department, according to a new report. As the Obama administration increased military weapons exports, Hillary Clinton's State Department approved transfer of more than $300 billion worth of arms manufactured by US defense contractors to 20 nations that were or have since become donors of the Clinton Foundation, a major philanthropic organization run by the Clinton family. According to areview of available records of foundation donors by the International Business Times, those countries included governments that have received frequent criticism by the State Department for repressive policies. "Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar all donated to the Clinton Foundation and also gained State Department clearance to buy caches of American-made weapons even as the department singled them out for a range of alleged ills, from corruption to restrictions on civil liberties to violent crackdowns against political opponents," IBT wrote. Algeria, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar were nations that directly donated to the Clinton Foundation during Clinton's term as secretary of state, even as they were requesting weapons shipments. The donated money represents a loophole in US law regarding political contributions. "Under federal law, foreign governments seeking State Department clearance to buy American-made arms are barred from making campaign contributions -- a prohibition aimed at preventing foreign interests from using cash to influence national security policy," IBT noted. "But nothing prevents them from contributing to a philanthropic foundation controlled by policymakers." | |
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RT
2015-05-26 19:24:00
According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces commander for Dzerzhynsk, commanders were under increasing pressure from personnel to bring forward heavy caliber artillery systems because the Donetsk People's Republic was using such systems. Ukrainian frontline personnel insist on bringing forward heavy-caliber artillery systems in Donbass, the Ukrainian Armed Forces commander for government-controlled Dzerzhynsk told representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM). "He added that Ukrainian Armed Forces commanders were under increasing pressure from frontline personnel to bring forward heavy caliber artillery systems because the Donetsk People's Republic was using such systems with impunity," according to a report to the SMM published on May 25. According to the commander, Ukrainian servicemen claim that fighters of the self-proclaimed DPR are using such weaponry. Comment: Where is the proof the the fighters of the DPR are using such weaponry? | |
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RT
2015-05-26 19:20:00
Three civilians, including a child, have reportedly been killed in eastern Ukraine after a shell fired by the Ukrainian military hit a residential area. Three people, including an 11-year old girl, her father and one more civilian have died in the town of Gorlovka, the Donetsk news agency reported, citing senior rebel commander Eduard Basurin. Four more people have been injured, including one serviceman, Basurin said. According to recent estimates by the UN human rights office, over 6,000 people have been killed and over 15,000 wounded in eastern Ukraine during a year of fighting. However, the real numbers could be much higher. At least one civilian was killed in Donetsk a week ago, after an army shell hit an apartment building amid intense fire on rebel positions. Last week, the Ukrainian parliament approved a regulation that removed the obligation to protect certain human rights in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Kiev says "anti-terrorist operations" in the area override their obligations in this regard. The shelling comes amid a fragile ceasefire between Kiev and the Donbass rebels agreed in Minsk in February. Despite the agreements reached by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany, then called the "last chance" to bring peace to Ukraine, violence in the region has continued. | |
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RT
2015-05-26 18:35:00
Edward Snowden's intelligence leaks damaged the security services' war on terror, crippled spy agencies, aided terrorists and failed to reveal evidence of mass surveillance, according to a radical neoconservative think-tank. In a "major study," the Henry Jackson Society argues that far from informing the world's citizenry about the excesses of military and intelligence agencies, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden caused massive damage to the institutions charged with security. Among the charges levied against Snowden, it is claimed several Al Qaeda-linked groups altered their security procedures, codes became harder to crack and technology firms became less willing to cooperate with spy agencies as a result of the leaks. The report, 'Surveillance After Snowden', argues claims of the "mass surveillance of ordinary citizens or brazenly looking at their emails" are simply untrue. Report author Robin Simcox argues that the relationship between public and agencies need to be reengineered to ensure a "greater societal acceptance" of spies work. Comment: This "report" is just another propaganda piece against anyone who might consider blowing a whistle on the U.S.-led efforts to terrorize the world and continue with its surveillance state tactics unabated. It also attempts to change the narrative surrounding the Snowden leaks, mainly that Snowden exposed mass illegal surveillance on Americans via spy agencies. No matter how much these paid lobbyists try to lie their way through a report, it should be clear to anyone paying attention that the U.S. government is illegally infringing on Americans' right to privacy and that their actions have very little to do with terrorism. If the neocons want to blame someone for aiding terrorists, they should look into a mirror. | |
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RT
2015-05-26 17:42:00
Youthful energy and rhetoric for change have seen Andrzej Duda transformed from a virtual unknown to the rising star of Eastern European politics - but his presidency could set Poland against Russia and the EU. On Sunday, 51.6 percent of the electorate cast their votes for Duda to replace the centrist incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski, with a turnout of 55.4 percent, according to the official results. Exit polls showed that over 60 percent of rural voters supported Duda, but only about 40 percent of those live in cities. Like the last president from the Law and Justice party and Duda's idol, the late Lech Kaczynski, who held the office from 2005 to 2010, the new Polish leader won by appealing to voters from the traditional heartlands - Catholics, social conservatives, farmers, and those left behind by Poland's superficially stellar economic performance in the last decade. His promises have been wildly populist: Duda said he would lower the retirement age, which rose to 67 in 2012, raise income tax brackets, and force banks to turn lucrative Swiss franc mortgages into manageable Polish zloty ones, costing them billions of dollars in profit. Duda's critics have dismissed his proposals as contradictory, unfeasible, and even illegal. Indeed, as president he does not have the power to ride roughshod over prime ministerEwa Kopacz and parliament, which is dominated by her centrist Civic Platform party, at least until autumn's parliamentary election. His actual responsibilities for now will be mainly vetoing unacceptable legislation, and representing Poland at international meetings.
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Comment: Like any newly elected politician, one has to take what they say during an election with a grain of salt. It will be his actions in office that will really show who he's beholden to.
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Yury Nickulichev
Russia Insider 2015-05-26 13:29:00
It's really deplorable how, over the last decades, we've all had to become students in a kind of "military geography", remembering the names of regions and provinces, of cities, towns, and villages because those have become a war zone, a battlefield, an area of instability, etc. Was it Mark Twain who said that "God created war so that Americans would learn geography"? Or is it, rather, the Devil that's giving us all those unwanted lessons? A new international conflict seems to be brewing. Now it's Transnistria, a strip of land and a state, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Pridnestrovie), located to the East of the Dniester River, where it borders Ukraine. In 1990 the region declared its independence and broke away from Moldova, thereby getting tightly wedged between Moldova and Ukraine. To maintain peace and security in the area, a joint military command structure and a tri-lateral peacekeeping force, comprised of Russian, Moldovan, and Transnistrian units, were established in 1992, with 10 Ukrainian observers joining in 1998. Ukraine was also a party to a number of negotiating formats over Transnistria, including the latest one of 2006. So far so good, but a few days ago Kiev scrapped its 1995 agreement with Russia on military transit to Transnistria via Ukraine. With Moldova not obliging too, what this means is that the Russian peacekeeping units are kind of trapped there. Time will show whether it's a "no in/no out" situation or a compromise is still possible, but the development seems to be extremely dangerous. To understand why this is so, here is a bit of history. | |
Comment: The citizens of Transnistria are no doubt aware of what has happened in Ukraine, where Washington has had its fingers in an ethnic cleansing. From the article,Moldova the next clash between the West and Russia? :
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Sputnik News
2015-05-26 14:10:00
The representatives of 66 public organizations in the breakaway Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR) decided at a Monday meeting to prepare an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to protect the people of Transnistria if any external threat emerge. The meeting participants decided to add to the text of the appeal before June 1 and then send it to Transnistria's President Yevgeny Shevchuk for him to hand it to Vladimir Putin. "We would like to appeal to Vladimir Putin so that in case of an emergence of some threat to Transnistria he, being a guarantor of peace on the territory of Transnistria ... would take all the measures needed: political, diplomatic, economic, sanctional, and, of course, in case of a threat, other measures as well,"the head of the National Union of Women of Transnistria, Tatyana Dolishnyaya said. | |
Comment: Transnistria's declaration of independence, and the Transnistria War of 1992, has left the area in a "frozen conflict" easily capable of being exploited by the West. Check out:
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RT
2015-05-26 09:56:00
Barack Obama has made a speech, saying that this Memorial Day is the first in 14 years without major US war. Critics and social media users slammed him as hypocritical, saying the US remains involved in military conflicts and proxy wars. "Today is the first Memorial Day in 14 years that the United States is not engaged in a major ground war," Obama said on Memorial Day, a US holiday for remembering those who died while serving in the country's armed forces. He added that this Memorial Day is the first "since our war in Afghanistan came to an end," but admitted that about 10,000 US troops remain on a mission to train and assist Afghan forces, even though "Afghanistan remains a very dangerous place." "And as so many families know, our troops continue to risk their lives for us,"Obama said. Obama also said that the wars which America waged were "for democracy, the peace we've laid to preserve it." Comment: "War is just a racket". Memorial day is a hoax. "Our soldiers died for the profits of the bankers" The statement by US president was met with strong criticism both from experts and social media users. "What a joke. Of course the US is still at war,"wrote Brian Fernandes, a user on Facebook. "The US still has troops in Afghanistan and plans to keep them there for years. And they have fomented wars in Ukraine, Africa, Syria, and now Yemen. The US is the most barbaric war-mongering nation on Earth," added another, Richard Tina. | |
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RT
2015-05-25 09:52:00
The Russian president has signed a bill banning the activities of foreign groups that pose a threat to national security or defense capability, and to punish those who continue to cooperate with such groups. The bill, initially drafted by two opposition MPs, was passed by both chambers of the Russian parliament last week. It tasks the Prosecutor General's Office and the Foreign Ministry with creating a proscribed list of "undesirable foreign organizations" and to outlaw their activities in the country. The main criterion for putting a foreign or international NGO on the list is a "threat to the constitutional order and defense capability, or the security of the Russian state." Once the group is recognized as undesirable, all its assets in Russia must be frozen, its offices closed and distribution of any of its information materials must be banned. If the group does not comply with the ban, its leaders and members would face punishments ranging from administrative fines to prison sentences of up to six years for repeated and aggravated offenses. Russian citizens and organizations that continue to work with banned groups would face administrative fines only. | |
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RT
2015-05-26 18:00:00
The US military's system of prosecution has to change, as rape victims are often put in positions where they even regret coming forward, Maribel Jarzabek, ex-Air Force lawyer, said on a recent HRW survey of sexual assault survivors. Of those who answered the US Army's call to come out as sexual assault victims, 62 percent are facing backlash from their commanders and fellow servicemen, a reportreleased by Human Rights Watch earlier this week stated. The victims are "spat on, deprived of food, assailed with obscenities - whore, cum-dumpster, slut, faggot - threatened with 'friendly fire' during deployment... demoted, disciplined [or] discharged for misconduct," the paper entitled "Embattled: Retaliation against sexual assault survivors in the US military" said. According to HRW, only 5 percent of sexual assault cases in the US military lead to convictions of the perpetrators. "Virtually no-one is held accountable" for retaliating against those reporting rape and other abuses, the report added. | |
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RT
2015-05-26 17:52:00
Comment: As the citizens of the U.S. watch as their leaders go around the world invading countries and murdering their inhabitants all in the name of power, money, and control, it should not be surprising to see the rest of the country following suit and behaving the same way towards each other. A surge of fatal shootings in Baltimore, Maryland over Memorial Day weekend has propelled the number of murders so far in May to 35, making it the deadliest month in the city since 1999. In the midst of a wave of violence that has anything but waned in the weeks since riots unfolded across Baltimore, city officials say the tally of homicides so far in 2015 stands at 108 as of Tuesday morning. The Baltimore Police Department told local network WJZ News that 28 people were shot over Memorial Day weekend this year. This included nine fatalities. With the death toll for May now pushing three dozen, officials say the city is currently experiencing its most violent month since 1999. "It's deplorable," City Councilman William "Pete" Welch told the Baltimore Sun. "The shootings and killings are all over the city. I don't think any part of the city is immune to this. I've never seen anything like it." | |
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David Edwards
The Raw Story 2015-05-26 17:12:00
An 82-year-old Texas man alleged this week that officers in military gear stormed his home, broke his hip and then left him without calling for medical assistance. Herman Crisp told KTBC that Georgetown deputies wearing SWAT uniforms gave no warning before throwing a flash-bang device outside his home last September as he was sitting in a chair and smoking a cigarette. He said that the explosion knocked him out of his chair, and then officers slammed him on the ground and handcuffed him. The force of hitting the ground broke his hip, according to Crisp, who was 81 years old at the time. Eventually officers did help inside the home before leaving, but they did not call paramedics, he said. The next day, his family said that they found him lying on the floor in his own feces. "After they left, I tried to get up because I had to go to the bathroom," he explained to KTBC. "And I couldn't go. So, I just crawled over and laid on the floor right down through here. My sister had to call paramedics." Attorney Boadus Spivey, who is representing Crisp, accused the Georgetown Sheriff's Office of a "conspiracy of silence." | |
Comment: SWAT teams are getting more aggressive, yet have an unfortunate problem identifying suspects as they routinely go to the wrong home and inflict damage on innocent people, then deny responsibility or attempt to cover-up their actions. All part of our glorious police state, where every normal human is considered a criminal and all police are considered innocent, only rarely proven guilty of criminal behavior no matter how much evidence of their wrongdoing is provided.
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Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research 2015-05-26 00:00:00
Nuclear radiation resulting from the March 2011 Fukushima disaster - which threatens life on planet earth - is not front page news in comparison to the most insignificant issues of public concern, including the local level crime scene or the tabloid gossip reports on Hollywood celebrities. The shaky political consensus both in Japan, the U.S. and Western Europe is that the crisis at Fukushima has been contained. The truth is otherwise. Known and documented, the ongoing dumping of highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean constitutes a potential trigger to a process of global radioactive contamination. This water contains plutonium 239 and its release into the Ocean has both local as well as global repercussions. A microgram of plutonium if inhaled, according to Dr. Helen Caldicott, can cause death: Certain isotopes of radioactive plutonium are known as some of the deadliest poisons on the face of the earth. A mere microgram (a speck of darkness on a pinhead) of Plutonium-239, if inhaled, can cause death, and if ingested, radioactive Plutonium can be harmful, causing leukemia and other bone cancers. | |
Comment: Tepco has been dumping radioactive water into the Pacific for over a year at least, spiking all-time radiation highs at monitoring points near the Fukushima power plant. The radioactive material has been found all over the world with massive die-offs of marine life and reports of radioactive contamination of seafood.
Japan begins purposely dumping 100s of tons of radioactive water from Fukushima into the Pacific | |
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Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse 2015-05-25 00:00:00
All over the planet, large banks are massively overexposed to derivatives contracts. Interest rate derivatives account for the biggest chunk of these derivatives contracts. According to the Bank for International Settlements, the notional value of all interest rate derivatives contracts outstanding around the globe is a staggering 505 trillion dollars. Considering the fact that the U.S. national debt is only 18 trillion dollars, that is an amount of money that is almost incomprehensible. When this derivatives bubble finally bursts, there won't be enough money in the entire world to bail everyone out. The key to making sure that all of these interest rate bets do not start going bad is for interest rates to remain stable. That is why what is going on in Greece right now is so important. The Greek government has announced that it will default on a loan payment that it owes to the IMF on June 5th. If that default does indeed happen, Greek bond yields will soar into the stratosphere as panicked investors flee for the exits. But it won't just be Greece. If Greece defaults despite years of intervention by the EU and the IMF, that will be a clear signal to the financial world that no nation in Europe is truly safe. Bond yields will start spiking in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and all over the rest of the continent. By the end of it, we could be faced with the greatest interest rate derivatives crisis that any of us have ever seen. | |
Comment: To hear more about the various ways an economic collapse may be brought about listen to the SOTT Talk Radio Show episode:
The Truth Perspective - Michael Snyder - Economic Collapse and Global Chaos | |
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PressTV
2015-05-26 13:39:00
The charity organization Oxfam says almost two-thirds of the war-hit population in Yemen have no access to clean water as Saudi Arabia continues its deadly airstrikes against the impoverished country. The aid agency said in a statement on Tuesday that the constant Saudi bombardments have increased the number of Yemenis without clean water to at least 16 million. Oxfam's director in Yemen, Grace Ommer, said the figure is equivalent to the total population in the European capitals of Berlin, London, Paris and Rome. | |
Comment: See also:
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Sky News
2015-05-26 07:19:00
Bodies were burned beyond recognition and wheelchairs reduced to charred frames at the privately-run home in Henan province. A fire has swept through an old people's home in China, leaving 38 residents dead. Many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and wheelchairs were reduced to charred frames at the privately-owned home in Pingdingshan. The fire broke out on Monday evening at one of the home's apartments, according to the state news agency Xinhua, and photos posted online showed a thick column of black smoke coming from behind a petrol station nearby. The blaze was extinguished less than an hour after it broke out but 38 of the home's 51 residents were killed. Two of the injured were in a critical condition in hospital. "The bodies were so badly burned, we couldn't tell who was who," Xinhua quoted one victim's relative saying of the identification process. "Only myself and one other roommate managed to get out," survivor Zhao Yulan, 82, who shared her room with 11 other people, told Xinhua.
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Jessica Lussenhop
Riverfront Times 2015-05-20 20:51:00
There were some very bad vibes in downtown St. Louis on the night of October 28, 2013. The Cardinals had just lost Game 5 in the World Series, and the Rams had a pathetic showing against the Seahawks at Edward Jones Stadium. The streets were jammed bumper to bumper with disgruntled fans trying to make it home, and so Brandon Pavelich and Julia Fischer — two college friends on a kinda-sorta first date — decided to walk around a bit before attempting to leave the area. Then they heard fast footsteps, and the next thing they knew, two men had guns pointed at their heads. They demanded money and cell phones. Pavelich paused. "Show him we're serious and shoot him," he remembers one of the men saying. Instead, a gun smashed into Pavelich's face, opening a gash in his forehead and chin, and chipping a tooth. One of the men reached into Pavelich's pockets as he was reeling, and grabbed his iPhone and cash. They took Fischer's iPhone as well, and ran. Luckily, Pavelich and Fischer found a St. Louis police officer nearby. They soon learned theirs was the last in a string of muggings that evening. In total, seven victims had their phones taken, though Pavelich was the only one who had to spend the night in a hospital getting stitches. Fischer recalls that the police behaved as if they were hot on the trail of the stolen phones. "They did say that they're tracking it," she says. She assumed that meant they were using the phones' GPS or something like the Find My iPhone app. By the next day, four suspects were in custody, including a supposed lookout and a getaway driver. They were found in a hotel room in Caseyville, Illinois, allegedly with the stolen phones. Among the recovered property, Pavelich was able to identify the case he'd had on his phone. It seemed like a done deal. | |
Comment: StingRay's notorious history.
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RT
2015-05-25 17:27:00
A total of 139 graves have been found in Malaysia in more than two dozen human trafficking camps believed to have been used by gangs smuggling migrants across the Thai border. Signs of torture were also discovered, the nation's police chief said Monday. "It's a very sad scene...to us even one is serious and we have found 139," Malaysia's inspector general of police, Khalid Abu Bakar, told reporters in the northern state of Perlis."We are working closely with our counterparts in Thailand. We will find the people who did this." Describing the conditions at the 28 abandoned camps scattered along a 50 km (30 mile) stretch of the Thai border, Khalid said authorities were "shocked by the cruelty." He added that signs of torture were also discovered, but declined to elaborate. Photos of the camp show basic wooden huts built in forest clearings. Khalid said bullet casings were found in the vicinity, and metal chains were found near some graves. The first decomposed body was brought down to a police camp set up at the foot of the mountains where the camps were found on Monday evening. Delivery of the corpse took nearly five hours, due to the rough terrain. "The body was only bones and little bit of clothing on it," said Rizani Che Ismail, the officer in charge of the Padang Besar police department, as quoted by Reuters. He added that the cause of death was not immediately known. | |
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Bryan Nelson
Mother Nature Network 2015-05-14 21:27:00
Referred to as a 'Jahn-Teller metal,' it could offer breakthroughs in the science of superconductivity. The beautiful, hovering, crystalline material shown above is not a rare alien element. Rather, it represents a newly discovered state of matter entirely, reports Motherboard. Most people are familiar with some of the common states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. Scientists also recognize a fourth state of matter - plasma - that is commonly observable here on Earth, as well as a host of other states that can only be created in the lab, such as Bose - Einstein condensates and neutron-degenerate matter. Jahn-Teller metals can now be added to this list, a state which appears to have the properties of an insulator, superconductor, metal and magnet all wrapped into one. It's the material's superconductivity which might be the most interesting trait, however. It has the potential to achieve superconductivity at a relatively high critical temperature ("high" as in -135 degrees Celsius as opposed to the sub -243.2 degrees Celsius required by many ordinary metallic superconductors), which is significant for the science of superconductivity. Superconductors conduct electricity without resistance, so they have the potential to revolutionize how we use and produce energy. But these technologies become far more feasible if developed using high-temperature superconductivity. | |
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Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News 2015-05-21 02:00:00
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